Harry potter and the Time of Retirement
Everything related to Harry Potter belongs to JKR
Chapter 47 – Year 2
With a groan, Harry woke up. The dim lights, the snakes carved on the walls meant nothing to him initially. Then, eyes widening, he remembered what had just happened and tried to rise, without success: his whole body was tied up.
Percy was some meters away from of him. He kept Harry's wand in his hand but was pointing it at the ground. The calm in his eyes, his whole body language, felt different than usual and, once he opened his mouth to speak, the difference was clear and it horrified Harry.
"Harry Potter" said Riddle through Percy's mouth. "Here you are, bound, helpless. What are you going to do?"
Harry looked around himself – nothing. They were in the Chamber of Secrets, clearly, but no one else was in sight. No humans, no animals. No little girls. He turned towards Percy, fear and concern running amok in his mind.
"Where is Ginny, Riddle? What have you done?" asked Harry.
"That young redhead? Good question. Should we search for her?" was his answer, delivered with a pleasant tone and a charming smile.
"Is this how it's going to be, you scum? Fine" hissed Harry. Immobile, focusing on the ropes, he loudly cast "Finite" and the ropes disappeared. Slowly, he stood up while Riddle was politely clapping with his free hand and the tip of the wand.
"Wandless magic. You discovered me, my diary, something even Dumbledore couldn't. Your bravery. Add in your age and it is all very impressive, even if useless against me. Obviously" bragged Riddle, briefly twirling Harry's wands between his fingers. "The problem is, none of that truly explain how you could defeat as a baby the greatest wizard of all times! What happened back then? What are your secrets?"
"If you really want to talk, tell me where is Ginny" said Harry, coldly.
"Oh, Harry. Be it really courage or just arrogance, you fail to understand your position. The only one making questions here" countered Riddle, smiling with condescension "is me. Now start talking. Before I decide to use alternative methods."
"Here is a better deal. You tell me where Ginny is, you free Percy, and I swear I will give the diary to anyone you ask for, no matter who." said Harry, disdainfully.
"You care for these useless Weasleys? Why?" asked Riddle, amused.
"None of your business. Do it or…" said Harry, only to be interrupted by a loud snort of derision.
"Or what? I am the only one with a wand, here." said Riddle, shrugging – before his smile turned wide, and malevolent. "If you don't want to tell me what I want you better start begging for your life, Harry. As your sweet little girlfriend did. You might be luckier!"
Harry all but growled and moved his open hand towards Riddle, who tensed at the gesture before showing a confident smirk and raising Harry's wand. Harry didn't move though and seemed to stare into the distance. An instant later, his hand grasped at the air and his lips moved, though no sound could be heard from him. Not over the scream of pain coming from Riddle: a barely visible item, flying from the darkness, had just pierced him in his back.
Falling on his knees, growling in pain, Riddle twisted his body and tried to reach for the injury – but at the same time Harry had rushed in, and stomped his face with his foot. Riddle fell on the side, blood coming from his lips, while Harry managed to snatch the wand out of his hand. Harry fully wanted to end it all there but, before he could even wield it properly, Riddle had taken Percy's wand out of his pockets and was already casting several strong curses. Harry was forced to retreat before finally being able to shelter behind a quickly cast Protego, now keeping a wary guard. 'Fast' he thought, frowning.
"What did you… a disillusioned knife?" wondered Riddle, agape, moving a bloody blade in front of his eyes while keeping his stare on Harry. Harry meanwhile had moved his eyes to a nearby column and soon another shadowy shape, this time a disillusioned jar, crashed on the ground next to Riddle. Instantly, Harry shouted "Incendio".
A torrent of fire emerged from his wand. Riddle defended himself flawlessly with another Protego, but the oil that was inside the jar started burning and kept burning well, spreading all over the ground. Over the roar of the flames Riddle's second scream of pain could be heard loud and clear once it reached him. The fire behind him seemed distorted, though – but only for the few seconds before Aguamenti, cast silently by Riddle, put the fire out.
"You! Are you trying to kill us both?" shouted Riddle, coughing blood, his pleasant demeanor completely gone. Under his feet a red puddle was growing, and both his robe and his hands showed signs of burns.
"Us? No" answered Harry, scornfully. "Only you.". His composure shook a little when Riddle started laughing, meanwhile taking a step backward. He kept his wand pointing on the ground, but Harry swore he could see some of the burns already healing, and the drippling of the blood slowing down already. 'Silent Episkey?' he wondered. Usually only veteran healers were capable to cast healing magic silently and without focus, and yet...
"Ah…. Ahahahah….. oh, I am in awe of you now, Potter. We are so much alike, it's a tragedy we didn't go to school at the same time" said Riddle, shaking his head. "Are you sure we have to be enemies? The heights we could reach, together!"
"Free Percy, go back to your diary, or be destroyed" countered Harry. "Three."
"Think this through, Potter" said Riddle, pointing at his own chest with his free hand. "Me and this nobody are linked now, to destroy me you have to kill him too. I thought you cared about him."
"I will do what I have to do. Two, Riddle."
