After Harry revealed that Voldemort is back...

HARRY XXXV

When Harry woke up from a deep, comfortable sleep caused by a potion, it took him a while to remember where he was and how he ended up here. However, the loud conversation between his mother and another voice which woke him up brought him back to the real world pretty quickly.

"My son is resting. You will not get to talk to him before he's recovered," his mother was saying.

"He is the only one who can tell us what happened to Cedric Diggory," someone else roared.

Harry opened his eyes to see Cornelius Fudge standing near the door of the infirmary. His mother had her back turned on Harry and visibly kept Fudge away from him. Everything that had happened before Dumbledore and his mother brought him back to the hospital wing to rest came back to his mind instantly.

The journey through the maze. He and Cedric being transported by a Portkey far from Hogwarts. Cedric being killed. Voldemort's return. The coming of the Death Eaters. The duel. How their wands connected. The spirits coming out of Voldemort's wand. His escape. His return to Hogwarts… with Cedric's body.

All that, Harry had been forced to tell Dumbledore and his mother what had happened. After he and Cedric came back to Hogwarts under screams from the crowd, a part of which didn't seem to realize first what happened, Harry's mother had rushed towards him, and Dumbledore was not far behind. Harry didn't think he made much sense. Although the events in the graveyard were very clear, way too clear and vivid to his mind, those that followed were confused. He remembered people screaming out of horror when they realized that Cedric was dead. He remembered Cho crying, and Cedric's parents collapsing over the dead body of their son. He remembered his mother almost carrying him out of the crowd. He remembered some kind of dispute between her and Dumbledore. His mother wanted to bring him to the hospital wing, while Dumbledore wanted Harry to head in his office. Harry's mother finally yielded to Dumbledore, but Harry didn't remember why. There were many people surrounding Cedric's body at this time, making him invisible to Harry. He couldn't believe that barely an hour ago, he and Cedric had been fighting the same giant spider together.

His mother had escorted him to Dumbledore's office, trying to comfort him all the way, but to no avail. They then waited a few minutes in the office until the headmaster arrived. And then, Harry told him everything that happened. It was hard to relive all those moments, but he did. His mother gasped or let noisy sounds on several occasions. Her biggest reaction was when he admitted that he saw and talked to his father.

"You saw your father?" she had then asked. "But… How is that possible?"

She had looked to both Harry and Dumbledore for an explanation, but it was the headmaster who provided one. "Priori Incantatem."

Harry's mother then seemed to realize something. "Wait… Harry's and Voldemort's wands… have the same core?"

"A feather from the same phoenix. The wands cannot fight each other. However, if the owners force the wands to battle, one of them will regurgitate spells it has performed, in reverse."

After a few explanations as to how Harry's father appeared under the shape of an echo or shadow of himself, Harry had resumed his account to the point where he came back with Cedric's body, using the same Portkey that brought them to the graveyard. Dumbledore had then thanked Harry and said he was in no right to ask him to tell more, which anyway Harry didn't feel strong enough to share. So his mother brought him back to the hospital wing.

Harry also remembered some people standing next to the door of the infirmary when his mother brought him there, and that she ordered them to leave him alone. He didn't remember who these people were. Now awaken though, Harry put on his glasses and looked around. Sirius was standing not far from Fudge as well, and his best friends Ron and Hermione were sitting around the bed. His girlfriend, Susan, was also there, sitting with them. All were looking at the animated exchange between his mother and the Minister of Magic, and they didn't seem to have noticed Harry woke up. Mr Crouch was standing behind the minister, his expression grave.

"He will tell you when the time is right. For now, he is sleeping," Harry's mother.

Fudge then looked at Harry. "For someone's who's sleeping, he's got his eyes quite open."

Everyone looked at Harry at this moment, surprised.

"You can go back to sleep, Harry," his mother told him. "The Minister will wait…"

"No, I will not wait." He almost pushed aside Harry's mother, which almost prompted Harry to stand up to protest, but anyway, Fudge was already speaking again. "Harry, listen. I understand that you must have gotten through a lot this evening and that you would rather rest, but as the Minister of Magic, I order you to tell me right away how Cedric Diggory died?"

Despite Fudge trying to sound caring for Harry, he was far too agitated for Harry to believe him. "He was murdered. By Bartemius Crouch Junior."

