Chapter 1: The Riddle House
The caretaker of the old Riddle House, Frank Bryce, is convinced that kids have broken into the mansion again and are lighting fires. As he quietly shuffles upstairs to investigate, he finds a very different type of burglar. Unbeknownst to old Frank, a very weak Voldemort has returned to the house of his father with the assistance of his servant, Wormtail. As he discusses his future plans with Wormtail Voldemort’s white snake, Nagini, discovers Frank’s hiding spot in the hallway. Frank’s terror at seeing the mangled body of Voldemort is the last thing he knows.
Harry Potter awakes suddenly from a disturbing dream, his scar searing in pain. Voldemort was alive, in a room with his servant Wormtail and an old man Harry didn’t know. He’s not sure, but he thinks Voldemort and Wormtail were plotting to kill someone. He decides to write to his godfather, Sirius, and let him know what happened and if curse scars searing with pain is a normal thing.
As Harry eagerly awaits the Weasley’s arrival he’s filled with some trepidation on how they will be treated by the Durlsey’s once they arrive. Pandemonium breaks loose when they show up in the fireplace of all places, and have to blast their way into the Dursley’s living room. The Dursley’s are barely civil to Mr. Weasley and his sons Ron, Fred, and George. Things get even worse when Fred and George "accidently" let some jinxed sweets fall from their pockets. Dudley , starving from his diet, immediately eats one and is horrified when his tongue begins to grow at an alarming rate. Uncle Vernon almost comes to blows with Mr. Weasley as he tries to sort it out, and Harry escapes through the fire to the Burrow, laughing fit to burst.
When Harry gets to the Burrow he finally gets to meet Bill and Charlie, Ron’s two older brothers. They’re both cool and he likes them immensely. When he, Ron, and Hermione go upstairs to escape Mrs. Weasley’s wrath at the twin’s behavior, Harry discovers that they’ve been trying to start a joke shop. Mrs. Weasley disapproves heartily of the venture, and it’s a major source of contention between her and the boys.
Over an amazingly delicious dinner that night they discuss the upcoming match. Harry is more excited than he can say about seeing his first professional Quidditch game. Percy irritates them all with knowledge about a secret event that will take place at Hogwart’s this year, only he won’t give them hints as to what it is.
Harry is awoken very early the next morning so they can all get an early start for the World Cup. As they’re getting ready to leave Mrs. Weasley gets into another argument with the twins when she discovers them trying to sneak their jinxed sweets to the match.
As they walk to the top of a huge hill, Harry discovers they’ll be taking a Portkey to the match. When they get to the designated spot they meet up with the Diggory’s. Cedric, a fellow Hogwart’s student, is embarrassed when his father insults Harry. When the time comes they all grasp a manky old boot and are jerked away towards the World Cup.
When Harry gets up he’s at a campground chock-full of witches and wizards from all over the world. Although most of them tried hard to dress as Muggles, some had no idea what they were doing and are dressed in hysterical get-ups that makes everyone laugh.
When they get to their campsite and put up their tents, Harry is amazed when he walks inside and discovers they’re enchanted to look like a three-room flat complete with a kitchen and bathroom. As he, Ron, Hermione go off in search of water they see many people they know, and for the first time Harry gets a good look at international wizards and witches.
He gets to meet Ludo Bagman, Head of the Magical Games and Sports Department at the Ministry, later on the evening and Barty Crouch, Percy’s boss. The twins bet their entire savings against Bagman that Ireland
When they all get up to the Top Box, Harry thinks he sees Dobby up there but it’s another house-elf, Winky, who is saving a seat for her Master. He’s disgusted when the Malfoy’s show up, and tries hard to ignore them.
The mascots for each team are like nothing Harry has ever seen. The Bulgarians bring veela, beautiful women who make men do anything to impress them, and the Irish bring leprechauns who spread enchanted gold around the stadium.
Amazing is the only word Harry can use to describe the Quidditch players. The match is fast-paced and the player’s use moves that Harry has never seen before. The Bulgarian Seeker, especially, is brilliant and Harry records his moves on his Omnioculars. The match gets more brutal as it progresses, and finally ends in a stunning twist: Ireland
After they go to bed that night pandemonium breaks out on the campground. Mr. Weasley wakes them all up, terrified, and sends them off into the forest so he can go rescue the Muggle campground manager and his family, who’ve been abducted by some wizards and are being taunted and jinxed.
