99 Lord Voldemort
A/N: Pat-reon: HelloDarkness07.
—
1 September, 1959:
Hogsmeade Village Station:
Hogsmeade- one of the very few completely Wizarding villages in the Wizarding World. With a total population of just around 500 people, the village is a very popular one for several reasons.
The Butterbeer that you can get in the Three Broomsticks is of the highest quality, and almost always extremely fresh. Wizards who don't like muggles very much use this place as a way to socialize while not hiding their identity at the same time. The Forbidden forest is a treasure trove for a variety of ingredients, and competent Wizards and Witches forage around it whenever they want.
And of course, there's the greatest Wizarding School in Wizarding Great Britain. Or as I call it, the only Wizarding School in Wizarding Great Britain.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
For many of the people, Hogsmeade serves as a safety insurance. Being a completely Wizarding Village, Hogsmeade always has at least one team of Aurors patrolling. And then there's the Hogwarts Headmaster, who is renowned as being one of the strongest Wizards in the world, as well as the teachers who aren't anything to scoff at either.
And soon, or maybe soon, it was going to be filled with children, ranging from 11 to 18, who were coming from their homes to start their schooling. And that.. is why I'm here today, now.
Bringing my pocket watch out, I look at the time: 6:55 PM, which means it's almost time.
"Bloody hell, you're Captain Avalon!" A loud voice yells from the side, making me sigh internally.
—
"Bloody hell, you're Captain Avalon!"
As soon as Hagrid yelled that in a surprised excitement, he realized that he should not have done that.
As the man looks towards him, with a tired smile, Hagrid blushes bashfully, and takes a step back. He knew his large form might intimidate some people, although if the tales of Captain Avalon are true, then he won't be intimidated this easily.
"Blimey, you're tall." Captain Avalon says instead, the impression in his sound making Hagrid blush even more.
Wiping his sweaty hands on his coat, Hagrid nods, smiles at his hero, and says, "Me da always said I was large for me age. And what do ya know? He was right, wasn't he?"
The man- Mason Aves- Hagrid reminds himself, smiles, and says, "That you are."
"Rubeus Hagrid, Professor of Care of Magical Creatures, and the Groundskeeper of Hogwarts. Pleased to meet you, Sir. Big fan." Hagrid says, trying not to stammer, or God forbid, blush even more, as he offers his hand to the man.
Aves takes his hand, and after shaking it with a surprising amount of Strength for a man his size, he says, "Mason Aves, but you already knew that. And don't call me Sir. I might be an ordained Knight, but I don't like to use that title much, not outside of places necessary anyway."
Hagrid blushes again, feeling a bit bad about yelling it out like that. He's just thankful that there aren't any other people here on the Station, other than the workers of the station, and a cleaner.
"Don't sweat it, mate. If I wanted to stay hidden, I would have stayed hidden." Aves says, making Hagrid feel a bit relieved.
Hagrid rocks on his feet for a moment, wondering what the man is doing here, but then the answer comes to him immediately. Protection. Mason Aves was here, just in case the Death Eaters attacked.
"Thank you for being here, Sir Captain. It is much appreciated. I told Dumbledore to have at least two teachers here today, but he doesn't believe the Students are at any risk." Hagrid doesn't disagree with Albus Dumbledore often, but this is one manner where he would always disagree with him.
Death Eaters are evil, they don't care about morality. They tried to attack Hogwarts students before, and that led to Professor Rowle dying. And yet, Dumbledore doesn't think the students are in any danger.
"Great man, Dumbledore." Hagrid continues. "But as they say, sometimes great people make mistakes too."
Mason Aves sighs, and says, "Albus Dumbledore is a man that likes to see the good in everyone, no matter how rotten they are. The Dark Lord Voldemort could be standing right in front of him, and Dumbledore would still try to convince him not to attack."
Hagrid is offended at first, but before he can say anything, Aves says, "Don't get me wrong, it isn't a bad quality by itself. But in the current situation? Yeah, it's not something that would work very well. And it's not his fault either. He's been a teacher for half a century, and that means that these current Dark Wizards, these Death Eaters, he still sees them as his old students, and not the grown people that they are."
