What if Tom Riddle escaped the diary in COS?

[Nightcrawler]

Before he became Lord Voldermort, sixteen year old Tom Riddle left a memory of himself in a diary. As we all know, Voldermort fell from power, Luccius Malfoy gave Harry the diary with Tom, Harry lost the diary, Ginny found it and Tom began to suck the life out of Ginny in the hopes of becoming powerful enough to escape the diary, and become more than a mere memory. In Chamber of Secrets, Harry discovered what Tom was up to and then destroyed the diary and thus destroyed the memory of Tom.

But what would have happened if Tom escaped and made his way into the real world? How would this affect the course of events in the HP universe?

[choki]

Very interesting...

Tom would be in a healthy state than Voldemort himself. But would he command his followers? Unless Tom's power matches to his full strength, otherwise he would be rather easy to defeat by Dumbledore. Killing Tom doesn't mean killing Voldemort because at the time, there are two same yet different people. That means killing Tom doesn't require Harry. The prophecy was about Voldemort not Tom Riddle.

[emus]

but in a way Tom riddle is also voldermort so it may fufil the prophecy. but then again the prophecy called for the Dark Lord and at that time Tom Riddle wasnt was he?

[Phinea Rogue]

Well, I think that Voldemort would have used his (Riddle's) body at that time since he had none and was quite powerless. And this way it would possibly be easier for him to come to his full powers again.

[Nightcrawler]

I hope nobody minds me posting in this old topic, but I seem to recall somebody asking JKR this question and she refused to answer saying that it would affect the course of events in sixth book quite a bit. Then again, my memory can be a bit fuzzy so perhaps I'm just imagining this.

Nonetheless, I think that if Tom Riddle escaped, the first thing he would do would be to try and find his future self, Voldermort. Remember, the only things Tom Riddle knew about his future self were what Ginny told him. I'm sure Tom didn't ask as many questions as he would have liked to, as that may have aroused Ginny's suspicion.

One has to wonder why Lucious chose to give Harry the diary. Clearly he had something in mind for Tom once he escaped.

Perhaps Lucius would have mentored Tom and taught him a lot of dark magic. In this sense Lucius would be like a father figure to Tom. I wonder how Draco would react to this. Would he be jelous? Initially he wanted to find out who the heir to Slytherin was so that he could help him. Perhaps Tom (being a younger Voldermort) would bridge the gap between the older Death Eaters and the young hopefulls, Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Pansy etc. Being a teen himself, he would be much more capable of "corrupting" his peers.

I think that eventually, Lucious would have taken Tom to meet the "real" Voldermort. At that time, Voldermort was still a disembodied spirit hiding in the woods. This would make finding Voldermort quite difficult without Wormtail around. Perhaps Lucious could use Tom as a sort of compas? Tom and Voldermort might have an ability to be drawn to one another.

Phinea suggested that Voldermort might possess Tom. I see this a quite probable. Tom would gain knowlege and power well ahead of his years, and Voldermort would have a young, strong body capable of performing magic.

If this happened, I don't think it would be anything like the possesion of Quirrel, with Quirrel mostly in control and Voldermort in the back of his head. Quirrel and Voldermort have two different minds, two different souls. Even though they shared the same body, they were two seperate individuals.

Tom and Voldermort on the other hand, have the same mind, the same soul. If Voldermort's spirit were to enter Tom's body, I imagine that they would truly become one.

Lucious would then be greatly rewarded. He restored Voldermort's body, and perhaps his fatherly influence on Tom would give Voldermort a newfound respect for Lucious. Remember, he never had a father figure in his life before.

The only possible downside for Voldermort would be that Harry's blood was not used for his resurection. Therefore, the love spell that Lily cast over Harry would still be effective against him. Nonetheless, his chance to return to power would begin three years sooner, so I'm sure he would be happy about that.