Diary of an Orphan (re-written)

by StrangeLittleWeirdo

Jenna grew up alone in an orphanage with no knowledge of who she was or where she came from. It wasn't until an owl arrived with a letter for her, and a man named Remus Lupin walked into her life, that she learnt she was so much more than she originally thought and her life would never be the same again.

29. His Most Faithful Servant

Chapter 28

His Most Faithful Servant

I coughed as the pressure released from my lungs, winded from landing hard on the ground. I turned over and sat up. We were no longer in the grounds of Hogwarts. The sky above us was obscured with large dark clouds. A cold mist lingered over the ground. We were surrounded by dozens of overgrown graves that must have been left unattended for years. A dark outline of a church was just visible by a nearby yew tree and in the distance I could see an old stately-looking house standing solitary on the hillside. Beside me Cedric was helping Harry to his feet. He staggered slightly. It looked like one of his legs had been injured. Both looked around.

'Where are we?' Harry asked. He then saw me. 'Jenna? What are you doing here?'

I stumbled to my feet. I fumbled for my wand and drew it. Cedric was examining the Triwizard Cup.

'Did anyone tell you the Cup was a Portkey?' Cedric asked before I could respond.

'Nope,' replied Harry. 'Is this supposed to be part of the task?'

'It's not,' I said. I didn't even attempt to hide the fear in my voice. Cedric glanced at me.

'Wands out, d'you reckon?' he then said, following my lead.

'Yeah,' agreed Harry.

'We're not meant to be here,' I breathed, my eyes scanning the graves around us. 'Someone set a trap.'

'How do you –?' Cedric started to ask but Harry cut him off.

'I've been here before, in a dream,' said Harry. I looked at him, noting the shake now in his voice. He was looking up at a large grave with an ornate book carved into the stone. The names were obscured by decades of moss that had grown over it.

The sound of a twig snapping drew our attention.

'Someone's coming,' said Harry suddenly.

I gripped my wand. My breathing was shallow. Cautiously Harry took a step forwards. Cedric stood just in front of me. There was someone there in the darkness. I couldn't make them out. The person's face was hidden beneath a hood as it walked through the graves towards us. Its arms were held out. It was carrying something. I felt Cedric's arm in front of me; he was indicating for me to stay behind him. He was watching the figure too, confused. He glanced over at Harry. They shared a look before Harry turned back to the figure and, for some reason, lowered his wand slightly.

The figure came to a stop beside a towering marble headstone only a few feet from where we were stood.

'Aaarggh!'

I started as I saw Harry fall to the ground and scream out in pain. He had dropped his wand and had his hands grasping his face. He fell to the ground as his knees buckled from the pain.

'Kill the spares.'

Before either Cedric or I could react a high, cold voice spoke out. I felt the breath leave my body but didn't hear my scream as the green light flashed over my eyes …

-o-

A blast of green light blazed through Harry's eyelids, and he heard something heavy fall to the ground beside him; the pain in his scar reached such a pitch that he retched, and then it diminished; terrified of what he was about to see, he opened his stinging eyes.

Cedric was laying spread-eagled on the ground beside him and a few feet further back at the foot of a nearby gravestone lay Jenna. They were dead.

-o-

Wake up, sweetheart …. It's not your time … Wake up …

That voice … I know that voice …

'Oh, tut, tut, tut,' said another colder voice. 'Such a handsome boy … and what a pretty girl.'

Something cold touched my face and I felt it turn. A voice shouted. I heard the sound of rustling as footsteps walked away. But I was dead. How did I feel that? How did I hear that?

A rush of air flooded my lungs and a shiver ran through my body. I opened my eyes and stared up at the black sky above me. I lay there silent and still. I swallowed as my chest heaved. I was alive. But how? I'd seen the green light. I'd felt it hit me and – Cedric! I carefully turned my head. I could just make out the dark shadow of Cedric's body lying on the ground. I stifled the sob that was threatening to alert whoever else was in the graveyard that I had somehow survived. But where was Harry?

I forced myself to remain still at the sound of several people Apparating into the graveyard. Tears fell from my eyes as I fought the pain my body was in. I looked out the corner of my eye to see several more dark-hooded figures had appeared. They were coming from out of the shadows to gather before a tall solitary figure in the middle of the graves. Another knelt on the ground at their feet. I couldn't see Harry. I feared the worse that he was dead as well.

'Welcome, Death Eaters,' said the quiet voice. It was chilling. Another rush of fear went through me as I realised whose voice that must be. 'Thirteen years … thirteen years since we last met. Yet you answer my call as though it was yesterday … we are still united under the Dark Mark, then! Or are we?'

I lay still in the grass, almost paralysed in fear. I knew if any of them discovered I was alive, I'd be killed for sure. But I had to get away and raise the alarm as I was the only one still alive who could. Voldemort was back.

'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 loyal?' Voldemort mused.

Silence. How was I going to do this if any movement I made risked being overheard?

I could transform, I thought. If I transformed into a small animal, I could slip away into the grass. I just had to ensure that the Death Eaters' attention remained on Voldemort so that I wouldn't be noticed. I had to wait for my moment. I took a deep breath to try to calm myself. I just had to wait. I was lucky though as the moment came sooner than I'd hoped; a Death Eater had thrown himself to Voldemort's feet only to receive not forgiveness but the Cruciatus Curse.

I took in a sharp breath when I heard his screams and screwed up my eyes as I felt pain shoot up my spine. I focused on a mouse and felt my body shrink into the grass. I twisted off my back and on to my tiny paws. I scurried through the blades of grass and behind the grave I had been lying in front of. I transformed back now hidden from view of the Death Eaters. I peered out from behind the grave.

The Death Eaters had formed some sort of circle around Voldemort who stood in the centre dressed in long black robes that seemed to flow around his thin body whenever he moved barefooted across the grass. He looked around them all as he spoke, his white skeletal face staring at them all with shocking red eyes. I felt a chill down my spine. The Death Eater he'd just tortured – Avery, I think it was – had retreated back into the circle. Still on the ground at Voldemort's feet I could see was the now unmasked Wormtail. He was silently sobbing and clutching the bloodied stump of his arm, his hand having been cut off. I almost retched.

But then, to my shock, I saw Harry. He was alive! He was tied with thick ropes to the large book-shaped gravestone. He looked injured but he was conscious. The sleeve of his shirt was ripped and bloody. He too was watching Voldemort as he addressed his Death Eaters. He raised his wand and a long shimmer of silver came from its tip. It writhed in the air before forming itself into a glittering hand before fixing itself to Wormtail's bleeding stump.

'My Lord,' breathed Wormtail, flexing his new hand. 'Master … it is beautiful … thank you … thank you …'

Wormtail scrambled forwards, kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes, then retreated back into his place in the circle. Voldemort turned to the Death Eater to his right who was none other than Lucius Malfoy. I would recognised the smooth sneer he spoke with anywhere.

Having seen Harry alive, now was the time to act. I had to find a way to escape and raise the alarm. But for some reason, I felt compelled to stay. That if there was some possibility I could free Harry as well, that we could both escape, then I had to try. My breathing had steadied now I was in a crouched position instead of prone on the ground. My nerves seemed to have lessened although I could tell how on edge I was on. I had to wait this out. One wrong move, and both Harry and I would die for sure.

'The Lestranges should stand here,' Voldemort was saying, inspecting the empty space to the right of Malfoy. '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 honoured 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 returned to me, and an army of creatures whom all fear …'

One by one he observed each of his followers. Some he stopped by – Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Macnair – others he passed.

'And here we have six missing Death Eaters …' he continued, pausing at a sizable gap in the circle. '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, that faithful servant, and it was through his efforts that our young friend arrived tonight …'

Moody, I thought. Except, it wasn't Moody. It was whoever that young blond boy was, impersonating him.

'You know, of course, that they have called this boy my downfall?' Voldemort continued with his speech, addressing his followers. His voice was soft and cold. I had never heard anything so frightening. 'You all know that on the night I lost my powers and my body, I tried to kill him. His mother died in the attempt to save him – and unwittingly provided him with a protection I admit I had not forseen … I could not touch the boy.'

Voldemort raised a long thin finger as he stepped towards Harry. He held it barely a centimetre from his cheek.

'His mother left upon him the traces of her sacrifice … this is old magic, I should have remembered it, I was foolish to overlook it … but no matter. I can touch him now.'

And he placed his finger to Harry's forehead. Harry's yell echoed in the vast graveyard. It cut through me like a knife. The pain he must have felt.

Voldemort withdrew his finger, a twisted smile on his lips as he laughed as quietly as he spoke.

