Basilisk's Bane

Tom Riddle looked at the boy in front of him in extreme wariness after his comments. Not only did this boy know who he was he also know his true identity of being Voldemort as well. With Oz's final comment though, riddle felt his anger rise as he noticed that the boy only seemed to look at him as a stepping stone rather than a true enemy.

"Bold words for a boy so young... Do you even know what sort of beast is down here?! Well... there's no use getting angry at a dead person".

As Riddle finished his sentence he started to talk in parseltongue. The mouth of Salazar behind him at that point began to open.

Seeing how the battle was about to begin Oz felt his blood boil even stronger. The rage deep in his belly seemed to parallel his excitement towards this battle. His eyes shone with a deep purple glint as he held his wand out. His heart started to beat in a rhythmic and powerful rhythm. Despite all this rising excitement, Oz closed his eyes and focused all his attention to listening.

The basilisk slithered out of the mouth of the Salazar Slytherin statue slowly. Noticing Oz the basilisk started to make his way towards him. In that split moment however, Oz casted a spell with his eyes closed, the spell was directed exactly at the statue of Salazar, just above the Basilisk's head.

{Confringo}

Oz's spell shot out and destroyed the upper portion of the statue of Salazar. As the rubble fell down it started to pile onto the basilisk knocking it down to the floor momentarily.

'The basilisk is an easy enemy as long as I avoid it's deadly gaze... The only problem is that Riddle is commanding it meaning. Acting as a command tower he can notify and help the basilisk in regards to where I am... However that just means I'll have to fool Riddle as well'.

With a plan in mind Oz used the window of opportunity he had as the basilisk was being pelted with rubble to cast another spell.

{Lumos Maxima}

With the spell being in dragon-tongue, the light given off by his wand made it seem as if a mini sun had descended into the chamber. Using the opening he gave himself Oz cloaked himself and along with augmenting himself he charged up the remaining part of the Salazar statue, standing directly on top of its head that was still solid. At this vantage point, Oz could see the top of the basilisk's head along with a befuddled Riddle that was looking around the chamber with caution.

"Running away is only delaying the inevitable boy... Just accept your death quietly. The mud-bloods of this school need to be purged as is the will of Salazar himself".

Looking down at the spectre of Riddle that was starting to lose its patience, Oz snorted at its attempt to lure him out. He sounded like a typical villain with that kind of quote. Looking down at the basilisk that was lifting itself out of the rubble, Oz knew that now was the time to act.

Pointing his wand directly at the head of the beast he casted:

{Deprimo}

Deprimo as a spell was used to blast holes in the floor, however Oz used this spell as a means to force the basilisk down. As the spell shot out it landed on top of the basilisk's head forcing the beast to the floor in a violent matter. The spell itself wasn't enough to finish the basilisk, however it was enough to shock it and damage it, knocking the serpentine beast into a daze. Riddle looked towards where the spell had come from with slight shock plastered in his gaze. A spell that powerful should have been impossible for a boy of this age to cast.

As the basilisk started to slowly lift its body back up, Oz jumped off the head of Salazar he was on and landed on the basilisk head. Just as the basilisk noticed someone on its head Oz casted another spell at his shoes and the basilisk.

{Epoximise}

Epoximise was a charm that adhered two objects together. Using it at this moment Oz solidified his foothold on the basilisk's head.

"HE'S ON YOUR HEAD, KILL HIM NOW".

Riddle seemed to have seen through Oz's plan somehow as he screamed out that Oz landed onto the basilisks head. As the basilisk picked itself up, Oz fully augmented his strength with {Augmentum}. The added on strength from it being casted in dragon-tongue lead to his strength becoming extremely formidable. Looking down at the basilisk eyelids he identified where the eyes were without the risk of looking at them and in an instant plunged his hand down.

'Damaging such a precious material would be such a waste... might as well take them out by hand!'.