Harry's answer provoked several reactions. His mother and Sirius didn't react much, but Ron and Hermione stared at each other, while Susan pushed a small cry. She was looking at him with round eyes, unable to comprehend. Fudge himself looked at a loss of words. As for Mr Crouch, Harry noticed that he was staring at him intensively.

"Barty…" Fudge then tried to recover his posture. "Harry, you must be confused. That's impossible. Bartemius Crouch Junior is dead. He died in Azkaban years ago. You must have confused him with someone else."

"Oh, come on, Fudge," Harry's mother then said, sounding more than exasperated. "Stop pretending. We both know that Crouch is still alive." The Minister looked at her in utter surprise and distress. "You sent me in Europe for months to find him."

Harry was agape, but then he understood before Fudge spoke up. "Evans, you are talking about a secret operation! You have no right to disclose that kind of information!"

"I'm afraid this operation has not been as secret as you thought it was, Cornelius," another voice came. Dumbledore had just entered the hospital wing. He looked at Cornelius calmly, but firm. "It's been months now that I have been aware that Bartemius Crouch Junior is alive."

Fudge looked about to have an attack. In the meantime, Dumbledore turned to Madam Pomfrey, standing not far away, in a state near petrification. "Poppy, I thought I gave you instructions to make sure Harry could rest?"

"Yes, Professor," she answered. "And I tried to have them respected. Only, the Minister just burst into my infirmary, asking to speak to Harry. I couldn't stop him."

"I have the right to know how a champion of the Triwizard Tournament died tonight!" Fudge burst. "Do you realize the problems tonight's events have caused? The champions of the two international schools stunned, including one suffering from an Imperious Curse. One of Hogwarts' two champions dead. The issues… the problems it will cause internationally, not to mention nationally." He turned to Dumbledore. "You must realize how this is catastrophic for the Ministry of Magic, Dumbledore, don't you?"

"I am afraid we will soon all have much bigger problems to deal with than public relations on the Triwizard Tournament's failure, Cornelius," Dumbledore said on a dark tone.

"Really? I wonder how it could become worse."

"Voldemort is back!"

Harry had shouted the words. He was fed up with Fudge's concerns about how people might react to a bad outcome to the Tournament, like he called it. It was as if Cedric's death was secondary. Now, everyone looked at him in shock.

"That's why Barty Crouch Junior brought Cedric and me to the graveyard. He turned the Cup into a Portkey that carried us to the cemetery where Voldemort's father was buried. Then he killed Cedric and used my blood and his father's bones to give a new body to Voldemort."

Fudge was speechless for a moment. But then he laughed. Harry was stunned, and furious too. He didn't see what was funny in what he just told.

"You-Know-Who? Returned?" Fudge turned to Dumbledore. "I'm really sorry, Albus. You are probably right. Harry has gone through a lot and doesn't know what he's saying anymore. I'll probably send someone else later to take his deposition. He is clearly confused right now."

Dumbledore, however, did not share at all Fudge's apparent amusement. "I'm afraid that Harry is not confused, Cornelius. Quite the contrary, he is very lucid. Voldemort has indeed been restored to his full body tonight."

This time, Fudge didn't smile. He didn't laugh. He looked as if someone just sent a concrete block right into his chest.

"You-Know-Who… Come now, Dumbledore. That's preposterous."

"Harry told us that he saw him return, and I have no reason to believe that he's lying," Dumbledore declared.

"No reason to believe that he's lying?" Fudge said, his smile returning all of a sudden. "Albus, come on. Are you really prepared to take Harry's word on it? A boy who… well…"

"A boy who what?" Harry's mother asked, threatening.

Fudge turned swiftly toward her, and his smile was gone instantly. Harry had the impression that he feared his mother's gaze more than anything he previously saw tonight. "Lily… Please don't take it personally, but… Your son is not really a reliable source… I mean, he's obviously gone through a lot tonight, and he's confused. Furthermore… It wouldn't be the first time that he… I mean, he has a history of breaking rules and putting himself at the forefront. Only look at what happened this year!"

Fudge didn't seem very sure about his own words though, and he didn't seem able to turn his eyes away from Harry's mother's glare.

"You have been reading the articles of Rita Skeeter, Mr Fudge?"

Harry was surprised to hear Susan ask such a question. But he supposed that if Susan was timid in most circumstances, when she wanted, she could confront someone, even if that someone was the Minister of Magic.

