Disclaimer: This is based upon J.K. Rowling's series of novels, Harry Potter, mostly drawing from the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
A/N: Okay, I couldn't stop writing. This chapter goes well with the last one because of such… Hopefully, you liked the last chapter and the story so far, because things are just beginning to heat up. Action is going to be rampant, along with other elements of this story. My mind is anxious to give you my Goblet. So, enough babbling. I am sure you want to read the next chapter. So here you go!
Chapter 4: Farewell For NowP-p-p-p-p-p-pop!
Hermione, Harry and Cedric stopped running immediately. They stood in the center of the clearing, having no idea what had just happened.
It took them a moment to realize that a league of people had just Apparated into the clearing, their wands all pointed at the three teenagers. Harry took command. He pulled Cedric and Hermione down to the ground.
"STUPEFY!" roared the group of people. Jets of fiery red light flew across the clearing, lighting the clearing as though it were mid-day. It looked as though the trees, the grass, the air— all of it, was on fire, burning perpetually. But the air around them was still cool with the crisp night. The air—
The immense amount of spellwork even disturbed the air. The hair on the group's heads rippled as an unnatural wind flowed through the clearing. Chaos reigned. Harry felt a stray spell graze his cheek.
Thump.
The three heard something or someone fall. The red light continued to shine brilliantly. Harry looked into Cedric's eyes and gasped at the beauty, the gray shining in the red light—
His was interrupted by another fall.
Thump.
They definitely heard something fall to the ground this time, although it was distant. But the spells continued, until—
"Stop! That's my son!" someone cried out. The red light faded into black darkness with a tinge of green. The green constellation still shone fairly brightly above in the sky. The three looked at each other. None of them had been hit. But it had been exceedingly close.
"Dad?" asked Cedric incredulously.
"Yes son, it's me," he said. "It's good to know that you're safe. But what're you doing here, here under that?" Mr. Diggory's face was white as he peered up at the Dark Mark.
"We were running from the screams until we heard footsteps nearby, and stopped to investigate," said Cedric. The people, who by now the three had identified as Ministry officials, looked at each other.
"Check the area! Chances are our Stunners hit something in the trees," said Mr. Diggory. The people fanned out into the surrounding woods. It took only a moment.
"I found something!" cried out a shrill, young woman.
She immediately returned into the clearing, holding a tea towel. A tea towel attached to a house-elf. And not just any house-elf.
"Winky?" asked Harry. He remembered the house-elf from earlier at the match. She had been saving Mr. Crouch a seat.
"Let me through!" said a surprised Mr. Crouch, clearly disgusted with the prospect of his own house-elf caught at the scene. He looked down at Winky in detestation.
"But—this—it cannot be," he said jerkily.
"It's a bit embarrassing, finding your own house-elf at the scene of something this awful," said Mr. Diggory.
"You cannot seriously think she could summon the mark? It's a wizard's sign and it requires a wand," asked Mr. Crouch.
"Yeah, and she had a wand," said Mr. Diggory, examining Winky.
"What?" asked Mr. Weasley. Mr. Diggory showed him, and muttered something about a law of magical creatures carrying a wizard's wand being broken.
Pop.
Ludo Bagman, the head of the department of magical games and sports, appeared at the side of a ghostly white Mr. Crouch.
"Barty where've you been?" Mr. Bagman asked. He looked down at the ground and saw Winky. "And what happened to your elf?"
"She's been stunned," stated Mr. Crouch.
"Stunned? But why—?" asked Bagman. It took a moment for him to fully realize the situation at hand. His eyes widened as comprehension dawned on him.
"No! Winky? Conjure the mark? She couldn't! And even if she could, she'd at least need a wand,"
"She had one," said Mr. Diggory. "Perhaps we should stop this hearsay and actually ask the elf herself. Ennervate," he cried, his wand pointed at Winky. The elf's stiff body instantly softened as she began to move. Once she regained consciousness, the elf looked quite frightened. She was curled into a ball on the ground, rocking herself back and forth. Cedric couldn't help but feel sorry for her. His father felt differently.
