Title: Different Paths (22)
Author name: E. C. R. Potter
Author email: ecrpotter@hotmail.com
Category: Action/Adventure
Sub Category: Drama
Keywords: Harry Voldemort Different Paths H/H D/G
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, FB, QTTA, Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto story arc.
Summary: Pre-OotP. Tom Marvolo Riddle, Harry James Potter. Two wizards, with incredibly similar
beginnings, who journeyed on different paths. Such different paths that inevitably, they could only lead to a collision
course. And collide, they do. H/H and D/G.
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various
publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc.
No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. It is also based on a plot line based on
a story owned by Nobuhiro Wazuki, Jump Comics Inc., Fuji Television, Studio Gallop, and other publishers. No money is
being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended from them either.
Author notes: This fic is almost over. Or at least it's starting to enter it's closing few
chapters. Actually, come to think of it maybe the closing chapters won't actually start until the next chapter.
Then again, that still makes my former sentence make sense since this chapter is the one where we enter the closing
chapters while the next chapter is the start of the closing chapters. OK, I've rambled enough, on with the
story.
Chapter 22: Seth the Naturale
"This is it, the last door," said Yasmin. She was standing in front of a plain ordinary door, a sharp contrast to the elaborate doors of previous Death Eater Elite Ten rooms. "Behind this door is Seth "the Naturale" Soran, mightiest of the Death Eaters."
Sirius looked skeptical. "You know, I've heard a lot about this Seth saying how great he is or how mighty he is and all that. But really, how great is this Death Eater really?"
Harry's face became rather stern and determined as he gripped his wand tighter and said, "The last time we dueled, my wand was splintered in half."
"What?!" exclaimed Sirius. But Harry was no longer paying attention to him, his mind going back to the One-Hit Duel he had against Seth in the village of Graypine. It seemed like forever ago even though it only took place a few weeks previously.
'The last time, the outcome was considered a draw since I managed to splinter his wand as well,' thought Harry. 'But had the duel continued on beyond just one hit, I could've very well have lost. Who knows what could've happened then.' He shook his head and thought, 'That was then, now is now. I'm not going to lose this time. Not with my new wand and the Stellar Patronus on my side.' "OK, lets go," he said.
The room they entered could be described in one word: Spartan. It was huge, full of light (no doubt mostly by spells), and almost completely bare. The walls were an off white color and the floor was made out of dark brown wood.
Seth was standing at the other end of the room, facing Harry and Sirius. "Hello Mr. Potter, it has been a while. I must confess I am glad you are relatively OK."
Harry simply took his wand out and pointed it at Seth. "Sorry to skip on the pleasantries Seth but I need to keep this short."
Seth chuckled. "I see you that you are concerned about your friends at the Order of the Phoenix," he said. "Well you have nothing to worry about. Just a few minutes ago, we received news that the Death Eaters have been defeated."
Harry was so relieved by this news that he felt a little lightheaded. Sirius breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank God," while Yasmin simply scowled.
"Well now that we've got that out," Seth took out his wand and made a duel stance, "shall we end what we began in the village of Graypine?"
"I doubt you're going to back out now even if I asked you to," said Harry.
"I'm afraid not," replied Seth.
"Fine," said Harry. He also made a stance. "Lets finish this."
* * *
"You are confident that Seth could beat Potter, my Lord?" asked Horace.
"Well that would depend," said Voldemort. "Seth definitely has the skills to defeat Potter, but this is Potter he's facing after all. Still, there is no way Potter could come out of this duel unscathed."
Voldemort looked up at Horace's perplexed voice and laughed. "Do not worry my friend. Seth will not be beaten that easily. He has several edges which Potter will have a very hard time topping."
"Several?"
"Three to be exact," said the Dark Lord. "The first is his instinctive killer skills. Seth can use the killing curse continuously from any situation plausible. Some of my Death Eaters may have more particular fondness for the Cruciatus curse, but the killing curse comes so naturally to Seth that he even gives me a bit of pause: hence the reason why he is called 'The Naturale'.
"The second is his lack of emotions. This ties into his natural ability to kill so naturally further make him 'The Naturale'. In a duel, his lack of emotion makes him completely unpredictable, often forcing his opponents to reveal their hand before he does. It was this edge that let Seth triumph over Potter in their last duel."
