In a gloomy and overgrown cemetery, two figures were suddenly thrown down from the air.
Harry's feet hit the ground, his injured legs went limp, and he fell to the ground; Cedric also couldn't stand steadily and sat on the ground as well.
The suction on the semi-final cup disappeared, and it rolled to the side from the two men's hands.
"Hiss... where are we now?" Harry held the wound on his leg and took a breath.
Cedric shook his head blankly, then stood up, pulled Harry up, and the two of them looked around together.
This place was obviously completely out of the grounds of Hogwarts. They flew in the air for an unknown amount of time, probably several miles... maybe hundreds of miles.
Even the mountains surrounding the castle were gone, and there was no longer any vast forbidden forest. All that was left was a cemetery overgrown with weeds.
To the right of the cemetery, you can see a tall yew tree, and behind it, the dark outline of a small church. To the left, there is a hill, and you can vaguely make out an exquisite old house on the hillside.
Cedric looked down at the Final Four trophy, then at Harry.
"Didn't Mr. Bagman say... that the trophy would only eject the champion from the maze?" he asked. "Did he say that the trophy was actually a Portkey?"
"He probably didn't say that." Harry said, "Or... our competition isn't over yet. Is this a hidden arena?"
He looked around the cemetery. It was eerie and silent. "Is this part of the game?"
"I don't know." Cedric said, his voice a little nervous. "Anyway, pull out your wand, what do you say?"
"Okay." Harry nodded nervously.
They drew their wands and walked slowly forward.
Harry kept looking around. He always had a strange feeling in his heart, as if someone was watching them nearby.
"Someone is coming." he said suddenly.
They squinted their eyes nervously and looked into the darkness. A figure was walking towards them step by step among the gloomy graves.
The two couldn't see the man's face clearly, but judging from his gait and body shape, it seemed that the man had a hunched back, and... his body shape and the way he walked seemed familiar to the two.
Harry lowered his wand a little and turned to look at Cedric, who gave him a questioning look.
The two turned back and stared at the approaching figure, full of suspicion.
The man stopped in front of a tall marble tombstone, about six feet away from them.
At that moment, Harry and Cedric stared at the hunched figure.
"Mr. Filch, why are you here?" Looking at the figure, Cedric asked in surprise, "So... is this really still part of the game?"
Filch suddenly laughed sinisterly.
"Wait, Cedric, something's wrong..." Harry felt something strange becoming more and more obvious.
It felt like there were blood vessels beating on his forehead, and it hurt every time.
Cedric looked at Harry blankly, and heard someone behind "Filch" speaking loudly and coldly.
At the same time, the scar on Harry's forehead began to hurt violently.
He had never felt such intense pain in his life. His wand slipped to the ground involuntarily. He covered his face with his hands, fell to the ground with his legs bent, and could no longer see anything. His head felt like it was going to explode.
"Kill those who are in the way." He vaguely heard the voice say.
There was a whistling sound of wind, followed by a sharp shout that pierced the night sky—
"Avada Kedavra!"
A strong green light pierced Harry's eyelids, and he heard something fall heavily beside him.
The scar hurt so much that he felt nauseous and wanted to vomit... After an unknown amount of time, the pain eased a little, and he slowly opened his stinging eyes in fear.
Cedric lay sprawled on the ground, his eyes blank, not knowing whether he was dead or alive.
For an endless second, Harry stared at Cedric's face, at his expressionless grey eyes, like the windows of an abandoned house... His mouth was half open in surprise.
With the exception of Harry and Voldemort, no one can survive the attack of the Killing Curse.
Harry's brain couldn't accept the scene before him, it was a blank, and he felt helplessly that Cedric was probably dead... He didn't see that the two originally black inverted cross pendants hanging on Cedric's chest had turned blood red.
Harry began to understand that this trap was specially set for him, and it had been built for this moment since the beginning of the Final Four Tournament.
Harry felt an overwhelming sense of guilt, thinking that Cedric was killed because of him...
In a blank state of mind, Harry vaguely felt himself being dragged up by "Filch" and dragged towards the marble tombstone next to him.
Before he was pushed forward and his back hit the tombstone, Harry saw a name on the tombstone in the flash of his wand -
"Tom Riddle."
Tom? Isn't Tom the assistant teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts? How did his name appear here and be engraved on a tombstone
Before Harry had time to think about it, another seemingly unreal figure appeared in front of him. His figure was extremely transparent, and one could even see the dead tree behind him through the cloak.
An equally unreal face appeared beneath the cloak—
It was a face that had appeared in Harry's nightmares for three years. It was paler than a skull, with two big red eyes, a nose as flat as a snake's, and two thin slits for the nostrils...
Harry knew it was Voldemort.
Infinite fear rose in his heart, and a terrible thought came to his mind...
The Dark Lord that everyone fears is coming back!
"Well done, Barty." Voldemort stared at Harry with his scarlet eyes and said lightly to the people around him, "Your loyalty and ability can gain my recognition. From now on, you will become my most trusted servant."
"I swear to be loyal to the Dark Lord until death!" A wizard who looked exactly like Filch knelt on the ground and shouted loudly.
Harry looked at "Filch" blankly, not knowing what was going on with this castle keeper. However, the next scene immediately made him realize the truth of the matter.
Kneeling on the ground, Filch's face gradually changed. The wrinkles gradually disappeared, the skin became smooth, and the sunken nose became straight. The long, messy hair was shortening, and the bald head also grew hair, which turned light yellow.
Harry saw a man kneeling in front of him. He had pale skin, a few freckles, and messy light yellow hair.
