For those who have been asking, I will eventually be posting the fourth year of my Blood Series. Just be patient. I don't want to start posting and then stop for another long period of time like I did with Blood's Sacrifice.

This story is set back in the timeline of The Mummy Returns, so here's a basic rundown of the Harry Potter timeline in relation to this chapter.
1922: Harry Potter is born to Lily and James Potter.
1923: Harry is a year old and his parents are murdered by Voldemort.
1927: Harry is five and goes to Egypt with his distasteful relatives and becomes Kedar.
1933: Harry turns eleven and starts Hogwarts.
1936: Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts, current year.

ShadeDancer

Disclaimer: Not even in my dreams do I own Harry Potter…believe me, I've tried, but the thought of lawsuits deters all such dreams. I also don't own anything recognizable from either the Mummy or the Mummy Returns.

Chapter 25: Third Task

Whispers surrounded Kedar the next day as he escorted Amisi to the entrance of the Quidditch Pitch; it was as far as he was allowed to go until the task began. A few of the whispers were about Amisis, but most of the gossip now was about his chances in the final task. Few had expected him to make it this far, much less with a first place lead.

"I should probably start to head in." Amisi spoke reluctantly, she had missed Kedar greatly and wasn't ready to give up any time she could be spending with him. "Everyone is already taking their seats and you'll be needed soon."

Kedar nodded and looked to see if any of the others had lingered to wait for Amisi, but it appeared they had all gone in an attempt to give them some privacy.

"Will you be alright to find the others?"

Amisi nodded. "I'll be fine. Besides, Ardeth kept me practicing should anyone attempt to bother me."

Kedar couldn't help but laugh. He had started teaching Amisi to weild a knife about two years ago and though she had protested that it wasn't for women she had continued the lessons with Ardeth when he had left for school.

"Then I'll not worry. I'll see you when the task is done."

"Kedar, there you are." It was Hermione. "You're expected at the tent. I'll show Amisi in to her seat since I'm heading in now too."

Kedar knew what Hermione was up to but there wasn't much he could do about it since he couldn't prevent her from walking with Amisi. Besides, he knew Amisi could hold her own and would possibly give Hermione something to think about. Leaning down slightly Kedar pressed a kiss to Amisi's forehead and gave her an apologetic look.

"Until later, nuur il-'en." Kedar told her only to be surprised as she suddenly stood on tiptoe to brush a fleeting kiss across his lips. (Light of my eyes.)

"For luck." She whispered, blushing, before taking off with Hermione.

… … … … …

Amisi could tell there was something weighing on the mind of the girl who was accompanying her to her seat, but she stayed quiet and waited for the other girl to gain the courage to speak. It didn't take as long as she had thought.

"Have you and Kedar been betrothed long?" It wasn't quite the question Amisi had been expecting—she had expected something a bit less personal or perhaps a comment on the single tattoo on her cheek considering the girl kept glancing at it. "It's just that he never mentioned anything before and…"

"Since I was seven and he nine." Amisi answered, looking around for her father or the other chieftains, then she threw a suspicious glance at the older girl. "Is there a problem with that? You are not…you are not interested in Kedar, are you?"

Hermione drew up short. "No! He's my friend. I would never—I just don't understand how you can accept being tied to someone you don't love because someone else decided you'd make a good match."

Amisi's eyes grew hard, all traces of shy respect gone as she faced down Hermione. "Who are you to say that I do not love Kedar? Yes, Kedar is a 'good match' for me. We are near of the same age and he is a respected warrior of our people. Being Kedar's match will also raise my standing and it was something my father considered before petitioning for the union, but the decision was still mine to make. Kedar and I spent much time getting to know each other before we formally announced our betrothal. I gave Kedar my heart that day. I will look at no other."

Hermione's jaw dropped. She hadn't expected to find such a fire in the desert girl. Everything she had ever read about betrothed women placed them as meek, demure creatures that followed their husband's every word as if it were law.

"What if he does not love you?" The question was weakly asked and Hermione knew it.

Amisi's eyes softened as she gazed at Hermione with a wisdom far beyond her years. "You fear that there will be no love between us and Kedar will be unhappy. I know Kedar does not love me as much as I do him—I loved him long before it was suggested we marry—but Kedar would not have agreed to the betrothal if he did not feel something for me. It is not in his nature. Kedar is too honorable for such a deception."

"You're really that sure about Kedar, aren't you?" Hermione asked in wonder, all her arguments shot in the face of Amisi's fervor. "You really agree with being betrothed to him even though you're both so young."

Amisi shook her head in exasperation. "You question things too much when you should just accept. I am now sure Kedar already explained this to you and you did not believe him."

Hermione had the grace to look sheepish and Amisi turned away to give her the chance to compose herself.

"By Allah, there they are." Amisi spotted Ardeth through the crowd, sitting in a marked off section for guests of the champions. "I did not think I would ever find them in this large group. There are so many people shoved into this small building. It is nothing like the open desert."

Hermione laughed, glad Amisi didn't seem to hold anything of their conversation against her. "There normally aren't that many people here. Most of them have just come to watch the tournament, it's an open event meant to encourage unity among our different countries."

