Chương 78: The Prisoner's Ploy
Remus shot to his feet in a towering rage. His eyes were a brilliant shade of amber. The wolf had finally broken free. He strode over to Dumbledore and growled out, "Voldemort has Harry." He ignored the gasps from Hermione and Minerva and continued in a menacing tone, "This is what happens when you use people like pawns and young men as bait!"
Pleadingly, Dumbledore said, "Remus…"
The angry werewolf cut him off in mid sentence, "Merlin help you if something happens to Harry." His fury spent, Remus stepped over to Hermione and pulled her into a hug and said softly, "We will do everything that we can to find him."
Hermione felt as if her world were crashing down around her. She knew that Harry's scar had been bothering him all day but there wasn't anything that they could have done about it at the time.
A dry sob wracked her body as she desperately clung to Remus. She had sensed fear and anxiety from Harry when he was Portkeyed away.
She was just about to speak when pain, terror, and revulsion, flooded through their bond from Harry. Her heart clenched tightly in her chest and she knew that Harry had just come face to face with Voldemort. She latched onto Remus even tighter, praying that Harry would return to her safely.
Sirius was seconds away from reverting to human form when four new people stepped into the area. Resigned to waiting, he strode over and lay down at the feet of Hermione and Remus.
Fleur Delacour was helping Cedric guide a very disoriented Viktor Krum into the clearing. When they had him resting comfortably on the ground, they made their way over to Professor Dumbledore.
Minister Fudge had followed Dumbledore into the maze a minute later when he didn't return. He noticed that all of the Champions were accounted for, except Harry Potter. 'What a political nightmare if the boy is dead.' He thought to himself. His only concern was for his position, not the boy.
He waddled over to the assembled group of people and said in his nasal tone, "What is going on here, Dumbledore?"
No one had even noticed the Minister's approach because they were so wrapped up with what had just happened.
Dumbledore turned to face the pawn of Lucius Malfoy. His voice was full of concern as he spoke, "Voldemort has taken Harry Potter."
The news was quite the shocker for Fleur, Cedric, and Fudge. If it were true, all of their notions about being safe were gone.
After a few tense seconds, Fudge blurted out, "What are you talking about, Dumbledore? Everyone knows that You-Know-Who is dead. Now tell me what happened to the Potter boy!"
A tall, thin, woman in Aurors Robes answered his question before Dumbledore could speak.
Tonks was fuming, Harry was missing, maybe even dead, and Minister Fudge refused to see reason. Angrily, she said, "Minister, I saw Harry Potter touch the Triwizard Cup. It was a Portkey. Voldemort has him and we need to do everything in our power to get him back."
Staring at the auror in front of him in incredulity, Fudge said heatedly, "Absolute rubbish. This is probably the work of Sirius Black. Everyone knows that he betrayed the Potters. The tournament is the perfect cover for that insane murderer to finish off the job he started thirteen years ago."
Sirius, still in his dog form, growled a low and threatening note at the minister. Before he could attack, a strong hand grabbed his collar.
Remus said, "Down, Padfoot. He'd probably give you a stomach ache."
Fudge had backed up when the large dog growled at him.
Dumbledore shot Fudge a look of disbelief before he turned and said, "I am afraid that all we can do now is wait." He was hoping that Harry would get lucky and finish off Voldemort again. He knew that there was a chance that Voldemort had made more than one Horcrux, it was something that he would have done if he were him.
When Harry realized that the Cup was a Portkey, he tried to let go. Instead, he found that this Portkey trip was very different from his last one; his hand was stuck to the Cup.
Upon arrival, he was slammed into the ground. Unfortunately, he grazed his head on a gravestone during his tumble. He was trying to clear the cobwebs from his mind when he noticed a very familiar figure walking towards him with a tiny bundle in his arms.
Shakily, he brought his wand up and pointed it at Peter Pettigrew and hissed, "What do you want, traitor?" His voice held a combination of hatred and pain towards the rat of a man in front of him.
Pettigrew kept walking towards Harry, his wand in one hand and the tiny form of his master in the other.
Harry's scar exploded in pain when Wormtail was about fifteen feet from him.
Voldemort was pushing on their connection with all of his strength to cause the boy pain. He wanted the Potter boy incapacitated because he wasn't positive that Wormtail was competent enough to get this right.
Harry's scar hurt so bad that he winced and grabbed his forehead.
In that brief moment, Wormtail struck, "Expelliarmus!" His aim was true and Harry's wand slipped from his slackened grip.
Harry tried to lunge for his wand but ropes shot out of Wormtail's wand and bound him to the gravestone that he was slumped against.
Peter knelt down and pocketed Harry's wand before gently setting his master's body on the ground in front of him. He then turned to fetch the necessary items for the ritual to restore his Lord to a body.
While Pettigrew was pushing a large cauldron over to the fire pit, Voldemort was studying the boy that had been his downfall thirteen years ago. His voice was weak and raspy, as if his throat wasn't made for speech, "Harry Potter. We meet again."
Pushing past the pain, Harry began trying to occlude his mind. When he had regained some semblance of control, he said in a low voice, "What do you want with me?" His voice was shaking with the effort of blocking out the pain that Voldemort was trying to inflict.
The Dark Lord was looking at the Boy-Who-Lived in curiosity. He was powerful, resourceful, and if pushed, violent. According to the reports from Crouch, Jr. there was also a keen intellect hidden behind a façade. He was also a Parselmouth. Hissing his reply, Voldemort said, "You are to be the guest of honor at my rebirth. My servants will bear witness to my triumph over you before the night is through."
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