Chapter 17
Harry rubbed at the angry red mark on his face but Fleur slapped his hand down from his face. This had become quite a common pair of actions over the past couple of hours. He would touch the inchy red mark and she would angrily slap his hand away.
"You need to stop, you're going to rip the skin again" she warned him as she waved her wand over the area and found that the magic that had caused the angry red scar was still burrowed into the flesh, pulsing in a manner that rejected all healing magic.
"I can't help it, it itches" countered Harry as he wiggled his body, pulling her body into his as they cuddled by the Black Lake.
"If you will not listen to me, I will leave you alone here to pick at your skin" warned Fleur as she tried to pull away from his grasp.
"I'll be good" conceded Harry, "Just don't go"
His words were said calmly, but there was the underlying message in the words, he was not so certain of his defeat of Tom/Voldemort anymore. Every bout that they had over the past couple of weeks had resulted in either Harry or Tom just getting really lucky in the moment.
But luck runs out and Harry was certain that for one of them, death would claim them and stick this time.
"I find it hard to tell you no" muttered Fleur as she leaned back into Harry and leaned her head back as she planted a kiss on the left side of his jaw, the side that was without the scar.
"Liar" tsk'd Harry, "I specifically remembering asking you if we were done and you said no to me, not once, not twice, but thrice"
Fleur blushed and she elbowed him in his side, "You really shouldn't talk about such things in public, what if people hear you?"
"Hear me? Every second with you, I'm tempted to put on a repeat performance in public and let them watch" said Harry as he wagged his eyes brows, his handsome face looking sort of off by the large red crescent on his right cheek,
But Fleur didn't care about the mark on his face, she thought it made him look all the more rogue and bad ass, it was a sign that Harry was really taking the fight to Voldemort when so many people were hiding away, trying to avoid the fight as much as possible.
Harry looked at his watch and groaned, "We don't have much longer, I have to go soon"
"But what will I do without my cuddle buddy?" asked Fleur
"I don't know, wait for me to return" suggested Harry
"I will, but only if you promise not to take any unneeded risks" said Fleur, "If you feel that the ritual isn't working as it is supposed to, stop it and walk away"
"You got it ma'am" agreed Harry before his magic spread out over them and flared, a soft warm gust of wind fluttered around them as they floated in the air before landing on their feet.
"Goodbye until I see you again" said Harry before he leaned forward and kissed Fleur.
With Tom:
Tom felt the tremble in his torso, before the acidic burn of bile rose up his throat, the nasty taste filling every nook and cranny of his mouth before he couldn't take it anymore and leaned over the toilet bowl and unleashed a mouthful of vomit.
He wheezed as he struggled to breath as he continued to puke. He knew the reason as to why this was happening to him, he had simply pushed this new body of his, too far. Magic was a fickle thing, it was amazing and had so many uses. Tom was in love with the sensation of magic, from the vibrations that it sent down his wand arm, the tingles in his spin, the rumbling as he dug deep into his well of magic.
It was nearly orgasmic to use magic, but there was also a price that had to be paid for using too much magic. In this case, it was being physically sick and weak, puking his stomach out. And he was lucky that this was the only negative side effect, as when he first made his horcruxes, he was left bed ridden for weeks.
This body was not used to wielding his elemental powers, let alone combined might of this world's Voldemort and his own magical power. You do something stupid, you can only expect a stupid result.
Dueling Dumbledore had been one thing, it was something that he was confident that he could do again without issue. Well, up until that final burst of magic, he had been in complete control of the battle. It was only when that annoying Harry Potter had come rushing to the old man's aid that he found himself unable to maintain control.
Speaking of Harry, this was the same brat from his world, but yet at the same time this was not the same Harry Potter that had defeated him in their previously shared world. Sure, he was slightly older with a deeper gallery of magic skill and spells. But his magic had transformed into something more, spells were more potent, his ability to match Tom was closer than he remembered it being, but then again that was expected to come with age.
But Harry's power had grown much more powerful than it should have. It was actually quite concerning, Because if he had managed to exponentially grow in the short year to year and a half that he had been a wandering soul, then just how powerful would he become in another year?
Tom could not afford to wait this out, to plan for a year long war with the brat. And yet, his current situation was all the sign that he could not rush into this as well. If he tried to bulldoze the situation, his body and magic would punish him.
There had to be some middle ground, maybe a supplementary ritual needed to be carried out to help him recover faster. A small set back to catapult him forward, a calculated risk.
With Harry:
Harry stood alone, something that he had quickly gotten used to. At the magical place of Hogwarts, it seems that everyone was a sheep. His best friend Ron, didn't believe him nor did his other best friend Hermione. In fact the only person who believed that Harry didn't put his name into the Goblet of Fire, was Harry (and Barty Crouch Jr, who actually did it, but nobody knows that yet,) So, after having yet another fight with his "dearest" friends, Harry had slipped on his invisibility cloak and simply left Gryffindor Tower.
