The Potter Twins and the Goblet of Fire
Chapter 23: Priori Incantatem
Wormtail approached Harry and Michael, who scrambled to find their feet, to support their own weight before the ropes were untied. Wormtail raised his new silver hand, pulled out the wads of material gagging Harry and Michael, and then, with one swipe, cut through the bonds tying them to the gravestone.
There was a split second, perhaps, when the twins might have considered running for it, but Harry's injured leg shook under him as he stood on the overgrown grave, as the Death Eaters closed ranks, forming a tighter circle around him, Michael and Voldemort, so that the gaps where the missing Death Eaters should have stood were filled.
Wormtail walked out of the circle to the place where Cedric's body lay and returned with Michael and Harry's wands, which he thrust roughly into their hands without looking at them. Then Wormtail resumed his place in the circle of Death Eaters.
Voldemort, "you have been taught how to duel, Potter's?"
Harry and Michael were terrified. They knew very few spells that could counteract others, and even if they did know a ton, the killing curse was one that they wouldn't be protected from this time….
Voldemort, "we bow to each other. Come, the niceties must be observed…. Dumbledore would like you to show manners…. Bow to death, boys…."
The Death Eaters were laughing again.
Voldemort's lipless mouth was smiling. Harry and Michael did not bow. They were not going to let Voldemort play with them before killing them…. They were not going to give him that satisfaction….
"I said, bow", Voldemort said, raising his wand, and the twins both felt their spines curve as though a huge, invisible hand were bending them ruthlessly forward, and the Death Eaters laughed harder than ever.
"Very good", said Voldemort softly, and as he raised his wand the pressure bearing down upon the twins lifted too, "and now you face me, like men…. Straight-backed and proud, the way your father died…. And now, we duel."
Voldemort suddenly hit them with the Cruciatus Curse. The pain was so intense, so all-consuming, that the twins no longer knew where they were…. White-hot knives were piercing every inch of their skin, t eir heads were surely going to burst with pain, they were screaming more loudly than they'd ever screamed in his life!
Voldemort's magic was too powerful for Michael's scarf to protect him from!
And then it stopped. The twins rolled over and scrambled to their feet; they were shaking as uncontrollably as Wormtail had done when his hand had been cut off; they staggered sideways into the wall of watching Death Eaters, and they pushed them away, back toward Voldemort.
Michael growled under his breath, "bastards."
Voldemort, "a little break. A little pause…. That hurt, didn't it? You don't want me to do that again, do you?"
Harry and Michael didn't answer. They were going to die like Cedric, those pitiless red eyes were telling them so…. They were going to die, and there was nothing they could do about it…. But they weren't going to play along. They weren't going to obey Voldemort…. They weren't going to beg…..
Voldemort, "I asked you whether you want me to do that again! Answer me! Imperio!"
And the twins felt, for the third time in their lives, the sensation that their minds had been wiped of all thought…. Ah, it was bliss, not to think, it was as though they were floating, dreaming…. Just answer no…. Say no…. Just answer no….
I will not, said a stronger voice, in the back of their heads, as if both could hear it, I won't answer….
Just answer no….
I won't do it, I won't say it….
Just answer no….
"I WON'T!"
"I WON'T!"
And these words burst from both twins; they echoed through the graveyard, and the dream state was lifted as suddenly as though cold water had been thrown over them, back rushed the aches that the Cruciatus Curse had left all over their bodies, back rushed the realization of where they were, and what they were facing.
Voldemort, "you won't? You won't say no? Harry, Michael, obedience is a virtue I need to teach you before you die…. Perhaps another little dose of pain?"
Voldemort raised his wand, but this time the twins were ready; with the reflexes born of Harry's Quidditch training and Michael's Animagus abilities seeping through, they flung themselves sideways onto the ground; rolled behind the marble headstone of Voldemort's father, and they heard it crack as the curse missed them.
Voldemort, "we are not playing hide-and-seek, boys. You cannot hide from me. Does this mean you are tired of our duel? Does this mean that you would prefer me to finish it now? Come out, Harry…. Come out and play, then…. It will be quick…. It might even be painless…. I would not know…. I have never died…."
Harry and Michael crouched behind the headstone and knew the end had come. There was no hope…. No help to be had. And as they heard Voldemort draw nearer still, they knew one thing only, and it was beyond fear or reason: they were not going to die crouching here like children playing hide-and-seek; they were not going to die kneeling at Voldemort's feet…. They were going to die upright like their father, and they were going to die trying to defend themselves, even if no defense was possible….
Voldemort, "come out you cowards! I want you to look at me when I kill you! I want to see the light leave your eyes, like your pathetic parents!"
Before Voldemort could stick his snakelike face around the headstone, the twins stood up…. They gripped their wands tightly in their hands, thrust them out in front of them, and threw themselves around the headstone, facing Voldemort.
Voldemort was ready.
Harry shouted, "Expelliarmus!"
Michael exclaimed, "Incendio!"