Hagrid sighs, admitting that yes, that's an accurate description. But to be fair, Aves has known Dumbledore for a decade more than he did.
Hagrid turns towards the man, and softly says, "Great man, Dumbledore. But he does have his flaws."
Hearing the sound of the incoming train, he then claps his hands together, and says, "It was nice to meet you, Captain Aves. But.. Duty calls."
Smiling at him, Aves says, "It was nice to meet you too, Professor Hagrid."
"First Years! First years, over here!" Hagrid yells, once the train stops and the doors open.
As the students start pouring out of the train, however, Hagrid notices something. Something odd. In the dark night sky, he could faintly make out something flying towards them, but it wasn't birds, nor was it any of the magical Creatures he knew about. And he knew a lot.
"STUDENTS!" A loud voice booms, and Hagrid snaps his head towards Captain Aves, who was staring at the same spot that he was just staring at. As the students jump, startled, Aves says, "MAKE A FEW LINES, AND CALMLY FOLLOW PROFESSOR HAGRID TOWARDS THE LAKE! YOU WON'T BE TAKING THE CARRIAGES TODAY. I REPEAT, FOLLOW PROFESSOR HAGRID WITH THE FIRST YEARS!"
Captain Aves then looks towards Hagrid, and just a single nod is all Hagrid needs, before he starts yelling, "Right, come on you lot! Prefects! Start leading the way! Oy, Crowley! Black! You're Head Boy and Girl, aren't ya? Take charge and lead your classmates inside! And be quick about it! Leave your bags, the Elves will get them! Just hurry up!"
With a cacophony of noise, footsteps start thundering away from the open station, and towards the gate that leads towards the Black Lake.
"You should go with them. If I remember right then that path is not exactly stable." Captain Aves says, coming to stand beside Hagrid.
Hagrid nods, and says, "I'll cover their backs. No Death Eater is harming a single student while I'm here."
—
Within a few seconds, the Death Eaters reach the station and begin the attack with a barrage of destructive spells thrown amongst the Students. Students scream in panic, cry out in fear, and duck their heads, as the spells fly towards them.
Hagrid is ready, with his wand raised up in defense of his students, but finds it unnecessary to do so. All the spells thrown by the Death Eaters are met with a transparent barrier that stops the spells immediately. Looking down, he and the other students see Mason Aves, Captain Avalon, standing in the midst of the students, with a straight wooden staff in his hand.
The staff was beautiful, and even Hagrid, who has no knowledge of crafting, could tell that it was made by a master. The subtle green glow it gave out captivated his sight, until the situation made him remember that he needed to hurry.
"Don't dawdle! Hurry! You there, run inside!" Hagrid yells, as he turns his back towards Captain Avalon.
If there's one thing to know, Captain Avalon is a man that fought an entire army, and then fought and defeated Gellert Grindelwald. A few Death Eaters will not be a problem for him.
"THERE SHE IS!" one of the Death Eaters yells, as he flies forward, towards one of the students.
The shield which had protected them all from the spells do nothing to stop the man from flying towards the students, and Hagrid watches him fly towards a girl, a third year from the looks of it. A muggleborn.
Seeing his wand start rising up, Hagrid points his own wand at him, and silently casts, 'DEPULSO!'
The inbound man is hit by the spell before he even starts casting a curse, and he gets thrown back violently. Hagrid gathers the frozen girl in his arms, offhandedly noticing that she was a muggleborn, and handing her off to a boy, he says, "Take her inside!"
He then turns towards Aves, and finds him battling a dozen Death Eaters by himself. His staff moved gracefully, batting spells away from him and into the sky, making sure the students weren't harmed. As Hagrid kept watching, he sees Mason angle his shield in such a way that a curse sent at him hits it, and reflects back towards another Death Eater, carving a hole in his chest.
Another reflected spell causes one's teeth to grow so quickly that they come out of his chin and his eyes, killing him too.
Hagrid watches it all with a horrified fascination, while the Students keep running away from the combat, thankfully making a smart decision for once.
But.. Hagrid didn't like this. Watching one man fight while he just sat back and relaxed, leaving all the work for the one man who had already saved the world from one Dark Lord.
