I appeared near the Longbottoms' secluded cottage, which was nestled amidst beautiful greenery. Their protective charm had failed. It would only take me around ten minutes to dismantle the remaining exterior defenses without being noticed. Although an alarm would go off upon my entry, I could prevent it from notifying anyone else.

I started casting spells to disable the alarm connected to the Order of the Phoenix, the alarm linked to their family manor (likely belonging to Augusta Longbottom), block soporific charms, prevent the activation of outer perimeter golems, and stop the automatic spell system that shoots Stupefy and Perfecticus waves at intruders. Fortunately, the property I was targeting was not a family manor, as even a Dark Lord would struggle to deactivate all the defense systems in one without assistance.

The plants in their garden were worrying, with Venomous Tentacula, Sopophorous Beans, and a strange vine surrounding the house. They clearly acted as a defense system, but Tom didn't know how to avoid them quietly. He considered contacting the Lestranges or even a group of Death Eaters to handle the situation from afar. It seemed like a good plan, but there were a few drawbacks.

Initially, I had intentions regarding Neville, as the Longbottoms were major supporters of the Order. In the event of Frank, Alice, and their grandmother's passing, Neville would inherit their wealth, even if his accounts remained frozen until he reached legal age. If Malfoy's legal team assisted Bellatrix in gaining custody, I planned to prevent the old man from receiving Neville's inheritance and claim it for myself. Relying on Death Eaters to avoid harming a child during a confrontation with his parents was not a wise decision. Additionally, if Neville survived, it would create speculation that the Dark Lord spared enemy children, a concept that many of my followers would struggle to comprehend.

Secondly, I needed to assess my fighting skills. Despite Alice and Frank being skilled Aurors and us engaging in combat on their grounds, Riddle's memory indicated that they were not a worthy opponent for him. Hence, I decided to undertake this task by myself.

I created wards to prevent apparition and communication, binding them to myself. I then decided to add extra protection by inscribing anti-apparition and anti-communication runes in the air. After further consideration, I drew the same runes on stones and scattered them around the cottage. I was now confident that they would be unable to escape or seek assistance.

After a period of time, I received a message from Wormtail stating that he had met with Dumbledore. He conveyed this information easily by drinking a potion before framing Black. The potion, although mostly useless, had an interesting side effect: its metabolism rate was influenced by the power of the wizards nearby (excluding the one who brewed it, in this case Lord Voldemort). Although the Dark Mark prevented me from listening in on my servants, I could still sense their basic health level. Pettigrew's health suddenly declined, indicating that he had suffered a stroke as soon as the potion wore off. There was no need to worry, as any competent healer could tend to him, and he had Dumbledore's assistance. This would distract Albus and keep him away from the Longbottom residence, delaying his arrival in case things went wrong. I could, of course, use a powerful and swift spell like Fiendfyre, but that would result in Neville's death and the loss of two adult wizarding bodies.

It was time to launch an attack. I had not yet figured out what to do with the cursed plants. Maybe I could use a powerful Firestorm to burn the entire area, blocking the Longbottoms from fleeing through a window. The cottage appeared solid, with walls enchanted to resist fire. I planned to deactivate the spell once we started the attack.

I genuinely disliked the appearance of their doors and windows, which were stronger than the walls and equipped with extra alarms. These barriers prevented me from detecting the Longbottoms, causing me to miss the ideal entry point.

However, I was compelled to take action. After verifying the effectiveness of my concealment charms, I proceeded into my initial confrontation. By simply waving my wand, the runes on it illuminated, disabling apparition, floo network, two-way mirrors, and similar means of transportation. Another wave of my wand resulted in a massive area of land catching fire. Despite this, the walls remained intact. Utilizing my shields, I shielded myself from the flames while simultaneously levitating towards the house.

An excessively powerful shield penetrator created a hole the size of a carriage in the wards. A Bombarda spell caused most of the front wall to collapse. Upon entering, the fire I brought with me encountered an invisible barrier of fireproof charms. Once I crossed the threshold, something attached itself to me and attempted to interfere with the regeneration of my magical abilities. Some of my basic charms, such as Chameleon and the sound shield, were almost dispelled. This is the consequence I face for engaging in combat within enemy territory!

The interior of the house bore a striking resemblance to a greenhouse, and unsurprisingly, all of the plants displayed hostile behavior. I proceeded to burn them, resorting to concentrated blue fire for those that proved resistant to burning. As I dealt with thorns, vines, and pollen attacking me from all angles, I utilized my acid shield to disintegrate them. I also faced attacks from furniture, statues, and a stuffed owl.

