Chapter 210: The Tri-Voldemort Tournament
"WHO ARE YOU??!??!"
Voldemort's enraged roar was accompanied by thunder and lightning, and under the powerful enhancement of magic, it rushed forth from the bolts of thought-plasma.
This was an upgraded version of the Sonorus spell, and it seemed to carry the rhythm of the Imperius Curse, targeting the wizard's mind.
The effect was terrifyingly powerful.
Lockhart had once discussed with his dear student, Tom, the possibilities of combat magic in the realm of sound. The spell Voldemort was using now was undoubtedly the perfect answer to their discussion. It was utterly soul-stirring.
The only problem was: Lockhart's mind was protected by his Patronus, and Tom, at this moment, possessed a magical power as strong as Voldemort's, so he was completely unaffected by such "petty tricks."
Tom's reaction was clearly more decisive than that of a still-furious Voldemort, who desperately wanted an answer. Tom immediately figured out the situation. The person in front of him was undoubtedly his future self, the great Dark Lord who struck fear into the hearts of the wizarding world.
He was a little flustered at first; no one knew better than he how terrifying his future self would be after such a wealth of experience. But as soon as he caught the wand Lockhart had thrown him, and the powerful, albeit somewhat unfamiliar, magic in his body bent to his will, his panic was instantly replaced by a resolute murderous intent. He immediately turned to attack the hand that Voldemort had extended from the thought-plasma.
With a flick of his wand, a terrible flame that seemed capable of incinerating anything surged past his snake tail and toward the hand.
Fiendfyre!
His control was so precise and subtle that the Fiendfyre looked as if it was erupting directly from his tail, not harming him in the slightest!
"Hmph!" Voldemort sneered. The Fiendfyre rushing towards him instantly morphed into a series of fiery pythons that twisted their heads and pounced at Tom.
The flames roared, and in an instant, they burned Tom to ash.
The ashes danced and scattered in the wind of the fire but quickly re-coalesced not far away.
"The Flight Charm?" Voldemort was stunned for a moment, finally confirming that the man with the snake tail was indeed himself. He roared in fury, "Gilderoy! I demand an explanation!"
As he cursed, his voice, like a tidal wave from a great distance, surged forward, one voice layered over another, as if he were approaching at an incredible speed.
The Flight Charm!
Old Voldy was breaking through the limitations of time and space, using the connection between himself and young Tom as an anchor, forcefully tearing through the barrier to appear before them!
Lockhart could no longer just watch. The tale he'd gotten from the Carrow family, while incredibly powerful and mysterious, wasn't indestructible.
At least, it couldn't withstand Voldemort's spell attacks.
After all, magical artifacts had their limits. It would be a shame if it got broken.
In that case...
Time for a change of scenery!
He raised his wand and pointed it at the swirling vortex of time and space, using his own memories as an anchor, casting a rapid series of Apparition spells to race along the timeline.
Compared to his previous time-travel adventures that relied on Bella's memory, this time, he was following his own memories and could manage without a Time-Turner.
The only problem was that he had to prevent old Voldy and little Tom from messing up his memories.
Well, if they really did, so be it. He'd messed up Voldemort's past, so it was only fair if Voldemort messed up his.
This was an extremely risky move.
Lockhart, however, was never afraid of a little risk. He was starting to get excited.
And so, dragging Tom with him, he quickly Apparated, traveling through the past, with Voldemort in hot pursuit.
Boom!
The Apparition came to an end.
Lockhart and Tom appeared on an island next to a vast ocean. Soon after, an arm wrapped in bandages tore through the sky's veil, flying down towards them from high above.
A terrifying presence surged forward, and the wide black wizard robes and bandages billowed.
Voldemort slowly floated down, his gaze fixed on the all-too-familiar Tom Riddle. When he saw the snake tail below his waist, which carried a powerful life force, his expression turned grim.
"Gil-de-roy Lock-hart!" Old Voldy all but spat the name, his gaze like a knife as he looked at Lockhart. "I have never wanted to kill someone more!"
"Hehehehe," Lockhart laughed, elegantly holding his wand and giving it a little shake. "Why don't you try?"
That tone!
That expression!
And the sudden, familiar nature of his magic!
Old Voldy and little Tom suddenly felt a shiver run down their spines. They looked at the man who was clearly Lockhart but with a dawning horror that he was... also them!
