‘Why did you sacrifice Locketmort so casually?’ Voldehat asked Roachmort reproachfully. The diadem was irate whenever Roachmort reminded it of its new name.
‘He was weak, unable to fully restore his limbs,’ Roachmort explained patiently, ‘You saw him. In battle he was middling at best. Voldemort would have been able to kill far more Aurors before Dumbledore arrived.’
‘Voldemort would have never so openly attacked the Ministry like that,’ Voldehat said, ‘It was foolish.’
‘A risk,’ Roachmort agreed, ‘But worth it. I don’t think we will be able to pull off a surprise like that again. And we have significantly weakened the ministry at the same time.’
‘You have weakened us! Now our advantage of surprise is gone, and Locketmort is dead! This is an absolute failure!’ Voldehat thundered in Roachmorts mind.
‘Worried I will sacrifice you too?’ Roachmort said, ‘Don’t worry, you two will be with me at all times. It was a calculated risk that didn’t pay off. We have to strike hard before Dumbledore realizes that he can seize political power at the end of his wand. With someone besides that hapless Fudge as Minister we would be far weaker. Now when we appear publicly for stage two, Dumbledore will be sure to respond in time. We have shown ourselves as brash, stupid, and willing to kill innocents when our demands aren’t met. We must win the war, not the battle.’
‘But…’
‘I have humored you enough,’ Roachmort snapped, ‘You will learn like your brother Ringvolde soon. I have been lenient so far due to you still adjusting to your position, but my patience runs thin with your constant disrespect. I would change your colors to pink just to humiliate you if it wouldn't make me look like a fool as well. Or order you to shift your appearance to something embarassing. I'm sure I'll think of something. Do you understand?’
‘...’
‘Do you understand?’
‘Yes, Roachmort, I understand,’ Voldehat said reluctantly.
‘Good, we can’t give him too much time. But enough that he will think that WE have recovered enough from the battle. He will be too suspicious if we attack him immediately. I’ve had some ideas after some true combat experience with the three of us working together. I will spend some time modifying the enchantments you two have access to so you can better assist me in battle.’
— — —
Dumbledore sat in his makeshift library, researching furiously about the new creature he had seen in the Ministry. Someone who was willing and able to make Voldemort their sacrificial pawn in order to properly ambush Dumbledore. Someone just as powerful if not more so than Voldemort himself and someone who was wearing the Gaunt Ring, something that Dumbledore had believed to be one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes… A horcrux, especially one of Voldemort’s horcruxes, would not sit idly by and allow another to dictate its destiny. So either this creature had subordinated it through advanced magic or there was more here than what meets the eye.
Either way, the creature was dangerous. Dumbledore would have to increase his mental defenses, with those two artifacts at the creature's call he would have to be careful. He dived into his texts looking for a solution. Books on occulemency were among the most prized in the wizarding world due to the complexity of their subjects and the consequences if something went wrong. Those that fiddled with their own brains with magic rarely lasted long enough to write detailed books about their experiences. Dumbledore looked through his texts and finally found something that would work. Generally something ill advised, but possible for short bursts.
It would sacrifice a portion of Dumbledore’s memories to reinforce his occulumency shields. No longer attached to his mind directly, they would degrade as they were consumed to power the shields. Equal exchange as the book put it, memories for power. The problem was that Dumbledore had no control of what he would lose, so the longer the battle continued, the higher risk he might lose something important.
But with his mind fully shielded, he would be able to push forward and wield his full power on the physical front. He should touch up on anti-portkey wards as well. It would take too much time to prepare in a true battle, but it might let him cast it in time to stop the defeated enemy from escaping again if it came down to it.
After days of study and preparations, he looked up from his work. So soon?
