The Alexander Chronicles Year 4: The Return of Darkness.
Chapter 8: Terror at the World Cup.
…
The part that is in France is translated from Goggle translate so it might not be a hundred percent, if there is a reader that speaks French. I would be happy to get the correct translations. Anyway, please enjoy the chapter.
…
Fred and George was in an excellent mood as they all walked out of the top box. Who could blame them, after all they had just won big time.
"Don't tell your mother you've been gambling," Mr. Weasley told Fred and George as they all made their way slowly down the purple-carpeted stairs.
"Oh don´t worry dad, we won´t tell." George said.
"Yeah we have plans for those galleons. We won´t risk losing them."
At first Mr. Weasley looked as he was about to ask what those plans was. He opened his mouth, and then closed it again, properly deciding not to ask.
They were soon caught up in the crowds now flooding out of the stadium and back to their campsites. Raucous singing was borne toward them on the night air as they retraced their steps along the lantern-lit path, and leprechauns kept shooting over their heads, cackling and waving their lanterns. When they finally reached the tents, nobody felt like sleeping at all, and given the level of noise around them, Mr. Weasley agreed that they could all have one last cup of cocoa together before turning in.
They were soon arguing enjoyably about the match; Mr. Weasley got drawn into a disagreement about cobbing with Charlie, the twins made fun of Ron because his fascination of Krum could be remind of a crush and Alex was discussion chaser tactics with Bill. It was only when Ginny fell asleep right at the tiny table and spilled hot chocolate all over the floor that Mr. Weasley stopped all talking and sent everyone to bed.
Hermione and Ginny went into the next tent, and Alex, Harry and the rest of the Weasleys changed into pyjamas and clambered into their bunks.
From the other side of the campsite they could still hear much singing and the odd echoing bang.
"Oh I am glad I'm not on duty," muttered Mr. Weasley sleepily. "I wouldn't fancy having to go and tell the Irish they've got to stop celebrating."
Aa Alex laid in his bed and stared up in the tent watching the lights of the flying lantanas, that was flying above. He began thinking about Daphne. How he could get her to talk to him again? Maybe he could win her over with some kind of romantic move. However, did she even liked him the same way? Alex knew liked her. However if Daphne didn´t like him that way then he would rather have her as a friend. Maybe Ginny was right – maybe he should just apologise and tell her what she wanted to know.
Alex slowly drifted to sleep, but his dreams were full of violence and chaos. He was woken by a small noise and immediately sensed that something was terribly wrong. There was still shouting from the campsite, but it sounded nothing like before. It sounded like fear. Alex quickly got up, and grabbed his wand before walking the living room of the tent. There he saw Bill, Charlie and Percy standing together, both of them looked worried.
"It isn´t the Irish isn´t?" Alex asked making the three of them look at him, but before neither of them could answer the front of the tent opened and Mr. Weasley walked in.
"Get to the girls, I wake the boys. We need to get away. It is them." He said in a voice filled with panic.
"Who is them?" Alex asked.
Mr. Weasley looked at him in a few seconds, as if he was surprised to see Alex. "It is the Death Eaters that are attacking. Alexander get outside and stay with Bill. Charlie wake the twins, Percy you wake up the girls. I will wake Harry and Ron." They all nodded and Percy sprinted out of the tent.
"But I thought the Death Eaters was disbanded as Voldemort fell." Alex asked.
Bill flinched at the name. "They were, but apparently they decided to have a little reunion." He answered as he and Alex left the tent.
The girls and Percy soon joined them outside the tent, and by the light of the few fires that were still burning. Alex could see people running away into the woods, fleeing something that was moving across the field toward them, something that was emitting odd flashes of light and noises like gunfire.
Loud jeering, roars of laughter, and drunken yells were drifting toward them; then came a burst of strong green light, which illuminated the scene.
It wasn´t long until, the rest came out of the tent. The first thing Harry did was to look at the approaching wizards. Now as they were getting closer Alex could see them. It was a crowd of wizards tightly packed and moving together with wands pointing straight upward was marching slowly across the field. Alex squinted at them; a mask were covering their faces. A mask that was pictured in the history book, as a symbol of terror and death – the skull mask of the Death Eaters.
High above the Death Eaters, floating along in mid-air, four struggling figures were being contorted into grotesque shapes. It was as though the masked wizards on the ground were puppeteers, and the people above them were marionettes operated by invisible strings that rose from the wands into the air.
Two of the figures were very small. More wizards were joining the marching group, laughing and pointing up at the floating bodies. Tents crumpled and fell as the marching crowd swelled. Some of the wizards would blast some tents away or set them on fire. Everybody fleeing from while they screamed.
As they passed a burning tent, the flying figures were illuminated. Alex recognized one of them: Mr. Roberts, the campsite manager. The other was a woman that was around Mr. Roberts, Alex assumed it was his wife. The other two figures were children a boy and a younger girl, properly Mr and Mrs Roberts children. One of the marchers below flipped Mrs. Roberts upside down with his wand; her nightdress fell down to reveal voluminous drawers and she struggled to cover herself up as the crowd below her screeched and hooted with glee.
Alex didn´t know why, but he actually found it a bit funny. He was thinking that they deserved it somehow. Just as he had those thoughts, he felt great shame. Was he really thinking that it was a good thing, what were happening?
Voldemort's followers were known for killing muggles and now they were toying with them. Then the shame faded. Why he should feel shame? First off, the Death Eaters wouldn´t kill the muggles. They were just having a bit of fun, and they weren't really harming the muggles, they would be fine. Sure, they be scared now, but after a little memory charm, they would be fine, and none the wiser. And more importantly, Alex knew that the muggles properly deserved this. Because when Alex looked up, he thought of his muggle stepfather. He would had deserved hanging up there. Who was to say those muggles wasn´t like him, cruel to everyone he wasn´t normal. Someone who if they knew magic were real, would do anything to wipe the wizard kind out. Who were to say that they didn´t had a family member that were magical whom they treated like dirt.