Yes!
At this moment, Lockhart was also Voldemort!
It was a very interesting and subtle state.
The battlefield Lockhart had chosen for old Voldy and little Tom was exactly the time and place from his own memories where he had captured Corban Yaxley and brought Mrs. Mary into the past to find her memories. (Chapter 154)
In this bizarre timeline, he became Tom, and Tom became him.
He had once asked Corban, who had sworn allegiance to him, a question: "If my body is Riddle's, my magic is Riddle's, my bloodline is Riddle's, and even my brain, my thoughts, every single bubble that pops into my mind belongs to Riddle... Corban, would you say that I am Riddle?"
It was a transformation far more complex, profound, and deeply rooted than Polyjuice Potion. Not only did his body change, but his very thoughts and mind did as well.
Even more interesting, Lockhart at this moment had merged with a part of Tom's Patronus magic. This brought about a terrifying feeling of "this is also me" that deeply unsettled both old Voldy and little Tom.
It was the frightful feeling of looking in a mirror and seeing your reflection move of its own accord.
The hair-raising sensation involuntarily spread through their souls.
"You're both going to die!"
Little Tom was the first to snap under the uncanny feeling. He screamed in fury, waving his wand. He crouched down, thrusting his wand into the ground. "Avada Kedavra!"
A verdant magical light, like a flowing river, surged out from him, blasting outwards in all directions. Enhanced by his immense magical power, this area-of-effect Killing Curse was like a tide of death erupting from hell.
"Hmph!" Voldemort sneered. The space around his body quickly warped, and the verdant sea of light washed toward him, only to twist and bypass his body, rushing up into the sky like a whirlwind.
His past, still so immature, was trying to use a Killing Curse to fight him?
Laughable!
His current understanding of death, his grasp of the journey of life, and his insight into his own existence were far beyond what his younger self could ever hope to achieve. The difference was astronomical!
Meanwhile, Lockhart stood there with a smile. A pile of black hair climbed and intertwined from the ground, building a low wall that blocked the power of the Killing Curses.
The Boggart, which seemed to have a huge weakness, wasn't afraid of the Killing Curse at all. To it, the curse was even less effective than a simple Knockback Jinx.
Lockhart and old Voldy were not the type of fighters who just took hits without retaliating. As they defended, they waved their wands, quickly launching counterattacks.
The difference was that old Voldy cursed Lockhart viciously, but he aimed his actual attacks at little Tom, starting with a Killing Curse.
It was unclear if he knew his attacks on Lockhart were futile or if he was more intent on killing Tom, the existence that threatened his uniqueness.
Compared to the dispersed power of the area-of-effect Killing Curse, his curse was like a bolt of plasma, carrying a terrifying, pale essence of life's decay. It was no longer the characteristic green light of the Killing Curse.
The powerful energy contained within it was so potent that merely looking at it made a person feel as if they were suffocating.
Lockhart took the opportunity to attack old Voldy. His attacks were never focused on lethality but rather on "finding a solution tailored to the characteristics of the target." He cast the Hominum Revelio charm, aiming it directly at Fenrir Greyback, the werewolf whose body Voldemort was possessing.
At that moment, old Voldy raised his left hand slightly, and a silver shield appeared in front of him, precisely blocking the spell.
The shield had a terrifying adhesive quality. The moment the spell hit, Lockhart felt an irresistible urge to continue channeling his attack into the shield, increasing his magical output.
A stalemate. He was trying to pull his enemy into a magical tug-of-war and then crush them with his superior power.
This was Voldemort's strategy against Lockhart.
Lockhart had long been prepared for this. He had suffered from this tactic before in the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts, where he couldn't break free from a magical standoff and had to pray for the forest's help, summoning the Car-Lady to interrupt the situation.
He quickly waved his wand as if he were dancing, touching and leaving, and then conjured a storm of clouds and lightning.
Magical... Thunderstorm and Forest Fire!
Boom!
Boom!
Two bolts of lightning fell on Voldemort from different angles. At the same time, his body moved swiftly, Apparating to evade little Tom's sudden sneak attack.
Boom!
He waved his wand, directing the lightning to attack the two of them. After the lightning struck, Fiendfyre erupted, and fire monsters in the shape of Basilisks emerged from the flames, biting at Voldemort.
