The bright sun shone high in the pale blue late-July sky. A slight breeze rustled the trees, and birds flew by, singing cheerfully. However, the world was not as peaceful as it seemed.

Since early June, there had been three reports of people disappearing and children being kidnapped. The last kidnapping had been of a little girl named Rachel Braham.

Nearly one hundred families, all dressed in black, were pouring into a small church outside of London.

Nearly everyone was crying, one exception being a small boy standing alone in the back of the church. This boy was thin, and a bit short for his age, which was almost fifteen. He had untidy jet-black hair and bright green eyes that were looking around the Church through round glasses. What made his appearance special was the fact that a thin, lightning-bolt shaped scar was on his forehead. This boy's name was Harry Potter.

Harry was also a wizard, as were many of the other guests. Harry supposed a couple of them were Muggles (non-magic), as wizards sometimes came from Muggle families, or were related to Muggles.

Everyone was gathered in the church for the funeral of a seventeen-year old boy named Cedric Diggory, who Harry had gotten to know rather well the year before.

Harry looked around the Church and saw various families he recognized. In the front row were the Diggorys. On the very left sat Amos Diggory, Cedric's father, and Cedric's mother sat beside him. To her right was a young, dark-haired boy, who looked almost eleven. Next to him were more relatives that Harry didn't know.

In the pew behind them sat the Weasleys, Harry's best friend Ron's family. On the left sat Mr. Weasley, and beside him sat Mrs. Weasley, and their children Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny. They were very kind, but very poor, and their robes were slightly worn. All nine of them had flaming red hair and loads of freckles.

Behind the Weasleys sat Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. Fudge had been on Harry's side, but he had refused to believe Harry's story about what happened when Cedric had been killed. Beside Cornelius Fudge, to Harry's extreme displeasure, sat the Malfoys: Lucius, Narcissa, and their son Draco. Draco had a pale pointed face, and his father looked nearly the same. Draco and Harry had been enemies ever since the first train ride to their school, in their first year.

Behind the Malfoys sat Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts. He was old and had long, silvery hair and a long beard. He wore half-moon spectacles. Beside him sat Professor McGonagall, an elderly, stern witch with rectangular glasses. Beside her sat Professor Severus Snape. He taught potions, and his hate for Harry was only matched by Harry's hate for him. He had a hooked nose, sallow skin, and a head full of black greasy hair.

In the next pew sat Cho Chang and her family. Cho Chang was another student Harry knew from his school, and she had been a close friend to Cedric. She kept wiping her eyes, which were full of tears. Harry turned slightly red, as he had always thought that Cho was pretty ever since he had first seen her in his third year.

Harry's eyes focused back up on the front as the priest stood up. Even the priest was fighting back tears, but Harry didn't cry. It wasn't that he wasn't sad about Cedric's death, just that Harry Potter didn't cry.

The priest began, "We are all here to honor and pay respect to Cedric Amos Diggory." He nodded towards a closed casket placed before the crowd. "He was a wonderful boy who was taken too soon at the age of seventeen. If he had lived, today would have been his eighteenth birthday. He was in his last year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Hogwarts was the school that Harry went to. A witch or wizard went there for seven years before graduating. Harry would be beginning his fifth year soon.

The priest continued, "The family has asked me to read this outline of Cedric's life. As I said earlier, Cedric was born eighteen years ago today, on July twenty-ninth. He was raised just outside of Surrey until the age of five, when his family moved to London. There, Cedric grew up with many other wizarding families and was taught the value of honesty, teamwork, and fair play. He learned to cooperate and how to have faith in other people and their abilities."

Harry smirked and nearly chuckled, but he managed to restrain himself. What the priest said had been true. Cedric was very honest, kind, and fair. However, he sure hadn't learned it from his parents, at least not his father. Amos Diggory had specifically insulted Harry last year and greatly disliked people who overshadowed Cedric.

"When Cedric turned eleven, he was accepted into Hogwarts, where he was placed in Hufflepuff house like his father. He fit in very quickly and made friends nearly upon arriving. He did very well academically and continued to do so throughout his years at the school. In his second year, Cedric made it onto the Hufflepuff Quidditch team as Seeker. He led Hufflepuff to quite a few victories, and was an excellent team player. In his fifth year, Cedric was given the honor of being the Hufflepuff house Prefect, which he was until his dying day. In his sixth year, he showed his superior skills in Quidditch in a remarkable defeat of another house's Seeker."

Harry went deep red, and he saw Fred and George scowl. The game that the priest was referring to had been against the Quidditch team that Harry, Fred, and George all played for. Harry was Seeker for that team, and he had fallen off of his broomstick, which was the only reason Cedric had won. Cedric had been decent about it though and would have been deeply embarrassed and ashamed to know that they had said that.