And that is what leads us to our current scene, Harry Potter alone on the inside edge (this means barely inside the forest) of the Forbidden Forest, just tired of the same three or four reactions that he knows is going to happen almost every year, this time it was the distrust and anger approach, so Harry decided that he need a break and went to the clearing that he knew about. It was there that he laid on the ground, looking up at the sky relaxing and cloud watching, but still in a sour mood.
"You know, I don't know if I will be able to continue on like this, the constant flip flopping of these people. Maybe I will be better off, if after this year, I decide to go somewhere else to finish out my education." stated a somewhat sad Harry to no one in particular. He was all alone here, or at least he thought he was. He didn't know that someone had heard what he said. Someone who knew the ins and outs of the ever changing moods of the public opinion. He didn't know that one Fleur Delacour, had indeed heard him and felt something stir inside of her, that something was a feeling of familiarity.
"You know talking to yourself is the first sign of being a true madman. But, if you want to get a real education, you must come to France." the words had come out of Fleur's mouth before she could stop it. Harry jumps to his feet with his wand in his hands pointed at Fleur before she can react.
"Oh, it is just you," said Harry as he lowered his wand. Fleur frowned at the alertness that Harry showed her. It was almost as if he was used to being put in danger.
"Just me, that's not the reaction that I get from most people" replied Fleur, "what are you doing all alone out here?'
"Trying to clear my head of these thoughts, I've been growing more and more angry at the people in the castle as of late" answered Harry honestly
"They did not take you being made champion all that well" agreed Fleur, "But there is a way to make them pay, there is a way to show that they do not matter to you"
"And you're just gonna tell me how to do that?" asked Harry, "Aren't we truing to both win?"
"I don't believe that it will impact your or my ability to win. You can shut them up by doing everything that they say you can't. Go out there and perform at a level that only the best of the best can and let everything else fall where it falls" said Fleur
"Not bad advice, I will do my best to try to use them" said Harry
Fleur laughed and Harry blushed as even her voice sounded beautiful.
"Oh Harry, a guy willing to listen to what a girl tells him, that's what every girl wants" teased Fleur, "If only you were a couple years older"
Harry's eyes shot open and he screamed in pain as his magic swirled about inside of his body before exploding outwards, shaking the entire building and for the first time in decades, the UK's various news stations were reporting the sight of an actual hurricane, one that was not reported by the coastal cities of America.
"Is this supposed to happen?" asked Remus
"Perhaps, we will know more in a moment" said Dumbledore as he continued to use his magic to tether Harry's body to the world, Sirius stood beside him doing the same thing.
Harry's eyes glowed white as the building continued to shake and he felt the slightest tug on his magic, it pulled him back into his mind before the pull faded and he was left staring at a void of nothing but darkness quickly gave way to the scene of another memory that he was sure wasn't his.
Harry watched as Cedric turned away from him and walked off. The Hufflepuff having blown off his knowledge of what the first task was not expected. Him saying "I don't need any help from Hogwarts' glory hog. I don't need nor; do I want you help. Just worry about yourself Harry, you're the one who needs all the help they can get."
It made his anger spike, but Harry also felt a coldness run through him. If people were going to reject the help that he was offering, then it was of no concern of his, how they did.
'Fleur still doesn't know about the dragons. I wonder how I should approach her, I don't need any more negative feedback in my life. There has to be a way to tell her, but also not get any verbal backlash to my face. I know! I will write a letter.' Thought Harry.
Dear Fleur,
The first task of the TriWizard Tournament is going to be getting past a dragon. The Dragons are nesting mothers and I was led to believe that we must get something from their nest full of eggs. Just wanted to level the playing field, all the other champions have had the same opportunity to learn what the Task is. Just wanted you to know.
HJP
Harry wrote the note and sent it off with Hedwig, who was angry at him for ignoring her, but also just happy to be given something to do.
And just like that, Harry felt that warm feeling inside, he tried to make sure that all of the champions were informed, but now, he had to deal with another issue that needed tackling. How the living fuck was he supposed to get past a dragon? Those things killed people, that's why nobody messed with them.
So, Harry went to the place that Hermione believed had all the answers in the world, the Library.
"So, you're telling me, that literally every book about almost every magical creature was pulled from the library by the Ministry, because they wanted to do a 'fact check'" asked Harry, unable to believe the words that had left Madam Prince's mouth. She just glared at him, and Harry nodded.
"Yeah okay, do you have any suggestions for getting as powerful as possible." Asked the 14-year-old boy who had to fight a dragon.
"Have you tried the magical maturity section?" answered the librarian.
"No, we have one of those?"
"Yes, we do. You see the library here at Hogwarts is magical. The library gives you what you can handle. Someone like Dumbledore can come in here and access any portion of the library that he wants. Not just because he is the Headmaster, as you might think. Professor Dumbledore has the magical strength to do almost any spell and the magical theory knowledge to understand any spell. At that level, there is nothing in this library that he wouldn't be able to perform or understand.
