The Searcher II - Ch. 7 A/N: ::Does little victory dance:: Finally, the last chapter!!! Since Ch. 6 was so small, I made it up here!!! There is also going to be an epilogue, kinda an intro to the third series, but the third part is going to take a while, as I want to finish my other fics first so I can fully concentrate on this. but don't worry... I have a plot bunny nest under my desk and they have been rather busy lately... ::looks worried under her desk:: I hope you enjoyed reading this series as much as I enjoyed writing them.

As I said before, I will try to explain as I go if you haven't read Harry Potter, but please understand that this was originally a Harry Potter story and His Royal Tightness wiggled his way into it...

Special thanks to all of you who reviewed Chapter 6: Silver Space (this is the end! It will give you a clue about what happened to her family, but we will return to the Underground in the third series), Lillian Estelle and L (glad you folks liked the idea, I'm always trying to think of things that haven't been done before ^_^), Amber (If you really want to know what happens to him, read the sister story, which I'll mention at the end of this story!), and last but not least, Danalas (When are you posting our collaboration? Be afraid folks, be very afraid... again! ^_^)

If you find mistakes here, please excuse my spelling errors and other horrors, but English is not my first language(and this was my second fic). So let me know any errors you find and I will correct them. As always, please R/R and tell me if I'm doing a good job or if this sucks.

And before I forget,

DISCLAIMER - All characters from Potterverse belong to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. Sarah, Jareth, and everything Labyrinth belong to Jim Henson Productions. I only own Caridwen, the plot, and any other characters you don't recognize.

And now, the story.



The Searcher II:
Harry Potter and the False Ghost





Ch. 7: Crashing A Party Is Not Easy To Do...

"Cari, are you ready?"

"Coming, Hermione!" said the clone.

The two of them went downstairs to the common room, where Harry and Ron were waiting for them.

The four friends went down for dinner and Harry asked the clone "Are you going to see the quidditch practice tomorrow?"

She answered, "You know I would not miss it!" with a smile, lacing her arm around his on their way to the Great Hall.

Quidditch practice was very early the next day.

The clone was cheering Harry on the stands when she heard a voice in her mind saying *This is the perfect opportunity. Act now.* making her smile.

After practice, the clone stayed helping Harry put the bludgers and the snitch back in their box.

After they were done, she asked Harry "Would you mind staying here to talk for a moment?"

He nodded and asked, "What do you want to talk about?"

She smiled and motioned him forward.

When he did, she pulled him closer to her and said "I have been wanting to do this for a long time" and kissed him, putting her arms around his neck.

Harry kissed her back, getting very involved in the kiss. She managed to take a dagger she had been hiding in the sleeves of her robes.

She went to stab him, when a flash of white feathers came over to her, attacking. Harry pulled back, and all he saw was Jareth attacking Cari, who was holding a knife in her hands.

Cari started screaming "Stop it, stupid bird!"

Harry took his wand out and said, "Who are you? What you did to Cari?"

Jareth stopped attacking the clone and perched on his shoulder. She looked at him, but her beautiful face was framed with an evil grin.

"Harry, I'm still the same old Cari, but I realized I want my fiancé back. The way to do it is to kill you" sending chills down his spine.

At that moment, she looked over Harry's shoulder and smiling said "Darling, I'm so glad you are here. Like the present I got for you?"

Harry turned around, knowing whom he would see, as his scar was starting to hurt at that moment. Voldemort was standing right behind him, and before he could do anything, he heard Cari saying "Expelliarmus!" and his wand went flying to her.

Jareth took flight at the same moment, going towards the castle.

Harry saw Voldemort walking next to Cari, giving her a kiss on the lips, while saying, "Well done, beloved. You have brought me what I wanted, so I'm afraid I don't need you anymore. Avada Kedavra!"

She froze, looking at Voldemort "You promised! You promised I would be with you!" as a green light enveloped her, and she fell on the floor, eyes open.

Cari woke up with a scream "No, Harry!"

She realized she was in the room where she saw Voldemort for the first time. 'He is going to kill Harry and there is nothing I can do about it!' she thought.

