The Fifth Task
The Champions had had it with the school’s over enthusiasm in life or death events at this point. They all knew the Maze was going to be the most brutal yet, and here they were, selling the merchandise, cheering them as they passed in the hallways, and Fred and George had even used the Muggle technology Colin and Dennis described to build their own forms of televisions the audience could watch from, so they’d know what was happening to the Champions inside the maze at all times.
“Are you on our side or not, boys?” Draco had asked at the Gryffindor table the breakfast of the Task, raising an eyebrow in question at them passing with shirts of the pictures from the Rita’s photoshoot, Fred wearing one of Draco, and George one of Harry. “Because if you are, you do realize this is not going to help us one bit?” “It’s degrading, actually.” Harry commented, turning in his seat, crossing his arms, and glaring at the two gingers.
“Degrading?! George, you don’t believe this is degrading is it?” Fred exclaimed, and his twin shook his head. “Oh no, quite the contrary in fact. We’re praising you two, everyone is!” Harry and Draco exchanged the same deadpan expression and waved the boys away, before turning back to their breakfasts in silence, Ron and Hermione giving each other a worried look across from them, before,
“Ninny?” Hermione spun around, face pink with blush as she met Viktor’s eyes, and smiled. “Viktor! Hello, I didn’t think you’d actually come…” “Of course I did. You asked, didn’t you?” The bushy haired girl nodded and gestured for him to sit beside her while Ron started, appalled, fork clattering to his plate, and the Champions across from them both sat with their jaws dropped to the floor. For this table, this spot in the center of Gryffindor table, the trio, and now Quartet, practically owned. It was rightfully bizarre Hermione would invite any other person to it, other than a Weasley or if they were feeling really generous, Neville.
But those were family and friends. This was Hermione’s boyfriend, who didn’t even go to the school, and--
“Oh come on boys!” Hermione noticed how they were acting and slapped the table, hard, to smack them out of their dazes. “It’s just Viktor!” And so they spent the rest of breakfast pretending to not notice he was even there, and most certainly not to pay attention to the hand holding.
Though, on the walk to their next exam (History of Magic for the Gryffindor’s, Charms for the Slytherin’s), Draco did tell the Gryffindor boys they should be thankful it wasn’t more, as Pansy had now moved on to her next girlfriend, a pureblood in Beauxbatons she’d been eyeing all year and finally dragged away from her boyfriend’s clutches, and snogged every chance she got, boasting on how she’d marry her one day.
And Hermione would rather die than be like Pansy Parkinson.
Before they could add another comment, though, McGonagall suddenly appeared out of seemingly nowhere, which she’d become quite good at this year, though Draco had a sneaking suspicion she’d snuck up on them in cat form.
“Potter! Malfoy! Krum! Goodness… I expected rounding you up to be harder but, nevertheless, you must come with me.” The Champions stopped short, Harry gaping and blurting out, “But the Task isn’t till tonight!” used to the Professor pulling them away to prepare. This time she shook her head however, hurrying to push between their group and gesture them down a hall.
“Yes, yes, but it’s tradition that a Champion’s family will arrive to support their student in the final Task. Come with me, quickly now…”
They could only hear Ron’s faint shout of, “See you after exams, Harry!” and Hermione crying, “Goodbye!” Before McGonagall had pushed them through the Great Hall doors again and was now leading them to the room they had gone into when their names first came out of the Goblet.
They reached the side chamber, and Tess, who was just headed in after Fleur, held the door open for them as Viktor and Draco stepped inside. Harry stayed back, standing dumbly at the door, shifting from foot to foot. He had no family. There was no point in going in. He would be better suited using this time to search up hexes than embarrass himself by sitting in a chair by the fire while the Champions all greeted their family’s--
“Harry?” He was snapped out of his daze by Tess, who was holding out a hand to him worriedly. “You alright Harry? They’re here for you.”
Eyebrows raised high, Harry sucked in a quick breath and stepped inside the chamber, scanning the room for signs of his awful muggle family. But instead he smiled at the sight of two redheads, grinning and waving at him.
"Surprise!" Mrs. Weasley said excitedly, and the two met each other in a tight hug in the middle of the room, before Harry let her go so he could shake hands with Bill beside her. "Thought we'd come and watch you, Harry!" She exclaimed, kissing him on the cheek.
"You all right?" Bill asked, clapping his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Charlie wanted to come, but he couldn't get time off. He said you were incredible against the Ironbelly."
Harry shrugged. "Couldn't have done it without Draco." He glanced around at the room, mostly to avoid Molly and Bill's nervous expressions, and saw Viktor conversing in rapid Bulgarian with a man and woman he assumed were his parents and Fleur with her mother and sister, who waved shyly at him (he waved back). Draco stood with his mother in a corner, hugging and whispering to each other, and Tess sat on the sofa a few feet away from them, conversing with two men he assumed were her dads.
"I thought Percy might come, considering…" His eyes lingered on Tess, who had not so sneakily glanced over her shoulder at the Weasley's awkwardly. Molly noticed, and spun around to break at her.
"Oh! Tess! Percy's new girlfriend! Nice to meet you dear…" And she ran to scoop up the girl in a hug and greet her parents and do the usual psychoanalyzing Harry assumed parents did to their children's dates, while Bill smirked back at him.
"She'll be forever. Percy's doing awful. With the disappearance and possible assault of Mr. Crouch, he's facing a huge inquiry. He's been called in for questioning about the instructions Mr. Crouch has been sending in. They seem to think there's a chance they weren't written by him, and he's been under a lot of strain as a result. He sends his regards, though he isn't allowed to judge. The minister's been called in."