"That's sick," Ron muttered, as they all watched the smallest Muggle child, who had begun to spin like a top, sixty feet above the ground, his head flopping limply from side to side. "That is really sick…" Alex didn´t care he stared at the muggles with a strange glint in his eye and with a tiny smirk upon his face. Alex noticed that Ron were watching him, but the smile only got a little smaller.
"You can´t stay here." Mr. Weasley said looking at the Death Eaters. "All of you run to the woods. You should be safe there. I will help the ministry stop those fools." He shouted over all the noise, rolling up his own sleeves
"We go with you dad," Bill said while Charlie and Percy nodded.
Mr. Weasley looked at them, "Okay, the rest of you go to the forest and stay there, when it is safe I will find you."
"Wait we want to help too dad." Fred said.
"No," Mr. Weasley said loudly then continued in a softer tone, "I need someone to look after Ginny."
"No Daddy, you can´t leave it is dangerous. You will end up getting hurt." Ginny cried.
"Ginny I will be fine," Mr. Weasley, said hugging his daughter before, he, Bill, Charlie and Percy sprinted to help the ministry workers that was coming from all sides.
"C'mon Gin," Fred said grabbing Ginny's hand and starting to pull her toward the woods. George, Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed, but Alex remained behind, still looking at the muggle family.
"Hey kid get out of the way," a witch shouted as she stopped in front of Alex, who looked up at her. She had short pink hair, dark twinkling eyes and pale heart shaped face. She gave Alex a small smile, and pushed him gently. "Go on, it is dangerous here."
Alex nodded, realized that everybody that left. He turned and saw that they were running towards the forest. He thanked the woman and sprinted after his friends.
As he ran towards the forest, Alex watched over his shoulder and saw that the crowd beneath the Roberts family was larger than ever. He could see the Ministry wizards trying to get through it to the hooded wizards in the centre, but they were having great difficulty. It looked as though they were scared to perform any spell that might make the Roberts family fall.
Of course, neither of the Weasley kids, Harry or Hermione had waited for Alex, not that he had expected that. Now he just needed to find them. The coloured lanterns that had lit the path to the stadium had been extinguished. Dark figures were blundering through the trees; children were crying; anxious shouts and panicked voices were reverberating around them in the cold night air.
Alex hurried though the forests, he got many twigs in his face, but he needed to find his friends.
However, the forest was dark, filled with scarred people and Alex kept stumbling over roots. "Oh this is pointless," Alex growled before taking out his wand and whispered, "Lumos." With wand lighting his way Alex could move a bit faster. As he got a bit deeper in the forest he heard a loud bang that was coming from the campsite, and a flash of green light shortly lit the trees up around him. "What the heck his happing out there?" Alex muttered, as people started to scream as they fled even quicker. "I need to find Harry and the others."
Alex continued to walk around trying to find a friendly face when there was another bang, causing people to scream again, and Alex was pushed over by someone fleeing.
"Great," he mumbled as he got back on his feet and took a few steps forward. "Just do as the bad guys wants."
"Where're your parents?" Harry´s angry voice sounded from somewhere nearby. "Out there wearing masks, are they?"
"Well… if they were, I wouldn't be likely to tell you, would I, Potter?" Alex listened carefully that was Malfoy´s voice.
"Oh come on," Hermione said, "We need to find Alexander and the others."
"Keep that big bushy head down, Granger," Malfoy yelled just seconds before Alex came up as his side. Malfoy wasn´t alone Nott was with him. Both of them were leaning against a tree looking as they were enjoying themselves.
"Ah the sidekick," Nott sneered as he saw Alex, "did the little lion got lost?"
"Where did my friends go?"
Malfoy smiled, "Why should we tell you Alexander Black."
Alex froze, "what? What did you say?"
"You heard him, Alexander Black, the son of the murderer Sirius Black. You should stay, and get to know you cousin."
"We are not cousins Theodore."
Nott smiled again, "No we aren't, but you and Draco are."
Alex looked at Malfoy who smiled at him, "I don´t have time for this." He said before running away ignoring Malfoy and Nott´s laughs.
After a couple of minutes, Alex stopped walking and looked around. He had lost track of them again. Alex sighed whishing he hadn´t been so slow to get to the forest in first place. No one of his friends were to be seen though the path was packed with plenty of other people, all looking nervously over their shoulders toward the commotion back at the campsite. A huddle of teenagers in pyjamas was arguing vociferously a little way along the path. When they saw Alex, a girl with thick curly hair turned and said quickly in French. "Où est Madame Maxime? Nous sommes perdus" (Where is Mrs.
Maxime? We are lost.)
"What? Or wait you must be from Beauxbatons." Alex paused and then continued in French. "Désolé mais je ne sais pas où ni qui elle est." (Sorry but I don't know where or who she is.)
The girl watched him for a few seconds, and then thanked him before she and her friends walked away.
Alex signed and followed the dark path deeper into the wood, still keeping an eye out for Fred, George, Ginny, Harry, Hermione, or even Ron. He passed a group of goblins who were cackling over a sack of gold that they had undoubtedly won betting on the match, and who seemed quite unperturbed by the trouble at the campsite. Alex sighed and passed a large tree, not seeing the root that stuck up. With a yelp, Alex fell on the ground and rolled down the slope hitting all kind of small trees on the way dawn. Luckily, he didn´t roll that much, still he groaned in pain as he landed on the ground. Just as he was about to get up someone bumped in to him, causing him and that person to fall over.
"Who is there?" sounded a feminine voice.
"Daphne?" Alex said as he grabbed his wand and lit it again.
Daphne was lying on the ground looking for her wand; she found and lit it as well. "Alex – oh it is you, what are you doing at the ground, people will fall over you."
"Well it wasn´t by choice." Alex said shortly as he and Daphne got up.
Daphne looked at him for a few seconds, "where are you friends?" she asked in a cold voice.
"No idea, I lost them. Where are Tracey and your parents?"
"I don´t know." Daphne said in a worried tone, "I lost them."
"Oh, well that sucks," Alex, said a bit more annoyed that he intended, but the fall hurt. "Good luck finding them," he added, then began to walk away.
