Disclaimer: I don't think those books have my name written on them. They have J.K. Rowling's name on them.
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Chapter 20: I am Lord Voldemort
Metal sounds issued throughout the corridors as blade hit blade. Crouch was fighting much more ferociously than he was in Azkaban and both Ron and Draco had a hard time keeping up against him. And it certainly didn't help that they were arguing in between their attacks on Crouch.
"Do you fools really believe that you can defeat me? If so, you are nothing more than a pair of incompetent idiots," laughed Crouch. He spun around, and used the momentum to slash his two swords at Ron and Draco. The two Mage Knights managed to block the attacks but were nearly thrown off balance.
"Who are you calling an idiot?" demanded Draco. He swung his sword down at Crouch who deflected the attack by crossing his two blades. "Weasley may be one but I'm not!"
"Oh, so I'm an idiot, am I?" shouted Ron. He flashed his sword at Crouch with a sideways thrust. Crouch leapt up and dodged Ron's attack. "I thought that idiots only had blonde hair!" Crouch made his way around Ron and sent him sprawling with a swift kick.
"Maybe they have red hair!" yelled Draco. He slashed at Crouch who deflected the attacks. Crouch ducked down and tripped Draco.
"Yeah, maybe they do have red hair!" yelled Ron. "But how should I know, I'm just an idiot!!!" Ron made three continuous slashes at Crouch. All three were deflected. "At least I have a brain in my head!!!!"
"Oh, and to imagine that all I thought was in your head was air!!!!!" shouted Draco. Both he and Ron charged at Crouch. Crouch leapt out of the way, and Ron and Draco crashed into each other.
As Ron and Draco continued arguing, Crouch couldn't help but think, 'This is easier than I thought!'
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The stunned silence that had issued through the throne room was suddenly disrupted by Harry: "What do you mean by 'master'?! Lucius is supposed to be the master!!!"
Riddle suddenly started laughing hysterically. "So you really did believe that!" he said. "Seems like I was more successful than I thought!" He smirked at Harry and continued. "Well Potter, Lucius is just a puppet that I set up. That's right, I! I am the true ruler of the Slytherins! I am the true object of worship of the Death Eaters! I, Tom Marvolo Riddle! Or, as I prefer to be called..." Riddle's red eyes opened wide and he had a maniacal grin on his face. "...Lord Voldemort!"
"What?!" said both Harry and Hermione, their eyes wide with astonishment.
Riddle, or rather, Voldemort made a small bow. "I am Lord Voldemort!" he said. "The Dark Lord. Master of the Death Eaters. Ruler of the Kingdom of Slytherin for the past twenty years, and of the Kingdom of Gryffindor for the past sixteen. Soon to be ruler of all of Magiterran. Direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin. And..." He grinned once more. "...assassinator of King James and Queen Lily."
Hermione and Harry turned pale. Harry suddenly started shivering and Hermione barely managed a small "W...what?"
"Quite simple really," said Voldemort with a shrug. "Wormtail betrayed James and Lily to me. James fought valiantly against me, it was a good fight by the way, but I eventually overcame him with one good Avada Kedavra. Lily however, died trying to protect you, Harry." Harry shuddered at this revelation. "She sacrificed herself to save you. Effective, I must say. For when I tried to kill you sixteen years ago, the curse rebounded on me!" Voldemort grimaced as he recalled the past. "I was stripped of my powers, and I fled barely alive. The only thing you got was that scar on your forehead," Riddle eyed Harry's scar. "And my abilities as a parselmouth." He walked over to the cowering Lucius. "That's why I set up Lucius here as a puppet while I myself spent years regaining my powers. Foolish as he was, he had his uses. But it looks like he has outlived them."
Lucius started shaking uncontrollably. "Forgive me, master," he begged. "Forgive me."
Voldemort started laughing. "Lucius, my friend. You really think that I would be so merciful? Now that my powers have completely returned? You had your uses, Lucius, but not any more." He pointed his sword at Lucius's head. "Avada Kedavra!" Hermione screamed as Lucius fell dead.
Voldemort walked over to the unconscious Icicle. "Enervate." Icicle opened her eyes and gave a start when she saw Riddle standing over her.
