Chapter 29:
Confrontation with Tom
"I wouldn't be too sure of that, Tom. As long as there is breath in my body, I will defy you." shouted Harry loud enough for everyone to hear.
Voldemort laughed confidently, "You may defy me, Potter, but you will die because of it. I am the greater."
"We'll see, Tom. I have already notified the Ministry that you're here. The Aurors will be here soon. Then, we'll see how brave your pathetic followers are." Harry said.
Voldemort's face darkened, "The Aurors are of no concern to me. I could destroy them all without aid from my loyal Death Eaters."
Harry shrugged, "Under normal circumstances, that might be true. However, I am here now. It will take every ounce of magical energy you can scrape up to keep me from killing you, Tom. Your reign of terror will be ended at my hands."
"As I said to Dumbledore, bold words, Potter. I will enjoy forcing you to eat them." said Voldemort coldly.
Several contingents of Aurors came popping into view as their Portkeys brought them to the grounds. Dawlish hurried over to McGonagall, "What's going on?"
McGonagall shrugged, "I wish I knew. You-Know-Who has beaten Dumbledore and Harry is mocking him."
Dawlish gripped his wand, "We should attack."
Snape grabbed his arm, "No, you fool. You'll get the students killed. We have to trust that Potter can handle this and leave it in his hands."
McGonagall glanced at Snape sharply, "If we get out of this alive, Severus, I fully intend to tell Harry that you said that."
Snape almost smiled, "Minerva, if Potter gets us out of this alive, I will tell him myself."
Harry yelled out for everyone to hear, "You're outnumbered, Tom. You can't win. So, I propose a deal. A duel. You and me. Winner take all."
Voldemort smiled, "Interesting. Let us begin."
Harry shook his head, "Tom, you know as well as I do that our wands are brothers. We can not duel with magic."
"Then, what do you suggest, Potter?" asked Voldemort haughtily.
Harry smiled, "Swords."
Voldemort stared at Harry in disbelief, "You expect to face me in a swordfight, Potter. This is ridiculous. I am a master swordsman."
Harry pointed his wand towards the castle, "Accio Sword of Gryffindor." A moment later the sword sailed out of an open window and dropped down into Harry's outstretched hand. He pocketed his wand as it came down to him. When he caught it, he swung it in his customary figure X in front of him and stepped back into a dueling stance, "So am I."
All of the Death Eaters began to mutter among themselves. Voldemort spun around and gave them a malevolent look. "Silence!" he screamed. He spun back to face Harry.
Harry motioned with his hand. "Do you expect me to wait forever? Conjure a sword and let's get on with this."
Voldemort conjured a sword, and then pocketed his own wand. The two wizards faced off, and then the fight began in earnest. The two battled back and forth. It was obvious to everyone present that both of them were without equal when it came to swordplay. It was almost as if they could anticipate the other's movements and thoughts. The sword blades were moving so fast that all anyone could see of them was a blur.
The two of them stopped for a moment after about half an hour of constant battle. They were both breathing heavy, but Harry was smiling whereas Voldemort was not. "What's the matter, Tom? Did you not expect to find your better, this day? You should have. I have been telling you that I was going to destroy you for some time now."
Voldemort's mouth drew very thin. The snakelike eyes dilated with fury, and Voldemort said through clenched teeth, "The fight isn't over yet, Potter."
Harry nodded as he lunged forward to renew the attack, "It will be soon enough, Tom."
The two wizards fought for a while longer until it began to become apparent that Voldemort must lose this duel. Both of them had managed to inflict minor cuts on the other, but Harry seemed to be scoring these minor blows more and more often as the fight continued. It was evident that Voldemort would fall under the strain of wounds.
Harry finally saw his chance and reversed Voldemort's blade into a large circle while bringing his leg up to kick the sword from Voldemort's grasp. Unfortunately for Harry, Voldemort anticipated this move and had snaked his off hand into his robes and retrieved his wand. While Harry recovered from the kick, Voldemort finished the spin and cried out, "Avada Kedavra." Harry was forced to throw himself sideways to avoid the curse. As Harry rolled on the ground back to his feet, and went for his own wand, Voldemort followed the Killing Curse with an Explosion Hex, "Explodra!" Harry was hit with the hex full force. It sent him wind milling into the air, and he landed a second later. He was bruised, and bleeding. Harry still attempted to regain his footing. Voldemort stood over him and smiled, "You have no idea how much I am going to enjoy this, Potter. Avada Kedavra!" The jet of green light hit Harry right in the top of the head and sent his body flopping backwards onto his back to lay lifeless.
