Chapter Eleven
"Play her game. She wants to be friends, whether for some ultimate plan or whatnot. So be her friends. Get close to her. Maybe you guys can earn her trust enough where she won't want to pull off her plan."
I am a terrible person. I ditched my boyfriend, an easily jealous guy, and went to get chummy with his three enemies.
"...I thought he was crazy, and then he started to say some stuff about Voldemort getting stronger. I left him with Krum and went to get Dumbledore, and when we came back, Krum was Stunned, and Crouch was gone."
Moody seemed almost satisfied, then it changed to shock. "Dad? The Dark Lord is your father?"
"Why can't we use Mrs. Norris, or something else?" Ron complained, rubbing his back and getting up after Harry had Stunned him.
"Harry needs to practice, Ron, and it's your own fault that you keep missing the cushions," Hermione replied.
There was a scoff from the other side of the Transfiguration classroom. Jez was twirling her wand between her fingers again. "Why don't you give it a go, Hermione, see how bad your back hurts after a few falls."
Hermione sniffed and ignored her. "I think Harry has the Stunning Spell down. That's all for today. Tomorrow we can do Impedimenta, it should slow down anything coming towards you, Harry."
Harry nodded and pocketed his wand. He helped the others stack the cushions in the corner.
Jez snapped her fingers. "Can't do tomorrow. Draco and the others are going on the pitch for a small Quidditch game."
Harry's heart ached for a Quidditch game. But he had to practice. "Alright."
"We'll be fine without you," Hermione said. Jez laughed mockingly.
Ron shook his head. "They'll never get along..." he mumbled desperately.
Jez laughed and left the room, ahead of the others.
Hermione's false smile dropped from her face. "Oh, I can't stand her. I can't wait for this year to end, then the tournament will be over, she'll be gone, and we don't have to play Sirius' little game."
Ron shrugged. "She's really not that bad. I think you really do bring out her worst." He cowered under Hermione's glare. "Er, wow, the time! Harry, mate, we should get to Trewlaney's, we're finishing planetary divination today!"
Harry sniggered. "Ooh, exciting. Yes, see you at dinner, Hermione!"
The boys ran out of the room, headed for the North Tower.
"You are in luck, Wormtail. You are very fortunate indeed, for your blunder has not ruined everything. He is dead."
"My Lord! My Lord...I am so grateful...so pleased...so sorry..."
"Nagini. I am afraid that you will not be eating Wormtail tonight. We have more...interesting matters to discuss. He has discovered a curious girl. Little Jezebel...however did you end up here? My beautiful, tricky Aliya...time travel indeed..."
"My Lord...what...?"
"Silence, Wormtail. Perhaps another reminder why I will not tolerate another little blunder from you..."
"N-no, My Lord, p-please—"
"Crucio."
The screaming...the pain...as if his very bones were being burned to ashes...
"Harry...HARRY!"
He opened his eyes, scar burning. He was on the squishy floor of the Divination classroom, clutching his scar. His eyes watered from the pain. The class was frozen and silent, and Trewlaney was huddled over him, eyes huge and excited behind her thick glasses. Ron was beside him.
"Are you alright?" he asked, looking terrified.
Trewlaney made a little squeak of excitement. "Of course not! What was it, Potter? A premonition? An apparition? It must have been the clairvoyant vibrations of my room—perhaps my very presence!"
"It was nothing," Harry coughed, throat hoarse. "I'd like to go the hospital wing."
"No, you must stay! What else do you See?"
Harry stood, shaking Trewlaney's bony hand off his shoulder. Ron gathered their things and they left the tower.
Harry veered off course to the hospital wing. Ron gave him a concerned look. "Mate, the hospital wing is this way..."
"No, you go, Ron, I need to see Dumbledore."
Ron gaped, both bags hanging from his hands. "Er, I don't need Madam Pomfrey, Harry, you're the one who was screaming in Divination..."
Harry shook his head. "This is important. I need to talk to Dumbledore."
He heard Ron sigh as he quickly walked to the Headmaster's office. Ron didn't follow him.
At the gargoyle, Harry realized he didn't know the password.