'I'm not just going to sit back and watch someone else save my students for me! No!' Hagrid thinks to himself, and making a decision, despite the other man not needing it, Hagrid steps forward to help him.
Flicking his wand, Hagrid summons a chunk of Earth from near him, and banishes it towards a flying man that was taking potshots at Mason. Or trying to, since using that staff of his, Mason was expertly defending himself.
The land hits the man in the face, dropping him down from the broom, his fate unknown to Hagrid. As a spell speeds towards him, a stunner he recognises, Hagrid simply raises his hand, and lets his thick, somewhat magic resistant skin stop it. The spell splashes on his skin, and after causing barely a moment of dizziness, it dissipates.
He then points his wand at the man, and casts, 'Accio!', summoning his cloak. The man loses his balance, and is summarily disposed of by a banishing charm that throws him into the woods.
Within a single minute after the attack began, Mason Aves had most of the 30 something attackers bound or dead, while Hagrid himself had taken down 4 of them, which was a big thing for someone like him.
A fully trained Wizard he may be, but his talents lay more in dealing with animals than actually using Magic to fight.
"Is this over?" Hagrid asks, panting, as he stares at Mason kneeling next to a Death Eater, his hand touching the man's forehead.
Shaking his head, Mason says, "These were just cannon fodder, Professor Hagrid. Weaklings, as compared to the usual Death Eaters. I wouldn't be surprised if all of them are new recruits, meant to be a distraction."
Hagrid frowns, and looking around, he asks, "If these were meant to be a distraction, where's the actual attack?"
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps makes him turn around, only to give out a sigh of relief when he sees Professor Dumbledore, and Professor McGonaggal jogging towards them.
After a glance to look at the only other man standing, Mason Aves, Minerva asks, "Hagrid! Are you alright?"
Hagrid smiles, and says, "Minerva! Professor Dumbledore! I'm alright, I didn't get even a scratch while dealing with these idiots."
"You defeated all of them?" Minerva asks, in a bit of a skeptical voice.
Hagrid shakes his head, and with a smile, he says, "That would be him there." Leaning down, he whispers, "That's Captain Avalon! Mason Aves!"
Minerva widens her eyes, and turns towards the man once again, who is now kneeling next to another man, with his hand on the man's forehead.
"Truly? That's him? He looks so.. so young! Whatever is he doing down there?" Minerva whispers back, a bit of her excitement showing.
"The two of you don't whisper half as softly as you think you do." Mason says, making Minerva jump a little, while Hagrid startles himself into skipping a beat.
He stands up, and with a sigh, he says, "Disgraced I may be, but I am a healer, and hence, obligated to check them for any fatal injuries."
The fact that he was the one to injure them in the first place doesn't leave anyone's notice.
Dumbledore, who was silently staring at the man, looks at him over his glasses, and asks, "And it certainly doesn't hurt that their minds are now open for going through, does it?"
Mason just smiles, and says, "No, it certainly doesn't." Offering his hand to Dumbledore, he says, "Dumbledore, you've gotten old."
Minerva makes an affronted noise on Dumbledore's behalf, but the man himself just chuckles, shakes the offered hand, and says, "And you look as young as the day we fought Grindelwald."
'Truly?' Hagrid thinks to himself, wondering how that's possible.
Waving his hand, Mason says, "Hydra left a lot of scars on me, my youth only one of them."
He then turns towards Minerva, who was blushing a bit, and says, "You're the Transfiguration professor right, the one who helped Rowle save the students."
Minerva nods, with a sad smile on her face, and says, "Professor Rowle was very adamant that I and Filius take the students away to safety while she dealt with the threats. I.. I would never regret anything more than I regret not staying back with her that day."
Mason nods, his face melancholic and it takes Hagrid a while to remember that Mason Aves was young enough to be taught Charms by Thrud Rowle just the same as he and Minerva were.
"Touching." A fifth voice says from above them, and all four of them startle a little at the suddenness of the voice. "I would have admonished Abraxas for killing her, but I heard he's already been punished."
