A Clash Between Two Dark Lords

Even in Voldemort's empty, emotionless eyes, strange emotions couldn't help but well up uncontrollably. (Read more)

For a long time, no one had dared to speak like that in his presence.

When most people see him, their expressions and tone reveal only deep fear. Even the Death Eaters around him feel a mixture of fear and reverence.

Even the white-bearded old man who was hiding in Hogwarts as the headmaster was extremely solemn and wary when he saw him.

What was this excessively young boy up to? He showed no fear whatsoever upon seeing me; instead, he was all smiles and joking. His last words further revealed the truth—

He's confident he can take on himself!

"You mean—" Voldemort said coldly, "That the Shadow of the Magic Dragon believes it can rely on you to deal with me?"

Skylar's face remained calm and composed, unperturbed by honor or disgrace. He chuckled softly, "Lord Dark Lord, have you ever wondered how I ended up here?"

"You should know that I wasn't supposed to be here. If I'm not mistaken, your original plan was to have your not-too-dumb servant sneak into Hogwarts and bring Harry here to you, right? Dumbledore may be old, but he's not senile. Putting Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire was a stupid move that I'm speechless with. It completely alerted Dumbledore— "

"Even I guessed the problem lay with the Goblet of Fire. If you thought Dumbledore wouldn't—" Skylar shook his head and sighed softly, "then I really overestimated you—"

"You guessed there was something wrong with the Goblet of Fire?" Voldemort's eyes flickered uncertainly.

"Of course, it's the Confundus Charm, right?" Skylar still wore that faint smile. "It's not hard to guess. In Hogwarts, all magic that crosses spatial boundaries is monitored. As long as Harry doesn't leave the Hogwarts area, the only way to get Harry here is to use the Confundus Charm to influence the Portkey Charm pre-installed on the Goblet of Fire. It's an obvious method..."

"You're talking nonsense!" Voldemort struggled to suppress his anger. He couldn't stand the thought that Dumbledore had seen through his plot; it made him feel like he'd been outsmarted by that damned old man once again. "Then why didn't Dumbledore stop it? Even if he didn't guess who was behind it all, he could have prevented everything by simply breaking the Confundus Charm on the Goblet of Fire. Why didn't he do that!"

"Who knows?" Skylar shrugged, a knowing smile playing on his lips, his eyes gleaming with mockery. "Perhaps... Harry being sent here was part of his plan?"

"Impossible! You're talking nonsense!" Voldemort gritted his teeth, his magic surging forth and transforming into a black, serpentine wisp of smoke that slowly began to swirl around his body. He seemed to be shrouded in a thin mist, both real and illusory, and the expression on his face was no longer clear, except for his two scarlet eyes that Winky in the smoke.

"Believe it or not—" Skylar said, "In fact, whether Dumbledore saw through your scheme or not is none of my concern. What I really want to say is that I saw through your tricks and that of your foolish servant long ago, and your foolish servant— Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch Jr.—is already dead by my hand—"

"You said—" Voldemort's voice had returned to calm, but his entire demeanor exuded an even more dangerous aura, like the calm before a great storm, "that Barty Crouch Jr. died at your hands?"

"Yes," Skylar said nonchalantly, "He wanted to capture me to curry favor with his other master, so I killed him. Now you should believe me—I really knew there was something wrong with the Goblet of Fire of Goblet of Fire. I could have easily broken the Confundus Charm on it, then held my trophy and went to the judges' stand to claim my glory—"

"But I didn't—because the Shadow of the Magic Dragon, through Barty Crouch Jr., gave me a threat, and I had no choice but to accept it, so—" Skylar, "I came."

"Actually, after I touched the Goblet of Fire, I never expected to be teleported here. I thought I would... Oh well, since the Shadow of the Magic Dragon went to such lengths to send me here, it's obviously not to send me to my death, right?" Skylar smiled. "If they wanted to deal with me, they could have simply sent me to the traps and perilous places they had prepared beforehand. That would have undoubtedly increased their chances of defeating me..."

"Sending me here, I can't think of any other reason besides using me as their weapon against you?" Skylar thought for a moment, then added, "Speaking of which, Potter's presence here is obviously part of those people's scheme. Since they helped you resurrect and then sent me here, well, it's also possible their goal is—to make us fight to the death..."

What Skylar didn't say was that he was fully aware of the Shadow of the Magic Dragon's sinister intentions.

The power that Skylar displayed in front of others was too incredible. Most of it was magic that had been lost for a long time or completely new. It can be said that no one in this world but himself could guess how many trump cards he had hidden and how many Killer moves he had that could turn the tide of battle.

So the Shadow of the Magic Dragon's plan was to have a strong enough opponent force him to reveal his trump cards and test his strength, and the resurrected Voldemort was undoubtedly a good tool for that.

Of course, regardless of who wins or loses between Skylar and Voldemort, the Shadow of the Magic Dragon will not suffer a loss; in fact, it may even be the big winner in some respects.

If Voldemort is ultimately defeated, as long as he manages to force Skylar to reveal his trump card, the Shadow of the Magic Dragon will gain valuable intelligence. As for Selwyn, who lost their children because of him, and with whom he harbors an almost irreconcilable hatred, it's not hard to guess that the remaining Death Eaters will, after today, turn to the Shadow of the Magic Dragon under Selwyn's leadership.

If Skylar is defeated, that would be even better. The Shadow of the Magic Dragon would be able to eliminate a potential threat without losing a single soldier. Moreover, it's not hard to guess that with Skylar's strength, he could definitely greatly weaken Voldemort and the Death Eaters' forces.

The Death Eaters had only recently regrouped, and even if all the core members were present, there wouldn't be many (Harry in the original book estimated that there were only about 30 people in Little Hangleton graveyard, with the rest being developed later). After being weakened by Skylar, the Death Eaters were even less of a match for the Shadow of the Magic Dragon in terms of power.