Take your friend with the bushy brown hair, she's as understanding of magical theory as any student I've ever seen, but she lacks the total belief in her magic to truly understand pure magical theory such as Dumbledore. She might be able to find a great number of books in this library, but she'll find more theory book that mention spells in passing then actual spell books. This is because she lacks the raw power to do some of the more advanced spells right now.
Now let's say you were looking for a book, you would more than likely find a much of dueling and battle magic among other spells. Why? Because anyone with a good sense of Magic can fell the slight pulses of magic that flow inside of you. Also, when you get angry things like that newspaper incident from the other day happen. You'd be hard pressed to find any magical theory books in here that aren't at your level already. Honestly, that is why classes are broken up into 50 percent theory and 50 percent actual magic, to provide a balanced education and allow students to develop what they are good at."
"Interesting, how do this work?"
"Magic, is not this finite and nonliving thing, it is alive. Not in the sense of you and I, but more in the fact that it grows. The magic you have, comes from a pool of magic inside of you. The pool had many levels too it. It can be deeper for some, making them able to perform magic for longer. It can be wider for some, allowing them to cast spells more powerfully. The magic in the pool can be thick or thin, allow you to master a certain type of magic with the greatest of ease or make you struggle with a branch to the point that you could give up."
Harry listened to Madam Prince go on about the way that Magic worked and had to say that it sounded interesting.
"How do you know all of this?" he asked
"I want you to go to the bookshelf next to left corner of the restricted section, on the 3rd shelf, directly in the middle of said shelf, you'll find a book called "Magic Explained; Understanding The Way Your Magic Matures" bring it to me, I normally don't let anyone check it out, but I figure you can use it for the next 2 weeks. If anything happens to that book though, you may wish that you could transfer schools."
Harry nodded and run there and grabbed the book and brought it back to Madam Prince. She wrote something down and handed him the book, reminding that he had 14 days to return it or else. And just like that, Harry turned away from the librarian and as his back turned, he missed Moody slipping out from under an invisibility cloak with a twisted smile on his face as he hit Madam Prince with memory charm and release her from his control.
Harry's magic slowly retracted into body and his let out an ear piercing scream before his eyes closed for a moment.
A much older Harry, this one closer to 25 stood outside of a small modest home, the sun was shining and the world felt warm.
Harry watched this different version of himself open the door and shout "Hurry up, we're going late and we both know that you're going to catch an attitude if we're late"
"If you want to deal with Lily, you are more than welcome to" replied a slight older and mature voice than the one that Harry was more familiar with.
Fleur appeared in the door way, she was clearly about 26 or 27, the little girl in her arms was a toddler. Her curly blonde hair was darker than Fleur's but still very much blonde. She was wearing a small blue sundress, a matching large brimmed hat. Her green eyes were a shade lighter than his own.
"What's the issue now Fleur?" asked Harry
"Take at a look at her feet" said Fleur as she lifted the girl in her hands a little higher and the little girl, Lily as Fleur called her, wiggled her shoeless feet.
"Lily, why are you not wearing shoes"
"Don't wanna" chimed the little girl
"But then you can't get ice cream" said Harry
"Don't care" sassed the little girl
Harry rolled his eyes and with a flick of his finger, the little girl was wearing small sandals the same shade of blue as her dress and hat.
"Of course, you cheat and use magic" complained Fleur as she set Lily down and held her hand.
"I thought that you liked my magic fingers" replied Harry.
Fleur slapped him with her hand that wasn't holding onto Lily's hand.
"Do you think that the Ministry is going to be kid friendly today?" asked Harry
"It's your award ceremony, pretty sure they know that you're going to bring your daughter" replied Fleur
Harry stepped in closer to her, lifting Lily up with a flare of his magic and catching her in his right arm as his left arm slipped around Fleur, "Don't be like that, she's our daughter"
Harry pulled Fleur closer and pulled her into a kiss, "Our family is perfect, we worked for this"
Harry opened his eyes and found the shattered ceiling above him, the debris that should have impaled him or at least rained down on him was suspended in the middle of the air.
His eyes flashed green instead of white and the debris all crumbled into fine sand before Harry flared his magic and the sand was suddenly inside of a small hourglass.
"How are you feeling Harry?" asked Dumbledore
"I don't know, this is quite a strange sensation to be honest" admitted Harry, "It feels like I am complete for the first time since I arrived here if that makes any sense to anyone here"
Moody shrugged but Dumbledore nodded as if he was speaking some language that only Harry and Dumbledore understood.
Dumbledore's eyes flashed before they took on an otherworldly look and he gave Harry a once over.
"What do you see in the Mage sight?" asked Sirius, who was able to identify the ability from when he saw Harry do it to himself back when Harry had appeared inside of his house.
