Here's the next chapter. Thanks for the reviews QuillMist9674, percyjacksonfan135, Sassycassie218, StarlightShivers, BatFamilyFan01, Artemis Lovegood, lunarue.13. To lunarue.13, I love your phrasing. To Artemis Lovegood, I probably will make some type of sequel. To percyjacksonfan135, yes, I'll do every book. I will make up stuff in the last two Heroes of Olympus books though because they haven't been published. Oh my gods, I was scrolling through my emails, looking for any questions you guys had, and I almost responded to an email my band teacher sent out. That would have been weird. Enjoy!
Chapter Fifty Two: Truth Serum and Hospital
I felt myself slam into the ground. I felt a large body land on top of me and another smaller one land next to me. The larger one rolled off and I sat up. Cheers erupted from the stadium. Cornelius Fudge ran up to us. "Voldemort," I gasped. "Voldemort's back!" Fudge gasped. "He's back!" Everything that had just happened caught up with me. I could feel the blood from the cut Pettigrew had made trickling down my arms. My entire body still ached from the cruciatus curse. Harry was sitting up next to me. "Don't just stand there! Voldemort's back!" Tears were mixing with the dirt and grime on my face. The cheers stopped. Dumbledore and all the teachers rushed forwards. I barely noticed that Karkaroff was missing.
Fudge was whispering urgently with Dumbledore and Madame Maxime. Someone grabbed me and Cedric and pulled us up. He started pulling us towards the school, Harry trailing along behind us. There was a clunk with every other step the man took. It was Moody. He took us to his office and forced us into seats. "What happened?" he ordered.
"Cup was a portkey.." gasped Cedric. "Took us to a graveyard..and Voldemort was there...he almost killed me...Nina...Nina, knocked me out of the way...Lord Voldemort..."
"The Dark Lord was there? What happened next?" Mody ordered.
"Made a potion...got his body back..." Harry said.
"The Dark Lord's got his body back? He's returned?"
"And the Death Eaters came...and then Harry and Voldemort dueled..." I continued.
"You dueled the Dark Lord?" Moody asked Harry.
"Got away...my wand...did something funny...I saw my mum and dad...they came out of his wand..." Harry said.
Moody handed us a potion. "Drink this...you'll feel better...come on, now, I need to know exactly what happened..." I recognized the stuff as pepper-up potion. "Voldemort's back, you three? You're sure he's back? How did he do it?"
"He took stuff from his father's grave, and from Wormtail, and me and Nina," Harry said.
"What did the Dark Lord take from you two?" Moody asked.
"Blood," I said, raising my arm. I had worn a short sleeved T-shirt so you could see where Pettigrew had cut me.
Moody hissed. "And the Death Eaters? They returned?" I nodded along with Harry and Cedric. "How did he treat them? Did he forgive them?"
"What does that matter?" Cedric asked.
Moody growled at him and suddenly I remembered something. "There's a Death Eater! There's a Death Eater here, at Hogwarts! They put Harry's name and my name in the Goblet of Fire! They made sure we got through to the end-"
"I know who the Death Eater is," said Moody quietly.
"Karkaroff?" Harry asked. "Where is he? Have you got him? Is he locked up?"
Moody laughed coldly. "Karkaroff? Karkaroff fled tonight, when he felt the Dark Mark burn upon his arm. He betrayed to many faithful Death Eaters to wish to meet them...but I doubt he will get far. The Dark Lord has ways of tracking his enemies."
"But then, who put our names in the goblet?" I asked.
"Who put your name in the Goblet of Fire under the name of different schools? I did. Who frightened off every person I thought might try to hurt you or prevent you from winning the tournament? I did. Who nudged Hagrid into showing you those dragons? I did. WHo helped you see the only way you could beat those dragons? I did. Of course I didn't help Jackson nearly as much. She was far too smart and competent to need my help. She would have caught on if I had tried too much. Who told Cedric to open the egg underwater? I did. I knew he would pass the information onto you, Potter. Decent people are so easy to manipulate." Cedric growled at Moody. I thought he was a good guy. "I gave the book you needed to that idiotic Longbottom boy. Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean, remember? I knew Jackson wouldn't need help with that one when I found out she was a Water Mage. At first, I had no idea why the Dark Lord wanted her to begin with. But somehow, he knew of her status as a Mage. Who informed the house-elf, Dobby, of your situation? I did. Who stunned Fleur Delacour and placed the Imperius Curse on Krum so he would finish off you, Diggory? I did. The Dark Lord didn't manage to kill you Potter, but I will. Imagine how he will reward me when I bring your lifeless body back to him."
"Why?" Harry asked.
