Chapter Eight

With his legs wrapped around the dark wizard's torso, Tom was quite uncomfortable, seated as he was on the damp forest floor, his left hand holding the man's head back, and his right hand holding his knife to the man's throat, to be drawn the moment he awoke. Hopefully Tobo Mott would appear before that was necessary, but Riddle didn't have much of an option, with his magic having been depleted. As it was, he would have to rely on his senses of hearing and touch to discern consciousness.

Even if Tobo does hurry, and he is able to restore me to power I will still have to explain my absence from school…At the worst possible time, right after…

Suddenly, it came to him.

Oh, of course…That's a simple explanation that nobody can argue with.It will even account for me being at less than full strength if I need recovery time.

The pressure in the back of his mind began to fade, but there was still the matter of figuring out exactly what had happened to him and how to undo it.

Perhaps when Tobo arrives we can strip this "dark wizard" of his magic and impregnate it into me… is that even possible? Tobo should at least know of a way to restore my strength.

If not... Tom looked over at the unconscious form of the wizard he had cast down at his own expense... One person knew what had been done, and could perhaps undo it.

I have a knife to his throat, and he has a vast ocean of invisible force to stop me in ways I can't comprehend. And then, what if Tobo decides to kill two birds with one stone?

Yet there was nobody else to trust. Bellatrix? A slim chance, but there was no possible way he would let her see him like this. Slughorn - Slughorn would help him if he'd lost his powers at school, but Tom didn't want to push him for this.

On the other hand...

It would take a very convincing story, and evidence to accompany it, to explain this to Albus Dumbledore. Part of the truth should work, and the old man would surely want to help, to satisfy his curiosity if for no other reason.

It was an option, not a very good one, but perhaps in the most extreme case Tom would have to try it.

He hadn't truly considered that he may never have his power again; anything magic could do could be undone as well if you approached it from the right angle. Wizards didn't even know how to properly use magic, there was always an angle, some unseen connection that would act like gravity and draw things together.

But right now, such a loss! Magic surged through the world all around him. On every breeze, in the flow of the stream, in the sunlight and even air itself- the feeling was normally tangible. Yet just now it was all non-existent to him.

I was so sure of my plan that the idea never entered my mind…Too worked up in the moment and I ran in without a real plan.I need to learn more patience…

He had lived as a Muggle when he was young, and it didn't suit him. The moment he had first felt that incredible force pressing on him was the first time he had ever felt alive. Surely, it wasn't lost to him for good?

Suddenly, there was something. It was faint, but it was there, it was approaching him.

Tom leaned back and used the dark wizard's body as a shield to protect himself from whatever was coming towards him.

He forced his eyes open and watched as the silvery white glow of a floating white squid appeared from thin air and drifted towards him. It was floating through the air, propelling itself with long silvery tentacles, and emitting magic like heat from a fire.

If I can see it, and feel it…

Tom couldn't produce a Patronus himself, and for that matter he had never expected Tobo to be able to create one either. Usually, the spell didn't induce any feelings like the "joy" and "happiness" that others claimed to be filled with. This time, however, the white glow of the magic washed over Tom like waves of relief. He could feel himself relaxing, yet he held tight to the dark wizard.

Tom knew what the squid was, and could just barely feel it, but other than that, the world remained in black and white. There was no mistaking what this was, or who had sent it - only one explanation for that.

"If it's an emergency we don't have time for this owl nonsense. My Patronus will bring me your location and I will be there immediately, ready for combat." The rough voice of Tobo Mott echoed from the squid as it floated there.

"Wait!" he exclaimed, hoping the Patronus could understand and comply. It didn't leave yet, but floated like a ghost, mere meters away from Tom.

A patronus is literally a projection of a person's magic, and something else...Has anybody experimented with what else a patronus is capable of doing, other than keep dementors at bay?

He had never had enough experience with the spell or the inclination to look further.