Hagrid looks up, and finds some fear resurfacing, only this time it wasn't fear for his students, but for his own life. Because flying above him were a hundred Wizards and witches on brooms, all wearing dark black robes. Some were masked in silver or gold masks, while others were completely fearlessly showing their faces.
And in between them was what scared Hagrid the most. A man, a single man, with his wand idly held in his hand, floating in the air without any kind of support. No broom, no magic carpet, no enchanted wings, nothing. Just him, and some sort of dark gray smoke covering his legs.
"Good evening, Tom." Dumbledore says, looking strangely morose.
"Tom?" Hagrid suddenly asks. "Tom Riddle?"
The floating man ignores Hagrid, glares at Dumbledore, and says, "Do. Not. Call. Me. THAT! My name.. is Lord Voldemort."
'Lord Voldemort. The Dark Lord that all these Death Eaters follow. That was Tom Riddle? The Head Boy who died trying to raise a Basilisk? The boy who got him thrown into Azkaban and forced Aragog into hiding? The boy who killed Myrtle?'
Multiple thoughts go through Hagrid's mind, wondering how Tom came back to life. How he's here, and how he got all this power, both magical and political.
"You knew about this Professor?" Hagrid asks, strangely feeling betrayed about not knowing this.
Dumbledore keeps his eyes on the floating Voldemort, and says, "I learned about it a month ago. Forgive me for not saying anything, Hagrid. I needed to confirm a few things first, before I could let anyone know about this fact."
Hagrid opens his mouth to say something scathing, but someone else beats him to the punch and says, "Debate about this later, if you don't mind. We have a Dark Lord to deal with." Mason Aves.
Voldemort looks at Mason, and looks pleased for some reason. Taunting, he says, "Ah, the Hero of Great Britain, Captain Avalon! Knight of Avalon! Champion of Muggles! Tell me, how does it feel to only be known for tricking a Dark Lord into dying? At least Dumbledore had the good graces of being honest with his skills, but you.. no, you tricked a man you couldn't defeat."
Mason shrugs, and says, "Underwhelming, to be honest. But my life is going alright, or it was, before your league of idiots came in."
"Ah, yes. I heard about your friend, Fleamont Potter. It was a tragedy that we lost a Pureblood like this. But well, deaths are necessary if you want to make change." Voldemort says, and Hagrid just sees the mood in Mason's face change.
Waving his hand, Mason conjures his Staff to his hand, which Hagrid hadn't even noticed had disappeared. Gasps sound all over the ground, as the dozens of Death Eaters who were surrounding them from the ground, and the dozens more flying above them, feast their eyes on an actual staff.
Voldemort looks at it in hunger, and says, "An actual Magical Staff. It will be a useful tool when I kill you."
Mason instead holds the staff on the ground, and says, "You should have remained in whatever hole you were hiding in, Riddle. That way, you would have lived a few days longer."
"Do not call-" Voldemort begins, but is suddenly thrown back when a blast of pure magic hits him right in the face.
As if a signal was given, the Death Eaters start their attack, and Dumbledore and Minerva stand back to back, taking on multiple enemies each. Hagrid stays on the defensive, and instead runs towards the Death Eaters to physically beat them.
Off the corner of his eyes, Hagrid notices Mason using his hand to erect a shield charm, while he uses the staff to disarm, break, or bind one Death Eater after another.
"YOU DARE?!" An approaching Voldemort yells, as he flies straight towards Mason, who was busy dealing with 31 Death Eaters on his own.
Hagrid lifts a Death Eater up and throws him in Voldemort's way, hoping to delay him. Unfortunately, Voldemort simply waves his hand, negligently cutting the body into multiple pieces that drop down on the ground.
Defeating his last enemy, Hagrid watches Voldemort reach Mason, and send a Cruciatus Curse into his exposed back. Mason somehow still sees it coming, and turns around with a shield.
Unfortunately for him, the shield does not stand strong in front of the Unforgivable, and the Cruciatus Curse hits Mason right in his face.
"NO!" Hagrid yells, as Dumbledore and Minerva helplessly watch Mason get thrown back.