Amisi shrugged lightly, she had only come because it was a chance to not only see Kedar's school but to see him compete against other magical warriors. "I must get back to my father and the chieftains. Perhaps I shall get to speak with you again when the competition is over?"

Hermione smiled. "I'd like that. And next time I promise not to bring up the betrothal."

Amisi smiled too. "I'd like that. Perhaps next time you will tell me more about your people and customs?"

"Deal."

… … … … …

Kedar stood with the others, waiting. They had already been given their instructions for the task and merely waited for the signal to enter the maze. He and Viktor would be the first two allowed in, both of them given the choice of two paths leading into the maze. From this point there was no way to say if one path was better than the other, Kedar highly doubted either would be easy in any case, and he wasn't sure if it would be wise for them both to take the same path.

"Know which path you will take?" Viktor voiced the question running through Kedar's head.

"Not a clue." Kedar studied the two paths again; both lead off into a misty darkness. "It's luck of the draw. Taking the same path could be smart, but it's more likely that we'll slow each other down by trying to play the other against any obstacles. Flip for it?"

Viktor shrugged. "It's as good a way as I can see. We'll let Luck direct us. You flip and if it lands on heads you will go right and if it is tails I will."

They shook on it, Cedric watching in amusement and Fleur with faint disgust at them having such a cavalier attitude towards the final task. Transfiguring a coin from a blade of grass, Kedar sent it spinning in the air. End over end it flipped but Kedar didn't try and catch it, instead letting it land in the grass so no one could say he influenced the outcome. It landed on heads.

"It looks like I take the right." Kedar said, shaking Viktor's hand again. "Good luck to you in there; and to you as well Cedric, Fleur."

Viktor grunted. "You too. If we don't cross paths inside the maze then I'll see you at the end."

Kedar bowed his head slightly. "Inshallah." (If Allah wishes)

Then the whistle blew and they parted ways, Kedar ducking into the right-side path and expecting an immediate attack. No danger awaited him despite the fact that it would have been a perfect ambush spot at that first blind corner. Instead the long walls of the maze stretched before Kedar as walked along warily. This path seemed straightforward—a little too straightforward—with no apparent turns or openings until the end. It smelled like a trap. Shrugging because it wasn't like he could go back now, Kedar continued forward, senses straining for any hint of the promised obstacles.

The passage was surprisingly clear until Kedar came upon a point where a wall of thick mist suddenly rose up to block his way a few feet in front of him. Critically Kedar studied the opaque mist. It could be hiding a trap, a creature, a spell, or it could be a spell in and of itself. Reaching down but never taking his eyes from the mist, Kedar scooped up some rocks from the ground and flung them in an arc through the mist. They didn't hit anything that he could hear and there was no magical surge of a spell, but Kedar noticed that one of the rocks seemed to rise upwards as it hit the mist before momentum pulled it through beyond his sight. Perhaps something as simple as a reverse gravity field?

The whistle blew again from behind him, signaling his head start was at an end, and Kedar decided to plunge in. The worse that could happen was that he was wrong and ended up fighting off one of Hagrid's creatures or shielding from a spell. Immediately Kedar found himself flipped upside down. Grinning Kedar felt out to either side of the hedges that formed the walls of the maze. If there were to be any hidden openings along this stretch it would be in here because you wouldn't be able to see them and most people would only be thinking of getting out of the mist and right-side up again. His right hand found the hedge, but his left encountered only open space.

Kedar found himself upright on his feet again as he passed through the hidden opening. This time it wasn't a passage way but a warm hedge chamber leading to three separate paths. There were also guards. All across the ground except for the area where he stood, which seemed to be a sort of safety zone, were snakes blocking the way. It would be simple to cast a freezing charm on the snakes but that ran the risk of killing the beautiful creatures and Kedar had a better way at his disposal.

"Greetings." He hissed, startling the snakes who had been eyeing him warily as they held themselves ready to attack.

"You speak. You speak." The air filled with hisses as the snakes grew excited.

Kedar bowed slightly, deciding courtesy would not be amiss. "Yes I speak. It is a noble language that I have been gifted."

The snakes started hissing in wordless agitation. A large snake, previously hidden under a section of the hedge, uncoiled itself and slithered forward while tasting the air with her tongue. The smaller snakes scattered.

"You are a polite speaker. Your words taste true. This is not Him."

The smaller snakes calmed at their mother's words, moving cautiously forward to taste the air about him while a few brave ones even twined around his legs. All the while the large snake stared at Kedar.

"I am Kedar." Kedar broke the silence. "I am participating in this quest that requires getting through these hedges to the center of the maze. Will you allow me passage? I do not wish to use magic against you and will go another way if you cannot allow me to pass unmolested."

The large snake—Kedar was estimating she was at least eight or nine feet long and about a foot around—gave the snake equivalent of a shrug. "It matters not to us. We stay here because this nest is warm. We would only have attacked had you stepped through our nest unasked."

"Thank you." Kedar said sincerely before studying his options: left, right, or straight.

"We will go this way. This path does not come back here." The snake headed to the opening on the right. "You may name me Eshe."

"We?" Kedar asked.

Eshe flicked her tongue. "My mate will remain with the children. He comes now. I will hunt with you."

Amused Kedar followed Eshe out of her nest, casting the occasional point-me spell for bearing.

Posted On: November 5, 2008