Disclaimer: Much as I'd like to, I don't own Draco Malfoy, or any part of the magical world that J.K. Rowling has all the copyrights to ... please don't sue me. There are some parts of this story that are quotes from the book - it can't be helped - events are the same as in the book, but Draco's opinion of these events may vary from Harry's.
Author's Notes: And here it is, folks. The Final Task. And how I deal with it. Ok, I've got to the point where I don't have the time to reply individually to every single one-liner-review (I'm writing this, and three Star Wars fanfics, at the same time!). But I do love and appreciate you all. So thanks to firehottie, tigercub15, Lillei, I'm not the weakest link, and Bob.
duochang97: Actually, the three chapters were uploaded within a week of each other, but not at the same time. Your assessment of Draco is pretty-much why I wrote this fic in the first place - to attempt a bloody murder of the theory that Draco would happily lick Voldy's boots. He's a coward, yes, and he knows when he can't fight someone... but he would not willingly serve a Mudblood - he's too proud for that. A major vice of Gryffindors is their pride - hurt that and you're just asking for vengeance - hence Hermione's vicious side shows. Pink Floyd? Now you've confused me - I know I remember her mentioning it, but I can't remember why.
kraeg001: The names just come to me. Especially for Voldemerde, Scar-Face, Weasel, and the Daft Duo. I have a knack for making fun of thing - I channel most of it through Theo, but not all of it. Thanks for the names... but I prefer to just write what comes to mind - if those names come up in this fic, I may have forgotten where they came from - I don't really plan my name-calling.
lilyqueen777: Can you blame Draco for hating April Fools? He's spent the last four April 1sts in Theo's company! Poor Draco. Theo loves you too (at least, he told me to tell you that). He never said he was stupid - he was recognising the Centaur was better than him, but he never mentioned anything about intelligence. I know that's their B-day - I check JKR's site regularly.
dragon-femme-fatale: Um, it was Crouch, not Fudge, who was roaming the Forest.
snackfiend101: Heh heh - I pride myself on being, like Theo, the benign category of evil - cliffhangers are in this category, also... mwahahahahahahaaa!
dragonsprincess: Draco/Hermione should change drastically (not sure how, but I don't think it'll be good) in OotP. Theo says he loves you, too.
Dracula-Loves-Me: Cool penname. Glad you like the story.
"The fearful sit in a clutch with their worries, whilst one man alone faces the furies." -Andromeda
Chapter 30 - Avada Kedavra
"Aww, c'mon, Professor!" Theo whined as the rest of us were leaving to watch the third task, "You only gave me detention to mess up my attempt to enter the Tournament. I wanna see what happens... please? Pretty please with sherbet lemons on top?"
Dumbledore chuckled, "Very well, Mr Nott. But do not cause any trouble."
"Thank you thank you thank you!" Theo cheered, bouncing up and down with glee, "This is so cool!" he zoomed off out the main doors.
"I think that boy's had one too many sherbet lemons." I muttered.
"No such thing, my boy." Dumbledore said blithely, as he passed me.
"Draco?" Cat asked, appearing next to me, as I walked down towards the Quidditch pitch.
"Yes?" I replied.
"Do you mind if I borrow this?" she asked, holding up the spy-ball. How she managed to steal it out of my locked trunk, in my room, I don't even want to know.
"Haven't you got enough Sight without it?" I asked.
"I get vague visions. Not detailed. This, however, would let me have a close-up of my target... if you don't mind?"
"Sure." I shrugged, "As long as it's nothing obscene."
"It's not."
"Good. Then let me watch." I said, smirking.
She raised an eyebrow at that, "Ok."
x x x
We reached the stands, to find that Theo had claimed some excellent seats in the front row. Cat grinned, "Hold this, would you?" she shoved the spy-ball into my hands, and left the stands.
"What's she up to?" Theo asked.
"No idea." I shrugged.
I watched Cat approach Cedric Diggory, as the four champions gathered near the entrance of the maze.
"Catarina Feral." Theo said, tapping the spy-ball. I shot him a glare, but he just shrugged.