"What about the little girl, then. Who knows where" started Riddle, sarcastically, before stopping to cough. While he kept his eyes on Harry, he frowned when his hand, wiping his mouth, ended up covered in blood. "Where is she, right?"
Harry snarled, even his teeth were showing. Glaring at Riddle, he shook his head slowly. "One."
"Nothing will stop you, eh?" asked Riddle, dragging something with his foot. A shiny cloak fell on the ground and, under it, Ginny was there. Tied up, muffled, with red burns all over her hands, face, and the legs half exposed through her still smoldering and half tore robes. Her face was lined up with with dried tears, but her expression showed only fear. "My hostage won't help me, then" added Riddle, his wand clearly aiming at her head that he picked up once again by her hair, roughly.
"Ginny?" whispered Harry, shocked.
"Mmhhh, maybe it will. You should see your face now, Potter" said Riddle, the tone once again friendly but his expression full of hate. "I wonder which one is the real one."
Harry's hand, meanwhile, was shaking a little. He glared at Riddle and tensed up, but all it took was for him to press the tip of the wand against her neck for Harry to freeze again.
"I could watch this all day, but" said Riddle, only to cough more blood. "Yes, exactly. You didn't want to talk, correct? Let me cut this short then" he concluded, while cutting Ginny's mouthfold. A small line, that immediately bloodied up, appeared on Ginny's cheek.
"Drop the wand, turn around, or she dies" ordered Riddle, no more amusement present in his voice.
Ginny shook in fear but Riddle pulled her hair again, making her yelp and restart sobbing.
"Now, Potter. I am done playing" said Riddle. Harry's expression became blank, his hand steady once again.
"I dealt with monsters like you before. If I surrender, you'll kill us both."
"No, Harry. If you surrender, I could kill you both. If you don't, I will kill her" continued Riddle, pushing the tip of his wand close to her eye. Ginny, trying vainly to move away, was forced to look towards Harry but it was hard to guess if she was capable to see him through the tears filling her eyes. "Mommy….." she called for.
"Let me copy you, Potter. Three."
"I will cast. No matter what. Defend yourself or die" said Harry, with no tone in his voice.
"She already proved herself a great meat shield" countered Riddle, shrugging. "Two."
"If I can't save her, I will avenge her" said Harry, slowly adjusting his stance. His eyes never left Riddle's, whom said no more; his wand might still have been on Ginny, but his attention was completely on Harry.
'God, please' thought Harry, his mind reviewing the wand movements. 'Please!'
As Harry started moving his wand Riddle, with a scoff of contempt, once again drag Ginny in front of him by her hair, his eyes and wand barely visible behind her body. Ginny's scream of fear and pain pierced the air, but it could not overcome Harry's own shout, "Imperio!"
The eyes of Harry and Riddle met and it was like they were alone in the world. Nothing else mattered.
Hard to say how long the mental fight lasted: if someone could ask Ginny, she would answer it was less than the blink of an eye. For the two challengers, it was too long and weirdly brief at the same time. It went on until a third presence could be felt by them, getting stronger the more Riddle was pressed by Harry's magic. Until….
"Aaarrrgghhhh" screamed Percy, wildly, as the mental link created by Imperio collapsed. Percy; hurt, scared but clearly the real Percy who let his wand fall and instantly focused on his sister. "Ginny! Ginny, how are you? I am sorry, I am sorry!" he said, desperately.
"Percy?" drawled Ginny, eyes widening up.
"Yes, Gin" he answered, sobbing. "It's me, It's" only for a new jolt of pain to shock him. His expression contorting, he slowly picked up something from his robes and threw it away. It was the diary.
"No!" screamed Percy, his voice already back to Riddle's. Face full of fury, he pushed Ginny away and rushed onward. Harry didn't even notice, his own eyes stuck on the old black notebook now close to him.
"Fiendfyre" he casted, quietly. Even with a controlled casting, the strong curse took his tool on Harry but the magical fire rushing out of his wand in shape of, appropriately, a snake incinerated the diary in few seconds with Riddle contorting on the floor, weird hiss coming from his mouth. Soon, nothing but the unending flame covering some ashes, and an immobile Percy, remained.
'It's over' thought Harry, gasping for air. 'I can still patch this up. No one's dead, and' only to hear an ominous rumble. Looking towards the source, he noticed with widening eyes how the mouth on Slytherin's statue was slowly opening. 'No, no, no, no!'
The mouth, already half open, stopped instantly as Harry cast Epoximise on it. There was no respite though, as a loud boom could be heard and cracks started forming on the lips of the statue. A second boom and more cracks followed.
Harry rushed to Ginny, quickly casting Diffindo on the ropes and then turning around to cast Levicorpus on Percy's body. "We have to go, now!" he shouts, offering his hand to Ginny. The little girl, though, tried to crawl away from him.
"Ginny, please!" said Harry, catching her arm and forcing her up. Directing Percy with his wand he ran towards the exit, dragging forcefully Ginny behind them. As they moved a loud crash could be heard, fragments of stone flying everywhere.
"Incendio" cast Harry, aiming at the base of the statue, lighting fire to the puddle of oil underneath it. Without stopping to look at the result, Harry resumed his rush.
