Part 6
Someone stuffed a bolt of cloth into Harry's mouth. He was bound to a gravestone in a graveyard. Some distance away from him lay Cedric Diggory, eyes opened in shock and surprise, dead. To his right Harry saw a bundle of robes, but he knew better. Inside that bundle was Voldemort. Or some form of him. Wormtail was pushing a giant cauldron up the slope towards a clearing in front of Harry.
Then everything started moving faster. It started slowing down when Harry was about to duel Voldemort.
Harry was handed his wand, and then…
"CRUCIO!"
It was pain beyond pain, Harry was getting the hang of it - to a certain degree - after getting hit with it so many times. He still screamed, though, but it didn't hurt as much, to his surprise.
When Voldemort lifted the curse Harry stood up strait. He knew he wasn't going to die. This was only a dream, after all. He hoped that this dream wasn't just a random nightmare, but a dream that would help him figure out the mystery at Hogworts. Who opened the Chamber of Secrets?
Suddenly Harry noticed that he was crouching behind the gravestone. He hadn't noticed the duel's progress. Harry jumped out from behind the stone.
"EXPELLIARMUS!"
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Red met green in a flash of, well, red and green. But suddenly both colors became gold. The familiar golden, domed net was forming around them, singing the phoenix song.
Those weird beads were forming on the connecting line between Harry and Voldemort. Harry tried to force the beads away from him, towards Voldemort. The task was harder than he remembered. He concentrated every particle of his mind on pushing those beads away. Slowly, very slowly, a bead rolled towards Voldemort and finally, after what seamed an eternity, it hit Voldemort's wand. Harry braced himself for what was coming next. All those people he killed would have their shadows walk again tonight, if just for a while.
Harry saw something struggle to get out of Voldemort's wand. A hand popped out. Then another. Cedric's head came out then his torso. Finally his feet were free from the wand.
"you failed!" Cedric's shadow yelled at him in that faraway voice. He sounded furious. "It's your fault I'm dead!" Harry blinked in surprise. This isn't what really happened. Voldemort started laughing that shrill, cruel laugh. The golden dome turned black, and the phoenix song turned into a snake's hiss. Cedric was still yelling at him, telling him that he failed, and that it was all his fault. That was exactly how he felt. He failed in saving Cedric from Voldemort. It was all his fault.
Harry woke up drenched in cold sweat, panting. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, wishing he had a Pensive. He could, however, use the next best thing. He walked down the spiral staircase towards the common room. He sat down in an armchair in front of the fire and pulled a roll of parchment toward him.
He spun around as he heard Hermione's voice. "what are you doing?" she yawned sleepily.
"um…I woke up from a nightmare, and decided to write it down." Harry lied. Not really, it was part true.
"oh," Hermione answered. "what was it about?"
"a short encounter I had with Voldemort in my 4th year." Harry said. He didn't feel like telling her the whole story. "why are you up?"
"I couldn't sleep with Lavender snoring." Hermione said with a small smile.
Harry wasn't really listening. He was scribbling down his thoughts about the last few weeks at school. Hermione looked over his shoulder, looking puzzled. "umm, Harry? You do realize that that is not English, right?"
"yeah," Harry said absently "that's Parsletounge. I don't want anyone looking in to my private thoughts, right?"
"yeah, I guess." Was the reply, sounding a little disappointed. Harry continued to write down everything. It was plain there was a lot to write.
The next day, Harry felt very preoccupied. During meals, his eyes would always wander towards the Hufflepuff table, where Cedric sat. Cedric looked up when he noticed someone was watching him. He gave Harry an uncertain smile and a vague wave. He stood up and walked out of the Great Hall, a little more quickly than usually, looking at Harry over his shoulder every few steps.
'that was odd' Harry thought. He was pulled out of his reverie by someone yelling out his name.
"Harry!" Wood shouted. "there is practice tonight. Be there! We need to be ready for the mach against Slytherin."
"yeah, I'll be there."
(skip forward to Quidditch mach. Nothing interesting happened)
A whistle sounded, and Harry was off. He was apprehensive about this mach. In his dream, this was the mach in which the bludger followed him around. Sure enough, a few seconds later a bludger was pelting strait towards him. Harry dodged it and dismissed it as a coincidence. Then the bludger came rushing back.
'I knew I shouldn't have thought that wouldn't happen' Harry thought. 'here we go.'
As Fred came close, and tried to hit the bludger toward a Slytherin player, Harry told him that he will take care of this one. Fred left, looking unsure. Harry flew as fast as he could, and the bludger followed. Harry then turned sharply, causing the bludger to fly out of control, and into Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Captain and Chaser. Flint got hit in the stomach, and dropped the Quaffle. But the bludger was still interested only in Harry. Harry, who wasn't really paying any attention to the mach itself, was trying to lead the bludger into flying into the opposing team. Two hours, twenty five hits by the bludger and 70 points later, Harry saw the snitch hovering near the Slytherin goal posts. He flew flat out towards it, with the bludger and Malfoy following him. Harry made a wild snatch and his hand closed onto the snitch. Malfoy stopped, and looking really angry, landed on the ground. The bludger, however, didn't stop just because Harry had caught a small, golden ball. The thing continued forward. Unfortunately, Harry didn't see that coming, and got hit in his left hand, braking it. Caught by surprise, Harry tried to land fast, and without getting too hurt from the landing. the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was Fred and George wrestling the bludger into a crate, and Professor Lockheart bending over him.
