"D, you're finally here!" Neville exclaimed with joy, his eyes sparkling as he stared at Dudley.
So... so cool.
I'm going to be just like D someday.
As for Harry, it's not clear whether the Protection Charm took a lot of physical energy, but he had fallen unconscious just as Voldemort's wraith flew out, so he missed the whole spectacular scene.
'RUN!'
The only thought in the fragment of Voldemort's soul was to escape. He knew he couldn't win, so why not run? With only a sliver of a soul left, Voldemort had no intention of fighting Dudley. He didn't even have a body, so he couldn't get close, and if Dumbledore showed up, he'd be done for. Of course, getting hit by Dudley again would have the same result. Since he was just a mixture of steam, shadow, and soul, already as ethereal as can be, escaping should be easy—he could just pass through the walls. Unless it was a charm specifically designed to target a soul, even a regular defensive spell couldn't stop him.
Voldemort's wraith flew past Dudley and smashed right into the wall.
BAM!
The unexpected happened. The wall he should have passed through effortlessly seemed to have an invisible barrier on it, one that could stop Voldemort's passage. His soul, which had just managed to coalesce, shattered again, and wisps of black smoke scattered in all directions.
"Mr. Dark Lord, it's quite rude to leave without saying goodbye."
"That's not what a gentleman would do."
Dudley lifted his chin, looking at the black smoke that was now gathering again with a hint of mockery, and patted the door that was now sealed behind him. "From now on, this is a one-way street."
With a soft snap of his fingers, the walls began to glow faintly. One by one, symbols began to appear all over them. These were transmutation circles. Dudley had started drawing them the moment he entered the underground passages; these rooms were already covered in them. He stretched out his right hand towards Voldemort's soul fragment, his fingers slightly closing. The transmutation circles began to shrink at an alarming rate, trapping Voldemort's wraith in an area no bigger than half a metre.
Voldemort's wraith didn't know what Dudley was doing, and he didn't recognise the meaning of the symbols. Still, his gut told him this was absolutely not a good thing. He couldn't just sit here and wait. So he slammed into the wall again, and as expected, he shattered once more.
After re-forming, Voldemort's wraith was clearly in a panic, darting around wildly within the small area Dudley had confined him to.
"What are these things? Charms? Dark magic? Ancient Runes? No! I've never seen anything like this."
Voldemort desperately scoured his memories but came up empty. He couldn't recognise these symbols or words, much less understand what they were. Was there something in the wizarding world that even he didn't know about?
The great philosopher once said: "The oldest and strongest human emotion is fear of the unknown. Unless you have enough firepower."
Before he became the most terrifying Dark Lord, Voldemort was still a human. Even though he was neither human nor ghost now, he was still, by a stretch, a... partially incomplete person. Seeing that he couldn't escape, the wraith tried to get some information out of Dudley. If he knew what it was, he could find a way to deal with it.
"Alchemy."
Dudley slowly spoke the word. It wouldn't matter if he told Voldemort; how could he possibly understand something from another world? And even if he did, could he use it?
"No, that's impossible. That's not alchemy!" Voldemort shrieked, making no attempt to hide his fear and unease. As the once-all-powerful Dark Lord of eleven years ago, how could he not recognise alchemy? He hadn't even been this panicked when he faced Dumbledore.
"This is alchemy," Dudley insisted, turning to look at Neville, who was now in a state of shock. "Look at this pitiful creature with no body. Do you know who he is?"
Neville had a faint guess based on Harry and the wraith's earlier conversation, but nothing was confirmed.
"He's the Dark Lord who terrorized the wizarding world a decade ago. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named... Voldemort."
"And now... his life and death are up to me."
When Dudley said Voldemort's name, Neville instinctively flinched. It wasn't because he had seen Voldemort's power, it was a conditioned reflex. He had grown up with stories of Voldemort. To him, Voldemort was as frightening as any boogeyman. And now, the very monster of his childhood was being toyed with by Dudley.
Neville's admiration for Dudley had reached a new level. If Harry had been awake, he would have told him, "That's D for you... there's nothing D can't do."
In truth, in a direct confrontation—without being able to get close—Dudley might not have been able to completely overpower Quirrell, who was possessed by Voldemort. However, with Harry's Protection Charm and the Ripple technique as a safety net, Voldemort's wraith had lost the body it had finally found.
He might have thought he chose wrong, but it would have been the same with Neville, who was wearing a special item Dudley had prepared just for Voldemort. The Ripple technique would have hurt him all the same, perhaps not as badly as this time, but the wraith would still have been driven out.
Voldemort's wraith had no time for dignity now. He would do anything to survive, begging Dudley and offering one tempting deal after another, hoping to sway him with words. This was what he was best at when he was still a weak wizard. And it had always worked. For example, Quirrell, who had just died from the Protection Charm, had been "convinced" by Voldemort through threats and promises in Albania.
In his mind, Dudley was just a young wizard, so it should be easy to manipulate him. Unfortunately, he was mistaken again.
What he called "language persuasion" was, simply put, a con. Dudley completely ignored him. He had already eaten more than his fill of promises in his previous life, so Voldemort's seemed incredibly naive to him. Only pure-hearted wizards who hadn't been hardened by the world would believe his lies.
Dudley even pointed out the inconsistencies and flaws in Voldemort's "promises" and explained them to Neville. Neville, in turn, felt like he was learning a valuable life lesson.
Seeing that Dudley was completely unmoved and had no intention of a truce, Voldemort's promises turned into threats. He was clearly desperate.
By now, Dudley had finished his final preparations. Just below Voldemort's wraith, a symbol made of a circle and a regular heptagon appeared. He had a singular purpose for creating this special transmutation circle to trap Voldemort's soul.
He had a bold idea.
He was going to turn Voldemort into a Philosopher's Stone.
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