Hey everybody! I'm super excited for you guys to see the conclusion to the Goblet of Fire storyline. Enjoy!
(Disclaimer: See Chapter 35.)
Chapter 39:
That Escalated Quickly
"The thin man stepped out of the cauldron, staring at Harry...and Harry stared back into the face that had haunted his nightmares for three years. Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snake's with slits for nostrils...
Lord Voldemort had risen again."
"The woman told me to make this quick," Voldemort said. "Said you'd know most of this anyway."
He grabbed Pettigrew's unmaimed arm and pressed his finger to the Dark Mark branded on it. Harry cried out in pain.
"They'll notice it, and now we shall see," he said. "You know, the last time I met you, Harry, you nearly killed me. Because of what your idiot Mudblood mother accidentally did, I could not touch you. But...no matter…"
As terrified as she was, Molly couldn't help having a bit of a fangirl moment as she watched Voldemort walk up to Harry.
"I can touch you now," Voldemort said, pressing his finger to Harry's face as the other Death Eaters arrived around him.
"Welcome," he said, turning away from the two terrified children. "It has been thirteen years, and I wonder - why did you never come to the aid of your master? Knowing the steps I have taken to prevent a mortal death?"
He turned to Pettigrew, sobbing pitifully on the ground.
"And you - came to me out of fear. Yet the fact that I am here right now is your doing. You helped me, and Lord Voldemort rewards his helpers."
The hand formed itself in the air and fixed itself on Pettigrew's wrist.
"May your loyalty never waver again," Voldemort said.
"Of course, my Lord…"
"Of course, my Lord," Molly whispered to no one in particular. "He ain't Zeus."
And he turned. It was all he needed.
"Well, I assume you're bored," he said.
"If she's really visited you, then you know I've read all this a million times," Molly said. "Get on with it already."
Harry looked at her like she was crazy. Voldemort raised a bony eyebrow.
"Well then, you're cutting me off too quickly," he said. "There's more. Maybe a little dose of pain...to help you remember. Crucio!"
It was the worst thing Molly had ever faced. Her entire body was on fire, burning alive, madly twitching. If she hadn't been tied up on the grave, she knew she would have fallen into the ground below her. She could barely even catch her breath as she felt the ropes choking her, cutting her off from the cold, dewy grass below her, the only thing that could maybe give her some relief -
And then it was done, Death Eaters laughing around her.
"And now the boy," Voldemort said. He raised his wand again -
"Wait!" Molly yelled, her voice hoarse. "Are you scared of him?"
Everyone stared at her.
"You're going to use a curse that hurts everyone it touches - are you scared he'd fight back otherwise? Fight him yourself, coward."
The world fell silent.
"I should kill you for that, you brat," he said. "But unfortunately, you're right. I will prove my power right now, and there will be no doubt which of us is the stronger. Relashio!"
They fell to the ground below them.
"It's a duel," Molly whispered. "He's going to kill you, no matter how famous you are. Fame is a fickle friend, Harry…"
Harry's face, which originally seemed hurt, suddenly understood.
He stood, immediately met by a Cruciatus Curse to the stomach. He keeled over in a sort of bow, screaming his lungs out. And suddenly he stopped, and ran behind a gravestone.
Molly crawled behind with him. Blood was splattered on his face; tears poured down his cheeks.
"Does this mean you'd prefer me to finish it now?" Voldemort said.
"Yes!" Molly said. "I've been saying that this entire time! Finish this already!"
She nodded to Harry, and he stood and raised his wand and screamed "Expelliarmus!" just as Voldemort calmly said "Avada Kedavra!"
And there it was. The streams met in midair, and the gold surrounded them - Priori Incantatem. Molly ran through, her feet aching, and grabbed his shoulder.
"You're not alone," she said, and they held onto the wand together as a grey cloud formed from the tip of Voldemort's wand - the ghost of Cedric Diggory.
"Molly...when you get up here in eighty years or so, I have a lot of questions," he said.
Through all the chaos, Molly had to laugh. "Noted."
"Harry, hold on, as best you can," he said. Harry nodded.
Out came Frank Bryce: "He was a real wizard, then? You fight him, kids."