"Elf! Do you know who I am? I'm the head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Now, tell me, did you conjure that mark?" he asked heatedly, pointing at the dark mark. The excessively nervous Winky looked quite distressed as her rocking increased in speed.
"I is not knowing how to," cried Winky, terribly horrified.
"Wait, I found someone!" called an official from deep within the woods.
"Levicorpus!" It took a moment for them to appear. Everyone looked as an old man levitated a young redhead into the clearing.
"Wait! That's my son!" cried out Mr. Weasley. "Ennervate!"
Ron fell to the ground.
"Ow!" he said as his head hit the ground. Hard.
"Where am I? Dad? Is that you? What's going on?" asked Ron. "I heard screams and started running towards here."
"It's the Dark Mark," said Mr. Weasley, his face chalk white. He pointed to the sky. Ron looked upwards, and his eyes opened wide in fear.
"So do you think it was him?" asked Mr. Diggory.
"You cannot seriously think it was my son!" said Mr. Weasley. "I've raised enough children to know when there is a bad egg in the bunch, and Ron is not that egg!"
"But there's no denying that he was at the scene of the crime," said Mr. Diggory.
"What did I do?" asked Ron, mystified. "I was just with Ginny and like I said, I heard a ruckus over hear and ran. Then I saw red light…"
"He's telling the truth," said Mr. Weasley.
"But Arthur—" said Mr. Diggory.
"Believe me, he's telling the truth," said Mr. Weasley.
"But then, who else was it?" asked Mr. Crouch desperately.
"Elf, look at me! Did you do this?" asked Mr. Diggory.
"I is not knowing how!" cried Winky, beyond distressed.
"But the wand—" said Mr. Diggory.
"Hey, that's mine," cried Harry, as he finally caught sight of wand beside Winky on the ground. He ran over to pick it up.
"Excuse me?" asked Mr. Diggory.
"That's my wand. I lost it," said Harry.
"You dropped it? Is this a confession? Did you conjure the Dark Mark and then throw the wand into the bushes?" asked Mr. Diggory.
"Dad! This is Harry Potter you're accusing! He wouldn't conjure the Dark Mark— it's his mark! And I was here with him, I know he didn't! Put me under Veritaserum and I'll tell you the same. It wasn't Harry," said Cedric, appalled at his father's accusation.
"But then…" Mr. Diggory looked confused.
He took the wand from Harry for a second, following his intuition.
"Priori Incantatum," said Mr. Diggory. Everyone gasped, as a shadow of the Dark Mark appeared. Even though the emeralds didn't flash so, even though it was what made from what seemed to be gray smoke, what it represented, what it was, was just so awful.
"Deletrius!" cried Mr. Diggory. He looked accusingly at Winky.
"I is not doing it! I is not be knowing how!" she cried.
"You've been caught at the scene with the wand that did the crime. If that's not condemning evidence, I don't know what is!" cried Mr. Diggory.
"If you're accusing my elf, you're accusing me as well," said Mr. Crouch. "Because the only place where should could have picked it up, learned it, the only place where she ever is, is my house. What, do you think she learned it from me?"
"No, I wasn't saying that," said Mr. Diggory, slightly abashed.
"It couldn't have been Winky," said Cedric, "The voice that we heard was a man's, nothing like what Winky's sounds like."
"Well then it could have been Ron's!" cried Mr. Crouch.
"It wasn't his voice either!" said Cedric. Mr. Diggory looked mad.
"Cedric, stay out of this!" said Mr. Diggory angrily. Cedric's cheeks flushed, he looked embarrassed, slightly abashed. Harry stepped in.
"It couldn't have been Winky though! It wasn't her voice at all. It was deep. It was a man's! And as for Ron's, I know my best mate's voice. It wasn't his. It was calm, it was deep. Ron's distressed, it couldn't have been him," said Harry. Mr. Diggory looked like he was considering this. And, Cedric, Cedric looked at him and smiled. Harry practically melted when he saw Cedric smile. It made him feel fulfilled.