Cat's voice was audible through the spy-ball, now, "Look, just be careful, ok?" she said pleadingly.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. No need to pretend you care about me, just to spite Potter. I know that's why you're doing it." Diggory retorted.
Cat put her hands on her hips and gave Diggory an indignant look, "I'm insulted that you'd suggest such a thing. It's my friends who hate Potter - I don't much care about him either way." she glanced towards the other three champions, "I do wish you wouldn't do this. It's so... dangerous."
"Don't know why one of you snakes would care about anyone but themselves." Diggory growled.
Cat looked back at him, "Just be safe. Please."
"I can take care of myself!" he snapped.
She sighed, and turned to leave. As soon as Diggory turned his back on her, however... "Vi-deo." she whispered, pointing her wand at him. She smiled, and hurried back towards the stands.
Theo raised an eyebrow, "Now that's interesting."
"Cat said before, she had a bad feeling about Diggory entering the tournament." I noted, "And Wednesday ended up telling her 'if fate wants something to happen, it must be for a reason'... I think Diggory's in deeper than he knows."
"Hmmm..." Theo pondered, "It's likely."
"Switch to the Diggory channel." Cat said brightly, settling next to me. I did as she asked, summoning the image of the Hufflepuff champion on my spy-ball.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how points currently stand! Tied in first place, on eighty-five points each - Mr Cedric Diggory and Mr Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!"
Everyone in the stands cheered, most of the cheers I heard from this end of the stands were for Diggory.
"In second place, on eighty points - Mr Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!"
Theo cheered, a loud wolf-whistle-type shout that could likely be heard as far away as Durmstrang itself. "Yeah, go Krum!" he yelled. I gave him an unimpressed look, and he grinned at me, "What? I'd rather he win that Potter or the Hufflepoof."
"And in third place - Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"
"Little bint won't know what hit her." Cat muttered, "She is so not up to this sort of challenge. None of the Beauxbatons' students are."
I shrugged, and paid attention to the announcer, instead of her.
"So... on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!" the announcer called, "Three... two... one..." and he blew on the whistle.
Both Potter and Diggory rushed forward into the maze, and as soon as possible, Potter went one way and Diggory went another.
Not much later, the second whistle was blown, and Krum also bolted into the maze. Fleur was sent in almost a minute later.
x x x
"Skrewt." Theo muttered, "Enchanted doorway. Boggart. Sleeping spell."
"Why have the other three all got caught on those, and Potter's not hit a single one, yet?" I asked.
"Hmm... I dunno." Theo shrugged, "I'm gonna go... be somewhere that's else." he left, muttering, "Get a better view." and headed for the exit behind us. Less than a minute later, a magpie flew overhead, and proceeded to circle the maze. It landed on the top of one of the hedges, watching Moody.
A female scream could be heard. Fleur. "I told you she'd not know what hit her." Cat muttered.
The magpie returned to the stands, and picked two dungbombs out of Theo's schoolbag, before returning to Moody, and dropping the dungbombs on Moody's head.
I blinked, "What did he do that for?" I asked. Cat shrugged innocently.
A few more minutes passed, then what Cat referred to as the 'Diggory channel' suddenly became incredibly fascinating, as the word "Crucio." could be heard from it, and Diggory started writhing in agony.
"What is going on?" I asked.
Potter knocked Krum unconscious - turned out Krum had been the one to cast the Cruciatus. The teachers had also noticed the Unforgivable curse, and were muttering among each other, in the top box, not far from the seats Theo had found for us.
"Cruciatus." an older Slytherin student sitting behind us said quietly, "He'll be disqualified for sure."
"Why would he use that curse?" I asked, "I mean... it's not like he needs the prize money, or anything like that."
"Krum wouldn't do that." Cat said, frowning, "It's not in his character. Some people just can't use Cruciatus and AK on humans. He's one of those people."
"Then explain what we just saw." I snapped.
"Krum didn't do it." Cat answered.
"What the-?" I demanded, "We saw it! Are you saying Krum's an impostor too? How many bloody impostors do you think there are in this school?!"
"One." Cat answered definitively, "Well, unless you count Mrs Norris."
I blinked at her, "You what?"
"Mrs Norris. She's not a real cat." Cat answered brightly.