"Wait," Daphne said, following Alex. "Shouldn't we stick together?"
"Wait wasn´t you mad at me`"
"I was," Daphne hissed, "and still am, but this isn´t a normal situation, and both our friends are lost so we should help each other."
"Look I don´t really need any help." Alex said not looking at her.
"You're such a stubborn arse," Daphne growled, crossing her arms. "I don't see why I even l - " and she stopped.
"Even what?" Alex asked curiously.
"Nothing."
Alex turned and looked at Daphne as he realized he could ask for her forgiveness if they helped each other, and the company would be nice, "Right, let us work together."
Daphne nodded and the two of them began wandering around "Hey what is that light!" Daphne said, pointing over to a patch of silvery light.
As they moved closer, they looked through the trees, and saw three tall and beautiful veela standing in a clearing, surrounded by a gaggle of young wizards, all of whom were talking very loudly.
"I pull down about a hundred sacks of Galleons a year!" one of them shouted. "I'm a dragon killer for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures."
"No, you're not!" yelled his friend. "You're a dishwasher at the Leaky Cauldron… but I'm a vampire hunter, I've killed about ninety so far -"
A third young wizard, whose pimples were visible even by the dim, silvery light of the veela, now cut in, "I'm about to become the youngest ever Minister of Magic, I am."
Daphne snorted with laughter. "No you are not, you are Stan Shunpike, the conductor on the Knight Bus. Wow they are pathetic."
Daphne turned to Alex to see if he was under the effects of the veela. She lifted her lit wand up to his face to get a clearer view only to see his face squint in the light.
"Oi! What the bloody hell are you doing?" Alex asked, ducking away from the bright light. "Trying to blind me?"
"Sorry," Daphne mumbled. "I just wanted to see if you were affected like the rest of those losers."
"Well I am not. I don´t really know why."
"Well my father wasn´t affected either. He explained that it was normal if you are a skilled Occlumens or have some natural talent for it."
"Oh okay that is informative, but why did you care if I was affected?"
Daphne looked away, "no reason. I was just curious."
The two walked away. After minutes of walking, things seemed to get quieter, and they two seemed to be all alone.
Alex looked around. "I reckon we can just wait here, you know. We'll hear anyone coming a mile off."
The words were hardly out of his mouth, when Ludo Bagman emerged from behind a tree right ahead of them.
Even by the feeble light of the two wands, Alex could see that a great change had come over Bagman. He no longer looked buoyant and rosy-faced; there was no more spring in his step. He looked very white and strained.
"Who's that?" he said, blinking down at them, trying to make out their faces. "What are you doing in here, all alone?"
Alex and Daphne glanced at one another, surprised.
"Hiding." Daphne answered.
"Why?"
"Uh because of the riot."
Bagman stared at Alex. "What?"
"At the campsite… some people have got hold of a family of Muggles…" Daphne said
Bagman swore loudly. "Damn them!" he said, looking quite distracted, and without another word, he Disapparated with a small pop!
"Not exactly on top of things, Mr. Bagman, is he?" Daphne commented while frowning.
"I don´t know, he was supposed to be a great Beater," Alex said, leading the way off the path into a small clearing, and sitting down on a patch of dry grass at the foot of a tree. "The Wimbourne Wasps won the league three times in a row while he was with them."
Daphne walked over and sat down next to Alex. "Yeah, but that doesn´t mean he is a good leader."
"Yeah I suppose you a right."
Both Alex and Daphne was silent for a while, both of them looking at each other while the other wasn´t looking. Alex was thinking about how to get Daphne to talk to him again, in the end he decided to follow Ginny´s advice.
"Uh listen Daphne could I uh you know say something?"
Daphne looked at him, "If you want."
"Well I just wanted to say that I am sorry."
"Sorry? You are sorry?" Daphne replied a bit angrily.
"Yeah I am sorry that I have been a jerk." Alex paused, "But I don´t know if you like to hear what happed? I know it is not an excuse, but still."
"Okay, "Daphne said, "try me."
Alex took a deep breath, "Okay First off what you know about the Black family?"
"Well only what my father told me. That the Black family is a wealthy family and used to be very powerful, but not so much anymore, since the line is almost died out. Sirius Black is the only male hair to continue the line."
"Well Sirius isn´t the only Black that is left. There is another."
"You mean you?"
Alex nodded, "Yeah that is why I have been acting strange. I mean when Dumbledore told me I felt worthless, like I would be like him. I was afraid that people would just see me as the son of a murderer."
"I understand that Alex," Daphne said. "What I don´t understand is why you didn´t come to me and told me about it. What did you think I would hate you because of your father´s actions?"
Alex looked at the ground feeling ashamed. "I don´t know what I was thinking. I guess, I wasn´t. In fact I been an idiot, especially since there is more."
"Uh," Daphne looked away briefly before looking at Alex, "I am listing." She said in a patient tone.
"Oh right so the thing about my father being murderer well that isn´t the truth in fact he is completely innocent, and Peter Pettigrew is the real villain."
To say Daphne looked surprised was putting it mildly, "Okay, how did you know?"
"Well "Alex began awkwardly, "he kind of told me himself, just after I was attacked by those Gryffindors."
"That when you really started to distance yourself from me and the others."
Alex nodded, "Yeah my uh father wanted me to look after Pettigrew who actually was hiding as Weasley´s rat."
Daphne looked away, "it still doesn´t explain why you ignored me Alexander."
"Daphne I am sorry." He said making Daphne look at him again.
"Sorry? Alexander you don´t get, you didn´t told me. Why didn´t you just trust me."
"That wasn´t that. I did trust you, but my father ordered me not to tell. Even then, what would happen if I had told you? Would you have believed me? I wouldn't I would have. I wouldn´t have thought that I was nuts."
"Still you should have told me."
"Look I know Daph, I should have, and I been acting like the biggest idiot ever."
"What was I supposed to think? I thought you stopped caring about me, Tracey and Blaise. That you decided we just was too much trouble."