A lesser wizard might have been squished like a bug, but I only felt annoyed at having to waste magic. I was also worried about their ability to detect me. How could magical plants disregard concealment charms? Some charms even dissipated when the plants came into contact with my shields.

The revealing charm exposed three living humans. I swiftly moved towards the signal, destroying the walls in my path. With no way to use magical transportation, call for assistance, or escape through the windows due to protective barriers, the Longbottoms decided to hide the child and flee towards me. I attacked them with deadly spells, but they evaded and fought back with various defensive and revealing spells. This caused my outer camouflage charms to fade, revealing me as a blurry sphere with a diameter of approximately five meters.

I blocked Frank's acid burst, reflected Alice's sonic wave, and cast multiple killing curses back at them. There were too many to dodge, especially in such a small space. Despite more than half of the walls being destroyed, the house somehow remained standing, likely due to magical reinforcement.

Tom had a favorite curse that was highly effective. This curse had the ability to bypass any form of protection, instantly and painlessly ending the life of the target by separating their soul from their body, and leaving the body in perfect condition for necromantic purposes. Regrettably, this curse was specifically designed for targeting humanoid energy pathways, therefore it would not be lethal against more formidable and distinct creatures such as dragons. Additionally, it could still be evaded or obstructed by positioning a human or a solid object in its path.

This is the reason why I quickly cast two additional nonverbal spells before the Avada ray: one to cancel transfiguration and another to blast away any objects shielding the Longbottoms without breaking through their defenses. Debris in front of them was cleared, and transfigured furniture reverted to air.

The fight should have ended, but it didn't. Unexpectedly, five house elves emerged before their owners and confiscated all the Avadas. I silently cursed myself. Although my wards prevented them from exiting the premises, they were still able to apparate freely within the boundaries. Another group of five elves materialized behind me and attempted to assault me. I swiftly dealt with them: the first one was burned, the second succumbed to organ failure, the third's head exploded, the fourth was gutted, and the fifth was turned inside out.

Becoming angry, I directed a surge of pure magic towards the Longbottoms, causing my remaining camouflage charms to vanish. The Longbottoms displayed incredible teamwork as Frank protected both himself and Alice from my relentless magical attack, appearing as though he could endure for a couple more seconds. Simultaneously, Alice retaliated with a lethal technique unique to her family. Though my shield remained intact, it became apparent that her actions were merely meant to divert my attention.

I believed I had destroyed all the plants, which I did, above ground. However, while I was preoccupied battling humans, the roots managed to sneak up on me and launch an attack. Luckily, Riddle's extreme caution paid off as his initial shield was a flawless sphere that extended underground, with a duplicate shield acting as a protective layer around his entire body. Any root that came into contact with the sphere disintegrated instantly. Despite this defense, the remaining roots attempted to harm me by using acid, sleeping powder, strangulation, and energy absorption. As a result, my magical reserves continued to diminish.

I decided to cancel my attack on Frank and the Fire Storm outside. The roots adjusted their approach and forcibly ejected me from the house. It felt as if I was enclosed in a spherical aquarium constructed entirely of plants. Since they were unsuccessful in overcoming my defenses, it seemed that they opted to relocate me away from their masters. Utilizing death magic, I unleashed a surge of energy and commanded the plants to perish. This action depleted a significant portion of my energy reserves, but I was relieved to witness all of the plants and roots transform into dust on this occasion.

I stood in front of the destroyed house as the Longbottoms performed explosive charms. I couldn't help but wonder why everything had to be so challenging. I wished they would leave their wands behind and fight me without magic, live in a normal house without magical creatures, harmfull plants or house elves. I wished they were more like James Potter.

I announced, "I am Lord Voldemort! I am pleased with your skills in this test! Join me!" They likely won't accept, but it may catch them off guard for a brief moment.

Their response came in the form of two killing curses. It seems they did not recognize me without my reptilian face. However, upon realizing that I was Voldemort, they made the decision to kill me by any means necessary, whether it be a life sentence in Azkaban or not. Perhaps they believed that Moody would help them avoid punishment.

I easily dodged their Avadas under the effects of an acceleration charm and potion. Despite firing stunners in response, their shields absorbed them.

The Longbottoms unleashed more killing curses, but this time one of them attacked first, while the other aimed in the direction I had dodged. I found this dangerous dance with death quite unpleasant. To create a barrier between us, I used transfigured pieces of wood and densified the air. I condensed the air and amplified its volume, causing a water whip to soar towards Frank, maneuvering around obstacles. He erected a shield, and I attempted to crush it by enveloping it with water. Their audacity had annoyed me so much that I no longer cared about the state of their bodies.

