Chapter 34 Priori Incantatem

Wormtail approached blight, who scramble to find his feet, to support his own weight before the ropes were untied. Wormtail raised his new silver hand, pulled out the stopple of material gagging chafe, and then, with superstar swipe, cut through the bonds tying gravel to the gravestone.There was a split second, perhaps, when evoke might see conside ruddy running for it, but his inju going leg shook under him as he stood on the all everywheregrown grave, as the goal Eaters closed ranks, forming a tighter rophy some him and Voldemort, so that the gaps where the miss Death Eaters should gravel stood were filled. Wormtail walked out of the circle to the place where Cedrics body lay and returned with harrys threshold, which he lunge most into provokes hand without looking at him. Then Wormtail resumed his place in the circle of watching Death Eaters.You have been taught how to duel. harry Potter? said Voldemort softly, his red eyes glinting through the darkness.At thes e speech communication devil remembered, as though from a former life, the dueling club at Hogwarts he had att final stageed briefly ii years ago.All he had learned there was the Disarming Spell, Expelliarmusand what use would it be to deprive Voldemort of his truncheon, level if he could, when he was surrounded by Death Eaters, outnumbered by at least thirty to one? He had neer learned anything that could possibly fit him for this. He knew he was facing the thing against which dreary had always warnedthe unblockable Avada Kedavra flagellum and Voldemort was right his mother was non here to die for him this time.He was quite unsafe.We bow to each other. bother, said Voldemort, bending a little, but keeping his snakelike facial gesture confused to get at. Come, the niceties must be observed.Dumbledore would like you to show human raceners.Bow to death, bother.The Death Eaters were laughing again. Voldemorts unlipped mouth was smiling. elicit did non bow. He was non going to allow Voldemort play with him before cleanup spot himhe was not going to give him that satisfaction.I said, bow, Voldemort said, raising his wand and Harry mat up his spine curve as though a huge, invisible hand were bending him ruthlessly forward, and the Death Eaters laughed harder than ever.Very good, said Voldemort softly, and as he raised his wand the pressure bearing down pat(p) upon Harry lifted too. And this instantadays you face me, like a manstraight- keystoneed and proud, the way your father died.And now we duel.Voldemort raised his wand, and before Harry could do anything to defend himself, before he could even move, he had been gather again by the Cruciatus Curse. The irritation was so intense, so all-consuming, that he no longer knew where he was.White-hot knives were penetrating every inch of his skin, his head was surely going to burst with agonyfulness, he was screaming more loudly than hed ever screamed in his life And then it stopped. Ha rry rolled everywhere and scrambled to his feet he was chill as uncontrollably as Wormtail had done when his hand had been cut off he staggered sideways into the mole of watching Death Eaters, and they pushed him onward, back toward Voldemort.A little break, said Voldemort, the slit-like nostrils dilating with excitement, a little pauseThat hurt, didnt it. Harry? You dont want me to do that again, do you?Harry didnt practise. He was going to die like Cedric, those pitiless red eyes were telling him sohe was going to die, and there was nothing he could do approximately itbut he wasnt going to play along. He wasnt going to obey Voldemorthe wasnt going to demand.I asked you whether you want me to do that again, said Voldemort softly. Answer me ImperioAnd Harry felt, for the third time in his life, the hero that his mind had been wiped of all thought.Ah, it was bliss, not to think, it was as though he were floating, visioningjust answer nosay nojust answer no.I will not, said a stronger voice, in the back of his head, I wont answer.Just answer no.I wont do it, I wont say it.Just answer no.I WONTAnd these words burst from Harrys mouth they echoed through the graveyard, and the dream state was lifted as suddenly as though cold water had been thrown over him back rushed the aches that the Cruciatus Curse had left all over his body back rushed the identification of where he was, and what he was facing.You wont? said Voldemort quietly, and the Death Eaters were not laughing now. You wont say no? Harry, devotion is a virtue I need to teach you before you die.Perhaps another little dose of pain?Voldemort raised his wand, but this time Harry was limit with the reflexes born of his Quidditch training, he flung himself sideways onto the terms he rolled behind the marble headstone of Voldemorts father, and he perceive it crack as the curse missed him.We are not playing deal-and-seek, Harry, said Voldemorts soft, cold voice, wee-weeing nearer, as the Death Eaters laughed. You cannot hide from me. Does this mean you are tired of our duel? Does this mean that you would prefer me to finish it now, Harry? Come out, Harrycome out and play, thenit will be quickit might even be painlessI would not knowI have never died.Harry crouched behind the headstone and knew the end had come. There was no hopeno help to be had. And as he heard Voldemort draw nearer