"And his third edge?" asked Horace.
"Ah yes, Seth's third edge," said Voldemort. "Tell me Horace, when I sent Seth to assassinate Fudge, didn't you ever wonder how Seth was able to catch up and overtake a running carriage? Seth's third power is a magical charm he calls 'Fleet Foot'."
* * *
The lightshow ended with a bang as the two spells collided. Seth backed up a little and observed some of the singes on the wall.
"Curious," said Seth. "The last time we did that, out wands were splintered, yet this time neither one is harmed. I myself am using my very own wand this time so that would make sense, but what about yours?"
"Lets just say it's been through an upgrade," said Harry.
'An upgrade?' thought Yasmin. 'Seth's wand is far superior to our Lord's spare. The fact that Potter's new wand can fight back Seth's own is a testament to not only the power of the wand but also to the power of the wizard wielding it. Did Potter become so much more powerful in this short time?'
"Well," said Seth. "I guess this time we can't seal this with a one-hit duel. I guess I should up the ante a little by showing another one of my abilities. Here goes, Fleet Foot 80%!"
Seth suddenly burst forward, at a speed that simply couldn't be human. "What the!" exclaimed Harry, as Seth zoomed right past him at the speed faster than a cheetah, leaving a trail of destroyed floor. Seth dashed around the room at high speeds and Harry could barely catch sight of him. His feet thundered along the ground sounding a lot like a machine gun, as they took apart the floor, and occasion the walls as Seth dashed along them as well.
"Magicus Ensis!" yelled Seth. A golden blade, matching Seth's brown eyes, emerged from Seth's wand. Harry barely managed to dodge the first high-speed swipe Seth made at him with his magical sword. The second slash he blocked by shouting "Magicus Ensis!" himself and created a magical green blade to stop Seth's.
"Impedimenta!" shouted Harry. That hex didn't hit anywhere near Seth as he was still speeding around the room. Seth made several swipes at Harry with his blade and Harry barely managed to deflect each one.
"I am most impressed with you Mr. Potter," shouted Seth while still running around. "But I wonder if you will still be able to stop me with Fleet Foot 90%!" Seth sped so much, he was now completely invisible: Harry could only tell where he was by following the demolishing of the floor, though it was near impossible to tell.
'I need to find a way to track Seth,' thought Harry. 'A spell that can follow him without sight.' Thinking about his previous night with Hermione, Harry shouted "Expecto Patronum!" and conjured his powerful, corporeal stag patronus.
"Ride," commanded Harry. The silver stag shook its head, charged around the room and finally straight toward the site of destruction. The stag lowered its antlers and managed to bowl over Seth, whom was instantly visible. "Stupefy!" shouted Harry. For a second, it looked like Harry ad managed to hit Seth. However, an instant later, Seth appeared behind Harry.
"Close, very close Mr. Potter," said Seth. "But not close enough." With that, Seth slashed into Harry's back.
* * *
Draco Malfoy took a few breaths as he tried to steady his shaking feet. He had only just been able to stand up a few minutes before and wasn't even sure if he could walk yet. 'Let alone be able to cast a spell,' he thought. 'I can barely carry a wand as it is.'
"Well, well, well, look who's been thoroughly trashed," said a familiar voice from the entrance of the room.
"What?" Draco looked up to see none other than Severus Snape standing at the entrance of the room. "Professor Snape?"
"I'm not a professor anymore," said Snape. "Well, you like Hell."
"I feel a lot better than I look," said Draco. "What are you doing here? Potter headed ahead a long time ago."
"That would only matter if I was planning on catching up to him," replied Snape. "And besides there can be certain advantages in staying behind." Snape tossed Draco a folded piece of paper. Draco unfolded it and realized it was a hand drawn map of Voldemort's lair.
"I learned a lot during my tenure as a spy," said Snape. "Even if we are able to defeat the Dark Lord, it would be pointless if we got lost in the caverns leading to the surface. It would be good to give that copy to Potter."
Draco examined the map more closely: not only did it have in detail the direct route Harry and Sirius had gone down to face Voldemort, but also showed every passageway and shortcut, hidden or visible throughout the lair. He had to admire Snape's navigational abilities.