Out came Bertha Jorkins: "Don't let go! Don't let him get you!"
Out came Lily Potter, then James: "Get the Portkey, it will return you to Hogwarts."
Harry looked at Molly. "You have the Cloak?" he mouthed.
Molly gestured to her pocket. "It folds remarkably well."
"I've never seen it wrinkle, it's a miracle," Harry said.
"Harry," Cedric whispered. "Take my body back, will you?"
Harry nodded. "I will."
"Do it now," James said -
"NOW!"
Harry ran past Molly, and she started running backwards: "Protego! Stupefy! Impedimenta!"
When she was convinced she had held them off as long as she could, she turned and ran, and joined Harry. This time it was Molly holding Harry's hand for dear life as he called out "Accio Portkey!"
The cup flew into his hand, he caught it -
And they were gone.
Stella felt her heart racing as the time passed. She knew exactly what was about to happen; she just wished she could see it, or at least know whether it had happened already.
The wizard band was playing peppy ragtime music, which just made the whole atmosphere even worse. The Hufflepuffs around her were on the edge of their seats, watching the maze with care. Some were telling jokes, trying to lighten the tension.
"Everyone be quiet!" one Hufflepuff said. "I want to remember the exact moment Cedric comes out of that maze!"
Stella closed her eyes, feeling tears rushing to them, threatening to pour at any moment. She opened them, and as if on cue, there was a flash of light just in front of the maze -
They hit the ground; Molly shivering and trying to get the visions out of her head, Harry weak, feeling as though he was going to faint, and Cedric cold and unmoving. All around them, she heard peppy band music, like the kind that her old school band would play at a concert. It was unnerving, to say the least.
Molly attempted to sit up and shake the sight of Cedric's fallen body, his eyes open and unfocused, never to look upon another soul again. As her vision cleared from the tears that had just crowded it, she saw the stands clearly for the first time. With Harry and Cedric still on the ground, she scanned the stands for someone to help.
The first person she saw was Stella.
Her black hair was blowing in the wind, her Hufflepuff tie hidden by her robes. Her hand was covering her mouth, her dark eyes clouded with tears.
They locked eyes, and Stella jumped out of her seat.
"Molly! Harry!" she cried as she ran down the stands and over to the three. "Are you alright? Are you bleeding?"
"I need...to get...to the hospital wing…" Molly said, half-breathless. "Leave...Harry...he has somewhere...to be…"
Harry didn't hear; he was holding on to Cedric, trying to keep himself from passing out.
The music that Molly had heard suddenly ended, and it seemed that all noise had left the world. After a few seconds, a scream arose. Molly looked in its direction - and saw Cho Chang, a waterfall of tears running down her face.
Suddenly, the stands erupted in sound. It seemed like the entire world was finally reacting to what they were seeing as screaming, shouting, and running echoed in the impromptu stadium.
Molly wasn't sure whether to feel thankful or miserable.
Sure, she had stopped Delphi's plan: Cedric was dead, and would never become a Death Eater; Harry's blood had entered Voldemort; and the beauty of Priori Incantatem had been discovered. But yet…
It had come at the price of a young man, who still had the possibility of a bright future ahead of him. It had come at the loss of a beautiful young love. And it had come at the loss of Harry's childhood.
And that was the problem with this story being the one that Molly and her new friends had been drawn into. Nobody dies in the Magic Treehouse. The Land of Stories didn't have much, and it was easy to avoid seeing it. And in Percy Jackson, deaths could be prevented without ruining the story too much.
But seeing Cedric's body there, lying helpless, the victim of just being in the way - that wasn't the kind of thing that Molly had ever thought she'd see.
And finally, as Dumbledore ran over to help Harry, and Barty Crouch Jr. (in the disguise of a teacher) ran over to hurt him, Molly's Triwizard adventures ended the way they began; her eyes rolled back into her head, and the world turned black.
When she woke up, she couldn't see anything. Her eyes were closed, and she felt like weights were pressed on her eyelids, stopping them from taking in anything.
Around her, she could hear conversations.
"DELPHI NEEDS TO GET THE FUDGE OUTTA THIS NARRATIVE BEFORE I KICK HER A-" someone was screaming - Molly assumed it to be Stella.