Harry glanced back over at Tess, who was struggling to wiggle out of Molly's grip on her cheeks saying how beautiful she was and felt a turning in his gut.
He'd assumed Crouch had attacked his friends when they said so in the woods, but who else had been there, emerging from the trees? And had they ever found out what happened to the ministry man? Something inside him told him this was another thing to do with Barty Crouch Jr, but he swallowed the thought down, instead turning back to Bill.
"It's great being back here," The eldest Weasley child said, looking around the chamber and Harry couldn't help but notice Fleur eyeing him over her mother's shoulder and Violet, the Fat Lady's friend, smiling and winking from her frame. "Haven't seen this place in years. Is that picture of the mad knight still around? Sir Cadogan?"
Harry winced, the memories of Third Year flashing back instantly. “Oh him? Yeah… Yeah he’s around…”
“And the Fat Lady?” “She was here in my time,” said Molly, finally coming back to the two of them and Harry could see Tess collapsing in her father’s arms, no doubt exhausted over the discussion with her mother in law. Or future mother in law. Or possible mother in law.
Did the difference really matter?
Harry couldn’t quite focus on the conversation after that, instead thinking of how much he was grateful to have the Weasley’s here. He did remember hearing them talk about Arthur and Molly ‘getting up to something’ but before he knew it he was being ushered out the door with the other champions, who were all walking with their families towards the doors out of the Great Hall, and it was then Harry came to, glancing over at the Malfoy’s and tapping Molly’s shoulder.
“May I? I’ll just be a moment.” And he stepped over to them, shaking off Molly’s urgent hand as she tried to pull him back like they were some disease, and he instead walked onward, stepping right up next to Narcissa with a, “Hi, Mrs. Malfoy” and nearly giving them both a heart attack.
"Oh! Mr. Potter! Hello." Harry smiled while Draco looked at him with a wide eyed, 'What in Merlin's name are you doing' look. He ignored it. "I don't believe we've properly met. Under good circumstances at least."
"We have not." Harry confirmed, holding out his hand and inviting her to shake it, which she did very tentatively. "What are you and Draco planning to do today?"
The two blondes looked at each other, and Draco nodded the okay that they could trust him, and Narcissa said, "We were going to go down to Hogsmeade to meet Draco's father and… talk."
"Oh! Well… We have a whole day, you know. And you live together; you can talk anytime during the summer. How about…" He stepped around the pair and began walking between the Malfoy's and Weasley's, hands out to both. "The five of us do something together? Might loosen up some stress for us Champions, right?" He winked at Draco, a signal that it was his time to jump in, and he did, sliding to Harry's side.
"Of course! Now that's a good way to spend today. And I know just what we should do. Follow me." And he and Harry walked forwards, leading the Weasley's and Malfoy out the doors and down the steps into sunlight.
"What… happened to him?" Molly asked, to which Narcissa mumbled, "I think Harry did." and then she asked, "Then what happened to Harry?" and Bill laughed, stating, "Draco." gesturing to the laughing friends leading them.
Molly frowned, huffing, while Narcissa let a small smile play across her lips, because she knew there was nothing artificial about this friendship, like so many others her son had been forced to have in the past. This was a genuine, true bond, she could feel it, and one he deserved if nothing else after all these years.
-*-*-*-
She still had some nitpicks of Potter being her son’s friend, however, namely that he seemed to be an awful influence on him, shown by how she was currently sitting side saddle on the back of a unicorn, something even Andy never dared to try in their school days.
And she could tell from the very uncomfortable and most likely angry expression on Molly Weasley’s face, she didn’t like the idea either.
“Are you sure he isn’t trying to kill us?” The mother not-so-quietly mumbled to her eldest sitting on the unicorn beside her, either not caring or not noticing that Draco was next to her as well, and clearly heard it. Bill sent the blonde an apologetic look, that really did nothing to ease his spirits--Narcissa could tell--and yelled over to Harry, “Oi! Was this your idea?” to which he shrugged. “Partially.” “Joint effort, really.” Draco added as Harry ruffled his mount’s mane. “What can I say? The unicorns love me.”
“No.” The Slytherin protested, pouting and shaking his head, steering his unicorn forward to trot beside Harry, forcing all the others to have to move theirs as well to follow. “I seem to remember Hagrid asking me to ride them first. They clearly love me more.”
“You can’t get first dibs on an animal species.” Harry said, raising an eyebrow in challenge and leaning towards his friend playfully. Draco leaned forward as well, smirking. “And who made that rule?” “Take a guess.” “WHAT EXACTLY ARE WE DOING?!”
Both boys jumped, nearly falling off their mounts, when Molly shouted from behind them, going red and cupping a hand over her mouth afterwards when she realized how loud she’d been and the looks she was getting, particularly from Narcissa. “Sorry…”
“Um… er… We’re riding unicorns, Mrs. Weasley.” Harry supplied to which Narcissa rolled her eyes. “We realize that. But why?” Harry wet his lips, glancing over at Draco, who was frowning.
“It’s relaxing. Well, to me at least… I thought, I dunno, I thought you’d like it.” He was starting to slide off his unicorn, clearly uncomfortable, but Bill raised a hand. “No, no! We’d love to try it! Sorry we’re just… confused, right? I mean…
“Malfoy’s and Weasley’s.” Narcissa stated, sounding out each syllable and laughing to herself then turning to smile at Bill. “Who would have thought?”
