The maze was the turning point.
Aurum couldn't hope to ever fully understand what happened that night, but with Harry and Argentum trying to explain it, it seemed it would be quite the page turner if ever it was a book.
Their stories lined up, and Aurum had no choice but to believe it was true. That wasn't to say anything for the other students and staff of the schools. There was one thing among the rest that truly stood out.
According to her brother and her crush, Voldemort had returned.
It all started to go downhill when the two entered the maze. Though everybody went in, somehow the other two champions were downed and had no way to win. Neither knew why or how it happened.
Harry and Argentum started at different points, but ended up in the same place eventually.
Harry ran into the clearing of the cup, having just solved a sphinx's riddle and defeating it. Argentum walked into the clearing with confidence and a dark look about him.
Before Harry could even near the cup, Argentum screamed, "Crucio!" whipping out his wand.
Harry ducked and rolled away from the red glowing spirals created, replying with, "Stupefy!"
With waves of his wand, Argentum deflected the spells Harry sent his way after realizing the first didn't work. Despite having this flurry sent his way, Argentum was able to walk to the cup with his free hand out. Harry realized this and reached for it as well. The two ended up touching it at the same time, and were instantly transported to a strange graveyard.
Argentum struggled to rise up and pulled Harry towards him from the ground. They both looked at the cauldron and the large grave with a gargoyle over it behind them.
"What's going on?" Argentum shouted at Harry. "You're the boy wonder, explain."
"I don't know! I know just as much as you!" Harry growled, looking around, trying to identify his surroundings.
A cloaked figure began walking towards them, holding something. It held out a wand in the other hand. Argentum prepared for this and pointed his.
"Kill the spare," a whispering voice said over and over. Argentum knew what this meant.
Assuming they were going to do the same, he shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" and so did the cloaked figure in a hoarse voice. The blast knocked them both back and Argentum ran to the back of a large grave.
He peeked out from behind it to see the cloaked figure remove his hood to reveal a very ratty-looking man. The man was familiar to Argentum, but only like someone he saw in pictures, not really talked about. He was holding a very skeletal baby which he dropped into the cauldron. The ratty man withdrew a knife and cut into Harry's cheek, throwing the blood into the cauldron.
Argentum wished to stay hidden, not wanting to get into a duel with this man, but felt a burning hatred for anyone daring to hurt a child the age of his sister, and especially one so close to her. However, he realized the kind of dark arts he was doing, and the cutting off of his hand proved his strength. He wasn't about to step in.
After gathering bone dust to throw in and muttering some sort of Latin over the cauldron, multiple bouts of green smoke began billowing out, a skeletal and gauntly shadow emerging. When everything cleared, it opened its snake-like eyes, and turned to the ratty man who offered up his cloak admiringly.
The skeleton man threw Harry into the gravestone with just one hand. He walked towards him with the same footing as Argentum, and the boy almost felt himself throw up as he saw himself in the snake-like man.
"Who are you?" Harry asked defiantly.
"I am Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter." the skeletal man replied with a strange cackle.
Argentum remained hidden as Voldemort gave his monologue, panicking and hyperventilating with his hands over his eyes due to the situation he had gotten himself in. He had admired Voldemort's views once, but found himself unable to forgive the deaths of his parents though he told often people otherwise. He didn't really care about his blood, he cared about what others thought of his blood. Now, he either had a choice to stand up against Voldemort or back down.
Wand blazing, Argentum ran out from behind the grave screaming. He tried to tackle the man, but found himself dragged towards him and his arm in Voldemort's hand. He held his wand in a death grip.
"Insolent child. A Creste, no less. You really thought you could kill me?" Voldemort hissed, pure hatred burning in his eyes.
"I don't pity people who take their anger out on kids." Argentum yelled in the man's face.
"You tried to torture me!" Harry screamed.
"Heat of the moment, Harry! Heat of the moment!" Argentum rolled his eyes, his voice frantic.
"Don't you know who this is?" Voldemort cackled as he pointed at Harry who was being held by the gargoyle on top of the grave. "This is Harry Potter, the boy who got your parents killed!"
"My parents were killed by the Goyle's! You don't know what you're talking about!" Argentum roared, his face completely red at the suggestion of his parents dying in any other way.
Voldemort laughed in the face of Argentum's rebuttal. "Your parents died trying to protect this fool just like his own. He gets everyone killed, so why keep him alive, I ask of you." he pointed at Harry. Argentum squinted at the struggling boy, seeing Voldemort's point, but at the same time seeing just a helpless kid that couldn't protect himself against what he was born into.
While Voldemort's attention was on Harry, Argentum took his wand and stabbed Voldemort in the jaw, casting, "Corvus!"
