Chapter 28

It was time for the third task to commence. A few days ago, Edmund had suggested to access the room of hidden things and see if there were any lost artifacts that could come in handy. When they went inside the room, Edmund was bombarded with an aura he never thought he would come across any time soon. It was Voldemort's aura.

They had found one of Voldemort's trinkets. They deduced that the megalomaniac asshat might have more of these trinkets and given the fact that the one in their hands was Rowena Ravenclaw's long lost diadem, it was possible the dork could have used artifacts of other founders as his soul anchors.

Now, it was just a matter of time for Edmund's clones to find the rest of them. They didn't know how many soul anchors the dork lord had, but Edmund was determined to find them all.

Standing in front of the maze, Edmund held Iris' hand within his, reassuring her and himself that soon this farce of a tournament would be over. Ignoring the spectators who were gaping at the pair, Edmund cupped her cheeks and kissed her passionately. He couldn't shake off this uneasy feeling and wanted to reassure himself that Iris would be alright.

"I'll be fine Ed. You've trained me well. Don't worry, I'll be back in no time!" Iris exclaimed and smiled, feeling the warmth of his hands as they c.a.r.e.s.sed her cheeks.

"I want you to be careful. I trust you and your ability to face anything, but, at the end of every year you've faced some form of mortal danger and I can't shake off this feeling out of my mind. Just, come back to me safely ok?"

Iris nodded and they kissed again.

"And remember, don't let go of this pendant in any circ.u.mstances," Edmund said, pointing towards a beautiful emerald pendant that was hanging gracefully around Iris' neck.

Iris nodded again and with that said, Edmund joined the stands with his friends who crowded him, wanting to know how he managed to get the Girl-who-lived fall for him.

Iris was asked to enter the maze first as she had the highest score among the champions. The whole maze was magical with numerous creatures and plants introduced as obstacles. She ran forward, sensing the magic of the Tri-Wizard Cup. Avoiding a sphinx, she rushed towards an acromatulda. Jumping above it's body, she hit the giant spider with an overpowered piercing hex, killing it instantly.

Burning away a devil's snare, Iris had finally reached the cup. She knew the cup was a portkey to get out of the maze and that's where she expected herself to be when she grabbed it, only to find herself in an unfamiliar place, which looked like some kind of graveyard.

(ROTS)

Edmund was getting increasingly anxious. Iris hadn't returned yet. It had been an hour and all the original three champions had quit. Iris was already declared the winner.

Another half an hour went by but there was no sign of Iris. Fearing the worst, Edmund silently switched himself with a clone, donned an ANBU mask that also hid his hair and disappeared in a flash.

(ROTS)

Iris was trying with all her might to free herself from the statue's hold. Upon arriving at the graveyard, she had sensed a stunner coming towards her. She had dodged it and upon seeing her attacker, she got enraged.

Peter Pettigrew was standing next to a cauldron, pointing a wand towards her as he held onto something beside him.

Iris had quickly retaliated and defeated Pettigrew within seconds, but left him alive. She could get Sirius a trial with Pettigrew as proof of his innocence. When she was about to bind him, suddenly, numerous death eaters apparated to their location and surrounded her.

Iris fought well and was able to slay four of them but soon got overwhelmed and was stunned by no less than fifteen stunners simultaneously hitting her from all directions.

"Iris Potter," the monster began as he turned and faced his minions. "You know of course, that they have called this girl my downfall? You all know that on the night I lost my powers and my body, I tried to kill her. Her mother died in the attempt to save her, and unwittingly provided her with a protection I admit I had not foreseen... I could not touch the girl. Her mother left upon her the traces of her sacrifice... This is old magic, I should have remembered it, I was foolish to overlook it... but no matter. I can touch her now."

He slowly brought his finger towards her scar which had been fading away. When he touched it, the scar began to bleed. Iris gritted her teeth as she tried not to scream in pain. Voldemort's magic was slowly opening the scar. The monster laughed as her blood fell on his tongue.

Moving away from Iris, Voldemort freed her with a wave of his wand and said, "You have been taught how to duel. Iris Potter? We bow to each other, Iris. Come, the niceties must be observed.... Dumbledore would like you to show manners.... Bow to death, Iris."

Casting an imperious at her, Voldemort asked to bow. Iris resisted with all her might and Voldemort could only make her bow partially. Mildly surprised, Voldemort said, "It seems Dumbledore has trained you well. But, let's see how strong you truly are."

"Crucio!"

The spell struck Iris right in her sternum and she fell down, screaming and writhing in pain. Voldemort stopped the spell and said, "It seems you're not strong enough. Let's have another try at it."

Suddenly, a person wearing a wierd mask appeared out of thin air. There was no sound of apparation and there was no portkey in the person's hand, which every one confused.

Edmund scanned his surroundings and saw many cloaked figures wearing skull masks. A bald and incredibly pale man stood in front of them, with his wand pointing towards Edmund.

Looking behind him, Edmund saw Iris down on the ground, shaking from what looked like the after effect of a powerful crucio. Her forearm was bleeding due a deep cut and the scar on her forehead had been forced open. She was in a lot of pain.

Edmund kept his gaze at the downed form of Iris as his rage took over. Red sinister aura bubbled out of his body as he began releasing killing intent. Drawing the kyuubi's chakra out, Edmund looked back at the bald man, who he now deduced to be the resurrected Voldemort.

The dark lord had tortured Iris, and they took her blood to resurrect him. The whole tournament and her involvement was a set up for some loyal death eaters to bring Voldemort back.

They had hurt Iris, now they shall pay, with their lives.

Iris looked up at him and her eyes shone with recognition. Edmund nodded and spoke in a gruff voice, "Go."

When she was about to protest, Edmund shouted, "NOW!"

Then she saw the red aura bubbling out of Edmund's body and she understood he was about to let lose. She summoned the cup with an accio and disappeared from the cemetery.

All the death eaters, as well as Voldemort, even though he may deny it, shivered when they felt Edmund's intent to kill.

Edmund then released the entirety of his killing intent, which was equal to that of Sanbi.

The weaker death eaters died right then with their mouths frothing as their hearts gave out due to absolute fear of death. The stronger ones just fainted or had already fled.

Voldemort could feel his body trembling at the sight of the man in front of him. He tried his best and used occulomency to calm himself, but he still couldn't fight the fear.

Edmund's rage was fueling his form to reach four tails. His body was entirely covered with blood red aura that had solidified itself. He leapt towards Voldemort, with slaughter and carnage in his mind.

Panicked, Vodlemort shouted, which turned into a high pitched shriek, "Avada Kedavra!"

Edmund dodged a streak of such killing orbs of light as he approached Voldemort and swiped his clawed hand at the resurrected dark wizard who was now fleeing away.

Edmund's claw slashed Voldemort's leg just as he was about to apparate away.

Further angered at not being able to kill Voldemort, Edmund rushed towards the still fleeing death eaters and tore them apart.

The Little Hangleton cemetery was turned into a scene of carnage. Entrails were spread all over the place with mangled body parts of death eaters lying in a pool of blood.

Edmund's rage had begun to cool down as he sensed a familiar aura around him. It was that of Altair Vulpis. A maniacal grin bloomed on his face. Letting go of his aura, he grabbed the fainted Lord Vulpis and disappeared from the cemetery. He finally caught his mother's killer, and he will enjoy making the man plead for a quick death.

(ROTS)

A/N: Well.... I'm not very confident if I did justice to this chapter and this event in the story. Share your thoughts in comments and let me know what you think of this chapter.