Here's chapter 51. Thank you for your review Cookie Spasm. I meant that Padma was considering joining the Hunters. I fixed that in the chapter. Thank you for voicing your confusion otherwise I never would have noticed. Thank you sassiecassie218, BatFamilyFan01, ArtemisLovegood, JPJacksAniBrony(yes I meant you), QuillMist9674, percyjacksonfan135, and laurenroxbrough. To QuillMist9674, the wizards know the Greek gods exist. In the chapter Dragons and Detention, I mention a war between demigods and wizards that Professor Binns was teaching them about. A friend of mine gave me the couple name Apollina and I decided to stick with that. Sorry guys. Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Fifty One: Maze and Voldemort
On the day of the third task, McGonagall approached me during breakfast, followed by Harry, Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor. "Jackson,the champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall. The champions' families are invited to watch the final task. This is a chance for you to meet with them." I jumped up and waved goodbye to my friends. Cedric met his parents right next to the door. Viktor met his parents by the fireplace. Fleur's mom and little sister were over by the sofa. Mrs. Weasley and Bill had come to cheer Harry on. Bill gave me a thumbs up and Mrs. Weasley glared at me.
I honestly didn't think any of my family would show up with the war and everything. I didn't see them at first, but then a group of people caught my eye. Percy, Dad, Artemis, and Apollo all had come to cheer me on. I dashed up to them and Apollo pulled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he swung me around like he used to do when I was a little girl. Then, Artemis hugged me followed by my brother. Dad hugged me last. "What are you guys doing here?" I asked in an urgent whisper. "What about the war?"
"Relax," Percy said. "Chiron said I could use a break so I thought a good break would be watching you get yourself almost killed." Everyone glared at Percy for his phrasing. "I said almost!"
"Oceanus is preparing an attack, but we have set up as much as we can and there is no way we could be more prepared," Dad said, quietly.
"What if he finds out you're not there and attacks?"
"He will not be strong enough to attack for another month, child. The sea is safe for now."
"What about you two?"
"It's not like Zeus thinks I'm useful for anything," Apollo pointed out. "He's been yelling at me to get out of the way for the past month. Hey, who's the redhead?" Apollo pointed at Bill.
"Bill Weasley, why?"
"Isn't he the son-" Artemis clasped her hand over Apollo's mouth. She hissed something in his ear.
"What?" Percy and I asked.
"Nothing," Artemis said, glaring at Apollo. He shrugged. "My Huntresses have been prepared for battle. There is nothing more we can do except wait for the actual battle to start."
I nodded my head. Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad they all came, but these are some of the best warriors, no matter how much Apollo hates fighting. I looked up and smiled. "C'mon, I'll show you around." I grabbed Apollo's hand and dragged him from the room. I could hear the others following us.
I led everyone around my school. Percy was greatly amused when the portrait of Sir Cadogan started yelling at him. He pulled Riptide out, in its pen form, and asked the silly knight if wanted to have a fight. I dragged him away before the knight could answer. Everywhere we went, girls were staring at my boyfriend and my brother. I glared at them all and Apollo kissed me when I pointed out Harry so he could send a very clear message to the boy. I'm Apollo's and only Apollo's. Apollo probably would have kept kissing me if my dad hadn't coughed to tell him other people were there. He pulled away blushing slightly. I knew I was blushing too. Apparently, gods blush golden. When I asked about it, Artemis said, "Blushing occurs when blood rushes to your cheeks. Since gods have ichor instead of blood, we blush golden." I giggled, that was kinda weird.
At lunch, Lav, Vati, and Nev joined us. Fred, George, and Bill looked like they were about to get up and join us too, but they looked to be too scared of Mrs. Weasley. I don't blame them, she is pretty scary. Apollo decided that Benny Tudino makes better pizza than the house-elves. I agreed along with Artemis. Dad and Percy looked at us funny.
It was time for the third task. It was a giant maze and we had to reach the center of it where the Triwizard cup was. Everyone hugged me and Apollo gave me a kiss for good luck. Dad gave me an extra hug too. I was going in first since I had the most points. The judges were Cornelius Fudge, in place of Barty Crouch who had mysteriously disappeared, Bagman, Madame Maxime, Karkaroff, and Dumbledore.
Bagman blew his whistle and I headed into the maze. I heard Moody mutter that I should go left. If he was going to cheat, I was going to go right. As the entrance to the maze closed up, I pulled out Mov. I felt the same way I did when I fell into the Labyrinth last summer. Back before the war really started. At first, I didn't meet any dark creatures, but eventually I ran into a griffin. It lunged at me and I slashed Mov down at it. It tried to flinch back, but it was too slow. The Celestial Bronze dug into its flesh and it exploded. I kept running.