Voldemort cried, "Avada Kedavra!"
A jet of green light issued from Voldemort's wand just as a jet of red light blasted from Harry's and a jet of blue and orange flames erupted from Michael's.
They met in midair, and suddenly both boys felt their wands vibrating as though an electric charge were surging through them; their hands seized up around them; they couldn't have released them if they'd wanted to, and a narrow beam of light connected the three wands, neither red nor green, nor blue, nor orange, but bright, deep gold.
The twins' gaze followed the beam and saw that Voldemort's long white fingers too were gripping a wand that was shaking and vibrating.
And then, nothing could have prepared either of the twins for this, they felt their feet lift from the ground. They and Voldemort were all being raised into the air, their wands still connected by that thread of shimmering golden light. They glided away from the tombstone of Voldemort's father and then came to rest on a patch of ground that was clear and free of graves…. The Death Eaters were shouting; they were asking Voldemort for instructions; they were closing in, reforming the circle around the twins and Voldemort, the snake slithering at their heels, some of them drawing their wands!
The golden thread connecting Harry, Michael and Voldemort splintered; though the wands remained connected, a thousand more beams arced high over Michael, Harry and Voldemort, crisscrossing all around them, until they were enclosed in a golden, dome-shaped web, a cage of light, beyond which the Death Eaters circled like jackals, their cries strangely muffled now!
"Do nothing", Voldemort shrieked to the Death Eaters, and both brothers saw his red eyes wide with astonishment at what was happening, saw him fighting to break the thread of light still connecting his wand with Michael and Harry's; the twins held onto their wands more tightly, with both of them using both hands, and the golden thread remained unbroken.
"Do nothing unless I command you", Voldemort shouted to the Death Eaters.
And then an unearthly and beautiful sound filled the air…. It was coming from every thread of the light-spun web vibrating around Michael, Harry and Voldemort. It was a sound the twins recognized, though they had heard it only once before in their lives: phoenix song.
It was the sound of hope to Harry and Michael…. The most beautiful and welcome thing they had ever heard in their lives…. They felt as though the song was inside them instead of just around them…. It was the sound they connected with Dumbledore, and it was almost as though a friend were speaking in their ears.
'Don't break the connection.'
Just then, the thing became much harder to do. Their wands began to vibrate more powerfully than ever…. And now the beam between them and Voldemort changed too…. It was as though large beads of light were sliding up and down the thread connecting the wands! Harry and Michael felt their wands give a shudder under their hands as the light beads began to slide slowly and steadily their way…. The direction of the beam's movement was now toward them, from Voldemort, and they felt their wands shudder angrily…. As the closest bead of light moved nearer to Harry's wand tip, the wood beneath his fingers grew so hot he feared it would burst into flame. The closer that bead moved, the harder Harry's wand vibrated; he was sure his wand would not survive contact with it; it felt as though it was about to shatter under his fingers.
He and Michael concentrated every last particle of their minds upon forcing the bead back toward Voldemort, their ears full of phoenix song, their eyes furious, fixed…. And slowly, very slowly, the beads quivered to a halt, and then, just as slowly, they began to move the other way…. And it was Voldemort's wand that was vibrating extra-hard now….
Voldemort who looked astonished, and almost fearful….
One of the beads of light was quivering, inches from the tip of Voldemort's wand. Michael and Harry didn't understand why they were doing it, didn't know what it might achieve…. But they now concentrated as they had never done in their lives on forcing that bead of light right back into Voldemort's wand…. And slowly…. Very slowly…. It moved along the golden thread…. It trembled for a moment…. And then it connected!
At once, Voldemort's wand began to emit echoing screams of pain…. Then, Voldemort's red eyes widened with shock, a dense, smoky hand flew out of the tip of it and vanished…. The ghost of the hand he had made Wormtail cut off!
More shouts of pain…. And then something much larger began to blossom from Voldemort's wand tip, a great, grayish something, that looked as though it were made of the solidest, densest smoke…. It was a head…. Now a chest and arms…. The torso of Cedric Diggory.
If ever Harry and Michael might have released their wands from shock, it would have been then, but instinct kept them clutching their wands tightly, so that the thread of golden light remained unbroken, even though the thick gray ghost of Cedric Diggory, (was it a ghost? It looked so solid), emerged in its entirety from the end of Voldemort's wand, as though it were squeezing itself out of a very narrow tunnel…. And this shade of Cedric stood up, and looked up and down the golden thread of light, and spoke.
"Hold on, Harry! Hold on Michael", it said.
Its voice was distant and echoing. Harry and Michael looked at Voldemort…. His wide red eyes were still shocked…. He had no more expected this than Harry and Michael had…. And, very dimly, the twins heard the frightened yells of the Death Eaters, prowling around the edges of the golden dome….
