Together, Hermione and I followed the Weasleys as we walked towards the Quidditch pitch that was now set for the final task. We found some seats near the front, right next to the stairs. Fiddling with my necklace came something that was caused by anxiety. My stomach flipped and threatened to bring dinner up.
Five minutes later, the stands had begun to fill; the air was full of excited voices and the rumbling of feet as the hundreds of students filed into their seats. The sky was a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars were starting to appear. Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and approached Bagman and the champions. They were wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid, who had his on the back of his moleskin vest.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in the first place, with eighty-five points each —Mr Cedric Diggory and Mr Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!"
The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky.
"In the second place, with eighty points — Mr Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!"
More applause.
"And in third place — Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"
Harry must have heard our cheers because he looked up and waved at us, widely.
"So... on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!" said Bagman."Three — two — one —"
He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and Cedric hurried forward into the maze. Everyone cheered the pair on and soon after, Fleur and Viktor followed.
The towering hedges made it extremely hard to see into the maze. About a half-hour into the task, Fleur was carried out of the maze by a wizard I didn't recognize. She was deathly pale and had scratches all over her. Madam Pomfrey attended to her and went straight to the first aid tent.
As more time passed, my stomach got worse and as did the humming. It had been almost an hour since the start of the task. None of the remaining champions had exited the maze or had thrown up a red flare. Why is this taking so long?
By the two hour mark, I couldn't stand sitting here making small talk with the people around me. Anxiety ate at my insides and caused me to pace in front of Ron and Hermione.
"Lottie, it's alright," Ron reassured me. "Everything is alright. They're taking a long time because they're fighting. They're fine. Just a few minutes longer, yeah?"
"Everything is not okay. I feel it in my bones, I know something is wrong. Viktor hasn't even come out. He should have by—"
A red flare flew in the air in the crest of the Durmstrangs. After a few moments, Viktor came out, unconscious, with another unknown wizard. His injuries seemed mostly superficial, with a few chard patches and a slit on his thigh.
"Why is this taking so long? Something is severely wrong," I groaned after another half hour. My throat stung as I held back tears; the fear, breaking my heart and mind.
"You're just nervous, is all," Hermione hugged me. "Hogwarts has won, now we've just got to see who the Hogwarts champion is."
"You're right, Hogwarts has won. They can both come out now," I pushed myself away from Hermione. "I have to tell Dumbledore!"
Without waiting for them to respond, I ran towards the field where Dumbledore sat with the judges. When he noticed me, Dumbeldore gave me a warning look. I shook my head, rejecting whatever he meant, and ran to him.
"Please, Professor Dumbledore, it's only Cedric and Harry left– Hogwarts have won. We can save them," I cried. "It's okay, Hogwart is the win—"
"Miss Harring, you know my answer," Dumbledore stated, looking back at the maze.
"I can tell Harry what I know! It'll be the same. Professor, please, I can save—"
The crowd cheered in glee. Turning around, I watched as Cedric and Harry both laid out on the grass, holding the Triwizard Cup. All the colour drained from my face at the sight of them. Harry sat up, burnt and dirty, tears running down his face. Cedric was filled with dirt and mud, but no tears ran down his face; instead, his eyes were wide open.
A scream echoed against the walls of the arena. My throat felt raw and my ears rang— the scream was mine. My knees buckled under my body, I fell into the grass. Cedric laid dead in Harry's arms.
"My God — Diggory!" Mr Bagman shouted. "Dumbledore — Cedric Diggory is dead!"
His words echoed in my chest, breaking my heart and mind even further. My stomach flipped and threatened to spill its content, again.
Another scream flew out of my chest and hot fat tears fell down my face. Dumbledore ran over to Harry and Cedric, trying to convince Harry to let him go.
The crowd seemed to have picked up on the scene before them for no one cheered or spoke. Silence echoed in around the field, everyone watching intently and Dumbledore pried Cedric out of Harry's arms.
