Things can change a lot over millions of years. Civilizations can degrade to nothing, stone can weather away, plants can turn to fossil fuels...do you suppose that if there were a dinosaur civilization a long time ago, we'd be able to find proof of it?
This idea basically came about while thinking about that; I suggested the concept that there were civilized dinosaurs millions of years ago, and that they had their own magic, and that one of them developed Horcruxes and used them to live long enough to take over the world.
Said Horcruxes allowed the tyrannical lizard to survive in spirit form long after he was flattened by a certain asteroid and his empire was destroyed, to the point that he's still around in the present day.
Then mistermisstep said I should write a bit on it, so I did. And here it is.
Once upon a time there was a very wicked dinosaur. It was a very long time ago, so nobody now knows his name. Or even that he existed.
This evil dinosaur was very adept in the ways of magic (magic existed before humans, you know), and used his mystical powers to conquer an empire for himself, taking everyone whom submitted to him as slaves and all who opposed him as food.
To assure his eternal reign, he discovered a way to split his corrupt soul; taking bloody trophies from conquered heroes, the wicked wizard lizard placed parts of his soul inside each skull, thus ensuring he could never truly die.
And so, immune to death of any kind, the (lol) tyrant lizard expanded his empire, slowly but surely conquering the globe and ruling it for thousands of years.
Why isn't he around today? Well, you see, on one of his expeditions to conquer a rebellious province, the tyrant decided he wanted to show off, by calling a great asteroid to squash the city ruled by the rebels in a single blow.
Unfortunately, as you might have guessed, he selected too big of an asteroid...and despite being very well versed in magic of the darkest kind, he wasn't so adept at physics, and didn't understand the importance of velocity, just mass.
We call what happened the Cretaceous Extinction Event.
Though utterly disintegrated by the force of the blast, the tyrant wizard lizard did not die. Why would he, his what-we-now-call-Horcruxes were back in his capital city on the other side of the globe.
His spirit remained on earth, though with his body utterly destroyed and his empire destroyed by the aftermath of the asteroid impact (along with everything else!), he could do nothing but wait for millions of years, waiting for intelligent life to return to earth, waiting for someone or something he could use to restore his true form.
The dinosaur watched as humans descended from the trees and taught themselves to use fire.
He watched as the Ancient Egyptians learned the principles of magic and used them to guard their homes and tombs.
He watched as Herpo the Foul followed in his footsteps, creating a horcrux of his own, though the human dark wizard barely lasted a century.
He watched as humans exchanged their togas and loincloths for shirts and breeches.
He watched as magical beings of all shapes and kinds came together to hide from non-magical humans.
He watched as Lord Voldemort was blasted from his body, becoming an incorporeal spirit like himself.
He noted with interest the events at Hogwarts.
He watched Voldemort come back to corporeal life using the flesh, blood and bone of his father, servant and foe.
And, the millions-of-years-old dinosaur wizard planned.
