AUTHORS NOTE!
Hello all!
Not many people reviewed on the last chapter, and there isn't really anything for me to reply to so...
Here's the chapter!
By the way, this chapter is veeeeeeeeery long, so it might either take me a long time to write it, or else I'll just cut it into two chapters.
So if it takes me a long time to update, I'm sorry, my life is very hectic at the moment, I'm training nearly every day in football, because our semi-finals are on Friday, and my other team's league just started, and we have tests...
Also, I broke two of my fingers playing basketball so that's going to make it hard and slow to type...
So, if it takes me a while, I am sorry.
Anyway, here's the chapter!
Enjoy!
-Rach ;)
Max's POV
"I don't think you should tell your mother that you've been gambling," Mr Weasley said to the twins as we walked down from the Top Box.
"Don't worry Dad," Fred said happily, "We have big plans for this money. We don't want it taken off us."
Mr Weasley looked like we wanted to ask what these plans were, but thought better of it. We were soon caught up in the huge crowds coming from the stadium. Loud singing tore through the night as we reached the end of the lantern lit path. The Gasman gave a huge yawn from beside me. "Alright, kiddo?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said, rubbing his eyes, "I'm just a tiny bit tired. But I don't want to go to bed yet!" he added quickly. I laughed and said, "We'll have some hot chocolate, then you can go to sleep."
"Fair enough," Gazzy said, grinning. I ruffled his thick blonde hair, and he chuckled, then walked forward to talk to Iggy.
"Are you sleepy, too sweetie?" I asked Angel, who was frowning.
"A bit," she said. "Is something wrong?" I asked; she was still frowning, and had a strange look on her face.
"You know all the people that were in the Top Box?" Angel said, reaching up and taking my hand. I nodded, wondering where this was going.
"Well, I could read some of their minds. But I couldn't pick anything up from the Malfoy's, except for the son. And you know the house-elf, Winky? I coldn't read her mind either," Angel said. "But I could pick up on some things. But they didn't make much sense."
"Like what?" I asked.
"Well, I couldn't pick up on words, just feeling and emotions. She was hiding something, Max. But I don't know what," Angel said.
"Don't worry about it, Angel," I said, although I was starting to worry about it myself. "It was probably nothing. She could of just left something behind in the house that Crouch wanted."
Angel nodded, biting her lip. "Cheer up, Angel," Nudge said, smiling. "Ireland won the Cup!" She laughed as a few leprechauns came shooting over our heads.
When we finally walking into the boys tent, I asked Mr Weasley about the one last cup of hot chocolate before bed. He agreed, and went into the small kitchen to make them. The boy's tent was huge! There were even a few spare beds in the small bedrooms.
We started arguing about the match, and it was only when Angel feel asleep beside me, spilling all her hot chocolate on the floor, that Mr Weasley made us all go to bed. Me, Hermione, Ginny, Nudge and Angel said goodnight to everyone, then went into our tent.
I was on the bunk above Ginny's, and I just lay in my bed, staring at the canvas ceiling in front of me, grinning at the occasional glow of a leprechaun lantern as it passed overhead.
I was itching to get back on my Nimbus Two Thousand, or else to spread my wings and take to the sky...
I saw myself in robes, with my name on the back, and imagined the sensation of hearing a hundred thousand people cheering me on, as a voice shouts, "I give you...Ride!"
I never knew how long it was before I feel asleep, but next thing I knew, I was being shaken awake by Mr Weasley, who was shouting.
"Girls, get up! Come on, now, this is urgent!"
I sat up quickly, and looked around. "What's wrong?" I asked. I could tell something was wrong. The noise around the campsite had completely changed. The singing had stopped, to be replaced by screams and the sound of people running.
I slipped down from my bunk, and reached for my jeans. "There isn't time, Max! Just grab a jacket and follow me!" I grabbed my leather jacket as the others did the same. "Max, can you zip up my jacket?" Angel asked, sounding panicked. I hurried over and quickly zipped up her jacket. "Hurry, girls!" Mr Weasley called.
"Go, go, go!" I said. I let Hermione, Ginny Nudge and Angel go ahead of me, Hermione holding tightly onto Angel's hand. After a second thought, I went back to my bed and grabbed my wand, then I hurried out quickly after Nudge.
By the light of the fire's still scattered around the campsite, I could see people running towards the wood, running from something that was coming towards us from across the field, something that was setting off odd lights and bangs like gunfire. Loud shouts, roars of laughter, and drunken yells were drifting towards us. Then came a burst of strong green light, which illuminated the scene.
There was a crowd of wizards walking closely together, with their wands pointed upwards. I squinted at them, not believing what I was seeing.
