Figured I'd post this now, while I'm on vacation. (Since it's rainy and all...) I literally have one chapter left to write. The epilogue. So from here on out I'm going to post the last 4 chapters in intervals of about one to two weeks each.
Lastly, these last chapters are soooooo loooooong.

By the time Matsumoto and Rukia returned, things had descended into a sort of subdued chaos.

All around, the students and teachers alike had collapsed. They all seemed to be asleep, though a few, including most of the adults and a few of the older students, twitched or—in the case of an even smaller margin of wizards—struggled to open their eyes.

A large serpentine creature wound itself around the entire audience, a round white mask on both ends. Its mask, unlike a regular hollow's, was completely blank aside from a horizontal line stretching across the lower half of the face. The rest of its body was a dark gray in color, though it seemed almost transparent, as the grass beneath it was vaguely visible under the murky body.

Matsumoto wrinkled her nose at the smell it gave off, like the smell of a dead animal rotting in the heat of summer. Then it roared.

Both shinigami bent over in agony, clutching their heads. One head produced a low, guttural sound like the earth itself shaking, while the other side created a shrill scream that rung in one's ears and left a splitting headache.

They looked back up, finding in the middle of it all one Shouta Izukai. In his hands was a rifle, black as night, his body already sporting multiple injuries and lacerations.

The two flash-stepped towards him, though immediately after landing next to him they had to dodge as one head came crashing down towards them.

"What the hell is that thing?!" Rukia shouted, bringing her zanpakuto down on the body of the creature. Her eyes widened in shock as her blade sank into the body, as if being absorbed.

"It's definitely no hollow I've ever seen!" Matsumoto added, slashing at another part of the body, only for her own blade to bounce off.

Both jumped back, standing back to back with Shouta as the creature's body wound itself further around the area.

"It's the final product." Shouta explained, firing a shot at one head, only for it to be dodged. "Everything they've been doing up until now have been experiments."

"What the hell does that mean?" They were interrupted briefly by a Sokatsui by Rukia, which had as little effect as everything else.

"Exactly what it sounds like," the brunette replied, wincing as he shifted his stance. "The first experiment was Raynaulski; to see if they could bring a soul back from hell intact. They probably tried others before him that failed. Then they laid low for such a long period to observe, gather information, and experiment some more. The attacks on the students was likely done both as a warning and because those particular students had something they needed. Some of the hollows that appeared nearby were probably other failed experiments.

"It's during the Triwizard Tournament that they must've found something that helped them significantly. There was Vellamo, who was working under them, and Moroak, who came to warn us about the use of Dark Magicks. The timing of it all is probably planned as well."

Rukia glanced at him, eyes widening in realization. "Your curse."

Shouta nodded, mouth set in a grim smile. "It makes me largely ineffective in a fight, so that would be one person out of the way. And doing it in the middle of the Tournament would ensure that most of the wizards would be caught off guard as well. The only thing I don't understand is why they went after Harry last year." His voice trailed off quietly as he bit his lip in thought.

"Um, I think you ought to worry about that later." Matsumoto interrupted quietly, a nervous waver in her small laugh.

Both dark-haired foreigners looked up at her. "Why?" They asked simultaneously, and the lieutenant pointed up at the head of the creature before her.

"It's been waiting there while you two have been talking, but I think it's done waiting now." They both snap their heads back up, where the horizontal line on the creature's mask has parted to reveal several rows of long, sharp teeth on one head and two long, gleaming fangs on the other.

"Oh."

Ichigo dodged another attack, a blast of energy that created a deep crater in the ground where he'd stood a moment before. They came one after another, destroying mounds of grass and gravesites and reducing headstones to rubble.

When the onslaught finally ceased, so did Ichigo, panting as he braced himself for another attack. Before him, Aizen smiled. "What's wrong, Ichigo? You're not tired already, are you?" The substitute gritted his teeth, hands simultaneously clenching around his sword.

Across the area, Hitsugaya was stuck in a standstill with Raynaulski, who had at some point switched out the gun for a long katana. The clashing of swords echoed throughout the graveyard.

Another blast redirected his attention back to Aizen as he flipped back, stumbling as he landed. "You shouldn't get so distracted by another's battles." Ichigo's eyes widened at the soft, mocking voice that spoke right next to his ear.

He whirled around, sword slashing wildly through the air, but Aizen had already disappeared, a foot landing square in the middle of his back. The air in his lungs was pushed forcefully out, followed eventually by the rest of his body as he was sent flying forward.

"Ichigo!" Harry's voice cried out, followed by the cracking and breaking of rubble caused by his careening body as he collided with it. He groaned, but pulled himself up with little effort nonetheless.

Everything had gone quiet, and Kurosaki narrowed his eyes as he looked up. Hitsugaya's battle had ceased, hence the lack of metal striking against metal, and with a growl, he quickly found out why.

Raynaulski, with a newly added cut to his cheek, held one Cedric Diggory by the hair, sword held at the boy's neck. Cedric, on his part, looked fairly calm, though his expression was contorted with pain. Hitsugaya stood further back, sword clenched in his hand but lowered nonetheless. The red-eyed man grinned.

