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Chapter 22- Battle of the Ministry

Tom Riddle listened to all the happenings that went on in the Wizengamot. He had slowly entered into the Hall at the beginning of the session, with disguise of course. He was not silly enough to walk into this place with his true form.

He watched everything unfold and he knew that he had received a solid blow. There was a reason why he insisted on the Dark Mark for all his followers. It was something more than a simple marking.

It was his calling card. Something that binds his servants to him. He can summon them, torture them, and even maybe kill them through the mark of he pleases. This in turn kept them in line. He had to act quickly.

He knew just what he had to do. He silently left the gallery and made his way to the atrium. He knew what he had to do and slashed his wand horizontally. A loud boom echoed around the building and the explosion helped him in his next step. He muttered something in a language that most wouldn't recognise and he grinned when his spell was successful.

The next moment he knew, the black cloaked figures descended into the Ministry.

He couldn't help but laugh as he dispelled his disguise. All these people who ran helter skelter to save themselves, gave him a sense of satisfaction. He knew that it would only be a matter of time before the Aurors got here and in their wake, Dumbledore and the other Wizengamot members. He was waiting to see the reaction of one Harry Potter. The boy was a very powerful enemy. He grudgingly admitted that he was nowhere near the abilities of the boy when he was the same age, but that didn't matter.

He had pushed the boundaries of magic very far and he was now inevitable. Nobody can match up to him. Not Dumbledore and certainly not Harry Potter.

He didn't bother casting any spells. He knew that the dementors would be enough to do his job for him. He watched as Harry Potter arrived into the atrium. He summoned a few weaklings out of the Dementors range and pushed them behind him.

Tom sneered. He still didn't understand why people like Dumbledore and Potter do all these things like helping those weaklings. They were extremely powerful men. Why they did this, he never knew. But for him, helping someone was a sign of weakness. He cannot give into such weakness. It was him and only him that mattered. He had no obligation to display such disgusting emotions.

He watched curiously as the boy performed a spell. Tom was taken aback when he saw the powerful glow of his eyes. His eyes still unnerved him for some reason. They were not supposed to do something like that.

He then watched in fascination and a slight amount of awe as he bore witness to a spectacular feat of magic that he had never seen before. The boy managed to kill the Dementors. He reeled back in shock. Who was this guy?

What is he truly capable of and for the record, where did he even come across something that would kill off dementors of all things?

His respect for his enemy went up a notch.

"If only you weren't naive and foolish enough to restrict yourself to such disgusting emotions, we would have been great friends, Lord Peverell." He whispered.

He waited till the white glow cleared and he watched as the boy collapsed on to his knees. He began spouting blood and Tom could clearly make out the signs of magical exhaustion. Now was his time.

"Hello Harry." Tom muttered as he sent a spell towards the boy.

"Long time, Harry. Long time."

—--&&&&--

The boy could barely stand as he grimaced from the pain. "Long time indeed, Tom." He winced at the stupid muggle name of his. His nostrils flared as his rage began to rise quickly.

"That was an impressive feat of magic, young man. I was pleasantly entertained."

Tom muttered genuinely. Harry snorted. "Glad I was some kind of entertainment to his highness." He mocked.

"Even in the face of death. I admire your courage, young Harry." Tom chuckled.

"Why fight? Why fight for these stupid cowards? Did you see how they ran away the moment they were in danger? Why risk your life for such filth?" He questioned curiously.

"If it is out of a sense of righteousness, then there is no need, my boy. Nobody will dare question people like us. You can join me, Harry. With our abilities, we could conquer the world."

Harry coughed hard as his body began to tremble from the magical exhaustion. This spell would have worked very well and he would have been alright, but there were just too many dementors. He had no choice but to use every vestige of his power.

"Yeah, I don't think so."

"It was foolish of you to come here today, Tom." The Potter men and Arcturus saw the Dark Lord's eye twitch in irritation.

Voldemort now stood face to face with Albus Dumbledore. "Dumbledore." Tom spat, his eyes flashing red for a second in anger. He then smirked.

"Surely you don't think you can take on me, do you?" Dumbledore hummed. "I don't know. Why should I not?" He questioned casually

"You might not see so, but I like to think that I have a few tricks up my sleeve, Tom." Dumbledore sent a stunner at blistering speed to be swatted away by Tom.

