A/N: This story hit 400 followers at the time that I am posting this. Thank you guys so much!


A Song of Lightning and Fire

Arc I: Magic

Part V: The Triwizard Tournament


The evening of June 24th was a long awaited relief for most students. Everyone was anxious about their exam results, and the Third Task would provide them with something else to focus on, that's what they thought anyway.

Currently, most of the students were probably in the courtyard next to the Great Hall, watching the sunset, or just… being children, waiting for the teachers to finish setting up the seating area for the audience.

A result of this, was that the two giant canines running towards the Castle from inside the Forbidden Forest went completely unnoticed. One of those canines looked like a wolf with black fur, but it had white eyes, while the other was a fox with nine tails that looked like they were made of fire.

Harry was leading the little race that he and Ginny were having today, one of their little stupid and extremely fun everyday activities. The Third Task was today, and for the past two weeks- ever since Harry had found out what the Tasks actually was- he couldn't decide whether to be surprised or disappointed at how… incompetent the Ministry was being about this.

The Third Task was a treasure hunt that would take place in a maze inside the Forbidden Forest. An area of suitable size had been picked out, and boundaries of leaves had been grown all around it.

The area was enchanted with various different traps, and the champions would have to get past them to gain a clue, or a direction towards which they should be headed to retrieve an object. The first person to successfully get the object would win.

Harry and Ginny felt that this was the most ridiculous thing that they could have done right now, especially in the wake of the attack on Barty Crouch Sr. who had, thankfully, survived, although he still had trouble speaking.

But no one but Dumbledore listened to them, and since he and Mr. Crouch were the only two people on their side, their opinions were mostly ignored.

But no one had told the two of them that they couldn't do a little… preemptive scouting of the traps and Enchantments on their own, and now that they were Animagi, well, that was pretty easy to do.

They'd found a multitude of traps, but weren't able to find anything detailed about them as there was always a team of Aurors near the Enchantments, all of whom were on guard, Harry was glad to note.

They'd also found the place where the object was supposed to be hidden: a large, round ruined hut, resting atop a medium sized hill deep into the maze. The hut had a small, stone pedestal inside it that was visible even from the outside.

Their race back to the castle had been a result of this venture. He and Ginny had gotten lost inside, and by the time they got out, it was getting late, so they'd agreed on a race on their way back, and since the hut was rather far from the castle itself.

That, and the last thing they needed right now was for people to panic about seeing a Grim and a Kitsune running around in the Forest.

Harry's thoughts were cut off when he saw their finish line, a rather large fallen tree log. Harry jumped with all of his strength, and leapt over the log, turning the jump into a barrel roll and transforming mid air.

He landed on his feet and turned around in time to see Ginny jump over the log. She landed not too soon after him, but didn't transform, looking down at the ground, trying to be sullen.

"Aww," Harry teased her as he walked closer to her. "Is ickle Ginny upset?"

Ginny slowly turned her head up, growling. If Harry hadn't known it was her, he would've run away screaming by now. The Kitsune was rather intimidating, being almost as tall on four legs as Harry was in human form. It was the same for Harry's Grim, it was just ever so slightly larger than Ginny's Kitsune.

As it was, Harry knew that she was only messing around, and decided to scratch under her chin, causing her to lick his face and let out a whine in appreciation.

"We should probably go," Harry said, stroking her fur. It was so soft. "We'll be late."

Ginny heaved a tragic sigh, stepping back and transforming back into her Human self. "I hate that we all have to be there."

"Me too," Harry said, grimacing.

Attendance had been made compulsory so that the staff didn't have to keep track of every single one of the students wherever they went.

The only saving grace was that the audience weren't right outside the area where the Tasks would be held. The Hogwarts students would be watching it from an underground movie theatre like room which the Ministry staff were working on. It was accessible through an elevator in the same room that Harry and Ginny had found the Cerberus in back in their First Year. Supposedly, that room was being redone as well.

It was for security, the same reason why everyone was made to sit inside the Castle for spectating the Task. Anyone who wasn't a Hogwarts student would have to watch the event at Diagon Alley, or the Ministry of Magic.

Harry didn't mind the rule, per se, he just hated that it applied to him and Ginny as well. It was hypocritical, he knew, but all the same, the two of them could take care of themselves better than the rest of the students. Or, at least they could now, what with Moody teaching them all sorts of Defensive Magic and Treatments.

