The Dark Lord...Reborn

Starts during the Seventh Book

"Hermione, that's a Dark Arts spell," complained Ron as they looked through the library at Grimmauld Place, looking for ways to infiltrate the Ministry and destroy the locket Horcrux.

"I can see why," responded Hermione. "It completely reduces the target to the age of a child."

"But how can we defeat Voldemort when he knows so much Dark Magic?" asked Harry. "I say that we watch the Ministry, and infiltrate it. We know that Umbridge has the locket. It looks like a nice locket, so she probably keeps it close to her."

"I still say that we should investigate this spell," said Hermione, her love of knowledge overpowering her love of rules. "Aside from the fact that it regresses a person, it doesn't look like there are any other harmful side effects."

\\/

"Does the target remain at the transformed age, or does it eventually age?" asked Hermione as they poured over the books in the library trying to find other references to the spell.

"My question is: does the Target retain its memories?" asked Harry. "If someone were to use this spell on Tom, it would be all for naught if he retains his murdering memories."

"No," said Hermione, finding a reference in a book. "The target will age at the normal rate, and will retain the memories only of the age it was reduced to."

"So, anywhere under five, and we should be good," said Harry. "Riddle first manifested magic at the age of five, and then began using it to torture his fellow orphans. Parseltounge doesn't show as 'active magic', so he could have been using it even earlier."

\\/

"I'm sorry, Ron, but that kiss just felt wrong," she said to him. Ron had just let the House Elves know about the battle, and tried to get them to safety.

"I know, Hermione," he said. "I have a feeling that I know exactly who would feel right."

"Harry," she responded.

"Of course!" he said. "You two can read each other's minds, feelings, everything. Now that I know that I'm not meant to be with you, I've realised that."

Harry came from around a corner. "Guys, the Horcrux is in the Room of Requirement! I think that I've even seen it before."

"When?" asked the others.

"Last year, when I was hiding Snape's book," he said. "Allons-y!"

"Harry, kiss me," said Hermione, coming over to him.

"Now?" he asked. "And I thought you and Ron were together."

"No, it just doesn't feel right," said Hermione.

"Good," said Harry. "Ron, I'm sorry. I lied to you. I lied to you so that you wouldn't bleeding abandon us again."

Harry pulled Hermione in, and they kissed. There was no golden light, nor did the castle shake, but both parties knew that it was right.

\\/

"Not my daughter, you bitch!" said Mrs Weasley, as she attacked, and finally killed Bellatrix Lestrange. The Dark Lord noticed the falling of his trusted lieutenant, and moved to attack her.

Hermione and Harry moved in to defend. They cast a number of spells that were barely legal at Voldemort, and Harry explained that the Elder Wand couldn't kill him, as the Elder Wand didn't belong to Voldemort. It was then that the Trio cast their spells.

"Formens Infantatis!" cried Hermione and Harry to the shock of all.

The Death Eaters immediately surrendered, as they didn't want to mess with an enemy who used that type of Dark Arts. To them, it was only a little less bad than "Explosivo Castrado."

The Light Side watched in shock as their heroes used what seemed to be a Dark Arts spell. Nobody knew it, as the Blacks had every single reference to it in the world in their library. Not even the Library of the Wizengamot, which held every book significant to the Wizarding Race, had a reference to it.

The Dark Lord started to change form. He shifted into a form that looked like what he would have looked like without his rituals.

"No! You can't do this to me! I'm the Dark Lord!" said Tom, whose age was decreasing rapidly. In the matter of a couple of seconds, he had gone from McGonagall's age to Snape's age, and was now looking like a student.

"I can make you hurt!" screamed the former Dark Lord as he turned 11. "I can speak to snakes, you know!"

The de-ageing process was slowing down now, so that Tom was decreasing one year in age every half-minute. He continued to shrink, until he was the size of a toddler.

"Death Eaters and other Dark Forces, throw down your wands and surrender, For the Dark Lord is Beaten!" cried Harry.

The Light Side forces quickly took the Death Eaters into custody, although the Malfoys escaped, and the Aurors were forced to kill a couple of werewolves that didn't cooperate.

"Madame Pomfrey, could you come over here, please?" asked Harry. When she did so, he asked, "Your diagnosis?"

"The child is doing well. I'd say that he looks like a healthy child around a year old," said the nurse. She conjured a nappy, and put it on the child before handing it back to Harry. "No physical issues, either. I'd still suggest that he come by to take some nutrient potions, though."

She walked away, and Harry and Hermione turned to each other. "Now what?" asked Harry. "I don't think we ever planned what happens next."

"We have a couple of options," said Hermione. "A, we could adopt the child, and then hopefully give it some siblings down the way, or B, we could give the child for someone else to raise. I'm leaning towards A. I've always wanted to be a mum."

"That makes my life both harder and easier," he said. "I'll have a question to ask in a few days. I'm sure that you'll have the right answer."

"What should we call him?"

"Tom Sirius Potter," responded Harry. "My first-born child will likely be James Daniel, so I didn't want to give that name away."

"Daniel?" asked Hermione. "That's my dad's name."

Harry had a grin on his face as he said, "I know."

\\/

A couple of days later, Tom Sirius Potter was officially registered with both the Muggle and Magical Governments, and Harry and Hermione had passports care of the Magical Ministry. As Tom, who records showed was born 2 May 1997 (on account of his age), was under the age of two, he didn't need a passport.

The Goblins were more than willing to forgive the fact that Harry had stolen a dragon, and broken into the vaults of one of his vassal clans—for the sum of 10,000 Galleons. It turns out that Sirius had willed the title of "Head of the Family Black" to Harry, and that through marriage, the Lestranges were vassals of the Black Family. Since the Lestranges were all convicted of crimes that carried a sentence of Life in Prison without the Possibility of Parole or Pardon, and since they had no heirs, the vaults belonged to him.

At Gringotts, he got a credit card that he would be able to use in the Muggle world. The sum would simply be taken from his vault. With the credit card, they bought three tickets on Qantus to Melbourne, Australia, to go looking for Hermione's parents.