Chapter 23

Harry stood in the large tent along with Krum, Fleur, and Cedric. His mind was in chaos with his nervous energy. He couldn't stop pacing, but was relieved to see Cedric doing the same thing. When Cedric saw him looking at him, he walked over.

"Hi, Harry."

"Hey, Cedric."

"Look, Harry. I just wanted to tell you that you've done a good job. Whether you managed to get yourself in here or someone's after you, you've proven you belong here. And, no matter who wins, Congratulations."

Harry nodded. "Thanks, Cedric. You, too."

"Thanks."

"Cedric," Harry said causing the older boy to stop turning.

"Yeah?"

"I really didn't put my name in that goblet."

Cedric stared at him hard for a moment before giving him a sad smile. "I believe you. I also think if someone's after you now would be the time for it. That maze…no one will be able to see us. Not even Dumbledore."

Harry sat on his cot. "Bloody hell. I know."

Cedric felt bad for the kid in front of him. He was seventeen and he knew he wouldn't have been able to deal with all Harry had been through and was sure to go through. "If I'm able at any point in there, I've got your back."

"No. You don't have to."

"Well, I won't stand by and let someone try to kill a friend of mine."

Harry knew he surpassed Cedric in skill and knowledge, all in thanks to Salis, but it was the gesture that meant something. "Me either."

Flashing a smile, Cedric went to his own corner, leaving Harry to resume his pacing. "Harry?" He heard the whisper. "Harry?"

"Mione?" He asked quietly pulling the flap back.

Her arms were around him in an instant. "I'm afraid. Harry, I'm scared for you."

"Oh, Mione, don't think like that. I'm a good wizard. I can handle this."

"Please don't do something stupid. Again."

He knew she meant use his elemetals. "I won't. I promise."

She kissed his cheek quickly before dashing from the tent, but he still saw the tears in her eyes. He sat on his cot once again, putting his head in his hands. At once, a vision of the graveyard from his dreams came into focus. He then saw that traitor Wormtail.

Harry stood with the others before the maze. He was only half listening to Dumbledore say he and Cedric were first to go. His heart beat was so loud he was surprised he could hear at all. He had no idea what his visions had meant, but even the sound of his heartbeat pushed that away. Yes, he might have abilities beyond his years, but deep down, he was still a fourteen-year-old boy. And he was terrified.

Once Dumbledore had let them go, Cedric and Harry dashed into the maze and went their separate ways. Harry had to admit he was scared. Pushing the feeling away, he headed deeper into the dark maze. Minutes had passed and he was sure that Krum and Fleur were now inside the maze, too. As he turned the corner, his scar seared with pain and he fell to his knees.

"AH!"

"Harry?" Cedric's voice sounded far away through the pain throbbing in his head.

"Cedr…"Harry's voice trailed off as another shot of pain coursed through his head.

"Come on, Harry," the older boy said as he lifted him.

As quickly as the pain had come, the pain was gone as Harry managed to block it with a shield. He shook his head to clear it and stood straight as if nothing had happened. "Thank you, Cedric. I'm fine."

"Welcome," but Cedric didn't look too certain.

Harry dashed his way through the maze using spells to blast away strange creatures, or using his Patronus Charm to get past the boggart. Having to make sure he didn't use wordless or wandless magic was becoming a pain and he almost slipped a few times.

"Krum?" Harry called as the large figure stepped from around a corner. "Viktor?" The boy's eyes were distant, lifeless almost.

Krum gave a growl of sorts before he leaped towards Harry. A voice yelled something he didn't recognize and down Krum went. Cedric was behind him, panting. "I'm sure you could've taken him, but I reacted."

Harry nodded. "No, thanks. He had me surprised."

Cedric nodded. "Me too, a few moments ago. Have you seen Fleur?"

Harry shook his head. "No."

"Enchanted branches…drug her underneath them. I tried to get her lose, but…"

"Enchanted. I guess it's just you and me."

"Yeah. Good Luck."

"You too."

Once again, the two boys set off in different directions. Harry wasn't so much trying to win as just trying to get out. He didn't really want fame and glory, he had that and he hated it. Turning a corner, he stopped. There it was, the trophy.

