A/N: I must be evil. I had so much fun writing this chapter and then denied you the pleasure of reading it for weeks. I'm curious about what you think happened to Holly in the maze—Speculate, by all means, for it will only be explained by Dumbledore—In the next installment which will appear no sooner than five months from now. ;-)
Chapter Sixteen: Holly Finds Clarity and Temporary Insanity
"Miss Phillips, you don't want to miss the final task, do you?" Holly jolted up and looked around to find Professor Dumbledore smiling at her.
"Where am I?" she asked, looking around.
"Where do you think? The Hospital Wing of course. Mr. Diggory brought you here after you fell into the lake."
"Did he?" Holly frowned. "Ah, he did… Professor, something grabbed me!"
"I know," Dumbledore nodded. "Cedric explained it all to me. Any idea what it was?"
"No," Holly shook her head. Dumbledore smiled.
"We will discuss this further later. The Task starts in an hour. I suggest you get some dinner." And with that, Dumbledore rose and disappeared.
~
Holly was so excited she could barely stay seated.
"Holly, would you stop jumping up and down like that? It's embarrassing!" Fred took her by the shoulders and pulled her down.
"I'm sorry, I can't help it! It's just, Harry and Cedric are tied!"
"I know," came a voice from behind them. Holly jumped and turned to see a grinning Amos Diggory and his wife.
"Hello, Mr. Diggory!" Holly said cheerfully. "I am absolutely ecstatic! Cedric and Harry, neck and neck, and after this, I get to see one of my closest friends! How could this night get any better?" Mr. Diggory laughed.
"Aren't you enthusiastic?"
"Leave the children alone, dear," his wife said with a warm smile.
"Hi guys!" Ron cried. He and Hermione were making their way over to them, followed closely by Bill and Mrs. Weasley.
"Oh Holly, dear!" Mrs. Weasley cried, her fingers flying to her face. "Are you alright? Are you fit to be up and about?" Holly gave her a reassuring smile.
"Yes ma'am, but thank you for your concern!"
"Has it started?" Ron asked. As if in answer, Bagman's magically enhanced voice filled the air.
"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 place with eighty-five points each— Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts school!" Holly beamed and cheered and applauded with the rest of them. Bagman continued. "In second place with eighty points— Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!" More applause. "And in third place— Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beuxbatons Academy!" They applauded Fleur and noticed Harry wave up at them.
At the sound of Bagman's whistle, Harry and Cedric disappeared into the maze. A few minutes later, Krum followed them and after him, Fleur.
"What's going on? What's going on? What's going on?" Holly shrieked.
"Aw, calm down you daft prick!" Fred and George both rolled their eyes. Lee was gazing through his Omnioculars.
"It seems like they're doing OK right now," he informed them. Holly yanked the Omnioculars out of Lee's hands.
"Let me see!"
"You know, you could have just asked," Lee snarled. But Holly wasn't listening; she was too busy watching Cedric and Harry, cheering for them both.
"Can Lee have his Omnioculars back, Holly?" George asked, tapping her tentatively on the shoulder after ten minutes. Holly waved him a way. Red sparks shot up into the air.
"What— Who's that, Holly?" Ron pulled on Holly's sleeve.
"Fleur," Holly mumbled. "But there was something unnatural about the way she…" Holly remembered seeing the blonde girl making her way, determined, through the maze when it looked as if she had just suddenly screamed and fell to the ground. Holly hadn't even seen who had sent up the red sparks, surely it couldn't have been Fleur…
But Holly was shaken out of her trance as an irking feeling rose up and seemed to grasp her heart and she was caught unaware. She didn't like this feeling and her vision quickly moved to Cedric, for she sensed something was deadly wrong now. He was trying to dodge… Viktor Krum?
"What the…" She leaned forward in her seat and gasped as Krum cast a spell at Cedric and he fell to the ground. "BASTARD!" she screamed.
"Holly, what's going on?" Lee demanded, annoyed that she had stolen his only pair of Omnioculuars.
"Krum just hit Cedric with a…" She trailed off as Cedric writhed in pain on the ground and screamed. She jumped to her feet. "HE CAN'T DO THAT!" Holly hissed.
"WHAT?!" Everyone around her screamed. Holly wordlessly handed the Omnioculars back to Lee, who gasped.
"No, Holly, you're imagining things… I'm imagining things, that can't be… Krum wouldn't…"
"Well he did!" Holly hissed. Lee looked appalled, but he sighed with relief.
