The Final Fight

To Jojen's right, Lodbrok held out his hand, offering a handshake.

"Hold this," Jojen said absent-mindedly, passing the Triwizard Cup to a surprised Lodbrok. He jumped down from the podium, Maradona, who was the closest, grabbed his right hand with both of his and started shaking it with gusto.

"Congratulazioni! Congratulazioni!" he shouted.

Jojen pulled back his hand and turned his back on Maradona who stared at him with a surprised look on his face and his eyes wide open.

"What's the matter Jojen?" Albus Potter asked.

Jojen pushed past him and started running towards the crowd. Several reporters and their cameraman were shouting questions at Jojen, they tried to block his way and slow him down. Jojen ran past them and sidestepped a couple of curious Ministry Officials asking him where he was going. He saw his parents, Hugo and Lucile, they were walking towards him with big smiles plastered on faces, but Jojen did not stop, he ran past them, leaving them muddles and confused.

He was running towards the stand where all the Professors and Ministry Officials were seated.

As he approached the foot of the stands, he slowed down and looked up at the mass of witches and wizards all waving and shouting. Professor Longbottom was waving his arms at Jojen, an ear-splitting grin on his face. Behind them, the joyful Professor Sturgis was bouncing up and down like a young schoolboy. Professor Doran Martell was seated beside him, he was much more composed, still, he was nodding with approval as he waved at Jojen. He saw the enormous bulk of Karroch, who had returned from St Mungo's, he was sitting apart from the rest of the crowd, his blood-stained linen shirt placed him in stark contrast with much of the other spectators, many of whom were dressed in their personal best. His huge metal axes were placed on the seats beside him, he gave Jojen a smile a thumbs-up when he caught his eye.

There was a huge group of Ministry wizards and game officials, Jojen scanned the crowd, at the last row, away from most of the other Ministry wizards, were the two people he had hoped to find, Arthur Dayne and Ygritte Leslie, they were finally here. The two wizards looked surprised when they saw Jojen pushing past the crowd and running up the steps. "Congratulations! You did well," Leslie told Jojen. She looked slightly different from the last time Jojen has seen her in the Hospital Wing, her hair was of a light-yellow shade, and she was wearing an elegant black and orange dance robe. She made, Dayne, who was sitting next to her wearing the same old grey and slightly frayed robes, look like a beggar.

"My friends are in trouble," Jojen panted, "Help us, please."

Leslie's eyes opened in surprise, and for a moment, she opened her mouth to reply but found not words, instead, she turned and looked at her more senior partner. If he was surprised, Arthur Dayne's face did not show it, he simply looked at Jojen for a moment before replying: "Were the red sparks the call for help?" he asked.

"Yes," Jojen said, "We agreed to wait for you to come, they said they aren't going to engage them, just scout and make sure that they are there."

Dayne stood up, pulling his wand from within his robes, "Led the way, Weasley," he said calmly.

Jojen ran down the steps, the two Aurors hurrying behind him, pushing past all the Ministry Officials, all of whom wanted to shake his hands. Halfway down the stands, he paused for a moment, turned back to the Aurors, and said: "I will meet you at the foot of the stands."

Dayne nodded curtly, they spilt ways, the Aurors heading and Jojen running through to the sections where the Professors of Hogwarts were sitting.

"Where are you going Jojen?" Professor Linnaeus called, as he ran past him, "The award ceremony had not yet ended.

A few hovercams were still following Jojen, and the whole stadium was watching Jojen running up and down in the stands.

"We are going into the forest, after the people that attacked you," Jojen told Karroch. He took one look at Jojen's desperate face and nodded, "I will lead the way," he grunted, he stood up, grabbing both axes from the seat next to him and slinging them on his back.

The two of them joined the Aurors at the foot of the stairs, they looked at Karroch in his bloodstained clothes in surprise.

"I know where the boys are," Karroch grunted.

"Good," Dayne replied, "We better hurry."

Their small party set off, Karroch leading the way, followed by Dayne with his wand out and looking suspiciously at everything and everyone. Jojen and Leslie followed behind him, with the latter muttering: "My beautiful dress robe is going to be ruined."

The whole stadium watched them leaving, someone snapped a picture of them the four of them exiting the modified Quidditch Pitch.

They were finally stopped by Albus Potter, Uncle Fred and Hugo, for the first time, Jojen saw his father side by side with Karroch, who was a head taller and slightly wider than him.

"Jojen, you have to go back right now!" Albus Potter shouted, "You are the Champion."

"Not now Albus," Dayne's voice boomed from behind Jojen, "You will have to hold the celebrations without Mr Weasley."

Karroch continued, Jojen and the two Aurors followed. The hovercams, however, did not follow them as they exited the premise of the Quidditch Pitch, they remained behind, their winds flapping intently as they hovered above Albus Potter.

