I will be using the Dark Lord or Voldemort to describe what he is thinking and Harry to describe the physical actions. Try to. Also, my Voldemort will be a little bit saner.
"Speech"
'Internal thoughts'
Here is my disclaimer that says I do not own anything Harry Potter related. Everything belongs to JK Rowling, except in universe 47837. Probably.
Knowing that a Portkey always defaulted back to the general location from which it came should it be activated again, Voldemort had a reasonable expectation of where he might be returning. Therefore, it was highly possible that he would end up in the maze or very close to it, and then there was the added possibility of someone witnessing his return.
So he had thought it prudent to get into character as the Boy Who Lived before he had departed his father's cemetery.
Originally he had thought that a little stumble of the Potter brat's feet upon arriving would do the trick, but that turned into a full-on face-plant when he materialized in the center of hundreds of restless supporters still waiting for the tournament to conclude and a victor to emerge.
'Fuck!'
He wasn't exactly happy about pretending to slam into the ground, face-first, but he wasn't about to take a chance with this many people watching him.
Before coming, the Dark Lord had already considered and accepted that he might have to do several things that he otherwise would never have tolerated to prevent anyone from cottoning on to what had really happened to Harry Potter. Despite the fact that the Dark Lord had changed his entire year-long plan in a matter of minutes took nothing away from the fact that when he committed to something, he always saw it through to completion.
Always.
For no one could know that Harry Potter was dead and gone and he, the Dark Lord, had taken the boy's place until he wanted it to be known.
So Voldemort stayed on the ground, Harry's face pressed into the soft grass while the Triwizard Cup had been expertly tossed to the side during his manufactured fall. However, his left hand remained clenched to Cedric's body while the right side of his body flinched away from the lump that was Peter Pettigrew.
Seconds later, two very large and surprisingly strong hands pulled him from the bodies and flipped him over.
"Harry! Harry!"
It took every ounce of willpower that he possessed not to inappropriately react to the worried shouts of Albus Dumbledore. Or the fact that his most loathed enemy was touching him.
But this was all part of the necessary act and so he played along, inwardly relieved that the man's blue eyes were eyeing him over concernedly. It was a nice change of pace given that the old goat had never looked at him with anything other than suspicion and distrust.
'Showtime!'
"I saw him," Harry whispered to Albus in an exhausted tone.
Albus did not look surprised.
"It's okay Harry, you are safe now."
"Cedric was killed …Unforgivable … Voldemort … ritual with W-wormtail!" Harry stuttered back.
He gasped and closed his eyes, manufacturing a shiver that visibly passed through his fourth-year frame.
"But something … happened - cauldron – an explosion!"
Harry's eyes opened, watching Albus' thoughtful stare with amusement behind his hidden Occlumency shields. He had readied them just in case Albus tried to pry during his little show and would be keeping them up like he always did.
Yet, Albus never tried to slip into the boy's mind and the old man's face remained very thoughtful.
His blue eyes were so full of concern and compassion.
"It's okay, Harry," the old man soothed again. "You are safe at Hogwarts now."
The Dark Lord wanted to cackle.
He was enjoying this far too much than he wanted to admit.
But the Dark Lord didn't get a chance to finish playing with the Headmaster for in that moment a high, worried voice approached from the side.
"What's going on? What happened?"
The Minister's face was turning whiter by the minute and his eyes kept darting over to where the bodies were, though his glances spent more time on Peter Pettigrew lying spread eagle on his back.
"My God – Dumbledore!"
Cornelius repeated the Headmaster's name several times, each time managing to work his way up to the highest octave that his voice would allow.
"Dumbledore – Diggory dead! And … and …"
While the Dark Lord majorly disproved of being interrupted when he was speaking, the fact that he was now in the presence of the Minister for Magic made him forget all about it. Here was, in fact, another unexpected opportunity that he could use to his advantage and influence the future in the direction that he had always wanted.
Oh, the Dark Lord was quite content with how things were playing out. He wished he could have savored the chaos that was spreading through the crowd while the teachers were trying to evacuate.
Choruses of, 'Diggory's dead!' and 'Did you see that other body?' filled him with delight.
However, just as the Dark Lord was about to focus his attention on playing the Minister, the situation changed.
Cornelius' eyes widened, refocused, and sought out Dumbledore.
