Year Four: The TriWizard Tournament

Part 26

Anne could hear arguing when she entered the hospital wing hours later to see Harry.

"When we told Fudge that we caught the Death Eater responsible for tonight's events," she heard Snape say, "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!" Professor McGonagall interrupted. "I told him you would never allow dementors to set foot inside the castle, but--"

"Lord Voldemort was giving him instructions," said Dumbledore. "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."

"You-Know-Who returned?" asked Fudge shocked. "That's preposterous!"

"When Harry touched the TriWizard Cup, he was transported straight to Voldemort ," Dumbledore explained. "He witnessed Lord Voldemort's rebirth." He then added quietly, "You are blinded, Mr. Fudge, by the love of the office you hold. You place too much importance on the so-called purity of blood. You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born with, but what they grow up 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 his life. I tell you now--take the steps I suggested, and you will be remembered as one of the bravest and greatest Ministers 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."

Anne almost beamed with pride. For a moment, she forgot her grief and shock.

"He can't be back, Dumbledore!" Fudge protested stubbornly. "He just can't be..."

Snape stepped forward, lifting up his sleeve and showed his arm to Fudge, who jumped back in horror. Seeing what was on his arm made Anne gasp. She couldn't believe it! She did not want to believe it! There on her father's arm was a familiar looking tattoo she had seen at the Quidditch World Cup: the Dark Mark!

"The Dark Mark," said Snape, unaware Anne was in his presence. "Every Death Eater has the sign burned into them by the Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing one another, and his means of summoning us to him. This Mark has been growing clearer all year..."

Anne didn't hear the rest. She fled the room, her face contorted by utter betrayal. She also didn't see the surprised and devastated look of her father who had just inadvertently revealed his secret.