Pain.
That was the first thing I felt.
Not an ordinary ache, but agony that seemed to tear apart every fragment of my soul.
It felt as though my very existence was being ripped to pieces before being stitched back together into something entirely new.
I couldn’t breathe.
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t even scream.
Then a mechanical voice echoed throughout the endless darkness.
Ding!
System Initializing…
Host detected.
Previous host deceased.
Reincarnation target confirmed: Harry Potter World.
Identity assigned: Tom Marvolo Riddle.
Beginning Soul Fusion…
The pain multiplied a hundredfold.
Then countless memories flooded into my mind.
A cold orphanage.
Grey walls.
Loneliness.
Fear.
Children whispering behind my back.
Caretakers looking at me with unease.
Strange things happening whenever I became angry.
Objects floating.
Animals obeying me.
Snakes speaking words I somehow understood perfectly.
The memories continued pouring into me without mercy.
Eleven years of another person’s life became my own in only a few seconds.
Every memory, every emotion, every experience mixed together with my own until I could no longer tell where one life ended and the other began.
I opened my eyes with a gasp.
“What…
the hell is going on?” My voice sounded young.
Far younger than it should have.
I looked down at my small hands before looking around the room.
Old furniture.
Grey walls.
Tiny beds lined beside one another.
An orphanage.
“I just went to sleep…” I rubbed my forehead as another wave of memories surfaced.
“…and now I’m in the body of an eleven-year-old?” Silence filled the room.
Then another notification appeared before my eyes.
Ding!
System Activated Successfully.
Welcome, Host.
You have been successfully reincarnated into the world of Harry Potter.
Current Identity: Tom Marvolo Riddle.
Would you like to open your Beginner Starter Pack?
For several long seconds I simply stared at the translucent blue screen floating in front of me.
Harry Potter?
Tom Riddle?
My heart skipped a beat.
“Tom Riddle…” A slow smile spread across my face.
“So I’m Voldemort.” Not yet.
But I would become him.
The future Dark Lord.
One of the greatest wizards in history.
One of the most feared magical geniuses ever born.
“I guess I really hit the jackpot.” Without hesitation I answered.
“Open the starter pack.” The screen flashed brilliantly.
Congratulations!
Starter Pack Opened!
Reward One: Maxed Dark Magic Talent.
Reward Two: One Magical Book of Your Choice.
Without even thinking, I made my decision.
“I choose a complete book on every form of Mind Magic.” The reward immediately changed.
Reward Confirmed.
Book Received: Encyclopedia of Mind Arts.
Contents Include: • Legilimency • Occlumency • Memory Charms • Memory Modification • Obliviate • Confundo • False Memory Charm • Imperius Curse A grin appeared on my face.
Mind Magic.
There was almost nothing more dangerous than being able to manipulate information itself.
A wizard could defeat armies with raw power, but someone who mastered the mind could control entire nations without anyone realizing it.
The final reward appeared.
Reward Three: Intelligence Enhancement.
Effects: • Eidetic Memory • Photographic Memory • Perfect Recall • Vastly Increased Intelligence • Increased Reading Speed • Increased Thinking Speed • Increased Creativity The instant I accepted it…
Pain exploded inside my head.
“Agh!” I collapsed onto the floor as another torrent of memories flooded into me.
Except these weren’t ordinary memories.
They were mine.
Tom Riddle’s entire eleven years fused completely with my previous life’s experiences.
Unlike before, these memories didn’t simply enter my mind—they became part of who I was.
I remembered every conversation.
Every book I had ever read.
Every prank the children had pulled.
Every time I had instinctively used accidental magic.
Every snake I had ever spoken to.
The fusion continued until there was no separation left.
I wasn’t merely possessing Tom Riddle.
Nor had Tom Riddle consumed me.
We had become something entirely new.
A superior Tom Riddle.
Someone possessing two complete lifetimes of experience, two souls merged into one, and intelligence far beyond what either of us possessed individually.
I slowly stood up, breathing heavily before speaking quietly.
“So…
this is what soul fusion feels like.” Once my breathing settled, I focused on the system again.
“Status.” Several windows immediately appeared before me.
Unlike before, there wasn’t only a status screen.
There were dozens of different menus available.
The first was an Infinite Storage Space, capable of storing an unlimited number of items without the passage of time.
The second was the System Shop.