The entire population of the grounds stood staring in shock. Ginny screamed and tore herself away from the professors to run and fling herself down on Harry's body. She listened desperately for a heartbeat, but there was nothing there. She sobbed uncontrollably over the lifeless corpse of what had once been The Boy-Who-Lived.
Voldemort stepped on Harry's fallen wand, snapping it in two. "I have won." He walked over to Dumbledore and kicked him in the ribs. Dumbledore grunted in pain, but refused to speak. "Your precious Child of the Prophecy is dead, Dumbledore. You will follow him shortly and I will be the undisputed master of the world. There is no other that can match my powers."
Suddenly a booming laugh echoed throughout the grounds. Everyone looked around for the source of the laugh, but no one could be seen. Then, an echoing and otherworldly voice rang out, "Tom, you are a fool. You have no conception of what true power is. You think that the ability to take a life is power. You are wrong. The ability to give life is far greater still."
Voldemort spun around wildly, "Who's speaking?"
Ginny was looking down at Harry's corpse with an odd dreamy expression on her face, "That's Harry."
Voldemort looked at the body that hadn't so much as twitched. "Potter is dead."
"Are you sure, Tom?" rang out the voice again. "Can you truly be sure that I am gone?"
"Yes!!" screamed Voldemort in fury. "I killed you. You are nothing more than a ghost."
The laughter peeled around him, "As I said before, you are a fool, Tom. You have spent a great deal of time and energy to discover the contents of the Prophecy. Would you like to hear them now?"
"Fine. If it will make your spirit shut up any faster so that I can finish exterminating these Mudbloods and Mudblood loving fools, then go ahead." answered Voldemort peevishly.
THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES … BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES … AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT … AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES … THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD WILL BE BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES…
"That is the Prophecy, Tom."
Voldemort crowed in triumph, "Yes, and I have fulfilled it. One of us must die at the hand of the other."
The voice laughed again, "You fulfilled the Prophecy, but not in that way. You are forgetting the power that the Dark Lord knows not. Neither of us can die until that power is revealed."
"I saw no power. You were weak and that is why I defeated you." shouted Voldemort, but there was an underlying tension present in his words.
"I will say it again, Tom. You are a fool. The power that resides within my essence has been locked away. I have been unable to touch it, unable to channel the power that I could sense. You, however, unlocked it." thundered the magnified voice of Harry Potter.
Voldemort began to shake in fear, "What are you talking about, Potter?"
Harry laughed. The sound reverberated all around the castle. "You unlocked my power in the same way that you sealed it. That fated Halloween night, you cast the Killing Curse at me. It locked my power and made me weak, while I should have been strong. The only way to release the power was to use the same key. You cast the Killing Curse on me again, and now my power is free."
Voldemort yelled in defiance, "You're bluffing, Potter. You have no power."
Wind began to stir around the giants and Death Eaters. "I will show you the power, Tom. Very soon, I will return to my body, and then I will destroy you and all your minions. My suggestion is that you run. Run and hide, for I will enjoy the hunt."
This was too much for the Death Eaters and the giants, who all fled in terror.
Voldemort raised his wand, "I may not be able to kill you, today, Potter, but I will find a way. Before I take my leave, I will finish what I came here to accomplish. I will kill your girlfriend. Avada Kedavra!" The jet of green light headed straight for Ginny. She looked up to stare at Voldemort in defiance as she died, but the curse never hit her. It stopped in mid-air just in front of her and then dissipated.
"Do you really think that it could be that easy. As I said, Tom, run and hide."
This was finally too much for Voldemort. He tapped the talisman that he wore around his neck and disappeared from the grounds. As soon as he was gone, Harry got up off the ground and smiled down at Ginny. "I love you."
Ginny turned to him and exclaimed, "You're really alive."
Harry nodded, "Of course. Did you really expect me to roll over and die?"
"You weren't breathing." Ginny said as she hugged Harry and burst into tears again. Harry consoled her as he looked over to where Madam Pomfrey was tending to Dumbledore.
"Ginny, I need to go help Dumbledore. Stay here for a minute." Harry walked over to Dumbledore, and smiled down at the aged wizard as he kneeled beside him.
Dumbledore smiled back weakly, "I'm so proud, Harry. You did it. I would like for you to help Minerva as much as you can, Harry."
Harry made a wry face, "What does she need my help with?"
"Running the school of course. She will become Headmistress with my passing." answered Dumbledore.
Harry snorted, "I don't know what you're talking about. You're not going anywhere. I'm not ready to take over the administration of a school. I've still got a lot of Dark wizard hunting to do next year. After that you can retire, but not before."
"Harry, I'm dying."