"Stella, calm down," Jonah said.
"I'M NOT CALMING DOWN - DELPHI NEEDS TO CALM DOWN BEFORE I MAKE HER BURN IN -"
"She's waking up, Stella…"
"I DON'T CARE! I'M STANDING UP FOR MYSELF TO KEEP THAT B-"
"Stella!" Jonah said. "You know how she gets when you curse, and besides, no one here knows about Delphi."
"Do you think I care?" Stella said, finally quieting down a bit. "Molly's been out for two days now, and you think I don't care about why she got there?"
Molly had stayed quiet, but she took that moment to make a dramatic groan and slightly open her eyes. She could feel a pounding in her head.
"Molly!" Stella and Jonah said in unison and ran over to Molly.
"Do you need anything?" Stella asked.
"Water?" Jonah said.
"Ambrosia and nectar?"
"Quiet, Stella - chocolate?"
"Voldemort isn't a dementor - milk?"
"Cookies?"
"JONAH!"
"Water's fine," Molly groaned quietly as she tried to sit up. She had never felt this disoriented before.
"Jonah!" Stella said. "Get some water!"
"Why can't you get it?" Jonah complained.
"Because!" Stella said. "Now go!"
"Fine, fine," Jonah whined, walking away. A few seconds later, he returned with a glass of water.
"Here you go, princess," he said, handing it to Molly.
"I'm not a princess," Molly said quietly.
"Yeah!" Stella cried. "She's the daughter of the chief, godd-"
"Stella," Molly chided weakly. "Not the time for Moana references."
"Sorry," Stella said. "But it's true."
Molly would have smiled had the situation been brighter.
"So," Stella said, sitting down next to Molly's cot. "What happened?"
Suddenly, Molly's head jerked forward. "Bag," she whispered.
Stella's eyes widened. She grabbed a pillow from another bed and pointed her wand at it firmly. It morphed into two large plastic bags, one inside the other. Carefully, she handed the bags to Molly.
A split second later, Molly leaned into the bag and vomited. Stella and Jonah quickly ran around to her sides to keep her upright as her past three meals came soaring out of her. She was shaking violently, her breath heavy.
After she was done, she stayed hunched over for a few seconds. Her head felt like it was spinning, and her mind was fuzzy and unable to control her body.
"Are you okay?" Stella whispered.
Molly shook her head. "No," she whispered back, hardly able to speak.
"Do you need us to get you anything?" Jonah said.
"A towel," she muttered.
Jonah nodded quickly. "Sure thing," he said, leaving Molly's side. Less than a minute later, he was back with a towel in hand. Carefully, Molly's shaking hand grabbed it and wiped off her face.
"Not what I was expecting to see today," Stella said, trying to keep the mood light. "Cruciatus?"
Molly nodded as she began to lean up.
"What was it like?" she asked.
"Ya know the pacer test?" Molly said, finally able to speak. "That breathless, cramped feeling you get at the end?"
Stella nodded. "I hate that feeling."
"Well, multiply that by a million, and you've got the Cruciatus curse," she said. "I tried to get him off of Harry, then he turned to me -"
She felt like she was about to cry again.
Stella's face crumbled. Here was one of her bravest friends, shook to her core by Voldemort.
"Delphi needs to die," she said. "And we'll make sure it happens - for you."
Molly smiled faintly. "Thanks," she said. "How long was I out?"
"Two days," Jonah said. "We were all worried sick. Madison's been in here every hour, checking on you - and Beatrix was trying to figure out if you'd be okay -"
"You can tell her I'm fine," Molly said.
"No, you're not," Stella said. "You just puked, you're probably running a temp - you're not okay. You need to stay here and rest."
Molly gaped. "I can't stay here!" she said, getting a bit worked up. "I need to get out there - Voldemort's out there - I need to stop him -"
"That's Harry's job," Jonah said. "And he doesn't do it for another three years. You need to rest so that you're ready to help him when the time comes."
Stella nodded. "Just stay here - just so that you can get better."
Molly reluctantly nodded. "Fine," she whispered, and lay down on the bed. "But what am I supposed to do until then?"
