Getting close to the end of Book 4 :D
Harry admitted it in his head that he cheated.
None of the judges would call it that, but it was true: he'd cheated the final task. Of course, they'd said to use any methods to get through the maze that involved a wand and they hadn't told him it wasn't allowed, but honestly it was cheating. Mazes were supposed to be run through after all and turning into a falcon and flying over it had been cheating. Even though it was dark and almost impossible to see with his horrible night vision, Harry had no trouble at all flitting from one hedge to another searching for the cup.
Naturally, it was only logical that he found the cup first and latched onto it before anyone else could have said any differently.
He soon wished that he hadn't.
His dream from last summer exploded around him and he was forced into a dark ritual, which caused to his horror the rise of the Dark Lord. Renewed in strength, the Voldemort summoned his followers and several arrived, each with pleas of mercy and explanations, each one's name revealed: Avery, Malfoy, Macnair, Crabbe, Goyle, and...Nott.
He went on about how he was able to reform and then he decided he would duel and this time kill Harry Potter. Fear gripped Harry, but he was not lost in it. The moment he was free, he dove for a protection and heard the killing curse cast. It missed him and instead hit, to his horror, Macnair, killing the other instantly. It was the most terrible thing Harry had witnessed, the limp body falling to the ground, lifeless without a hope in the world.
"Brilliant boy." Voldemort cackled elatedly. "Let others die for you instead. So much like a Slytherin...if only you would join me."
"Never!" Harry screamed from where he hid, eyes casting about for the Triwizard Cup, hoping it's portkey could take him back to Hogwarts.
A game of hide-and-seek began between the tombstones, but it couldn't last for long. Harry was forced out of hiding and forced to battle Voldemort, only the strangest thing happened. It was almost as if their wands connected and then people began to hope out of the Dark Lord's wand, first and old man from Harry's summer dream and then Bertha Jorkins and then...his mother...and then his father. They kept telling him to hold on, that they'd give him a chance to run. He took it, did as they said and ran like mad for the Portkey which sent him straight back to Hogwarts.
He was sick the moment he landed.
"Harry! Harry!" He was being lifted by strong bony fingers and his head lolled around to see who had him...and his eyes widened at the sight of Petunia. Dumbledore and Snape and Moody all close behind her.
He dropped the cup and grabbed onto her, unable to focus, but able to speak. "He's back. He's back. Voldemort."
Snape froze. Moody stopped a couple steps after him. Dumbledore continued on to help Petunia as Fudge, confused, asked stupid questions if Harry had any right to judge.
"He's back." Harry repeated more adamantly. "Voldemort is back!"
"He needs to go to the Hospital Wing." Fudge gaped at Harry. "He's ill...and Dumbledore...you have to go talk to the Diggorys...their boy...that maze...what happened..."
"What happened?" Harry asked, eyes widening, but Petunia shushed him in an almost soothing way.
"I'll take him." Moody growled to Dumbledore.
"No, I would prefer..."
"Talk to the Diggorys." Moody insisted and Dumbledore stood to do just that, but not before telling Harry to stay put.
"It's all right, son...I've got you...come on...hospital wing..."
"Dumbledore said to stay..." Harry breathed heavily.
"You need to lie down." Moody insisted as he half-carried, half-dragged Harry through the crowd.
"I will come with you." Petunia started along with them, not giving Moody a chance to deny her. He didn't seem fazed by it however.
After a long while, Moody finally asked, "What happened, Harry?"
"Cup was a Portkey...took me to a grave yard...and Voldemort was there...Lord Voldemort..."
"The Dark Lord was there. What happened then?"
"Made a potion...got his body back..."
"The Dark Lord got his body back? He's returned?"
"And the Death Eaters came...and then we dueled..."
"You dueled with the Dark Lord?"
"Got away...my wand...did something funny...I saw my mum and dad..." Petunia gasped. "They came out of his wand..."
A potion was shoved down his throat and he was pushed into a seat.
The questions kept coming, about how Voldemort came back and if he forgave his Death Eaters. This reminded Harry that he needed to tell Dumbledore about the Death Eater who had put his name in the Goblet of Fire. When Moody said he already knew, Harry guessed Karkaroff, but apparently the fool had fled therefore wasn't the one. Before he knew it Moody had confessed a spell binding Petunia to where she stood and his wand pointing at Harry. The explanation left Harry's heart hammering. This was Dumbledore's friend! This wasn an ex-auror! How could he be a servant of the Dark Lord when he had sent so many into the Azkaban?
He was sure to die, Petunia, struggling though she was, wasn't going to save him.
And then McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore arrived, stopping Moody and freeing Petunia from her binds. She grabbed Harry, yanked him to a corner as far from Moody as she could without leaving the room.
The night began to blur with more information about Moody not really being Moody, but someone else who had been disguising as him. They discovered the real Moody and waited until the imposter's true form appeared, which it did just as Snape returned with Veritaserum and Winky the House elf and Minerva with Sirius Black and a large wolf, which was a wolfsbane-subdued Lupin, Harry assumed.
"Barty Crouch!" Snape nearly dropped the vial he was holding.
The story of Barty Crouch put Petunia and Winky in tears and left everyone else, aside from Snape and Dumbledore, dumbstruck.
Afterwards more orders came from Dumbledore to McGonagall and Snape and then Dumbledore faced Lupin and Black. "I would like you both to find Hagrid and return here so that nothing...stupid happens."
They agreed and, giving Harry mournful apologetic looks, both men went on their way.
"With me, Harry." Dumbledore instructed as he moved out the door. "Petunia as well...we are going to my office where Harry can inform me of what has happened."
"Why not after he sleeps?" Petunia asked, showing the motherly side Harry had always hoped she'd show in years past. "He's been through enough."
"If only I could assure him that sleeping would make it easier, but putting off the pain only makes it harder to deal with later."
"Professor..." Harry croaked, not realizing until now how dry his throat was. "What about Cedric? What happened?"
"Werewolf." Dumbledore mumbled sadly and both Harry and Petunia gasped. "It was released into the maze, no doubt, by Barty for the specific purpose of attacking students. It attacked Cedric. Thankfully, he was not killed, however, as we all are well aware, it has done a much worse thing to him."
Harry swallowed hard, his chest aching with pain and his head throbbing. They reached Dumbledore's office and Harry was forced to recount the story of the graveyard and the return of Lord Voldemort to power. The entire time, Petunia sat beside him, one hand gripping his shoulder rougher than he would have liked, but he was thankful for it either way. He learned of Priori Incantatum and that the Phoenix whose feathers were in both Harry's and Voldemort's wands was Fawkes.
The rest of the night moved like a dream as he was escorted to the Hospital Wing and was finally put to sleep, Petunia hanging onto him the entire time.
For the first time in his life, he was grateful for her.
Yeah...I know...strange of Petunia, but I kind of pity her...(Because I'm still hoping for my own Hogwarts' Letter...they give them out when you turn 22 nowadays I hear...damn rumors...why can't they be true?) Anywho...