II.

Jamie shivered alongside Erin, Brett, and Patrick, cold and hungry. They had all just decided to go home after only two and a half hours in the old church, and were actually out the door and about to walk into the graveyard connected to the church when, on the other side of the cemetery, two figures suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Jamie glanced at Brett; surely he would know what to do? Brett motioned for them silently to move behind a large bush where they had a full view of the whole graveyard without being seen. Their only obtrusion was the large Riddle tombstone, which cut their vision in half. Jamie was squashed between Erin and Patrick, and they all looked out of the hole to see what in the world was going on.

One of the figures had a black and yellow…bathrobe on…? "Who would wear their bathrobe out in public?" Jamie whispered to Patrick, but Erin shushed him, and he turned back to the figures. The yellow robed figure was now pulling the other figure to its feet. This second figure was wearing a bathrobe of red and black. Jamie wondered if perhaps it was the new fashion. The second one seemed to be a lot shorter than its companion; Jamie judged that there must be at least three years difference in their ages. The shorter figure also seemed to have an injured leg; Jamie noticed that he was leaning to one side. The two figures were talking, and Jamie leaned forward slightly to hear what they were saying.

"Did anyone tell you the cup was a Portkey?" came a rather deep voice. It sounded like its owner was in his late teens.

"Nope," came a second voice. Jamie supposed this voice came from the shorter figure in the red. "Is this supposed to be part of the task?"

Portkey? Task? Jamie was about to ask Patrick what this was all about, but Brett shushed him, and he listened again, and caught the second part of what the first boy in the yellow had said, "Wands out, do you reckon?"

This was too much for Jamie. He was in the process of standing up and striding over to where these two boys stood to ask exactly what they were doing there, but Erin poked him, and he looked around. Erin was looking with much more interest at the two boys, who were now holding narrow sticks of wood out in front of them.

"Someone's coming," said the red-robed boy. Jamie quickly crouched down, hoping that these two strangers had not noticed him. But no, there was another figure walking towards the two robed boys, holding something that looked like a baby in its arms. Patrick was staring dumbstruck at the three new arrivals, Brett looked like he was in deep thought, but Erin had a look of realization on her face, as though something had just clicked in her brain.

The newest arrival stopped only two yards from the strange boys, and for a moment nothing happened. Then suddenly the shorter boy collapsed, holding his forehead. Jamie was confused, seeing as nothing had happened. The boy on the ground seemed in pain. Does he get random migraines or something?

Erin's face turned from realization to confusion, as if she had not expected this. This confused Jamie even more, as all of this was unexpected…or did Erin expect something to happen? Is that why she insisted on coming with them? Patrick and Brett didn't seem to notice Erin at all; they were looking with some concern at the boy on the ground.

"I don't think I've ever…" began Patrick, but before he could finish, two things happened at once. Erin's expression turned from confusion to horror, and she said, "You guys, we have to get out…", and an unearthly, evil voice said, "Kill the spare…"

The four of them had just enough time to exchange terrified looks before another, squeaky voice yelled, "Avada Kedavra!" Erin gasped, but Jamie was confused for a moment – nothing seemed to happen except for some green light – but then Brett poked him and he looked around. The yellow-robed boy was on the ground, unmoving. He was dead; Jamie could see that much.

The boy in the red threw up – Patrick looked nauseated himself – then looked up, and turned very pale. Jamie could see why; if he had seen his friend being murdered he would have been pale, too. Erin was saying urgently, "Trust me you guys, we need to get out of here now…"

But Patrick cut across her, saying, "I don't recognize that other kid, do you guys? Maybe we should help him?"

Erin opened her mouth to say something, but Brett interrupted her, "Erin, get a grip. They can't see us."

But that may have soon changed, as the figure with the bundle had put it down, walked over to the now lone figure, and started dragging him towards their hiding place. Erin looked terrified and Brett signaled to them frantically to move to a bush on the other side of the cemetery. They climbed over the fence a short way behind their bush and then ran around the perimeter of the graveyard, where they soon found a bush similar to their last hiding place. The only difference was that now their vision was not half-obscured by the Riddle tombstone, so they could see the whole graveyard.

Now – Patrick shuddered – the man was tying the red-robed boy to the Riddle tombstone, and then gagging him. Erin gasped; the boy's leg, which they could clearly see despite the ropes binding him, was a bloody mess. It was bleeding badly, and Jamie's immediate thought was that it needed to be bound; however, considering that the man had tied him up, he doubted very much that he would tend to his leg.

The man was now pushing a large pot across the grass. He stopped it in front of the grave, about five feet from where they crouched, hiding. He lit a fire beneath it, and then pulled a narrow stick out of his pocket, and – Jamie was more confused than ever – said, "Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!" Jamie was getting apprehensive now; this looked like some weird ritual of some sort. He thought that perhaps Erin was right and that they had better get out of there, but then the ground seemed to break open beneath the boy's feet. When the bound boy looked down at the foot of the grave, beneath his hair on his forehead, Jamie thought he saw something…but he must have imagined it.

Something else was pulling at Jamie's mind – something that Patrick had said minutes earlier.

Jamie had never seen this strange boy before. Jamie would have burst out and helped him had he recognized him as a Little Hangleton resident, but this boy seemed to be someone from out of town.