Chapter 2 – I'll skip this battle, thank you
Meanwhile in the Great Hall, a few minutes earlier…
"Troll! Troll in the dungeon! Thought you should know." Professor Quirinus Quirrell said just before the Great Hall was in uproar. Everyone was talking at once and everyone wanted to be heard at once but before Headmaster Dumbledore could fire off a cannon blast to quiet down everyone a bright flash blinded the Great Hall then a deafening boom silenced them. McGonagall paled as she comprehended what she saw. What they all saw. From the Great Hall's ceiling they saw a bright blue dome collapsing on the school. It was the wards. They were failing.
She looked at Albus instantly recognizing his obvious alarm. Could this be He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's first attempt at getting the stone?
Albus stood up, cast a sonorus on himself
"All students, the castle wards are in disarray. For your own protection we shall lock down the Great Hall." He looked at Neville, who just nodded and left. "The teachers will stand guard while the head faculty will investigate."
No one noticed a huge smile forming on Quirrell's face as he disillusioned himself and started heading towards the door. He had no idea why the wards had fallen but it couldn't have been at a better time.
Albus took his pendant from his pocket and sent a message to the Order of the Phoenix. Soon at least 30 well trained and armed wizards will portkey in. Now that the anti-portkey wards have also fallen they could portkey directly inside the building. Once they arrive the castle will be placed on full lockdown. With all the doors locked and the Order reapplying anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards so no one could get out. He then turned and smiled at Minerva. "You see my dear. The students are safe and we shall end this night with the most minimal of bloodshed." Dumbledore planned to raise the wards knowing they are only temporarily down. He could feel their gentle hum but had no idea what rendered them ineffective. Once that was complete he would head to the confrontation with Voldemort. Hopefully this could end tonight!
As they were about to leave a scream drew Minerva's attention to the Gryffindor table.
"Hermione!" Parvati screamed. "She is still inside the second floor girl's bathroom!"
Albus glanced at Severus, who nodded in acknowledgement. He would look in the bathroom while he was headed to the third floor.
-oOo-
Meanwhile in a corridor…
Neville was walking confidently through the silent hall, next to him Ron the chess master. Flanked by Fred and George as they examined the Marauder's map.
"Ron, I want your input." commanded Neville.
"My best guess is that you-know-who had two distractions. The troll and the wards. With people running around trying to catch the troll and worry about anything else that might enter the school he would make his way towards the third floor where the stone is being held." Ron smiled, "and our trap."
The plan was simple. Wait until you-know-who attacks and head him off before he gets near the stone. If he gets in the last chamber… Moody is ordered to AK anyone who enters, no questions asked. In the background 30 order members will come as back up, crowd control or any other supporting role.
"George? How many intruders do we have?"
George was constantly glancing at the map trying to make sense of what he was seeing.
"George?" asked Neville again.
"Three, or one. I don't know. It seems like whatever you-know-who did to the wards it also effected the map. There are currently three Tom Marvolo Riddles inside the school."
Neville stopped dead in his tracks. "Where are they heading?"
"One is heading towards the dungeons, the other towards the third floor corridor while the third one is heading straight up. No clue where."
"Damn! Damn! Damn!"
"What's wrong Nev?" Ron asked, clearly confused.
"You-know-who knows about the trap. The trap was a double trap. There is only a fake stone on the third floor, the real one is inside the Headmaster's office."
George looked at the map again. "He is heading straight towards the headmaster's office."
"Are there any students outside the great hall?" asked Neville.
"No. The only people who are outside of the Great Hall are teachers and a troll called Mud. Don't worry he looks like he made himself comfortable inside one of the girl's bathrooms."
Neville paled. Ron felt sick.
"Search for Hermione Granger." spoke Neville in a whisper.
"There is no one called Hermione Granger inside the school or the grounds."
Ron placed a gentle hand on Neville's shoulder. "You-know-who killed Hermione, right?"
Neville realized what was going on in his friends head and he needed to stop it right in its tracks.
"Yes Ron, he killed Hermione, he killed Harry and his parents. No one else is to blame but him. Fred, head towards Dumbledore and inform him that you-know-who knows the location of the real stone and we are heading to block him."
Fred was about to leave before Neville added. "Shoot to kill. We take no prisoners."
Fred nodded and left. George, Ron and Neville started to run up the stairs praying to Merlin that they get there in time.
-oOo-
Meanwhile in front of an indiscreet girl's bathroom…
Severus didn't have a good feeling. He could smell the foul odor of a mountain troll coming from inside. He slowly and silently opened the door. He froze at what he saw. Blood. There was blood everywhere. On the floor, on the walls, on the club that was leaning against a toilet stall that also had a book bag in it. The troll slowly turned around to face Snape. His mouth was covered with blood and gore and he was using a Gryffindor's student's cloak as a napkin.
He pointed his wand towards the beast.
"Sectumsempra"
He locked the door as the troll died, screamed in pain. He blocked out everything he saw. He needed to concentrate. He needed to stop Voldemort.