Someone stuffed a bolt of cloth into Harry's mouth. He was bound to a gravestone in a graveyard. Some distance away from him lay Cedric Diggory, eyes opened in shock and surprise, dead. To his right Harry saw a bundle of robes, but he knew better. Inside that bundle was Voldemort. Or some form of him. Wormtail was pushing a giant cauldron up the slope towards a clearing in front of Harry.
Then everything started moving faster. It started slowing down when Harry was about to duel Voldemort.
Harry was handed his wand, and then…
"CRUCIO!"
It was pain beyond pain, Harry was getting the hang of it - to a certain degree - after getting hit with it so many times. He still screamed, though, but it didn't hurt as much, to his surprise.
When Voldemort lifted the curse Harry stood up strait. He knew he wasn't going to die. This was only a dream, after all. He hoped that this dream wasn't just a random nightmare, but a dream that would help him figure out the mystery at Hogworts. Who opened the Chamber of Secrets?
Suddenly Harry noticed that he was crouching behind the gravestone. He hadn't noticed the duel's progress. Harry jumped out from behind the stone.
"EXPELLIARMUS!"
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Red met green in a flash of, well, red and green. But suddenly both colors became gold. The familiar golden, domed net was forming around them, singing the phoenix song.
Those weird beads were forming on the connecting line between Harry and Voldemort. Harry tried to force the beads away from him, towards Voldemort. The task was harder than he remembered. He concentrated every particle of his mind on pushing those beads away. Slowly, very slowly, a bead rolled towards Voldemort and finally, after what seamed an eternity, it hit Voldemort's wand. Harry braced himself for what was coming next. All those people he killed would have their shadows walk again tonight, if just for a while.
Harry saw something struggle to get out of Voldemort's wand. A hand popped out. Then another. Cedric's head came out then his torso. Finally his feet were free from the wand.
"you failed!" Cedric's shadow yelled at him in that faraway voice. He sounded furious. "It's your fault I'm dead!" Harry blinked in surprise. This isn't what really happened. Voldemort started laughing that shrill, cruel laugh. The golden dome turned black, and the phoenix song turned into a snake's hiss. Cedric was still yelling at him, telling him that he failed, and that it was all his fault. That was exactly how he felt. He failed in saving Cedric from Voldemort. It was all his fault.
Harry woke up drenched in cold sweat, panting. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, wishing he had a Pensive. He could, however, use the next best thing. He walked down the spiral staircase towards the common room. He sat down in an armchair in front of the fire and pulled a roll of parchment toward him.
He spun around as he heard Hermione's voice. "what are you doing?" she yawned sleepily.
"um…I woke up from a nightmare, and decided to write it down." Harry lied. Not really, it was part true.
"oh," Hermione answered. "what was it about?"
"a short encounter I had with Voldemort in my 4th year." Harry said. He didn't feel like telling her the whole story. "why are you up?"
"I couldn't sleep with Lavender snoring." Hermione said with a small smile.
Harry wasn't really listening. He was scribbling down his thoughts about the last few weeks at school. Hermione looked over his shoulder, looking puzzled. "umm, Harry? You do realize that that is not English, right?"
"yeah," Harry said absently "that's Parsletounge. I don't want anyone looking in to my private thoughts, right?"
"yeah, I guess." Was the reply, sounding a little disappointed. Harry continued to write down everything. It was plain there was a lot to write.
The next day, Harry felt very preoccupied. During meals, his eyes would always wander towards the Hufflepuff table, where Cedric sat. Cedric looked up when he noticed someone was watching him. He gave Harry an uncertain smile and a vague wave. He stood up and walked out of the Great Hall, a little more quickly than usually, looking at Harry over his shoulder every few steps.
'that was odd' Harry thought. He was pulled out of his reverie by someone yelling out his name.
"Harry!" Wood shouted. "there is practice tonight. Be there! We need to be ready for the mach against Slytherin."
"yeah, I'll be there."
(skip forward to Quidditch mach. Nothing interesting happened)
A whistle sounded, and Harry was off. He was apprehensive about this mach. In his dream, this was the mach in which the bludger followed him around. Sure enough, a few seconds later a bludger was pelting strait towards him. Harry dodged it and dismissed it as a coincidence. Then the bludger came rushing back.
'I knew I shouldn't have thought that wouldn't happen' Harry thought. 'here we go.'
As Fred came close, and tried to hit the bludger toward a Slytherin player, Harry told him that he will take care of this one. Fred left, looking unsure. Harry flew as fast as he could, and the bludger followed. Harry then turned sharply, causing the bludger to fly out of control, and into Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Captain and Chaser. Flint got hit in the stomach, and dropped the Quaffle. But the bludger was still interested only in Harry. Harry, who wasn't really paying any attention to the mach itself, was trying to lead the bludger into flying into the opposing team. Two hours, twenty five hits by the bludger and 70 points later, Harry saw the snitch hovering near the Slytherin goal posts. He flew flat out towards it, with the bludger and Malfoy following him. Harry made a wild snatch and his hand closed onto the snitch. Malfoy stopped, and looking really angry, landed on the ground. The bludger, however, didn't stop just because Harry had caught a small, golden ball. The thing continued forward. Unfortunately, Harry didn't see that coming, and got hit in his left hand, braking it. Caught by surprise, Harry tried to land fast, and without getting too hurt from the landing. the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was Fred and George wrestling the bludger into a crate, and Professor Lockheart bending over him.