They started walking towards the castle in a comfortable silence. It took them two minutes to make it past the treeline of the forest, and out onto the grounds of the castle.

There was a faint breeze in the air, causing a soft rustling sound to be heard as they walked across the dimly lit grounds. There was no one there, so Harry decided to thread his fingers with Ginny's, causing her to give him a soft smile.

On a whim, Harry glanced up at Mars. He was expecting it to be bright, knowing that Voldemort was still out there, but it was still rather jarring to see that it was actually shining bright.

Firenze's words came back to him, and so did Hagrid's, causing him to slow down to a stop. "Alright there?" Ginny asked, looking up at him.

She followed his gaze and sighed softly. "It's going to happen soon, isn't it?" She asked, biting her lip.

"Probably," Harry said, knowing what she was referring to. He sighed again. Now really wasn't the time for this. They needed to be there for their friend, who was probably going to face imminent death a lot sooner than they were.

Harry and Ginny made their way into the Entrance Hall and climbed the stairs to enter the corridor outside the Great Hall. They had just reached the Second Floor, intending to take a shortcut that would take them to the viewing area on the Third Floor, when they heard a pair of voices coming from the Second Floor Girl's Bathroom.

Harry and Ginny slowed to a stop, and he focused on the sounds, trying to hear them better using his Animagus abilities.

"You're certain it is done?"

Harry's blood boiled as he heard the voice of Peter Pettigrew. He let out a low snarl, very reminiscent of his Grim form. Drawing his Wand, he took a step forward-

-and was promptly pulled back by Ginny.

"What was that?" Another voice brought him out of his angered state. Harry couldn't be certain, but Harry thought he had heard the voice before

"Just a rat probably," Pettigrew muttered. "Back to my question, are you certain it is done? There won't be… complications?"

"None at all," The other voice replied smoothly. "It is foolproof."

"The Dark Lord shall be pleased," Pettigrew replied.

Harry and Ginny shared a glance. This was probably Barty Crouch Jr. Pettigrew was talking to. How did they even get on the grounds anyway?

"Indeed," Barty Crouch Jr. said. "I shall be sure to mention your part, Peter,"

"See that you do," Peter replied, sounding inexplicably nervous. "Black is… difficult… to avoid."

"Black is the least of your problems," Barty told him, sounding quite serious. "The others do not believe that your loyalty lies with the Dark Lord."

"Others!?" Peter cried, causing Harry's ears to ring, and Ginny's too, judging by the way she was holding them. "What others!?"

"Quiet down you snivelling fool!" Barty hissed. "You will get us caught."

"There's no one here," Peter said dismissively.

"Don't be so sure of that," Barty said, sniffing. "Moody's in the Castle."

"He's old," Peter said, scoffing. "What will he do? Hit you with a stick."

"I tried to put Moody under an Imperius this summer," Barty said, surprising both Harry and Ginny. "He saw me coming into his town and Hexed me to the point where I couldn't move without my body exploding in pain. What's more, is that he did it without anyone else hearing so much as a single whisper about it. I also imagine he could do a lot worse than that."

Harry actually heard Peter gulp. "Fine," he muttered. "I'll be quieter."

"Good," Barty said. "There are a lot of others," he continued, answering Peter's original question.

"How many?" Peter asked.

"About half a dozen Talons," Barty said, sounding very thrilled. "We are waiting for the Dark Lord to return to call the others back."

"Good, good," Peter said.

"You have until then to prove your loyalty," Barty told him.

"I know," Peter snapped in a whisper. "Don't you believe me when I say that I'm on your side?"

"I don't," Barty said, sounding unfazed. "I wouldn't even believe Bellatrix if she told me that."

At this point, Peter seemed to have been understandably stunned into silence; Bellatrix was Voldemort's biggest follower after all. Harry, however, had started to walk towards the Bathroom itself.

Ginny clutched his hand. "What are you doing?" She whispered in a barely audible voice.

"I want to hear better," Harry replied. He also wanted to catch Pettigrew if possible, but he kept that thought to himself.

"Your mistrust runs that deep?" Peter asked.