As they’re walking through the forest Harry is dismayed to find he’s lost his wand, leaving him feeling very vulnerable. Suddenly they hear a low voice hidden in the dark behind them utter an incantation. A gigantic skull made out of stars shoots into the sky, and terror breaks loose on the grounds. Before he knows what’s happening, dozens of witches and wizards have Apparated right next to him and are shooting Stunning spells through the trees. Harry’s further amazed when Barty Crouch accuses him of conjuring the Dark Mark, which is Voldemort’s sign. Things get even more confusing when it’s later discovered that Crouch’s house-elf, Winky, was Stunned and was carrying Harry’s wand.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione know that Winky didn’t conjure the Mark, but Crouch fires her anyway. When they get back to the campsite Harry discovers it was Death Eaters who were tormenting the Muggles. With much on his mind, it takes Harry a long time to fall asleep.
Harry and the Weasley’s set off early the next morning for the Burrow. When they finally make it back they find Mrs. Weasley in a frantic state, and she is overjoyed that they’re not dead.
Over the next week Mr. Weasley reports that the Ministry is in complete mayhem over the appearance of the Dark Mark, especially after reporter Rita Skeeter from the Daily Prophet spreads rumors that bodies were discovered at the World Cup.
As Harry, Ron, and Hermione are packing up their belongings to go back to school, Mrs. Weasley brings in their school supplies she picked up for them in Diagon Alley. Ron is horrified at the dress robes she picked out for him. They’re very old, moldy, and tattered. He gets upset about being poor all the time, and shoves the robes angrily into his bag.
The next day finds Mr. Weasley in a rush when he is summoned to help out ex-Auror Mad-Eye Moody, who used magic in front of Muggles when he thought he heard an intruder.
Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie take them all to the train, and leave them with tantalizing hints as to what special event is coming up at Hogwarts.
Later on during the day they get into a row with Malfoy when he scoffs at them for not knowing about the event. He teases Ron mercilessly over his dress robes, which happened to be hanging out of Ron’s suitcase. Harry is happy when they finally get in to Hogwarts, and when he sees Hagrid corralling the first years he knows he’s back where he belongs.
Once the Sorting is over, Harry digs into the feast, famished. When Hermione finds out from Nearly Headless Nick that all the food in the castle is cooked by house elves she’s horrified, and refuses to eat another bite, saying it’s cooked by "slave labor".
When Dumbledore starts his traditional start-of-term speech he’s just gotten past shocking them all by saying the Quidditch Cup will not be held this year when the Great Hall doors clang open. A wizened, peg-legged man stumps to the table and, to the amazement of everyone, Dumbledore announces that this man, Mad-Eye Moody, is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
When the shock subsides a bit Dumbledore tells them that the reason no Quidditch Cup will be held is because the Triwizard Tournament will be hosted at Hogwarts this year. It’s a competition between the 3 wizarding schools of Hogwarts, Durmstrang, and Beauxbatons. A School Champion is selected and competes in a series of tests for the honor of his or her school. Dumbledore tells them that there will be an age limit, since the tests are difficult and dangerous. Fred and George immediately start plotting on how they’re going to fool the impartial judge and get into the tournament.
When classes start the next morning Harry is happy to see Hagrid again, although he’s less than thrilled to see what they’ll be learning about in Care of Magical Creatures Class. Hagrid’s new project is Blast-Ended Skrewts, giant lobster looking creatures that smell like rotting fish, have stingers, and can burn you as well.
Things improve later that day when Malfoy starts taunting Ron’s family. He’s shaking with fury and Harry is just about to start dueling when Malfoy suddenly turns into a ferret right in front of everyone. Harry is confused until he sees Mad-Eye Moody stumping down the stairs. He berates Malfoy for trying to jinx Harry when Harry’s back is turned, and it’s only when Professor McGonagall comes that Malfoy is changed back to his normal self again.
