Chapter 19
Tom couldn't help the cold disappointed frown that found itself on his face, it was irresistible. How else was he to react to bad news, these little shites at the orphanage had gone through his stuff, and his precious little trinkets were taken from him. He didn't have much, to begin with, he was the least-liked child in the orphanage and thus he was the last one to receive anything from them.
The windows were covered in frost, matching his attitude as he turned around and marched from his room. The lone bright spot of being so unliked by the masses. The ground shook as he marched through the halls as he owned them, the icy anger that was coiling like a snake in his stomach was begging to be unleashed. Tom found them in the small garden outside, they had his things still in their greedy little hands.
They would all be feeling pain very shortly
PAIN!
PAIN!
Tom felt pain spasm through his body as Harry and he traded spells, magic filling the air like fireworks during the American Independence Day.
His wand was shaking in his hand, the wood humming as his magic continued to pour through it, channeling his endless source of magical might and anger. His tongue slipped out between his lips and he could taste the magic in the air, the nasty ill will harbored between the two of them was as tasty as any treatment that he could ever come across.
His chest heaved with effort as he struggled to suck in the air needed to continue thinking and moving as he currently was. It was dangerous to think of doing anything other than casting magic, he had to manually remind himself to breathe. The ground was ripped up in front of him, just in time to be shredded by a massive series of bolts of lightning that Tom could feel arc around his body, searching for a victim other than the ground.
The nasty coppery taste of blood filled his mouth as he bit down on his tongue when a spare bolt glanced off of his back and he spasmed for a second, that was all it took for a cutting curse to slice through his torso, cutting him from his left shoulder diagonally to his right hip. The spray of blood ruined his robes much to his displeasure. Lucius Malfoy had died to pay for these, Potter was rather inconsiderate like that though.
His skin burned as it slowly melted back together, his bleeding lasting only a couple of seconds. The result of a ritual made using salamander's blood as a base. Lizard regrew tails that had been ripped off and while Tom was not all that interested in seeing if he could regrow an arm without the use of potions and healing but he did like the idea of constantly healing.
The cut healed in time for him to be blasted off his feet, his back slamming painfully into a headstone that sent several cracks rippling up and down his spine. The audible popping sound told him that he was lucky that he started healing the moment he was hit as it sounded as painful as it had felt.
Snow wrapped around his body, absorbing the blast of fire that threatened to wash over his downed form. Tom hissed as the snow barely slowed down the flames and he felt the twisted perverted feeling of magic start to flow through the magic he blasted it away before it could turn into fiendfyre, his magic expanding in a bubble around his form as he glared at Harry's panting form.
It seemed that if given the choice between breathing or casting spells to kill the other, Harry was just like him. He could breathe when his enemy lay dead at his feet. The two of them were more alike than they would ever really care to admit to each other in terms of personality, but that was nothing compared to their will. Harry was as mentally strong as Tom had ever been and probably would ever become.
But that was not going to be what decided this fight today, no it would come down to more than simply who was mentally tougher. Dumbledore, the old crazy bastard, was as mentally tough as anyone he had ever faced and yet the old man had never once gotten the best of him.
Tom slashed his wand at Harry, who rolled away to avoid the dark orange arc of his skin peeling curse. But Tom had only used that spell because of the wide area that it filled, it was never meant to hit Harry. Gathering himself and rising back to his feet, Tom scanned the room before he heard the air whistle before a golden arrow punched its way through his right knee.
Snarling, Tom was forced to his knees as the arrow removed his ability to stand. Lightning split the sky before a booming thunderclap filled Tom's ears before lightning rained down on his form.
He could taste the power behind the spell before it ever made contact with his body. And when it did hit, it was beyond anything that he had ever felt since the spell had rebounded on him and ripped his soul from his body that one eventful Halloween long ago.
His screams of pain filled the air before he managed to twist the world around him and his magic responded to his demand as he apparated away. but he was unable to get far as the wards were like a giant fishing net over the graveyard and he was unable to punch his way through them while not being completely focused. Bouncing off the wards was painful for him.
But it did the correct job of getting him away from the spells that Harry had unleashed on him in that flurry. Crashing back to the ground, Tom hissed as the rough skidding caused some of his skin to peel off even through the thick layers of his robes. He could feel the soft slow oozing of blood trickling down his forearms and back, the slow-burning of magical healing sluggishly trying to work on his body.
Harry Potter was faster than him, but his spells were not packing the kind of knock-out power that he knew his spells carried. They had grown more powerful than they had been in their world, but it was to be expected. Maybe not to this level, but then again Harry had been marked as his equal. It would make sense for him to grow to a level that he would be a threat to him.
Magic filled the air as Harry searched for him, both of them were being overly cautious. But for very different reasons of course. Tom was at his very core, a coward. He liked the idea of being the most powerful, the most feared, the unchallenged leader because it put him in a position where nobody could contest him or his place in the world. But he was also the type to make Horcruxes because he didn't want to die. He was the type to attack a baby because he was scared that another him was on the way, He was the type to send his followers to do his bidding rather than do anything himself.
Because at his core, he was a coward. He was scared of dying, scared of failure, scared that he would be rejected by the world. Hence why he had to rebuild the world in his vision, one where he could never have to die or be rejected. And taking over this world's Voldemort body did not alleviate those fears, they only made them worse. Because if he could die once, what was to stop him from dying once more?
Harry was a different reason, he was not afraid of dying. He had technically done it back in his old world. Sure, he didn't have any Horcrux in his forehead to bite the dust for him again, but he was not afraid of dying. No, dying was a natural part of life. Or that was what Dumbledore always told him.
No, he was not afraid to die. He would prefer to live the rest of his life, but things happen. He was cautious because he wasn't buying this little running act from Tom. Tom had never been much of a runner in the past, so why the sudden change in strategy?
"Riddle me this Tom," said Harry in the most sarcastic manner possible "Who has two thumbs and is a fucking wanker?"
