TITLE: Why Voldemort Didn't Like People Saying His Name
FIRST PUBLISHED: May 25, 2012
SUMMARY: They thought it was because having the Wizarding World fear to say his name showed how great he was. None of them knew how wrong they were...
oOo
Because I heard somewhere that Voldemort was originally supposed to be pronounced with a silent T, before the movies came out.
—
Tom Riddle had had a great idea. "Voldemort," he said, tasting the words for the first time. It was an anagram of his full name. "Vol-d-mor." He liked the sound of it.
Now he just had to get people to call him that.
…
"Voldemort," the Death Eater began.
Lord Voldemort ground his teeth. "It's Vol-d-mor," he said.
The Death Eater paused. He thought. He opened his mouth. "Vold-e-mort?"
"No!" Voldemort shouted. That wasn't all he shouted. A green flash came out of his wand.
The Death Eater said nothing.
"That," he said, " is better."
…
"Voldemort, I was wondering—" someone asked.
Everyone liked hearing him talk about his ideas. This was before he went mad and decided the best way to take over the world was to just kill everyone.
"Yes?" he ground out, wincing at the mispronunciation of his name.
The person rambled on, and every time she said his name, his fists clenched a little more. Finally he interrupted. "Vol-d-mor," he said.
"What?" the woman broke her stride.
"My name," he said. "You pronounce it with a silent T."
"Oh," she said. "You do?"
Voldemort groaned. Why had he thought taking this name had been a good idea?
…
The Death Eater started to speak. "Vol-Er, um, My Lord?"
"What?" Voldemort asked sharply, twirling his wand and staring at it intently. The windows were shut tight and the whole room was bathed in gloom.
The Death Eater came out of the room an hour later.
"He didn't kill you?" the others asked.
"Well, I just called him My Lord. He seemed to like that."
…
Lord Voldemort was a very Dark wizard. Everyone agreed on that. He would kill you without a second thought.
"He Who Must Not Be Named," they said. "He Who Must Not Be Named." If anyone said the word "Voldemort," they were shushed quietly, while everyone looked around, dreading the appearance of You Know Who. He didn't take kindly to people saying his name.
…
The Death Eaters were on an errand for the Dark Lord. "It was easier," they said. "Just don't say his name at all, then you can't be killed for saying it the wrong way." The Death Eaters valued their self-preservation highly.
He was in Albania. He was not happy. Well, he was a shadow. He'd been here for eleven years; that would drive anyone mad, even if they weren't mad already. He'd never been able to find anyone who he could twist to his bidding. No one who was worthy. He was very, very, angry. Surely some of his loyal Death-Eaters would have come looking for him?
He noticed a man walking down the path into the forest, reading a large book and muttering to himself.
Lord Voldemort drifted closer.
The man didn't notice.
"Hello?" Voldemort asked.
The man looked around, before focusing on the shadow. "Who are you?" he asked.
"I'm the one Harry Potter destroyed," the shadow answered. "I want to kill him. I will have my revenge!"
"Oh!" the man said. "So you're Lord Voldemort!"
"Say that again?" the shadow asked in surprise.
"Vol-d-mor. Lord Voldemort."
The shadow floated around. "You know," he said. "You're the first person to have pronounced my name right. Ever."
"Really?" the man asked in surprise.
"Yes!" the shadow said, flaring up. "It's intolerable!" It subsided back into itself.
"So what's your name?" it asked.
"Quirrel," said the man. "I work at Hogwarts."
"Really?" the shadow asked with interest. "Say, Quirrel, will you do something for me?"
"Sure," said Quirrel, with a shrug. "Whatever you want."
…
The End