Marie came over and knelt beside Harry. His eyes were glassy, and he didn't seem to know where he was.
"Harry," she said, giving his cheek little slaps to snap him out of his trance.
He blinked, but that was all. His eyes were still fixed in blind fear on the doorway, where a dementor was watching them through a small hole.
Marie moved to block Harry's view and shook him. "Harry."
He blinked again, and his eyes lost that glassy look.
"Harry? It is Harry, isn't it?" Marie asked, anxiously.
He nodded, let out a weak laugh and said, "You're immune to dementors, too?"
She glanced back and said, "They freak me out, but not as bad, I guess."
"Just keep between us. You weaken their hold enough so that I can think," he said.
"All right," she answered, shifting to a more comfortable sitting position.
He glanced over her shoulder at the dementor and said ruefully, "I can't believe I was so stupid. I should have just told Ron and Hermoine everything from the start."
"You must have had a good reason not to at the time."
"I… I had a dream. I knew you would turn up at Hogsmeade, that I had to protect you because you were the key to it all, and that I would be betrayed by someone I trusted. The problem was, I didn't know who the betrayer would be. I talked Snape into going to help out at the Ministry while I took his place here, because I thought going in disguise would make it harder for anyone out there plotting. Boy, was I ever wrong."
He looked as though he were slipping into despair again, so Marie said quickly, "The person has the E'Chode now, and made me open up some kind of room. We need to get out of here and stop the whatever from happening. Can you do magic, you know, without your wand?"
"I can, but not on purpose. Just when I'm really upset," Harry answered, doubtfully.
"You're not upset now?" Marie asked, raising an eyebrow.
Harry managed a small smile.
"Hold on a second," Marie said, getting an idea. She went over to the door and pressed on it, seeing if there was some magic catch she could force to open. "No luck," she said, sitting back down.
"Worth a try," he answered bravely.
"You have anything in your pockets at all?" she asked.
He reached into his robes and pulled out the fanged Frisbee. It started snarling and spitting. The noise attracted the dementor, who entered the room. Harry tossed the Frisbee at his head, and while the dementor tried to pull the biting object off his arm Harry dragged Marie out through the door and slammed it behind them, trapping the dementor inside.
"That works," Marie commented.
"Get out of here. Find some way of contacting Ron and Hermoine. I'm going to put a stop to this," Harry said, pushing up his sleeves.
"No way," was Marie's quick response. Harry looked as though he might get angry, but Marie insisted, "I'm not leaving you here alone. You don't even know where you're going, and you can't fend off dementors at all. I'll be your shield in case anyone gets any bright ideas."
Harry shook his head. "Too dangerous. You're still hurt, and besides, we don't know how strong your defense against magic really is," Harry explained patiently.
"Well, since both of us are definitely behind on points here, and this definitely isn't a snowball fight, the way I see it neither of us has the right to give orders. The only way to get around that problem is to work as a team," Marie said, a bit of playfulness in her voice.
Harry racked his brain for some excuse to make her leave, and was finally forced to nod reluctantly. He said softly, "I'm sorry I got you into this mess."
"Cloak person got us into this mess. And if we're going to blame anyone, it should be me. If I weren't such a freak show, we wouldn't have this problem in the first place. Believe me, none of this is your fault," Marie said firmly.
Harry was stunned to hear his own secret thoughts about himself echoed back to him, but before he could say anything more Marie spoke.
"It's this way," she said, pulling on his elbow.
It took a bit longer to find her way back down to the cavern than Marie had planned on; she had forgotten a few of the turns and they had to backtrack. She was afraid Harry would get upset, but he remained patient, though anxious. They also had to sneak past a few dementors, all of which caused Harry to start sweating and gasping so loudly for air that Marie was all but certain they'd be caught. Finally they found themselves back in the large chamber, with the stone doorway standing alone in darkness. They could see a figure tied spread eagle on the floor in the magic room, with the E'Chode arranged in a square around him.
"That's Neville Longbottom! I didn't even know he was missing," Harry whispered.
A voice not Neville's own arose from the vessel's mouth, reciting an incantation. Harry recognized the voice as Voldemort's. The cloaked figure stood nearby, repeating the incantation back with the appropriate magic behind it, and the E'Chode pulsed with every word. Harry and Marie could both see the spell cloud forming over Neville, and the dark form of Voldemort's spirit surrounding him and being drawn into his body like liquid into a sponge.
"That thing's possessing him, isn't it?" Marie asked anxiously.
"I've got to stop it," Harry said, darting forward.
"No!" Marie hissed, grabbing at his cloak.
He pulled away.
Voldemort's spirit saw Harry's rapid approach through the doorway. "Look out, you fool!"
The cloaked figure wheeled on Harry, pointing her wand at him, and Harry saw the servant's face for the first time.
"Cho," he said lamely, stunned.
Cho Chang looked just as startled to see Harry as he was to see her.