The white-haired boy ran towards the grave, his wand still in Voldemort's jaw. Quickly and in a panic, Argentum searched for a way to free him. The ratty man came from behind and grabbed him by the collar, dragging him to the ground.
Argentum was forced to watch as his spell had worked and Voldemort's head snapped back to release small black crows from his maw. Argentum felt ready to throw up as Voldemort's corrupted smile returned. He took Argentum by the neck, thrusting him to the ground.
"Wormtail! Call my followers to me." Voldemort commanded the ratty man. "We have fresh blood here." he massaged his jaw with a wicked grin.
Wormtail pulled up a sleeve to reveal his Dark Mark. With a small incantation, the Mark glowed bright green and shone into the night sky.
Many people in cloaks apparated in. Voldemort rose up with his foot on Argentum's chest. He sneered at the cloaked figures with as much spite and hatred he could manage.
"How have you all been?" Voldemort asked in a clearly fake jovial manner. "Because I've been dead! And none of you came to help me!"
"My lord, I came." Wormtail squeaked.
Voldemort gave a look to him as if he had just found the love of his life. "And you will be rewarded greatly," Voldemort said.
He yanked the wand out of his jaw and pointed at Wormtail with it. A silver hand was formed from Wormtail's skin through a spell cast by Argentum's wand.
"Malfoy, you never showed your face before now." Voldemort, using a waving hand gesture removed the hood from Draco's father. He was stunned by this and tried to look away from Argentum.
"My lord, we thought you to be dead." Malfoy explained.
"Dead! Ha! Goyle! Where have you been?" Voldemort removed Gregory's father's cloak. "You've an apology to give to this young man. I believe he informed me that you murdered his parents in cold blood."
"They was part of the Order. If we didn't kill 'em, they'd've come after you and stopped your plans to murder that Harry Potter." Gregory's father reasoned, scratching his stubble. "That one's a good kid. Nothin' like his parents. Easy to Imperius." he pointed at Argentum, winking with his only good eye. The other had been stabbed out.
Argentum struggled under the foot of Voldemort, but the skeletal man was slightly heavier than him and much stronger. Argentum began to regret relying on magic only for strength. For struggling under him, Voldemort stabbed his right eye out with his wand. Argentum screamed as the eyeball was removed from the socket.
"Well, Goyle, here is our new recruit, the boy Creste. You two match now. He can cast a perfect Crow Charm. I think he may just be the best in good time." Voldemort brought Argentum up to his knees by the neck. Using the boy's own wand, Voldemort carved the Dark Mark into his arm.
The cloaked figures huddled close together over the pain of Argentum's shouts and screams. It was one of the most dastardly things Voldemort had done that hadn't involved murder. They had gotten their marks willingly and without pain because of such a desire, but they wanted no part of this.
"Harry Potter!" Voldemort shrieked with laughter, dropping Argentum. "I'm going to kill you in celebration of this new member! I want a good fight." he released Harry from his grave prison.
The two used their own wands to duel with Voldemort using the Killing Curse and Harry trying Expelliarmus.
Argentum limped away with his wand towards the Triwizard Tournament Cup. Hesitating for a second, he threw his robe's sleeve back over the marked arm. He reached for the cup and recoiled. He hissed at the pains of his eye and arm.
Looking behind him, he saw the ghosts of Harry Potter's parents and others flowing from Voldemort's wand. Argentum looked at Goyle and realized how awful it would be to just run away and leave Harry with the murderer of his parents.
Harry was just like him. His parents were killed and yet he never felt estranged from them like Argentum had. He was very much the better man.
Summoning all the strength he could muster, Argentum cast the Crow Curse once more, sending hundreds of crows barreling towards Voldemort. Harry saw this as his opportunity to get away, and he escaped using the cup with Argentum.
They arrived back at the start of the maze, all bloody and bruised, screaming for help as their families came to their aid.
Aurum, her grandmother, Chantelle and her parents, and Quilliam with his, all ran down in a panic towards Argentum who accepted them with open arms. It was the first time since he was very young he had held onto his family this tightly. He bawled without silence.
Harry was overtaken by the worried Weasley family. Everyone was just happy to see him alive. The two families ended up merging into a giant hug.
"Voldemort is back!" Harry screamed above the murmurs of the crowd and people trying to silence him so he didn't strain himself. "Tell them, Creste! He's back!"
Argentum couldn't even speak, he was so in shock.
Dumbledore came down from the stands to take Harry into Professor Moody's office, and Argentum was escorted to the infirmary to treat his eye wound. It was there at the infirmary that Argentum Creste proposed to Chantelle Chandeliere as he planned to a very successful result. It brought a peek of sun through the dark and cloudy day.