Voldemort turned to Harry, who was pale as a ghost. "Don't worry, Potter. You will join your girlfriend pretty soon!"

"Not today, Voldemort!" said Dumbledore. "I don't know how you got here, but I know it won't be for long."

Voldemort slit his eyes in a hateful glance and turned to Harry "Until next time, Potter. You will not be so lucky!" and he disappeared, leaving his evil laugh behind.

Harry was still shaking when he asked Dumbledore "How did you got here?"

"This owl was very insistent that I followed him. It was a good thing I did, considering the circumstances." said Dumbledore, pointing to Jareth, who was perched on his shoulders.

Suddenly, the owl took flight and disappeared in the sky. Harry turned towards Cari's body, and kneeling down, he closed her eyes and gave her a farewell kiss on the lips.

He then asked Dumbledore "What about her? I can't believe she did this on her own. Could she had been under the imperious curse?"

Dumbledore put his hands on Harry's shoulders and said "She probably was. We will give her a proper burial service."

With his wand, he created a stretcher and put Cari's limp body in it, making it float behind them.

"Let's go see Madam Pomfrey. It is going to be a long day" said Dumbledore, guiding the still shocked Harry towards the medical wing.

Voldemort apparated in front of Cari, who was looking murderously at him.

"What did you do to Harry, you monster?"

"I did not kill him, if that's what you want to know. But I doubt he will be the same person after watching the love of his life die before him" he responded with an evil smirk, turning around and leaving the room.

Cari murmured to herself "You'll pay for this, Voldemort. I swear!" and continued to look for a weakness in her invisible cell.

After Madame Pomfrey made sure that Harry was physically all right, she dismissed him to his tower, assuring him that he did not have to take any classes if he did not want to. As soon as Harry got into the common room, he knew that the news of Cari's death had spread to the school. He saw in a corner Hermione crying, being consoled by Ron, who was also crying

Harry just wanted to be alone, so he walked towards the boy's dormitories. He just wanted to sleep, he did not want to think. He stayed in his bed the whole day, curtains closed, closed to the world, not going down to eat at all.

The next day arrived, and Harry did not want to get up. He was numb to the world. Cari was dead. He thought that the pain brought by Cedric's death was bad, but this pain was unbearable.

He felt like half of his being was gone. He did not want to feel, to think. He stayed in the common room the whole day, refusing to go down to eat, or even go to Cari's burial services.

He just stayed in his chair in front of the fireplace looking blankly at space. He acted like an automaton that whole day, making Hermione and Ron worried.

Ron looked at Hermione and said, "I think Cari's death affected Harry more than we thought. I think he really loved her. Now, he acts like he is dead. We need to do something to cheer him up." Hermione nodded and they both got up and went to Harry.

Hermione started "Harry, if you need to talk, you know we are here for you. Cari was our friend too, and we miss her as well."

Harry looked up to his friends, and with half a smile he said "Thanks."

His face got serious all of the sudden "Why did she had to die? It should have been me!"

With that, all the emotions he had bottled up came out, tears flowing through his face, unable to control his sobbing, being comforted by his best friends.

Cari woke up when she felt a weight next to her. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Voldemort was sitting next to her, his back against the bed's headboard.

"Rested well, my dear?" he said.

She only looked at him with hatred in her eyes, and turned her back to him.

She heard him laugh while he said "Still the same spit fire I remember, I see. This will make tonight's events much more interesting."

Now he got her curiosity, but something was telling her that she was not going to like the answer.

"What happens tonight?" she asked, dreading the answer.

"Why, my dear, tonight's our wedding night. We are getting married at sundown."

She felt a coldness rush through her body, and a very unnerving calmness surrounded her.

"Then can I at least make myself presentable? I am sure you would not want to present your wife to your followers dirty and smelly."

Voldemort was surprised as her unexpected calmness, but he attributed it to the fact that could be the first signs of her spirit breaking.

He answered "Of course. You can use the bathroom next to this room; there are some robes in the armoire. I will be watching you, so I know if you try to escape."

She looked at him coldly and arching up an eyebrow replied "Watching me? I would have hoped to get some privacy at least until tonight."

