𝗨𝗡𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗗 ━ Golden Trio Era

━chapter 23

Chapter 23
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HARRY FELT AS THOUGH HE WAS BACK IN THE BLACK LAKE. Or at least, he felt like he was swimming through murky water, obscuring his vision and muffling the noises around him. Someone was talking to him, and Harry was responding, but he didn't register any words. He couldn't even hear them.

His limbs felt heavy. He could not move on his own. The person was guiding Harry away, but Harry tried to resist. Everything was a blur, the cottons inside his head were back. Though, whereas usually, they provided a sense of comfort, right now, alarm bells were going off somewhere, instead.

Someone had told him to wait.

Harry was walking up stone steps. He could hear the padding of his feet.

"What happened, Harry?"

His vision was slowly clearing up. There was no way to mistake that artificial eye. It was Mad-Eye Moody.

Harry tried to push the man with all his might, but he felt more like a flopping fish out of water. "You...it was you..."

Moody wasn't affected. He dragged Harry up the marble stairs, along the corridor and through a door. Harry couldn't even resist. And by the time he started to become more conscious, Harry was drinking some kind of potion.

Moody's sickly pale figure looked back at him. "Voldemort's back, Harry? You're sure he's back? How did he do it?"

Harry frowned. He was no Ravenclaw. He was a Gryffindor, through and through. Bold and brave like one. Reckless like one. And definitely stupid like one.

But even he wasn't this stupid.

"I sh — should ask you that, n — no?"

"What do you mean?"

Harry let go of the cup in his hand. It fell to the ground, and Harry heard the sound of metal clatter and roll, but he kept his eyes on Moody, who was watching him back.

"Voldemort said something about stationing a Death Eater here. And it can't be Karkaroff."

"Oh? And why is that?"

The man was frowning, as he usually did. But this time, it felt like he was forcing down a smile. It looked oddly like the stitching of a worn-out doll slowly undoing itself.

"Because he's dead. Voldemort killed him. I saw him kill him."

Harry's head was still sort of fuzzy, but the mist was slowly clearing out.

Mad-Eye Moody licked his lips. "Ah, yes. You're right, Harry. I can't lie to you."

"I saw you, you know? That day at the Forbidden Forest. With Bertha Jorkins. Well, not Jorkins but—"

"—the Dark Lord. Yes, yes. You saw me with my master, didn't you?" The stitching around his mouth was completely undone, and now Moody smiled, looking unlike himself. He kept sticking his tongue out like a snake.

"And you saw him return, didn't you? You saw him stand in his complete self? What did he look like? Strong? Powerful?"

Harry's head still pounded. His scar still stung, and the wound on his wrist still burned. But Moody's manic eyes made him want to flee. He stood up to do just that, but the man simply pushed him down.

"You put my name in the Goblet."

Moody ignored him, looking even more crazy. "Did he use his wand? How about the Death Eaters? Tell me he tortured them the way that they deserved! Roaming free, turning their backs on my master! They deserved to be punished for their betrayal!"