Harry flicked his wand at the pool of water to his right. The water rose into the air; he quickly spun his wand in a small round motion and the water immediately flew towards Riddle, trapping him in a large liquid sphere. The tip of Harry's wand was glowing bright blue while he was using his off hand to steer the sphere to the other side. Suddenly, Riddle broke free and banished huge gallons of water back at his opponent. Harry charmed it to solidify into ice and transfigured it into tiny, razor-sharp ice crystals and flung them back at Riddle. The other boy slashed his wand in the air and transfigured the ice crystals into grains of sand. He then moved his wand in a circular motion many times, pointing it up. The sand formed a mini tornado which was fast approaching Harry.
Harry then pointed his wand at one of the ancient torches in the chamber which flew off its hold; the fire disintegrated the sand tornado, but it turned into a giant fire eagle which launched itself at Riddle. But it no longer was an eagle, but a large black serpent moving towards Harry who blasted it to smoke, which solidified within seconds to form several daggers which moved towards Riddle. The older boy conjured marble to impact the daggers, but some of them escaped and hit him in the head and chest.
Harry had just dodged the block of marble which had headed his way when he saw the daggers impact Riddle. "It's over Tom. You -" said Harry, but stopped mid-sentence with his jaw hanging open in shock.
Tom Riddle smiled at Harry widely. The holes that had formed in his chest and head had disappeared as if they had never existed. "Did you think you could defeat me, Harry? I am Lord Voldemort ! The greatest and most powerful wizard in history! One that was able to drive Dumbledore away from this castle! Did you think I would lose to a mere twelve-year-old boy?" he sneered.
Harry stood silently, breathing hard. This was not a regular body; it was a magical construct so conventional means would not work. How else was he supposed to kill him?
"Do you feel safe now, Harry Potter? You were foolish to come here alone. There's no one here to help you. What's going to stop you from dying now?"
Harry was frozen at his spot when he heard something. Music was coming from somewhere. He and Riddle turned and spotted a beautiful scarlet phoenix flying towards them. Fawkes dropped something in Harry's hands and settled on his shoulder.
"The Sorting Hat?" Riddle laughed. "This is proving to be quite entertaining. Let's see what you and the songbird can do against the King of Serpents."
Riddle turned towards the massive statue and hissed, " Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four ."
Harry backed away, looking for a way to escape. Maybe coming down here alone wasn't a good idea after all. He conjured a rooster and hit it with an amplifying charm. The rooster crowed, but Riddle laughed.
"Impressive conjuration, Harry, but it won't work," he said with a smile. "This is Salazar Slytherin's basilisk. It is not that easy to defeat it. Kill him ."
Harry closed his eyes as he felt Fawkes lift off into the air. Extending his senses, Harry flicked his wand at Riddle's general direction as he began shooting curses; anything to distract Riddle. He put the Sorting Hat over his head for all the good it would do, but he had never practised magic with his eyes closed.
Harry winced in pain as he hit a massive snake statue, having been thrown off his feet by a blasting curse. Blood poured from behind his head and smeared on the stone pillar as he panted. Why did Salazar keep a Basilisk in a school? It made no sense! He founded Hogwarts to protect magical children from the Muggles. So there was no way he would use it to kill the students of the castle, Muggle-born or not. It was his job to protect the students -
Protect. That was it! Salazar did not raise this Basilisk to kill the students, but rather to protect the students in case the Muggles ever invaded the castle. It was probably the final backup plan, in case all was lost. The snake had been here for more than a thousand years; it must be confused as to who really was the enemy.
When he heard the basilisk shriek in agony, Harry opened his eyes, not being able to stop himself. The sight before him made him gasp.
The basilisk was probably seventy feet long! It was fighting the phoenix which was flying circles around the great snake. Harry saw that blood was leaking from the basilisk's eyes - Fawkes must have destroyed its eyes.
" NO! LEAVE THE BIRD! LEAVE THE BIRD!" screamed Riddle. " THE BOY IS BEHIND YOU! YOU CAN SMELL HIM! KILL HIM!"
' Thank you for believing in the true legacy of Salazar Slytherin, Mr Potter, and not the twisted version that history has turned him into. You are truly worthy of being the heir of Gryffindor. Godric would be proud of you,' said the Sorting Hat in Harry's mind. The next second, Harry felt something very hard and heavy hitting him on the head, which almost knocked him out. He pulled the hat away from his head, only to grab a handle. He pulled on it to grab a gleaming silver sword probably three feet long, its handle glittering with rubies the size of eggs.
The basilisk approached him. Harry quickly raised the sword, but what was the use? He had learnt martial arts, but not fencing! The basilisk lunged blindly. It missed him, but it struck the giant snake statue, sending chunks of stone everywhere. Harry tried to strike it back, but the great tail of the snake hit him instead, bodily throwing him across the chamber.
Harry whimpered in pain as he got to his feet. Fawkes was trying to distract the basilisk, but it won't be for long. Conjuring a ladder, Harry climbed on top of one of the snake statues.
....
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