"He wanted me to bring him back," Harry muttered to no one. "He wanted me to bring him back to his parents. . ."
"Harry, Cedric," I cried as I tried to crawl over to my friends but hands held me back in my spot near the table.
"Calm down, Charlotte. It'll be okay," Professor Moody said.
"N-no, get away from me! D-Don't touch me," I cried. "Let me go! This is all your fault! I shouldn't have— I should have told!"
This grabbed Harry's attention and he numbly looked up at me. With all my power, I pulled myself out of my hands and stumbled over to Harry, who cried in his spot.
"I could have saved him, I could have..." I cried incoherently wrapping my arms around him as though I was trying to protect him from what had already happened. I failed.
Looking up, I watched as Amos Diggory, Cedric's father, ran over to Cedric's dead body. He wailed over his son's body, rocking it back and forth. His mother stood by the judge's table, crying into her hands. Their only son, dead.
"You need to lie down," a voice called to Harry. "Both of youse, come on now..."
Refusing to let go of Harry, I felt myself being lifted by Harry's body raising.
"Don't— We h-have to stay with Dumbledore," I sputtered out. "We can't l-leave!"
But my pleads were unheard as we were dragged away. I didn't want to go, I knew it wouldn't end well, but I didn't want to leave Harry. My mind blurred as I tried to remember the next events I should have remembered, but they were lost. All I knew was that I needed to protect Harry, he was my friend and I needed to keep him safe— as safe as a useless muggle could be. People around us gasped, screamed, and shouted as we pushed by.
"Harry," I groaned as I refused to unclasp my hands in hopes of keeping him in my embrace.
"Charlotte, let. . . go," the man's voice struggled to say as he practically dragged us into the castle.
It was Professor Moody– well, not Moody, but the Imposter. My brain told me I needed to say something, anything to alert someone about who he was but the words got caught in my throat. Shock, one would say.
"What happened, Harry?" he asked.
"Cup was a Portkey," said Harry as we crossed the entrance hall. "Took me and Cedric to a graveyard and Voldemort was there... Lord Voldemort "
Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Up the marble stairs...
"The Dark Lord was there? What happened then?"
"Killed Cedric... they killed Cedric..."
I felt my heart break at the confirmation. I didn't save him, either of them: Cedric's life or Harry's innocence.
"And then?"
Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Along the corridor...
"Made a potion... got his body back. . ."
"The Dark Lord got his body back? He's returned?"
"And the Death Eaters came... and then we duelled..."
"You duelled with the Dark Lord?"
"Got away. . . my wand. . . did something funny... I saw my mum and dad. . . they came out of his wand. . ."
Moody helped us into his office, placing Harry on the ground as I nearly fell off of him.
"H-Harry, s-stop talking. Don't take anything from him. H-He's not Moody," I stuttered. The shock and adrenaline from Cedric's death started to leave my body, leaving me numb and tired, but the humming in my body continued.
"Quiet you insolent girl!" he shouted at me.
I jumped as his voice echoed off the walls, disorienting me. My eyes were still blurry with tears and I couldn't see where he was coming from.
"Harry, drink this. . . You'll be alright now," Imposter Moody said.
"Harry, no! Don't take anything from—"
"I said quiet! You've done nothing but cause trouble for me. Clinging off of him since the first day! I should have killed you once I met you— Cedric wasn't supposed to get you that fast," he mumbled angrily.
Pain struck through my head as my hair lifted off my back. I screamed as he ripped me off of Harry and threw me against the wall, hard. The room spun as my head throbbed from the impact against the stone. Moody started to ask Harry questions after he gave him a small vial. I couldn't hear the questions or Harry's answered but he answered them without question, feeding into Moody's demonic plan.
Tuning in and out of the conversation was harder than I expected. I was only able to catch snippets of the conversation; words like Death Eaters, Curses, and Dark Lord floated around.
