[✓] 𝐴𝑆𝑇𝐸𝑅𝐼𝑆𝑀 | 𝐂𝐄𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐂 𝐃𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐘

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐑
"𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒, 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑑𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑗𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡."
—𝐷𝑒𝑗𝑎𝑛 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑗𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑐
𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟒𝟐𝟖𝟗

⋆⋆⋆✧⋆⋆⋆

𝐀𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐀, 𝐂𝐄𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐂, and Mr. Diggory parted ways with Riley and his family on the way back to the tent, they were joined by a crowd of mixed colours.

The greens were singing, cheering, and dancing as they headed back to their campsites, obviously overjoyed by the result of the final. Liliana was sure most of them wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight. 

The scarlets, however, were not as pleased as they groaned and moaned, dragging themselves back to their tents.

Liliana and Cedric were the farthest from being tired at that point; the excitement of the match and the energy around them was too much to let them fall asleep. Instead, they both sat on the lower bunk bed, talking about the match as Mr. Diggory read a book on one of the sofa chairs.

"The Wronski Feint that Krum did? That was so cool." Cedric grinned. "He played it to perfection! Good timing, good execution, and obviously, good result."

"It was dangerous though, I thought that Lynch was done for." Liliana's eyes widened. "You better not pull a stunt like that during your matches."

"I wouldn't even be able to if I wanted to," Cedric chuckled, waving a hand in the air. "It's way too advanced for me."

"Well, that's a good thing." She planted a kiss on the tip of his nose. "I'd rather you not die."

"Yeah, me—"

He was cut off by a loud, excited holler from just outside the tent. It seemed as though the fans of the Irish weren't done celebrating just yet, as could be told by the music, cheering, and thuds of dancing.

As the music died down, so did Cedric and Liliana's energy. It was around one in the morning when they finally bid goodnight to each other. Cedric took the top bunk since Liliana had already slept in the bottom bunk.

Only a few hours of blissful sleep had passed when Liliana was shaken awake, quite violently too. She slowly opened her eyes to see Mr. Diggory shaking her shoulder with one hand, the other reaching over the top bunk bed to shake Cedric.

"Get up! Cedric—Liliana—come on now, get up, this is urgent!"

Liliana sat up, her exhaustion replaced with panic as her ears perked up. 

Something was obviously wrong. The sounds of terrified screams rang from outside the tent, and the thud of footsteps running accompanied. This was much different than the cheery celebrations from before.

After the two had gotten out of bed with racing hearts, they hurried to follow Mr. Diggory out of the warm tent and into the darkness. 

There were a couple of fires that were still lit, and so they could only depend on that and the dim moonlight to see around them. The outlines of flying cloaks and faces stretched into screams ran past them, in all directions—mainly towards the woods that were near the first field.

The two still had no clue what was happening or the reason why everyone was so panicked. And because of this, Cedric asked with a small yawn, "Dad, what—what's happening?"

"Death Eaters," was all Mr. Diggory responded with, his wand now drawn.

Liliana's heart stopped and she felt a little light-headed. 

Death Eaters? What were they doing here? They haven't been seen since the fall of You-Know-Who. . . . And now they were invading the Quidditch World Cup?

"I have to go to help the Ministry," Mr. Diggory panted, turning to them with urgency. Sweat was already starting to glisten on the top of his forehead, and the red of the fire flicked against the side of his face. "You two get into the woods, I'll find you after." 

Cedric was very clearly against this as he shook his head. "But, Dad—"

"Now!"

With a groan, Cedric grabbed Liliana's hand and the two sprinted to the woods. The slight light they had from the couple of burning fires was now gone, and they relied on their wand light to be able to see. 

The further they delved into the woods, the quieter it got. Soon enough, all they heard were the rustle of leaves under their feet and the whistling wind that rushed past their ears. 

The silvery glow from the moon that had been illuminating their path suddenly became green, causing them to halt in their spot and look up in confusion. 

A large, glowing, green skull that had a snake acting as a tongue was floating in the air. The smoky figure drew higher and higher, allowing itself to be seen from any point. 

Liliana recognized it barely a moment later: It was the Dark Mark, a sign that was usually cast whenever You-Know-Who or his followers had murdered someone.

