The Light and Darkness Anthology

To whom it may concern,

The Introduction to The Life of Lord Voldemort is meant only as a place where my own voice, unfettered by facts, will be heard. The Dark Lord has permitted me these few paltry pages for myself in exchange for what he desires, which I am more than delighted to give him. He has been anxious for the first publication of his biography and has plied me for a look at the words in my written hand. For him, this will be the perfect edition, not the published work, although he will be proud of the published work as well. I offered to make him another work with my written hand, complete with illustrations, if he lets me introduce myself properly.

Not many people of this world would have done this for him. By all rights, I should never have answered his polite request to the insurgents of Hogwarts, among the ruins that once was our beloved school. It has long since been rebuilt--with a renewed purpose--but the rebellion has been silenced, conditioned, and submersed in the new society. I suppose many of us are wondering why we were against him in the first place by this time. It is not the horror, the bloodbath, the anarchy that we imagined. While there was chaos for a few years, society has accustomed itself to the Dark Lord's transformations of the global community. The result is not distasteful. Although it is not the best environment for those not elite before the war started, e.g. the Muggleborns and the half-bloods, there is a still a place for us. Our magic is still permitted. We still learn. We have access to knowledge and materials. It is not much different than before. From Reign of Terror to a Reign Much Like the Ministry. There are problems and biases, but no stronger than the problems and biases of the previous order.

The names of Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter have turned from people to monuments. Not many retain their memories, not when adjusting to the present is of primary concern. The Dark Lord wisely raised them to their proper status after the new society was established. I think he understood their power, despite his original hatred, and he respected it after their honorable deaths. Their deaths are recorded dutifully in the biography, as objective as I can mention them, one of my best friends and the esteemed Headmaster of Hogwarts and Head of the Order. So many losses, just to come in a full circle. I will always remember them as they were, men only, but men that never deserved to die.

I still bring flowers to the graves of the dead. Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter, of course, but their graves and monuments are always strewn with flowers, letters, keepsakes of a different era. I remember those who others do not, those who had a hand in the other side, those who ought to be remembered but drift in the ether of the forgotten or the unseen. Ronald Weasley, Molly Weasley, Arthur Weasley, Charlie Weasley, Nymphadora Tonks, Rubeus Hagrid, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape, Kingsley Shacklebolt... So many lives, some that I cannot even list here... so many. Maybe one day I will write a tribute to them, just as I have written a tribute to the man who won the war.

A great deal of hatred swells within me when I think of our lord. I do not deny it, and he knows it well enough. And yet now, after learning who he was, searching for him within the illusion of the image he presents, finding a man who is unlike any other man, I find that I can love him despite the hatred, just as he can love me despite his hatred.

I am comfortable with my opinions here in the introduction. I will not be put in containment. I will not be killed for insulting the Dark Lord. He knew who he hired when he brought me into his audience chamber. If you read these words, do not look over your shoulder. You will not be condemned for the words of a former Order member. He has given me license to write what I please within the confines of truthfulness.

I wrote this biography amidst seething emotions, the creation of a new world, a brave new world, and like a good biographer, I had to maintain objectivity. And like a good biographer, I failed miserably. With the man still alive, it is impossible to look at him with a straight eye of indifference. Although I stifled my true voice within the bounds of this text, I did not extract it completely. Not even a Penseive is devoid of feeling, of subjectivity.

There has been consternation in the process of writing this biography. I, myself, am not very liked among witches and wizards who cling to the old community. In my defense, I am still very much a member of the Order. I have not betrayed them when there was nothing left to betray. I do not work for the Dark Lord. I work with him, parallel to him. I am employed by him and yet not beneath him. I am his lover, but not his lady. If all I am given after what I say and do here in my work is his love, I would say this is a worthy cause. I would never insult Harry's memory, but I will not insult the Dark Lord's by matter of principle. Everything written in this biography happened. While opinions of those who I interviewed, those whose letters and diary entries I copied, the Dark Lord, and myself suffuse the story, it is true, true to many people, if not exact and objective.

There will be more editions of this biography. After all, the Dark Lord is still living and still has much of his life to live. There will be other biographers with other biographies. Perhaps even an autobiography if I can teach him to write like an author rather than an analyst. But this is my work, and I remained true to it on every page. I do not apologize for what I have done. I stand proud beside the Dark Lord, knowing that I betrayed no one. I did not bow in submission, nor beg, nor cry or keen before him. I am simply his biographer, and that was what I was meant to be.

Sincerely yours,

Hermione Jane Granger

Official Biographer of the Morsmordre Order