Tom focused on the magic squid; he closed his eyes and let everything it radiated wash over him. He could feel that unmistakeable magic heating up the air as the light of it lit up the surroundings. Tom tried to feel it elsewhere, but failed. There was magic yet in the world, right in front of him.

If I only reach out and touch it.Grab hold, as I first did when I was young…

Tom put the knife back in its sheath and unwrapped himself from his fallen foe, focused on more important matters. He stood and walked towards the ghostly form. "Tell Tobo Mott…" he whispered when he was quite close, "I hope this works!" Tom shouted in desperation, as he jumped forward with his arms and mental focus extended. He tried to grab the force within the squid and take it as his own.

The squid vanished and Tom once again lost consciousness.

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Tobo Mott waited in his heavily warded basement for his Patronus to project the location of battle to him.

"He sends an owl… Of a thousand ways to communicate he goes with an owl… Either it's bad, or he's got a dose of Bahl's Stupefaction…" Tobo was not pleased to be dragged into an emergency situation with no details or prep time. "I should have known better… The kid should have never been involved in this plot in the first place; in over his head he was…" the man muttered to himself as he double-checked that his armour was securely fitted.

"Who knows what the hell I'm walking into now… never should've listened to him. Prob'ly a huge mess to clean up here, else Tom went and put an end to his own story somehow." Tobo's voice was growing louder as he spoke to himself, stretching his wand arm to warm it up. The tea kettles on the mantle, which he had enchanted to feel fear, began to steam and whistle loudly.

The moment the Patronus returned, he knew something was off.

The yellow and orange flickers of light on the stone walls drained of color and the world became black and white for a moment before the Patronus grew in intensity, washing the entire room with a silver glow and restoring color before it disappeared again.

Tobo Mott lost consciousness.

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Darius Ahlee stirred but did not wake; the tranquilizer was starting to wear off, and the cloth that bound him would not be a hindrance once he awoke. Yet Tom Riddle was still sprawled on the ground a few feet away, in no position to detain the wizard: the boy was lying there as though he were dead.

He was in murky green water that stretched as far as the eye could see.He was struggling to swim as the waves bounced him up and down; the vast force of the sea was trying to overcome him.He was fighting it, trying to use the force to help himself rather than let it swallow him.Every wave that crashed down on his head pushed him further under. He was losing his ability to fight, and much worse, he was losing his will to fight.

A hot sharp pain cut through the dream and woke Tom. Instinctively, he rolled away from the pain and tried to jump up, but he found himself lacking the energy to cleanly spring himself off the ground. Instead he flopped over, out of breath.

"I don't think I could have snuck up on you like that unless you were hurt, or if I was walking into a trap. Am I walking into a trap?" Tobo's voice came from behind him.

"Would you trust me to tell you if it was?" Tom asked casually; he couldn't show Tobo any more weakness than he had to. Difficult, considering he was struggling to continue sitting up straight at the moment.

Tobo scoffed at that, "Not bloody likely, but I trust my senses and it seems to me you're a Muggle."

Tom felt his temper flare at the word. "I may not have a wand, but I have a knife."

"And a big mouth, which is a second away from having a wand shoved in it."

Tom was about to retort when he realized he'd probably better just be quiet.

Tobo continued as though Tom hadn't started. "Now, first of all… Stupefy!" Tom felt the heat as the red jet flew over his shoulder and struck the poorly bound dark wizard.

"Secondly…" Tobo said as he lowered his wand a little to aim at Tom's chest, "Just what did you do to my Patronus? It made me fall over."

Tom gestured towards the stunned wizard behind him, "Apparently this one did something to strip me of my magic as he fell. I found myself without my power, for a time."

Tobo lifted Tom off the ground a couple of feet and slammed him back down. "That was obvious. What did you do to my Patronus?"

Tom found himself slightly winded by the slam, but he caught his breath long enough just to give a quick laugh and reply "I ate it!"