"Elf, where did you find the wand?" asked Mr. Diggory.
"I-I is finding it there, sir… there in the trees…sir" answered Winky, her eyes wide.
"See, Amos? The person who conjured the mark could have left the scene of the crime, and left Harry's wand behind. It would have been quite clever. Instead of using his or her own wand, which would have given them away, they used another's. Quite well thought out. And Winky, the poor soul, came across the wand and picked it up. And the fact that Ron was here was most likely a coincidence as well," said Mr. Weasley. It seemed logical enough.
"See, it probably wasn't her, or Ron," said Cedric. Many of the Ministry officials looked confused.
"But then, the elf might have seen the real culprit!" said Mr. Diggory. He looked at Winky.
"I—is seeing no one, sir," said Winky, trembling uncontrollably.
"Amos, I know it is regulation that you take Winky into your custody, however, I believe that it would be best if I take care of matters," said Mr. Crouch. Winky looked horrified.
"M-m-master—n-n-no!" cried Winky.
"You disobeyed me Winky. I have simple rules for you to follow, but you chose not to. This means clothes," he said. Winky started sobbing.
"Not clothes, not clothes!" she shrieked, cowering at Mr. Crouch's feet.
"How could you do this!" cried Hermione. "She was frightened, anyone in their right mind would abandon code and run for their life!" Mr. Crouch shrugged off the harsh criticism and continued to castigate Winky. As Hermione opened her mouth to protest further, Mr. Weasley stepped in.
"I think it's time that we leave," said Mr. Weasley, quietly retreating to the edges of the clearing. "Amos, I'll see you at work." Mr. Diggory nodded carelessly. He was more preoccupied with the mess in front of him than friendly affairs. He was clearly worried, with his normally formal appearance ruined, and ragged. His eyes were struggling to stay open, too— he was tired after the long day. But he had a job to attend to. He started walking away.
"Umm, Mr. Diggory," interjected Harry.
"Yes?" said Mr. Diggory, annoyed. Harry had interrupted him trying to sort out the situation with his staff.
"My wand?" said Harry.
"Oh, of course!" said Mr. Diggory, handing the wand to Harry. "It was nice to meet you Mr. Potter. I'm sorry you had to go through all of this tonight."
"It wasn't that bad. I'm kind of used to it," admitted Harry. Mr. Diggory strained his face to smile.
"Hey, Dad, I'm just going to go walk back to the Weasley's tent while you sort things out. Is that okay?" asked Cedric.
"O-of course," said Mr. Diggory smiling. "I'll have my hands tied for a while. Just don't be back too late."
"Definitely," said Cedric, as he followed the retreating Harry, Hermione, and Mr. Weasley. Mr. Weasley had to help heave Ron up off of the ground.
"So Ron, where's Ginny? You never told us," said Hermione as she waited for Ron to get up.
"She went off with Fred and George," said Ron. "And I walked over here to figure out what that racket was." They all smiled, except for Hermione. She had other matters on her mind.
"Can you believe that?" asked Hermione. "Can you believe how Mr. Crouch treated Winky! The only times he looked at her, he looked at her with disdain. And whenever he addressed her, he called her elf. Not her, not Winky, but what could be considered a derogatory elf…" as Hermione continued to rant, Harry and Cedric stroke up a side conversation.
"It sounds like they got those wizards under control," said Harry. "No more yelling."
"Yeah," said Cedric. "You can actually hear the wildlife."
"It's kind of nice," said Harry.
"Definitely," said Cedric. "I hope nothing like that happens again. It was really scary… for a lot of reasons."
"I know what you mean," replied Harry.
It was scary. I was scared, for myself and for you, thought Harry. He hoped Cedric felt the same way.
"Did I ever thank you for finding me in the forest?" asked Harry.
"Not formally, no. But you did say it was nice," said Cedric, almost jokingly.