Liliana clutched tightly onto Cedric's arms as screams sounded around them. Her voice was shaky as she whispered, "Cedric, do you think that—"

"C'mon." His grip tightened around her hand as he led her further into the forest.

Much to their disadvantage, he brought them to a clearing that was occupied by hundreds of witches and wizards, all of which were severely alarmed at what they had just seen.

Liliana looked to the side to see a little blonde girl, perhaps around five or six, crying next to a proud-standing tree. She seemed to be alone, judging by the fact that there were no adults around her that seemed to care for her presence.

Letting go of Cedric's hand, Liliana hurried her way to her and crouched by her side. 

"Are you all right?" she asked kindly, mustering up the warmest smile she could produce in this situation. "Where are your mum and dad?"

The little girl could only give a small shrug and shook her head, and her wails grew louder.

"Shh, it'll be okay." Liliana wiped the tears off the little girl's face as she gave her a reassuring smile before gently picking her up. Now that the girl's eyes had a better advantage from the higher position, Liliana asked, "Can you see your parents anywhere?"

The girl, who had begun to suck on her thumb for reassurance, looked around, sniffling. She nodded after a minute, taking her thumb out of her mouth to point toward a couple who seemed to be rushing around in a panic.

Liliana approached them, adjusting her grip on the girl. "Excuse me, is this your—"

"Victoria!" the woman cried, taking her daughter from Liliana. She looked up to Liliana as she hugged Victoria close to her. "Oh, thank you!"

"Of course." Liliana smiled before hurrying back to the spot she had left Cedric so that they could figure out a plan.

Except he wasn't there anymore.

Fear bloomed in Liliana's stomach as she searched around for the boy, but to no avail. She tried calling out for him, but the noise of the crowd was just too loud for her to be heard. She began to walk through the forest again, leaving the clearing, to see if he had gone any further.

Her thoughts wandered dangerously as silence consumed her. What if he had gotten lost? What if he had gotten himself hurt? Or worst of all—what if the Death Eaters had gotten to him?

Just as she was beginning to lose hope of ever seeing signs of life again, Liliana then heard familiar voices from ahead of her.

A girl's voice groaned, "Harry, come on!"

Liliana's eyes widened. 

Hermione.

Relief flooded Liliana as she rushed towards Harry, Hermione, and Ron, all of who looked surprised at first but then comforted that it was someone they knew.

"Guys, what—"

Before Liliana could finish her sentence, a series of popping noises filled the air as twenty wizards apparated to where they were.

Harry spun around, seeing all the wands pointed at them, and yelled, "Duck!"

Liliana grabbed Hermione and pulled her towards the ground just as Harry did to Ron, and barely a second later—

"Stupefy!" twenty voices shouted simultaneously. Red light shot out of every direction, the force of the strong spell causing the group's hair to fly.

"Stop!" shouted Mr. Weasley's voice. "Stop! That's my son!"

Liliana got to her knees, helping Hermione off the ground as Harry and Ron rolled onto their stomachs.

"Ron—Harry"—Mr. Weasley's voice sounded shaky—"Hermione—Liliana—are you all right?"

"Out of the way, Arthur," a cold voice spoke. Liliana looked to see Mr. Crouch, the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, standing in front of them, enraged. "Which of you did it? Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?"

"We didn't do that!" Harry protested as he pointed towards the mark in the sky.

"We didn't do anything!" Ron looked up to his father while rubbing his elbow. "What did you want to attack us for?"

"Do not lie, sir!" Mr. Crouch pointed his wand at Ron, his eyes bulging. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"

"Barty," a witch dressed in her nightgown muttered, "they're kids, Barty, they'd never have been able to—"

"Where did the Mark come from, you four?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Over there." Hermione shakily pointed to the other side of the trees. "There was someone behind the trees . . . they shouted words—an incantation—"

"Oh, stood over there, did they?" Mr. Crouch's disbelieving face turned to Hermione. "Said an incantation, did they? You seem very well informed about how that Mark is summoned, missy—"

It seemed as though all the Ministry officials apart from Crouch had believed her, however, as they turned to where she had pointed with raised wands.

"We're too late," the witch said. "They'll have Disapparated."

"I don't think so." Mr. Diggory appeared, apparently not having noticed that Liliana was there. "Our Stunners went right through those trees . . . There's a good chance we got them . . ."

