Dumbledore  stood up. He stared down at Barty Crouch for amoment with disgust on his face. Then he raised his wandonce more and ropes flew out of it, ropes that twisted themselvesaround Barty Crouch, binding him tightly. He turned to ProfessorMcGonagall. 

"Minerva, could I ask you to stand guard here while I take Harry and Emma upstairs?"

 "Of course," said Professor McGonagall. She looked slightlynauseous, as though she had just watched someone being sick.However, when she drew out her wand and pointed it at BartyCrouch, her hand was quite steady.

 "Severus" — Dumbledore turned to Snape — "please tell MadamPomfrey to come down here; we need to get Alastor Moody intothe hospital wing. Then go down into the grounds, find CorneliusFudge, and bring him up to this office. He will undoubtedly want to question Crouch himself. Tell him I will be in the hospital wingin half an hour's time if he needs me."

 Snape nodded silently and swept out of the room. 

"Harry? Emma?" Dumbledore said gently.

 Harry and I got up and swayed again; I also realized that I was shaking. Dumbledore gripped my arm and helped me and Harry out into the dark corridor."I want you to come up to my office first, Harry, Emma" he said quietlyas they headed up the passageway. "Sirius is waiting for us there."

 I nodded. A kind of numbness and a sense of complete unreality were upon me, but I did not care; I was even glad of it. I didn't want to have to think about anything that had happenedsince Harry had first touched the Triwizard Cup. I didn't want tohave to examine the memories, fresh and sharp as photographs,which kept flashing across my mind. Mad-Eye Moody, inside thetrunk. Wormtail, slumped on the ground, cradling his stump of anarm. Voldemort, rising from the steaming cauldron. Cedric . . .dead . . . Cedric, asking to be returned to his parents. . . . 

"Professor," Harry mumbled, "where are Mr. and Mrs.Diggory?" 

"They are with Professor Sprout," said Dumbledore. His voice,which had been so calm throughout the interrogation of BartyCrouch, shook very slightly for the first time. "She was Head ofCedric's house, and knew him best." 

We had reached the stone gargoyle. Dumbledore gave thepassword, it sprang aside, and he and Harry and I went up the movingspiral staircase to the oak door. Dumbledore pushed it open. Sirius was standing there. His face was white and gaunt as it had beenwhen he had escaped Azkaban. In one swift moment, he hadcrossed the room. 

"Harry, Emma, are you all right? I knew it — I knew something likethis — what happened?" 

His hands shook as he helped Harry and me into a chair in front of thedesk.

 "What happened?" he asked more urgently 

Dumbledore began to tell Sirius everything Barty Crouch hadsaid. I was only half listening. So tired every bone in my bodywas aching, I wanted nothing more than to sit here, undisturbed,for hours and hours, until I fell asleep and didn't have to think orfeel anymore.There was a soft rush of wings. Fawkes the phoenix had left hisperch, flown across the office, and landed on Harry's knee. 

" 'Lo, Fawkes," said Harry quietly. He stroked the phoenix'sbeautiful scarlet-and-gold plumage. Fawkes blinked peacefully upat him. Dumbledore stopped talking. 

He sat down opposite Harry and me, behind his desk. He was looking at Harry and me, who avoided his eyes.Dumbledore was going to question us. He was going to make us relive everything.

 "I need to know what happened after you touched the Portkeyin the maze, Harry,Emma" said Dumbledore. 

"We can leave that till morning, can't we, Dumbledore?" saidSirius harshly. He had put a hand on each Harry's and my shoulder. "Let them have a sleep. Let them rest." I felt a rush of gratitude toward Sirius, but Dumbledoretook no notice of Sirius's words. He leaned forward toward Harry and me.

Very unwillingly, I raised my head and looked into those blueeyes.

 "If I thought I could help you," Dumbledore said gently, "byputting you into an enchanted sleep and allowing you to postponethe moment when you would have to think about what has happened tonight, I would do it. But I know better. Numbing the painfor a while will make it worse when you finally feel it. You haveshown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you. I askyou to demonstrate your courage one more time. I ask you to tellus what happened." 

The phoenix let out one soft, quavering note. It shivered in theair, and I felt as though a drop of hot liquid had slipped down my throat into my stomach, warming me, and strengthening me. We took a deep breath and began to tell them. 

As we spoke, visions of everything that had passed that night seemed to rise before my eyes; I saw the sparkling surface of the potion that had revivedVoldemort; I saw the Death Eaters Apparating between the gravesaround us; I saw Cedric's body, lying on the ground beside thecup. 

Once or twice, Sirius made a noise as though about to say something, his hand still tight on our shoulders, but Dumbledoreraised his hand to stop him, and I was glad of this, because itwas easier to keep going now we had started.