"A stunner? Come now, Headmaster. Do you think so little of me?"

Dumbledore calmly avoided the piercing hex that flew his way. "Not underestimate you per say. I just don't want to resort to those spells. Not unless I am compelled to."

Tom smirked. "Do not take me for a fool, Dumbledore. We both know that you don't have the spine to do what it takes." Tom smirked when he watched his former professor's eyes harden.

Dumbledore raised his wand in a horizontal line and muttered a spell. Tom's eyes widened when he felt the ground spout chains that seemed alive. These chains attacked Tom and he had to bring up a mage shield to stop the assault. He was annoyed right now. He slashed his wand and the chains were destroyed.

"Enough!" He boomed. "You have always been a pain in my side, Dumbledore. Avada Kedavra!"

Dumbledore calmly summoned a nearby rock on the path of the curse. He banished the pieces of the exploded rocks before transfiguring the nearby debris into three wolves. Tom blasted away the transfigured rocks and another killing curse and a cruciatus curse flew towards the old man. Tom didn't stop the assault and tried to shield the various curses that Dumbledore sent his way.

The duel that occurred was nothing short of legendary. A myriad of colours and explosions were what people could see as the spells impacted against one another.

Neither gave an inch to the other and neither was willing to back down. Dumbledore began to tire gradually. The older man was still at the top of his game and could take on literally anybody with his eyes blinded, but this was not anybody was it?

Against Tom Riddle, these small details would determine if you would win or lose.

Tom noticed that Dumbledore was tiring and in his last ditch attempt, he summoned fiendfyre.

The deadly flames in the form of a large basilisk erupted from his wand and Tom watched in satisfaction when his cursed flames roared in hunger.

Harry panicked a little, but he didn't expect the Headmaster to stay calm. When it comes to anything that harms innocents, Dumbledore was the first to fight it. Harry hoped that the old man had something up his sleeve.

What he watched next was not something he had ever seen in his life. Dumbledore waved his wand around himself in an arc and just like that, a huge water phoenix rose in height. ' Fawkes' Harry thought, struggling to keep his eyes open .

He was getting extremely tired and he was struggling to stay awake. He felt his magic slowly returning in strength, but he still felt the effects of the burn on it.

He watched with interest as the water phoenix totally consumed the huge flaming basilisk and quelled the fire. It was a fantastic piece of magic and Harry once more felt himself admiring the Headmaster. It was displays like this that told everyone just how powerful the man was and just how brilliant he was with magic.

True, not a lot can summon fiendfyre, but literally nobody knows how to fight them. Once again, Harry marveled at the knowledge of the wise old man. He might be an arse most of the time, but no one would dare question his ability.

Harry watched Tom's face burn with fury and shock.' He really thought that he could get away with it and especially from him.' He couldn't help but snort.

Tom growled furiously as he sent forth a trio of killing curses and a cruciatus. He watched, anger intensifying that his spells were squashed.

Harry watched Tom dwell into further dark magic. A blood freezing curse, a blood boiling curse, a tongue shredding curse, an entrail expelling curse, a bone crusher. Dumbledore though tired avoided most of the curses, swatted a few away, but as his shield dimmed and broke from the onslaught, a bone shredder grazed his left shoulder.

Tom saw an opportunity to take an advantage. In a blink of an eye and missing the elder Potter and Black, Tom banished something with a quick wave of his wand.

"Harry…" Dumbledore who noticed this was too late with the warning.

Before anybody could stop it, a dagger had pierced a still partially conscious Harry straight on in his stomach.

—--&&&--

Charlus still could not forget the spell that he had seen his son perform. Every individual in this building now was in his debt. The dementors were dangerous to take on individually, and in a group, they would take lots of lives with them. He knew his son was spectacular and he couldn't be anymore proud of the fact. His son had him and his brother in law beaten hands down.

Today's display was something that was concerning. Magical exhaustion did not cause this effect. Harry was spitting blood. He needed to take him back to Dorea. She might be able to tell him. He watched Dumbledore fight the Dark Lord. He might not like the barmy old coot, but he sure as well respected his abilities with a wand.