"The Dark Lord and I have much in common. Both of us, for instance, had very disappointing fathers...very disappointing indeed. Both of us suffered the indignity of being named after those fathers. And both of us had the pleasure...the very great pleasure...of killing our fathers to ensure the continued rise of the Dark Order!" Moody raised his wand and pointed it at me. "Ladies first!" he smirked. "Avada-" the door burst open and a ball of silver light shot at the man. He was thrown back, unconscious. Dumbledore, Sev, McGonagall, Artemis, Apollo, and Dad burst into the room. Apollo rushed over to me and gathered me in his arms. He pulled me back behind the adults and other immortals. Cedric and Harry were quick to follow. Artemis' eyes were glowing silver. She was completely in tuned with her magic. Dad's eyes were glowing a deep sea-green. He was also in tune with his magic. Apollo, never much of a fighter, busied himself by checking me over head to toe and making sure I wasn't too badly injured. McGonagall tried to usher us out to the Hospital Wing but Dumbledore told her not too.
"This is not Alastor Moody," Dumbledore said quietly. "You have never known Alastor Moody. The real Moody would not have removed you from my sight after what happened tonight. The moment he took you, I knew-and I followed."
Then why the Hades did it take you so long to follow?" I demanded.
Dumbledore, instead of answering, asked, "Why did you not say you had so many Mages in your family, Miss Jackson?"
"What's that got to do with anything?" Apollo asked. "And aren't you supposed to be close friends with the real Moody?" Dumbledore nodded. "Then how come you didn't realize this was an imposter?" Apollo nearly shouted, kicking the fake Moody's limp body.
Artemis placed a hand on his arm. "Calm down, brother. Your anger is not helping." Apollo seemed to relax slightly and pulled me closer to him. I wrapped my arms around his upper body. Dumbledore flicked his wand and the trunk on the other side of the room opened. It was the type of trunk that had seven compartments. The seventh compartment opened. I looked into it and lying on the floor, 10 feet below, was another Alastor Moody. The real one. Dumbledore jumped down and covered the real Moody with a cloak. Then, he climbed back out.
Sev took the hip flask off of fake Moody's hip. He flipped it open and sniffed it. "Polyjuice Potion. He's been taking it every hour on the hour. He should change back in less than a minute." We all watched as the imposter began to change into a different man. The fake eye popped out of his head and the wooden leg came off with a clunk. The long, gray hair retracted into the imposter's head and turned a straw color.
"Crouch," gasped McGonagall. "Barty Crouch Junior." Sev pulled a clear potion out of his robes and my dad backed up to stand with Apollo, Artemis, and me.
Dumbledore pulled Crouch into a chair and forced the veritaserum down his throat. "Enervate," he said, pointing his wand at the limp man, who didn't wake up. Everyone looked at Artemis. She shrugged and walked up to Crouch. Artemis positioned his face then slapped him. He instantly woke up. A nice red mark was on the side of his face. Smirking, my friend walked back to us. "Can you hear me?" Dumbledore asked Crouch.
"Yes," he growled.
"How did you escape Azkaban?"
"My mother knew she was dying, so she convinced my father to rescue me as a last favor to her. He loved her as he had never loved me. He agreed. They gave me Polyjuice Potion containing my mother's hair, and she took some with my hair in it. They switched me and my mother. My mother died within the hour. My father smuggled me out."
"What did your father do with you when he got you home?"
"Staged my mother's death. Had a nice quiet funeral for her. The house-elf nursed me back to health. My father placed the Imperius Curse on me so he could control me. So I wouldn't go back to my master. I was forced to wear an Invisibility cloak day and night."
"Did anyone ever discover you were alive?"
"Bertha Jorkins. My father had to place a strong obliviate on her. She was a mess after that. It damaged her memory permanently."
"Tell me about the Quidditch World Cup."
"Winky talked my father into bringing me. By then, I had managed to almost completely throw off the Imperius Curse. Winky brought me up to the Top Box and was to say she was saving a seat for my father. I saw Potter's wand sticking out of his back pocket and grabbed it. Winky didn't notice because she had her face hidden. She's scared of heights. We went back to the tent. When the Death Eaters came, Winky bound me to her and dragged me to the forest. I shot the Dark Mark into the sky to show the Death Eaters what loyalty to the Dark Lord meant. When the ministry arrived, they sent stunners into the trees. They hit Winky and me and the magic bond she had created broke. Father dismissed Winky for letting me acquire a wand. It was just me and him in the house. My master came for me. The Dark Lord placed my father under the Imperius Curse. I took the place of Alastor Moody."
"What happened to your father afterwards?"
"I killed him. I transfigured him into a bone and buried him where Hagrid had dug up that dirt for the nifflers."
"And tonight..."
