A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a few weeks. But I'm making up for it now. Hey, I found out today that my "forte" intumbling in PEis doing back-walk-overs. I'm thrilled, can't you tell? Anyway. I really like this song, "Louder Than Words" from Tick, Tick... BOOM! It goes something like this:"Actions speak louder than words… cages or wings, which do you prefer? Ask the birds… Fear or love, baby, don't say the answer; actions speak louder than…"
Sorry, couldn't resist.

Chapter 12

Voldemort' Has Returned

It seemed as though hours had passed, though really it couldn't have been more than a couple of minutes. But when Sirius heard two people approaching the office, Sirius jumped out of his chair and stood anxiously, twisting his fingers around his sleeve hems.

Dumbledore pushed open the office door and stepped to one side. There was Harry, looking tired, confused and ill. When Harry's eyes fell upon his godfather, they lit up slightly and the corners of his mouth lifted gently. Sirius hurried over to him.

"Harry, are you all right? I knew it—I knew something like this—what happened?" Sirius could hardly get the words out of his mouth. Sirius helped Harry into one of the chairs opposite Dumbledore's. Harry's skin was ice-cold to the touch.

"What happened?" Sirius repeated.

Dumbledore walked slowly to his desk and sat down. Harry was looking at the ground.

"It was Crouch's son—Crouch Jr.," Dumbledore said. "He was a Death Eater, posing as Moody to help Voldemort regain his body tonight."

"What?"

"Crouch Jr. escaped Azkaban with the help of his dying mother. They both took the Polyjuice Potion and it was Mrs. Crouch who died in the Azkaban cell. His father smuggled his son out, pretending that it was his wife he was taking with him. Barty staged his wife's death, and then placed his son under the Imperius Curse to keep him under control—"

"I'm sorry, but how do you know all this?" Sirius interrupted.

"Veritaserum. We had Crouch Jr. take some just a few moments ago," Dumbledore continued. "Crouch Jr. wore an invisibility cloak at all times and was kept under control by Winky the house-elf. But he was continually getting stronger, and wanted to find Voldemort again.

"Bertha Jorkins discovered that Crouch Jr. was still alive, so his father placed a powerful Memory charm on her. So powerful, in fact, it altered her memory forever. But it wasn't so powerful that Voldemort couldn't break it, however. Voldemort discovered that Crouch Jr. was still alive and wanted to help his return.

"So after the Quidditch World Cup, where Crouch Jr. had stolen Harry's wand, Voldemort paid the Crouch family a visit. With the help of Voldemort, Crouch Jr. was able to overpower his father.

"He and Peter Pettigrew went to the real Mad-Eye Moody's house and captured him. They made the Polyjuice Potion, and Crouch Jr. began to take it and began to turn into Moody. He has been at Hogwarts all year, guiding Harry though the Triwizard Tournament, while without appearing to do so.

"When Barty Crouch overcame the Imperius Curse placed upon him by Voldemort, he came to Hogwarts, hoping to warn me of what his son was doing. But Crouch Jr. found him first, and killed him and Stunned Viktor Krum.

"Then, tonight, Crouch Jr. turned the Triwizard Cup into a Portkey, and it brought Harry and Cedric right to Voldemort's trap," Dumbledore said finally.

Sirius's head was spinning. How could this have happened? Right under Dumbledore's nose? Sirius had always thought that Dumbledore was a genius and that nothing ever escaped him… but now…

There was a deathly silence in the room. Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, flew swiftly across the room and landed on Harry's knee. Harry stroked the bird's beautiful plumage carefully. The bird's scarlet and gold feathers seemed to smolder in the light.

Dumbledore was staring at Harry unblinkingly. Harry was determinedly avoiding his gaze, and watching Fawkes intently.

"I need to know what happened after you touched the Portkey in the maze, Harry," Dumbledore said to him quietly.

Harry didn't say a word. Sirius spoke for him.

"We can leave that til morning, can't we, Dumbledore?" Sirius reached out to Harry and put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "Let him have a sleep. Let him rest."

But Dumbledore didn't answer him. Instead, he leaned closer to Harry, trying to make Harry look up at him. "If I thought I could help you by putting you in an enchanted sleep and allowing you to postpone the moment when you would have to think about what has happened tonight, I would do it," Dumbledore said. "But I know better. Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it. You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you. I ask you to demonstrate your courage one more time. I ask you to tell us what happened."

Harry was looking at Dumbledore unwillingly. The only sound in the room was the pulsating clack of one of Dumbledore's silver instruments.

Fawkes cooed out one solitary note. It quavered in the air, and relaxed Sirius slightly. He loosened his death-grip on Harry's shoulder. He hadn't even realized he had been squeezing it so hard.

"When… Cedric and I landed, we didn't know where we were. We were standing in a-a graveyard. At first, we thought that it might have been an extension of the Task, maybe. But, then we saw someone coming towards us. It was… It was Wormtail. He was carrying Voldemort, who was like a baby—only he was scaly… and red and had the face of a snake," Harry gulped as though he had just swallowed something disgusting. "Voldemort ordered Wormtail to kill Cedric. He did… and Cedric—Cedric fell… right next to me, he just dropped to the ground… his face was blank and lifeless… I couldn't…" Harry was talking slowly, as though each word was painful to say.