"You know," said Draco, "with the knowledge you've gained while creating this map, you could've headed off to face the Dark Lord long before Potter was even close. Why haven't you done so?"
Snape was idly examining some of the potions he was carrying. "First rule of guerilla warfare Mr. Malfoy: never expose yourself. I am going to remain hidden while Potter fights the Dark Lord. In the event that Potter is unable to defeat him, he is still bound to have seriously worn out the Dark Lord. I plan on taking that opportunity to strike at him."
"Very underhanded," said Draco. "But where does that leave Potter? You're planning on using him as a decoy as you go after Voldemort yourself? Potter is nothing more than a decoy to you?"
Snape smirked at Draco. "You of all people know full well that I have no particular love for James Potter's son."
"So this is nothing more than an extension of your extended grudge?" asked Draco, his voice rising a little.
"Don't be so naïve," said Snape, turning away from him. "My goal here is the ultimate defeat of the Dark Lord Voldemort, by any means necessary. Remember that Draco: by any means necessary." Saying that, Snape walked out of the room and disappeared down the corridor.
'Fascinating and disturbing at once,' thought Draco. 'Of course given all Severus Snape's been through, being a Death eater, then a spy, then an Auror, you've got to admire the strength he has in being able to deal with it all. If only I had strength like that, I never would've gone so close to the Dark Side.' Draco blinked and gripped his wand harder. 'That doesn't matter now. Snape's got his method of fighting Voldemort, I've got mine: I just hope I'm able to provide help to Potter in the state I'm in.'
* * *
Harry bit back a cry of pain as he staggered away from Seth, a gaping wound on his back. 'Fast! Very fast!' he thought. 'I need to rethink my strategy here.'
'This isn't good. This is not good,' thought Sirius. 'I've never seen Harry get hit in the back before. Seth's really got an advantage if he's got the speed to get Harry's backside.'
'Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!' thought Yasmin. 'Seth's got Potter on the defensive. He might actually be able to beat him!'
Seth however clearly did not share Yasmin's optimism. "Now, that's weird," he said, a frown on his face. "I completely expected to kill you with that blow. I thought I had killed you."
"Huh?" exclaimed Harry. Sirius and Yasmin were also confused for a split second.
"What are you doing Seth? If you couldn't finish him with this blow finish him with the next blow! Don't waste time pondering about it!" shouted Yasmin.
"All right Harry! Now's your chance! Seth's doubting himself: you've got the advantage now!" shouted Sirius.
Seth was still thinking when he looked down at his feet and noticed that his shoes were in complete tatters due to running around with his 'Fleetfoot'. "Oh, excuse me Mr. Potter, I need to get my spare pair of shoes." Seth then turned his back on Harry and started rummaging around some drawers nearby.
"Shoes? Shoes?" shrieked Yasmin as she made her way over to where Seth was looking for another pair of shoes. "What are you thinking boy? Have you gone nuts?"
"He's sure got an awful lot of confidence to turn his back on you to change his shoes," said Sirius.
"Doesn't matter," said Harry. "I can use this time to dress my wounds up. Help me will you?"
"What are you thinking boy?" demanded Yasmin. "Turning your back on him like to change your shoes? You had Potter on the defensive! You could've beaten him if you kept this pace up!"
"No I couldn't have," said Seth as he bent down to put on his shoes.
"What?"
"There's something, there's something about Mr. Potter. I just can't fight him the way I'm able to fight most other people," said Seth. "There's something about him that just takes my edge away. Something very irritating, like a kind of rumbling in the pit of my stomach. It may have looked like I had the advantage out there, but if we had continued dueling that way, I would've eventually faltered."
Seth was obviously somewhat confused by what was happening but Yasmin seemed to have realized what was happening. 'My God, I can't believe this,' she thought. 'Seth's greatest advantage has always been his lack of emotions. But it looks like fighting Potter has somehow caused his long buried emotions to reemerge. This may not be good.' "Seth..."
"Do not worry Miss Yasmin," said Seth. "I know in the end that I will win against Mr. Potter because ultimately his way of thinking is wrong. There is no good or evil, only power, and those too weak to take it. The strong are fated to take power while the weak are fated to be devoured by the strong. Since that is the simple truth, there is no way I can lose."
