3rd Person POV
Barty Crouch went flying onto the ground, his nose broken and bleeding. "How dare you attack my son, you bastard!" Growled the voice of Wren Mordecur. She was giving him a death glare. Anyone who knew her, knew to never do anything to her son, or they'd regret it.
"He's a suspect!" Mr. Crouch protested, holding his nose.
"He's fourteen! Out of all the people you suspect him, knowing full well who it was that killed his father?!" Wren shouted. "I'll have your head for this Crouch!" She then quickly ran over to her son, small tears in her eyes. "Raven, baby, are you okay?" She asked worried, her voice now soft.
Raven quickly embraced her in a hug, and she returned it. "I'm okay, Mum." He said weakly. "I'm glad you're safe."
"I promised I'd come back to you." Wren smiled, holding his face.
"Nice punch by the way." Raven said.
"That one was for you, Little Bird." Wren chuckled. "And he deserved it. Thank you for helping him, Carlos." Wren smiled to him.
"No problem." Carlos said. He and Wren helped Raven stand. Wren kept her arm wrapped around him, while Carlos went towards Mr. Crouch. Raven leaned into his mother, as he was still a little dizzy. She picked his wand up from the ground and gave it back to him. Mr. Crouch stood up and used his own wand to fix his nose.
"Where did the Mark come from?" Mr. Weasley asked quickly.
"Over there." Hermione said, pointing at the place where they had heard the voice. "There was someone behind the trees...they shouted words-an incantation-"
"Oh, stood over there, did they?" Mr. Crouch questioned suspiciously. "Said an incantation, did they?"
No, it just appeared out of nowhere. Raven thought sarcastically.
"You seem very well informed about how that Mark is summoned, missy." Mr. Crouch said. But the others didn't suspect any of the kids. They pointed their wands in the direction Hermione indicated.
"We're too late." One witch said, shaking her head. "They'll have Disapparated."
"I don't think so." Amos Diggory said. "Our Stunners went right through those trees... There's a good chance we got them..."
"Amos, be careful!" A few wizards warned as Mr. Diggory went into the darkness. "Yes! We got them!" They heard him shout a few second later. "There's someone here! Unconscious! It's-but-blimey..."
"You got Someone?" Mr. Crouch shouted. "Who? Who is it?" Mr. Diggory emerged from behind the trees, and the tiny, limp figure he was carrying was Winky. Mr. Crouch did not move or speak as Mr. Diggory set Winky down at his feet.
"This-cannot-be." Mr. Crouch said jerkily. "No-"
"Bit embarrassing." Mr. Diggory said grimly. "Barty Crouch's house-elf...I mean to say..."
"Come off it, Amos." Mr. Weasley said quietly. "You don't seriously think it was the elf? The Dark Mark's a wizard's sign. I requires a wand."
"Yeah, and she had a wand." Mr. Diggory said.
"What?" Mr. Weasley questioned.
"Here, look." Mr. Diggory held up a wand and showed it to Mr. Weasley. "Had it in her hand. So that's clause three of the Code of Wand Use broken, for a start. No non-human creature is permitted to carry or use a wand."
There was a crack, and Ludo Bagman appeared next to Mr. Weasley. "The Dark Mark!" He panted. "Who did it? Did you get them? Barty! What's going on?" Mr. Crouch's face was still ghostly white. "Where have you been, Barty? Why weren't you at the match? Your elf was saving you a seat too-gulping gargoyles!" Bagman noticed Winky. "What happened to her?"
Bagman soon got the idea that they were suspecting Winky. "No!" He said. "Winky? Conjure the Dark Mark? She wouldn't know how! She'd need a wand, for a start!"
"And she had one." Mr. Diggory said. "I found her holding one, Ludo. If it's all right with you, Mr. Crouch, I think we should hear what she's got to say for herself." Mr. Couch was silent, so Mr. Diggory took it as a yes. "Rennervate!"
Winky woke up, and slowly looked up to see Mr. Diggory, and burst into tears when she saw the Dark Mark. "Elf!" Mr. Diggory said sternly. "Do you know who I am? I'm a member of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures!"