“Who indeed…” Molly said softly, glancing over at the blonde woman as well, and tucking her hands in her unicorn’s mane. “But I say we give it a try. Merlin knows we probably won’t get another chance.” Now Narcissa was the one raising the challenging eyebrow, saying, “No doubt when our husbands are present.” And getting Molly to laugh real and genuinely, as if this was some conversation with a friend at tea, not a sworn rival.
The sight made their sons--real or found--smirk towards each other and kick their legs, yelling, “Hiyah!” and causing their unicorns to go running off into the trees as they too laughed. Bill followed, yelling a great, “Hiyah!” after smacking his own unicorns backside, and running in another direction.
The mothers glanced at each other, and Molly steered her unicorn in the only direction left, prepared to go for a peaceful stroll, when Narcissa kicked her legs over and out of her side saddle position and yelled “Hiyah!” as well, her unicorn bursting into the trees with remarkable speed, causing the Weasley mother to gasp and then laugh, charging after her, shaking her head all the while, mumbling, “What a day…” beneath her breath.
It became quite a day indeed in the end, when the unicorns all converged with each other at the same pond Draco had overheard Anya and Karkaroff talking at (what felt like) an eternity ago, and the crew decided it was time to head back for lunch. On the walk back, they discussed what they’d seen in the trees, and how confused all of them were by the Forbiddenness of the forest, for various reasons.
“My friends and I caused enough trouble in our time, that’s for sure--” “Hm, I can attest to that.” “But I believe in the very least the forest may have humbled us more than detentions had, and provided a better method of schooling than our various Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers did.” Had been Narcissa and Molly’s input.
“Or they just make detentions out of the forest, right Draco?” “Yeah… wait, you had different teachers every year too?!” Had been Harry and Draco’s.
And Bill was just happy to see them getting along, of course, distracted a bit by the fair blonde practicing firing spells at a dummy down by the lake.
When they walked into the Great Hall Narcissa took one step for the Slytheirn table and was practically dragged towards the Gryffindor's by Draco, who was apparently oblivious to the practically growling children sitting there, eyeing Narcissa like she was Voldemort himself. Thankfully, the other Champions had a better idea of how to deal with spread out families and friends, and had pushed the center Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables closer together, and now Cedric was waving them over.
Gladly, the group sat with the rest of the Champions, Fleur and Bill giving eyes over their drinks across from each other while Molly absently spoke with her mother, and Gabrielle giggled and joked with Harry and Draco, Ron already sitting beside her. Tess managed to sit with Hermione and Viktor and get away from the Weasley's, and Narcissa had some rich person discussion with Mrs. Krum. It was clear though, even with the separate conversations, that a miracle had been made that day, and there may still be hope that being a good person, and befriending Weasley’s, didn’t extend just to Draco, but beyond in his bloodline as well.
Up at the Professor’s table, McGonagall glanced over at Dumbledore, and gave a small smile, tapping Snape’s arm beside her in a highly professional way of saying ‘I told you so’ to which he merely grunted. But Dumbledore found himself starting to smile as well, and though no one paid attention to it, too engrossed in enjoying the miracle before them, the old man picked up his goblet and raised it towards the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables for only a moment before drinking it.
And the two boys who were observing everything proudly--Harry and Draco--they saw it, and simultaneously, not even needing to signal the other for what he was about to do, the two boys raised their goblets to Dumbledore, then clinked them together, and drank. A true miracle had occurred this year indeed, and in that moment, neither of them could imagine what it had once felt like to loathe the other.
But peace couldn’t last forever. The afternoon passed with similar fun as the group that ate lunch together toured the castle, the older ones talking about memories and glory days while the younger ones rolled their eyes, and then it was back to the Great Hall for dinner, where the Champions all got through their dinner--which was several more courses than usual--before Dumbledore stood up from his seat, instantly gathering the wide rooms attention. “Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes’ time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now.”
Cedric, Anya, Fernando, and Hugo all wished them good luck as the other tables applauded them, and then they were out the doors, on the path to the First Task. As Harry walked alongside Draco, he could hear his breathing start to shake, and hardly hesitated before gripping his hand, feeling a shiver run down his spine as a result. But the blonde didn’t jerk his hand away or glare, instead squeezing tighter, and grabbing onto Fleur’s hand beside him. Fleur than nodded and took Tess’, while Harry took Krum’s, making them five friends walking down to the maze instead of opponents, and they surely all wished Colin Creevey had been there to take a picture of Ludo Bagman’s red face at the sight of them all holding hands and beaming with stars in their eyes.
Tournament be damned, there was no way the world was going to turn these five against one another.
-*-*-*-
The quidditch field had been made completely unrecognizable, the hedges that only rose to about the Champions knees before now twenty foot high, towering above their heads and stretching to the very edges of the field, the only visible way inside a gap right in front of where the five kids stood, dark and mysterious.
The twins arrived ahead of the other students with the judges, who looked pretty annoyed by their mere existence as they whipped out their wands. Fred began enlarging the miniature screens which would soon become massive jumbotrons, while George waved his wand in the air and began dispersing the probe cameras. Harry and Draco shook their heads at the sight, but with very different opinions, as Draco turned to grin at his friend who was watching in the disappointed horror of a sibling.
