Harry Potter and the Serpent Slayer

Chapter 16: Eye to See, Blood to Take

Harry's legs hit the ground hard, and he fell to the ground. Cedric didn't fair any better as he landed on his backside. Shaking the nausea away, Harry looked around. "Where are we?" he asked.

"I... don't think we're on the school grounds," said Cedric. He was right- the scenery was completely different. There were none of the mountains that surrounded Hogwarts that could be seen, nor the lake or forest. Instead, they were in a dark graveyard, and in the distance the flickering lights of what looked like a village. Harry looked up and was greeted by the sight of a tall, menacing statue of a Grim Reaper, its clawed, skeletal hands gripping a scythe.

His injured leg ached, and he let out a grunt of pain when he tenderly touched where the acromantula had bitten him. Cedric came over then and shone his wand light over it, then let out a tutting sound.

"That doesn't look good. Once we get out of here, you're going to have to get that looked at by Madam Pomfrey," he said.

"Great. Just another thing to add," grumbled Harry.

Cedric grinned, then started walking around nearby. "Creepy," he said while looking at the statue.

"Is this part of the task?" wondered Harry.

"Dunno. Wands out, d'you reckon?" asked Cedric.

"Yeah," agreed Harry. He really wished he had the Serpent Slayer with him right now. He had a faint feeling of deja-vu, like he'd been in this graveyard, in this exact same situation before but couldn't figure out why he knew this. All Harry felt was he and Cedric were not supposed to be here.

The hairs on the back of Harry's neck stood up, and he whirled around, wand raised. "Someone's coming," he warned. Out of the darkness, a short, hooded figure appeared with a bundle of cloth in his arms. Harry and Cedric shared a quizzical look with each other but they remained on guard. Something was very wrong.

Without warning, Harry's scar exploded in an agony so great that Harry fell to his knees screaming, dropping his wand at the same time. It was like someone was carving into his forehead with a hot knife, moving slowly down towards his face. He couldn't see anything, but he managed to get out, "Cedric, run!"

"Harry?! What's wrong?" asked Cedric.

"Run!" shouted Harry before he buckled over again from another wave of searing pain.

From far away, a cold, high-pitched voice said, "Kill the spare!"

"Avada Kedavra!" shouted a second voice. There was a flash of green light, followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the floor next to Harry.

Harry almost puked from the pain as it reached a new pitch, but he forced his eyes open even though he truly wished he wouldn't. There, right next to him was Cedric, face pale, glassy eyes staring unseeingly into the night sky. He was dead, his expression forever twisted to that of mild surprise.

At that moment, the pain in Harry's scar receded. Cedric was dead. Cedric was dead. Harry's expression twisted in fierce rage as he let out a feral snarl. Despite his poor condition and the pain he was still feeling, he lurched forward, grabbing a nearby rock the size of his fist. He roared and raised the rock over his head, intending to smash it against the short man's skull. "I'll kill you!" he bellowed.

Just as Harry brought his hand down, he was suddenly grabbed from behind by something strong and hard. He turned around to see the skeletal statue of the Grim Reaper had been enchanted to life, and its clawed, bony hand had grabbed Harry's upper arm. Harry snarled and smacked the rock against it, but the statue simply pulled him closer, lifted him up and slammed him to the ground. The air left Harry's body and he sucked in a deep breath, but then kept fighting. Cedric's body continued to lay there.