Harry and Ginny were now touching the wall behind which the Bathroom lay, sliding closer and closer to the door. He knew that Peter was an Animagus, and could probably hear their footsteps if they made too much noise, so they kept quiet as well. Just to be safe, Harry threw the Invisibility Cloak over himself and Ginny, pulling her close next to his body.

"It does," Barty replied in a measured tone.

"Do you even trust the Dark Lord?" Peter asked snarkily.

He received what sounded like a punch for his comment. "Watch your tongue," Barty said. "Both of us know you're a snivelling little coward who would sell us all out at the first chance you get for your own safety."

Peter didn't object, and Harry filed that information away for later. Perhaps it could be useful. Or perhaps not. Harry didn't quite know.

"I am loyal to the cause," Peter said vehemently.

"Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?" Barty asked, causing Peter to suck in a breath of outrage. "Quiet."

Harry blinked at this and turned to Ginny, who was looking just as confused by this as he was. 'What the hell?' she mouthed at him.

Harry just shrugged in response, but the reason for Crouch's suspicions became clear when they heard a girlish voice shriek. "WHO ARE YOU!?"

Harry belatedly recognized the voice as Moaning Myrtle and let out a breath in frustration.

"Hello," Barty said in a charming voice. "May I know your name?"

"Tell me yours first," Myrtle said. "Or I'll call the Headmaster."

"We're here to fix this Bathroom," Peter said. "Didn't you hear?"

Myrtle sniffed. "No one even uses this bathroom anymore."

"That is truly tragic," Barty replied. "But perhaps these repairs can help."

"Get to it then," Myrtle snapped at them. "Quickly."

Harry heard a splash, and knew that Myrtle had passed through one of the toilets. "Bitch," Barty muttered. "I'm getting out of here. We'll speak more tonight."

Barty apparently didn't wait for a response. They merely heard the sound of a window opening, and closing shortly thereafter. Harry focused more on hearing any other sounds from in there, and soon enough, he heard the sounds of wings flapping…

Harry's thoughts were cut off when Peter himself opened the door to the Second Floor Girl's Bathroom. Harry and Ginny went still, waiting till Peter had walked past them.

Harry made his way out of the Invisibility Cloak, causing Ginny to close her eyes in frustration.

Harry continued to tail Peter for a while before he spoke.

"Hello, Peter," Harry said, smiling coldly.

The man in question whirled around, his eyes opening wide in fear as his jaw dropped open as he saw Harry, and then Ginny standing there.

"H- Harry!" Peter replied.

Harry didn't grace him with a response, choosing to throw a punch at the man's face, and boy, did it feel good when his fist connected with the man's jaw. Peter went sprawling to the ground, and drew out his Wand, but Ginny summoned it into her hands and snapped it in half.

"Were you going to do something with that?" Harry asked, the cold smile turning into a full blown smirk.

"N- no, please, let me go," Peter sounded really scared, and the animalistic part of Harry loved it.

"You need to get more of a spine, you worthless little shit," Ginny told Peter.

"Ginny, please," Peter said, ignoring Harry who had kicked him in response.

"Do not look at her," Harry growled, reaching down and pulling the man by his collar. "What's your plan?"

"What plan?" Pettigrew asked.

Harry snarled in response, hauling Peter up by the collar of his robes, and drawing his fist back.

"WAIT!" Pettigrew screamed, clutching at Harry's arms.

"Talk," Harry said, fist still raised.

"He will kill me," Peter told him.

"Who? Voldemort?" Harry asked.

"Don't say that name," Peter hissed.

"Answer my question,"

"Yes," Peter responded. "And I am a lot more scared of him than I am of you."

"It's true that I will not kill you, Pettigrew," Harry said. "But I would love nothing more than to watch you suffer in pain. And the easiest way to do that would be to hand you over to Sirius on a silver platter. He's been looking for you, hasn't he?"

Peter's eyes, already wide with fear, widened even more. "Yeah," Harry said, smirking. "He would love to meet you."

"You would be so cruel?" Peter asked. "What is wrong with you?"

"I died," Harry replied, resisting the urge to call him a hypocrite. "Tell me the plan."

Peter shook his head, so Harry called on his Magic to create a fire in his hand. He extended his hand forward, ready to burn Pettigrew into oblivion.

But he stopped when Peter's eyes widened and his face went blank.