'I miscalculated, my friends, I admit it. My curse was deflected by the woman's foolish sacrifice, and it rebounded upon me. Aaah … pain beyond pain, my friends; nothing could have prepared me for it. I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost … but still, I was alive. What I was, even I do not know … I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality. You know my goal – to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or more of my experiments had worked … for I had not been killed, though the curse should have done it. Nevertheless, I was powerless as the weakest creature alive, and without the means to help myself … for I had no body, and every spell which might have helped me required the use of a wand …

'I remember only forcing myself, sleeplessly, endlessy, second by second, to exist … I settled in a faraway place, in a forest, and I waited … surely, one of my faithful Death Eaters would try and find me … one of them would come and perform the magic I could not, to restore my body … but I waited in vain …

'Only one power remained to me. I could possess the bodies of others. But I dared not go where other humans were plentiful, for I knew that the Aurors were still abroad and searching for me. I sometimes inhabited animals – snakes, of course, being my preference – but I was little better off inside them than as pure spirit, for their bodies were ill-adapted to perform magic … and my possession of them shortened their lives; none of them lasted long …'

Chill after chill ran through my body as Voldemort relished recounting his story to his Death Eaters. He spoke of Quirrell, the young wizard on his travels that he came across in a forest, and his attempt for the Philosopher's Stone, that Harry stopped in our first year. Time had passed until he was reunited with Wormtail, after his escape from his arrest by Dad and Lupin, who led to his encounter with Bertha Jorkins, the missing Ministry worker. So that was what had happened to her; she had been coerced by Wormtail and taken to Voldemort. He tortured her to get all the information he needed about the Triwizard Tournament and about a Death Eater in captivity, leaving her mind damaged beyond repair.

As I listened, another part of me kept urging me to leave. Get out of here now before I was discovered. But I remained hidden behind the grave, listening to Voldemort's words. It was at times horrific to hear, like what happened to Bertha, or the creation of a rudimentary body for Voldemort to inhabit while he bide his time. I was still waiting for any chance I could get to help Harry not that I had any clue what to do.

'But I was willing to embrace mortal life again,' Voldemort announced, 'before chasing immortal. I set my sights lower …. I would settle for my old body back again, and my old strength.

'I knew that to achieve this – it is an old piece of Dark Magic, the potion that revived me tonight – I would need three powerful ingredients. Well, one of them was already at hand, was it not, Wormtail? Flesh given by a servant …

'My father's bone, naturally, meant that we would have to come here, where he was buried. But the blood of a foe … Wormtail would have had me use any wizard, would you not, Wormtail? Any wizard who had hated me … as so many of them still do. But I knew the one I must use, if I was to rise again, more powerful than I had been when I had fallen. I wanted Harry Potter's blood. I wanted the blood of the one who had stripped me of power thirteen years ago, for the lingering protection his mother once gave him, would then reside in my veins too …'

That's why he could touch Harry now, I thought, remembering how Quirrell's body had blistered and turned to ash, and he could not bear to touch him. Lily's protection was now useless.

Voldemort relished in recounting how he positioned someone at Hogwarts to manipulate the Triwizard Tournament so that Harry got entered, all while Harry was under Dumbledore's watch. All of it was orchestrated by the Death Eater for Harry to get through the Tournament and be the one who got to the Cup first and brought here, away from his protectors. For good measure, Voldemort placed Harry under the Cruciatus Curse, to prove his point that Harry was no longer safe from harm.

'You see, I think, how foolish it was to suppose that this boy could ever had been stronger than me,' Voldemort summarised. 'But I want there to be no mistake in anybody's mind. Harry Potter escaped me by a lucky chance. And I am now going to prove my power by killing him, here and now, in front of you all, when there is no Dumbledore to help him, no mother to die for him.'

There was a rustle in the grass. I paid no attention to it, assuming it was the wind. It was only I heard the soft hiss that I looked away and saw the huge great snake that was now circling the grave I was hiding behind. I jumped, my back pressed into the graveyard as the snake reared up, its face inches away from mine, and gave a soft hiss, flicking its tongue against my cheek.

'Only a silly little girl … Bring her here, Nagini …'

I leapt out from behind the grave as the snake lunged at me, exposing myself to Voldemort and his Death Eaters. I stared at them, fear once again overwhelming me. I felt the tail of the snake begin to wrap around my ankle. With a sharp jerk I was pulled forwards over the grass. I fought against its grip, grabbing at the ground to pull myself free. It was no use. The snake's coil merely tightened its grip. It only released me when I was lying at Voldemort's feet completely surrounded by his Death Eaters.

'Now, who do we have here?' asked Voldemort softly, peering his red eyes down at me. Suddenly a pain started in my back making my body go straight and I was lifted off the ground. I gasped. 'I was warned about you. The girl who interferes with things that aren't her concern. Now who is it I have the pleasure of meeting?'

I didn't reply.

'No matter … I already know your name …' For some reason, Voldemort tilted his head to one side as he looked at me, like a child contemplating a new toy. 'Hmm … so familiar you are to me …'

Not knowing what made me say it, or where my sudden boldness had come from, I said, 'I try to avoid familiarities with Dark wizards.' I could hear my voice shake as I spoke.

Voldemort's face twisted into a mirthless smile. His red eyes glinted.

'Yes,' he hissed, 'now I know. Exactly like her. Very forward like her.' My eyes widened slightly. I knew who he meant. 'You know of who I speak. A relation of yours I believe as well. I can see the resemblance despite your youth. But whether it is bravery or stupidity …'

Voldemort didn't finish his sentence. Instead he flicked his wand over to a large gravestone with an angel wielding an axe. My body floated over to it. When my back was against the stone, the angel came to life, moving its axe under my throat to keep me in place.

'I will give him his chance,' announced Voldemort, resuming his speech. "He will be allowed to fight, and you will be left in no doubt which of us is stronger. Just a little longer, Nagini,' Voldemort whispered to the snake, who was circling the grave Harry was tied to. It hissed and slithered away into the darkness behind the Death Eaters.

'Now untie him, Wormtail, and give him back his wand.'

Womrtail approached Harry, who had struggled to his feet despite his binds. He raised his new silver hand and pulled out whatever had been gagging Harry, then cut through his bonds with one swipe of his wand. Harry stumbled slightly but managed to remain on his feet. The circle of Death Eaters seemed to close in on us. We were surrounded. Wormtail walked over to where Cedric's body lay on the grass and picked up Harry's wand. He thrust it into Harry's hand then returned to his place in the circle.

'Let her go!' demanded Harry.

'Now why would I do that?' laughed Voldemort. 'I want her to watch you die. Learn the price for meddling in other people's affairs.'

'Harry!' I shouted, finding my voice. 'Harry, run for it! What are you waiting for? Run!'

'Silence!' hissed Voldemort angrily at me. His red eyes flashed in my direction.

'You have been taught how to duel, Harry Potter?' Voldemort continued, turning his attention back to Harry. 'We bow to each other, Harry,' Voldemort instructed, making the tiniest of bows to him, his face remaining level so he could see Harry. Harry didn't respond. 'Come, the niceties must be observed … Dumbledore would like you to show manners … bow to death, Harry …'

A laugh rippled through the Death Eaters. Voldemort had a thin smile on his lips. But again Harry did not bow.

'I said, bow,' commanded Voldemort. He raised his wand – a white, bone-like length of wood – and pointed it at Harry. It was like an invisible hand pressed itself on to Harry's back, forcing him to bow. The Death Eater's laughter got louder.

'Very good,' said Voldemort softly. He raised his wand. The pressure seemed to lift off Harry and he stood straight. 'And now you face me, like a man … straight backed and proud, the way your father died …

'And now – we duel. Crucio.'

I watched as Harry fell to his knees in pain as Voldemort cast the Cruciatus Curse on him. He writhed and thrashed on the ground. The scream was unbearable to listen to. Tears gathered at my eyes as I saw my best friend in so much pain. It was horrific to watch. I just wanted it to stop. After what felt like an eternity, but no doubt longer for Harry, Voldemort relinquished the spell. Harry rolled on to his side then, to my surprise, he staggered to his feet. He stumbled into the wall of Death Eaters who carelessly pushed him back towards his torturer.

'A little break,' said Voldemort, 'a little pause … that hurt, didn't it, Harry. You don't want me to do that again, do you?'

Harry didn't answer. He just stood there, panting, his focus on Voldemort.

'I asked you whether you want me to do that again?' asked Voldemort. 'Answer me! Imperio!'

Harry's face went vacant. He did not move or answer. Seconds ticked by until –

'I WON'Ti!'

The words burst from Harry.

'You won't?' said Voldemort quietly. The Death Eaters' laughter had stopped. 'You won't say "no"? Harry, obedience is a virtue I need to teach you before you die … perhaps another little dose of pain?'

Voldemort raised his wand to strike. Harry was ready this time though. He threw himself behind the nearest headstone which bore the name "Tom Marvolo Riddle", Voldemort's father, the one he had been previously tied to. The curse struck the large stone book and cracked it.

'We're not playing hide-and-seek,' said Voldemort coldly. 'You cannot hide from me. Does this mean you are tired of our die? Does this mean that you would prefer me to finish it now, Harry? 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, what are you waiting for?' I shouted, seeing his chance. He needed to run. 'Run!'

'Silence, you little brat!' snapped Voldemort at me.

He waved his wand at the grave holding me and I was released. He made a second motion and I felt the pain start. Hundreds of hot blades touched my skin as I felt the Cruciatus Curse take hold. The scream that came out of me I had never made before. My body twitched and convulsed worse and worse the longer the spell was active. My eyes watered from the pain. I just wanted the pain to stop. Why wouldn't it stop?

'Leave her alone!' demanded Harry

Harry's shout drew Voldemort's attention away from me and the spell stopped. I lay there on the ground panting. I could still feel the echoes of the pain. I forced myself up to see what was happening. Harry had come out from behind the protection of the gravestone. What was he doing? He had to run! Why wouldn't he run?

'Have it your way …'

'Avada Kedavra!'

'Expelliarmus!'