His strategy remained unchanged. He used the fiery Basilisks to distract Voldemort and tried to strike old Voldy with the lightning.
In his recent research on Animagi, he had discovered that one of the most important procedures, "waiting for a thunderstorm," was essentially a magical ritual that leveraged the life-reviving power of lightning.
He hoped to use this to stimulate Fenrir Greyback's own will to awaken and clash with the will of the possessing Voldemort.
Though little Tom's combat experience was not as rich as old Voldy's, he was intelligent enough to grasp the situation. He realized that Lockhart was only attacking Voldemort and chose to stop attacking Lockhart, focusing his efforts on Voldemort instead.
As a result, old Voldy's pressure increased dramatically, and he began to show signs of decline.
"Good! Good! Good!!!" he roared in anger. "Then you will both die!"
His body suddenly began to vibrate violently, flickering as if a television signal was failing. Tom and Lockhart's magical attacks passed straight through his ethereal form.
Voldemort's body began to swell rapidly. The bandages and wizard robes on his body were all torn apart, and black wolf hair flew into the wind as sharp claws emerged.
A werewolf!
The wizarding world generally looked down on werewolves. While they feared the infectious lycanthropy, it wasn't that difficult to deal with a monster that could only attack with claws and teeth—at least, it was easier than a dragon.
But that depended on who was using it.
In Voldemort's hands, the unique magical bloodline of a werewolf presented an entirely different scene.
A dark green, toxic substance, like a mist, drifted from his body, quickly spreading behind him and forming a giant werewolf shadow that blotted out the sun, its crimson eyes staring down at the earth.
And old Voldy, who had already transformed into a three-meter-tall werewolf, changed once more. A unique platinum-blonde outer shell of fur glimmered on his body, and the dark green toxic mist swirled around him.
Magical resistance, a quality that Lockhart had thought was missing from the world, appeared before him in such a direct form for the first time.
Lightning, Fiendfyre, control spells, attacking spells, and even the Killing Curse—all struck the werewolf, but they had no effect other than to make it roar and become even more savage.
"Awoooo~~~"
The werewolf roared. The giant toxic shadow behind it, like a celestial wolf swallowing the sun, instantly sucked all the lightning-filled clouds out of the sky. A terrifying pressure filled the air.
It was an oppressive feeling that came from the depths of the soul.
This heaviness affected the body, a suppression of life vitality based on the core effect of the Killing Curse combined with a large amount of other magic. It caused Tom and Lockhart to stumble and fall to the ground. Their faces turned pale, and their skin began to redden as if they were about to be crushed and explode from the pressure.
This heaviness also affected the mind. All the unbearable burdens of life from their memories screamed in their minds, breaking down their will.
"Agh~~~"
Tom screamed tragically, and his entire body exploded. He was about to be completely destroyed by this spell.
Yes, old Voldy's spell was aimed directly at Tom. He knew all too well his greatest weakness as a young man and what kind of spell would take him down.
Thankfully, Lockhart acted in time.
"Mind-Form Manifestation!"
"The Fire of Life!"
He quickly waved his wand at Tom. "Hominum Revelio!"
Three powerful spells in a row: one taught by Grindelwald, one learned from Voldemort's magical notebook, and one he had acquired from his own magical adventures. He cast them quickly and with perfect timing.
In an instant, Tom re-coalesced from the explosive, viscous substance, but halfway through the reformation, he broke free from Lockhart's guidance and quickly Transfigured.
Finally, Tom reformed, but he had become a gigantic Basilisk. The massive form coiled up, coldly staring down at Voldemort and flicking its tongue. "You're old. I am the future!"
"You are nothing more than the past—a past that only exists in memory!" Voldemort sneered, his giant wolf mouth opening and closing. "If this disgusting person who plays with memories and time hadn't appeared, you would have forever remained a meaningless specter, a weak and struggling mirage!"
As he spoke, the werewolf and the Basilisk both turned their heads to stare down at Lockhart, who in their eyes was the size of an ant.
The colossal figures blocked the light from the sky, casting a massive, overlapping shadow over Lockhart.
Lockhart looked up at the two of them, a slight smile on his lips. "So, what do you think? Pretty fun, right?"
"!!!"
"!!!"
......................
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