Tom did not answer, something Harry didn't really appreciate. This was not the time for hide and seek, this was supposed to be a duel to the death. Harry felt the pull of air before diving to the side, rolling and bouncing back to his feet as a sword of wind sliced through where he had been standing, his wand slashed in the direction that he felt the magic come from, but it was already too late. Tom had slivered away from that spot and due to both of them throwing magic around, Harry wasn't able to get any read on his location using the feeling of his magic.
Tom's magic was cold, sharp, and felt dirty, It was like picking up something only to realize it was covered in syrup, It was a unique sensation, but Harry couldn't feel his foul magic at the moment. Well to be correct, Harry couldn't feel the foul magic leaking out of that reanimated corpse of a body. Tom's magic was blanketing most of the graveyard and it made the angry red scar on his face pulse painfully.
The ground shook and Harry leaned against a tombstone to steady his balance, causing him to frown as he struggled to remain upright before a massive snake exploded out from underneath his feet and sent him flying through the air wildly, his ability to control wind not helping him as the snake use its thick body to smack him downwards.
His head cracked against a tombstone and Harry felt the warm spray of blood flowing freely down the side of his head, his vision fading in and out as he felt vomit fill his mouth. The air grew even colder and he felt the tugging of his mind as a swarm of hooded figures descended on his fallen body.
The train was getting slower and slower. As the noise of the pistons fell away, the wind and rain sounded louder than ever against the windows. Harry, had Daphne switch with him, got up to look into the corridor. All along the carriage, heads were sticking curiously out of their compartments.
The train came to a stop with a jolt, and distant thuds and bangs told them that luggage had fallen out of the racks. Then, without warning, all the lamps went out and they were plunged into total darkness.
Having decided that whatever was going on, Harry closed the door and sat back down next to Daphne.
"Shouldn't we go check to see what is wrong?" asked Hermione, only to have Daphne and Harry give her a look.
"Hermione this is not an 'Us' problem, this is a school problem. Let them figure it out." Said Harry, who was 100 percent to mind his own business. Something Daphne was also more than willing go along with not getting involved, it was the Slytherin thing to do.
Hermione growing tired of the darkness in the compartment, cast a quick Lumos with her wand. Suddenly, the door slid slowly open without anyone in the compartment having even reached for the door.
Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the pure white light that was coming out of the end of Hermione's wand, was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. Harry's eyes darted downward, and what he saw made his stomach contract. There was a hand protruding from the cloak and it was glistening, grayish, slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water, it was downright zombie-ish
But it was visible only for a split second. As though the creature beneath the cloak sensed Harry's gaze, the hand was suddenly with drawn into the folds of its black cloak.
And then the thing beneath the hood, whatever it was, drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it were trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings.
An intense cold swept over them all. Harry felt his own breath catch in his chest. The cold went deeper than his skin. It was inside his chest, it was inside his very heart. . . .
Harry's eyes rolled up into his head. He couldn't see. He was drowning in cold. There was a rushing in his ears as though of water. He was being dragged downward, the roaring growing louder. And then, from far away, he heard screaming, terrible, terrified, pleading screams.
"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"
"Stand aside, you silly girl . . . stand aside, NOW!"
"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead" cried out the female voice before she pleaded one last time "Not Harry! Please . . . have mercy . . . have mercy. . . ."
The Mirror of Erised flashed through Harry's mind and he could suddenly imagine the woman with the red hair and the same green eyes of his, saying these words. Pleading with a person who would kill him, but who?
Harry blinked and all he could see in the darkness of his lack of vision was a pair of glowing angry red eyes. Lord Voldemort has no mercy you silly girl
When he opened his eyes, they matched the ones he had seen during his blink. His wand, already in hand, raised and Harry glared at the sorrow inducing creature who had entered the cabin and repeated the words that were being whispered in his head.
"Expecto Patronum" cried out Harry and a blob of white mist sprung from the end of his wand and slammed the dementor back. As is landed in the hallway, a much more powerful Patronus came speeding down the hallway and slammed into it, causing it to flee the train. A man came strolling down the hall and stopped at the compartment that Harry and his associates were in.
"You lot okay, Dementors can be a bit of nasty work if you don't know how to defend yourself." Said the man, who was dressed in slightly subpar clothing, as if they were from a thrift shop.
Harry's eyes shot open and he roared "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
His power Stag Patronus exploded out of the end of his wand, charging right at the swarm of dementors, running them out of the graveyard. The effort that it took was more than he was able to give at the moment and he dropped to his hands and knees as bile erupted from his mouth.
An arcing red spell crashed into his body and he screamed as the Cruciatus curse sent him flopping to the ground in pain. The spell continued until Tom was empty on magic as well, but unlike Harry, Tom had taken measures to ensure his speedy recovery and quickly hit Harry with a binding spell, wrapping him up in thick ropes.
Tom would hate to admit it, but he was running on empty as well. He didn't have it in him to muster the magic for a Killing curse at the moment. He had thought about it but the tip of his wand had failed to turn green, thus he knew it was better to take a moment and regather on the defeated Potter boy.
"What's wrong Tommy?" taunted Harry, "Having performance issues?"
Tom sneered "Cute Potter, you kiss your mother with that mouth?"
Harry chuckled in response, "No but I let your mom act like an Australian and go down under"
Tom spat on the ground in a mixture of anger and disgust. He was not the most sexually experienced being in the world, but he had a slice of fun in his youth. During his 5th through 7th years at Hogwarts, he had taken to seducing women for favors. It had been a rather sticky chore that he had used to blackmail several pureblooded families on his rise to power.
He did something similar during his muggle raids when he first started, sleeping with muggles as a flex of his power over them. The Imperio curse was used to make their husbands watch and cheer as he and his men took whatever they wanted.
