Cho Chang and the Goblet of Fire: An Alternate Fanfic
By monkeymouse
Based on writings by JK Rowling
Part Five: 28 June, 1995
xxx
The Little Hangleton churchyard at midnight was a jumble of tombstones and crypts that seemed to have grown unplanned, almost organically, over time. During the day it may have looked sensible, even quaint, but now, hoping to rescue a corpse from the Dark Lord, it looked to Cho and Cedric/Harry as ominous as the darkest cobwebbed corridor or dungeon in Hogwarts.
Harry went there with the idea of finding Cedric's real body to return it to Dumbledore as soon as he could. He'd grabbed the Tri-Wizard Cup, not knowing whether the Portkey even had a return trip left in it, nor where to look in the churchyard. It hadn't occurred to him that Cho would come along; probably hadn't occurred to her, either, but here she was.
Cho couldn't help but whisper, as if she was afraid of being overheard. "You were here before. Do you have any idea where Cedric is?"
"This place isn't that big," Harry said defensively. "He should be easy to find."
In other words, Cho thought, you haven't a clue.
A flash of green light exploded at their feet. Harry dove behind one crypt, Cho behind another. Somebody was trying to Hex them.
"All right, next question," Cho called out. "Did you have any idea in your head at all? You were just going to Port in here, find Cedric lying about in the open, grab the Cup again, and get back home? Just like dashing to the corner store?"
"You heard Dumbledore! I should have done this days ago!"
"Still, you couldn't have taken one extra minute to think about this? You couldn't have taken another minute to tell me about it?"
"What are you mad at me for?"
Another Hex exploded on the ground near Harry's feet. Cho yelled, with a passion in her voice that surprised even her, "Because this isn't Quidditch and that wasn't a Bludger! For God's sake, Harry, I just lost Cedric; how can I lose you too?"
"You're not going to, not tonight. Those Hexes never came close. He's toying with us."
"Who is?"
Another Hex exploded, this one near Cho's feet.
"No names," said a voice. Harry and Cho carefully looked out from behind their tomb shields and saw a robed figure standing atop another tomb, lazily waving a wand back and forth, as if trying to decide which one to Hex first.
"Why shouldn't I use your name?" Harry shouted at the figure. "It's not as if anybody would believe me." Harry paused a minute. "Cho, that's a Death Eater named Peter Pettigrew."
"Harry, are you certain?"
"I can see why you don't believe me."
"It's not about you. I just took my O.W.L.s a few weeks ago, and the Muggle Studies section referred to Pettigrew and a group of Muggles being killed by Sirius Black."
"Yeh, well, sorry to disappoint, but that's a load of toss. Pettigrew killed the Muggles, then faked his own death."
"But why?"
"Harry," Pettigrew's voice drifted over the tombstones, "if you're going to give all our secrets away, I'm afraid we'll have to put your death on the pile."
"Shut up! She needs to hear the truth!"
"The truth is that her beloved Cedric Diggory fell off his broom onto his head and is talking rubbish."
"Pettigrew's a Death Eater, then and now. He got Sirius Black put into Azkaban because Sirius was friends with James and Lily Potter; he was my godfather. Voldemort could never have killed my parents if Sirius was around."
There was a long silence, interrupted by night-jars and a distant owl. "Harry," Cho suddenly spoke up, "why doesn't anyone else know all this?"
"Mainly because the Ministry doesn't like to look foolish."
"Oh, there's a winning argument," Pettigrew sneered.
"Actually," Cho interrupted, "that's the most convincing argument he's made all night."
The next Hex hit the ground near Cho's feet.
"What are you still doing here, anyway?" Harry shouted.
"If you must know, I'm waiting to hear from Hogwarts. The Dark Lord has had an agent there for many months, arranging for the rebirth of his body through you, Harry. You should feel honored."
"Yeh, it's the highlight of my year so far."
Harry waited a minute until Cho was looking at him again. He put a finger to his lips, then tried to tell her through gestures that he was going to try to sneak around to his right. He got only partway to his goal when Pettigrew let off a fresh string of Hexes; this time, he was meaning to hit Harry, who ended up being pinned down behind a crypt with a statue of a childlike angel on top.
Cho saw Harry was trapped, and that Pettigrew had his back to her. She came out of her hiding place and leveled her wand at his back—and then froze. She couldn't bring herself to Hex him.
"STUN HIM!"
Harry's yelling didn't help Cho, except to alert Peter to turn and try to Hex her again. She ducked, letting the tomb take the hit. Then she rose again, wand at the ready: "CONFUNDUS!"
Unfortunately, the Hex missed the mark entirely, sailing past both Peter and Harry. "You disappoint me, Harry," Peter sneered. "Even if it's a small battle, you should bring a fighter and not a friend."
"I trust," said a welcome voice, "that some of us can be both."
Dumbledore had shown up at last, throwing Pettigrew off-balance with a string of well-aimed Hexes. Finding himself surrounded on three sides, Pettigrew turned into a rat and dove through a clear space ahead.
That was when the Grim attacked.
Dumbledore wasn't the only one to sneak up on the Little Hangleton churchyard unnoticed. Sirius Black had taken him there in his motorcycle, parking it half a mile away and covering the rest of the way on foot. Sirius had taken his dog shape in case Pettigrew had tried to escape as a rat. This time, the black dog held one of the rat's forelegs in his mouth. He tried to turn back into a human, but the dog hung on.
"In case you were wondering, Harry, we almost took Buckbeak, but Sirius said that night flying still makes him rather fidgety. As for your coming back here, I'm sure you thought you were brilliant, but you neglected to tell us what we were supposed to use for a Portkey if we needed to follow you; which, it seems, we did. Good evening, Miss Chang; this must be rather a strange night for you."