They didn't seem to have faces. Then I realized that they were all wearing masks like skulls, and had their hoods up over their heads. High above us were four struggling figures were being contorted into strange, ugly shapes. It was as if the people on the ground were the puppeteers, and the people in the air were the marionettes being controlled by invisible strings. Two of the figures were very small, like children.
More wizards were joining the others, laughing at the floating figures. Tents crumpled and feel as the people in the masks walked over them, setting them alight and blasting them away with their wands. The screaming grew louder.
"Oh, my gosh!" Nudge gasped, looking at the floating figures. "Max! Look who it is!"
They were illuminated by the light from a tent on fire. I recognized one of them- it was Mr Roberts. The other three must be his wife and children. "That's horrible," I said.
One of the marchers flipped Mrs Roberts upside down, making her nightdress fall down so that her knickers were on full display. She tried desperately to cover herself as the crowd below her cat-called and shouting with glee.
"That's sick," Ron said from behind us, as he, Harry, Fang, Iggy and the Gasman joined us. We watched as the smallest Muggle child started spinning round and round, sixty feet from the ground, his head lolling limply from side to side. "That's really sick..."
Bill, Charlie, and Percy came hurrying out of their tent, fully dressed and with their wands in their hands.
"We're going to go help the ministry!" Bill said.
"You're all to go into the woods and stay together. I'll come fetch you when this is all sorted out!" Mr Weasley said. Bill, Charlie, and Percy started sprinting towards the masked marchers and Mr Weasley tore after them. Other Ministry workers were already hurrying to the source of trouble. The crowd beneath the Roberts family were growing closer.
"C'mon," Fred said, grabbing onto Ginny's hand and he started jogging slowly towards the woods. The rest of us followed, avoiding other panicking people, and rushing towards the woods so we didn't loose the others. When we reached the tree's, we looked back. The crowd beneath the Roberts was bigger than ever, and Ministry workers were trying to get to them.
The colored lanterns that had lit the path were extinguished. Dark figures were running around the tree's; children were crying; scared voices were calling out in the night for their friends. I could feel myself being pushed around by other people who's faces I couldn't see. Then I heard Ron scream in pain.
"What happened?" Hermione asked, stopping so fast that Harry walked into her. "Ron? Where are you? What happened? Oh, this is stupid- lumos!" Her wand lit up and she pointed it to the ground. Ron was lying sprawled on the ground, rubbing his foot.
"Tripped over a tree root," he grunted, getting to his feet.
"Slick," Gazzy cackled. "Oh, shut up," Ron said, but he was grinning.
"Well, with feet that size, it'll be hard not to trip," came a drawling voice from behind us. We all turned around. Draco Malfoy was standing alone, leaning against a tree, looking completely relaxed. His arms were folded and he seemed to be enjoying what he was seeing in the campsite.
I covered Angel's ears as Ron told Malfoy to do something he would never of said in front of Mrs Weasley.
"Language, Weasley, there a youngsters around," Malfoy said, looking at Angel and Gazzy.
"We might be younger than you, but we're definitely smarter...and better looking," the Gasman said.
Malfoy sneered at him, but couldn't think of anything insulting to tell him, seeing as he didn't know anything about him. So he just settled with saying, "Shouldn't you all be getting a move on?You wouldn't want them spotted, would you?"
He was looking at Iggy and Hermione, but mostly Hermione. At the same moment, a blast like a bomb came from the campsite.
"What's that meant to mean?" Hermione snapped defiantly. "Granger, they're after Muggles," Malfoy said, "D'you wanna be showing your knickers in mid-air? And what about you, Griffiths? Because if you do, just wait here. They're moving this way, and it would give us all a great laugh."
"Hermione's a witch, and Iggy's a wizard, Malfoy. Or have the last three years of them being at a magic school just left your mind?" I said.
"Have it your way, Ride," Malfoy said, grinning, "If you don't think they can spot a Mudblood, stay where you are."
"You watch your mouth!" Ron snapped. Everyone knew that `Mudblood' was a very offensive word for someone who was Muggle-born, like Hermione and Iggy.
"Never mind, Ron," Hermione said, glaring at Malfoy as she grabbed Ron's arm back so he wouldn't pounce on Malfoy.
There came another bang from outside the woods that was louder than any of the others we've heard. Several people screamed. Malfoy laughed.
"Scare easily, don't they?" he said. "I suppose your daddy told you to stay here? What's he trying to do- save the Muggles?"
"And what are your parents up to?" Fang asked, "Out there wearing the masks?"
Malfoy turned to Fang, grinning, "Well, if they were, why would I tell you Martinez?"
