Chapter 875 - The Foretelling Ⅴ

Dumbledore does not immediately reply waving his wand. Abruptly the golden statues of the wizard, witch, goblin, and house elf, and centaur spring alive leaping from the plinth. The statutes crash onto the ground and move to stand between the evacuating public and Voldemort. "Tom," Dumbledore gravely answered having recognized the previously charmed face. The pieces simply fell together into place revealing the identity of Tom Marvolo Riddle, his former Transfiguration student, and the same applicant, who he had turned down for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position.

"Professor, you seem to be confused," Voldemort snickered perversely. "Then again, I even managed to fool the greatest wizard of all time," he paused to emphasize, "or at least he WAS until my appearance."

"It was foolish to come here tonight, Tom," Dumbledore firmly said, before raising his wand.

Without hesitancy, Voldemort raises his wand, and a jet of green light races towards Dumbledore. At the last instant, Dumbledore turned and vanished with a whirl of his cloak. A cold gleam appeared in Voldemort's crimson eyes of approval. He did not expect his dear old transfiguration professor to go down without a fight.

Voldemort whirls around fully expecting Dumbledore to appear behind him. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" He roared, but the useless house elf statue leaps in between them violently absorbing the attack, before exploding into shrapnel. Yet the centaur statue leaped before Dumbledore absorbing the shrapnel.

Dumbledore flicked his own wand in attack, but the force of the spell emanated from the wand is such that the Auror's hair stood on end as the spell passed harmlessly through them. Voldemort's nostril flairs, before forcefully conjuring a shining silver shield out of thin air to deflect the attack. The spell, whatever it was caused, caused no visible damage to the shield, through a deep, gonglike note reverberated throughout the atrium, an oddly chilling sound…

"You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?" Voldemort called out as a cold enraged smile appeared on his face. "Above such brutality, are you, Professor?"

"We both know that there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom," Dumbledore calmly answered striding towards Voldemort without fear. "Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit-."

"Your's would!" Voldemort snarled. "For there is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!" "Expulso!" he cried out as a fatal blue light is emitted from his wand.

A cloud of dust falls over the atrium as bits of debris rain down upon them. Through the cloud of dust, Dumbledore's voice can be heard. "You are quite wrong, Tom," he said as if discussing a private matter over drinks. "Indeed, your failure is to understand that there are things far worse than death has always been your greatest weakness-."

Dumbledore is unable to finish his sentence, a flash of light blasts its way through the dust. The curse missed Dumbledore and instead hit the former security desk of the deceased Eric Munch which burst into flames. Before Dumbledore can speak another curse erupts at him, but the witch leaps before the spell, before shattering and clattering into hundreds of pieces across the broken floor.

Dumbledore draws his wand and waves it as if brandishing a whip. A long thin flame flew from the tip and wrapped itself around Voldemort, shield, and all. Just as abruptly the fiery rope became a serpent and relinquished its hold upon Voldemort, before turning furiously to attack Dumbledore.

The remaining statutes of the wizard and goblin forward and attack the flaming snake. The flaming serpent withers beneath their attacks as they forcefully drag the serpent into the pool. The flaming shrieks and dies in a cloud of steam instantly melting the golden statutes leaving them unable to move.

A sharp attack from Dumbledore forces Voldemort to vanish and reappear above the pool upon the pedestal. The steaming water in the pool abruptly rose to cover Voldemort in a protective cocoon of molten glass. For a few seconds Voldemort is only visible as a dark, rippling faceless figure, shimmering, and iridescent upon the plinth, struggling to throw off the suffocating mass. Then he is gone, the water fell with a crash back into the pool, slopping wildly over the sides drenching the polished floor.

A painful shriek from Fawkes is heard from overhead as one of Fawkes wings begins to darken and grow heavy. The serpent, Nagini hisses in triumph and spits out crimson feathers from its mouth. Fawkes begins to fall as the serpent opens her mouth wide to capture the falling bird.

Ordinarily, a phoenix will die and be reborn. However, that does not mean a phoenix cannot be permanently killed. If a phoenix is attacked and killed in its infant form, a phoenix can very much die. Or if it is consumed by an avian's natural born predator, a serpent.

The last golden statue, a house elf hurried forward and falls onto the serpent successfully pinning the serpent with its weight. Nagini violently withers but is unable to throw off the weight of the golden statue of the house elf that keeps her pinned down. Fawkes falls to the floor in a slump and heaves a final time, before bursting into bright flames. The flames flicker brightly, before turning to ashes and leaving in his place a small, wrinkled, flightless tiny phoenix chick, Fawkes reborn.

Voldemort reappears and sneers aiming his wand at the tiny defenseless Fawkes. And for the first time during the battle, any cloud of hesitation disappeared from Dumbledore's blue eyes. Without any hesitancy, he casts Verdimillious Tria. Bright green sparks erupt from Dumbledore's wand moving rapidly forward and carrying a troublesome electrical charge.

Despite lacking a head full of hair, Voldemort feels the skin on the back of his neck stands on edge. The green electrical-charged sparks rush forward with deadly accuracy forcing him to vanish and apparate nearby. Voldemort's crimson eyes are narrowed when he reappears on the other side of the pool. It would appear that Dumbledore had finally gotten serious. A hint of increasing unease slithers down the back of his neck in warning.

"Nagini!" Voldemort shouted as the serpent successfully escaped from the house elf statue and halted in her track's scant inches from the newborn chick, Fawkes. The serpent snaps its mouth shut in fury, before darting forward towards the crowd. Without hesitation, Rodolphus orders Broderick Bode to provide cover, before vanishing and appearing at the floo hearth. The hearth flashes green as Rodolophus vanishes knowing full well that the Dark Lord will be close on his tail.

Screams of terror can be heard as Dumbledore moves to protect the remaining civilian, with Dumbledore successfully distracted Voldemort taking the time to escape. He flickers and appears right next to the floo hearth. Nagini darts safely through the crowd, before coiling around Voldemort. "We will meet again, Professor," Voldemort shouted, before flooing away with his Horcrux, the serpent coiled tightly around him.

Dumbledore's blue eyes flash with an icy streak before he hurriedly bends down to pick up the chirping phoenix chick. With care, he pockets Fawkes in his robes, before moving forward and stunning Broderick Bode. The shallow-skinned wizard with a mournful face falls forward as Dumbledore descends upon the unspeakable. With ease, Dumbledore's peering blue eyes peer inside and through a blur of memories finds that which Voldemort sought.

After a few moments, Dumbledore withdraws with a frown and says, "Mr. Bode is still under the effects of the Imperius Curse, he is to be taken to St. Mungo's immediately to be treated."

"Yes, Headmaster," one of the Auror's said, while the rest moved to care and treat the wounded.

The Auror's watch Dumbledore firmly march toward the front of the Ministry of Magic.. They just knew that Albus Dumbledore would win. For this was the wizard that defeated Gellert Grindelwald, the darkest wizard of all time! They were saved!