"What if I have?" Fudge asked, dismissingly. He barely cast a glance at Susan before he returned all his attention on Dumbledore. "I have discovered things that you've been keeping very quiet, Dumbledore. Certain facts about this boy. A Parselmouth? Not to mention the many rules he broke, and the attacks that took place two years ago, that would have been his own doing?"

"Your Department of Magical Law Enforcement concluded long ago that those attacks were caused by a magical artifact that once belonged to Lord Voldemort, Cornelius," Dumbledore reminded him. "Furthermore, Harry's story makes very much sense. Three years ago, Voldemort made his way into Hogwarts by occupying the body of one of my professors. He then attempted to steal the Philosopher's Stone to recover his body. It is only thanks to Lily and Harry that it didn't happen."

"You have a full report, signed by me and Rufus Scrimgeour about the events that took place on that day," his mother declared before letting Dumbledore continue.

"A year later, Peter Pettigrew escaped Azkaban, then tried to find Harry. When he was stopped, he was trying to collect Harry's blood. We have every reason to deduce that he found Voldemort after his escape, then was ordered by his master to get some of Harry's blood to bring back Voldemort to life. But he died, and Voldemort couldn't get his hands on Harry's blood. Then Bartemius Crouch Junior escaped at the Quidditch World Cup, found Voldemort too, and they used his knowledge of the upcoming Triwizard Tournament to set a trap to bring Harry close to Voldemort. And for that, Barty Crouch Junior captured Alastor Moody and impersonated him for most of the year."

Dumbledore then turned to a nearby bed, where Harry noticed that Moody was lying there. He had an initial backward movement, before understanding that this must be the real Moody.

"We found Alastor in his trunk tonight," Dumbledore said. "He had been there for months, and he was both stunned and submitted to the Imperious Curse. We also found many vials of Polyjuice that the imposter drank regularly to keep Moody's appearance. He placed the Triwizard Cup at the centre of the maze and modified the Portkey so it would bring Harry to Voldemort. Everything Voldemort did over the last few years was to get a new body, and tonight, he succeeded. Snape and Karkaroff both felt the Dark Mark on their forearms burn tonight, when Voldemort called his followers to him."

"This is nonsense!" Fudge declared. Harry was boiling inside. Why wouldn't Fudge accept the truth? "Nothing this boy says makes any sense! And neither do you, Dumbledore. He is a Parseltongue! A pampered boy who's always managed to get attention on him and who now is trying to get even more."

"I saw Voldemort come back!" Harry had enough of Fudge's denial, so he would tell him the truth in face, whether he liked it or not. "I saw the Death Eaters! I can even give you their names! Lucius Malfoy was there, and Voldemort even confirmed that he was the one who led the Death Eaters when they assaulted Muggles at the Quidditch world Cup."

"Malfoy was cleared!" Fudge roared. "He is from a very old family of wizards. A respected member of the wizarding community! He's making donations to excellent causes…"

"Macnair, your employee, was there too!" Harry shouted.

"Macnair has been cleared as well! He works for us!"

"There was also Avery, Nott, Crabbe, Crouch Junior…" Harry said the last name while staring at Mr Crouch, who didn't move.

"You are repeating the names of those who were acquitted of being Death Eaters thirteen years ago!" Fudge turned to Crouch Senior. "Tell him, Barty. You led those trials. You gave those verdicts. Tell them!"

Crouch didn't react right away. He seemed quite calm and composed for someone whose son was just accused. When he replied, it was on an even tone, without emotion.

"I have no difficulty to believe that my son would have tried to bring the Dark Lord back to life, Cornelius. I told you he would try when he escaped. That is the reason why he ended up in prison in the first place."

Fudge looked confused for a time, before he retorted, on a somewhat less agitated tone. "Okay, Barty. I have no doubt that your son was lunatic enough to believe that he could actually bring You-Know-Who back to life. But it is not because he believed it that he could actually make it. You-Know-Who disappeared thirteen years ago! All his followers are either dead or in prison."

"Not all of them, Cornelius. My son is free. And Karkaroff too. He disappeared tonight, in the middle of the third task." Crouch looked at Harry. "Was he there?"

Harry took some time to answer. He was almost surprised that this man seemed to give some credence to his word. "No. I think… Voldemort didn't mention him, but he spoke of a Death Eater who was too cowardly to return."

Crouch nodded. "It could be Karkaroff. He might have been too afraid to come back after sending so many of his comrades to Azkaban and selling some of his master's secrets for his freedom."