"Oh, this is stupid," Hermione said, looking at Malfoy in disgust, "We need to find Fred, George and Ginny."
"Keep that bushy head down, Granger," Malfoy said.
"You can go shove that branch up your skinny as-" I started, but Harry grabbed my hand and dragged me forward with him. "Let's go," he said.
We walked further up the path, and when we were out of earshot, Iggy snapped, "I bet you anything his dad is one of those people in the masks!"
"Well, hopefully the Ministry will catch them all," Angel said.
"Oh, I can't believe this!" Hermione said hotly. "Where have the others gotten to?"
Fred, George and Ginny were nowhere to be seen, even though the path was crowded with people. There were a few teenage boys standing close by, babbling away in French, and they were all very good looking. I tripped over a tree root, like Ron, while I was looking over my shoulder to get a better look at the boys. Nudge snickered.
I turned forward in time to see a girl with curly brown hair approach us. When she was in front of us, she asked, "O? Est Madame Maxime? Nous I'avons perdue-"
"Er- what?" Gazzy said bluntly.
"Oh," the girl said, turned around and walked back to him, and we could distinctly hear her say, "Ogwarts..."
"Beauxbatons," Hermione said.
"Bless you," Iggy said.
"No- They must go to Beauxbatons," Hermione said, "You know...Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. I read all about it in Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe."
"Oh, yeah, right," Iggy said.
"Fred and George couldn't have gotten very far," I said, lighting my wand like Hermione's. The other's copied me (well, obviously not the Gasman or Angel), but Harry was still looking in his pockets five minutes later. "Something wrong?" I asked.
"I can't believe it- I've lost my wand!" Harry said.
"You're joking!"
We all raised our wands down the path. Harry looked all around him, but I couldn't see his wand anywhere.
"Maybe it's in your tent," I said.
"It could of fallen out of your pocket when we were running," Ron suggested.
"Yeah," Harry said, "Maybe."
A rustling noise in the tree's nearby made us all jump. We turned around to see Winky the house-elf stumble out of the trees. She was moving very strangely, as if she was finding it difficult to walk; it looked like someone invisible was holding her back.
"There is bad wizards about!" she squealed. "There is people-people high in the air! Winky is getting out of the way!"
And she disappeared into the tree's, panting and gasping as she tried to fight against whatever was holding her back.
"What's wrong with her?" I asked, "Why isn't she walking properly?"
"She probably never asked for permission to hide," Harry said, probably thinking about Dobby. Whenever he did something that he hadn't asked permission for, he would try to hurt himself.
"You know, house-elves get treated very badly!" Hermione said, "It's slavery, that's what it is! Mr Crouch made her go up to the Top Box, knowing she was terrified of heights, and never even showed up, and now he has her bewitched so she can't run away when there are people trampling on tents! Why doesn't anyone do anything about it?"
"Well, house-elves are happy, aren't they?" Ron said, "You heard Winky in the Top Box."
"House-elves only say they're happy because they've never known a different life. They've been cleaning, and cooking, and being slaves their entire lives! Winky said that Dobby was happy now that he was free. So if house-elves just get treated a little better, there wouldn't be a problem! Hermione has a point!" I snapped, entirely agreeing with Hermione.
"It's people like you, Ron," Hermione went on, grinning at me for helping her, "Who make all these stupid unjust systems! Just because you're so lazy to do anything for yourself-"
There was another loud bang from the edge of the woods.
"Let's keep walking, shall we?" Fang said, casting me and Hermione nervous glances. I couldn't help wondering if Malfoy was right. Were Hermione and Iggy really in more danger than the rest of us?
We followed the dark path deeper into the woods, keeping a look out for Fred, George and Ginny. We saw a group of goblins who were cackling at a sack of gold they had clearly won from the match. Further up the forest were three, tall, beautiful veela's standing in a clearing surrounded by a group of young men that were goggling at them.
"I pull out around a hundred sacks of Galleons a year!" One of them yelled.
"I'm a dragon killer for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures!"
"No you're not!" the guys friend yelled. "You wash dishes at the Leaky Cauldron! But me... I'm a vampire killer! I've killed about ninety so far!"
A third young wizard, who's spots were visible even in the dark light, shouted, "I'm about to become the youngest ever Minister of Magic, I am!"
Beside me, Harry snorted with laughter. He turned his head to look at Ron, but Ron then shouted, "I invented a broomstick that can travel to Jupiter!"
Before Iggy said something, I grabbed his arm and pulled him forward. "Honestly!" Hermione muttered. By the time the voices of the veela and their admirers faded away, we were in the very heart of the forest, and completely alone. Everything was so much more quieter now.