"Kill him!" Voldemort roared.
Harry and Cho started wrestling for the control of the wand.
"Master! Give me the rest of the spell, so that you may rise!" Cho called to the spirit as she fought.
"Cho, what are you doing?" Harry yelled.
"Say Corpus Levidiucus three times, then speak my name!" Voldemort shrieked.
"You don't understand, Harry. You don't know what it means to find someone who understands you," Cho was trying to say in a muffled voice. She managed to turn with the wand and get out one "Corpus Livedicus!"
"No!" Harry shrieked.
"Stop her!" Voldemort screamed, as Marie started across the room for the square of stones.
Cho clawed frantically at Harry's face as she tried to train her wand on Marie. There were voices coming from the stairwell.
Harry recognized them. "Ron! Hermoine! Down here, quick!"
"Harry!" Ron yelled back.
"Oh my God, Harry!" Hermoine's voice echoed, accompanied by the sound of running feet.
Cho took advantage of the distraction to shove Harry aside. Since he was standing between her and Marie, she settled for another "Corpus Levedicus!"
Marie was almost to Neville's prone form.
"CHANG!" Voldemort roared.
Ron and Hermoine appeared in the doorway. "Stupefy!" "Expelliarmus!"
"Corpus Levedicus Cedric Diggory!" Cho managed before the spells threw her to the ground.
"What?!" Harry exclaimed.
"TRAITOR!" Voldemort screamed, as Marie threw herself into the square.
She lay on top of Neville, the power of the magic field causing her to shake all over. She was evidently strong enough to keep any invaders out of Neville's body, but not strong enough to dispel Voldemort's shadowy form or the much lighter, fainter form approaching behind it.
"Harry!" Ron said, holding up the wand he had taken from Harry when he was arrested.
"Accio wand!" Harry called, and his wand sped into his hand.
Ron, Hermoine, and Harry stood together in a line between Voldemort and Cho. Voldemort's eyes flicked nervously across their faces, down to Marie and Neville, and back towards the glowing gap behind him, where the ghost of Cedric waited patiently. "Ready," Harry said firmly. They brought up their wands, and Harry could see Cedric gathering all his ghostly energy around him.
The four of them spoke the banishment charm as one with all the power they could muster. "Deaccium!"
The power of the four wizard combined with the amplified magic zone created by the E'Chode threw Voldemort back into Cedric and through the glowing hole, which promptly sealed.
The echo of the spell Voldemort threw at them before he disappeared rang through the chamber. Harry didn't recognize the spell, but he got the general idea when the building started to shake violently.
"Oh, my," Neville said, coming fully awake to the sight of four wizards gathered around him and a muggle lying on his chest.
Harry gathered Marie into his arms as Ron dragged Neville to his feet at Hermoine scooped up the E'Chode. Cho, sobbing bitterly, ran with them towards the exit and up the stairs. Dementors were running wildly, and prisoners screamed mindlessly in their cells. They felt the prison tip and shake, followed by the sinking feeling that always accompanies a long fall. The shaking caused the group to fall to their knees and they pressed up against one of the walls for protection, certain that this was the end.
There was a loud crash, followed suddenly by darkness and an eerie silence. Everyone sat, stunned, taking deep breaths and pinching him or herself to make sure they were still alive.
Ron finally broke the tension by saying, "Guess that about does it for the basement."
The rest of the group laughed with nervous relief.
"Is everyone all right?" Hermoine asked.
"This is Azkaban, isn't it? Oh, no, did I do something wrong, then forgot?" Neville's voice said nervously from somewhere to Harry's right.
"We'll explain everything to you later, Neville," Ron said.
"Well then, time to get the E'Chode back where they belong. I'm sure the Ministry will be pleased to hear they no longer have to worry about boundary breaches," Hermoine said cheerfully to break the silence.
"What about her?" Ron said, indicating Cho.
She looked fearfully at the faces and managed to gasp between sobs, "I… only… pretended… to go along. I just wanted… Cedric back."
"By wiping Neville clean in the process?" Hermoine said sternly.
Cho shook her head, her face stained with tears. "I didn't think… You were there," she said futilely to Harry.
Harry looked up at her, not quite following her train of thought.
"You were there when he died! You know what that feels like! I meant to tell you, I thought you would help me!" Cho shrieked.
Harry looked away, both out of revulsion at what she almost did and the sick feeling in his stomach that said he really might have helped.
"I thought you would help me…" she repeated. Her voice trailed off.
"Voldemort had her under his control. She didn't know what she was doing," Harry said quietly.
"I know. But she'll still have to stand trial. Wizard law," Hermoine said quietly.
Harry looked down at Marie. She was still breathing, but she felt light in his arms and her skin was an ashy gray. He felt her forehead. She was cooling rapidly under his fingers.
"We have to get Marie to a hospital," he said.
Epilogue will be posted tomorrow.