I shook my head, "You're as bad as Theo." I muttered. Both scared me, sometimes. In very different ways, but they still both scared me. Speaking of Theo, he was still pestering Moody.
Cat shrugged, and continued to watch the show.
Potter and Diggory, after some argument, decided to take the cup together. Both had beaten the maze, Potter had saved Diggory from an Acromantula, and neither could have fought it without the other's help. They had worked together, and both were too chivalrous to just go and take the prize themselves when they felt the other had helped them. Stupid Gryffindorks and Huffleprats. I'd have just taken the Cup and to hell with the opposition who'd helped me.
Actually, if I were Diggory, I'd have helped the spider.
"Oh, you fool." Cat hissed.
"Yeah... who would give up half the prize out of mere common decency?" I asked coldly.
"That is not what I meant." Cat said pointedly.
Less than a second later, the Cup and the two champions had vanished.
"What the hell?" I demanded. Half the crowd was demanding the same thing, and most of them had risen to their feet in surprise. Being in the front row, I didn't need to stand up, though.
Cat, however, was focused on the spy-ball. "Watch." she said, her tone showing some degree of fear.
I looked at the spy-ball. It showed a gloomy scene that could only be described as ominous. It looked like an ancient graveyard. Tombs and gnarled trees surrounded Potter and Diggory... both looked totally stunned by their new environment.
"Where are we?" Potter's voice asked from the spy-ball. The spy-ball is an espionage device, it can only be heard by someone who knows it's there and wants to hear it. Not that I wanted to hear Potter's voice, but I did want to know what the bloody hell was going on. Either way, it meant that only Cat and I were able to see and hear Potter and Diggory... wherever they were.
Diggory stood up and helped Potter - who must have damaged his leg in the Third Task - to stand up. Diggory then stared at the Cup for a minute, before looking up at Potter, "Did anyone tell YOU the Cup was a Portkey?" he asked.
"Nope." Potter replied helplessly. "Is this supposed to be part of the task?"
"I dunno." Diggory said, looking around, alert for danger. "Wands out, d'you reckon?"
"Yeah." Potter agreed eagerly, as if grateful for the sane suggestion, even though I doubted Potter himself was quite sane.
Both of them drew their wands, and looked around the graveyard warily.
"Does it not occur to them to touch the Portkey again?" I asked quietly.
"Does it look to you like they've thought of that?" Cat retorted.
"Clearly not."
"Someone's coming." Potter declared.
A figure appeared out of the mist and shadows. It was barely visible in the spy-ball, but I could feel a chill creep up my spine when I saw it. The figure was hunched, carrying a bundle. It looked frail, but I still felt sick even watching it.
Potter and Diggory, however, weren't as paranoid... though maybe Potter should be. They looked at each other, then returned their focus on the newcomer. The stranger stopped near a tombstone a few feet away from them.
Diggory jumped with surprise when Potter pitched another of his fits. Then a moment later, while Diggory was still partially distracted, an icy voice hissed, "Kill the spare!"
And another voice responded immediately, with, "Avada Kedavra!"
The spy-ball erupted in a flash of green light that caused Cat to shriek, and I fell backwards over my seat.
"What the hell?!" someone yelled behind me.
"You're going to need to re-charm that thing." Theo's voice said from my right. "I mean... a curse like that channelling through to it can't have been good for it."
"That's gonna cost me about fifty Galleons!" I whined.
"Screw the money!" Cat all but shrieked, "Did you see what happened?!"
"Language, Kitty." Theo said, in what was supposed to be a calming tone, "We saw. Right, Draco?"
"Right." I answered shakily. If the Killing Curse got to my spy-ball... that means it hit Diggory, point-blank.
"Care to tell us what happened?" an older Ravenclaw asked.
"We were messing with Filibuster Fireworks. It didn't go well." Theo said innocently. Then he hissed in my ear, "Technically true - look at Moody." with an evil grin on his face.
I looked over at Moody, who seemed to be trying to untangle something neon-orange from his hair. I almost pity him for being the target of Theo's trouble-making. Almost.