"We should stay here," Harry said, "We'd be able to hear anything a mile off."
"Hey Angel, did you pick anything up from the people in the masks?" I asked.
She shook her head, her curls flopping over her head, "I couldn't get anything from them. It was like they were dead, or just turned their minds off. It was like the Malfoy's at the match, and some other people in the Top Box," Angel explained.
"Maybe wizards can block out people that can read minds? Like, using a spell or something?" the Gasman said. "Yeah, maybe," I said. The words had hardly left my mouth when we were interrupted by Bagman, who came bursting through the trees.
"Who's that?" he asked, trying to make out our faces. "What are you all doing here, on your own?"
"There's kinda riot going on," Iggy said. Bagman blinked, and asked, "What?"
"At the campsite. Some people have got a hold on a Muggle family," Fang said.
Bagman swore loudly, then Disapparated with a faint pop.
"Not exactly on top of things, is he?" Nudge said, frowning.
"He was an excellent Beater, though," Ron said, leading the way over to a small clearing and sitting down in the grass, "The Wimbourne Wasps won the league three years in a row when he was with them."
He took out his tiny figure of Krum, let it on the ground and watched it walk around. It was duck-footed, like the real life Krum, not as graceful as he was on a broomstick. I was listening out for any noises from the campsite, but it seemed quiet. Maybe the riot was over.
"I hope the others aren't hurt," Angel said after a while.
"They'll be fine," Iggy said, putting a brotherly arm around Angel.
"Imagine how wicked it would be if your dad caught Lucius Malfoy," Harry said, sitting down beside Ron. "He always said he'd love to get something over him."
"That would wipe the smirk off old Draco's face, alright," I said, sitting beside him. The others sat in a wide circle around the clearing.
"The poor Muggles though," Hermione said anxiously, "What if they can never get them down?"
"They will," Ron said reassuringly, "Of course they will."
"It's mad though," Fang said, "That they'd do something like that on a night when the whole Ministry of Magic is here. I mean, how did they get passed all the protection-?" he broke off, looking over his shoulder into the tree's. We all looked around too. It sounded as if someone was staggering around in the bushes in the clearing, but we couldn't see anything. We waited, holding our breath, wands held tightly, listening to the footsteps. But them the footsteps came to a sudden halt.
"Hello?" Harry called. There was silence.
Harry climbed to his feet, looking into the trees. It was too dark to see very far, even for the flock, but we could all sense someone standing just where we couldn't see. "Who's there?" Harry said.
Then without warning, the silence was broken by a voice unlike any other that we've heard in the woods. It shouted, not a panicked yell, but what sounded like a spell. "MORSMORDRE!" Something big, green and glittering erupted from the patch of darkness. It flew over the treetops and into the sky.
"What the-?" Gazzy gasped, climbing to his feet.
"Oh no," Ron said, staring at the thing in the sky with wide eyes.
For a second, I thought it was another leprechaun formation. Then I realized it was a massive green skull, made of what looked like stars, with a serpent slithering out of it's mouth like a tongue. As we watched it, it rose higher and higher into the sky, etched against the black sky like one of the constellations Jeb used to teach the flock every night.
Suddenly, the entire forest erupted in screams. I didn't get why, but the only reason had to be the only reason was the sudden appearance of the skull, which was now so high in the sky that it was illuminating the entire forest. I scanned the trees for the person that had conjured it, but I didn't see anyone.
"Who's there?" I shouted.
"Max, come on, move!" Hermione said, tugging on my sleeve.
"What's wrong?" I asked, startled by how terrified and pale Hermione looked.
"What is that skull thing?" Harry asked, coming up behind me.
"It's the Dark Mark!" Hermione moaned. "You-Know-Who's sign!"
"Voldemort's-"
"Harry, come on!" Hermione snapped. Ron stooped down and picked up his small Krum figure, and followed us out of the clearing. We had barely taken ten steps when there was a series of loud popping, announcing the arrival of twenty or so wizards, appearing from thin air, surrounding us. I whirled around, taking in the fact that every single wizard had a wand pointing at us.
Without thinking, I yelled, "DUCK!" I pulled Harry and Hermione down with me, and saw the others dropping to the ground too.
"STUPEFY!" yelled twenty different voices at the same time. There was a series of blinding flashes and I felt my hair fly around my back as if a sudden wind swept through the clearing. I raised my head slightly, and saw jet's of fiery red light flying all over the clearing, bouncing off the trees and rebounding into the darkness. Then we heard a familiar voice shouting, "Stop! STOP! That's my son!"
I felt my hair stop flying about and raised my head higher. The wizards around us were lowering their wands. I rolled over and saw Mr Weasley jogging towards us, looking terrified but furious.
