A/N- Well, here we go again everyone. I'm late updating once again, but I suppose we're all used to it. Anyways, we'll dive right in. Enjoy the new chapter.
Part 1- The Return
Chapter 7
July 10th, 1995
It was chaos!
Bolts of light streaked through the air like fireworks, leaving singing trails of ozone in their wake as they went. The bolts exploded on impact, sending showers of earth and stone into the air. The debris and smoke wove into the thick mist that hung about the graveyard, making it almost impossible to see the figures racing between the headstone, the lights spewing the ends of sticks held in their hands like swords.
One of the figures dove behind an ancient and crumbling mausoleum, dark cloak flapping in the wind as he narrowly dodged one of the incoming curses. It hit a headstone a few feet behind him, blasting the heavy stone apart and peppering him with debris. He rolled on the ground for a moment before springing back up to his feet, crouching behind his cover.
"Well done! Well done!" The other figure called; his voice playful as he walked forward calmly. His movements were languid, his form giving off nothing short of complete confidence. He was a tall and handsome young man with jet black hair and dark eyes, and he twirled the stick he carried in his fingers absently as he came forward. "This is the most fun I've had in ages." He drawled.
He stopped abruptly when there was no movement from behind the tomb, his expression going from amusement to anger in a flash.
"Don't give up now." He said, raising his wand. Magic swirled at the tip, glowing brightly at the center. "We've only just begun!" He roared, releasing the spell. It smashed into the mausoleum, blasting it to dust in an instant.
A vicious grin split his face as he observed the destruction he'd wrought. The grin fell away and a split second later he spun on his heels, stretching out his hand. An iridescent barrier of magic formed just as a bolt of red light struck it. The impact sounded like a thunderclap as it made contact, bolts of pure energy arching around him. With some effort, the young man angled his shield, deflecting the blasting hex off to his left where it exploded some meters away harmlessly. A grimace formed on his handsome face for just a split second. He wasn't sure who this opponent was, but he'd not only cast a silent blasting hex, but one with enough power to crack his shield.
"How in Merlin's name did you manage to dodge that?" He asked aloud, smirking again and regaining his casual grace. "I suppose it doesn't really matter all that much. This is the most fun I've had in years!" He drawled, almost gleefully. "I'd still like to have a look at you though." He added, flicking his wand upward. "I prefer to see my prey while I hunt."
The mist around him began to swirl about as a blast of wind swept through the graveyard. A second later and it was rising above them into the night sky and dispersing. With the mist now gone the graveyard was bathed in the light of the moon.
"Glad I'm not disappointing."
From the shadow of the trees the cloaked figure stepped out into the moonlight, pulling the hood of his long black cloak down as he did so. Venomous green met dark brown as the two met each other's gaze.
"Hello Tom." Harry Potter said, raising his wand back to a ready position. Unlike his counterpart, he was tense, heart pounding in his ears.
It was his own fault he was in this situation in the first place. Despite everything he'd been through, every time he'd done exactly what he'd done tonight and it backfired on him in spectacular fashion, he hadn't learned his lesson. He'd rushed in. Without a plan. Without any thought other than going to Little Hangleton and collecting the ring from the Gaunt family shack he'd apparated here and walked straight into a trap, despite remembering full well what happened when he and Dumbledore had gone to retrieve the locket in the previous timeline.
No, he had been rash and careless as always, not to mention arrogant. He'd assumed some kind of barrier would be there, or some kind of trap similar to the inferi, but with his newfound powers he'd assumed it would all be fine. That is, until about five minutes prior when he'd entered the shack. To be fair, how could he have known Voldemort would've had some kind of inferi there that the horcrux would possess and reanimate as a pseudo homunculus? Now here he was, face to face with a sixteen-year-old Tom Riddle and fighting for his life.
If he made it out of this, Hermione was going to kill him.
"So, you know my name?" Riddle drawled, twirling his wand again. "Here I was thinking you were just an unlucky relic hunter or an even more unfortunate passerby."
"I know you all too well, Tom." Harry said quietly, a bitter laugh caught in his throat.
