Harry, however, was prepared for the Death Eater's use of an Unforgivable curse and conjured a stone shield to appear in front of him. Crouch's Cruciatus curse struck the wall and shattered it, but in doing so the spell's energy was spent and it died harmlessly. Before the stone pieces could hit the ground Harry banished them back at Crouch and was happy to hear the man yelp in surprise and pain.
"Damn you, Potter!" Crouch roared as he angrily raised his wand again. Harry saw with a brief smile of satisfaction that he had his enemy frustrated and off guard, but unfortunately this had caused Crouch to abandon his earlier plan to capture Harry unharmed. "Reducto!" Crouch shouted, causing Harry to jump to the side in order to avoid the powerful spell. Harry's wand never left Crouch as he avoided the spell, and as soon as he had the chance Harry returned fire. This time he did say the name of the spell out loud because he wanted Crouch to hear what was coming, after all he was the one who had taught it to him.
"Inficio!" Harry called as a sickly yellow light erupted from the tip of his wand. Crouch's eyes widened in surprise as he tried to avoid the spell but he wasn't quick enough and it caught him on the hip. Immediately his cloak began to disintegrate and the skin below bubbled as if it were melting. He was barely able to contain his screams enough to perform the counter curse which still left behind a nasty looking wound.
"Use my spell against me, will you?!" Crouch yelled in rage. "Avada Kedavra!" The Killing Curse flew towards Harry and he reacted on instict by conjuring another stone wall to shield himself. This time the impact of the spell turned his shield into dust instead of pebbles like the Cruciatus curse had done.
"Barty, you fool!" Voldemort screamed from his spot on the sidelined. "I need him alive!"
"Forgive me, master." Crouch answered, although his eyes never left Harry. "I shall not fail you again." Harry had briefly glanced over and even from far away could see that Voldemort had been able to take some, small physical shape. Which meant that he could be destroyed by his touch like Quirrel had been in his first year at Hogwarts. He only needed to get past Crouch and close enough to Voldemort to grab him…
"Stupefy!" Crouch called, bringing Harry's attention back to the duel. Harry in response raised his most powerful shield and began running towards his opponent. Crouch began rapidly firing non-lethal spells at Harry but his shield was far too strong to be broken by any of the simple spells he was using. Before he knew it Harry had almost completely closed the distance between them and Crouch hesitated, not sure if Harry was trying to physically or magically attack him. A mere moment before Harry reached Crouch he dropped his shield and began casting the strongest blasting curse he could manage. By the time he completed the spell the tip of his wand was inches away from Crouch's chest and the man had no chance at all to do anything to lessen the impact of the curse. The powerful spell sent Crouch flying through the air and across the cemetery. He was only stopped when he hit a large headstone which broke in half from the impact. He was immediately knocked unconscious.
Harry watched this happen and felt a small amount of shock. He didn't think he had put that much power into the spell, but apparently it was enough. Harry briefly wondered if Crouch had survived the crash. He hadn't noticed, however, that his charge towards Crouch had brought him alarmingly close to Wormtail and Voldemort. He never even saw the stunner that hit him in the back coming.
"Good, Wormtail. Now we can begin." Voldemort said with a chilling laugh.
...
Meanwhile, the panic at Hogwarts had not died down any. The Dark Mark still hung menacingly in the air, constantly reminding everyone what had happened. Most of the spectators had remained in their seats even though the tournament had ended. Many stayed to discuss whether or not the Dark Lord could or would return, others stayed because they expected something else to happen.
Harry's friends attempted to get as much information from their teachers as was possible, but in truth no one seemed to really know what was going on. All they could determine for sure was that Ludo Bagman had been taken into custody and was now being interrogated in Professor Dumbledore's office by the Aurors and the Headmaster himself.
Bagman's questioning started with an examination of his left arm, where to some surprise they did not find the Dark Mark. Further inspection revealed signs that Bagman had been under the Imperius curse very recently and was therefore probably not responsible for his actions. After being awoken and dosed with Veritaserum he revealed that he could not remember anything he had said on stage after Harry's victory, nor did he know who had placed the Imperius curse on him or where the portkey had taken Harry.
These revelations meant that there was no easy way to find Harry. Unless they got very lucky it would be up to Harry to find his way home.
....
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