Fawkes still had days before the phoenix would regenerate from ashes and return to life after its untimely demise by the killing curse. Dumbledore felt the Hogwarts wards pinging him, there was an intruder in the castle fighting someone. As headmaster, he had managed to retain full privileges as both Minerva and especially Umbridge had no true claim to the position while he retained the title. Until he died or relinquished his right, he retained full control. He had simply designated Minerva his proxy and given her broad access when he was arrested to let her carry out her duties. Not that he gave her control of everything, but enough that she could effectively run Hogwarts. Something that Umbridge or any of the Ministry puppets didn’t even have the slightest bit of access too.
From such a far distance, it took Dumbledore a few minutes to give himself permissions to apparate directly to the Hogwarts castle. But eventually, it was ready and with a crack of air he left to join the battle. He was sure it was the insect man was making good on his threat and Dumbledore would stop him for good this time before he could hurt anyone else.
— — —
Roachmort shook his head again in annoyance as he snuck into the castle. Unfortunately, he was unable to take polyjuice potion in his new form. The potion was optimized for use in humans only, and he was no longer human. So he had to slink around under the disillusionment charm hoping none of the more observant professors noticed him. It was early morning, so luckily there weren’t many students in the hallways for him to bump into and ruin his disguise.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
It was a shame that Lucius had been smart enough to flee the country before Roachmort approached him. The Diary horcrux was the only clone he couldn’t get a hold of at the moment. He knew by kidnapping and interrogating several goblins that the horcrux in the Hufflecup cup had been destroyed by the bankers months ago. Caught in its escape and strangled in the cradle before it could fully return to life. But the Diary was out there somewhere, making its own plans for world domination no doubt.
At least if everything fell apart and Roachmort was forced to flee the country, at least one clone of Voldemort would remain behind to carry out his ideals from the shadows. He doubted it would remain with Lucius when he decided to flee the country, it had likely remained behind instead to gather power in the way Voldemort had originally planned. Slowly and carefully.
It might be unaware of the danger to their plans if Dumbledore was finally able to solidify Britain under his rule. Roachmort was not Voldemort, but all the clones shared the same vision and ideals, even the reluctant Voldehat and Ringvolde so Roachmort was forced to be more proactive to combat Dumbledore. Hence why he was sneaking in the third floor’s girls bathroom at the moment.
He would reclaim control of the Chamber and release the beast on the students in full force. Despite its reluctance in the past, it would be forced to follow his orders as heir of Slytherin. He would emerge from the chamber and kill a few students until disappearing again until Dumbledore appeared. Then he could lead him away into the trap he had created after observing him and drawing him into battle at the best moment for Roachmort.
He stared at the sink and hissed in parseltounge, ‘Open’. The wall rumbled and slid back revealing a pipe sloping down into the darkness. Roachmort took a few steps inside, ‘Close,’ he hissed casually, shutting the door behind him as he leapt into the pipe and slid into the bowels of the castle. He lit his wand and opened the door to the chamber in the same way once he reached the bottom, revealing the chamber just as Voldemort had remembered it from his school days. He revealed himself, dropping the disillusionment charm as he confidently walked inside.
‘Nidhogg,’ he hissed loudly past his mandibles, ‘Your master is here. It is time to feast.’
He waited for a few seconds, and nothing happened. The mouth of Salazar’s statue remained firmly closed. Roachmort frowned, was Nidhogg hibernating perhaps? Voldemort remembered it had taken hours for it to first wake up when he first discovered the chamber and claimed his birthright as heir of Slytherin. Perhaps he had to reclaim his title again now that he was Roachmort rather than the original?
‘I, Roachmort, Of the Blood of Slytherin, hereby claim the title of Heir of Slytherin and control over this chamber and its Sanctum as is my birthright,’ he projected to the room as widely as he could. After a few seconds, the mouth of the statue grinded open and Nidhogg the Basilisk slithered forward and into the watery pool in front of it. The Basilisk rose to its full height and stared down at Roachmort seemingly in confusion.
‘Claim?’ it hissed, ‘Do you mean you propose a challenge against the current holder of the title?’