'No!' I screamed.

I forced myself to my feet and ran towards Harry as the two spells burst from Harry and Voldemort's wands. The red and green jets met in mid-air causing a shockwave to ripple outwards to the circle of Death Eaters. I raised my arms to shield my face from it, staggering slightly as it passed over me. I peered out from behind them. The two beams of light had combined to form a single golden stream that connected the two wands. They looked like molten beams of metal. The point of connection seemed to vibrate and shake from the power of the two spells fighting against each other. At one end Harry was holding his wand with both hands as it shook while at the other, even Voldemort's long white fingers were gripping his wand.

I ran over to Harry. Harry was struggling for breath as he fought to keep the spell going and force it back towards Voldemort. It was getting closer and closer to his wand tip. I stood beside him and put my hands around his holding his wand. They felt like they were on fire. Harry looked at me when he felt me grab him. Around us the Death Eaters were shouting for instructions on what to do from Voldemort. Nagini the snake was circling nearby as her master engaged in the fight with Harry.

'Do nothing!' ordered Voldemort.

'Just hold on!' I shouted at Harry over the commotion. Harry stared at me. 'I know you can do this! Just hold on! Don't let go!'

Harry seemed to hear me as he nodded shakily before turning back to face Voldemort. As he did so, I felt the heat of his hands increase as the connection began to force it back the other way towards Voldemort. It felt so strange, like I could almost feel the power coming from Harry as he fought back. Suddenly the beam of light began to splinter. Thousands of tiny beams arced high over Harry and Voldemort and we were encircled in a golden dome. The Death Eaters began to panic now they were separated from Voldemort and started to prowl the perimeter waiting to be told what to do.

'Do nothing unless I command you!' shouted Voldemort. 'He is mine!'

An unearthly and strangely beautiful sound began to fill the air. I stared around the golden cage surrounding us. The song was beautiful. It filled me with this strange sensation, almost like it was giving me hope. That Harry and I still had a chance to get out of this. At the same time I felt Harry's grip tighten beneath mine around his wand. I felt it shudder as tiny beads of light within the beam flowed between the two wands, steadily getting closer to Harry's wand. Harry's wand shuddered making Harry grip it even tighter and slowly the bead went back in the opposite direction. Slowly it got closer and closer to the tip of Voldemort's wand until suddenly it connected …

Echoes began to emit from Voldemort's wand. They were quiet but I recognised them to be mine and Harry's screams from when Voldemort had used the Cruciatus Curse on us. Voldemort too seemed shocked at what was happening, his red eyes wide. Next I saw a dense plume of smoke emerge from the tip in the shape of a hand before it vanished. That had been Wormtail's hand. What was happening? It was like whatever that golden spell was was forcing Voldemort's wand to reproduce all the spells he had recently used.

The next thing was larger and denser. The smoke bloomed from the wand tip and began to form itself in the air. First a head, then shoulders and a chest of a young good-looking boy, and I realised it was Cedric. Was he a ghost? Or something else. The smoke Cedric fell from Voldemort's wand to the ground. He stood up and observed the golden light connecting Harry and Voldemort's wands.

'Hold on, Harry,' was all he said in a distant echoey voice.

The screams coming from Voldemort's wand continued, no doubt of the numerous people he had tortured, and another figured began to emerge. This time it was an old man. His body rose from the tip of Voldemort's wand just like Cedric's had before falling to the ground next to Cedric's where he stood with his walking stick and watched the scene before him.

'He was a real wizard, then?' murmured the old man, his eyes on Voldemort. 'Killed me, that one did … you fight him, boy …'

A third shape was already emerging as the old man fell silent. A head with a bundle of curly hair. A woman. Her torso and legs came out of the wand tip and she too dropped to the ground then stood straight, looking at Harry in front of her. She was young, maybe in her late thirties, and had a wide-eyed expression. I wasn't entirely sure who it could be, but I had a feeling this mystery woman was the missing Ministry worker, Bertha Jorkins.

'Don't let go, now!' she cried despite her voice sounding distant like Cedric's and the old man's. 'Don't let him get you, Harry – don't let go!'

The shadows began to pace the perimeter inside the golden web. The seemed to act like sentries, protecting Harry in case of any attack Voldemort might make. Outside the Death Eaters were becoming more and more erratic, frantically trying to reach their master despite his commands for them not to act. They continued to speak in muted whispers, words of encouragement for Harry and hisses of hate towards Voldemort. Another head started to blossom from Voldemort's wand with a curtain of long hair, a second woman. Her figure fell to the ground just like the others and straightened up. I stared in amazement both at how beautiful and young she was but also who it was. Harry's mother, Lily.

'Your father's coming …' said her quiet voice, talking to Harry. 'He wants to see you … it will be all right … hold on …'

Sure enough, the next shadowy figure to emerge was another man with dark hair and glasses, an almost identical copy and prediction of what Harry might look like when he is older. James Potter. For the first time I saw what Dad and Lupin had meant that Harry was the spitting image of his father. The resemblance was uncanny from the same messy hair, the shape of his nose, down to the curve of his chin. He stood beside his wife close to Harry and me.

'When the connection is broken, we will linger for only moments …' James told him, 'but we will give you time … you must get to the Portkey, it will return you and the girl to Hogwarts … do you understand, Harry?'

'Yes,' gasped Harry. His hands gave a violent shuddered. I tightened my grip on them as his tightened even more around his wand.

'Harry …' Cedric spoke, 'take my body back, will you? Take my body back to my parents …'

'I will,' said Harry, nodding at him.

'Do it now,' whispered James. 'Take the girl and be ready to run … do it now …'

'NOW!'

Harry yelled and pulled his wand upwards with a huge effort, my own arms and grip going with it. The golden thread broke. The golden cage around us vanished. The eery song ended. I stumbled as I let go of Harry now he had broken the connection before I felt him take my hand in his. I was pulled forwards and together we ran. We barged passed two stunned Death Eaters, who had been caught unawares when the spell had broken, and through the graves. I flinched as the sounds of spells flew near us, hitting the graves we weaved through.

'Stun him!' bellowed Voldemort's voice behind us.

Harry pulled me behind a large marble angel just as a jet of red light hit its wing, his arms around me as I cowered in fear. I barely had a second to gather myself before Harry pulled me out of cover. He aimed a spell behind us over his shoulder as we ran, not knowing if it hit its target. We were feet from the Cup and Cedric's body.

'Stand aside! I will kill him! He is mine!' shrieked Voldemort.

Harry's grip on my hand tightened as we jumped over the Cup. The ground was uneven and we stumbled. I fell forwards, Harry's hand releasing mine, landing next to Cedric's body. Without thinking, I grabbed on to Cedric's arm. I looked up to see Harry scramble forwards. He then turned and pointed his wand back at the Cup. With a single shout of 'Accio!', the Triwizard Cup lifted off the ground and flew at us. I held out my other hand. I closed it around one handle while Harry took the other, his other hand also gripping Cedric's arm. There was another sharp tug around my waist, and we disappeared from the graveyard. The last thing I heard was Voldemort's scream of fury as we escaped. We were going back …

My body smacked hard down on the ground as we reappeared in the stadium. Suddenly I felt the full force of what had happened all at once and I realised just how much pain I was in. I let go of the Cup, it fell away from us, and I reached out for Harry's hand, gripping it. I lay there gasping, aware of the noise surrounding us. I heard the cheers at Harry and Cedric's return from the maze, the joyful music playing. I turned my head and saw Harry on his knees beside Cedric just lying there … dead. I could hear his cries under the noise of the crowd and I felt my own start to fall. I'd failed … I didn't stop Cedric being killed or Harry being captured …

A loud scream came from the crowd. Someone started shouting Harry's name. The music slowly faded away and the cheers died down. Footsteps came running over to us. Next second I saw Dumbledore leaning over Harry and Cedric. He tried to prise Harry away from Cedric's body but he wouldn't move. I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders and I was lifted to my feet, Harry's hand slipping away. I looked round. It was Professor McGonagall. Her face was white at the sight before her. But nothing prepared me for what happened next.

Cornelius Fudge and the other judges had reached us. He was asking what had happened. He saw Cedric's body on the ground. The words "he's dead" started to trickle through the crowd, turning from whispers into shouts. Pushing his way through, Amos Diggory and his wife came to a sudden stop beside us. Their eyes fell on the motionless form of their son. I will never forget the cry that came from Mr Diggory at the sight of his only son. The howl of pain that was like a wounded dog.

Tears rolled down my cheeks as I watched the scene before me, Professor McGonagall's hands on my arms to steady me. I just felt like it was all my fault. My actions had led to me being forced into the maze by Moody and I failed to reach Harry and Cedric in time to warn them about the trap. I hadn't got there quick enough to stop them touching the Cup. I had survived because Cedric must have stepped in front of me to stop the Killing Curse from hitting me too, the only possible way I was still alive. That Cedric had died all because of me.

Moody … I suddenly thought. I looked up. He was gathered with Dumbledore and Fudge trying to coax Harry away from Cedric's body. The faithful servant … he's at Hogwarts …

Moody had got Harry to his feet and was pulling him away. He turned towards Professor McGonagall, his grizzled face narrowed as he took in my dishevelled appearance, and growled at her that I needed to go to the Hospital Wing. I felt Professor McGonagall's hands tighten on my shoulders, but at Moody's insistence, she released me and told me to go with him. With his arm still gripping Harry around his chest, he growled at me to ask if I could walk, and to follow him back to the castle. I hesitated, fearful to be left alone with him and to leave the safety of the teachers, but I couldn't leave Harry alone with him. I glanced worriedly back at Professor McGonagall, who might have mistaken my fear for distress over what had happened, then followed Moody as he led Harry and I back to the castle.

