Chapter 221: The-Boy-Who-Vanquished (VII) [Chapter 349]
A/N: I apologize for the irregular updates and lack of updates. The past few months have been extremely hectic and I just managed to get my life back on track, but it's still far from anything perfect, so unlike before there are going to be single chapter updates three days a week. That is the best I can do for the time being, unfortunately...
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Voldemort internally sighed in relief as the message he was waiting for finally arrived. There was a chance that he may not see Bella ever again, but he was fine with that. The Prophecy was going to be worth her sacrifice… Thanks to another one of his many loyal followers, he also knew that the Aurors and Hit-Wizards were called to address some sort of emergency in the Muggle World.
"Augustus, it is time" Voldemort called out and the man stood up from his seat, looking eager. The man was both eager to please him and to finally go out and do something. Voldemort couldn't blame the man… The man was rotting in the hellhole called Azkaban for 14 years and then he was cooped up in the Nott Manor for so long. He could understand how agonizing that could be since he had experienced it too.
However, that was the extent of sympathy he felt for the man… The only reason he was taking Augustus with him was he needed the man to guide him through the halls of DOM. It would have been much easier to go on his own, but he had never been to DOM and since it was morning, he was certain that there were going to be more than quite a few Greycloaks in there.
He would kill them obviously, but he needed a quick way to navigate through their halls or he would need to use Legilimency on one of the Unspeakables which would take time since first he would need to disable the protective Charms on their hoods to make their faces visible and the Unspeakables might have changed their protections after Rockwood's defection came to light.
No, Voldemort knew that he needed to be smart about this…
"My lord, the preparations are done" Augustus announced and held out the Portkey for the Dark Lord. Voldemort grabbed the Portkey and moments later, the two of them were gone. Voldemort arrived inside some sort of crypt and started to look around. "What is this place?" Voldemort asked with a hint of fascination in his voice.
"I do not know, my lord, but I found this place while securing the Wards for the Ministry during the war and decided to keep this place a secret from my colleagues. I wanted to make a secret entrance to the DOM just for me, but by the time I was finally done, my cover was blown and I was captured" Augustus explained as he started to tap his Wand on the walls of the crypt.
"I see…" Voldemort muttered as he continued to look around… "What are you looking for?" Voldemort asked as he finally lost interest in the crypt.
"Forgive me, my lord, but it has been almost 15 years since I last saw this place. I need to find the trigger to open the path" Augustus explained and Voldemort simply hummed and decided to wait for the time being. It was true that he was in a hurry, but he decided to give his follower at least a couple of minutes to recollect his memories and if he couldn't then he could always help the man.
A short bout of Cruciatus exposure could work wonders…
"I found it!" Augustus exclaimed cheerfully as he finally activated the trigger, opening a staircase for them. "Please follow me, my lord" Augustus started to climb down the stairs with the Dark Lord following him. Moments later, Voldemort felt foreign Wards wash over him and he froze for a moment before continuing down the path. He felt queasy being under foreign Wards, but it wasn't like he could help it.
"We are here, my lord" Augustus announced and tapped the stone wall in front of him. The wall moved out of the way, revealing a nice furnished hall. "Now, we simply need to make our way toward the Hall of Prophecies from here" Augustus added as the two of them stepped through. As planned, Augustus started to lead him through the hall before finally coming to a stop when they heard footsteps.
"We are tight on schedule, Augustus" Voldemort pointed out and reluctantly Augustus resumed their journey and as soon as they came across the Unspeakable, Voldemort killed him with the Killing Curse. They had to kill a few more Unspeakables before they finally arrived in front of the Hall of Prophecies.
"My lord, this is the place, but without the book, it would be hard to find the Prophecy" Augustus exclaimed, but Voldemort dismissed his concerns. He was simply going to put the bookkeeper under the Imperius Curse and make him take them to the Prophecy.
"You worry too much, Augustus" Voldemort said with a faint smile on his face as he entered the Hall of Prophecies with Augustus following him. It didn't take him long to find the Unspeakable they called the bookkeeper. Before the man could act, Voldemort placed him under the Imperius Curse. "Take me to the Prophecy pertaining to myself and Harry Potter" Voldemort ordered.
He decided to be a bit vague about his identity in his wording since he wasn't sure if his name was revealed in the Prophecy tag or not and for the Imperius Curse to work, only intent mattered. The man silently led him down the hall… For a moment Voldemort wondered just how many of these Prophecies were there, but he quickly shook his head, dismissing his errant thoughts.
The trio finally stopped and Voldemort stared at the Prophecy in front of him. Harry Potter's name was mentioned clearly while he was mentioned as the Dark Lord. Voldemort was glad that his real name was not out in the open for everyone to see… "Avada Kedavra" Voldemort raised his Wand and cast the Killing Curse at the bookkeeper. He had fulfilled his purpose; there was no reason to keep him alive.
Voldemort reached out to pick up the Prophecy orb, but then all of a sudden, it disappeared into a fine mist before everything around him started to disappear, leaving an empty room. Voldemort started to panic and immediately looked around and much to his horror, he found Potter standing a few meters away with a grin on his face.
"Hello, Tom. I am glad that you were finally able to join me…" Harry said with a smile on his face, and Voldemort felt his breath hitch in horror…