A\N: Warning this chapter has some parts that readers may not like to read about (violence and torture and death) to name a few. So read at your own risk ;-)
Harry Potter and the Rising War
***
Chapter Ten: Nightmares in the mind, Nightmares in the Quidditch Field
"Welcome Harry Potter!" came a high, evil voice from somewhere in the darkness that Harry had arrived in.
"Where are you Riddle!" Harry shouted at a random place as he turned on the spot not wanting to be unguarded when he didn't know where Riddle was. There was an enraged growl from behind so Harry spun around to come face to face with the snake face Tom Riddle.
"Don't you dare call me that again boy, I could hurt you beyond all imagination!" Riddle hissed at Harry
"Where are we and what do you want?" Harry said in what he hoped was a strong voice.
"We are where ever I want us to be" Riddle replied
"What is that supposed to mean?" Harry sneered
"It is supposed to mean that we are in your head, and there is no point in trying to get your pathetic little walls up, it won't work, the potion my faithful apprentice subjected you to has transferred your essence to me, you are now under my complete control. As to what I want, well I would think that was obvious. I can't really kill you as you are now nor can I get to Hogwarts so I'm going have to persuade you to join me." Riddle explained in a cheery voice. Harry gulped and tried to get his walls up but it wouldn't work. As the high pitched evil laugh of Riddle reached Harry's ears so did the pain, the images. It felt like he was under the cruciatus curse but he was also being forced to see images of his friends. He would see Ron hanging from a door frame by his intestines or Hermione being raped and then burnt alive. The images went on and on for each person Harry felt close to. It felt like days before Riddle let up.
"I bet that hurts like hell, tell me Harry, will you join me?" he asked
"I would rather spend eternity as I am!" Harry said through gasps of pain. Summoning all of his strength Harry got back up and faced Riddle.
"My you're a rowdy one today aren't you?" Riddle commented with something akin to amusement in his voice. Harry's only reply was for him to spit in Riddles face. Well that's what he wanted to do; unfortunately it seemed that because Riddle had control over his mind at the moment the spit didn't get that far.
"Now Harry, is that any way to treat you're future master? Show some respect!" Riddle taunted.
"I would if I had my wand, I would respect it right up your ass and fire off an inferno spell, heaven knows your so full of shit that you would blow up worse than the Hindenburg!" Harry gasped out and chuckled. This seemed to get Riddle worked up which Harry was aiming for.
"You will regret that you impudent little brat! We shall continue this when I get back, but I won't come alone, I shall bring with me some nice images of the nightly activity" Riddle spat at him and in a small puff of smoke Harry was alone.
Deciding to take advantage of his time alone Harry began to see what his limitations were here, after all it was his head so he should have some degree of control over something. Harry tried imagining something out of thin air but it wouldn't work, so he tried moving somewhere other than the blackness but it seemed eternal. Harry figured that Riddle had sectioned off a part of his mind and trapped Harry's essence in it which didn't look good for him. Trying one last thing Harry tried to seek his magic core and to his surprise he found it. It appeared that the core would always be accessible to him when he was sentient and aware of himself. Smiling to himself Harry began shifting it around again and started creating another channel for his magic but this time to his mind. Hopefully it would affect the magic that was still in his body and give him a degree of control over the situation. Unfortunately it wasn't long before Riddle returned so Harry had to quickly make himself look aware of him.
"Ready for round two, I have some great shows for you!"
^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^
"How is he doing today Poppy?" Dumbledore asked the matron.
"He still seems to be in pain and there is nothing that I can do to alleviate it for him. It seems to stop for a few hours every night but I don't know why" Madam Pomfrey Explained to Dumbledore.
"I believe I can answer that for you. It is my belief that Voldemort is in his head and causing Harry extreme pain, for what I do not know, he could have any number of motives. As to why the pain seems to disappear at night I think it may be that Voldemort has to withdraw from Harry's mind to make sure they do not fuse and become one and also he is having to put himself out of commission for these visits to Harry, he still has plans to put into order and havoc to reek so he brakes from Harry at night to continue on." Dumbledore explained his theory.
"Well if that is the case then I am afraid there is nothing that can be done for the boy, Severus has been unable to identify the potion so there is nothing that can be done I'm afraid, especially with the powerful aura that he is displaying. He seems to be relaxed at present so please feel free to visit him, I don't know if he will be able to hear you." Madam Pomfrey told Dumbledore. He nodded his head and then entered into the separate room that had been set aside for Harry. Ron, Hermione and Ginny were all sitting with him and had Harry's muggle music player on low playing a soft song.