Moody's mechanical foot clunked as we walked through the empty castle. He practically carried Harry as he began to quiz him on the night's events. Harry could barely speak, recounting the events in short sentences to answer his questions. As we walked through the castle I soon realised we were not heading in the direction of the Hospital Wing. Instead we were heading to the third floor and towards the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom where Moody's office was. Moody forced Harry down into a chair and closed the door behind us, then limped over to a dresser. I nervously took a seat beside him. I glanced at Harry. He was staring vaguely into the distance.

'Drink it … you'll feel better,' Moody growled, thrusting a cup into Harry's hands. 'Come on now, Harry, I need to know exactly what happened …'

Moody helped lift the cup and pour its contents down Harry's throat, causing him to cough. I had to fight back the urge to leap to his protection. I couldn't risk us both being killed by Moody. He stood over us, both eyes fixed upon our injured forms.

'Voldemort's back, Harry? You're sure he's back? How did he do it?'

'He took stuff from his father's grave, and from Wormtail, and me,' said Harry.

'What did the Dark Lord take from you?' persisted Moody.

'Blood,' said Harry. He raised his arm. His torn sleeve hung off it revealing the long bloody cut Wormtail had made to take his blood.

Moody's eyes moved to look at Harry's arm. For a moment, I could have sworn I saw a glint in them at the sight.

'And the Death Eaters?' he hissed. 'They returned?'

'Yes,' said Harry. 'Loads of them …'

'How did he treat them?' Moody asked quietly. 'Did he forgive them?'

I held my breath at that question. But something had suddenly stirred in Harry's memory of the night's events.

'There's a Death Eater at Hogwarts!' he said. I started. 'There's a Death Eater here – they put my name in the Goblet of Fire, they made sure I got through to the end –'

I panicked. We were in danger unbeknownst to Harry, that we were in the presence of the very Death Eater he was talking about. Harry tried to get to his feet but Moody pushed him down. I grabbed his arm to hold him down, sending him a warning look, hoping he could see the fear in my face. His eyes met mine, and I gave the slightest shake of my head.

'I know who the Death Eater is,' said Moody, standing over us once more.

'Karkaroff?' said Harry wildly. 'Where is he? Have you got him? Is he locked up?'

'Karkaroff?' said Moody. He gave an odd gruff laugh. 'Karkaroff fled tonight, when he felt the Dark Mark burn upon his arm. He betrayed too many faithful supporters of the Dark Lord to wish to meet them … but I doubt he will get far. The Dark Lord has ways of tracking his enemies.'

I felt a shiver of fear at the way Moody spoke, no attempt to hide his agenda anymore. But still Harry wasn't picking up on it.

'Karkaroff's gone?' he asked. 'He ran away? But then – he didn't put my name in the Cup?'

'No,' said Moody slowly. 'No, he didn't. It was I who did that.'

Harry stared at Moody.

'No, you didn't,' he said. 'You didn't do that … you can't have done …'

'I assure you I did,' said Moody. His magical eye had started to spin. It fell upon the door. He was clearly keeping watch for anyone approaching. Slowly he drew his wand and pointed it at Harry and me.

'He forgave them, then?' he asked. 'The Death Eaters who went free? The ones who escaped Azkaban?'

'What?' Harry stared between the wand and Moody.

'I asked you,' said Moody dangerously quiet, 'whether he forgave the scum who never even went to look for him. Those treacherous cowards who wouldn't even brave Azkaban for him. The faithless, worthless bits of filth who were brave enough to cavort in masks at the Quidditch World Cup, but fled at the sight of the Dark Mark when I fired it into the sky.'

'You fired … what are you talking about …?' asked Harry desperately.

'I told you, Harry …' said Moody quietly. 'I told you. If there's one thing I hate more than any other, it's a Death Eater who walked free. They turned their backs on my master when he needed them most. I expected him to punish them. I expected him to torture them. Tell me he hurt them, Harry …' The insane look in Moody's face, the twisted smile. 'Tell me he told them that I, I alone remained faithful … prepared to risk everything to deliver him the one thing he wanted above all … you.'

'You didn't … it – it can't be you …'

'Who put your name in the Goblet of Fire, under the name of a different school? I did,' growled Moody. 'Who frightened off every person I thought might try to hurt you or prevent you winning the Tournament? I did. Who nudged Hagrid into showing you the dragons? I did. Who helped you see the only way you could beat the dragon? I did. Do you think Cedric Diggory would have told you to hold the egg under the water if I hadn't told him first myself?

'It hasn't been easy, Harry, guiding you through these tasks without arousing suspicion. I have had to use every ounce of cunning I possess, so that my hand would not be detectable in your success. Dumbledore would have been very suspicious if you had manged everything too easily. As long as you got into that maze, preferably with a decent head start – then, I knew, I would have a chance of getting rid of the other champions and leaving your way clear. But I also had to contend against your stupidity. The second task … that was when I was most afraid we would fail. I was keeping watch on you, Potter. I knew you hadn't worked out the egg's clue, so I had to give you another hint –'

'You didn't,' said Harry. 'Cedric gave me the clue –'

'Who told Cedric to open it underwater? I did. I trusted that he would pass the information on to you. Decent people are so easy to manipulate, Potter. I was sure Cedric would want to repay you for telling him about the dragons, and so he did. But even then, Potter, even then you seemed likely to fail. I was watching all the time … all those hours in the library. Didn't you realise that the book you needed was in your dormitory all along? I planted it there early on, I gave it to the Longbottom boy, don't you remember? Magical Mediterranean Water-Plants and Their Properties. It would have told you all you needed about Gillyweed. I expected you to ask everyone and anyone you could for help. Longbottom, the witless wonder, would have told you in an instant. But you did not … you did not … you have a streak of pride and independence that might have ruined it all.

'So what could I do? Feed you information from another innocent source. You told me at the Yule Ball a house-elf called Dobby had given you a Christmas present. I called the elf to the staff room to collect some robes for cleaning. I staged a loud conversation with Professor McGonagall about the hostages who had been taken, and whether Potter would think to use Gillyweed. And your little elf friend ran straight to Snape's store-cupboard and hurried to find you. But you had vanished so instead the elf found this sneaking nosey little brat,' Moody growled, glaring at me, causing me to cower next to Harry, 'if she hadn't found you and got you the Gillyweed, you would have been disqualified for missing the task.'

I shook as I sat there listening to Moody's wild rantings of how he got Harry through the Tournament. But then out the corner of my eye, I saw something move. I glanced to my left, to something just behind where Harry and I were sitting. It was one of Moody's many magical instruments. The large spherical glass on a metal stand I had seen when I had snuck into Moody's office before the task. The cloud-like smoke with its dark shapeless figures moving about inside it. They seemed to stir and begin to darken.

'You were so long in that lake, Potter, I thought you had drowned,' Moody continued. 'But luckily, Dumbledore took your idiocy for nobility, and marked you high for it. I breathed again.

'You had an easier time of it than you should have done in that maze tonight, of course,' said Moody. 'That was because I was patrolling around it, able to see through the outer hedges, able to curse many obstacles out of your way. I Stunned Fleur Delacour as she passed. I put the Imperius Curse on Krum, so that he would finish Diggory, and leave your path to the Cup clear. But then this brat stumbled upon me,' Moody turned to me once more, 'she'd been sneaking around my office, seen things she shouldn't have, and I had to act. I couldn't let her ruin months of work. I had tried to warn you off,' he growled at me, 'warned you of the dangerous game you were playing, but nothing deterred you. So I forced you into the maze, knowing I couldn't remove you myself but whatever was in that maze could do the job for me.'

I shrunk back, but once again my eyes darted to the weird glass. It had moved again, and the dark figures inside were getting sharper.

'The Dark Lord didn't manage to kill you, Potter, and he so wanted to,' whispered Moody. 'Imagine how he will reward me, when he finds I have done it for him. I gave you to him – the thing he needed above all to regenerate – and then I killed you for him. I will be honoured beyond all other Death Eaters. I will be his dearest, his closest supporter … closer than a son …'

Moody's eyes were dancing, the insanity inside them palpable. Harry must've understood now what was going on, as I felt his hand suddenly grip mine and his arm slowly move across my body as if ready to push me out of harm's way.

'The Dark Lord and I,' said Moody gleefully, 'have much in common. Both of us, for instance, had very disappointing fathers … very disappointing indeed. Both of us suffered the indignity, Harry, 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!'

Realisation hit me. The young boy. Winky. The father he killed whom he said he was named after. I knew who he was, who Moody really was.

'You're mad,' said Harry. 'You're mad!'

'Mad, am I?' said Moody, his voice rising. 'We'll see! We'll see who's ad, now that the Dark Lord has returned, with me at his side! He is back, Harry Potter, you did not conquer him – and now – I conquer you!'