But the crowd adored it, as once the stand had filled everyone was already pointing at the massive things and asking their muggleborn and half-blood friends what they were, and why they were currently displaying nothing but green hedges. Harry looked up and spotted the first stars appearing in the sky, closing his eyes and losing himself in the calmness of the night as he tried to focus on anything but the overly excited crowd.
He’d never been one for the spotlight, but he reminded himself now that soon it would be over, and there would be no more stands full of cheering students, just the winner and the train ride back to Privet Drive. And maybe, just maybe, that winner might even be him.
Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick filed into the field, standing out in red, luminous stars beaming from their hats, all except for Hagrid, who of course didn’t wear one, so instead had his on the back of his moleskin vest. Bagman opened his mouth to speak to them but, thankfully, McGonagall beat him to it.
“We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze,” she said. “If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?” Everyone nodded, and Bagman clapped his hands together, never one to stay quiet. “Off you go then!” He said brightly to the four patrollers, who all gave each other looks that reminded Harry of what the professor’s thought of another certain bombastic blonde man before heading off to surround the maze.
Draco grabbed Harry’s wrist then and he jerked his head around in surprise, eyebrows raised as the pale blonde nodded to the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. “Why is he patrolling?” He growled and Harry frowned, slipping his hand down to hold onto his friend’s tightly. “Don’t worry about it, we’ll just go wherever he isn’t. Besides there are three other teacher’s here and the whole thing is being filmed.” He pointed up at the jumbotrons, and Draco swallowed hard and nodded firmly. “He wouldn’t dare.”
Their eyes met and an assertive smile passed through them, before the gray eyes caught something behind Harry’s wild black hair and Draco flinched away from his friend’s grasp, gasping slightly.
“What is it?” Harry asked, not really needing to as he turned and saw his exact answer in the form of a nearly identical blonde making his way through the stands to stand by his wife, catching sight of his son and nodding. “Oh… Your--”
“Dad.” Draco breathed and Harry turned to see the hint of a smile on his lips and a shine to his eyes. “He came.”
Harry was about to offer some sort of--well he didn’t know exactly what he was going to say but he was certainly starting to open his mouth before suddenly Ludo Bagman sprung up out of nowhere beside him, grinning like the madman he certainly had proven to be over the years, rubbing his hands together eagerly like the gambler he had proven to be as well.
“How are you feeling Harry? Confident? Ready? Anything you need?” He was talking fast too and it caught the fourteen year old off guard, but Harry nodded anyway, forcing a smile through gritted teeth. “Yeah… yeah I’m good.”
“Are you sure? You aren’t going in first you know. If there’s anything you--” “I’m sure he’s fine, Mr. Bagman.” Draco said sternly, a steel glint to his eyes Harry recognized immediately from years of bullying and, most recently, in his stare down with Snape. And Ludo, hardly anything compared to the old bat, shrunk instantly under it, shuffling away with a small, “Good luck.” to Harry before pointing his wand to his throat and muttering, “Sonorus.”
The Gryffindor gave the Slytherin a thankful nod and Draco smirked back.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the point currently stands! In first place, with two hundred and fifty points - Mr. Viktor Krum of Durmstrang Institute!” Cheers erupted from the crowds, where all the Durmstrang, Slytherin, and female students stood which sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky. In second place, with two hundred and twelve points - Mr. Draco Malfoy, of Hogwarts School!” More cheering, maybe even louder. “In third place, with two hundred and one points - Mr. Harry Potter, of Hogwarts School as well!” More applause, the loudest yet, which Harry felt himself go slightly red by, from embarrassment, or anger, (or both) he couldn’t tell. “In fourth place, with one hundred and eight-seven points - Ms. Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons Academy!” More applause. “And in fifth place, last but not least, with one hundred and eighty-three points - Ms. Tess Whitlock of Beauxbatons Academy!” More applause.
Harry squinted at the stands through all this cheering and finally spotted the Weasley’s standing not too far away from the Malfoy’s, beaming and waving at him and his friends. Draco could see both his parents were now smiling and waving too, and felt like he was sitting in the clouds by how rare that sort of occurrence was.
“Harry look,” He tapped his friend's shoulder and pointed up at his Dad. “He’s clapping. He’s proud of me!” Harry smiled, bumping him in the shoulder lightly. “He should be.” He said, clapping along himself.
“So… on my whistle, Viktor!” said Bagman. “Three… two… one…” He blew on his whistle the hardest yet, the loud squeal causing a couple champions to cover their ears as Viktor bolted towards the entrance to the maze. He turned left, and was gone. But when Harry looked up, he could see the figure still moving on the jumbotrons, as the crowd ooed and awed, despite nothing exciting happening yet.
After about a minute, Viktor hit a fork in the maze, and Bagman blew his whistle once more, and Draco stumbled forward as Harry whispered, “Left.” in his ear, as Viktor had taken the right path. One more tense minute passed, and he watched his friend turn left, just as he’d asked, before Bagman blew the whistle for his signal and he stepped forwards.
“Good luck, Harry.” He heard Hagrid say as he passed his side quickly in his patrol and Harry nodded firmly before hurrying off through the entrance.
The hedges appeared to be ten times larger than twenty feet when you were standing under them, and that realization came painfully too soon for Harry, but there was nothing he could do now, he just had to go on. And the isolation that came with the silence that had surrounded him the moment he stepped in--the sounds of the crowd gone in a second--solidified that for him, as he raised his wand up above his head so it would offer better light and muttered, “Lumos.”
