Chapter 12: The Death of Diggory
Ka-el smiles when he sees Bernadette Hermione enter the store. He calls her over to him while every warlock and warlord in the store continues staring at her. She walks up and stands next to Sheldor in the judging circle wondering what fresh hell he has gotten her into now. Ka-el stares directly at her purse as he puts out his hand expecting Bernadette Hermione to hand it over to him.
"Let me see your bag!"
"Uh…okay."
She nervously hands it over as Ron Howard and Cedric Diggory rush towards the inner judging circle ready to defend her if necessary.
"Is there something wrong your honor?"
Ka-el ignores her question as he reaches down into the bag and feels around inside it. Her purse still has a unique magical extension charm on it which allows Bernadette Hermione to keep lots more things inside it than would normally be possible to put in such a little bag. Ka-el wrinkles his brow when he doesn't find what he is looking for so he pulls out his wand. He speaks a Mystic spell over the bag then he looks at Sheldor of Azeroth. Ka-el holds the bag open so Sheldor can reach inside it.
"Go ahead and pull out what you NEED most."
Sheldor frowns because he has no idea what Ka-el wants him to pull out of this bag, but still the scared elf does what he is told to do and reaches inside the bag. He feels around inside until his hands close around a smooth, green and gray stone about the same size as a golden snitch. He pulls out the stone and opens his hands totally surprise to see it. Everyone in the store leans forward and they all gasp out loudly when they see that Sheldor now has the Scientist's Stone in his possession.
Bernadette Hermione is very stunned as well because she has absolutely no idea how the stone got into her purse. But, then she looks up at Ka-el in total awe that he can do such powerful magic. Not even a smart, and powerful witch like herself could pull off such a fantastic spell. Ron Howard smiles as he moves closer to Sheldor of Azeroth for a better look at the stone.
"You've got it! You've got the stone Sheldor!"
"But…but I don't understand. How did this happen? I thought one of us had to win the tournament to get the stone."
Ka-el smiles at the poor misguided warrior elf.
"Yes, under normal circumstances you would have to Sheldor. But, your aura is strong and full of purpose. You seek to save your true love and that kind of sacrifice creates the most powerful magic of all. It has proven to me that you are indeed ready to proceed to the next level of your noble quest."
Sheldor of Azeroth cannot believe his good fortunate. Even though Dobby and Tiny Spock have told him that true love is the answer he still thought there were just talking nonsense.
"But, remember Sheldor of Azeroth this stone only has enough magic left in it to save just one person. So use it wisely and save your woman before it is too late."
Sheldor nods at him excited to finally have what they need. Cedric and Neville both smile delighted for him and ready to help in any way they can..
"Uh…well… thank you…Ka-el…sir."
"Don't thank me. Thank Dumbledore. He is the one who put the spell on the stone. Whoever wanted to find the Sorcerer's Stone, but not use it would be able to get it and that is why young Harry Potter was able to get that stone. But, with this one, the Scientist's Stone Dumbledore made sure to put a spell a different spell on it. Whoever needs to find the stone and use it will be able to do so as long as their reason for doing so is good and pure."
Bernadette Hermione finally grins with delight for Sheldor too. She is so happy he managed to do something right for a change and that Dumbledore was smart enough to put such a wonderful protection spell on the stone.
"That is brilliant!" she replies as Ka-el hands Bernadette Hermione back her purse. However, Dennis Draco is not happy about this at all. He wanted desperately to win the stone himself and present it to Lord Wheaton to prove once and for all that he is meant to become the next heir and lord of Slytherin house. He glares at Sheldor of Azeroth angrily and pounds his fist hard on the table.
"THIS IS BULLSHIT!"
His fellow Slytherin comrade however is not upset about this change in plans because he sees it as a new opportunity instead of a setback. Sir Todd Zarnecki realizes that there is a silver lining here. He figures it will be much easier to steal the stone from Sheldor of Azeroth later than it would have been to try winning the tournament fair and square.