Ron and Harry both agree that seeing Malfoy berated in front of the whole school is one of the best memories ever.
Their first class with Moody shocks them all when he demonstrates the Unforgivable Curses on spiders for them to see. Harry is disturbed to see what the Avada Kedavra curse looks like, since it’s that spell that killed his parents. They leave with a new-found respect for Moody.
Later that night Hermione finally tells them why she’s been spending so much time in the library. She’s started a new campaign called S.P.E.W., or, the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, and wants Harry and Ron to join. Harry is bemused at her, and before he can start teasing her about her new passion Hedwig makes an appearance on the Common Room windowsill. When Harry lets her in he’s relieved to finally get a reply back from Sirius, who tells him that’s he’s flying north immediately to be close to Harry. Harry is very upset at this, since he does not want Sirius to be caught and sent back to Azkaban.
Early the next morning Harry wakes with a plan. He writes Sirius back, telling him there’s no need to come back, that he’s fine and his scar doesn’t hurt at all. He’s resolved that Sirius not put himself in danger for his sake, and sends Hedwig off with the letter first thing.
In Defense Against the Dark Arts class a few weeks later, the entire class is surprised when Professor Moody announces that he’ll be putting the Imperius Curse on all of them so they can practice throwing it off. Only Harry is able to resist the curse, and Moody is mightily impressed.
With their schoolwork increasing to epic proportions, the weeks fly by. Before they know it the arrival of the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students is at hand. The castle is given a thorough scrubbing and when the day finally arrives all the students go out to the grounds to greet the arriving schools.
The first school to arrive is Beauxbatons. They arrive in a gigantic horse-drawn carriage, and the Headmaster, Madame Maxime, is the largest woman Harry has ever seen. She is as big as Hagrid, but elegant and beautiful in spite of her size.
The Durmstrang students arrive soon after in a gigantic ship that appears magically in the lake. Harry and Ron are astounded that Viktor Krum, the famous Quidditch player, is a student there and intends to become his school champion.
At the feast that night Ron can’t help ogling at Krum, and then gets swept off his feet when he discovers one of the Beauxbatons students is a veela.
After they are done eating Dumbledore explains the rules of the Triwizard Tournament. The entire hall is breathless with anticipation when he unveils a goblet spewing forth blue flames. They’re all surprised when they hear it’s this goblet that it the "impartial judge" that will be deciding who the school champion is. Dumbledore also tells them that he’ll be drawing an Age Line around the goblet to ensure that no underage student puts their name in.
The next morning they all get a laugh when Fred and George, after taking an Aging potion, try to get past the line to put their names in. They’re instantly thrown back against the wall and sprout magnificent white beards that amuse everyone.
That night after yet another feast the whole school eagerly awaits the choosing of the school champion. Viktor Krum gets selected for Durmstrang, Fleur Delacour, the veela, from Beauxbatons, and Cedric Diggory for Hogwarts. The champions file out to a back room, and everyone thinks the event is over until the goblet spews forth one more name: Harry Potter.
Harry can’t believe it when his name is called out. Everyone is staring at him when he gets up and walks to the back room with the other contestants.
The air is tense with arguing over Harry’s involvement in the games. The other two schools believe that Dumbledore is trying to cheat a win with two champions, but Harry is not allowed to duck out. Professor Moody believes someone put Harry’s name in the goblet as a cleverly disguised assassination attempt. Harry doesn’t know what to believe, and is relieved when he finally gets back to the Common Room. His relief doesn’t last long however. When he gets upstairs he’s shocked to discover Ron doesn’t believe that he didn’t put his name in. They get into a heated argument, and both go to bed fuming.
Harry writes to Sirius the next day about what happened with the Goblet of Fire. Ron is still furious with Harry, and Harry is not inclined to make up with him yet. The rest of the school also thinks Harry entered to get himself more attention, and they do not give him any peace about it.
During Potions class Harry is mortified when he’s summoned upstairs for a photo shoot with the rest of the champions.