"I offered to carry the cup into the maze before dinner. Turned it into a portkey. My master's plan had worked. He has returned to power and I will be honored above all others." An insane smile lit his twisted features and his head drooped onto his shoulders. Dumbledore ordered Sev to take Cedric to the Hospital Wing. He nodded at Dad, Apollo, and Artemis before leaving. McGonagall was told to stand guard while waiting for the minister to get there. Dumbledore led Harry, Dad, Apollo, Artemis, and me up to his office.
Sirius was waiting there in dog form. When we got there, Sirius shifted back and bowed to the gods. Thank the gods Dumbledore in Harry walked in after that. Sirius hugged me and Harry. Dumbledore made a bunch of chairs appear for us. Apollo pulled me into his lap before I could sit in the chair next to him. Dad placed his hand on my shoulder and stood behind the chair. Artemis sat in the chair next to Apollo and me and grabbed his hand. Harry sat on my other side and Sirius stood behind him. "What happened?" asked Sirius urgently. Dumbledore told him everything Barty Crouch had said. Fawkes flew over and landed on Apollo's shoulder. He stroked the phoenix's head absentmindedly.
Dumbledore asked me what happened after we touched the portkey. My dad glared at him and said, "I kori mou has been through enough, headmaster. This can wait until tomorrow. Nina needs rest."
"Mr. Jackson, I must insist-"
"No! I kori mou is going to go to the Hospital Wing! Tomorrow I am bringing her home, Dumbledore! You have no say over what happens to my child while I am here! Come, Nina." I started to stand up.
"I'm afraid I do, sir. You see, this is my school. I can-"
"Shut up, old man!" growled Artemis. Her hands were clenched of keep herself from injuring the man.
"Albus," sighed Sirius, "give it a rest. Let my baby cousin sleep. Harry could use some rest as well. After you, Uncle." Dad nodded at Sirius and helped me stand. He walked out of Dumbledore's office. I followed closely behind him with Artemis, Apollo, Siri, and Harry. Sirius was in his dog form. We didn't notice Dumbledore leaving as well. I directed my dad to the Hospital Wing where we found Cedric telling his parents what happened.
He waved at us and Madame Pomfrey rushed Harry and me into two beds. She started to feed me some thick potion off a spoon. Apollo took it from her and sat next to me on the bed. I leaned into him and let him feed me. My dad sat on the other side of my bed and ran his fingers through my hair. I looked up at the headboard. There was a plaque that said Nina's Hospital Bed. I giggled and pointed it out to my family. They didn't find it nearly as amusing as me.
Suddenly, Lav, Vati, and Padma ran into the room. They started to bow when they saw the immortals, but Apollo quickly shook his head and nodded towards the mortals. There was no need to let them know there were three Olympians in the room. Percy followed close behind them and they all skidded to a stop in front of my bed. Percy plopped down in the chair next to Dad. Hermione, Ron, Fred, George, Ginny, Mrs. Weasley, and Bill were the next ones to walk in. Sirius was sitting on the bottom of Harry's bed. Bill, Fred, and George checked on Harry before coming over to me and introducing themselves to my dad, boyfriend, and friend.
Mr. and Mrs. Diggory came over to us. They introduced themselves to everyone before turning to me. "Cedric told us how you saved his life. We wanted to thank you for saving our only child."
"No need to thank me, I'm sure Cedric would have done the same."
"Nah, I'm pretty sure you just like getting yourself into mortal peril."
"Shut up, 'Pollo."
The Diggorys thanked me again before walking over to talk to Harry. I looked over and noticed that Cedric had fallen asleep. Madame Pomfrey rushed over and was about to give me another potion when Apollo took it from her and studied it for a moment. He then proceeded to carefully feed it to me. "Dreamless sleep," he murmured softly. After I finished drinking the potion, I could hardly keep my eyes open. I struggled to stay awake. My dad bent down and kissed my forehead followed by Apollo. "Go to sleep, Sparkles. We won't leave. We'll stay by your side the whole time." I smiled slightly before drifting off.
When I woke up, I saw my boyfriend's sky blue eyes staring into mine. Je smiled slightly and kissed my nose. I scrunched it up. There were a bunch of voices whispering around us. "They'll wake them up if they don't shut up!" a female voice snapped.
"What else could have happened?" I heard shouting outside the Hospital Wing. It sounded like McGonagall and Fudge. Apollo helped me sit up. I rubbed my eyes and tried to stretch my legs. I couldn't move them because a solid mass was at my knees. I looked down to see Siri, still in his dog form. He was growling as Fudge, McGonagall, and Sev strood into the ward. Sev rushed to my side and began checking me over with Siri's help.