Moody raised his wand. The shadows in the glass were clear black figures now. I felt Harry pull me to my feet and push me behind him as he forced us back behind the large trunk on the floor. Moody lurched forwards to strike. Harry's free hand reached for his own wand. Suddenly the door to Moody's office was blasted open. Harry pushed me into the wall, his arms around me as I buried my face into his shoulder. Moody was thrown backwards on to the floor. Footsteps rushed in. Professor Dumbledore strode inside closely followed by Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape, their reflections mimicked in the magical glass. Dumbledore had his wand out and was pointing it at Moody. Professor McGonagall came over to Harry and me.

'Come along, Potter, Black,' she whispered. Her eyes were watery, like she was about to cry. 'Come along … Hospital Wing …'

'No,' said Dumbledore sharply.

'Dumbledore, they ought to – look at them – they've been through enough tonight –'

'He will stay, Minerva, because he needs to understand,' said Dumbledore. 'Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery. He needs to know who has put him through the ordeal he has suffered tonight, subjected his friend to, and why.'

'Moody,' said Harry. He still had his arms around me but his grip had loosened when McGonagall had approached us. 'How can it had been Moody?'

'This is not Alastor Moody,' said Dumbledore 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.'

Dumbledore bent down over the fake Moody's prone form and searched inside his robes. From an inside pocket he pulled out the hip-flask and a ring of keys. He stood straight and turned to McGonagall and Snape.

'Severus, please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion you possess, and then go down to the kitchens, and bring up the house-elf called Winky. Minerva, kindly go down to Hagrid's house, where you will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Take the dog up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, then come back here.'

I reacted at the mention of the large black dog. Could it be? Was Dad in the grounds? Could it be within the realms of possibility that Dad was here?

McGonagall and Snape did not react to Dumbledore's instructions and left the office at once. I watched as Dumbledore then went over to the large trunk with the multiple locks on the front. One by one Dumbledore tried each of the keys in each of the locks, opening and closing the trunk after observing its contents. When he reached the final lock and key my mouth dropped open in shock. Opening the lid revealed a deep pit at the bottom of the trunk. There in the darkness I could just make out the form of the real Mad-Eye Moody, complete with stump where his mechanical leg should be, an empty socket which should hold his magical eye, and the signs of clumps of hair having been taken for the Polyjuice Potion the imposter must have used to impersonate him, which Dumbledore confirmed with a sniff of his hip-flask.

'You see the simplicity of it,' commented Dumbledore, 'and the brilliance. For Moody never does drink except from his hip-flask, he's well known for it. The imposter needed, of course, to keep the real Moody close by, so that he could continue making the Potion. You see his hair … The imposter has been cutting it off all year, see where it is uneven? But I think, in the excitement of tonight, our fake Moody might have forgotten to take it as frequently as he should have done … on the hour … every hour … we shall see.'

Dumbledore sat down at the desk, his eyes fixed on the unconscious Moody. I turned to face him too. As I expected, slowly he began to change. Moody's grizzled hair began to shorten and regain its blond colour; his face, scarred and worn from his career as an Auror, was becoming smooth and the scars faded; the magical eyeball popped out of its socket as the belt holding it became loose and fell away from Moody's head; and with a loud clunk, Moody's wooden leg was pushed out of place as the imposter's own leg regrew in its place. The old grizzled man who had been knocked out by Dumbledore was now replaced by the unconscious form of a young, pale-skinned man. He looked like just a boy in Moody's oversized clothes. Finally a name could be put to a face: Barty Crouch Jr.

I heard the footsteps of McGonagall and Snape returning. At Snape's heels was Winky the house-elf.

'Master Barty!' squeaked Winky. 'Master Barty, what is you doing here?' Winky flung herself on to the young man's body. 'You is killed him!' she cried. 'You is killed him! You is killed master's son!'

'He is simply Stunned, Winky,' said Dumbledore. 'Step aside, please. Severus, you have the Potion?'

Snape handed Dumbledore a small, clear vial. I had never seen a Truth Potion before. Dumbledore pulled Crouch into a sitting position and moved him against the wall. He forced open his mouth and poured three drops of the liquid into it. He then pointed his wand at Crouch's chest and said, 'Rennervate.'

It took a few seconds. Crouch opened his eyes. They rolled slightly as he tried to focus. Dumbledore remained knelt beside him.

'Can you hear me?' Dumbledore asked.

'Yes,' muttered the man.

'I would like you to tell us,' said Dumbledore softly, 'how you come to be here. How did you escape from Azkaban?'

Crouch seemed to shudder, then spoke.

'My mother saved me,' he grunted in a flat voice. 'She knew she was dying. She persuaded my father to rescue me as a last favour to her. He loved her as he had never loved me. He agreed. They came to visit me. They gave me a draught of Polyjuice Potion, containing one of my mother's hairs. She took a draught of Polyjuice Potion, containing one of my hairs. We took on each other's appearance.'

'Say no more, Master Barty, say no more,' whimpered Winky, shaking her head, 'you is getting your father in trouble.'

'The Dementors are blind,' continued Crouch. 'They sensed one healthy, one dying person entering Azkaban. They sensed one healthy, one dying person leaving it. My father snuggled me out, disguised as my mother, in case any prisoners were watching through their doors.

'My mother died a short while afterwards in Azkaban. She was careful to drink Polyjuice Potion until the end. She was buried under my name, and bearing my appearance. Everyone believed her to be me.'

'And what did your father do with you, when he had got you home?' asked Dumbledore.

'Staged my mother's death. A quiet, private funeral. That grave is empty. The house-elf nursed me back to health. Then I had to be concealed. I had to be controlled. My father had to use a number of spells to subdue me. When I had recovered my strength, I thought only of finding my master … of returning to his service.'

'How did your father subdue you?' persisted Dumbledore.

'The Imperius Curse. I was under my father's control. I was forced to wear an Invisibility Cloak day and night. I was always with the house-elf. She was my keeper and carer. She pitied me. She persuaded my father to give me occasional treated. Rewards for my good behaviour.'

'Master Barty, Master Barty,' sobbed Winky. 'You isn't ought to tell them, we is getting in trouble …'

Thing were slowly starting to make sense to me as I pieced together the bits of information I had gained over the year. Now it made sense when Winky had dodged my question back in the kitchens about following multiple instructions and the night she was sacked for not obeying her master. She had been instructed to look after Barty Crouch, her main instruction that night at the Quidditch World Cup, with a secondary one of staying put in the tent. Now I knew which one it was she had been sacked for.

'Did anybody ever discover that you were still alive?' asked Dumbledore. 'Did anyone know except your father, and the house-elf?'

'Yes,' said Crouch, his eyes flickering. 'A witch in my father's office. Bertha Jorkins. She came to the house, with papers for my father's signature. He was not at home. Winky showed her inside and returned to the kitchen, to me. But Bertha Jorkins heard Winky talking to me. She came to investigate. She heard enough to guess who was hiding under the Invisibility Cloak. My father arrived home. She confronted him. He put a very powerful Memory Charm on her to make her forget what she'd found out. Too powerful. He said it damaged her memory permanently.'

'Tell me about the Quidditch World Cup,' said Dumbledore.

'Winky talked me father into it,' said Crouch. 'She spent months persuading him. I had not left the house for years. I had loved Quidditch. Let him go, she said. He will be in his Invisibility Cloak. He can watch. Let him smell fresh air for once. She said my mother would have wanted it. She told my father that my mother had died to give me freedom. She had not saved me for a life of imprisonment. He agreed in the end.

'It was carefully planned. My father led myself and Winky up to the Top Box early in the day. Winky was to say that she was saving a seat for my father. I was to sit there, invisible. When everyone had left the box, we would emerge. Winky would appear to be alone. Nobody would ever know.'

'But Winky didn't know that I was growing stronger. I was starting to fight my father's Imperius Curse. There were times I was almost myself again. There were brief periods when I seemed outside his control. It happened there, in the Top Box. It was like waking from a deep sleep. I found myself out in public, in the middle of the match, and I saw a wand sticking out of a boy's pocket in front of me. I had not been allowed a wand since before Azkaban. I stole it. Winky didn't know. Winky is frightened of heights. She had her face hidden.'

'So you took the wand,' said Dumbledore over Winky's frequent sobs, 'and what did you do with it?'

'We went back to the tent,' said Crouch. 'Then we heard them. We heard the Death Eaters. The ones who had never been to Azkaban. The ones who had never suffered for my master. They had turned their backs on him. They were not enslaved, as I was. They were free to seek him, but they did not. They were merely making sport of Muggles. The sound of their voices awoke me. My mind was clearer than it had been in years. I was angry. I had the wand. I wanted to attack them for disloyalty to my master. My father had left the tent, he had gone to free the Muggles. Winky was afraid to see me so angry. She used her own brand of magic to bind me to her. She pulled me from the tent, pulled me into the forest, away from the Death Eaters. I tried to hold her back. I wanted to return to the campsite. I wanted to show those Death Eaters what loyalty to the Dark Lord meant, and to punish them for their lack of it. I used the stolen wand to cast the Dark Mark into the sky.

'Ministry wizards arrived. They shot Stunning Spells everywhere. One of the Spells came through the trees where Winky and I stood. The bond connecting us was broken. We were both Stunned.

'When Winky was discovered, my father knew I must be nearby. He searched the bushes where she had been found, and felt me lying there. He waited until the other Ministry members had left the forest. He put me back under the Imperius Curse, and took me home. He dismissed Winky. She had failed him. She had let me aquire a wand. She had almost let me escape.

