Hello my wonderful readers, this is a story that I've had on my mind lately and it's inspired by my love for my favorite classic The Count of Monte Cristo. I may post this one pretty irregularly for Harriet Black is my main focus right now but this one I hope would be my diamond in the ruff. Hope you all enjoy! Happy reading.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything really J.K Rowling does.
Catarina opened her eyes with a groan. Her head was pounding and her sight was bleary, she rapidly blinked her eyes till she could see and in front of her a tall pale figure stepped out of a giant cauldron.
Her eyes widened and a great surge of fear went through her as she realized the situation that she was in.
Somehow standing before her more powerful than ever before was the newly resurrected Dark Lord Voldemort. He was tall abnormally so with pale almost see through skin that was stretched so thinly over his bony frame you could see the blue veins underneath and he had no nose just slits like a snakes. When he looked directly at her with the most brightest and vivid red eyes she had ever seen her scar upon her forehead immediately burst into a pain so great she nearly passed out again.
Slightly tilting his head to the right he observed her as she struggled against his father's tombstone he whispered in a hiss " Catarina Potter". With a smirk that looked more like a snarl with his grotesque features he looked down upon the sniveling figure before him. "Wormtail" he hissed " Give me your arm".
" Oh t-thank you m-my lord!" Cried Wormtail and held up his right arm with the now profusely bleeding stump from where he sliced it off for the ritual.
With a snarl the dark lord said " The other arm you fool!" With a whimper the coward held up his left arm and the dark lord harshly grabbed it and pulled the sleeve down to reveal a black skull with a snake protruding from its open mouth that seemed branded upon Wormtails forearm
Voldemort put his thumb against the mark and sent his magic to call forth his death eaters. In a quite hiss he said " Now I wonder who will come and bear witness of their lords return, who has not turned coward at the call of their mighty lord".
Catarina now fully aware of her predicament and her scar now a dull throb, started to think of ways to escape alive if possible.
Looking around her she noted her wand lay just a few feet from where she was and in the corner of her eye she could see the triwizard cup just at the edge of the graveyard. Laying next to it she realized with a sob in her throat was Cedrics body whom was murdered by Wormtail mere moments of their arrival.
Slowly she was trying to get some sort of friction on the rope that bound her to the tombstone, trying in some desperate attempt to cut it through the edge of the rough weathered stone. If she could get her hand free then she could reach the small pocket knife she stole from Dudley in her back pocket and use it to cut the rest of the rope.
She kept her eyes glancing back and forth to the dark lord and to Pettigrew who was currently curled up on the ground sniffling in his pain and the cup that was a couple yards away. If she just could get free she could sprint her way to freedom. It was a stupidly reckless Gryffindorish plan but there was no way she could stand toe to toe with Voldemort and win.
Just as she managed to get her hand free she heard multiple pops of people apparating in the grave yard. She briefly froze as she realized that these must be his followers the self proclaimed Death Eaters. Several people in black battlerobes with pointed hoods and sliver skull like masks formed a circle all around Voldemort.
Looking around at his death eaters the dark lord said in a low voice " Fourteen long years it has been my friends yet you answer my summons like you never betrayed me". The death eaters around him shuffled at bit in their shame.
Continuing on the dark lord hissed " Where were you when I needed you most, hmm did you really think a mere babe could defeat the dark lord! I who has gone further than any before me to achieve immortality!!" Immediately one of his followers fell to his knees and crawled toward the feet of Voldemort and cried out " Please forgive me my lord! Have mercy! Please I am still your most loyal!"
With a flick of his wand the man at the feet of Lord Voldemort screamed in pain as his body convulsed in unnatural angles.
" You dare still claim loyalty to me McNair when you claimed bewitched and slithered to the lights side!" The dark lord yelled. Releasing him from his spell the dark lord made his way to a tall figure that had long white blonde hair peaking through his hood. " And what of you Lucius my slippery friend" the dark lord hissed.
The man Catarina recognized to be Lucius Malfoy immediately bowed before Lord Voldemort and said " My lord if there were any whispers any inkling of your whereabouts..." "CRUCIO!" The dark lord screamed and Malfoy fell down his body contorting in painful angles but he did not scream.
Begrudgly Catarina had a smidgen of respect for the proud lord as he refused to show weakness. As soon as it happened it stopped and Malfoy shakenly stood back up quietly thanking his lord for his mercy.
As the dark lord continued to speak to his followers Catarina was sawing through the rope that binds her to the tombstone, frantically moving her eyes to the figures around her dearly hoping none take notice to her work.
Just as she victoriously broke free from the last dregs of rope Voldemort made his way toward her. She stilled but he did not seem to notice that she was now unbound.