I took a right as soon as I could. I could sense the general direction the cup was in because of its powerful magic. My magic just led me towards the large source of raw magic. I took another turn and ran into a creature I hoped never to see again, Agrius. He saw me and grinned, his mouth dripping blood. I raised Mov again when I realized something. This can't be Agrius because he's in America. "Riddikulus!" I shouted. The Agrius look alike turned into a guinea pig. It was just a boggart.
I ran on until I was faced with a sphinx. Before she could start talking, Harry joined us. I glared at him and waited for the sphinx to ask her riddle.
First, think of a person who lives in disguise,
Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.
Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend,
The middle of middle and end of the end?
And finally give me the sound often heard
During the search for a hard-to-find word.
Now string them together, and answer me this,
Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?
"A person who lives in disguise," Harry repeated. He looked at me for the answer.
"I'd say a ninja, but they can't tell lies because they don't speak."
"Oh, wait, I got it. A spy, right?" The sphinx nodded. "The last thing to mend, middle of middle, and end of the end."
"Oh, I love that kind of puzzle. It's the letter. The last thing to mend is a D, the middle of middle is a D, and the end of the end is a D." The sphinx nodded again. "Alrighty then, a sound you say when there's a hard-to-find word. Er...that'd be...er.."
"Hang on," said Harry. "Er's a sound! Now, put them together to find a creature you wouldn't want to kiss."
"Spy-d-er. Spider. I wouldn't want to kiss a spider!" The sphinx nodded. She stood up and moved aside for us to pass by her. Harry and I ran forward. There it was, the Triwizard cup was right in front of us. Suddenly, a dark figure jumped out and began running at it. Cedric was going to beat us to the cup. Another dark figure, this one much larger, rushed out of the hedges and rammed into Cedric. It was a humungous spider. Go figure.
Cedric fell to the ground and his wand was flung from his hand. Harry started shooting curses at the creature. They all just bounced off of the spider's thick skin. I knew what I had to do, and I was absolutely disgusted by it. I pulled Mov from its sheath. From the light given off by the metal, I could see the spider's glistening eyes and its hairy pincers. Before I could make a move, It lifted Harry up with those gross pincers. It swung Harry around. I started running straight at it. I jumped off the ground and held Mov out in front of me, pointing down. I started to fall out of the sky. Mov sank into the spider's hair covered skin. It dropped Harry and I heard his leg snap. The spider shook a little before bursting into golden dust. I dropped to the ground, landing on all fours.
I jumped up and ran over to Harry. Cedric was already at his side. At some point, Cedric had found his wand. I summoned a splint and some duct tape from my bracelet. Cedric held Harry down as I set his leg. Cedric and I supported Harry. We all went up to the cup. Cedric looked at Harry and me. "Together then?"
I nodded. "On three, one-two-three-" We all grabbed the cup at the same time. I felt a jerking sensation, and we were suddenly being transported somewhere, like a portkey. We landed in what looked like a graveyard. We all pulled our wands out. Mov was in my right hand and my wand in my left. Who knew what was out here. I saw someone coming out of the darkness. Whoever it was was carrying a bundle. As they got closer, I could see it was a man.
A cold voice hissed, "Kill the spare." A jet of green light hurtled towards Cedric. At the last moment, I tackled him. We fell to the ground and the curse just missed Cedric's head.
"Stay down," I whispered so quietly only Cedric could hear me. Pretend to be dead. Don't move no matter what unless I say to. Blink twice to show you understand." Cedric did as told before closing his eyes. I stood up and said, "You killed him! How could you kill an innocent boy?"
"Quiet!" the man shouted at me. Good, he believes Cedric is dead. The man put down his bundle which I realized must be some sort of a person because it had ordered the man to kill Cedric. The man muttered some curse and pointed his wand at me. I flew towards a large gravestone and was bound to it. Thomas and Mary Riddle were the names on the headstone. The man did the same to Harry. I could just make out the name on the headstone Harry was tied to, Tom Riddle. He must be related to the people who were buried under me. Harry's feet reached the ground beneath him. I was too short, my feet dangling a couple inches from the ground. The man shoved a piece of cloth in my mouth. I noticed that he was missing a finger. It was Peter Pettigrew. I made sure to bite his finger really hard as he shoved the cloth in my mouth.
Pettigrew went to a spot in front of us. He lit a fire and only then did I realize there was a cauldron large enough to fit a human body. What the Hades was he trying to do? The liquid in the cauldron began to boil very fast. Sparks were flying off of it. Wormtail pulled open the bundle of robes on the ground. There was a pinkish body inside. it was disgusting and disturbing. Its face was flat and snakelike. I instantly knew what it was, what was left over of Voldemort. He was trying to build himself a new body. Wormtail lifted up the Dark Lord and plopped him down inside the cauldron. It hissed and sparked even more. Pettigrew began to chant something. "Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!" A bone rose from the grave Harry was standing on. It plopped into the cauldron. The liquid turned a poisonous looking blue.