"In his seventh year, Cedric was chosen to represent Hogwarts in the latest attempt of a revival of the Triwizard Tournament. Cedric did very well and was in first place near the end. Sadly, he found his death during the third and final task."

The priest then was silent for a moment and then cleared his throat. "Now, I would like to ask for Peter Diggory, uncle of Cedric, to come and say a few words."

A stocky, relatively short wizard with thick, dark, curly hair came up. He cleared his throat, and said, "I would like to thank all of you for coming here. Cedric Amos Diggory was one of the best people one could ever meet. He worked hard, played fairly, and acted as a great role model for everyone. He loved everyone he met, regardless of who they were. It is sad to think that the best of us are the first to go. I hope that no one in this room will ever forget Cedric Diggory, or why he died. I know that Cedric is in heaven now, watching us. Thank you all again."

There was polite, timid applause as Peter Diggory sat down. The priest stood up again, and said, "I now ask everyone to join me in singing the traditional hymn 'Taps.'"

Harry sang along with everyone. The song caused many to break out into new waves of tears, and the song was interspersed with sobs.

After that, the priest led everyone in another song that Harry did not know, and he just listened. After it was finished, the priest announced, "The guests are now invited into the Fellowship Hall next door for refreshments."

Harry was the first out the door into the hallway, and he felt a familiar cold sweep over him. A slight fog overcame his eyes, and he could hear a distant scream…

Harry turned towards the two large doors that led outside of the Church, and saw two tall Dementors. Dementors were horrible creatures that guarded the dreaded wizard prison Azkaban. They made you relive all the worst memories again. They wore black cloaks, and lowered their hoods only to perform the Dementor's Kiss, in which they clasped their lips around the lips of their victims, and sucked out their soul. Harry had never actually seen it happen, but had almost been a victim of it himself. Harry guessed that Cornelius Fudge never went anywhere nowadays without a Dementor. Fudge thought they would protect him…

Harry hurried past them, into the Fellowship Hall. He saw a table of punch and tea and another table of sweets and cookies. Harry helped himself to a cookie and found the Weasleys.

Mrs. Weasley kept dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief, and Mr. Weasley had his arm around her, comforting her. Their children were all rather subdued and solemn, even Fred and George, who hadn't been very close to Cedric.

Mrs. Weasley saw Harry and said, "Harry dear, are you all right? I know this must be so hard on you… have you talked to the Diggorys?"

"No, Mrs. Weasley," said Harry, looking at the floor. He didn't want to talk to the Diggorys. Although he knew Cedric's parents did not blame him, he still felt uncomfortable.

"Mum, I don't think talking to the Diggorys is going to help Harry," said Ron.

"Nonsense, Ron! I think it'll do Harry some good. Go on," she insisted.

"See you," muttered Harry, heading back to the Sanctuary. He moved hastily again, avoiding glancing at the Dementors guarding the front doors.

He stopped at the door to the sanctuary, because he saw that the Diggorys were the only ones inside. The casket was open, and Mr. Diggory was kneeling in front of it.

"There, there. Cedric's safe now," Mrs. Diggory assured Mr. Diggory. "I hate it that he's gone too, but he'd want us to carry on. Besides, he's in much more danger here than in heaven."

"He shouldn't have died though!" said Mr. Diggory. "He shouldn't have!"

Harry bit his lip. Mr. Diggory was right. Cedric should not have died. It hadn't been planned.

"What are you doing, Potter?"

Harry turned around sharply and saw Draco Malfoy leaning against a wall.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" said Harry.

Malfoy just smirked. "Nothing, Potter. But I'll warn you that you may not want to be seen around here. You wouldn't want anyone to think you were going to kill someone else, would you?"

Harry flushed. He pointed towards Cedric's casket and said, "I didn't do this, Malfoy!"

"I know, Potter, I know. But, do they?" asked Malfoy, pointing his thumb towards the sobbing Mr. Diggory and his wife.

"Your father's got a lot of nerve coming here, Malfoy. He's on Voldemort's side," said Harry.

Suddenly, Harry heard Mr. Malfoy's voice say behind him, "Yes, but Fudge doesn't know that. Or rather, he doesn't believe it." Harry spun around, and Lucius Malfoy stood behind him, looking rather pleased with himself. "Well, Mr. Potter. I'm glad to see you in — good health. Nice to see you're doing better than your friend Cedric." Harry said nothing. Mr. Malfoy bent close to Harry and added softly, "What's the matter, Mr. Potter? I believe Wormtail cut your arm, not your tongue."

"Fudge'll find out one day," said Harry, acting braver than he felt.

