"Well, are you two ready?" Frisk asked as they sat down for breakfast.

"Can anyone actually be ready for exams?" Asriel asked, more groggy than usual, "I never had anything like this in the underground."

"Maybe Hermione. I'm not sure how she does it with all the other stuff she does. I don't know about the rest of us," Chara responded. She felt about as awake as Asriel sounded, searching for anything that didn't actually take preparation to eat.

Frisk looked up from her orange juice to appraise them. "How late did you two stay up studying last night?" she asked. It wasn't quite an accusation, but maybe it should have been.

"Don't know, don't want to know," Asriel muttered. "What do we have today, anyway?"

"History of Magic in the morning, then the Defense practical," Chara told him. "How about you, Frisk?"

"Potions all day," Frisk said, "The practical in the morning, then the written this afternoon."

The bell came, and they parted ways, Chara and her brother headed up the stairwell, and Frisk headed down into the dungeon.

If the truth was to be told, the test for History of Magic was slightly less boring than an actual History of Magic class. There was more than a fair share of multiple guess and fill in the blank. Chara wasn't sure she got the right Goblin rebel; Ripflank tended to run together with Gripshank, but at least she'd correctly identified the inventor of the self-stirring cauldron. Then there were the essays, where Chara was pretty sure some of what she'd written about the Magical Withdrawal From Muggle Society had been made up on the spot, but it had made sense in her head.

When they were told to put down their quills, they silently fled the room, and commenced complaining about the test with the rest of their classmates. Then it was back up to Gryffindor tower, where they had time to study before lunch and their next exam. That's what Asriel was doing, anyway, but Chara elected to take the opportunity to nap instead.

After lunch, they headed down toward Mad-Eye Moody's classroom. A few people were already sitting in the hall, as the door was closed. Posted on the door was a randomized list of the students names. And at the top of the list was... "Me?" Chara said, staring at the piece of paper. "Me?" she repeated.

Asriel went over to Chara's other side to confirm it. "Looks that way. Someone has to be, don't they? At least you'll get it over with, I seem to be near the other end," Asriel said, sitting down next to Dennis Creevey.

Chara felt her stomach squirm, much like if she'd just been elected to test her antidote in front of Professor Snape. But there wasn't anything she could do about it. She was running through the jinxes and charms that Professor Moody had taught them when Mad-Eye himself thumped his way through the now assembled class in the hallway. He looked at the group, then nodded to Chara. "Right, come with me." He thumped past her, opened his classroom door, and led her in, closing the door behind her.

The room had been mostly cleared, with the student's desks all pushed off to the sides of the room, leaving a large open space in the center. On the edge of the room, near Moody's desk, there was a wooden 'dummy' of about her height. It was propped on a stand, dressed in black robes, and 'wielding' what appeared to be a fake wand in one of its hands.

Mad-Eye thumped his way to his own desk, still in its normal position, and sat down in his chair. "Take out your wand, and let's see the Tickling Charm," he said with out preamble, pointing at the dummy to his right.

That was, technically, a second year charm, but she'd been practicing it. "Rictusempra!" she said, pointing at Moody's target. A beam of yellow light emerged from her wand, striking it. Moody nodded to himself, and began to bark rapid fire questions at Chara. He started with the Unforgivable Curses, like where to watch for someone being controlled. He interrupted his questioning to ask her to perform the knockback jinx. It took a moment for her brain to process what it had been asked, then called out "Flipendo!" It took her three tries before the spell was cast properly, but she did manage it.

Moody made a note on a piece of paper, then began to ask about minor dark creatures they might run into. Chara had already had the 'opportunity' to see a boggart herself, kind of. But this time, Moody interrupted himself with a sudden "Expelliarmus!". Chara was caught flatfooted and struck. She staggered backward. Her wand went flying out of her grip, and clattered on the professor's desk.

Chara blinked down at her wand, not quite realizing what happened.

"What have I always said, Ms. Chara?" he asked. "Constant vigilance!" he exclaimed. "You never know when an attack might come." Then he gave her a smirk. "Though I suppose you've never been attacked in an exam before. Let us continue," he told her, and continued to ask about some of the other charms, defensive and otherwise he'd taught her.

At the end, he considered his note sheet. "Full marks, I think, Ms. Chara. You had the honor of going first, and thus received no warning of what the exam might be like. I expect you to change that for the rest of them, and that's fine."

Chara looked at Mad-Eye Moody in confusion, "Why would I want to do that? Isn't this supposed to be a fair test? I wouldn't cheat like that."

Moody barked a laugh. "Please, all the houses are the same at exam time. It's the students against the professors. I remember how it works, people telling others what was on the test in other houses, or in previous years. It's fine.

"I'm not above consequences," Chara said, "I mean it."

A wide smile suddenly split Moody's face, accompanied by a gleam in his normal eye. "No, I suppose you're not. That sounds so familiar, somehow."