"Do you mind if I join you for a while?" Dumbledore asked them. It was easy to see they were not faring well, they all had bags under their eyes and it looked that tears had been shed a few times on the girls' faces. Ron seemed to be sitting in a daze.
"Not at all professor, would you like the music turning off?" Hermione replied.
"No, there is no need child, tell me what song is this?" Dumbledore said as he conjured himself a seat next to Ron on the other side of the bed from Ginny and Hermione.
"It's called My Immortal by a muggle group called evanescence. Harry once told me that he could associate his feelings with the songs he has and that it always helped to keep him calm and steady. I thought this song seemed fitting, Harry is my immortal, he is everyone's immortal which is why he is going to pull through this, why he has to pull through this." Ginny answered, voice cracking with unshed tears, instead of Hermione.
"That seems very fitting and it is good to see that Harry has thoughtful and caring friends." Dumbledore said with a trace of the old twinkle in his eyes.
^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬
"How long are you going to keep this up Potter? It's been two weeks now." Riddle said with frustration clearly evident in his voice. It was true, it had been two weeks of pure pain and torture, if not from Riddle then from himself trying to connect his magic with his mind. Riddle would torture Harry most of the time with pure pain as he called it. Whilst he did it he would assault Harry's mind with more horrible images, recent killings, old killings, future killings and also of Harry's memories.
"I will keep it up as long as you keep me here!" Harry chocked out. All though he was not in his body so to speak his voice was still read raw from screaming, and his skin was marked from the torture Riddle caused when he grew bored.
"You should have given in to me days ago, how are you doing this!" Riddle demanded. The truth was that his magic was helping him a lot, when he went to visit it when Riddle wasn't around it would calm him and relax him. That was part of the reason why progress with the channel creation was slow, Harry would often have to spend a lot of his time just being with his magic instead of shifting it. While he was there however he did notice that his wandless magic channel seemed to have grown from all of his practice which lifted his spirits.
"Answer me now boy!" Riddle shouted at Harry when he didn't say anything.
"Maybe the potion had a flaw, or maybe I'm just stronger than you think, you figure it out Tom" Harry said as coolly as he could given that his voice was scratchy and painful.
"Do not call me that!!" Riddle bellowed as he strode up to Harry and began a barrage of kicks and assaults on him.
"A bit touchy aren't you, you do know that Dumbledore will track you down and kill you while you're here with me don't you?" Harry asked between gasps.
"Ha! That old coot has had his time, by the time he figures out where I am it will be too late!" Riddle said and then laughed manically
"What do you mean too late?" Harry questioned with a bit of fear and apprehension in his voice.
"I have found a way to reach my ultimate goal, it is only a matter of time until I become truly immortal!" Riddle hissed with a superior look on his face.
¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^
BOOM
"What on earth was that?" shrieked Madam Pomfrey from her office where she had been filling Dumbledore in on Harry's situation. She had been explaining how he had begun to show physical injuries and how he may have mental injuries should he come out of his coma.
"I do not know, please stay here and under no circumstances come out until I say so." Dumbledore said using his voice of power.
When he reached Harry's room he saw what he had expected. The room was blown completely apart, the bed in which Harry had been lying on was nothing but I pile of ask and melted metal, the windows were completely shattered and melted, the brick work had been blown away leaving the outside fully in view and anything else that was in the near vicinity was now but a pile of ash. One thing however that Dumbledore had not expected to see was Harry's aura was displayed around him again and this time it was not only the emerald green-silver, it also had random lines of fire spraying across the surface. With a sigh of relief that no one had been in the room at the time Dumbledore began to restore it.
¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^
Riddle could plainly see the anguish and the pain on Harry's face and he relished in it, he knew that now would be the best chance to turn him, hitting him when he is down so to speak so this time when he began the pain and the images he had all of Harry's loved ones either bowing to himself or telling each other how much they hated Harry. After a few hours Riddle had to let up on the assault but he could see that he was beginning to make more rapid progress.
