Wormtail seemed positively pleased with his new shiny hand. He made no effort to hide it, practically flaunting it with a smug look on his fat face. He did not even bother using his wand, slicing through the ropes binding Harry to the gravestone with the silver hand instead, finally freeing Harry from his restraints.
Harry, on the other hand, did not seem to be holding up very well. He fell limply, the earlier Cruciatus having done a real number on him, draining him both physically and mentally.
Wormtail, meanwhile, did nothing to make things easier. In the next moment, he roughly seized Harry by the hair and yanked the wad from his mouth. Only after that did he finally leave him alone and return to his place among the watching Death Eaters.
Harry's wand, meanwhile, was thrown at his feet, but first, all Harry could do was start choking, spitting saliva and trying to get rid of the stench in his mouth. He did not dare breathe too deeply, lest it reach his stomach and make him throw up.
The Death Eaters had formed a wider circle around him and Voldemort before Harry eventually took his wand back into his hand and looked forward.
"I presume Albus Dumbledore has taught you how to duel, Harry Potter?" asked Voldemort from the distance, his red eyes glinting through the darkness.
Harry did not answer. He was in too much pain to even move his tongue. That said, he very much wanted to have a go at the son of a bitch. Even if the bastard was supposedly an archmage on the same level as Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Caesar, he still wanted to fire at least one spell at him… and his grip on his wand tightened, which, Voldemort seemed to take that as an answer enough.
"Good…" Voldemort hissed, "though the niceties must be observed first…"
He bent slightly, though still kept his snakelike face tilted upward toward Harry, seemingly expecting the gesture to be returned.
However, Harry didn't seem interested in humoring him, his brain was too busy anyways, trying to figure out how to pull one over on the Dark Lord.
The so-called duel was obviously just bullying him, he, a mere mage apprentice, but even underdogs could land a nasty surprise once in a while, right?
Harry was fully aware he could not defeat the Dark Lord, an archmage, head-on in a duel, but by borrowing a few tricks from the twins, he at least wanted to make the bastard look stupid for a few seconds.
But Voldemort was never known for his patience.
"I said bow, Harry Potter…" He swung his wand, intending to force Harry to lower his head. "Bow to death—" but then paused mid-motion because, just then, the sky above suddenly lit up with a brilliant flash of lightning...
It was not natural, Voldemort was certain of that, but more than that, his magical senses had flared with warning at the same instant, screaming that something dangerous was coming.
However, it seemed his magical senses were a bit too late. Maybe the problem was that he still had not settled properly into his new body, or perhaps the body itself was inferior from the start. After all, a second-hand replacement was still second-hand.
Boom—Boom—Boom—Boom—Boom—Boom—Boom—Boom—Boom!
His snake-like pupils shrank to pinpoints. It all happened in a fraction of a second as thick bolts of lightning crashed down from the sky with deafening cracks all around him, striking as though they possessed minds of their own.
That was the only explanation he could think of, because the next thing he realized was that his servants, his Death Eaters, his… thugs, all but one, had suddenly vanished.
Not disappeared in the literal sense, but it was their signs of life that had vanished. Their frames still stood there, but their bodies were now completely blackened, like burnt bark, with smoke rising from them. They were deader than dead.
Voldemort's brain also seemed to have crashed briefly. He was left speechless, that lipless mouth of his hanging open, forgotten to close it.
How? When? were the only thoughts running through his mind. Everything had been going smoothly. The wards he had set up beforehand had done their job, masking any and all tracking magic that might have been enchanted onto the boy, and he was certain nobody had come looking for him. Had they arrived earlier, they would never have allowed him to finish the ritual… if it had been Dumbledore, he could not possibly have stood by and watched the boy be tortured, watched him suffer… right?
His brain buzzed… Harry Potter, yes, now that he thought about it, the fear he had sensed from the boy had not felt right. It was not as… intense, it lacked sincerity, with a hint of mockery mixed into it. He had assumed the boy had simply lost all hope and was being stubborn.