This person is extremely similar to Mr. Crouch, Director of the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation.
"You... you are..." Harry struggled to say, "You used Polyjuice Potion to disguise yourself as Filch, just to lure me to this graveyard for the final match?"
Looking at the changes that had taken place in "Filch" before his eyes, everything that had happened in this school year came back to Harry's mind -
Four schools participated in the competition, but the Goblet of Fire spit out the names of five warriors: this was because "Filch" was the person in charge of guarding the Goblet of Fire that night, and he had countless opportunities to secretly cast a Confusion Spell on the Goblet of Fire;
The first event was the dragons. Harry hadn't figured out how to deal with them for a long time. Filch blocked the entrance to the castle and suggested that they use broomsticks to deal with the dragons. Ron reacted quickly.
In the second project, Filch deliberately placed a book about alchemy in the drawer where dangerous goods were stored, luring Fred and George to steal it, and also allowing them to crack the secret of the golden egg;
The second task was to survive in the depths of the Black Lake for an hour. Harry hadn't figured out a way to do it until the competition started:
So "Filch" gave Cedric the book "Magical Aquatic Plants of the Mediterranean and Their Properties" which recorded the Gillweed. He knew that a decent man like Cedric would be willing to help Harry who had given him the clue about the dragon.
In the third game, Filch used the Imperius Curse to control Krum and John, asking them to hinder Fleur and Cedric's game and prevent Harry's final championship from being taken away...
Harry thought that he didn't encounter much danger in the maze, but Cedric encountered all kinds of crises. It was very likely that "Filch" secretly intervened in the maze.
Harry finally understood everything, raised his head, and looked at the wizard in front of him with horror.
Little Barty laughed darkly.
"It's a pity that you guessed it, but it's too late." He said contemptuously, "My disguise as Filch is the best decision I have ever made. No one expected that someone would be willing to disguise himself as a Squib."
"It's ridiculous. Dumbledore is known as the patron saint of Muggle-born wizards, but he doesn't care much about Squibs. They are no different from the pure-bloods he despises..."
"The real Filch would not be able to use Occlumency. If he had used Legilimency to look at me for even a second during this year, my identity would have been exposed to you..."
"But you know what? Potter, Dumbledore never cared about a Squib like me."
After a year of hiding, Batty Jr.'s mental state became a little abnormal, and he seemed eager to share his masterpiece with others.
"Nonsense!" Harry retorted loudly, "Dumbledore just doesn't want to observe people in an illegal way!"
"Naive!" Little Barty laughed contemptuously, "Do you really think that Dumbledore has never used Legilimency on other faculty members on weekdays?"
"It's not easy, Potter, to help you pass these tests without arousing suspicion. I have to use all my tricks to make it invisible to people. If you win too easily, Dumbledore will get suspicious..."
"My first warning was indeed subtle enough. Fortunately, you have a smart friend who understood my hidden meaning. But later on, it became increasingly difficult for me to help you..."
"In the second task, I was particularly worried that we would fail... You stayed in the lake for too long, Potter. I thought you drowned, but Dumbledore mistook your stupidity for nobleness and gave you a high score. I was relieved."
"Of course, you were taken care of in the maze tonight." Little Barty continued, "However, what I didn't expect was that the biggest flaw in this year was my stupid father. He was able to break free from my Imperius Curse in a short time!"
"You are Mr. Crouch's son?!" Harry's eyes widened. "Where is Mr. Crouch now? What have you done to him?"
"You may not know, but my father was very disappointing..." Barty Jr. said with a crazy look, "So I happily...very happily...killed him to ensure the success of the Dark Lord's plan!"
"Okay, Barty, stop talking to him!"
At this moment, Voldemort's extremely cold voice interrupted their conversation, "Hurry up and start the ceremony. I have waited for this day for too long!"
"Yes!" Little Barty's crazy look immediately subsided and he responded solemnly.
He tied the powerless Harry to the tombstone, then took out a dagger and stabbed Harry's wrist hard.
Deep red blood flowed out from the wound on Harry's wrist. The illusory Voldemort waved his hands, causing the blood to float in the air, forming a profound and obscure pattern.
"Potter, you should be proud." Voldemort's cold and sharp voice rang in Harry's ears, "Even if a new formula is found, your blood is still an indispensable part."
Riddle in the diary may know best that the resurrection formula that Voldemort originally knew required three things -
The bones of fathers, the blood of enemies, the flesh of servants.
However, after the first body he created was taken away by Dracula, he no longer had the bones of his second father.
So, Voldemort made a deal with Death.
He will sacrifice half of his soul to the god of death in exchange for a short period of time to restore his strength and another way to resurrect...
As for that half soul, it will be redeemed after solving the problem of Diary Riddle using Diary Riddle's soul and the Horcrux in his hand.
In addition, Voldemort made another deal with Death -
Death was responsible for luring Dracula away, leaving the security guard position vacant, so that his plan to kidnap Harry in the third project could proceed smoothly.
The Grim Reaper agreed. He thought of Hercules, who also possessed a Horcrux, and chose to lend his power to Hercules.
Helpo took advantage of this short period of time to recover and launched a rebellion against Andros, forcing Dracula to rush from the site of the semi-finals tournament to the secret realm of Mount Olympus.
Now, Voldemort was whispering a spell to the pattern made of Harry's blood.
The blood seemed to burn, and then it began to flow, as if forming a blood vessel throughout the body—
Then, bones and flesh appeared out of thin air, and the dark figure of a wizard appeared before Harry.
Tall and thin, like a skeleton.
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