"Unfortunately my future servant I shall have to postpone the finale for next time, Have a good day" riddle said seemingly out of the blue to Harry before he was gone in a puff of smoke again. Quickly finding his core Harry began to relax and calm again. 'I have got to get out of here, I don't know how much longer I can last' Harry thought despairingly to himself and with out more relaxation time he carried on where he had left off with his channel, the mind link seemed to be more difficult to achieve because he had to find the right spot to end it on, he had reached his brain not long ago and was now creating a large pool for his magic to be stored in that covered the majority of the allowance of space. The new images continued for another week or so, but Harry wasn't sure. Each image was worse than the last and he had began to loose faith in himself and those he loved, the recent fight between himself and Ron and Hermione had not helped matters any, and he began to feel the urge to just give up and let Riddle do whatever he wanted so he could just stop the pain. However when he was on the brink of giving in a new hope settled in, he had almost finished his channel, all he needed was just a few more minutes, however a few more minutes he did not have because just as he thought it he felt Riddle begin to re-enter his mind so he came away from his source to face Riddle.
"Ah Harry, so good to see you. Wont be much longer now I should think, yes I can feel it, the desire is there. I think the first thing I will have you do is kill off that Mudblood bitch friend of yours!" Riddle said with an evil smile upon his serpentine face. 'This is it' Harry thought, he couldn't wait any longer and he needed to get away before he became lost to himself, the last few minutes he had spent with his magic had helped repair some of the damage and the hope was back and stronger than ever but he didn't doubt that Riddle had something big planed for the grand finale to turn Harry dark. Harry closed his eyes and reached out to his magic, he could distantly hear Riddle question Harry about what he was doing still with his voice of superiority but Harry didn't care, as soon as he reached his magic he began adding the finishing touches to the 'brain pool' as he had dubbed it with growing anticipation. It took a little longer than he thought because he could feel Riddle beating him for ignoring what he was saying and also the natural pain the process caused but at last he did it. Harry quickly returned back to his Riddles make shift reality just in time to feel Riddle's leg connect with his head.
"Ah back from the land of dreams I see. Now my soon to be loyal servant I have one last show for you, this will knock your socks off!" Riddle said cackling and then it began. Harry watched as Riddle and a group of death eaters aperated to Privit drive and almost immediately began destroying and torturing who and what ever they could get at. Riddle however approached then one house that was untouched and entered through the door after blasting it away with a wave of his hand. He was immediately confronted with Vernon.
"What the bloody hell do you think your doing here, you… you… thing!" he bellowed which drew the attention of the other residents of the house who were seemingly unaware of the goings on outside. Riddle didn't answer him he just smiled evilly and pointed at Petunia. She seemed to recognise him straight away and began to cower behind Vernon while Dudley just stood where he was in shock at seeing such a monster as Voldemort.
"The sister of Lilly Evans, one of the few loose ends I have left to tie up. You have no idea how much you will aid me by dieing, you should consider it an honour that a bunch of disgusting muggles such as your selves die by my hand, and all because of your dear nephew." Riddle said to them all but never broke eye contact with petunia. "Now is there anything you would like to say to the boy before I kill you?" Riddle asked with a smirk on his face.
"I hate you, you see what you have done to this family you disgusting little whelp, I should drowned you on the doorstep when you were left, then you could have brought trouble to your no good bastard parents!" a voice yelled which turned out to not be petunia's but Vernon's. He seemed to have accepted that he was going to die which was very unvernon-like. Seeming happy now that everything was said Riddle pointed his wand at petunia and said "imperio" and straight away her eyes glazed over and her face became blank. Next riddle turned to Vernon and froze him to the spot so he could watch everything. Whilst he was freezing Vernon however, petunia had gone into the kitchen and retrieved a knife and spoon and then began advancing on her son who was still too shocked to do anything. When she was standing right in front of Dudley however he seemed to come out of his daze and realised what was about to happen.
"Mummy what are you doing? Mummy please don't!" Dudley begged and pleaded over and over again but it did no good so he began to struggle to get out of her swiping distance but Riddle was too quick and so Dudley was also frozen to the spot. Being frozen however did not stop Dudley from soiling his underpants or feeling pain he found out as he screamed and screamed when his mother cut a hole in his front and then inserted the spoon. It seemed to Harry that the commands Riddle was giving his aunt were that she was too thin and needed to fatten up so she should take the fat from her son. It was revolting to watch but Harry had no choice but to do so. After a few spoonfuls petunia was given another command in which she obliged by taking the spoon and scooping her sons eyes from the sockets but Harry never got to see what happened next however because his new magic channel was beginning to take effect.
¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^
It was entering the third week of Harry's coma and things began to change. The group who usually kept vigil over Harry at night were all sitting in their self designated places around Harry who now constantly had his aura on display when Dumbledore came in and informed them of the massacre of Privit drive a few short hours ago and how they had been too late to save anybody. Just as he got the end Harry's aura began to expand, it was only a little to begin with but gradually it was getting bigger so Dumbledore had all of the teens evacuate the room in case there was another explosion. Dumbledore wasn't sure if Harry could take another magical explosion like last time because his body was now severely injured and Madam Pomfrey was unable to heal Harry now because of his constant aura. What happening next however was not what he had expected, in a rush all off the powerful magic on display was sucked back into Harry's body giving off a slurping kind of noise as it did so and Harry was left lying on the bed still unconscious.
¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^
All of a sudden the images stopped and Harry felt a power that he had not felt in a long time. He had the energy to stand and he felt in control of himself. Riddle was looking on in pure happiness at what he was seeing, thinking that he had succeeded.
"Finally the mighty have fallen and the mightier have risen" Riddle said with pure glee all over his face. Harry was feeling now pure hatred for the man, no the beast before him. He knew that his emotions were what was drawing the magic for him and he was grateful for it. He kept egging the magic on with thoughts of his loved ones, Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and more importantly his dead parents because they represented all of what Harry could have had, what he does have and what he will one day be. Upon thinking this Harry channelled some magic within the sectioned off piece of his mind and changed the scenery to an open field complete with a mall breeze. When Riddle realised that things had not gone his way when the scenery began to change he tried to implement the pain on Harry again but it was to no avail.
"What is this? How are you doing this?" Riddle asked, almost in a panic.
"Well Tom it is my mind, you didn't think I was just going to sit around and not do anything while you were away you idiot. Nothing is unbeatable when it comes to magic, especially potions. Seeing as how this is my mind I simply put a lot of time and effort into counteracting the potion" Harry lied to Riddle, hoping that he would buy it and not catch on that Harry was a sorcerer.
"NO! This is impossible, I was so close. It can't be!" Riddle raged. Harry smirked at the anger he was causing Riddle to feel and then he conjured up a wall around him trapping him in it.
"You can't keep me in here forever, you will soon get tired Potter!" he bellowed. Concentrating hard Harry scrunched up his face and pulled up memories of all of the pain and suffering of all the people that need not have been through and pushed with all his might.
"GET OUT!!" Harry shouted at the top of his voice, pushing all of his magic into banishing Riddle from his mind and then making sure that he was sealed out for good and then with one final push he willed away the boundaries, re-opening his mind to his body.
¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^¬^
After the aura had disappeared everyone gathered around the door way to see what was going on. For the first time in three weeks they saw hope. Harry was sweating but he wasn't thrashing around or in pain, he was sweating. They all stood in silence for minutes before it was broken by Dumbledore.
"I've never felt anything like this, his magic is increasing again but at a greater rate, I don't know how he is sustaining it it's…" Dumbledore was saying in amazement when he was cut short as again there was whooshing sound and Harry's aura came back out again but this time stayed at it's normal size but still with the fire pattern, however they were not concerned with the appearance as Harry began to smile and then he arched his back and at the top of his lungs he bellowed "GET OUT!!" and then the aura was gone, Harry's injuries were gone and he relaxed. Silence was upon the group as they all stood contemplating what had just happened but their thoughts were disturbed as Harry coughed and opened his eyes. It was only for a few seconds but it was enough for every one and enough for Harry to know that the images he had seen in his mind from Riddle about them were fake. He smiled at them all and then the darkness overtook him.
"Has he woken yet?" Hermione asked the hospital matron as she entered the hospital wing. She had a free period while all the others were at classes so she decided she would pay Harry a visit and wait for everyone else to finish classes for the day.
"I'm afraid not Ms Granger, however he seems to be out of his unconsciousness and is now sleeping." Madam Pomfrey told her. It had been two days since Harry had come out of what ever it was that he had been but he had been unconscious since. Dumbledore had said that Harry had exhausted a lot of magic and even more than he was supposed to have but Harry should recover soon. Thanking the Medi-Witch she went and took up her usual seat beside Harry and began flipping through a book. She was so engrossed in the book that she didn't even hear Ron and Ginny enter the room.
