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Chapter Fifty-Four: The Third Task & Summoned to a Graveyard
It wasn't long till it was time for the third task. All the champion's parents had arrived early to see them. Besides Vlad and Sirius being there, Adam and Bell were able to come under the guidance of the FairyGodmother. Ben couldn't get the time off to see the final task. Harry and Vanessa were able to give them a tour of Hogwarts before the task started. This was Adams' and Bells' first time actually seeing the school as Muggles naturally couldn't see it, thanks to the charm that the school has. After the evening feast everyone headed to the Quidditch field. All the champions were dressed in their champion uniforms and waited by the hedge maze. Just like Bagman said the hedges have gotten bigger the last time they saw it. The maze was now twenty-foot-high. Once everyone in the stand had taken their seats Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and approached Bagman and the champions. They were wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid, who had his on the back of his moleskin vest.
"We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze." Professor McGonagall said to the champions. "If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?"
The champions nodded.
"Off you go, then!" Bagman said brightly to the four pratrollers.
Bagman then pointed his wand to his throat and muttered, "Sonorus," and his magically magnified voice echoed into the stands.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first, Mr. Hunter Hades and Miss Vanessa Potter, both of Hogwarts School!" Everyone cheered and applauded so much that it made the birds around them flutter away. "In second place is Mr. Harry Potter, another student from Hogwarts School. In third place is Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute." There were more people that applauded. "And in fourth place – Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"
Only the students from Beauxbatons Academy clapped as well as Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Vlad, Sirius, Adam, Bell, FairyGodmother, Evie, Rain, Artism, Ron, and Hermione applauded Fleur politely.
"So…on my whistle, Hunter and Vanessa!" Bagman said "Three – two – one –"
He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Vanessa and Hunter hurried forward into the maze.
Once inside the opening closed behind them and it left the two in darkness. The two pulled out their wands, muttering, "Lumos". They walked for about fifty yards when they reached a fork.
"Good Luck." Vanessa smiled
"May the best one wins." Hunter smirked
She took to the left turn while he took to the right. After a couple of minutes a second whistle was heard and Vanessa knew Harry entered the maze. Later on Krum entered on the third whistle and then Fleur on the fourth.
So far Vanessa was going through the maze easily until she came across a few creatures of Hagrids. She had to deal with a Cocoon Spider. Just like his other brother spiders it was big as a grown human being and almost spell resistance thanks to its hard shell. But it is vulnerable to fire magic so she was able to take it down with a few fire spells. She got a surprise attack by a Chameleon Ghoul. It disguised itself as part of the hedges. Nearly noticed it if it wasn't for its foul smell. The princess used the Revelio Charm to undisguise it and stund it with a stunning jinx. Then she had quite a workout with a limax. A worm-like creature that has four arms that's armed with different weapons. The creature was so fast that she had to use a spell to slow it down before sending a hex at it. Once she was down with that she checked her wand to see if she was going the right way. After seeing that she was, with her wand pointing where to go, she turned towards a path and ended up running in with another creature. An ancient creature that she was in awe of as she never thought she would see one before. Standing before her was a Sphinx. A creature that had a body of an over-large lion, great clawed paws, a long yellowish tail ending in a brown turf and a head woman's head.
"You are very near your goal. The quickest way is past me." It said with a hoarse voice.
As much as Vanessa admired the creature she never once let her guard down. Sphinx's can be violent when they are guarding something but it wasn't in any defensive stance.
"What do I need to do to get by?" Vanessa asked
The creature smiled as it continued to pace back and forth.
"You must answer my riddle. Answer on your first guess – I let you pass. Answer wrongly – I attack. Remain silent – I will let you walk away from me unscathed."
Vanessa nodded.
"Okay. What is the Riddle?" She asked
The sphinx sat down upon her hind legs, in the very middle of the path, and recited.
'Screaming, soaring, seeking sky
Flowers of fire, flying high
Eastern art, from ancient time
Name me now, and solve this rhyme.'
Vanessa thought about it for a moment as the riddle did sound familiar. She politely asked the Sphinx to repeat the rhyme again and the Sphinx complied.
'Flowers of fire?' She thought
That reminded her of the time she was five with Lonnie and celebrating Chinese New Year. They were watching the fireworks flying so high that she once thought they were like fire flowers.