-oOo-
Meanwhile in another corridor inside the dungeons…
Tom was staring at a small sink. On it there was a small snake emblem. The small snake started to remind him of something. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath. He remembered.
§ Open! §
The wall next to the sink opened revealing the Slytherin common room. Rage and hate filled Tom. He remembered. He remembered everything. The bullying. The name calling. All of it for some stupid reason that didn't make a difference in the end. Facing the windows that looked out over the Great Lake there was a tapestry. He stood in front of it.
§ Master's den, open! §
The tapestry slowly faded away revealing a very well decorated office like room. This was Tom's room. Tom's hide away from the bullies, from the people who just looked at him as a pawn. Here he was free.
He glanced threw the book cases which were filled with books he stole from the restricted section and students alike.
He took a bag off a coat hanger and started gathering everything of value.
-oOo-
Meanwhile somewhere inside Hogwarts…
Victor was confused. Usually he wasn't but it seems like today was just one of those days, or maybe it's just the effects wizards have on people. He usually has some similar effects on Tom. He was running through corridors animating anything that wasn't nailed to the ground. Changing the color of the walls, leaving patches of ice, oil slicks and any other thing that he could think of when red robed wizards started to shoot at him. That in itself wasn't that odd. This wasn't the first smash and grab where people found them and weren't pleased at their pastime activities. This is the first time where people, in what could only be considered full battle armor, opened fire without even saying, "STOP THIEF!".
He wanted to run his hand through his hair. He couldn't. His dominant hand was firmly held by the girl he met in the girl's bathroom, whose brain was still on vacation, mindlessly following him trying to process everything that happened so far. 'If I ever have children with her I am going to have one hell of a 'How I met your mother' story.' He would love to know if it was normal for wizarding schools to have private armies. So now he found himself cornered in some corridor without windows to even figure out how high he was.
"Tom Marvolo Riddle, we know you are there! Give yourself up and die like the coward you are. You will not escape! You will pay for killing Hermione Granger!" said a young voice, maybe a student's voice.
'I'm not Tom, I'm Victor!
Who the hell is Marvolo!?
How do they know my brother? Maybe that's what the M in his name stands for? Victor briefly remembered the items Tom found and claimed as his own considering his name was on them. The unexplained M as a clear middle initial may have just been explained.
Victor then glanced at the girl holding his hand wondering if she was the Hermione he or Tom allegedly killed or was there some other student who was supposed to be slain by his hands.
Hermione's brain finally managed to reboot after hearing her name. She looked around. Patted herself from top to bottom.
"I'm not dead", she stated.
"Tell them that!", he hissed while pointing to where the red robed army stood.
-oOo-
On the opposite side of said corridor…
"Headmaster!" Ron yelled.
"Mr. Weasley?" the Headmaster spoke.
"Tom Riddle is currently holed up in a dead end. The other two Toms have disappeared from the map. The corridor has no secret passages. No way for him to escape."
'Could the other two be illusions to throw us off?' the Headmaster wondered. 'Never mind.'
"Excellent! Excellent! Neville my boy, it's time to end this. Just like we practiced." The Headmaster pointed his wand together with Neville's towards the corridor.
"FIENDFYRE!" they both yelled at once.
-oOo-
Meanwhile in the Slytherin common room…
Tom was staring at the last book that he wanted to take with him and was in deep thought. It was the diary of Tom M. Riddle. His own personal diary of his Hogwarts years. A treasure trove of memories, but should he take it? Should he open Pandora's Box? The last five years of his life couldn't really be considered utopian but he was in a twisted sense of the word "happy", he had a friend who accepted him in all his insanity and even the day-to-day life was fun. On the other hand the moment he entered the common room he felt hate and rage. An indicator that he might just wish to leave some things behind.
Tom remembered he was still inside Hogwarts.
§ Founder's heir master override. Password: Salazar! §
Tom heard a metallic male voice in his head. 'Master override confirmed.'
§ Castle status report! §
Castle is currently on full lockdown.
Defensive systems: Offline.
Master Ward Stone: reset by headmaster.
Offensive systems: Offline.
Golem army: on standby.
Guardian: in hibernation.
Currently a large scale battle is taking place on the fifth floor corridor.
"Victor!?"
§ Display map! §
A full 3D map appeared in front of Tom displaying the location of every person inside the castle.
He stared at the name "Tom Marvolo Riddle". 'Why does Victor have my name? ' He realized just how many people are attacking him. 'What the hell is going on here!? '
§ Redirect secret passage from Gryffindor common room to that corridor. Redirect One-eyed witch escape passage to Master's den. Release lockdown. Open all exits! §
He shook his head disconnecting his link to the castle.
He took another glance at the common room. Rage, untamable rage built inside of him. He pointed his open palm towards the room as a green crackling orb formed in his hand.
