He's Back!

The Unicorn's Shadow arrived in an instant, and its shiny hooves stepped on Voldemort!

Voldemort's chest caved in visibly, and his body was sent flying as if he had been hit by a bull. He tumbled and crashed into the tree behind him…

Dumbledore, of course, would not give up this perfect opportunity. The Elder Wand in his left hand shook, and the golden-red flames that were scattered on the ground quickly floated up, transforming into a huge flaming whip that lashed out!

Before Voldemort could hit the ground, the "whip" caught up with him and whipped him.

The golden-red flames were like maggots in his bones. As soon as they touched his body, they sprang up, and his shrill screams soon echoed through the forest…

"Confringo ~! (exploding thunder)"

"Avada Kedavra! (Avada Kedavra)"

Ivan and Sirius showed not the slightest bit of sympathy, and instead attacked the drowning man, casting spells at Lord Voldemort!

Before their magic could reach the tree, however, Lord Voldemort was already gone, and two spells struck the tree behind them, blasting it to pieces.

Numerous flaming pieces of wood fell from the sky, and Dumbledore gently waved his wand, sending a gust of wind to sweep them aside.

Sirius remained on guard for a while, but when Voldemort did not attack, he relaxed a little and turned to Dumbledore.

"You-Know-Who escaped?"

Dumbledore nodded, staring at the devastated forest, and said in a low voice, "This injury will surely keep Tom in his place for a while!"

Ivan read between the lines of Dumbledore's speech, and was somewhat resigned, which meant that Voldemort had not been harmed to the core, and would be able to move again after a short rest.

Sirius, on the other hand, ran to Harry's side and helped him up.

"Harry, how's it going? Does the scar still hurt?"

"I'm…I'm better…" Harry muttered to himself as he struggled to his feet and touched the lightning-bolt scar on his forehead.

The scar had stopped hurting since Voldemort's departure, but Harry could not understand why he had suddenly become like this.

After regaining his composure, Harry looked anxiously at Dumbledore and asked, "Professor Dumbledore, what is going on? Why did I—"

"It's obviously Tom's magic…" Dumbledore interrupted Harry, speaking with great deliberation.

"Harry, on the night you were born, you rebounded from a Killing Curse cast by Lord Voldemort's own hand, depriving him of his powers and reducing him to a ghost, and it may have been then that a special connection was forged between the two of you, allowing Voldemort to influence you through certain means…"

Dumbledore's cryptic words confused Harry, but at least he understood that he could see Voldemort's actions through his dreams, and that Voldemort could somehow influence him.

Ivan knows better, but he has no intention of interrupting, since telling Harry the truth would be the same as telling Voldemort directly…

While they were chatting, they heard a slight disturbance in the air to their left, and Harry and Sirius, who were both frightened, instinctively raised their wands and pointed at it.

Since McGonagall, Arthur, and Moody were among the group, Ron and Hermione were among them.

The first thing they saw after the battle was a scene of devastation. The forest around them was still ablaze, and the grass was full of holes caused by the spell. The only thing they were glad about was that Ivan, Harry and Sirius were still standing there.

"Harry, Yvonne, are you all right?" Ron asked, immediately surrounding Harry when he saw that he was in trouble.

Hermione was so excited that she ran up and hugged Ivan.

Ivan, who was already weak, was almost knocked to the ground and had to take two steps back to regain his balance.

The little witch was sharp enough to notice Ivan's slight change of expression, so she quickly let go and asked worriedly, "Are you hurt, Ivan?"

"No, I'm not. I'm just tired." Ivan shook his head. He was having a hard time with all the high-intensity battles, especially when his magic was nearly exhausted.

Hermione looked him over for a while and was convinced that his clothes were not torn.

Feeling uncomfortable with Hermione's constant stare, Ivan changed the subject, asking her about what had happened at Hogwarts after she left.

The young witch had no intention of hiding the truth, and quickly explained everything to him.

Shortly after Ivan's departure, Alicia, Molly, and the Aurors dealt with the Blast-Ended Skrewts and the swarm of giant spiders that had escaped the maze.

She and Ron went to the castle to find Snape and Professor Flitwick, as Ivan had instructed.

However, they ran into the professors, who had been alerted to the commotion.

After much explaining, Snape chose to remain in the castle to maintain order, while Flitwick took them to a Muggle village not far from here, where he found Dumbledore and the others.

"I told Professor Dumbledore about Sirius taking Harry away, and there was speculation that Sirius might have been possessed by You-Know-Who's Imperius Curse, or that someone had used Polyjuice Potion to disguise themselves as Sirius…in short, we were all very worried, but we couldn't find you…" Hermione was horrified.

The next thing they knew, they were looking at a fire, which Dumbledore believed to be caused by magic, and sent Fawkes to investigate…

While Hermione was explaining, the members of the Order of the Phoenix came up to her. Moody, who was at the front, looked at the traces of the battle and asked Dumbledore with a grave expression.

"Albus, we all saw the Dark Mark in the sky! Did you go up against that man?"

"You are correct, Alastor. I have met Tom, and he has regained his powers and a whole new body…" Dumbledore replied, nodding.

Despite their suspicions, Moody and the others felt a deep chill run down their spines when Dumbledore confirmed the news…

Lord Voldemort, who frightened the wizarding community into silence over a decade ago, has returned…