"I would never stop to care. Look at first I was depressed when I leaned about my mother then about Sirius. The Ministry wanted to give that as a reason for my mother helping him; it was only due my grandfather that the prophet didn´t wrote anything. When I leaned that Sirius was innocent I just couldn´t think of anything then clearing his name and freeing my mother." Alex paused and looked at Daphne. She was listening. "Look I came that close to achieve all that then I lost it all, because Pettigrew escaped. After that I just didn´t want to talk with anyone, I just felt like a loser, and that I let everyone down."
"Alex I am sorry to hear that." Daphne said softly.
"You shouldn´t be, because you right I have been the biggest jerk ever. I know I should have come to you, but I was afraid that you was mad at me. That was cowardly. I should have told or at least I should had talked to you." Alex looked at the ground. "I just wanted to say that I am sorry. I don´t expect your forgiveness in fact I don´t think I deserves it."
"But you have it. Alex you are forgiven." Daphne said giving him a smile, "I just thought you didn´t care, didn´t want to be my friend anymore."
"You always will be my friend Daphne, and you have always been there for me."
Both of them looked at each other and smiled. "So," Daphne said, "you are a Black then?"
"Yeah," Alex said. "A pureblood. Mix between Ambrosius and Black. You know, I actually like Black. Way better than Bonteri," he added, the mumbled, "that filthy muggle."
Daphne gave Alex a worried look then said, "So what do you think will happen, I mean do you think it will be safe to come out."
Alex strained his ears to see if he could hear anything from the campsite, but there wasn´t a sound. "I don´t know. It is pretty quite out here."
"Poor muggles though. I mean what if the Ministry can´t get them down?"
"I don´t know, It sucks to be them I guess." Alex said blankly, as he truly didn´t care about them.
"What do you mean it sucks?" Daphne replied. "Don't you care if they'll find a way to be put back down?"
"Not really," Alex said.
Daphne gave him another worried look, and then went on. "But why did the death eaters attack? I mean after all they are mad with all that Ministry security."
"They properly just got drunk and wanted talk about the old days."
"Properly, still they are mad."
Alex nodded, "Yeah they are, but what they are doing works."
"What do you mean?"
"Well think about it. They just reminded everybody of their numbers, and that they still have power."
"Yeah I guess you're right," Daphne said then she paused. "I just hope that my family and Tracey are safe."
Alex gave a quick smile, "I am sure they are. In any case I won´t leave you until you have found them."
"Thanks. But you do-"
But she broke off abruptly and looked over her shoulder. Alex looked quickly around too. It sounded as though someone was staggering toward the clearing. They waited, listening to the sounds of the uneven steps behind the dark trees. However, the footsteps came to a sudden halt.
"Who is it?" Alex said, while standing protectively in front of Daphne.
There was silence. Alex walked over to and peered around the tree. It was too dark to see very far, but he could sense somebody standing just beyond the range of his vision.
"Who's there?" he said. "Show yourself."
Then, without warning, the silence was broken by a voice unlike any they had heard in the woods; and it uttered, not a panicked shout, but what sounded like a spell.
"MORSMORDRE!"
Without warning something vast, green, and glittering erupted from the patch of darkness that Alex´s eyes had been struggling to penetrate; it flew up over the treetops and into the sky. Alex was so shocked that he felt backwards.
"What the -?" gasped Daphne as she sprang to her feet, staring up at the thing that had appeared.
For a split second, Alex thought it was another leprechaun formation. Then he realized that it was a colossal skull, comprised of what looked like emerald stars, with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue. As they watched, it rose higher and higher, blazing in a haze of greenish smoke, etched against the black sky like a new constellation. Alex knew what that meant. It was a sign that was known in the history books as a mark on terror and dread. The mark of Voldemort
Alex quickly get up and walked over to Daphne who was looking very pale, as screams broke out in the forest.
"Alex that is-"Daphne gulped, "it is his mark."
"Yeah, but he is dead, "Alex paused feeling scarred, "he was destroyed. It have to be a trick."
Alex looked at the origin of the spells as he drew his wand, out of the corner of his eyes he could tell that Daphne was doing the same. However, there was still no sign of any living thing, or wait one of the brushes ruffled.
Just as Alex was about to take a step he heard a voice.
" - come on, move!"
Both Alex and Daphne shared a look. Alex was thinking about grabbing Daphne and run, but she shocked her head. "No if you run like this, we look like criminals. Don´t worry they have to know we didn´t cast it."
Alex wasn´t that sure, but before he could say anything, he head a new voice.
"What's the matter?" Alex frowned was it Harry´s voice?
"It's the Dark Mark, Harry!" Alex heard Hermione moan. "You –know-who´s sign!"
"Voldemort's - "
"Harry, come on!"
Seconds later, Harry, Hermione, and Ron came into view running into Alex and Daphne. "Oi! watch where yer going!?" Ron growled as they all stood up to their feet and noticed Alex and Daphne.
"Alexander!" Hermione yelped, jumping over to him and hugged him tightly. "We thought something happened to you. We were so worried."
"Speak for yourself," Ron said, glaring at Alex and Daphne.
"Where were you?" Hermione asked, letting go of Alex and acknowledged Daphne with a small nod.
"I say it is pretty clear Hermione." Ron said eying Alex´s wand. "He ditched us so he could help those lunatics, and then he and that little snake met up here and cast that bloody mark-"
"Don´t" Alex hissed while giving Ron an angry glare, "talk to Daphne that way. Secondly if you think Daphne or I casted that thing then you are mad."
"Come on guys, let's move," Harry spoke up.
"Yeah," Daphne said "this isn´t the time and certainly not the place. Let us just walk away slowly and find some from the Ministry" Both Alex and Ron nodded.
The five of them started across the clearing - but before they had taken a few hurried steps, a series of popping noises announced the arrival of twenty wizards, appearing from thin air, surrounding them.
Harry and Alex whirled around, and in an instant, they registered one fact: Each of these wizards had his wand out, and every wand was pointing right at themselves, Ron, Daphne, and Hermione.