He was not surprised that the man could counter fiendfyre. He and Arcturus could do it. Harry could surely do it and he had a fleeting suspicion that Bellatrix could do it as well.

He was so engrossed in the fight that he failed to notice that Harry was almost defenseless.

He heard the warning too late. He watched as a dagger raced to his son and before he could do something, it pierced his stomach.

Everything became quiet for Charlus. He lost any and all sorts of thoughts racing through his head and he watched with bated breath. His heart sank when Harry vomited something black in color, his skin paling extremely.

He could not hear a single sound as he quickly rushed to his son. His heart broke when the boy's face contorted in pain.

"Harry…?" He cradled the boy in his arms. Harry coughed the black substance once more and once more Charlus felt the boy shake and spasm in pain, his breath quickening.

He fell limp in his arms and something broke inside Charlus. He prayed to every deity watching over them that he could feel a pulse. His shaky hand reached out onto his son's hand and he held his pulse point.

"Please…please…." He whispered as he listened with bated breath. His eyes calmed a little when he heard a faint pulse. "Thank you…" He muttered. "Two minutes….son. Just give me two minutes."

Charlus stood up, his breathing heavy and his eyes glowing dangerously. He turned to face a grinning Tom Riddle.

"You just made the biggest mistake of your stupid life." Tom didn't expect a golden beam race towards him before he could comprehend.

He was thrown off his feet onto the wall. Charlus's fury was something that many had not seen for a long time. Even Arcturus. Once again, Charlus Potter and his legend spoke for itself and it grew.

Charlus walked forward, firing all manner of curses at the now stunned and panicked Dark Lord.

"Blood for blood." He shouted above the spell fire.

"For every drop of my son's blood, I'll take twice of what you have." A trio of flaming balls raced to the now scrambling Dark Lord.

He shielded the spells and avoided them as much as possible. Charlus Potter was suddenly looking very dangerous to Tom Riddle.

He now understood why the man was highly feared and yet respected.

He tried to think of something. He tried to find some way to escape but the onslaught from the Potter Lord only made it difficult.

He found an opening when the Potter Lord stopped for just a second to gauge the situation. That was all he needed.

He sent green smoke from his wand and quickly escaped from the atrium. He had severely misunderstood the abilities of the Potter Lord.

He seethed in anger, his wand shaking in his hand.

"Every single one of them will pay. I will end that line. I will destroy every one that is associated with them." He vowed. He would wash his hands with the blood of every single Potter and Black. He didn't give much heed to them even after they foiled many of his plans only out of respect to the ancient bloodlines.

He held a slim belief that they would be moved. He hoped that he could convince them to follow him. Such ancient knowledge. Such powerful family magics, a lot of influence. But today, he was pushed too far.

The old man dared to push him into a wall. He threw him into a wall. He made him run. He drew blood. Tom clenched his fists and roared in anger. He threw a curse in his anger at the wall nearby, breaking it into pieces.

" I will destroy himm….." he hissed, slipping into parseltongue in his fury.

—-&&&--

Charlus scrambled back to his brother in law and his fallen son. Arcturus seemed to be running a few diagnostics on him. Harry's breathing was laborious and Charlus collapsed in front of his son's weak body.

"Son?" His eyes lost the angry glow and started shimmering with tears.

"A…Arcturus?" The Black Lord shook his head.

"It's a ritualized dagger, Charlus. It is not something that I have knowledge of. But I think there might be information regarding this back at Grimmauld." Charlus placed his hand on Harry's forehead. It was cold. Very cold.

"No….No." He sobbed as he stood up and picked the boy up. He turned back to the Lords and Ladies, the aurors and the entire ministry watching him.

His eyes contorted in fury as he took in every single eye watching him.

"Cowards!" He roared and many of them literally flinched at his voice.

"Aurors….hit wizards and you failed to protect a seventeen year old boy? Shame on you. Shame on this entire farce you call as the Ministry. Shame on you." He sobbed.

"If anything…anything at all happens to my son, I will destroy this building. I will destroy every single person standing over here, watching my son die rather than come out and fight. I swear on my name as a Potter. You will burn to the fury of my wand. I swear this in my honor."