He rattled off many different candies. "Chocolate Frog!" He was reminded of Jez, who was addicted to the candy. "Er, Sugar Quills!" Still the gargoyle did not budge.
"Cockroach Cluster!" he yelled, rather sarcastically.
The gargoyle slid aside. Harry rushed up.
He heard Fudge, Dumbledore, and Moody having a conversation inside, about Crouch's disappearance, and Bertha Jorkins.
"...Potter wants a word with you, Dumbledore. He's just outside the door."
Harry froze at Moody's words. The wooden door swung open.
"Harry!" Fudge said, spinning his bowler hat on his hand. "We were just about to go down to the grounds, examine the area Mr. Crouch disappeared..."
"I need to talk to you, Professor," Harry said, looking pleadingly at Dumbledore.
The old man's blue eyes twinkled behind his glasses. "Ah, I suppose you would. Wait here, Harry. We'll only be a moment."
Harry stood silently as the three men left. The door swung shut, leaving Harry with Fawkes.
He sat in the chair before Dumbledore's desk. The portraits of past Headmasters and Headmistresses snored on. There was quiet clicking and whirring from Dumbledore's many delicate instruments. Harry gazed around the room, taking in the whimsicalities of Dumbledore's office.
He spotted a glowing blue light. Curiosity took over, and he got up to explore.
"Igor Karkaroff...you say you have some names for us?"
"Ludo Bagman, you have been brought before the Council of Magical Law to answer charges related to Death Eater activity, concerning yourself."
"The four of you stand accused of capturing an Auror, Frank Longbottom, and subjecting him to the Cruciatus Curse—"
"Father, please, I didn't, don't send me there—"
"You are further accused of using the Cruciatus Curse on Frank Longbottom's wife—"
"I'm your son!"
"You are no son of mine."
"It's called a Pensieve. It is useful for the times when I have much too many excess thoughts on my mind. One simply siphons those thoughts out of the mind, and places it in the Pensieve, for safekeeping."
Harry stared back and forth between the silvery substance and Dumbledore. "You mean...that swirly stuff...is your thoughts?"
"What is it you needed to tell me, Harry?"
"Well, sir, I was in Divination, and I—er, I fell asleep, and had a dream—a dream about...Lord Voldemort. He was torturing Wormtail...and he said that Wormtail's blunder was covered, or something, because someone was dead. He was going to feed him to the snake, this massive snake beside him. He mentioned Jez."
"Jez?" Dumbledore queried.
Harry bit his lip. Should he tell Dumbledore? He trusted him, but he didn't want to tell Jez's secret to everyone. Then again, this was Dumbledore, and he probably knew already.
"She's this girl, from Beauxbatons. She came because her cousin entered the tournament, or something. Jez Riddle."
Dumbledore's face became troubled for a moment. "I see." After a pause Dumbledore said, "Continue, please, Harry."
"Er, then Voldemort used the Cruciatus Curse on Wormtail, as a punishment, and the pain was so bad, it was unbearable...I was screaming, and I woke up."
"Ah."
Harry told everything to Ron and Hermione that night. About the Pensieve, his dream, Barty Crouch's son, the disappearances—everything he had learned and heard in Dumbledore's office. He left out the part about Neville's parents, figuring that was private information that Neville could share on his own.
"You told Dumbledore about Jez?" Ron asked, worried.
Hermione scoffed. "Of course he did. We should have a long time ago, you know."
"I think he knew already," Harry said. "He knew the name of her mother, even though she went to Beauxbatons, and he didn't ask that many questions about her. Anyway, I just told him that she goes to Beauxbatons, and came because of her cousin. He seemed to get it after I said her name was Riddle."
"Well, he is Dumbledore, he knows just about everything," Hermione reasoned.
"But listen to this—now Voldemort knows about Jez, and knows she's here, in this time," Harry said urgently. "He said she was an interesting matter, which means she must be part of some plan."
"Maybe he'll try to take her back," Ron said fearfully.
"I wonder how he knows all of this?" Hermione wondered.
(Jez POV)
I wasn't hanging around Ron, Harry, and Hermione as often anymore. In fact, I rarely was with them. Must have been a phase.
