Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is the owner. I'm just borrowing.
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Chapter 18: Potter and Riddle
"Greetings, Harry," said Riddle with a grin. "I see we meet again. Here to save your friend?"
"Tom," acknowledged Harry. "I doubt you would let us pass freely, would you?"
Riddle laughed, a high pitched laugh that didn't suit him well. "Of course not. This time I'm not here to just observe you. I actually plan to kill you." He said all this very casually.
"Love how you put it," said Harry. He walked slightly away from Riddle and put Hermione down near the wall. "I'm going to have to take care of this," he whispered to her. "Just trust me."
Hermione took Harry's hand and squeezed it a little. "Harry, be careful." Harry nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. He then stood up and faced Riddle.
"If it's a duel you want, it'll be a duel you'll get." said Harry as he drew his ruby encrusted sword. Riddle grinned and drew his emerald encrusted sword.
"We must observe the formalities," said Riddle. "First we bow," Harry and Riddle both merely lowered their heads, never taking eyes off of each other. "And now, we duel!"
Riddle shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" the same time Harry shouted, "Expelliarmus!" The green light of Riddle's killing curse shot out towards the red light of Harry's disarming curse. However, as soon as the two lights connected, it transformed into a single gold thread that connected the two blades. Both Harry and Riddle were absolutely astounded as the golden thread started humming and vibrating. Riddle raised his sword and broke the connection.
"Prior Incantatem," muttered Hermione.
"What?" asked Harry, never taking his eyes off of Riddle.
"The reverse spell effect," said Hermione. "You two must have brother magical cores. Both from the exact same magical creature."
Harry stared at Riddle and stated "Phoenix feather."
Riddle simply nodded and said "Who would've imagined that we've both have magical cores from the same phoenix." He raised his sword and smirked. "Well then, Potter. Since we can't duel the magical way, we'll have to duel the more traditional way." Harry also raised his sword.
For an agonizing minute, the two simply stared at each other. Then, quite suddenly, the two duelers leapt forward and the two blades collided into each other with immense power! Red eyes and green eyes glared at each other as the two blades rubbed together, causing sparks to fly. Then, abruptly, the two broke apart and jumped back a little.
A second later, the two sprang forward again, the blades constantly hitting each other in speeds that seemed to be humanly impossible. There was no offensive or defensive in the duel, Harry and Riddle simply blocked and attacked in high speed succession. The two blades once again rubbed against each other as the two duelers continued slashing at each other. If looks could kill, both Harry and Riddle would be dead three times over.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Ron dodged McNair's Axe as he rolled backwards. In the process, he managed kick Wormtail in the nose, thus knocking him out. Ron rolled away from another one of McNair's attacks. As he did so, he managed kick at McNair's right shin, knocking him off balance. Suddenly, McNair screamed: he had fallen on to the blade of his own axe and was killed!
Ron had no time to react to McNair's death however as Crouch suddenly swung down his two swords, crossed together. The crossed blades connected to Ron's sword as he raised it vertically in a defensive posture. As the three blades rubbed against each other, Crouch smirked at Ron. "Well, young Weasley. It looks like you've received an invitation to the land of the dead!"
"Yeah, well you can be my date!" Ron kicked at Crouch and knocked him off his feet. Crouch scrambled back up, and their blades continued to clash.
Right behind them, Draco and Icicle were also dueling. "Avada Kedavra!" shouted Icicle. Draco dodged the green light and shouted, "Impedimenta!" Icicle blocked the curse, but was nearly caught off guard when Draco leaped at her. The sword and staff clashed again. "You will die, like the traitor you are!" sneered Icicle. Draco simply glared at her and continued slashing his sword.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The sounds of blades clashing against each other sounded throughout Azkaban. Harry and Riddle seemed to be equally matched at first, but Hermione saw that Riddle was slowly but surely gaining the upper hand.
Harry swung his sword at Riddle, whom dodged by leaping up a little. He then managed to place a swift kick in Harry's midsection. Harry rolled backwards and leapt to his feet. He was getting exhausted and needed to think up a quick plan.
"You are good, Harry Potter!" smirked Riddle. "But, not good enough! You know as well as I that you can't win against me!"
"Yeah, well I think you should postpone the victory party, because we're getting out of here!" Harry pointed his sword forward as if using a spell. Instead of sending a spell at Riddle, however, he shot a white light at a small rock on the ground between the two duelers.
Harry suddenly lunged at Riddle, swung his sword sideways and deflected Riddle's sword away. He barely caught the name Salazar Slytherin written on Riddle's sword's hilt as he hit the ground and rolled over to Hermione. He took hold of Hermione's hand and shouted "Accio Rock!" Suddenly, the rock Harry had enchanted flew towards him. As soon as he had caught it, both Harry and Hermione disappeared! Riddle stared at the spot Harry and Hermione had been before. He grinned.
"Impressive."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
It was just around when Ron and Draco found themselves back to back that Ron felt something. "Harry! He's got Hermione out of Azkaban!"
"How do you know?" asked an irritated Draco.
"I just know!" snapped Ron.
Draco had know time to argue as both Icicle and Crouch shouted, "Stupefy!" At the last minute however, both Ron and Draco ducked and the two stunning curses ended up hitting Crouch and Icicle.
"Ok, that takes care of them," said Ron. "Now scram!" Both he and Draco made a mad dash towards the way they had entered the fortress!
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Hermione opened her eyes and tried to adjust her sight to the blinding light. She spent a few minutes adjusting to the blinding light before realizing that it came from the sun. After not seeing it for such a long time, it was a beautifully welcome sight. Hermione realized that they were on the deck of a ship, anchored by a rocky coast. She blushed as she realized that she was being carried by Harry again.
"How did we get out?" she asked.
"I made a rock into a portkey," said Harry. "Transported us right to the ship we used to get to Azkaban." Harry didn't say much as he seemed to be deep in thought.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Riddle. It looks like his sword originally belonged to Salazar Slytherin."
"The founder of the Kingdom of Slytherin?"
"That's right. I own Gryffindor's sword because I'm his descendant. But what about Riddle? What relation does he have with Slytherin?" Harry stopped talking as he saw Ron and Draco run towards their ship. "We'll think about that later," said Harry as he smiled down at Hermione. "In the meantime, we should get you some food." Hermione smiled back at him.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Enervate."
Icicle opened her eyes and saw Riddle grinning at her.
"Get up Icicle," he said. "Wake the others, and go deliver a message to Lucius. The final battle is at hand!"