Panting, Harry slowed down and turned back long enough to look at Malfoy Manor. The explosions and bursts of light had intensified. Apparently, Romulus was putting up a strong fight. He turned and resumed his pace, thankful for the physical intensity of his more recent drills in the Room of Requirement. He had lost some of his physical endurance since arriving in the past, but he reckoned he would be regaining it pretty quickly.
As he ran, he felt his scar prick again. Harry thought he might feel murderous intent coming from Voldemort. Romulus had apparently become a thorn in the dark lord's side. Though the connection between Harry and the Voldemort of the past was weaker than the connection in the future, Harry could still ascertain some of the dark lord's more intense feelings when in close proximity to Voldemort. Fortunately, the mental strength Harry had been forced to develop during the war in the future dulled the connection somewhat.
Still running, Harry felt a subtle change in the air around him via his magical senses and realized that he had finally passed through the Death Eaters' anti-apparition wards. With a sigh of relief, he glanced back at Malfoy Manor and then apparated away.
.....
The elusive tickle in Voldemort's mind vanished, and the dark lord knew that Harry Ashworth had escaped. He had probably exited the manor during the racket Malfoy had raised. It's a small matter, Voldemort reassured himself. Now I will not have to worry about him ambushing me . Cygnus Black had been the primary objective of the excursion, Romulus Malfoy the secondary. Ashworth would have been icing on the cake. Without the Blacks and Malfoy, Ashworth was now a nobody, albeit a well-informed one. He could be dispatched with ease later. Clearing his head and focusing on the task at hand, Voldemort crept up the stairs toward the second floor where he could hear his Death Eaters exchanging spellfire with Romulus Malfoy.
The noise led Voldemort to the room where Malfoy had chosen to make his stand. The door to the room was open, and Voldemort peered in. He was surprised to see that the Malfoy patriarch was not directly next to the windows from where his original spells had come. Rather, Malfoy seemed to have taken refuge on the side of the fireplace opposite from the door.
Voldemort cursed his luck. He might have been able to snipe Malfoy from the darkened hallway had he still been in front of the windows. Cautiously, Voldemort observed Malfoy's actions. Apparently, Romulus was confident that none of the Death Eater spells would find him, for he was not firing defensive cures. Rather, he was hurling spells designed to create mass damage and noise outside of the windows.
Grudgingly, Voldemort admitted that Malfoy's dueling strategy was successful. No longer were spells that Malfoy needed to worry about even coming into the room, though that had not been the case for the entire duel. Strewn across the room were debris, books, the remains of glass bottles, and splintered furniture. The air reeked of potions that had spilled and soaked the carpet. Indeed, the fumes were so thick, that it was difficult to see across the entire room. Voldemort would have liked to believe his Death Eaters were responsible for the damage, but he suspected that most of it had come from his own spells.
Grimly, Voldemort used a number of spells to hide himself and then crept into the room. It took a number of minutes, but Voldemort was finally able to maneuver into a position where he could take a clear shot at Romulus Malfoy.
Malfoy was a mess, but there was a grim look on his face as he leaned back against the wall and continued to fire curses while he leaned on what seemed to be a walking stick. Voldemort's thin lips curled into a smile of glee. It was over. He raised his wand and shouted the killing curse, simultaneously allowing his illusory shields to drop. He wanted Malfoy to see the dark lord as life left him.
Malfoy's eyes widened with surprise as he saw Voldemort materialize and shoot the green light of the killing curse toward him. Voldemort relished the surprise. But then something unexpected happened. Instead of fear in Romulus's eyes, Voldemort saw triumph. The killing curse struck, and Malfoy froze and began to slump over, losing grip of his walking stick. The stick began to fall, and Voldemort's eyes traced its path to the floor. The spot on the floor where Malfoy had been standing was surrounded by a boundary of runes burned into the carpet. The stick would fall on the ground outside of the rune boundary.
Too late, Voldemort realized that he had walked into a trap. The stick had been charmed to trigger a magical reaction. Reflexively, the dark lord grabbed for the stick, but then realized at the last moment that he would not be quick enough. Hurriedly he put his hands up to shield his face, doing so just as the stick made contact with the carpet, landing crosswise over the boundary of runes.
A deafening explosion shook the entire manor as a whoosh of air signaled that the potions and fumes spread throughout the entire room had ignited. Voldemort screamed as he felt exposed parts of his head and arms burn.
....
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