A minute of walking, trying his best not to shiver at the cold quiet and creepiness, Harry reached the fork, and didn’t hesitate before turning left. At the same time, predictably, Bagman’s whistle sounded, the only thing he could hear that caused him to startle before speeding up. Fleur had entered the maze.
Everything in this path was deserted, no challenges, no excitement, and when he reached a turn he broke into a sprint because he realized he had no clue how far along Draco could have been. He needed to catch up to him quickly.
Another blow of a whistle made Harry wince. Everyone was in the maze now. He had to find Draco.
And so, despite it making no sense, he started looking behind him. All around him. Stumbling along the path as he searched for blonde hair and green robes. But he couldn’t find him. No sign of him at all. He eventually slowed to a stop, gripping the hedges and panting for air after his sprint, and holding his wand flat in his palm, whispering, “Point Me.”
The wand spun around once and pointed towards his right, into the same hedge he was leaned against. That way was north, and he knew that he needed to go northwest for the center of the maze. But he also knew he needed to find Draco, who also knew the spell and would no doubt be on his path to the cup anyway. He’d have to continue and hope for the best.
More endless treks of not a single obstacle at all, which was really unnerving him, because the last thing he needed was to be caught of guard at midnight in a creepy maze, when he heard a rustling of hedge branches, and turned to see Fleur fall flat on the ground before struggling to lift herself to her feet, several burns running up her arms and legs and face.
“Harry!” She gasped, running towards him. “They were… I’m not sure what they were… But they were enormous! Like fire breathing beetles!” Harry cocked his head, checked the burns briefly then sighed and shook his head, groaning, “Hagrid…”
“Hm?”
“Don’t worry about it.” He sighed, rubbing his knees. “You nearly gave me a heart attack. Nothing has happened on my path, and it’s seriously freaking me out.” Fleur frowned, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder. “You are lucky. I took one turn and was already caught in a fight. Tessie too, but we got separated, unfortunately.” But she didn’t seem all too convinced in the ‘unfortunately.’
But Harry shook his head, instead pointed down the path. “The cup’s this way.” He said and turned a corner, Fleur at his side. Several turns followed of not a single challenge, to which Fleur had been grateful as she started casting small spells to nurse her burns and calling him her, “lucky token” while he kept recasting the Four-Point Spell to try and figure out why they were hitting so many dead ends.
Eventually one of their turns led them to a strange golden mist, and the two stopped walking abruptly, Harry pointing his wand beam down at it while Fleur stepped towards it and squinted.
"It seems to be some sort of enchantment." She said, raising a hand before Harry stopped her by yelling, "Don't touch it! We don't know what it does!" The blonde tossed her head back to glare at him. "Relax. I was only going to fix it." She explained, showing him the wand in her hand and making him blush in embarrassment. "Oh… right…"
She mumbled something in French then pointed her wand into the mist, but the spell shot right through it, and it seemed nothing had happened. She tried a couple more spells before stepping back, folding her arms tight.
"Well we certainly are stuck."
Harry was seriously debating responding to her with a smart quip when an ear splitting scream cut through the night, distinctly feminine, and then a shout of, “TESS!” which was distinctly,
“Draco.”
And without a second thought he had taken a deep breath and bolted through the mist, leaving Fleur behind calling his name. Almost instantly, the whole world flipped, so he was hanging from the ground, with his hair on end, his glasses dangling off his nose, threatening to fall into the bottomless sky, which stretched out below him like a beautiful curtain of deep navy. Gasping, he held his glasses tight to his face and gulped, suddenly very aware of the fact that he was shaking.
So much for being a “lucky token”, he’d finally hit his first obstacle. But he had to stay calm, because when he closed his eyes to pretend he was back in the warm common room he could only see a pale face and hair, and remember his friend in danger. So he opened his eyes, clenched his jaw and thought. But not a single spell in the books he’d studied told him how to reverse gravity.
He’d have to move his foot, and fall, and take the hit, because the only other option was sending up red sparks so he could get rescued and disqualified. Which wouldn’t be much of a help to Draco, or the friends he’d promised to try to win the Tournament to.
Closing his eyes, Harry lifted his foot as hard as he could, and, abruptly, the world spun and the world righted itself so he’d fall forward onto his knees and clasp a hand to his mouth, still seeing stars, but not from the sky. He quickly regained his footing however, and searched the paths around him for any sign of Draco, and the skies for signs of red sparks.
There were none, so he hoped that was a good sign, though a silent, awful voice told him that maybe he couldn’t cry for help, which he ignored promptly, instead stumbling forwards towards the right. He sprinted again once the pounding in his head was soft enough, and kept running into dead ends before finally taking the right turn, literally and figuratively, and continuing on a plain path, slowing to a walk with the light from his wand shining bright in front of him, shadows dancing on the hedges of himself.
He stopped abruptly at the sound of a battle cry, which was notably getting louder--and closer--but didn’t have more than a few seconds to think much of it before the body of a Blast-Ended Skrewt was sent flying straight through the hedges beside him, leaving behind a burning wide hole. He peeked through it before the hedges could fully grow back and felt his heart jump into his throat as he saw a familiar blonde standing there, wand still raised and slightly smoky.
“Draco!” “Harry!” But their eyes locked for only a moment before the hedges fully grew back and he disappeared once more. In an instant he started running down the path, craning his eyes and hearing the sound of Draco’s footsteps running as well in the path parallel. When Harry had emerged from his path he realized the two of them were inside a fork, and when he turned he saw the panting, sweating, beat up and slightly singed form of Draco Malfoy, beaming at the sight of his friend. He grinned back, and the two hugged without a second thought.
