The Family Name
Year Four
By Elbereth in April
Chapter 17
The month finally passed and June 24th, the day of the Third Task, arrived. Pansy's copy of Magical Enquirer had an article about Potter on the cover, written by Rita Skeeter. Potter's PR representative had apparently kept it out of The Prophet, but not much could be kept out of a gossip rag like ME.
Draco read it out loud with relish. "Harry Potter—Disturbed and Dangerous… he regularly collapses at school, claiming his scar hurts… could be his brain was affected by You-Know-Who's attack… or he could just be pretending, to get attention. He speaks Parseltongue… snakes are used in the worst kinds of Dark Magic… he has a fondness for violent creatures like werewolves and giants…"
"Draco, you gave her quotes! After she was going to write that piece on Granger you were all indignant about," Zabini said, a bit bemused.
"Well, yes, but this one was just about Potter, wasn't it?"
They all looked over to the Gryffindor table, where Potter had just put down Brown's copy of the article. Draco smirked at Potter. The other boy just rolled his eyes. He didn't look overly upset, Draco noticed, disappointed. Then McGonagall called the Gryffindor away.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
They gathered in the stands when dusk fell. The Quidditch field was now the site 0f a huge maze with 20 foot high hedges. The Slytherins had taken their seats on the topmost row, where they could see the most. The shadows cast by the hedges and the gathering darkness made it hard to see everything, and some angles were obscured by hedge walls, but they had a good view of the TriWizard Cup in the very center.
"We will be patrolling outside the maze," McGonagall announced. "If any of you get into difficulty and need rescue, send red sparks in the air and one of us will come get you." She indicated herself, Flitwick, Hagrid, and Snape. The Champions nodded, and the four professors stationed themselves at each compass point around the maze.
Then Bagman took over speaking. "The final task is about to begin! The current standings are—tied at first place, Mr. Diggory and Mr. Potter of Hogwarts; in second place, Mr. Krum of Durmstrang; and in third, Miss Delacour of Beauxbatons!"
Bagman instructed Harry and Cedric to enter first. A few minutes later Krum entered, then Fleur a bit later. Ginny nudged Hermione. "Look."
"It's one of Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts!" It was ten feet long, armored, and resembled a giant scorpion. Cedric had nearly run headlong into it. The beast blasted fire at him. He shot a spell at it and ran.
"That's a very complicated, tricky maze," Ginny observed. All four Champions were wandering along various routes in confusion.
"Harry's coming up on the boggart," Bill pointed out.
"We learned those in Professor Lupin's class. He won't have any problems," Ron said confidently. He was right. The boggart became a dementor. Harry shot a Patronus at it, then realized the true nature of his foe and vanquished it with a Riddikulus.
There were other obstacles. A disorienting mist, a quicksand patch, a sphinx that stopped Krum for a few costly minutes, and an enormous spider the size of a human that forced Fleur to detour around it.
"They've almost made it." Sirius grabbed onto Bill's arm excitedly. "Diggory and Harry are both coming up on the Cup!"
"And the giant spider is coming after Diggory," Hermione cried in alarm.
Cedric tripped and dropped his wand and Harry gallantly went to his rescue. Unfortunately, his spells simply rebounded off the monster. It picked Harry up in its front legs. An Expelliarmus caused the spider to drop him. Then he and Cedric both cast Stupefy on it and their combined spells knocked it out. Then they both just stood there, speaking to each other.
"What are they waiting for? The Cup's right there," Crabbe said.
"I believe our noble Champions are each insisting that the other take the prize," Draco snorted.
The Slytherins gaped disbelievingly.
Finally some sort of agreement seemed to be reached. The two boys walked over together and both reached for the Cup at the same time. As soon as they touched it, they disappeared.
The audience blinked. "Was that supposed to happen?" Eva asked.
The judges and Dumbledore were standing up. Karkaroff and Maxime were calling back their Champions. Dumbledore summoned the Hogwarts staff to gather around him.
"I'm thinking not," Zabini said, eyes sharp with interest.
Artemis pulled out his copy of the Marauder's Map. "They're gone," he reported. "Diggory and Potter have left the school grounds."
"But how—why?"
"The Cup was a Portkey," Artemis realized.
Draco looked at him. "Do you think Crouch preset it?"
Artemis nodded. "He meant to have him transported away."
"So you think they're both in the hands of You-Know-Who right now?"
"I think that's highly likely."
"You can't trace a Portkey. They could be anywhere," Millie said.
Artemis looked thoughtful. Draco watched him think. "You've got a way, don't you?"
Artemis smiled enigmatically. "There's always a way." He stood up. "I'll need something from my trunk."
By now, everyone had figured out something was wrong. The professors were searching the crowd and the maze. The spectators were milling about the stands and walking around the pitch. Bagman was trying to get them to sit back down and not panic.
The other Fourth Years started to follow him. He sighed. "We can't all go. We'd be stopped. We need to be inconspicuous."
"Right. Crabbe and Goyle, stay to protect the girls. Zabini and I'll go with you."