As Oz plunged his hand down he grasped firmly onto the basilisk's right eye causing the basilisk to scream out in pain. Oz yanked the eye with all of his augmented strength before ripping the eye out from its socket. Blood spurted out of the eye socket as the basilisk flailed around in pain. Without looking at the eye, Oz pocketed it placing it into his pouch. The spectre of Riddle looked up at Oz in horror as he dismantled the beast of Slytherin that had stayed alive all these years.

As the basilisk started to flail around, it eventually tried to bang its head against a wall in an attempt to get Oz off its head. Reacting just in time Oz dispelled the 'Epoximise' spell he had placed on his shoes and the basilisk's head before jumping off. The basilisk ended up smacking its head hard against the wall causing debris to fall from the ceiling of the chamber. As the basilisk was startled by hitting its head while flailing, Oz casted another spell this time directing it at the basilisk's neck.

{CONFRINGO}

As the fight progressed Oz's blood boiled more and more. His battle instincts seemed to rise to even greater heights as he was able to make the best decision with what he had in his arsenal consistently. To the Riddle that was looking at this fight ensue, it looked like Oz was dancing around the basilisk toying with it.

The spell Oz casted responded to Oz's battle spirit as it produced a 'confringo' stronger that ever before. As the spell collided with the basilisk it left a sizeable hole in its neck knocking it against the wall again causing the chamber to shake once more. With the amount of damage the basilisk had sustained it was definitely nearing its death. As the basilisk fell to the ground again after being attacked with another spell Oz ran up to it and jumped on its head yet again. Not giving the snake any time to recover Oz augmented his strength to the max again as he plunged his hand towards the basilisk only remaining eye, ripping it out violently.

'There might have been a cleaner way to do this... but it feels so damn good doing it this way'.

As he secured the eye and placed it in his pouch Oz jumped off the basilisk again gaining distance from it. Now he had no need to worry about its deadly gaze he could stare at the broken beast in its full 'glory'. Riddle looked towards Oz was anger as he spat out a myriad of questions and insults.

"You yourself are a glorious Slytherin! You are a denizen of this noble house! Why are you killing the creature that our houses founder brought up!?".

To Oz it seemed Riddle was becoming desperate as he spat out all sorts of things in the hopes of Oz stopping his assault. Looking at the spectre of Riddle pitifully Oz sighed.

"I have no connection with this house of mine Voldemort. Hogwarts as a whole and this house that I'm in, they are all a means to an end for me. These are simply tools that I use in my pursuit of power".

As Oz gave his monologue Riddle stared at him with increased anger. Hearing Oz's response he knew that Oz was the type of person that could not be reasoned with. The second Oz decided to kill this ancient basilisk was the second it was destined for death. Oz brought himself closer to the Basilisk which was only just now picking itself up again after Oz's onslaught. Looking down the Basilisk's mouth Oz pointed his wand directly into it.

{Bombarda Maxima}

The spell Oz casted zoomed into the Basilisk's mouth and entered into the beast exploding it from the inside. The centre of the beast seemed to explode open with blood and matter scattering everywhere. The basilisk fell to the floor in a slump, dead.

"You know, for that old snake's little pet this fella was sure disappointing. I would have like the fight to last at least a bit longer...".

Hearing Oz treat the Basilisk as a training buddy Riddle seemed to be incensed beyond belief. He looked at Oz with poison laced in his eyes, however as a simple soul fragment he could do nothing but watch as Oz killed the snake right in front of him. Any attempts at disturbing Oz's mental state seemed to be subdued instantly which raised more alarms in Riddle's mind as he looked at the enigmatic boy. Oz seemed to look at the dead basilisk for a little while longer before turning his head back to the spectre of Riddle.

"So what was that about getting angry at a dead person? I don't see no dead person around here... only a dead snake".

"You can gloat all you want boy but you have no means of destroying me... With this girl here and her life force draining I'll soon have enough strength to revive myself".

Oz laughed deeply as he heard Riddle's rebuttal. Without responding he slowly brought himself over to the dead basilisk and augmented himself silently.

"What are you-"

Before Riddle could finish his question, Oz had ripped out one of the basilisk's fangs. Holding the fang in his hand, Oz looked down at it with a deep smile.