But they separated quickly, of course, both because of awkwardness and the realization that there were probes in the hedges and they were being filmed, but also they were still in a Task. They had to be alert.
“What happened? Why did Tess scream?” Harry asked and Draco went slightly more pale than normal, swallowing hard. “The hedges started to close in on us. She was being dragged in by some vines. They looked like Devil’s Snare, but light, even fire, did nothing to it.” Harry nodded solemnly, then gestured to the path before them. “Well, there’s no getting her back now. I just left Fleur behind as well to find you. They can handle themselves. We have to move.” Draco nodded, but remained stiff as a board as Harry tugged at his arm.
“What is it?”
“I don’t know this just… This doesn’t feel right. The lack of challenges… A hedge closing in on you? And vines no spell can combat? That doesn’t seem fair, does it?” “No.” Harry said, shaking his head and clenching his fists as he realized what the boy was getting at. “It doesn’t.” He leaned in, so he was speaking in barely a whisper and the probes wouldn’t hear, and said, “But it can’t be Crouch Jr. He’s on camera. He’d be caught.” Draco frowned, but nodded as his friend stepped forward, willing to put aside his worries for now, at least.
“I suppose you're right.”
The two continued on, running into another skrewt that Draco disposed of easily, newly developed Care of Magical Creatures skills shining through. Then they met what they thought was a deadend but Harry deduced the transfiguring to be faulty and revealed it to just be a pot with a smaller hedge sculpture in it. It felt solemn, walking together. No footsteps were heard other than their own, or any sort of movement at all, and Harry got a sense of great isolation, his confidence in Tess and Fleur being safe shrinking every second.
Eventually they reached another fork, and Harry had a feeling they were almost to the cup when they did. “Left?” The two boys said at the same time, eyes meeting with a serious nod and then they continued on, Harry recasting the Four-Point Spell to make sure they were going the right way.
“Harry…” They had been walking for a while now, but the Gryffindor, who had been eyeing their darkening surroundings before, turned towards his friend in surprise when he suddenly spoke up. “Yes?” “What is that?”
He looked ahead, and came to a stop abruptly, Draco doing so as well. The beams of light from their wands had fallen on the body of a large creature they had only ever seen in drawings from their books for Care of Magical Creatures. Its body looked to be that of an overly large lion, with a head of a woman, and it was pacing back and forth along their path, not to strike, but simply to block them. It was a sphinx.
“You are very near to your goal. The quickest way is past me.” She spoke in a slow, low voice, which Harry knew he had no time for as he stepped forward and ordered sternly, “So will you move, please?” And Draco flinched, but the sphinx showed no reaction to the rudeness, only stating a simple, “No” and continuing to pace. “Of course…”
“Not unless you can answer my riddle. Answer on your first guess - I let you pass. Answer wrongly - I attack. Remain silent - I will let you walk away from me unscathed.” Harry’s stomach did flips and he stepped back, letting Draco step forward. He had to admit that, while in times like this he would have longed for Hermione, the Slytherin was second in the class and much better with situations like this than he. The sphinx, upon seeing this however, merely let out a low, gravelly chuckle, shaking the boys to their cores.
“Oh no, you will be getting separate riddles. It would be unfair to let you both pass for the other's intelligence. You, brave Gryffindor. Come forth, please.” Draco tossed his head back to give Harry an apology glance but the boy waved him off, instead clenching his fists and stepping up to the sphinx, eyes narrowed and chin high.
“Okay. Can I hear the riddle?” She nodded, sat down upon her hind legs, and recited:
“First think of the person who lives in disguise,
Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.
Next, tell me what’s always the last thing to mend,
The middle of middle and the end of the end?
And finally give me a sound often heard,
During the search for a hard-to-find word.
Now string them together, and answer me this,
Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?”
Harry felt his jaw drop and eyes widened, as he turned back to see Draco tap his chin as he thought about it, catching his eye briefly to which the blonde shrugged, clearly as perplexed as he. He turned back to the sphinx and forced a crooked grin in her direction. “Could I have it again… more slowly?” He asked tentatively, to which the sphinx blinked, smiled, and repeated the whole thing.
Once she’d finished, Harry bit his lip, clasped his hands together, and began to pace.
“All the clues add up to a creature I wouldn’t want to kiss?” He asked her, and she bowed her head and smiled that mysterious smile of hers again, which he thought--and hoped--meant yes. He tried to think of any animal he would want to kiss, and ended up thinking of plenty, but not one that made sense to all those hints.
“A person in disguise…” Harry found himself muttering, and he kept glancing at her for any reaction with what he sputtered. “Who lies… er… that’d be a-an imposter. No, that’s not my guess!” His mind went to Crouch Jr, imposing as Mad-Eye Moody and poking around for information. Becoming topman and top spy for Voldemort. “A-a spy?” He glanced back at Draco, who smirked at him, and took that as a yes as well.
“I’ll come back to that… could you give me the next clue again, please?”
She repeated the next lines of the poem.
“‘The last thing to mend,’” Harry repeated. “Er… no idea.” He bit his lip, pacing for a few minutes before asking for the last bit again and skipping the ‘middle of middle.’ “‘The sound often heard during the search for a hard-to-find-word,’” said Harry. “Er… that’s be… er… hang on! Er! Er’s a sound!