Her name's Winky. Raven thought.
Winky began rocking back and forth on the ground. "As you see, elf, the Dark Mark was conjured her a short while ago." Mr. Diggory said. "And you were discovered moments later, right beneath it! An explanation, if you please!"
"I-I-I is not doing it, sir!" Winky gasped. "I is not knowing how, sir!"
"You were found with a wand in your hand!" Mr. Diggory barked, holding it in front of her.
"Amos, easy!" Carlos said going up to them. "We're not going to get any answers with you constantly yelling at her."
"Hey-that's mine!" Harry said, pointing to the wand.
"Harry?" Carlos questioned.
"That's my wand!" Harry said. "I dropped it!"
"You dropped it?" Mr. Diggory questioned in disbelief. "Is this a confession? You threw it aside after you conjured the Mark?"
"Amos, think who you're talking to!" Carlos said angrily. "Is Harry Potter likely to conjure the Dark Mark?"
"Er-of course not." Mr. Diggory mumbled. "Sorry...carried away."
"I didn't drop it there, anyway." Harry said. "I missed it right after we got into the wood."
"So." Mr. Diggory said, his eyes hardening as he turned to look at Winky again. "You found this wand, eh, elf? And-" Carlos put his hand up to shush Mr. Diggory.
"Winky, dear." Carlos said softly, grabbing the wand from Mr. Diggory's hand. "Can you tell us what you know?"
"I is not doing magic with it, sir!" Winky squealed, tears still streaming from her eyes. Raven didn't like how scared she was, but he appreciated Mr. Snowspear being gentle with her compared to Mr. Diggory who was clearly mad. "I is...I is...I is just picking it up, sir! I is not making the Dark Mark, sir, I is not knowing how!"
"It wasn't her!" Hermione said nervously. "Winky's got a squeaky little voice, and the voice we heard doing the incantation was much deeper!" She looked to Harry, Ron, and then Raven for support. "It didn't sound anything like Winky, did it?"
"No." Harry said, shaking his head. "It definitely didn't sound like an elf."
"Yeah, it was a human voice." Ron said.
"It definitely sounded like a man." Raven said.
"Well, we'll soon see." Mr. Diggory growled, taking Harry's wand from Carlos's hand. "There's a simple way of discovering the last spell a wand performed, elf, did you know that?" Mr. Diggory used use own wand on Harry's, "Prior Incantato!"
A ghost of the Dark Mark appeared from Harry's wand. "Deletrius!" Mr. Diggory said, and the smoky skull vanished in a wisp of smoke. "So." He said looking at Winky.
"I is not doing it!" Winky squealed. "I is not, I is not, I is not knowing how! I is a good elf, I isn't using wands, I isn't knowing how!"
"You've been caught red-handed elf!" Mr. Diggory roared. "Caught-
"Amos!" Carlos silenced him. "I do not believe a house-elf would know how to cast such Dark Magic. Where would she even learn it?"
"Perhaps Amos is suggesting that I routinely teach my servants to conjure the Dark Mark?" Mr. Crouch said coldly.
"You have now come very close to accusing the two people in this clearing who are least likely to conjure the Mark!" Mr. Crouch barked. "Harry Potter-and myself! I suppose you are familiar with the boy's story Amos?"
"Of course-everyone knows-" Mr. Diggory muttered.
"And I trust you remember the many proofs I have given, over a long career, that I despise and detests the Dark Arts and those who practice them?" Mr. Crouch shouted. Wren's grip on Raven tightened. He knew his mother's metal hand was Dark Magic, and she probably knew some Dark Magic, but he didn't care. He trusted her.
"Mr. Crouch, I-I never suggested you had anything to do with it!" Mr. Diggory muttered.
"If you accuse my elf, you accuse me, Diggory!" Mr. Crouch shouted. "Where else would she have learned to conjure it?"
"She-she might've picked it up anywhere-"
"Precisely, Amos." Mr. Weasley said. "She might have picked it up anywhere...Winky?" He said kindly, turning to the elf. "Where exactly did you find Harry's wand?"
"I-I is finding it...finding it there, sir." She whispered, pointing. "There...in the trees, sir..."