'Horcrux destroying device secured... How about we give this version of Riddle a little show'.

Oz put his hand into the pouch on his hip as he grabbed onto a certain item. Pulling it out the item gleamed, the gemstone in its head shining bright. Riddle watched all of Oz's mysterious movements in confusion however the second he saw the diadem he felt his incorporeal heart drop.

"WHERE DID YOU GET THAT!? HOW DID YOU GET THAT!?".

Oz didn't reply to Riddle, simply smiling at him as the spectre started to go hysterical. If Oz's assumption was correct all of the horcruxes were connected loosely meaning that the main version of Voldemort might catch wind of this scenario. If he were to blurt out who he was and how he got these items in a 'heroes monologue' then that would just be foolish.

Holding the fang of the basilisk up high, Oz pointed it at the gemstone on the diadem. Seeing this situation happen, Riddle charged at Oz despite his incorporeal form. Seeing how incensed the young dark lord was, Oz chuckled as he plunged the fang into the diadem's gem. As the fang connected with the diadem, destroying it instantly, black smoke that signified the death of a horcrux spurted out. The spectre of Riddle in front of him showed a face of pain and anger as he stopped his charge towards Oz.

"YOU! HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ALL THIS?! YOU HAVE SECURED YOUR SPOT IN HELL BY DOING WHAT YOU'VE JUST DONE".

Oz looked at the angsty Riddle with a sinister smile, relishing in the dark lords anger and anxiousness that was directed at him.

"I hope your memory of this battle haunts you until the day we meet again".

Pointing his wand over to the diary, the spectre of Riddle knew exactly at that moment what Oz was about to do. Charging over to the diary, he hoped in some way to protect it. However Oz was too fast.

{Accio Diary}

The diary zoomed from the floor in front of the still knocked out girl towards Oz. As the diary approached him he simply held the fang out pointing towards where it was coming from. Riddle looked on in horror once more as the diary that was being accio'd to Oz was impaled on the fang he held out. The second the diary was impaled the spectre of Riddle screamed out in intense pain, unlike before where the diadem was destroyed, the diary being destroyed effected it much much more as it was its own vessel. The spectre of Riddle exploded violently as Oz looked at the anger in its eyes dissipate into nothing but mist.

"That's two down and five to go... I hope next time he can entertain me a little bit more".

Looking around the battle scarred chamber Oz felt his blood and heart simmer down into a relaxed state. As if a weight was lifted from himself after releasing all of his rage he felt a serene calm wash over him. However with that calm and fulfilled feeling came a feeling he didn't expect to feel.

A feeling of emptiness.

.

[____'s POV]

The home I used to live in was filled with warmth and hope. Such a peaceful life was something that I took for granted when I realised how quickly life could change.

On the day I received my Hogwarts's admission me and my family celebrated. My mother was a muggle however my father was a muggle-born wizard. My father wished for me to become a witch and hoped to have at least one child that had magical blood within them so when we saw a letter from Hogwarts he was ecstatic. Even though I saw it as going to a simple school, my parents saw it as that much more. My dad in his excitement decided he wanted to throw me a party to celebrate so he said he'd work overtime at where he worked in order to throw me a great party. At the time I hugged my father thanking him for being so kind to me however in the corner of my eyes I remember seeing my mothers worried face.

That night my dad left for work and didn't come back. Me and my mother had no connections to the wizarding community so we couldn't inquire as to what happened. All my mother could do was put out a missing persons report to the muggle police. However both me and my mother knew deep down that it wasn't going to work.

We spent a week worried and afraid. Knowing that my father could use magic I had thought he would be able to get out of any situation however some nights I'd catch my mothers face and her eyes that showed extreme worry. Seeing my mother in such a state caused my anxiety to grow. Finally after 7 days of no message from my father we got a knock at our door near midnight.

I heard from upstairs as my mother ran to the door to answer. From the stop of the stairs I listened in to their conversation.

"Is this the home of ______?".

"Yes! Yes it is! Do you know where my husband has gone off to!?".

