𝒜𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝐿𝑜𝓋𝑒 || 𝐸𝒹𝓌𝒶𝓇𝒹 𝒞𝓊𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓃 ²

44. Cry

||Elliana's P.O.V.||

I fell to my knees next to Cedric, a numb, eerie feeling overtaking me. For a second that contained an eternity, I stared at the face of my best friend. His open gray eyes, which usually danced and glinted silver, were as blank and expressionless as the windows of a deserted house.

His lifeless gray eyes were staring straight up at me with a look of betrayal.

"NO!" I screamed when reality set in. I desperately cradled him in my arms and started rocking back and forth. A stabbing pain pierced through my chest, threatening to rip me in two. "No, Cedric! NO, NO, NO!"

Violent sobs racked through my body as I held him close to me.

"...He's gone," Harry whispered solemnly.

The hooded figure was speaking in hushed tones to someone, but I couldn't make out anything they were saying due to how fiercely I was sobbing. I couldn't stifle the screams that continued to escape me.

"Silencio. Incarcerous," I heard the screeching voice again.

Then, before I realized what was even happening, I was silenced and bound by ropes to the nearest tree. I couldn't move; I couldn't speak. Once again, I was helpless. I was sensing a common theme here. The incessant pain in my chest never eased. I couldn't tear my eyes from Cedric's lifeless form. Tears continued to run down my face as I silently cried. He was... gone. My vision...

A few agonizing moments passed before I was able to force my gaze from Cedric and attempt to focus on what was happening around me. Harry was tied to a headstone that read 'Tom Riddle', looking every bit as helpless as me. The bundle of robes lay at the foot of the grave directly in front of Harry. I could see something in the bundle slightly moving. Then, a gigantic snake appeared, slithering through the grass, circling the headstone that Harry was tied to.

I opened my mouth to scream, but (of course), no sound came out. The hooded figure was pushing a stone caldron towards the foot of the grave. I could make out the sounds of something sloshing inside the caldron. The hooded figure's hood fell back, and I saw a slimy-looking man with frizzy hair and a face that reminded me of a rat. The man busied himself at the bottom of the caldron, creating a fire. The caldron sent out fiery sparks as its contents heated up.

"Hurry!" A high-pitched, cold voice spoke.

"It is ready, Master," the rat-man said.

"Now.." said the cold voice.

The rat-man pulled open the robes on the ground, revealing what was inside them. It was hairless and scaly-looking; a dark, raw, reddish black. Its arms and legs were thin and feeble, and its face— no child alive ever had a face like that— flat and snakelike, with gleaming red eyes. I watched, confused, as the rat-man lowered the humanoid creature into the caldron.

"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!" The man's voice shook with what sounded like fear.

"Flesh— of the servant— w-willingly given— you will— revive— your master," he whimpered, his voice breaking into petrified sobs.

I shook my head, in a state of shock as he stretched his right hand out in front of him before swinging the dagger in his left hand upward. His scream echoed in the graveyard as he cut his hand clean off, landing with a splash in the caldron. My stomach rolled at the sight.

When the rat-looking man swiftly made his way towards me, I inhaled sharply, bracing myself for what he was about to do as he lifted the bloody dagger towards me. I closed my eyes in fear. I heard the dagger whiz by my ear and gasped. When I opened my eyes, I locked eyes with the trembling man and noticed that he had a lock of my hair in his hand before he made his way back to the caldron.