Did it? It suddenly felt familiar to Chara, too, and she couldn't place it.

"Don't worry, Ms. Chara," Moody told her, still smiling. "Just tell them this exam requires constant vigilance. If I'm asking you to do it, it's not cheating. Go ahead, and tell Michael he's next."

There was something about all of this that felt like it should mean something to her, but what it might be was just out of reach. She headed out of the room to call in the next victim, and give them all the professor's warning.


Exams were finally over, and Chara couldn't have been more thankful. They'd had Charms, and though Asriel reported top marks. "I never can quite get the dancing feet charm right." Chara sighed. "I knew he was going to ask it, too! It's the hardest thing we've been asked to do all year. We practiced it in the common room this morning, and I still couldn't get it right. I think I performed everything else correctly."

"I remember, Chara. We woke up this morning, went down our charms lists, and we were both convinced he was going to ask that. But we can't be perfect at everything," Asriel told her as they headed into the great hall for dinner. "My matchbox in Transfiguration was still squeaking, and we've been practicing that all month. Uh, who's that with Ginny? Her parents? What are they doing here?" he asked.

"You didn't notice at lunch? The last task is tonight," Chara said. She looked around for a moment. "I imagine that they're here to support Harry. Look, I'll bet that's Cedric's parents over at the Hufflepuff table. You've heard that Harry's adoptive parents are magic hating muggles, right?"

"Oh," Asriel said. "Right." They sat down next to Frisk. "That's supposed to be in the hedge maze on the quidditch pitch, right?" Asriel asked. "Which reminds me," he looked over to the challenge shields. "Hey, look! I think we did it!"

Chara looked over to see some older Ravenclaw and Beauxbaton students at the challenge board, displaying the last piece of the Beauxbaton shield. A roar of triumph filled the entire Great Hall. Dumbledore rose to his feat to acknowledge the accomplishment. "A congratulations is in order, students of Hogwarts, Durmstrang, and Beauxbaton. It was not an easy challenge that was set before you, but you have mastered it! I am sure you are anxious to discuss your reward; but that will come at the end of term feast. But know that I am proud of all of you who had a hand in working together. Tonight, however, must belong to our champions, and the task that will come at the end of dinner. So, students and guests, tuck in."

It wasn't properly a feast, but there did seem to be more food that normal. Between mouthfuls, Chara glanced up to the staff table. "That's the minister, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yes," Frisk said quietly.

"Frisk?" Chara asked, "Are you feeling alright? You've been distant all day. Was Herbology that bad? You weren't being tested on golden flowers were you?" That earned Chara a poke in the side from Asriel.

"No," Frisk said, still quietly. She looked down at her plate to avoid looking at Chara directly "I haven't felt well since this morning, it might have been something I ate last night." Frisk rubbed at her eyes, causing them to look red and puffy. "I've been trying not to throw up all day."

"Did you have to say that?" Walter Wilcox complained to her other side. "During dinner?"

"Sorry," whispered Frisk.

"So am I," said Walter, eyeing the plate in front of him.

"Do you think we'll be able to see the third test better than the second one?" Asriel asked, changing the subject. "It was disappointing not to be able to see the champions actually rescue their hostages."

As it turned out, the answer to that question was "Not really." Making their way to the quidditch grounds at the end of dinner, they were not surprised to see the hedge maze, but they were perplexed to see that the stands hadn't actually been raised. The twenty foot hedges made it impossible to see what was going on. "What, exactly, is Mr. Bagman going to comment on?" Asriel asked.

"I have no idea," Chara responded, as she climbed into the stands. It was, at least, warmer this time around. The rest of their friends gathered around, Ginny bringing her parents to sit nearby. Their presence was probably the reason neither Fred nor George came by to take bets.

The first five minutes were somewhat tense, as Bagman's whistles allowed all four contenders into the maze. After that, there wasn't much of anything, and they began to talk among themselves. "So, Asriel," Ms. Weasley asked, "How did you find Hogwarts in your first year?"

Asriel had heard this question before. "It was a great honor to be invited to learn wand magic," he said. "I know some wizards didn't like it, but everyone here has been so nice. Well," he continued, "I mean that they treated like everyone else, which is all I could ask for."

"I'm surprised that Ms. Skeeter hasn't tried to interview you, or written anything about you. Not after the letters to the Daily Prophet from some of the high class wizarding families."

"I'm glad she hasn't," Asriel said. "My parents are not monsters you would want to get upset at you. They might not have wands, but they are both masters of soul magic, and they are very protective."

"They've written in to the Prophet too," Ms. Weasley told them. "They came to a very vigorous defense of Mr. Hagrid. They said Rita should be leaving the students of Hogwarts alone, too. I guess it's easy to imagine what would happen if you'd been targeted."

"Wouldn't have just been her," Chara put in. "I could only imagine what Sans would have done if Rita had come after any of us."

