Chapter 44 - Albus Dumbledore vs Tom Riddle (1/2)
Dumbledore and Neal looked at him who just declared, ”Lord Voldemort is back”. Neal was taken aback by the word, ”Voldemort? The one who must not be named? Don't joke around”.
Riddle looked at Neal, ”nice meeting you again, Neal. I never thought the House of Slytherin still lived. Anyway, I'll finish what my ancestor wasn't able to do, next. But I guess it must wait for a while”.
He looked at Dumbledore, ”probably didn't expect I would return like this, right? Although I'm still wondering how did you manage to make my Basilisk disappear?”. Dumbledore didn't reply to him as his attention was elsewhere.
After a while, he sighed in relief and mumbled, ”thank goodness she's alive”. He then turned to him and replied, ”even if you come back to life, you can't escape from here, Tom. You are just a fragment of the real you”.
Neal then said, ”so, you are Lord Voldemort? But how is that possible? You have a muggle surname and not to mention, He's way after your time”. Riddle chuckled, ”it's funny, isn't it? Everyone in the world finds it hard to accept the fact that I have my filthy Father's muggle surname”.
Tom pointed the wand in mid-air and wrote his name ”TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE” and then the letters started to arrange themselves and turned into ”I AM LORD VOLDEMORT”. Then he said, ”Voldemort was my past, my present, and my future”.
While Neal was taken aback by the truth, Dumbledore spoke, ”Neal, take Ginny and get out of here when you see the opening”.
He took out his wand and pointed at Tom Riddle. Riddle then said, ”don't worry, old man. I don't plan to fight you, yet. I'm going to leave now. After I find my real body, we'll surely meet again. Not to mention, I should also find out whether I completed making the other Horcruxes successfully or not”.
Dumbledore replied, ”you aren't going anywhere, Tom”. Riddle snorted, ”don't think you are the only one who can apparate out with the anti apparition charms all over Hogwarts”. Then he sighed, ”too bad that I didn't get to see the famous Harry Potter who supposedly killed me, the greatest wizard of all time when he was just a baby”.
Tom Riddle tried to disapparate from the chamber but he was surprised that he wasn't able to. He looked at Dumbledore with a frown and asked, ”I'm positive that I can disapparate from here and yet I can't. What did you do, Albus Dumbledore?”.
Dumbledore replied, ”you see Tom, you are the first Horcrux and didn't have the memories after you were created. So, you might not know. Just by creating a Horcrux, if anyone can be invincible and immortal, it would have been popular long ago.
You should know that your powers are limited to how much of a fragment you are for the original body. That means you don't have the necessary magic power to disapparate from here where there are anti apparition charms, all over Hogwarts. Only a person who have more magic power than me can disapparate from here. In your current state, I don't think you have it.
Tom Riddle boiled up in anger and shouted, ”Avada Kedavra”. Greenlight burst from his wand and made its way towards Dumbledore who easily deflected the attack with ”Protius”, a defensive Silver shield spell. Then he said, ”the killing curse is no longer the unblockable one, Tom”.
Dumbledore then pointed his wand at Tom Riddle, and fired ”Expelliarmus”. Tom Riddle blocked the spell with another Killing curse. He gave a light laugh and mocked, ”seriously? A disarming charm? You don't wish to kill me? Above such brutality, are you”.
Dumbledore replied, ”We both know there are other ways to destroy you, Tom”. He slowly walked towards Riddle while Neal ran and hid behind one of the pillars as he knew that he can't defeat him head-on and not to mention, he wasn't confident to counter a killing curse of Lord Voldemort.
That's why Neal decided to do the one thing Dumbledore told him to do. To wait for the right time and rescue Ginny.