That's right. Harry's crest. The answer could lie in the crest somehow. Harry pushed his irritation towards Riddle and pushed some magic into the crest, asking for help. The last Potter felt judged in a weird way, before a small confirmation. In return, he could a magical circle that was more complicated than anything he had ever seen before. Honestly, Harry didn't have the time to study it, properly, but that didn't mean that he couldn't cast it from the crest directly.
The energy requirements were too large for Harry to handle without passing out, but he could theoretically carve the circle into the ground and ask the room itself to put the magic into it. Harry growled, and discreetly, started to telekinetically carve his desired circle just outside the chain dome.
Harry had to scale down the chains and telekinetic protection slightly, and Riddle took that as a weakness of sorts. Honestly, the older boy didn't need to act clever. He obviously used this spell because he couldn't use a lot of magic, and the raw power of the Fiendfyre spell was a lot higher than the cost of casting it. It just required willpower, something that Riddle had in spades.
The older boy laughed in glee, taking Harry's struggles as signs of his victory, "You're losing, and you know it. Why don't you just give up, and make it easier on the both of us? You must realize by now that you're not getting out of this place alive. For all your skill and intelligence, Harry Potter, it took a shade of my power to defeat you."
The projection waved its wand and the giant snake of fire turned into a dome of sorts that exploded away, shredding Harry's defences. The magic circles were destabilized, and the ice chains started to melt. Harry could have reinforced them, but he was almost done with his trap.
It took seconds for Harry's defences to come crashing down. The sudden heat and waves of fire burned Harry's chest slightly and he was sent flying back, the impact taking his breath away. Harry could make up a figure through the fire, It was Riddle who had slowly walked towards Harry with a smug smile on his face, "If it's any consideration. You would have posed me a challenge if you had time to grow. Goodbye, Potter. Know that I do not do this out of hate or anger, only because I must. You will try to stop me, and I cannot allow that."
"And you need to stop talking all the time," Harry replied while grinning slightly, before activating his trap. When Riddle moved his wand to command the Fiendfyre to burn Harry to ashes, the fire just stopped inches in front of the younger wizard when he cast a larger telekinetic magical circle, that was far more powerful, blocking the fire entirely.
Harry coughed and let out a bloody grin. His trap was taking hold and it was a pretty obscure magic circle whose purpose was to destroy poltergeists. Since those were magical constructs that developed a consciousness, the entire circle simply absorbs magic and turns it into ambient magic outside the circle. Anything magical inside the circle will die if it's not tied to an object.
The older boy seemed to realize what was happening since he screamed out, "No! No!"
Before the Potter scion could react, the older boy waved the Fiendfyre in the final attempt to stop his opponent. Harry almost grinned at the futility of it and used another telekinetic shield to protect him. The Potter scion quickly disarmed Riddle with a telekinetic push on the wand itself and broke it. These magic circles were awfully handy, yet from the satisfied smile on Riddle's face, Harry couldn't help but feel like he lost somehow. His suspicions were confirmed when he realized that he wasn't even Riddle's target.
Down on the ground were the charred remains of the famed lost Diadem of Ravenclaw, with the sinister black ichor getting down from it. The absurdity of it stunned Harry. He never expected the older boy to do something like this, "You would destroy your own Horcrux."
The Fiendfyre had dissolved down to nothing, leaving nothing but some heated air, and two gasping combatants.
"I am not Lord Voldemort, Potter. Why should I care if he lives or dies? You might have won this round, but the war has yet to be decided. Why should I allow you to have another advantage in finding me again? After all, I'm going to start attacking again, and frequently. I will not stop until you catch me, or I catch you. The next time we meet, I'll have my pet with me, and I won't be so limited. We'll see how you manage then."
"What about Luna," Harry couldn't help but ask.
"I will miss her, but my mission will help her too. I guess I'll have a new wielder soon…"
Harry shook his head, "No, you won't. Why do you think you haven't been fading away yet? You're a projection and your existence is tied to the life force you have stolen from Luna. The life force that is being continuously drained from you is being turned into ambient magic. You will not be able to get another wielder, you won't have the energy to possess anyone for a while. All I have to do is collect the diary and destroy it. This is goodbye, Tom."
The projection shook its head in amusement, "No, it isn't. It's been fun though. I can't wait to do it again."
Slowly, the image of the older Slytherin had dissolved into nothing. Later, Harry realized what Riddle meant when he was on his way to sneak into Ravenclaw tower and saw an unconscious Luna Lovegood in the middle of the corridor. The issue was that she didn't have Riddle's diary with her.
Damn it; he was so close. This was really getting old.
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