All the noise in the area fell into a deathly silence, with everyone affected by our auras kneeling on the ground—the most prominent sensation in the air was fear. I watched with half-closed eyes as Voldemort began to walk toward me, slowly increasing the intensity output of his magical aura.
I couldn't tell if the idiot thought his magic was greater than mine or if he truly believed he was stronger—from the looks of it, he was completely unhinged.
I waited until he was about three meters away before I started to speak…
"Tommy, it's good to see you. How have you been? You know what? Don't answer that. I can see you've reached the pinnacle of madness," I said in a relaxed, sarcastic tone—the kind you use when making fun of a friend.
"Harry Potter, today is the day you die, so I shall bestow upon you the honor of dying by my hand like a true wizard, in a duel of life and death where the winner keeps all," he replied in a serious tone—completely ignoring my sarcasm—his usual taunting and craziness were absent.
If this had been anyone else, I might have considered that there was a chance that this was all they wanted—but no, not with this guy.
I contemplated his words for a second, looking into his eyes in silence—then it clicked—the way he was behaving, the way he spoke, and the words he used—they were all linked to whatever crazy ritual he had performed.
So, I smiled at him and said, "Oh, so this is also part of whatever crazy ritual you've performed... I'm very tempted to just say no and watch what you do next—believe me, the temptation is strong, but I also want to wipe the floor with you. I want you to die knowing that all your hard work and power couldn't save you from me—a teenage boy…. So, let me set the stage before I agree. I don't want any interference while I'm playing."
My playfully serious tone of voice must have struck a bigger blow than I anticipated—I could see him gritting his teeth, trying his hardest not to lash out… it felt good…
I stood up, turned around, and began walking toward the Quidditch field, with Voldemort following close behind—I am pretty sure if someone saw this they would start asking questions like *How could you turn your back to him? How could you lead him inside a school full of students?* Etc… but the answer to all these questions is Hogwarts—wartime Hogwarts is no joke…
Still, I thought to myself while walking, *Why not make this an event everyone can see?* and quickly asked Hogwarts to project what happened using illusion magic—I could almost hear her groan in frustration—she was starting to develop more character… that's good.
As soon as we arrived at the Quidditch field, I walked to the middle and began transfiguring it to look like an old Roman-style wizard dueling arena—it looked magnificent—the circular floor with the viewing area illuminated by candles all around. The ambiance was spectacular, caught between sundown and the onset of night, but it still lacked something. Hmmm... oh yeah, I know!
"*Protego diabolica!*" I chanted loudly purely for dramatic effect as a light blue fire began to circle the arena.
Okay, this completed the setting part.
Returning to the center of the arena, I found Voldemort already standing there, clenching his wand in one hand and tucking the other behind his back—the frustration, anger, and hatred radiated from his noseless face. His frown, tightly clenched mouth, and the wild magic suggested he was about to explode.
"Oh, don't be mad, Tommy. We are here to ensure everyone gets to see our fate-deciding battle, and I want it to look cool," I said with a grin.
I clapped my hands and looked up. I had already confirmed that everyone in and around Hogwarts would witness our duel through the illusion projection, so I began speaking:
"Hello and welcome to everyone watching this. Tonight, as you must have heard, is the fate-deciding battle between me, the magnificent Harry Potter, and the noseless bastard known as Tom Marvolo Riddle, aka Voldemort…
And to those who came here tonight with the intention of attacking a school full of students, heads up: you have been imprinted with Hogwarts tracking magic. I will come for each of you—not because I want to; believe me, I have better things to do—but magic has judged you guilty, and now I have to hunt you down. So please, be good for once and spare me the wasted time and just stay in your place.
As for everyone else, well, just enjoy the duel.
Now, without further ado, let's start." I turned toward Voldemort and continued, "Let's begin this from the top. You issue the challenge, and I will respond."
He was furious, and he knew that I was doing all this theatrics just to piss him off further…
"I, Lord Voldemort, challenge you, Harry Potter, to a magical duel that decides everything. May the winner take all, and the loser lose all." His voice was deep and beastly, with hissing sounds woven between his words. I could feel the magic around us taking notice of his declaration, so I echoed it.
"I, Harry Potter, accept your challenge. May magic be the witness…" I couldn't finish as he bombarded me with spells I really did not want touching me.
With a cool gesture of my hand, I deflected them aside. But he was relentless; he kept throwing spell after spell—blood-boiling, bone-crushing, heart-gouging, cutting, drilling, killing, and torture spells were flying everywhere.
He was casting like the madman he was; his dueling displayed no refinement or etiquette—he was a beast set loose, hurling curses one after another. I dodged, deflected, and blocked the spells with my hand or wand, lacking the time to cast any spells of my own, and this situation was getting more irritating by the second…
You know what? This is enough. I can't enjoy myself if all I do is dodge and deflect.
"*Cohortis Tectum!*" I chanted quickly as I dodged a blinding spell, and a series of small, circular, solid energy shields began materializing and moving around me, creating five rings starting from my feet and extending above my head.
This particular spell was invented by one of the first headmasters of Hogwarts. He was very fond of dueling, to the point that he died at 95 in a death duel against five wizards simultaneously.
The spell is ingenious; it creates shields that move on their own and stop incoming spells. The downside is the amount of magic it requires, which would drain a normal wizard dry, plus the fact that you must remain in place while it's active. But after casting this spell, I finally had a moment to myself.
