"That will do to be going on with," said Dumbledore, stepping between them once more. "Now I have work for each of you. Fudge's attitude, though not unexpected, changes everything. Sirius, I need you to set off at once. You are to alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher — the old crowd. Lie low at Lupins for a while; I will contact you there. I imagine Arthur will spread the word to Steve Robins too, we can definitely get him directly involved this time, if he so chooses"

"My dad?" said Demelza "I'm not sure Mum will like that, and she's a muggle, what are we going to do about her, she'll need protection!"

"We will provide Alexa with the strongest possible protections. You do not need to worry Miss Robins, we will do everything in our power to ensure her safety. I can even arrange for someone to stay with her if necessary"

"I'm going to be living with Demelza now, as Ludo is in prison" Amy said.

"We will ensure you are all completely safe" Dumbledore emphasised. "Now, Sirius, you must be on your way"

"But —" said Harry

"You'll see me very soon, Harry," said Sirius, turning to him. "I promise you. But I must do what I can, you understand, don't you?"

"Yeah," said Harry. "Yeah . . . of course I do." Sirius grasped his hand briefly, nodded to Dumbledore, transformed again into the black dog, and ran the length of the room to the door, whose handle he turned with a paw. Then he was gone.

"Severus," said Dumbledore, turning to Snape, "you know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready . . . if you are prepared . . ."

"I am," said Snape. He looked slightly paler than usual, and his cold, black eyes glittered strangely. "Then good luck," said Dumbledore, and he watched, with a trace of apprehension on his face, as Snape swept wordlessly after Sirius.

"What have you asked him to do?" I said

"That is between Professor Snape and myself, Miss Weasley" Dumbledore replied.

It was several minutes before Dumbledore spoke again.

"I must go downstairs," he said finally. "I must see the Diggorys. Harry — take the rest of your potion. I will see all of you later." Harry slumped back against his pillows as Dumbledore disappeared.

We were all looking at him. None of us spoke for a very long time.

"You've got to take the rest of your potion, Harry," Mum said at last. Her hand nudged the sack of gold on his bedside cabinet as she reached for the bottle and the goblet. "You have a good long sleep. Try and think about something else for a while . . . think about what you're going to buy with your winnings!"

"I don't want that gold," said Harry in an expressionless voice. "You have it. Anyone can have it. I shouldn't have won it. It should've been Cedric's."

"Harry, we don't want to take any of your money. It's yours to keep. You know that" I said

"Ginny's right mate" said Ron

Harry blinked and stared up at the ceiling.

"It wasn't your fault, Harry," Mum whispered.

"I told him to take the cup with me," said Harry.

At that point, I leaned in and embraced Harry, wrapping myself tightly around him. I wanted to show just how much I loved him and how I would take all his pain away if I could. I heard Mum sniffling next to me as she clearly realised my intentions.

There was a loud slamming noise, and we broke apart. Hermione was standing by the window. She was holding something tight in her hand. I glared at her for ruining the moment.

"Sorry," she whispered.

"Your potion, Harry," said Mum quickly, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. Harry drank it in one gulp.

The next morning, Dumbledore spoke to the school at breakfast, telling everyone not to badger Harry or ask him loads of questions about what happened in the maze. Of course, Ron, Hermione, Demelza, Amy and I were going to get the full story from him as soon as he felt ready to tell it. I'd make sure to pass it on to Magda and Luna too.

That evening, Harry gave us his account of what happened. It was absolutely terrifying. He talked about how the cup was a portkey that had transported him straight to a graveyard, how Peter Pettigrew had ruthlessly murdered Cedric upon Voldemort's instructions, and how Harry's own blood had been used to resurrect Voldemort. Harry had been attacked with all 3 Unforgivable Curses, and when Voldemort had fired the Killing Curse at him, a very strange effect took place called Priori Incantatem. Because Harry's wand shared a core with Voldemort's, their spells collided in mid air and Harry was able to force the green beam of light back towards Voldemort. Ghostly shadows of the previous victims of Voldemort had then emerged from the wand, Harry's parents, Bertha Jorkins, a Muggle man, and Cedric. They had helped Harry to escape, with Cedric telling Harry to take his body back.

Ron told Harry about a meeting Mum had had with Dumbledore before going home.

"She went to ask him if you could come straight to us this summer," he said. "But he wants you to go back to the Dursleys, at least at first."

"Why?" said Harry"

"She said Dumbledore's got his reasons," said Ron, shaking his head darkly. "I suppose we've got to trust him, haven't we?"