"Oh?" Riddle said softly. Harry barely saw the movement as Riddle's wand stopped twirling in his hand. Fast as lighting his hand snapped forward, a hail of powerful spells and curses flying from the tip of his wand. Harry barely got his shield up in time, the barrier managing to resist, but barely. Riddle was casting so fast that despite his skill as a duelist, Harry couldn't even counter. Just as quickly Riddle's assault began it ended, only to be renewed in a different manner.
Harry cried out in pain as the legimens probe crashed into his mind, trying to tear down his barriers. The attack was so strong that the ring on Harry's hand started to burn painfully as its protection was pushed to its absolute limit. For a moment, Harry was certain the barrier in his mind would fall, but it held fast. In fact, it grew stronger as what was once comparable to a strong gate became wrought iron, and then walls of heavy stone fell in front. Riddle recoiled from the shock of hitting such a strong defense, and Harry took his opportunity.
With a quick flick of his own wand, he sent another powerful blasting hex straight at Riddle's feet. The soon to be dark lord still managed to erect a shield before the spell hit, but the force of the blast still send him tumbling backwards with a shout.
Snarling, Riddle managed to regain his footing, only to see that his prey had once again gone out of sight. He began firing curses at random into the field of headstones around him, some vaporizing, some exploding, some melting as if in the heat of a volcano.
"GET BACK HERE!" He roared.
On the other side of the graveyard, Harry had taken refuge behind another dilapidated mausoleum. Despite his earlier arrogance he was now fully aware of the difference between himself and the shade of Voldemort that he'd been dueling. He knew he only had one option. Even if his partner wasn't there to help him, he had to end it then and there. He could not allow such a creature to be unleashed upon the world, and if he didn't stop it there was no telling what havoc it would unleash. As he hid behind the tomb he raised his hand, twisting the ring on his finger.
Riddle was furious as he scanned the area, looking for his lost prey. He'd felt some kind of strange pulse off to his right and was raising his wand to send a curse powerful enough to reduce the entire cemetery to ashes when he nearly doubled over under the weight of the magic that was released around him. Turning around, he saw the boy walking back towards him, but he was different somehow. Magic was pouring out of him, thickening the air and practically crackling around the two of them. He had one of his eyes closed, and the most disconcerting thing of all, the other was glowing blood red.
"You have some secrets about you, don't you?" Riddle asked. "Well, you're not the only one with power."
Using the power of his eye, Harry saw Riddle's own magic release. It was dark and twisting, nearly blood red in color as it uncoiled around him like a serpent. When it met with his own it felt nothing like it had with Hermione. With her it felt comfortable and clean. Riddles felt sickly and made his skin crawl. His sheer murderous intent nearly made Harry falter.
Despite this, Riddle did look concerned. It was difficult for either of them to tell who was more powerful.
The two were separated by only a dozen or so meters. Somehow, they'd made their way to a clearing among the headstones. If Riddle had access to the knowledge of his future self, he'd have realized that they were standing exactly where Harry and the monster that now walked the earth using his name had stood a year prior, facing each other down.
Riddle made the first move, firing another incredible volley of spells at him. To his shock, the boy conjured a shield powerful enough that his attacks simply bounced off, ricocheting into the night. As the spells were deflected, he lifted his left hand, and Riddle barely dodged a massive piece of debris that had come hurtling at him from the side.
Caught of guard, he caught the large piece or marble with a whip of flame conjured from his wand, dragging it out of the way before he was crushed by it and spinning it around. He then launched it at his opponent but was caught off guard once again as it seemed to slow to a stop just before hitting him, only to come screaming right back at Riddle himself.
He dove to the side to avoid it, rolling onto his heels. Knowing the duel was slipping out of hand, Riddle responded quickly and savagely. A few complex motions with his wand, as well as some quick incantations in a language nobody else knew sent the forest around them alive. Roots ripped themselves up out of the ground and became serpents, while clouds sprang up low to the ground. From within a shower of dagger like icicles erupted, flying towards Harry as the torrent of snakes followed. Finally, he cast the strongest spell he knew (or at least, that this version of himself knew). The fiendfyre roared out, encircling him to ensure no spells could reach him and then swirling up to take the form of a serpent. With a flick of his wand, the serpent surged towards Harry. A grin spread on Riddle's face. He knew he'd won.