His mouth was curved in an evil smirk, obviously amused by her answer. "Very well, I will not watch you while you bathe, but I will now anything that happens outside the bathroom. Is that clear?"

She nodded, and looked in the dresser for clean underwear, went to the armoire, took a set of clean robes, and directed herself to the bathroom.

She was about to take her clothes off when she heard a faint hoot outside the bathroom's small window.

She opened the curtain and delighted exclaimed "Jareth! How did you found me? Never mind, I'm in big trouble. Looks like tonight I'm going to become Mrs. Evil Psychopath Wizard. I need help, but I don't have any parchment with me."

The owl looked at her, and in her mind, she heard *Then we have a bit of a problem, don't we? *

Then an idea occurred to her. She was not sure if it would work without her wand, but she tried spells without it before, and they worked. She just hoped her other magic was strong enough.

"How did that spell worked again? Think, Caridwen, think! Your life depends on this. Ah, got it!"

She looked at her beautiful white barn owl and put her hands on his head while saying "Dico Humanus! Now go and tell Dumbledore. He will know what to do, and tell Harry I'm alive!"

"Whatever you say, but just be careful!" said the owl, in a melodious, cultured voice.

She knew that Voldemort would be watching Jareth outside the window, so she shouted "Voldemort, I thought I told you, no peeking! Now go, scram owl!" and winking, motioned her owl to leave.

Jareth took flight, going to Hogwarts as fast as his wings could take him.

"Come on, Harry. Let's go downstairs for lunch." said a very frustrated Ron.

"Yes, Harry, you have had nothing to eat in the past 2 days. Come with us, please?" pleaded Hermione, taking Harry's hand in hers.

Harry was about to respond that he did not want to eat, when his stomach betrayed him with a loud rumble.

Ron said with a smile "I'll take that as a yes!"

And they went to lunch, Harry walking between Ron and Hermione.

The three friends were having lunch at the Great Hall, and talking. Harry was looking and feeling much better. He even got interested in a quidditch discussion with Ron and the twins, when they saw a white owl fly through the Great Hall, perching on Dumbledore's shoulder.

The strange thing is that they saw expressions change in Dumbledore's face, but he was not reading anything. He actually looked like he was talking to the owl.

They saw Dumbledore stand up and leave the table, followed by professors McGonagall and Snape. Then, the owl took flight towards their direction.

He perched in an empty chair in front of Harry, when they heard a voice say "Dumbledore wants to see you three in his office now."

The three friends looked at each other, silence filling the table when they figured out who spoke. Harry, still with wide-open eyes said, "Jareth, did you just talked?"

"No, it was the chair. I like to do ventriloquism from time to time. Yes it was me, and we better hurry, this is important." the owl answered in an annoyed tone.

Ron, Harry and Hermione stood up and hurried to Dumbledore's office, Jareth flying right behind them.

Once they arrived next to the statue, Harry said "Canary Cream", the statue moved and they got into the passage to the headmaster's office.

Once they got in, they saw professor McGonagall and professor Snape sitting in the office as well.

Dumbledore said "Please sit down. I have good and bad news. The good news is that I just found out that Voldemort tricked us again. Caridwen is alive and well, imprisoned by Voldemort. The bad news is that Voldemort plans to marry Caridwen at sundown today."

Harry went numb by this revelation, and said "Cari is alive? But we saw her body. How can this be?"

Jareth looked at Dumbledore and said "I think I can answer this one. The girl you saw was not the real Caridwen, but a copy. I could sense it, which is why I attacked her when she tried to kill you. Also, after Voldemort left I smelled a scent that told me where he was, and I knew that if I found him, I would find her, and I did. She put a spell on me so I could talk to humans, and get help. So, here we are."

Ron was confused by all this "Why Voldemort wants to marry Cari anyway?"

Snape answered, "Isn't it obvious Mr. Weasly? Voldemort wants an heir, and Caridwen is a very powerful witch. Their child will have the potential of becoming the most powerful witch or wizard that has ever existed. The only way he could be in control of her is by performing a very special, very ancient submission spell, which can only work if they are married. This kind of spell was very common hundreds of years ago, when husbands expected total submission from their wives."