"How is he today?" Ron asked her in a whispered voice but it was still enough to make her jump and cry out.
"Was sleeping peacefully" came a raspy, feeble voice from the bed. Everyone looked to Harry to see he had his eyes still closed but a smile on his face.
"Harry?" Hermione questioned
"Yeah" Harry answered.
"Oh Harry, we've all been so worried!" Hermione screeched as she threw her arms around Harry. After Ron reminded her that Harry needed air and that she was hogging him she released him which was a relief for Harry only to be squeezed even tighter by Ginny as she sobbed uncontrollably into his shoulder. Harry tried to whisper words of reassurance to her but found that he couldn't and started coughing instead, he managed to choke out "water" in between coughs and was grateful when Ron handed him a glass.
"Blimey Harry, any one would think you had been cut of from water for three weeks!" Ron joked. Harry was about to reply but was cut off as madam Pomfrey came into the room and upon seeing Harry up and awake she let a rare smile come to her face.
"It's good to see you awake Mr Potter, how do you feel?" she asked
"Well my throat hurts. A lot. And I feel really weak. Apart from that okay I guess" Harry told her, she nodded and then walked out the room, and she reappeared moments later with a goblet of steaming potion.
"I am not going back to sleep, I just spent three weeks unconscious thank you very much" Harry said firmly.
"Oh stop being such a baby Mr Potter, this potion is for that throat of yours, you screamed It raw when you did what ever it was that you did and you haven't had any liquids in it since then" she said to him in an exasperated tone.
"Harry what exactly is it that you did?" Ron asked him.
"Indeed that is a good question Mr Weasley but perhaps best left for when Harry has recovered some of his strength?" Dumbledore said from the doorway. The rest of the day was spent with everyone just talking to each other about nothing important, all equally relieved that Harry was back with them. Madam Pomfrey had promised that Harry could leave the hospital wing the next day if he behaved himself until then and that when he was let out that he not over do himself physically, that he build himself back up to the physical stature that he once held.
The next few days went by in a blur, Harry was excused from lessons so he spent much of his time either doing exercise or catching up on his research and work. It turned out that when the others had been made to go back to their dorms while Harry was still in hospital they instead found a spare classroom and practiced anything they found useful from the laptop of Harry's, all though Ginny wouldn't always join them as she had Dean to think about. When Harry had asked them how their progress was he was amazed to see that they were all handling the curses and spells that they attempted expertly, even Ginny who was a year younger.
After Harry had gone to the headmasters office with Ron, Ginny and Hermione to explain what had happened and what he had gone through he was disappointed to see that people were eyeing him with suspicion, even members of his own house again wherever he went. It seemed that there were rumours going around about what had happened to Harry and most of them were true. People had heard that Harry had been getting his head filled with images of death and destruction of his friends and then images of everyone hating him so everyone began to think that Harry was now going dark. In truth Harry didn't come out of the experience as the same person, he was more weary and he didn't really show too much emotion to people other than his family as he had dubbed them. When he had explained to everyone what had happened they were all shocked, but he was happy to see that none of them were giving him pitying looks, Dumbledore even looked proud which lightened Harry's spirits. When Harry explained about the magic channel to his brain Dumbledore grew serious and when Harry questioned him about it he told Harry that if he had done something remotely wrong he would have fried his brain basically but seeing as he didn't he had a new ability to train and research, how direct magic access to the brain can be used and harnessed.
Just over a week after Harry had come out of hospital he felt he was back in reasonable shape and so he asked if he could resume Quidditch training with the team for their ever closer match in a few days. Feeling relieved after Dumbledore had given him the go ahead and even said that those from the school who wanted to could go and watch the match Harry returned to the team the day before the match for training after giving a brief explanation about where he had been for the last four weeks of training, the coach told him he would have to compete against Jonathan again to see if he was fit to play. So again Harry went against Jonathan and again he caught the snitch before he did, but this time it seemed easier for him. The practice went very well for Harry, very tiring, but very well and all too soon the big day came, the match against Australia was upon him.