His prey was too caught up in dodging the icy spears and the poisonous snakes he'd summoned to react to the fiendfyre, and only when it was too late did he see it coming. With a scream, the young man was consumed by the flames and vanished within the inferno.
Riddle stood there for a moment longer, relishing in his victory before he released the fiendfyre, allowing the flames to subside.
"Seems you weren't that interesting after all." Riddle said quietly into the night. He turned to walk away but froze in place.
"So that's how you fought when you were young."
It was impossible. The boy had been incinerated by the flames! Riddle spun around, feeling fear for the first time that evening.
The world around him shifted, the sky turning to a murky a red and the grass beneath his feet and the world around him fading to a greyish black. Riddle understood. He'd been placed under some kind of illusion.
"You're just as reckless of a duelist as I am." Harry drawled. His voice seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. "I am lucky though. If I hadn't managed to trap you in my illusion, I'd be dead right now. That was quite the combo attack."
Riddle's eyes widened as he heard the sound of wings flapping. Then he heard the crows calling. Soon the clearing was filled with crows, all cawing and getting closer and closer. He watched as a group of the came together, seemingly merging into each other. From the mass the outline of the boy became visible slowly, as if they crows were giving him form. Finally, he was there again, standing just a few meters from him.
Riddle shook his head, almost laughing.
"You are quite the interesting find my friend." Riddle complemented him. "But you should be more careful. Illusory magic is powerful, but only if the one you're casting it on is much weaker than you. If their strength is comparable to your own, then…" Harry felt Riddles magic flare out, and the world seemed to shift again. Color began to return to the grass and the sky was changing back to normal. The crows vanished into nothingness, and soon it was just the two of them alone in the clearing, standing where they had been at the start. Taking a quick glance around, Riddle realized he must have been placed in the illusion just as he'd begun casting his counter spells. "Then the victim can break out by disrupting the spell with the flow of their own magic." Whoever the boy was, he was skilled, but not skilled enough.
He was sweating slightly, and while before his magic had been downright oppressive it was much calmer now. He even seemed slightly out of breath, although he tried to hide it.
"It seems our game is over." Riddle said. He sounded almost sad at the prospect.
Harry knew Riddle was correct. Using his telekinetic powers earlier and an illusion with that kind of breadth and detail had taken far more power than he'd thought, and he'd overexerted himself. Not to mention he hadn't expected Riddle to be able to break out of it.
There was no other choice now. It was fitting, in a way, that it should come down to the same thing it did the first time Harry was in this graveyard. Harry began to summon all the power he had into his wand.
Riddle seemed to somehow sense what Harry was thinking and began pooling his own power. Despite his bravado, he was wanning as well. He knew just as Harry did that this would come down to this last exchange.
The two raised their wands and released the spells simultaneously, green light meeting green light. Curse meeting curse. For a moment there was nothing but light as the two attacks met, then came the explosion.
The blast was magnificent. It was as if someone had placed a bomb in the center of the graveyard and detonated it. Trees bowed under the force of it, and the earth was torn apart like it was clay.
For several long moments nothing happened as the dust and debris settled, then one of the two figures appeared in the smoke. As the smoke cleared, the other figure was visible at his feet, crumpled on the ground. Reaching down, the dark-haired man pulled the ring from the other man's left hand.
"Goodbye Tom." Harry said aloud. Already the effects of whatever curse Voldemort had used to create the homunculus were disappearing, leaving behind a withered and dried up corpse that broke apart in the wind, crumbling and turning to dust.
A moment later and He disappeared as well, collapsing in on himself and vanishing with a thunderclap.
A/N- BOOM! Actiony chapter. Hopefully that made up for the excruciatingly long wait. I won't bore you guys with a long note, so I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. The next one is already forming in my head, so hopefully it won't be quite as long of a gap before the next one. Next time- Hermione adjusts to her new situation. Once again, thanks to all the loyal followers of this story. You guys make it worthwhile. As always reviews are appreciated.