"Oh, Harry—" Sirius began, but Dumbledore raised a hand to stop him. Harry regained himself and continued.

"Wormtail tied me to Voldemort's father's gravestone and started to make a potion… he placed the creature—Voldemort—into the cauldron. Then Wormtail started to say some… incantation… the dust of Voldemort's father flew into the cauldron and…" Harry shuddered, "Wormtail cut off his right hand and put it into the potion… and then he cut my arm and took my blood and—"

"Damn it!" Sirius shouted and he slouched back in his chair. Voldemort had risen, that was all there was to it. Dumbledore had worked so hard to put all that protection into Harry… now Voldemort had it too.

Dumbledore shot up out of his chair and strode around the desk to Harry's side. "Let me see your arm," he insisted.

Harry stretched out his right arm, and, sure enough, his robes were soaked with blood. Dumbledore pushed up the sleeve and examined the cut carefully as Harry said, "Voldemort said my blood would make him stronger than anyone else's. He said the protection my—my mother left in me—he'd have it too. And he was right—he could touch me without hurting himself, he touched my face."

Sirius stared at his godson as though he had never truly seen him before. Voldemort had touched Harry.

"Very well," Dumbledore said heavily, sitting back down. "Voldemort has overcome that particular barrier. Harry, continue, please."

Harry went on to explain how Voldemort had touched a whimpering Wormtail's Dark Mark. Death Eaters began to Apparate into the graveyard. He told them how Voldemort had addressed his Death Eaters, telling them how disgusted he was that only a few of them had decided to remain true to him. And then Voldemort had released Harry and given him back his wand. Voldemort had wanted to duel Harry—to play with him before killing him.

But, after dodging Voldemort's futile attempts, Harry explained how his and Voldemort's wands connected with a golden beam of light, which had spread around them like a spider web. But Harry's voice was starting to break, and he tried to keep talking, though his words were disjointed with his effort not to cry.

"The wands connected? Why?" Sirius interrupted, hoping that his question could give Harry a chance to recollect himself. He gave Harry's shoulder a small, supportive squeeze.

"Priori Incantatem," Dumbledore said simply.

"The Reverse Spell Effect?"

"Exactly," said Dumbledore. "Harry's wand and Voldemort's share cores. Each of them contains a feather from the tail of the same phoenix. This phoenix, in fact," Dumbledore said, smiling at Fawkes.

"My wand's feather came from Fawkes?" Harry repeated.

"Yes. Mr. Ollivander wrote to tell me you had bought the second wand, the moment you left his shop four years ago," Dumbledore said with a heavy sigh.

"So, what happens when a wand meets its brother?" Sirius asked, curious.

"They will not work properly against each other," Dumbledore replied. "If, however, the owners of the wands force the wands to do battle… a very rare effect will take place. One of the wands will be forced to regurgitate spells it has performed—in reverse. The most recent first… and then those which preceded it…"

Dumbledore was looking at Harry while he spoke, as if searching for approval. Harry nodded wordlessly.

"Diggory came back to life?" Sirius asked sharply.

"No spell can reawaken the dead," Dumbledore said seriously. "All that would have happened is a kind of reverse echo. A shadow of the living Cedric would have emerged from the wand… am I correct Harry?"

Harry began to shiver. "He spoke to me. The… the ghost Cedric, or whatever he was, spoke."

"An echo which retained Cedric's appearance and character," Dumbledore nodded knowingly. "I am guessing other such forms appeared… less recent victims of Voldemort's wand…"

"An old man," Harry said with a quavering voice. "Bertha Jorkins. And…" Harry drifted off and looked at the ground.

"Your parents?" said Dumbledore softly.

"Yes."

Sirius's hand tightened on Harry's shoulder, and his breathing became short. Sirius closed his eyes and tried to picture how happy James and Lily would have been to see their son again…

"The last murders of the wand performed in reverse order," Dumbledore continued. "More would have appeared, of course, had you maintained the connection. Very well, Harry, these echoes, these shadows… what did they do?"

"They spoke to me… told me to hold on… made Voldemort really nervous…" Harry explained how the shadows had patrolled around the pair of them. How Lily and James had emerged from the wand and told him what he had to do—how he needed to break the connection with Voldemort then run to the Portkey. He said that Cedric had asked Harry to bring his body back to Hogwarts.

As Harry spoke of Lily and James, Sirius let go of Harry for fear that he would cause a dent in Harry's shoulder. Sirius put his head in his hands and told himself to stay strong… stay strong for Harry… he needs you to be strong…

"I will say it again," Dumbledore replied, once Harry had finished. "You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have ever expected of you tonight, Harry. You have shown bravery equal to those who died fighting Voldemort at the height of his powers. You have shouldered a grown wizard's burden and found yourself equal to it—and you have now given us all we have a right to expect. You will come with me to the hospital wing. I do not want you returning to your dormitory tonight A Sleeping Potion, and some peace… Sirius? Would you like to stay with him?"

Sirius looked up and nodded. Sirius transformed into a dog once more, and followed Harry and Dumbledore out of his office. Sirius was glad that Dumbledore wasn't going to make Harry go back to his dormitory tonight… surely the boys there would ask too many questions—too many unanswerable questions.