The sphinx smiled, and he turned around to see Draco beaming, giving two thumbs up. He grinned himself, facing the sphinx again proudly.
“Spy and er. A creature I wouldn’t want to kiss is a spider!” The smile on the sphinx’s face turned to a grin as she stood up, stretched out her legs, as a cat would often do after sitting for a long time, and then moved aside for him to pass. “Thanks!” Harry exclaimed, bolting forward and slowing to a stop as she sat down again, turning around and listening to Draco’s riddle.
“Oh cunning Slytherin, step forth. Here is your riddle:” Draco stepped forward to listen and stood resolutely as she opened her mouth to speak.
“The first consonant in my name can make for a way to mask a troublesome sound,
So you don’t get caught by unwanted ears.
The first vowel is a word,
Which no one can call you.
I am something you own,
But to keep can become difficult quicker than obtaining me.
I can be anyone or anything,
As long as your heart will let me,
But the world may have a say.
What am I?”
Harry was stumped, and didn’t really want to try to work his already tired brain more so instead waited and listened to the sound of Draco’s pacing.
“Can mask a troublesome sound… What are the consonants? ‘B’, ‘c’, ‘d’, ‘f’, ‘g’, ‘h--’F’? Eff? Effing?” He thought about it and yes, it did make sense. Effing masked the troublesome sound of swearing, and was a letter. “I’ll come back to that. Now the vowel… ‘A’, ‘e’, ‘i’--I! No one can call me that, because they’re not me! So the first letter is ‘f’ and the first vowel is ‘i.’ But what do the other hints mean…?”
He asked for her to repeat them, and he began to pace in a circle, hands pressed together to his lips. As he walked, ideas popping into his head, he focused on one in particular and thought of what it had meant to him that year. He had certainly had to put in the work to keep one, and he supposed he’d found it in unlikely things and places, because his heart had led him to, and the world did indeed try to have their say in protest of whom he chose to be his…
“A friend.” Draco answered, chin high and grin on his lips as he faced the sphinx who now smiled broadly as well. “The answer is a friend.”
And as she stood to let him pass as well, he saw his hard to keep friend Harry Potter waiting on the other side, and let himself smile at him too, running forward and embracing him tight, a few moments longer than the first time, but then let him go and nodded down the path.
“Let’s go win this thing.” He said and Harry nodded, and the two held each other's hands as they dashed forward down the path. “Point Me!” Harry yelled to his wand when they met a crossroads, and ran to the right-hand one, and the two boys gaped at the sight of a gleaming light up ahead. There was the Triwizard Cup, sitting proudly on a plinth a hundred yards away, a dark figure circling it, another lying on the ground.
The boys slowed to a stop and raised their wand beams, Harry’s falling on the bleeding body of Krum, whose face was scared and was clutching a wound in his side, and Draco’s caught Tess Whitlock standing over him, face distant and bloodied as well, but the two sensed it was not her own. She caught sight of them, spun around, pointed her wand forward and screamed, “CRUCIO!” to which both boys ducked out of the way, yelling, “Stupefy!”
“What’s wrong with her?” Harry yelled as he ran to Krum, and Draco continued to try and fire spells while putting up shields wordlessly, just as a Death Eater had taught him. Viktor merely shook his head, attempting to sit up and wincing, swearing in Bulgarian before turning to Harry to say, “Fleur shot up red sparks a while ago, I suppose from her. I do not think it’s… her Harry. Anya said Hugo was under the--” “Imperius curse.” Harry finished, helping the Durmstrang champion to his feet and slinging one arm around his shoulders. “I know.”
“Watch out!” Draco yelled before screaming “STUPEFY!” at a spider that was inches away from eating their heads off before Harry pulled himself and Viktor out of the way. He yelled, “Stupefy!” at it in return while Draco yelled, “Impedimenta!” But any spell did nothing but aggravate it as Tess continued to try to hurt Draco.
“Why isn’t she going after the cup?” Viktor wondered aloud but his question fell on no one's ears as the boys were too preoccupied with killing a spider and beating a girl being controlled by a Death Eater--not that they could let anyone know they knew that. Harry had to drop Viktor to the ground lightning fast as the spider sprung at them, and the next moment he was hitting the ground as well, eight eyes, hairy legs, and huge pincers right up in his face. He attempted to kick it off him, bringing his leg up only to meet its mouth and he let out a howl of pain as pincers met flesh, and Viktor bellowed Confringo, the blasting curse at it, which flew it off of Harry but the boy had already been lifted into the air by the spider’s pincers, and now fell twelve feet to a hard collision with injured leg to ground as he crumpled to his knees.
Meanwhile, Draco was struggling to avoid Tess’ blows and one hard aimed Flipendo sent him spiraling into the air and slammed him against one of the hedges. She raised her wand for another Crucio, but Krum saved them again, yelling “Sumnuso!” And while the fourth years didn’t know what that did, it did seem to work as it caused Tess to fall backwards and hit the ground hard, eyes closed like it had knocked her unconscious.
That still left the spider, and as Draco struggled to his feet, wobbling a bit, it sprung into the air and its underbelly was revealed as both Viktor and Harry’s “Stupefy!” made contact with it. And, with the weak spot hit with two spells, it fell backwards, keeling over and freezing.
There was a silence as everyone paused for breath, before Draco and Viktor went to Harry’s side and helped him up. “Can you walk?” Viktor asked Harry who tried to take a step back but fell back against Draco, wincing. “Not yet.” He admitted and Draco slung one of his arms around his shoulders, then all three turned to face the gleaming cup, its light falling onto their faces.