As Frank struggled against the pressure, I launched a Sphere of Decay at Alice, a simple attack meant to overwhelm her with its energy. I didn't notice any shield protecting her from it. However, my plans were foiled yet again. Just before the sphere could hit Alice, it was absorbed by a large dark barrier. Using the Dark Plane to defend against decay curses is highly effective, but also against the law.

Alice threw seeds at her husband, and I wondered if she had been keeping them in her nightgown. In my previous life, I had some experience in gardening and witnessed seeds expanding with water. However, it was quite bewildering to see five seeds absorb several tons of water without any increase in size. I was so amazed that I couldn't help but stare, even pausing my use of stunners.

The Longbottoms took advantage of my momentary stumble and launched another coordinated attack, with Frank using fire and Alice using ice. Moody had trained them well, and the idea was to overwhelm me with a strong universal shield instead of multiple specialized ones. Reflecting two opposing elements at once would strain the shield and allow their third attack to break through. However, my increased speed allowed me to quickly put up separate shields for fire and ice, neutralizing the elemental aspect of their assault. The universal shield also protected me from spells cast from their amulets. Although their non-verbal stunners caught me off guard, the shield was able to withstand them.

What could I say? They had exceeded all expectations. I had used up half of my reserve, spending more than both of them combined. Luck was definitely not in my favor - I wouldn't even be shocked if Albus showed up out of nowhere. I should have remained at the Lestranges' and asked Bella to join me in bed. Now, I must win this battle in order to return there.

"I will spare your life if you join me," I offered again. "No need to flow pure blood."

Instead of receiving an answer, what I received was an explosion, which I found interesting. It turns out that they directed a significant amount of oxygen towards me and set it on fire. The debris that I was utilizing to block Avadas was completely consumed by the flames.

I said that I didn't hear your answer while casting a combination of stunners and killing curses.

They retaliated by casting Avadas at me. It was long overdue to end this. Should I blow everything up, use Fiendfyre, or continue until they were worn out? I summoned snakes and commanded them to attack. However, the snakes were hit with Imperiuses and directed to kill me instead. I made them disappear and restarted the process.

I launched large sections of the wall towards them, causing them to be occupied with defending themselves from their collapsing house. During this distraction, I discreetly formed dust into a massive rune "stop" beneath Alice without attracting attention. Once the rune was infused with magic, it trapped Alice in one spot. To prevent Frank from intervening, I directed an array of rocks and transformed birds towards him while simultaneously casting the killing curse at Alice. Finally, my Avada hit its mark and Alice perished. One less! I felt a sense of satisfaction.

Frank screamed "NO!" and threw Avadas and Cruicios at me.

His rage made him fierce yet predictable. I tried to attack his mind, but he was able to protect himself with an amulet and occlumency, preventing me from controlling his will (although, in reality, I could have immobilized him, removed the amulet, and had twenty minutes to do as I pleased).

Despite my efforts to control him and create hallucinations, it was ultimately just a distraction. Engaged in a mental battle, he was unaware as I conjured an illusion that he could physically see. Believing he was being attacked by Night's Shadow, a strong dark curse, he responded with Carpus Bonom, a skillful move as an experienced Auror. However, Night's Shadow was only a facade for the deadly killing curse, which easily bypassed his defenses. Sadly, Frank met the same fate as his wife.

"finally!" I shouted, turning their bodies into miniature statues and putting them in my pocket. They will make exceptional lechas.

I may have gotten a little carried away here, but I was hopeful that Neville was still alive. However, detection charms provided no evidence. It was unusual. Within a second, I found myself in the nursery. The baby's bed was strangely covered by a mysterious haze.

While I was performing the human revealing charm, an object came flying towards me from behind and was destroyed by my shield. It is likely that it was the final house elf. Following its demise, I could distinctly feel Neville's presence. It seems that his parents entrusted him to the elf before joining the battle. The elf managed to protect the boy from explosions and carbon monoxide, and then attempted to save him from me. I transformed a stunned Neville into a soft toy and brought him along with me.

Flying out of the ruins, it was impossible for someone to determine what exactly happened, except for the fact that everyone, including Neville, was dead. This was due to the presence of Fiendfyre, magic interference charms, Astral Cacophony, and the Dark Mark.

After a succession of apparation to avoid being tracked, I finally returned to the Lestranges' mansion. I needed a break. My magical reserves were depleted by about a quarter. Fortunately, I didn't attempt to attack the ministry, or else they would have me buried there.