"Dumbledore, Diggory's parents. They're here, in the stand…"
At the same time the Dark Lord then felt a new set of hands encircle around Harry's waist.
"I'll take Harry, Dumbledore, I'll take him -" Moody's voice sounded behind him.
'Idiot! Fool!' the Dark Lord internally seethed. He needed to remain here, to make sure his version of events were heard first; first impressions were very important.
"No, I would prefer…" Dumbledore started to say before being interrupted by the Minister's panic-fueled voice.
"Dumbledore," the man whined in fear. " Amos Diggory's running… he's coming over… don't you think you should tell him … before he sees?"
"Harry, stay here," the Headmaster commanded before intercepting the Diggorys.
Just as the Dark Lord began to calm he felt the hands tug hard at his navel.
"It's all right, son, I've got you … come on … hospital wing."
"No!" Harry's voice hissed.
"Dumbledore said stay."
But his body was being pulled away despite his protests and his shouts of "Headmaster" were lost in the noise and confusion. For a second he thought about using his magic but he knew that would be horribly out of character for the boy and he didn't want the old goat to suspect a thing.
He would make Barty beg for death for this monumental intrusion. It didn't matter that he had been planning on selling the man out anyways, all that changed was how the man would die. It had quite quickly gone from an instant death to death-by-torture.
But still, the Dark Lord reasoned that he would be able to salvage this. Perhaps he could even use this unexpected change of events – it would be quite easy to add to his story, in fact.
'The Boy Who Lived, kidnapped twice within Hogwarts,' he could see the story in the Prophet now.
So he let himself be led to the castle, all the while doing his utmost to stay in character as the Potter brat would. It involved an enormous amount of tedious back and forth conversation as the disguised Moody tried to uncover what had happened in the graveyard.
Soon they were in Moody's quarters and the man had begun to reveal his role to what he thought was the Potter boy. The Dark Lord played along because he had to stay in character for when the man's memories of this moment were interrogated.
Though, when the man raised his wand at him, the Dark Lord certainly wasn't going to just sit there anymore and do nothing.
A particularly mundane curse – by his standards anyways - had almost formed in the back of his throat as Dumbledore's Stupefy shot past him and blasted the fake Moody into the opposite wall.
"Come along, Potter," Minerva McGonagall whispered from behind Harry with his wand still aimed at the unconscious man now slumped to the ground.
"Hospital wing."
The Dark Lord was about to protest being removed for the second time but Dumbledore interjected.
"No."
The Headmaster's voice was sharp and absolute.
Professor McGonagall made to disagree anyways but was interrupted.
"He will stay, Minerva, because he needs to understand. Understanding is the first step to acceptance and only with acceptance can there be recovery. He needs to know who has put him through the ordeal he has suffered tonight, and why."
McGonagall's mouth tightened into a thin line but she nodded and moved to Harry's side. Then Severus Snape stepped out from behind him, and the Dark Lord decided to make things more interesting before Dumbledore had a chance to continue.
He was severely annoyed that he had needed to wait this long to tell his side of the story.
"I know why," Harry said quietly and shakily without looking at anyone in particular.
He cradled the tip of his wand that he was holding with his left hand.
"I don't think that is Mad Eye Moody."
Harry was staring straight ahead at the unconscious body.
"You are correct, Harry. The real Moody would never have removed you from my side after what happened tonight. The moment he took you, I knew – and I followed."
Dumbledore's gaze was focused on Harry when he turned to look at the man.
"How did you come to realize such a thing?"
"In the Graveyard," Harry answered, "while I was there – Voldemort said something about a spy at Hogwarts that helped him; someone that wasn't who they said they were."
A distant, painful expression was on Harry's face as he said this.
"And then… before you came in… and, well Moody – or whoever it is – explained it all to me in trying to find out what happened, that he had been the one to put my name into the Goblet of Fire and how he ensured my survival through the tasks… and in the maze."
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry noticed that Severus was looking at him strangely. Then he absently rubbed at where the Dark Lord knew the Dark Mark to be on the Potion Master's arm.
'Don't worry, Severus, you'll know when you're called… and we will finally see where your true loyalty lies.'
"It all seems so obvious now that I'm on the other side of it," Harry said instead.
His voice was quiet, thoughtful, but with a good deal of thankfulness for being safe at Hogwarts infused in for good measure. Now more than ever it was important to make sure no one suspected.
Dumbledore bent down and gently stroked through Harry's thick and very dirty hair.
