CXII. THE GRAVEYARD

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Mia felt her feet slam into the ground. She fell forward and her hand let go of the Triwizard Cup at last. She raised her head and looked around and felt a strong sense of deja vu. Cedric got up, pulled Mia to her feet, and they looked around.

They had left the Hogwarts grounds completely; they had obviously travelled miles, perhaps hundreds of miles, for even the mountains surrounding the castle were gone. They were standing instead in a dark and overgrown graveyard. The black outline of a small church was visible beyond a large yew tree to their right. A hill rose above them to their left. Mia could just make out the outline of a fine old house on the hillside.

"I know this place," she said as she looked around. 

"It's a Portkey," Cedric said amused as he looked down at the Triwizard Cup and then up at Mia. "Mia, it's a Portkey."

"Cedric, we need to leave," Mia said urgently as she looked around the graveyard. It was completely silent and slightly eerie.

"Wands out, d'you reckon?"

Her eyes glowed red as she looked around.

"Grab the cup," she said, her tone serious as she looked at Cedric. She had, yet again, the strange feeling that they were being watched. "I'm serious."

"Someone's coming," he said suddenly. 

Squinting tensely through the darkness, they watched the figure drawing nearer, walking steadily toward them between the graves. Mia couldn't make out a face, but from the way it was walking and holding its arms, she could tell that it was carrying something. Whoever it was, he was short, and wearing a hooded cloak pulled up over his head to obscure his face. And, several paces nearer, the gap between them closing all the time, Mia saw that the thing in the persons arms looked like a baby, or was it merely a bundle of robes?

Mia put her wand away safely in her robes as two bright red energy balls appeared at her hands. She glanced sideways at Cedric who shot her a quizzical look. They both turned back to watch the approaching figure.

It stopped beside a towering marble headstone, only six feet from them. For a second, Mia and Cedric and the short figure simply looked at one another.

And then, without warning, Mia's head exploded with pain. It was agony such as she had never felt in all her life. She screamed in pain as her eyes glowed red as her knees buckled. She was on the ground and her energy was almost spitting around her as she looked up.

"Cedric, run!" she yelled.

"Who are you, what do you want?" Cedric demanded, his voice slightly shaky as he held his wand pointing at the figure. "Why are you hurting Mia?"

"Grab the cup and run, now!" Mia yelled. 

"Kill the spare."

Mia looked horrified as a swishing noise and a second voice, which screeched the words to the night: "Avada Kedavra!"

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