"The Dark Lord didn't manage to kill you. . ." I heard from Moody. "Imagine how he will reward me. . . gave you to him. . . then I killed you for him. . . honoured. . . closest supporter closer. . . than a son. . ."
"No. . ." I groaned. "Harry!"
I felt eyes staring at me. The sound of the magical eye focusing on me could be heard.
"You're mad," Harry shouted. "you're mad!"
Slowly sitting up, the room span as I rubbed my eyes. Harry and Moody finally came into focus long enough for me to see that Harry had moved onto a chair whereas the Imposter Moody paced back and forth in front of him.
"Mad, am I?" said Moody, his voice rising uncontrollably. "We'll see! We'll see who's mad, now that the Dark Lord has returned, with me at his side! He is back, Harry Potter, you did not conquer him — and now — I conquer you! And kill anyone who stands in our way; even this insolent Muggle girl!"
Moody raised his wand towards me as he opened his mouth while, at the same time, Harry plunged his own hand into his robes—
"Stupefy!" There was a blinding flash of red light, and with a great splintering and crashing, the door of Moody's office was blasted apart —
The man was thrown backwards onto the office floor. I, still staring at the place where Moody's face had been, saw Albus Dumbledore, Professor Snape, and Professor McGonagall looking back at him out of the Foe-Glass. I looked around and saw the three of them standing in the doorway, Dumbledore in front, his wand outstretched.
The look upon Dumbledore's face as he stared down at the unconscious form of Mad-Eye Moody was more terrible than I could have ever imagined. There was no benign smile upon Dumbledore's face, no twinkle in the eyes behind the spectacles. There was cold fury in every line of the ancient face; a sense of power radiated from Dumbledore as though he were giving off burning heat.
He stepped into the office, placed a foot underneath Moody's unconscious body, and kicked him over onto his back so that his face was visible. Snape followed him, looking into the Foe-Glass, where his own face was still visible, glaring into the room. Scrambling up, Harry ran over to me.
"Come on, Charlotte," Harry pleaded, "I can't lose you, too."
"H-Harry," I said, embracing him tightly. "You're not going to lose me. I thought I had lost you, I-I'm sorry. Are you all right?"
"I'm— Are you sure you're okay?" deflected Harry.
I nodded slowly and gave him a small smile. Harry matched it with his own weak smile and helped me stand up, slowly but surely. Although Harry had his own injuries, he didn't mind holding me up as the room spun. Professor McGonagall walked straight over to us and grabbed our arms, lightly.
"Come along, you two," she whispered. The thin line of her mouth was twitching as though she was about to cry. "Come along. . . hospital wing. . ."
"No," said Dumbledore sharply.
"Dumbledore, he ought to — look at him — he's been through enough tonight —"
"He will stay, Minerva, because he needs to understand. You can take Charlotte to the—" said Dumbledore curtly.
"No! I want to stay," I protested. "Y-You didn't let me— I don't want to lose him, too!"
"Charlotte, you need to go to the Hospital Wing," Dumbledore stated firmly. "Your friends await you. Professor McGonagall will take you. Harry will stay. That is final."
Reluctantly, I let Harry's arm go and gave him a small smile. Although afraid, I knew Harry would be in good arms with Dumbledore and me in Madam Pomfrey's.
In the Hospital Wing, Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ron, and Hermione sat with me as I lay in my bunk. Madam Pomfrey wouldn't allow me to sit in a chair, regardless of me telling her I was okay. After an hour of waiting, Mrs Weasley and Ron started to pester Madam Pomfrey on Harry's whereabouts while Bill and Hermione stayed by my side. Soon enough, Dumbeldore pushed open the door and revealed Harry. Everyone whipped around to see Harry, Dumbledore, and a large black dog– Sirius.