Turning around, he saw Ginny standing there with her Wand extended towards Pettigrew. Her face was similarly blank, and just a moment later, emotion returned to her face and she took a deep breath… and promptly vomited all over the floor.

He knew, even without confirmation, that Ginny had attempted Legilimency. They'd been reading about it a lot, and they reckoned they knew enough of the theory to cast the Spell, but they'd never tried it before, not wanting to invade the others' minds. Apparently, she could cast it.

Peter sucked in a huge gasp of air, and Harry was broken out of his shock. He turned to the rat Animagus, and cast a Stunning Spell at the man as Ginny swore.

"That was a disgusting experience," she said.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

She nodded. "I've got his plan."


Harry and Ginny had quickly called and informed Dumbledore of this new development before they made their way to the viewing area.

The plan mostly involved casting the Imperius Curse on one of the Champions to have them lure Harry and Ginny into the Maze to hand them a Portkey that would send them to Voldemort. Why? Well, Ginny hadn't been able to find that out, but Dumbledore thought that he wanted to build his body back. Either way, Dumbledore had upped the security so that nothing could come or go from the boundaries of the Maze.

Ginny still felt rather sick from the after effects of the Spell. Dumbledore had said that something like that was bound to happen for anyone attempting to cast Legilimency without an instructor to teach them. It would go away sooner than later, though, so that was a relief.

Pettigrew was currently being held in a cell at the top of the North Tower until the Final Task was over. He was still stunned, and he hadn't been woken up. Even if he was, Peter's Wand was broken, so it wasn't like he could do much other than some very basic Wandless Magic.

Harry and Ginny were currently sitting in the viewing area under the Castle itself. It really was like a movie theatre, except there were benches rising in levels here instead of the chairs found in the Muggle Theatres. He preferred the latter, though.

There was a screen directly in front of them, and it was split into four parts. The top left and right corners showed what Cedric and Felur respectively saw. The one in the bottom left hand corner showed what Krum saw, and the one in the bottom right hand corner showed a map of the maze, and the champions' positions in it.

Harry and Ginny had been severely delayed, and had missed pretty much the whole thing, but they were here now, and the Champions still hadn't gotten to the cups.

Just as the thought passed through his head, Cedric turned a corner, and was able to see the hut down a long path which was surrounded with a tall barrier of leaves and plants on its left and right sides.

Fleur was walking down a similar path, when the Barrier to her left split apart, revealing a direct path to the hut.

Fleur and Cedric could both see the Hut now, and neither knew the other was there. They both took off on a sprint, and a few seconds later, Krum had been Portkeyed to a spot from where he could easily see the hut. He'd gotten the Portkey by beating a Sphinx in a riddle apparently.

Cedric and Fleur met in the centre of the hut, and Cedirc immediately cast a Tripping Jinx at the French girl, who jumped over it with the grace of a ballerina and cast a Knockback Jinx at Cedric.

The two of them engaged in a rather awesome duel. Low to Medium Level Hexes were flying in the air and striking either Fleur and Cedric, or the ground below them.

But, naturally, their duel was interrupted by the arrival of Krum, who made a beeline for the trophy, causing Fleur and Cedric to divert their attention to him.

At this point, the four parts of the screen had turned into one massive one, showing a good angle of the fight. Krum was able to hold his own against them fairly well, and he even managed to land a Bludgeoning Hex on Cedric's knee, causing the boy to go sprawling to the ground.

Fleur spun to dodge a rock thrown at her and cast an Aqua Eructo at Krum, who froze the jet of water mid air, causing it to topple to the ground and shatter into pieces.

Krum waved his Wand at them, causing them to rise, but Fleur just melted the water and cast a Knockback Jinx at Krum, who went flying through the broken walls, and into a pile of bushes nearby. Fleur made sure to Stun him for good measure.

She pointed her Wand at Cedric, who had managed to get back to his feet, although his knee was looking rather wonky. "Will you fight?" She asked.

Cedric cast a Disarming Charm in response, which she Deflected back at him, causing him, and most of the Hogwarts students, to groan as his Wand was ripped from his hand as the Beauxbatons students roared in approval.

"Well played," Fleur said with a smile.

"Thanks," Cedric replied with a doubtful expression.

Fleur walked forward and took the stone from the pedestal, causing a necklace around all the Champions' necks to glow a pale blue for a second before they were whisked away through a Portkey.