Hearing that these people at the door might have news of my fathers whereabouts I started to run down stairs to see them as well. That decision would haunt me for the rest of my life. As I was able to see the front door I saw the people laughing at my mothers question, a light shone as my mother fell to the floor.

"MOMMY!"

Seeing my mother fall to the floor I ran downstairs in a panic and jumped onto her. As I touched her skin I could feel that she had gone cold. I started to cry out as the people at the door looked at my laughing. I looked at them wanting to be able to kill them in that moment however when I saw what was in their hands I felt my whole body freeze. They were all holding wands.

"Avada Ke-"

"Wait!"

As the man in the forefront was about to cast something at me, A man just behind stopped him. He looked at me for a moment and then put on a weird monocle.

"This one heres got magic inside of her! We've found ourselves a little mudblood!".

The group of people looked at me with anger but also a sick elation on their face when they noticed that I had magic within me. Before I could even utter a word, they knocked me out with a spell. The next thing I knew from there was hell.

I woke up in a cellar of a house surrounded by other people who were all beaten and bruised. Looking at them I could tell that they were being used not only as an outlet of anger and pleasure but also as a means to experiment. I became a part of that too as I was tortured. I felt my hope dwindle as I recalled those peaceful days with my mother and father. The tears in my eyes never ceased to fall and as I looked at the dead faces of those around me I wished for a release.

That's when he came.

Blasting into the room he wore a hood over his head, enough to obscure his face. He looked around the room as anger seemed to well up within him. As he locked eyes with me I saw only briefly his expression of rage along with his two dark eyes that imprinted themselves in my mind. He charged back upstairs quickly and proceeded to deal with all the people that had done this to us. Coming back down he looked around and told us all.

"Those people are gone now, you're all free to leave...".

I couldn't stop the tears come out of my eyes as I heard that we were free. Approaching him I told him how I thought of him as a hero. He however replied dryly saying that this was all only a matter of coincidence. He then told us we were nearby a wizard pub that would help us out and before we could even ask any more he left.

I dragged myself along with the rest of the muggle-born witches and wizards. Some of them were a lot older than me and helped me especially out of pity. We managed to get to the Leaky Cauldron where we were then sent in batches the St Mungo's for treatment. After I was treated I was given the choice to stay longer or to head to Hogwarts. Wanting to forget all the pain, I decided to head to Hogwarts as a means to escape from what had happened.

As I joined that year, I remember seeing the sight of the castle in front of me as I arrived. Seeing the train that took us there and seeing the great hall that sorted us into our houses. All of these things left me stunned but also reminded me of my father. As I was being sorted into my house though, I looked over to the Slytherin table which I was informed to be a bad house by my father and I saw him.

I don't know how I knew. I don't know if I was just completely wrong. But my gut told me that Oz, the descendant of Merlin who everyone was talking about was the boy who saved me in the summer. I kept trying to find a way to talk to him but seeing how he was either nowhere to be found or surrounded by people who idolised him, I felt as if I could never but in.

The year passed and I never took the chance to approach him. As the summer came I was sent to a wizarding orphanage just nearby London where I stayed in solitude again plagued by my PTSD. As the summer rolled on through and school term approached again I decided that this year I would talk to Oz or at least someone else finally. More than anything I wanted people to talk to...

However fate again wasn't kind to me as I messed up using the floo network when travelling with the orphanage to diagon alley. I was sent to a dangerous looking shop and alley where I ran into a tall man with white hair. He looked at me in scorn noticing that I was a 'low-born' and looking in my empty cauldron he tutted before giving me a book saying "A donation for the less fortunate".

I managed to meet up with the rest of the group after that and buy my supplies. Looking at the book the man gave me I felt apprehension towards it, as if it would suck me in if I opened it. Yet I found myself keeping it on me as the school year started. Slowly the school year progressed and I still couldn't find myself approaching Oz or anyone else for that matter. I remained in solitude in my room after lessons reading anything I could to take my mind off the painful thoughts. Eventually I looked towards the book the man gave me.

Opening that book was the biggest mistake of my life.