Chapter 14
Return To Hogwarts
Simon and Vicilia didn't even notice as I appeared behind them. A thick fog rose from the lake and in the darkness of the early morning, their wands were the only things visible.
The grass concealed my approach as I raised my sword.
"He's never going to come," Simon said. "The ministry won't want to lose him."
"The ministry doesn't know I'm alive." I said, frivolously.
I pierced his shoulder, driving the blade all the way through. His screams of pain and shock shattered the silence as I withdrew.
"Nox!"
Vicilia's wand went dark and she backed into the fog. I grabbed Simon by the collar and pulled him close.
"Where's Radu?" I hissed.
"On the Quidditch field like he promised!" Simon whimpered. The arrogance and evil was gone, replaced by a look of terror and pain. I was enjoying every minute of it. "The girl's safe, I swear!"
The air sang with the swipe of a blade and I jumped to the side to avoid it. The sword met flesh and Simon's head went rolling.
"You missed your mark Vicilia!" I shouted.
Vicilia tried for my head again and I blocked. Her sword had long snake like blade and it clanged against my own, piercing the air like the shriek of a siren.
"Your head may be no use to me," she said, her eyes wide with fury. "But I can still take it."
The fog was an added obstacle. Each time I parried she went back into the clouds and attacked from another position. The only warning I had was the sound of her breathing, which became more and more labored with each swing. She wasn't accustomed to the sword.
She struck and I parried again, using the momentum and sliding my blade down to the hilt. Our faces were inches apart and I could feel the hatred and anger in her breath.
"I'm trying to help you, Diggory," she taunted. "If you meet Radu you won't last much longer than this."
"And if you kill me before he does you won't last five seconds," I retorted. "And he'll be merciful compared to Voldemort."
Vicilia kicked me in the stomach and went back into the fog. She swung from above and I held up the rapier to keep the block, leaving my stomach exposed. A short dagger pierced my heart. I fell back and Vicilia cleared the fog with a spell from her wand so she could goat.
"Then I shall merely incapacitate you." She knelt beside my body and pressed the blade further in. "If the knife stays in you'll never revive, will you?"
When I revived again I found my head propped by Amanda's lap. Mr. Weasley knelt by my side and Lupin was checking my pulse.
"Remarkable," He said as I drew a breath. "The wound is gone too. How do you feel Cedric?"
"Like I just got a knife to the chest," I answered, snappily. "Nothing I want to make a habit of."
Amanda and Mr. Weasley helped me up. George, Fred and Tonks were keeping watch.
An enchanted gray sky loomed overhead and the familiar drapes decorated the Great Hall. Dinner tables blocked the entrance, presumably to keep out the Death Eaters. Amanda had a black leather bag slung over her shoulder.
"How did we get in here?" I asked.
"We arrived when we saw Simon disappear from the map." Amanda explained. "I had a hard time finding you in the fog, but when Vicilia cleared it out I killed her. No one harms my students."
"You should have seen her!" George said when we were together again. "Thwack! And the witch dropped like a beater who fell of his broom."
"Knocked her on her depraved little arse," Fred chimed in. "Said, 'this aren't you a little old for school' and-" Fred made a stabbing motion towards his chest.
"We need to get to Dumbledore's office," I said. "What Radu wants is up there."
Tonks, Amanda and Mr. Weasley came with me while George and Fred remained with Lupin to keep guard.
"You're not going to give him the horcrux are you?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"Of course not," I said. "But if Radu takes my head he's going to know where it is anyway. I'm giving it to you and then you need to get it to Harry so it can be destroyed."
"Got it."
We stopped in front of the golden eagle that blocked Dumbledore's office.
"What's the password?" I asked.
"You didn't think to find this out before?" Amanda asked.
"Well it's been two years, I'm thinking of this as I go along."
Mr. Weasley started rattling off any password he could think of.
"I gotta say, for a magical school this doesn't seem all that magical," Amanda remarked. "Kids in mortal danger, vicious psychopaths attacking the grounds-"
"How's that any different from muggle schools?" I asked.
"Good point."
"Rainbow Gumdrops!"
"There's gotta be another way in." Amanda looked at the stained glass windows. "Can those be broken?"
"One way to find out," I replied, drawing my wand. "Stupefy!"
The force of the stunning charm smashed into the window and made a pattern of cracks. But it wasn't strong enough to break it. Amanda took a crowbar from her bag, doing the job twice as efficiently.
"That'll work too," I said, surprised.
Mr. Weasley and I cleared away the broken glass while Amanda surveyed the side of the castle.
"It's too dark out here. Are there windows into the office?"
"There are a few big ones," Mr. Weasley said. "On the south side of the tower."
Amanda broke out a length of rope and rock climbing gear. Mr. Weasely was fascinated by it all and asked her many questions.
Thank God Mrs. Weasley isn't here, I thought.
"Here, let me help you with that," I said. "Mobilarius!"
I directed the hook out the window and found an empty crevice near the top of the tower.
"Dad!" Fred burst in to the hall. He looked like hell. "The Death Eaters have come in. There's about twenty of them now and we're losing ground! George is cornered!"
Mr. Weasley was about to go, but Amanda stopped him.
"Arthur, you go with Cedric. I'll handle this."
She drew her broadsword and muttered something about certain parts she'd cut off if George was harmed. Fred silently mouthed the words, "I'm in love," before following her.