Dumbledore spoke then "We need to do something fast. It is going to be dangerous. I'm expecting that it will be a public ceremony, so the majority of Death-eaters will be in attendance. What we need is some distraction that would allow us to take Cari and apparate immediately in Hogwarts. I want you to be on the alert, because I need to take the apparition deterrent charm for the time we are going to be out."

Harry answered back "No. I want to go with you. I want to get Cari out of there. You know that you will need my help against Voldemort."

Dumbledore studied the situation for a few minutes and nodded.

"Severus, I expect that it's time for you to go." said Dumbledore, then looking at professor McGonagall "Minerva, you are to be in charge while we are out. Round all the prefects, and don't let anybody out of their towers."

She nodded, and left the room with Snape.

Dumbledore turned to Harry "Harry, I think it would be a good idea if you bring your invisibility cloak with you, along with Miss Blantyre's wand."

Harry nodded, and was leaving the room, when he heard Dumbledore talking to his friends "Now, Mr. Weasly and Miss Granger, I need you to quickly learn this spell to create a little diversion..."

The weird calmness still enveloped her when she was changing her robes into her wedding gown.

Cari thought, "This is turning out to be the worst day of my life. I just hope Jareth was able to get help."

She finished putting on her makeup "Well, it's showtime!"

With a stoic face, she opened the door to her bedroom, to find Wormtail waiting for her outside the door.

He gave a small bow and said, "If you will follow me, please."

As soon as she got outside of the castle, she saw a lot of people gathered in a small area of the garden. She kept following Peter, who suddenly stopped.

She looked at him "Now what?"

He gave her a bouquet of white orchids, that made her raise an eyebrow "Well, this is a surprise" she thought.

She kept her face unreadable while she walked towards Voldemort. Once she got there, he nodded to the official to start the ceremony. As soon as Voldemort reached the golden binding ropes, they heard a loud noise, something between a crash and an explosion, not that far away from them.

Someone arrived to the gathering screaming "We are under attack! Take cover!"

That is all that was needed to create Panic and Chaos. Voldemort was furious.

He shouted "Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle come with me. Wormtail, make sure nothing happens to my precious bride."

The stranger that arrived shouting came to them and said to Pettigrew "We better hide her, they might be looking for her."

Peter smiled and said, "It's a good idea. Follow me."

As soon as they got out of eyesight, Cari heard the stranger say "Stupefy!"

She turned toward the stranger, who winked at her and said "It's me, Harry. Let's get out of here, fast!"

She was still looking at him suspiciously, but knew it was him as soon as she saw the invisibility cloak.

They kept running through the castle grounds under the invisibility cloak, making sure that they did not bump with anyone in the process. They arrived to a small clearing, where she saw Hermione, Ron and Dumbledore creating madness around them.

Dumbledore stopped and said, "Good, you are here. It is time for us to go. Hold hands, please." and disappeared, not without been spotted by Voldemort before they did.

Voldemort quickly followed suit, knowing that time was of the essence. As soon as they arrived safely in Hogwarts, Dumbledore took the illusion spell from Harry, and proceeded to put back the spell against apparating in the school, but it was too late. In that instant Voldemort appeared with Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle.

Voldemort shouted, "You will pay for this!" and lifted his wand, when they heard a voice behind them

"Oh, no, you don't" and they saw a round crystal fly in direction of Voldemort, making them disappear in the midst of glitter.

When they turned around, they saw a tall man, long blond hair in spikes, wearing black boots, black tights, and a crimson velvet shirt with a black breastplate, and a black cape. His eyes were mismatched, one blue, and the other one hazel.

The boys looked at him with curiosity, while Hermione looked at him starry-eyed. Dumbledore and Cari could not suppress a chuckle at their expressions.

Dumbledore had a very intense twinkle in his eyes when he said, "Well, I had my suspicions of who you were, Goblin King and you have confirmed them. What are you going to do with them, Jareth?"

The Goblin King looked at Dumbledore, blue eyes meeting mismatched ones, and said, "I might have fun with them, and probably I will erase this little 'incident' from their minds as well. And Albus, it has been a long time, too bad I can't stay and talk, perhaps some other time."

He then turned to Caridwen and very seriously said "You and I will have a little chat later." and disappeared.