“You take it.” The three said at once, glancing at each other. “You saved my life.” Viktor nodded to the younger ones, while they shook their heads. “We would have died ‘saving’ it if not for you.” Draco said, while Harry, ever the one to never take credit, said, “That spider wouldn’t have stopped at just my leg, and I hardly deserve it. I didn’t meet any resistance that I beat in this maze. One of you should take it.” Though he had to admit even saying it felt awful, as all the dreams he’d had in secret of raising that cup above his head to the sounds of cheering, and the proud grin on Cho and Draco’s faces got crushed by his own words.
“No.” Draco shook his head. “I don’t need the glory, or money. I have enough of that. Harry or Viktor, you take it.” But Krum shook his head too, saying, “Karkaroff has tried his hardest to make his Champions play dirty. I won’t succumb. I won’t win for his own selfish pride. I gained enough in this Tournament. I gained wisdom and knowledge, I gained a lovely girlfriend. I gained you two.” He nodded at the younger boys, who turned pink with embarrassment. “That’s all I need.”
The three were silent then, knowing they’d never make a decision, but then Harry picked up Viktor’s arm and slung it over his own shoulders, holding onto their waists on either side of him, and pushing the three of them forward. Slowly, the remaining Champions stumbled up the plinth to the Cup, then raised their hands to it.
“On three, okay? One…”
“Two…” Draco said.
“Three.” Krum finished and the three hands sprung forward and made contact with the cup all at once, and all at once the three felt a jerk of the ground, lifted them up and not allowing them to let go of the cup, which pulled them onwards in wild whirl of color, a tangled mess of dark hair, and gelled blonde hair, on either side of him, telling him Viktor and Draco were with him as they journeyed through the air.
Finally, they stopped and slammed against the ground, Harry dropping on his injured leg and buckling over, the other two falling as well but standing quickly.
“Where are we?” Draco was the first to ask, crinkling his nose at the damp and dank surroundings of what looked to be a graveyard, with countless numbers of gravestones dotting their surroundings. Krum shook his head, indicating he hadn’t the faintest idea, and the two helped Harry to his feet, looking around. Harry saw the small outline of a church beyond a large yew tree to their right. He squinted and could just make out a house on a hill rising above them. Viktor glanced over at the cup, then at the other two and declared, “I believe it’s a Portkey.” to which Draco’s face was the most exasperated level of sass Harry had seen in weeks.
“Obviously… but where to? And why?” He double taked at Harry, asking, “This isn’t common knowledge that the Triwizard Cup is a Portkey, right?” To which Harry shook his head, and stumbled forwards to a larger gravestone with a sculpture on top. He was getting creeped out by this place, but not only filled with dread but a strange sense of… deja vu, as well.
“Is this a part of the Task?” Viktor asked and Draco, remembering all too suddenly the presence of a Death Eater at Hogwarts, shook his head. “No. No, I don’t think it is. I’m sure it’s not. Right, Harry?” But the Gryffindor, who had leaned against the sculpture for support and was now reading the writing beneath it, had turned deathly pale.
“Harry?” Draco asked, hand raised in worry as Harry turned his head from the marble headstone, eyes wide as saucers. “What is it?”
“Grab the cup.” He said. “Leave, now.” He practically ordered, but Draco didn’t move, instead grabbing his arm. “What is it?” “This graveyard…” Harry shook his head, eyes on the house on the hill now. When he glanced back at Draco, there was an undeniable look of dread in his tired eyes. “It’s the one from my dream.”
“Er… Harry? Little Blondie? Sorry I forgot your name… But who is that?”
Harry winced, clutching his forehead as a sharp pain shot through his body and Draco’s eyes fell on a small figure making their way up to them through the rows of headstones. The two boys met eyes for a moment before disaster, a worried, terrified look of fear, before Harry whispered, “Voldemort’s here.”
“You have to get out of here.” Harry repeated as he stood straight and turned to face the small figure, Viktor stepping forward to stand beside them. “We aren’t leaving, Harry.” Draco protested but the Gryffindor shook his head. “No… you have to… this isn't your fight.” “We’ve stayed this long, haven’t we?” Viktor pointed out, pulling out his wand resolutely. “We won’t leave you, Hermy-own-ninny’s friend.” Harry forced himself to smile in thanks.
The three watched as the figure drew closer, and the way he walked showed he was carrying something. He was clearly short, with a hooded cloak that obscured his face, and as he drew closer, it was clear that the bundle in his arms was a baby. It stopped abruptly a few, maybe six feet away from them, and there was a long, tense moment where the three Champions only looked at the person. Then, without warning, Harry’s head was in searing pain once more, worse than before, far worse. It was an agony he’d never felt before in all his life, causing his wand to slip from his fingers as he held onto his face. His knees buckled. He was on the ground and he could see nothing at all, and his head felt as if it were about to split open.
Far away, above his head, he heard that familiar high, cold voice say, “Kill the spare.”
A swishing sound. A second voice, which screeched the words through to the night; “Avada Kedavra!”
That all too familiar green light blazed through Harry’s eyelids, and he could hear Draco’s howl of anguish and something heavy fall to the ground beside them, and all at once the pain in his scar faded, and he opened his eyes to see, to his horror, a sight that would remain embedded into his memory forever.
There Viktor Krum lay, sprawled on the grass, arms out, eyes wide open, surely, purely, dead.