"Barty! You… You don't… You cannot believe this boy!" Fudge surged.

Crouch stared back at his minister with all the seriousness in the world. "His story fits with all the facts we have at hand. And if the Dark Lord indeed called for his followers, those in Azkaban cannot have answered since they are stuck there. But all the others who we set free… We know they would answer his call. We know they are and always have been Death Eaters."

"They were acquitted! You acquitted them!"

"I did not! The Wizengamot acquitted them. And we both know that money changed hands to ensure that your friend Lucius and his comrades were spared."

"Absurd! Lucius is…"

"A Death Eater, Cornelius. You heard what this boy said. And yet you keep defending him. I know that Lucius contributed to your election, but that doesn't give you the right to deny his guiltiness."

Fudge looked all around, like an animal in a cage. "For heaven's sake! Have you all gone mad? This boy can talk to snakes, and you believe him?!"

"Cedric Diggory and George Goldstein are both dead," his mother then said, her voice full of anger. "The Triwizard Tournament was rigged and forced Harry into the competition. Death Eaters attacked Muggles at the Quidditch World Cup. Peter Pettigrew tried to assault Harry on multiple occasions last year. The Chamber of Secrets was opened with multiple Muggle-born students being attacked. And Quirrell tried to steal the Philosopher's Stone. Are you really pretending that there are no links between all those events?"

"I see no evidence to the contrary! 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!"

"The panic has already started. Do you really think that people are idiots? Do you really think that they are not seeing what is going on since the Quidditch World Cup and the reappearance of the Dark Mark?"

"Accidents! Isolated accidents without links! The work of lunatics and fanatics…"

"Fudge, you will not be able to bury it this time," Crouch declared. "You can try to deny the Dark Lord's return, but it will only delay the inevitable."

"Barty is right," Dumbledore said. "Voldemort has returned, Cornelius. If you accept that fact right away 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!" Fudge blurted. "Remove the Dementors! I would 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!"

"They are not even able to keep the prisoners now," his mother declared. "Only in the last few years, they allowed two Death Eaters to escape the prison. Death Eaters who committed murders! And when you sent them to Hogwarts to protect our children, all they did was terrorize them."

"You're the one who failed to catch Crouch Junior, Evans! As for last year, it is this school's failing security measures that couldn't protect the children!" Fudge countered.

"Cornelius, the Dementors will not remain loyal to you!" Dumbledore explained. His voice was getting harsher each minute. "However efficient you may find them, Voldemort can offer them many more victims than you can. They will join him the moment they will realize that he's back. And the second step to take is to send envoys to the giants at once."

"Envoys to the giants? What madness is this?"

"Extend them the hand of friendship before it is too late. Or Voldemort will persuade them that he alone among wizards will give them their rights and freedom, as he did before."

"You cannot be serious!" Fudge had turned totally red out of outrage. "If the magical community got wind that I had approached the giants… People hate them! This would be the end of my career!"

"Fudge, the end of your career is already approaching," Crouch then declared out of nowhere.

"What are you saying?" Fudge roared.

"You heard me. You are already facing criticism for the way you managed recent crisis. When the Chamber of Secrets was opened two years ago, you sent an innocent man in prison and allowed Lucius Malfoy to suspend Dumbledore from his position, which resulted in a student being abducted and almost resulted in the school being closed."

"This was not my… This was not the Ministry's fault!" Fudge corrected himself at the last moment. "Everything showed that the gamekeeper was responsible for the past attacks on students, and Dumbledore's suspension was the doing of the Board of Governors."

"Which you didn't stop," Crouch pointed out. "Then when Pettigrew was caught, you allowed him to escape, and you positioned Dementors that proved useless and dangerous for the community outside of Azkaban."

"We had to do something. We couldn't let a mass murderer wander around the island!"

"And then there were the events at the Quidditch World Cup, and how you hid from everyone the fact that my son was on the run and already responsible for two murders."

"Don't tell me you disapprove! I saved your job, Barty, on that one!"