"Finally." Cedric was there too.

"Go ahead."

"No. You deserve it. You've beaten all odds to get here."

Harry smirked. If only Cedric knew the truth. "You take it. You are the true Hogwarts champion after all."

Cedric smacked his shoulder. "We'll both get it. The same time, a tie."

Harry saw Cedric wouldn't budge, so he gave a nod. As he did so, the ground began to shake and the wind picked up. "Run!" He yelled over the raging wind.

Both of the boys bolted in the direction of the cup, running as fast as they could. Harry had planned to let Cedric's hand touch the cup just before his, but their hands clutched the cup at the same time with Harry hoping it would stop the wind and ground.

He never expected to be portkeyed and to be slammed into to the cool, misty ground. A bit jolted, he stood.

"Where the bloody hell are we?" Cedric asked as he stood shakily. "They never mentioned this. Could this be to break the tie?"

Harry said nothing as he scanned the graveyard. He closed his eyes in dread, hoping he was dreaming. But his eyes saw the same graveyard when the opened and it all made sense to him now. His dream had been a warning. Now, he was to face what he knew could only be something bad….and he had unintentionally brought Cedric into it as well.

"Cedric, listen to me carefully. Do what I say, when I say it. Do not question me."

"What? Why? What's going on?"

"I'm not sure, but it's nothing good and it has nothing to do with the tie. Trust me. Please."

Even though Harry saw his confusion, Cedric nodded warily. "Hide somewhere. Now."

But there was no time. A man appeared from the fog carrying what look like a swaddled baby. As soon as the man began to say "Avada Kedavra!", Harry mentally threw Cedric behind a statue and the curse missed him by inches.

"Stay there!" Harry yelled as he flew through the air and slammed into another statue. He had no time to react before the statues arm pinned him back. "Wormtail," he snarled as he focused on the man. That was all he could say before a pain seared across his scar, blinding him with pain.

Harry heard nothing of what Wormtail said as he watched the ritual. He winced only once, not at his own pain but as he watched the man cut off his arm. The cut Wormtail gave his own arm barely registered in his mind compared to the pain in his head, but the liquid in the cauldron before him bubbled as his blood dripped into it. He watched, in horror, as the black cloud that came out of the cauldron and formed into a man.

Harry knew only one thing. Voldemort had returned.

He watched as the Dark Lord pressed his wand against the mark on Wormtail's arm. Moments later, more black clouds arrived and formed into men in masks, the Death Eaters. He was grateful that Cedric had listened to him and stayed hidden.

Harry fought to control his pain as Voldemort spoke to his followers and managed to finally contain it in a "mental box". He felt minimal pain and could now focus, just in time for Voldemort to turn his attention to him.

"Ahh, Harry Potter. So good of you to join our party. I do say, you are the guest of honor."

"Damn. I wanted to crash the party."

Voldemort's sneer only flickered for an instance. "I knew you were a fighter, Harry, but are you sure you want to fight with fire."

Harry wanted to laugh. If Voldemort only knew. "Fire's easy. Where's the challenge?"

Voldemort laughed. "Arrogant. I'll fix that, boy. I'll break your confidence and have you beg for mercy, just like your father."

"James Potter was not a coward."

"Then shall we see what he passed on to you?" Voldemort's long finger touched his forehead, causing the "box" to break and the pain to course through his body. It took only a moment this time to box the pain. Voldemort released him suddenly and he fell to the hard ground.

"Harry?" He heard Cedric call.

Harry stayed stone-faced as Voldemort's sneer returned. "Did you bring a friend for us, Harry? Shall we have a bit of fun?" Voldemort turned to look in the direction of Cedric's voice. "If you show yourshelf, we'll send you home."

Cedric was confused and most likely frightened, so Harry couldn't blame him for wanting to peek. Harry watched his eyes go wide at the site in the graveyard. "Harry."

"Crucio!"

But Harry was quicker, mentally pushing him away again.

"Oh, Harry. That was not wise."