I picked up the spy-ball, which emitted a faint spark in complaint to its cruel treatment, and pocketed it carefully. Cat, however, was watching Moody, now. "Theo, deary." she said, in a saccharine tone.
"Yuhuh?" Theo asked warily.
"Do you think our little impostor was up to no good?" Cat asked.
"Pretty certain, yeah." Theo answered.
"Then maybe we could tell-"
She was interrupted by a strangled yell of pain from the staff box nearby. Everyone who heard it looked to see Snape, clutching his left arm over his stomach, and grimacing in pain. He growled something to Dumbledore. Meanwhile, Karkaroff seemed to have vanished.
"Eeep." Theo squeaked.
"Three guesses what that means." I said blankly.
I felt strangely detached from the thought. I should be terrified. It was obvious what was going on. The Dark Lord must have returned - it's the only explanation. Potter bratnapped, Diggory senselessly murdered, Snape's Dark Mark burning (even if he was trying to make it look like appendicitis, or something)... it all made sense. Why wasn't I panicking?
Time ticked slowly by, and the crowd actually did begin to panic, though Theo, Cat and I remained relatively calm... relatively. The three of us stared at the point where Potter had vanished from, as if it could tell us something. Eventually, after some time, Potter reappeared... along with a Triwizard Cup and a corpse. Diggory's corpse.
"He's dead." Theo said quietly.
"Duh." I retorted, "What did you think would happen?"
"Um... good point." Theo noted, shrugging.
"Our impostor caused this." Cat told us pointedly, "One of us should tell Dumbledore."
"Don't look at me." Theo and I said, at exactly the same time.
She rolled her eyes, "You two are impossible." she declared, before marching towards the pitch itself, determinedly. Dumbledore was making a beeline for Potter, and Cat couldn't get through the crowd for some time. By the time she was talking to Dumbledore, Moody had already apprehended Potter, and was guiding him back to the castle.
"I'm gonna fly." Theo muttered, leaving suddenly. I have no idea what the boy was up to, but I got the feeling he was just abusing his animagism while he could. As soon as he got caught - and he would undoubtedly get caught eventually - he would be forced to register and he'd not be free to fly around like that.
Professor Flitwick then announced over a Sonorus charm that all students were to return to their dormitories immediately. That was the end of the show, it seems.
x x x
End of chapter 30
Author's Notes: And here it is, folks. The Final Task. And how I deal with it. Ok, I've got to the point where I don't have the time to reply individually to every single one-liner-review (I'm writing this, and three Star Wars fanfics, at the same time!). But I do love and appreciate you all. So thanks to firehottie, tigercub15, Lillei, I'm not the weakest link, and Bob.
duochang97: Actually, the three chapters were uploaded within a week of each other, but not at the same time. Your assessment of Draco is pretty-much why I wrote this fic in the first place - to attempt a bloody murder of the theory that Draco would happily lick Voldy's boots. He's a coward, yes, and he knows when he can't fight someone... but he would not willingly serve a Mudblood - he's too proud for that. A major vice of Gryffindors is their pride - hurt that and you're just asking for vengeance - hence Hermione's vicious side shows. Pink Floyd? Now you've confused me - I know I remember her mentioning it, but I can't remember why.
kraeg001: The names just come to me. Especially for Voldemerde, Scar-Face, Weasel, and the Daft Duo. I have a knack for making fun of thing - I channel most of it through Theo, but not all of it. Thanks for the names... but I prefer to just write what comes to mind - if those names come up in this fic, I may have forgotten where they came from - I don't really plan my name-calling.
lilyqueen777: Can you blame Draco for hating April Fools? He's spent the last four April 1sts in Theo's company! Poor Draco. Theo loves you too (at least, he told me to tell you that). He never said he was stupid - he was recognising the Centaur was better than him, but he never mentioned anything about intelligence. I know that's their B-day - I check JKR's site regularly.
dragon-femme-fatale: Um, it was Crouch, not Fudge, who was roaming the Forest.
snackfiend101: Heh heh - I pride myself on being, like Theo, the benign category of evil - cliffhangers are in this category, also... mwahahahahahahaaa!
dragonsprincess: Draco/Hermione should change drastically (not sure how, but I don't think it'll be good) in OotP. Theo says he loves you, too.