Now, let's start thrashing this guy.
xxx
I closed my eyes for a second, took a deep breath, and then opened them again, only to see Voldemort trying and failing to break my protective mini-shields. This spell is really effective; it granted me the moment of reprieve I needed to regain control over myself and the battle.
I can't afford to lose concentration here, especially not with the *diabolica* spell still active. So, let's start this dance again, but this time I'll be the one to set the tone and rhythm.
"*Fulgere,*" I chanted, solidifying my first offensive spell since the start of this duel—the lightning generated by the spell itself would have been powerful enough, but to add more oomph to it, I raised my wand toward the sky and quickly waved it down.
This summoned lightning strikes, forcing Voldemort to jump and roll on the ground to avoid being caught by the spell. I didn't give him a chance as I waved my wand again, causing the ground to shake and create spikes. He was quick to react and jumped up.
"Potter!!!" he yelled, waving his wand while chanting "*Fiendfyre!*" The flames took the shape of a great serpent and advanced toward me, but I raised my hands, and the *diabolica* flames that surrounded the arena surged forward, engulfing the serpent.
This also amplified the power of the flames, requiring greater concentration to control as I brought them back to the edge of the arena.
This happened very quickly, and I almost missed the sneaky Cruciatus curse he cast. I say "almost" because my trusty shields did their job and stopped it.
"Oh, Tommy, let's keep the unstable flame magic spells out of the duel, shall we? It would be boring if I had to burn you to ashes before I enjoy our battle," I quipped sarcastically.
"You think you can mock me, boy? I'm Lord Voldemort!!!!" he roared in hatred and fury, pointing his wand at me—I could feel the magic beginning to build up, and I knew this was going to be a costly spell for him because even though he had immense power, his control over it was very poor—if it weren't for his wand being bonded to him for so long, he wouldn't be able to cast spells so easily. With his wand still aimed at me, eyes full of hate, he shouted, "*Avada Kedavra!*" and a green bolt was sent my way, fast.
I readied myself and pointed my wand toward him, shouting, "*Expelliarmus!*"
What? Who said only he could shout? I wanted to do it too.
Our spells met halfway and collided with each other. My spell was smoother and more structured, while his was chaotic and unrefined; yet the power behind it was undeniable. It made me marvel at the power of the intent and desire that held the spell in place. This spoke volumes about just how much he wanted to kill me.
Hahahhahah, poor him, if only he knew.
Our spells locked onto each other, advancing and retreating like they were engaged in a deadly dance. Magical energy burst forth from the collision like fireworks. I was growing bored of this stalemate, so I poured more magic into my spell, redirecting both it and Voldemort's to the left while casting a severing charm immediately afterwards; which he narrowly avoided by stumbling to the right.
We began bombarding each other with spells again. I was learning from my first actual life-and-death battle; my concentration was at its peak, my breathing steady, and I was thinking of how to extend this duel just a little longer.
"Come on, Tommy, is that all you've got? I thought you were powerful…" I was cut off from monologuing by a powerful "*Diffindo!*" coming my way. I quickly deflected it to the left, looked over only to see the spell leaving a deep scar on the ground.
That was an unnecessarily overpowered spell.
"You think this is a game, Potter?" Voldemort yelled, sending yet another barrage of spells aimed to either maim or obliterate me.
I dodged some and deflected others and reflected the most deadly back at him—he just dodged them—not even trying to do the same and send them back to me.
Oh, this could have been a fun game. Ugh, not now, focus.
I reevaluated the situation as I saw that he was losing whatever remained of his reasoning and was beginning to act more like a beast with a stick than an actual wizard and knew it was time to end this and be done with it.
I need to look for other opponents to battle so that I could grow; this one had lost all his value now.
I looked at him with pity one last time, aimed my wand at him, and at that moment felt the familiar presence of Death behind me—with my wand aimed, I chanted, "*Mortalis Sica!*" Suddenly, it felt like the world lost its colors.
The black-colored spell reached him, and he simply stopped mid-dodge and just fell. His body began to turn to ashes as if caught by a disintegration spell. His face, though, wore an expression that conveyed just how horrified he was in his last moments—a look that clearly expressed the extreme terror he felt towards death.
The colors returned, and I became aware that Death had just gifted me with a spell I hadn't even known before—the information about it popped into my head when Death had somehow taken control of my body for a moment there.
Fuck!!! Can't you higher beings just leave me alone? I feel like I'm just a new toy that everyone wants to play with.
At least Death gave me a spell that made it worth it, but still…
I was then pulled from my thoughts by a sensation of sudden increase in my magical power, both in quality and quantity—the influx of magic wasn't substantial, but it was noticeable enough; coupled with a liberating feeling that made my soul feel like it had dipped into a hot tub—it was a great, momentous feeling…
I looked around and heard cheering coming from all directions, but I didn't have time for that yet.
I waved my hands, and the *diabolica* flames around me began to transform into huge birds, which I unleashed, guiding them toward the crowd of dark creatures and wizards outside Hogwarts with the help of Hogwarts' detection barriers.
Some managed to snap out of their thoughts quickly and escape, but I obliterated most of the slower creatures and wizards. When I was sure none were left, I waved my wand again, unsummoning the *diabolica* flames, and started walking back toward the school.
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