They just seemed...secretive. Like there was something that urgently needed to be discussed, but only among themselves. They would give me these wary looks, like they were either scared of me, or scared for me.
Whatever. Draco and the gang are much more fun to be around.
Today we were outside among the students milling about the courtyard. Just me, Draco, Daphne, Blaise, and the thugs. We were trying to guess what Daphne had gotten her sister Astoria for her birthday when that dratted Parkinson ran up, something cupped in her hands.
"You will not believe this!" she shrieked. I winced. "You know all those articles, written by Rita Skeeter?"
"Yes..." we all drawled lazily.
"Well, I have her here, she wants dirt on Potter!"
Draco shot up from his cozy position as my headrest. I protested, and grumbled as I regained my balance.
"What do you mean—"
Pansy opened her hands, revealing a shiny green beetle. I shied away. Bugs were not my thing.
"She's an Animagus. If we talk to her, she'll remember, and write another article on Potter!"
Daphne screwed her nose. "Isn't this illegal?"
"Who cares?" Draco laughed, cupping his hands. I pursed my lips. Skeeter writes trash. But I felt that I owed it to Draco, to stick by him against Harry for once, since much of my time before had been spent—wasted, I was now thinking—around those three.
Skeeter-beetle fluttered to his hands.
"So...dirt on Potter..." Draco grinned. "He's a Parselmouth."
I startled. Really? Impossible, only Slytherin's line had that blood.
"There were attacks on the school a couple years back, and everyone thought he was behind them, because he set this great snake on another boy after losing his temper at a Dueling Club. It was all kept quiet, though."
I took in this new information. I remember Draco telling me this story, and he was not sharing it right. If he was telling the truth the first time, then it was him who had created the snake, and Harry had claimed he was telling it to back off of the other boy. Draco and his lies.
"He's also made friends with werewolves, and that giant brute, Hagrid."
I cocked my head. "Giant brute? He's only half giant, and he's really nice!"
They all raised an eyebrow at me. Skeeter buzzed out of Draco's hands and flew towards me. I shrieked and backed away, swatting a hand at her.
The others laughed. "Looks like Jez doesn't want to be in the story, Skeeter," Draco said, wrapping an arm around me.
I smirked. "It's an article about Harry, why should I?"
Skeeter buzzed around a bit, then flew off.
"That was so illegal," Daphne said, shaking her head.
The next morning I dressed in my blue robes, but I also pinned a small Gryffindor lion to my chest. It was the day of the third task, and I was supporting Fleur and Harry.
I settled into breakfast with Draco and the Slytherins, since I planned on watching the third task with the Beauxbatons students.
I had just thrown a piece of my toast at Blaise for calling me Mrs. Malfoy when Draco burst out laughing.
We all stared at him. "What, is the idea of me marrying you that funny?" I asked, confused and slightly hurt.
He shook his head. "Look at this..."
He showed us his newspaper.
HARRY POTTER: DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS
I groaned. Harry didn't need this, not on the day of the third task. I glanced over at them, two tables away. Ron and Hermione were trying to hide the newspaper, but Harry, who was sitting facing me, was giving them a look, like "I-don't-want-to-know-but-show-me-anyway."
Pansy had snatched the article and was reading it in a high-pitched voice, giggling. I closed my eyes and silently sent out my concerns for Harry.
"Potter! Hey, Potter! How's your head?" Draco yelled across the Great Hall. I winced.
I grabbed Draco's arm and hissed, "I didn't know she was writing for the Prophet!"
His smirk slipped just a bit. "What do you mean?"
"She published an article with false information about Harry in the worldwide newspaper!"
"I know! It's brilliant!"
I shook my head. "Poor Harry..." I got up from the table and ran over to the Gryffindor table. I didn't see Draco narrow his eyes at me.
Hermione was just rushing up as I approached them, saying something about the library. I blinked as she passed me. Harry and Ron looked surprised.
I slid into Hermione's spot. "Hey."
Harry looked at me. Those eyes... "Hi, Jez."
I sighed. "So, er, the article..."
He laughed half-heartedly. "Yeah, she's gone off me a bit, hasn't she?"
Ron laughed. I chuckled slightly.
"You speak Parseltongue?" I whispered, leaning across the table.