Dracula-Loves-Me: Cool penname. Glad you like the story.
"The fearful sit in a clutch with their worries, whilst one man alone faces the furies." -Andromeda
Chapter 30 - Avada Kedavra
"Aww, c'mon, Professor!" Theo whined as the rest of us were leaving to watch the third task, "You only gave me detention to mess up my attempt to enter the Tournament. I wanna see what happens... please? Pretty please with sherbet lemons on top?"
Dumbledore chuckled, "Very well, Mr Nott. But do not cause any trouble."
"Thank you thank you thank you!" Theo cheered, bouncing up and down with glee, "This is so cool!" he zoomed off out the main doors.
"I think that boy's had one too many sherbet lemons." I muttered.
"No such thing, my boy." Dumbledore said blithely, as he passed me.
"Draco?" Cat asked, appearing next to me, as I walked down towards the Quidditch pitch.
"Yes?" I replied.
"Do you mind if I borrow this?" she asked, holding up the spy-ball. How she managed to steal it out of my locked trunk, in my room, I don't even want to know.
"Haven't you got enough Sight without it?" I asked.
"I get vague visions. Not detailed. This, however, would let me have a close-up of my target... if you don't mind?"
"Sure." I shrugged, "As long as it's nothing obscene."
"It's not."
"Good. Then let me watch." I said, smirking.
She raised an eyebrow at that, "Ok."
x x x
We reached the stands, to find that Theo had claimed some excellent seats in the front row. Cat grinned, "Hold this, would you?" she shoved the spy-ball into my hands, and left the stands.
"What's she up to?" Theo asked.
"No idea." I shrugged.
I watched Cat approach Cedric Diggory, as the four champions gathered near the entrance of the maze.
"Catarina Feral." Theo said, tapping the spy-ball. I shot him a glare, but he just shrugged.
Cat's voice was audible through the spy-ball, now, "Look, just be careful, ok?" she said pleadingly.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. No need to pretend you care about me, just to spite Potter. I know that's why you're doing it." Diggory retorted.
Cat put her hands on her hips and gave Diggory an indignant look, "I'm insulted that you'd suggest such a thing. It's my friends who hate Potter - I don't much care about him either way." she glanced towards the other three champions, "I do wish you wouldn't do this. It's so... dangerous."
"Don't know why one of you snakes would care about anyone but themselves." Diggory growled.
Cat looked back at him, "Just be safe. Please."
"I can take care of myself!" he snapped.
She sighed, and turned to leave. As soon as Diggory turned his back on her, however... "Vi-deo." she whispered, pointing her wand at him. She smiled, and hurried back towards the stands.
Theo raised an eyebrow, "Now that's interesting."
"Cat said before, she had a bad feeling about Diggory entering the tournament." I noted, "And Wednesday ended up telling her 'if fate wants something to happen, it must be for a reason'... I think Diggory's in deeper than he knows."
"Hmmm..." Theo pondered, "It's likely."
"Switch to the Diggory channel." Cat said brightly, settling next to me. I did as she asked, summoning the image of the Hufflepuff champion on my spy-ball.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how points currently stand! Tied in first place, on eighty-five points each - Mr Cedric Diggory and Mr Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!"
Everyone in the stands cheered, most of the cheers I heard from this end of the stands were for Diggory.
"In second place, on eighty points - Mr Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!"
Theo cheered, a loud wolf-whistle-type shout that could likely be heard as far away as Durmstrang itself. "Yeah, go Krum!" he yelled. I gave him an unimpressed look, and he grinned at me, "What? I'd rather he win that Potter or the Hufflepoof."
"And in third place - Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"
"Little bint won't know what hit her." Cat muttered, "She is so not up to this sort of challenge. None of the Beauxbatons' students are."
I shrugged, and paid attention to the announcer, instead of her.
"So... on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!" the announcer called, "Three... two... one..." and he blew on the whistle.
Both Potter and Diggory rushed forward into the maze, and as soon as possible, Potter went one way and Diggory went another.
Not much later, the second whistle was blown, and Krum also bolted into the maze. Fleur was sent in almost a minute later.
x x x
"Skrewt." Theo muttered, "Enchanted doorway. Boggart. Sleeping spell."
