A/N: This is my first story, so read and enjoy!

I'm really passionate about this and I wanted to make it as good as possible. One of the things I did was literally study the characters so I can make them (hopefully) very similar to the original works. I filled out so many sheets of paper figuring out their motivations, habits, backstory, etc. I mean, seriously, I did so much research for this, it's not even funny :)

I love Harry Potter, and I wanted to do it justice by writing a story that can hold on its own. I wanted to take on the challenge of making the most objectively evil character from Harry Potter (Lord Voldemort) good. It's honestly really challenging to pinpoint what I have to change about his backstory/life that will make him change for the better.

This will likely be about 300,000 words long, maybe longer.

HERE ARE SOME HINTS AT WHAT'S TO COME: a dueling club, dark magic, Slytherin's secrets, Dementors, lots and lots of magic, a secret chamber, spell creation, and literally so much more. I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't tell you any more. But trust me, things get REALLY good.

THANKS!

(btw, this is on AO3 too, if you want to read it there.)

Prologue: Dawn of Death

November 28, 1926

The night was calm, Gellert Grindelwald was not. Something was amiss, he knew that for a fact. It was an odd tightening in his chest. Something he couldn't quite manage to make go away. He had felt this before; every time before an ambush, or a betrayal, or some other sort of disaster. It was becoming instinctual to him. He could sense danger from a mile away.

And tonight was one of those nights.

He sat in his derelict chateau; it was a French mansion, massive and dark. He had been forced to go into hiding after the International Confederation of Wizards had called a wizard hunt on him. And now he was stuck in this decrepit old building. Out the windows was an endless, eerie fog that turned the night pitch-black.

The chair in which he sat was modest, not befit for someone with ambitions like him. But it would do. He would leave this horrible mansion soon.

Gellert toyed with the wand in his hand. It was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Never in his life had he set eyes on something so amazing and destructive. All that endless power, hidden behind such an elegant design. It's perfect.

The Elder Wand.

He had stolen it from the wandmaker Gregorovitch not long ago. And the best part was that it had been so easy. There had barely been any protections placed on the wand. How stupid could Gregorovitch be?

But now it was his. And he deserved it.

No one else knew the true power of the wand, only him.

Is it possible to love a wand? Gellert joked in his head as he smirked. No. I admire the wand, I respect it above all else. But there was only ever one person I loved. It's a shame they turned out to be so foolish.

Gellert sighed. He had been so bored here. There was nothing to do but study and learn magic – which was usually his passion, but now he had things he needed to do. Specifically, he needed to put his plans into action.

In time, in time. Be patient.

Will the world wait with you? He sighed again, and then a knock came from the door.

Gellert glanced up from the wand. And in a precise, authoritative voice, he said, "Enter."

A house elf, Marty, walked in, looking nervously at Grindelwald.

Grindelwald waited for Marty to speak up. "Master, Marty has gotten what you told him to."

"How much of it?"

Marty beamed up at Grindelwald. "Marty has gotten twice as much Thestral blood as you asked for, Master."

Grindelwald nodded at him. He felt a twinge of shame at having to use house elves to do his work instead of actual humans. Look what I've been reduced to in my hiding. Having to resort to using the work of lesser beings, like filthy little elves. Merlin, I can't wait to get out of here.

Marty looked around uncomfortably. "Um ... Marty will be going, Master. The Thestral blood needs to be charmed every hour to stay good."

Gellert would have nodded, but a sudden, overwhelming sense of fatigue washed over him. His eyes blurred, and his mind felt foggy. It was so sudden and all-encompassing that he could barely even react as his body seemed to sink in on itself. He was so tired all of a sudden.

A buzzing sound overtook his ears, and his gaze fizzled to black. His body was melting, melting. The world in front of his eyes was melting too. Everything seemed to collapse in on itself. And he was so tired.

The last thing he remembered before he fell asleep was the worried stare of Marty.

Gellert awoke seemingly moments later. The sense of tiredness slowly faded away. Leaving him more alert than ever. He scanned the room with ever-widening eyes. I know what that was. That was another prophecy! Merlin, I haven't had one of those in so long. I need to see this at once!

Gellert felt true glee and excitement fill his bones. His prophecies were one of his secret weapons. How could someone fight against an enemy who knew the future?

Gellert glanced at Marty. The house elf was quaking with fear, his floppy ears twitching frantically. So weak.

"Marty, look at me."

The house elf did so warily. Why is he so scared? What could I have said? He felt his excitement wane slightly.

"What did I say?" Grindelwald's tone was harsh.

Marty's eyes shot open at being put on the spot. "Marty ... Marty would never dare repeat it ... Master."

