In a very brief description, Harry would say traveling by portkey was akin to being hung by the small of his back and twirled through the air like a lasso. He felt himself flip during the teleportation of the portkey and immediatly regretted it when only a few seconds later, he landed face first into the dirt. Fleur quickly pulled him up.
" 'Arry? Are you alright?" She asked with concern in her eyes. Harry nodded and gave her thumbs up. Cedric looked around and scowled.
"We're definitely not back at Hogwarts. Is this a cemetery?" Cedric asked, running his hand over a round gravestone. Victor already had his wand out, alert to anything. This saved Cedric's life moments later when a bolt of green energy came from the darkness.
Victor, ready for anything, quickly summoned a nearby gravestone. When the deadly curse hit the gravestone, it exploded. Harry covered his eyes and turned away from the four champions turned to a rat-like man with a bundle of dark cloth that held a very gruesome, ugly baby. The man growled and fired of more curses. All four champions dove behind gravestones, deadly curses flying overhead. Harry felt the gravestone he leaned against shake. Harry scowled.
He quickly casted a charm on the gravestone. It grew to tremendous proportions. "Ced! Victor! Fleur! Get over here!" He shouted. Cedric, being nearby, was able to easily get to the massive gravestone. Victor and Fleur did not have as good of luck. Thankfully, because there was only one attacker, he focussed his spells on Fleur and Victor. Harry could now divert all of his attention to the other champions who were being Cedric's help, Harry managed to get Victor across the graveyard and behind the giant tombstone as well. The attacker now focussed solely on the only target he could hit, rained down like meteors on Fleur's makeshift shield of tombstones.
Harry, desperate to save Fleur, jumped out into the open. "You want a fight? Well come on then!" Harry shouted. Harry was immediately assulted with a range of spells but he fought back with vigor. Harry could feel his energy start to wane. He just wasn't used to defending himself for this long under such heavy and dark spells. Seeing that he was slowly winning the fight, the rat-like man smiled devilishly and attacked with even greater speed and power. Cedric, seeing Harry begin to weaken, jumped in and began attacking.
While the man could outdo Harry because of experience, Cedric was far more talented than the him. They traded curses for a few minutes before Cedric finished the battle swiftly. The man threw darker and darker curses as his frustration grew. Cedric knew he had to finish this before it got out of hand. Waving his wand fiercely, Cedric blasted a cone of ice straight into the man's stomach. He fell, choking on his own blood.
Five minutes later, several pops were heard. "Harry?!" A voice shouted. It was Professor Dumbledore. Harry stood up and waved at them, getting their attention. Dumbledore gave a quick glance to the body of Peter Pettigrew and then strode to the champions. All of them looked on edge, like soldiers. This saddened Albus greatly.
"Professor, it was Voldemort, I-" Suddenly he was cut off by a growling voice. It came from where Pettigrew had come from. Dumbledore, accompanied by the other judges and Minister Fudge walked over to the bundle.
"Albus..." It hissed.
"Tom." Albus acknowledged gravely.
"Your puppet and his little friends might have beaten me this time but do not doubt, I will return! Lord Voldemort shall one day be truly immortal!" It raved. Suddenly, Voldemort's jaw fell slack and the small body slowly disintegrated before their eyes. Cornelius Fudge had seen his share of odd things but nothing prepared him for this terrifying truth.
"Cornelius." Dumbledore turned. There was no twinkle in his eyes, "We have much to discuss, but first I believe we should return these champions to the school. There is also the matter of why the champions fought Peter Pettigrew, who was supposedly dead." The minister paled. This situation would definitely not be able to be swept under the rug.
After a long talk between himself, Harry and Dumbledore, Fudge all but ran out of the headmaster's office promising the British Ministry of Magic would be prepared for anything the dark lord could throw at them. "Now Harry, I think you might be wondering about Peter Pettigrew. You see-"
"I already know Professor." Harry stated. Albus blinked. Shaking off his surprise, Dumbledore leaned forward in his desk.
"Tell me Harry, what do you know about Sirius Black?"
"He's my Godfather and managed to get himself locked up in Azkaban because of both his and the government's foolishness. Right now he's in France, probably enjoying himself much more than he did in Azkaban." Harry peered at Dumbledore with a smirk and an eyebrow raised in question. Dumbledore nodded and sighed.
"I suppose it was my fault. I mean, I could have done more and yet I let my grief get ahead of me." Albus looked guilty, "I'm very sorry for this mistrial of justice, Harry."
Harry shrugged, "It's alright. I'm not some raving lunatic who would go on some jumped up quest to 'seek revenge' on the government for going into Martial Law when they were at war with a terrorist. However, I do still feel a little resentment towards the mistrial. I hope you can understand." Harry said. Dumbledore smiled gratefully.
