Last time Harry was called in to investigate what was at first reported to be a domestic disturbance that turned out to be a blood bath. Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecomb had done something that involced strange chalk symbols and something that left a trail of bloody footprints. At St. Mungos Harry was shocked to discover the effects of whatever happened did to Cho and Marietta. On with the show!
Chapter 2: Forbidden Arts part 2
Something really bad must have happen to Cho to upset Hermione like this, thought Harry. Bracing himself for the worst he followed Hermione into the intensive care ward. At one bed was Marietta Edgecomb. Her face, still covered in pimples that spelled out SNEAK, was deathly pale, sweat streaked and her breathing was harsh and labored. Hermione spoke the truth; Marietta didn't have much longer to live.
Harry then saw Cho. At first glance there seemed to be nothing wrong with her as she sat on the edge of her bed while healers attended to her. Then Harry saw what had disturbed Hermione so; Cho's hands were gone. Where they should be were now stumps covered by blood-soaked bandages.
Cho looked up and saw Harry. Her face brightened somewhat. "Harry!" she said in a voice that was mixed with enthusiasm and insanity, "You came to hear the good news! I did it! They said it couldn't be done, that it was forbidden, but I did it!"
"You did it?" asked Marietta in a weak tone, "You did it? What about me!"
"I'm sure that when he comes for me," said Cho, "He'll thank you for your help."
"I won't be here to hear his appreciations, you stupid f#ck!" exclaimed Marietta, "You heard the healers, I'll be dead in a few hours! And it's all your fault you stupid bitch!"
"Don't call me stupid!" snapped Cho, "It was you who told me about the ritual in the first place, and it worked, he's alive!"
"What we made tonight," said Marietta, "Wasn't him and you know it! It wasn't even remotely human. It was all for nothing and I'm paying the ultimate price for your lust and jealousy!"
"Well at least you still look alright on the outside!" snapped Cho, "When they burry you they'll do something about those pimples. They'll be able to have an open casket at your funeral, but not me. Look at me!" she held out her handless arms, "My hands are gone! I can never do magic again! Look at me! I'm deformed! I'm f#ck$ng deformed!"
"F#ck you!" shouted Marietta, "F#ck you! I'm f#ck$ng dieing here! I'm f#ck$ng dieing!"
"Everyone calm down!" exclaimed Harry, "We'll sort this whole mess out. Well, what I mean is, we'll try to sort it out and…"
"It's okay, Harry," said Marietta, "I know I'm as good as dead, so I'll explain what happened. A few weeks ago Cho and I were having tea when she started crying. She's been missing Cedric Diggory so much that she was on the verge of an emotional breakdown, not to mention being highly jealous of you and your relations with Ginny. Cho told me that she loved Cedric more than life itself; that she would do anything to have him back, even surrender her soul.
"Now I'm not in the business in buying and selling souls, so I was more than happy to help my friend. I had been researching into a form of magic called Alchemy, specifically a method to restore the dead to life."
"Impossible!" exclaimed Hermione, "The dead cannot be brought back to life. The most you'll wind up with is an Infiri. Once the soul as left he body, that's it."
"I know that," said Marietta, "Both Cho and I realized that if we were to raise Cedric from the grave we'd end up with a rotting, walking corpse. So we decided to make Cedric a new body. If you would look at my personal effects, you'll find a notebook with one page bookmarker. That page contains the exact chemical makeup of the average human adult.
"We had everything ready, all the chemicals were mixed together, the transmutation circle was drawn exactly as stated in the ritual. All that was needed was something of equal value to bring back Cedric's soul. Cho believed that only a few drops of her blood would be enough, that the pain of losing Cedric was a high enough price to pay. She was damn wrong."
Marietta had to stop then due to a sudden bout of coughing that left blood on the bed sheets. "Easy now," said Hermione, "Save your strength."
"No," said Marietta, "I'm already dead, and you need to know what happened. Besides, I owe you for what I did to the D.A. Where was I?"
"Cho said that she needed only a little blood was needed to bring Cedric back," said Ron, "And you said she was wrong."
"You're damn right she was wrong," said Marietta, "We were both wrong. I should have realized that once we started the ritual, it had to run its course. The ritual claimed more than a few drops of Cho's blood; it took her hands and my life. But that's only the tip of the iceberg. The ritual worked somewhat; we created life where there was none before."
"I told you it worked!" exclaimed Cho, "we brought Cedric back! He'll be coming for me and soon we'll be together again!"
"Shut up you crazy bitch!" exclaimed Marietta, "What we made may have looked like Cedric Diggory, but it wasn't him. When the ritual was finished there was something in the middle of the circle, something that looked human but wasn't. We made something foul and as unnatural as you can get and then some.
"The creature we made took one look around, ran for the balcony and jumped across the street. I don't know what that thing was, but I hope it dies soon." Marietta then passed out from exhaustion.
"So there's something out there that looks like Cedric Diggory," said Harry as he, Ron and Hermione left the intensive care ward, "But isn't him."
"This Alchemy," said Hermione, "I know I've heard of it before; I just can't remember right now. I need to look it up."
"We also need to find this Cedric look-alike," said Ron, "Before it hurts someone."
"What makes you think it'll hurt anyone?" asked Harry.
"Call it a hunch," said Ron, "But anything that was made in a magic ritual involving human blood has got to be a danger to anyone around it."
"You're right," said Harry, "We have to find this creature before anyone else is hurt because of it."
By 7:15 a.m. Hermione was in the Ministry archives, which had a copy of every book that was at Hogwarts, as well as some books that couldn't be found anywhere else. "They say there was an English translation of the Necronomicon here," said Hermione while the archivists searched for the books she needed, "But it was destroyed several decades ago."
"That explains why Voldemort wanted the copy that was in Washington D.C.," said Harry, "I'll bet an English translation wasn't as powerful as the original text. I heard that one was also destroyed not too long ago."
Just then Ron came up to Harry and Hermione, a depressed look on his face. "I just heard from St. Mungos," said Ron, "Cho's in the Permanent Spell Damage ward, her mind is really messed up."
"What about Marietta?" asked Hermione.
"She died ten minutes ago," said Ron, "The damage to her body was to much to be healed."
"Hermione," said Harry, his voice filled with determination, "Do what you do best. We need to figure out what this thing is and stop it before anyone else gets hurt."
The end of chapter 2. Next chapter our three heroes are reunited with some old friends who have troubles of their own. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!