III.
This unnerved Jamie even more, as he didn't know whether the boy was in on this strange ceremony or if he was brought here against his will. But the man by the large pot on the ground was speaking again, and Jamie strained to listen.
"Flesh of the servant, willingly given, you will revive your master!" The man looked completely terrified now. Jamie figured out what the man was going to do as he stretched out a hand and pulled out a silver knife. He had just enough time to put one hand over Erin's eyes before it happened – the man's scream echoed throughout the cemetery, and Jamie was still wondering what the heck was going on.
The man, gasping for breath, staggered over to the Riddle tombstone where the stranger was tied.
"Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe!" he managed to gasp. So, apparently, if given the choice, that boy would rather be somewhere else…thought Jamie, as the boy struggled against the ropes binding him, but to no avail. The man cut his arm, and brought his blood back to the cauldron. Jamie noticed that the boy, as well as they, was in an extremely dangerous position. But they, at least, could flee…
But before he could do anything, the liquid in the pot had turned whiter than snow, a thick fog filled the air, and a tall, thin figure was rising from it.
"Robe me," came the same voice that had commanded the death of the boy's friend. The man with the amputated hand struggled up and pulled a…"Bathrobe? Again?" whispered Jamie…over the figure's head. He stepped out of the pot, and turned to face the boy, still bound tightly to the tombstone. Unbelievably, the boy turned paler yet. A look of pure terror came upon his face, and then just as quickly he grimaced; Jamie supposed it was either his leg or his migraine.
When the man turned sideways, so his back was no longer to Jamie, he caught a profile of the man…shiny, red eyes, bald head, flat nose, and white as the potion he came from…Erin gasped, her face nearly as pale as the strange boy's.
"It's HIM!" she managed to whisper, terrified beyond her wits.
Before Jamie could ask who exactly "he" was, the red-eyed man – for lack of a better word, thought Jamie, this is definitely not an ordinary man – had pulled out a stick, similar to the others', and waved it. The man sobbing on the ground flew into the Riddle tombstone where the boy was tied. Jamie was very confused and frightened now. He supposed that because both Erin and the strange boy were both completely terrified beyond words – Erin was now holding so tightly to Jamie it was painful, and the boy was watching the newest man's every move with wide, horrified eyes – his brain was telling him that this was evil and they should go, but his legs would not budge. He tried to tell Brett to get out, but his mouth wasn't working either.
Meanwhile, the new man had walked over to the man at the foot of the tombstone. "Hold out your arm," he said. The man extended his handless arm and said something Jamie didn't catch. The red-eyed man laughed. "Your other arm, Wormtail."
Wormtail? What kind of name is that? thought Jamie, bewildered. This time, when this Wormtail spoke, he caught the words, "Please, master, please…"
So from what Jamie could figure out, this "Wormtail" had just revived his "master" and for the time being the boy tied to the tombstone served no purpose. The evil man had rolled up the sleeve of 'Wormtail's' bathrobe, and revealed the ugliest red tattoo Jamie had ever seen; it looked like a snake protruding from a skull's mouth. When Erin saw it, she muttered something, so softly Jamie didn't catch it.
"What?" he asked.
"The Dark Mark…" murmured Erin. "but that must mean…" Jamie saw something else click in Erin's brain, but it didn't seem to calm her; on the contrary, it seemed to alarm her even more.
Fresh howls from Wormtail brought them to their senses, and they saw that his hideous tattoo had turned as black as midnight. The man said, "How many will be brave enough to return when the feel it? And how many will be foolish enough to stay away?" He started to pace around the cemetery, occasionally throwing glances at the bound boy and Wormtail, but mostly looking around the graveyard as if expecting someone. Suddenly, he said, "You stand, Harry Potter, on the remains of my late father. A muggle and a…" but Jamie didn't hear the rest of the sentence; Erin had given a groan that made the others shush her.