The Screen turned off, and the Champions all appeared on the stage, getting to their feet. The crowd cheered and applauded, and Harry and Ginny joined in.

Hopefully, this meant that nothing else was going to happen, that they had finally gotten one step ahead of Voldemort. He could only hope, though.

Ludo Bagman rose up on the stage and began making an announcement, and it was then that Harry noticed Krum's eyes went blank, a sure sign that the Imperius Curse was being used on someone.

Thankfully, he wasn't the only one to see it. As Krum drew his Wand and pointed it at Mr. Crouch, Dumbledore and Moody had disarmed and bound Krum quickly, much to the shock of the entire crowd.

Dumbledore pointed his Wand at his throat. "Please make your way to the exit!" His Magically Enhanced voice boomed. "This is not a drill! Go! Now!"

The students quickly stood up and started making their way out haphazardly, until Professor Mcgonagall launched a Firework into the air. She led them out row by row and when Harry and Ginny had made their way out of the stands, they were approached by Moody.

"Come with me," he grunted.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked as he and Ginny followed the man. All the doubts they'd had about his intentions had been squashed over the course of the month, and Harry was grateful that Moody didn't stop teaching them despite their suspicions.

"Security issue," Moody whispered, looking around and leading them towards another exit. "Nothing's gone wrong yet, but it's better to be safe than to be sorry. Constant Vigilance."

Harry and Ginny nodded in understanding, and they made their way up to Moody's Office in a slightly awkward silence. Moody opened the door and ushered them inside. Nothing had changed since the last time they were here, but Harry could see a Multi compartment Trunk next to a wall on the left side of Moody's desk.

A Multi compartment Trunk was a trunk that had three to seven different storage spaces, all seperate from the other. One only had to insert and turn the key into the slot of the storage space you wanted to access, and it would open up. They were frightfully expensive, though, and they couldn't be shrunken down, which was why Harry had chosen not to buy one.

He and Ginny sat down in a chair, and Moody went towards his shelf, picking out a medium sized glass bottle that Harry and Ginny hadn't seen the last time they were here.

"What is this?" Ginny asked as Moody kept the bottle on the desk.

"A Potion," Moody commented, grinning as he added some sort of powder into it and handed them the bottle. "Hold this for a second."

Harry and Ginny rolled their eyes at his comment, and Harry took a good look at the Potion. It was a dark blue colored liquid, and it glowed a little.

"What does it do?" Ginny asked.

"You'll see," Moody commented with the grin still on his face, heading over to another corner of the room. Harry thought it was odd for him to grin that way, but before he could say anything the Potion started glowing brighter… and Harry couldn't help but compare the glow to that of a Portkey

Fuck.

Harry went to throw the bottle to the other side of the room, but it was too late. A bubble of Magic quickly expanded from the bottle, sucking Harry and Ginny into a Portkey vortex.


Harry and Ginny slammed into the ground, face first as the bottle went spinning out of their hands. Harry quickly looked up to see that they were lying on the top of a slope of a hill, and that there was no liquid in the bottle.

"Shit," Ginny swore, as they quickly got to their feet. "Let's go. Now."

Harry wasn't about to say no to that, but he couldn't see anything but a large dense forest that seemingly stretched for miles. It didn't help that it was really dark here.

He turned around and saw that they were standing on the edge of a graveyard. It looked like what he expected a graveyard to look like, really, but the two things that stuck out to him most were the entrance to an underground crypt towards the edge across them, and the tombstone with the statue of an angel over it.

The graveyard lay adjacent to a mansion on top of the hill. They could see the back of a mansion on top of the hill from their current position. It was made of a dark colored wood, and light poured out of its windows, illuminating its backyard.

"Where would we go, though?" Harry asked. They could turn into their Animagus forms and run away, but Harry didn't know what was out in that forest, and he'd rather not step into any more unknowns right now.

She couldn't answer him then, for they heard the sound of a metal door creaking open. Harry immediately threw the Cloak of Invisibility over them, turning them around in time to see Grayson stepping out of a crypt in a graveyard.

"Come out and face me!" Grayson yelled. "Cowards!" He continued. "You can't hide!"