"Harry is no longer bound to the cloak or the table" confirmed Dumbledore
Harry let out a sigh of relief, before he reached out his hand and the Elder Wand flew back into his hand and he shivered in delight as the wand sent a wave of warm energy through his body.
Harry waved his wand and his robes appeared on his body once more and he rolled off the table and looked at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore dismissed the rest of the very tired group before he was alone with Harry and Sirius.
"Okay, tell me what you really saw old man" demanded Harry
"You think he's lying about the ritual not working?" asked Sirius
"No, he's just hiding something else" answered Harry
Dumbledore shrugged "You are quite good at observing thing Harry, I will answer your question if you answer my question"
"Quid pro quo" agreed Harry, "You answer my question first and i will answer whatever you want to know"
Dumbledore ran his hand through his beard, "I agree, ask away"
"What did you see with your Mage vision Dumbledore?" asked Harry
"The ritual will no longer bound you to the table or the cloak, however you are bound to this world. You cannot go home, I am sorry Harry" answered Dumbledore.
Sirius frowned as he thought that Harry would take the news rather hard, but it seemed based on the smirk on Harry's face, he was a bit mistaken.
"You seem to be taking this news mighty well Harry" noted Sirius, "Is there something that you want to share with the class that we might not know?"
"Let Dumbledore ask his question before I answer that" said Harry
"I know that you've been dealing with visions of this world's Harry, but when you went from being bound to the ritual to just this world, I was wondering if perhaps you might have seen something else?" asked Dumbledore
"Yes, I was going to ask you about that. Because I had a vision of sorts, something about my future that made me really happy" admitted Harry
"The vision is something that I'm sure is a personal matter, but if you did in fact have a positive vision, let's hope it comes to pass" said Dumbledore.
Chapter 18
Tom swirled his wand, his eyes bouncing from follower to follower. He was admittedly in a very bad mood, mostly because of the hurricane that had rocked the country. He was not clueless as to the source of the storm, no he could taste the magic that filled the air. It was a magic that he knew as well as the magic that raced through his own body.
Harry Potter had summoned a massive well of power that Tom had not seen him pull on before. Not in their world and not in this world. This was troubling for Tom, not because it reached his own endless ocean of power that was slowly being yolked back under his control, but because Harry had been standing up to him before this massive surge of power.
A prolonged battle with the Boy Who Lived was not the best course of action, not if this was how he was going to continue to develop. In the previous years, he had allowed Potter to grow, because he had thought very little of the boy. But now, he knew better than to think that. Potter had been a thorn in his side at every step of the way, He knew it would be better if he simply got rid of the boy.
But Tom knew better than everyone, he enjoyed the battles with Harry Potter. He was only as powerful as he had grown to be because of the manner in which Potter had pushed if you wanted any proof of Tom's belief that Harry had to go because he was worth more trouble than he would be alive, look no further than his magically regrown arm. Now, unless you were just super into painful regrowing bone and skin and muscle, this was not something you wanted to experience. But it did give Tom some ideas for torture should the occasion ever arise once more.
However, all good things must come to an end, his rivalry with a teenage boy was one of them. The question now, was how could he get Harry alone in a one on one duel so that he might properly kill his rival. The Prophecy bound the two of them, there would be no better way than assuring himself of his complete control than to kill Harry Potter.
His eyes landed on Snape, the bitter school teacher, and an idea started to form inside of his head. This Snape was not quite the exact same as the one from his home world, that one had been a slippery double agent who in the end had picked Team Voldemort. But this one? He was an endless well of emotionless masks and bitterly spoken words about his position inside of Hogwarts. And yet, he continued to provide Tom all of the information that he asked for without question.
Loyalty, such a fickle and meaningless word. Snape was probably not very loyal to him in any world, he was loyal to himself and his own causes. Did Snape growing up extremely racist towards Muggles due to a semi-abusive muggle father make him more amendable to Tom's own vision and causes, yes, but Tom was not under the delusion that any of these people in the room were really loyal to him. No, it was simply too late for any of them to quit, they were all known Death Eaters at this point. Except for Bellatrix, she was just fucking insane and that was coming from him, so you know she was really a lost cause for mental health sake.
But enough about hypothetical mental health, back to Snape. Tom needed to get Harry alone, no Dumbledore, no Lily Potter ready to sacrifice herself for him. Nothing but Tom and Harry until the death. And preferably that would be Harry's death because dying went against everything Tom believed in. Of course, Tom's biggest belief in life is that you should live as long as possible. Unless you were Harry Potter, then you should try to be as opposite of Tom as possible and just off yourself now.
Time to see how much Snape really loved living, Tom licked his lips at the thought of Snape betraying him. Oh, the feeling of ripping his spine out of his body would be pure bliss. Snape was a slippery little insect who had managed to avoid his wraith for years, back in his old world and in this new one based on Voldemort's memories, but all things based in luck must come to an end sooner or later.