"I think they found their soul mate," I commented, unable to ignore the humor in spite of it situation.
"Just never tell their mother." Mr. Weasley remarked, with a snicker. "Amanda's too much like them for Molly to get along with her."
I helped Mr. Weasely strap the equipment on safely and told him how to use the hooks then I went out first. The air seemed colder this far from the ground, but I was thankful for the darkness. Knowing where we were several hundred feet above it was bad enough without seeing it.
"This is amazing!" Mr. Weasley shouted.
"We have to be very careful," I said, pulling myself up.
I was nervous, though not for myself as much as for Mr. Weasley. Part of me wished Amanda had come since she had more experience with this.
"I've always wondered why muggles are so interested in climbing dangerous rock faces, but now I think I understand it. The freedom, the constant uncertainty and the beauty of the grounds from up here, it's all so wonderful together don't you think?"
"Definitely better than the alternative," I agreed. "How are you doing down there?"
"Oh, wonderfully Cedric. Don't worry about me, this is my passion."
I marveled at Mr. Weasley's calmness. His sons were in danger at the moment and he was able to block it all out and enjoy the experience of climbing. Perhaps he was tearing up inside and he just wanted to ignore the possibility of losing his family. Just like didn't want to lose Cho.
The thought of Cho in the arms of that monster kept me going. Even if were never together the way we were in school again. She might have even moved on and found someone else. But I didn't care. All I wanted was for her to live on and be happy.
"Cedric, look out!"
Something slammed into my shoulder. White hot pain rippled through my body.
"Ack!"
Mr. Weasley lost his grip and fell back. His weight tugged at me as another body slammed into me, tearing into my body with it's claws and weighing me down more.
"The owls!" Mr. Weasley shouted. "They're under the Imperius curse!"
It was hard to tell with the animal's beak chewing at my face, but I took his word for it. I slammed my head into it's frail form and sent it fluttering away.
"Stupefy!"
An owl evaded Mr. Weasley's stunning charm. I pulled out my wand and found another charging target.
"Incendio!"
A ball of flame caught the horned owl before it could evade and it's screeched echoed against the castle walls as it fell to the earth in a blaze.
The other owls were undeterred and continued slamming into us and trying to knock us from the wall.
"Stupefy!"
"Petrificus Totallus!"
"Incendio!"
Two owls dropped and the others returned. I pocketed my wand and tightened my grip on the hooks and pulled myself up. Arthur followed suit, lightening my burden in spite of the owls constantly diving on him. Then as quickly as they came, they stopped.
"Cedric, I think the worse is about to come. Lumos!"
Mr. Weasley lit up the sky showing the owl's forming a tight formation. They were getting ready to strike.
"Sectumsempra!"
A flash of light blew past us and hit the lead owl. Blood and feathers splattered everywhere as the owl was brutally sliced in half. Four more owls went down before the others finally broke off.
"Need some help Mr. Weasley?"
I looked in the direction of the voice to see someone in flowing black robes, gloves and a hood pulling his broom to a stop beside Mr. Weasley and tugging two spare brooms behind him.
"Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked, cautiously.
"Yes, sir." The boy said.
Mr. Weasley took one of the spare brooms and Harry came up to me, helping me onto the second one. He pulled his hood off. He didn't seem the list bit shocked at seeing me alive.
"Harry Potter," I said, shocked. "How did you-"
"It's a long story." Harry said. "We'll talk about it when there's time. You know where the horcrux is?"
"Yes. Come on."
We flew the rest of the way to Dumbledore's office. Mr. Weasley smashed the windows and we flew in without much trouble.
The office was cluttered with book shelves and old antiques that Dumbledore collected over the years. His portrait hung from the wall along side his fellow headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom greeted me with awe, shock and contempt as I came into view.
"My Lord, he's back."
"The Hogwarts Champion, back from the dead."
"That's a foul trick. Making everyone think your dead just for the fun of it."
A choir of arguments broke out. Some in my favor and others against me.
"Siiiiiilence!" Dumbledore's portrait roared, bringing everyone to a complete silence.
"Thank you headmaster," I said. "It's good to see you again."
"As it is to see you," Dumbledore replied. "And you Arthur. But I must say I didn't expect to see you again."
He nodded towards Harry with a scrutinizing gaze. Harry seemed frightened and trembled before the portrait of or late headmaster. A warning flashed through my mind.
"W-w-we'd better get the horcrux and go." He stammered.
"So we can destroy it right?" I offered.
"Of…of course."
"We could destroy it here." Mr. Weasley suggested. His tone told me that he was on the same page as me.
"Well, I think we should take it from the school first," Harry said, looking from me to Mr. Weasley nervously. "That way the others don't get a hold of it."
"Suppose you're right," I said. The headmasters and headmistresses gasped and whispered amongst themselves. The portraits of the school founders and Dumbledore remained silent and watched us keenly. "Tell me, Harry, did you ever suspect things would get this weird when the Goblet of Fire accepted you?"
"What? Oh, certainly not."
"Neither did I. Heh, its funny. I still remember how furious Dumbledore was when that aging charm fooled his magic."
Harry seemed confused for a minute, but recovered. "Yeah. Boy, I did my finest magic that day."
I held back a laugh.
"But you know what's even funnier, Harry?"
"What's that Cedric?"
"You never used an aging charm. You didn't even enter the tournament. I remember because it was Fred and George that tried to confuse the age line."