"Amos, be careful!" a few wizards warned him as he marched into the spot. Liliana waited with fear until they heard him shout.

"Yes! We got them! There's someone here! Unconscious! It's—but—blimey . . ."

"You've got someone?" Mr. Crouch sounded as though he didn't believe Mr. Diggory. "Who? Who is it?"

Mr. Diggory reappeared with a limp figure in his arms. It was a house-elf.

"That's Mr. Crouch's house-elf, Winky!" Hermione whispered to Liliana in shock.

Mr. Crouch stared at his Winky. "This—cannot—be." He continued to stare, unbelieving in shock. "No—" He began to go towards where Mr. Diggory had just been.

"No point, Mr. Crouch," Mr. Diggory called. "There's no one else there."

It seemed as though Mr. Crouch didn't believe him as the rustle of leaves was heard.

"Bit embarrassing." Mr. Diggory looked down at Winky as the group waited for Mr. Crouch to return. "Barty Crouch's house-elf . . . I mean to say . . ."

"Come off it, Amos," Mr. Weasley said in a hushed voice, "you don't seriously think it was the elf? The Dark Mark's a wizard's sign. It requires a wand."

"Yeah" —Mr. Diggory nodded— "and she had a wand."

"What?" Mr. Weasley's eyebrows furrowed.

"Here, look." Mr. Diggory raised a wand for the others to see. "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."

Just then, Ludo Bagman apparated next to Mr. Weasley. His clothes were a mess, and sweat ran down the sides of his face as he doubled over, panting. His eyes bulged as he then noticed the green skull floating above him.

"The Dark Mark!" he breathed out, almost stepping on the house-elf as he turned to the others. "Who did it? Did you get them? Barty! What's going on?"

Mr. Crouch had finished his search, with a result of nothing. His skin was now paler than ever in the moonlight, and his cold stare had turned into a dead one.

"Where have you been, Barty?" Bagman folded his arms as Mr. Crouch slowly stepped toward them. "Why weren't you at the match? Your elf was saving you a seat too—gulping gargoyles!" Bagman noticed the elf that lay in front of him. "What happened to her?"

"I have been busy, Ludo," Mr. Crouch said firmly, his eyes flickering to him. "And my elf has been stunned."

"Stunned?" Bagman looked around. "By you lot, you mean? But why—?"

A look of realization dawned on Bagman's face as he looked from the Dark Mark to the elf to Mr. Crouch.

"No!" His eyes widened. "Winky? Conjure the Dark Mark? She wouldn't know how! She'd need a wand, for a start!"

"And she had one," Mr. Diggory repeated. "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. Crouch said nothing, and Mr. Diggory took his silence as a yes. "Rennervate!"

Winky's big, brown eyes opened, and she blinked a few times. She slowly sat up and trembled as she looked up at Mr. Diggory, who narrowed his eyes at her. She then looked up to see the Dark Mark and then gave a loud gasp before bursting into tears.

"Elf!" Mr. Diggory exclaimed. "Do you know who I am? I'm a member of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures!"

Winky was now rocking back and forth, breathing wildly.

"As you see, elf, the Dark Mark was conjured here a short while ago," Mr. Diggory continued. "And you were discovered moments later, right beneath it! An explanation, if you please!"

"I—I—I is not doing it, sir!" Winky squeaked. "I is not knowing how, sir!"

"You were found with a wand in your hand!" Mr. Diggory showed her the wand to which she let out a small squeak.

"Hey—that's mine!" Harry said suddenly, recognizing it under the light of the Dark Mark.

Everyone turned to stare at him with a look of confusion.

Mr. Diggory's eyebrows furrowed as he questioned, "Excuse me?"

"That's my wand!" Harry exclaimed. "I dropped it!"

"You dropped it?" Mr. Diggory seemed as though he didn't believe him. "Is this a confession? You threw it aside after you conjured the Mark?"

"Amos, think who you're talking to!" Mr. Weasley burst angrily. "Is Harry Potter likely to conjure the Dark Mark?"

"Er—of course not," Mr. Diggory murmured. "Sorry . . . carried away . . ."

"I didn't drop it there, anyway." Harry shook his head. "I missed it right after we got into the woods."