Mr. Malfoy chuckled. "Sure he will. But by then it'll be too late for him." He leaned close to Harry. "And don't think for one second that a weak little boy like you can make any difference! Voldemort — will — prevail."

"Harry! Harry, I haven't seen you in ages!"

The three of them turned, and Harry's heart leapt. Standing behind Lucius Malfoy was Remus Lupin, who had been the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry's third year. He had retired at the end of the year, and Harry hadn't seen him since.

He looked much healthier than when Harry had last seen him a little over a year ago. Lupin was a werewolf, and therefore changed into a vicious wolf during the full moon. There had constantly been bags under his eyes, and he hadn't looked well. However, now he looked well rested and very healthy. His light brown hair was a little grayer, but it was neatly combed. Even his robes, which had been rather shabby, looked nicer.

Lupin smiled at Harry and then noticed Malfoy, who was staring at him, disapprovingly. Lupin said, "Mr. Malfoy. Draco."

Lucius said, "Remus."

Lupin looked between Mr. Malfoy and Harry and said, "Am I interrupting something?"

Mr. Malfoy moved abruptly over to Draco and said, "No, Remus. Come, Draco." The two of them walked off together.

Lupin watched them leave and then turned to Harry and asked, "How are you, Harry?"

Harry wasn't sure exactly how to explain to Lupin that he'd been having nightmares about the night Cedric had died since he'd returned from Hogwarts, so he just said, "Fine. How are you?"

"Oh, better than when I last saw you." He looked around, bent close to Harry, and whispered, "Sirius is doing well too, Harry. He told me to say hello for him."

Sirius Black was Harry's godfather. When Harry's parents had been killed, their friend Peter Pettigrew claimed that Sirius had betrayed them. He cornered Sirius and framed him by murdering thirteen Muggles and changing himself into a rat, making it appear that Sirius had murdered the Muggles and Peter. Sirius was sentenced to life in Azkaban. In Harry's third year, Sirius had escaped. Everyone had been so worried for Harry, because they thought that Sirius was going to try to kill him. But one night, Ron, Harry, and their friend Hermione had found out the truth. They actually found Pettigrew, and nearly turned him in. Pettigrew escaped though, and Sirius had been forced to flee. He had offered to let Harry live with him, and Harry was only too willing to. Harry had always longed for Sirius to be proven innocent, since he would live with Sirius then.

Sirius had gone various different places since he had fled, but he was now staying at Lupin's house under Dumbledore's orders.

"Good. Is he being careful?" asked Harry. He didn't want Sirius recaptured by the Ministry of Magic.

"Yes. He's being very careful. It's nice having him… kind of like old times once again," said Lupin.

Lupin, Sirius, Pettigrew, and Harry's father, James, had all been friends many years ago when they went to Hogwarts. When Sirius, Pettigrew, and Harry's father learned that Lupin was a werewolf, they all had learned how to become animals and accompanied Lupin as a werewolf in their animal forms.

"Just make sure he stays hidden, all right?" asked Harry.

Lupin nodded. Harry heard footsteps coming towards him and turned to see Dumbledore walking towards them.

"Harry! Remus!" He called cheerfully. He shook Lupin's hand and patted Harry on the back. "Nice to see you Remus. I haven't seen you for some time now. You do know there's an opening for Defense Against the Dark Arts again? Although I suppose you already know that."

Lupin nodded. "Yes. And I must turn you down, I'm sorry."

Dumbledore said, "I quite understand, Remus. You and Sirius have too much work to do. Besides, I already believe we have another person willing to fill the job."

Harry asked, "What work?"

Lupin explained, "Various things to stop Voldemort from gaining too many followers. Sirius and I are mainly contacting old friends of ours to help us. We're getting quite a few people though, so I think we'll be all right. It's going to keep us busy though."

"I wish you could take the job," said Harry. "It'd be great to have you as a teacher again."

"Thanks, Harry," said Lupin, his face going a light red. "Oh, Sirius asked me to wish you a happy birthday. We're going to send you a package tomorrow."

Harry's birthday was in just two days, on July thirty-first. "Thanks!" said Harry.

Harry heard people moving down the hall. He turned and saw the Weasleys all heading towards him. Ron was in the front, talking to Fred and George.

When Ron saw Harry he said, "There you are! We've been wondering where you were!" He then saw Lupin and his jaw dropped open. "Professor Lupin?"

Lupin, smiling slightly, said, "Hello! Ron, wasn't it? I'm afraid I'm not professor anymore. It's nice to see you though, all of you! How are you?" He shook Mr. Weasley's hand. Then, he asked Ron and Harry, "Didn't you have a friend? Hermione! Where is she?"

