"Thank you, master. How are you enjoying your new body? I consider it one of my finest creations," Crouch responded gleefully.
"Yes, against a young wizard, this body should do nicely," Voldemort said, inspecting his own hands and fingers. They were bony and pale, and some parts of it had bits of cord and wood protruding from underneath the skin. It seemed as if this time, Voldemort was partially mechanical or at least making heavy use of prosthetics.
"If this body fails before our work this year is finished, I will take yours in repayment," Voldemort threatened.
"It only has to last until July, right, Master? The charms I've put on it will last it at least three years." Crouch cackled like a mad scientist. "Would you like to try it out? I've found you a few test subjects walking around outside..." With a flick of his wand, a few hovering flames lit up the back of the cave, where several people were tied up to the rocks. Harry could tell they were muggles- they wore thick, down parkas instead of robes and two of them appeared to still be wearing snowshoes.
"Excellent work, Crouch." Eyeing the first one, man in his late thirties who looked starved and dehydrated, he raised his wand. "Flammadio!" A glowing orange blade flew at the man, passing straight through his body. The man died before he could even react to the shock. Harry could see that the rock he was tied to had also been cut, and it was glowing red from the heat of the spell.
As the smell of burnt flesh filled the air, Harry felt nauseous. He had to get away from this. He couldn't hold on to the vision any longer. With a sharp breath, he opened his own eyes once again, and threw up.
"I'm telling you, I didn't do anything!" Hermione pleaded. "I love Harry! I'd do anything for him!" Tears streamed down her face, dripping all the way down her cheeks as she couldn't wipe them away. Her arms and legs were shackled to the interrogation chair. In front of her, two aurors stood silently, one still inspecting her wand. Without a word, they left the dungeon and closed the door behind them.
"So what do you think, Rutgers?" Shacklebolt asked his officer.
"Her occlumency's strong. Who on earth taught her? I could have nightmares with that beast she's got guarding her mind. Not to mention she's got them up all the time. She could tell me water's wet and I wouldn't know if she was lying or not."
"So all those tears could just be an act?" Shacklebolt shook his head. He'd never thought he would ever meet someone so young, talented, and at the same time, holding so many secrets. Hadn't Dumbledore describe Voldemort's early life similarly?
"Uh... sorry to interrupt, sir, but I've got some preliminary results back," another auror said as he arrived.
"Go ahead, Bigsby."
"Glass seems to be clear. No active poisons in the champagne. We also got a sample from Mr. Potter's mouth, nothing in there, either."
"No active poison in the glass or saliva reaction?" Kingsley looked puzzled. "Then it's probably a binary poison, something he ate just before drinking the cider. He fell right after the first gulp, right?"
"That's the odd bit about it, he had nothing to eat or drink at all before the cider for an hour. They were seen dancing together for an hour until the countdown."
Rubbing his chin, Kingsley said, "We'll know more when the healers are finished their examinations. What else?"
"Background info on the girl all seem to corroborate. She's been his girlfriend since September... or June, depending on who you ask. They're always together."
"Jealousy, maybe? Sometimes the really devoted ones can be obsessive. Has Harry dated any other girls?"
Bigsby laughed. "Yeah, right after the second trial. Guess who? Fleur Delacour. Cedric noticed him still watching his date throughout the night."
"We've got motive, but we still haven't found the method. Keep at it," Kingsley ordered.
"No veritaserum authorization yet?"
"Not without stronger evidence. She's just the lead suspect. There's always the chance of a compulsion charm by someone else, so keep an eye out," the auror captain ordered.
Harry found himself in a very familiar room- the Hogwarts hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey was standing over him, but an auror was watching him from the foot of his bed. His mind was still reeling from everything he had seen. "How long was I out?" Harry asked.
"Just a little over an hour. Thank goodness you're alright. Whatever poison that was, it didn't show up in any of my medical scans, but we couldn't wake you no matter what we tried."
"Poison?" The word reverberated in his mind. Somebody else mentioned that to him already...
"Yes, we believe your glass was poisoned at the ball. We're still having trouble tracking down how she did it," the auror told him.
Harry quickly remembered what had happened. He was still in his dress robes. The clock had just struck midnight and he'd fainted when the vision began. Then it struck him. Crouch had mentioned to Voldemort that he saw Harry drink something at the ball and faint. That must have been half an hour ago. There was a spy inside Hogwarts tonight, feeding Crouch information- or was Crouch there himself? Harry shuddered at the thought. How did he, or the spy, get off the grounds? Harry doubted that Voldemort was hiding within a half-hour owl's flight from Hogwarts. Walking off the grounds and apparating could work, and so would flooing. The chaos of Harry fainting would have been the perfect time to escape. But what if it was simply another form of instant communication? Harry couldn't take the chance. Voldemort still didn't know about Harry's visions, and he couldn't afford tell anyone he didn't trust completely.
"Could you let Hermione in, please?" he asked. "I know you still want to keep me here under your potions, Madam Pomfrey, but I assure you I'm feeling much better, and I could use the company."
.
.
.
🎉The novel is available in PDF, visit us in our Ko-Fi store🎉
🎉ko-fi.com/madarasama125🎉