The conversation petered out for a bit. Chara was growing bored, and she was pretty sure that Steven wasn't the only one who'd simply fallen asleep. Which made the sudden appearance of the red sparks from near the middle of the maze all the more surprising.

"Who is it?" Ginny asked, as there was a sudden flurry from the professors at the outside of the maze.

Opal raised her omnioculars to her eyes as Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall emerged from the maze, hauling out an immobile dark form. "Krum," she told the others. "The other three are still in, somewhere."

After about another ten minutes, there was an unmistakable commotion around the maze. The rumbling of the crowd made it impossible to ignore. "What is it?" Steven asked, yawning and opening one eye, "Did someone win?"

"I'm not sure," Opal said, raising up her omnioculars. "I haven't seen anyone with the cup. Wait, that's all the professors. They're going in." There was palpable silence of a few minutes, "Fleur's coming out, Madam Maxine has her. She's. walking kind of funny. I don't she's hurt, but she looks like she just woke up."

"They went in to get her?" Chara asked. "Where are the others?" Nobody knew. And if the excitement at the maze was any indication, neither did anyone else. Chara was aware of the sudden tension of Ginny, and of Opal, who still was sweeping the area with her omnioculars. Time seemed to be moving at a crawl until finally...

"Harry!" Ginny shouted, "There he is! Outside the maze, right near the podium!"

Chara stared in the direction Ginny was pointing. Ginny was right, she could see Harry Potter laying on the grass. He was holding the silver triwizard cup in one hand, and in the other... something. A dark form, Chara couldn't see it properly, but a lump had formed in her stomach. The something was dark and unmoving in the flickering torchlight at the maze's entrance.

They were whispers at first, and the lump grew thicker. Then they turned to shouts, and the nightmare became real. "Diggory's dead!"

Opal sat stunned, staring down the stands at the older Gryffindor, himself barely moving, even as Dumbledore reached him. Her hands were shaking she raised the omnioculars to her eyes. "Pleasedon'tbetrue, pleasedon'tbetrue," she whispered over and over again. She raised one hand, turning a dial on a lens to sharpen the image. Then she lowered them again, and there was newly revealed moisture glistening in her eyes. "no," she whispered.

Frisk reached out to take Opal's hand, squeezing it gently. She said nothing at first. Was there anything to say? Chara only felt numb.

"He can't be dead," Opal said. Then she said it again, and a third time. "I... I never told him. I never told him what I thought of him. He was brave, kind," her voice was cracking. "He was always willing to help people. He's the kind of Hufflepuff I wanted to be, and, and..."

"You loved him," Frisk whispered.

Opal didn't respond. She just started to cry, tears splashing down on the wooden stand. "I never told him. He had a girlfriend, and I, and I..." She couldn't continue, she just put her face in her hands.

"You never told him," Frisk said, looking at Opal through her half-lidded eyes. She reached with her other hand for Opal's shoulder, and began to pull her into an embrace.

Frisk had chosen either the exact right, or maybe the exact wrong thing to say, Opal broke down, burying her head in Frisk's shoulder. Frisk pulled her friend into a tight hug, patting her back. Her sister didn't say anything, she just let Opal cry into her robes.

Asriel had just been dumbfounded the entire time. He looked very small and confused, just staring at the scene unfolding at what should have been the tournament podium. It was just how Chara felt. She watched for a while, as people surrounded Dumbledore and Harry, trying to make some sense of how one of the Hogwarts champions had turned up outside of the maze, dead.

The rest of the students were sitting just as shocked, just as unmoving as the Dreemurrs were. Many of them, especially the students of Hufflepuff house, had broken into tears like Opal. Chara just sat, staring down at the scene. Who would have, could have, done such a thing? The crowd had parted slightly, letting her see the terrible form of Cedric, now illuminated in the gloom by the wand light of the triwizard officials. But there was something missing now. "Wait," she said suddenly and loudly, causing Asriel to flinch and Opal to look up at her, "Where did Harry go?"

"He's over there," Asriel said in a small voice, pointing up towards Hogwarts. "Professor Moody is with him, they're heading up to the castle. "He must want to get Harry away from the noise."

In that moment, it clicked into place. She knew exactly what had just happened, and Chara felt her face pale even more than it had when the shouts came up of Cedric's death. "Moody's going to kill him," she said, struggling to get up to her feet. "Moody put his name in the goblet and Moody's going to kill Harry!"

"Chara," Asriel protested, in that same small voice. "There was nothing he hated more than Death Eaters who didn't go to Azkaban. You know how he treated Draco."

"Asriel," Chara said, "He liked me because my parents went to Azkaban. They never renounced the dark lord!" and she began to run down the stands, Asriel in pursuit. Behind them, Frisk had to disentangle herself, and eventually make her way down to find Dumbledore before anything else terrible could happen.