Tom had never found pleasure in the events that others did if he was being honest. It was a detestable act, the feeling of skin on skin was sickening to him and the expelling of bodily fluids was disgusting to him.
Tom could feel the tiny slivers of magic flowing through his body, less than a minute before he would be able to cast the final curse on Harry Potter and rid himself of the annoyance that had been stuck in his side for the last several years.
The snow stopped falling and Tom glanced around as a blast of warm wind exploded out of Harry's body, slicing through the ropes that bound him. This really didn't make any sense to him. Harry had less magic than he did and yet he was still able to summon this amount to free himself. Tom eyed the wand that was pointed at him in Harry's hand, it looked exactly like the one that Harry had wielded in their shared home world.
But Tom was sure that he had seen that wand somewhere else, wielded by someone else. It looked much like the wand that Dumbledore had used back in their world and in this world. Maybe it was some tradition for mages to pass down their wands to their pupils, but he didn't believe that this Dumbledore and his Harry were that close. No, the wand was something else, it was important enough that Harry had wanted it in this world.
Tom was rested enough that his magic summoned snow once more, his body delighting in the cold and his magic surged back into his body faster as it always did in the cold weather.
"The wand is something that you seem quite attached to" noted Tom as he loosely held his own wand and pointed at Harry, the Potter boy was dangerous enough for him to take him seriously as a threat.
"You could say that" replied Harry
"You took it from Dumbledore in both this world and the last one," said Tom
"Quite the riddle for you to solve huh," said Harry with a wag of his eyebrow
"Perhaps the wand is the key to your success" suggested Tom, his eyes locked on to the dark wood of the wand
"I never knew that you were the kind to compare wands, Tom, maybe that is why there is no heir of Slytherin in our generation," said Harry with a crinkle of his nose.
Tom coughed in surprise, "What did you say?"
"Aye there is no shame in being a Beater, some of us like to be keepers and play with the rings and hoops. Some of us, like yourself, are more suited to play and wield bats than anything" said Harry
Tom fired off a green killing curse, but Harry blocked it with a piece of tombstone before banishing the dust into Tom's face.
"You dare" snarled Tom
"Listen here you poof, I dare do almost anything but bat for the other team like you," said Harry as he shot off a quick stunner and a widely cast bombard spell that sent the ground under Tom's feet being blasted apart.
But Harry watched as Tom morphed into the giant snake that had attacked him before and burrowed underground, hiding from him once more. Lifting himself off the ground with his control over the wind, Harry scanned the graveyard, looking for any sign of Tom, whether in human or snake form.
The ground cracked as Tom traveled under it in his snake form and Harry's eyes darted around as he tried to follow it, before the ground exploded behind him and he whirled around to see the tail swing at him, forcing him to dodge.
Harry had never flown with only one eye before, mainly because he had two eyes. But with the blood that had flowed into his eye, he only had one working eye at the moment. It was making dodging increasingly more difficult than it needed to be and the margin for error was shrinking with every moment.
Finally, the snake clipped his ankle and Harry was sent spinning out of the sky, howling in pain upon landing on the ground as the blow from the snake on his foot caused the bone to snap, leaving him with only a single working foot. The bone was sticking out at an painful and awkward angle and Harry knew that the foot was absolutely fucked.
Not only did he not really know all that much magic that could heal such a serious injury, the only spell that he knew would require more magical power than he knew he would be able to muster at this time. It would also require his undivided attention and this was also not the situation for that.
The giant snake slowly emerged from the ground, morphing back into the smiling form of Tom, wand trained in on Harry.
"That looks like it hurts a lot" said Tom as he slowly walked up to Harry. Harry didn't even raise his wand at Tom, this was not a situation that could be solved with magic. Or at least not now, Tom clearly had the advantage.
Tom stopped right in front of Harry, looking down at the broken ankle and tsk'd.
"You know Potter, I asked you a question" started Tom as he lifted his foot, "Just because your mom is dead, does not mean that you can not have manners"
And with that, Tom slammed his foot down on the broken ankle of Harry, drawing a throat scratching scream of pain from Harry, as tears filled his eyes.
"Now, let's try this again Potter" continued Tom as he repeatedly slammed his foot down on the broken ankle, each stomp getting more forceful than the last, "Does this hurt?"
Harry wheezed out a "yes" that caused Tom to smile, the pain that he was causing Harry was something that he enjoyed. After all, he owed this school boy brat for killing him in the first place.
"Question Tom," said Harry
"What" hissed Tom, a look of confusion on his face
"Does that hurt?" asked Harry
"Huh? What?" asked Tom
Harry closed his eyes and Tom felt the sharp blade of wind punch its way through his chest, slicing right through his right lung. Tom dropped to his knees, blood filled vomit exploding from his mouth.
Breathing was next to impossible and he knew that he could recover for this, but not in time to finish off Harry. He felt the air trying to enter his lungs hitch and he was unable to swallow.
He glared at Harry as he struggled to stay away, Harry's glowing green eyes bore back into his own eyes and he felt the flare of magic before the blade of wind in his chest spun and ground through his ribs, muscles, and tissues until there was a sizeable hole in his right pec.
A nasty wet cough ripped through his throat and felt more blood flood and exit his mouth. Crawling on his hands and knees, Tom was trying to make it to the edge of the wards, trying to make it so that he could escape.
But a burst of flames above him and the crowing of a phoenix filled the graveyard and Tom's spirits sank.
Chapter 20
The phoenix circled above them before landing next to Harry's ruined ankle. The bone had snapped and ripped through the skin, blood oozed out split skin as the murky white bone continued to pulse with unrivaled pain with each second that outside air washed over it.
Fawkes purred as he looked first at the ankle, then at Harry's face, before lowering his face to the ankle and blinking furiously. The tears felt a little heavier than Harry expected, but he was extremely pleased when he felt the twisted sensation of his bone popping back into place and his skin knitting back together. His wand shot back into hand and wind swirled around his body as he floated back to his feet.
