The Only One He Ever Feared

 

Disclaimer: Unfortunately (for me), JK Rowling created the characters, the world, everything about Harry Potter. I’m also  quoting some dialogue directly from OoT, Chapter 36.

 I thank  Felina Black for beta-reading this story. Without her, this fanfiction  would be unreadable.

 

 

He Apparated near the boy, who was shouting, his eyes closed in pain.

 

- Nothing there! Nothing to summon! It smashed and nobody heard what it said, tell your boss that!

 

What, the prophecy? Smashed?

 

- No! It isn’t true, you’re lying! MASTER, I TRIED- I TRIED- DO NOT PUNISH ME-

 

Bella had failed him! His Death Eaters had failed him! Was THAT possible?

 

- Don’t waste your breath! He can’t hear you from here!

 

It was all Potter’s fault, as usual. Ah, but he was going to pay for his impudence. Now he couldn’t escape. Nobody was there to save him.

 

- Can’t I, Potter?

 

As soon as he noticed his presence, the boy became scared. He could read the enormous, unbearable fear in Potter’s eyes while he looked at him. And he enjoyed every bit of that fear. Nobody could dare fighting Lord Voldemort and survive… The boy knew that. Was there anybody that didn’t know, that didn’t fear him? All those fools that persisted in denying his return were just more scared than the others. Scared of his power.

So, how had that boy destroyed the prophecy? How could he just think to fight him? How could he fight his Death Eaters…and win? It wasn’t possible.

 

- So, you smashed my prophecy?

 

He searched Potter’s unworthy eyes for answers. He searched his mind through the bond he rapidly had become used to activating and he didn’t find any resistances while he travelled in his mind . He found pain, sadness, anger, terror, but the boy wasn’t lying. The prophecy was destroyed. After all those years.

 

-No, Bella, he is not lying…I see the truth looking at me from within his worthless mind…months of preparation, months of effort…and my Death Eaters have let Harry Potter thwart me again…

 

Again. He closed his eyes, barely containing his anger. The prophecy was smashed. The boy had won again. He couldn’t believe such a worthless being had stopped him. Right, if Potter had been so smart to demolish his plans, then he was going to have him pay the consequences. Yes, he would have to kill Potter. And the prophecy…well, then the prophecy would become completely usele-….

 

- Master, I am sorry, I knew not, I was fighting the Animagus Black! Master you should know…

 

No, it was enough. He was tired of hearing his Death Eaters declaring their complete faith and then failing him so badly. He would fix this problem soon, but only after killing Potter. 

 

-Be quiet, Bella. I shall deal with you in a moment. Do you think I have entered the Ministry of Magic to hear your snivelling apologies?

 

He could sense Bellatrix’s terror. She knew perfectly what she was going to receive. But first, FIRST, he had to kill Potter, something he should have done years before. Nothing would have stopped Lord Voldemort from getting his revenge...

 

- But Master- he is here- he is below-

 

Ah, Dumbledore was there! That was how the boy had succeeded defeating his Death Eaters. Well, Dumbledore was going to have a big disappointment. Without answering to Bellatrix, he looked directly into Potter’s eyes again.

 

- I have nothing more to say to you, Potter. You have irked me too often, for too long. AVADA…

 

Potter stood motionless, aware of his destiny but without trying to escape. Well, apparently he had succeeded in destroying all the boy’s hopes. While the boy watched him performing the Killing Curse, he saw his green eyes full of the same fear he had seen in his mother’s eyes. He, Voldemort, had won. Finally. 

 

- …KEDAVRA!

 

He saw the golden statue of the wizard landing between them, blocking the green jet of light. For a moment, he stood still, surprised and unable to understand.

 

-What-?

 

He scanned the room. It couldn’t have been the boy, and no Auror was so crazy to challenge him. It could be only…

 

-Dumbledore!

 

He saw him, his long, white beard twirling in the air, his blue eyes looking directly at him. For a brief moment he remembered him as his Transfiguration teacher; he remembered his worried looks and his sincere fear of what was happening in his student’s mind. Dumbledore always had been so interested in him… And his look now showed the same interest.

Recovering quickly from the surprise, he smiled to himself. So Dumbledore wanted to play. Well, then he was going to give him what he deserved. He waved his wand.

 

-AVADA KEDAVRA!

 

When the green light extinguished, he checked the situation. Dumbledore had obviously transported himself in another place, so he took a moment to look around. When he saw his enemy, the other statues of the fountain were walking around, each one doing something different. He didn’t care. He would have killed Dumbledore as well as Potter and everybody that dared to challenge his power.

 

-It was foolish to came here tonight, Tom. The Aurors are on their way.

 

He still called him Tom! After all he’d done, after he had challenged the whole world, after he had mastered the Dark Arts, becoming the greatest wizard of all times, Dumbledore still didn’t admit the power of Lord Voldemort! He was instead talking of these pathetic Aurors, as if they could scare him. He waved his wand.