"Wait! Jojen," Hugo called as he and Uncle Fred ran after them, keeping up with their pace, "Where are you going?"

"The Forbidden Forest," Jojen replied.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because Griff, Daario and Louvel are in trouble!" Jojen replied.

"Is this another of your adventures?" Hugo asked. Karroch had broken into a run, and the rest of the party was jogging to keep up with him.

"No… one… believed… us…" Jojen panted as he ran, "Have… chance… to… stop… them…"

Hugo looked confused at Jojen's reply, he exchanged looks with Uncle Fred, who shrugged as the two of them continued to follow the party into the forest.

After ten minutes of jogging, the party was slowing down, they could no longer run at the pace which they started. Karroch's heavy panting was accompanied by the sounds of twigs branches snapped under his massive feet as he stormed through the forest.

"That was reckless," Dayne told him, "You should have waited for us to arrive."

"We had no choice, no one would believe us," Jojen fumed, he should have stopped them, he had known how dangerous it was. So did they, and yet, they had gone in.

No one spoke a word as they continued to head deeper into the forest, around them, Jojen saw the familiar signs that told him they had entered the deepest parts of the forest. The trees were getting taller, the sounds of owls hooting, and crickets chirping had died down, finally, Karroch came to a stop. He pulled one of the axes from his back, the blue runes inscribed on his axe were glowing brightly. The gamekeeper looked uncomfortable as he inspected his surroundings, gripping his axe with both hands.

"What do you see?" Arthur Dayne asked softly, he was the only one that was not panting, everyone else was bent over, clutching snitches in their sides, and gasping for air.

"The smell of death," Karroch splat, "It comes from that way," he pointed with his axe. He continued walking with his axe held high. The blue runes from his axe seemed to leave a strange hue in the air that lingered for several seconds before fading.

The rest of the party followed, with their wands held high, there was a strange smell in the air, it smelled as though something was rotten. In the distance, they could now see a weak, light green light.

"A moment," Dayne called, Karroch stopped as they regrouped.

"The three of us," Dayne pointed to Karroch and Leslie, "Will be going in first, Hugo, please watch out backs."

Hugo nodded.

"From here on, keep your voice down," Dayne commanded, speaking a whisper.

He turned and led the way forward, walking carefully, silent as a cat. Beside him, Leslie was advancing with her wand out as well, a sombre look on her face. Karroch was now wielding both of his axes as he walked beside the two Aurors. The light was getting brighter, it was coming from directly in front of them. An eerie, ominous, green light.

"This is near where we were ambushed," Karroch whispered.

The group walked on, cautiously. Jojen saw a silhouette, at the edges of the trees. He was sitting down, his back leaning on one large tree, holding something in his lap. They moved in cautiously, moving from one tree to the next, using the large trunks as cover. The silhouette heard their coming and turned his head towards them, it was Griff.

Jojen broke formation and ran towards him, "Get back!" Dayne hissed when Jojen ran past him, but Jojen ignored his order. He dropped onto his knees as he reached Griff, his face and robes were covered in blood, there were several deep cuts on the left half of his face and his ear seemed to be no longer there. Griff turned and looked at Jojen weakly, blood, illuminated by the strange green light was seeping from the cuts on his mutilated face. In his lap, was Daario. He was unconscious, blood, either his own or Griff's, had soaked his robes. Below his kneecap, Darrio's calf was missing, a torn-up rag had been tied around the stump to stop the bleeding.

Besides him, someone kneeled. "Louvel," Uncle Fred called softly, Louvel was lying beside the two boys, there was a dagger sticking out from his stomach, it was Walder Frey's silver dagger, the same dagger that Vargo Hoat used to dig out Aemon's eyes.

Uncle Frey lifted him into an upright position, he opened his eyes, his eyelids fluttering unsteadily, the whites of his eyes showing. "George," he croaked.

"It's me, your uncle Fred," Fred Weasley told him, holding Louvel tenderly in his arms.

"George," Louvel sputtered again, blood dripped from the sides of his mouth.

Jojen looked at Griff, who murmured wearily, "George, in there."

Uncle Fred propped Louvel against the tree, he stood up and looked in the direction of the strange green glow. "Go," Hugo said, "I will stay here."

They proceeded on, this time, Uncle Fred had taken the lead. Behind him was Karroch and the two Aurors, leaving Jojen to bring up the rear. Hugo remained behind, standing guard over the boys. They inched forward to the source of the glow, one step at a time, the trees and the ground around them showed signs of human activity.

