Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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Madam Pomfrey looked up from reorganizing her various supplies as the sound of furious knocking sounded from the empty Hospital Wing's door.
Fearing someone had already been injured in the final task, Hogwarts' healer hurried over.
"Mr. Malfoy!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed as she flung open the door and saw Draco standing in the hall, with solemn concern on his face and Harriet limp in his arms.
"Something's wrong!" He cried, "Please!...You have to help her!"
"Bring her inside!" Madam Pomfrey nodded quickly, "Lay her there!" She commanded as she pointed to the closest bed.
Draco gently laid Harriet down while Madam Pomfrey scuttled over to her supply cart.
Her heart raced as she hurried to begin her work.
Madam Pomfrey did not yet realize Harriet hadn't even made it to the tournament's final task.
All she knew was the girl in her care seemed to be dangerously pale, unresponsive, and leaking blood all over the bed's white sheets.
"What's wrong with her?!" Draco shouted as his expression twisted in mournful anguish, desperate for an answer.
"I'll need to take a thorough look, Mr. Malfoy." Madam Pomfrey replied as she withdrew her wand. She held its tip over her patient's face as she went on, "She may be injured on the inside. The Triwizard Tournament prides itself on the brutality of its tasks. Did you see what happened?" Madam Pomfrey asked as her eyes flickered over to Draco, "Was it a fall?...A hit?...What caused the injury?"
"N-Nothing!" Draco spluttered, "There's not any injury! She never…..She wasn't…..Snape didn't begin the task! I found her like this in the lavatory!"
Draco expected his claim would lessen Madam Pomfrey's concern.
He bit back a scream as he watched the healer's eyes widen before she ended her diagnostic spell and immediately began a new one.
While a distant echo of music from Hogwarts' band wafted through the glass windows, all the way from the stands, Draco squeezed his eyes shut as he bit back a sob in a restrained hiss.
He didn't care about the Triwizard Tournament.
He didn't care that Severus and Lily were worried.
All Draco cared about was ensuring Harriet would be alright.
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While the three remaining champions made their way through the maze, Severus clenched his jaw in nervous suspense.
After what seemed like an eternity, a loud, horrified scream rang out.
The band stopped playing.
Everyone gasped.
Severus's dark eyes nearly bulged out of his head.
He gasped in relief once he saw two red sparks rise into the sky like crackling fireworks from deep within the maze.
In a swift sprint, he blew past Dumbledore and entered the leafy labyrinth.
"...Severus!" Dumbledore called, "SEVERUS!"
The headmaster sighed as he realized he was far too late to stop the Potions Master from intervening.
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By using a simple spell, Srverus wove through the maze with incredible speed.
His hasty steps soon brought him face to face with Cedric as he rounded a corner.
"Professor Snape!" Cedric called, "Help! We need help!" He pleaded as he nodded to the left.
Severus's dark eyes followed his gaze until he noticed Fleur, who lay unconscious, cradled by the maze's unforgiving, scratchy arms in a cage made of branches.
Cedric tried his best to warn his Professor, "Look out for-!"
He didn't quite finish his sentence before a bolt of bright light shot right at Severus, who managed to duck out of the way just in time to avoid the hit.
In his adult life, there continued to be moments when his unfortunate suffering at the hands of the Marauders served him well.
Using the same agility he had as a bullied young boy, Severus peered behind Cedric to see Viktor stumbling towards them with his wand pointed threateningly and his eyes glazed.
"Fear not, Mr. Diggory." Severus drawled before he withdrew his own wand and pointed it at Viktor.
In one dramatic flourish, Severus shouted, "EX-PELLIARMUS!!"
A red blast erupted from the tip of his wand and crashed into Viktor, knocking his wand out of his hand and his body back onto the ground in a deep sleep induced by the maze's sleeping enchantment.
"Where's Harriet?" Cedric asked as Severus held his wand over the branches that had captured Fleur.
While they receded with loud, crackling noises, Severus explained, "Miss Snape was unable to attend this evening. Did the announcement not sound in the maze?...She's been disqualified."
Cedric gasped in shock.
"...So, it's just us three, sir?" He asked.
"Correct." Severus drawled, "Now, if you'll come with me, Mr. Diggory, I'll escort you and the others to-"
The hedge maze possessed a startling influence.
Pride and greed coursed through Cedric's veins as he frowned at Professor Snape.
Harriet had been disqualified.
Fleur and Viktor slept.
It was him and only him who could possibly manage to complete the task.
"...Mr. Diggory?" Severus paused to question Cedric as he furrowed his brow at the student who gave him such an odd look.
Behind Severus, the maze's hedges began to move.
Limbs cracked and leaves rustled as the path shifted to offer Cedric a clear and open aisleway toward the glistening, glimmering, mesmerizing Triwizard Cup.
Just a short sprint to eternal glory……..
Just a few steps and he would have his name proudly placed in Hogwarts' history books……..
Driven away from his rational thought, the temptation overcame Cedric.
He dashed past Severus and towards the cup with a breeze gusting behind him.
"Mr. Diggory!" Severus shouted in panic, "MR. DIGGORY!"
Realizing his words fell on deaf ears and not wanting to leave his two unconscious students, Severus raised his wand, pointed it directly at Cedric, and bellowed, "STUPEFY!"
