Chapter - 99 : Chasing Shadows and Facing Demons

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"And if I say no?"

"Then I'll kill you."

Harry laughed mockingly "Such confident words from a man who has yet to succeed in even coming close to killing me."

"Avada Kedavra!"

Harry began the incantation to conjure a stone wall, but trailed off when the golden statue of the wizard from the Fountain of Magical Brethren sprung alive and leapt from its plinth and in front of Harry, the deadly green curse bounced off of his chest and into the far wall.

Harry watched in bemusement as Dumbledore swept into the room, wand already drawn and ready, Voldemort wasted no time in sending a Killing Curse at him, but Dumbledore disappeared in a whirl of cloaks and reappeared directly behind Voldemort, he waved his wand in a large elaborate gesture and the rest of the statues sprung to life. The statue of the witch ran at Bellatrix, who screamed and sent spells streaming uselessly off its chest, before it dived at her, pinning her to the floor. Meanwhile, the goblin and the house-elf scuttled towards the fireplaces set along the wall and the centaur galloped at Voldemort, who vanished and reappeared beside the pool. The headless statue thrust Harry backwards, away from the fight, as Dumbledore advanced on Voldemort and the golden centaur cantered around them both.

"It was foolish to come here tonight, Tom," said Dumbledore calmly. "The Aurors are on their way."

"By which time I shall be gone, and you will be dead!" spat Voldemort. He sent another killing curse at Dumbledore but missed, instead hitting the security guard's desk, which burst into flames.

Harry sighed as the two wizards began to fight in earnest, it wasn't that he was wishing to be the one fighting, but he would have much preferred that Dumbledore not leap to his rescue as if he were unable to take on Voldemort himself. Perhaps it was his hubris speaking, but he believed he could do a much better job of killing Voldemort than Dumbledore was currently doing. The man was powerful, no doubt about that, but he was packing his punches when he should have been going all out. And Voldemort seemed to notice the phenomena as well.

"You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?" he called as he conjured an impressive silver shield to protect himself from a very powerful spell shot his way. "Above such brutality, are you?"

"We both know that there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom." Dumbledore replied calmly. "Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit."

"There is nothing worse than death!"

"You are quite wrong." Dumbledore said, slowly advancing upon Voldemort. "Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness."

The fight seemed to become even more heated after that brief exchange, although Voldemort continued to go for the killing blow while Dumbledore stuck to tamer, lighter spells, although they remained just as powerful as Voldemort's.

For a moment, Harry thought Voldemort would win when, while Dumbledore was fighting the same fiery snake Harry had battled a year previous, he shot a Killing Curse at the Headmaster's unprotected back, he prepared himself to step in and help if need be, but that proved unnecessary when Fawkes swooped in and swallowed the curse, the brilliant golden bird burst into flames and fell back to the floor, small, wrinkled, and flightless.

Dumbledore quickly finished off the snake and brandished his wand at Voldemort, the water in the pool rose up and covered Voldemort like a cocoon of molten glass. For a few seconds Voldemort was visible only as a dark, rippling, faceless figure, shimmering and indistinct upon the plinth, clearly struggling to throw off the suffocating mass. Then he was gone and the water fell with a crash back into its pool, slopping wildly over the sides, drenching the polished floor.

Bellatrix screamed for her master in despair, but Harry didn't think the fight was over, not yet at least, that had been much too easy.

This notion was proved by the Headmaster's next words. "Stay where you are, Harry." he said quietly, for the first time that night, he looked fearful.

Harry did as he was told, remaining half hidden behind his statue guardian while Dumbledore looked around warily. For several long moments the only sound in the room were Bellatrix's anguished sobs, but then Harry gasped and leaned heavily against the wall.

Something was trying to break into his mind, and they were doing it with all of the grace of a raging hippogriff, hacking and tearing brutally at his mind. For a moment, he felt his defenses falter under the sheer force of the attack, but then he brought them back up with a great force of will and the intruder was thrown from his mind. When his eyes, which he didn't recall closing in the first place, opened, he found both himself and Voldemort sprawled on the floor, Dumbledore stood several feet away and behind him was a group of a dozen or so Ministry employees among them was the Minister of Magic.

"Y-You-Know-Who," Fudge stuttered, looking at the fallen dark wizard in shock and fear.

"Minister Fudge." Voldemort sneered, rising gracefully to his feet. "I would like nothing more than to express just how much your turning a blind eye to my return was appreciated, but unfortunately, I must be taking my leave." Voldemort seized Bellatrix's arm, then turned and apparated from the Ministry.

"Oh merciful, Merlin's," Fudge placed a violently trembling hand over his heaving chest, "that was You-Know-Who in the Ministry! How can this be?"

"If you proceed downstairs into the Department of Mysteries, Cornelius," Dumbledore said, sweeping toward the group of witches and wizards, "you will find several escaped Death Eaters contained in the Death Chamber, bound by an Anti-Disapparation Jinx and awaiting your decision as to what to do with them."

"Dumbledore!" gasped Fudge, beside himself with amazement. "You-here-I-I…" he looked wildly around at the Aurors he had brought with him and it could not have been clearer that he was in half a mind to cry, "Seize him!"

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Loving the story so far? There's a whole world of magic and mystery waiting for you with over 85+ chapters still to come! By supporting my Patreon.

You not only get early access to new chapters but also exclusive content, behind-the-scenes insights, and special perks just for fans like you.

Join us on this enchanted journey and help shape the future of the tale. Your support makes all the difference—discover more and become part of the adventure today!

http//patreon.com/Kun_kanshi

(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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