"Sleep," Stella said, pulling a small vial of purple liquid out of her pocket. "It's a Sleeping Draught - it'll help you rest and heal."
Molly took the vial from Stella. "Okay," she said. "Here we go."
She was about to open the vial when -
"Wait," she said. "What happened with Moody?"
"After you passed out," Jonah said, "Madam Pomfrey brought you here. Went to get Harry, too, but he was already with Crouch, Jr. From what we can tell, everything happened just as it was supposed to. Now rest."
"Okay," Molly said. "See you soon."
She opened the vial and downed it, giving the vial back to Stella. Suddenly, she felt a wave of exhaustion sweep over her.
Her eyes closed, and the world turned black.
The days passed in a flash. Molly only remembered bits and pieces as she recuperated in the hospital. She did remember the Diggorys coming in, her begging them to take her stupid prize money and them refusing. She remembered, a few days later, returning to the Gryffindor common room to a few whispers, shot down by an angry glance from Harry. She remembered lots of people hugging her, asking if she was okay.
A few days later, she ran into Draco Malfoy in an empty hallway, expecting a telling-off or a revelation about something else he'd gotten Rita Skeeter to write. She went to say something - and then Draco wrapped her in a hug. It was unexpected...and better than Molly could've imagined coming from Draco.
"You have to tell off Harry on the train," she whispered.
"So be it," he said. "And this - the dementors, the constant questions - it doesn't end here."
"I wouldn't have expected it to," she said.
She didn't see Fred until the Leaving Feast.
When she walked into the Great Hall, the tables were gone; rather, benches rather like a church lined the room. Fred was sitting next to George, but there was an empty seat next to them. Molly sat with him.
Dumbledore stood at the staff table. "The end of another year…" he said, his eyes lingering for a second on Cho Chang, then Harry, then her, then Stella, who had already started crying.
"Today we acknowledge a really...terrible loss," he continued. "Cedric Diggory was, as you all know, exceptionally hard-working; intricately fair-minded; and most importantly, a fierce, fierce friend. I think, therefore, you have the right to know exactly how he died."
Molly took a deep breath.
"You see," Dumbledore said, "Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort."
And that's when Fred started to cry.
Molly looked up, Dumbledore continuing to talk, at her friend. She reached out and squeezed his hand. He looked down at it, then at Molly, who was starting to get emotional herself. She leaned over and nestled in his side, their arms around each other, looking up at Dumbledore.
"In light of recent events, the bonds of friendship we made this year will be more important than ever. Remember that and Cedric Diggory will not have died in vain. Remember that, and we'll celebrate a boy who was kind and honest and brave and true - right to the very end."
That night, after the feast, Molly went up to the boys' dorms. Fred was sitting on his bed, alone.
"I had forgotten until now that you were both sixth years," she said, and Fred looked up at her. "You were probably friends."
"We were definitely friends," Fred chuckled, "although he didn't always approve of the pranks we played on him. But that's not why I got upset down there."
Molly sat down with him. "Why, then?"
Fred put his arm around Molly and sighed. "This whole year, I knew the future. I knew exactly what was going to happen - well, for the most part. But it's...it's just different when it actually happens. And it just, it really sunk in that...everything else would happen, too."
His voice broke.
"And I've just been wasting this whole year pretending, instead of living, and I just -"
Molly hugged him fiercely as he started crying again.
"Maybe…" She hesitated for a split second. "Maybe we don't have to pretend anymore."
He wiped his eyes. "What?"
"We only have one year left when you're at Hogwarts - less, considering you and George leave early," Molly said. "What if we make it worth it? Next year's Umbridge, it's going to be a nightmare - but it'll be less of a nightmare if I'm with you."
"You mean it?"
"Always."
Fred stuck his tongue out. "Oh, don't use Snape's thing on me, you know how much I hate the git -"
Before he could say anything else, Molly pulled Fred to her and kissed him. It felt like she was in a movie - granted, a young kids' movie where kissing was all they did, but still magical nonetheless.
She pulled away. "We're not going on the train, so here's the money for the shop now," she said, placing a woven bag filled with Galleons against Fred's chest. "Just think how many Canary Creams that could be."
