Chapter Fifty Three
Harry felt himself lift off the chair as Sirius used a levitation charm so he wouldn't have to walk. He didn't fight it, just clutched onto his mother's hand.
"Professor?" Harry asked, his brain was growing fussy again, "Where are Cedric's parents?"
"They are with Professor Sprout, Harry, you don't need to worry about that now." Dumbledore told him, leading the way to the hospital wing.
They reached the large doors and knocked. Dumbledore flicked his wand, sending out his own phoenix shaped Patronus, instructing it to fetch Fudge to Moody's office.
Madam Pomfrey stuck her head around the door, looking as white as a sheet, "I've been expecting you."
She moved out the way to let them in, she didn't even say anything about the amount of people with Harry for once. Sirius lowered him onto the bed Madam Pomfrey showed them to and floated the privacy curtains over.
One set was already in use, covering the bed in the far corner. Harry couldn't see who was in it but he knew it was Cedric. He would be lying there, the worst of the blood and mud washed away and covered in a neat, white sheet waiting for his parents to take him home.
Harry, with help from Lily, changed his clothes. He could hear the others waiting just outside the curtain. Every once in a while someone would move, making the curtain shift slightly.
Madam Pomfrey cleaned him as they went, moving her wand over his skin, sucking up the filth he was caked in.
"It's a nasty cut there." She said, pointing to his leg, "The one on your arm will need treating as well, and your ankle is badly sprained. I'll be able to fix you up tonight, however your ankle will be bad for a few days. Sprains are often worse than brakes."
Harry sat, zoned out from the world as Madam Pomfrey worked on him, covering the cuts with a sweet smelling balm before bandaging them up. Lily made sure he was tucked into the bed before moving the curtains to let everyone else in.
Dumbledore came over and drew up a chair, sitting next to Harry's bed, "I know that you don't want to talk about it, Harry, however I need you to tell me what happened tonight."
"Not now Dumbledore, surely." Lily said.
"Lily's right Albus, this can wait until morning." Severus said, calmly but firmly.
Dumbledore shook his head, "If I thought that any of his pain would be lessened by waiting until the morning then I would wait, but it won't be and we need to know what happened."
Harry wasn't filled with joy at the idea of going through what had happened to him, but he also knew that it would cause an argument if he didn't just tell Dumbledore what happened and the last thing he wanted was an argument right now.
Harry took a deep breath, "I'd made it through the maze in good time. Cedric was only a little ahead of me when he got attacked by the giant spider. We'd given each other hints and help since the beginning of the Tournament really. I was injured, the thing had gotten my leg and there was no way I would beat Cedric to the Cup but he helped me. As soon as I touched the Cup I knew something was wrong, the Cup shouldn't have been a Portkey, but Cedric thought it might be part of the task. He was dead in a second. Bellatrix, she killed him."
"There was nothing you could have done Harry." Lily told him, giving his hand a squeeze.
Harry nodded. Logically he knew it wasn't he fault but that wasn't going to stop him from blaming himself.
"She tied me up. Voldemort was there. He wasn't… he had a body, he was the size of a toddler but he was all scaly looking and frail. Bellatrix tide me up and did a… she made a potion, it needed my blood." Harry said.
"Your blood?" Dumbledore asked, a strange glimmer of triumph crossed his eyes, but it was gone in a second and Harry wondered if he had imagining it.
"Yeah, she cut me." Harry said, trying to point to his arm, his arms felt like they were made of lead though, "It meant that he could touch me again."
"Please continue." Dumbledore said, leaning back.
Harry nodded, "I umm, yeah." He looked at Narcissa and felt sick.
"Harry?" Lily said softly, "Are you sure you want to go on?"
Harry didn't want to go on, but it wasn't going to get any easier and he knew this.
"They needed other things as well. Voldemort's father's bone and… Bellatrix, she… she isn't pregnant any more..." Harry said, slowly.
"What happened?" Narcissa asked.
"She killed it." Harry whispered, "The spell, potion, whatever it was… it needed flesh from a servant. I think she got pregnant just so she could..."
Narcissa went as white as a sheet and leaned heavily on Lucius, "She..."
"I'm sorry." Harry choked.
Narcissa shook her head, "It's not your fault. I'm just glad that you're OK."
"And the potion worked?" Dumbledore asked, "Voldemort was made whole again?"