"Severus" spoke Tom for the first time, his voice catching the attention of the entire room, "I believe that it is time that we use your place in Dumbledore's ear to our advantage"
"If you believe it is time" said Snape neutrally
"I would not have suggested it if I did not deem the time right" hissed Tom and the room grew colder as flakes of snow appeared on the ground, his anger was getting the best of him and he was tempted to just flick his wand and end Snape's worthless life.
"What shall him, my lord?" asked Snape
Tom smiled, but it did not reach his cold eyes. His eyes locked onto Snape and he couldn't pick up a single surface level thought from the pale potions maker. A mind guarded that tightly was holding onto some of the worse or most delicious secrets. The kind that people would probably kill for, but sadly he needed the man for at least another day or so.
"You are going to tell him the truth, tell him everything. Tell him that in 7 days, we are going to launch a series of attacks all over the Magical world and that we will be stretched far and thin trying to cause as much damage as possible. You are also to tell them that I will not be joining in on the chaos as I work on a ritual to summon Harry Potter directly to me at Riddle Manor's graveyard" said Tom
"Are you sure that is wise? They could ignore the distractions and target you?" questioned Snape
"Which is exactly what I want them to do" said Tom
With Harry:
Harry was mediating, floating several feet off the ground, a tight constant gust encircling his body. It was utterly amazing how much better it felt with his complete pool of magic at his control once again. It was as if he had been dying of thirst for day after day until finally he found a waterfall of water. But deep down, Harry knew that it still feel short of what Tom had to pull on.
Luckily, Harry had the Elder Wand and Tom did not, because with the return of what felt like 25 to 30 percent of his magic plus the amplification properties of the Elder Wand, Harry felt that he would be in position to hold his own in any duel. However, there was the question that was worth more than any amount of money, whether wizard or muggle.
What had Tom been doing since their last duel?
There had been no reported sightings of him in the newspapers, there had been no hushed about whispers from the children of death eaters, the Order had not been talking about any battles hidden or public. All of which was not a good sign to Harry or Dumbledore. A silent, unseen Tom was much worse than one that was flexing his magical power and patting himself on the back with every breath that he took.
So, what had Tom been doing? He couldn't have been that hurt by Harry. Harry was sure of that because while he had gotten his couple of good shots in and ripped off Tom's arm, that wasn't enough actual damage to keep Tom down for long. Harry knew that because he once had all the bones in his arm vanished and all that took was an overnight stay in the hospital wing. Of course, it hurt like a bitch and he would never allow that shit to happen to him again, but maybe if he was in desperate need of info from a prisoner, he might use it on them.
He felt a presence nearing his body, that was actually the purpose of the gust of wind, it was filled with his magic and allowed him to have a decent sense of the world without losing his mediation. It went hand in hand with the exercise of the mediation, he was focusing on controlling them magic that was pumping through his body and yet he was also focusing on controlling the magic that he was actively pumping out of his body through the wind as well.
It was like getting arms and legs with one exercise at the gym to put it in muggle terms.
Harry opened his eyes and slowly floated back down to the ground, as the gust of wind that had been surrounding his body started to die down and before he dropped completely to the ground, his legs unfolded and he was standing up.
"Hello, Draco, this is quite the surprise" greeted Harry as he laid eyes on the blond haired Slytherin boy.
"I have come to provide you some information, as agreed upon" said Draco, his tone sounding like he would rather be anywhere else but in front of Harry. Whether it was because of the nasty red pulsing scar on Harry's face from his last bout with Voldemort or because Harry brutally murdered his father in the middle of the streets of Diagon Alley was unknown to Harry nor did he really care.
"Well, don't let me stop you from speaking" said Harry "Spit it out"
"I come with some news from what the Dark Lord is planning, listening and recording runes placed in my dining room. Now that nobody is there, he's taken my home for his own. My mother is said to be dead and you disposed of my father, it was the easy to inscribe them on the bottom of my dining room table" explained Draco
"Very interesting, great work, but I care little for the how you managed to do it and much more about the what you heard" hissed Harry, reminding Draco of Voldemort the few times that the blond had met him, "Now, spit it out if you can do so please"
The word please was said in such a taunting manner that Draco had to bit his lip physically to keep himself from retorting against Harry. This was not the Harry Potter from this world and he knew it. This was a Harry Potter who had a nasty pulsing red crescent scar on his face, the only sign of injury on him after he dueled the Dark Lord to a draw and ripped off his arm.
Also, this version of the messy raven haired asshole had managed to kidnap his mom and keep her hidden away from everyone with ease. Not someone Draco wanted to get on the bad side of, if he was being honest.
"The Dark Lord has a plan coming up where he hopes to lure you into a direct one on one duel to the death. It's going to be taking place at the Riddle's Manor graveyard in about one week. He's going to have Snape tell Dumbledore all of this, but he waited until Snape left to tell other members of the inner circle that he will spending the week setting up wards to keep you contained there and runes to negate your magical ability" said Draco in a hushed tone, his words spoken quickly but Harry still heard them as he hung onto every word.