Ginny tugged at Harry's sleeve, and he looked at her. They both had to hide, Harry knew, but there weren't really that many places to do so. Ginny nodded at the tombstone with the angel statue, and Harry softly sighed, gesturing at her to take the lead.

The two of them slowly kept crawling towards the place as Grayson checked in the opposite direction, calling out their name and trying to taunt them into coming out of their hiding spot, insulting anything and everything he could. Harry was surprised at how unaffected he was by this method of his…

"We could sneak around the mansion," Ginny whispered softly when they were successfully hidden behind the statue's back. "Get into a town, get some help."

It sounded like a good plan, except they didn't know if a town was nearby. Harry couldn't imagine Voldemort living near a Muggle area. They needed another way, one that was not apparition, or their Animagus form, one that was fast enough to get them out without trouble…

"Do you have your broom?" Harry asked her.

Her eyes lit up, and she nodded, but before she could do anything else, they heard the sound of soil crunching behind them.

They turned around in time to see a rotting arm come out of a graveyard a few metres away from them, followed by another. The undead creature placed its hands on the ground and pulled itself up.

Instantly, Harry recognized that it was an Inferius, known for its bite, which was extremely poisonous. That Inferius wasn't the only one, though, as more and more kept rising up.

But they suddenly stopped, and Harry felt the Cloak being thrown away from over his and Ginny's bodies. Not a moment later he felt a hand of stone close around the back of his neck. Instantly, his body went rigid as his arms snapped to the side of his chest and his legs snapped together. He heard the same thing happen to Ginny at the same time it happened to him.

It must have been the statue of the angel, Harry knew, and there must have been a Rune on the palm of its hand. They were completely paralyzed, or at least he was. Wel, actually, he could still move his eyes, and his tongue, but that was it.

The statue turned around in its original position, taking Harry and Ginny along with it, still Magically bound in its hands. Harry couldn't help but feel like it was similar to a Full Body Bind, though, and he focused on his Magic, attempting to fight the effects of the Rune.

"Told you," Professor Grayson said, strutting over to them with another older man in tow. "You can't hide."

The older man was dressed in a traditional black wizarding robe, and he was carrying something with it. It looked like a small bundle, covered in a black blanket. Was it a baby? Harry thought incredulously.

"Romulus," a cold sounding voice came from the baby/bundle. "The Ritual, time is running out."

"Yes, my Lord," Grayson said.

He took out a small Lunar crystal phial from his robes, and held it up so that the moonlight fell on it. The crystal glowed, and Harry could see a dark mist inside of it. Grayson began a chant in some ancient language, and the mist began swirling inside the phial, impatiently trying to get out of it.

Grayson then uncorked the phial, and the mist started coming out of it. There was a lot more in there than Harry thought there would be, or it could also be that whatever Grayson had done had multiplied the amount somehow.

The mist travelled through the air, stopping and swirling a few metres in front of Harry and Ginny. The mist slowly turned into a solid black cauldron, burning with a purple flame under it.

Quite a few of the Inferi rolled a large barrel over to Grayson, who picked it up, and started pouring a silvery white substance into the cauldron. With a mental start, Harry realized it was Unicorn Blood.

Harry needed to let Ginny know how to get out. She was strong, she could get out without any trouble, and she could help him get them out of here. He turned his eyes to her, and hoped she could understand what he was trying to say.

"Fight this like a Body Bind," he hissed to her in Parseltongue, judging by the barely perceptible nod she gave him, she already knew, and she could understand Parseltongue. Relief washed over him, to be quickly replaced by revulsion as Grayson started adding body parts of dead humans to the mixture of the Cauldron.

He then took the baby/bundle from the old man and gently tossed it into the cauldron.

Please drown, Harry thought. Just fucking drown.

Grayson pointed his Wand at the ground under Harry and Ginny, which split open. A bone was levitated out from the ground into Grayson's hand, who put it into the mixture.

"Bone of the Father, unknowingly given," he said, holding his Wand over the cauldron. "You shall renew your son."

The mixture glowed, and Grayson turned to the man who's been carrying the baby/bundle. He drew out a long sword from a disillusioned sheath around his waist, and chopped the man's head off. He took the head, and the body, and threw it into the Cauldron.

"Flesh of the Servant, willingly sacrificed," he said, holding his Wand over the Cauldron. "You shall revive your master."

