LIKE LIGHTNING | Harry Potter x Reader Fanfiction

⁕ veritaserum ⁕

Harry's POV:
I felt myself slam flat into the ground, my face was pressed into grass. The smell of it filled my nostrils. I didn't dare move a muscle. All the breath seemed to have been knocked out of me and my head was swimming so badly I felt as if the ground beneath me were swaying like the deck of a ship.

I tightened my hold on the two things I was still clutching. The smooth, cold handle of the Tri-Wizard cup and Cedric's body. I felt as though I would slide into the blackness gathering at the edges of my vision if I let go of either one of them. Exhaustion kept me on the ground and I was waiting for someone to do something, something to happen, and all the while my scar burned dully on my forehead.

A wave of sound deafened and confused me, there were voices everywhere, footsteps, screams, and I remained where I was. Then a pair of hands seized me roughly and turned me over.

"HARRY! Harry!"

I opened my eyes and saw the face of Dumbledore crouched over me. The shadows of the crowd around me seems to push at my vision like the darkness that had been there moments before. I had come back to the edge of the maze and I could see the stands rising above me. There were people moving in them.

I let go of the Cup. It's existence irrelevant. I clutched Cedric harder and inhaled to ground myself.

"He's back. Voldemort."

"What's going on? What's happened?"

The face of Cornelius Fudge appeared upside down over me and I felt tears prick at the edge of my vision. Cedrics body lay lifeless beside me and I felt a wave of nausea come over me.

"My God- Diggory!" He whispered. "Dumbledore- he's dead!"

The words were repeated over and over and everyone around us gasped and then others shouted it.

"Cedric Diggory! DEAD!"

"Harry - let go of him." I heard Fudge's voice said. And I felt his fingers try to pry his body away from me but I wouldn't let him go. Then Dumbledore's face came close and said the same thing. But I wouldn't, I couldn't. Something in me wouldn't release my fingers from him. 

"Come here.. Harry, sit down you'll be alright." I heard some voice say to me. I was taken to the sides of the quidditch field, farther down than the rest of the crowd. But in the slight gap between all the adults in front of me, I could see Cho crying. Her face shiny with her tears. I felt a pang of sympathy through me, so strong that it brought me back to the world. 

"Harry- do you know anything about Moody?" asked Dumbleore.

"Huh- what?" I asked, dazed.

"Professor Moody, did he seem off to you?" He asked again.

"He always, kind of se-seemed off." I mumbled. 

"Well, that was not Alastor Moody. You have never known Alaster Moody. The real Moody would not have taken Y/N. The moment she left, I knew - and I followed." He said seriously. 

I was instantly awake after I heard Y/N's name. 

"What- what happened to her? Is she okay? Where is y/n?" I asked, panicking more each second. I could let what happened to Cedric happen to her. Fear bubbled up in my stomach. 

"She's okay. Resting with Madame Pomfreys. But we need to take you with us to question the imposter. Or as we know now, Barty Crouch Jr." Dumbledore explained. 

Relief swarmed me and I shakily stood up, wanting to see y/n more than anything. We left for Dumbledores office. And I found myself in front of a trunk with seven locks. Dumbledore opened them each with a different key and I was then staring down into a kind of pit, an undergorund room, and lying on the floor was Barty Crouch Jr. Snape was then to my left and Crouch Jr was levitated to the floor we were on. 

Everything seemed to move quickly and slow at the same time. Jr was lying before me, pale skinned and slightly freckled with a mop of hair. He looked like how I saw him in the Pensieve, but older. Snape handed Dumbledore a small glass bottle of completely clear liquid: the Veritaserum. They lifted him up against the wall and poured three small drops into his mouth. Then Dumbledore pointed his wand at the man and said, "Rennervate." 

Crouch's eyes opened and he face went slack. His gaze unfocused. 

"Can you hear me?" asked Dumbledore. His eyelids flickered.

"Yes." he muttered. 

"I would like you to tell us how you came to be here. How did you escape from Azkaban?"

"My mother saved me. She knew I was dying. She persuaded my father to rescue me as a last favor to her. He loved her as he had never lovd me. He agreed. They came to visit me. They gave me a draught of the Polyjuice Potion containing one of my hairs. We took on each other's appearance. The dementors are blind. They sensed one healthy, one dying person entering Azkaban. She was carful to drink Polyjuice potion until the end. She was buried under my name and bearing my appearance. Everyone believed her to be me." 

"And what did your father do with you, when he had got you home?" asked Dumbledore. 

"Staged my mother's death. A quiet, private funeral. That grave is empty. The house elf nused me back to health. Then I had to be concelaed. I had to be controlled. My father had to use a number of spells to subdue me. When I had recovered my strength, I thought of only finding my master... of returning to his service."

"How did your father subdue you?" 

"The Imperius Curse." 

"Did anybody ever discover that you were still alive? Did anyone know except your father and the house-elf?" 

"Yes. A witch in my fathers office. Bertha Jorkins. She heard the house elf talking to me. She confronted my father and he put a Memory Charm on her. He said it damaged her memory permanently."

"Tell me about the Quidditch World Cup." 

"The house elf talked my father into it. I had not left the house for years. He agreed in the end. It was carefully planned. I was to sit there, invisible underneath an Invisibility Cloak. Nobody would ever know. But I was growing stronger, and I was almost myself again. I took the wand of a boy in front of me. I stole it."

"So you took the wand? What did you do with it?

"We went back to the tent. We heard the Death Eaters. My mind was clearer than it had been in years. I had the wand and I wanted to leave. I wanted to show the Death Eaters what loyalty to the Dark Lord looked like. So I used to the stolen wand to cast the Dark Mark into the sky. The ministry arrived and they shot stunning spells everywhere. When Winky was discovered my father knew I must be nearby. He found me and put me back under the Imperius Curse and took me home. Winky had failed him and he let her go. Now it was just Father and I alone in the house, and then one night, my master came for me. 

"He arrived at the house late one night with Wormtail. My father answerd the door, and he was placed under the Imperius Curse. My master told me he needed to place a faithful servant at Hogwarts. Wormtail and I prepared the potion, journed to Moody's and subdued him. And I took his place. My father escaped and my master sent me world. I waited and watched. And then I stunned Krum and killed my father. 

"You killed your father. What did you do with the body." Dumbledore asked. 

"Carried it into the forest. Covered it with the Invisibililty Clock. I came out and told Dumbledore Snape had told me where to come. Dumbledore watched me to back and look for my father. When everyone was gone, I transfigured the body. He became a bone, and I buried it."

The whole room was silent and then Dumbledore continued. 

"And tonight..."

"I offered to carry the Triwizard Cup into the maze before dinner. Turned it into a Portkey. My master's plan worked. He is returned to power and I will be honored by him beyong the dreams of wizards." 

The insane smile lit his features once more, and his head dropped onto his shoulder.

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Word Count: 1426