Chapter 505: Battle
Chapter 505: Battle
Voldemort gazed at the night sky, his black robes and the overgrown weeds trembling in the cool breeze.
The rustling of footsteps came from behind him.
"Felix Hep..." he said slowly, turning his head to look at the person approaching at a leisurely pace. Felix seemed to be enjoying a casual stroll, looking around with a hint of perfect curiosity.
"Surprisingly, there’s no one else, and no traps", Felix remarked. "To be honest, I’m a bit surprised."
"Do I need those?" Voldemort countered.
The two locked eyes, the pale blue rings and the crimson eyes standing out sharply in the darkness. Voldemort gripped his wand, ready for battle, but he still wanted to say a few more words before engaging.
"I originally planned to make the Ministry of Magic our battlefield, but that would have been too chaotic", Voldemort said with a hint of regret.
"I thought you were worried about being caught between me and Dumbledore", Felix said.
"I did have that concern, and it proved to be well-founded..." Voldemort murmured. "A lowly vampire was enough to test who was behind this. It couldn’t have been Dumbledore; he knows better than to fall for such a trap."
Felix remained silent.
"The Minister?" Voldemort bared his teeth in a grin. "She has some skill, but she doesn’t understand me well enough. The more resistance she puts up, the more people will die."
"It’s strange how openly you speak of your fear of death, Dumbledore saw through you long ago— you value your own life, but not the lives of others", Felix said. "Like that vampire, and those two loyal Death Eaters, you discarded them like trash."
"Loyal? I don’t need loyalty. As long as they fear my power, they will obey me", Voldemort whispered. "You know, the first group of people who followed me—many are now old or dead. When you have an extended lifespan, servants are endless. Do I need to know each and every one of them?"
"Felix Hep, you still think like a human, clinging to those weak emotions... When you’re older than Dumbledore, too frail to even hold a wand, and I remain as powerful as ever, you’ll understand my greatness."
"You place yourself in the position of an immortal?" Felix asked, a bit surprised.
"I already am", Voldemort said.
He held his wand, his pale, slender fingers brushing over its surface. He calmly introduced it: "Ebony, dragon heartstring, 18 inches, an excellent combination. It was previously in the hands of an owner who couldn’t harness its full potential..."
Felix recognized it as Lucius Malfoy’s wand.
"Your turn, Felix Hep", Voldemort said with interest.
Felix was empty-handed, but he took out a coin and began to play with it.
"Blackwood, dragon heartstring, thirteen inches, my first wand. Unfortunately, it was destroyed that night", he sighed. "I haven’t had the chance to find a suitable replacement yet, but it’s not a big problem. I don’t need a wand as much as you do— you can’t cast the Killing Curse without one, right?"
"Because my magic is too powerful", Voldemort said with a malevolent smile. "Appearing here without a wand tonight is foolish, but understandable. It’s a challenge for wizards like you and me to find a suitable wand."
"What about your own wand?" Felix asked curiously.
Generally, a wizard wouldn’t easily replace their wand unless there was a significant change in their personality or magic. The reason was that the first wand would grow with its owner, adapting to each other and allowing the wizard to unleash their full power without restraint.
Voldemort’s face twisted slightly. His wand... had been picked up by Dumbledore, he thought with gritted teeth, and might have been destroyed.
Since his resurrection, he hadn’t been able to unleash his full power because his wand couldn’t handle it. Barty Crouch Jr.’s wand was quite good, but after the battle a month ago, it had been damaged, and each time he held it, he could feel the wand’s distress.
Reluctantly, Voldemort had switched to Lucius’s wand. Lucius had been sensible enough; otherwise, he would have been targeted during the attack earlier that day. After all, his son Draco and Potter had developed the Light Fire Spell together.
Despite Lucius’s oaths that it was all Felix Hep’s twisted amusement—arranging enemies to face each other, and Draco being an innocent victim who offered his wand—the Dark Lord still felt unsatisfied.
He urgently desired a powerful wand that could match his strength and status.