"Severus, please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion that you possess, and then go down to the kitchens and bring up the house-elf called Winky."
'Ah, so that is what happened to Barty's house elf! Of course that old coot would have given the elf refuge… which means that he already had an inclination of the identity of the man being involved in some way. Interesting.'
"Minerva, kindly go down to Hagrid's hut and bring the large, black dog up to my office. Tell him I will be with him shortly and then come back here."
'And that would be Sirius Black.'
The Dark Lord knew about the man's Animagus form from Pettigrew.
Snape and McGonagall left quickly and then the Dark Lord was alone with Albus. He mentally prepared himself for the extra scrutiny but he didn't have to worry.
Albus was too fixated on trying to find where the real Moody was being held, all the while explaining to Harry about Polyjuice and how well known Moody was for only drinking out of his hip flask.
By the time they found the real Moody in the bottom of a seven-layered trunk, Snape and McGonagall had returned just in time for the Polyjuice to wear off and reveal Barty Crouch Jr.
"Crouch!" Severus exclaimed at the same moment that Minerva clutched her chest, saying, "Good heavens!" in the process.
Then the Dark Lord watched the elf's reaction to her former master and the subsequent back and forth between the ennervated Barty, Albus, and Winky as the Veritaserum revealed the role Crouch had played.
Barty told them how he had gotten out of Azkaban and how long he had been living with his father, Crouch Sr. Bertha Jorkins' name also came up and how her knowledge had helped plan the Triwizard Tournament, and how Barty had been the one to hoodwink the Goblet to get Harry into the tournament, leading the boy all the way until he touched the Portkey and was taken to his master.
The younger Crouch was crazed with delight at the thought that the Dark Lord had succeeded in his plan. Of course, Voldemort had only told him that the potion had taken place when they were discussing the graveyard before Dumbledore came; it wasn't his vault if the man inferred that that meant it had worked according to plan.
Afterwards, the Death Eater was bound with ropes from Dumbledore's wand. Minerva was asked to stand guard while Severus went to fetch the Minister so he could question Crouch himself.
The Dark Lord would have preferred to witness that for himself but he couldn't as Dumbledore next led to his office where he told him that Sirius was waiting.
Along the way there was silence, expect for when Harry's voice quietly asked where Mr. and Mrs. Diggory were. The Dark Lord figured the pathetic brat would have inquired.
Dumbledore had just given his response that were with Professor Sprout just as the two of them began to ascend up the circular stairs to the Headmaster's guarded and secure office. Dumbledore led Harry into his chambers and the Dark Lord's mind instantly froze inside the boy as he caught sight of Fawkes, Dumbledore's illustrious Phoenix.
Everything was riding on the next few moments since Phoenixes were uncommonly and annoyingly intuitive.
'Only if Dumbledore does not suspect that anything is out of ordinary with the Potter boy will the Phoenix go along with it; however, if Dumbledore suspects even a little – the Phoenix will nurture those same suspicions.
Thus, the Dark Lord let himself be scooped up into Sirius' arms, putting extra effort into the performance of finally being able to let his guard down like the boy would have in the presence of his Godfather.
Seconds turned into minutes and then what felt like hours as he spied Dumbledore and the bird out of the corner of his eye. Dumbledore was slowly making his way around his desk to sit down and the Phoenix was taking in the situation.
Next, the Dark Lord allowed Sirius to fuss over him before letting himself be led to a chair so very close to where the Phoenix was perched.
Harry's eyes were fixated on the bird in what he hoped was a mindless fascination given the circumstances.
Finally, though he breathed an internal sigh of relief as the red and orange bird fluttered over to his injured leg and began to cry over the cuts and bruises that he had manufactured before returning to Hogwarts.
'If Dumbledore doesn't suspect me now then he never will until it is too late for him!'
It was because of his impressive skill at Occlumency that the Dark Lord could keep the relief and glee at having fooled the Headmaster so far with his performance.
"Harry," the Headmaster called in a voice that Voldemort recognized from his youth.
"I need to know what happened in the graveyard after you touched the Portkey."
'About bloody time.'
"Headmaster!" Sirius cut in harshly. "Can't that wait until morning?"
To the Dark Lord's immense relief Dumbledore shook his head, saying something about how it would be easier on the boy to relive the events now as opposed to later.
