Tom Riddle's POV
The Great Hall was unrecognizable. Shattered chandeliers hung precariously, scorched stone pillars groaned under cracks that spidered across the floor, and the remnants of tables and debris floated around me, summoned by telekinesis. Yet, Dumbledore stood across the hall, robes tattered, his eyes still calm but fierce. I could see the faint glimmer of exhaustion in them—a hint that even a wizard of his caliber could be pressured.
I didn't give him a chance to recover. With a flick of my wand, I transfigured the shattered walls into massive, obsidian serpents, writhing toward him, teeth bared, eyes glowing with an unnatural, fiery light. The serpents were not simply constructs—they were infused with necromantic energy, capable of constricting, striking, and even siphoning magical energy.
Dumbledore reacted instantly, forming a dome of water around him and sending arcs of wind slicing through the serpents, but I could see the strain in his stance. Even the legendary headmaster of Hogwarts could not match the scale of my combined transfiguration, necromancy, and raw destructive magic.
I smirked, sensing the opportunity. "You taught me everything I know, Albus… now watch the consequences."
With a low chant, I summoned dozens of shadow duplicates of myself, all moving independently, firing volleys of black lightning, cutting curses, and Fiendfyre at varying angles. Each clone was perfectly synchronized, each attack calculated to force him to expend more energy.
Dumbledore's phoenix dove between attacks, countering some with brilliant bursts of light, yet several shadows managed to bypass him, landing glancing hits. Sparks of magic flew, colliding midair in brilliant arcs. I noticed the faint shimmer in Dumbledore's aura—he was exhausting himself to keep up.
I decided to escalate further. The walls of the Great Hall dissolved under a thought, replaced with pillars of jagged, black stone that rotated and lunged like living spears. He raised shields, sending wind blasts to deflect some, but one pillar grazed his arm, knocking him back slightly. I could feel the edge—he was reacting faster, but he was being forced to defend rather than attack.
Then, with a flick of my wand, I shifted the battlefield. Hogwarts itself seemed to obey me. Floors warped, staircases twisted, corridors rearranged. The duel moved out of the Great Hall, spilling into the corridors and stairwells. My transfigured shadows darted through, striking from every angle, forcing Dumbledore to split his focus.
He fired several spells at me in retaliation—fire, ice, water, wind—but I countered each with reflexive precision. My Dragon Magic Core and Phoenix energy surged through me, enhancing my speed, my strength, and the precision of my spells. Even with all his skill, he was forced back, weaving between spells and constructs.
We reached the Astronomy Tower. I sent a volley of black lightning through the stairwell, forcing him to leap from the spiral stairs, landing with his phoenix behind him to cushion his fall. I pressed forward, sending cutting spells that sheared through the stone walls, knocking chunks of debris toward him.
"Tom… you've grown far beyond what I imagined," Dumbledore said, voice echoing off the stone. "But power alone will not make you victorious. You underestimate the consequences of what you're doing."
"Consequences are irrelevant," I replied, voice low and controlled. "I am beyond consequences. I am eternal, and my will is absolute."
The duel escalated to a terrifying scale. I combined elemental magic with transfiguration, creating fiery serpents interwoven with obsidian spikes, launching them at him. He countered with water walls, firestorms, and controlled blasts of wind. Each strike tore through the towers, splintering wood, shattering glass, and cracking stone.
I pushed him toward the Astronomy platform. The open night sky above provided the perfect arena for my destructive magic. I raised my wand, creating a sphere of Fiendfyre shaped like a dragon, its jaws snapping at him. He countered, summoning a massive firestorm shield, dispersing the Fiendfyre in a cascade of steam and sparks.
I pressed forward, sending a flurry of cutting curses, black lightning, and ice shards in a coordinated storm. Dumbledore barely dodged, raising a transfigured phoenix in one hand to intercept some attacks, his wand flashing in counterstrike. He sent arcs of magic toward me, yet I layered my defenses with transfigured stone constructs and wards.
"You have no idea what you are facing, Tom," he said, voice low but fierce. "I will not fall. Hogwarts… and its children… will not fall while I draw breath!"
I let a smirk creep across my face. "Then prove it, Albus."
I fired a series of simultaneous spells: three cutting curses, two black lightning bolts, and a wave of transfigured stone spikes. Dumbledore barely managed to block each, retreating up the tower steps as the air shimmered with the raw energy of our duel.
The tower trembled under the force of our combined magic. Gargoyles and statues from the Astronomy Tower transfigured into defensive constructs, but I shattered them easily, sending debris spiraling toward him. He leapt aside, barely avoiding a jagged stone shard.
I wasn't holding back. Every ounce of my power, every skill I had cultivated over decades, flowed through me. Yet, even as I pressed forward, I realized that Dumbledore was not broken. He was adapting, countering, surviving—an opponent worthy of centuries of combat.
I decided it was time to escalate the battle even further. I gestured to the very stones of the tower. With necromantic precision, I animated them, sending jagged black spires lunging at him like living javelins. He countered by raising pillars of water and wind constructs, but one spire grazed his shoulder.
He glared at me, breathing heavily. "You are powerful, Tom… perhaps the most powerful I have ever faced. But you have not yet learned restraint, and restraint can be your salvation—or your downfall."
"Then let us see," I replied, focusing every ounce of magic in my body, Phoenix energy, Dragon Core power, and necromantic mastery, channelling it into one ultimate strike—a fusion of black lightning, Fiendfyre, and transfigured obsidian.
He raised his wand, phoenix circling him, summoning a dome of elemental constructs to absorb the impact. Sparks, fire, and smoke erupted as our magics collided, shaking the very foundations of the Astronomy Tower. For a moment, time seemed to hang—the night air alive with raw power, both of us standing, unmoving, measuring each other.
I knew this was only the beginning. The duel would continue, escalating further, testing limits we hadn't yet reached.
And I was ready.