Harry nodded, "Yes. It worked. He called his death eaters, nearly everyone showed up. Karkaroff, I think he'll be dead soon and you guys didn't show, obviously. We duelled, he was just playing with me for the most part, but then he was done, he was going to kill me and, well I wasn't going to go down without a fight and our wands sort of… the connected."
Dumbledore looked shocked for a moment, "Priori Incantatem." He said under his breath.
"I saw… I saw people that Voldemort had killed. Cedric and this girl who lived nearby. They'd killed her, she'd been looking after Voldemort. Not by choice, they'd kidnapped her." Harry said, "She told me that her bones were in the old Riddle house, she wanted me to contact the police..."
"We'll sort that out Harry, I promise." Nikka said, "I can give the muggle police a tip and they'll sort it out."
"I also saw… I saw James, Dad. He helped me escape." Harry whispered.
Lily squeezed his hand again, "Harry, you know that no magic can raise the dead."
Harry looked at her, "I know. I just…"
"James spoke to you though?" Sirius asked, "He… he wasn't just an image, he was there?"
"It's more of a mirror, a ghost of himself." Dumbledore explained.
Harry nodded, "He was there. They all were, the girl, Lucy I think her name was, that's when asked me to let people know that her bones were in the old house, on the hill and Cedric asked me to bring his body back to his parents, before they helped me. They got in the way almost, so I could get back."
Lily was clutching at Harry's hand, silent tears rolling down her cheeks, "You should get some sleep. I think that's enough for tonight."
"What happened with my wand?" Harry asked.
"It is a rare effect." Dumbledore said, "You have a very rare wand, Harry. Every wand is unique of course, as you know and normally any creature will only give one wand core, yours however has a brother. The tail feather that is in your wand and the feather that is in Voldemort's wand came from the same phoenix, Fawkes in fact. When brother wands meet, they will connect. When this happens it can create a sort of ghost, an image of the spells from the wand."
Madam Pomfrey came in, floating the real Moody behind her. She laid him down in the bed, opposite Cedric's and placed his glass eye and wooden leg on the bedside table.
"Will it happen again?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore nodded, "It might, the next time you face him in mortal combat. I imagine that Voldemort may be looking for a new wand now though."
Harry felt very tired, everything was aching and heavy. Madam Pomfrey walked over with a cup of something that was steaming slightly.
"This will send you to sleep Potter, it will be dreamless and peaceful." She said, "Try and drink as much as you can, if you wake up during the night, drink some more." she looked around at the large gathering of people around Harry's bed, "You can stay, if Harry wants you too, as long as you're quiet. He needs his rest."
Harry smiled, "She's letting people stay, must look a right state."
"You're fine Harry." Nikka said, "Do you want us to stay?"
"Yes." Harry said quickly. He didn't want to be left alone, the more people the better.
"I'll pop down to the Slytherin common room and let your friends know that they should get some sleep, and they can come and see you in the morning." Nikka offered.
"And how would you, dear Hufflepuff girlfriend, know where the Slytherin common room is?" Sirius asked, one raised eyebrow and smirking.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Nikka grinned, "I'll be back soon, Harry."
Harry smiled. He reached out to the bedside table and took the cup full of potion, he drank down as much as he could but barely got a third of the way through before he could feel his eyelids drooping. Lily took the cup from him and stroked his hair until he drifted off.
As promised, Harry didn't dream of anything and woke up half way through the night to hushed whispers from his family, Lily saw he was awake and helped him drink the rest of the potion before he could really wake up. He quickly fell asleep again.
It was the following morning, the sun was just beginning to stream into the room, when Harry woke again. Everywhere was quiet, when Harry opened his eyes. Lily was curled up asleep in the chair next to him, leaning her head against Severus, who was also sleeping.
Lucius and Narcissa were also asleep, curled up in one large arm chair together, Narcissa had been crying, there were still tear marks on her cheeks. Nikka was sprawled on the floor, using Padfoot as a pillow.
Harry didn't want to wake them, he knew they can't have been asleep for most than an hour or two. Lily woke soon after Harry though.
"You should have woken me." Lily said, rubbing her eyes and sitting up.
"I was OK." Harry said, "You needed to sleep as well."
"As a parent, you learn not to sleep, you drain energy from your hair, that's why it turns grey." Lily smiled, "Thank the gods you don't have colic any more."