Without pausing to think, Harry yelled, "DUCK!"
Harry seized Ron, and Hermione. Alex grabbed Daphne and pulled her down onto the ground.
"STUPEFY!" roared twenty voices - there was a blinding series of flashes and Alex felt the hair on his head ripple as though a powerful wind had swept the clearing. Raising his head a fraction of an inch, he saw jets of fiery red light flying over them from the wizards' wands, crossing one another, bouncing off tree trunks, rebounding into the darkness—
"Stop!" yelled a voice he recognised. "STOP! That's my son!"
Alex raised his head a little higher. The wizard in front of him had lowered his wand. He rolled over and saw Mr. Weasley striding toward them, looking terrified.
"Ron - Harry," - his voice sounded shaky. "Hermione - Alexander - are you all right?"
"Out of the way, Arthur," said a cold, curt voice.
It was Mr. Crouch. He and the other Ministry wizards were closing in on them. Alex got to his feet and helped Daphne on hers. They both looked at Mr. Crouch's face that was taut with rage.
"Which of you did it?" he snapped, his sharp eyes darting between them. "Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?"
"We didn't do that!" said Harry, gesturing up at the skull.
"We didn't do anything!" said Ron, who was rubbing his elbow and looking indignantly at his father. "What did you want to attack us for?"
"Do not lie, sir!" shouted Mr. Crouch. His wand was still pointing directly at Ron, and his eyes were popping - he looked slightly mad. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"
"No we wasn´t, we just came here. But they were here." Ron said pointing at Alex and Daphne, "and they both had their wands out."
Alex sighed as all wands were pointed at him and Daphne. Mr. Crouch looked at them both then said, "yes Miss. Greengrass and you," he said pointing at Alex, "the son of the criminals."
"Yeah but we didn´t do it." Alex said shortly looking Crouch in the eyes.
"Yeah we just happened to be here. Do you honestly think we would stay here if we casted that thing."
"You may just haven´t gotten the time to get away."
Both Daphne and Alex snorted, but Mr. Weasley said something before they could. "Barty they are just of a bunch of fourteen years old kids."
Alex noticed that Ron, but also a good number of the Ministry wizards glared at him.
"Yes, but you know about this boy´s history. Arthur you know about his family." Crunch said.
"Well Sir." Daphne said, while her icy blue shined with fury. "I was with Alexander here, and I say that he didn´t cast that spell. So unless of course you're a questioning my testimony-"
"Where did the Mark come from?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"Over there," Alex said pointing at the brushes.
"Yeah," Hermione cut in, "and there was deep voice saying an incarnation."
"You know a lot about this." Crouch said.
"Yeah, because we are witness." Alex said putting as he emphasized the last word, not looking away from Crouch. Luckily, he was the only one who thought that Alex, Daphne, Harry, Hermione and Ron had something to do with it. On the contrary, at Alex´s words; they had all raised their wands again and were pointing in the direction she had indicated, squinting through the dark trees.
"We're too late," said a witch in the woollen dressing gown, shaking her head. "They'll have Disapparated."
"I don't think so," said a wizard with a scrubby brown beard. Alex recognized him as Amos Diggory, Cedric's father. "Our Stunners went right through those trees…there's a good chance we got them…"
"Amos, be careful!" said a few of the wizards warningly as Mr. Diggory squared his shoulders, raised his wand, marched across the clearing, and disappeared into the darkness. A few seconds later, they heard Mr. Diggory shout.
"Yes! We got them! There's someone here! Unconscious! It's - but - blimey..."
"You've got someone?" Mr. Crouch shouted, sounding highly disbelieving. "Who? Who is it?" Alex glanced over at Daphne who was right behind him, holding onto his arm. He gave her a small smile.
They heard snapping twigs, the rustling of leaves, and then crunching footsteps as Mr. Diggory re-emerged from behind the trees. He was carrying a tiny, limp figure in his arms. Alex recognised the tea towel at once it was a house elf, and not just any house elf it was Winky.
Mr. Crouch did not move or speak as Mr. Diggory deposited his elf on the ground at his feet. The other Ministry wizards were all staring at Mr. Crouch. For a few seconds Crouch remained transfixed, his eyes blazing in his white face as he stared down at Winky. Then he appeared to come to life again.
"This - cannot - be," he said jerkily. "No -"
He moved quickly around Mr. Diggory and strode off toward the place where he had found Winky.
"No point, Mr. Crouch," Mr. Diggory called after him. "There's no one else there."
But Mr. Crouch did not seem prepared to take his word for it. They could hear him moving around and the rustling of leaves as he pushed the bushes aside, searching.
Alex looked at Daphne; she was looking at the house elf with her hands covering her mouth and a worried look in her eyes.
"Bit embarrassing," Mr. Diggory said grimly, looking down at Winky's unconscious form. "Barty Crouch's house-elf… I mean to say…"
"Come off it, Amos," said Mr. Weasley quietly, "you don't seriously think it was the elf? The Dark Mark's a wizard's sign. It requires a wand."
"Yeah," said Mr. Diggory. "That is just what she was holding."
"What?" Mr. Weasley said.
"Here, look." Mr. Diggory held up a wand and showed it to Mr. Weasley. "Had it in her hand. So that's clause three of the Code of Wand Use broken, for a start. No non-human creature is permitted to carry or use a wand."
Just then, there was another pop, and Ludo Bagman Apparated right next to Mr. Weasley. Looking breathless and disorientated, he spun on the spot, goggling upward at the emerald-green skull.
"The Dark Mark!" he panted, almost trampling Winky as he turned inquiringly to his colleagues. "Who did it? Did you get them? Barty! What's going on?"
Mr. Crouch had returned empty-handed. His face was still ghostly white, and his hands and his toothbrush moustache were both twitching.
"Where have you been, Barty?" said Bagman. "Why weren't you at the match? Your elf was saving you a seat too - gulping gargoyles!" Bagman had just noticed Winky lying at his feet. "What happened to her?"
"I have been busy, Ludo," said Mr. Crouch, still talking in the same jerky fashion, barely moving his lips. "And my elf has been stunned."