Fawkes crowed as he flapped his red wings and flew up into the air before landing on Harry's shoulder, empowering Harry with a feeling of confidence and magical might that he didn't have moments ago.
Tom's wand shot into his hand and Harry took great pleasure in breaking the bendy yew wand, the burst of magic that rippled from the wand washed over the graveyard and Tom looked like he had swallowed a lemon with the sour look on his face.
"You ... dare?" snarled Tom, his words coming out in a labored manner as the hole in his chest slowly closed up.
"Shut the fuck up" spat Harry as his eyes glowed with power and his rage grew, but as he pointed his wand at Tom, the world shook as the wards around the graveyard were rattled. Harry stumbled and Tom started crawling away.
Harry twisted his wand as he monitored the wards as Fawkes took off from his shoulder into the air. His eyes glanced back to where Tom had been and he groaned as he saw that Tom had managed to crawl away and the trail of blood ended after only a couple of feet.
Flooding his wand with magic, Harry wrapped the graveyard in another set of identical wards that bubbled over the first set of wards, pinching whoever had bothered to interfere in his battle with Tom.
"Oi Tom, which one of your ass kissing boot licker followers would bother coming out to bail your sorry ass out" called out Harry
Tom was smart enough to not to answer that, but Harry was just buying time. His magic was pulsing inside of his body, begging to be released out into the graveyard.
Wave after wave of magic pulsed out of his body, bouncing off of everything that it came into contact with, letting him feel everything in the graveyard including Tom's hiding body a few rows away from him. But also the much more interesting third party that had crashed the party.
It was a trio of death eaters had managed to poke a hole in his wards big enough to sneak in, while also managing to bring the entire set down. It was rather impressive and when the next wave of his magic bounced off of them, he could feel that they were all massively above the average wizard. This was quite the surprise as Harry never expected anyone to come to bat for dear old moldy voldy.
Without a wand, Tom was not much of a threat, but Harry wasn't foolish enough to let him heal up without minding him. His magic flared and a cage sprung up around Tom, containing the dark lord.
The trio of newcomers marched into the clearing, their black robes billowing and their faces covered in those silver masks. Based on their forms, it was two men and a single female. Harry knew that since he had killed Bellatrix, that mean that the only other female death eater: Alecto Carrow had come to save her master and had dragged two other idiots with her.
"Death Eaters coming to eat literal death, how poetic" commented Harry, his eyes washing over the trio, "How are you Alecto Carrow?"
'"Look at you, Potter playing with the grown ups" counter Alecto
"Doing more than that" said Harry with a smirk as he flicked his wand and Tom inside of his cage zipped over to float behind Harry, "I'm winning my dear Bella"
She ripped off her mask, her dark eyes glaring at him, her nose crinkled in anger, her mouth twisted into a nasty snarl and she demanded "Release him"
"Now why would I do that?" asked Harry with a tilt of his head, "Tommy is nothing more than a rabid dog that deserves to be caged"
Harry banished the cage through several tombstones behind him, before transfiguring the dust into a series of stone snakes that with a single hiss, lunged at the trio of Death Eaters,
Alecto blasted the snake apart, but instead of returning to dust, it exploded into a series of moths that fluttered around her before morphing back into a stone snake that wrapped around her body.
Happy that she was bound for the moment, Harry turned to the other 2 death eaters present as Alecto struggled to free herself. Harry summoned the masks off of the other two Death Eaters and frowned as he was greeted by familiar faces.
Corban Yaxley and Severus Snape
Two powerful duelers from what he remembered back in his world and thus worthy people to bring along if you wanted to save someone like Tom. Yaxley attacked first, using magic that Harry didn't recognize. Which meant that blocking those spells were out of consideration. Never block what you don't know, because that's how you die.
Potter
A sly voice whispered in the back of his head and Harry slashed his wand at Yaxley, sending a bolt of lightning that crashed into his feet and sent him blasted away.
Potter, you arrogant child, listen to me
What do you want you piece of shit?
I am trying to tell you that I'm on your side and when you give me a sign or an opening, I will attack whomever you aren't fighting
How can I believe you Snape?
Because I came here to aid you, if you don't require it then I will take my leave
Harry ended the connection between his mind and Snape's as more Death Eaters started to make their way into the graveyard. Clearly Yaxley or Alecto had taken some level of precautions to make sure that should they fail to save their lord, their backup did.
One of the newcomers freed Alecto and soon Harry found himself surrounded by a total of 15 death eaters and Snape as Tom remained trapped in a conjured cage behind him.
Harry felt the wind blow past his body and the hints of fatigue that he felt disappeared and he took a deep breath as he tugged on the magic that laid deep within his body. He let a slight sliver of magic tug ever so lightly on Snape's robes telling him to duck as Harry reached as deeply as he could and unleashed every ounce of magic that he had in his body.
Fulgur Malleum
A bright purple bolt of lightning split the sky before rushing down and hitting Harry who slashed his wand and unleashed the powerful bolt of magical lightning on the Death Eaters, the arcs of lightning ripping through all of their bodies with ease, jumping from one helpless victim to the next. Only Snape was spared as he had dropped to the ground immediately as Harry had unleashed his magic.
Harry gasped as the last of the Death Eaters dropped to the ground, nothing more than a burnt crisp of a corpse, and dropped to ground as he simply had no more magic to use.
Slumping over, Harry could hear the phoenix song that echoed through the graveyard as Fawkes appeared to still be flying above Harry. His last sight was of Snape climbing back to his feet as his vision turned black.
Harry had been on guard for a while, the nutty Divination professor had told a real prophecy, to him of all people. A massive inconvenience as far as Harry was concerned, he didn't want any more attention than he was already getting. It had been nearly 4 months since the lightning strike during the Quidditch match and people were just now getting over that. It was darker now as the sun was just about to finish setting when Harry ran into Ron.