As Seth said this, his mind wandered back to three years ago...
Three Years ago, in Little Hangleton, one night in June. There was a lot of police activity in the area at the time. Only several nights before, residents had called in about some sort of Satanic ritual taking place in the graveyard below the abandoned Riddle Manor. Some stargazers had turned their telescopes toward the graveyard where they saw some kind of ritual taking place with a legion of hooded men, a cauldron filled with boiling liquid, and a boy tied to a headstone. The police were called, but by the time they arrived, there was no trace of anyone except imprints left in the ground by the cauldron and a few singed tombstones.
None of that mattered to the owner of the house just outside of the east side of town. "Think of me as a freak do you?" yelled the middle aged man. His fist connected with the cheek of a 13 year old boy. "You're the one that's a freak! All of you lot are freaks! Called me a squib and kicked me out of the family! Well I'm telling you wizard, you're the freak, Soran!"
Seth looked up at the man and smiled. "Yes Uncle Tobias. You are right, I am a freak."
"What are you smiling at boy?" shrieked the man. He struck Seth so hard the boy fell to the ground. "Don't you dare call me 'Uncle Tobias! It's Mr. Thomason, you freak wizard! Mister! Don't ever forget the Mister!" The man kicked Seth several times. "You should be grateful to me you ingrate! After that worthless sister of mine got killed, my family ended up with you, forever plagued by you wizarding freaks!"
"Now, now I think that's enough, dear," said the man's wife. "Don't want him hurt that much, otherwise I can't make him do all the chores around the house." The man spat on the beaten up Seth and walked away.
"Aw come on Mum, we haven't had our go yet," said one of the couples' two teenage sons.
"Well OK," said the wife. The two boys cheered and started to kick Seth. Eventually, they got bored of this and just left the highly beat up at Seth Soran on the ground.
Several hours later, long after the others had gone to bed, Seth had regained enough strength to sit up again. He sighed; he had been living with the Thomasons for nearly6 years, and had the scars to prove it. Amidst all the abuse he had gone through, Seth had learned to survive by burying his emotions deep within himself. Unfortunately, this only seemed to aggravate his relatives even furthermore.
It was then that Seth heard something from the backyard. Curiosity took over him and he crept over to the side of the house.
"Avada Kedavra!" screamed a high-pitched voice. Seth gasped as he saw two men. One of them was black robed and facing away from Seth while pointing his wand at the other man, an eerie, green light flying out of the wand. The other man was very huge and muscular, dressed in a blue uniform, and was falling back as the green light hit him. Even Seth could tell that he was dead as he hit the ground with a thud.
The black robed turned to Seth and Seth gasped in fright. He was barely looked like a man, tall with white, stretched out skin making his face look like a skull. The fingers of his hands were rather elongated and the joints made them resemble spiders. But the most frightening aspect of the man were his eyes: scarlet eyes with slit pupils like those of a cat. Catching sight of the terrified Seth, the red-eyed man hissed, "So you saw what just happened!"
Seth took a few steps back, stumbled, and fell to the ground. He was now completely paralyzed with fear. The red-eyed man advanced onto him. "I can't allow any witnesses to survive. So, I must kill you," he said. He pointed his wand at Seth. He was about to chant the spell when he stopped and said, "Boy, what's so funny?"
"Huh?" It was then that Seth noticed that he was grinning. "Huh? What's wrong with me? Why am I smiling? Ha ha." Seth tried to cover his face but he couldn't stop himself from grinning.
The red-eyed man observed Seth for a while before he put his wand away and said, "Boy, hide me."
* * *
Minutes later, Seth was in the shed behind the house, several feet away from where the red-eyed man was leaning against the wall, his hood pulled over his head. Timidly, Seth spoke up, "Um... um, sir..."
"My name is Tom Riddle. But only one person can call me by that name and live, and quite frankly you are not her," said the red-eyed man. "You may call me Voldemort."
"OK, Mr. Voldemort," said Seth. "Um, I saw you kill that man outside. Does that mean you're a bad person?"