"Kids! Are you alright?" he asked, helping us to our feet.
"Out of the way, Arthur," came a cold voice. It was Mr Crouch. He and the other Ministry workers were closing in on us. Crouch's face was purple with rage. Angel walked slowly over to me, and took my hand.
"Which of you did it?" Crouch shouted, "Which one of you conjured it?"
"We didn't do that!" Harry said, gesturing up at the skull.
"We never did anything!" I snapped, "Why did you attack us?"
"Do not lie, miss!" Crouch yelled, pointing his wand right at my face, his eyes popping- he looked mental. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"
"How do you think we did that?" I cried, "We're kids! Ages fourteen to six! How are we meant to know how to do Voldemort's mark?"
A witch standing beside Crouch winced at Voldemort's name, but said, "Barty, the girl has a point. They're children. They'd never be able to conjure the Mark."
"Where did the Mark come from?" Mr Weasley said.
"Over there," Hermione said, pointing to the clearing. "There was someone in the trees. They shouted words- an incantation."
"Oh, stood over there, did he?" Crouch said, looking at Hermione, disbelief etched on his face. "Said an incantation, did he? You seem to know a fair bit about the Dark Mark is summoned, missy-"
"But you need to say an incantation to do a spell!" I said, nearly laughing at how mad Crouch was sounding.
"I don't like your tone, missy!" Crouch said.
"I don't like your mustache," I said evenly.
"Listen here-" Crouch started, but stopped when all the Ministry workers raised their lit wands to the patch of trees Hermione had pointed out. None of them seemed to believe that it was us that conjured the Dark Mark.
"We're too late," a witch said, "They'll have Disapparated."
"I don't think so," said a wizard with a scrubby beard. It was Amos Diggory, Cedric's father. "Our Stunners went right through the trees. Might of hit him."
"Amos, be careful!" said a few wizards warningly as Diggory squared his shoulders, raised his wands, marched across the clearing and disappeared into the trees. Hermione watched him walked away with a hand over her mouth. A few seconds later, we heard Diggory shouting, "Aha! Yes, we've got them! There's someone here! Unconscious! It's- but- blimey..."
"You've got someone?" shouted Crouch, sounding disbelieving. "Who? Who is it?"
We heard snapping twigs, the rustling of leaves, and then the footsteps of Diggory as he emerged from the trees. He was carrying a tiny, limp body in his arms. I recognized the tea-towel at once.
It was Winky.
Crouch didn't move or speak as Diggory dumped Winky at Crouch's feet. The other Ministry workers were staring at Crouch, speechless. For a few seconds, Crouch stayed transfixed, his eyes blazing in his white face as he stared at Winky. Then it was like he came back to life.
"This-cannot-be," he said jerkily. "No-"
He quickly strode off to where Diggory found Winky.
"No point, Crouch," Diggory called after him, "No one else there!" But Crouch didn't seem to want to take his word for it. We could hear him walking around in the trees, pushing bushes aside, searching.
"Bit embarrassing," Diggory said grimly, looking down at Winky's unconscious form.
"Barty Crouch's own house-elf...I mean to say..."
"Come off it, Amos," Mr Weasley said, "You can't possibly believe the elf did it? The Dark Mark is a wizards sign. It requires a wand."
"Yeah," Diggory said, "And she had a wand."
"What?"
"Here, look," Diggory said, holding up a wand to show 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 a wand."
Just then, there was a loud pop and Bagman Apparated beside Mr Weasley. Looking breathless and disorientated, he spun on the spot, goggling at the green-skull in the sky.
"The Dark Mark!" he gasped, "Who did it? Did you get them? Barty! What's happening?"
Crouch returned empty-handed. His face was still white and his hands were trembling.
"Where have you been, Barty?" Bagman asked, "Why weren't you at the match? Your elf was at the match, saving you a seat- jumping gargoyles!" Bagman had only just noticed Winky lying on the ground, "What happened to her?"
"I have been busy, Ludo," Crouch said, still talking in a jerky manner, "As for my elf- well, she has been stunned."
"Stunned? By you guys? But why-?" Comprehension dawned on Bagman's face; he looked up at the skull, then down at Winky.
"No!" he gasped, "Winky? Conjure the Dark Mark? She wouldn't know how! She'd need a wand for a start-"
"She had one," Diggory said, "I found her holding one, Ludo. If it's okay with you, Barty, I think we should hear what she has to say for herself."