Grindelwald's eyes hardened. And he stared at Marty with a knife-sharp gaze. "You're a servant. Know your place. If you know what's best for you, you'll answer me."

Marty's body was trembling. "But .. But ... Master would not want to hear this —"

"Avada Kedavra."

The sound of rushing wind, like a storm, punched through the room. A blindingly bright, green light exploded against Marty's chest. And he crumpled to the ground as his soul was torn from his body.

Grindelwald started with pity at the lifeless body, tiny and frail, and then moved toward it. "For what it's worth," He said to the dead body. "I am sorry I had to kill you."

He pressed the Elder Wand lightly against Marty's still-warm chest. He swept it in a small circle around the navel, and muttering an incantation, set the body aflame with ghostly, pink flames. The flames consumed the body and melted it into nothing. In a matter of seconds, the body had disappeared completely. Not a trace that the house elf had ever existed.

He had learned that complex spell during his time at Durmstrang. How time has passed. That feels so long ago.

Grindelwald marched from the room, across the hall, and into his study. In the corner was what he was looking for: his Pensieve.

He marched over to it, and with the Elder Wand, extracted a long, shimmering thread of silver light from his temple. He quickly added it to the Pensieve. What did I say? What could have caused the elf so much distress?

The liquid inside swirled and twisted, and then rapidly cleared, until he could see straight down into the room in which he had just been sitting.

Should I see it? He remembered the words of his great-aunt, Bathilda Bagshot: "Seers who see an unfortunate future, and who act against it, will inevitably bring it to fruition through their own doing."

He had never told her about him being a Seer. But he had questioned her about what she knew of the topic. What's the point of having a historian relative if I can't use that knowledge for myself?

He smirked to himself. She's absolutely crazy in the brain, though.

Without another thought, he dunked his head in the Pensieve.

His feet landed on the ground and he spotted himself in the chair, admiring the Elder Wand.

Right on time, Marty burst into the room. And past-Gellert, with his golden hair and still-attractive features, looked up.

Their conversation repeated. But present-Grindelwald wasn't paying attention. He was just waiting for the fateful moment.

He had done this many times by now. Almost no seers realized they could watch their own prophecies if they used a pensieve. Simple and easy. Not that pensieves are easy to come by, though.

Well, for them it's not easy. For me, it is.

Grindelwald noticed his past self start to sag in his chair, his gaze going distant. And then, as if in reverse, he sat up in his chair, straight-backed.

His voice was monotonous, but with an unknown, ethereal quality. The voice permeated his very soul, bounced around the room, and seemed to come from right inside his brain. He spoke the words of the prophecy: "AT THE YEAR'S DUSK … THE DAWN OF DEATH IS BORN. … THE ONE WITH AMBITION AND WILL UNMATCHED, … THE KING OF SERPENTS, … THE SPAWN OF EVIL, … THE GREATEST WEAPON FOR DESTRUCTION, … WITH EVIL POTENTIAL ENDLESS, … THEY WILL BRING THE AGE OF FIRE AND ASH. … UNLESS STOPPED BY FORCES MORE POWERFUL THAN HE."

Gellert stood there, eyes wider than ever, as his past self seemed to come back to life. That was … that was not like the other prophecies I've had … What does this mean?

Grindelwald pondered in fascination as he left the pensieve. Whom was I talking about? And how will this child become so powerful? What am I to do about this?

"Ambition and will unmatched." He didn't need another person with their own plans. They'll get in my way. Can I just kill them? Is that even possible with the prophecy?

It said, "Unless stopped by forces more powerful than he." Does that mean I can kill them now, since I'm more powerful?

As his feet finally landed back in the real world, he heard something that broke him out of his thoughts.

The Aurors: they had finally found him. They seemed to be battling with his house elves down below.

Huh, I guess the house elves were useful after all. If only to serve as a distraction.

Grindelwald withdrew the Elder wand, and with a smirk, started walking toward the noise. He would think more about this prophecy later. He had to. But now, it's time to kill some Aurors.

He would keep a tab on every magical family with a baby born in this December. He would find this child of prophecy. And when he did, well ... Only time would tell what he would do then.

OK! I'm really excited about this prologue. I think it's really interesting and introduces Grindelwald as a character pretty well. One thing I didn't realize was that, in canon, Dumbledore beat Grindelwald when Tom Riddle was 18. That actually provided some really cool options for where I could take this story.

Also! I did a whole bunch of research for this chapter, and the ones that follow it. All of these events are canon or could realistically fit into canon. For example, the Auror raid actually happened on November 28th.

Anyway, I'm really excited about this story. And I have some REALLY cool things planned.

(Also, this was not originally the first chapter. The chapter entitled "A Propensity for Evil" was. But I've decided to add some chapters that provide some groundwork before that.

Thanks for reading!

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