The spell shot forth.
Cedric reached out.
His fingertips connected with the cup's silver arm as the bright light rocketed towards him.
In one instant, it was over.
Having activated Voldemort's hidden Portkey, Cedric vanished instantly.
Severus let out a ragged breath as his spell crashed into the bushes with a fizzling hiss.
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Cedric completed his impromptu journey with one great shout as he tumbled onto the hard, damp ground.
He gasped for breath as he raised his head to look around.
Night had fallen by then, but that place held an unparalleled darkness, wherever he had landed.
Cedric squinted into the blackness as he pushed himself up and stood to his feet.
A large house sat on a distant hill.
As he slowly turned around, he realized he had been transported to the front of a…….graveyard.
Behind him, a massive tombstone with an elaborate engraving of a cloaked skeleton holding a scythe waited ominously.
Cedric glanced down at the names on the stone as adrenaline flooded his system.
Thomas Riddle
Mary Riddle
Tom Riddle
An eerie voice called out suddenly, "Son of James Potter!...At last, we meet again!"
Cedric turned around and narrowed his eyes in confused horror as he watched Voldemort stalk towards him like a slithering snake.
The Dark Lord's gauzy, black robes billowed around his bare feet as if they were instead dark ribbons of heavy smog as he came forward.
His serpentine eyes gleamed with malice.
A sinister grin curled his thin lips.
Cedric had heard rumors of the wizarding world's notorious villain, but he had certainly never seen him up close before.
Actually, Cedric had never seen a photograph of Voldemort either, which left him tragically uninformed.
"...Who are you?" Cedric asked.
Voldemort let out a howling yelp of amusement.
"I, dear boy, am the one you tried so very hard to destroy!" Voldemort hissed as he withdrew his long, pale wand from his murky robes.
His overgrown nails clicked against the wood as he pointed his weapon at Cedric.
"I've spent more than a decade gathering my strength……building my army….and now, I will complete my rise to power while I send you……to your grave!" Voldemort explained with an evil cackle.
His gleeful rush pushed him to commit a careless oversight.
He neglected to look at Cedric's forehead and assumed that underneath his disheveled, dark hair, a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt could be found.
Cedric had to be the Potter child.
The enchantments on the maze had been absolute, who else would have been led to the cup?
"Goodbye, son of James Potter!" Voldemort cackled.
Not wanting to lose his grand opportunity, Voldemort pulled back his arm as his eyes widened.
"Wait!" Cedric pleaded as he raised his hands, "Wait! I'm not-!"
Voldemort's hateful shout rang through the air like a screeching alarm, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Cedric still had his hands raised when that awful green light crashed into his chest and stopped his heart.
After his lifeless body fell backwards with an ungraceful thud, his open eyes stared blindly up at the night sky.
In the stillness that followed the obscene murder, Voldemort cackled to himself as he walked over to examine his triumph more closely.
Nagini slowly emerged from a tombstone in the background as a dingy-looking, portly man with ruddy cheeks and unkempt hair scuffled alongside her.
"Wormtail, my old friend…" Voldemort sighed in satisfaction as he glanced over at Peter in his human form, "How can I ever repay you for your service? For returning to me after all these years, for sending me this…..lovely invitation to obliterate our greatest obstacle!"
Peter kept his hands close to his face as he gnawed on his fingers, not easily forgetting his habits after living for many years as a rodent.
He hadn't realized how misinterpreted his message to Nagini had become until his eyes landed on Cedric's body.
"To think that the threat of the Potter child has been vanquished….." Voldemort sighed as he grinned at Cedric's corpse, "...It's nearly too good to be true!"
Peter whimpered as he slowly understood the gravity of the situation.
It had been his miscommunication with Nagini.
It had been his fault…….
Peter hurriedly turned to leave but Voldemort stopped him.
"Before I give Nagini her dinner," Voldemort spoke as he raised a hand, "Tell me, Wormtail, won't you? Tell me once again how I'll-"
Voldemort's eyes narrowed as he stared down at Cedric.
He bent forward to view Cedric's forehead, which had been exposed by the tossing of his hair after his rough collision with the earth.
Voldemort grit his teeth in rageful disbelief once he noticed his victim's corpse lacked the telltale scar of which Peter had informed him.
He passed a hand over the dead boy's face to remove any lingering cloaking enchantments.
When Cedric's unblemished skin remained unchanged, Voldemor snapped his head to gaze at Peter questioningly.
"...Wormtail?!" He growled threateningly.
"M-My Lord!" Peter whimpered as he struggled to speak for the first time in so many years, "I-I tried to tell the snake! Honestly, I did, sir! Y-You see, J-James Potter's child isn't-"
The Dark Lord deemed the sobering error unforgivable.
Voldemort retaliated against Peter with an alarmingly swift curse.
Peter made use of his evasive skills as he scurried out of the way, shifted back into his Animagus form, and scrambled into the darkened cemetery.
"NAGINI!" Voldemort roared.
Without hesitation, Nagini turned to pursue her prey.
As his bumbling follower tried to escape capture, Voldemort walked over to his grandfather's tombstone and lifted his arms as a primitive wail of pure frustration left his dark throat.