Chapter 152: Facing the past
Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 152: Facing the past
"You're me? Wait… you're Voldemort?!" Little Harry wasn't sure what to be more surprised about.
"I was getting to that part…" Tom was losing his cool persona. "But it's true...Voldemort and I are one and the same." He then used the stolen wand to write his name in the air and rearranged the letters to spell 'I am Lord Voldemort'.
Little Harry gasped. "It's really you then! You are the one behind all of this! You must also be the Heir of Slytherin."
Tom smiled. "Who else but me would be worthy of such a title?"
"He thought it was Draco Malfoy." Harry pointed at Little Harry.
"I-I did not!" He got embarrassed.
"It was Ron's idea!" and threw his friend under the metaphorical bus.
"I do wonder… why is there another Harry Potter now?" Tom observed him carefully.
"I could have guessed a time turner… but you two look too different to only be a few hours apart… a badly made Polyjuice perhaps?"
Harry glanced at Little Harry. Tom was not wrong… despite being the same person, they were quite different.
Harry's body was in perfect shape, unlike his malnourished counterpart. He wore new glasses made of enchanted silver instead of those old broken ones that Aunt Petunia found in the donation bin of the church.
He also wore expensive, tailor-made clothes under his silk robes.
His hair was well-combed and secured in place with a charm that prevented it from becoming messy like it used to be.
"We do look different, yes… but we are the same in the end. However, explaining exactly who I am and how I got here would take too long, and I'm not sure I have that much time."
"No matter! One Potter or two, the basilisk will take care of you!" Tom shouted.
"The basilisk?!" Little Harry got alarmed.
While Tom was busy speaking Parseltongue, Harry took the chance to move the levitating Ginny closer to him.
The girl was still clutching onto the diary.
"I'll be taking that…" He then pointed his wand at her and placed a sanctuary barrier.
The protective cocoon enveloped her completely in a sphere of pure white light.
"What did you do to her?!" Little Harry demanded to know.
"This is a protective barrier so she doesn't get more hurt than she already is. But you should be paying more attention to that."
Harry pointed to the statue of Salazar Slytherin as its mouth opened and the basilisk emerged.
Even though he was terrified, Little Harry tried to speak with the snake using Parseltongue and convince it to go away.
"It won't work, it only listens to me," Tom said with a tinge of smugness. But then he noticed Ginny. "What is that?"
"We need to run! Don't stand there!" Little Harry approached him before looking at where Ginny was. "She is going to be okay in there?"
"Of course, a snake of this size would not be able to break my protection," Harry assured him.
"That's a basilisk, not just a snake. Don't look into its eyes or you will die!" Little Harry held onto his robes. "Come on! We need to get away."
"Haha! Yes, you better run, little Gryffindors. But you will never escape the Slytherin Beast! This place will be your tomb." Tom looked very satisfied now.
"It's okay, Harry," he told the terrified child.
"You should have never been put in this situation." He felt some pity for this young version of himself, knowing firsthand how much pain he had gone through already and how much he still had left.
The basilisk hissed angrily and continued to approach.
"Keep your eyes closed, no matter what you hear, everything will be fine," Harry told his counterpart with a calm voice.
This time, he didn't need to use any amplification for his ears; he knew exactly where the basilisk was.
"Petra…" His wand made contact with the cold stone.
"Tredecim Hastae."
The thirteen stone spears penetrated the beast's body with no mercy, starting from its head and moving their way across.
Like the previous time, the spears continued to rise up, lifting the giant snake in the air, as if it were being prepared for a barbecue.
Tom Riddle stared at the scene without being able to articulate a sound. He could never have imagined the basilisk being defeated so quickly. The young boy made it almost look easy. Just one spell and a one-thousand-year-old basilisk was no more.
"You can open your eyes now. That thing is dead," Harry said.
Little Harry hesitated for a moment but eventually opened them slowly.
"Wait! It's still moving!" As he started to look up, he saw part of the beast move and started to panic.
"Reptiles will continue to move for a few minutes after they die… I assure you, that is dead. Isn't that right, Tom?"
"Y-You… how could you do this?!" Tom reacted.
"What the bloody hell?!" Little Harry was now able to get a good look at what happened.
"How did you do that? Where did all those spikes come from?"
Harry gave him an intense look.
"Well, you know… magic."
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