I will rise.

I will rise higher than any point I ever was before, even though Quirrell has failed me. Harry Potter has escaped my grasp, as well as the Philosopher's Stone. But I have learned nothing in the past decade if not patience. I retreat back to the forests of Albania, having gathered information on who had abandoned me, and who were in Azkaban because of their service to me. I come to the realization that if all else fails, death will overcome Harry Potter after a long life. He cannot possibly find me here. One lifetime is nothing compared to all eternity.

However, I know I cannot settle for this. If I do not dispose of him myself, there will always be those who question and doubt me, who say that I am only in power because I waited out the one who would have defeated me. This is not an option, so I settle in for another decade or two of waiting.

Much sooner than I had anticipated, someone does find me. A rat scurries near my hiding place and when I attempt to possess the rodent, I discover it is not a rodent at all, but a wizard in his Animagus form: Pettigrew.

Running from Hogwarts and those he had once called friends, Pettigrew grovels at my presence. He has nowhere else to go and I use this to my advantage. We begin planning my return, this time much more in depth than I had with Quirrell. I know that if this is to succeed, every last detail must be planned. We even extract information from Ministry official Bertha Jorkins, about my loyal servant Crouch, the upcoming Quidditch World Cup, and most importantly, the reinstatement of the Triwizard's Tournament to be hosted at Hogwarts.

Everything is planned and executed perfectly. Crouch replaces Moody as Professor at D.A.D.A at Hogwarts, excellently pulling off the switch. Harry gets through the Tournament relatively unscathed so that he may get to the Cup in the Third Task, despite the small hitch of the Hufflepuff taking it with him. Gryffindors.

I order Wormtail to kill the spare, and the boy falls. Potter is then binded. Wormtail commences with a twisted, improvised version of the ancient magic that protected Potter from me: the so-called love his mother felt and her sacrifice for him that initiated an ancient blood magic and cast a shield for him against me. It is why Quirrell could not touch him while I had possession of him. I use my father's bone, Wormtail's limb, and Potter's blood to create my body, and it works. I have my wand returned to me by Wormtail, and I can feel the malicious glee on my face as I approach Potter and touch him. I touch the scar. His scar, the lightning bolt that he is known for, the mark I gave him.

I feel a shot of possessiveness move through my body. I made Potter who he is. My choice to activate the prophecy, to make him my nemesis, has shaped his entire life. I have held the power even in my absence – and the thought gives me great pleasure. Of course I will be the victor. I have the control.

To remind my Death Eaters of this, I speak to them. They are unnerved and I remind them of the security of my service. I demand their renewed allegiance, and I already know I have it. Those who are foolish enough to deny me have not shown. It is unfortunate that Severus is among those who choose to defy me.

Sportingly, I then offer Potter the chance to duel. He takes it. And yet again, I am thwarted because I have overlooked very old and powerful magic; in this case, not love, but wandlore. Potter escapes and I rage – he has taken the Portkey that got him here back to Hogwarts with the corpse of the Hufflepuff.

I will kill him. I will dispose of him. I will destroy him, decimate him, and the only memory anyone will have of him will be that of a famous brat that cowardly ran and hid until I did away with him.

It just won't happen tonight.

It doesn't matter. I laugh, long and loud, and the cold sound soothes me. Potter may have escaped, but I have my body back. My Death Eaters. My wand. My power. I have it all back and more, and by the time I am done with this world, I will have it all. Like the phoenix, the very creature from which my wand core originates, I have been born again after what should have been a sure death. I will make sure the world never forgets me, never again has the chance to forget me. I have returned.

I have risen.