Harry snorted, "Whatever."
Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat, "I'm afraid that he's right, Mr. Potter. There is nothing that I can do for him."
Harry shrugged, "Oh, then I guess I could give it a go." He waved his hands over Dumbledore and a blue light jumped from Harry's hands to Dumbledore.
Dumbledore sat up and shook his head, "That was invigorating. I believe that you have much to explain, Harry."
Harry nodded, "Yes, I know. I'm going to have even more to explain after my next trick."
The surrounding professors looked at Harry curiously as he got up and walked back to Ginny. She had disobeyed his order to stay put and had went over to Ron's body with Hermione. Both girls sat beside him holding his hands and crying. Harry stood above him and cried out some words in an ancient dialect. Then, he disappeared. A few moments later he reappeared.
Hermione looked at him, "Where did you go?"
Harry grinned, "Back in time." He leaned over and snapped his fingers right in front of Ron's nose, and Ron shot up from the ground as if he had a rocket attached to him.
He stretched, "What happened?"
Everyone surrounding the area stared at Ron in shock. Everyone knew that he had been dead moments before. Hermione grabbed Ron in a hug and refused to let go. She just kept repeating, "I thought you were dead. I thought you were dead."
Ron patted Hermione on the back soothingly, "I'm alright, Hermione."
Ginny turned to Harry and asked, "How did you do it?"
Dumbledore cleared his throat behind them, "I would like to know that myself, Harry. I know of no spell that can return the dead to life."
Harry shook his head, "There isn't. I think that we need to go inside to discuss this."
Dawlish interrupted, "What about You-Know-Who?"
"Call him by his name. Tom Riddle. As scared as Tom is right now, I don't think that we have anything to worry about from him for awhile." answered Harry.
The group walked upstairs to Dumbledore's office. Once they finally sat down to await an explanation, the group included Snape, McGonagall, Kingsley, Tonks, Arthur, Dumbledore, Neville, Luna, Dawlish, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Harry smiled at the group, "Well, what do you want to know?"
Hermione looked at him as if he were crazy, "How did you bring Ron back to life?"
Harry shook his head, "I didn't. He was never dead."
Hermione got irate, "What are you talking about? I saw him get hit with the Killing Curse. He wasn't breathing. He didn't have a heartbeat. That usually means that you're dead."
"It was an illusion." replied Harry.
Ginny asked, "What do you mean an illusion?"
"Well, when the Death Eaters attacked and Ron was supposedly hit with the Killing Curse, I was there." answered Harry.
Dumbledore smiled, "So, that's what you meant by saying that you went back in time."
Harry nodded, "I went back and made myself invisible. Then, I blocked the curse before it actually hit Ron. Then, I cast a masking spell on him that would make it appear to anyone that he was dead. I knocked him out at the same time."
Hermione looked furious, "So, you let us believe that he was dead the whole time."
"I'm sorry, Hermione, but that was the only way that I could think of to save him without interfering with the sequence of time. I couldn't do any damage. The effects could have been catastrophic."
Her expression changed, "I guess its okay. Ron's alive and that is all that really matters."
Harry leaned back, "Alright. Is there anything else that you want to know?"
Tonks blurted out, "How strong are you, Harry?"
Harry grinned, "I figured someone would ask me that. My power is amazing."
"How so?" asked Hermione. "We saw you do magic without a wand, since Voldemort broke yours."
Ron grinned, "I bet you could take You-Know-Who out with ease now."
Harry shook his head, "I'm afraid not."
Everyone looked at him in amazement. McGonagall spoke up, "Surely, You-Know-Who isn't that powerful."
"I assure you that he is, Professor. My power has only increased in certain respects. Offensive magic and effect magic are powers that I am already powerful in, but I have not grown anymore powerful than I was before. The only difference is that now I can channel the power without a wand. Defensive and healing magic, however are a different story. I can heal basically any wound. I can also travel through time. I have to be careful with that one, though. It could have some nasty side effects."
Dumbledore asked, "What about your defensive powers, Harry?"
Harry shrugged, "Well, I can block any curse with my shielding spells, but for the most part, I don't have to."
Snape asked, "What do you mean, you don't have to?"
"Ordinary curses and hexes have no effect on me as long as I'm in control." answered Harry.
Ginny looked at him in bewilderment, "In control?"
Harry nodded, "If I was to be wounded, then I would lose my focus and concentration. Then, normal curses would be able to affect me."
Hermione, ever the student, asked, "Can you demonstrate?"
Harry nodded, and stood up, "Someone try to stun me."
"Stupefy." Three distinct stunners shot out from the wands of Ron, Ginny, and Hermione.