Unexpectedly, Mason lands on his feet, and spinning on his feet, slams his Staff's glowing green head on the ground. The ground ripples, as the Death Eaters on the ground find themselves sinking in, while Hagrid finds the ground underneath himself moving, taking him towards Dumbledore.
'Even when being hit by a Cruciatus, his priority is to save people.' Hagrid says, tearing up.
Voldemort, and the remaining Death Eaters, who were all in the air, however, stay safe from this spell.
"AVADAAA KEDAVRA!" Voldemort yells, while the Death Eaters converge towards the trio of Hogwarts Professors.
Lifting his hand, Mason wandlessly summons a chunk of rock in the way, and spinning around the next spell, sends a single beam of pure Magic at Voldemort.
Voldemort shoots a beam of his own at Mason, but finds himself struggling against the sheer strength behind Mason's attack.
Gritting his teeth, frustrated, Voldemort asks, "How did you get so strong? You were weak! You tricked Grindelwald! You did not defeat him!"
Dumbledore ties up another Death Eater in thick iron chains, and looking up, he whispers, "Oh, Tom. People often underestimate just how strong Grindelwald was. Mason may have tricked him that day, but he was more than strong enough to fight him on even grounds when it came to using Power. It was only Gellert's superior skill that forced Mason to trick him."
Hagrid widens his eyes, not knowing this. Of course, everyone praised Mason for defeating Grindelwald, and most of them said that Mason only won because Dumbledore tired Grindelwald first, or because he tricked Grindelwald. But despite the many descriptions of the fight that were given in the following days, Hagrid never knew that Mason was stronger than Dumbledore even when he was that young!
Voldemort turns his head towards Dumbledore, making all three Professors raise their eyes in surprise. The realization in the bright red eyes of Lord Voldemort made them all realize in return that Voldemort heard what Dumbledore said.
With a crack, Voldemort disappears from his place, letting the beam of Magic fly into the air, and appears on the ground behind Mason. Mason turns around, but before he could even make a single move, another curse, a bone shatterer, hits his shoulder, shattering his shoulder and sending him flying back towards the trees.
Voldemort turns towards Dumbledore, triumphant, and says, "See this, Dumbledore? Your prized student also stood no chance in front of me. Bow, bow before Death, Dumbledore. Because soon, the entire Wizarding World will be mine. And not you, not Mason Aves, and not this nuisance Atharva Joshi will stand in my way!"
Dumbledore just smiles, and asks, "Are you sure about that, Tom?"
Hagrid doesn't understand what he means, and even Voldemort looks strangely confused, before a Magical staff head lands on his face, sending him flying towards the station.
Where Voldemort once stood, now kneeled Mason Aves, who looked a bit tired but none the worse for wear.
"How?!" Voldemort yells, enraged.
Mason snorts, and standing up, he says, "I'm a Healer, moron."
Hagrid breathes a sigh of relief, having believed that Mason had actually gotten injured, that his hero had actually gotten injured. That his hero might die.
Voldemort, surprisingly enough, stays in his place, now faced with four Wizards. His entire army that he had brought here lay on the ground, or for some, underneath it. Unconscious, dead, or bound.
Hagrid knew that if Voldemort stayed, he wouldn't survive. But he also knew that letting him leave now that they had him wasn't a smart move. Who knows what destruction he will cause after he leaves.
A smile grows on Voldemort's face, which looks entirely creepy to Hagrid. The smile keeps growing, as he raises his hands to the side. He asks, "Can you feel it? Can you feel your Death approaching?"
A shiver goes through Hagrid's spine, as the temperature around the place suddenly decreases.
"Dementors!" Dumbledore whispers, horrified.
Voldemort smirks wider, and turning towards Voldemort, he says, "Not just Dementors, no. I have something else too, Dumbledore."
Bringing his wand up, he brings it down immediately and stabbing it into the ground, he yells, "EVOCAZIONE DEGLI INFERI!"
The ground shudders, as cracks form all around the station. Unlike when Mason had moved the ground around, however, this wasn't natural. This was entirely unnatural and Hagrid could feel it in his bones.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" three voices yell at once, pointing their wands in the air, summoning a white Phoenix, Cat, and Cerberus in the air. Patronuses.