"Ron, what are you doing out here?" asked Harry, his wand secretly pointed at Ron. It would make a lot of sense for Ron to be a follower of Voldemort, he was constantly trying to get Harry to slack off on his studies and classwork. It could just be a ploy to weaken Harry so that dear old Tom could just steam roll him in a fight.
"I was just visiting Hagrid, he had found my pet Scabbers." Said Ron
Harry pointed his wand away from Ron, not because he trusted Ron now. No, it was because Hagrid was way too dense to put together any type of plan that would help a dark lord rise from basically death.
"Ok, you were going back up towards the castle, right?" Ron nodded at Harry's question
"I will walk with you then, never know what could happen with all of these Dementors swarming around now." Continued Harry as he looked for anything out of the norm on their way back up to the castle.
Suddenly a massive Black dog or wolf smashed into Harry from the side. Harry got knocked over and, in his scramble, to get back to his feet, the dog had already latched onto Ron's leg and pulled him away towards the Whomping Willow. Harry raced after the dog pulling Ron away, this could be what he was waiting for, the Follower of Voldemort who might not have been that bright not to recognize Harry.
Ron was pulled to this tunnel at the base of the willow tree and with a sickening crack, his leg that had been trying to stop him from going into the tunnel broke as Ron was pulled in. Harry approached the tree and sent a red stunner at it, the tree got hit and stopped moving as Harry rushed forward to climb into the tunnel after Ron and the dog.
It was a tight fit, the old Harry that had been about 2 inches shorter, would have fit with no issue. But all of the eating and exercise that Harry had done had made him a little more filled out and just a bit taller. He had to slouch slightly to avoid hitting his head, but he still continued onward. And then the tunnel began to rise; moments later it twisted, leading to where Harry could see a patch of dim light through a small opening.
It was a room, a very disordered, dusty room. Paper was peeling from the walls; there were stains all over the floor; every piece of furniture was broken as though somebody had smashed it. The windows were all boarded up. There was a set of dusty and crumbing stairs, which Harry softly climbed, determined to find Ron and the Dog.
Only one door was open. As he crept toward it, he heard movement from behind it; a low moan, and then a deep, loud purring. Wand held tightly before him, Harry kicked the door wide open. On a magnificent four-poster bed with dusty hangings lay Crookshanks, Hermione's cat, purring loudly at the sight of him. On the floor beside him, clutching his leg, which stuck out at a strange angle, was Ron.
"Where's the dog?" asked Harry
"Not a dog," Ron moaned. His teeth were gritted with pain. "Harry, it's a trap"
Sensing a person behind him, Harry wheeled around. With a snap, the man in the shadows closed the door behind them.
A mass of filthy, matted hair hung to his elbows. If eyes hadn't been shining out of the deep, dark sockets, he might have been a corpse. The waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, it looked like a skull. His yellow teeth were bared in a grin. It was Sirius Black.
"Where is your wand Ron?" asked Harry, his wand trained in on the criminal in front of him.
" He took it, Harry" said Ron, confirming everything that Harry had feared.
Black must have heard them talking about him as he immediately made his move. Expelliarmus!" he croaked, pointing Ron's wand at them.
Ron had no wand to give but Harry's wand was ripped out of his hands and started to make it to Sirius before Harry's eyes flashed bright red and his wand zipped back over to his hand.
Sirius looked at the wand in his hand and said in a shaky voice "I don't need a wand to kill you Peter" while looking at Ron before he turned his attention back to Harry.
"I thought you'd come and help your friend," he said hoarsely. His voice sounded softer as if he was talking to someone that he loved. Although it was clear that it had been a long time since he made a habit of using it. "Your father would have done the same for me. Brave of you, not to run for a teacher. I'm grateful, it will make everything much easier."
"I will tear you apart before you can take a step forward Black, so if you think that you can just kill me or Ron, you have nothing coming." Said Harry his wand trained on Black with unwavering precision.
"There'll be only one murder here tonight," said Black, and his grin widened.
"Why is that?" Harry spat before he started to take a step forward, struggled to free himself of Ron who had wrapped himself around his left leg.
"Didn't care last time to limit the amount dead to one, did you? Didn't mind slaughtering all those Muggles to get at Pettigrew. What's the matter, gone soft in Azkaban?" taunted Harry as he continued to try and move forward.
"Me kill muggles? That's laughable, kid. I got kicked out of the Black family for being a muggle lover, no I am here to kill Peter" replied Black, his hungry looking eyes never leaving Ron's form
"You must be insane then, because you already killed Peter, remember? They could only find a single finger from his entire body." Stated Harry
"No, no I never got my hands on that rat. He cut his finger off before hand, used his wand behind his back to blow up a gas line or something and morphed into his rat form." Said Sirius
"You can't be serious" said Ron
"Boy, I am Sirius "replied on the run criminal.
Suddenly the memory morphed into a different scene and Harry found himself in an unfamiliar setting.
"Harry James Potter!" screamed a familiar voice, the one that Harry knew belonged to the love of his life at this point. It was hard to ignore it, but the sound of childish giggling that exploded in his ear.
"You got me in trouble" whispered Harry to the source of the giggling, the weight of the giggler on his back as her hands were wrapped loosely around his throat and he could feel the tickle of hair on his neck.
He took off running but a well time tripping jinx tripped set the table in front of him crashing to the ground, putting his running to a halt.
"You and that thieving little girl will pay for eating my snacks" said Fleur as she glared at them with her wand extended
Harry awoke with a gasp to find himself in an unfamiliar infirmary room, one that bore the ministry's symbol on the wall. Sitting by his bedside was Snape, Dumbledore, and Sirius.
