Disclaimer: I do not own anything that comes from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter (i.e. characters, places, etc). They are all rightfully hers
"Wake up!"
"Bloody Hell! Wake up!"
Harry began to stir as the loud voice continuously called for him to rouse. Slivers of light slowly began to sneak past his eyelids as they began to creak open. Now with his eyes open, Harry realized Ron's face was a mere few inches from his own and could see him quite clearly even without glasses on.
"You know with you so close and your gaffe at the Yule Ball some might think you're a poof" Harry croaked. Ron takes a step back in surprise and his ears slowly glow into Weasley red. Harry hears a laugh a few feet away and recognizes it to be Hermione's.
"So, how are you feeling?" Hermione asks.
"Not bad. I cou… nnngghhh!" Harry cringes. Spasms of pain travel through his body as he attempted to look at Hermione.
"Mr. Potter! You mustn't move as you still have lingering effects of prolonged exposure to the cruciatus curse" Madame Pomfrey states, " take these, it is a numbing potion and a calming potion. They will help with the pain and going through this unnecessary ordeal."
As Harry gulps both potions down without hesitation seeking bliss, the doors to the medical wing swing wide open revealing Headmaster Dumbledore with the ever present twinkle in his eyes.
"I dare to disagree with you my dear Pomfrey" said the Headmaster, "Understanding the recent events are of top priority and only Harry knows what truly happened."
As he approached Harry's bed, Headmaster Dumbledore told Hermione and Ron, "Now both of you must leave and prepare for the departure of the carriages. Do not worry. Harry will be on the train safe and sound when you get there." Ron grumbles while Hermione gives Harry a worried look but Harry gives them a reassuring smile and they leave soon after.
"I will leave you two be for now. Harry, if you feel any more pain then immediately call me over," said Madame Pomfrey as she moved towards her office.
"Alas, now that we are free from distractions, Harry could you please describe everything that happened after you entered the maze. Please leave nothing out as it could have vital information we may need to hunt down Voldemort." stated Headmaster Dumbledore.
"Alright sir, this is how it went…"
Flashback
"AAAAIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Harry turned to the direction of the scream and immediately became worried as he saw no sparks. Instead of moving in a direction towards the cup, Harry decides to hurry over towards the scream. After two turns and a dead end, Harry comes upon a scene of Victor Krum standing over the body of a writhing Fleur Delacour with his wand pointed at her.
Harry instinctively pulls out his wand and yells, "Victor! What are you doing? Let her go. Whatever has happened you have to stop."
Victor simply looks over to Harry then back down at Fleur. Harry notices that his movements are robotic and unnatural. As wands were being moved Harry heard the words
"Ava-"
Immediately, he reacted with "stu"
"da Ke"
"Pefy"
A jet of red light shot across the area and hits Krum in the shoulder as a green one was emitted from his. As Krum was falling, the spell shot out of his wand and narrowly missed Fleur. A scorch mark appeared where the sickly green spell had landed. Harry ran over to both the prone bodies. He made sure Krum was out cold and then made sure he felt a pulse on Fleur's neck. Once he made sure both were alive, he grabbed Krum's wand and shot sparks up into the air so the professors would pick up the incapacitated. With one more look behind him, Harry delved deeper in the maze to find the cup and end this harrowing trial. As he was jogging around another turn, Harry bumped into something and he immediately panicked as his glasses fell off.
"Oh! Sorry bout that. I wasn't watching where I was going. Here are your glasses," a friendly voice apologized. Harry felt a hand shove something in his face and he felt it and realigned them once he realized they were his glasses. Now that Harry could see again, his eyes met a disheveled Cedric Diggory.
"How're you holding up mate?" asked Harry.
"Barely, Harry. At every turn I run into a deadly trap or one of Hagrid's abominations (i.e. skrewts)" exasperated Cedric.
"Don't let him hear you say that about his babies."
Cedric let out a wheezing laugh as he started to look around.
"So Harry, which way are you going to go? Maybe we should stick together because there are some seriously dangerous things in here."
"Sure, two wand are better than one."