"So." Mr. Diggory turned to the quivering elf. "You found this wand, eh, elf? And you picked it up and thought you'd have some fun with it, did you?"

"I is not doing magic with it, sir!" Winky began to sob, tears streaming down her face. "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 defended, although she seemed nervous to do so in front of such official people. "Winky's got a squeaky little voice, and the voice we heard doing the incantation was much deeper!" She looked around at Harry and Ron as she pleaded for their help. "It didn't sound anything like Winky, did it?"

"No," Harry supported. "It definitely didn't sound like an elf."

"Yeah, it was a human voice." Ron nodded.

"Well, we'll soon see," Mr. Diggory promised as he clutched the wand tightly. "There's a simple way of discovering the last spell a wand performed, elf, did you know that?"

Winky shook her head frantically as Mr. Diggory raised his own wand and placed the tip of it against Harry's.

"Prior Incantato!" Mr. Diggory shouted.

Hermione grabbed onto Liliana's arm as a similar Dark Mark appeared. The smoky symbol was exact to the green one above it, although this one was significantly smaller, and grey; a ghost of the spell.

"Deletrius!" The skull vanished.

"So," started Mr. Diggory, who looked down at the elf with triumph in his eyes.

"I is not doing it!" she 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 yelled. "Caught with the guilty wand in your hand!"

"Amos," Mr. Weasley interrupted, "think about it . . . precious few wizards know how to do that spell . . . Where would she have learned it?"

"Perhaps Amos is suggesting," Mr. Crouch spoke sharply as he rounded on Mr. Diggory, "that I routinely teach my servants to conjure the Dark Mark?"

There was an awkward silence as Mr. Diggory shook his head. "Mr. Crouch . . . not . . . not at all . . ."

"You have now come very close to accusing the two people in this clearing who are least likely to conjure that Mark!" Mr. Crouch shouted. "Harry Potter—and myself! I suppose you are familiar with the boy's story, Amos?"

"Of course—everyone knows—" Mr. Diggory murmured.

"And I trust you remember the many proofs I have given, over a long career, that I despise and detest the Dark Arts and those who practice them?" Mr. Crouch asked angrily, taking a step towards him.

Mr. Diggory's face was beginning to redden. "Mr. Crouch, I—I never suggested you had anything to do with it!"

"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 nodded. "She might have picked it up anywhere . . . Winky?" He turned to her and raised his eyebrows. "Where exactly did you find Harry's wand?"

"I—I is finding it . . . finding it there, sir . . ." she whispered in a terrified voice, "there . . . in the trees, sir . . ."

"You see, Amos?" Mr. Weasley straightened up, his forehead creased. "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 only a few feet away from the real culprit!" Mr. Diggory insisted. "Elf? Did you see anyone?"

Winky was quivering violently, her eyes flickering from one person to the next. She swallowed. "I is seeing no one, sir . . . no one . . ."

"Amos," Mr. Crouch spoke 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."

Liliana knew Mr. Diggory enough to tell from his face that he highly disliked this idea, but of course, he couldn't say no to someone as high up in the Ministry as Mr. Crouch.

"You may rest assured that she will be punished," Mr. Crouch added.

"M-m-master . . ." Winky stuttered, looking up at him with teary eyes. "M-m-master, p-p-please . . ."

Mr. Crouch disregarded her pleas with a cold stare. "Winky has behaved tonight in a manner I would not have believed possible. 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. This means clothes."

Liliana stared at him in shock. Surely, he couldn't be serious! She was scared, and had run away in an act of terror! That's nothing to be punished for!

"No!" Winky screamed, flinging herself in front of his feet. "No, master! Not clothes, not clothes!"

"But she was frightened!" Hermione interjected angrily. "Your elf's scared of heights, and those wizards in masks were levitating people! You can't blame her for wanting to get out of their way!"

Mr. Crouch took a step back from the sobbing elf. "I have no use for a house-elf who disobeys me," he said distantly as he looked over to Hermione. "I have no use for a servant who forgets what is due to her master, and to her master's reputation."

The clearing was silent, the only sound being the echoing cries of Winky as she continued to sob.