"You didn't do it for me, Fudge!" Harry and all the others looked in stupor at the minister and one of his heads of department arguing. It was strange for Harry, but he felt that for people who didn't know who these men were, by their general behavior, they would have believed Crouch was the Minister of Magic. "You were trying to save your position, like you've always done since the beginning. You were never supposed to become Minister of Magic. When Bagnold resigned, you were chosen not because the people wanted you, but because they saw you as a lesser evil." Fudge looked about to explode, but Crouch didn't stop. "You were elected in large part because people like Malfoy used all their influence and money to get votes for you. Don't try to deny it, we both know this is true. This is what you have done during your entire mandate. Whenever there was a crisis, an important matter to attend, you diverted attention from it, downscaled the issue, denied its existence, or gave it to someone else's responsibility. When the person succeeded, you took all the merit. And when he failed, you used him as a scapegoat. This time, you cannot do this. You cannot run away from your responsibility and hope to hold your office by denying the truth and hiding it to the wizarding world. You can either acknowledge it and face it, then you will have a chance to keep your office. But if you hide from this, in a short time you will be gone."

Fudge now solely focused on Crouch. "If you hope to get the office of Minister, Barty, I warn you, you will never have it."

"I'm never going to become Minister of Magic, Fudge. We both know that. Anyway, sooner or later, people will find out that my son is still alive and helped to bring back the most powerful and evil wizard of all time. I will be done when this happens. But for the time I have left in office, you can either have me as an ally in your fight against the Dark Lord, or as an enemy if you choose to turn a blind eye."

Fudge looked even more furious than before.

"Cornelius," Dumbledore declared in a voice that commanded respect and decision, "the only enemy here is Voldemort. As long you are against him, then we all remain on the same side."

The Minister looked at a loss of word. He looked all around, as if searching for some support, but he found none. Then he turned to Dumbledore.

"He can't be back, Dumbledore… He can't be!" he said.

"Are you blind, Fudge?" Crouch declared, sounding more than exasperated. "You cannot go around this problem like you have always done before. If you really want to be the Minister you would like people to see you as, for once in your time, take of care of matters yourself!"

Fudge looked about to retort, but he seemed to change his mind, pulled his robes and looked what he may have wanted to look like a dignified attitude. "This is insane. You are all mad. Especially you, Barty. When your son was arrested, I pitied you. But now it is clear that your son managed to corrupt your judgement. You, Evans, you let your love for your son cloud your judgment. I expected better from an Auror. As for you, Dumbledore, I always had a lot of respect for you. I might not have agreed with some of your decisions, but I kept quiet. There aren't many who would have let you hire werewolfes or half-breeds, or even hire someone as mad as Moody to teach your students. But since you are going to work against me…"

"As I previously said, Cornelius," Dumbledore said on a firm tone, "the only one I intend to work against is Voldemort himself."

"I have heard enough! I refuse to hear more lies that will destroy the magical world as we know it."

"You are going to destroy this world if you allow Voldemort to gain power again."

"I have no more to add," Fudge declared on a voice that he probably meant to be final. "I will be in touch with you tomorrow, Dumbledore, to discuss the running of this school. I must return to the Ministry. Barty, Evans, tomorrow we are going to have a very serious discussion as well."

And on that, he left without another word, slapping the door of the infirmary behind him.

"I must go back to the Ministry at once," Crouch then said. He turned to Harry's mother. 'Evans, you will need to escort me. I am still not free of my movements."

"I am not going anywhere," she replied, looking at Harry.

"You should, Lily," Dumbledore said, to Harry's surprise. "With tonight's events and Fudge's reaction, you need to warn as many of your colleagues as you can. And to inform Amelia about what happened tonight."

Harry's mother hesitated. Harry hoped she would refuse. He wanted her to stay. However, when she looked at him, it was with an expression of intense regret. "I'm sorry, my dear. I will be back in the morning."

"We must go," Crouch said.

He walked out. Harry's mother followed him, casting one last glance at him. Harry looked at her leaving, feeling helpless. To Harry's further regret, Dumbledore then turned to his godfather.

"I have work for you too, Sirius. Alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher, Emmeline Vance… All the old crowd. You understand?"

"Yes, I do." Sirius then turned to him. "I'm sorry, Harry. I'll see you soon. I must do what I can."

He shook his hand, then left without another word.

"Harry, take the rest of your potion," Dumbledore then said. "You deserve and need some rest. I'll see you later."

There were several minutes that passed after Dumbledore was gone. No one said a word. Madam Pomfrey looked like she didn't know what to do in her own infirmary, probably for the first time in her life. Finally though, she ordered Harry to drink the rest of his potion. Reluctantly, Harry obeyed, and fell asleep just as Hermione was standing up and slamming open the windows.

As you can see, not everyone believes Harry.

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Next chapter: Lily