"What happened?" groaned Harry
"You won Harry" said Dumbledore
"That feels a little anticlimactic to be honest Professor" admitted Harry, "I couldn't have defeated Tom so easily"
"Well you did brat" said Snape, a hints of anger and relief mixed into his voice, "I delivered both of you to the Ministry myself. The Dark Lord is set to be publicly executed in a couple of days. His magic has been sealed away with runes and with that, he's no longer going to be able to summon any of his followers to help him escape"
"So now what?" asked Harry, his hands gripping the blanket expecting some level of bad news or a reveal of a secondary plot.
"Now, you simply enjoy the fruits of your labor my boy" said Dumbledore, "You've done enough"
Harry frowned as this felt too easy in his opinion
"So, I take it that Sirius is a free man now?" asked Harry
"Yeah Snape vouched for me" answered Sirius
Snape rolled his eyes and Dumbledore cleared his throat, "You have a female visitor that will be most happy to hear that you are awake, even if it is just to slap you"
Harry smiled brightly and he said "You can send Fleur inside in just a moment, I would like a word with Snape first"
Dumbledore and Sirius looked surprised but nodded and left all the same.
"I never got the impression that you were overly fond of me" said Snape
"I wasn't nor will I ever be to be honest, certainly not gonna be naming any of my kids after you" admitted Harry, "I just wanted to ask why?"
"Why did I do what I did?" said Snape confirming Harry's unfinished question, "The same reason that your mom died for you"
"You loved her?"
Snape signed, "Potter, you will find that young men make a lot of mistakes. I, myself, am included in that statement. I was in love with your mother from the moment that I met her as a child. She never felt the same, but I never gave up hope. As she and I grew older, we grew apart. I never gave up hope that we would end up together, she always made time for me even when she shouldn't.
I was a racist dark magic practicing student and she never treated me like anything but her best friend. When I revealed the prophecy to the Dark Lord, i never thought that it would be her that he would target. But then he did and I went to Dumbledore and begged him to hide her and he did. They trusted the wrong man and they died for it.
Lily Evans was the woman that I loved more than anything and if I couldn't have her in life, then I would do my damn hardest to avenger her death"
Harry nodded and said "I'm sorry that you never got what you wanted, but now that everything is over, you will find something more to life than chasing ghosts"
Snape scoffed with a small smile on his face, "Dating advice from the son of the woman I loved, how quaint"
"Goodbye Severus"
"Goodbye Harry"
Chapter 21
Honestly Tom, you should ... no you need to put more effort into your schoolwork" tsk'd a much younger Dumbledore as he held back a 15 year old Tom Riddle
"What do you mean Professor? I got the spell right on my first try" questioned Tom
"Yes after 10 minutes of looking bored in the back of the classroom, you attempted the spell and got a passable attempt Mr. Riddle" admitted Dumbledore, "But there is more to magic than simply casting a spell and getting a desired result"
"Is there?" challenged Tom
"Yes, one day you will leave this castle and have to venture out into the real world, Tom. And if you are not careful, the world will dismiss you" warned Albus, his blue eyes locked onto Tom's guarded face.
"I don't want to leave Hogwarts" said Tom
"My boy, you are already nearing the end of your 5th year, you have barely 2 years left here before you have to embrace the next chapter of your life"
"Surely there has to be a way that I could stay here?" asked Tom
"Faculty can remain in the school, but students may not Tom" said Dumbledore
"Then I shall become a teacher"
"You're meant for more than that Tom, you are smart and charming, you could be Minister"
"I don't want to"
"I am going to become headmaster next year Tom, I do not see myself hiring a 16 or 17 year old as a professor"
"Then I'll come back when I'm 20 then"
"I look forward to it, Tom"
22 Years Later: Hogwart's Headmaster Office:
Dumbledore let out a hastily stifled gasp. Voldemort had entered the room. He was not looking at the once handsome feature of his student as he was used to they were not as snakelike, the eyes were not yet scarlet, the face not yet masklike, and yet he was no longer handsome Tom Riddle. It was as though his features had been burned and blurred; they were waxy and oddly distorted, and the whites of the eyes now had a permanently bloody look, though the pupils were not yet. He was wearing a long black cloak, and his face was as pale as the snow glistening on his shoulders. Dumbledore behind the desk was quick to hide to his surprise, after all this visit had been made by appointment.
"Good evening, Tom," said Dumbledore easily. "Won't you sit down?"
"Thank you," said Voldemort, and he took the seat to which Dumbledore had gestured.
. "I heard that you had become headmaster," he said, and his voice was slightly higher and colder than it had been. "A worthy choice."
"I am glad you approve, but as we spoke almost 20 years ago, I was already in line to become Headmaster soon than later" said Dumbledore, smiling. "May I offer you a drink?"
"That would be welcome," said Voldemort. "I have come a long way."
Dumbledore stood and swept over to the cabinet which then was full of bottles. Having handed Voldemort a goblet of wine and poured one for himself, he returned to the seat behind his desk.
"So, Tom . . . to what do I owe the pleasure?" Voldemort did not answer at once, but merely sipped his wine. "They do not call me 'Tom' anymore," he said. "These days, I am known as —" "I know what you are known as," said Dumbledore, smiling pleasantly. "But to me, I'm afraid, you will always be Tom Riddle. It is one of the irritating things about old teachers. I am afraid that they never quite forget their charges' youthful beginnings." He raised his glass as though toasting Voldemort, whose face remained expressionless. Nevertheless, the atmosphere in the room change subtly: Dumbledore's refusal to use Voldemort's chosen name was a refusal to allow Voldemort to dictate the terms of the meeting, and Dumbledore could tell that Voldemort took it as such.
Dumbledore looked at Voldemort over the top of his own goblet for a while before speaking. "Yes, I certainly do know that you have seen and done much since leaving us," he said quietly. "Rumors of your doings have reached your old school, Tom. I should be sorry to believe half of them."
Voldemort's expression remained impassive as he said, "Greatness inspires envy, envy engenders spite, spite spawns lies. You must know this, Dumbledore."