‘Current holder?’ Roachmort replied, slightly stunned. Who could… the Diary! That sneaky horcrux, it had been plotting under here the whole time! This was a perfect opportunity for Roachmort to subordinate it and reclaim control of the chamber at the same time.
‘Do you agree to the challenge, on your blood?’ Nidhogg intoned at Roachmort.
‘I do,’ he replied resolutely.
‘Remove your artifacts, the ring and diadem, and place them to the side. The battle will take placeeeeeee within the chamber, and leaving it will be considered a sssssurrender of the heirship. All challenges are one on one. Any interference or surrender to the current Heir in the battle will lock your right to inherit and causse me to defend the current Heir at their dissssscretion,’ Nidhogg said after cocking its head to the side for a moment. No doubt prompted by that irritable painting of Salazar Slytherin, forever clutching the resources of the Sanctum like his precious pearls.
Salazar would likely be smart enough to realize what had happened, given the name he had given to Nidhogg. A mistake in hindsight. But Roachmort would have to comply with the Basilisks demands, the damned snake was the officiator of the duel for Heirship so it got to set the terms in the beginning regardless of what the two parties thought about it. Half the battle in the heirship duel was swaying the officiator to announce rules that were in your favor, a battle that Roachmort had clearly already lost.
Roachmort reluctantly complied, taking off Voldehat and Ringvolde and placing them on a stone shelf that appeared jutting out of the wall on his right. He turned back to Nidhogg.
‘Well?’ Roachmort sent impatiently after a few minutes, ‘Where is my opponent? How long must I wait?’
‘As long as it takes,’ Nidhogg replied evenly, ‘But he is approaching now. Do not attacksssss until I announce the beginning of your duel.’
‘Understood,’ Roachmort replied shortly. The damn snake had never liked Voldemort very much. Clearly it was trying to make things as difficult as possible for him out of spite if Salazar had told it who Roachmort really was. Roachmort would teach it a lesson in humility when he was its master again. He couldn’t directly hurt it, but he could humiliate it in so many ways without directly injuring it…
Now, the Diary was approaching on its own power based on Nidhogg's words. That meant it had found a way to restore its body, that made this much more dangerous than it had been before. But Roachmort had physical strength and a superior form now, he would be far more agile and have higher physical endurance than whatever makeshift body the clone had managed to cobble together. It would be a difficult battle, but victory would surely be his.
Roachmort was already mentally celebrating his victory mentally when something unexpected emerged from the open mouth of the statue of Salazar. Its skin was gray and it stood tall as it emerged from the darkness. Roachmort got a flash of its jaws ripping and tearing into Voldemort's torso before his final death. Its featureless head covered in gray skin pointed directly at Roachmort while its jaws were hanging open slightly revealing rows of sharp teeth in its mouth.
No… there were too many unknowns! How was this creature the heir of Slytherin? It was preposterous! And he was in a small enclosed space where his flight was borderline useless. He twisted around and turned to the door he had walked through. ‘Open,’ he hissed but it remained unmoving and firmly sealed shut.
‘Slytherin does not tolerate its heirs to be cowards,’ Nidhogg gloated as it hissed at him, ‘You must renounce your claim for life or fight for your title. There is no other option. Prepare for battle.’
The lanky creature stepped out of the tunnel and stretched to its full height, its body no longer so skeletal. Roachmort's thoughts raced as he stared at it and prepared himself for battle. It was still skinny, but had filled out so he no longer could see its ribs hanging off its frame like how Voldemort had seen at the graveyard. It might be stronger than last time when it had taken Voldemort completely by surprise by using Harry Potter’s form as bait. A strategy that perhaps was a sign that it might be intelligent enough to plan ahead as well.
Roachmort raised its wand as the creature flexed its hands in anticipation as it stood there waiting. He would just have to be wary of it and stay at a distance.
‘Begin,’ Nidhogg hissed before swaying back to watch them from above.
Roachmort leapt into the air and began to fly as the creature charged at him with full speed, its jaws opening wide and grasping hands reaching forward.