Mr. Weasley spoke quietly, "Well, I think I'll take my lot back to the tent if nobody's got any objections. Amos, that wand's told us all it can—if Harry could have it back, please—"

Mr. Diggory then handed the wand to Harry, and he pocketed it.

After saying goodbye to the three and sternly telling them to stay safe, Liliana walked up to Mr. Diggory, who was speaking to the witch in a nightgown.

"Er—Mr. Diggory," Liliana cut in, glancing over to the other woman, who didn't seem to mind the interruption. "Have you seen Cedric at all?"

"Oh! Liliana!" Mr. Diggory exclaimed as he looked at her in surprise. "When did you get here?"

She furrowed her eyebrows. "I . . . I've been here the whole time. With Harry, Hermione, and Ron."

Mr. Diggory blinked quickly before shaking his head. "I must've been far too distracted by the elf and such . . ." he muttered, more to himself. He snapped his head back up, realizing what she had first asked. "You don't—you don't know where Cedric is?"

Liliana shook her head, dread filling her stomach. She had been holding onto the hope that Mr. Diggory had perhaps found him before appearing here. "We got separated while in the woods, and I have no idea where he went."

Mr. Diggory soon became agitated by her words. He thought for a few moments, shifting from one foot to the other. "He might've gone back to the tent. Check there. If you can't find him, come back here and tell me, and we can look for him. If he is, I'll return to the tent in a few hours . . . once this is all cleared up."

"Okay." She nodded.

It was more than safe to assume she could use magic at this point, seeing as everyone else had due to the riot. Because of this, she apparated to the outside of her tent in the second field, where people were beginning to filter back in towards their own tents. 

Everyone was ghostly pale, their hands wrapped tightly around their loved ones as they hurried back into shelter.

Shakily, Liliana opened the entrance to her tent. Her eyes quickly searched the rooms, and relief filled her as she saw Cedric pacing in the back of the tent, his eyebrows furrowed.

Noticing the soft thud of her footsteps as she entered, he looked up, and a relieved smile appeared on his face as she ran over to him.

He quickly embraced her in a bone-crushing hug as she buried her head in the crook of his neck. Liliana lifted her head and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck as the comforting feeling of his lips filled her with warmth.

She pulled back after a moment, resting her head against his chest.

"Where'd you go? I was worried about you," he asked softly, rubbing her back.

"I went to go help a little girl, and then I couldn't find you," she whispered. "And then, I got so scared that—that you might've—" She choked back a sob, not even wanting to think about the possibilities that had run through her mind.

Cedric lifted her chin with his finger, giving her a reassuring smile before kissing her again. "I'm all right, love," he murmured. "Everything's okay."

She stepped away from him, sitting down on the couch and curling her feet under her. "I don't know, Ced . . ."

"Why?" He furrowed his eyebrows as he sat in the chair next to hers. "What happened?"

Liliana then recounted the event that had taken place a mere twenty minutes before, not leaving out a single detail. She spoke shakily as she talked about how Mr. Crouch had dismissed Winky without second thought.

"That's . . . insane." Cedric rubbed his eyes after she finished. "And my dad just . . . accused the elf?"

"And Harry," Liliana let out a weak chuckle. "The two least likely people to do it."

"He . . ." Cedric sighed. "Yeah."

"Anyway," Liliana muttered as she folded her arms, "he said he'll be back in a few hours."

"We should probably get some sleep until then," Cedric suggested as he stood up, holding his hand out towards Liliana, which she took.

As they approached the bunk bed, she turned to him. "Ced, do you think . . . do you think you could—"

His eyebrows raised. "Sleep in your bed with you?"

She nodded.

"Of course." He smiled softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as he kissed her cheek.

They got into the lower bunk bed, and Cedric wrapped his arm over her as she faced his chest. As he stroked the back of her hair, Liliana let her thoughts wander.

What were the Death Eaters doing there? Was it just for their twisted version of fun? Or was there more meaning? You-Know-Who wasn't back, she knew that for a fact. But she knew he wasn't gone since he had been on Quirrell's head during her fourth year.

But there was no way he could rise to power once more. . . . Right?

Deciding that that was enough thinking for the time being, she closed her eyes. Listening to the faint beating of Cedric's heart as she snuggled into his chest, Liliana fell asleep.