When he gets to the classroom Rita Skeeter, the snooping journalist from the Daily Prophet, corners him for an interview. Harry is put out when he discovers the notes she is taking don’t tell the truth about him or what he’s saying, but he’s quickly rescued by Dumbledore, who summons him forward to have his wand weighed and inspected. After the photo session Harry is grateful to get down to dinner, and when he gets back up to the Common Room he discovers Hedwig has come with a letter from Sirius, who tells him to meet him at the Gryffindor fire in a few weeks.
Life at Hogwarts gets even worse for Harry when Rita Skeeter publishes her interview with Harry, and barely mentions the other champions.
The time until the first task speeds by, and with barely a week to go Hagrid asks Harry to meet him at midnight to see something important. When Harry follows Hagrid and Madam Maxime around the grounds he sees a scene that stops his heart. Gigantic dragons have been brought in for the first task. The champions job will be to retrieve the golden egg.
Harry is terrified, and when he meets Sirius in the fire later on he’s not feeling any better. He has no idea how he’ll accomplish the task. Sirius urges him to be careful, because he’s sure someone in the castle has it in for Harry and wants to kill him. He suspects is may be Karkaraff, the Durmstrang Headmaster, who used to be a Death Eater.
Harry has to cut his meeting with Sirius short when Ron walks into the Common Room. Harry is furious with him still, and they get into another row.
Harry and Hermione hit the books in order to find out how to defeat the dragon. He gives Cedric a tip-off about the dragons since he knows all the other champions found out about the dragons. When Moody sees him sharing information Harry thinks he’s in big trouble, but Moody ends up giving him a valuable hint on how he can defeat the dragons. He urges Harry to "play to his strengths", and Harry figures out that he can use his broom and fly around the dragon. He and Hermione spend hours and hours learning a Summoning Spell, and the night before the task he finally gets it.
When the task starts Harry is the last up to face his dragon. As he waits for his turn it’s agonizing to listen to the crowd cheering and gasping during the competition. When he’s finally up he Summons his Firebolt and kicks off into the air to face the dragon. He wows the crowd with his flying ability and manages to retrieve the egg faster than any other the other champions. Just when he thinks he can’t feel any happier, Ron finally apologizes and they become friends again.
Harry receives top marks for his task, and is tied with Krum for first place. He gets a mysterious clue about the next task, which will take place months from now in February.
Harry writes a huge letter to Sirius telling him all about the dragons. He’s so relieved to have Ron back on his side that the taunting he gets from other students no longer bothers him. He’s extremely put-out, however, when Rita Skeeter ferrets around the grounds and ends up interviewing Hagrid. Harry is afraid that Skeeter will twist everything he says, and Hermione agrees with him.
One day, on Hermione’s urging, they all troop down to the kitchens where Harry is amazed to find Dobby, the house-elf. He has been working for Hogwarts only a week and he’s much happier now. He gets paid and has days off, and even though the other house-elves think he’s off his rocker Dobby loves being free. Winky is also employed at Hogwarts but she’s thoroughly depressed at her freedom.
When they all leave the kitchens the house-elves give them tons of food to take with them. Hermione is very happy that Dobby has come to Hogwarts. She’s hoping his desire for freedom will rub off on the other house elves.
With Christmas approaching it’s announced that a Yule Ball will be held this year in honor of the Triwizard Tournament. Harry and Ron are both mortified at the thought of asking a girl to the dance. Harry is especially daunted when he finds out that, as a champion, he has to open the ball. As it draws closer gossip abounds on who is going with who, and there is only one girl whom Harry wants to ask: Cho Chang. When he finally works up the courage, however, he’s devastated when she tells him she’s already going with Cedric Diggory.
Ron makes a complete fool of himself by asking Fleur Delacour. Both of the boys are astounded when they find out even Hermione has a date, and in a fit of desperation Harry secures Padma Patil for a date and a Ravenclaw girl for Ron.
As the night of the Yule Ball approaches Ron keeps trying to find out who Hermione is going with. Harry finally gets an answer back from Sirius, who congratulates him on his success with the dragon.
The night of the Yule Ball finds Ron in a horrendous mood. His dress robes are old and ugly, and he rips them in an attempt to get all the lace off. Both Harry and Ron are shocked when they see Hermione on the arm of Viktor Krum.