"All right team, this is what we have all been working towards, they are the second favourites this year, next to Bulgaria. If we win this match then we should have no problems this year! Now get out there and show them all how Quidditch is played!" Mr Stokes said to them before the team went onto the pitch. All too soon the game was underway and Harry was constantly flying flat out on his broom to help brake up plays from the Australian team and interfering with the beaters line of sight when they were trying to hit a bludger. The Australian seeker didn't seem all that worrying to Harry, she just flew about almost lazily only keeping one eye out for the snitch. Deciding to try his luck Harry fly up right by her and then went into a dive and as if on queue the Australian seeker blasted forward after him. Not risking looking back and blocking out the sound of the commentator Harry flattened himself against the broom and then extended his arm as if he had seen the snitch. The ground was now fast approaching, 20 feet, 10 feet, 5 feet, 2 feet, 1 foot, Wham! Harry pulled out at the last second and flew off into the sky, the Australian seeker fell for it, literally! Harry's joy was short lived however because as he became level with the game again he saw the snitch fluttering around one of the Australian chasers so Harry shot after it, within 3 seconds after that the game was over, Harry had caught the snitch and England had won!
As Harry landed he was engulfed in a shower of hugs and pats on the back and members of the team offering congratulations, however the excitement was soon short lived. From somewhere on the pitch there was a resounding boom which succeeded in silencing the whole crowd. Harry franticly looked around to find the source of the unexpected explosion and found it. Out of a black swirling misty substance In the middle of the pitch things began to emerge.
"What the bloody hell are those things?" asked one of the chasers.
"They look like zombies" said another who was obviously a muggle born
"Oh no" Harry whispered, but it had the effect of someone shouting it because all of the team members looked to him for some sort of explanation.
"They are dead people, revived with necromancy by Voldemort" Harry told them. At the name Voldemort the team promptly shuddered and then in the blink of an eye evacuated the field. Knowing they were there for him Harry felt it was his obligation to stay put and give everyone else at least a chance to get out. Soon after the first body came through the black portal the last two came through, a heavily cloaked person that Harry guessed as Malfoy and then Riddle himself. Seeing the two disgusting beings made Harry's anger again rise and his body shake with anger and power. He was just about to approach them when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Without looking around Harry knew the headmaster was behind him, he could sense the power radiating off of him.
"Where are all of the students sir? Who is with them?" Harry asked in a calm voice.
"They are with professors Tonks and Snape. They are still in the stands as is everyone else. We don't know how but Voldemort has sealed them all to their seats, the whole stadium." Dumbledore said in an equally calm voice, even as the dead army and the two monsters began approaching.
"How are you here then?" Harry asked
"I was on my way down to congratulate you when he entered into the stadium." Dumbledore explained. By now Riddle's army was fast approaching and Harry was able to make out details on the dead bodies.
"How are we going to do this professor?" Harry asked him, hoping that Dumbledore had at least some idea of how to get out of the situation alive
"I shall handle Riddle myself, and you can take Malfoy. I suggest first however I clear this drabble of an army" Dumbledore said and then in a heart beat Dumbledore had his arm raised and he was shooting off spells that either blasted the bodies apart or incinerated them.
"Albus, Albus, Albus. You are a fool to think that you are going to walk away from this one. Just look at you, why right now I could fire off a curse and kill you while you play around with my children." Riddle said as he raised his wand.
"You are very naive if you think raising a few dead bodies is distracting enough to warrant an accurate killing curse, or indeed any curse at all. You are showing off your cowardness by not facing me like a man, like a wizard!" Dumbledore said as he cleared off the last lot of approaching dead bodies, however he had hardly even made a dent in the overall amount. There must have been about 300 behind Voldemort and Malfoy all waiting for their masters command.
"So you, you challenge me to a wizards duel? Well that means I shall have to leave my apprentice to take care of your golden boy." Riddle said with something close to excitement in his voice.
"So be it then, a duel, me and you, and your apprentice against my apprentice" Dumbledore said in a calm voice. By the look on both Riddle's and Malfoy's faces they weren't aware of Harry's powers or title.
"let it begin then!" Riddle said and then he waved his wand and said a few words and a giant screen was produced that showed the whole crowd the events that were taking place below them. When riddle next spoke his voice was also changed so the audience could hear it.
"Ladies, Gentleman and Mudblood scum, what you are about to witness is your two saviours get destroyed at the hands of me and my apprentice. Enjoy the show!"