'Now it was just Father and I, alone in the house. And then … and then … my master came for me …

'He arrived at our house late one night, in the arms of his servant Wormtail. My master had found out that I was still alive. He had captured Bertha Jorkins in Albania. He had tortured her. She told him a great deal. She told him about the Triwizard Tournament. She told him the old Auror, Moody, was going to teach at Hogwarts. He tortured her until he broke through the Memory Charm my father had placed upon her. She told him I had escaped from Azkaban. She told him my father kept me imprisoned to prevent me seeking my master. And so my master knew that I was still his faithful servant – perhaps the most faithful of all. My master conceived a plan, based upon the information Bertha had given him. He needed me. He arrived at out house near midnight. My father answered the door.'

A creepy glee-filled smile began to creep over Crouch's slack face.

'It was very quick,' he whispered. 'My father was placed under the Imperius Curse by my master. Now my father was the one imprisoned, controlled. My master forced him to go about his business as usual, to act as though nothing was wrong. And I was released. I awoke. I was myself again, alive as I hadn't been in years.'

'And what did Lord Voldemort ask you to do?' said Dumbledore.

'He asked me whether I was ready to risk everything for him. I was ready. It was my dream, my greatest ambition, to serve him, to prove myself to him. He told me he needed to place a faithful servant at Hogwarts. A servant who would guide Harry Potter through the Triwizard Tournament without appearing to do so. A servant who would watch over Harry Potter. Ensure he reached the Triwizard Cup. Turn the Cup into a Portkey, which would take the first person to touch it to my master. But first –'

'You needed Alastor Moody,' said Dumbledore, his voice still frighteningly calm.

'Wormtail and I did it,' confirmed Crouch. 'We had prepared the Polyjuice Potion beforehand. We journeyed to his house. Moody put up a struggle. There was a commotion. We managed to subdue him just in time. Forced him into a compartment of his own magical trunk. Took some of his hair and added it to the Potion. I drank it, I became Moody's double. I took his leg and his eye. I was ready to face Arthur Weasley when he arrived to sort out the Muggles who had heard a disturbance. I made the dustbins move around the yard. I told Arthur Weasley I had heard intruders in my yard, who had set the dustbins off. Then I packed up Moody's clothes and Dark detectors, put them in the trunk with Moody, and set off for Hogwarts. I kept him alive, under the Imperius curse. I wanted to able to question him. To find out about his past, learn his habits, so that I could fool even Dumbledore. I also needed his hair to make the Polyjuice Potion. The other ingredients were easy. I stole Boomslang skin from the dungeons. When the Potions master found me in his office, I said I was under orders to search it.'

'And what became of Wormtail after you attacked Moody?' asked Dumbledore.

'Wormtail returned to take care of my master, in my father's house, and to keep watch over my father.'

'But your father escaped.'

'Yes. After a while he began to fight the Imperius Curse just as I had done. There were periods when he knew what was happening. My master decided it was no longer safe for my father to leave the house. He forced him to send letters to the Ministry instead. He made him write and say he was ill. But Wormtail neglected his duty. He was not watchful enough. My father escaped. My master guessed that he was heading for Hogwarts. My father was going to tell Dumbledore everything, to confess. He was going to admit that he had smuggled me from Azkaban.

'My master sent me word of my father's escape. He told me to stop him at all costs. So I waited and watched. I used the map I had taken from Harry Potter. The map that had almost ruined everything.'

My stomach lurched. I knew Harry shouldn't have given Moody that map. And now Dumbledore knew about it.

'Map?' said Dumbledore quickly. 'What map is this?'

'Potter's map of Hogwarts,' said Crouch. 'Potter saw me on it. Potter saw me stealing more ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion from Snape's office one night. He thought I was my father as we have the same first name. I took the map from Potter that night. I told him my father hated Dark wizards. Potter believed my father was after Snape.

'For a week I waited for my father to arrive at Hogwarts. At last, one evening, the map showed my father entering the grounds. I pulled on my Invisibility Cloak, and went down to meet him. He was walking around the edge of the Forest. Then Potter came, and Krum. I waited. I could not hurt Potter, my master needed hihm. Potter ran to get Dumbledore. I Stunned Krum. I killed my father.

Winky, who had been making continuous moans and sobs throughout Crouch's story, let out a particular loud wail.

'Master Barty, what is you saying?'

'You killed your father,' said Dumbledore. 'What did you do with the body?'

'Carried it into the Forest,' said Crouch, a mere hint of amusement in his voice. 'Covered it with the Invisibility Cloak. I had the map with me. I watched Potter run into the castle. He met Snape. Dumbledore joined them. I watched Potter bringing Dumbledore out of the castle. I walked back out of the Forest, doubled round behind them, went to meet them. I told Dumbledore Snape had told me where to come.

'Dumbledore told me to go and look for my father. I went back to my father's body. Watched the map. When everyone was gone, I Transfigured my father's body. He became a bone … I buried it, while wearing the Invisibility Cloak, in the freshly dug earth in front of Hagrid's cabin.'

A shiver ran through my body. I would have thrown up had I not been so physically drained.

'And tonight …' prompted Dumbledore.

'I offered to carry the Triwizard Cup into the maze before dinner,' said Crouch, his voice a whisper now. 'Turned it into a Portkey. My master's plan worked. He returned to power and I will be honoured by him beyond the dreams of wizards. I'll be welcomed back like a hero.'

'Perhaps,' muttered Dumbledore, his blue eyes observing the young man before him. 'Personally, I've never had much time for heros.'

I stood there beside Harry, only vaguely still aware of what was happening as exhaustion took over. I didn't know what to believe, what to feel, what to even think right now after what Crouch's son had said. He was unconscious once more against the wall, his head lolling to one side. Winky was still sobbing at his feet. Dumbledore stood up and pointed his wand at Crouch. Ropes flew out the tip and tied themselves around him. He then turned to Professor McGonagall.

'Minerva, could I ask you to stand guard here while I take Harry upstairs?'

'Of course,' said Professor McGonagall. She drew out her own wand and held it over Crouch, her hand steady.

'Severus,' Dumbledore turned to Snape, 'please take Miss Black to the Hospital Wing and tell Madam Pomfrey to come down here. We need to get Alastor Moody into the Hospital Wing. Then go down into the grounds, find Cornelius Fudge, and bring him up to this office. He will undoubtedly want to question Crouch himself. Tell him I will be in the Hospital Wing in half an hour's time if he needs me.'

Snape nodded.

'Jenna?'

I lifted my eyes when I heard Dumbledore say my name. I swallowed, unaware how dry my throat was.

'Professor Snape will take you to the Hospital Wing,' he told me. 'She will see to your injuries. Go with Professor Snape.' I tensed, my hand instinctively tightening around Harry's. Dumbledore must've seen this, as he said, 'Harry is safe now. He is under my watch. Nothing more will happen to him. We need to see to your injuries.'

'Come along, Black,' said Snape, for once his voice uncharacteristically without its sneer.

I flinched slightly when Snape's hand touched my shoulder but nonetheless I allowed him to take me out of the room. I glanced back at Harry as I left. I'd never seen him look so broken before. I remained silent as Snape led me from the office and to the Hospital Wing. It felt like I'd lost the ability to speak. I had expected some sneering remark about getting in trouble again from Snape but it never came. He merely kept a firm hand on my shoulder as he escorted me through the corridors. I could hear voices as we reached the Hospital Wing. I had a feeling I knew who would be waiting inside for me and Harry to get there. I felt my body start to collapse. I didn't want to see them.

Snape pushed open the door to the Hospital Wing and urged me inside. Sure enough, Ron, Hermione, Mrs Weasley and Bill were all inside waiting for us. I felt Snape's hand leave my shoulder as he went to find Madam Pomfrey. I heard Hermione and Mrs Weasley's gasps as they caught sight of me. Without Snape's support I felt my body sway as I finally gave in to exhaustion. Mrs Weasley was by my side in seconds, helping me to stand.

'Oh, Jenna, dear,' she was saying, almost in tears. 'Look at the state of you. I was so worried when you and Harry reappeared in the grounds. I thought you had all died.'

'What happened?' asked Ron. 'How did you end up with Harry? Why was Diggory dead?'

'Ron!' snapped Hermione. 'You can't ask her that!'

'Everyone, please,' came Madam Pomfrey's voice, saving me from their questions. 'Miss Black has been through enough tonight.'

Madam Pomfrey removed me from Mrs Weasley's grip and steered me towards the nearest bed. She conjured some pyjamas and told me to change into them, magically making some screens block me from Hermione and the Weasley's view. Once changed, Madam Pomfrey flicked her wand to make the screens fold themselves up and helped me get on to the bed. Every movement I made was agony but I had no tears or screams left to make. Before I was allowed to lie die, Madam Pomfrey handed me a steaming potion and instructed me to drink it, telling me it will give me a dreamless sleep to help me recuperate. I welcomed that thought, for a few hours of away from the horrors I'd faced tonight. I gratefully drank the potion, Mrs Weasley assuring me that she and the others would be here when I woke up. I felt the exhaustion be replaced with drowsiness. I lay back on the bed. As soon as my head touched the pillow my eyes shut and I drifted out of consciousness into a wonderful, empty sleep.