He rushed to the lobby of the Ministry and quickly made his way to the floo. He had to take him to Dorea.

—-&&&--

"Check." Dorea smiled back at her niece who huffed in annoyance. "One time…one single time…" Bellatrix grumbled. "Why don't you lose just once?" She asked her aunt.

"Because, my dear niece. I, similar to you and many others in our family, love to win and keep winning. It is in my nature." Bellatrix sighed.

"As much as I love chess, I love dueling more." Dorea chuckled softly.

"Is it dueling you love or the one you like to practice dueling with?" She questioned, a sly expression on her face.

Bellatrix couldn't help but be embarrassed a little. Dorea chuckled once more.

"Look at that. You get all flustered when somebody mentions him." Dorea sighed.

"You truly love him don't you?" Bellatrix nodded. "I do. More than anything in this world." Dorea smiled.

"I know dear. Harry is truly lucky to find you and Narcissa."

They were interrupted when the floor roared.

"They are…."

"Dorea!!" The two women were startled when they heard Charlus's voice.

"What is the matter?" Dorea quickly rushed to the lobby of the Manor.

They stopped cold when they came across the scene. Bellatrix stared at what looked like Harry's body and a dagger sticking out of his stomach. His clothes were drenched in his blood and something black was smeared near his mouth.

"Harry?" Dorea rushed to the boy and her wand was in her hand quickly. She ran her wand over the wound and the dagger, tears running down her cheeks.

"It's a ritualized blade. A dark ritual." She started to slowly take off the knife.

The occupants flinched when a blood-curdling scream rang through the house. They stepped back when Harry's pained scream rang through the house.

Harry kicked and struggled on the floor, screaming his throat out. His voice was painful. Very painful for them to hear.

"No…" Dorea whispered as she closed her ears, unable to listen to his screams.His body flexed and spasmed on the ground.

He spat something black out and another scream rang through the Manor.

Bellatrix couldn't move from the spot. Her fists clenched and her eyes not living her love's body.

She had frozen in place.

Arcturus watched his granddaughter lose focus. He felt scared for her. He had to do something.

He needed to inform the others too.

He approached his granddaughter and placed a hand on her shoulder.

She didn't move.

Arcturus knew that she was panicking. She was scared. He had to get her out of this condition. He needed to get her mother in here.

He quickly moved to the floo and contacted his wife. "Mel…It's urgent. Get Druella and get here." Melania Black frowned in confusion, but didn't bother asking what it was. She knew that it must be urgent.

Arcturus watched as the floo roared to life and Melania and Druella stepped into the Potter Manor.

"Arcturus? What is the matter?"Melania questioned. She noticed that her husband seemed extremely worried.

"Come quickly." He led the two of them into the manor.

Melania and Druella flinched when another pained scream rang through the house.

"A..Arcturus? What is happening?"Melania questioned, flinching once more as another scream rang through the house.

Arcturus went on to explain everything that happened to the two women and why he had called for them. Druella most importantly.

The two women rushed towards where Harry was, a myriad of emotions running through their heads. Druella rushed to her daughter who was still staring at the boy without any response.

"Bella?"She called out, shaking her by her arm. The girl turned to stare at her mother.

Her expression was blank as she stared at her mother. "Harry?" She questioned her mother. Her voice was devoid of any emotion. Druella pointed at the fallen boy.

"He will be fine." She assured. Bellatrix didn't speak a word. She went back to staring into space, once again the same blank look prominent on her face.

"Do you know what it is?" Charlus questioned, his voice nary a whisper. He hoped that his wife could do something about this. He really hoped so.

"No." Dorea muttered as she slumped to the floor next to Harry.

"I have never seen or heard anything like this before. I don't even know what that dagger does. How can I cure something I don't know?"

"Dor? That is not all, is it?" Charlus questioned. "I know you won't be disheartened by something like that. What is it?"

Dorea stared at her husband and choked back a sob.

"H..he…he is dying." The dam broke and she began to weep.

"No!" Bellatrix's voice was like a slap on the face to the others in the manor.

"How dare you?" She hissed at her aunt.

"My Harry is not dead." She screeched.