still, he knew one thing only(prenominal), and it was beyond fear or reason He was not going to die crouching here like a child playing hide-and-seek he was not going to die kneeling at Voldemorts feethe was going to die upright like his father, and he was going to die trying to defend himself, even if no defense was possible.Before Voldemort could thwart his snakelike face around the headstone. Harry stood uphe gripped his wand tightly in his hand, thrust it out in front of him, and threw himself around the headstone, facing Voldemort.Voldemort was ready. As Harry shouted, Expelliarmus Vo ldemort cried, Avada KedavraA jet of viridity light issued from Voldemorts wand just as a jet of red light blasted from Harrys they met in midair and suddenly Harrys wand was vibrating as though an electric charge were surging through it his hand seized up around it he couldnt have released it if hed wanted to and a minute beam of light connected the both wands, neither red nor green, but bright, deep gold. Harry, following the beam with his astonished gaze, dictum that Voldemorts long fair fingers too were gripping a wand that was shiver and vibrating.And then nothing could have prepared Harry for this he felt his feet lift from the ground. He and Voldemort were both being raised into the air, their wands still connected by that string up of shimmering golden light. They glided away from the tombstone of Voldemorts father and then came to rest on a berth of ground that was clear and free of graves.The Death Eaters were shouting they were asking Voldemort for instructi ons they were windup in, reforming the circle around Harry and Voldemort, the snake slithering at their heels, some of them drawing their wands The golden describe connecting Harry and Voldemort splintered though the wands remained connected, a thousand more beams arced high over Harry and Voldemort, crisscrossing all around them, until they were enclosed in a golden, dome-shaped web, a cage of light, beyond which the Death Eaters circled like jackals, their cries strangely subdue now.Do nothing Voldemort shrieked to the Death Eaters, and Harry saw his red eyes broad(a) with astonishment at what was happening, saw him fighting to break the roll of light still connecting his wand with Harrys Harry held onto his wand more tightly, with both hands, and the golden thread remained unbroken. Do nothing unless I command you Voldemort shouted to the Death Eaters.And then an unearthly and stunning sound filled the air.It was coming from every thread of the light-spun web vibrating arou nd Harry and Voldemort. It was a sound Harry recognized, though he had heard it only once before in his life phoenix song.It was the sound of hope to Harrythe most beautiful and welcome thing he had ever heard in his life.He felt as though the song were inside him instead of just around him.It was the sound he connected with Dumbledore, and it was almost as though a friend were speaking in his ear.Dont break the connection.I know. Harry told the music, I know I mustntbut no sooner had he thought it, than the thing became much harder to do. His wand began to vibrate more powerfully than everand now the beam between him and Voldemort changed tooit was as though large beads of light were skid up and down the thread connecting the wands Harry felt his wand give a shudder under his hand as the light beads began to slide behind and steadily his way.The direction of the beams movement was now toward him, from Voldemort, and he felt his wand shudder angrily.As the closest bead of light mo ved nearer to Harrys wand tip, the wood beneath his fingers grew so hot he feared it would burst into flame. The closer that bead moved, the harder Harrys wand vibrated he was sure his wand would not survive contact with it it felt as though it was about to shatter under his fingers He tough every last particle of his mind upon forcing the bead back toward Voldemort, his ears full of phoenix song, his eyes furious, wintryand late, very slowly, the beads quivered to a halt, and then, just as slowly, they began to move the other wayand it was Voldemorts wand that was vibrating extra-hard nowVoldemort who looked astonished, and almost fearful.One of the beads of light was quivering, inches from the tip of Voldemorts wand. Harry didnt understand why he was doing it, didnt know what it might achievebut he now concentrated as he had never done in his life on forcing that bead of light right back into Voldemorts wandand slowlyvery slowlyit moved along the golden threadit trembled for a momentand then it connected.At once, Voldemorts wand began to emit echoing screams of painthen Voldemorts red eyes widened with shock a dense, smoky hand flew out of the tip of it and vanishedthe ghost of the hand he had do Wormtailmore shouts of painand then something much larger began to blossom from Voldemorts wand tip, a great, grayish something, that looked as though it were made of the solidest, densest smoke.It was a headnow a chest and fortificationthe torso of Cedric Diggory.If ever Harry might have released his wand from shock, it would have been then, but instinct kept him clutching his wand tightly, so that the thread of golden light remained unbroken, even though the thick gray ghost of Cedric Diggory (was it a ghost? it looked so solid) emerged in its entirety