"If you're going to call anyone bad it'll be them," said Voldemort, lowering his hood. "That was an Auror of the Ministry of Magic. Oh, the stories I could tell you about the Ministry. Within the next few days, they're most likely going to start a campaign denying my return, thus opening the way for more chaos and destruction. They're nothing more than a bunch of self-serving, cowardly hypocrites."
"So, you're a good person then," said Seth hesitantly.
Voldemort grinned at Seth, his red eyes flashing. "Oh no, I would be evil incarnate."
Seth ducked down behind some barrels, cowering in fear. "Calm down, I'm not going to kill you," said Voldemort. "Which brings me to the point of why I'm not killing you. Why did you smile? My curiosity has been touched far too much to kill you without finding out the answer."
Seth timidly started speaking again, "Well you see, I'm a wizard, and my uncle is my only living relative so I have to live him and his family. Ever since I was little, they constantly beat me, and back then, I would cry when I was beaten. The problem was, they would hate it when I cried and beat me even harder. So eventually, I started thinking that perhaps if I smiled, they wouldn't beat me up as much. So I started smiling whenever something unpleasant happened to me and it eventually became a habit. Ironically, they took offense to my smiling and started beating me even more so, so I guess it's just a messed cycle." Seth smiled shyly. "Still, I guess I deserve it right? After all, I'm just the freak that they got landed with and I guess it's a small price for staying here. I am the moocher after all, I deserve it."
"That's not true," said Voldemort.
"What?" said Seth, looking up, quite startled.
"The reason why the squib and muggles beat you is because you are weak," said Voldemort. "Since those muggles are stronger than you, they naturally want to hurt you, and trust me eventually they will kill you. It is a simple rule of nature my boy: there is no good or evil, only power, and those too weak to take it. The strong are fated to take power while the weak are fated to be devoured by the strong. No matter how much you try to hide behind your false smiles, you can't escape that simple truth boy. You are a wizard, but you let muggles and squibs walk all over you because of your weakness. If you want to live up to your wizard potential, you're going to have to become stronger and learn to walk all over muggles yourself."
Voldemort started fishing through the sleeve of his robe until he finally extracted another wand, similar to his own. Voldemort tossed the wand to the confused Seth and he caught it. "The words you want to use are 'Avada Kedavra'," said the Dark Lord. "It is your choice whether you want to use it or not. But remember, they will eventually kill you, unless you kill them first."
* * *
Sometime later, Seth was sitting outside examining the wand Voldemort had given him. He couldn't deny that Voldemort's words had affected him deeply, but he was still hesitant. Voldemort's words repeated themselves through his head: there is no good or evil, only power, and those too weak to take it. The strong are fated to take power while the weak are fated to be devoured by the strong.
'Still, killing is wrong,' thought Seth. 'Mr. Voldemort may have a point but he even admits that he's an evil person from the viewpoint of others. Yes, I should probably give this wand back to him. After all, my uncle and his family, no matter how much they hurt me, won't ever actually kill me, would they?'
As Seth thought of this, he heard some shouting coming from the inside of the house. Seth hurriedly hid the wand under the doormat and scurried inside.
"You!" screamed his uncle as Seth stepped into the house. His uncle grabbed him by his shirt collar and threw him to the ground. "Explain yourself!"
"W-what?" asked Seth. He had no idea what his uncle was talking about.
His older cousin looked positively gleeful. "Guess what we found in the flowerbed," he said with a sadistic, singsong voice.
Seth paled. He had buried the body of the man Voldemort had killed in the flowerbed. Seth's uncle started kicking him.
"You twisted freak!" yelled his uncle. "Sick twisted freak! You've been harboring a murderer in the backyard shed! Probably another wizarding freak like yourself!"
"Ha they're all a like!" hissed the younger cousin. "Stick to their own kind while they slowly wipe us ordinary folk out. They're dangerous I tell you. This kid is dangerous. Who knows how long we can keep him until he turns on us!"
"Well that's not going to happen!" yelled his uncle kicking Seth a few more times fiercely. "I'm throwing him out now!" For a brief moment, Seth's spirits rose.
"No, too risky," said the wife. "He might come back for revenge some day. I'd say kill him now, and blame that murderer in the shed before we turn him in to the police."
Seth truly felt like he was going to be sick. "W-what?" he stuttered. He looked up at the four surrounding him and saw that they were all now wearing sick, twisted grins.