The night does not go well. Ron is livid that Hermione went to the ball with Krum, and he completely ignores his date, who soon ditches him for someone else. When Harry and Ron go for a walk to clear their heads they stumble upon Hagrid and Madam Maxime having a personal conversation they really don’t want to listen to. They also discover Snape and Karkaroff walking together in the gardens and arguing.
At the end of the night Harry gets a tip from Cedric on the upcoming task. Cedric tells him if he wants to discover the answer in the golden egg to go take a bath with it. Harry rolls his eyes, thinking that Cedric is putting him on.
Now that Christmas is over Harry is getting nervous about the next task. He’s reluctant to accept help from Cedric because he’s still jealous that Cedric took Cho to the ball.
The first day back to class finds another scathing article from Rita in the Prophet, only this time she focuses her rumor-mongering on Hagrid. Somehow, she overheard Hagrid and Madam Maxime’s conversation in the garden on the night of the Yule Ball, when he revealed that he was half-giant.
When they go into Hogsmead Harry is surprised when Ludo Bagmen offers him illegal help on the next task. When he sees Rita Skeeter sauntering into the 3 Broomsticks he gets into an argument with her over her story about Hagrid.
When they get back to Hogwarts they head over to Hagrid’s house. He hasn’t shown his face since the article came out, and when they pound on the door they’re shocked when Dumbledore opens the door. Hagrid is inside, crying, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione all tell him they don’t care that he’s a half-giant. When Harry gets back to the Common Room that night, he decides to see if Cedric’s hint is worth anything after all.
He decides to take Cedric up on his offer to use the prefect’s bathroom and is amazed when he walks in and discovers a bathtub the size of a swimming pool. He gets some assistance on the clue from Moaning Myrtle, who spies on him from the side of the pool. When she tells him how to hear the egg’s message he discovers that something he loves will be taken from him and kept at the bottom of the lake. It will be Harry’s job to figure out how to breathe underwater to retrieve it.
When he leaves the bath he runs into trouble when, checking his Marauder’s Map, he sees Barty Crouch snooping around in Snape’s office. Since Crouch is supposed to be really sick, Harry’s curiosity gets the better of him and he sets off to investigate. His foot gets caught in the stairs and he’s almost discovered by Snape and Filch when Mad-Eye Moody shows up and steers them in the wrong direction. Moody is extremely interested when Harry tells him Crouch was inside Hogwarts, and Harry loans him his Marauder’s Map to help him investigate.
Ron, Harry, and Hermione all hit the books again, this time to try to find a spell that will enable Harry to breathe underwater. As the days go by Harry becomes increasingly frantic when they turn up nothing that will help. The night of the next task seems like a nightmare, and as Harry keeps checking book after book he gets sleepier and sleepier. He wakes up on the morning of the second task to find Dobby poking him with a wad of slimy gillyweed, which he claims will help Harry breathe underwater.
Harry races to the lake and is almost late for the task. He eats the gillyweed and dives into the water, his job to retrieve what has been taken from him. When he finds the merpeople’s city he’s surprised to see people down there. Ron, Hermione, Cho, and a little girl are all down there, asleep.
It’s creepy down there and Harry tries to free everyone, staying until everyone else is taken but Ron and the little girl, who looks like she’s Fleur’s sister. He frees them both and is the last to return to the surface.
Even though he was the first to get to the captives he was the last to return, and feels like an idiot for waiting so long and ruining his chance for a win. He gets high marks, however, for showing moral fortitude.
Rita Skeeter strikes again when she publishes a story about Harry and Hermion’s love life, throwing Viktor Krum’s name into the mix as well. Hermione starts to wonder how she’s getting all this secret information.
They meet Sirius in Hogsmead a few days later in a hidden cave outside of town. They spend hours discussing the current mysterious absences of Barty Crouch, his history fighting Death Eaters, and who might be inside Hogwarts that wants to kill Harry.
Monday morning arrives and Hermione starts receiving hate mail in regards to Rita Skeeter’s article. She’s forced to go to the hospital wing when one of the letters causes her hands to break out in painful sores. She’s made it her mission to find out how Rita Skeeter is finding out information about people at Hogwarts.