from the end of Voldemorts wand, as though it were squeezing itself out of a very narrow tunneland this shade of Cedric stood up, and looked up and down the golden thread of light, and spoke.Hold on. Harry, i t said.Its voice was distant and echoing. Harry looked at Voldemorthis wide red eyes were still shockedhe had no more judge this than Harry hadand, very dimly. Harry heard the frightened yells of the Death Eaters, prowling around the edges of the golden dome.More screams of pain from the wandand then something else emerged from its tipthe dense shadow of a second head, quickly followed by arms and torsoan old man Harry had seen only in a dream was now push himself out of the end of the wand just as Cedric had doneand his ghost, or his shadow, or whatever it was, cruel next to Cedrics, and surveyed Harry and Voldemort, and the golden web, and the connected wands, with mild surprise, leaning on his walking stick.He was a real wizard, then? the old man said, his eyes on Voldemort. Killed me, that one did.You fight him, son.But already, yet another head was emergingand this head, gray as a smoky statue, was a charwomans.Harry, both arms shaking now as he fought to keep his wand stil l, saw her throw away to the ground and straighten up like the others, staring.The shadow of Bertha Jorkins surveyed the battle before her with wide eyes.Dont let go, now she cried, and her voice echoed like Cedrics as though from very far away. Dont let him get you, Harry dont let goShe and the other two shadowy figures began to pace around the inner walls of the golden web, opus the Death Eaters flitted around the outside of itand Voldemorts dead victims whispered as they circled the duelers, whispered words of encouragement to Harry, and hissed words Harry couldnt hear to Voldemort.And now another head was emerging from the tip of Voldemorts wandand Harry knew when he saw it who it would behe knew, as though he had expected it from the moment when Cedric had appeared from the wandknew, because the man appearing was the one hed thought of more than any other tonight.The smoky shadow of a tall man with untidy hair fell to the ground as Bertha had done, straightened up, and looke d at himand Harry, his arms shaking madly now, looked back into the ghostly face of his father.Your mothers coming he said quietly. She wants to see youit will be all righthold on.And she camefirst her head, then her bodya young woman with long hair, the smoky, shadowy form of Lily Potter blossomed from the end of Voldemorts wand, fell to the ground, and straightened like her husband. She walked close to Harry, looking down at him, and she spoke in the same distant, echoing voice as the others, but quietly, so that Voldemort, his face now livid with fear as his victims prowled around him, could not hear.When the connection is broken, we will linger for only momentsbut we will give you timeyou must get to the Portkey, it will return you to Hogwartsdo you understand, Harry?Yes, Harry gasped, fighting now to keep a hold on his wand, which was slipping and sliding beneath his fingers.Harry whispered the figure of Cedric, take my body back, will you? Take my body back to my parents,I wi ll, said Harry, his face screwed up with the effort of holding the wand.Do it now, whispered his fathers voice, be ready to rundo it now.NOW Harry yelled he didnt think he could have held on for another moment anyway he pulled his wand upward with an almighty wrench, and the golden thread broke the cage of light vanished, the phoenix song died but the shadowy figures of Voldemorts victims did not disappear they were closing in upon Voldemort, shielding Harry from his gaze And Harry ran as he had never run in his life, knocking two stunned Death Eaters deflection as he passed he zigzagged behind headstones, contact their curses following him, hearing them hit the headstones he was dodging curses and graves, pelting toward Cedrics body, no longer aware of the pain in his leg, his whole being concentrated on what he had to do Stun him he heard Voldemort scream.Ten feet from Cedric, Harry dived behind a marble angel to avoid the jets of red light and saw the tip of its wing shatte r as the spells hit it. Gripping his wand more tightly, he dotted out from behind the angel Impedimenta he bellowed, pointing his wand wildly over his shoulder at the Death Eaters running at him.From a muffled yell, he thought he had stopped at least one of them, but there was no time to stop and look he jumped over the cup and dived as he heard more wand blasts behind him more jets of light flew over his head as he fell, stretching out his hand to grab Cedrics armStand aside I will kill him He is mine shrieked Voldemort. Harrys hand had closed on Cedrics wrist one tombstone stood between him and Voldemort, but Cedric was too heavy to carry, and the cup was out of reach Voldemorts red eyes flamed in the darkness. Harry saw his mouth curl into a smile, saw him raise his wand.Accio Harry yelled, pointing his wand at the Triwizard Cup. It flew into the air and soared toward him. Harry caught it by the handle He heard Voldemorts scream of frenzy at the same moment that he felt the je rk behind his navel that meant the Portkey had worked it was speeding him away in a whirl of wind and color, and Cedric along with him.They were going back.