As the last word left his mouth Malfoy lowered his hood and whatever Harry had been expecting to see this was not it. It looked to him that Malfoy had undergone the rest of the transformations that Riddle had. Malfoy's eyes were now blood red like his masters but he did not share his masters likeness to snakes. Where Riddle had a snake face Malfoy had one that resembled a dragon. He had teeth like a dragon, facial structure more like a dragon but still human looking.
"Ready to die Potter? Who would have thought that the great Harry Potter will meet his demise by his school nemeses?" Malfoy sneered.
"You seem so sure of yourself Malfoy" Harry replied in his cool and calm voice.
"Because I know I am Potter. In what world could you possibly hope to better me? You a wizard, me a sorcerer." Malfoy sneered. By now Dumbledore and Riddle had began their duel and it looked to be even, much like it had been at the department of mysteries. Turning his attention back to Malfoy Harry realised he was speaking again.
"Malfoy are we going to do this or what?" Harry said cutting into his speech.
"How dare you interrupt me? Avada Kedavra" Malfoy bellowed. Harry had not been expecting this curse straight out so he dived to the side and quickly got to his feet and fired off a formed a shield around himself.
"That pathetic little shield won't help you against a sorcerer Potter!" Malfoy shouted with an insane look on his face.
"We'll see" Harry responded. Again Malfoy pointed his wand at Harry and fired off a dark curse. Harry smiled to himself, he knew what the curse was, how to block it and how to undo the effects. When the curse hit the shield Harry made it absorb it and then using a little wandless magic he 'Shattered' the shield and took on the look of someone who was burning from the inside out.
"See Potter, you don't stand a chance." Malfoy said as he sauntered over to finish the job. Using the moment of weakness Harry jumped to his feet and began firing off some of the advanced spells Dumbledore had taught him. Malfoy didn't have time to put up a shield before he was hit with a curse that blinded him. Then he was hit again with another that deafened him and another that took away his speech. Happy with the outcome Harry yelled the disarming charm and received Malfoy's wand and promptly snapped it in half. When Harry looked to the other duel he saw that the two duellers were still looked in combat and that Dumbledore appeared to be weakening. Things looked to be going superbly for Riddle until the blind, deaf and speechless Malfoy walked right into Malfoy as Dumbledore fired off a spell that hit both and sent them flying into the air and then crashing through their army to the ground in a crunch. Voldemort screamed with rage and let off some accidental magic that caused all around him to be blown up, lessoning his army significantly.
"This isn't over Dumbledore, next time I wont be so easily distracted, nor will I hold back." Voldemort said and then he summoned the black portal and he and Malfoy left taking the dead army with them.
"Sir are you okay?" Harry asked as he approached the headmaster that was bent over breathing heavily.
"Yes Harry, I am fine. Just an old man loosing his breath." Dumbledore said as his breathing settled into an even pattern again.
"Was Riddle telling the truth about holding back?" Harry asked already knowing the answer but seeking reassurance from the old man.
"Yes, I am afraid so. I am very weakened now, whereas he is still strong. I don't know how but he has increased his strength again. Dumbledore told him. Before Harry could respond however there was a cheer from the crowd as they finally came out of their shocked state.
"I think the spell has worn off now. I need to go and see Mr Stokes sir, is that a problem?" Harry said to Dumbledore as they headed off the pitch.
"Not at all Harry, if you will please excuse me I must see to the students and the late ministry officials." Dumbledore said as he began to head towards the stands. Harry nodded his head and then he went into the changing rooms to find the whole team sitting down shaking.
"Is it over?" Mr Stokes asked
"yes sir, they went away. I'm afraid sir that I wont be playing Quidditch with the team again. I don't want to put them or the fans at risk anymore. I would like to resign" Harry said as quietly as possible in hopes of the team not hearing.
"Harry, are you sure you want to do this?" He asked.
"Positive sir" Harry replied.
"Very well then. We shall sort out all of the necessary paper work and send them to you. When the war is over however there will be a place on the team for you" Mr Stokes said and then he shook Harry's hand, as well as the rest of the team and they all wished Harry luck as he collected his things and left to find his friends. Though short lived, Harry's Quidditch career was over.
***************************************************************************
A/N: There you have it. Another chapter done. I don't think this is the best chapter I have written yet, I seem to be loosing inspiration for the story. Any way there wont be another update for a few weeks now, I want to get ahead in this story and I'm thinking of starting a new one now that I have the hang of writing Harry Potter fics. Thanks for all the reviews guys.
Until next time.
GG