"Thank you m'boy. And I understand completely. That is a very large yoke of guilt that has now been lifted of my shoulders." Dumbledore said relieved. Harry nodded and Dumbledore clapped his hands. "Now, we will prepare ourselves. This tournament's ultimate goal is unity and I think now, more than ever, we will need that." Dumbledore said, a twinkle in his eye.
Just a week later, the judges of the tournament, or who was left as Karkaroff had disappeared, as had Crouch, decided due to the terrible circumstances of the cup being a portkey and the fact all of them had touched it at once, all four had won. The Great Hall was bright green with gold decorations all around. Dumbledore stood at the podium at the head table.
"Ah yes! Another year has passed and I am glad to see everyone has made it safe to the end of it!" Dumbledore announced. All of the schools clapped while glancing at each of their respected champions nervously. The fabled Hogwarts rumor mill had once again shown it's speed in spreading gossip and the like. Many stared at him more so than the others. He supposed that was due to Voldemort, being his mortal enemy and all, returning and almost killing him, Cedric, Victor, and Fleur.
Harry felt like a cornered animal. Now that everything that had happened in that graveyard had registered with him, he felt a heavy burden weigh on him, as if everyone looked at him like he was about to stand up and bravely declare he would destroy Voldemort. He felt no inclination to do such a thing. Instead he longed to return to his godfather in France. He missed him. Harry glanced up at Dumbledore. There was a strange twinkle in his eye as if he found something humorous. Harry certainly did not see any humor in the situation.
Soon, the celebrations were over, and people started saying goodbye. He had bid farewell to a few of the Hogwarts students. Neville Longbottom had spoken to him briefly, mainly over Herbology which was his favorite subject. Finally, Harry met up with Luna Lovegood. She still had that dreamy smile and eyes that looked a million miles away.
"Well, I suppose this is goodbye, Harry." She bade in her usual quiet and soothing voice. Harry smiled and nodded.
"Indeed, Ms. Lovegood. I do hope to keep in contact, however." Harry answered.
Luna wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. Harry gently squeezed her back. When she and Harry separated, Luna leaned forward and pushed her lips against his. "I hope so. It was a pleasure Harry." She chimed before skipping off. Harry ran his thumb over his lips. That was certainly not how he thought his first kiss would go, yet it wasn't bad. Not bad at all.
Harry walked over to the carriage where Fleur was. He smiled at her and vice versa. Maybe it was the relief he was going home but he suddenly felt very giddy. Harry laughed a little and slung an arm over her shoulder. He was distracted by his own state of capriciousness but Fleur leaned into Harry's shoulder a little and blushed. Fourth Year for Harry James Potter was very strange, yet not all bad.
Harry woke up to tapping on his window. He smelled the faint of scent of bacon. Padfoot was cooking. Harry smiled, still a little sleepy. He opened the window and a white owl fluttered in. Harry recognized it at Luna's owl. "What sort of silly adventure hunt have you gone on now, Ms. Lovegood?" Harry mumbled, looking at the magical photograph of some strange land. It was the beginning of July and Luna was travelling all over the world. Harry mused that no matter how much she adventured to remote, mysterious places, she couldn't be bothered to pop by France for at least a few days.
They hadn't really talked about anything too personal, such as their brief kiss before Harry left. Luna did however, send him the Daily Prophet newspapers when she finished with them. After Harry left, the British Ministry of Magic had become more alert than ever. Albus Dumbledore was leading the light as they prepared for the inevitable battle against Voldemort.
As for Dumbledore, he had loosely kept in contact with the older wizard. He would occasionally receive mail from him. He hadn't said it outright, yet it appeared Albus wished for him to start schooling in Scotland, at Hogwarts, where Albus could train him. Of course, Harry was curious about the possible offer yet he also didn't want to leave France. He enjoyed looking out at Paris from his dorm window instead of the wilds of Scotland. On the other hand, he knew Voldemort would simply destroy Britain before advancing on France. One way or another, Harry was going to face Voldemort again.
Harry sighed. This was way too much to think about for the morning. Harry went downstairs, where the scent of cooking bacon was wafting through the air even stronger. The kitchen was a mess with an older gentleman was running around in black and white prison clothes. (Padfoot thought it'd be funny to patch up the prison clothes and use them as pajamas. Harry thought Sirius was mental) Hearing the door open, the panicked man spun on his heel to face Harry.
"Goodmorning Harry! Any chance you could help me make breakfast?" Harry snickered and one of the pans caught fire, "Please?"