"Harry's just come through the bush and attacked Krum. It's stopped, Holly, Cedric's fine."
"What happened to my boy?" Mr. Diggory demanded from behind them.
"Nothing, sir," Lee said, his eyes still on the maze. "Nothing at all."
"What did Viktor do?" Hermione shrieked.
"Relax, Hermione, you're boyfriend's just a lying, torturing scumbag, that's all," Holly replied with a smile while Hermione scowled.
"No, Holly, he couldn't have done that, something's really wrong… Do you think the others saw that?" Holly just crossed her arms.
"I hate Krum," she declared.
"They've gone their separate ways again," Lee informed them. "Harry and Cedric, I mean."
"Give me those!" Holly demanded, and yanked the Omnioculars out of Lee's hand again.
"Hey! I bought those, you know! With my own money!"
"Tough," Holly muttered as she followed Harry and saw him meet a sphinx. She then looked at Cedric who seemed to be making his way closer to the center… just to be tied up by a curse. But both of them got past their obstacles and got to the center at nearly the same time. Cedric ran to the cup but…
"Oh crap!" Holly cried. "Spider!"
Harry seemed to notice the overgrown insect as well as he seemed to warn Cedric. Cedric and Harry battled the beast together. The spider picked Harry up in its pincers and dropped him again and he and Cedric reached for their wands and fired a stunning spell at it. But when the drama was over, neither of them went for the cup.
"What the hell are they doing? They're just… standing there!" Ron took the Omnioculars out of Holly's hands and looked for himself.
"She's right," he said. "Harry's trying hard not to fall… What happened to his leg?" Hermione then took the Omnioculars.
"Cedric won't take the cup," she said. "He's talking to Harry."
"Idiots!" Fred screamed above the crowd. "TAKE THE CUP! ONE OF YOU!" Both of them looked up, almost as if they heard him, and Holly had to chuckle. Hermione handed Holly back the Omnioculars, with some protest from Lee ("Hey, those are mine, you know!")
Finally, it seemed Harry and Cedric worked out a deal and went for the cup together. Holly grinned, proud of her brother and her friend. But her grin disappeared.
"What now?" Lee asked.
"They're gone!" She shrieked. "Is that supposed to happen?" Instantly, the teachers who had been patrolling the outside of the maze were in the center. They seemed to be examining the plinth the Triwizard Cup had been resting on and the area around it.
"I don't think so," said Amos Diggory from behind them. "Where's Cedric? Where's my son?"
"Cedric's gone?" cried Mrs. Diggory. "Oh…" Holly could hear the faintness in her voice and was feeling the same thing. Her head was spinning and her muscles were aching and a horrible feeling went down her spine.
"No…" she muttered. "Something is horribly wrong." And with that, she vaulted the barrier between the stands and the earth and ran as fast as she could to the maze, not even hesitating when she felt a stitch in her side. However, the bushes were an obstacle to get past.
"DUMBLEDORE!" She boomed, ramming herself against the hard hedge. "What's going on?"
"No need to shout, Holly!" Holly started and spun around and saw Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge looking very solemn indeed.
"Cornelius, allow me to introduce Holly Phillips." Holly and Fudge stared at each other, coldly.
"We've met," they said, together, in robotic tones.
"You're father—"
"Don't even start on my father, Fudge!" Holly threatened, pulling out her wand.
"This isn't about anyone's father," Dumbledore interrupted, politely. "This is about our two missing champions. Come."
"Why does she have to come?" Fudge asked, with obvious distaste.
"To make sure you don't convict an innocent man again!" said Holly, coolly.
"Halt the feud for a moment, please," said Dumbledore. "Minister, Miss Phillips, follow me." Dumbledore led them both to the center, where Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, Professor Moody, and Professor Flitwick were still examining the scene where they disappeared.
"We can' find a trace of 'em, Professor," Hagrid informed them when he saw them. Flitwick nodded.
"Our best guess is that the cup was a Portkey," he said. "Somehow, someone…"
"But that's impossible…" Fudge frowned. "No one could have…"
"Someone obviously did Minister. But the questions are, who, how, why, and most of all where? Where did he take them?" The four teachers shrugged at Dumbledore's query, though it was obvious to Holly that he wasn't asking anyone in particular anyway. Her heart was pounding.