Meanwhile, the fourth person was staring at the cracks in the ground with a frown, disgust showing plainly on his face.
"And this isn't the only attack even." Voldemort says, purposefully bringing their attention to himself again. Waving his hand, he pointed towards Hogsmeade Village, and only now could Hagrid hear the sounds of battle coming from that direction. "A group of my most loyal are currently engaged with the Aurors and will have them down in no time. The Ministry is being attacked by a tribe of Vampires. And Diagon Alley.. Diagon Alley is being accosted by 50 Dementors and Werewolves. They couldn't transform, sadly enough, since the full moon is still half a month away, but as you know, even an unturned Werewolf is dangerous if the bite is serious enough."
As Mason grimly watches the cracks on the ground increase, Voldemort smirks towards Mason, and asks, "Isn't your wife there right now? Helping the Greengrass woman pack up her shop? Disgusting, isn't she? Greengrass wanted to lay with another woman but she could have at least chosen a pure woman to do so. But no, she chose a mudblood!"
"What will you do, Mason Aves? Will you help Dumbledore deal with the Dementors? Will you deal with whatever comes up from the ground? Or.. will you go to Diagon Alley and save your wife?" Voldemort taunts, as Hagrid sees hands rise up from the cracks. Ugly, rotting hands.
For a moment, Hagrid is worried. Worried that of course Mason will go to Diagon Alley to save his wife.
But then..
"Pfft!" Mason snortles, which then leads to "ha- Ha- HAhaha!" laughing loudly.
As the now lone Phoenix Patronus rises into the air to attack the Dementors by themselves, and the three Professors watch a delusional Mason laugh like an idiot, Voldemort hisses out, "Why.. are.. you.. laughing!?"
Looking up with a lot of anger in his eyes, Mason says, "It is really cute that you think my wife needs help in dealing with whatever you sent after her. It may be a bit hard to believe, Riddle, but my wife is far, far stronger than I am."
"That is not possible! I would have heard about it if that was so!" Voldemort denies, raising his wand.
By now, the hands had appeared out completely, and they were lifting bodies out of the ground. Dead bodies of people.
"What the fuck are they?" Hagrid whispers, horrified.
"Inferi." Dumbledore grimly says. Lifting his wand, he says, "Use any and all fire spells you know. I'll keep the Dementors at bay and Mason currently has Voldemort occupied."
"Yes, Professor." Minerva and Hagrid say unanimously, and begin casting fire at the bodies lifting out of the ground.
He hears Mason's voice, clear as day, say, "And it's because she didn't want anyone to know, you dimwit. But it won't matter anyway, because you'll be dead before the day is up. And so will your army."
Voldemort snarls, and says, "Like I will die to someone like you, a muggle-lover!"
And then, he focuses all his magic in a dark black orb in front of his wand tip, and sends it flying towards Mason.
A horrified Hagrid watches Mason lift his staff, inadvertently letting an Inferi grab onto his arm. Without letting his eyes wander away from Mason, he grabs the Inferi by his head, and sends it flying into another Inferi he had burned a few seconds earlier. Meanwhile, the dark black orb of Dark Magic slams into a shield created by Mason's staff, and causes an explosion that blinds everyone with black smoke.
When the smoke clears, he sees Voldemort standing victorious, completely confident that his attack worked. Suddenly, however, the smoke that had still remained near the point of explosion started condensing.
Hagrid sees Mason standing there, completely unharmed, but strangely confused, as he stares at the spot in front of him.
"Dark Lords." A voice suddenly says in a disgusted tone, coming from everywhere, and nowhere all at once. "They learn one Ancient spell, and they believe that no one can defeat them."
Suddenly, each and every Inferi, as well as the Dementors that were being slowly pushed back by the Patronuses combust, as a blue-black flame catches hold on to them, and starts covering them up.
"SCREEEEE!" The Dementors screech, and Hagrid notices in horror that the blue flames were actually hurting them. Killing them.
Voldemort lifts his wand, and starts spinning around, trying to see where the voice had just come from. "Show yourself, coward!"
And then, Hagrid sees him. Standing right in front of Mason was a man. He wasn't there before, it was as if between one Blink and the next, the man just showed up.