Crouch gave no sign that he heard Diggory, but Diggory seemed to take his silence for assent. He raised his own wand, pointed it at Winky and said, "Ennervate!" Winky stirred feebly. Her giant brown eyes opened and she blinked a few times before in a bemusement way. Watched by all the wizards around her, she raised herself shakily into a sitting position.
She saw Diggory's feet, and slowly raised her big eyes to look at his face. Then, even more slowly, she looked up at the sky. I could see the skull reflected in her massive, glassy brown eyes. She gasped, looked around the crowded clearing and burst into terrified tears.
"Elf!" Diggory said sternly. I wanted to punch him. "Do you know who I am? I am a member of the Department for the Regulations and Control of Magical Creatures!"
Winky began to rock backward and forward on the ground, her breath coming in sharp gasps.
"As you see, elf, the Dark Mark has been conjured here just a short while ago," Diggory went on, "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!" Diggory snapped, waving the wand in front of Winky's face. The wand flashed in the light from the green skull, and it looked strangely familiar.
"Hey-that's mine!" Harry said. Everyone looked at him. "Excuse me?" Diggory asked.
"That's mine!" Harry said. "I dropped it!"
Oh God, here we go. And, as if on cue, Diggory said, "You dropped it? is this a confession? You threw it aside after you conjured the Dark Mark?"
"Amos, look at who you're talking to!" Mr Weasley said. "Do you really think Harry Potter is likely to conjure You-Know-Who's Mark?"
"Er- oh, of course not," Diggory mumbled, "Sorry- got a bit carried away..."
"Oh, you don't say," I said sarcastically. Diggory glared at me, but before he could say something stupid, Harry said, "I didn't drop it there anyway." he jerked his thumb towards the trees. "I only noticed it was gone when we got into the woods."
"So?" Diggory said, his eyes hardening when he looked back at Winky, who was sobbing on the ground, clutching her knees to her chest, "You found this wand, did you, elf? And you picked it up, thought you could have some fun with it, did you?"
"I is not doing magic, sir!" Winky squealed, tears running down her face onto her tea-towel. "I is- I is- I is just picking it up, sir! I is not making the Dark Mark sir, I is not knowing how!"
"It wasn't her!" Hermione said. She looked nervous, yet determined all the same, "Winky's voice is very squeaky and high, and the voice we heard saying the spell was very deep, and definitely a male!" She looked around at us for support. "It didn't sound anything like Winky, did it?"
"Not one bit," I said, impressed with Hermione.
"It wasn't an elf," Harry said.
"Definitely human," Nudge added.
"Well, we'll soon see," Diggory said, looking like he didn't believe a word we were saying. "There's a simple way of discovering the last spell a wand cast, elf, did you know that?"
That was it. "Will you stop calling her `elf'! She has a name, you know, or are you too stupid to know that!" I snapped.
"Max!" Mr Weasley said sternly. I closed my mouth, giving Diggory my death glare. I was glad to see him look slightly nervous.
Winky was trembling as Diggory raised his own wand and placed it tip-to-tip on Harry's.
"Prior Incantato!" Diggory said. Hermione gasped, horrified; a gigantic green serpent-tongued skull came from the wand, but it was a mere shadow of the green skull in the air above us, like the ghost of a spell.
"Deletrius!" Diggory said, and the smoky skull vanished.
"So," Diggory said with a savage triumph, looking down at Winky who was shaking.
"I is not doing it!" she squealed hysterically, "I is not! I is not, I is not knowing how! I is a good elf! I ain't using wands! I isn't knowing how!"
"You've been caught red-handed, elf!" Diggory shouted.
"Her name is Winky!" Angel said savagely. Diggory ignored her.
"You've been caught with a guilty wand in your hand!" Diggory said.
"Amos," Mr Weasley said loudly, "Think about it. Only a few wizards know how to cast that spell. Where would she have learnt it?"
"Perhaps Amos is suggesting," Crouch said slowly, cold anger in every word, "that I teach my servants to conjure the Dark Mark?"
There was a really awkward silence. Diggory was looking horrified. "Mr Crouch...not...not at all..."
"You have come close to accusing the two people in this clearing who are least likely to conjure the Mark!" Crouch barked. "Harry Potter-and myself. I suppose you are familiar with the boy's story, Amos?"
"Of course- everyone knows," Diggory said, looking uncomfortable.
"And I trust you remember the many proofs I have given, over an extremely long career, that I despise the Dark Arts and those who practice them?" Crouch said, his mustache twitching and his eyes popping.
"Mr Crouch, I-I never suggested you had anything to do with this!" Diggory muttered again, blushing underneath his scrubby beard.
"If you accuse my elf, you accuse me, Amos!" Crouch shouted. "Where else would she have learnt how to do it?" I was glad someone other than us was standing up for Winky.
