Boom! Boom! Boom!
Dust and debris rained down from the ceiling of the secret chamber. Voldemort aimed his wand at the frantically dodging Harry, blasting spell after spell his way.
"Harry Potter!"
"You're scurrying around like a nimble little rabbit. I'm rapidly losing my patience. Surrender now, fetch the Sorcerer's Stone for me, and I might just let you live."
Harry gritted his teeth, pressing himself flat against a stone pillar, refusing to say a word.
Whatever happened, he absolutely could not let Voldemort get the Stone.
If Voldemort resurrected... the consequences would be unimaginable!
He couldn't accept that. Or rather, the entire wizarding world couldn't survive that!
Facing the very monster who murdered his parents, Harry clenched his jaw and desperately tried to think of a way out.
What could he do? How do you escape the Dark Lord?
"Harry, where are you?"
Voldemort sounded like he was playing hide-and-seek with a toddler, his face twisting into a sickeningly excited smile.
"Over here? Sectumsempra!"
A blinding flash of light tore through the room, punching straight through the stone pillar shielding Harry and skimming right past his ear.
Harry gasped for air, his head jerking back.
That had been inches away.
Sectumsempra was one of the most vicious Dark spells in existence. Getting hit by it was a fate far worse than instant death.
The living hell it inflicted was no joke.
Harry immediately scrambled to a new hiding spot.
"Found you!" Voldemort roared.
Professor Quirrell's voice echoed in agreement, "Harry Potter, it is not too late. Retrieve the Stone, and we will give you a quick, painless death.
Or perhaps... we could negotiate. We will grant you one wish, provided you fetch the Sorcerer's Stone for us."
"Don't even think about it!" Harry spat back. "You're both scum! Professor Quirrell, you and Voldemort are going to get exactly what's coming to you. Even if I die, Professor Dumbledore will finish you both!"
"Dumbledore?" Voldemort laughed aloud. "If I return to full power, Dumbledore is nothing! The Ministry is nothing! Hogwarts is nothing!"
He suddenly lunged forward, cutting off Harry's escape route. He pressed his wand right against Harry's forehead. "Caught you. Don't move, my dear boy. You know exactly what this wand can do.
Ten years ago, you were remarkably lucky. You had a loving mother who threw herself in front of my curse.
But today... let's see if that luck holds!"
Voldemort couldn't contain his twisted grin. He stared dead into Harry's eyes. "Now. Fetch me the Stone. Immediately!"
"Never!" Harry raised his wand. "Expelliarmus!"
"Sectumsempra!"
The two spells collided. Harry felt a massive, crushing wall of force slam into him. He didn't even last a second before he was blasted backward, slamming brutally into the stone wall.
His robes were coated in dust. Harry had never looked so battered in his life.
With his face smeared in dirt, he looked like a street urchin. He coughed violently, yet he still managed to glare defiantly at Voldemort.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Still feeling stubborn? Sectumsempra!"
The bursts of magic collided again, illuminating the entire chamber.
Voldemort's curse relentlessly pushed forward, inching closer and closer to Harry.
Just a little bit more!
Once the Sectumsempra hit, it wouldn't matter who it was—let alone Harry, even Dumbledore wouldn't be immune. No one could withstand the agonizing torture of that curse. They would inevitably break and obey his every command!
That was exactly why he wasn't using the Killing Curse.
Right now, Voldemort didn't want Harry dead. He wanted to torture him until he handed over the Sorcerer's Stone.
"Voldemort, you're going to burn in hell!" Harry threw himself to the side, hitting the hard floor as the Sectumsempra curse grazed his back.
"Hell?" Voldemort clenched his fist. "Ten years ago, my name was feared in every corner of the wizarding world. I slaughtered countless people. I commanded legions of followers. Where was my divine retribution then?
Do you truly believe your birth was my punishment? Then I apologize, because I'm about to exterminate my punishment right now!"
---
Meanwhile, at Hogwarts.
Several professors were currently chasing down "Voldemort."
They had no idea if this was the real Dark Lord or not. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't.
Regardless, he was draped in black robes and looked identical to Voldemort. Just the sheer aura rolling off his back radiated immense power.
"Professor McGonagall!"
Professor McGonagall raised her wand high, aiming dead at the cloaked figure ahead.
"Impedimenta!"
The cloaked figure skidded to a halt.