The man was dark skinned, a bit similar to Hagrid's old classmate Prabhakar Patil, taller than Mason by a few inches, and a bit more muscular. His brown eyes were glaring at Voldemort, whom he was looking at in complete disgust, while he simply had his hands folded.
Mason startles at the sudden appearance of the man, and takes a few steps back, pointing his staff at the man. And Hagrid fears, because there was just something about this man that made him feel as if he was a dangerous being and not just a man.
"Who are you?" Voldemort asks, seeing his backup plan get destroyed oh so easily.
The man snorts, and says, "You know me. I've killed a bunch of your soldiers. Weak as they were, it didn't even take any effort to do so."
"Atharva Joshi!" Voldemort hisses, glaring at the man.
Turning back, Atharva Joshi looks at Mason, and says, "Relax. I have no intentions of fighting you at this time. I am here for him."
"You think yourself so strong. Your supposed feats do not scare me, Joshi. You may have defeated the Goddess of Death, but I have conquered Death itself!" Voldemort boasts, and Hagrid has to look at him in disbelief.
Hagrid wasn't ashamed to admit that this Atharva Joshi scared him, and from the looks of it, he knew less about the man than Voldemort does.
Atharva chuckles, and slowly raising his hand, he says, "You speak as if you stand an actual chance, Tom Marvolo Riddle."
And then, between one moment and the next, Atharva Joshi disappears from his place in front of Mason, and appears right in front of Voldemort, with his hand around Voldemort's neck.
Voldemort suddenly finds himself higher up in the air, lifted off by his neck, struggling to breathe. As Voldemort tries to get out of the grip, Atharva Joshi turns towards Dumbledore, and says, "Tell your Ministry to keep the criminals imprisoned, and to actually check before declaring them to be under the imperius Curse. Because if not.. then they will face the same fate that Abraxas Malfoy faced."
And then, he disappears, taking a red faced Voldemort with him. For a moment, there's only silence, as the four people stare at the place Atharva and Voldemort just disappeared from.
Hagrid had a lot of questions in his mind. Who even was Atharva Joshi? What did he do, and why was Dumbledore scared when he introduced himself? How did he defeat Voldemort so easily? Where did he take him? Why didn't he interfere when the other Dark Lords came very close to actually ruling the world?
That and so many more questions ran through all their minds. But they all knew that it was highly unlikely that they would ever get any answer.
"Well that was fucking weird." Mason says, summing it all up in five words.
And Hagrid heartily agreed with the sentiment.
Hagrid hoped, really hoped, that this Atharva Joshi was actually going to take care of Voldemort and that he wasn't on Voldemort's side. It could be a trick to help Voldemort escape, and even Hagrid knew it was likely.
But.. he would only know when the time comes.
—
A/N: Tada! Sorry for being late, I was having issues actually putting the chapter into words. I wrote the summary down, but I just couldn't make my mind up. I first wrote the entire chapter in Mason's POV but since Mason is so OP, everything felt boring, so Hagrid's POV began.
And yeah, I deleted 3/4th chapter and began again.
Anyway, Atharva Joshi came and kidnapped Voldemort, while Mason Aves panicked and took a few steps back? How was this possible? Any guesses?
Anyway, this arc will be coming to an end within 5 chapters, at most 10. After which, expect a new story for the MCU part of it. For the X-MEN, I might just write a separate story in Summary format. Kinda like the first chapter of "Harry Potter and the Chance at a New Life by Kossboss" which is an amazing story btw, and it is what got me into Stargate/Harry Potter fanfictions(despite not being a fan of Stargate, tbh).
The reason I won't write a full story YET on the X-Men part, is because while I'm writing this story I've fleshed out the MCU part pretty well. But the X-Men part? I haven't even thought about how I want the timeline to go.
So, yeah. No X-Men for now. They might make an appearance during the MCU parts relevant to them, but otherwise they won't be a major part of the story.
Also, I might write another spin-off filled with oneshots of Mason's Past adventures. Might. MIGHT.
Anyway, thank you for your patience, and your support! Hope this chapter made the wait worth it.
Tata!