"Bugger off."

"Mouth!" Voldemort cried as he raised his wand.

Harry made up his mind quickly, throwing out the rules. His father would forgive him. With a wave of his hand, the ground around Voldemort shifted, causing him to stumble to the ground. He brought the wind next, harsh and fast.

"Now, Voldemort, do you want to fight with fire?" Harry's eyes went dark with fury as his body erupted into flames. "Is this fiery enough for you?"

Balls of fire flew in every direction. Death Eaters were scrambling on the ground, a few getting hit with fire. Though Voldemort could not fight in the same way, he did produce a shield strong enough to block the fire.

"You fight dirty, Harry, but that is never a bad thing. Join me. Join me and we can rule with absolute power."

His fiery body diminished and he stood firm on the ground. "Never, Voldemort. Never."

"So be it."

As Voldemort yelled "Avada Kedavra", Harry yelled "Crucio" and their magic met in mid air, joining. Harry went to break the hold when his parents, among others, appeared beside him.

"We can give you only seconds, Harry, so hurry," his father said.

"We will protect you," his mother said softly as her hand touched his shoulder.

Harry nodded and yelled, "Now!" The connection broke and Harry ran towards Cedric. He heard the words and saw the green streak head towards him, but it never hit him. Cedric's eyes went lifeless and Harry screamed "NO!" as he touched both Cedric and the Cup.

Harry heard the excited cheers and knew he was now safe, but he thought of only one thing. Cedric.

"Cedric?" He asked pointlessly as he shook the boy's limp body. He never noticed the crowd go silent as he cried and muttered Cedric's name repeatedly.

"Harry! Harry, let him go," he heard Salis' voice call to him, but his iron grip refused to break. Somehow, he was being dragged from the body despite his efforts to break free.

Harry was pinned against the stadium by Salis and Sirius. "Harry, son, are you alright? Harry?" But he wouldn't answer.
"He's in shock," Sirius' voice said quietly.

"Here, let me take him inside. Help Dumbledore. He might need it," a gruff voice said authoritively.

Salis tensed. "No. Alastor?" Professor Moody's face began to change rapidly. Finished, Salis' wand was instantly at the man's throat. "Barty Crouch, Jr. Never would have guessed."

"That was the plan."

But Harry heard no more as his body slid to the ground.

The first sound he heard was the scratching of a quill. Groggy, he slowly opened his eyes to find Hermione sitting in a chair beside his bed, her head bent of the parchment she was writing on.

"You're not finished yet?"

Hermione gave a gasp at the sound of his voice, but recovered quickly and jumped to wrap her arms around him. "Oh, Harry, you're awake! I've been so worried."

He hugged her close, enjoying the feel of it. He could thin of no better comfort. "How long have I been here?"

She sat back. "Only through the night. It's morning now, but because of…everything that happened, Dumbledore and Salis thought it best if you spend the night in the hospital wing."

"Does anyone know what happened?"

Nodding, she took his hand. "Salis used Legillimens on you to find out what happened. I…I did, too, because he wouldn't say anything to me. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It saves me from reliving it. So…Cedric…He's really…?"

"Yes," she whispered, her voice quavering.

"And Moody?"

"Was really Barty Crouch Jr using the polyjuice potion. From what they've gathered, you spent more time away than he had thought you would, so his hour was up by the time he finally reached you. They found the real Moody locked in an enchanted trunk."

Harry closed his eyes and fought to say the next words. "And do they know…Do they know he's back?"

Her hand squeezed his. "Yes."

"I used my magic, Mione."

"Yes, but it saved your life and Salis doesn't care. He's telling Dumbledore now."

"But now HE knows. He knows and can fight me."

"Yes, but he can't do what you can."

"Oh, Mr. Potter, you're awake. Miss Granger, can you give me a few minutes to check Mr. Potter?"

"I'll be back, Harry," Hermione said softly and kissed his cheek.

He smiled sadly. To think he was planning on telling her he loved her after the tournament was over. Harry now knew he couldn't. He couldn't risk letting Voldemort know she was that important to him. He couldn't think of life without her.