"So, his plan is to set the stage for a fight that is tilted in his favor and then use that to defeat me, that's actually rather brilliant if I do say so myself" admitted Harry
"How can you say that about a plan to murder you?" asked Draco
"Because if given the chance to lure Tom to his death, I would do the exact same thing" answered Harry
He held up his hand and the shrunken trunk that Draco's mom was living in shot out of the window by his bed and into his hand in a blur of black. He caught it with the skills that had made him such a good Seeker for years before presenting it to Draco.
"Your mom is living inside of this trunk, you can take her with you. You've earned the right to hold onto her. If you want to continue to help me, it will be because you want to" said Harry
"You'd give up your leverage just like that?" questioned Draco
"I can still kill you with a flick of my wand" laughed Harry, "Actually not even that. I could flare my magic and rip all of the air right out of your lungs and you'd drop to the ground dead before you even know what happened"
Draco paled and thanked Harry for the trunk, which he was holding like it was the most fragile egg in the world. Not that Harry blamed him, it was holding his mother after all.
"Malfoy ... Draco, thank you for the information, I know you risked a lot ... mostly your life to get it. So take this warning, don't go home for the Holidays, don't lift your wand for their cause. The same way that I hid your mom, I can hide you. Chose my side and keep living" said Harry
Draco was already starting to walk away from Harry, but when he heard that line, he stop. Turning his head over his shoulder, "The Dark Lord sent my father to his death, claimed to have killed my mother, and wanted me to take on the task of trying and failing to kill you. The tosser will never find aid from me, besides I've already gotten stuck on your side, I'm sure your next duel with the ass will reveal that"
As Harry watched the retreating form of Draco, he was left with a sense of relief that he was not expecting to feel from hearing about the plot to murder him. It was nice to know that Tom was thinking about him, even when he was with his followers, that was the kind of thing that warmed his heart. It was also the kind of thing that made Harry all the more willing to rip out Tom's heart.
Also he had never expected Draco to be of any value, but this was actually a nice pay off for him. He had just expected him to give him nothing as he bullied him into being a respectable responsible member of society.
Harry mused over what to do now that he actually knew that Tom had a plan and it was going to be 'leaked' to the Order by Snape. The half of the plan that would get leaked would be enough for them to make their move as Snape would no doubt give them all the info they needed to prevent the worst of the attacks. But that wasn't what he needed to focus on at the moment, Tom was preparing some kind of warding for him. And if Draco heard correctly, runes that would be able to negate his magical abilities.
That honestly raised the biggest question, where the fuck did Tom manage to learn that?
Had Harry been slacking on his schooling? Dumbledore had taught him as much as he could before he died. What did Harry know about runes, objectively quite a bit but how could he use that to his advantage? That would be the main topic of his research for the week. He would probably, should probably reach out to this Dumbledore to see if he knew anything about the topic of warding and runes. Who was he kidding, this Dumbledore was just as old as the Dumbledore in his world, there was zero doubt in his mind that the ancient wizard was probably an expert on the topic.
One week? That was equally not a lot of time and yet was seemingly too much time for Harry. It didn't feel like enough time to prepare for a potential battle to the death against Tom. But it also felt like too much time, he could drive himself insane trying to think of all the things that could go wrong vs all the things that could go right.
Tom was an evil son of a bitch, but he was smart. Leaking plans with just enough time to do nothing but complain about how you don't have enough time to do anything in response. A cunning plan, however Harry was going to do his best to slip around this upcoming deadline.
He started walking back towards the castle when he stopped, his head tilting to the left and he smiled, "I had no idea that blondes were that attracted to me"
Fleur dropped her disillusion charm and came into the world, appearing about 7 feet to the left of Harry. And based on the soft scowl on her face, she was not happy with him. But then again, who was consistently happy with him anymore?
"I saw that nasty blond connard approach you, what did he tell you?" asked Fleur, her anger at Draco causing her to slip into her native tongue to insult him.
"He was just holding up his end of a deal with me, I had been protecting his mother for him from Tom. I was returning her to him after he provided me some information" answered Harry
"You plan on keeping that info to yourself or do you plan on sharing with me?" questioned Fleur
"Since I killed Papa Malfoy and captured Mama Malfoy, Tom has taken over the Malfoy Manor from Draco as his main base of operations" said Harry, telling Fleur part of what he learned from Draco
"And that is worth handing over his mother?"
Harry paused at her question because it was actually a good one, Harry was not known for his bleeding heart. But at the same time, it was not out of the blue for him to be a little nice.
"It was a gesture of good faith, he had no reason to provide me the info that I was requesting without even a hint of the ability to deliver on my end" countered Harry, "Besides he's not going to be a death eater, I already told him that I would kill him instantly if he tried anything"
Fleur stepped closer to him, her body's warmth felt so good, so tempting for him. He felt goosebumps pop up along his body and he leaned into her presence, the world becoming a little brighter than before. A smile appeared on his face as they now walked shoulder to shoulder, his right hand in her left hand.