"Petrificus Totalus!" McGonagall shouted.
The figure turned around, glaring back at her. He didn't speak. The pitch-black hood entirely obscured his face, hiding his true identity.
"Voldemort, surrender now. Breaking into Hogwarts is the greatest mistake you've ever made."
The professors fanned out, standing united in front of the dark figure.
Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, and Hagrid.
Among them, Hagrid was undeniably the most furious.
This was the monster who had stolen everything from him. Voldemort.
Or rather—Tom Riddle!
And he was standing right in front of him!
"Give up!"
"Petrificus Totalus!!!" the professors shouted in unison. The blinding light from their wands was intense, searing the cloaked figure's vision.
Beneath that heavy black cloak, Professor Snape's expression was incredibly grim.
He knew his own limits. If only one professor had chased him, he had a hundred percent chance of getting away. But literally everyone had shown up.
This made escaping infinitely harder. In fact, it was safe to say... he had zero chance!
"Avada Kedavra!"
Snape gripped his wand with both hands, desperately hoping to pull some miraculous surge of power from it.
But it was useless. Snape's Killing Curse held out for barely thirty seconds before the combined Petrificus Totalus blasted past him.
"Tch," Snape clicked his tongue in frustration.
Suddenly, a brilliant pillar of white light descended from above.
Albus Dumbledore.
The highest peak and the deepest river of the wizarding world.
The most iconic wizard of their age had arrived, stepping smoothly right in front of Professor Snape.
Dumbledore turned his back entirely to Snape, facing the other professors. "This Voldemort is an imposter. The real Dark Lord is on the verge of claiming the Sorcerer's Stone. He is currently in the hidden chamber."
McGonagall and the others' eyes went wide with shock.
"Albus, what are you talking about? Voldemort is right in front of us! How can he be a fake?"
"It is merely a Death Eater. Leave him to me. You must go save Harry. Voldemort is with Harry right now, and I do not know how long the boy can hold out. Fawkes has already gone to find him, but I urge you to hurry. I will not allow Harry to come to harm within Hogwarts."
Professor McGonagall and the others ground their teeth in frustration. After a moment of heavy hesitation, they obeyed Dumbledore's orders and sprinted away.
Only after they were completely out of sight did Dumbledore turn back to face Snape.
The two men stared at each other in total silence. Neither was willing to speak first.
Finally, a heavy sigh from Dumbledore broke the tension.
"Sometimes I wonder if my judgment has completely failed me," Dumbledore began slowly. "I don't know if it's just my imagination, but it feels as though some mysterious, invisible force is actively overturning every single plan I make.
You-Know-Who should never have made his move this early. Or rather... from the moment his identity was exposed, this entire situation spiraled entirely out of my control."
"Then who exactly is controlling the board now?" Snape asked coldly.
Dumbledore just shook his head.
He clasped his hands behind his back and started walking toward the edge of the Forbidden Forest. "Come along. This is not the place for this conversation."
Once they were deep enough into the woods, Dumbledore reached out, thoughtfully tracing the rough bark of a nearby tree.
There were footprints in the dirt by his feet.
They weren't very large. They looked like the heavy, stomping tracks of a child.
"Tom is quite fond of working out here. Though I haven't the faintest idea what those Muggle exercise routines actually accomplish. Perhaps, as he claims, they 'build character and constitution'?" Dumbledore couldn't help but chuckle softly at the thought.
Building character and constitution. It was the ultimate, foolproof excuse.
"Severus, my original plan was for you to... well. Regardless, I must admit I was wrong.
Even when You-Know-Who was a student here, he never shone quite this brightly. Yet now, a first-year student has achieved exactly that. He is incredibly famous. Everyone knows him as a genius—handsome, charming, and gentle.
With a breathtakingly beautiful dance partner, to boot.
But no one seems to know the true depths of his power. Most assume his 'genius' is strictly relative to other first-years. You, however, know exactly how strong Tom actually is."
Dumbledore locked eyes with Snape. "Tell me, Severus. If you were to duel Tom using strictly Sectumsempra and Occlumency... who would win?"
Snape didn't answer. He couldn't answer.
Because even he honestly didn't know!
It was true. Tom's growth had completely shattered his every expectation.
"If it weren't for his intrinsic kindness, I would be genuinely terrified that he might become the next Dark Lord.