There was quite a commotion about who was allowed to stay and who wasn't. Mrs Weasley was set on making sure no one disturbed Harry, making a ruckus herself. Once everyone left, Harry and I stayed in the Hospital Wing together with bunks side by side. Sirius laid on the floor in between our beds. Harry had asked me to hold his hand while he fell asleep due to the dreamless sleep potion Madam Pomfrey gave him. Although he was asleep, I never let go of his hand.
Tears slipped out of my eyes as I laid there. Memories of the tournament flashed across my eyes, both how I imagined it and how I witnessed it. No one knew that Barty Crouch Jr– the fake Moody– had been the one to deactivate the sleeping charm I was put under for the second task; no one but Harry and me. More silent tears fell.
Numbness sat in the hole in my heart where Cedric was. The bracelet he had given me for my birthday two months ago was the last thing I had left of Cedric. The noise from the charms hitting each other caused more tears to fall with every clink. More tears fell and I finally let go of Harry's hand. It barely touched Sirius's head waking him up. He whined as if asking why I had let go.
"It's okay, Snuffles," I whispered. "Go back to sleep."
Sirius whined once more and jumped up onto Harry's bunk. After a few moments, he had fallen back to sleep while I lay awake, thinking of all the events over the last year.
When Mrs Weasley, Bill, Ron, and Hermione came into the Hospital Wing in the morning, I pretended to be asleep. Even as Professor McGonagall, Dumbeldore, and Fudge yelled about a Dementor kissing Barty Crouch Jr.
"Look, I saw Voldemort come back!" Harry shouted, causing me to spring up from my fake sleep. "I saw the Death Eaters! I can give you their names! Lucius Malfoy —"
Fudge quickly shot his down, claiming Harry was a lunatic. No one said anything besides Dumbledore and McGonagall against Fudge. Although Snape and Madam Pomfrey were also in the room, they said nothing. I didn't dare speak, not even when Professor McGonagall brought up Cedric's death.
All three of them fought while Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I sat in silence. Fudge ranted, trying to debunk everything Dumbledore said and claimed he had to back to the Ministry to talk it over with the employees there. Before he left, Fudge left, he handed Harry his winnings: one thousand Galleons.
Once everyone had gone, Madam Pomfrey said I was alright to be discharged and allowed me to sit in a chair instead of the uncomfortable bunk. I sat in between Ron and Hermione, with my knees to my chest. No sleep had welcomed me the night before and the effects finally hit me.
Although Harry felt guilty over having Cedric grab ahold of the cup with him, I felt even guiltier. I knew what was going to happen yet no one allowed me to do anything. I felt helpless in every way. A large pressure in my chest started to become painful and making it hard to breathe. Grabbing Hermione's hand, I walked over to the open window and let out a shaky breath.
"It's my fault," I whispered.
Hermione squeezed my hand, "no it's not. You couldn't have known—"
"But I did. I–I tried to help, but no one listened. I thought t-that my presence here c-could help a-and he wouldn't have... died," a tear had escaped my eye and I quickly wiped it away.
Hermione tried to hug me, but I held my hand out, stopping her. "I don't deserve a hug. Please. H-hugs make it worse. I don't need to be c-comforted, I need to fix this."
"You can't fix death, Charlotte," sighed Hermione.
"M-maybe I can make it right. D-dumbledore said there w-will be a sign when I should intervene. M-maybe I missed t-the sign," I rubbed my face, groaning in disappointment. "I had felt this humming in my veins, but I ignored it. I could have saved him, Hermione. It's my fault. Had I convinced him better to n-not submit h-his name, h-he'd still be here... with me."
"You fancied him, didn't you?" she asked after a moment of silence. I nodded. "He'll always be with you now, Lottie. I know he cared for you as well. You'll always have a little piece of him wherever you go."
Hermione motioned towards my bracelet and tears welled in my eyes again. Before I could speak, she jumped forward and snatched something off the windowsill before slamming the window closed. Mrs Weasley and Harry both turned towards us and gave a confused look. Hermione held something tightly in her hands.
"Sorry," she whispered. "I've got to go, but I'll see you later tonight."