Chapter 21
"Sorry I'm late." said Voldemort with a smile.
He then strutted majestically down the aisle towards the altar with his wand in his hand. Two men tried to tackle him but with a wave of his wand in his right hand and a wave of his left hand the two men were telekinetically lifted into the air and then thrown into the walls.
"It's the Dark Lord!" said one of the wizard guests. "He Who Must Not Be Named!"
Several members of the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore's Army drew their wands, including Harry and Ron.
Everyone got up from their seats and gave Voldemort a wide berth. Voldemort stopped short, not getting too close to the altar. Harry took the arm of little Teddy and quickly pulled him behind Ginny and then angled himself to stand in front of her.
Mr. Gold moved himself in front of Belle.
"Congratulations on your nuptials, Harry Potter." said Voldemort with a smile.
Harry was about to reply, but before he could it was actually Regina who stepped forward and opened her hand wide, palm up, and conjured a large fireball in her hand as she and Emma angled themselves in front of Henry.
"Lord Voldemort!" said Regina in anger. "What are you doing here? We had a deal you and I, Storybrooke belongs to me! You get the rest of the world!"
Voldemort then turned his attention to the person who had just addressed him.
And without waiting for a verbal response Regina hurled her fireball at Voldemort. But with a wave of his wand the fireball was deflected.
"And pleased to meet you again as well…Your Majesty." said Voldemort with a nostalgic voice.
"What are you doing here?!" demanded Harry.
Voldemort stepped forward and began to circle around in the wide berth that had been given him as he looked at each couple standing at the altar.
"Well, I do want to say since I'm here, that this wedding disgusts me!" Voldemort said with a tone of disdain.
He looked at Leroy and Astrid.
"Dwarves marrying fairies!"
He then sucked in through his teeth and shivered.
"The very idea of it makes my skin crawl!"
He then looked at Ron and Hermione.
"Blood traitors interbreeding with mudbloods. It only proves my point of the destruction of the pure blood lines.
"But in answer to your question, plain and simple Harry Potter," said Voldemort, "I simply couldn't pass up the chance to see you get married."
"Let me guess," said Mary Margaret, "you're here to make a declaration on how you're going to finally kill Harry Potter once and for all, and destroy all of our happiness?"
"Not at all Snow White." said Voldemort as his disgusted face actually turned to a pleasant smile. "I have come here to tell you about something else."
"Well you can tell it in an interrogation office down at the sheriff's station." said Harry. "As a law enforcement representative of the International Confederation of Wizards, you're under arrest! You will surrender your wand, submit to Magic dampening shackles, and come quietly!"
"Well I can tell you right now Harry Potter that that's not going to happen." said Voldemort in relaxed confidence.
Harry Potter aimed his wand, about to cast a spell,
"But there will be no need for that Harry Potter, because I'm not going to fight you."
"You're not?" said Harry in confusion.
"No, not at all." said Voldemort. "In fact, I come in peace. In the form of, I have come here to make peace."
"Peace, Voldemort?" said Harry with a tone of doubt. "Oh, we will have peace. When you surrender your wand and you are locked up."
"Well I will let you know right here right now that that's not going to happen." said Voldemort defiantly. "No, the peace that I'm offering you is, I wish to declare a truce. A permanent truce."
"And why would Lord Voldemort agree to that?" Harry asked.
"Allow me to explain." said Voldemort. "I'm not going to try and kill you Harry Potter…because I no longer wish it."
Harry paused to think about that but his brain came up with nothing.
"I don't understand." said Harry with confusion. "I like to think that I know you better than most people do. You have been obsessed with putting me out of my misery for as long as I can remember. So you will forgive me if I don't believe that you don't want to kill me."
Voldemort paused to think about it for a minute.
"This is difficult for me to put into words." said Voldemort. "But I will do my best."
He continued to pause and think.
"I've changed. I'm not the same villain that I was before." said Voldemort. "I'm a new man."
"You see, let's just say that while I was existing as a disembodied spirit for the past 5 years with no way to interact with the physical world I've had a lot of time to think and it's giving me a little perspective.
"We are here in Storybrooke, so perhaps it is more suited to the venue and occasion in the form of a bedtime story.
"'Once Upon a time'… there was a boy by the name of Tom Riddle. He was born from the pure blood wizard line of the Peverils. His mother had been mistreated and abused by her family so she rebelled and fell in love with a muggle. Unfortunately he did not return her interest. So she seduced him by use of magic and Tom Riddle was conceived. Unfortunately his mother loved her new husband so much that she could not bear to keep him under his bewitchment anymore so she released it, hoping that he had fallen in love with her on his own. However once free of his bewitchment he abandoned her and his unborn child. In her grief she gave birth and chose to lose the will to live and not live for the child.