"She might've picked it up from anywhere-"
"Precisely, Amos," Diggory said, "She might've picked it up from anywhere...Winky?" Mr Weasley said kindly, turning to the elf. She flinched as if he was shouting at her too. "Where did you find Harry's wand?"
Winky was twisting the end of her tea-towel. "I-I was finding it...finding it there, sir..." she whispered. "There... in the trees."
"You see, Amos," Mr Weasley said, straightening up. "Whoever conjured the Mark Disapparated right after they did it, leaving Harry's wand behind. A clever thing to do, not using their own wand, which would have only betrayed them. And Winky here was unfortunate enough to pick it up."
"But then she could of only been feet away from the real culprit!" Diggory said. "Elf! Did you see anyone?"
I resisted telling Diggory that elf wasn't her name. Winky started trembling harder then before, and her eyes flickering from Diggory, to Bagman and finally on Crouch as she said, "I is seeing no one, sir."
"Amos," Crouch said curtly, "I am of course fully aware, in the ordinary course of events, that you would want to take Winky into your department for questioning. I ask you, however, to allow me to deal with her."
Diggory looked like he didn't like the suggestion at all, but it was clear that Crouch was an important man in the Ministry and he didn't dare refuse him.
"You may be rest assured that she will be punished," Crouch said.
"M-m-master..." Winky stammered, looking up at Crouch, her eyes filling with tears. "M-master...p-p-please..."
Crouch stared back, his eyes sharpened. There was no pity in his face.
"Winky has behaved tonight in a way I would not have believed possible," Crouch said slowly. "I told her to remain in the tent. I told her to stay there while I dealt with the chaos. And I find now that she disobeyed me. This mean clothes."
"No!" shrieked Winky, "No, master! Not clothes, not clothes!"
I knew that the only way to free a house-elf was to give them clothes. It was pitiful to see the way Winky clutched her tea-towel and sobbed over Crouch's feet.
"But she was scared!" I said angrily. "She was scared that there was a riot going on, and wanted to make sure she didn't get hurt! You can't blame her for that!"
"And she's frightened of heights! And you made her stay in the Top Box during the match! And those people are levitating people high in the air!" Hermione said.
Crouch stepped away from Winky, freeing himself from contact with the elf, who he was surveying as though he was something horrible on the bottom of his shoes. "I have no need for a house-elf that disobeys me," he said, looking at me and Hermione. "I have no use for a servant who forgets what is due to her master, and her masters reputation."
Winky was crying so hard that her sobs echoed around the clearing. There was a nasty silence, which was ended by Mr Weasley saying, "Well, I think I'll take my lot back to our tents, if no one objects. Amos, the wand has told us everything it can- if Harry could have it back, please." Diggory gave Harry back his wand, and Harry stuffed it onto his jacket pocket.
"Come on, then," Mr Weasley said. I picked Angel up and placed her on my hip, still staring at the sobbing Winky, anger coursing through my veins. Hermione didn't seem to want to move, and she was staring at Winky too. "Hermione, Max, let's go!" Mr Weasley called. We turned and walked over to the others, out of the clearing and out through the trees.
"What's going to happen to Winky?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know," Mr Weasley said, walking very fast.
"They way they were treating her!" Hermione said. "Mr Diggory calling her elf all the time...and Mr Crouch! He knows she didn't do anything, and he's still sacking her! He didn't care that she was terrified, or really upset- it was like she wasn't even human!"
"Well, she isn't human," Ron said.
Hermione rounded on him, furious. "It doesn't mean she doesn't have feeling, Ron-"
"I agree with you, Hermione," Mr Weasley said, beckoning her on, "but now is not the time to talk about elf rights. I want to get back to the tent as fast as possible. What happened to the others?"
"We lost them in the dark," Iggy said.
"Dad, why was everyone so uptight about the skull thing?" Ron asked.
"I'll explain everything back in the tent," Mr Weasley said. But when we reached the tent, we had to slow town considerably. A large crowd of frightened witches and wizards were walking everywhere, and when they saw Mr Weasley walking out of the trees, loads of them surged towards us.
"What's going on?"
"Who conjured it?"
"Arthur, it isn't- it isn't Him, is it?"
"Of course it isn't Him," Mr Weasley said, "We don't know who it is. Looks like they Disapparated. Now, excuse me, I'd like to go to bed."
He led us all through the crowd back to the campsite. All was quiet now; there wasn't any sign of the masked wizards, though several tents were still smoking. Charlie's head was poking out of the boys tent.
"Dad, what's going on? Fred, George and Ginny got back okay, but the others-"
"I've got them here," Mr Weasley said, entering the tent. We all walking in after him.