"This is all my fault…" she muttered, remembering her reasons for procrastinating and not looking after Harry, all of them seemingly futile now. "Harry can't take care of himself, he is barely aware of his surroundings. Someone else has to…"
"For some reason unknown to me, Holly, things seem to dawn on you too late," Dumbledore sighed, wearily. "Everything is staring you right in the face and you don't realize it until it's laughing at your ignorance."
"I'm sorry, Professor," Holly muttered.
"Just like her father…" Fudge shook his head. Holly didn't even have the bite to retort. The feeling of guilt rose in the pit of her stomach, a feeling worse than nausea. And Dumbledore was right; Holly did seem to realize things too late. Her love for Cedric, the reason for keeping her true identity secret, the reason for looking after her brother, hell, even her own personality didn't seem to make itself clear to her until two years ago.
"DAMN IT!" Holly swore in frustration. "Where are they?! WHERE ARE THEY!" Holly kicked at the plinth. She stood there, frozen for a moment, waiting for the pain to explode in her foot. Faithfully and punctually, as pain often is, it did.
"OW!" Holly screamed before the tears stung her eyes and she fell backwards onto the cool, moist grass.
She stared up at the dark, diamond-studded velvet and momentarily found peace. As she looked up at the burning, carefree stars and the sliver left of the moon, she smiled, almost hysterically, at the silence that surrounded her.
All thoughts and worries of Harry and Cedric were pushed to the back of her mind as if they were unimportant. All shrieks of horror, excitement, and alarm from the crowd were muted as if someone had taken a giant remote from one of those Muggle televisions and turned down the volume. All mutterings and cries from the professors surrounding her were now obsolete. Even Fudge's annoying voice couldn't penetrate Holly's deafness. There were only two things in the world: Holly, and the firmament above her.
A dazed and blissful expression over took her eyes and her lips parted as she watched the dancing ballet of the stars to the silent, lunar music. They were so beautiful, so wonderful, so wise, so aware, so serene… Everything Holly had tried so hard to be, and yet could seem never to achieve.
The rustling of robes broke through Holly's oblivion. The weak smile, and now sad, sparkling blue eyes obscured her view of the peaceful stars above her. Professor Dumbledore was looking down at her, patiently waiting for her to come to her senses.
"Are you with us, Holly?" he asked in a whisper. Slowly, and with much effort, she tore herself out of her dream and nodded. "You must be very alarmed."
"My best friend is missing," she said in a monotone. "And my brother. They're both missing and I can't find them, I can't find them anywhere, Professor, and I've looked so hard. I tried to look after them, I didn't mean to drag Cedric into this, it just happened. They aren't in the library, Professor, or in the common room and I don't think they're in their dorms. They aren't in the Great hall nor any classrooms of Hogwarts. I searched everywhere, Professor, but I just couldn't find them, I just can't find them. They're gone and I don't know where they are." Dumbledore looked up at someone.
"No comments from any of you," he said. "It's normal, she's traumatized."
"I even looked at the bottom of the lake," Holly went on, deaf to Dumbledore's words. "But they weren't there. Imagine that? I went all the way to the bottom of the lake to find them. And I hate water. I remember the coldness of the water, I remember the numbness of my mind, I remember wondering if this was it, if it would be a watery grave that I would find, but I didn't… Somehow, he saved me. He's my hero and now he's gone, he's left me here to drown, all alone, all by myself…"
"Holly, please…" It was Professor McGonagall who was kneeling over her now on the opposite side of Dumbledore. "You must come to your senses. True, we don't know where Harry and Cedric have disappeared, but don't assume the worst until you see it for yourself."
"Don't assume the best, either," Dumbledore added, with a solemn glance at McGonagall.
"I know it's happened," Holly said, coldly, glaring at Dumbledore with burning eyes. "I know it has. I can feel it. I could always feel it. Whenever something happened to him, I would feel it. Like in the Task when Krum tortured him, I feel it burn my heart, as if it were I he was torturing. The Task, it seems so long ago now. Now that he's… And I know it's happened. I know what you've done. I can't feel him anymore. I can't feel him…" Even Dumbledore was stunned.
"What did you say, Holly?" he asked.
Holly blinked and shook her head wildly. She sat up, as if nothing had happened, stood up calmly and declared, "Well!" She looked around at them with a smile. "That was wild, wasn't it? I'm going to go for a walk!" And with that, she marched right out of the maze and straight to the lake, with no one bothering to follow her.