The Wand and the Sword
A windswept castle sat quietly on a dark cliff edge. Silhouetted against the waning sky, no one in the castle saw a tall, quiet figure approaching. He was wearing a dark cloak, and atop his head sat a tall wizard's hat. In one hand he held his wand, which was emitting a beam of light to guide the man to the castle. In his other hand lay a bright sword, almost as bright as the beam of light itself. On its hilt were written the words Godric Gryffindor. The figure walked with heavy steps, as if the weight of the world were upon his shoulders. He approached the large gates of the castle, and with a wave of his wand, they opened.
The gates opened to reveal a dark anteroom, lit by only a few torches. The man extinguished the light from his wand, and walked quietly and softly through the castle.
At first glance, the castle seemed deserted. But Albus Dumbledore knew better. He had entered a great room, which was indeed great. Its height was the height of the castle, and when Dumbledore looked up, he could not see the rafters of the room, as they were too high. It spanned several hundred feet in length, in each direction. This room was obviously enchanted, as it was almost twice the size of a Quidditch pitch.
"Ah, Dumbledore!" A voice rang out from nowhere. Dumbledore did not bother to look around; he knew the speaker would be nowhere nearby. "My spies had told me that you were coming, but I refused to believe them. I thought to myself, 'Why would Dumbledore come willingly to his death?'"
Dumbledore smiled benignly, and spoke. "On the contrary, Tom, I have not come to my death. I have come to give an ultimatum. Stop your pursuing of the Potter boy, or I guarantee that the entire wizard population will be after you, and your followers. I have already caught many of your main supporters, and I am sorry to say that your lieutenant Malfoy has been killed. Decapitated, it would seem."
There was a moment's silence, and then a laugh rang out. It was high and cold, entirely mirthless.
"Give up Potter? Your love of the Mudbloods has blinded you, Dumbledore. I would not leave alone Potter even if you offered up yourself as a sacrifice. As for Malfoy, he received no less than he deserved. I have no use for weak servants, Dumbledore."
There was a pause, and then the voice spoke again. "Now, Dumbledore. What shall I do about you? I would kill you myself, but you are far too unimportant to be crushed underneath my heel." Dumbledore smiled again. Tom Riddle still feared him. "However, I would like to introduce you to someone. He has been dying to meet you, Dumbledore."
The voice began to hiss, and Dumbledore realized that Riddle was speaking Parseltongue. What could this be? Perhaps another basilisk. The ground began to shake under his feet. It was coming from the other side of the room, three hundred feet away.
"Albus Dumbledore, I would like you to meet Typhon. He has proven himself as one of my most loyal servants."
And with that, the opposite wall burst open in an explosion of mortar and brick. Dumbledore had to move quickly to avoid being hit with a piece of stone weighing a ton. When the dust settled, a loud roar thundered across the room, shaking the ground on which Dumbledore stood, piercing his ears.
The laugh began again, and Tom Riddle spoke. "Let's see what you make of him, Dumbledore. I shall see you again."
Dumbledore focused his eyes and his energy. He looked across the room, where there was now a large hole in the wall, nearly fifty feet in radius. He readied his wand and sword, prepared for anything that would come through the walls. The ground shook again, this time very violently, and Dumbledore realized that these were footfalls. What kind of monstrous creature had he been breeding?
The creature was nearly at the wall, as the footsteps were getting closer. Finally Dumbledore got a glimpse of the creature. It was a terrible monster, a hundred and fifty feet in height. It was so large that it had to duck to get through the hole that it had made. As it stepped through the hole, Dumbledore got a good view of what the creature really was.
It was a giant! But much bigger than the average giant, nearly ten times larger. Tom had obviously twisted this creature with his dark magic. Atop the giant's shoulders sat one enormous head; this had the horns of a bull. Surrounding the head in the center were four other heads, each staring at Dumbledore with the same intensity. The center head, he saw, was breathing heavily, and each time it exhaled, a bit of flame came out of its mouth. The creature could breathe fire.
Its chest had a large plate on it, obviously some sort of magical armor to block spells. His hands were incredibly large, bigger than Dumbledore himself. On each hand, rather than fingers, they ended with fifty snakes, which were all writhing and staring at Dumbledore. In one hand, the giant held a piece of flaming rock, which without warning, he flung at Dumbledore. Dumbledore quickly jumped out of the way, the rock rolling past him.
This creature was going to be difficult to defeat. Dumbledore watched the creature warily as it circled and began to approach him. Its legs were massive, and they crossed the distance of three hundred feet in less than five seconds. When it arrived, it didn't stop, but used its momentum to take a swipe at Dumbledore. He ducked under the gargantuan hand, and rolled to a stop at his foot. Dumbledore took the sword and plunged it into the giant's ankle. Pulling the sword out, Dumbledore moved off, away from the giant, as all five of its heads screamed and roared in pain. Its voice itself seemed to be a weapon, almost causing Dumbledore to drop his instruments of war. It looked to its feet, and found its quarry gone. It fumbled around, and one of the heads twisted to see the small man behind him. The body turned as well, and with a resounding roar, the center head threw fire at him. It was searing hot, but Dumbledore used his wand to shield him from the fire. He failed to notice the monsters other hand coming straight at him. The snakes on the end of its hand snapped at his face, while he flew through the air and hit the wall with a crash. Getting up, he saw the monster charging him at an insane pace, and Dumbledore held the sword in a javelin position and threw it with all his might, using his wand to guide it home. The sword impacted the chest, and with a tremendous crash, the chestplate fell off, and the sword dug deeper, hitting the giants heart. It gave a gigantic roar that shook dust from the walls. It was in obvious pain, and now would be vulnerable to magic. Dumbledore flicked his wand, and a shockwave of pain passed over the giant. When the wave hit the plate which was lying on the floor, it uttered a loud DONG! The giant was now stumbling, in utter pain. Dumbledore aimed several stunning spells at the giant, and they worked. The giant took the spells and began to fall backwards.
Suddenly, a loud hissing began to fill the room. The giant seemed filled with a renewed energy, and stood itself up again. The sword was still protruding from its chest, causing the giant to bleed all over the floor. He was charging at him with a new interest now, intent malice in its several eyes. The monster was almost fifty feet away when Dumbledore disappeared with a loud Crack! The giant stopped. Where was his prey? Dumbledore re-appeared on top of the giant's center head. The giant roared in absolute fury, trying to grab the nuisance from its scalp, but Dumbledore dodged all of these grabs. With a bellow, he yelled, "Accio Blade!" and the sword, stuck in the giants heart, dug itself out and landed in Dumbledore's hand. With a roar of strength, he plunged the sword in the back of the giant's neck, until finally it would stab no further. The blade had reached the giant's brain, and with no more than a whimper, the creature began to fall.
With an earth-shattering crash, the monster hit the floor, leaving a very large crater. Dumbledore lay still for several minutes. He wanted to make sure that it was completely dead. When the creature refused to breathe, he got up and retrieved his wand, which had flown across the room during the fall.
He looked back at the monster, blood now flowing freely from its mouth. He pulled the sword from its neck, and walked from the castle, disappointed that the journey had not ended today.