This lines up perfectly with the worries Quirrel expresses to Harry about a possible war between Muggles and wizards, as well as his attempts to unify magical Britain. He gave up being Monroe when he saw Britain wouldn’t unify behind him, and gave up (it’s possible he was actually destroyed by Harry but it seems pretty sketchy to me) being Voldemort because he couldn’t unify it by force either. Sort of a reverse of Watchmen. The trumped up threat is in order to prepare Wizards for a much larger threat in the end.
This lines up perfectly with the worries Quirrel expresses to Harry about a possible war between Muggles and wizards, as well as his attempts to unify magical Britain. He gave up being Monroe when he saw Britain wouldn’t unify behind him, and gave up (it’s possible he was actually destroyed by Harry but it seems pretty sketchy to me) being Voldemort because he couldn’t unify it by force either. Sort of a reverse of Watchmen. The trumped up threat is in order to prepare Wizards for a much larger threat in the end.