"Of course! Of course!" said the younger cousin almost too gleefully. Seth recoiled in horror as he realized that the younger cousin was carrying a large butcher's knife.
"No more scaring us in the middle of the night, wizard!" said the uncle, "That ends here now!"
"No more freak! No more freak! Just one chop and he's finished with!" crowed the wife.
"Too bad I'll be losing my torture toy," said the older cousin. "But hey, this is far more worth it!"
"Yaaaaah! Die Freak! Die!" screamed the younger cousin, wielding the butcher's knife.
None of this reached Seth's head. All he could hear were Voldemort's words: There is no good or evil, only power, and those too weak to take it. The strong are fated to take power while the weak are fated to be devoured by the strong.
"No!" screamed Seth. He managed to scramble to his feet and escape from the house just as the butcher knife came down where he was previously. 'Help me! Somebody please help me!' he frantically thought as he ran as fast as he could, the knife wielding cousin not too far behind him. 'Help me! Mr. Voldemort help me!' It was only then that Seth noticed he was now outside where he had hidden the wand Voldemort had given him. Once again Voldemort's words echoed in his mind: There is no good or evil, only power, and those too weak to take it. The strong are fated to take power while the weak are fated to be devoured by the strong. Seth hurriedly grabbed the wand just as the younger cousin caught up with him.
"Oh my, the freak's got a stick!" mocked the cousin as he brandished the butcher's knife. "What are you going to do? Throw the stick at me? Beat me with it? Oh please. Now DIE!!!" The younger cousin swung his knife at Seth.
Relying solely on instinct, Seth pointed the wand and shouted, "Avada Kedavra!"
Hearing the scream, the delightful family piled outside only to find the corpse of their son lying in front of Seth. Their evil smirks instantly turned to screams of terror.
Seth seemed to be barely aware of his surroundings. He tonelessly said, "There is no good or evil, only power, and those too weak to take it. The strong are fated to take power while the weak..."
"You murdering freak," screamed the uncle as he and his remaining son launched themselves at Seth, intending to kill him right there.
"...are fated to be devoured by the strong!" yelled Seth. "Avada Kedavra!"
Some time later, Voldemort found Seth standing in the pouring rain, the lifeless corpses of his family surrounding him. "Are you crying?" asked Voldemort.
Seth hesitated for a moment before looking up at Voldemort and smiling. "No," he said. Voldemort grinned and started walking out of the yard. Seth followed after him. "Mr. Voldemort, will I ever be as strong as you?" he asked.
"Of course you will," said Voldemort. "You'll be strongest of all, second only to me."
"Enough of that," said Seth snapping back to the present as he finished tieing his shoelaces. "Well, time to continue on and show just how obsolete Mr. Potter's way of thinking really is." He quickly stood up, stomped around a little to make sure his shoes were all right and turned back to Harry.
"OK, lets go," said Harry, somewhat rejuvenated due to Snape's healing potion that Sirius was still carrying around.
Seth didn't waste time, immediately launching into the 'Fleet Foot' 90% and dashing around the room, further demolishing the floor, walls, and ceilings like a machinegun. Harry immediately conjured his magical blade and waited patiently.
"There is no good or evil, only power, and those too weak to take it. The strong are fated to take power while the weak are fated to be devoured by the strong," said Seth as he dashed around.
"What?" exclaimed Harry. He knew those words: it was Voldemort's philosophy. He parried his blade a few times, deflecting a few of Seth's blows.
"You believe that the powerful should protect the weak," said Seth as he slashed at Harry once more. "Yet, there was no one to protect me when I was being hurt. No one cared for me when they tried to kill me. If it wasn't for Mr. Voldemort and his way of thinking, I would've been killed, by my own family." Harry barely managed to block Seth's slash but he seemed to be adapting to Seth's hit and run tactics.
Harry yelled "Impedimenta!" but unfortunately missed Seth. Seth still sped around slashing at Harry, while Harry blocked each blow and sent out the occasional hex.
"Tell me who was there to protect me?" said Seth once more. "No one protected me. I was weak, so I had to become strong to survive. How much I wanted someone to protect me, but that was not so. Your philosophy is wrong Mr. Potter. Otherwise who was there to protect me? Answer me that Mr. Potter." Seth slashed at Harry once more.