 

-By which time I shall be gone and you will be dead. AVADA KEDAVRA!

 

Missed. He had missed Dumbledore. His anger had made him miss the shot. He saw Dumbledore casting a powerful charm and quickly conjured a silver shield. He heard a strange sound as the spell collapsed against the silver defence. He stood still for a moment, surprised, as he recognized the charm. He couldn’t believe Dumbledore had tried THAT. What was he playing at?

 

-You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore? Above such brutality, are you?

 

He looked at the old wizard who was calmly looking back at him. In his blue eyes he could notice the same show of wisdom, of superiority, that Dumbledore used when he was his teacher.

 

-We both know that there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom. Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit-

 

Again, that stupid theory about something worse than death. Dumbledore hadn’t changed during these long years. But the Dark Lord certainly wasn’t going to stay there, listening to the useless sentences of a mad, dying old man.

 

-There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore.

 

THAT was the truth. He had known (and defeated) death. Dumbledore didn’t know anything about this subject, something he was going to change in minutes.

 

-You are quite wrong. Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness-

 

Weakness? Dumbledore was closing up within him, shieldless, undefended, muttering something about death and dared talking of HIS weaknesses? He quickly searched for an answer, but then thought that the most appropriate was very simple.

 

-AVADA KEDAVRA!

 

He saw another golden statue blocking the jet and felt his hatred growing, something he didn’t think possible. Dumbledore tried to take him by surprise with a flame whip but he immediately turned it into a snake. Then he transported himself behind Dumbledore, who was dealing with the snake, and threw another Killing Curse, sure that nothing could save the old wizard.

Dumbledore’s phoenix blocked it. The phoenix! He had completely forgotten Dumbledore’s old companion. But this didn’t matter, since the bird, now a useless baby, couldn’t help his master anymore.

Suddenly Dumbledore surprised him with a sharp movement. For a brief moment, he saw the snake being destroyed, then an enormous mass of water, water from the fountain, summoned by Dumbledore’s magic, covered him. He tried to fight against the force of the current that was empowered by the spell and found it very difficult to defeat. Well, there was no time to deal with that. He Disapparated.

 

-MASTER!

 

Bellatrix had screamed. The room was now silent and he could see Potter trying to exit from behind his protection. They all seemed to think he was gone. How wrong were they! Dumbledore, on the contrary, seemed really scared.

He grinned and prepared himself for his revenge, closing up within the boy…

 

-Stay where you are, Harry!

 

Oh, Dumbledore was trying to protect Potter! But it was too late. He entered into the boy’s mind with all his might and will and, some instants later, he blew the first strike.

<Pain. Confusion.> Potter was suffering. Enjoying every bit of the boy’ despair, he started controlling the body. <Madness. Fear.> Potter’s will was naturally strong, but he could feel sadness and fatigue draining force from him. Oh, this was going to be easier than he thought. He imposed his power on the suffering boy.

 

-Kill me now, Dumbledore.

 

He saw fear in the blue of his former teacher’s eyes. He could feel his confusion. Dumbledore was going to understand the insanity of opposing him. <Pain. Fear.> Potter too was finally understanding how insane he had been. <Despair. Fear. Pain.>  Yes, he would have accomplished a fatal blow to all his enemies once and easily. Victory was near.

 

-If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy.

 

Kill Potter, Dumbledore! What was he waiting for? Didn’t he know that the boy was going to be destroyed anyway? This was only increasing the length of his sufferance. <Pain.> Yes. <Fear.> Yes. <Despair> Yes, Potter had finally understood his mistake. <Desire of death>. What? Desire of death? What did it mean? How could he wish to die? How could anybody wish to die? <No more fear.> What did it mean? Potter was dying and suffering, possessed by the most terrible wizard of all times! How could he ignore fear? <Relief.> WHAT? What was happening? <Happiness> NO! How could…why…it couldn’t be happening! Happiness? Why? How? He had to know why that was happening but deep in his mind he knew perfectly what it was. The only thing he couldn’t defeat.  <Love.>  A jolt of pain flowed in his body. The control… he couldn’t keep the connection if that hurting feeling continued erupting from the boy’s heart. He tried with all his might to destroy that damned, burning feeling, but it was too strong. He had to try…to try….<LOVE!>

He was immediately expulsed from Potter’s mind. His head was aching - that powerful feeling had hurt him badly. He couldn’t face Dumbledore in that condition. He quickly Apparated near Bellatrix and grabbed her. Normally, he wouldn’t have cared, but too many Death Eaters had been captured that day. He sent a last glare to Dumbledore, who was deciding whether check Potter’s condition or pursue him and, before Hogwarts’ Headmaster could decide what to do, he quickly  Disapparated.

 

-See you next time, Potter.