Pettigrew began to whimper. "He pulled a long, thin, silver dagger from his cloak. He started to dry sob. "Flesh-of the servant-w-willingly given-you will-revive-your master." His voice was broken by sobbing. He held his arm over the boiling liquid and cut off his hand. I almost threw up. Pettigrew's scream pierced the night air and I almost, almost, felt sorry for him. The liquid in the cauldron turned a vivid red.
Pettigrew staggered up in front of me. I tried not to look at his bleeding stump of an arm, instead choosing to look into his beady eyes, tears filling them. He pierced my arm with the dagger, which he had cleaned on his robes, and let my blood trickle into a glass bottle. He let some of Harry's blood drop into the bottle and mix with mine. "B-blood of mage and enemy...forcibly taken...you will...resurrect your foe." He let our blood drip down into the cauldron. The liquid turned a blinding white.
The cauldron began to boil even more violently. The sparks coming off the surface stopped. A surge of white steam billowed off it. A man stood from inside the cauldron. "Robe me," he ordered. Wormtail quickly did as told. The man stepped out of the cauldron. Lord Voldemort has risen again.
A giant snake came from behind the cauldron and started circling Harry and me. Voldemort made Pettigrew hold out his left arm. Voldemort pointed his wand at the mark on it, the Dark Mark. The mark turned jet black instead of just grey. "How many will be brave enough to return when they feel it?" laughed Voldemort. "And how many will be foolish enough to stay away?" Voldemort approached Harry and me. He ran a hand down the side of my face. "You stand, Christina Jackson, upon the remains of my late grandparents. And you, Harry Potter, are on the remains of my late father. All muggles and fools...very like your dear mother, Potter. But they both had their uses, did they not? Your mother died to defend you as a child..and I killed my father, and see how useful he has proven himself, in death..." How sick can you get? Voldemort explained to us how his father had left his mother when he found out she was a witch. "But look, Harry, Christina, my true family returns..."
Loud pops were heard all over. Dark robed figures were appearing. They all had skull masks on their faces. Voldemort stood in silence, waiting for them. They crawled towards him and kissed the hem of his black robes. "Master...Master..." they murmured. Yes, some family they have. They slowly backed away and created a circle. The headstones Harry and I were tied to became a part of the circle and Voldemort was in the middle. There were gaps in the circle as though they were waiting for others to come. Voldemort didn't seem to expect anymore.
"Welcome, Death Eaters. Thirteen years...thirteen years since we last met. Yet you answer my call as though it were yesterday. We are still united under the Dark Mark, then! Or are we? I smell guilt! There is a stench of guilt upon the air. I see you all, whole and healthy, with your powers intact-such prompt appearances! And I ask myself...why did this band of wizards never come to the aid of their master, to whom they swore eternal loyalty? And I answer myself they must have believed me broken, they thought I was gone. They slipped back among my enemies, and they pleaded innocence, and ignorance, and bewitchment...And then I ask myself, but how could they not believe that I would rise again. I who have become immortal!"
"You aren't," I interrupted him, spitting the gag out of my mouth. The Death Eaters all gasped. I guess they weren't used to someone interrupting their master.
"Ah, yes, young Christina Jackson. I nearly forgot you were here, Water Mage." Those Death Eaters who did not read the article Skeeter wrote about Mages still existing gasped. "What could you possibly mean I am not immortal?"
"You are mortal and mortal you will stay. Only a god can grant immortality, and no god would grant it upon you."
"Ah, but you see, I have found ways beyond that of gods to make myself mortal. I shall never die."
"Yet, you are no longer human, you are a monster that belongs in Tartarus!"
"But, I cannot die so I shall never know what it feels like there. Do send my regards to Lord Hades, will you?"
"Thanatos will catch up with you," I hissed at him. Voldemort slapped me and turned away from me. Voldemort raised his wand and placed the cruciatus charm on a Death Eater.
"Get up, Avery. Stand up. I want thirteen long years of service before I forgive any of you. Wormtail here here has paid some of his debt already, have you not, Wormtail? You returned to me, not out of loyalty, but out of fear of your old friends. You deserve this pain, Wormtail."
"Yes master...Please...Master..."
"Yet you helped return me to my body. Worthless and traitorous as you are, you helped me...and Lord Voldemort rewards his helpers..." Voldemort raised his wand and a streak of what looked like silver went flying through the air. It fixed itself upon Pettigrew's bleeding wrist and formed a had. It looked like Michael Jackson's glove.