Bill was sitting at the table, holding a bed sheet to his arm, which was bleeding heavily. Charlie's shirt was ripped, and Percy's nose was bleeding. The twins and Ginny were fine, but shaken.
"Did you get them?" Bill asked, "Whoever conjured the Dark Mark?"
"No," Mr Weasley said, "We found Barty Crouch's elf with Harry's wand, but we don't know who actually conjured the Mark."
"What?" Bill, Charlie and Percy said together. "Harry's wand?"
"Mr Crouch's elf?" Percy asked.
With some help from us, Mr Weasley explained everything that happened in the woods.
"Well, Mr Crouch was quite right to get rid of an elf like that!" Percy said, "Running away when he told her not to! Embarrassing him in front of the Ministry like that...how that would of looked, if she was brought in front of the Department for the Regulation and Control-"
"She never did anything!" I snapped, putting Angel on the ground. "She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time! She never did anything wrong!"
"Max, a wizard in Mr Crouch's position can't afford to have an elf who's running amok with a wand!" Percy said.
"She wasn't running amok!" Hermione said angrily, "She just picked it up!" Everyone was taken aback. Normally, Hermione and Percy got along very well.
"Look, can someone just explain what that skull thing was?" Ron asked. "It wasn't hurting anyone. Why was everyone freaking out?"
"I told you, Ron, it's You-Know-Who's sign," Hermione said, still glaring at Percy.
"And it hasn't been seen for over thirteen years," Mr Weasley said, casting a side-glance at Harry, "Of course people panicked. It was like seeing You-Know-Who himself."
"I don't get it," Iggy said, "It's just a shape in the sky."
"Iggy, You-Know-Who and his followers sent that symbol into the sky whenever they killed," Mr Weasley said patiently, "It spread terror like wild fire. You have no idea, you're too young. Just imagine coming home and finding that over your house, and knowing what was waiting for you inside," Mr Weasley winced, "Everyones worst fear."
Bill, removing the blanket from his arm, said, "Well it didn't help us tonight. It scared away the Death Eaters the moment they saw it. They all Disapparated before we got to unmask any. We caught the Robert's family before they hit the ground, though. They're having their memories modified right now."
"Death Eaters?" Harry asked, "What are Death Eaters?"
"It's what You-Know-Who's followers called themselves," Charlie said. "I think we saw what was left of them tonight- the ones who managed to keep themselves out of Azkaban."
"We can't prove it was them, Charlie," Mr Weasley said, "Though it was probably was," she said after a second thought.
"Yeah, I bet it was!" Ron said, "Dad, we met Draco Malfoy in the woods, and he as good as told us his dad was one of the masked people! And we all know the Malfoy's were pretty close with You-Know-Who!"
"But what were Voldemort's-" everyone flinched apart from the flock, "Sorry," Harry added quickly, "What were You-Know-Who's supporters up to, levitating Muggles? I mean, what's the point?"
"The point?" Mr Weasley said, giving a dry laugh. "Harry, that's their idea of fun! Have the Muggles killing back when You-Know-Who was in power was for fun. I suppose they had a few drinks and couldn't resist reminding us all what it was like when they were at large."
"But wouldn't they be happy if they saw the Dark Mark?" Ron asked.
"Think, Ron!" Mr Weasley said. "If they really were Death Eaters, they've worked very hard these past few years to keep out of Azkaban, and told all sorts of lies about You-Know-Who forcing them to kill and torture people. They'd probably be even more frightened then the rest of us if he ever came back. They denied ever being involved with him. I don't reckon he wouldn't be very please with them, do you?"
"So...whoever conjured the Dark Mark, were they doing it as support for the Death Eaters, or to scare them away?" Hermione asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine, Hermione," Mr Weasley said. "But I'll tell you this. It was only the Death Eaters that knew how to conjure it back in the days. I bet the person that did it was either a Death Eater before, or is still one now. Listen, it's very late and if your mother heard about what happened, she'd be very worried. We'll get another few hours sleep, then get an early Portkey out of here."
I went back to my bunk, my mind buzzing. I knew I ought to feel exhausted, it was nearly three in the morning, but I felt wide awake. And worried.
On the day I found out Sirius was my father, our Divination teacher, Sybill Trelawney, made a prediction that Voldemort would come back with the help of his servant. Peter Pettigrew escaped that night too. What if he was coming back? What if the Dark Mark was a sign?
It was a long time before I finally feel asleep.
Sorry this took so long! It's such a long chapter, and typing with two broken fingers is a bit awkward, hard nd slow!
Anyway, hope everyone liked the chapter!
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