CHAPTER V

Author's Notes: And here we go again. The first "Voldemort Vs. Tom" duel is something I really wanted to get right, hence the wait. I apologize for all character deaths that may happen in this chapter and the following, but a battle is a battle.

The Death Eaters had apparently decided that the injured would make good first targets. Battle broke out as the valid rose to defend their loved ones or wards. Realizing that Pomfrey (as their only qualified Healer) was an essential asset, to be kept safe throughout the fight, Tom Riddle quickly stunned her before encasing her in a starry, nigh-impenetrable bubble of magic — the same spell he'd just seen his counterpart had used on Nagini. The why of this, as a matter of fact, was a mystery to Tom. Why even bring Nagini to the battle if she was not allowed freedom of movement? He decided to try and capture his old familiar to get answers out of her. Having settled on this goal, he flew towards Voldemort, who had already taken down a tall witch in deep purple robes — Professor Septima Vector — trying to get to him.

"How many times am I going to have to kill you, boy?" screamed the Dark Lord in his grating sibilant voice, before he sent a wave of ink-black magic Tom's way.

Vaguely recognizing a nasty Greek curse that would, if memory served him right, dissolve its target into a smoking puddle, Tom blocked with a three-layered Shield Charm, and answered, in his best impression of a cocky Gryffindor teenager:

"Don't you get it? I'm immune to death! You tried to kill me as a baby. It failed. Now you try again, with the same spell no less — why would you expect the results to be any different?"

While talking, Tom had dodged a bone-breaking hex and sent back a Sumerian Stunning Spell, which Voldemort expertly deflected onto the nearby Filius Flitwick, who fell in a heap and was promptly finished off by Bellatrix, whom he'd been duelling.

"Fool!" thundered Voldemort. "You know perfectly well that what happened that night was a fluke! Merely the result of your dear mother's love and kindness."

And with those two spitted words, the puzzle of what had happened on Halloween 1981 finally fell into place for Tom. But, before he could examin the ramifications of it properly, he had to banish his other self secure Nagini.

"DEPULSO MAXIMA!" yelled Tom on top of his lungs (no need to get all Gryffindor and show off by casting silently, when it would present no advantage in this situation).

A gust of magical force, invisible but hard as steel, burst from his wand and flung Lord Voldemort (along with quite a number of Death Eaters and the limp bodies of Filius Flitwick and an unidentified female student) through the open gates.

Before Voldemort could rush back inside the castle, Tom extended his imperfect holly and phoenix wand and felt for the ancient magical wards of Hogwarts. He found them strained and ragged, a hole blasted right through them by his counterpart and the Death Eaters. Weaving an overpowered shielding spell into the damaged enchantments, Tom reformed a temporary barrier. Having apparently caught his line of thinking, the half-blood girl, Hermione, who had managed to but down her opponent (some masked Death Eater he didn't recognize), joined in on his effort, while the Weasley boy and other students he didn't know moved to form a protective line between the two of them and the remaining Death Eaters.

Voldemort retaliated, and, with an animal-like scream, rammed magic into Tom and Hermione's barrier. It was not a true, codified spell — it was raw magic that the Dark Wizard was bending to his will on instinct, as only the most skilled of sorcerers could do. But Tom, being the same powerful sorcerer in another body, could do the same. Hermione Granger was soon forced to step back and watch as the two wizards threw their magics clashing along the invisible wall's surface, locked in a battle of wills. Tom was frowning in concentration, but never taking his eyes off of Voldemort, whose rictus of anger was quickly turning into an expression of desperation and disbelief. In the small part of his mind still free to conduct deductive reasonings (as most of it was currently busy controlling the flow of power), Tom reasoned that Harry Potter, whilse skilled, must have been nowhere near this level when he and his Voldemort self had last duelled.

One by one, the other fighters had interrupted their battle and turned to watch the extraordinary duel unfolding before them.

Taking advantage of a momentary relapse in the panting Dark Lord's spell's intensity, Tom turned to Hermione and commanded:

"You! Catch the snake! Take her to safety — don't kill her!"

Hermioned looked a little surprised but nodded once before turning her attention to the floating orb. Tom then added:

"Someone! I need another wand. Anything. Quick!"

Someone tossed him an acceptable laurel wand (no time to determine the core yet), which he seized in his left hand. Two-handed casting was something he'd spent many a lonely evening practicing in his designated corner of the Slytherin Common Room, and even while channing untold power through the holly wand on his right, he still managed a decent Cruciatus Curse. Not his best attempt at the spell, certainly, but still a strong-enough Unforgivable to pierece through the magical barrier in Voldemort's general direction.

The red-eyed warlock was forced to dodge, and, having his concentration broken cut off power to his attempt at forcing entry back into Hogwarts. This split-second lapse was enough for the newly-recharged protective enchantments on the ancient castle to stabilize. Finally able to act on the warning signals it had been receiving all throughout the duel, the system sent out a surge of electric-yellow power that blasted into Voldemort, knocking his wand right out of his hand.

Realizing he was defeated, Lord Voldemort allowed himself one last cry of hatred and frustration before Disapparating to locations unknown.

Abandoned by their Lord, the Death Eaters (those, that is, who had not been beaten in battle or blasted out of the castle by Tom's earlier banishing spell) soon dropped their wands in surrender, including Avery Junior, who had been fighting Hermione for access to Nagini.

The Second Battle of Hogwarts was won.