"You see, Amos?" Mr. Weasley said. "Whoever conjured the Mark could have Disapparated right after they'd done it, leaving Harry's wand behind. A clever thing to do, not using their own wand, which could have betrayed them. And Winky here had the misfortune to come across the wand moments later and pick it up."
"But then, she'd have been able only a few feet away from the real culprit!" Mr. Diggory said impatiently. "Elf? Did you see anyone?"
Winky began to tremble, looking at everyone. "I is seeing no one, sir...no one..."
"Amos, Carlos." Mr. Crouch said curtly. "I am fully aware that, in the ordinary course of events, you would want to take Winky into your department for questioning. I ask you, however, to allow me to deal with her."
"Very well." Carlos said agreeing.
"You may rest assured that she will be punished." Mr. Crouch said coldly.
"M-m-master..." Winky stammered. "M-m-master, p-p-please..."
"Winky has behaved tonight in a manner I would not have believed possible." Mr. Crouch said slowly. "I told her to remain in the tent. I told her to stay there while I went to sort out the trouble. And I find that she disobeyed me-"
"And would you be happy if she died staying in that tent instead?!" Raven shouted. "She was scared for her life!"
"Stay out of this boy!" Mr. Crouch barked, pointing his wand at Raven. Wren got in front of Raven, pointed her own wand at Mr. Crouch. He lowered his, not wanting to cross her again, and turned back to Winky. "She is my servant, so this means...clothes."
"No!" Winky shrieked. "No, master! Not clothes, not clothes!"
At least she'll be free from this bastard. Raven thought.
"Well, I think I'll take my lot back to the tent, if nobody's got any objections." Mr. Weasley said. "Amos, that wand's told us all it can-if Harry could have it back, please-" Mr. Diggory handed Harry back his wand and Harry pocketed it.
"Come on you three." Mr. Weasley said quietly.
"Come on, Little Bird." Wren said softly to her son. She followed Mr. Weasley's group, and Carlos joined her.
"How are you feeling, Raven?" Carlos asked.
"A lot better now, thank you." Raven said.
"I didn't get a chance to fully check his head wound, Wren." Carlos said. "Tend to it once you're back at your tent."
"I will, thank you again." Wren said. "There were after Muggles, Carlos. Is your wife okay?"
"I don't know." Carlos sighed. "I told Eve and Jasper to take her somewhere safe, and stay with her, but I haven't heard from them since."
"We'll find them." Wren assured him. "I'm sure they're okay."
As they reached the edge of the wood, they heard three familiar voices. One shouting "Carlos!" And the other two shouting "Dad!" It was Carlos's family.
"Mary, Eve, Jasper!" Carlos said, as they came into a group hug, tears in their eyes. "I'm so glad you're all safe." Carlos and Mary shared a deep kiss. Wren was a little jealous of them. She missed having moments like that with Qrow, but she was happy they all still had each other.
"What's going on Carlos? What was that green thing?" Mary asked, still a little shocked.
"Ministry stuff, Dear." Carlos said. "Nothing you need to worry yourself over."
"We're going to head back to our tent." Wren said. "I'm glad your family is safe, Carlos." Eve and Jasper then noticed the bandage around Raven's head.
"What happened to you, Raven?" Eve asked worried.
"Barty Crouch." Wren said coldly. "I need to get Raven back to the tent and check his wound. You folks have a good night."
"You two as well, Wren." Mary said. Wren continued back to the tent, not letting her hold on Raven's arm go.
Once they made it to the tent, they saw that everyone from their group was safe. Wren undid Raven's bandage and started cleaning his wound. "Is Carlos's family all right?" Mr. Weasley asked her.
"Yeah, they're safe and sound." Wren said.
"Did you get them?" Bill asked his dad and Wren. "The person who conjured the Mark?"
"No." Mr. Weasley said. "We found Barty Crouch's elf holding Harry's wand, but we're none the wiser about who actually conjured the Mark."
"What?" Bill, Charlie, and Percy said together.
"Harry's wand?" Fred questioned.