"I'm fine," I grumbled. He ignored me and continued his work. Siri was sniffing me for who knows what reason. Mrs. Weasley glared at the minister and McGonagall and rushed over to me as well. Dumbledore rushed in and started arguing with Fudge about Voldemort's return.
"You two are awake," said Mrs. Weasley.
"Gods sleep?" I asked Apollo.
"Yeah..."
"Oh." Mrs. Weasley felt my forehead for a temperature.
"You, young man, should get out of that bed."
"What, why?"
"It's hardly proper. I let it slide while she was asleep, but now that Christina is awake you really should get out."
"Mrs. Weasley, you're not my parent or Morgan's parent," I said, using Apollo's mortal name, still finding no reason to let everyone know there was a god in their presence. "I'd greatly appreciate it if you didn't tell my boyfriend what to do. My dad was okay with it, right, Morgie?"
"He didn't say anything against it while he was here," Apollo shrugged. As if right on cue, my dad walked into the room, followed by Artemis and Padma. Padma had a glow around her and I realized she had become a Huntress. She grinned at me and I noticed that for the first time, she was truly happy. I gave her a thumbs up.
"Is something wrong over here?" Dad asked.
"You're letting a boy sleep with your daughter?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Yeah..."
"That is quite improper. Boys should stay away from girls as young as Christina in general and you're allowing one to be in the same bed as her."
"Yes, well, last I checked her mother's name was Sally, not Molly, and since neither of us have a problem with Morgan and Nina being in a bed together, I suggest you keep your nose out of other families business." Mrs. Weasley humphed and went to argue with Bill about cutting his hair. "Isn't her son of age by now?"
"Yup," I said.
"When do you think she's going to realize she doesn't control him anymore?" Padma continued for Dad.
"Never, that's why Bill moved to Egypt and Charlie moved to Romania," I finished. "Where's everyone else?" Dad pointed at the beds across from us. Vati was asleep on one and on the one next to her, Percy and Lav were curled up with each other. "Aw, they look so cute together!" Everyone looked at me funny. "What?" They just shook their heads.
Fudge was now yelling at Dumbledore who was replying calmly. Harry and Cedric were awake and also sitting up. Fudge stormed from the room, paused and turned around. He dropped small bags on Cedric's bed, Harry's bed, and my bed. "Your winnings," he said curtly. "1,000 galleons each. There should have been a ceremony, but given the circumstances..." The man crammed his bowler cap on his head and walked briskly from the room.
"He doesn't believe us?" Cedric asked.
"No," said Dumbledore. "He cares too much about his career to say that Voldemort is back. We shall take matters into our own hands. Minerva, kindly ask Hagrid and Madame Maxime to meet me in my office." McGonagall nodded and left the ward. "Poppy, please go into Professor Moody's office. There is a house-elf there greatly in need of your assistance." Madame Pomfrey left. Dumbledore made sure the door was closed and that the footsteps had died away. "Sirius, if you would..." Sirius lept off my bed and transformed into a human in mid air. Mrs. Weasley shrieked and jumped away.
"Sirius Black!" she shouted.
"Mum!" said Ron. "Shut up! It's okay!"
"Sirius, alert Remus, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher-the old crowd."
"Wait!" Sirius interrupted. "I have to go to Long Island and come back just to tell Moony? Can't you just Floo him?"
"Isn't he at his house?"
"He moved to Long Island over the summer, that's in America if you don't know."
"I know where Long Island is. Yes, just Floo him. Lie low after that." Siri nodded and transformed back into a dog. He ran from the room. "Severus...you know what I must ask you to do...if you are ready...if you are prepared..."
"Yes," said Sev. He nodded in the direction of the immortals before leaving the room.
"Would it be too much to ask for your help?" Dumbledore asked my family. "Your daughter would be a target after all, a Mage and a muggleborn. You could help protect her."
My father looked at me. "Are you going to..."
"Yes, I will. It's the only way."
"My daughter will need no further protection after this summer. We have problems of our on back in America. Lavender, Parvati, Percy, wake up. We must take our leave." In an instant the three jumped out of bed. Apollo helped me get out of bed and I jumped on his back. "I am taking them all home now."
"I'm afraid you have no right over the Patils and Miss Brown." My dad pulled a letter from his pocket and handed it to the Headmaster.
"Let's go." We all walked down to the grounds here the sun chariot was waiting for us to raise the sun. We all climbed in, it was in bus form, and Apollo drove us east. My dad kissed Percy and me goodbye before disappearing into the mist. Apollo dropped Lav and Vati off at camp and continued towards Manhattan with Padma, Artemis, Percy, and me. Percy and I got out on the outskirts of Manhattan. Apollo gave me a passionate kiss before allowing me to exit the sun bus. Percy and I raced each other towards our apartment building. Time to prepare for war.