And… he turned sharply as another thought struck him, wand already raised. Apart from the boy, there was one more person who seemed to have been, "spared," as well.
"Lucius! You sly little fox…" he barked, the tip of his wand already glowing with deadly green light.
"M-my Lord, wait!" Lucius stumbled back a step, raising both hands quickly. Everything was happening too fast. The Dark Lord seemed royally pissed off, and Lucius himself was still under immense shock.
Though that unnatural heavenly punishment had not struck him, he had witnessed, even felt part of the devastation right in front of his face. Those Death Eaters probably had not even registered their own deaths. It had ended in a literal flash.
Lucius knew this had to be his new boss's doing, but… where was he? Looking at that green light aimed point-blank at him sent cold fear rushing through his body. For a brief moment, he genuinely worried Maverick might not make it in time to save him.
"YOU BETRAYED ME!" Voldemort roared, his eyes bloodshot, and without another word, he unleashed his most powerful spell, "NIYAAAAAA!"
The deadly green curse reflected in Lucius Malfoy's wide pupils, but fortunately, in that split second, a sparking orange barrier materialized in front of him and tanked the attack. At the same time, a portal of similar sparking orange opened behind him as well, and his body was abruptly pulled inside before disappearing to who knew where.
Poor Tom was once again left speechless when his magical senses suddenly flared in warning, however, once again, it was just a little too late.
"Confettius Maxima!"
Out of anger, or perhaps because he believed a little boy could not possibly pose any threat to him even with his back turned, he had completely disregarded Harry. The next thing he knew, a violent explosion of… pink, some sort of confetti, blasted directly into his face just as he turned toward the sound.
The area around him erupted into sparkling ribbons, glitter, and tiny dancing hearts that swarmed around him like an army of deranged fairies.
Voldemort staggered back in disbelief, his black robes now covered in glittering pink dust while a large glowing banner suddenly appeared above his head.
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR REBIRTH TOMMY!
For three full seconds, the Dark Lord stood frozen beneath floating hearts and exploding party sparkles, looking less like the most feared dark wizard alive and more like the victim of a particularly aggressive prank.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Click.
From the side, he then heard the sound of clapping, followed by a click. His brain was still trying to process everything, how things had gone from bad to worse in mere moments. He wanted to scream, to vent, to kill someone, perhaps even cry. Never in his life had he been so utterly humiliated.
His head slowly turned toward the sound, almost mechanically, and he saw someone standing there. Not Dumbledore… but news no less terrible, holding what appeared to be a camera in hand.
"Harry, well done, you exceeded my expectations."
"Professor…" Harry practically screamed the word like a kid who had just found his parents after being separated from them, then came running over. "I saw his naked butt, Professor. You have to Obliviate that memory out of me."
The first thing his Gryffindor brain thought of was to complain, while Maverick's eye twitched. He could sense the kid was genuine with the request, and he quickly stopped even his passive magical senses from brushing against Harry's thoughts. He absolutely did not want to see that image.
"Maverick… Caesar… was this all part of your plan?"
Harry and Maverick turned and saw Voldemort sharply wave his hand, canceling the ridiculous magic around himself and returning to his proper Dark Lordly appearance.
"Just a sec, Tom," Maverick said lazily, then turned to Harry again. With a wave of his arm, a portal materialized beside them.
"Go." He gestured with his head. "Remus will be waiting on the other side. Get healed up, there's still time, and you might even get to catch a bit of your godfather's performance in the tournament."
Harry nodded, understood his job here was done now. He gave Voldemort one last look, oddly enough, the Dark Lord did not seem interested in stopping him and simply stood there silently.
"I'll wait for the good news… be careful, Professor," said Harry to Maverick before stepping through the portal before it closed behind him, leaving only Maverick and Voldemort standing in the graveyard.
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