"She's in France with her parents," said Ron.

"Ah, I see. Well, I suppose I've got to go. We'll meet again though, I'm sure. Goodbye," said Lupin, waving at everyone. He then left through the side doors.

"That was so neat!" said Ron, grinning broadly. "We got to see Lupin! We haven't seen him in ages! Hermione'll be so jealous…"

"Well, we'd better make sure we make the Portkey back," said Mrs. Weasley softly. She wasn't crying anymore but was still downtrodden.

"I will see most of you back at Hogwarts and the rest of you at some point. Goodbye," said Dumbledore.

Harry followed the Weasleys into a Choir loft.

"Now, just place your hands on this hymnal. Come on everyone, just a few minutes left," Mr. Weasley directed. Everyone held out a hand and touched the hymnal.

After waiting for about one minute, Harry felt a jerk around his navel and a pull forward. His hand was clamped onto the book, which was pulling all of the Weasleys and him in a swirl of color. They finally stopped in the backyard of the Weasleys and were tossed onto the ground.

Harry picked himself up and brushed off some dust from his robes. He didn't mention that Portkeys always reminded him of Cedric.

Mrs. Weasley picked up the hymnal. "We'll just send this back to the church with Errol. How about some lunch?" She opened the back door and beckoned everyone inside.

"I think I'll just lie down," said Harry. He was exhausted. He hadn't slept properly since returning home from Hogwarts, because of his nightmares. He desperately wanted rest.

"Are you sure? You look like you can use some food," said Mrs. Weasley.

"No, I'll be all right," said Harry.

"All right then. You can lie down on the couch. If you're hungry when you wake up though, just let me know, all right?" said Mrs. Weasley.

Harry nodded and headed into the living room. He placed his glasses on a table beside the bed, curled up on the sofa, and closed his eyes. Part of Harry was warning him that he would have the nightmare again if he went to sleep, but the other part was assuring Harry that he needed sleep. Harry heard the Weasleys moving about the kitchen, setting the table, and getting ready to eat. Then, the sounds began to gently fade into silence.

In a flash of bright red light, Harry was on the Quidditch field at Hogwarts. It was late evening, and the sun was set. Harry was standing in a huge maze. He looked around, remembering. He looked behind him and saw a trophy, the Triwizard Cup. He heard rustling in the distance, spun around, and moved toward it. He came to a clearing in the maze and froze as he saw — himself — and Cedric. He saw that his leg was badly hurt and bleeding. He saw the huge black spider that he'd stunned. He saw that Cedric was standing feet away from the cup.

Harry heard himself say, "Take it then. Go on, take it. You're there."

Cedric refused and said, "You take it. That's twice you saved my neck in here." They went back and forth, both wanting the other to take the cup.

Finally, Harry heard himself suggest, "We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory. We'll tie for it."

Harry screamed, "NO! NO, DON'T LET HIM TAKE IT! IT'S A TRAP!"

But it was no use. Cedric agreed, and Harry watched in horror as he and Cedric took the cup together.

The cup was a Portkey and worked immediately. Harry followed himself and Cedric, and they landed in a graveyard far away from Hogwarts. It was dark. Harry heard Cedric say, "Wands out, d'you reckon?"

Harry spread himself out on the ground, shut his eyes tightly, and clasped his hands around his ears. I hate this, he thought over and over again. I hate this nightmare. I want to wake up.

But he heard himself breathe heavily because of the pain in his scar. And the high-pitched, icy voice of Voldemort wormed its way though the cracks between Harry's fingers that were clamped over his ears and said, clearly, "Kill the spare." Harry saw the flash of green light and began to shake. He opened his eyes and saw himself staring at Cedric's body in shock. He watched as Wormtail pulled him to his feet and tied him to the tombstone of Voldemort's father. He watched Wormtail put a bundle of blankets that held the remnant of Voldemort in a huge cauldron. He saw Wormtail retract a tiny piece of bone from Voldemort's father and place it in the cauldron. Harry shut his eyes as he heard Wormtail whimper and cut off his own hand, placing it in the cauldron. Harry opened his eyes again and saw Wormtail standing near him, his dagger in his remaining hand. He saw Wormtail cut Harry's arm and watched his own blood drip down his robes. He winced and clasped his hands to his arm. Harry still had a scar in that spot.

Harry saw Wormtail add the blood to the cauldron. A brilliant white light shone from it. Harry remembered praying something had gone wrong. But nothing had. Voldemort had gotten the bone of the father, flesh of the servant, and blood of the foe. He would be reborn. A tall, bone-white, skinny man with a flat face, scarlet eyes, and slits for nostrils rose from the cauldron and was cloaked by Wormtail. Voldemort had returned.