"Fireworks!" She said
The sphinx smiled and bowed to her before she got up and moved aside to let her pass.
"Thank you." Vanessa smiled before bowing back to the creature and ran forward.
After a few more turns she was able to see the Triwizard Cup, gleaming a few hundred yards away. After taking a deep breath she just started running towards it. She was half way towards it when she heard a commotion behind her. Looking back she saw Hunter and Harry behind but was attacked by another large spider. Unable to let her boyfriend and cousin get hurt Vanessa stopped and turned around to help. Using her power to create a spear from the hedge's roots and it on its side, making it fall over its back.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted
"Stupefy!" Hunter shouted
They both pointed their wands towards its underbelly and stayed still.
"Do I always have to be the one to save your lives?" Vanessa joked
"That was a first for me, actually." Hunter smirked before pointing towards Harry. "I think that was the twentieth time you saved his life."
"Geez, thanks." Harry said, trying to gather his breath.
He tried to get up but it looked like the spider had pierced his leg in the attack.
"Harry, what happened?" She asked and saw the state of his leg. "Are you able to walk?"
"Yeah, not far without feeling pain." Harry said "Look, both of you should hurry and get the cup. Even if it's both Sytherin and Gryffindor, it's' Hogwarts' that will win. Who knows…maybe this will end the rivalry between the houses."
This made Vanessa smile and just place his arm around her shoulder to help him up. Seeing what she was thinking, Hunter did the same and placed his arm around his shoulder.
"Wait! What are you two doing?!" Harry said
"It's like you said. It's a Howarts victory after all." Hunter said "I think for that to happen it should be all three of the Hogwarts Champions. Don't you think so?"
Harry looked like he wanted to debate but started to see that they all helped each other out before. Agreeing to this the three of them headed towards the cup. They reached for it with a hand over the gleaming handles and rim of the cup.
"On three, right?" Harry said "One – two – three –"
The three of them grasped the cup but instantly they all felt a familiar jerk behind their navel. In one second their feet left the ground and vanished from the maze.
.
.
.
Within seconds they all slammed to the ground. They all groaned from the impact of landing. Vanessa was the first to look up and saw that they were in a graveyard. She didn't remember Bagman mentioning a graveyard in the third task.
"I don't like the looks of this place, guys." She said in a whisper.
She sniffed the air and knew they weren't alone.
"What is it Vanessa?" Hunter whispered
He saw her eyes glowed red for a moment. The young wizard knew her eyes would do that for two reasons. When she's really mad or is on alert.
"We're not alone here." She whispered
The three of them took out their wands, readying themselves for an attack. Once they got up they were ambushed. A swarm of flies appeared and managed to grab a hold of Vanessa, Hunter and Harry and bind them to a large tombstone that had an angle on it. After their wands were bound and their wands were taken the swarm of flies transformed into three young women.
"Mother! Oh mother! The guest has arrived." Brunette hair woman said with a sinister glee.
"And it looks like he brought friends with him, too!" A brown-haired woman darkly smiled.
"Ooh, can we play with them, mother, please! Please!" A blonde hair woman smirked
Baba Yaga walked steadily in the graveyard, holding something in her arms. Harry saw that the thing in her arms looked like a baby but when they were getting closer his scar started to burn.
"Sorry, my darlings. They aren't to be touched as well." Baba Yaga smirked. "Now hurry, we must begin the ritual."
Two of the women disappeared and reappeared with a very large cauldron. One of them used her wand to start a fire beneath it. The liquid inside started to heat up so fast that the surface began to bubble and send out fiery sparks. The blonde woman checked on the potion and saw that it was ready.
"It is ready, mother." She smiled
"Now…" A cold voice said
Baba Yaga pulled open the robes and revealed what was inside them. Harry's scar burned more and he couldn't hold it in anymore and let out a painful yell. The being in the robes was ugly, slimy, hairless, scale-looking toddler. Its arms and legs were thin and feeble, and its face was flat and snakelike, with gleaming red eyes. Baba Yaga held the being over the cauldron before dropping it inside.
"Bone of the father,
Unknowingly given,
You will renew your son!"
The brown-haired woman brought out a bag of bones and dropped one of them in the cauldron. She let out an insane giggle when the liquid sizzled.
"Flesh – of the servant –willingly given,
You will revive your master."