"He loves me. He will not die, leaving me here." Bellatrix smiled at the boy who was lying on the floor. She skipped to the boy.

She smiled lovingly at the boy and caressed his cheek.

"Poor Harry." She whispered. "He is very tired. Don't disturb him." She put on a finger on her lips, telling the others to be quiet.

"Why did you lie to me, Aunt Dorea?" Bellatrix huffed.

"Oh…Bella." Druella began to cry.

"Don't cry, Mother. Aunt Dorea was just joking." She whispered, caressing her boyfriend's forehead.

Really, what was Aunt Dorea thinking? She was joking. Of course she was.

It was at that moment that Harry gave another blood-curdling scream. Bellatrix stared at Harry in shock. "Harry?" She flinched when he began to spasm on the ground. His screams brought confusion to the girl.

"What is happening?" She asked. "Why is he behaving like this?" She questioned frantically.

"Do something. Anything." She asked her aunt as she began shaking the boy, trying to wake him up.

"Why are you all quiet?" She asked when she noticed that none of them had moved.

"He is in pain. Give him a potion." She asked her aunt.

Her temper only grew when nobody responded to her words.

"You people are useless." She sneered finally having enough of their behavior.

"I will go and ask Narcissa for help." She began moving to the floo.

Arcturus threw a stunner at the girl, but he watched as Bellatrix spun away from the path of the curse, her wand falling into her hand.

She swatted away a few more stunners that arrived her way. "Grandfather?" She asked, surprised by the older man's actions. Her surprise made way to anger very quickly as the spells didn't stop.

"Forgive me, my dear." Arcturus whispered as he continued firing.

"But you have to accept the truth, Bella. We don't want you to be in denial and in turn doing something that you would regret."

Bellatrix growled as she sent forth a wide area banishing charm, and within seconds, she had sent forth a multitude of immobilizing hexes and body binds.

"You are lying." She screamed, her wand now in a blur as she now switched on the intensity of the spells.

"He is fine. You are lying. He is just asleep." She whispered, her eyes switching to the boy. Her eyes clouded with anger.

"Crucio!" She roared and a brilliant red light zoomed towards a surprised Arcturus. Just as the spell was to impact the older man, a solid wall intercepted the curse. Charlus had his wand out too.

"You are mad. You are telling me that my Harry is dying, yet he is just taking a small rest." She insisted. The two men, on the receiving end of the girl's onslaught dodged the myriad of boe breakers, tongue tying curse, blood boiling curse. The more that they shielded, the mre she began to attack.

Harry was right. This girl at her fury was a force to reckon. Such was the force and power of her spells.

Charlus and Arcturus nodded slightly and at once, jumped to the opposite sides, escaping the path of the spells.

Arcturus fired a blasting hex that the girl caught, but in her rage, failed to notice the body bind and disarmer that Charlus fired.

The man walked to the now frozen woman. Her stare was as deadly as a basilisk. She held such hate in her eyes that Charlus felt a chill go down his spine. He crouched next to the girl.

"I am sorry, child. Your anger at me is not misplaced. If I was a bit more alert, he would have been safe and sound. I am the reason he is in this condition. I am sorry my dear."

Charlus could see that his words were reaching the girl.

"He was wonderful my dear. He used some different type of patronus. He was spent and weak. I failed to protect him at that moment. I am sorry." Bellatrix's eyes began to shed tears.

Charlus could not stem his own tears. He released the girl from his spell. She collapsed into the older man's arms and all the tension left her body. She sobbed into the older man's shoulder.

Charlus hugged the girl.

"I am sorry. I am very sorry." He whispered.

He felt worse as his heart felt heavy. He steeled his already wounded heart, as he held his niece. His eyes fell on the pale body of his son. Almost deathly pale.

"Please?" Bellatrix whispered into his ear. "Please save him. I want him back. Please." She begged. Charlus wiped his eyes.

"We will do everything my dear. We will do whatever we can to save him. You have my word."

He assured and he meant every single one of his words. He would unite sky and earth just so that he could see his son is healthy. He would go back and forth to hell and just as he promised to Bellatrix, he meant every word of his promise.

"I will save you Harry." He whispered.

TBC—--

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