"Mr. Crouch's elf?" Percy questioned.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Mr. Weasley explained what happened in the woods. Once they were finished, Wren had also finished cleaning Raven's wound, and casting another Ferula charm around his head.
"Well, Mr. Crouch is quite right to get rid of an elf like that!" Percy said. "Running away when he'd expressly told her not to...embarrassing him in front of the whole Ministry...how would that have looked, if she'd been brought up in front of the Department for the Regulation and Control-"
"Quiet!" Raven shouted coldly. Everyone looked at him. "You don't know what Winky was feeling at all, but I do. Winky did not have a good night. She was scared, and anyone scared would have done the same thing in her shoes, wizard or not! She was scared the entire Quidditch match and even more terrified back in the woods!"
"She's just an elf." Percy said. "She should-"
"She's a living being like any of us!" Hermione shouted. "She didn't do anything wrong!"
"It's been quite a night, and I think everyone could use some sleep!" Wren said, breaking the tension.
"I agree." Mr. Weasley said. "Your mother's probably heard what's happened, so she'll be worried sick." He told his kids. "We'll get a few more house sleep and then try and get an early Portkey out of here."
Everyone started getting into their bunks. "C'mon, Little Bird." Wren said. She guided him to her tent. After what happened tonight, she wanted to keep him close, so he slept in a bed next to hers.
Raven felt like he just fell asleep as his mother was waking him back up. "Hey there, Little Bird. How do you feel?" Wren asked, as he opened his eyes.
"I'm feeling fine, Mumma Bird." Raven assured her.
"Here, let me check your wound." Wren said, undoing his bandage. She saw that his wound had completely healed, no scar or mark there. "All better." She kissed his head where the wound used to be.
"All thanks to you." Raven said.
"And Carlos." Wren reminded him. Raven and Wren used their wands to change on the spot. Wren went to wake up the girls while Raven headed outside. Shortly after, the boys started coming out of their tent, and the ladies did as well. Wren and Mr. Weasley used magic to pack the tents up, and they left the campsite as quickly as possible.
They were able to take an old rubber tire back to Stoatshed Hill before the sun had really risen. As they came into view of the Burrow, they heard a cry.
"Oh thank goodness, thank goodness!" Mrs. Weasley cried running toward them, still wearing her bedroom slippers. "Arthur-I've been so worried-so worried-" She flung her arms around Mr. Weasley's neck, and the Daily Prophet fell of her limp hand and onto the ground.
"You're all right." Mrs. Weasley muttered, staring at everyone with red eyes. "You're alive...Oh boys..." She seized Fred and George and pulled them both into a tight hug and their heads banged together.
"Ouch! Mum-you're strangling us-"
"I shouted at you before you left!" Mrs. Weasley said, starting to sob. "It's all I've been thinking about! What if You-Know-Who had got you, and the last thing I ever said to you was that you didn't get enough O.W.L.s? Oh Fred...George."
"Come on, now, Molly, we're all perfectly okay." Mr. Weasley said soothingly. "Bill, pick up the paper, I want to see what it says..."
The Prophet being written by Rita Skeeter was bad mouthing the Ministry. Saying Lax security, Dark wizards running unchecked, national disgrace. Of course no one took her seriously.
"Molly, I'm going to go into the office, this is going to take some soothing over." Mr. Weasley said.
"I'll come with you, Father." Percy said importantly. "Mr. Crouch will need all hands on deck. And I can give him my cauldron report in person."
"Arthur, you're supposed to be on holiday!" Mrs. Weasley said looking upset. "This hasn't get anything to do with your office. Surely they can handle this without you?"
"She's right, Arthur." Wren said. "My department's got to clean this mess up. We can handle it."
"I've got to go." Mr. Weasley said. "I'll just change into my robes and I'll be off..." He bustled out of the kitchen. Wren and Mrs. Weasley just sighed.
"This will take some time to clean up, Molly. Is it alright if Raven stays with you for the time being?" Wren asked.
"Of course." Mrs. Weasley said. "I'll watch over him for as long as you need."
"Thank you, Molly." Wren smiled, then turned to Raven. "I'm going into work to sort his out, Little Bird. Be good for Mrs. Weasley. I'll see you when I can. I love you." Wren gave him a hug and kissed his cheek.