"What's with the smile?"
Harry gave a fake gasp of shock, "Am I smiling?"
"Very funny" she said with a huff
"You, I'm smiling because I'm with you. I can't help it" admitted Harry
"You're just saying that" tsk'd Fleur
Harry stopped walking and pulled Fleur into dip, looking down at deep blue beautiful eyes, taking in her surprised face before leaning forward, his lips stopping right before her own.
" I had never felt this way about everyone else before" whispered Harry as he finished his lean in and kissed Fleur.
One Week Later: Riddle's Manor Graveyard
Tom stood there alone in the graveyard, his wand spinning in his hands as he checked on the series of Harry Potter keyed wards and runes, his eyes scanning the surrounding area.
Harry was supposed to be here anymore now, he had sent his followers to carry out their distracting attacks, he wanted nothing more than his duel to the death with Harry Potter to begin now.
This was a rather important event that he wanted to get underway as quickly as possible. Because if he won, he would not have to deal with the threat of Harry Potter anymore and he was sure that the rest of the world would simply give up. On the other hand, let's say that for some reason he lost because he like he tripped and fell breaking his neck, it would be better to get this over with as soon as possible. No point in wasting his time, effort, and life because he was actually mortal now and if his life was going to come to an end, it better be worthwhile.
Tom while waiting started humming to himself before long starting to quietly sing some lyrics to himself. This was the biggest difference between Tom and Voldemort to be honest. Voldemort was less about complete world domination and more about Magic is Might, which was just a thinly veiled racism. Voldemort wanted the pureblood wizards to be on top, no caring about any thing but blood purity, which didn't even make sense to Tom since they were both Half Bloods.
Tom didn't give a single squirt of piss if you were a muggleborn, half blood, vampire, half giant, werewolf, or a pure blood. He just wanted to control the entire world, it had nothing to do with him thinking he was better because of what was in his blood. Now did he think he was better than you because of how more powerful he was than the next person? Yes and if you wanted to change his mind on it, duel him to the death.
"Nobody knows the trouble I've seen. Nobody knows my sorrow. Nobody knows the trouble I've seen" sung Tom to himself as he continued to wait for Harry to appear.
"I had no idea you were so in touch with your muggle side Tom" said the person Tom had been waiting on, appearing in the middle of the graveyard, dressed in normal day to day plain black robes without a care in the world. His hair was messy as if he had just woken up, his eyes were dull, lifeless green orbs, the angry pulsing red scar on his face was still there, Harry Potter had arrived right on time to die at his hands, just went Tom was starting to get bored too.
"I wouldn't say that I am in touch with my muggle side, but I can appreciate a catchy little tune as much as next person. That particular one just so happens to be one that I heard in the muggle world" answered Tom, "I really appreciate you coming here so promptly too, I was worried Snape let on that this was a trap, that I was bringing you here to face me alone, without the safety net of Dumbledore. I mean, you really are brave Harry, walking to face certain death without fear, something better men than you would be scared to do"
"Try not to pat yourself on the back too hard Tom, you wouldn't want to break it reaching" sassed Harry as his eyes light up with amusement, "How is the arm?"
"The same as the old one, little more stiff around the elbow to be honest" answered Tom
"Ah, haven't had the chance to break it in with the latest issue of Penthouse huh?" tsk'd Harry, "I heard Michelle Collins was on the cover for this month's issue. Really missing out Tom"
(A/N: November 1995 issue if anyone is really curious)
Tom allowed a crackle of laughter to leave his mouth, a moment of enjoyment between two bitter rivals as their relationship came to an end.
"I am going to miss this Harry, you've got this annoying little charm about you that I just can't help but like. But all good things must come to an end or so they say, I wouldn't know" said Tom
"Is that why your life is absolute shite? Because it just keeps on going and going and going, yet never improves" retorted Harry as he drew his wand
"You little annoying shit, I take back the charming comment" snarled Tom as he kept his wand pointed at the ground, his eyes locked onto Harry's wand, He looked completely calm even as he continued not to raise his own wand in reaction to Harry.
"You talk way too much Tom, I would say that I'm going to miss you, but I am pretty my mom wouldn't want me to lie" said Harry as he leveled his wand as if he was about to cast a spell.
The tip of his wand glowed bright blue but the spell never left his wand, his magic fizzling out as it failed to maintain the shape and control needed to be a spell.
"What the fuck" whispered Harry as he looked at the Elder Wand in surprise before Tom threw his head back and laughed with giggly excitement like a common school girl.
"Why do you think that you are really here Harry? Do you think I would simply bring you here for an duel without some level of reassure for myself?" asked Tom, "Things end for you tonight, I have taken extra measures to assure my victory and you willingly walked into my trap"
Harry frowned "What did you do?"