Harry stood and waited for the red jets of light to hit him. They contacted and Harry yawned. "See what I mean."
The rest of the people nodded. Dumbledore leaned forward, "Harry, how powerful of a spell can you resist?"
Harry grinned, "There are only three spells in existence that can harm me as long as I am prepared for them."
Ron breathed, "The Unforgivables."
Harry snorted, "I don't think so. The spells I'm talking about have been lost since the battles between Merlin and Morgana. Unfortunately for me, if Voldemort discovers them, then I could be killed. If not, then I am more or less impossible to kill."
Hermione looked skeptical, "Are you saying that you can not be harmed by the Cruciatus Curse?"
Harry raised his arms, and said, "Go for it."
Hermione gasped, "I couldn't. I don't want to hurt you."
"You aren't strong enough to cast a spell that could harm me, Hermione." Harry turned to Dumbledore, "How about you, sir?"
Dumbledore replied mildly, "This is an experiment that I would prefer not to participate in, Harry."
Harry shrugged, "Suit yourself. I guess you're up, Professor Snape."
Snape started as Harry called out his name. "What do you mean, Potter?" he asked.
Harry grinned, "Your dream come true. Cast the Cruciatus Curse on me. I'm giving you permission."
Snape shook his head, "I won't."
Harry shook his head in disbelief, "All of you are pathetic. Come on, somebody throw the curse."
Snape grudgingly raised his wand and yelled, "Crucio!" The spell hit Harry, who gazed back at Snape as if nothing in the world was wrong. Snape released the spell, "Impossible. No one could stand that kind of pain without crying out."
"What pain? I didn't feel a thing. Three of you at the same time. Come on."
Snape, Dumbledore, and Kingsley all yelled, "Crucio!"
Harry jumped, "I think I feel something. Oh wait, that's just an itch." He scratched his nose as if nothing was wrong.
Ron snickered, "That was bloody brilliant." The rest of the room merely sat and stared at the Boy-Who-Lived.
A/N: As all of you can see, I did not kill Ron. So, trust me. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.
Fuzzfurry: I'll keep them coming. No crying over Ron. Thanks for the review.
Athenakitty: You're getting ahead of the story. Just be patient. Thanks for the review.
Cur03: The end of one is only the beginning of another. Thanks for the review.
Maria: I think this chapter definitely took a turn for the better from last time. I hope you're not depressed anymore. Thanks for the review.
RyokoTenchi: No mourning necessary. He's as good as new. Thanks for the review.
Lucugirl07: Don't cy. Everything got all better. I just needed the illusion of Ron's death to provide the atmosphere that I wanted for the battle. Thanks for the review.
SeekerGinny: I know you have no patience. I had a wonderful day, and I enjoyed our chat. Thanks for the review.
Lourdes: Not to my knowledge. Thanks for the review.
Anonymous: The title for the seventh year fic is Harry Potter and the Spirit of Time. Thanks for the review.
TopQuark: Hermione and Draco? Never! Not in my story. Thanks for the review.
Plasterwork: I didn't. So, now do you like what happened? Thanks for the review.
Kda: Dumbledore is one of my favorite characters. He isn't going anywhere. Thanks for the review.
James Potter's Lily Flowers: I'm glad you're enjoying it. Thanks for the review.
Bonjour: As promised, another chapter delivered. Thanks for the review.
Dragonstorm316: I hope you liked the resolution to the cliffhanger. I am not evil. I just like to keep you guessing. Thanks for the review.
ExpectoPatronum0: Ron was fine. You should have had more faith in me by now. Thanks for the review.
Dnd4ever: I hope you're still enjoying by the time you get this far. Thanks for the reviews.
John: No dead Ron. He still has plenty of opportunities to stick his foot in his mouth. Thanks for the review.
Darak: Harry didn't see Draco as enough of a threat to maintain constant surveillance. Not to mention if they did, Draco would know he was being watched and Voldemort would just infiltrate another spy at Hogwarts. One that they didn't know about. Thanks for the review.
Jeangab057: He has his moments. Thanks for the review.
Joulez: I do the best I can. Thanks for the review.
Mark-33w: The chapters will vary throughout the next one just as they did in this one. There will definitely be some longer ones, but there will be some short ones as well. Thanks for the review.
Elizabeth: Don't worry. Ginny isn't going anywhere on my watch. Thanks for the review.
LE: He wasn't. Don't cry. Thanks for the review.
G: I get them to you as fast as I can. Thanks for the review.
Dragonclawz54: I've got something special planned for Malfoy. Don't worry. Thanks for the review.
LeBeZnO: No problem. Thanks for the review.