"Why have the other three all got caught on those, and Potter's not hit a single one, yet?" I asked.
"Hmm... I dunno." Theo shrugged, "I'm gonna go... be somewhere that's else." he left, muttering, "Get a better view." and headed for the exit behind us. Less than a minute later, a magpie flew overhead, and proceeded to circle the maze. It landed on the top of one of the hedges, watching Moody.
A female scream could be heard. Fleur. "I told you she'd not know what hit her." Cat muttered.
The magpie returned to the stands, and picked two dungbombs out of Theo's schoolbag, before returning to Moody, and dropping the dungbombs on Moody's head.
I blinked, "What did he do that for?" I asked. Cat shrugged innocently.
A few more minutes passed, then what Cat referred to as the 'Diggory channel' suddenly became incredibly fascinating, as the word "Crucio." could be heard from it, and Diggory started writhing in agony.
"What is going on?" I asked.
Potter knocked Krum unconscious - turned out Krum had been the one to cast the Cruciatus. The teachers had also noticed the Unforgivable curse, and were muttering among each other, in the top box, not far from the seats Theo had found for us.
"Cruciatus." an older Slytherin student sitting behind us said quietly, "He'll be disqualified for sure."
"Why would he use that curse?" I asked, "I mean... it's not like he needs the prize money, or anything like that."
"Krum wouldn't do that." Cat said, frowning, "It's not in his character. Some people just can't use Cruciatus and AK on humans. He's one of those people."
"Then explain what we just saw." I snapped.
"Krum didn't do it." Cat answered.
"What the-?" I demanded, "We saw it! Are you saying Krum's an impostor too? How many bloody impostors do you think there are in this school?!"
"One." Cat answered definitively, "Well, unless you count Mrs Norris."
I blinked at her, "You what?"
"Mrs Norris. She's not a real cat." Cat answered brightly.
I shook my head, "You're as bad as Theo." I muttered. Both scared me, sometimes. In very different ways, but they still both scared me. Speaking of Theo, he was still pestering Moody.
Cat shrugged, and continued to watch the show.
Potter and Diggory, after some argument, decided to take the cup together. Both had beaten the maze, Potter had saved Diggory from an Acromantula, and neither could have fought it without the other's help. They had worked together, and both were too chivalrous to just go and take the prize themselves when they felt the other had helped them. Stupid Gryffindorks and Huffleprats. I'd have just taken the Cup and to hell with the opposition who'd helped me.
Actually, if I were Diggory, I'd have helped the spider.
"Oh, you fool." Cat hissed.
"Yeah... who would give up half the prize out of mere common decency?" I asked coldly.
"That is not what I meant." Cat said pointedly.
Less than a second later, the Cup and the two champions had vanished.
"What the hell?" I demanded. Half the crowd was demanding the same thing, and most of them had risen to their feet in surprise. Being in the front row, I didn't need to stand up, though.
Cat, however, was focused on the spy-ball. "Watch." she said, her tone showing some degree of fear.
I looked at the spy-ball. It showed a gloomy scene that could only be described as ominous. It looked like an ancient graveyard. Tombs and gnarled trees surrounded Potter and Diggory... both looked totally stunned by their new environment.
"Where are we?" Potter's voice asked from the spy-ball. The spy-ball is an espionage device, it can only be heard by someone who knows it's there and wants to hear it. Not that I wanted to hear Potter's voice, but I did want to know what the bloody hell was going on. Either way, it meant that only Cat and I were able to see and hear Potter and Diggory... wherever they were.
Diggory stood up and helped Potter - who must have damaged his leg in the Third Task - to stand up. Diggory then stared at the Cup for a minute, before looking up at Potter, "Did anyone tell YOU the Cup was a Portkey?" he asked.
"Nope." Potter replied helplessly. "Is this supposed to be part of the task?"
"I dunno." Diggory said, looking around, alert for danger. "Wands out, d'you reckon?"
"Yeah." Potter agreed eagerly, as if grateful for the sane suggestion, even though I doubted Potter himself was quite sane.
Both of them drew their wands, and looked around the graveyard warily.