"Strange indeed," Peter muttered, warily eyeing the dog that still had a tight grip on his elbow. "Watching Dumbledore arrive in the company of a fugitive wizard, while fighting a dead one."
"But only one of you deserves your fate," Cho said, keeping her voice as steady as she could. "You killed Cedric, didn't you?"
Peter gave Cho a vicious look but didn't say anything. Dumbledore stepped forward, his wand-tip now touching Peter's chest. "I have a message for you to give to your master: tell him the spy has been caught, and all he's really accomplished is the murder of the son of a Pureblood family. He may have returned to his body after all these years, but he may find the price steeper than expected."
"Seems like old times. Last year you threatened to send me to Azkaban. Is that still your plan?"
"No, you'll find that I can bend things a bit, but only slightly. Tell us where Mister Diggory is, and you'll be free to deliver the message. Any treachery or double-dealing, though, and I cannot be responsible for what happens."
Peter said nothing.
"Persuade him, Padfoot."
The dog's jaws closed tighter and tighter on Pettigrew's arm. Even in the darkness they could see the blood seeping through Peter's sleeve. Dumbledore simply stood there, impassive, his wand trained on Peter Pettigrew.
It was hard to say whether pain or panic got the better of him, but, after another minute, Peter yelled, "He's with the sailor!" As he said this, he scratched the dog's muzzle, making him loosen his grip. Peter turned again into a rat, and disappeared in the unkempt high grass.
"Well, what now?" Sirius asked, wiping his nose with his sleeve.
"We came to find Mister Diggory, and I think Pettigrew just told us where to look."
"But who, or what, is the sailor? What does it mean?"
"I think we can assume that Pettigrew didn't just shout out words at random in hopes of being released. Sailor means something specific. Does anyone know what?"
"Erm, Headmaster?" Cho raised her voice slightly. "Cedric did say one time that there were only a handful of interesting people buried here, and it was mostly the local families."
"That may simplify things a bit. Look for someone who isn't supposed to be here; someone connected with the sea. And I think we can save even more time by looking at the above-ground tombs. I hardly think they'd risk being caught by digging a fresh grave, or opening an old one."
The four went off in different directions. Harry/Cedric wanted to go with Cho, but they were looking for the real body of Cedric Diggory, and Harry wasn't sure he wanted to be with Cho when it was found. He wandered among the burial vaults and headstones of the churchyard, not really looking at anything, hoping that someone else would find something.
"Hey! I think this is it!"
Sirius called to the others from a weather-beaten stone crypt that, by the date, was more than a hundred years old. Dumbledore read the inscription:
"Here lies a son of the sea, a Norseman known to us only as Kehaar, who came to Ottery St. Catchpole in 1857, lived his remaining days here, and died on 25 July 1876. He spoke very little, but our world was broadened by his arriving and saddened by his leaving." Dumbledore shifted the stone cover of the tomb. There were two bodies within; one had become only a few bones; Dumbledore Levitated the other body out and onto the grass.
It was Cedric, still dressed in the robes he wore for the Tri-Wizard Tournament. The skin of his face seemed to be slightly blue; his eyes were closed and seemed a little sunken. There could be no doubt; he was dead.
Cho knelt beside his head. She briefly touched the cold flesh of his face, then drew back her hand. She closed her eyes, as if that would stop the tears gathering there, but they started down her face. She let out a sobbing moan that must have carried half a mile in the night air. She held herself with her arms, as if trying to keep her own body from flying apart, rocking in place, still sobbing.
Harry couldn't take anymore and walked a few feet away, turning his back so that at least he wouldn't see Cho, or she couldn't see him. He now felt he was no longer Cho's last hope that Cedric was alive, but instead was a reminder that he was gone, gone forever. After a minute he sensed someone else beside him, and felt a heavy hand on his shoulder.
It was Sirius. "Almost over now, Harry."
"I wish it was over. It should be me there dead, not Cedric."
"Don't let Albus ever hear you say that, Harry, or me, for that matter. You've no idea how many people have given their all to keep you alive."
"Doesn't matter to her," Harry said, turning to look at Cho who was still wailing over Cedric. "I never wanted people to die for me. I'd rather people mourned for me than died for me. I, well, part of me knows she's mourning for Cedric, and I should too. But part of me wonders if she'd ever feel like that about me."
Sirius looked at Harry, his eyebrows raised. "She already does, Harry my lad; you just don't know it yet. And it has nothing to do with looking like Cedric."
Just then, Dumbledore called to the others. "It's time we got back to Hogwarts. Harry, Miss Chang, take hold of my sleeves, and I'll grasp the Cup. Sirius, would you be so kind as to place Mister Diggory in your sidecar and transport him to Hogwarts? Wait near the hospital wing."
They prepared for what would be a rough ride back to the mouth of the maze. "Miss Chang, I think that you should go to Ravenclaw, and get what little sleep you can. I'm sure it will be a temptation, but tell no one where you've been or what you've done this night. Anyone who complains that you're out of your dorm, refer them to my office. Once I sort out Mister Diggory's memories, I will let the school know what's happened. Harry, I will still need you for a few minutes to accomplish that. When you've been restored to yourself, I recommend that you spend the next couple of nights in the hospital wing. Meanwhile," and here Dumbledore's look darkened and gave way to the sadness he'd tried not to feel yet, "I must make one of the most difficult Floo calls of my life, to Amos and Celia Diggory." Harry still didn't dare look at Cho. They vanished as they'd arrived, leaving the abandoned churchyard at Little Hangleton to be lit by the just-rising sun.
xxx
To be concluded in part 6: 29 June to 1 July, 1995
A/N: The reference to Kehaar should be a hint to another one of my favorite pieces of modern British literature.