Harry nodded and kept his eyes dancing between the Phoenix and Dumbledore as he finally got a chance to maximize Wormtail's mistake to his complete and utter advantage.
"Cedric and I appeared in the graveyard together; neither of us had been prepared for the cup being a Portkey… it took us a few seconds to adjust to our new surroundings. When our eyes adjusted we realized we were in a graveyard and it was very dark and so we kept our wands out."
The Dark Lord made Harry's voice break at the perfect place before continuing. Harry made it a point to glance downwards at the floor as if the next part was too much for the boy to repeat.
"We then noticed a figure approaching – and my scar suddenly began to burn. I dropped to me knees because of the pain – it was unlike anything I'd ever felt before."
The Dark Lord recalled his own perfect memory of the dramatic scene the Potter brat had made before vomiting.
"The pain began to lesson, though, and I looked up just in time to see Cedric… the Killing Curse took him instantly."
Sirius made that weird sound with his mouth that people sometimes made when someone they cared about was hurt. The Dark Lord then felt the man's embrace tighten and Voldemort allowed himself to be pulled even closer towards Sirius. Potter's Godfather was practically breathing in his ear now.
'Disgusting,' he seethed but continued, letting some of the discomfort from how close Sirius was to him show on his face. It perfectly mimicked the pain of having watched a fellow student having been killed in front of him.
"I was in shock then and couldn't even move as my body was quickly bound with magic and held to a statue. It was then I recognized that Pettigrew…" he paused as Sirius growled, "and Voldemort were there."
Harry turned his face towards Albus and saw nothing but compassion and understanding in his eyes.
"It was here that Voldemort told me how his spy – Barty – had done everything from Hogwarts that caused me to end up before him. How I would be instrumental in Vold…Voldemort getting his body back."
Albus nodded his head encouragingly for him to continue after Harry paused to take a deep breath.
"Then Pettigrew waved his wand and a cauldron appeared. He dropped Voldemort's child-like form in the boiling water…"
Harry paused again, making it seem like he was gathering the courage to continue. He closed his eyes and then quickly opened them.
"Pettigrew started chanting, saying something about the bones of the father as a grave opened up behind him and the skeleton was added to the mix. Then the man cut his hand off and added it in there… um… again saying something about a servant's flesh being willingly given."
Dumbledore was sitting very still across the table; it was clear his mind was rapidly trying to deduce what ritual it had been and what was what going to come next.
Harry then lifted up his sleeve for the last bit.
"Pettigrew then added some of my blood, the last ingredient. Blood of the enemy," Harry whispered and looked at the floor like he was ashamed.
"And forcibly taken" he concluded in a quiet voice before raising his head to see a gleam of something like triumph pass through the Headmaster's eyes.
'Intriguing.' He would have to consider that action later.
"Then what happened?" Dumbledore asked, his expression returned to normal.
"The mixture started to bubble uncontrollably and sparks were shooting out in every which way. It got so bright that I had to close my eyes… soon afterwards I heard an explosion. The ground itself vibrated and I felt this rush of energy wash over me and knock me backwards."
The Phoenix made a noise then and Harry glanced down at the bird that was climbing into his lap to cry on the cut on his arm.
The Dark Lord decided against petting the bird, not wanting to chance how perfect this was going.
"I was suddenly free and I opened my eyes and saw a huge crater where the cauldron had stood and a large form in the center... Pettigrew had been blasted backwards towards Cedric and he wasn't moving… the next part happened so fast, on instinct… I reached Pettigrew quickly and took back my wand. Cedric was lying there next to him."
Another well-positioned pause was taken for dramatic effect. Hell, the Dark Lord even made a tear fall down the boy's cheek.
"Then I heard something stirring, I think the dark shape in the crater began to move or something. I – there wasn't much time and my only thought was trying to escape. I grabbed a hold of Pettigrew and Cedric and summoned the cup, hoping against hope it would take me back to Hogwarts and it did…"
Harry turned into Sirius' chest and exhaled deeply, all the while waiting to hear what Dumbledore would say. Of course, he wanted to ask about the Minister and Pettigrew and what was going on with all of that but he was counting on the man to believe him and didn't want to push too far.
Just a little uncertainty would go a long way.
"I will say it again, Harry," said Dumbledore as Fawkes finally left Harry's lap to return to his perch.
"You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected from you tonight, equal to those who died fighting Voldemort at the height of his powers."