"You call it 'greatness,' what you have been doing, do you?" asked Dumbledore delicately. "Certainly," said Voldemort, and his eyes seemed to burn red. "I have experimented; I have pushed the boundaries of magic further, perhaps, than they have ever been pushed —"
"Of some kinds of magic," Dumbledore corrected him quietly. "Of some. Of others, you remain . . . forgive me . . . woefully ignorant."
For the first time, Voldemort smiled. It was a taut leer, an evil thing, more threatening than a look of rage. "The old argument," he said softly. "But nothing I have seen in the world has supported your famous pronouncements that love is more powerful than my kind of magic, Dumbledore."
"Perhaps you have been looking in the wrong places," suggested Dumbledore. "Well, then, what better place to start my fresh researches than here, at Hogwarts?" said Voldemort. "Will you let me return? Will you let me share my knowledge with your students? I place myself and my talents at your disposal. I am yours to command."
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "And what will become of those whom you command? What will happen to those who call themselves — or so rumor has it — the Death Eaters?" Instantly he could tell that Voldemort had not expected Dumbledore to know this name; he saw Voldemort's eyes flash red again and the slitlike nostrils flare.
"My friends," he said, after a moment's pause, "will carry on without me, I am sure."
"I am glad to hear that you consider them friends," said Dumbledore. "I was under the impression that they are more in the order of servants."
"You are mistaken," said Voldemort.
"Then if I were to go to the Hog's Head tonight, I would not find a group of them — Nott, Rosier, Mulciber, Dolohov — awaiting your return? Devoted friends indeed, to travel this far with you on a snowy night, merely to wish you luck as you attempted to secure a teaching post." There could be no doubt that Dumbledore's detailed knowledge of those with whom he was traveling was even less welcome to Voldemort; however, he rallied almost at once. "You are omniscient as ever, Dumbledore."
"Oh no, merely friendly with the local barmen," said Dumbledore lightly. "Now, Tom . . ." Dumbledore set down his empty glass and drew himself up in his seat, the tips of his fingers together in a very characteristic gesture. "Let us speak openly. Why have you come here tonight, surrounded by henchmen, to request a job we both know you do not want?"
Voldemort looked coldly surprised. "A job I do not want? On the contrary, Dumbledore, I want it very much."
"Oh, you want to come back to Hogwarts, but you do not want to teach any more than you wanted to when you were eighteen. What is it you're after, Tom? Why not try an open request for once?"
Voldemort sneered. "If you do not want to give me a job —"
"Of course, I don't," said Dumbledore. "And I don't think for a moment you expected me to. Nevertheless, you came here, you asked, you must have had a purpose."
Voldemort stood up. He looked less like Tom Riddle than ever, his features thick with rage. "This is your final word?"
"It is," said Dumbledore, also standing.
"Then we have nothing more to say to each other."
"No, nothing," said Dumbledore, and a great sadness filled his face. "The time is long gone when I could frighten you with a burning wardrobe and force you to make repayment for your crimes. But I wish I could, Tom. . . . I wish I could. . . ."
"You know nothing about me"
"I know that you left this school as the best and brightest that we had to offer and you've turned yourself into a monster who prays on the weak. You will never be allowed near my children as long as I am breathing"
Dumbledore was sure that Voldemort's hand had twitched toward his pocket and his wand, but he was more than ready for the moment as his own wand slid into his hand and his magic filled the room.
"I am old and I still hold you dearly to my heart, but I am not to be tried inside of my castle, remove yourself at once. If I ever see you again, it will be on the otherside of the battlefield" said Dumbledore and he waited for Tom to try something but then the moment had passed, Voldemort had turned away, the door was closing, and he was gone.
Tom and Dumbledore both shook themselves free of the same memory as Dumbledore sat across from his greatest and worst student at the table in the room. Tom was covered in binding that had runes to suppress his magic. He was little more than a simple muggle.
"How are you Tom?"
Tom rolled his eyes at the question but still answered his one time teacher, "About as well as one can be before their certain death, Dumbledore"
"Come now, we've known each other for 50 old years, call me Albus"
"Fine Albus" spat Tom, his voice lacking any real venom though and Albus could see his eyes soften slightly
"Do you have any regrets?" asked Albus
"Do you?" countered Tom
"Yes, I regret not hiring you all those years ago. I could have saved you from walking down this path" said Albus, "it is something that I think about quite often if I can be honest"
"Then why not fire me?" asked Tom
"I believe that it is best not to hire domestic terrorist to teach school children" replied Albus with humor in his voice
"Yet Snape had a job for over a decade" frowned Tom
"Snape happens to be my domestic terrorist, has been since you threatened Lily Potter all those years ago" retorted Albus softly
"I only targeted her because he told me about the prophecy he overheard. He put that target on her back and got mad at me for listening to him" said Tom with a shake of his head
"Love and hatred can twist a man in ways that can never be explained Tom" agreed Albus, "But you didn't ask to speak to me before your execution just to get my opinion on such matters"
"I had wanted to say goodbye to my former teacher" admitted Tom, "As you said, we've known each other in one world or another, in some form or another for 50 odd years"
"You're a little scared of the end" realized Albus
"I already died twice, but neither of those times did death stick" muttered Tom, "But I am certain of it this time. I have no Horcruxes this time and the Dementor will surely suck all of my soul and Voldemort's soul from this body"
"It's okay to be a little scared Tom, it is part of what makes us human," said Albus
"You mean that thing that I've spent the better part of my life trying to avoid?"
"So it would seem that in the end, you will have the same ending as any other Human" replied Albus
"So it would seem so" agreed Tom
"Is there anything else that I could do for you Tom?
"If it is possible, I would like to speak with Harry one last time"
"That would have to be something that he agrees to" admitted Dumbledore, "I cannot force him to talk to you"
"Considering that he beat me twice, I am sure that he would rattle you, you old bag of bones" spat Tom, but there was only amusement in the words, no venom which caused Dumbledore to smile as he was reminded of his once upon a time wayward student.