One night Harry is summoned to the Quidditch pitch where he and the rest of the champions will find out about the last task. He’s surprised to discover that the pitch is full of hedges, which make a maze. Ludo Bagman tells them that for the last task they’ll have to get through the maze and overcome the obstacles that will be inside.
Viktor Krum pulls him aside as they’re all walking back to the castle, wanting to know if Harry and Hermione are going out. Harry tells him they’re just friends, and they start talking about Quidditch when, to their surprise, Barty Crouch stumbles out of the Forbidden Forest looking very disheveled and not acting himself. He keeps talking about Voldemort and Harry, and begs them to find Dumbledore. Harry streaks back to the castle to get the Headmaster.
When he gets Dumbledore they walk quickly back to the grounds, only to find Krum knocked out and Crouch missing. Karkaroff is livid that his student was attacked and comes close to threatening Dumbledore because of it.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione talk endlessly about the night’s events and what could have been wrong with Barty Crouch. Mad-Eye Moody urges Harry to prepare for the last task and learn defensive spells. Harry gets a scathing letter from Sirius, admonishing him for walking around with Viktor Krum.
He’s in Divination one day when he has a terrible vision of Voldemort attacking Wormtail. When he wakes up his scar is searing and he’s on the floor. Professor Trelawney is dying to know what Harry dreamed about, but he tells her he needs to go to the hospital wing. When he’s out of class he sets off for Dumbledore’s office, wanting to tell him the dream straight away.
When Harry gets to Dumbledore’s office he finds Cornelius Fudge and Mad-Eye Moody already in there. They leave for a walk on the grounds and Dumbledore tells Harry to wait for him until he gets back. As soon as they leave Harry’s curiosity gets the best of him when he sees a shallow basin full of a glowing substance. As he leans in closer to see what is inside the substance, his nose touches it and he’s pulled into the basin.
When he opens his eyes he realizes he’s in a dungeon with a younger Dumbledore, and realizes this must be a memory he’s seeing. He watches Karkaroff as he’s on trial for being a Death Eater, and then sees the trial of Crouch’s son, who is accused of being a Death Eater. It’s a disturbing scene, and Harry is grateful when the real Dumbledore pulls him back to the present.
Dumbledore explains that the bowl is a Pensieve, and the substance inside is his thoughts. He also explains Crouch’s son was accused of torturing Neville Longbottom’s parents into insanity, and that is why he was sent to Azkaban. Harry is horrified at this knowledge, and promises to tell no one about Neville’s parent’s.
As the days slip past towards summer, Harry spends all his free time practicing defensive spells. Things are going well until yet another story comes out about him, written by Rita Skeeter. Somehow she knew he had collapsed because of his scar, and she writes about him being "disturbed and dangerous". Hermione is livid but suddenly has a brain wave as to how Rita is getting all this information. She races off the library to look something up, leaving a perplexed Harry and Ron at the breakfast table.
Harry is thrilled when Mrs. Weasley and Bill show up to watch him do the third task. As evening approaches Harry feels less nervous than before the previous two tasks. He knows he’s done all he can to prepare and is looking forward to the competition being over.
The third task starts well for Harry. He has to get through many obstacles in the maze, and then has to rescue Cedric when Krum uses an Unforgivable Curse on him. The boys go their separate ways after that, but Harry is really starting to want to win the Cup. When he finally makes it to the middle of the maze he gets there the same time as Cedric. They both fight together against a gigantic spider that’s guarding the Cup, and then, on Harry’s insistence, they grab the Cup together to share the win. As soon as they both touch the cup, however, they’re jerked out of the maze.
When they open their eyes they discover they’re in a cemetery. Not sure if this is part of the task or not, they get their wands out quickly. A figure approaches them and suddenly kills Cedric with the Avada Kedavra curse.
Harry is reeling with shock, and barely registers when Wormtail ties him to the grave of Tom Riddle. Wormtail prepares a cauldron and drops an ugly, horrific looking creature inside the water. He takes blood from Harry, sacrifices his own hand, and uses a powerful spell to bring Lord Voldemort back to his full strength.