"Sit down! Have patience, Draco…patience. Our time will come."
"WHAT!? But…but…he's got our stone! That bumbling lovesick fool has got it. He isn't even the Chosen One. I AM! It's my turn…MINE! I won't fail Slytherin house again. I can't!"
"Relax dude; he isn't even who we should be worrying about right now. We must tell Lord Wheaton what's happened so that he won't punish us and send someone else to do the job. Let me handle Sheldor of Azeroth, I've stolen from that moron plenty before. I can do it again."
Sir Zarnecki waves his wand under the table and whispers so no one else in store will see him conjuring up a snake.
"Serpensortia."
Lilith, Lord Wheaton's pet snake hisses and slithers her way out from under the table waiting for his instructions. Sir Zarnecki rubs her head gently and whispers to her in parsel-tongue.
"My sweet, go and tell the Dark Lord that he will have the stone before the full moon rises. Tell him we plan to steal it from Sheldor of Azeroth.
Dennis Draco smiles at the thought of finally getting his hands on that stone. He leans down to talk to Lilith too.
"Yes, tell him I will kill him myself if I have too."
Lilith hisses in response then her eyes start to glow. Sir Zarnecki continues rubbing her head until glowing in her eyes stops.
"Ask him to send us his fiercest Death-eaters and three of his fastest Dragons. Tell him….the war has begun!"
Lilith hisses in approval and then quickly disappears back under the table in a small cloud of black smoke. She knows her master will be pleased to finally get the stone into his possession, but Lord Wheaton won't let them rest until he also has the One Ring to give to his own Master.
Sir Zarnecki turns back to Dennis Draco after Lilith has gone and whispers into his ear.
"I will follow Sheldor of Azeroth back to the school. We he's asleep at midnight I will sneak into his room and take the stone. Dennis you must distract those idiot friends of his with a sleeping spell can you do that?."
Dennis Draco nods his head feeling slightly encouraged again now that there is a new evil plan at work.
Meanwhile, Sheldon of Azeroth asks Ka-el what he should do next to finish his mission.
"Now how do I find Frodo and the Ring your honor?"
"Go to Hogwarts Castle, inside the castle there is a room that can only be found when it needs to be located."
"You mean the Room of Requirement?"
"Yes. Go there in the morning and take the stone with you. Don't let it out of your sight. In the room is a portal to another dimension that will transport you to a new world. There in the Dark forest you should be able to find Frodo. Just remember what I told you about the Ring and be very careful my young friend."
"Well, thank you Ka-el you've been very helpful. I just have one more question and maybe I should have led with this when did we become friends?"
Ka-el j laughs at loud at Sheldor's innocent confusion about how to make friends. He pats Sheldor on the shoulder then Ka-el looks at Sheldor's other dear friends."
"Look out for him. He will need all the help he can get to finish this quest."
Bernadette Hermione, Ron Howard, Cedric Diggory and Neville LongBottom nod at Ka-el. They all realize how important this mission is and they want to do their best to help in any way they can. But, before anyone can say their goodbyes to Ka-el and the other judges they are quickly interrupted when large clouds of black smoke burst through the doors and windows of the Stuart's shop. Everyone begins to scream and panic as several Death eaters sent by Lord Wheaton swarm the place and start blasting away with their wands. Sheldor screams very loudly like a girl and runs to hide behind Stuart terrified at first of being killed. Stuart grabs his friend and quickly hides Sheldor behind his cashier's counter. Stuart then pulls out his wand.
"STAY DOWN!"
Bernadette Hermione grabs her wand out of her purse and starts fighting back along with her husband Ron Howard.
"EXPELLIARMUS!"
Ron Howard attacks a Death eater with another spell to protect his wife.
"FURNUNCULUS!"
The death eater gets hit by Ron Howard's curse and falls off his broom screaming in pain as hot boils form all over his body. While Stuart, Bernadette and Ron Howard work their magic Cedric tries to help get all the younger warlock children out of the store before they get hurt.