Harry smiled. He felt better, not well, very far from well, but better. He tried to sit up, making everything hurt that much more. Lily saw him struggle and pulled under his arms to help.
"Thanks." Harry said, wincing.
Severus, Lucius, Narcissa and Sirius heard Harry gasp in pain and woke up. Sirius shook himself to wake Nikka and turned back from a dog into a human.
Harry sat in bed, happy to be surrounded by his family, in peaceful quiet. Madam Pomfrey bustled into the room at seven o'clock, surprised to see Harry and everyone awake.
"Would you like some breakfast Potter?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
Harry nodded, now she'd said it he was hungry, "Yes please."
Madam Pomfrey waved her wand and a tray with a glass of apple juice and a bowl of honey and porridge appeared on Harry's lap, "If you manage to keep that down and are still hungry afterwards you might get something else."
Harry smiled, and took a mouthful, "Did you want something?"
Madam Pomfrey was already waving her wand again, summoning a large pile of buttered toast and several napkins.
"Madam Pomfrey?" Harry asked, "Is Professor Moody, the real Professor Moody, going to be all right?"
Madam Pomfrey nodded, "Yes I believe so. He's still very weak but he should be fine. He's going to St Mungo's later today."
Harry nodded, and smiled at her. Lily helped herself to a bit of toast and nibbled the edge of it.
Harry wasn't sure what to say, he wasn't sure there was anything to say so ate in silence. It wasn't long before a large brown owl swooped into the room and dropped a letter onto Lily's lap. She slit it open and pulled out a letter.
"It's from Remus, Nyph…Tonks has come over to help keep him company. We told Danica that you weren't well, she sent you this." Lily said.
She handed over a bit of paper. It was a rough picture of Harry, lying in bed surrounded by flowers, balloons and a ridiculously large chocolate cake. Large red letters over the top said 'Get well soon Harry!'. He suspected that Remus had helped with a few bits but it meant a lot.
Harry smiled, for the first time since the beginning of the third task, without feeling like it was slightly forced, "She's so sweet."
"She cares a lot about you." Lucius said, "We all do."
Harry sat up a little more, "You… you and Dad, you're going to be in a lot of danger now, aren't you? Because you didn't show up?"
"Don't worry about that now Harry." Severus told him, "We'll work it out, I promise you."
There was a knock on the door to the hospital wing and Dumbledore walked in.
"How are you this morning Harry?" Dumbledore asked, "I see you've had plenty of support."
"As well as can be expected." Harry said. He suddenly felt very sore again.
"I thought you would like to know that Barty Crouch Junior is going to be picked up today. Minister Fudge will be arriving any minute, if he isn't already here." Dumbledore said, drawing up another chair for himself between Sirius and Nikka.
"Thank you for telling us." Lily said, stretching and standing up, crossing her arms over her chest.
Dumbledore was quiet for a few moment, "I assume you'd like to take Harry home early for the holidays?"
"We don't need to talk about this here and now." Severus said, quietly.
"I would like him to stay in school." Dumbledore said, "I know that there are many reasons that you would wish to have Harry near you but there are as many reasons for him to stay. He has his friends here, and I feel that routine would be beneficial for him."
Lily glared at Dumbledore, "I think Harry has had more than enough of school for one year, Professor."
"It would also be good for the other students Lily." Dumbledore said, his voice more stern, "And more than that, we will have a tough journey ahead of us all. Voldemort is back, the last thing we need is to hide away."
Lily was about to say something else, when Harry put his hand on her arm, "It's OK Mum, it's just a couple more weeks."
He didn't want to stay in school. He wanted to be home, and told off by Danica when he wasn't playing with the farm animals correctly but he just couldn't deal with raised voices at the moment, and being around his friends was always good for him.
"If you need to come home early..." she said, softly, sitting back down.
"I'll send a message." Harry smiled, "I promise."
"And one of us will be here in a second." Nikka said, squeezing his hand.
The door flew open and Professor McGonagall stormed in, followed by a rather harried looking Mr Fudge.
"Minerva, whatever is the matter?" Dumbledore asked, "Is there some issue with the transport for Mr Crouch?"
"There will be no need for any of that Dumbledore." McGonagall said, glaring at Fudge, "Crouch is dead, or as good as."
"Now now, come on Minerva. You couldn't honestly expect me to go in there without protection!" Fudge said, clutching at his bowler hat.
"Would someone care to fill me in on what's going on?" Dumbledore asked politely.