To their left was a huge black pot suspended by a metal stake over a pile of burnt charcoal, several large rocks were arranged in a circle around it. Jojen was reminded oddly of the times they had roasted chickens when he was still very little and was travelling through Europe with his cousins. Somewhere beyond a couple of trees, there was a long laundry line, there were several back Hogwarts uniforms, Jojen could see the school quest, the lion, the snake, the badger and the eagle, surround the letter 'H'.

A few yards later, they came across two corpses, severed into half at the stomach, which was laid by the roots of a tree. "They were the cowards that attacked us," Karroch told them as they walked closer to examine the two bodies. Both were wearing a strange black robe with loose strips of black and grey fabric. One was wearing a monkey mask, while the other had a cow mask.

Something was gnawing at the exposed guts of one of the corpses, it sprinted away in fright as Dayne approached and removed the masks that had covered both of their faces. Jojen immediately recognized the two of them. It was the third-year Sergio Ramos and the sixth-year Abigail Carrow, both were in the group of Slytherins that had disappeared along with Walder Frey. Jojen had never spoken to the young Sergio Ramos before, the only thing he knew about him was they he was on the Slytherin Reserves and once, during a match between Ravenclaw Reserves and Slytherin Reserves, he purposefully crashed into the opposing Seeker and dislocated his shoulder. He was much more familiar with Abigail Carrow, she was among the eleven students that had turned up to audition for Jojen's team before The First Task and Jojen had several conversations with her.

"Your axes are sharp," Dayne remarked as he covered the faces of the dead.

"They are," Karroch muttered, there was something akin to regret that was written on the big man's face.

"Look," Leslie called, he was pointing to a metal cage placed at the next tree. It was a large iron cage, not dissimilar to the cage that Lysander had locked Jojen's friends and cousins in. Inside there were as many as five bodies. They had died a long time ago; the flesh had started to melt off their faces, they were disfigured and unrecognizable, and maggots were growing in their chest. The stench of rotting meat that Jojen had smelled came from the five decomposing bodies. As Jojen moved closer, he felt unease in his stomach, the bodies of the victims were small, the largest would be no bigger than Amanda. One of the corpses had his arm torn from the body, the bones were exposed and there were bite marks on them.

The group continued walking, after passing several trees, they came across a disturbing sight, a naked man, so thin and shrivelled that he was only skin and bones, hanging from a tree, metal chains were tied to his hands and legs, keeping him in position. There were deep cuts in his stomach, on his limps and his necks. The blood from the man would have flowed from the wounds of the doomed man, dripping down into the massive black iron cauldron placed below him. He must have died for some time ago, his flesh was grey and putrid, worms and maggots had made their homes in his decomposing body.

Jojen leaned forwards and peered into the cauldron, the potion that had been brewed here has long since dried. Leaving nothing but what seems like a cured, tar-like lump in the bottom of the iron cauldron.

A few yards on, there was another body to their right, tied to a massive tree, shrivelled, and drain of blood, hanging above another cauldron. The long hair suggests that the corpse tied to the tree was a woman. This corpse was fresher too, there was more colour in the skin and there was not any worms or parasites snacking on her flesh. But her face was mutilated, one of her eyeballs was missing, maybe it was Vargo Hoat practising the art of digging eyeballs, or a hungry crow looking for a snack.

The green glow was getting brighter now, Jojen could see where it came from, a set-up just like the ones behind him. The area looked deserted, whoever that brewed the potion and attacked his friends were no longer around.

It took several failed attempts, but the Slytherins seemed determined not to let a few human lives stop them and finally, they had found the right ingredients and had perfected their potion. The fire underneath the cauldron had died, but the ashes were still hot, and a wisp of smoke was rising slowly. Something more than liquid was in the cauldron, it looked like gas, but it did not form the shape nor the texture of the clouds, it looks unmoving, dead in the cauldron, emitting a bright lime green colour. Above it was a body, like the two that Jojen had passed, naked, drained of blood and tied to a dying tree.

From the moment Jojen saw the first corpse, deep in his mind he had known what he would find, yet it did not make the final revelation any less jarring, any less painful. Jojen once had his bones broken, and he was beaten into a pulp, the pain was excruciating, but it was nothing compared to what Jojen felt at that moment, his legs gave way, and he sank to his knees, his heart felt that it was threatening to blow up. Uncle Fred had dropped to all fours, his wand was forgotten on the forest floor as he crawled, on fours and sobbing, towards the tree. Dayne raised his wand, two jets of blue light fired from the tip of his wand broke the chains that tied George to the tree. His lifeless body dropped and hit the floor. Most of his blood must have already been drained, but there was still colour in his wounds and skin. Dayne reached for his neck, feeling for a pulse, a moment later, he retreated, leaving Uncle Fred, tears streaking down his cheeks, bawling as he cradled George in his arms. His cry was the most awful sound that Jojen had ever heard.