And with that, she left the room. Fred shook his head in disbelief, a teary smile crossing his face.
Stella had been the first one to run over to Molly, so naturally she got all the glory on the way out.
As the Guardians gathered to head back home after the break, none of them could find her - until Zoë pointed out that she was still in a crowd of Hufflepuffs on the platform, trying to get over.
"Okay, okay," she finally said. "Gotta go - okay, I'll keep in touch - bye, Wayne - Zach, don't go on another one of your tangents - okay, I actually have to go, bye you guys!"
Finally, she made it over to the others.
"God, ever since he died, they've been so...on me," she said. "Guess since they know how close I am with Madison, they think I'm some sort of grief counselor."
"Well, we've got a whole summer ahead of us to process this," Molly said.
"Oh, by the way -" Ava said. "Can you see them?"
"The Thestrals? Oh, yeah," Molly said. "I've been processing death since I read Goblet of Fire - Harry's gonna need some time, but he'll be there."
"We all have a lot to process," Mackenzie said, putting her hand on Molly's shoulder. "But we'll do it together."
"Always," Fred said, putting his arm around Molly's waist.
She smiled.
"Alright, hustle up!" she said, and the group grew closer together.
"Okay, you prick, it's time," Jonah said. "I want to see Incredibles 2."
"And show Fred Incredibles 1 so he understands what's going on," Beatrix pointed out.
And then the rain came, and they were whisked back to the future.
So...that happened! Here are this chapter's behind-the-magic fun facts:
1) Of course Molly has a little fangirl moment when Voldemort says "I can touch you now!" I just wrote a moment for the upcoming Order of the Phoenix storyline where Molly has a similar reaction to another famous line...
2) The line "Maybe a little dose of pain to help you remember" is a reference to a line Voldemort says in the Escape from Gringotts ride at Universal.
3) There are two references to Puffs in this chapter: the quote that Stella hears a Hufflepuff saying right before Molly, Harry, and Cedric arrive from the maze is a quote from that same moment in the play, and the person named "Wayne" that Stella says goodbye to is a character from the show. (While the presence of a Zach in that same line isn't directly from the show - Zacharias Smith is a character in the series itself - the acknowledgment of the tangents he goes on is a reference, as Zach Smith in Puffs is infamous for his improvised rant in sixth year. I'm telling you guys. Watch this show. Please.)
(Also, LAST CALL FOR PUFFS SPOILERS! Next chapter will have some major spoilers for the show, so check it out!)
4) Stella's inspiration suggested her three all-caps lines in the hospital wing scene.
5) I added the encounter with Draco after I had written the rest of the chapter. I realized I needed to resolve a part of Molly and Draco's semi-friendship, and now that Draco at least knows part of the truth, he realizes all the impossible decisions Molly's had to make over the course of the year, and he appreciates that in a small way, and he has to acknowledge that she needed a little break from his craziness.
6) In rewatching the movies, I remember focusing on certain characters more than others, depending on details I thought I might want to include in the story. During Dumbledore's speech, I noticed one of the Weasley twins getting emotional right around the time that I wrote Fred getting emotional here - and then I remembered that Cedric was in their year. I thought it would be an interesting detail to include, and it leads perfectly into the scene in Fred's room.
7) Speaking of Dumbledore's speech, I actually used the version from the movie instead of the book (I know, scandalous, right?). I thought that speech was a better encapsulation of the significance of Cedric's death than the version in the book, and after Rowling's actions this summer, the less I can take directly from the book, the better.
8) This time, Molly's the first one to go in for the kiss! In figuring out Molly and Fred's "now-or-never" arc that runs through Goblet of Fire, I had to show the moment for both of them where their relationship goes from just friendship to something more, and I also had to show the moment when they express that something more in more than words. For Fred, it's his conversation with Jonah and then the kiss at the second task; for Molly, it's her moment at the guitar after the second task and then this moment in Fred's room.
9) Should Harry be able to see the Thestrals? Yeah, probably.
Thanks again for sticking around this long, and I'm super excited to show you guys what I'm working on for Order of the Phoenix. See you soon!
Feel free to review, but please no negative reviews or cursing. (And please, NOTHING POLITICAL!) Thanks!