I trust him. Perhaps not entirely, but... it is the choice I am making. I have been pondering this for the last two days. Perhaps we should simply abandon the plan. There is no need for you to go that far."
Snape ground his teeth. "You are asking me to stand down? Do you have any concept of how much I've already sacrificed for this?!
Albus, you are the only one who knows what I've had to endure all these years!"
"It is simply too painful for you."
Snape lunged forward, grabbing Dumbledore by the collar. "Painful?
The night I had to stare at Lily's dead body—that was painful!
I refuse to let a second person die in front of me! You-Know-Who cannot be killed! I can't kill him, you can't kill him, and Tom certainly can't kill him. He has infinite time and endless avenues for resurrection! Even if he fails to secure the Stone tonight, Voldemort will inevitably find another way!
There is only one thing I can do. I must remain perfectly hidden by his side.
Until... he is truly dead, or until I am."
Snape's words rang with absolute, unbreakable resolve. Since that horrific night ten years ago, that seed had been planted deep in his soul. It had sprouted and grown into an unshakeable, towering oak.
Snape had fully believed he would never allow himself to care for another living soul.
Until that idiot boy had shown up.
Snape would never forget the day Dumbledore arrived at his quarters with that grinning, overly cheerful kid in tow, asking him to take the idiot in.
He was just a moron! Dumber than a mountain troll!
But that moron brought him dinner every single day. Before Snape even realized what was happening, Tom had firmly rooted himself in his life.
"Let it go, Severus. Come back. We will find another way.
Prophecies have been wrong before. Perhaps this is the time."
"Ab-so-lute-ly not!" Snape snarled, biting off every syllable. "That is never going to happen!"
"Then you should tell Tom the truth about your identity. That is, if you don't want him remembering you as a monster in the future."
"I do not care," Snape replied, his voice devoid of warmth.
This time, Dumbledore didn't answer right away. He just stared deeply into Snape's eyes.
Didn't care?
No one is truly capable of 'not caring.' Not even Severus Snape.
Once you make certain choices, they matter deeply.
"Severus, I must inform you of something. The other professors are not moving swiftly enough. By the time they reach the chamber, Harry may well be dead at the Dark Lord's hand."
"Then why are you here bothering me instead of fighting the Dark Lord?! So what if they discover I'm that loathsome Death Eater!"
"Because I have already sent someone else. I entrusted the task to him. He took the Sorting Hat and Fawkes with him. The boy has always loved Fawkes, hasn't he? I'm sure he's absolutely thrilled."
Snape's eyes widened in sheer horror. In that split second, his Occlumency completely shattered. His ironclad mental defenses crumbled to dust.
Who else could Dumbledore possibly be talking about?
Who else but that complete and utter idiot!
"Albus, if he dies... I swear, I will be your sworn enemy for the rest of my days! You had no right! As Headmaster of Hogwarts, you absolutely cannot do this!!!"
Snape didn't waste another second arguing. He ripped off his black Death Eater robes and sprinted toward the hidden chamber at a speed that easily dwarfed any of the other professors.
Tom!
---
"Fawkes, you really are gorgeous. Just let me touch your feathers—oh, come on, why are you rejecting me?! Do I look like the bad guy here?"
Damn it, this phoenix is too strong. Even my "Magical Beast Helper" title is useless against it.
Tom grumbled internally.
He fully intended to get himself a phoenix someday.
It was just too cool!
Just imagine it. Someday in the future, while all those other chumps were sending mail with basic owls, he'd be using a majestic phoenix.
Absolute peak aesthetic.
Senior Cho Chang would definitely beg me. I bet she'd be dying to play with my bird.
Hehe...
Tom was mid-daydream when he suddenly snapped back to reality. He looked ahead, his eyes sharpening into something lethal.
Harry Potter was crumpled on the floor, curled into a tight ball of pain.
Standing directly over him, radiating cold malice, was Voldemort.
The Dark Lord held his wand at the ready as he slowly turned to look over his shoulder.
Tom simultaneously turned toward him, pulling the hood of his pristine white wizarding robes over his head.
"Hey there. Long time no see, You-Know-Who."
Voldemort's eyes suddenly went wide.
This was the person who had possessed Hermione Granger's body—
Was this his true form?
"Who are you?"
"Who am I? You can just call me... Merlin." A slow smirk curled onto Tom's lips.