Ch. 19 First Meeting
It had been two months since the rest of the students returned to school. The Halloween feast was coming up and Harry was looking forward to a trip to Hogsmeade with his friends and Sirius.
"What are you going to do this time we go to Hogsmeade" asked Ron?
"I think I will go shopping with Ginny a bit then head back for some butter beer and a chat with Sirius. We haven't had much time for "father-son" bonding. Plus he's just a load of fun. Maybe we should have Fred and George sit with us too. They always like hearing about his pranks so they can get new ideas. I don't think they will ever be able to beat him, not after the time he transfigured the whole Slytherin house table into a python why they were eating."
The day arrived and turned out to be a dark sleeting one. Harry had planned to take Ginny on his broom. That certainly wouldn't work on a day like today. His resolve was sealed when he saw the lightning. He always liked a rush but that was asking for trouble. He thought of the look on Voldermort's face when he saw in the Prophet that Harry had been struck by lightning. It did make Harry crack up a little bit. He would be delirious with joy and rage.
"I thought we were taking your broom" pouted Ginny.
"Are you crazed woman? Its sleeting, its dark, and there's lightning going on."
"I thought you could dodge that, and as far as the wetness, we could cast a spell or have a wet t-shirt contest" Ginny finished with a joke and a wink.
"Accio Firebolt" bellowed Harry and in a minute his faithful broom had appeared.
Harry sat behind Ginny so he could steer the broom with more precision. They took off and were soon gliding easily over the moors of northern England. Harry flew low and fast because he liked scaring Ginny a little, wanted the admiration that came with Ginny's realization of his skill, and finally, because he didn't fancy being hit by lightning. They arrived in Hogsmeade wet, cold, but un-electrocuted. Harry and Ginny used heating charms on each other's clothes and soon they were as dry as the rest of the students. They shopped around looking at clothes and wand accessories. Harry bought Ginny a wand holster for her hand bag. They ended up at the Three Broomsticks.
"Has the hangover warn off yet" asked a quizzical Sirius. Sirius had been at the party and had seen his godson and company in varying states of inebriation.
"I still have a nagging headache, but I don't think that has anything to do with the butter beer we had."
Sirius's face turned grave. "Have you talked to Madam Pomfrey about this yet? I don't think this has anything to do with the boozing either. I suspect that it has a lot to do with Voldermort though."
"I've taken to calling him Tommy" Harry said lightly. "I think it takes the edge off his pretentious name and gives us the advantage. Plus, it probably pisses him off to no end!"
Ron, Hermione, Harry, Ginny, and Sirius sat in a corner booth in the tavern talking well into the night. Because they were with Sirius who was both a professor and Harry's legal guardian they were allowed to stay well after the other students had gone back.
"We should get back to the castle for that feast" said Sirius. "I learned to appreciate both festive times and the food that comes with them while I was in Azkaban."
The way back to the castle was uneventful. They arrived to a filled Great Hall decked out in full Halloween splendor. Halloween is the wizard equivalent of Easter and there was a strong sense of tradition flowing thru the student body. The feast offered the trio a chance to talk to other students. Harry realized that he had been in school with people for almost two full months and he still had no idea what the first year's names were. They chatted happily until there was a giant BOOM and the doors burst open.
There stood Voldermort surrounded by 15 of his strongest death eaters.
"Harry Potter! I would like to speak to Harry Potter NOW!"
Dumbledore rose to his feet, shock hidden behind a mask of power that almost seemed to ripple around him. "What business do you have on my school grounds?"
"I have come to talk to Harry Potter in private. This does not concern you old man!"
Harry stood to meet the man that had killed his parents. "Tommy, anything you could say to me can be said in front of these students and teachers. The last thing you will do is try and get me alone. I will not play your games. Out with it before I grow tired of you."
"How dare you speak to me in such a way you pitiful boy" bellowed Voldermort.
"And how dare you show up here, in my school, during a party, to bother me. Tell me what you want Tommy" shouted Harry.
"I have come to tell you that I will succeed in killing you and your pitiful friends. It is only fitting to warn you before you and your insignificant kind are wiped out."
"And what kind is that Tommy? You remember that I am a pure blooded wizard? How about you mudblood? How's that feel now? You will be put in your place Tommy, and that place is in the ground, where you can lay with the rest of the filth. Now leave before I make you!"
By this point, Voldermort was furious. He raised his wand. "I challenge you to a duel then Potter. We will see who will learn his place."
"I accept" answered Harry. "Right here, right now. In front of everybody so they can see you defeated."
"Ron" Harry whispered, "I need to borrow your wand. I will return it, but just in case mine gets knocked out of my hands or something."
"Sure thing mate" said Ron, although he was white with fear.
The tables were swept back, the students had long since lost any interest in eating, in fact most of them had been so scared that their dinner had reappeared out one of two bodily orifices.
Harry and Voldermort strode toward each other wands at the ready. They glared at each other.
"You challenged me, I pick the spells" growled Harry. "There will be no unforgivable curses here. Sirius will make sure you pay if you try to use one. If you loose your wand then it falls to physical combat."
"I accept these rules. You will be humiliated beyond imagination Potter."
"I have nothing to worry about. I can only gain prestige. So I lost to 'the most powerful wizard.' So what does that show? I'm 15 years old. Things can only get better from here!"
Harry and Voldermort turned back to back and started to pace off. At step two Harry wheeled and bellowed Impedimentia. Voldermort froze with a shriek. Harry walked around the disabled dark lord with a grin on his face.
"Humiliated, was that right? I may have fought dirty, but I figure I owe you that one for killing my parents." Harry kicked Voldermort so hard in the shin the entire room echoed with the unmistakable sound of cracking bones. "And that was for forcing me to live with the Dursleys." Harry pointed his wand at the dark lord and said Finite Incatatem and the spell dissolved. Voldermort turned enraged balancing on his good leg.
"You will still die boy. You may not die the same way your parents did, but you will still die."
"I think not today. Your problem, Tommy, is that you are too prideful. I may be full of myself at the moment, but your arrogance will be your downfall."
With a swish and a flick Voldermort started to rise off the ground and float toward the ceiling. Harry expected spells to rain down upon him so he pulled out Ron's wand and silently cast the rebounding shielding charm he had learned last year. He was none too early, for as soon as it was surrounding him he felt the sap as spell after spell rebounded off him and hit Voldermort. This was an incredible effort for Harry, who was working at two complicated spells at the same time. Voldermort was now almost to the rafters and Harry stopped levitating him off the ground. Voldermort fell with a shriek and once again the Great Hall was filled with the sound of breaking bones. Harry jumped with all the speed he could manage and transfigured the maimed Voldermort into a snake.
The death eaters stared in disbelief as the crippled animal was flung at them and they were ordered to leave.
"Now that that's done, I could really use some desert" Harry said.