Felix smacked his lips. He didn't know that Voldemort's wand had been picked up by Dumbledore and locked in a drawer in the office. He had assumed it had been lost for over a decade. However, this didn't stop Felix from poking at Voldemort's sore spot.
"It seems that only the two of us can truly understand this kind of trouble, you know, coming back from the dead."
He deliberately emphasized the last word, and as expected, Voldemort reacted intensely.
"You're lying", Voldemort said fiercely, his red eyes staring at Felix's face. "Felix Hep... I've thought about it a lot. My magic didn't hit you, or at most, it only hit you partially... Did you also modify your body?"
Felix's heart skipped a beat.
He could taste something in those words, but now wasn't the time to think. He noted it down and then continued to stack the odds in his favor for the upcoming battle. "You guessed right. It seems my modifications were quite successful. The only downside is losing my wand, but at least I didn't disfigure myself... and I think my eyes are much more appealing than yours."
Compared to the crimson eyes in Voldemort's sockets, Felix's pupils exuded a mysterious aura of a wizard, captivating to behold.
This is the price one must pay for power, you know nothing! Voldemort thought with anger, but he couldn't voice these thoughts to Felix, and there was no need to continue this conversation. He raised his wand, and a brilliant green light cut through the thick darkness, heading straight for Felix.
The coin in Felix's hand rapidly expanded in the air, growing to a thousand times its size in an instant, forming a thick, impenetrable wall of copper in front of him.
The Killing Curse was blocked.
"What—?" Voldemort exclaimed in disbelief.
"This is the power of money", Felix said sarcastically. "You might find it hard to imagine, considering you were poor during school and never had a steady job after graduating—"
"Do you think I only know Unforgivable Curses?" Voldemort smiled coldly. His wand suddenly whipped like a lash, driving the pebbles on the ground toward Felix with a shrill whistling sound. Felix disappeared and reappeared behind Voldemort in less than a second, holding the glowing Book of Runic Script. He flipped to a page, and ghostly images of Ancient Magic burst out, merging with the swirling Runic Symbols to form hundreds of black lightning bolts that rained down on Voldemort.
Bone-white flames followed, condensing into sharp swords that pierced through the darkness like paper.
The sharp tearing sounds and heavy impacts mixed together. Voldemort pulled out a silver shield from the darkness, blocking the black lightning, but was then pierced by the blazing swords, making a sizzling sound.
Voldemort pointed forcefully, and the silver shield shot into the sky, burning away in the air.
He then extended his arms, his wand drawing a circle around Felix. In an instant, the surrounding weeds grew wildly, transforming into thin snakes that hissed and circled around Felix. These endless green snakes surged forward. Felix was prepared; golden flames flowed from his hands like liquid, conjuring several fierce Oxenbeasts. These massive creatures from unknown mountains lifted their hooves, trampling and incinerating the grass snakes into ash.
Voldemort muttered, his voice raspy and low, a strange hissing sound that sent shivers down the spine. Felix knew it was Parseltongue.
He cautiously apparated to the other side, but his vision suddenly went dark, and the sound disappeared. It seemed his senses had been taken away—it was a curse... Felix instantly realized. In his magical vision, Voldemort's magic was gathering, forming a terrifying wave—
"Avada Kedavra!"
"Armor Shield!"
The Killing Curse collided with the solid Shield Charm. A tall, muscular steel knight held a bloodstained shield in front of Felix, and the power of the Killing Curse made Felix's hair stand on end. He wondered if Harry's protective charm could withstand it...
Felix absentmindedly placed his hand on the knight's armor, transferring the curse to it, and vanished the moment his vision restored. At the same time, the knight was engulfed in the blinding green light.
What is Voldemort's weakness?
Emotion?
Felix set his mind to work, casually casting Swiftprow. The silver Patronus darted through the air, deftly dodging the green bolts of light. As it approached Voldemort, the Patronus suddenly expanded, opening its mouth to release two black Dementors.
A chill spread over the area, the air seemingly freezing, and mist gathered in the cold night, drifting continuously.
"Dementors?" Voldemort sneered.(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
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