Chapter 23: Mind Games

Anger was all Harry could feel as he was hunting down Bellatrix Lestrange. She was mocking the boy, as Harry chased her around the Ministry. "I killed Mad-Eye Moody! Hahaha, you coming to get me?" she taunted. "Crucio!" Harry shouted, firing the spell knocking down Lestrange to the floor. He walks up to her and points his wand at her, looking bloodlusted as he wanted to end her life. She just looks at him, almost as if she was trying to make him commit the action. Harry was thinking about how much he wanted to exact a little vengeance. "You've got to mean it Harry," a voice said. "She killed him. She deserves it," the voice continued. "You know the spell, Harry," the voice pestered, as Voldemort was sneaking behind Harry, like a ghost since he was emerging from the dark smoke. Bellatrix smirked, knowing her master was there, ready to make Harry commit the deed. "Do it," Voldemort ordered. Harry decided to point his wand at Voldemort, but Voldemort disarmed him, as Harry looked in shock. "Poor Harry Potter, so weak," he taunted.

All of a sudden, one of the chimneys brewed a green flame, as Dumbledore arose from the flames. Voldemort was shocked, as well as Harry by how serious Dumbledore looked right now. "It was foolish of you to come here tonight, Tom, the aurors are on their way," he stated. Voldemort hissed, "By which time I shall be gone, and you…shall be dead," he taunted. Soon both pointed their wands at each other, as they began to duel. Harry found somewhere to hide, as Bellatrix escaped through the floo network. "Is this the best you can do Tom, frankly I'm disappointed," Dumbledore said calmly. Voldemort was furious, as he began to fire spell after spell just to kill Dumbledore. But Dumbledore deflects of course, as he was increasing his attack. Voldemort creates a giant basilisk made out of flames, as he commands the basilisk to go kill Harry. Luckily Dumbledore came in clutch, as he managed to repel the fire basilisk away from Harry and move it towards Voldemort.

The flames were going towards Voldemort, who decided to move the flames away from him. Dumbledore levitated some water from the fountain and used it to trap Voldemort in some sort of water prison. However, Voldemort managed to break free, as the spell didn't last long enough. Using this opportunity, he casts a dark flame spell, to which Dumbledore was blocking it. It was a tug of war between the two, as Voldemort had enough and screamed creating a shockwave in the location they were at. Glass fell down to the floor from every department and shattered into tiny fragments of shards, to the point where it cut up some banner showing Fudge's face on it. Voldemort levitated all the broken glass and sent it towards the two as projectiles with the intent to kill. But before the projectiles could hit, Dumbledore managed to turn the projectiles of glass into some snowy-like substance, as the projectile hit the floor, not hurting the two. Voldemort sees the two still standing and he is pissed, to the point where he just vanished. But it wasn't over, as Voldemort had one last trick up his sleeve and that was to possess Harry and make him his personal vessel as a way to spite Dumbledore.

With Naruto

After a few minutes of rest, Naruto got out of a safe room and headed back to find his friends. Though it may seem that he still needs to rest up as his injuries are still prevalent, he continued onwards though that doesn't stop the pain from coming out. He was trudging all the way, as he noticed that there weren't any Death Eaters nearby, indicating that it was safe. Soon he sees his friends and some of the members of the Order. "Naruto!" Hermione exclaimed, as she and the others went to check up on him to see if he was alright. "Hey guys, how's it hanging," Naruto quipped, despite the pain he's dealing with. "You're hurt, like really bad mate," Ron stated out the obvious. "Yeah I know, but hey it could've gone a whole lot worse, ya know," Naruto stated, as he looked around for Harry. "Hey where's Harry?" he asked, looking pretty worried. "Here, it's best if we explain everything," Ron stated, as he went into detail about how the group got ambushed by Lucius and some of the Death Eaters, until the Order of the Phoenix came to save them. He also mentioned how the prophecy got shattered and how Bellatrix killed Mad Eye Moody, leading to Harry chasing after Lestrange. The whole time Naruto just shook his head, as he couldn't believe what happened. "So what about you, have you defeated Menma yet?"

"Well yes, but actually no," Naruto stated as he went on to detail about how he defeated Menma and was close to killing him, when the crafty bastard decided to escape from him. Naruto even mentions how Menma revealed himself to be a dark look alike and even goes as far as to explain to the group of Menma's reasoning as to why he wants to kill Naruto. Needless to say, everyone was shocked by this revelation. "So this whole time, Menma was just an evil doppelganger who was hellbent on killing you, just because he believes he should be the only Uzumaki of this world?" Itachi asked, as Naruto nodded. "That sums everything up," Naruto stated. Everybody shook their heads in disbelief, as this is just getting ridiculous. "Anyways enough about Menma, let's go find Harry and get out of here," Naruto stated, as everybody agreed with this idea.

With Harry and Dumbledore

Dumbledore was shocked, when he saw Harry on the floor, looking as if a demon possessed him. "You've lost, old man," the possessed Harry stated, as the boy was screaming in pain. Harry was having flashbacks to all the negative memories he held, from his mother being killed to the death of Mad Eye Moody. "Harry…" Dumbledore said, trying to reach out to the boy who was struggling. The boy was begging Dumbledore to kill him, as he felt that it was too late for him. "So weak…so vulnerable…look at me," Voldemort's voice rang out to Harry, as he hit the boy with a lot of negative memories. "Harry, it isn't how you are alike, it's how you are not," Dumbledore said, trying to get Harry to fight back against Voldemort's influence. "Harry…" Dumbledore reached out, as Harry kept struggling, trying to fight Voldemort's influence, despite it being hard enough.

As Harry was on the floor in pain, he saw that his friends had arrived. Naruto and the others were there, as they watched what was going on with a serious expression. "Fight it Harry, don't let the bastard take over you, I believe in you, so wake up Harry," Naruto stated calmly, wanting his friend not to give up. The others encouraged Harry not to give up, as they gave him some words of encouragement. Harry remembers the good times, from when he met his friends for the first time, how the group made a bond that will never break, how he saw his parents, every good thing that has happened to the boy. It was at this moment he knew…he can't let them down, he has to get up. "You're the weak one…and you'll never know love or friendship, and I feel sorry for you," Harry stated coldly towards Voldemort, as he fought against his control. Soon Voldemort leaves Harry's body, as he couldn't control the boy due to the boy's willpower. Voldemort goes up to Harry, "You're a fool Harry Potter. And you will lose…everything," he stated, before he noticed that the other aurors arrived, along with Fudge. Fudge to his shock, sees Voldemort, who suddenly vanishes away. In a way, Uzumaki, Potter, and Dumbledore were right and he was wrong. "He's back…" Fudge said, still in shock. Naruto and his friends went up to check on Harry, as Dumbledore held the boy. Harry wakes up to see that Naruto was there, smiling at him. "You did it mate, you did it," Naruto said, as he offered him a hand. Harry tiredly smiled and accepted the hand, as Naruto picked him up, before the two were getting questioned by the Daily Prophet.

Note: Hey guys there is only one more chapter left for this volume before I move on to volume 6. I just wanted to say thank you all for the wonderful reviews, it really means a lot.