"Well I meant it. And thank you for finding me. It was pretty hectic in there. Nice to have someone in the forest with you. You know, so you're not alone when those wizards find you," commented Harry.
"You're welcome," said Cedric, smiling at Harry. Harry smiled back, feeling butterflies flying down his throat and into the cage of his stomach. "Well, as long as we're thanking each other, I would like to thank you for sticking up for me in front of my dad. You didn't have to."
"Oh, it was nothing, really. Adults can be like that sometimes though. They like to ignore us, like we don't know anything," said Harry.
I'm sure that's what people will say to me, too. You're too young. You don't really know about being gay, thought Harry. But with Cedric grinning at him, it was impossible to become depressed.
"Yeah, sometimes they can be pretty dense. Sometimes my dad can be hilarious, other times embarrassing, and other times just plain annoying," said Cedric.
"Don't take him for granted though," said Harry.
"Oh Harry, I love him loads. I don't take him for granted. And don't be mad at me for bringing him up, it was stupid of me," said Cedric, remembering what happened to Harry's parents.
"It's fine Cedric. I was just being sincere," said Harry. Their conversation paused for a moment and Harry listened to Hermione's tirade. "Can you believe Hermione is still going on about Winky?"
"Yeah, she must really care about magical creatures. I just thought she was some one-dimensional know-it-all," admitted Cedric.
"She can seem like that sometimes, but she's one of the most loving people I know," said Harry. "So she's very multi-dimensional, even if she doesn't get Quidditch."
"She doesn't get Quidditch? Oh gods," said Cedric, feigning fright.
"Yeah. She gets most of it. Just not the details," said Harry.
"That's as good as saying she only knows about the Snitch," said Cedric.
"How did you know?" asked Harry. They broke out laughing, causing the Hermione to glare at them.
"So do you think it's funny that elves have to go through so much just to be free and we are instantly free from birth?" asked Hermione, quite angry at their outbreak. Harry muffled his laughter.
"No, not at all. It was about something else."
"Good," said Hermione, before she continued to conclude her argument.
"Looks like we're almost there," said Harry sadly.
"You sound as though you're disappointed," said Cedric.
I am. I won't get to see you for who knows how long, thought Harry. Aloud, he only said, "Yeah well, I don't usually talk to people this much. It's kind of nice."
"Know what you mean," said Cedric with a sigh as they reached the tent. "Guess I better get back to my tent. Don't want my dad to beat me back!"
"Yeah," said Harry, struggling to smile. He watched Cedric turn away. "Bye Ced!"
"Bye you guys," said Cedric, smiling. He waved at them in a regal fashion. It made Harry swoon. As Cedric strode out of sight, Ron started talking.
"I thought he would never leave," said Ron.
"What!" asked Harry, surprised Ron felt this way. He should have known.
"Don't tell me you actually enjoyed talking to Mr. Popular. Harry, he's not the type of person you want to hang out with," said Ron.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Harry.
"Nothing," said Ron, surprised at how Harry was reacting. "Let's just get some sleep. It's been a long night."
"Good idea," said Harry, heading inside for their room.
Morning came within what felt like moments, and it was time for them to head home. This time, they took a Portkey back, and it was not an enjoyable experience. By the time they had gotten back to the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley looked worried sick. Literally. He face was a faint green.
"Oh thank goodness you're all right! This morning's newspaper was just awful! Worried me so!" said Mrs. Weasley, taking in as much of her family as she could for a great big hug.
Besides that event, nothing much happened the rest of the summer. There was Quidditch, there was talking, but not much else.
The two weeks sped by as Harry looked forward to going back to school. He looked forward to returning because not only because it was his home, but for another reason.
A recent one.
With silver eyes.
A/N: Sorry if there is some discontinuity… my beta and I revamped the past few chapters to make them more original, although they still keep to the story (sorta). I hope that it worked out pretty well. I tried to make it work out. Ah well. Hope you enjoyed this longer than normal chapter! It should be longer than normal at least…And please review!
Another A/N: Want More Chapters Sooner? Please Review!