Harry Potter : In the shadow of divinity38.10%

Chapter - 32 : The Serpent's Bite

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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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Ron, who's wand was a hand me down from Charlie that never really worked properly for him, attempted a lumos but instead of lighting the tip with a soft light as it should have, his wand sent of several bright red sparks that seemed harmless until they hit the stone roof. The resulting collapse of the ceiling was enormous and left the two boys stranded on opposite sides. Harry had contemplated moving the rocks with his magic, but quickly discarded the idea; not only did it have the potential to cause another collapse, but he wouldn't be able to move enough rocks to create a path for Ron without tiring himself out, and if he was facing a basilisk in his near future he needed to be at his best. So after a quick discussion with Ron, he moved deeper into the Chamber. Which led him to the position he was in now; listening as the sixteen year old memory of Lord Voldemort boasted to Harry, basically giving away all of his plans like the stereotypical super villain, with Ginny Weasley laying pale, and corpse-like at his feet.

As Voldemort, or Riddle in his current form, spoke, Harry focused on formulating a plan, he had to get both himself and Ginny out alive while evading the basilisk that was sure to be lurking around somewhere. On top of that, he had to find a way to get rid of Riddle, because if he didn't do it now the bastard was sure to turn up at the worst time imaginable. That was just the way it was with villains.

Harry was so deep in thought, he didn't realize Riddle had stopped speaking until he looked in his direction and found him watching him with a large amount of irritation.

He shook his head a bit, clearing it of the fog that had fallen as Riddle spoke. "Sorry, that was kind of a long speech, I think I zoned out somewhere in the middle, but I'm pretty sure I found my way back by the end. You said something about me defeating you, and the greatest wizard of all time, but what was the question again?"

"How?" Riddle snarled.

"How did I defeat you?" Harry shrugged. "Well you're not near as great as you think you are. I reckon I have more power in my pinkie finger than you do running through your entire body."

"Is that what you think?" Harry nodded. "Well, let's see how mighty you feel after facing my pet." Riddle turned and looked up at the enormous statue of Salazar Slytherin glaring down at them. "Speak to me Slytherin," he hissed in parseltongue, "greatest of the Hogwarts four."

With a deep, creaking rumble, Slytherin's mouth slid open and, as Harry watched in fascinated horror, something deep inside of it stirred and slowly slithered out.

When the head of the enormous snake became visible, Harry conjured a blindfold and tied it around his eyes, then, with a deep exhalation, spread his magic so he could "see" the magical auras in the room. A useful skill that he had never needed to use, until now that is.

Ginny's weakening aura indicated that she was still only a few feet away from him, lying prone on the ground, while Riddle's dark aura hung above her, a thin string connected them, drawing magic from Ginny and siphoning it into Riddle. Harry tore his eyes from the horrible sight and looked at the snake, the thing was enormous, easily sixty feet long and pulsing with a poisonous green aura.

"All right," Harry muttered to himself, he with one hand he drew his wand and with the other he drew the dagger Loki had gifted him, "let's kill us a basilisk."

It took several cutting curses aimed at the horrible creature's eyes and an Asgardian blade through the roof of its mouth to kill the basilisk, and even then, Harry still felt as if he had lost, or maybe that was just the basilisk venom coursing through his veins talking.

"You're dead, Harry Potter," Harry heard Riddle's voice from a distance, as if he were speaking through a tunnel. "The basilisk venom will kill you in minutes, and I'm going to sit here and watch as you die. Take your time. I'm in no hurry."

Harry fell to his knees beside Ginny and the diary, his bloodless fingers shook but, somehow, he managed to keep a hold on his dagger.

"So ends the famous Harry Potter," Riddle whispered. "Alone in the Chamber of Secrets, forsaken by his friends, defeated at last by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged. You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry. She bought you twelve years of borrowed time, but Lord Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he must."

"What did I tell you earlier?" Harry managed to gasp. "You're not half as great as you think you are." Then he slammed his venom coated dagger into the cover of the diary.

There was a long, dreadful, piercing scream. Ink spurted out of the diary in torrents, streaming over Harry's hands, flooding the floor. Riddle was writhing and twisting, screaming and flailing, and then he was gone.

The knife fell from his limp fingers and Harry collapsed into the puddle of ink, he no longer had the strength to hold himself up.

"Dad," he whispered hoarsely, "Dad, I need you."

For a moment, all was still and Harry feared that he would die alone, just as Riddle had predicted, but then there was a flash of green and gold and suddenly Loki was there, kneeling in the ink and blood beside him.

"Where is it?" he asked frantically. "Where are you hurt? What do I need to fix?"

"'s not something you can fix," Harry gasped. "Basilisk bit me."

"Where? Where is it, Harry?"

"Arm."

Loki gently grabbed the injured arm and pushed back the tattered, blood soaked sleeve. He gasped when he took in the severity of the injury, but he pushed aside his growing horror and placed a hand over the bloody wound. Carefully, he began siphoning the poison from Harry's blood, but with all of the venom that slowly joined the ink and blood on the ground, Harry could still feel so much more mingling with his blood.