"I love you too, Mumma Bird." Raven said returning the hug. "Be safe, and don't work too hard."
"I'll do my best." Wren winked, then whistled. Izanami flew down the house and onto her arm. Wren walked into the front garden, then Disapparated.
"Mrs. Weasley." Harry said. "Hedwig hasn't arrived with a letter for me, has she?"
"Hedwig, dear?" Mrs. Weasley questioned. "No...no there hasn't been any post at all."Raven, Ron, and Hermione looked at Harry curiously. "All right if I go and dump my stuff in your room, Ron?" Harry asked.
"Yeah...think I will too." Ron said at once. "Hermione, Raven?"
"Yes." Raven and Hermione said quickly.
"What's up, Harry?" Ron asked, the moment they had closed the door of the attic room behind them.
"There's something I haven't told you." Harry said. "On Saturday morning, I woke up with my scar hurting again." Hermione looked shocked, Raven looked worried, and Ron looked dumbstruck.
"But-he wasn't there, was he? You-Know-Who? I mean-last time your scar kept hurting, he was at Hogwarts, wasn't he?" Ron asked.
"I'm sure he wasn't on Privet Drive." Harry said. "But I was dreaming about him...him and Peter-you know, Wormtail." Raven gave a slight angry expression at the mention of that name. "I can't remember all of it now, but they were plotting to kill...someone."
Harry had teetered for a moment on the verge of saying himself, and the fact that he heard Voldemort also say something about 'The Mordecur boy as well,' which he knew meant Raven. He debated on whether or not to hide it from him.
"It was only a dream." Ron said bracingly. "Just a nightmare."
"Yeah, but was it though?" Harry questioned. "It's weird, isn't it?...My scar hurts, and three days later the Death Eaters are on the march, and Voldemort's sign's up in the sky again."
"Don't-say-his-name!" Ron hissed.
"Shh!" Raven said.
"And remember what Professor Trelawney said?" Harry went on "At the end of last year?"
"Oh Harry, you aren't going to pay attention to anything that old fraud says." Hermione said snorting.
"And what about my vision, Hermione." Raven said, defending Harry.
"That's different, Raven." Hermione said.
"Is it?" Raven questioned. "Dolohov's a Death Eater. If Voldemort-" Raven covered Ron's mouth as he was about to speak again. "-rises back to power, who do you think will be standing at his side?"
"And you weren't there." Harry said to Hermione. "You didn't hear her. This time was different. I told you, she went into a trance-a real one. And she said the Dark Lord would rise again...greater and more terrifying than ever before...and he'd manage it because his servant was going to go back to him...and that night Wormtail escaped."
There was a silence, then Hermione spoke. "Why were you asking if Hedwig had come, Harry? She asked. "Are you expecting a letter?"
"I told Sirius about my scar." Harry said. "I'm waiting for his answer."
"Good thinking!" Ron said. "I bet Sirius will know what to do!"
"Harry." Raven said facepalming. "Why didn't you just ask my Mum about your scar? She specializes in these things."
"I...didn't...think about it?" Harry said shrugging. Raven just rolled his eyes.
"Well, we might not see her for the rest of the week, so we'll just wait and see what Sirius says." Raven said.
"I hoped he'd get back to me quickly." Harry said.
"But we don't where Sirius is...he could be in Africa or somewhere, couldn't he?" Hermione said reasonably. "Hedwig's not going to manage that journey in a few days."
"Yeah, I know." Harry sighed.
"Come and have a game of Quidditch in the orchard, Harry." Ron said. "Come on-three on three, Bill and Charlie and Fred and George will play...You can try out the Wronski Feint..."
"Ron." Hermione said sternly. "Harry doesn't want to play Quidditch right now...He's worried, and he's tired...Plus you left out Raven. We all need to go to bed..."
"Yeah, I want to play Quidditch." Harry said suddenly. "Hang on, I'll get my Firebolt."
"I'll be the referee." Raven said. "I'll get my broom as well."
Hermione left the room, muttering "Boys..."