"Stunned? By you lot, you mean. But why -?"
Comprehension dawned suddenly on Bagman's round, shiny face; he looked up at the skull, down at Winky, and then at Mr. Crouch. "No!" he said. "Winky? Conjure the Dark Mark? She wouldn't know how! She'd need a wand, for a start!"
"And she had one," Mr. Diggory said. "I found her holding one, Ludo. If it's all right with you, Mr. Crouch, I think we should hear what she's got to say for herself."
Crouch gave no sign that he had heard Mr. Diggory, but Mr. Diggory seemed to take his silence for assent. He raised his own wand, pointed it at Winky, and said, "Ennervate!"
Winky stirred feebly. Her great brown eyes opened and she blinked several times in a bemused sort of way. Watched by the silent wizards, she raised herself shakily into a sitting position.
She caught sight of Mr. Diggory's feet, and slowly, tremulously, raised her eyes to stare up into his face; then, more slowly still, she looked up into the sky. She gave a gasp, looked wildly around the crowded clearing, and burst into terrified sobs.
"Elf!" Mr. Diggory said sternly. "Do you know who I am? I'm a member of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures!"
Winky began to rock backward and forward on the ground, her breath coming in sharp bursts.
"Elf I am talking to you."
"She have a name you know." Hermione spoke up surprising Alex, "her name is Winky."
Mr. Diggory looked at Hermione briefly, he looked angry for being interrupted. However before Hermione could speak up again, Mr. Weasley came over to her and shushed her gently.
As you see, elf, the Dark Mark was conjured here a short while ago," Mr. Diggory said. "And you were discovered moments later, right beneath it! An explanation, if you please!"
"I - I - I is not doing it, sir!" Winky gasped. "I is not knowing how, sir!"
"You were found with a wand in your hand!" barked Mr. Diggory, brandishing it in front of her. And as the wand caught the green light that was filling the clearing from the skull above, Alex looked at the wand as he recognized it as Harry.
"Hey - that's mine!" Harry said.
Everyone in the clearing looked at him.
"Excuse me?" Mr. Diggory said, incredulously.
"That's my wand!" said Harry. "I dropped it!"
"You dropped it?" Mr. Diggory repeated in disbelief. "Is this a confession? You threw it aside after you conjured the Mark?"
Alex snorted, "Oh please."
"Amos, it is Harry Potter, are you actually saying he concurred the mark?" Me. Weasley asked.
Mr. Diggory looked slightly ashamed, "right sorry about that."
"Beside it not like I dropped right now. In fact I only discovered it was missing when I got into the woods."
"So," Mr. Diggory said, his eyes hardening as he turned to look at Winky again, cowering at his feet. "You found this wand, eh, elf? And you picked it up and thought you'd have some fun with it, did you?"
"I is not doing magic with it, sir!" squealed Winky, tears streaming down the sides of her squashed and bulbous nose. "I is… I is… I is just picking it up, sir! I is not making the Dark Mark, sir, I is not knowing how!"
"I can´t have been her." Daphne spoke up, "it just can´t what we heard was a male voice and it was definitely a human one"
Alex nodded, "She is right, it was definitely not her."
Slowly Harry, Hermione and Ron nodded in confirmation.
"Well, we'll soon see," growled Mr. Diggory, looking unimpressed. "There's a simple way of discovering the last spell a wand performed, elf, did you know that?"
Winky trembled and shook her head frantically, her ears flapping, as Mr. Diggory raised his own wand again and placed it tip to tip with Harry's.
"Prior Incantato!" roared Mr. Diggory.
Hermione gasped, horrified, as a gigantic serpent-tongued skull erupted from the point where the two wands met, but it was a mere shadow of the green skull high above them; it looked as though it were made of thick gray smoke: the ghost of a spell.
"Deletrius!" Mr. Diggory shouted, and the smoky skull vanished in a wisp of smoke.
"So," said Mr. Diggory with a kind of savage triumph, looking down upon Winky, who was still shaking convulsively.
"I is not doing it!" she squealed, her eyes rolling in terror. "I is not, I is not, I is not knowing how! I is a good elf, I isn't using wands, I isn't knowing how!"
"Didn´t you hear? You have five witnesses defending Winky. And we all say the voice was deeper" Alex said looking at Mr. Diggory.
"But she was been caught red-handed, young man."
"Amos," Mr. Weasley said loudly preventing Alex from replying, which were good because the reply wouldn't had been nice. "Think about it… precious few wizards know how to do that spell… Where would she have learned it?"
"Perhaps Amos is suggesting," Mr. Crouch said with cold anger in every syllable, "that I routinely teach my servants to conjure the Dark Mark?"
There was a deeply unpleasant silence. Amos Diggory looked horrified. "Mr. Crouch… not… not at all."
"You have now come very close to accusing the two people in this clearing who are least likely to conjure that Mark!" barked Mr. Crouch. "Harry Potter – and myself. I suppose you are familiar with the boy's story, Amos?"
"Of course - everyone knows -" muttered Mr. Diggory, looking highly discomforted.
"And I trust you remember the many proofs I have given, over a long career that I despise and detest the Dark Arts and those who practice them?" Mr. Crouch shouted, his eyes bulging again.
"Mr. Crouch, I - I never suggested you had anything to do with it!" Amos Diggory muttered again, now reddening behind his scrubby brown beard.
"If you accuse my elf, you accuse me, Diggory!" shouted Mr. Crouch. "Where else would she have learned to conjure it? Not only that you accuse when there five fine young children that all claims it was a deeper voice that casted the cruse. "
"She - she might've picked it up anywhere -"
"Precisely, Amos," said Mr. Weasley. "She might have picked it up anywhere… Winky?" he said kindly, turning to the elf, but she flinched as though he too was shouting at her. "Where exactly did you find Harry's wand?"
Winky was twisting the hem of her tea towel so violently that it was fraying beneath her fingers.
"I - I is finding it… finding it there, sir…" she whispered, "there… in the trees, sir."