My sleep didn't last long, or at least it felt like it didn't. The warmth of my bed wasn't enough to block out the whispering I could hear nearby. Blearily I opened my eyes, turning my head to see what was going on. Mrs Weasley was on her feet, Bill by her side. Both were watching the door to the Hospital Wing. As the potion and sleep wore off I became aware of more voices. These ones were shouting as they argued about something that had happened.

'Regrettable, but all the same, Minerva –' a man's voice was saying.

'You should never have brought it inside the castle!' yelled Professor McGonagall's voice in response. 'When Dumbledore finds out –'

All of a sudden the Hospital Wing doors burst open. I started and sat up. I wasn't the only one who had been woken up by the commotion. Relief swept over me when I saw sat up on the bed opposite mine was Harry. Mrs Weasley, Bill, Ron and Hermione hadn't noticed the two of us were awake as Cornelius Fudge came striding down the ward through the open doors towards us. Professors McGonagall and Snape followed closely behind.

'Where's Dumbledore?' demanded Fudge at Mrs Weasley.

'He's not here,' replied Mrs Weasley angrily. 'This is a Hospital Wing, Minister, don't you think you'd do better to –'

The door to the Hospital Wing opened again and Dumbledore swept into the ward.

'What has happened?' he asked sharply, looking between Fudge and McGonagall. 'Why are you disturbing these people? Minerva, I'm surprised at you – I asked you to stand guard over Barty Crouch –'

'There is no need to stand guard over him any more, Dumbledore,' said Professor McGonagall, her voice slightly hysterical for her standards. She looked like she was shaking with fury. 'The Minister has seen to that!'

My eyes narrowed. What did Professor McGonagall mean by that?

'When we told Mr Fudge that we had caught the Death Eater responsible for tonight's events,' said Snape, 'he seemed to feel his personal safety was in question. He insisted on summoning a Dementor to accompany him into the castle. He brought it up to the office where Barty Crouch –'

'I told him you would not agree, Dumbledore!' snapped Professor McGonagall. 'I told him you would never allow Dementors to set foot inside the castle, but –'

'My dear woman!' shouted Fudge. 'As Minister for Magic, it is my decision whether I wish to bring protection with me when interviewing a possibly dangerous –'

Professor McGonagall spoke over him, her voice more furious than his.

'The moment that – that thing entered the room,' she screamed, pointing at Fudge, 'it swooped down on Crouch and – and –'

I felt the pit of my stomach drop. She needed to say what had happened. I already knew. The Dementor had taken Crouch's soul with its Kiss. He was worse than dead.

'By all accounts, he is no loss!' blustered Fudge. 'It seems he has been responsible for several deaths!'

'But he cannot now give testimony, Cornelius,' said Dumbledore pertly. 'He cannot give evidence about why he killed those people.'

\Why he killed them?' repeated Fudge. 'Well, that's no mystery, is it? He was a raving lunatic! From what Minerva and Severus have told me, he seems to have thought he was doing it all on You-Know-Who's instructions!'

'Lord Voldemort was giving him instructions, Cornelius,' said Dumbledore firmly. 'Those people's deaths were mere by-products of a plan to restore Voldemort to full strength again. The plan succeeded. Voldemort has been restored to his body.'

That chill I'd felt hours earlier came back and I felt my body shudder. I had hoped tonight's events had all been a nasty dream but this was the horrible reminder that everything that had happened was real.

Fudge took an unsteady step back at Dumbledore's proclamation. He stared wildly at him, spluttering that it couldn't be true.

'As Minerva and Severus have doubtless told you,' said Dumbledore, 'we heard Barty Crouch confess. Under the influence of Veritaserum, he told us how he was smuggled out of Azkaban, and how Voldemort – learning of his continued existence from Bertha Jorkins – went to free him from his father, and used him to capture Harry. The plan worked, I tell you. Crouch has helped Voldemort return.'

'See here, Dumbledore,' said Fudge. To my surprise, he was starting to smile. 'You – you can't seriously believe that. You-Know-Who – back? Come now, come now … certainly, Crouch may have believed himself to be acting upon You-Know-Who's orders – but to take the word of a lunatic like that, Dumbledore …'

'When Harry touched the Triwizard Cup tonight, he was transported straight to Voldemort,' said Dumbledore, his voice calm and measured. His eyes moved from Fudge over to mine and Harry's beds. He shook his head slightly when he saw us both awake. 'He and Miss Black both witnessed Lord Voldemort's rebirth. I will explain it all to you if you will step up to my office. I am afraid I cannot permit you to question them tonight.'

Fudge's smile twitched. He glanced to his left, his eyes falling on Harry then me.

'You are – er – prepared to take Harry's word on this, are you, Dumbledore?' he asked. 'And the girl's?'

A knot formed in my stomach. Did Fudge not believe Harry about what happened?

'Certainly I believe Harry,' said Dumbledore. 'I heard Crouch's confessions, and I heard Harry's account of what happened after he touched the Triwizard Cup; the two stories make sense, they explain everything that has happened since Bertha Jorkins disappeared last summer.'

'But you haven't interrogated the girl yet?' questioned Fudge. 'Who, by all accounts and rules of the Tournament, shouldn't have even been inside the maze tonight.'

'I haven't yet had the opportunity to get Miss Black's version of the events,' said Dumbledore, his tone getting sharper, 'however, I have no doubt it will corroborate with both Crouch's and Harry's own accounts.'

That strange smile was still on Fudge's face despite Dumbledore's assertion.

'You are prepared to believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, on the word of a lunatic murderer, and a boy who … well …'

And Fudge shot Harry another pointed look.

'You've been reading Rita Skeeter, Mr Fudge,' said Harry quietly, startling everyone in the room, including me.

'And if I have?' said Fudge, his face reddening slightly. 'If I have discovered that you've been keeping certain facts about both the boy and girl very quiet? A Parselmouth, eh? And a Maledictus? Quite a pair, I must say. Maledictae are not known for their honesty. And he's having funny turns all over the place –'

'I assume that you are referring to the pains Harry has been experiencing in his scar?' replied Dumbledore.

'You admit that he has been having these pains, then?' countered Fudge quickly. 'Headaches? Nightmares? Possibly – hallucinations?'

'Listen to me, Cornelius,' said Dumbledore, taking a step towards Fudge in a move that radiated the same power he seemed to exude when he first burst into Moody's office hours before. 'Harry is as sane as you or I, while Miss Black have never give any cause to doubt her trustworthiness. That scar upon his forehead has not addled his brains. I believe it hurts him when Lord Voldemort is close by, or feeling particularly murderous.'

Fudge remained stubborn.

'You'll forgive me, Dumbledore, but I've never heard of a cursed scar acting as an alarm bell before …'

'Look, I saw Voldemort come back!' shouted Harry. He tried to get out of bed but Mrs Weasley held him back. 'I saw Death Eaters! I can give you their names! Lucius Malfoy –'

Snape made a sudden movement but covered it immediately, returning his attention back to Fudge.

'Malfoy was cleared!' said Fudge angrily. 'A very old family – donations to excellent causes –'

With every name Harry gave, Fudge brushed it off.

'You are merely repeating the names of those who were aquitted of being Death Eaters thirteen years ago!' said Fudge angrily. 'You could have found those names in old reports of the trials! For heaven's sake, Dumbledore – the boy was full of some crackpot story at the end of last year, too – his tales are getting taller, and you're still swallowing them – the boy can talk to snakes, Dumbledore, and you still think he's trustworthy?'

'We saw them!' I suddenly shouted, announcing myself to everyone in the room who had not yet noticed that I was also awake. 'They came the moment he called them. All of them who you claim are no longer his supporters were there.'

'You see, Dumbledore?' said Fudge. 'The girl follows any lie Potter tells and we're expected to believe them? When she too was centre of all the chaos of last year? The daughter of a serial murderer?'

'You fool!' cried Professor McGonagall. 'Cedric Diggory! Mr Crouch! These deaths were not the random work of a lunatic!'

'I see no evidence to the contrary!' shouted Fudge back at her. 'It seems to me that you are all determined to start a panic that will destabilise everything we have worked for these last thirteen years!'

'Voldemort has returned,' repeated Dumbledore. 'If you accept that fact straight away, Fudge, and take the necessary measures, we may still be able to save the situation. The first and most essential step is to remove Azkaban from the control of the Dementors –'

'Preposterous!' shouted Fudge again. 'Remove the Dementors! I'd be kicked out of office for suggesting it! Half of us only feel safe in our beds at night because we know the Dementors are standing guard at Azkaban!'

'The rest of us sleep less soundly in our beds, Cornelius, knowing that you have put Lord Voldemort's most dangerous supporters in the care of creatures who will join him the instant he asks them!' said Dumbledore firmly. 'They will not remain loyal to you, Fudge! Voldemort can offer them much more scope for their powers and their pleasures than you can! With the Dementors behind him, and his old supporters returned to him, you will be hard pressed to stop him regaining the sort of power he had thirteen years ago!'

Fudge was opening and closing his mouth like some gormless fish.

'The second step you must take – and at once,' Dumbledore pressed, 'is to send envoys to the giants.'

'Envoys to the giants?' repeated Fudge. 'What madness is this?'

'Extend them the hand of friendship, now, before it is too late,' said Dumbledore, 'or Voldemort will persuade them, as he did before, that he along among wizards will give them their rights and their freedom!'