Voldemort is exultant about having a body again, and quickly summons his Death Eaters to him. He questions all of them about their actions, and then tells them all about how he came back to power, using a faithful servant planted inside Hogwarts and the opportunities that the Triwizard Tournament offered. He then turns his attention to Harry. He wants to duel with him, to show his Death Eaters that Harry is no more than a boy. He tells Wormtail to untie him, and give him back his wand.
As Harry starts to duel with Voldemort he begins to lose any hope that he’ll make it out of the graveyard alive. He’s cowering behind a gravestone when he resolves not to die afraid, and stands back up to face Voldemort. They both shout spells at the same time and the two spells meet in the air, forming a long beam of light connecting the two wands. Both Harry and Voldemort are surprised at this turn, and somehow Harry knows he should not break the connection. As they both rise in the air, still clutching their connected wands, a dome of light encircles them both. From all around him a phoenix begins to sing, and Harry’s heart is filled with hope.
Suddenly, Voldemort’s wand begins spewing forth ghostly images of the people he recently killed, starting with Cedric. Moments later, images of Harry’s parents come out of the wand. They tell him to hold on, and whisper a way for him to get out. Harry suddenly breaks the connection as the ghosts surround Voldemort, blocking his vision. Harry sprints to the Portkey and, clutching Cedric’s body, grasps the handle and is jerked back to school.
Harry is dazed and confused when he opens his eyes back at Hogwarts. Dumbledore is by his side immediately and Harry tells him that Voldemort is back. Shock waves reverberate through the crowd when they hear of Cedric’s death, and Dumbledore has to leave quickly to head off Cedric’s father, who is running quickly towards them.
Mad-Eye Moody helps Harry up to his office and questions him about what happened. Harry is astounded when he learns that Mad-Eye has been the traitor all along, that he’s a Death Eater and has been plotting against Harry all year. Just as he raises his wand to kill Harry he’s Stupefied by Dumbledore, who comes crashing into Moody’s office to rescue Harry.
Harry finds out that the real Mad-Eye Moody has been locked up all year in a trunk, and the impersonator is none other that Barty Crouch’s son, whom everyone believed dead.
Dumbledore gives Crouch a dose of Veritaserum, a truth-telling potion, and he tells them all how he managed to stay alive and get into Hogwarts to help the Dark Lord kidnap Harry.
When Crouch is done with his story, Dumbledore takes Harry back to his office where Sirius is waiting. Harry is still numb from shock, but Dumbledore urges Harry to tell him everything, even though Harry would rather just go to sleep. As he tells his story, however, Harry finds that the pain is relieved a bit, as though a weight is lifted off his chest. Harry finds out that his wand’s core, a phoenix feather, comes from Dumbledore’s phoenix, Fawkes.
When Harry is finally done with his story Dumbledore takes him to the hospital wing for a peaceful sleep. He’s awoken far too soon, however, by Fudge’s loud voice echoing through the hallway. Dumbledore is incensed to find out that Barty Crouch has been kissed by a dementor on orders from Fudge, rendering him unable to give testimony or speak further about anything. Fudge refuses flat out to believe that Voldemort is back, and he and Dumbledore get into a fierce argument about it. When Fudge storms out, Dumbledore immediately springs into action. Sirius reveals himself to the Weasley’s and Snape, and Dumbledore starts issuing orders, recalling members of the old Order that fought Voldmort when he was powerful before.
The next few days pass in a blur to Harry. He finds out that Hagrid and Madam Maxine are about to go on a journey for Dumbledore to help in the fight with Voldemort, but he won’t say what it is. The last feast is a painful affair for Harry. Cedric’s memory is honored, and Dumbledore tells the school that Voldemort has come back.
On the way back to London Harry finds out a big secret of Hermione’s. She finally discovered how Rita Skeeter was getting all sorts of information on people at Hogwarts. She found out that Rita is an unregistered Animagus - a beetle. And she’d been flying around the grounds snooping on people all year. Hermione threatened to tell the Ministry about her illegal shape-changing unless she held off writing gossip for one full year.
Harry decides to give Fred and George his winnings so they can realize their dream to open a joke shop. He feels slightly better when he gets off the train and leaves with the Dursley’s.
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