"You see, Amos?" said Mr. Weasley. "Whoever conjured the Mark could have Disapparated right after they'd done it, leaving Harry's wand behind. A clever thing to do, not using their own wand, which could have betrayed them. And Winky here had the misfortune to come across the wand moments later and pick it up."
"But then, she'd have been only a few feet away from the real culprit!" Mr. Diggory said impatiently. "Elf? Did you see anyone?"
Winky began to tremble worse than ever. Her giant eyes flickered from Mr. Diggory, to Ludo Bagman, and onto Mr. Crouch. Alex noticed that he was acting much stranger now. Then she gulped and said, "I is seeing no one, sir… no one…"
"The person might have been invisible both me and Daphne head something, but didn´t saw what it was."
They all nodded, "it would make sense," said a witch, "use another's wand and make yourself invisible, then there is nothing linking you to the crime."
"Amos," said Mr. Crouch quickly, "I am fully aware that, in the ordinary course of events, you would want to take Winky into your department for questioning. I ask you, however, to allow me to deal with her."
Mr. Diggory looked as though he didn't think much of this suggestion at all, but it was clear to Alex that Mr. Crouch was such an important member of the Ministry that he did not dare refuse him.
"You may rest assured that she will be punished," Mr. Crouch added coldly.
"M-m-master…" Winky stammered, looking up at Mr. Crouch, her eyes brimming with tears. "M-m-master, p-p-please…"
Mr. Crouch stared back, his face somehow sharpened, each line upon it more deeply etched. There was no pity in his gaze.
"Winky has behaved tonight in a manner I would not have believed possible," he said slowly. "I told her to remain in the tent. I told her to stay there while I went to sort out the trouble. And I find that she disobeyed me. That means clothes."
"No!" Winky shrieked, prostrating herself at Mr. Crouch's feet. "No, master! Not clothes, not clothes!"
Alex knew that the only way to turn a house-elf free was to present it with proper garments. It was pitiful to see the way Winky clutched at her tea towel as she sobbed over Mr. Crouch's feet.
"But she was frightened!" Hermione burst out angrily walking away from Mr. Weasley while glaring at Mr. Crouch. "Your elf's was scared of heights, and those wizards in masks were levitating people! You can't blame her for wanting to get out of their way!"
Mr. Crouch took a step backward, freeing himself from contact with the elf, whom he was surveying as though she were something filthy and rotten that was contaminating his over-shined shoes.
"I have no use for a house-elf who disobeys me," he said coldly, looking over at Hermione. "I have no use for a servant who forgets what is due to her master, and to her master's reputation."
Winky was crying so hard that her sobs echoed around the clearing. There was a very nasty silence, which was ended by Mr. Weasley, who said quietly, "Well, I think I'll take my lot back to the tent, if nobody's got any objections. Amos, that wand's told us all it can - if Harry could have it back, please -"
Mr. Diggory handed Harry his wand and Harry pocketed it.
"Come on, you lot," Mr. Weasley said quietly. But Hermione didn't seem to want to move; her eyes were still upon the sobbing elf. "Hermione!" Mr. Weasley said, more urgently. When she didn´t move he grabbed her arm and pulled her with him.
Alex was about to walk to, but then noticed Daphne wasn´t following. "Aren't you coming?"
"I don´t think I am welcome there."
Alex grabbed her hand, "I don´t care I want you there where it is safe."
Daphne smiled and followed Alex, Harry, and Ron out of the clearing and off through the trees.
"What's going to happen to Winky?" Hermione asked, the moment they had left the clearing.
"I don't know," said Mr. Weasley. Alex and Daphne both shared a look. They both knew what happened to a house elf that stayed without a master for too long
"The way they were treating her!" Hermione said furiously. "Mr. Diggory, calling her 'elf' all the time… and Mr. Crouch! He knows she didn't do it and he's still going to sack her! He didn't care how frightened she'd been, or how upset she was - it was like she wasn't even human!"
"Well she isn´t a human, she is an elf," said Ron.
Hermione rounded on him. "That doesn't mean she hasn't got feelings, Ron. It's disgusting the way -"
"Hermione, I agree with you," said Mr. Weasley quickly, beckoning her on, "but now is not the time to discuss elf rights. I want to get back to the tent as fast as we can. What happened to the others?"
"We lost them in the forest dad, but why was everybody so freaked out by the green skull thing?"
Alex rolled his eyes, how could one be some ignorant.
"I'll explain everything back at the tent," said Mr. Weasley tensely.
But when they reached the edge of the woods, their progress was impeded. A large crowd of frightened-looking witches and wizards was congregated there, and when they saw Mr. Weasley coming toward them, many of them surged forward.
"What's going on in there?"
"Who conjured it?"
"Arthur - it's not - Him?"
"Of course it's not Him," said Mr. Weasley impatiently. "We don't know who it was; it looks like they Disapparated. Now excuse me, please, I want to get to bed."
He led Alex, Daphne, Harry, Ron, and Hermione through the crowd and back into the campsite. All was quiet now; there was no sign of the masked wizards, though several ruined tents were still smoking. Charlie's head was poking out of the boys' tent.
"Dad thanks Merlin you are all right. Fred, George and Ginny is here in the tent." Charlie paused, "but I haven´t seen the others."
"Don´t worry I've got them here," said Mr. Weasley, bending down and entering the tent. Harry, Ron, Alex, Daphne, and Hermione entered after him.
Bill was sitting at the small kitchen table, holding a bed sheet to his arm, which was bleeding profusely. Charlie had a large rip in his shirt, and Percy was sporting a bloody nose. Fred, George, and Ginny looked unhurt, though shaken. The first thing Ginny did when she saw Mr. Weasley was to run over and hug him.
"Did you get them, Dad?" Bill said sharply. "The person who conjured the Mark?"
"No," said Mr. Weasley, as Ginny let him go. "We found Barty Crouch's elf holding Harry's wand, but we're none the wiser about who actually conjured the Mark."
"What?" Bill, Charlie, and Percy said in unison.
"Harry's wand?" said Fred.