End Flashback
"Eventually, we made it to the cup and agreed to grab it at the same time. The moment we grabbed it we were teleported to some kind of graveyard. I heard the words 'capture them' then Cedric pushed me out of the way. Once I got up, I saw Cedric dueling Pettigrew. I immediately came to Cedric's aide and started shooting spells at the dirty rat. Soon after, a spell hit a cauldron nearby that broke and again we heard the voice go 'NOOOOO! Call the others. They must not leave this place!' People in masks started apparating in. I recognized our dire situation so I accio'ed the cup and grabbed Cedric. As we were leaving, a spell hit Cedric. I don't remember anything after that, sir," droned Harry quietly.
"No worry my boy, you went through a traumatic experience. You did the best you could. Cedric was hit by an organ-liquefying curse but fortunately you managed to bring him back fast enough that the medi-wizards at St. Mungo's were able to save him. Soon after, you were dragged away by the imposter Moody. I was able to get to you before he was able to inflict any grievous wounds and now you lay in this bed days later," said the Headmaster, "Well, I must be off Harry. I have things to do. Oh and it is of utmost importance that you stay with your relatives this summer for your protection."
"Yes, sir" stated Harry dejectedly.
BOOM!
"Now where is that boy!" yelled a pudgy man.
"Perfect timing my dear Minister. Harry is right here and once you finish with him we can continue our discussion on preparing for the possibility of Voldemort being back." directed the Headmaster.
"WHAT! Blasphemy! All I came here to do is give Harry his winnings then return to the Ministry. I have no time to deal with the musings of an old man and the beliefs of a delusional young man that Voldemort is back." spluttered Fudge.
"What do you mean? I never said that he was back. It was just his followers who were insane that wanted revenge on their master's killer," interrupted Harry.
… cricket…
"Pardon me?" asked the incredulous Fudge.
"The man Peter Pettigrew drew up this plan along with the other fanatic followers. He was talking to the air like some kind of ghost was there. I think he was hallucinating," said Harry.
"Impossible. Sirius Black killed Mr. Pettigrew," stated Fudge.
"No he didn't, sir. Pettigrew was the one who betrayed my family. Sirius would not have as he is my godfather and loved my parents," responded Harry.
"Wait… if he can't… godfather… traitor," muttered Fudge.
"Nevertheless, I believe we should talk about matters of security if we should have any other events including foreign nations," voiced Dumbledore.
"Of course. Of course. Here are your winnings Mr. Potter. Don't waste it all." Fudge said distractedly as he walked away.
Fudge soon walked out of the infirmary with Dumbledore in tow leaving Harry to his own thoughts. He hoped that Cedric was alright. Harry knew that lying to Dumbledore was incredibly risky but protecting Cedric was more important. What he told Harry on the trek to the cup was told in confidence. Both had shared stories of their past along the way. Harry: his abusive relatives and miraculous disasters at school. Cedric: the "poster" boy image he has to keep and his overbearing abusive father who would accept nothing but success. Harry would take these secrets to the grave because friends like Cedric are so rare not even Ron knows as much as him. As Harry sat lay in the bed with his thoughts, Madame Pomfrey entered quietly with a tray of potions.
She came up to the side of his bed with a concerned face as she said, "Even though I believe it is much too early, Dumbledore said you shouldn't miss the train so take these before you go," said Pomfrey. Harry simply nodded and drank the potions. He shambled to his dorm to pick up his stuff only to find it already packed. He thought nothing of it assuming the house elves did it for him and headed for the train. Once he arrived at the train, Ron and Hermione found him and shepherded him into one of the unoccupied train-cars. They soon after grilled him for any info about his conversation with Dumbledore but found Harry unresponsive to even the simplest questions so they gave up and sat in silence. Harry just stared out the window wondering what the summer was going to entail.
Hours later they arrived at Platform 9 ¾ where their families awaited. Both Ron and Hermione ran to loving parents while Harry simply death marched towards the exit. Hermione shouted something about writing him but honestly Harry tuned nearly everything out as he was at the doorstep to hell. On the other side of the portal stood his relatives waiting for his approach with feral grin.
A.N.: This is my first story. I am mainly doing this for fun. When you do find a mistake please tell me so that I can hopefully become a better writer and create better content. Be as brutal as you want as long as it is constructive. I've been yelled at by college coaches so do your worst.