The only thought in Cari's mind was "Oh, boy. I'm in trouble now."

Harry just came out of his shocked state and said, "Is this it? Is he gone?"

Dumbledore said, "I'm afraid is not that easy. He is breaking the rules of interfering with mortal life as it is. I suspect we will see more of Voldemort in the future, unfortunately. But for now, I suggest you go to your house and rest, it has been a long day."

Once in their common room, Harry and Cari were talking in their favorite corner. Cari told Harry about the clone, and Harry told Cari everything that happened after they 'rescued' her.

Cari said to Harry "Can you forgive me? I acted stupidly, and put your lives in danger."

Harry just smiled and said, "Of course I forgive you. I love you."

She smiled back and said, "I love you too."

He pulled her closer to him and kissed her. Inside Harry's embrace, Cari was frowning, immersed in her thoughts "What does he want to talk about? I hope I didn't mess up the mission."

Harry and Cari kept cuddling in the corner until they were the last ones in the common room.

Harry suddenly turned to Cari and asked her "How come the Goblin King wants to talk to you?"

Cari just shrugged, and said, "I don't know. Perhaps he did not like being my owl?", with a smile.

As soon as Harry was distracted she motioned her hand over his head.

Harry tried to suppress a yawn, and Cari told him "It's late. You better go to sleep. Good night."

And dismissed him with a quick peck on the lips. She made the motion that she was going to her rooms as well, when she caught the sight of a white owl in the window.

She opened the window and the owl flew in, changing from an owl to a man in the midst of glitter.

She smiled and said, "It's nice to see you again."

He just looked at her very seriously and said, "Do you have any idea of what you have done? The danger you were in? Even now, I have to make a spell to make anyone involved forget this little incident. Not to mention that when your mother found out what happened, she was worried sick. What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?"

Cari just looked at the floor and said, "I'm sorry, father. I have been careless, but I won't do it again."

Then she turned her head up to meet his gaze "Please don't send me back home, please? I've come too far, and his training has to start soon."

He just smiled and said "You can stay, but if you cause any more trouble, is back to the Underground for you. Do you understand?"

She nodded and he gave her a big hug "I missed you, my princess."

"And I missed you, father. Please tell mother that I love her and miss her? And tell that brother of mine to get ready for this summer, I intend to kick his royal…" and paused when she saw her father's face, "…tights?" earning a chuckle from him.

"It's time to erase the memory of the incident. Everybody will forget except for your friends and the headmaster. From now on, you will be a regular student at Hogwarts, never was a ghost, you have been with your friends since the beginning. You stay with your parents during summer breaks. I'm also sad to say that I will have to erase certain swim in the Bog of Eternal Stench for some people."

Cari looked at her father with an arched eyebrow and smiled, a mental picture of Voldemort, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle taking a swim in the Bog, being annoyed by Sir Didymus.

"You know what we need to do. Are you ready, my dear?"

"Yes father."

They both turned their hands, and a crystal ball formed in each of them. They let them go, floating in the air like bubbles and bursting in a rain of colors.

"Well, I think that pretty much does it. It's late, and you should be in bed" the king said.

"Father, please say hi to uncle Hoggle, uncle Ludo and uncle Didy for me, will you?" Cari said, with tears in her eyes.

Jareth sighed, and gave a hug to his daughter "You know I will. Now, go to sleep, sweetheart."

He kissed his daughter's forehead, and transformed himself back into an owl, flying out the window. Cari closed the window, and went back to the fifth year girl's dormitory.

Sarah was watching her daughter sleeping peacefully through the mirror. She turned to her husband "Jareth, does she really have to live like a witch on Earth?"

Jareth held his wife and said "You know our daughter is destined to find the protector of our realm, and if he is this Harry Potter, she has to prepare him for his future task. But that, my darling, is another story."


The End?




A/N: Well, the story is done, but I'll include a brand spanking new epilogue on Friday. Also look for the sister story, Voldie and the BOES, coming up later this week. This explains what happened to him after they disappeared from Hogwarts. The Searcher 3 will come, I promise. I cannot tell you when, but sometime this year, it will come.

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