The mixture glowed again, and Grayson smirked in triumph. He sheathed the sword and headed over to Harry, drawing out a knife from his robes as he did so.

Harry realized what he was going to do a second before he did it. Grayson made a quick slash of his knife along the outer side of Harry's arm, and held a vial under the cut, allowing the blood to fall inside it.

Harry didn't feel anything besides an annoying sting as it happened, but he did feel the wound close because of his healing factor. Grayson seemed to have gotten enough, though, for he just went back and poured it into the mixture.

He held his Wand over the cauldron again. "Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken," he said. "You shall resurrect your foe."

At this point, Harry had almost completely broken free, but he had to maintain the act to get an element of surprise over Voldemort. It was the only way he could see him and Ginny escaping.

Suddenly, the cauldron started bubbling. The dark mist started rising again from the material of the cauldron itself, swirling as it rose up higher and higher in height. The purple flame soon vanished, and the mist spread out towards the bottom as well, turning the green grass of the ground into a dead, gray color.

The mist slowed and started turning more solid, yet remaining flexible, very cloth like, Harry thought. The mist started shrinking in on itself until it made a human like shape, wrapping around something inside the mist layer by layer, until eventually, the mist below the neck of the person turned into a fine dark colored robe, covering his entire body save for a pair of pale white skeletal hands and a pale white face, with slits for a nose.

Lord Voldemort had been reborn.

Voldemort's eyes were closed, and he began caressing his body over his robes, seemingly in a state of euphoria. His hands were like large, pale spiders; his long white fingers ran over his own chest, his arms, his face; the red eyes, whose pupils were slits, like a cat, gleamed still more brightly through the darkness. He held up his hands and flexed the fingers, his expression rapt and exultant.

He opened his eyes, taking in the sight of Harry and Ginny bound by the tombstone. "I do apologise for the way I have brought you here," he spoke in a high, cold voice. "It was not my intent to cause you harm."

Harry almost snapped back at him, but restrained himself. It wasn't worth getting killed just for a snarky comeback. Not now.

"I shall address you both in a minute," Voldemort said. "I do hope you don't mind."

He didn't wait for an answer, though, he just whirled around, coming face to face with Grayson, who knelt in front of Voldemort. "My lord," he said.

Voldemort moved forward and took the man's face in his hands. "Rise, Romulus," Voldemort told him. "You do not bow. Not to me. Not after everything you have done for me."

Grayson swallowed and stood up, a proud expression on his face. "Thank you, my Lord."

Voldemort inclined his head in acknowledgement, and brought his hands up to his mouth, tilting his face to the skies. "MORSMORDRE!" He screamed.

Immediately, green sparks started forming in the sky, coming together in the shape of the Dark Mark. Harry was gobsmacked. This shouldn't be possible. No one could cast a Spell without a medium to channel the Magic through…

"It is an Enchantment I placed over the plot a long time ago," Voldemort explained, probably seeing Harry's expression. "I merely have to say the phrase, and the mark will form. The only real question now is how many will be brave enough to return when they feel it?" Voldemort whispered, his gleaming red eyes darting up to the stars. "And how many will be foolish enough to stay away?"

He began pacing up and down, his eyes darting around the graveyard as though he was expecting something, or someone, to be there.

"You see that mansion upon the hillside?" Voldemort asked a while later. "My father lived there. My mother, a witch who lived here in this village, fell in love with him. But he abandoned her when she told him what she was… He didn't like magic, my father…"

"He left her and returned to his Muggle parents before I was even born," Voldemort continued. "And she died giving birth to me, leaving me to be raised in a Muggle orphanage… I vowed to be better than him… and I was… once."

There was an expression of nostalgia on his face for a fleeting second.

Still, he paced, his red eyes darting from grave to grave.

"Listen to me, reliving family history…" he said quietly. "Why, I am growing quite sentimental… but it doesn't matter, my true family returns…"

The air was suddenly full of the swishing of cloaks. Between graves, behind the yew tree, in every shadowy space, wizards were Apparating. All of them were hooded and masked. And one by one they moved forward… slowly, cautiously, as though they could hardly believe their eyes. Voldemort stood in silence, waiting for them.

Then one of the Death Eaters fell to his knees, crawled toward Voldemort and kissed the hem of his black robes. "Master… Master" he murmured.