It allowed me to purchase spells, magical creatures, bloodlines, artifacts, knowledge, talents, potion recipes, enchantments, and countless other treasures using System Points.
Currently only one category had been unlocked.
Harry Potter World.
Apparently, as I continued growing stronger, I would eventually unlock additional universes and gain access to entirely different systems of power.
Another menu displayed the Quest System.
Main Quests.
Side Quests.
Hidden Quests.
Achievement Quests.
Completing them would reward System Points, rare treasures, or even Lottery Tickets.
Speaking of which…
There was also a Lottery Pool where luck alone determined the reward.
Finally came something that caught my attention immediately.
Personal Dimension.
Unlike my storage space, this was an actual world.
A private dimension belonging only to me.
According to the description, I could eventually shape the environment however I wished, creating battlefields, libraries, laboratories, forests, castles, or training arenas.
It would become the perfect place to practice magic without anyone discovering my secrets.
The final menu was my Character Status.
[Name]: Tom Marvolo Riddle [Gender]: Male [Age]: 11 [Occupation]: Future Wizard [Bloodline]: Descendant of Salazar Slytherin [Identity]: Heir of Slytherin | Future Dark Lord | Reincarnated Soul [Current Magical Power]: C Rank — Adult Wizard [Peak Potential]: Legendary Tier [Talents] Charms: 8/10 — Extremely High Transfiguration: 6/10 — Above Average Defense Against the Dark Arts: 9/10 — Peak Dark Arts: ???
— Greatest Dark Wizard in History Potions: 7/10 — High Alchemy: 4/10 — Below Average Divination: 1/10 — Extremely Low Flying: 2/10 — Quite Low Mind Arts: 10/10 — Best of the Century [Special Talents] Parseltongue — Able to communicate with snakes, command snakes, and perform Parselmagic.
[Magical Items]: Encyclopedia of Mind Arts [System Points]: 0 “So this is Tom Riddle’s natural talent…” It was honestly terrifying.
No wonder he eventually became Voldemort.
Then another screen appeared.
Talent Rankings 0 — No Talent 1 — Extremely Low 2 — Quite Low 3 — Low 4 — Below Average 5 — Average 6 — Above Average 7 — High 8 — Extremely High 9 — Peak Talent 10 — Absolute Highest Level — Best of the Century Another window appeared immediately afterward.
Magical Power Rankings F Rank — Non-magical Human E Rank — Squib D Rank — Wizard Student C Rank — Adult Wizard B Rank — Auror A Rank — Elite Wizard (Sirius Black, Bellatrix Lestrange, Remus Lupin) S Rank — Quasi-Legendary Wizard (Severus Snape, Alastor Moody) SS Rank — Legendary Wizard (Albus Dumbledore, Gellert Grindelwald) SSS Rank — Magic King (Morgana le Fay, Solomon) EX Rank — Magic God (Merlin) “So I’m already C Rank…” That actually made perfect sense.
Tom Riddle possessed monstrous magical talent even as a child.
On top of that, my adult soul had fused completely with his own.
If magical power truly originated from the soul, then combining two souls into one would naturally increase the amount of magic I could wield.
I wasn’t as skilled as an adult wizard.
Not even close.
But I possessed the raw magical power of one.
That alone placed me far beyond any ordinary eleven-year-old.
Unfortunately, power without knowledge wasn’t worth much.
I only possessed accidental magic and whatever instincts Tom had naturally developed growing up.
I could move objects, command snakes, intimidate animals, and unconsciously perform small feats of telekinesis, but I knew almost no actual spells.
My greatest treasure at the moment was the Encyclopedia of Mind Arts.
Knowledge.
Knowledge would become power.
As I organized my thoughts, another memory surfaced.
Hogwarts.
I hadn’t received my acceptance letter yet.
That meant there was still time before a certain old wizard arrived at this orphanage.
Albus Dumbledore.
I narrowed my eyes.
“Dumbledore…” He would undoubtedly evaluate me the moment we met.
Fortunately, he wasn’t the sort of person who casually invaded someone’s mind, but I refused to rely on hope.
“If there’s even the slightest chance he tries to read my thoughts…” I looked at the thick magical tome resting inside my system inventory.
“…then mastering Occlumency becomes my highest priority.” A slow smile spread across my face.
My second life had just begun.
This time…
Tom Riddle would not become the Dark Lord because of fate.
He would become something far greater because of choice.