Baba Yaga let out an annoyed sigh as she stepped closer to the cauldron and took out a dagger. With a deep breath she closed her eyes as she cut off her hand and let it fall inside. She held in her pain for a couple of minutes before nodding towards her brunette hair daughter that stayed near the trio. The young woman took out her blade and grabbed his right arm, slit it a bit, just enough for blood to leak on it. When she had enough she walked towards the cauldron and dipped the blood drop inside.
"Blood of the enemy forcibly taken,
You will resurrect your foe."
The liquid within turned blinding white.
The cauldron was simmering, sending its diamond sparks in all directions, so blindingly brightly that it turned all else to velvety blackness. Nothing happened for a few minutes till the sparks emanating from the cauldron were extinguished. A surge of white steam billowed thickly from the cauldron making it impossible for everyone to see anything for a moment. Then a dark outline of a man, tall, and skeletally thin, rising slowly from inside the cauldron.
"Robe me." a cold voice said
The blonde woman gathered the black robes from her mother and placed them over the mans' head.
The man stepped out of the cauldron and stared at the trio before examining his own body. Harry and Vanessa couldn't believe that they were staring at the very man that killed their parents. He then slipped one of his unnaturally long-fingered hands into a deep pocket in his robes and drew out a bone-white wand. He caressed it gently before turning his scarlet eyes upon Baba Yaga who was healing her wounded stub.
"Hold out your arm." Voldemort said
She glared at the man as she knew what he wanted to do, and it wasn't to regrow her hand. So she held out her right arm, where he forced the sleeve of her robes up past her elbow. Vanessa could see a vivid red tattoo on her arm. It had a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth. It was the same image that appeared at the Quidditch World Cup: the Dark Mark.
"It is back." He said softly. "They will all have noticed it…and now, we shall see…now we shall know…"
He pressed his long white forefinger to the brand on Baba Yaga's arm. This lead for Harry let out another yell as his scar burned again. Once Voldemort removed his fingers from the mark it turned jet black.
"How many will be brave enough to return when they feel it?" He whispered, looking up at the stars. "And how many will be foolish enough to stay away?"
He looked back at the trio before seeing his son.
"Ah, Hunter. It has…been such a long time." He smiled, "You look just like my young self."
Hunter glared as he was trying to get out of his binds.
"Sorry…but I'm having a hard time seeing the family resemblance here." Hunter said "After all…I have a father already. I don't need another."
This made Voldemort frown a bit. Baba Yaga has told Voldemort about his sons. While the young twin brother was raised in the dark arts and to hate Muggles and Muggleborns, Hunter was raised a bit differently. He didn' have hate towards them as he was raised and befriended with them since childhood. Not to mention he has befriended the boy that has foiled his plans again and again. He believed Hunters' good side was influenced by Vanessa Potter. Voldemort didn't blame him for that, her grandmother always tried to do that with him. It nearly worked, but his hatred always won over.
Voldemort walked away from them and started pace up and down before them. A few minutes later he stopped and looked at them again.
"You three stand upon the remains of my late father." He hissed softly. "A Muggle and a fool…very like your dear mother, Harry. But they both had their uses, did they not? Your mother died to defend you as a child…and I killed my father, and see how useful he has proved himself, in death…"
Voldemort laughed again.
"You see that house upon the hillside, Potter? My father lived there. My mother, a witch who lived here in this village, fell in love with him. But he abandoned her when she told him what she was… He didn't like magic, my father… He left her and returned to his Muggle parents before I was even born, Potter, and she died giving birth to me, leaving me to be raised in a Muggle orphanage… Tom Riddle…"
He continued pacing as his red eyes darted from grave to grave.
"Listen to me, reliving family history…" He said quietly, "Why, I am growing quite sentimental… But look! My true family returns…"
One by one many masked men in black cloaks Apparated in the graveyard. They all moved forward but slowly and cautiously towards him. Voldemort stood in silence, waiting for them. One of the Death Eaters fell to his knees, crawled toward Voldemort and kissed the hem of his black robes.
"Master…Master…" He murmured.
That just led the others to do the same. Once they were done they all backed away and started to form a silent circle around the grave of Senior Tom Riddle. Though, Vanessa saw that there were a few gaps in the circle. It was as if they were expecting more people to arrive. But no one else has come.