1 Day Later:
Harry could feel the powerful wards that covered the room as well as the draining sensation of the runes that covered the room walls, the same runes engraved on the chains that were wrapped around Tom's limbs. The red angry scar on his face bubbled with pain as the residue of magic in the scar was suppressed.
"Hello, Harry" greeted Tom
"Hello, Tom" replied Harry politely as he knew that there was no danger from the chained up Tom, "Can I ask why you wished to speak with me?"
"Of course, it is to talk about how I ... how we got to this point" answered Tom
"I'm pretty sure that this all started because you're a baby hating tosser, to be honest Tom" said Harry
Tom let out a chuckled, "Partially, I wanted to change the wizarding world Harry"
"By killing half the people?" questioned Harry with a raised eyebrow.
"I got a little carried away with power" admitted Tom
"A little?"
"A lot" corrected Tom, "But I just wanted to pass on the mission to you, Harry"
"No thanks" said Harry
"You don't even know what it is" said Tom
"Whatever it is, I don't care. I don't want to be Minister, I don't want to be some super Auror, I don't want to be headmaster, I don't want to lead a revolution. I don't want to do any of that" stated Harry
"None of that is needed Harry" said Tom
"Ok, then talk to me"
"You don't need to be the next me or the next Dumbledore, Harry. A dark lord or a pillar of light are so limited in what change they can be. Be Harry Potter, be the most powerful wizard in the world"
"hmm"
"Think about it Harry, you could end discrimination in a twist of your wand, you could bring about the death of dark lords with a flick, you could unite the world and make it so that someone like is never born in this world again"
Harry was tempted to say that he didn't want to do that, but what if he could prevent another Tom Riddle from popping up? He was going to eventually have kids and he couldn't bare the thought of them having to kill a dark lord or even go to war at 14, 15, 16 years old.
"Okay, I'll hear you out" said Harry
"Tell me, what do you know about being a Mage and magical theory?" asked Tom
Harry bit his lip, "Less than I should"
Tom signed, "We're going to be here for a moment, might as well take a seat"
Harry sat where Dumbledore had sat the previous day and Tom started "Magic is more than just energy as some people would have you believe, it is more than that"
3 Day Later:
The entire wizarding world watched as Tom calmly sat down his chair, a dementor on a tight lease not 15 feet from him. But he was already so broken, that he didn't feel the effects of the nasty creature.
Amelia Bones stood at the podium and said "Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr, you have been sentenced to death, any last words?"
Tom nodded and stood up from his chair, the chains that covered his body rattling as he did so,
"For years, I have tried to overthrow the ministry, because I dislike what it stands for and everything that comes from it. I was an orphan, a heavily abused one at that. For years, I begged the professors at Hogwarts to do something and they refused to, sending me back to the hellish prison that was my orphanage. I grew bitter, angry, and distrustful of everyone in charge.
But I am not alone in this regard, Harry Potter had a similar upbringing to my own. The biggest difference between myself and him is that he has a kinder heart and is a better person. This is why, I have declared him as the rightful heir to Slytherin upon my death, his ability to speak Parslemouth should be all the proof that is needed, and with the Order of Merlin that he will be granted, he will become a fully realized Mage"
Amelia gasped and Fudge looked downright angry
"You have no right to do that" yelled Fudge
Tom shrugged, "Why not? Harry Potter is family if you trace our linage back several generations and with his efforts to defeat me, you have to gift him an Order of Merlin. To deny him Mage status would be crazy"
Fudge gestured to the Dementor that was unleashed and launched itself forward at Tom, a pearly white vapor rushing from Tom's mouth as the Dementor got closer and closer until Tom gave one final gasp and collapsed, lifeless and unknowing to the world around his still warm corpse.
"Throw the body through the veil" ordered Fudge as several Auror came to escort the body away.
"Harry, what did you and Tom do?" asked Dumbledore from his spot beside Harry in the crowd of witnesses.
"We talked about how shitty our childhoods were and decided that something should be done about it," said Harry
"So if Magic is more than energy, what is it?"
"It is alive to a certain degree, that's why things like intent and will are important. Magic is capable of taking life and creating it. Think about it Harry, how did I get here?"
"I guess Magic, I haven't really thought about it"
"Magic is as much a guide for us as our wands are for it. We take something that is alive, the wood and cores, and mixed them together to channel magic. Accidental magic is your magic protecting you. Magic is as a force of nature, a piece of the world as much as gravity"
"So what doe that have to do with being a Mage, I was a mage in our old world and nothing ever came of it"
"Because Dumbledore and I were alive, but in this world, there is no living Mages"
"What exactly is a mage?"
"A mage is someone annotated not by the government or some board of people, but by Magic itself. It's the source of our elemental powers, it is the source of our intense ability, our skill, and the ease at which we grow. And the ministry has a clause in it that allows for anyone who holds 3 seats on the Wizengamot and it is that a Mage can abolish the entire ministry."
Harry's eyes widened, "That's quite the power, but does that exist in this world as well"
"Yes, you currently have 2 chairs under your name"
"The Potters and the Blacks right?"
"No, the Blacks and the Peverells, Harry. The 3 brothers from the story are our ancestors. I am a descendant of the oldest brother and your family descends from the youngest brother" corrected Tom
"Then I still need one more right?" asked Harry, "How do I get an extra seat?"
"I give you my seat, the Slytherin Seat," said Tom
"You can do that?"
"Of course I can, we're loosely related and you speak the Serpent's Language," said Tom
"Ok, so what do we do?"
"I will declare my intent to name you my heir, they will undoubtedly kill me upon that announcement, at that point with your 3 seats and Magehood, you can ascend to take control of everything and threaten them," said Tom
"You'd be willing to die for this plan?"
"Harry, I will be dead by the end of the day no matter what," said Tom