"Fudge brought a Dementor into the castle, it has kissed Barty Crouch Junior." McGonagall snapped.
"I wasn't about to go into a room with that sort of person without a guard with me!" Fudge snapped back, "You are being ridiculous. According to you he admitted to killing his father, a Ministry official, Albus!"
"Yes, he did." Dumbledore said, far more calmly than McGonagall had been, "However I do feel that further questioning and possibly a trial and imprisonment would have been a better solution."
Fudge looked angrily at Dumbledore, "Now come, I don't have to answer to you! I am minister for magic, I couldn't take the risk that your… teacher wouldn't be able to protect me."
"Professor McGonagall is more than capable of keeping one tied up death eater away from you." Sirius said, rolling his eyes.
"Voldemort has returned Cornelius, we needed the information that Crouch might have had." Lily said, as calmly as she could.
Fudge let out a tight laugh, "Come on now! You can't really believe that a dead man is alive again?"
"It's true!" Harry said, sitting up and wincing.
Fudge looked at him, a mixture of concern and humouring him, "Oh Harry, I know that you… well you're very confused-"
"I'm not confused," Harry said, he couldn't believe this was happening, "Well I am but not about this. I saw him return. How do you think I ended up like this?"
Fudge shrugged, "I know what you think happened, Harry. Dumbledore has, extensively, filled me in. But it is a rather fantastical story."
"You're really not going to believe what is right in front of your eyes?" Severus asked, "Look around! The signs have been coming for months."
"Lily! You yourself told the world that Voldemort is dead! Years ago, he's is dust in the wind, he is nothing any more." Fudge snapped, "I know that whatever happened to Harry in the maze was terrible but making up this story will only make things worse!"
"I was wrong." Lily said, "My husband was dead and I'd nearly died. I saw a flash of green light, the killing curse, Harry was alive and Voldemort wasn't. I assumed he must have been dead, I was wrong."
"No you weren't!" Fudge hissed, "He is not back!"
"Then how do you explain this?" Severus asked, pulling up his sleeve and showing Fudge his very clear Dark Mark.
"Well… I… umm..." Fudge bumbled.
"Would you care to see another one?" Lucius asked, also showing Fudge his arm, "How much more proof could you need?"
Fudge paced up and down a few steps and turned around to smile and them, "Now come on, you've all just been listening to Harry too much."
"And what's that's supposed to mean?" Sirius asked.
Fudge put his hat back on a smiled, "We've all read the papers, Harry is some what unstable, screaming and having fits in class? How can we be sure about anything he says?"
"That Skeeter woman is a liar." Nikka hissed, "She made it all up."
"I'm not quite sure that's the case." Fudge said, condescendingly.
"I can give you names!" Harry said, "Of the people who were there."
Fudge rolled his eyes, "Really Harry, you've gone far enough with this… tall tale."
"Macnair." Harry said.
Fudge glared at him, "Macnair was cleared, he works for the ministry now."
"Avery, Nott, Crabbe, Goyle." Harry listed out the names he could remember.
"All cleared." Fudge said dismissively.
"Lestrange." Harry said, "Both Rabastan and Rodolphus and… Bellatrix. She killed her baby to bring Voldemort back."
Fudge flinched as Harry said Voldemort's name, "How ridiculous! We have received word that Lady Lestrange has, tragically, lost her baby, how you know it is beyond me though. Stealing her children's letters I would guess. And then to accuse her of such a thing! This has gone far enough!"
"I'm not lying!" Harry shouted.
"Enough!" Fudge snapped,
"Do not talk to my child that way." Lily hissed, stepping forward.
Fudge looked around all of them, "You stand by him? Little better than the word of a mad man!"
"We do." Narcissa said.
Fudge shook his head, "I thought better of you."
"Pity, we aren't the least bit surprised by your actions." Lucius said smoothly.
Fudge bristled angrily, "Now listen here, I have let you run things 'your way' up until now but if you insist on carrying on with this… the Ministry will take action!"
Dumbledore stood up, "When you leave Minister, please be sure to take your out of control Dementor with you? Good day."
"Yes, I must be going." Fudge said.
He strode down the ward and paused at the door, he turned back and dumped a large bag of gold on Harry's bedside table.
"Your winnings, Harry." Fudge said, "Well done, you won." he turned and left the room.
"No I didn't." Harry mumbled, looking at the bag of gold.