Crabbe and Goyle argued, but eventually were overruled. The three boys made their way through the chaos of people, dodging Professor Sinistra and Sprout, who would have turned them back.
At the bottom of the stands, Butler joined them. "Dumbledore suspects a Portkey. He's sent for the Aurors."
Artemis nodded. The four males crossed the field and headed into the castle. Once inside their dorm room, Artemis looked at them. "This is my own invention. It's a secret. Everyone understand?"
At their agreement, he opened his trunk and took out a small blue metal cube. It looked a lot like an IPOD with video capabilities. "What is it?"
"I call it the C-Cube. It has highly advanced sensors. If I knew Diggory or Potter's distinctive heartbeat pattern, it could find them from that alone. I do, however, have Potter's voice on record, from his Parseltongue sessions. If he's speaking, wherever he is, we can find him."
"There's a lot to be said for technology," Draco mused.
"I'm feeling really paranoid," Blaise replied.
Artemis just smiled. "C-Cube," he said, pressing a couple buttons, "find me a match for this vocal pattern."
"You made this from the LEP-Recon helmets and gadgets we confiscated, didn't you?" Butler whispered to his employer.
Still smiling in satisfaction, Artemis nodded.
"What if he's not talking?" Draco asked.
"You know Potter. He will eventually. We wait." So they waited. It took nearly seven minutes, but then the C-Cube spoke.
"Match found. Little Hangleton Cemetery."
Artemis turned off the C-Cube and put it in his pocket. "Butler, you had best notify Dumbledore."
"Right away," Butler agreed, striding back to the Quidditch pitch to find the Headmaster.
"What do we do?" Blaise asked. "How closely do we really want to be involved?"
"Now is not the time to confront Voldemort. We are none of us prepared. Dumbledore can stage a rescue without our assistance."
"Like he would let us help, anyway," Draco scoffed, making a face. "Knowingly and ahead of time, I mean."
"We'd better get back to the stands ourselves," Blaise said.
"How is Butler going to explain how he knows where Potter is?"
"Dumbledore won't know this shouldn't be possible with today's technology," Artemis answered. "He knows more than most wizards about it, don't misunderstand—but he doesn't know everything."
The three boys headed cautiously out of the castle, trying to remain unnoticed. They figured everyone would be too caught up to pay attention to them.
They made it as far as the Slytherin section of the stands before Snape approached them. "What are you up to now, Mr. Fowl?"
Artemis looked at him with big, innocent eyes. "Sir?"
"Mr. Butler just told the Headmaster he knows where our missing Champions are. That would be your doing, yes?"
"I do have some Muggle items here, sir. They prove useful."
Snape regarded him with something like pride, as one would a favored member of their House. "Professor Dumbledore and the Aurors are Apparating there now. Good work." He continued on down the steps as the boys climbed up to rejoin their friends. Halfway down, he stumbled as the Dark Mark on his arm started to burn. Then he became afraid—what was Albus walking into?
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Wormtail had managed to resurrect Voldemort, who now stood facing Harry with his wand drawn. A ring of eleven robed Death Eaters encircled them, watching but ordered not to interfere. "We're not playing hide and seek, Harry," the snake-like creature said. "Come out and play."
Harry crouched behind the tombstone, where he had flung himself to avoid Voldemort's curses. He had no chance, but he was determined to stand and fight. He would have an honorable death.
So he threw himself to his feet to face Voldemort just as Dumbledore and four Aurors Apparated into the clearing. There was a moment of complete shock, then the Aurors started firing spells at the Death Eaters, who fired back. People rushed for cover behind gravestones, just as Harry had.
Voldemort snarled at Dumbledore. "No!" He pointed his wand at Dumbledore "Avada Kedavra!" just as the other wizard aimed at Voldemort "Stupefy!"
Both dodged as Harry took his own shot. "Expelliarmus!"
Voldemort cast a shielding charm. Dumbledore side-stepped a spell from a Death Eater and aimed a full-body bind at Voldemort. To the side, one of the Aurors screamed and fell. Then a Death Eater fell as Voldemort turned his wand on Harry again.
"Avada Kedavra!"
The spell missed him by centimeters. Harry fell to one knee, shaking, but it didn't stop him from shouting, "Impedimenta!" Dumbledore took advantage of Voldemort's attention on the boy and shot another spell.
Again Voldemort blocked Harry's spells, smirking. He grabbed the arm of one of his Death Eater's and pulled him into the path of Dumbledore's spell. The henchman froze and toppled over.
"Avada Kedavra!"
It was aimed at Harry again. "Stupefy!" Harry exclaimed in return. The spells met and connected by a beam of light. Their wands began to vibrate, then the golden light shot out tendrils until a thousand more beams arced around them and they became encased in a dome-shaped web, a cage of light.
Harry could hear the shouts of the Aurors and Death Eaters alike, though they seemed to come from far away. Voldemort was trying to break the light thread still connecting their wands. Harry held onto his own wand tighter, with both hands. The air around them suddenly filled with phoenix song.