We had Defence against the Dark Arts lessons free now, as there was no longer anyone to teach us, and so, Demelza, Amy, Luna, Magda, Stefan, Andrew and I used this as an opportunity to just hangout and enjoy ourselves, to have a brief moment where we didn't have to worry about the looming darkness. Harry later told us that Hagrid had been given a special Voldemort related mission to complete that summer, and that Madame Maxime may be coming with him.

The Leaving Feast arrived, which Harry was dreading. He usually ate his meals in a near empty Great Hall now, to avoid people staring at him, but this time he had no choice but to attend when it was full. When we entered the Hall, we saw at once that the usual decorations were missing. The Great Hall was normally decorated with the winning House's colours for the Leaving Feast. Tonight, however, there were black drapes on the wall behind the teachers' table. We knew instantly that they were there as a mark of respect to Cedric.

The real Mad-Eye Moody was at the staff table now, his wooden leg and his magical eye back in place. He was extremely twitchy, jumping every time someone spoke to him. We couldn't blame him; Moody's fear of attack was bound to have been increased by his ten-month imprisonment in his own trunk. That was how Barty Crouch Jr had kept up the disguise, having Moody around to take hair from, so he could continue to make Polyjuice Potion.

Professor Karkaroff's chair was empty. I wondered, as we sat down with the other Gryffindors, where Karkaroff was now, and whether Voldemort had caught up with him. Madame Maxime was still there. She was sitting next to Hagrid. They were talking quietly together. Further along the table, sitting next to Professor McGonagall, was Snape. His eyes lingered on us for a moment as we looked at him. His expression was difficult to read. He looked as sour and unpleasant as ever. We continued to watch him, long after Snape had looked away.

What was it that Snape had done on Dumbledore's orders, the night that Voldemort had returned? And how could we be sure he was on our side? How could Dumbledore know for sure?

Our musings were ended by Dumbledore, who stood up at the staff table. The Great Hall, which in any case had been less noisy than it usually was at the Leaving Feast, became very quiet.

"The end," he said, looking around at them all, "of another year." He paused, and his eyes fell upon the Hufflepuff table. Theirs had been the most subdued table before he had gotten to his feet, and theirs were still the saddest and palest faces in the Hall. "

There is much that I would like to say to you all tonight," said Dumbledore, "but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should be sitting here," he gestured toward the Hufflepuffs, "enjoying our feast with us. I would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to Cedric Diggory." We did it, all of us; the benches scraped as everyone in the Hall stood, and raised their goblets, and echoed, in one loud, low, rumbling voice, "Cedric Diggory."

"Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff house," Dumbledore continued. "He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about. Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort."

A panicked whisper swept the Great Hall. People were staring at Dumbledore in disbelief, in horror. He looked perfectly calm as he watched them mutter themselves into silence.

"The Ministry of Magic," Dumbledore continued, "does not wish me to tell you this. It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so — either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Cedric died as the result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory." Stunned and frightened, every face in the Hall was turned toward Dumbledore now . . . or almost every face.

Over at the Slytherin table, we saw Draco Malfoy muttering something to Crabbe and Goyle. Lillian Avery was doing the same to Mulciber, Yaxley, and Sarah Bagman.

"There is somebody else who must be mentioned in connection with Cedric's death," Dumbledore went on. "I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter."

A kind of ripple crossed the Great Hall as a few heads turned in Harry's direction before flicking back to face Dumbledore. I felt a surge of admiration when Harry was able to ignore all these stares.

"Harry Potter managed to escape Lord Voldemort," said Dumbledore. "He risked his own life to return Cedric's body to Hogwarts. He showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honour him." Dumbledore turned gravely to Harry and raised his goblet once more. Nearly everyone in the Great Hall followed suit. They murmured his name, as they had murmured Cedric's, and drank to him. But through a gap in the standing figures, I saw that many of the Slytherins had remained defiantly in their seats, their goblets untouched. Dumbledore, who after all possessed no magical eye, did not see them.

Mad Eye Moody did however, and he called them out for this.

"Has Slytherin House gone either temporarily deaf or lost all use of their arms?" he said

This caused the Slytherins to half heartedly raise their goblets.

"Stand up and do it properly!" yelled Moody

They did so.

"That's better" said Moody

When everyone had once again resumed their seats, Dumbledore continued, "The Triwizard Tournament's aim was to further and promote magical understanding. In the light of what has happened — of Lord Voldemort's return — such ties are more important than ever before."

Dumbledore looked from Madame Maxime and Hagrid, to Fleur Delacour and her fellow Beauxbatons students, to Viktor Krum and the Durmstrangs at the Slytherin table. Krum looked wary, almost frightened, as though he expected Dumbledore to say something harsh.

"Every guest in this Hall," said Dumbledore, and his eyes lingered upon the Durmstrang students, "will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. I say to you all, once again — in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open"

"It is my belief — and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken — that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst. Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."