"Now, if you all would be so kind as to behave." He stared directly at Ichigo as he spoke, moving the sword just centimeters closer to the blonde's neck. Ichigo clenched his teeth in frustration, but reluctantly, both he and Hitsugaya laid their zanpaktou on the ground.

With the wave of a wand, Aizen sent both shinigami and Harry backwards, ramming into various obstacles. Harry's back hit a large stone angel standing above a grave roughly, though before he could fall, the angel's scythe wrapped around him tightly. Harry grunted at the force straining his throat, his toes just barely grazing the edge of the headstone. His hands pulled at the stone, which refused to budge.

Kurosaki hit the ground first, sliding and rolling a few times before his head rather painfully hit the remnants of a tombstone farther back. He groaned as he pulled himself up, hands touching gingerly the hairs matted down by the blood coating the back of his head.

Hitsugaya flew farther, but before hitting the ground he managed to flip midair, landing on his feet. The sheer force of the landing, however, sent him sliding several more feet back. He looked back up at the center of the clearing where, now that their opponents had moved, he could see a large steaming cauldron.

Raynaulski grinned satisfactorily as he moved off to the side, dragging Cedric with him. Aizen glanced over to the two shinigami glaring at him before sighing and stepping back as well.

They all turned their attention towards Pettigrew, who still quivered in the background. Seeing everyone staring at him, he straightened, and a breathy hiss made him jump into action.

Pettigrew lifted the bundle in his arms almost reverently before dropping it into the cauldron. With a wave of his wand, from the grave beneath Harry rose a bone. "Bone of the father, unknowingly given," he recited, dropping the bone into the cauldron, "you will renew your son." Sheathing his wand, he glanced at Harry and the others. "Flesh of the servant," he continued, pulling out with a flourish a long dagger. His voice quivered as he spoke, stepping towards the cauldron and raising his other hand. "…Willingly given, you will revive your master." With a single flick of his arm, his hand was severed, falling into the cauldron, followed by Pettigrew's scream of pain.

Both Ichigo's and Hitsugaya's eyes widened, and Harry squeezed his eyes shut. Pettigrew—or rather, Wormtail—turned towards Harry with wide eyes, and Ichigo pulled himself up. "Don't touch him!" He growled, but hesitated as Diggory's pain-contorted face entered his field of vision again.

Wormtail ignored him, and continued the ritual. "Blood of the enemy," he growled, grabbing Harry's arm and pulling it towards him, "forcibly taken…" Harry stifled a scream as Wormtail dug the knife into his arm. The dark wizard returned to the cauldron, holding the bloody knife over the cauldron. "…You will resurrect your foe." Harry's blood dripped into the cauldron, and Harry began screaming uncontrollably, head thrashing.

"Harry!" Ichigo shouted as Wormtail ran back, cowering as the cauldron and the area surrounding it erupted in flames. They watched, frozen in shock, as a gray-ish, almost amphibious-looking creature arose as the flames died down, echoing Harry's screams for several moments as it grew and straightened before shrinking once more, this time into the size of a man.

A black shroud surrounded it as it shrunk; a vaporous form that materialized around the man into the form of a cloak. And before them stood Voldemort, who turned and surveyed each of them with snake-like, yet eerily human, eyes.

"Welcome back." Raynaulski broke the stunned silence, smirking and nodding in greeting to the legendary dark wizard.

Voldemort didn't respond, only staring at him with those dead, dead eyes for several long moments. "Release him." The voice was equally snake-like; a hiss that sent shivers down everyone's spine. Still trapped by the statue, Harry gasped in pain.

Somewhat hesitantly, the assassin did so, removing the blade from the young wizard's neck and releasing his hold on the blond. Cedric gasped as he fell forward onto his hands and knees, coughing and trembling. Almost immediately, Hitsugaya and Kurosaki raced forward, Ichigo checking on Cedric before releasing Harry with a swing of Zangetsu. He caught the fourth year as the boy fell forward, gasping.

Hitsugaya, meanwhile, turned his blade towards his closest opponent: Aizen. The man didn't look the least bit fazed. His smile widened, and once again he pulled out a wand, pointing it in Hitsugaya's direction. Teal eyes widened as written words from what seemed like forever ago returned to the forefront of his mind.

'It just so happens that my recent
companion here has helped me to acquire a very… special technique.
Being in a school full of wizards, I'm sure you know what I mean. The
Killing Curse, they call it. Have you seen it used yet? It is quite effective.
Very useful, really. With some tweaks, I've made a similar spell of my own.
This one, however, focuses on slow psychological pain. The details will be
a surprise.'

Hitsugaya brought up his zanpaktou in an attempt to block it, only for Aizen to laugh. "Avada Kedavra."

The sickly green light shot out of the wand… and right past his head. If possible, his eyes widened even further, and he whirled around.

No one had time to act as the spell found its target.

"Cedric!"