The Death Eaters behind him did the same; each of them approaching Voldemort on his knees and kissing his robes, before backing away and standing up, forming a silent circle around the statue, enclosing Harry, Ginny, and Voldemort in it.

"I am glad to see that you all came," Voldemort said. "For too long, I have wondered if your loyalty had… wavered. I am glad to see that it has not."

Quite a few of the Death Eaters shuffled and shifted at the sound of his voice, and Voldemort smelled pleased at this.

"It has been nearly 15 years…" Voldemort trailed off, letting out a breath. "Nearly 15 years of waiting… waiting for one of you to find me… waiting for one of you to bring me back… I am disappointed that it took this long-"

"We thought you died, innit?" A big, hulking man interrupted him. "How were we supposed to know that you were out there?"

Even Harry knew this was a mistake, because where Voldemort had once seemed calm, the interruption made him nearly explode in his anger.

"Crucio!" Voldemort snarled, pointing his Wand at the Death Eater.

There was no light to the Spell, but the effect wasn't any less horrible to watch. The man collapsed to the ground, flailing his arms about in a desperate attempt to escape the pain. His body was bending in unnatural angles, and his screams were only increasing in volume.

All of this happened in just ten seconds.

Voldemort took the Curse off after that, and the man was left there, panting and sniffing. But apparently, Voldemort wasn't done, for he swiftly glided- actually glided- over to the man. The rest of them immediately backed away from the man, trying to put as much distance between them as possible.

"Do you think that I care for your interruptions, boy?" Voldemort hissed to him.

"No, my Lord," the man uttered, gulping.

"Then perhaps you are not as foolish as I and everyone else thought you to be," Voldemort said, causing the Lestranges and Lucius Malfoy to laugh. "Stand up. And do not interrupt me again Goyle. You will regret it."

Goyle. Harry filed that name away for later. Maybe they could hand the names of the rest of the Death Eaters over to the Ministry when this was all said and done.

"As I was saying," Voldemort continued. "I am rather disappointed that it took 14 years for one of you to find me. Had I not proven myself, my might, my Power, time and time again? Had I not been hailed as the most Powerful Wizard to ever live? Had I not said that I have taken measures to prevent my death? Disappointed as I am in the lot of you… I do hope you believe me now?"

His question was soft spoken, and to anyone, it would sound as though it was a simple curious question, but the Death Eaters took it as anything but. They bowed, nodded, and verbally agreed, most of them wearing an apprehensive expression on their face.

"I owe Barty my gratitude," Voldemort said. "Without him… I would not be here. I pray he joins us at Headquarters soon."

"Much has changed since the last time I walked the earth with my own two feet," Voldemort continued. "Our friends, the Talons, are the ones we owe our thanks to for this. They have never once believed the rumors of my Death. They didn't find me either, no, but they did not sit in their manors and get rich at the expense of others…" he trailed off menacingly as his gaze landed on Lucius Malfoy. "I trust… that you will do better in the future?"

"Of course, my Lord," Lucius said, bowing deeper.

"Good," Voldemort replied. "To those of you that proudly went to Azkaban following my… unfortunate 'death', do not think that your gesture has gone unnoticed."

He met the eyes of each of the prisoners as he spoke, causing them to bow to him. "You will be rewarded accordingly," Voldemort continued. "You have my word."

The Death Eaters in question bowed.

"Now, I fear I must leave you," Voldemort said. "I have two guests here, who have been waiting for a bit too long at this point. I shall call you again, and I shall hope that you all come."

The Death Eaters bowed, and Voldemort turned to them. He drew out a pale white colored Wand from his robes and flicked it at the statue. It released them, and they fell to the ground.

"Come," Voldemort said to them, gesturing to the mansion. "I think we should talk."

Voldemort turned around and began walking, seemingly expecting them to follow after him. And they did. Really, it wasn't like they had a choice in the matter.

He led the two of them towards the backyard of the mansion, and then followed a path up to the back entrance of the building. He opened the door and entered, inviting them inside with a gesture.

Not seeing any other option, Harry and Ginny stepped in, and the Wards around the building instantly activated.

Harry sighed. They were well and truly screwed.


A/N 2: Please leave a review if you've got the time and enjoyed this chapter. I'll see you in the next one! Byee!