"You have failed me, Icicle," said Voldemort with a serious face.
"No, my Lord. I would never..."
"You have failed me!" Voldemort continued speaking with mock pity. "Why, Icicle? Why? You were my most devoted servant. You were my liaison between Lucius and myself. You were even spying on Lucius: keeping me alert in case he ever stepped out of line. So why have you failed me, Icicle? Why?"
Icicle started shivering and beads of sweat fell down her face as her eyes widened in horror. "No, my Lord. That is not how it is!"
Voldemort started tutting. "Icicle, Icicle, Icicle. Defeat against a Mage Knight may be acceptable, but against a mudblood?" Riddle eyed Hermione. "Well, she is exceptional so defeat may be understandable. Still, you have failed me. And you know Lord Voldemort's rules."
"No! My Lord! You can not..."
"Avada Kedavra."
With a scream, Icicle fell down dead. Harry was now glaring at Riddle, his sword drawn and his green eyes emitting sparks of rage. Voldemort started walking toward the back of the throne room. "Follow me Harry," he said. "and you too, Miss Granger. I will guide you two to where we shall have our last duel. There, we will finish this war once and for all!"
Riddle disappeared in to a corridor that had been hidden beneath the throne. After exchanging a glance with each other, Harry and Hermione followed after him. After walking through a long corridor, Harry and Hermione came up to a large wooden door, decorated with snakes. Harry, suddenly hissed something in parseltongue, and the doors opened wide.
They entered a large chamber, held up by a series of pillars decorated with snakes. At the end of the chamber was a large statue of Salazar Slytherin. Riddle was waiting for them in front of the statue, his arms raised and a triumphant grin on his face.
"Welcome," hissed Voldemort. "Welcome to the Chamber of Secrets!"
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Outside of the palace, Remus and Wormtail were still engaged in mortal combat.
"Is life worth living, Peter?" taunted Remus. "Can't you hear James and Lily continuously accusing you for betraying them? For murdering them?"
Wormtail shuddered, but continued fighting. Their blades were sending off sparks as they hit. Remus twirled his blade and used carefully calculated slashes which placed him on the offensive. Wormtail, on the other hand, was clumsy and made to many unnecessary moves. It looked like Remus was about to win the duel any second when he suddenly lost balance as he stepped on a discarded shield Wormtail grabbed his chance and stabbed Remus!
Sirius caught sight of what had happened and screamed. "Remus! NOOOOOOOO!!!!" He darted forward and caught Remus just as he crumbled. Luckily, the wound wasn't fatal though he was loosing a lot of blood.
Remus looked up at Sirius and gasped. "S...Sirius. W...win this w...war for me. For L...Lily and James." Sirius nodded. He used a portkey to transport Remus back to the Alliance camp. He then turned on his adversary.
"You'll pay, Wormtail!" Sirius's blade flashed and Wormtail barely managed to block the attack! Sirius swung his sword again and again, forcing Wormatail onto a high wall overlooking the battlefield. Sirius also leaped onto the wall and the two opponents started to exchange blades.
While Remus had been on the offensive by using calculated moves, Sirius remained on the offensive by using sheer fury and brute force. He was quickly, overwhelming Wormtail, who could barely block Sirius's fierce attacks.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Why don't you do us all a favor and get killed?!" yelled Ron.
"Why don't you?!" yelled Draco.
They were still fighting Crouch whom had the upper hand with his two swords. The blade in his left hand was blocking Ron's attacks while the blade in his right was slashing at Draco. It was looking more and more as if Ron and Draco would turn on each other.
Crouch finally decided that he had enough fun and decided to put the two Mage Knights out of their misery. With a combination of strength, technique, and magic, Crouch leapt thirty feet in the air and flew down in a diving attack.
Ron and Draco abruptly ended their argument and exchanged a knowing glance. Ron suddenly turned his sword upside down and Draco leapt on to Ron's sword's hilt. With an upward thrust, Ron sent Draco flying at Crouch. Crouch barely had a chance to register astonishment as Draco slashed into him! Crouch was killed.
Ron and Draco dashed back into the throne room. Draco gave a start when he saw his father's lifeless body. Ron also located Icicle's corpse. However, there was no sign of Harry or Hermione.