His expression became guarded. "Yeah."
I stared into his green eyes, then leaned across more and hissed in his ear, "Impossible."
He gave a sharp inhale. "You too?"
Ron looked confused. I nodded. "It's a Slytherin's blood kind of thing."
Harry shook his head. "Can't be, because I don't have Slytherin blood."
I shrugged. "True..."
Ron finally understood. "What, you mean the Parseltongue?" he asked rather loudly.
Harry and I both shushed him.
(Third Person POV)
Harry heard a clunking behind him. He turned. "Oh, hello, Professor Moody," he said, surprised.
Moody grunted. "Nice article, Potter." Harry made an "ah" noise.
Moody turned his eye on Jez. "Riddle, can I have a talk in my office?"
Jez opened her mouth. "Er, yeah, sure..."
Moody grunted again and headed for the entrance hall. Jez gave Ron a quick hug, then leaned across the table again and gave Harry a quick kiss on the cheek. Harry turned red, and Jez was slightly pink as she pulled back. "I'll be cheering you on," she said, not looking at him. She ran out after Moody.
"Blimey, Harry, who was that?" Seamus asked interestedly.
Ron gave Harry a shocked look. "I hope Malfoy didn't see that," he said in a low voice.
Harry looked over at the Slytherin table. Malfoy was too busy clutching his head in mock pain to notice anything.
(Jez POV)
Moody was grumbling and grunting as we walked up stairs, to his office. His eye whirred, and his wooden leg clunked.
"Er, excuse me, sir, but what did you need to talk to me about?" I cowered slightly as his head turned, and his blue eye fixed on me.
"You shouldn't go around speaking Parseltongue in public, Jezebel," he said.
I shuddered at the use of my full name. Then I became skeptical. How did he know—did I ever tell him it was really Jezebel?
"Okay..." I said.
We reached his office. I went in first, and sat in the chair I sat in last time. Moody clicked the lock on the door.
I narrowed my eyes. "Um, professor...sir, why lock the door?"
He smiled, almost...maliciously. "So that no one can come in."
He picked up a small, broken Sneakoscope from his desk. "Catch, Miss Riddle," he said, tossing it to me.
I caught it, surprised. And then I went tumbling through space, screaming and inwardly cursing myself for not reading the signs earlier. Clearly this Moody guy wasn't safe.
With an "oomphf" I landed on hard grass. My hands flew out, and I heard something shatter. I lay there, facedown, waiting for my head to stop pounding. At last I sat up, and froze.
The Sneakoscope must have been a Portkey, because I was no longer in Moody's office. I was in a graveyard.
Fear took over as I realized that I was lying on someone's grave. The headstone was at the head of my body. I squinted at the name on the stone.
TOM RIDDLE
I let out a shriek and searched frantically for the Sneakoscope, to take me back. My panic rose as I realized that the shards of glass beside another headstone was the remains of my passage back. I was stranded.
I screamed. Then I heard a high, chilling laugh. A terrible voice that would haunt me forever fell across the graveyard.
"Jezebel..."
My breathing was quick and shallow. I turned, slowly, terrified.
A grimy looking man stood there, with a bundle cradled in one arm. The other arm had a wand aimed at me. The bundle shifted, and a horrible, pale white face stared me in the eye. I should have gone for my wand, but I was frozen.
"Capture her."
"STUPEFY!"
Shorter chapter, i skipped over a lot. Because i figure that we all know the basis of Goblet of Fire, so i don't need to retype the entire book in my story.
Jez is at the graveyard. What did you think on how i did that, stupid? decent?
Preview for next chap:
In the center of the clearing, a man...a being, stood alone. He stared at Harry. Harry stared back, at the face that had haunted him his entire life.
I stood before him for a couple moments, before raising my wand and whispering, "Diffindo."
Harry cried out as a fresh gash appeared on his upper left arm. He gave me a pained look.
THANKS FROM THE NORTH POLE AND BACK(feeling creative today) TO:
shadowkat678
lolsmileyface6 (next chapter, i promise, will be long, this one was a transition, sorry)
FreezinWinter
BunnyMooMooMonster
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THANKS ALL!