"The child, Tom riddle, grew up thinking that he was an outcast. A Lost Boy. Unlovable. So he decided to get tough and make everyone around him fear him. His intimidation tactic made him feel strong. It wasn't long until he realized that he had Supernatural powers. He could move objects without touching them, control animals without training them, and even talk to snakes, and even exact revenge on those who had wronged him, make them hurt if he wanted them to be.
"But one day, he received a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When he found out that he was a wizard and could do magic this opened up a whole new world for him. So he went to Hogwarts, and he trained harder than any other student, excelled at all of his subjects and his magic proved more powerful than that of any other student in the school and even some of the teachers.
"It took him a while to learn the truth about his Heritage but eventually he did and he realized that this world was meant to be controlled and subjugated by him, so he fashioned for himself a new name. A name that would be unique to any other name. A name no one else would have. A name that would strike fear and intimidation into all of his enemies and reverence and respect to all of his friends, a name that one day the people of This World would fear to speak. He became, Lord Voldemort.
"He waged War against The Wizarding communities of Britain and Scotland and hoped one day to subjugate the Muggles and the Muggle borns. He gained power and influence. He was on the verge of victory. The Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix fought against him but they kept losing more and more people while the dark lord kept gaining more and more followers.
"But then one day something happened that the Dark Lord did not intend. Something that the dark lord could not have foreseen. He heard a prophecy, that a young boy by the name of Harry Potter would destroy him one day. The dark lord believed that it was simple enough if he just eliminated this one threat. However, the dark lord was naive. He failed to accept the wisdom of the fact that one creates what they fear, self-fulfilling prophecy. For the dark lord's very attempt to eliminate the threat ultimately caused the prophecy to come true. The dark Lord's own rebounding curse destroyed his body. And Harry Potter was spared. But unbeknownst to anyone else, the dark lord had taken magical steps to protect himself from Mortal death. All that the rebounding curse could do was Destroy his physical body. The destruction of the Dark Lord's body was excruciating, a thousand times worse than the cruciatus curse. And he was without a body or Magic for 14 long years. Unable to interact with the physical world, while simultaneously unable to die. An absolute miserable existence! The Dark Lord's own arrogance and naivety and hubris caused him to be denied his 'happy ending'.
"When he managed to regenerate his body by use of a very powerful spell with the help of a helpful servant, he had not learned his lesson. And he continued to try to eliminate what he believed to be the threat against him which ultimately in the end resulted in his Destruction for the second time was him to be denied his happy ending.
"After again regenerating his body for the second time, he was a little wiser. And realized that if he can't win then he won't try. He decided that he should concede defeat and go into exile and stay away from the fight, and not try and Conquer The Wizarding world, and not try and subjugate the Muggles and the muggle-borns."
He then looked off into the distance with a solemn look on his face, and he only spoke the words one at a time each word interspersed with a long pause.
"And then… and only then… will… he… finally… live… happily… ever… after."
He ended his bedtime story with a reluctant tone of finality in his voice.
"So that's it?" asked Harry. "You really are just giving up?"
"I could start over." said Voldemort. "Try and reassemble the Death Eaters and continue to try and win the war. But I'm tired of losing. And I'm tired of being defeated by you. And sometimes a little fresh perspective gives you a new found appreciation for the simple things in life. I have chosen to go into exile right here in Storybrooke. I will live in the woods. I will keep to myself. My interaction with the townspeople will be minimal. I will obey the law."
His face then turned to a look of a serious frown and spoke with seriousness in his voice.
"But all of this comes at a price for you Harry Potter. The price is, 'Leave me alone'."
At lightning fast speed he rushed over to Harry's Aunt Petunia and before she had time to react he thrust his hand right into her chest. His hand magically passed right through her clothes, skin, and bone, and he ripped out her heart. Petunia gasped in pain and then fell to her knees as Vernon Dursley and Dudley held her and looked on with horror. Her heart glowed red with no black in it. He then gently squeezed her heart and Petunia clutched her chest as though she was choking in pain.
All of the Wizards there ready their wands but did not dare react at the risk of hurting Petunia's heart.
Voldemort then put on a stern face and spoke in a voice of firm warning, " Wizards, fairies, dwarves, werewolves, Heroes of the Enchanted Forest, and your peers, heed my warning! Any attempt to find me and capture me will result in me resuming the war and recruiting more Death Eaters to my cause! Leave me alone and you will never hear from me again! Try to find me and capture me, then I will fight against the Wizarding communities of Britain and Scotland again, and eventually win, starting with me laying waste to Storybrooke!"
He said the last sentence with ominous warning. He then pressed Petunia's heart back into her chest.
And then with a wave of his wand he vanished into thin air with a whirl of purple smoke.
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