This time however, Harry was prepared. He managed to deflect Seth's blade with his own, whereupon he grabbed Seth's right wrist with his left hand, completely halting Seth's 'Fleet Foot' dash. Seth's body went through a sudden shock from being abruptly stopped from the 'Fleet Foot'.
"I think I understand what you've been through," said Harry. "I'm from a similar background myself, and I was lucky in being taken away from it by Hagrid. I guess you weren't that lucky. However, that philosophy is still flawed, because if you think about it, it was Voldemort who saved you in a strange twisted way: the strong protected the weak."
"What?" exclaimed Seth, completely taken aback.
"I'm not telling you which philosophy is right or wrong," said Harry. "I want you to think and decide for yourself which one is the right one or the wrong one. But before you do think, just answer me one question: when you decided which path to follow, were you really satisfied by it?"
Harry's words triggered a memory in Seth's mind: "Are you crying?" asked Voldemort.
Seth hesitated for a moment before looking up at Voldemort and smiling. "No," he said.
'But that's not true!' screamed a voice in Seth's mind. 'I was crying that night! I was crying, like I still am crying! Still am crying!'
"Nooooooooo!!!!!!!!" screamed Seth. Yasmin gasped in shock.
'My God! His emotions have resurfaced!' she thought.
"You mess with my mind too much!" gasped Seth, holding his head. "I don't care about which philosophy is right or wrong now, I am going to kill you with my next attack!" Seth broke away from Harry and lowered himself into a battle ready stance. "Avada Kedavra from 'Fleet Foot' 100%. Unstoppable and Undodgeable," said Seth. "Lets see how your you stand up against this."
"Guess I'm left with no choice than," said Harry. He started moving his wand in the formation of the constellation Leo.
'He's going to use the Stellar Patronus,' thought Sirius.
'I'll decide once and for all which one is correct with this last hit,' thought Seth. 'If Mr. Voldemort's philosophy is correct there is no way I could lose against Mr. Potter, and vice versa. Whichever way, I'll find out once and for all with the "Fleet Foot" 100% and the Avada Kedavra Curse!'
"Lets go!" exclaimed Seth. He suddenly completely disappeared.
'This is "Fleet Foot" 100%?' thought Sirius. 'Completely silence unlike before: he's all but disappeared, completely untraceable. How is Harry going to combat this?' It was then when Harry also disappeared, only with an audible pop. 'Short distance apparation? Of course, Harry can't keep up with Seth's "Fleet Foot" but even Seth has to stop briefly to attack. If Harry apparates right into that spot where Seth attacks, he'll be able to get an attack on Seth, on completely equal terms.'
"Avada Kedavra!"
"Astra Patronum Leo!"
'Their skills are completely equal,' thought Sirius. 'Which means victory will be determined by their differences in their raw magical power.'
Harry's patronal lion blasted right through the green flash of Seth's killing curse, completely absorbing it. The lion charged straight into Seth and it threw his body into the ceiling while also snapping his wand. Seth fell back to the ground with a thud.
"Seth!" screamed Yasmin. Though completely battered, Seth was still conscious.
"Amazing, the exact opposite outcome of our duel in Graypine," said Seth, referring to his snapped wand. "Well, I guess you were right Mr. Potter. Your philosophy is the correct..."
"I'm afraid it's not going to be that easy," said Harry. "If you were deciding on which philosophy was the correct one by who won, then by that logic Voldemort's philosophy would be the correct one: I won because I was the more powerful. No, from now on, you're going to have to think for yourself, and decide which one is the correct philosophy."
Seth looked surprised before he sighed and ran his fingers through his bangs. "Think for myself, rather than be told what to think. Gee whiz, Mr. Potter, you're a lot more strict than Mr. Voldemort," he said as a tear ran down his face.
To be continued...
A/N Aye yai yai, that turned out to be the longest chapter of this fic yet. In fact, it could very well turn out to be the longest chapter of the entire fic all together. I even considered breaking it into two chapters for a while, but I guess people might enjoy one long chapter anyway. So R/R. Next: Finally, VOLDEMORT!!!