"Mr. Crouch's elf" said Percy, sounding thunderstruck.
With some assistance from Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Mr. Weasley explained what had happened in the woods, while Alex and Daphne remained quit, Alex could see that Daphne was uncomfortable about being where she was. After the story was finished, Percy swelled indignantly.
Well, Mr. Crouch is quite right to get rid of an elf like that!" he said. "Running away when he'd expressly told her not to… embarrassing him in front of the whole Ministry… how would that have looked, if she'd been brought up in front of the Department for the Regulation and Control."
"She didn't do anything - she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time!" Hermione snapped at Percy, who looked very taken aback.
"Hermione, a wizard in Mr. Crouch's position can't afford a house-elf who's going to run amok with a wand!" said Percy pompously, recovering himself.
"She didn't run amok!" shouted Hermione. "She just picked a wand up off the ground!"
"Look, can someone just explain what that skull thing was?" said Ron impatiently. "It wasn't hurting anyone… Why's it such a big deal?"
"Because," Daphne spoke, up for the first time surprising everybody. Alex couldn't tell if it was her presence or the fact that she was speaking. "It used to be a sign that someone had been killed. It was the mark You-Know-Who and his followers used after they had killed someone."
And it hasn't been seen for thirteen years," said Mr. Weasley quietly. "Of course people panicked… it was almost like seeing You-Know-Who back again."
"But I still don't get it," said Ron, frowning. "I mean… it's still only a shape in the sky…"
"That is because you don´t understand Ron." Mr. Weasley said. "As Miss Greengrass said; You-Know-Who used this when he killed someone. Try to imagine coming and see that thing hanging over your house, knowing what you see inside. Everyone's worst fear… the very worst."
There was silence for a moment. Then Bill, removing the sheet from his arm to check on his cut, said, "Well, it certainly didn't help us tonight. Whoever conjured it managed to scare all the Death Eaters away the moment they saw it. They all Disapparated before we'd got near enough to unmask any of them. We caught the Robertses before they hit the ground, though. They're having their memories modified right now."
"Death Eaters?" said Harry. "What are Death Eaters?"
"Voldemort´s" everybody except Harry flinched, but Alex continued as nothing had happened. "They are or were Voldemort´s followers. Those you saw where the ones who avoided Azkaban either by lying or selling their old teammates out. Hopefully the ministry can get them a small room without a window."
"We can't prove it was them, Alexander," Mr. Weasley said. "Though it probably was," he added hopelessly.
"Yeah, I bet it was!" said Ron suddenly. "Dad, we met Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott in the woods, and they as good as told us Malfoy's dad was one of those nutters in masks! And we all know the Malfoys were right in with You-Know-Who!"
"But what were Voldemort's supporters -" Harry began. Everybody but Alex flinched again. "Sorry," Harry said quickly. "What were You-Know-Who's supporters up to, levitating Muggles? I mean, what was the point?"
"The point?" Mr. Weasley said with a hollow laugh. "Harry, that's their idea of fun. Half the Muggle killings back when You-Know-Who was in power were done for fun. I suppose they had a few drinks tonight and couldn't resist reminding us all that lots of them are still at large. A nice little reunion for them," he finished disgustedly.
"But if they were the Death Eaters, why did they Disapparate when they saw the Dark Mark?" said Ron. "They'd have been pleased to see it, wouldn't they?"
"Didn´t you heard what I said, those are the Death Eaters that escaped punishment by lying and selling others out. They have more reason to fear Voldemort than anyone – to the loyal Death Eaters they are traitors."
Ron eyed Alex, but before he could say anything, Hermione interrupted. "So why did the person who concurred the mark did it? To show support for the Death Eaters, or to scare them away?"
"Your guess is as good as ours, Hermione," Mr. Weasley said. "But I'll tell you this… it was only the Death Eaters who ever knew how to conjure it. I'd be very surprised if the person who did it hadn't been a Death Eater once, even if they're not now…" Alex saw Ron look at him once more, making him sign. "Listen, it's very late, and if your mother hears what's happened she'll be worried sick. We'll get a few more hours sleep and then try and get an early Portkey out of here."
As everybody began walking in his or her beds. Alex approved Mr. Weasley with a nervous looking Daphne following. "Uh Mr. Weasley, I am going to follow Daphne back to her parents."
"I don´t know Alex, I not that happy that you are out at this hour."
"Please Mr. Weasley, I don´t care if it is late. I want to make sure she gets home safe,"
Mr. Weasley looked at both Daphne and Alex, "well I was planning on taking her myself, but well I trust you Alexander. However come straight back. That is an order." Alex smiled, as he and Daphne left the tent.
They didn´t say much as they walked through the campsite looking at the burnt tents. Daphne looked extremely worried.
"I am sure you family and Tracey are fine." Alex said.
"Yeah I hope that," Daphne said. "But all this damage it is terrible."
Alex nodded, "yeah I know." The two of them were silent for a while. Then Alex spoke again, "Daphne can I ask you something?"
"Uh sure what is it?"
"Well uh I was just thinking does all this mean that we are friends again?"
Daphne looked at him with a small smile. "Yeah it does."
"Oh that is good."
"Daphne is that you?" asked a voice.
Daphne smiled, "it is my mother,"
"Well I guess we see each other at Hogwarts." Alex smiled facing Daphne.
Daphne smiled back and nodded. "Yeah, I'll see you at Hogwarts," she said, before she hugged Alex, who hugged her back after a few seconds. After a while, Daphne let go. "Well I better get going."
With a quick smile, Daphne left and ran towards a tent. Alex watched and smiled as he saw her hug her mother. After they had entered the tent, Alex began making his way back to the tent with a big smile on his face. He was still smiling as he went to bed. Happy to have his friend back.
…
Chapter end
There another chapter, I hope that you enjoyed reading it. So Daphne accepted Alex´s apology, but Alex also had some pretty dark thoughts as he saw the muggles being attacked. The future will tell if he will defeat his inner darkness or it will consume him.
Anyway, please leave a review and thanks to those who does that. See you in the next chapter.