"I have Anti-Portkey and Anti-Apparation wards set over the graveyard keyed onto your magical signature, you cannot escape. As for the duel, it is little more than farce, you never were and never will get a single spell off against me. The entire graveyard is covered in runes to prevent anyone who is not me from casting a spell, it is actively draining the magic of any spell attempted to being cast. You willing walked into here, without ever knowing that you stood no chance of winning" explained Tom with a look of pure glee on his face
"Oh no, I have been defeated" said Harry with a dry tone
Tom stopped laughing and looked at Harry, noticing the lack of concern on his face for the first time, his relaxed body language, his wand still extended and the amusement in his eyes, the tone of his voice.
"Usually people are not this calm in the face of death" said Tom, "Perhaps you've gone completely full circle and have come to calm acceptance that you are going to die"
Harry shrugged, "Maybe I have something up my sleeve to counter this, you never know Tom, I am rather resourceful myself"
Tom scoffed dismissively "You cannot bluff your way out of this one Harry like you have so many times in the past. The plan was perfect this time around, Dumbledore is not coming to your rescue now or ever again"
"I mean you saw those last couple of fights right, I've been saving him" muttered Harry and they both shared a short couple of chuckles.
"Ok, I'm going to kill you now" said Tom as he finally raised his wands and pointed it at Harry, "Any last words?"
"More of a last action really" said Harry as he tugged on the necklace he was wearing, it was a small blue orb that was filled with a moving series of swirling lines, but nothing overly special or expensive.
"Do you want me to give this to a former or something?" asked Tom, because believe it or not, he was quite respectful and kind of nice provided you absolutely kissed his ass
"Or something" said Harry as he slammed it down on the ground and the orb shattered before unleashing a massive wave of magic that shattered the warding over the graveyard and overloaded all of the runes.
Tom was blasted off his feet from the backlash as it was his magic that powered both and he hissed as Harry waved his wand and he felt new warding appear over the graveyard and he knew that he was now trapped.
"You knew" hissed Tom, "But how? Snape was not part of the meeting where I revealed the secret twist of my plan"
"Your inner circle is more open than you think Tom" spat Harry, "But it doesn't matter much as you thought that I was trapped in here with you. No, you snake face bastard, it is you who is stuck in here with me, Now climb onto your feet and die like a the sick parody of a man that you pretend to be"
Tom slowly rose to his feet, his eyes locked onto Harry and he crackled once again, "You pulled a trick on me while letting me think that I was the one pulling the trick. There truly is nobody else who could have been my equal besides you. How did you do it?"
Harry eyed the wand in Tom's hand, "I knew about the wards and the runes for about a week and while I thought about how to get around them, I realized that runes and wards need to be powered. The warding was a little bit more tricky because one of them is more like a net keeping things in while the other is like a dome keeping things out. The runes are like all other runes, they can simply be overloaded with enough magic, Knowing the runes you were going to use were designed to absorb magic, I figured they would have a cap of around what you could produce yourself. So I drew up runes to simply store as much magic as possible and dumped day after day into it, knowing that a magical explosion would tear down the wards and overload the runes at the same time"
Tom nodded "A plan so simply, yet effective. I don't think I could think of something better suited for the situation myself. But we did not come here to talk about how brilliant ours plans are, now did we?"
Harry gave a small nod "Correct, we came to end this here and now tonight, let's do this Tom"
"Let's do this Harry" said Tom, "A bow for the respect of a worthy opponent. I refuse to cheap shot you and I know you wouldn't do the same to me"
Harry licked his lips but ultimately agreed, "No, I wouldn't attack during a moment like that, I may not like you but I do have a healthy level of respect for your ability. Maybe half a decade of battling someone does that to you. So, a bow of respect and then our duel to the death"
"On three" agreed Tom and Harry nodded.
"One" echoed both of them
"Two" Harry gripped his wand preparing for everything that might come, the surprise attack that Tom swore wouldn't come, yet it never did come. Neither Tom or him wanted to end this in such a manner.
"Three" they said together and Tom could feel the begging of his magic to unleash a volley of spells at this moment, to try and overwhelm Harry before he had a chance to cast a single spell.
They both bowed until they were at a right angle before rising up at the same time, Tom gestured with his off hand for Harry to raise his wand, Harry doing the same.
Both of their wands were raised and a moment of silence passed over them, a final moment of peace before Harry slashed his wand sending an angry purple at Tom and Tom blasted out a Killing Curse at Harry.
The Purple Spell and the Green Killing Curse slammed into each other in the middle and the graveyard shook from the force of the two spells before exploding in a massive gust of wind, that Harry killed with a flare of magic.
As the wind died down, Tom flared his own magic and the sky filled with clouds in an instant before the cold flakes of fresh snow started to fall immediately after. The air grew warmer around Harry's body as he controlled the wind. No more words were spoken as they stood across from each, a final duel.