• Thanatophobia ~ {HP} • Discontinued

1.7 The Dark Mark - Part 4

{18th of August, 1994}

"What the — ?" gasped Ron as he sprang to his feet again, staring up at the thing that had appeared.

It was a colossal skull, comprised of what looked like emerald stars, with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue. That sign was too familiar in her life. As they watched, it rose higher and higher, blazing in a haze of greenish smoke, etched against the black sky like a new constellation.

Suddenly, everyone all around them erupted with screams. The only possible cause was the sudden appearance of the skull, which had now risen high enough to illuminate the entire wood like some grisly neon sign. She scanned the darkness for the person who had conjured the skull, but she couldn't see anyone.

"Who's there?" She called again.

"Alhena, come on, move!" Nico had wrapped his arm around her waist in-between Cassiopeia's and Archies' chest and was tugging them backward.

"What's the matter?" Little potter said, startled to see her face so white and terrified.

"It's the Dark Mark, Little Potter!" Cassiopeia spoke, Still be dragged by Nico as hard as he could. "Voldemort's sign!"

"Voldemort's — ?"

"Weasley, come on!"

Cassiopeia turned — Ron was hurriedly scooping up his miniature Krum — the three of them started across the clearing — but before they had taken a few hurried steps, a series of popping noises announced the arrival of twenty wizards, appearing from thin air, surrounding them.

Cassiopeia whirled around, and in an instant, she registered one fact: Each of these wizards had his wand out, and every wand was pointing right at the group of teenagers

Without pausing to think, she yelled, "DUCK!"

Clinging her brother to her chest and pulled him down onto the ground, the other following.

  "STUPEFY!" roared twenty voices — there was a blinding series of flashes and Cassiopeia felt the hair on her head change color; probably a red as though a powerful wind had swept the clearing. Raising her head a fraction of an inch he saw jets of fiery red light flying over them from the wizards' wands, crossing one another, bouncing off tree trunks, rebounding into the darkness —

"Stop!" yelled a voice she dreaded. "STOP! That's my son!"

Cassiopeia's hair stopped blowing about. She raised her head a little higher. The wizard in front of her had lowered his wand. She stood up with Archie in her arms and saw her godparents, Mr. Lupin and Mr.Black striding toward them, looking terrified.

"Nico - Harry - Cassie " — his voice sounded shaky — " - Hermione - Archie— are you alright?"

"Out of the way, Mr. Potter," said a cold, curt voice.

It was Mr. Crouch. He and the other Ministry wizards were closing in on them. Cassiopeia shot a hard glare at him. Mr. Crouch's face was taut with rage.

"Which of you did it?" he snapped, his sharp eyes darting between them. "Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?"

"We didn't do that!" said Little Potter, gesturing up at the skull.

"We didn't do anything!" said Nico, who was rubbing his elbow and looking indignantly at his father. "What did you want to attack us for?"

"Do not lie, sir!" shouted Mr. Crouch. His wand was still pointing directly at Nico and Harry, and his eyes were popping — he looked slightly mad. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"

"Barty," whispered a witch in a long woolen dressing gown, "they're kids, Barty, they'd never have been able to —"

"Where did the Mark come from, you three?" said Mr. Black quickly.

"Over there," said Archie shakily, 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?" said Mr. Crouch, turning his popping eyes on the seven-year-old now, disbelief etched all over his face. "Said an incantation, did they? You seem very well informed about how that Mark is summoned, mister —"

"Crouch" Cassiopeia snapped, fuming, "One that is my brother you're talking to, and two he is seven, you moronic bimbo".  The Mauraders were filled with pride and nostalgia as a result of this.

None of the Ministry wizards apart from Mr. Crouch seemed to think it remotely likely that the teenagers had conjured the skull; on the contrary, at Archies words, they had all raised their wands again and were pointing in the direction she had indicated, squinting through the dark trees.

"We're too late," said the witch in the woolen dressing gown, shaking her head. "They'll have Disapparated."

"I don't think so," said a wizard with a scrubby brown beard. It was Amos Diggory, Cedric's father. "Our Stunners went right through those trees. . . . There's a good chance we got them. . ."

"Amos, be careful!" said a few of the wizards warningly as Mr. Diggory squared his shoulders, raised his wand, marched across the clearing, and disappeared into the darkness. Everyone watched him vanish.

A few seconds later, they heard Mr. Diggory shout.

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

"You've got someone?" shouted Mr. Crouch, sounding highly disbelieving. "Who? Who is it?"

" Oh My Merlin, Really, It's not the seven-year-old boy in a girl's arms who showed the morons how to get the muggles down" Cassiopeia mocked in a high-pitched voice, similar to Archie.

They heard snapping twigs, the rustling of leaves, and then crunching footsteps as Mr. Diggory reemerged from behind the trees. He was carrying a tiny, limp figure in his arms. Cassiopeia recognized the tea towel at once. 

It was Winky?

Words: 1028

 Hi! Wow, the dark mark is taking quite some time to finish. I just don't want a chapter to be over 1100 words

I won't post on the 3rd - 15th of may because I have midterm exams coming up. Last post. Bye!!

Have a good morning/afternoon or night

27TheEnd