"Welcome, Death Eaters." Voldemort said quietly. "Thirteen years…thirteen years since last we met. Yet you answer my call as though it were yesterday… We are still united under the Dark Mark, then! Or are we?"
With quick feet he removed all the Death Eaters masks and revealed their faces and said their names.
"I see you all, whole and healthy, with your powers intact – such prompt appearances! – and I ask myself…why did this band of wizards never come to the aid of their master, to whom they swore eternal loyalty?"
No one spoke.
"And I answer myself, they must have believed me broken, they thought I was gone. They slipped back among my enemies, and they pleaded innocence, and bewitchment… And then I ask myself, but how could they have believed I would not rise again? They, who knew the steps I took, long ago, to guard myself against mortal death? They, who had seen proofs of the immensity of my power in the times when I was mightier than any wizard living? And I answer myself, perhaps they believed a still greater power could exist, one that could vanquish even Lord Voldemort…perhaps they now pay allegiance to…perhaps that champion of commoners, of Mudbloods and Muggles, Albus Dumbledore?"
The Death Eaters tensed and shook their heads.
"It is disappointment to me…I confess myself disappointed…"
One of the Death Eaters ended up flinging himself towards Voldemort's feet and begged for forgiveness. Voldemort let out a dark laugh and used the Crucio curse on the man.
"Get up, Avery." Voldemort said "Stand up. You ask for forgiveness? I do not forgive. I do not forget. Thirteen long years…I want thirteen years' repayment before I forgive you. Baba Yaga here has paid some of her debt already, have you not, Baba Yaga. Even if it's not out of Loyalty."
The witch glared but nodded as she held her new grown hand. After moving it for a moment she and her daughters took their places in the circle. Voldemort then walked over to Lucius Malfoy to berate him for not trying to find in the past. Before moving on he stopped and stared at the space next to Malfoy and the other man.
"Lestranges should stand here." He said "But they are entombed in Azkaban. They were faithful. They went to Azkaban rather than renounce me…When Azkaban is broken open, the Lestranges will be honored beyond their dreams. The dementors will join us…they are our natural allies…we will recall the banished giants… I shall have all my devoted servants returned to me, and an army of creatures whom all fear…"
He continued berating the other wizards until he stopped at another gap in the circle.
"And here we have six missing Death Eaters…three dead in my service. One, too cowardly to return…he will pay. One, who I believe has left me forever…he will be killed, of course…and one, who remains my most faithful servant, and who has already reentered my service."
The Death Eaters looked amongst each other, wondering who he was talking about.
"He is at Hogwarts, that faithful servant, and it was through his efforts that our young friends arrived here tonight…and my long lost son." Voldemort said with a grin. "Hunter. Vanessa Potter. And Harry Potter. They have become my guest of honor to my rebirthing party."
They all looked at the three teens before looking at Voldemort. It was silent for a moment until Malfoy's voice spoke again and asked the Dark Lord how he had returned to his body. Voldemort didn't mind telling them the story.
"You know, of course, that they have called this boy my downfall?" Voldemort said, looking at Harry.
This made Harrys' scar burn again. The boy did his best to hold in his agony scream.
"You all know that on the night I lost my powers and my body, I tried to kill him. His mother died in the attempt to save him – and unwittingly provided him with a protection I admit I had not foreseen…I could not touch the boy. His mother left upon him the traces of her sacrifice… This is old magic, I should have remembered it, I was foolish to overlook it…but no matter. I can touch him now."
Voldemort walked over to Harry and pressed a finger on the boy's forehead. This made Harry scream in pain even louder. The Dark Lord just laughed at this and walked away before continuing his story. While his followers were listening to his story Hunter scooted a little towards Vanessa. He was hoping with their power they could break the magic that binds them. They were able to break the binds from their legs and arms. They were nearly done with the ones with their wrist when Voldemort was finished and the Crucio curse on Harry.
"You see, I think, how foolish it was to suppose that this boy could ever have been stronger than me." Voldemort said "But I want there to be no mistake in anybody's mind. Harry Potter escaped me by a lucky chance. And I am now going to prove my power by killing him, here and now, in front of you all, when there is no Dumbledore to help him, and no mother to die for him. I will give him his chance. He will be allowed to fight, and you will be left in no doubt which of us is the stronger. Just a little longer, Nagini." Voldemort said