Looking into her eyes he said " Catarina Potter the girl who lived now come to die". He searched her face for what she did not know till his eyes landed upon her scar. " It was quite clever something I should have foreseen, the love that a mother has for her child, but no matter I can touch you now Catarina Potter" and with that he reached out with his index finger and touched her scar, a burning pain felt like it spilt her head in two and she screamed and leaned as far from him as she could.
Quickly as it came the pain stopped, panting and bleary eyed she picked her head up and looked toward the dark lord. She froze not knowing what was going on for he was looking at her like he had never seen something like her before.
In a quiet voice she heard him mutter to himself " How can this be? It should not be possible" he then walked a small distance from her and started pacing with a quizzical look upon his face still muttering under his breath.
While the dark lord was distracted by whatever he had learned and his death eaters watched him with bated breath, Catarina decided now was the time to take her chance and escape.
Ever so slowly she moved the now loose cords of rope from around her person and silently jumped down from the tombstone and quickly hid behind it. Glancing around it she observed that nobody has yet to notice her movement and thusly made her way closer and closer to the cup.
Keeping the gravestones as her cover sprinting to them as she went. Her right leg was still bleeding from the arcomatula bite she received in the maze and she had a pounding headache that made it that much harder, yet she had to try to survive, to make it back to her friends.
She made it to the last tombstone when she heard Voldemort scream " Where is the girl!!"
The cup was within reach all she had to do was one last sprint and she was free. Behind her she could hear Voldemort tell his followers to find her. She took a deep breath and ran as fast as she could " There she is!" Someone yelled and a green light grazed just past her left ear " No you fools don't kill her she is mine!!" screamed Voldemort.
She leapt from the ground and landed on Cedrics body and stretched as far as she could till the tip of her fingers just barley touched the handle and she was wisked away the last she heard was a frustration yell from the dark lord.
She appeared to the sudden noise of loud music and a large crowd applauding but she was numb to this as she clunged tightly onto the body of Cedric Diggory and yelling for Dumbledore.
Quickly the old headmaster made his way to her with the minister of magic and several other officials at his heels. " Good lord" the minister cried" The boy Diggory is dead!" Dumbledore reached the distraught girl and tried to prie her off the now cooling body of the Hogwarts champion.
Noticing the headmaster before her Catarina cried " He's back! Voldemort's back and he killed Cedric!" Sobs started to rack her chest and black spots started to appear over her sight. Her body slowly submitting to the drain and pure exhaustion caused by the trauma she just endured.
Before she could succumb the headmaster griped tightly upon her shoulders and shook her saying " What did you say child!" He then looked into her eyes and penetrated her mind to witness exactly the horror she just escaped from. Just as he ripped out of her mind in his shock she finally blacked out too weak to withstand the headmasters harsh treatment.
Said headmaster quickly stood up with wide eyes and dispared at the knowledge Tom now gained.
He was hoping to keep that a secret until the girl were to die at the right time but what to do with her now.
Before he could think more on this troubling news the Minister of Magic and Amos Diggory were calling out for some sort of explanation of what had happened. Amos immediately pointed his finger at the passed out Catarina " It was her that killed my son!" rapidly his face contorted from grief to a furious rage " She cheated her way into this tournament to take the spotlight from my son and now she murdered him for it!"
Nervously the Minister said " Amos what a thing to say dear man, she is just a child". Albus in his quick thinking came with a clever plan that would keep her out of his way and also keep her just out of Voldemort's reach dangling her like a carrot above his head.
With a solem and painful look towards the minister the headmaster said " Cornelius I have observed her these past few years and come to find that she is a disturbed child that had been witnessed by many in the school to be a parselmouth, it would not surprise me if she has been on the path to darkness for a while yet".
" See! " exclaimed Amos " I told you minister it is her doing!" The Minister was nervously fittling with his lime green bowler hat " Well Albus" he began " You do know her better as her headmaster, if you are sure I will see that it would be best to lock her in a ministry holding cell until we clear this all up" snapping his fingers at a Auror just behind him he said " Kingsley arrest Miss Potter here and keep her in a holding cell to await her trial and good lord make sure a healer sees to her as well, no good if she dies on us before we learn the truth".
Curtly nodding his head the tall dark skinned Auror bound the girl and levitated her to easily escort her back to the ministry.
Nervously the minister said to the headmaster " Albus I do hope your wrong about her, imagine the backlash that would be caused when people find out their savior has gone dark."
Looking around for anyone listening in he continued in a quiet voice " But if your right the wonders that would do for my career for apprehending her before she could become the next dark lady". The ministers eyes gleamed at this and Albus gave him a tight smile and said " I do believe Cornelius that you are correct, let us discuss this after we clean up the mess that she has made hmm".