"Hold on, Harry!" he heard Dumbledore cry. "Don't let the wands separate!"
"Take out the old man!" Voldemort shouted to his followers.
They redoubled their efforts, the nine remaining Death Eaters against three Aurors and Dumbledore. Now they were concentrating their spells on the Headmaster.
Then Harry's wand shook even harder. Large beads of light slid down the connecting thread, towards the boy. The wand grew hot and felt as if it would shatter. He concentrated all his will on forcing the beads back towards Voldemort. Now his wand was vibrating extra-hard as his eyes widened in astonishment. Then Voldemort's wand began to scream with pain, a smoky hand flew from the tip and vanished—then the ghost of Diggory, then an old man—as one by one the last spells Voldemort had cast materialized.
As each ghost appeared, they encouraged Harry to hold on and keep fighting. Finally the shadow of James Potter appeared. "Your mother's coming," he said. "It will be all right."
The ghosts circled around them, hissing at Voldemort, who watched with a fearful grimace. Then—yes, it was his mother appearing out of his wand now. She looked at him. "Dumbledore understands what's going on. He has worked his way directly behind you. We will give you enough time when the connection is broken for him to get the two of you away. Do you understand?"
"Yes…"
"Do it now," his father told him.
"Now!" Harry wrenched his wand upward. The connection broke, the cage dropped, the song stopped.
Dumbledore sprang forward, grabbed onto Harry's shoulder, and Apparated him away. The Auror Shacklebolt picked up Diggory's body and followed. The other Auror, Tonks, looked longingly at the two loyal bodies on the ground, but they were too far. She Apparated, too.
They reappeared in the Forbidden Forest, just off the edge of the Hogwarts grounds. It was where the group of rescuers had left from, as well. If Dumbledore hadn't still been holding onto Harry's arm, he would have fallen. He felt sick, exhausted, and in shock. His scar still burned.
Around him it was quiet. A slight breeze was blowing, and he could smell the trees.
"Harry, are you alright?"
Harry blinked. He realized the question had been asked at least once already.
"He's dead," Harry whispered.
Dumbledore looked over at Cedric's limp body held in Shacklebolt's arms. His expression was one of great sorrow. "Yes, he is. Can you walk?"
"Yes," he replied automatically, then wondered if it was true.
"Tonks, I want you to take him straight back to the castle, to my office. Don't stop for anyone. Kingsley, take Cedric to the hospital wing. I must go back to the Tournament site, speak to Cedric's parents and the rest of the public. But Harry doesn't need to deal with all that, and we don't want them to gawk at Cedric. Take a different route."
"Yes, sir."
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
The crowd went silent when Dumbledore reappeared. He spoke briefly to Diggory's parents, who were standing near the maze. They broke into a run toward the castle. He sent Professor Sprout after them. Now the audience was murmuring with speculation as Dumbledore turned to speak to Fudge. Bagman, Snape, Butler, and McGonagall crowded around them.
Watching through Omnioculars she'd taken off a First Year girl, Eva reported, "Fudge looks outraged. Bagman—terrified, McGonagall—horrified, and Snape—angry and alarmed. Butler just looks grim."
Now Fudge was arguing loudly with Dumbledore. Those standing and milling on the ground nearby came edging in closer. Now more people were leaving the stands, trying to hear. Finally Dumbledore simply cast a Sonorus on himself, magnifying his voice. Fudge squawked; Dumbledore ignored him.
"I must ask that everyone remain calm." He waited until the crowd had settled somewhat. "The Cup was a Portkey, transformed by a servant of Lord Voldemort." Again he had to pause while people reacted. "Mr. Diggory and Mr. Potter were sent into his hands. Lord Voldemort has returned. He murdered Cedric Diggory." Someone screamed. Pandemonium was breaking out. "Good people, listen to me! It is true we are facing dark and difficult times. But we do not need to panic. If we are united, if we are strong, we can overcome his treachery. Mr. Potter is not hurt. Hope remains. I must ask that you now return to your homes. Allow the Aurors and Minister Fudge to take care of things."
Dumbledore looked at Fudge, who belatedly tried to assume an aura of confidence and competency. Fudge began his own speech then, about the Ministry having things well under control, but no one particularly felt reassured. In fact, it was a good long while before the crowd stopped shouting questions and demands at him, quit panicking, and cleared out. Meanwhile, Dumbledore, Pomfrey, and Black left to see to Potter, while Hagrid, Flitwick, and McGonagall rounded up the Hogwarts students and marched them inside. Madame Maxime was doing the same for her pupils, but Karkaroff had disappeared. Snape volunteered to look for him, and strode off. Professor Sinistra was given the job of sending the Durmstrang students to their ship.
Once inside the castle, Lupin, Hermione, and the Weasleys broke off to find Harry, and Butler went with Artemis and the Slytherins. Artemis wanted him to go discover what had happened with Potter, but Butler was adamant that he wasn't leaving his employer's side that night with things so unsettled.