More screams of pain from the wand…. And then something else emerged from its tip…. The dense shadow of a second head, quickly followed by arms and torso…. An old man Harry and Michael had seen only in a dream was now pushing himself out of the end of the wand just as Cedric had done…. And his ghost, or his shadow, or whatever it was, fell next to Cedric's, and surveyed Harry and Voldemort, and the golden web, and the connected wands, with mild surprise, leaning on his walking stick….
The old man, "he was a real wizard, then? Killed me, that one did…. You fight him, boys…."
But already, yet another head was emerging…. And this head, gray as a smoky statue, was a woman's…. Harry, and Michael, both their arms shaking now as they fought to keep their wands still, saw her drop to the ground and straighten up like the others, staring.
The shadow of Bertha Jorkins surveyed the battle before her with wide eyes.
"Don't let go, now", she cried, and her voice echoed like Cedric's as though from very far away, "don't let him get you, Harry! Michael! Don't let go!"
She and the other two shadowy figures began to pace around the inner walls of the golden web, while the Death Eaters flitted around the outside of it…. And Voldemort's dead victims whispered as they circled the duelers, whispered words of encouragement to Harry and Michael and hissed words the twins couldn't hear to Voldemort.
And now another head was emerging from the tip of Voldemort's wand…. And the twins knew when they saw it who it would be…. They knew, as though they had expected it from the moment when Cedric had appeared from the wand…. Knew, because the woman was the one they'd thought of more than any other tonight….
The smoky shadow of a young woman with long fiery hair fell to the ground as Bertha had done, straightened up, and looked at them…. And Michael and Harry, their arms shaking madly now, looked back into the ghostly face of their mother.
"Your father's coming….", she said quietly, "hold on for your father…. It will be alright…. Hold on…."
And he came…. First his head, then his body…. Tall and untidy-hair like Harry, the smoky, shadowy form of James Potter blossomed from the end of Voldemort's wand, fell to the ground, and straightened like his wife. He walked close to Harry and Michael, looking down at them, and he spoke in the same distant, echoing voice as the others, but quietly, so that Voldemort, his face now livid with fear as his victims prowled around him, could not hear….
"When the connection is broken, we will linger for only moments…. But we will give you time…. You must get to the Portkey, it will return you to Hogwarts…. Do you understand, Michael? Harry?"
"Yes", Harry gasped, fighting now to keep a hold on his wand, which was slipping and sliding beneath his fingers.
Michael, "we understand…."
"Harry….", whispered the figure of Cedric, "take my body back, will you? Take my body back to my parents…. And Michael…. Take care of Cho…. Please…."
"I will", said Harry, his face screwed up with the effort of holding the wand.
Michael, "I promise, Cedric."
"Do it now", whispered his father's voice, "be ready to run…. Do it now…."
"NOW", Harry yelled; he and Michael didn't think they could have held on for another moment anyway, they pulled their wands upward with an almighty wrench, and the golden thread broke; the cage of light vanished, the phoenix song died, but the shadowy figures of Voldemort's victims did not disappear, they were closing in upon Voldemort, shielding Harry and Michael from his gaze!
And Michael and Harry ran as they had never run in their lives, knocking two stunned Death Eaters aside as they passed. Michael kicked Wormtail in the balls as he ran.
They zigzagged behind headstones, feeling their curses following them, hearing them hit the headstones, they were dodging curses and graves, pelting toward Cedric's body, Harry was no longer aware of the pain in his leg, his whole being concentrated on what he had to do.
Michael was right beside his brother, turning into an Arctic fox in order to better evade the spells and curses being blasted at him.
"Stun them", they heard Voldemort scream.
Ten feet from Cedric, Harry and Michael, who turned back into a human, dived behind a marble angel to avoid the jets of red light and saw the tip of its wing shatter as the spells hit it. Gripping their wands more tightly, they dashed out from behind the angel!
"Impedimenta", Harry bellowed, pointing his wand wildly over his shoulder at the Death Eaters running at them.
Michael quickly bellowed, "Incendio", shooting another jet of fire as he ran.
From a few muffled yells, they thought they had stopped at least one or two of them, but there was no time to stop and look; they jumped over the cup and dived as they heard more wand blasts behind them; more jets of light flew over their heads as they fell, stretching out their hands to grab Cedric's arm.
"Stand aside! I will kill them! They are mine", shrieked Voldemort.
Michael and Harry's hands had closed on Cedric's wrists; one tombstone stood between them and Voldemort, but Cedric was too heavy to carry, and the cup was out of reach!
Voldemort's red eyes flamed in the darkness. The twins saw his mouth curl into a smile, and saw him raise his wand.
"Accio", Michael yelled, pointing his wand at the Triwizard Cup.
It flew into the air and soared toward him. Harry and Michael caught it by the handle!
They heard Voldemort's scream of fury at the same moment that they felt the jerk behind their navels. That meant the Portkey had worked, speeding them away in a whirl of wind and color, and Cedric along with them…. They were going back….
….
Reviews:Canadude2029: yeah, the last chapter is when the story gets intense as Hell.
….