'Ha! You call it brave to ask for your life to be spared?'
"You have shouldered a grown wizard's burden and found yourself equal to it… you will come with me to the hospital wing for a Sleeping Potion and some sleep."
Harry nodded and appeared grateful that his Godfather would be allowed stay by his side in Animagus form when Dumbledore suggested it.
Upon arriving in the hospital wing it became difficult for the Dark Lord to be in the presence of that many Weasleys and not get a chance to Crucio the lot of them. But he had done well so far in staying in character as the Boy Who Lived and promised himself that if he behaved now he could keep one as a pet later.
Thankfully, Dumbledore made it even easier for the Dark Lord to ignore them as he told them to give Harry space. The Headmaster then proceeded to watch Harry take a few sips of a Dreamless Sleep potion before leaving, upon which the Dark Lord pretending to sleep.
He had done enough resting and was busy reliving through the events that had happened since he'd been in the boy's body. He wanted to make sure that he wasn't overlooking anything and was prepared for what he expected to happen next.
Which ended up being something that not even he could not have foreseen, for about thirty minutes after he had closed his eyes he heard the distinct shouting between Cornelius Fudge and Minerva McGonagall in the distance.
The Dark Lord pretended to groggily open his eyes and sit up as the two burst through into the hospital wing.
"Regrettable, but all the same, Minerva-" said Fudge, loudly.
"You should never have brought that thing inside the castle!" McGonagall yelled back. "When Dumbledore finds out-"
"Where is he, anyway?" Cornelius looked around, ignoring the stares of Poppy, the Weasleys, and everyone else present.
"He's not here!" Mrs. Weasley bristled just as the Headmaster walked in.
"What has happened?" Dumbledore asked sharply.
"Minerva, I'm surprised at you – I asked you to stand guard over Barty Crouch -"
"There's no need to stand guard over him anymore, Dumbledore!" she shrieked. "The Minister has seen to that."
Something inside the Dark Lord stirred at seeing the normally composed Deputy Headmistress so irate. He never knew Minnie had it in her to become this undone.
It only took a few more statements before the Dark Lord understood the reason why: Barty had been kissed by the Dementor that Fudge had used as his own personal bodyguard. It was beyond anything he could have hoped for.
And several minutes later the Dark Lord had completely forgotten about his extreme disappointment in no longer being able to punish Crouch himself for taking him away from the Minister soon after he arrived in the maze. Because what was happening before his very eyes was something that nearly caused his dark magic to dance along his skin with glee.
With each back and forth between Dumbledore and Fudge it became crystal clear that Fudge was prepared to blame the deaths of the evening and everything else on Barty Crouch Junior and … Sirius Black. The Dark Lord didn't know how the man had arrived at that conclusion given there was also the body of Peter Pettigrew to contend with but he wasn't going to complain.
Fate was finally on his side.
The Dark Lord would let the Minister be content with ignoring the word of a 'fame-seeking fourth-year student' now that Barty Crouch could not testify because he instantly saw how he could use this to his advantage.
Cornelius Fudge may have been an inept politician and nearly useless, but he was quite savvy at making sure that he stayed in power. The man would stop at nothing to quash any rumors about the Dark Lord's return while reducing Dumbledore's significant political clout to nothing since the Headmaster had believed Voldemort was back.
The Dark Lord would gladly take the likely smearing of his own name in the press, for a time, because when he later staged his fake battle between the Boy Who Lived and himself, the public would realize how wrong they had been about Harry Potter.
They would then believe anything that came out of the mouth of the Boy Who Lived and the Dark Lord would wield that power to change the wizarding world, forever. His path to greatness would be nicely paved and Albus wouldn't see it until the end.
By that time, his followers would be where he wanted them to be and doing what he wanted them to do, and no one would be able to stop him.
Not that they could because the Prophecy Child was no more.
For the rest of the evening, while Albus discussed his plans to restart the Order of the Phoenix after Cornelius left in a parting of the ways, the Dark Lord began to plan his next steps.
Meanwhile, his gaze settled on Severus Snape, who stood uncomfortably clutching his arm, and a flash of crimson passed through the Dark Lord's eyes as he began to toy with the man's Dark Mark with the very magic in his core.
Things were finally looking up and he couldn't wait to play.
Well? Would love to know your thoughts. From here on out I will begin diverging from the books as the Dark Lord spreads his influence.
Thanks for reading!