Priori Incantatem (GF)
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Priori Incantatem is the thirty-fourth chapter of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
The duel
Peter Pettigrew, using his new silver hand, releases Harry Potter from the ropes tying him to the gravestone (GF32). Harry considers running away for a split second, but his injured leg is far too unstable for him to stand on it, let alone run.
The Death Eaters form a smaller circle around the boy and Voldemort. Wormtail fetches Harry's wand, and resumes his place in the circle.
When the Dark Lord asks whether he was taught how to duel; Harry thinks of the one session of the Hogwarts Duelling Club, two years ago (CS11), and does not reply. Voldemort instructs him thus: "We bow to each other, Harry," and he bends a little, not bothering to lower his face; "Come, the niceties must be observed... Dumbledore would like you to show manners... Bow to death, Harry..."
The Death Eaters laugh; Voldemort is smiling. Harry does not bow. The Dark Lord uses a spell to make him do so, provoking more laughter from the wizards watching them.
"And now you face me, like a man... straight-backed and proud, the way your father died... And now—we duel."
Voldemort uses the Cruciatus Curse on the boy. The pain makes him roll and contort on the ground; but then the curse is lifted. Voldemort asks whether Harry wants him to do that again, but receives no reply. He then uses the Imperio to force Harry to answer.
For the third time in his life (GF15), Harry feels himself swooning with the sensation that his mind is entirely void of thoughts and feelings. He resists the urge to say 'no', however, and successfully manages to ward off the Imperius Curse.
No one smiles, let alone chuckles. Voldemort quietly announces that he must teach Harry the virtue of obedience, and tries to use Crucio again. The boy's reflexes, honed by Quidditch, kick in, and he dodges the curse; the light beam cracks the gravestone instead.
"We are not playing hide-and-seek, Harry." The Death Eaters laugh. "You cannot hide from me. Does this mean you are tired of our duel? Does this mean that you would prefer me to finish it now, Harry? Come out, Harry... come out and play, then... it will be quick... it might even be painless... I would not know... I have never died..."
Voldemort draws nearer, and Harry decides that he would die upright like his father, trying to defend himself even though he knew it to be useless.
He stands up and shouts, "Expelliarmus" right as Voldemort cries, "Avada Kedavra".
The golden thread
The red and green jets of light meet in midair. The two wands start vibrating violently, and a golden beam connects them. Harry feels his feet lift from the ground, and both he and Voldemort glide away from the tombstone to a space free of graves.
The Death Eaters and Nagini surround them once more; the wizards ask Voldemort for instructions.
The golden beam splinters into a thousand other beams, surrounding Harry and Voldemort and forming a dome around the two duelers, isolating them from the dark wizards outside.
Voldemort is visibly surprised by what is happening. He orders the Death Eaters to do nothing, and tries to break the thread of light. Harry instinctively clutches his wand tighter.
An unearthly, beautiful sound fills the air around them, coming from the web of light; Harry recognises it to be a phoenix singing (CS17). He feels as though someone is whispering in his ear not to break the connection. It is becoming more difficult to do so: his wand is vibrating harder than ever.
The beam changes, as though beads of light are sliding up and down the thread. Harry's wand jerks under his hand as the beads slide his way. When the closest bead almost touches the tip of his wand, it starts burning. Harry concentrates upon forcing the bead back toward Voldemort.
The bead halts; then, slowly, it starts moving the other way. Voldemort looks astonished, almost frightened. Harry concentrates even harder, not knowing why he is doing it, and forces the bead to connect with the tip of the Dark Lord's wand.
Prior Incantato
Voldemort's wand begins echoing screams of pain; then the ghost of a silver hand flies out of its tip (GF33); more screams, followed by the dense ghost of Cedric Diggory.
Shock nearly causes Harry to let go of his wand. Cedric tells him, in a distant voice, to hold on.
More screams echo in the dome (GF29). A second ghost pushes itself out of the wand next: that of an old man that Harry had seen only once before, in a dream (GF2). Bryce, with mild surprise, surveys the scene, and states his astonishment at the fact that Voldemort is, indeed, a real wizard.
Another head emerges. The shadow of Bertha Jorkins (GF1) observes the battle, and urges Harry not to let go; her voice, like Cedric's, echoes around the dome.
The three ghosts encourage Harry and hissed words to Voldemort.
A new ghost appears. Harry knows who it is bound to be, as though he has expected it all along: Lily Potter comes, falls to the ground, straightens herself, and tells Harry to hang on; James wants to see him as well.
James comes soon afterwards. He says quietly, so that Voldemort will not hear, "When the connection is broken, we will linger for only moments... but we will give you time... you must get to the Portkey, it will return you to Hogwarts. Do you understand, Harry?"
Cedric asks Harry to take his body back to Amos and his wife.
James orders Harry to get ready to run, and do so now.
The boy yanks his wand away. The cage vanishes, the phoenix song ends, but the shadows do not disappear. They close in on the Dark Lord, keeping him from seeing Harry, who dodges several curses in his mad dash towards Cedric's corpse.
Voldemort yells for someone to Stun Harry, who ducks behind a marble angel to avoid the many red beams coming in his direction.
He runs off, uses Impedimenta without looking back (he seems to have hit someone), jumps over the Triwizard Cup and grabs Cedric's wrist.
"Stand aside! I will kill him! He is mine!" Voldemort shrieks.
Diggory is too heavy to carry. The Cup is out of reach. Voldemort smiles, and raises his wand.
"Accio!" Harry yells, pointing at the Cup. He catches it by the handle.
Voldemort screams with fury as the boy is caught in the usual whirlwind of wind and colour; the Portkey works, and he returns to Hogwarts.
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| The Death Eaters | Priori Incantatem | Veritaserum |
