More Important Than Any Broomstick [Harmione]

44. The Graveyard

❾¾ ❾¾❾¾❾¾ ❾¾❾¾❾¾

As Harry stood near the entrance of the maze waiting for time to start, for a moment he felt his ward tell him a Death Eater was near, but then the feeling went away. He didn't have time to think about what to do about it because at that moment the whistle blew and Harry had to go into the maze. He was confident that he'd be able to fight any Death Eaters he ran across anyway, so he wasn't that worried. He pulled out his wand for show and started jogging into the maze, putting up his shield.

He found it quite easy to blast through any creatures he came across, even Hagrid's blast-ended skrewts as he quickly advanced in the proper direction, using his wand to point him every so often. He was momentarily slowed down by a boggart that showed Hermione being killed, but once he realized it, he turned Hermione into a plastic doll and laughed at the idea of mourning the death of a toy.

He came across a fog that looked weird so he used his wandless magic to move it away as he hurried through the maze. Using a powerful burst of magic, he blasted away a very surprised sphinx who ran off after one hit. Harry then saw a huge spider and remembered his anger at how Aragog had told his kids to eat him and Ron, and realized that this was probably one of the spiders that had attacked him. He incinerated the spider with his magic before it could attack. Then Harry caught sight of the cup. He went up to it and grabbed it confidently before he felt two separate sensations. He felt as though a stunning spell hit him in the hand that touched the cup, and as he passed out he felt a tug beneath his navel.

❾¾ ❾¾❾¾❾¾ ❾¾❾¾❾¾

He awoke to find himself tied to a grave, with a sharp pain on his left palm. He saw a big snake crawling around. He smiled as he realized he didn't have his glasses on, thankful that Hermione had healed his eyes. He also saw Barty Couch Jr. standing up, holding his arm that appeared to be missing a hand. Snape was also there, holding a sharp dagger that had blood on it, and was shaking drops of it into a huge cauldron. Harry healed his palm as he realized with fury that the blood was his. He thought he could probably handle this, but decided to make sure. He called for the only help he could, by rubbing the ring he was wearing on his right index finger with other fingers. This would alert Hermione that he needed help, and allow her to apparate as close as whatever wards (which he did detect) were in place would allow.

Before Harry could do anything else, he saw something he'd feared for a long time happen. Voldemort, complete with his red eyes and snake-like nose, rose out of the cauldron. Harry knew that he must be stopped. However, he waited for Snape to robe Riddle before deciding what to do. He watched Tom take his wand from Snape. As Voldemort pressed his wand to Snape's dark mark and other Death Eaters started arriving, he knew what he had to do.

❾¾ ❾¾❾¾❾¾ ❾¾❾¾❾¾

Hermione was proudly watching a magical screen that showed Harry advancing in the maze next to her parents, and saw that he'd reached the cup right after Fleur entered the maze. All of the sudden, Harry and the cup disappeared. She shouted, "Where'd he go!?!" Her parents had been trying to calm her down for about ten minutes when she felt a sensation she knew about, but had never actually felt. The ring Harry had given her was starting to burn. Harry was in trouble. She stood up, saying "Harry's in trouble," and tried apparating, only to find that as she already knew, you can't apparate on Hogwarts grounds. Without another word to anyone else, she started making her way down the stands as quickly as possible, intent on reaching the boundaries so she could apparate.

❾¾ ❾¾❾¾❾¾ ❾¾❾¾❾¾

Harry found he didn't have his wand, and decided that he'd have to just reveal his powers and hopefully put an end to this new war before it began. Without moving, Harry caused the ropes that were around him to snap, gaining Voldemort's attention. As Tom pointed his wand at Harry, he shouted, "Leave him! He's mine!" just as the wand Tom was holding broke in his hand.