They ran, Ginny struggling against him all the way. A roar could be heard behind them, and then a strong hiss. Harry never stopped but, along the hallway, he cast Bombarda on the part of the ceiling that was showing cracks and that immediately collapsed behind them. Would it help?
Once he arrived at the entrance of the tunnel to the school Harry let Ginny go, pocketed his wand and recovered a bundle, the bundle he had hid there months before. Together with it, he picked up also the old Cleansweep he had stolen from Hogwarts. "We have to be fast! While I fly give the potions to" he started saying, while passing the bundle to Ginny. She slapped it out of his hands.
"Don't touch me!" she screamed, enraged. "You are a monster too! I hate you!"
Harry's resolve broke a little at this, but not for long. "Do you know what is following us?" he retorts, hurt and anger mixed in his voice, only for a loud boom to come from the hallway. The sound of rocks being dragged on the ground followed.
Harry, pale as a ghost, looked around himself. Percy, still unconscious. The tunnel, their only way out, leading straight to the school. To the students. And Ginny, in tears and pain, panicked, looking at him with resentment. This last sight made him frown, so he picked up the bundle and approached her. She stepped back, slowly, but it was useless – Harry grab her arm again, hard enough to make her stumble.
"You are getting out of here alive, you hear me?" he shouts. He forced the bundle in her hands, then levitated Percy aside on the handle of the broom. "Leave. Leave I said!" he repeated when she didn't move, roughly pushing her atop the broom. With one last glare Ginny finally fly away, soon disappearing inside the dark tunnel. Harry sacrifice only a second watching after her, before turning towards the hallway.
"Ok. Ok! Lethal sight and poison. I knew that" murmured Harry to himself, frantically, and walking away from the entrance. Taking out again his wand, he immediately cast Fumos, spreading thick smoke far and wide. Picking up a pebble, he transfigured it into a large shield made of straw that he immediately wore on his left arm. Finally, sticking close to the wall, he conjured a rooster inside a wooden cage in the center of the pathway.
Surrounded by smoke, the shield covering him, he waited. The sounds of moving rocks had ceased, but hisses and groans were getting closer. Soon, Harry could clearly hear something large and heavy sliding on the floor. Instantly, turning his wand to the rooster, he forced it to crown.
The effect was immediate, and also disappointing. The basilisk seemed to go crazy, and Harry could clearly hear first its roar and then the sound of wood being crushed; unfortunately it also continued moving, which meant he was alive and well. What's worse, it seemed to be getting closer to the tunnel entrance.
'Still alive' thought Harry, moving towards the Chamber 'but it draws its attention.' And, while retreating, he also conjured another rooster, making it crown immediately. With another roar, the basilisk seemed to be rushing to it.
As Harry ran, casting Fumos between one conjuration and the other, he could hear the basilisk crushing all the cages he was leaving behind, moving far away from the tunnel entrance. 'Good' thought Harry, before smiling bitterly. 'For everyone but me, of course'.
Finally he returned inside the Chamber, spreading as much smoke as he could and then hiding in a corner. In the center, one final cage and a crowning rooster. The basilisk crawled inside soon after, immediately crushing the cage and putting an end to the loud sound. Done that, it started sliding around the Chamber, as if searching for something. Or someone.
'How smart is it?' thought Harry, trying to pinpoint it by its noise. Once he had a general idea, he cast a wide range Oppugno on the Chamber, directing every item in it towards the beast. Even from Harry's position, he could hear several of the knives he had hidden rush towards the basilisk, but it was useless – no roar of pain followed, just several bouncing noise that soon stopped.
'Fail' admitted Harry, nervous. 'If only I had Gryffindor's sword….'
The basilisk started rushing through the Chamber now, faster and faster. Meanwhile, the smoke screen too was slowly dissipating. Eventually, as Harry was slowly moving towards the entrance of the Chamber, he got struck and was thrown away, his shield almost being destroyed away in the process. Through the smoke he could see, close by, the body of the basilisk: only its tail had hit him. It was unfortunately enough.
As Harry covered himself once again with the shield and ran behind a nearby column, the roar of the basilisk made clear it was now aware of Harry's position. "So be it" murmured Harry, focusing on his wand. Pointing it at the column, he transfigured it into sand which immediately collapsed on itself, spreading everywhere. The basilisk was close by then, roaring and pushing through the clouds of sand, when Harry cast once again "Fiendfyre!" putting all he had into it. There was nothing combustible around him, but the huge firey animals erupting from his wand still sizzled when in contact with the sand.
Pushing through flames and smoke the beast finally reached Harry whose shield got pierced by the snake's fangs, which barely missed his arm and took away his last protection. The shield burning in the distance, too exhausted to even try and run away, Harry found himself in front of the roaring basilisk, jaws fully open and shimmering. The air around them too was shining and sparkly, the light from the flames being reflected everywhere, but Harry could only see the head of the Basilisk pointing at him. Resigned to the inevitable, but still defiant, he glared at it. And then, darkness fell.
A.N.: the real incantation for Fiendfyre is "Pestis Incendium", I know. It just sounds horrible, especially compared to Fiendfyre. Take the switch as a poetic license.