"RUN! RUN! GET OUT! HURRY! THIS WAY!"
Ka-el attempts to conjure up a large fireball to blast the Death eaters into smithereens, but he is struck by several Death eaters all at once. They target him and the other judges more than anyone else knowing how powerful their magic can be. One of the cruelest and most cunning of all evil witches Leslie Lestrange cackles like a psycho as she appears right behind Ka-el in a cloud of awful smelling purple and black smoke.
"AVADA KADAVRA!"
Ka-el is struck hard with the dreaded killing curse and falls down off his throne crashing into a tournament table nearby. He bleeds from the mouth as his eyes start fading to gray. Sheldor of Azeroth sees him in trouble and suddenly decides to be brave again. He races from behind Stuart's counter to help Ka-el, but unfortunately it is too late for him now. Cedric attacks Leslie Lestrange on his own, but she grabs him by the throat and strangles the life out of his slender graceful neck. Stuart screams at her when he turns around after disarming another Death eater.
"STOP IT! LET HIM GO!"
He runs across the store to help his friend out, but an evil fire breathing dragon blocks his path with a sizzling blast of fire that engulfs the entire roof of the store in flames. The roof slowly begins to cave in on them all. So Bernadette Hermione grabs her husband's hand and yells at him to get Sheldor out right away!
"OH THE HORROR….THE HORROR!" Sheldor cries out in agony as he watches Ka-el bleeding out. Ka-el manages to speak just one final time before his death.
"The Ring…get…the….ri…."
Sheldor nods his head and his eyes fill with tears as Ka-el dies.
Leslie Lestrange tosses Cedric Diggory into the dragon fire and it burns him up badly. Stuart finally gets to his friend and quickly throws his own magical cloak over Cedric to put the fire out before it is too late. Bernadette Hermione pelts Lestrange with magical icicles sharper than broken glass. Leslie's face is sliced several times, but she disappears from the store before the icicles kill her.
Ron Howard runs over and grabs Cedric's head. He begs his dear friend to hold on.
"DON'T YOU DIE ON ME! DO YOU HEAR! DON'T! BERNADETTE! SHELDOR! HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!"
Cedric coughs up black smoke from his lungs and groans in pain unable to speak anymore. Bernadette kills the last Death eater left in the room before he escapes. She screams out in frustration and races over to her crying husband.
"The stone. We have to use the stone."
Cedric shakes his head in rebuttal. He knows he can't survive much longer and if Sheldor uses the stone to save him then he will not be able to save his true love. Ron screams at Sheldor to get the hell over there with the stone anyway. Sheldor stands up holding the stone, but before he can even move Dennis Draco sneaks up behind him. He taps Sheldor on the shoulder then grabs the stone, but Sheldor kicks Dennis hard in the balls.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Draco screams out as he falls down to the smoky floor doubled over in pain. Sir Zarnecki uses this opportunity to grab the stone out of Sheldor's hand himself, but with what little strength he has left Sheldor grabs Zarnecki's hand and angrily bites him with his sharp elf teeth. Bernadette Hermione waves her wand to stop Zarnecki from getting the stone.
"STUPEFY!"
Zarnecki flies backwards and crashes into the wall behind Stuart's counter. Cedric coughs one more and Ron Howard holds him crying and begging him not to give die.
"PLEASE NO! YOU CANT DIE! SHELDOR HURRY!"
Cedric tries to whisper one final "I love you." to his best friend, but he is too weak to talk. He dies in Ron Howard's arms and Ron cries out as he buries his face in Cedric's shoulder.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOO!"
Author's Note: Thanks for Reading. I'm sure by now you've all guessed who Cedric really is in Sheldon's dream. But, don't feel too bad because this is only his first death in the story and he is still technically alive in reality since this is really all just a dream in Sheldon's mind.
