Tom froze for a moment, raising his wand high above his head. The cursed fire twisted into the form of a dragon, roaring as it surged toward the source of the new magical energy.
The flames consumed everything in their path.
A sharp, clear cry pierced through the air as Fawkes flapped its wings frantically, dodging and weaving to escape the dragon's relentless pursuit.
It fled, and the dragon chased.
Tom's composure returned, and he couldn't suppress a laugh. "A phoenix? Oh, Dumbledore, how utterly absurd. What good is a glorified oversized turkey like that?"
Fawkes let out an indignant screech, its anger clear despite its undignified retreat.
Harry brandished his wand.
The stone serpent he was controlling shot upward, smashing into the ceiling with a resounding crack. It narrowly missed Fawkes's tail before colliding directly with the cursed fire.
The flames clung to the stone, feeding on it like ravenous beasts, growing fiercer by the second.
Fawkes let out a frightened cry, its wings flapping with urgency.
The stone column had nearly crushed it!
Having just been reborn, the phoenix wasn't eager to go through that ordeal again.
"Get Ginny out of here!" Harry yelled, waving his hand toward the phoenix.
Fawkes responded with a resentful chirp.
The Sorting Hat translated with its usual enthusiasm, "It says it's here to help you."
"Don't make things worse. With Ginny here, I can't fight freely," Harry replied, dodging a swipe from the stone serpent and the occasional surge of cursed fire.
Fawkes let out another disgruntled squawk but obeyed, soaring toward Ginny.
"It says you owe it the finest food, preferably pristine Arctic snow water," the Sorting Hat continued.
"Great. Maybe cursed fire can shut you up," Harry snapped.
The hat immediately fell silent.
Fawkes navigated the chaos deftly, weaving through the fire and the stone serpents. With Harry's Transfiguration clearing a path, the phoenix reached Ginny, clutching her shoulder and lifting her into the air.
Thud.
The diary slipped from her grasp and fell to the ground.
Fawkes hesitated, its claws twitching as if deciding whether to retrieve the fallen book.
"Leave it! It's safest here," Harry shouted.
The phoenix didn't linger. It carried Ginny away, its wings beating hard as it disappeared into the distance.
"There goes my dessert," Tom remarked, watching the phoenix's retreat without making any effort to stop it. "All this for a foolish little girl who made a mistake."
"A mistake that cost her everything."
"Should I commend you, Harry, for living up to your title as the great Savior?"
Harry gave a sharp whistle. "Tom, I'm not nearly as noble as you think."
"From the start, I never once considered sacrificing myself."
He raised his wand.
Expecto Patronum!
A silver lion burst forth, charging at Tom with a ferocious roar.
Tom's smirk faltered as he raised his wand defensively, but Harry didn't linger to trade words.
He hurled a potion bottle at Tom's feet, and when it shattered, thick, sticky gray fumes billowed out.
"Fumos!"
Dense fog spilled across the chamber, obscuring everything.
Tom chuckled softly, his tone mocking. "Potter, this trick won't work on me. I've already seen you use it."
With a flick of his wand, he summoned a gust of wind. The technique was precise and deliberate, pulling in magic from around him. The gale devoured the fog bit by bit, forcing it away.
As his vision cleared, Tom's expression shifted to confusion.
Harry was gone.
Instead, a long stone arm extended across the chamber, clutching the diary. It was retracting rapidly, bringing the diary closer to Harry with every passing second.
"Diffindo!"
Tom's cutting curse struck the arm, but the diary remained intact.
"Incendio!"
Bright orange flames engulfed the diary. Still, it was unharmed.
"Bombarda!"
Harry resorted to Seamus's favorite explosive spell. He poured every ounce of his strength into it, shattering the stone hand, but the diary didn't so much as char.
No spell seemed to work.
In frustration, Harry sprinted forward, sword in hand, and brought it down on the diary with all his might.
The resulting clash rang out like metal against stone, sparks flying as the blade skittered off the surface. The diary was unscathed, as if impervious to damage.
Even with the enchanted oils coating Gryffindor's sword, which Harry meticulously reapplied every six months, the best effect he could achieve was a faint shimmer of resistance.
The most effective oil? To Harry's surprise, it was ghostbane oil—a concoction meant to target spiritual entities.
No time to dwell on the implications.
Unable to destroy the diary with brute force, Harry switched tactics. He kicked it hard, sending it hurtling into the cursed fire.
The black flames recoiled as if in fear, retreating to avoid touching the diary. Instead, they surrounded it protectively, creating a barrier that kept the flames at bay.
"So, cursed fire can destroy it," Harry mused aloud. "But you're using the very thing that can destroy it to keep it safe."
Tom smirked, his expression growing cold. "Of course. Do you think I would expose myself to Dumbledore without a safeguard like this?"
"Just as I thought—you're a coward." Harry mocked.
"And what of it?" Tom sneered, directing a stone serpent toward Harry. "I am no ordinary dark wizard who fumbles with cursed fire."
"Aard!"
Harry cast a shockwave with a swipe of his hand. The stone serpent paused mid-strike, long enough for Harry to Transfigure the chamber. The columns twisted into spikes, impaling the serpent and pinning it in place.
The chamber shook violently as the ground split open.
Tom, distracted by his attempt to control another serpent, didn't notice Harry rushing forward.
"Yrden!"
A glowing rune appeared at Harry's feet, and with a swift slash, his blade cut toward Tom at a sharp angle.
Tom didn't dodge.
He countered with a spell.
"Bombarda!"
Harry braced himself, allowing the curse to strike his magical shield.
The protective Quen shattered, golden fragments scattering like falling stars.
But his attack struck true. Gryffindor's sword carved through Tom's form, the blade dragging against something that felt eerily like flesh.
Tom dissipated into black mist, his body scattering as the curse in his book struggled to hold him together.
The stone serpents ceased their movements, and even the cursed fire faltered, growing wild and uncontrolled.
Had he won?
Harry leapt behind one of the immobilized serpents, his instincts screaming a warning.
A bolt of green light tore through the air, colliding with the stone serpent. Shards of rock exploded in every direction.
Tom reappeared, his form coalescing near the diary as his magic wrestled the cursed fire back under control.
"You're not as invincible as you think, Tom," Harry said, stepping back into the fray.
Sword in hand, he prepared for another round.
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Powerstones?
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