 It was even a relief; I felt almost as though something poisonous were being extractedfrom me. It was costing me every bit of determination I had tokeep talking, yet I sensed that once we had finished, I would feelbetter. 

When I told of Wormtail piercing our arms with the dagger,however, Sirius let out a vehement exclamation and Dumbledore stood up so quickly that I started. Dumbledore walked aroundthe desk and told me to stretch out my arm. 

I showed themboth the place where my robes were torn and the cut beneath them.

 "He said a fusion of our blood would make him stronger than if he'd usedsomeone else's," I told Dumbledore. "He said the protection our — our mother left in us — he'd have it too. And he wasright — he could touch us without hurting himself, he touchedmy face.My Scar." My voice quivered. But I was not going to cry. For a fleeting instant, I thought I saw a gleam of something like triumph in Dumbledore's eyes. 

But next second, I was sure I had imagined it, for when Dumbledore had returnedto his seat behind the desk, he looked as old and weary as I had ever seen him. 

"Very well," he said, sitting down again. "Voldemort has overcome that particular barrier. Harry, Emma continue, please."Harry and I went on; we explained how Voldemort had emerged fromthe cauldron, and told them all we could remember of Voldemort'sspeech to the Death Eaters. Then we told how Voldemort had untied us, returned Harry's wand to him, and prepared to duel.But when we reached the part where the golden beam of lighthad connected our and Voldemort's wands, we found our throats obstructed. I tried to keep talking, but the memories of what hadcome out of Voldemort's wand were flooding into my mind. I could see Cedric emerging, see the old man, Bertha Jorkins . . . my father . . . my mother . . . I was glad when Sirius broke the silence. 

"The wands connected?" he said, looking from Me to Harry to Dumbledore. "Why?"

I looked up at Dumbledore again, on whose face there wasan arrested look."Priori Incantatem," he muttered.His eyes gazed into Harry's and mine and it was almost as though an invisible beam of understanding shot between us. 

"The Reverse Spell effect?" said Sirius sharply.

 "Exactly," said Dumbledore. "Harry's and Emma's wand and Voldemort'swand share cores. Each of them contains a feather from the tail ofthe same phoenix. This phoenix, in fact," he added, and he pointedat the scarlet-and-gold bird, perching peacefully on Harry's knee. 

"Our wands feather came from Fawkes?" Harry said, amazed. 

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "Mr. Ollivander wrote to tell me youhad bought the second and third wand, the moment you left his shop fouryears ago."

 "So what happens when a wand meets its brother?" said Sirius. 

"They will not work properly against each other," said Dumbledore. "If, however, the owners of the wands force the wands todo battle . . . a very rare effect will take place. One of the wandswill force the other to regurgitate spells it has performed — in reverse. The most recent first . . . and then those which precededit. . . ."He looked interrogatively at Harry and me, and we nodded. 

"Which means," said Dumbledore slowly, his eyes upon Harry's and my faces, "that some form of Cedric must have reappeared." we nodded again. 

"Diggory came back to life?" said Sirius sharply.

 "No spell can reawaken the dead," said Dumbledore heavily. "Allthat would have happened is a kind of reverse echo. A shadow of the living Cedric would have emerged from the wand . . . am I correct?" 

"He spoke to me," Harry said. He was suddenly shaking again."The . . . the ghost Cedric, or whatever he was, spoke." 

"An echo," said Dumbledore, "which retained Cedric's appearance and character. I am guessing other such forms appeared . . .less recent victims of Voldemort's wand. . . ."

 "An old man," I said, my throat still constricted. "BerthaJorkins. And . . ." 

"Your parents?" said Dumbledore quietly. 

"Yes," said Harry. 

Sirius's grip on our shoulders was now so tight it was painful."The last murders the wand performed," said Dumbledore,nodding. "In reverse order. More would have appeared, of course,had you maintained the connection. Very well, Harry,Emma, theseechoes, these shadows . . . what did they do?"

 Harry and I described how the figures that had emerged from thewand had prowled the edges of the golden web, how Voldemorthad seemed to fear them, how the shadow of our father hadtold him what to do, how Cedric's had made its final request. 

At this point, I found I could not continue. I lookedaround at Sirius and saw that he had his face in his hands. I reached for his hand, which he let me take. I suddenly became aware that Fawkes had left Harry knee. Thephoenix had fluttered to the floor. It was resting its beautiful headagainst Harry's injured leg, and thick, pearly tears were falling fromits eyes onto the wound left by the spider. Theskin mended. His leg was repaired. 