"Who's there!" Karroch shouted, there was a snap, someone or some creature was in the woods, not far from them.

"Go," Dayne commanded as he ran into the darkness with Leslie, Karroch gave Jojen and Uncle Fred one last look, before hurrying after them.

Karroch's heavy footsteps slowly faded, silence returned to the forest around them, no creatures seemed to want to come near them now, preferring to stay away from the stench of death. The only sound remaining was Uncle Fred, crying his heart out.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Uncle Fred, teary-eyed, was still weeping when the spell hit him, the life had left his empty husk even as the tears continued to drip from his eyes. Jojen gripped his wand and turned around.

"Stupefy!" he screamed, to his surprise, his wand did not execute his spell, instead a long golden thread formed between his wand and Lysander's wand.

"You forget cousin," he shouted, "Our wand cores came from the same source, we cannot hurt each other."

His voice sounded different, it was huskier and gruffy than how Jojen had remembered. The two wizards pulled their wands back, the long golden thread that had connected them broke.

Lysander looked at the two dead bodies on the floor. "I've told you to stay away, and yet you did not listen."

"You… you killed George, you blinded Aemon," Jojen accused him, his voice quavering with rage.

Lysander did not meet his hateful glaze as he replied: "Aemon's eyes are a result of your meddling, they wanted to kill him, I've to work hard to convince them otherwise."

"Am I to thank you then?" Jojen splat.

"Probably not," Lysander replied coolly as he walked to where Uncle Fred was, he kicked him carelessly out of the way, pulled George's limp, disfigured body and heaved him on his shoulders, like a heavy sack of flour.

"Leave his body," Jojen told him.

"Or what?" Lysander asked, "What can you do Jojen? As you have already seen, you cannot hurt me with your wand."

Jojen could not hurt Lysander, but neither can Lysander hurt him, he could tackle his cousin and hold him down long enough for Karroch and the Aurors to return, he would stand no chance against three of them, or even one of the three.

As he looked down onto the forest floor, planning his moves in his head, he saw that a few feet from him, amongst the dried leaves and dirt, there was a wand, it was Uncle Fred's, he had dropped it when he first saw Fred's body. Jojen glanced at Lysander's, he did not seem to have noticed it.

"Haven't you sullied your soul enough by killing George?" Jojen asked, "Why do you have to kill Uncle Fred too?"

"We might still require the body, and Uncle Fred would not have let me walk away with it," Lysander told him, "Unlike you, he could hurt me with his wand, and I did not want to take any chances."

"Couldn't you have just stunned him?" Jojen demanded, "Do you really need to use Avada Kedavra?"

"Well…" Lysander replied like a first-year who had misspelt his name and was called to the front of the class by the Professor, "I must admit that I had not thought about that possibility."

"Why do you even need his body? Can't you at least give him a proper burial?" Jojen demanded, "And who are the others? Those are kids in the cages."

"That was our fault, we misunderstood the text, we thought that it required the blood of a child," Lysander stated, sounding like someone apologizing for adding too much salt in their cooking.

"Where did you get the children, were they first-years in Hogwarts?" Jojen asked.

"Of course not, they were muggles, so were the two on those trees," Lysander explained, "It took a while, but we finally realised that we needed someone with magical blood in his veins. No ordinary witch or wizard either, George was an ideal target, pureblood, obviously very talented, and often alone. We spent several days tailing George, waiting for the perfect opportunity."

If only he had not fought with George over such trivial matters, if only he had put down his pride and apologized to him, George would not be dead. Tears rolled down Jojen's checks, George was dead, and it was his fault. Lysander walked backwards, his wand still pointing at Jojen, George's corpse over his shoulders.

Jojen took one step forward, one eye on the wand, the other Lysander. "All this, for what?" Jojen called, "Was it worth it?"

Lysander paused, he weighed Jojen's question carefully before giving his reply: "It was," he said simply.

Jojen lunched forward, he bent down to grab Uncle Fred's wand and pointed it at Lysander, "Stupefy!" he screamed. The spell that came out was weak, Jojen could see from the intensity of the red light that the power of the spell was never going to be as strong as a stunning charm that he could have cast with his Chimera heartstring wand. Uncle Fred's wand felt strange and unfamiliar like he was wearing a stranger's clothes that were a size too big.

Lysander's face was expressionless as watched Jojen attack. When the spell was less than a foot from his face, he disapparated with the slightest of a 'pop'. Jojen's weak stunner hit a tree trunk, leaving nothing but a light scorch mark on the bark.

Jojen collapsed on the ground, tears were finding their ways down his cheeks, dripping onto Uncle Fred's lifeless body.

Above him, the night sky was filled with fireworks, pyrotechnics of all kinds were being set up as Hogwarts celebrated Jojen's victory in the Triwizard Tournament.