§ Be gone! §
The green projectile hit in the middle of the common room destroying most of it, cracking the windows, letting water flood in. He turned, packed the diary in his bag and started running towards the newly formed passage out of Hogwarts hoping that Victor will be able to escape. Till he remembered a circlet he hid in a room and started running to get it.
-oOo-
Meanwhile in the Gryffindor common room…
Victor and Hermione, still hand-in-hand, exited the newly formed secret passage that saved their lives.
"Hermione, where are we?"
"Gryffindor tower. It's my dorm."
"Is there any way to escape?"
"Not unless you can fly"
Contrary to Tom's belief, Victor did not possess limitless patients, he did have an internal BULLSHIT meter. Following train tracks for hours on end, having his first romantic moment interrupted by a literal troll, realizing he broke into a school and being hunted by 20 heavily armed wizards, not finding anything interesting to steal and now being trapped in a tower was just the last straw.
He held his hand up high.
"ACCIO the most expensive thing that can fly!"
Hermione just gave him a look of, 'You really think that will work?'
THUMP THUMP
"Can you hear that?"
"It's coming from the first year boy's dorm."
One explosion later they were inside the boy's room.
THUMP THUMP
"It's coming from that chest!" Hermione exclaimed as she tried to open the trunk. "It's locked!", she stated the obvious, but considering how stressful and new the situation was she could be forgiven.
"Open says me." Victor commanded to the trunk. The trunk's lid flew open, releasing a broom that flew into Victor's hand. The broom had "Ron Weasley - Nimbus 2000 - Special Edition" written on it.
"Brooms fly?" Victor asked Hermione who was clutching a book like her life depended on it. She looked back at him, a tear flowing down her face.
"It's here! It's my "Hogwarts: A history", I knew they took it! I've been looking for it everywhere! I should have known that they would take it", she said with a sob.
Victor hearing people start to enter, plucked the book from the girl, stuffed it into his bag.
"Escape now, emotional breakdown later. Broom. Fly. How?"
Hermione entered her lecture mode.
"You place the broom on the ground next to your dominant hand."
Victor placed the broom down.
"You stick out your arm above it."
Victor held his arm above it.
"You say up."
Victor said "Up", the broom flew into his hands.
"You mount the broom."
Victor mounted the broom.
"Now you just kick off."
Victor plucked Hermione off the ground and mounted her on the broom.
"Hey, wait! What are you doing? I'm afraid of heights!"
"You can send a letter of complaints to the office tomorrow."
"The window is too small!"
"Not for long." Victor said with a smile.
"What about my things?!"
"Accio her things!" Victor yelled in glee as they flew toward the window. A simply flick of the wrist and it was big enough for them to fly through. Random items and a trunk flying after them and swiftly into Victor's bag with barely even a thought from him. Wouldn't be the first time he had to rob and escape at the same time.
The spells being shot after them was kind of new. Not to mention the absolutely amazing new broom. He shot high into the sky hoping to escape them faster using the darkness against them. Once out of sight he shot towards the small town and upon clearing the school ground escaping any chance of being trapped by wards or spells he lit up the sky with their signal of safety. Knowing his brother would need to see that in order to keep him from going back into the school worried that he didn't get out. His brother was protective that way and 400 students burning to death in his brother's rage to look for him as he battled 20 or more insane adult wizards who formed some random army would NOT be good.
-oOo-
Somewhere in Hogsmeade…
Tom exited Honeydukes, he could see the stars along with a full moon. Looking around he spotted the Snake-Skull symbol above. It was their way of messaging one another that they got out and that they are safe. He didn't exactly know what the actual meaning was, but he knew how to cast it and it serves its purpose.
-oOo-
Somewhere far away from Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, or any train tracks…
Three people were sitting around a conjured fire. One was emotionally tired, the other was magically drained, the third just had a headache.
"So…" one of them spoke up. "Did you manage to steal something important?"
"A few dozen books and magical items that could get me sent to prison. You?" asked Tom.
"An allegedly expensive flying broom…"
"Brooms fly?" asked Tom
"Do they ever!" exclaimed Victor with the biggest smile of his life. Then he glanced over to their bushy haired companion who was reading her Hogwarts: A history. ".. and a girl."
Said girl looked up at the two boys and with an ear to ear smile said, "I got my book back!"
Tom just stared at Victor trying to convey, 'Are you sure about that one?'
Victor just stared back. 'It was a good idea at the time.'
Back then the decisions were much simpler. Comfort cute crying girl. Save said girl from certain death. Then it all went to Hell. The stories never went this way. At least not the ones that he read. Maybe he was reading the wrong type of books. Victor just sighed. "I'm going to sleep."
"Me too", spoke Tom.
"Hey, wait! Here!? But we don't know where we are! There could be any number of dangers…"
Victor placed the panicking girl in his lap, and leaned against a tree.
"Comfy?" asked Victor.
"Comfy." Replied Hermione.
"Leave the rest to me." Victor said, closing his eyes. He fell fast asleep not hearing Hermione's last words nor seeing her blush and smile.
"Thank you for everything."