"I will say it again," said Dumbledore as the phoenix rose intothe air and resettled itself upon the perch beside the door. "You both have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of youtonight, Emma, Harry. You have shown bravery equal to those who diedfighting Voldemort at the height of his powers. You have shouldered a grown wizard's burden and found yourself equal to it —and you have now given us all that we have a right to expect. You willcome with me to the hospital wing. I do not want you returning tothe dormitory tonight. A Sleeping Potion, and some peace . . . Sirius, would you like to stay with them?" 

Sirius nodded and stood up. He transformed back into the greatblack dog and walked with Harry, Me and Dumbledore out of the office, accompanying them down a flight of stairs to the hospitalwing.When Dumbledore pushed open the door, I saw Mrs.Weasley, Bill, Ron, and Hermione grouped around a harassed looking Madam Pomfrey. 

They appeared to be demanding to knowwhere we were and what had happened to us. All of themwhipped around as Harry, Dumbledore, and the black dog entered, and Mrs. Weasley let out a kind of muffled scream. 

"Harry! Oh Emma!"She started to hurry toward us, but Dumbledore moved between us.

 "Molly," he said, holding up a hand, "please listen to me for amoment. Harry and Emma have been through a terrible ordeal tonight. They just had to relive it for me. What they need now is sleep, and peace,and quiet. If they would like you all to stay with them," he added,looking around at Ron, Hermione, and Bill too, "you may do so.But I do not want you questioning them until they are ready to answer,and certainly not this evening." 

Mrs. Weasley nodded. She was very white. She rounded on Ron, Hermione, and Bill as though they were being noisy, and hissed,"Did you hear? They need quiet!"

 "Headmaster," said Madam Pomfrey, staring at the great blackdog that was Sirius, "may I ask what — ?"

 "This dog will be remaining with Harry and Emma for a while," said Dumbledore simply. "I assure you, he is extremely well trained.Harry, Emma — I will wait while you get into bed." 

I felt an inexpressible sense of gratitude to Dumbledorefor asking the others not to question us. It wasn't as though I didn't want them there; but the thought of explaining it all overagain, the idea of reliving it one more time, was more than I couldstand. 

"I will be back to see you as soon as I have met with Fudge,Harry, Emma" said Dumbledore. "I would like you to remain here tomorrow until I have spoken to the school." He left.

 As Madam Pomfrey led Harry and me to  nearby beds, we caught sightof the real Moody lying motionless in a bed at the far end of theroom. His wooden leg and magical eye were lying on the bedsidetable. 

"Is he okay?" Harry asked. 

"He'll be fine," said Madam Pomfrey, giving Harry some pajamas and pulling screens around him. He took off his robes, pulledon the pajamas, and got into bed. Ron, Hermione, Bill, Mrs.Weasley, and the black dog came around the screen and sat between me and Harry and settledthemselves in chairs on either side of us. Ron and Hermione werelooking at us almost cautiously, as though scared of us. 

"we're all right," Harry told them. "Just tired."

"LET US IN" We all jumped at the sound, except madame promfery who rolled her eyes.

"Your friends Ms Potter" said madame promfery "they--"

"Please let them in" I said "I-I owe it to them to see I am fine."

Madame Promfery sighed and nodded. She opened the door and Zoe, Nicholas and Draco rushed in. Relife, Confusion, anger and 20 other emotions on their faces.

"Emma!" said Zoe rushing towards me and grabbing my hand "Are you alright? What happened--?"

"I--"

"What were you thinking?!"Nicholas snapped "you could have died--why did--and what's this about You-Know-Who--?" 

"I'll explain everything later" I said "I promise."

Draco was the only one staring at me who hadn't said anything. 

"Dray?"

"Why on earth--did you risk yourself--?" he managed to choke, getting down to his knees to get down to my level "you--you could have--died. Emma, please stop scaring me like that--"

"You aren't her boyfriend Malfoy" said Harry drowsily.

"Yes, well I was her date wasn't I Potter?" snapped Draco.

The dog's head snapped up and he started to growl. I put a hand on the back of his neck to stop him from lunging at Draco.

Madam Pomfrey, who had bustled off to her office, returnedholding 2 small bottles of some purple potion and 2 goblets."You'll need to drink all of this, Harry,Emma" she said. "It's a potionfor dreamless sleep."

 I took the goblet and drank a few mouthfuls. I felt myself becoming drowsy at once. Everything around me becamehazy; the lamps around the hospital wing seemed to be winking at me in a friendly way through the screen around my bed; my bodyfelt as though it was sinking deeper into the warmth of the feathermatress. Last thing I heard was Draco saying "Say what you will. We're not leaving." Before my exhaustion had carried me off to sleep.