'You – you cannot be serious!' said Fudge, shaking his head. 'If the magical community got wing that I had approached the giants – people hate them, Dumbledore – end of my career –'

'You are blinded,' said Dumbledore, his voice rising, 'by the love of the office you hold, Cornelius! You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognise that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be. Your Dementor has just destroyed the last remaining member of a pure-blood family as old as any – and see what that man chose to make of his life! I tell you now – take the steps I have suggested, and you will be remembered, in office or out, as one of the bravest and greatest Ministers for Magic we have ever known. Fail to act – and history will remember you as the man who stepped aside, and allowed Voldemort a second chance to destroy the world we have tried to rebuild!'

'Insane,' Fudge whispered. 'Mad …'

An unsettling silence followed Dumbledore's speech. No one moved. All those gathered looked between Dumbledore and Fudge.

'If your determination to shut your eyes will carry you as far as this, Cornelius,' said Dumbledore, 'we have reached a parting of the ways. You must act as you see fit. And I – I shall act as I see fit.'

'Now, see here, Dumbledore,' said Fudge warningly. 'I've given you free rein, always. I've had a lot of respect for you. I might not have agreed with some of your decision, but I've kept quiet. There aren't many who'd let you hire werewolves, or keep Hagrid, or decide what to teach your students, without reference to the Ministry. But if you're going to work against me –'

'The only one against whom I intend to work,' said Dumbledore, 'is Lord Voldemort. If you are against him, then we remain, Cornelius, on the same side.'

Fudge, having regained some of his composure, stood rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, his hands clasping the lime green bowler hat as he spun it in his hands. After a minute or two, he spoke, with what could only be described as a hint of a plea in his voice, 'He can't be back, Dumbledore, he just can't be …'

Suddenly Snape strode forwards. He pulled up the left sleeve of his robe and thrust his forearm in front of Fudge, causing him to recoil.

'There,' said Snape harshly. 'There. The Dark Mark. It is not as clear as it was, an hour or so ago, when it burnt black, but you can still see it. Every Death Eater had the sign burnt into him by the Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing each other, and his means of summoning us to him. When he touched the Mark of any Death Eater, we were to Disapparate, and Apparate instantly, at his side. This Mark has been growing clearer all year. Karkaroff's, too. Why do you think Karkaroff fled tonight? We both felt the Mark burn. We both knew he had returned. Karkaroff fears the Dark Lord's vengeance. He betrayed too many of his fellow Death Eaters to be sure of a welcome back into the fold.'

Fudge took a step back from Snape. He kept shaking his head. No matter what he was told, the evidence he was present, Fudge still seem to refuse to believe what we were all telling him.

'I don't know what you and your staff are playing at, Dumbledore,' he said quietly, 'but I have heard enough. I have no more to add. I will be in touch with you tomorrow, Dumbledore, to discuss the running of this school. I must return to the Ministry.'

Fudge turned on his heel and strode towards the doors of the Hospital Wing. He went to open them but paused. Silently he turned back round, walked the length of the ward back towards Harry's bed, and proceeded to drop a sizable bag of gold on to Harry's bedside table.

'Your winnings,' he said shortly. 'One thousand Galleons. There should have been a presentation ceremony, but in the circumstances …'

It was like a horrible reality had just returned at the mention of the Triwizard winnings, as that was the reason all of this had happened..

Cramming his bowler hat on to his head, Fudge left.

'There is work to be done,' said Dumbledore without hesitation now Fudge was gone. 'Molly … am I right in thinking that I can count on you and Arthur?'

'Of course you can,' said Mrs Weasley. She looked pale but had a determined look about her. 'He knows what Fudge is. It's Arthur's fondness for Muggles that has held him back at the Ministry all these years. Fudge thinks he lacks proper wizarding pride.'

'Then I need to send a message to him,' said Dumbledore. 'All those that we can persuade of the truth must be notified immediately, and Arthut is well placed to contact those at the Ministry who are not as short-sighted as Cornelius.'

'I'll go to Dad,' said Bill, standing. 'I'll go now.'

'Excellent,' said Dumbledore. 'Tell him what happened. Tell him I will be in direct contact with him shortly. He will need to be discreet, however. If Fudge thinks I am interfering at the Ministry –'

'Leave it to me,' said Bill.

Bill said goodbye to us and, grabbing his cloak, hurried up the ward and out of the Hospital Wing.

'Minerva,' Dumbledore turned to Professor McGonagall next, 'I want to see Hagrid in my office as soon as possible. Also – if she will consent to come – Madame Maxime.'

Professor McGonagall nodded and she too left.

'Poppy,' continued Dumbledore, 'would you be very kind, and go down to Professor Moody's office, where I think you will find a house-elf called Winky in considerable distress? Do what you can for her, and take her back to the kitchens. I think Dobby will look after her for us.'

'Very – very well,' said Madam Pomfrey, slightly startled by the request, but accepting of it regardless.

It was a few more minutes before Dumbledore next spoke. He watched as Madam Pomfrey left the Hospital Wing and waited by the closed door, listening for her footsteps to die away.

'And now,' he said, 'it is time for two of our number to recognise each other for what they are. Sirius … if you could resume your usual form.'

Sirius … I thought, suddenly the most alert I had been for a while, it couldn't be …

I hadn't noticed the large black dog that had been sitting obediently on the floor just behind where Dumbledore stood. It looked up at Dumbledore before standing straight, a thin man with long black hair standing in its place. His sudden appearance startled us all, especially Mrs Weasley, who screamed and leapt back from Harry's beside.

'Sirius Black!' she shrieked, pointing at him.

'Dad!' I shouted instantly.

I fought to get out from under the covers of my bed. Dad heard my shout. In a few short strides he'd crossed the ward past a frantic Mrs Weasley Ron was telling to shut up. He wrapped his arms round me before I could climb off my bed to get to him, my face buried into his chest.

'Thank Merlin you're OK,' said Dad. 'I thought I'd lost you again.'

'Him!' snarled Snape's voice, causing Dad to pull back from me. 'What is he doing here?'

'He is here at my invitation,' said Dumbledore firmly, 'as are you, Severus. He is also a parent, he has the right to know his child has been in danger. I trust you both. It is time for you to lay aside your old differences, and trust each other.'

I glanced up at Dad whose expression had turned stony. The likelihood of Snape and Dad making peace was about as likely as Fudge believing Dumbledore's story.

'I will settle, in the short term,' said Dumbledore, impatience evident in his tone, 'for a lack of open hostility. You will shake hands. You are on the same side now. Time is short, and unless the few of us who know the truth stand united, there is no hope for any of us.'

I felt Dad tense but then release his arms around me as he got up. Both he and Snape glared at each other and, clearly both resenting the concept, shook hands. They let go after barely a second.

'That will do to be going on with,' said Dumbledore, stepping between them. 'Now I have work for each of you. Fudge's attitude, though not unexpected, changes everything. Sirius, I need you to set of at once. You are to alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher – the old crowd. Lie low at Lupin's for a while, I will contact you there.'

But – no – he couldn't go! Of all the people I needed right now, I needed my Dad, and he had to go again? I started to get out of my bed again but Mrs Weasley saw me. She moved to my bedside and put a restraining hand on my shoulder. I looked frantically between her and Dad, who was beside Harry. It appeared Harry too didn't want him to go. He gave Harry some reassuring words then made his way back to my bed. I felt Mrs Weasley's hand tense on my shoulder, her motherly instincts kicking in. She and Dad seemed to share a distrustful look before she moved back, allowing him passage to me.

'I have to go,' he whispered to me, brushing back my hair and stroking my cheek. 'But I'll be back before you know it.'

'Don't go,' I breathed, surprised by how shaky my voice was having barely spoken in such a long time. 'I need you …'

Dad leaned down and kissed my forehead.

'I'll be at home waiting for you,' he told me. 'I promise.'

I gripped Dad's hand as long as I could before it slipped from mine as Dad turned to leave. He gave a nod to Dumbledore then transformed back into the large black dog. He ran up the ward to the door which he opened his paw. With a flick of his tail, Dad was gone.

'Severus,' said Dumbledore, 'you know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready … if you are prepared …'

'I am,' replied Snape.

'Then, good luck.' and Snape too left the Hospital Wing.

'I must go downstairs,' Dumbledore announced. 'I must see the Diggorys. Harry, Jenna – take the rest of your potions. I will see you later.'

I watched as Dumbledore left the ward. An odd numbness came over me. I sat there on my bed in silence, my mind slowly slipping out of awareness of my surroundings. Voices became muffled and I stared out in front of me. My head started to pound as dozens of thoughts and images began to race through my mind. I fought to sort through them, to work out what they all were and what they meant, my eyes starting to sting with tears again as I felt my emotions threaten to consume me. I fought the sobs that tried to choke me.

'Jenna, dear, your potion,' said the soothing voice of Mrs Weasley.

I felt her hands clasp mine, helping me hold the potion as I wasn't capable of doing it myself. She lifted it to my lips so I would drink the remainder, her hand on my back to support my weakened body. The liquid flowed down my throat and I once again felt that peaceful drowsiness as my mind emptied once more. I felt my body be guided back on to the bed and Mrs Weasley cover me again with the sheets. My head drooped on to the pillow. Slowly my eyes closed and I drifted once more into the dreamless sleep.