The Stand

The Aftermath

"Are you going to fucking leave him there" was the first thing Harry heard upon his return "You all are fucking cowards."

"Awwww" Harry said, causing Cedric to swing around furiously "Didn't know that you cared that much."

Cedric rushed forward and hugged Harry "Oh thank god, you're okay. Come on. We gotta get you to Madam Pomfrey."

"I wish to speak with Mr Potter" Dumbledore interrupted "My boy, if you'd..."

"I am not your boy" Harry cut him off "And I need medical assistance."

"As do I" Cedric added.

Dumbledore couldn't argue with that and let Pomfrey take the two Hogwarts champions away to the Hospital Wing. She did everything but threaten them into the beds and after applying potions to them, went to keep Dumbledore and the Ministry away.

Cedric turned to Harry as soon as she left "Now spill. What happened?"

Harry was worried "Are you sure that you want to know? There's a lot at play here and some stuff that you don't know."

Cedric still nodded so Harry began explaining "Peter Pettigrew used my blood to bring Voldemort back. It was all planned by some death eater at Hogwarts. However, Voldemort never said who."

"It was Professor Moody" Cedric told him "They caught him during the tournament. I found out when I returned."

"Do they have him?" Harry asked.

"They gave him the Kiss" Cedric moaned "They truly are dumb."

Harry sighed "Anyway, Voldemort wanted to fight me but I managed to escape."

"So, he's back" Cedric's eyes widened.

"Yes" Harry said "But, you need to follow my lead. Like you said, the Ministry is REALLY dumb. They'll try to avoid saying that he's back and discredit the both of us. We can't just yell at them. We need to provide evidence. Which, I have."

Madam Pomfrey finally couldn't keep them all at bay and the Ministry stormed in along with Dumbledore. Harry gave them a smile filled with mock joy "Hello Minister. How may we help you?"

Fudge growled at the boy "Dumbledore is telling us a tale that He-Should-Not-Be-Named is back! Is this true?"

"Yes" Harry stated "I saw him brought back to life."

Fudge shook his head "That is a hallucination and..."

Harry laughed "Fudge, Fudge, Fudge... are you saying Lord Potter is lying?"

This caused Fudge to back up hurriedly "No... I'm not... I'm just saying..."

Harry raised his wand "I swear on my life and magic that Lord Voldemort was brought back to life, so mote it be."

"Expecto Patronum" Harry raised his wand as his panther emerged from the wand, frightening Fudge, who looked at Harry, surprise evident in his face.

"So, am I lying?" Harry shrugged "Besides, you can choose to ignore that. But, I will deliver my evidence to Wizengamot and call for a vote of no confidence in you. I don't think you want that."

Fudge may have wanted to ignore all this but couldn't ignore losing his job, however unintelligent he was "Yes, yes. I suppose Voldemort may be back."

He tipped his bowler hat to his fellow wizards and left the room, scared out of his wits. Dumbledore also left the room, but not before throwing Harry an annoyed glance.

Once they were gone, Harry's family broke into the room. They all took turns hugging him and when Mr Gopal had delivered the final hug, Sirius asked "What happened?"