"It's beautiful, Master. Thank you." Pettigrew scrambled from his spot on the ground to his place in the circle.
"May your loyalty never waver again Wormtail." Voldemort approached the man next to me. "Lucius, my slippery friend. I am told you have not renounced the old ways, though to the world you present a respectable face. You are still ready to take the lead in a spot of Muggle-torture, I believe? Yet, when the Dark Mark showed itself in the sky, you ran. Along with you Crabbe, and you, Goyle, Macnair, Nott." They all began begging for forgiveness. Aren't these supposed to be well respected purebloods? Voldemort stepped to a small space. "Here the Lestranges shout stand. But they are entombed in Azkaban. They were faithful. They went to Azkaban rather than renounce me...When Azkaban is broken open, the Lestranges will be honored beyond their dreams. The dementors will join us...they are our natural allies...we will recall the banished giants...I shall have all my devoted servants return to me, and an army of creatures whom all fear..." He walked towards a large space. "And here we have three missing Death Eaters...three dead in my service. One too cowardly to return...he will pay. One, who I believe has left me forever...he will be killed, of course...and one, who remains my most faithful servant, and who has already re entered my service. He is at Hogwarts, and it was through his efforts that our young friends joined us here tonight...Yes. Harry Potter and Christina Jackson have kindly joined us for my rebirthing party. One might go so far as to call them my guests of honor." Voldemort explained to the Death Eaters how he had used our blood to resurrect himself. He also explained how Bertha Jorkins, a ministry witch, had told him of the Triwizard Tournament unwittingly and how she told him of a faithful Death Eater who would be willing to help.
Voldemort turned to Harry and me again. He used his wand to cut our bondings. He pointed it at me. "Crucio!" he shouted. I felt pain like I had never felt before. It felt like fire was being poured down my throat as 1,000 knives continuously penetrated my skin. It felt as though I was slowly being ripped to pieces and put through a blender. I wanted it all to end. I wanted to die.
Then, the pain stopped. I opened my eyes, panting. I tired to lift myself up from the ground, my my arms were shaking too badly to support myself. I collapsed back onto the ground. The Death Eaters all laughed. Voldemort made Harry get up and had Wormtail give him his wand. "Have you been taught how to duel, Potter?" Harry didn't say anything, but I could practically hear his mind racing. Voldemort gave Harry a mock bow. Harry stood stiff. I could see his injured leg shaking under his weight. Voldemort performed some charm that forced Harry to bow. The Death Eaters started laughing harder. "And now, you face me, like a man...straight backed and proud, the way your father died..." That was low. "And now-we duel." Before Harry could do anything to defend himself, Voldemort had him under the Cruciatus curse.
Harry fell onto the ground. He was screaming and I didn't blame him. I'm pretty sure I was screaming when that curse was placed upon me. What kind of sick person invented a curse like that? Voldemort lifted the curse on Harry, who scrambled up. Voldemort tried to place the curse on Harry again, but Harry rolled out of the way just in time. He dove behind the headstones. Voldemort started yelling at him to stop hiding. I looked back and saw that Cedric was still lying, motionless, next to the cup. Harry dove out from behind the headstone and shout "Expelliarmus!" just as Voldemort shouted "Avada Kedavra!"
Green light hit red and a blast of power emanated from the two spells. I was blasted back towards Cedric. I rolled to a stop right next to him. He opened his eyes and mouthed What's going on?
Harry and Voldemort are dueling. You can move now, they're all focusing on Harry too much to see you anyway. Cedric and I nodded, sitting up. A golden cage of light was surrounding Harry and Voldemort. An old man emerged from Harry's wand. "He was a real wizard, then," said the man. "Killed me that one did...You fight him boy..."
Another ghost popped out of Voldemort's wand. It was a woman. "That's Bertha Jorkins," Cedric whispered in my ear. She told Harry not to let go. She and the old man began to pace around the inner walls of the golden cage.
Another ghostly woman appeared out of Voldemort's wand. I recognized it as Lily Potter. "Your father's coming...Hold on for your father...it will be alright...hold on..."
The ghostly body of James Potter appeared out of the wand and joined his wife next to Harry. James Potter whispered something to his son that I could not hear. I figured no one else could hear it. Harry pulled his wand up. The connection between the wands broke and the ghost people swarmed Voldemort. The cage fell and Harry ran towards us. He dodged spells from Death Eaters and lunged at us. He grabbed my hand and Cedric grabbed my other one. Cedric summoned the Triwizard Cup, and when he grabbed it, we were instantly transported in front of the maze at Hogwarts.