"Does it not occur to them to touch the Portkey again?" I asked quietly.
"Does it look to you like they've thought of that?" Cat retorted.
"Clearly not."
"Someone's coming." Potter declared.
A figure appeared out of the mist and shadows. It was barely visible in the spy-ball, but I could feel a chill creep up my spine when I saw it. The figure was hunched, carrying a bundle. It looked frail, but I still felt sick even watching it.
Potter and Diggory, however, weren't as paranoid... though maybe Potter should be. They looked at each other, then returned their focus on the newcomer. The stranger stopped near a tombstone a few feet away from them.
Diggory jumped with surprise when Potter pitched another of his fits. Then a moment later, while Diggory was still partially distracted, an icy voice hissed, "Kill the spare!"
And another voice responded immediately, with, "Avada Kedavra!"
The spy-ball erupted in a flash of green light that caused Cat to shriek, and I fell backwards over my seat.
"What the hell?!" someone yelled behind me.
"You're going to need to re-charm that thing." Theo's voice said from my right. "I mean... a curse like that channelling through to it can't have been good for it."
"That's gonna cost me about fifty Galleons!" I whined.
"Screw the money!" Cat all but shrieked, "Did you see what happened?!"
"Language, Kitty." Theo said, in what was supposed to be a calming tone, "We saw. Right, Draco?"
"Right." I answered shakily. If the Killing Curse got to my spy-ball... that means it hit Diggory, point-blank.
"Care to tell us what happened?" an older Ravenclaw asked.
"We were messing with Filibuster Fireworks. It didn't go well." Theo said innocently. Then he hissed in my ear, "Technically true - look at Moody." with an evil grin on his face.
I looked over at Moody, who seemed to be trying to untangle something neon-orange from his hair. I almost pity him for being the target of Theo's trouble-making. Almost.
I picked up the spy-ball, which emitted a faint spark in complaint to its cruel treatment, and pocketed it carefully. Cat, however, was watching Moody, now. "Theo, deary." she said, in a saccharine tone.
"Yuhuh?" Theo asked warily.
"Do you think our little impostor was up to no good?" Cat asked.
"Pretty certain, yeah." Theo answered.
"Then maybe we could tell-"
She was interrupted by a strangled yell of pain from the staff box nearby. Everyone who heard it looked to see Snape, clutching his left arm over his stomach, and grimacing in pain. He growled something to Dumbledore. Meanwhile, Karkaroff seemed to have vanished.
"Eeep." Theo squeaked.
"Three guesses what that means." I said blankly.
I felt strangely detached from the thought. I should be terrified. It was obvious what was going on. The Dark Lord must have returned - it's the only explanation. Potter bratnapped, Diggory senselessly murdered, Snape's Dark Mark burning (even if he was trying to make it look like appendicitis, or something)... it all made sense. Why wasn't I panicking?
Time ticked slowly by, and the crowd actually did begin to panic, though Theo, Cat and I remained relatively calm... relatively. The three of us stared at the point where Potter had vanished from, as if it could tell us something. Eventually, after some time, Potter reappeared... along with a Triwizard Cup and a corpse. Diggory's corpse.
"He's dead." Theo said quietly.
"Duh." I retorted, "What did you think would happen?"
"Um... good point." Theo noted, shrugging.
"Our impostor caused this." Cat told us pointedly, "One of us should tell Dumbledore."
"Don't look at me." Theo and I said, at exactly the same time.
She rolled her eyes, "You two are impossible." she declared, before marching towards the pitch itself, determinedly. Dumbledore was making a beeline for Potter, and Cat couldn't get through the crowd for some time. By the time she was talking to Dumbledore, Moody had already apprehended Potter, and was guiding him back to the castle.
"I'm gonna fly." Theo muttered, leaving suddenly. I have no idea what the boy was up to, but I got the feeling he was just abusing his animagism while he could. As soon as he got caught - and he would undoubtedly get caught eventually - he would be forced to register and he'd not be free to fly around like that.
Professor Flitwick then announced over a Sonorus charm that all students were to return to their dormitories immediately. That was the end of the show, it seems.
x x x
End of chapter 30