"Erin, what is wrong with you?" whispered Brett. "Nothing's happened…"
"Oh yes it has," mumbled Erin, her eyes, now wide as tennis balls, were staring at the boy bound to the Riddle tombstone. "We've found out who that boy is."
"So what does that matter?" said Brett. "We've never seen him before; I've never heard of a Larry Porter or whatever…"
"Harry Potter," corrected Erin. "And I've heard of him, and he's important. We need to go back up to town. Now."
"Heck no!" whispered Patrick. "I've never heard of Harry Potter, they'd probably think we're crying wolf…"
"My parents won't. They'll understand." Erin said quietly. "But we need to go now, there isn't much time."
"I'm not going," said Brett quickly. "I want to see this."
"Me too," said Patrick.
"Me three," volunteered Jamie.
"Oh, fine, I'll go by myself," said Erin contemptuously. "Thanks a lot…" she started to stand up.
"You're…" Brett pushed Erin back down onto the ground, "not going anywhere. You're staying right here."
Before Erin could reply, the air was filled with a swishing noise, and lots of black figures were moving towards the man in the center, as if this couldn't have happened in their wildest dreams. Erin moaned again and turned the color of the Harry Potter boy, which was saying something – on the appearance of the figures he had turned whiter than ever, losing the little color he may have gained, and then some.
The new men bowed down and kissed the evil man's feet. Then they formed a circle around Wormtail, Potter, and the evil man. Fortunately, they left gaps in the circle, and one of them was directly in front of their bush, so they could still see what was going on. The evil man was staring around at the circle of figures, and said, "Welcome Death Eaters…" and Erin moaned once again, and Jamie thought he knew why; Death Eater sounded evil within itself. "I smell guilt," the man was saying. "There is a stench of guilt upon the air." Some of the Death Eaters shifted, but the man took no notice.
Jamie, who was avidly watching the strange man, was caught by surprise when Patrick poked him in the ribs, his eyes wide. "What?" asked Jamie.
Patrick pointed wordlessly at the foot of the Riddle grave, and circling the Potter boy was an enormous snake. Jamie was terrified. "If that snake comes over here it would surely kill us…" whispered Jamie to Brett. "What should we do?"
But Brett didn't say anything, and just shook his head.
When Jamie went back to listening to the man, he was saying, "…perhaps they believed a still-greater power could exist, one that could vanquish even Lord Voldemort…"
Erin shuddered, and then almost fell out of the bush with freight. "What?" asked Patrick. "You've been very strange tonight…."
"It's You-Know-Who…"whispered Erin. "We need to get to my parents, now."
"No way…" but before Brett could finish, one of the men fell at this Voldemort's feet and said, "Master, forgive me! Forgive us all!"
At this Voldemort was laughing. "Crucio!" he said as he pointed his stick at the man.
Jamie had never heard such terrible sounds in his life. The man was screaming louder than anything Jamie had ever heard, and he was writhing as though he was trying to break free of something…Lord Voldemort was smiling, laughing, as the man began to twitch more violently…and then Voldemort raised his stick and the horrendous screams stopped. The man was lying on the grass, still twitching and gasping for breath.
"Get up, Avery," said Voldemort to the man. "Stand up. You ask for forgiveness? I do not forgive. I do not forget. I want thirteen years' repayment…" Jamie glanced over at Erin, turned back to Voldemort, and then did a double take. John was staring, not at Voldemort, but at the yellow-robed boy that had been killed earlier. They were now much closer to him and could see his face. Erin was white as Potter now; her face showed nothing but terror.
"What is it?" asked Jamie. "What's wrong?"
"I know who that is…" whispered Erin. "It's Cedric Diggory."
"Who?" said Jamie, flabbergasted. "Never heard of him."
"Of course you haven't," snapped Erin. "He goes to Ernie's school…Ernie knows him…" Erin suddenly gasped and put her hand over her mouth. "I shouldn't have said that…oh no…"