As all good stories begin, I was high.

It occured to me that in almost every fanfic, Voldemort's rebirth takes place during Goblet of Fire in the graveyard. It's strange that I can't recall any stories in which Voldemort wasn't reborn from the graveyard. But more than that, I've never heard of a story in which Voldemort isn't given a body.

So, here's the challenge: Write a story where Voldemort exists only in spirit form, but can possess others almost at will and still leads a group of Death Eaters. Perhaps he's been on the verge of success but, foiled by whatever plot point, has resorted to either possessing wizards off the street or just manipulating the Death Eaters into doing his bidding.

This doesn't mean the dude can't be a terrible villain either--I'd prefer to see a wraith like Voldemort ala Philosopher's Stone, and the possessions would look a lot like the back of Quirrel's head: hideous, monsterous, and debilitating to the person being possessed. Maybe he can influence minds much in the same way a dementor does (but to a lesser extent, surely).

This could give Harry more time to become the man he needs to be, reshaping the strategy of Voldemort's plans--maybe he tries to possess Fudge and succeeds, or in a complete change of canon, fails and is set back by the Ministry's awareness.

In my opinion, there are plenty of interesting and new areas that writers can veer off into by using this simple plot device: Don't give Voldemort a rebirth.

The Rules:

Harry is given time to progress and becomes more active against Voldemort. I'd prefer to see him become a member of the Order of the Phoenix before he's actually called to battle. A Horcrux hunt can or can not take place--it doesn't really matter to me. In other words, Harry has graduated Hogwarts.

Training: Believeable. I don't expect him to be Dumbledore's apprentice (although that would be pretty kick ass) or anything, but maybe he does join the Auror program. I'd like to see him strong, but believeably so.

Voldemort: He's been in spirit form for years. He's insane. I know it's become cliche now, but think of the Joker from the Dark Knight. Insane for the sake of being insane, with only a Pureblooded "front" rather than any real belief in his cause. The best villains are cruel for no reason whatsoever--the audience wants to see the hero prevail.

The focus is on Harry here, but I'd like to see a lot of Voldemort in it. Of course, Harry is more important and the story reveals around him, so if you chose to make Voldemort a figure in the background and only bring him forth for the battles, that would be illmatic.

TL;DR

 

This is a very interesting challenge indeed.

Possible plot whole: Why didn't he to this after the Godric's Hollow incident? Why wait in Albania all this time?

Something needs to cause Voldemort to embrace his spiritual heritage, for this plot to work. Has his sanity decreased over time and has he become stronger somehow? Why doesn't he seek a body, when canon tells us directly that it's possible to do it through multiple means? Could be explained by the DoM being aware of his existence, and somehow foiling his plots.

The idea definitely rocks, let the brainstorming begin!

 

Possible means of failure for the graveyard rebirth...

In the 15 years Voldemort spent wandering around the hinterlands of Europe, a Muggle land developer seizes the Riddle estate on failure to pay taxes. Said developer then relocates the graveyard, quite a bit closer to the manor house...but unlike Poltergeist, the bones from the graveyard were not left behind, but hauled off to some dump somewhere...probably even out to sea (under cover of night, of course).

This serves a double purpose...not only preventing an easy method of body 'generation' but also fuels a deeper slide into insanity...

 

I like this idea, and (with permission and time permitting) would like to incorporate this into a rewrite of my story. (It's horrible, I know this and a few of my readers have had the balls to say this, but do you know this?)

One other reason for the 'Graveyard Rebirth' to have failed, is because Wormtail (or Barty Jr.) fucked up somewhere. Perhaps "flesh of the servant" was supposed to be quite literal, and ONLY flesh (skin, maybe some muscle, but NO BONE). Just a few ideas that are now bouncing off the insides of my (otherwise empty) head.

 

Biggest problem with me is that this isn't a challenge, it's a plot device and a vehicle to carry your plot along. This might give Harry the chance he needs to become more powerful, but at the same time you have to think of it in different terms than you are.

The first scene of the story is your entire challenge: Voldemort doesn't get a body ... then what? You have the entire story down to Voldemort's demise left to go and the only thing you have written down is maybe three thousand words. This doesn't work for a story challenge, Averis, though it is an interesting plot idea.

@Memory King: Remember, mate, Voldemort was weak and unable to even possess rats and snakes during his early days in Albania. You can go back to his speech during his rebirth and check. He was barely strong enough to possess Quirrel and needed fresh amounts of Unicorn blood to sustain himself in the body. He didn't have the mental faculties to plan out an algebra problem, much less an evil plot to kill Harry Potter, Dumbledore, and the Muggle World.

All around, you should probably take another challenge that starts at the rebirth and change it to fit this plot device.

 

To be honest 90% of the challenges in here are just bunnies.

I posted a full plot outline and no one even responded ;_;.

 

Okay, so it's not a challenge. Still, I think most authors prefer to make it their own, and it's kind of hard to do when you're telling them what they can and can not do. Besides, they can always break the rules I make. It's not like I want credit for this, I just want to see it get done, and done properly.