After Hailey left Dumbledore's office, she went straight to the Owlery to send Sirius a letter to tell him everything that she saw in the Pensieve and nearly everything that Dumbledore had shown her afterward. After she finished writing her letter, Malachi walked in the Owlery, holding a letter.
Hailey hesitated and watched Malachi tie the letter to an owl's leg before he sent the owl off. Malachi turned and looked at Hailey, almost looking startled to see her still standing there. She tied her letter to Hedwig's leg and looked back at the fifth-year. She tried to sound conversational, "So, I heard that your mother was an accused Death Eater."
Malachi paled, "How—how did you find out?"
Hailey was confused, "Did you know or…?"
Malachi looked offended at that question. "Of course I knew. My mother doesn't talk about it because it ruined her reputation. No one trusts her. That's why she's reclusive." He looked at her, "How did you find out?"
Hailey stuttered out an explanation about Dumbledore's Pensieve and how he was at Karkaroff's trial when he accused Blair of being a Death Eater.
Malachi seemed to relax a little. "Oh. I thought that Corey and Ciera told you for some reason."
"No, Ron hasn't mentioned Ciera since the Yule Ball," Hailey said.
"Oh," Malachi said, looking at Hailey. "Please don't tell your friends about my mother."
"I won't," Hailey said, thinking about Dumbledore's warning. She went to tie her letter to Hedwig's leg. "Bagman said that he used to date your mother."
"He did," Malachi said. "They ended it on good terms and she helped him find a job at the Ministry when he left Quidditch."
"I've been told that your mother was in Azkaban for two years," Hailey pointed out.
"He started working there like four years after my mum was released," Malachi said.
"So that's why Mr Crouch doesn't trust your mother," Hailey said.
"Yeah, he still thinks that they're Death Eaters," Malachi said, shrugging.
"—are you sure that's the right address?" a girl asked.
"Yes, they wanted this specific colour," another girl replied.
Hailey and Malachi turned to the entrance to see Ivy and Eva walking in. They were holding a box with holes in it.
Eva made a weird, 'oh-hell-we're busted' face. She instantly looked suspicious, "What are you two doing up here?"
"Making cakes," Malachi replied.
Hailey went to send Hedwig off with her letter and looked at the two second-years, "What are you two doing?"
"Making hot cross buns," Eva said and went to a school owl. She and Ivy tied the package to the owl's legs. They carried the owl to the window and sent it off, too.
Ivy smiled brightly, "Well, bye." They hurried out of the Owlery.
"What are they doing?" Malachi asked, sound bewildred.
"I don't know," Hailey responded. "Michael thinks that they're running an underground puffskein breeding ring."
"Probably," Malachi said shrugging. "Bye. Good luck with the third task." He left and Hailey was left alone. She wondered what the two second-years were doing and why did it require sending off a box that was off school-grounds.
She shook her head and went to go back to Ravenclaw Tower.
"So you're saying that You-Know-Who's getting stronger?" Mandy asked. "And Dumbledore's agrees?"
Hailey had finished telling Mandy and Michael what had happened, leaving out Malachi's mother and Neville's parents. She nodded, "Yeah." Her mind was reeling and she knew what Dumbledore meant about siphoning thoughts. She should look into investing for a Pensieve.
Mandy said, "So, Snape was a Death Eater and yet Dumbledore trusts him? Is he mad?"
"Yes," Hailey said. "Well, yes to Dumbledore trusting Snape, but I'm not sure about Dumbledore being mad."
Michael was staring at the ceiling, looking like he was thinking hard. Hailey was sure he should look into investing for a Pensieve, too. "Hey…remember how Skeeter said, 'I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl?' I think that was what she meant. She was at Bagman's trial, so she knows that he passed information to the Death Eaters."
Mandy nodded, "Yeah. Winky knows about it to because she said, 'Ludo Bagman's a bad wizard.' So Mr Crouch would've been angry that Bagman got off, so he would've talked about it at home."
"Yeah, but Bagman claimed that he didn't know that he was doing it on purpose," Hailey replied.
"So, Fudge reckons Madame Maxime attacked Crouch?" Michael asked.
"Yeah, but he said that because Crouch disappeared near the Beauxbatons carriage," Hailey replied.
"I just want to know who took Mr Crouch," Mandy said. She was now playing with her head-band. "I mean, how did they get here and disappear so fast. Apparating is out of the question."
"There's the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack," Hailey said.
"And Pettigrew knows about it, besides us, Remus, Sirius, and Hailey's dad," Michael said. "Pettigrew…" He stared up at the ceiling some more. He tilted his head, "I wonder how much stars are on there."
Hailey briefly pictured her and Michael lying on the ground together and just staring at the stars…that was on the ceiling. Would that be considered romantic?
"Hey…we need to get the Impediment Curse down, tomorrow," Mandy said, looking at her watch. "We should really get to sleep."
"Oh, yay, the Impediment Curse," Michael said in a monotone.
"Calm down, it's just the Impediment Curse," Mandy joked, smiling, "There's no reason to be that excited over it." She turned to Hailey, "We really should get to sleep." Mandy and Hailey made their up to the dormitories. As Hailey changed, she couldn't help but think about Neville's predicament. Having family that were still alive, but unable to recognize you? And people gave her sympathy over her being an orphan? When she got into the bed, she couldn't help but think that Neville really needed more sympathy than her.
As she lay there in the darkness, she sudden felt angry and hatred towards the people that did that to Neville's parents. She remembered who had tortured Neville's parents and she remembered the jeers of the crowd as Crouch's son and his companions had been dragged out of the court by the dementors. She understood how the crowd felt and then remembered Crouch's pale-faced, screaming son and remembered that he had died a year later.
She stared up at the canopy and realized that it came down to Voldemort, who had torn families apart and ruined everyone's lives.
Hailey's friends were supposed to be studying for exams, which were supposed to be finished on the day of the third task, but they were putting most of their efforts into helping her.
After Hailey pointed it out and told them that she didn't mind practicing the spells on her own; Hermione had told her not to worry about it and that they'll get top marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts because they'd not have found out about the hexes in class.
Ron had said that it was good practice when they all become Aurors while he practiced the Impediment Curse on a wasp, which stopped in midair. Mandy had replied that she wanted to take over Professor Trelawney's teaching position and Michael said that he was going to be a Curse-Breaker.
Mandy and Michael were trying their best to multi-task by studying and helping Hailey out. While Hailey practiced spells on Hermione and Ron, they were reading their books, and trying to read books even when they were being used as target practice.
As June started, the mood seemed to turn excited and tense, because everyone was looking forward for the third task. Hailey was busy practicing hexes at every available moment. She felt more confident about the third task because she had managed to find her way through monstrous creatures and enchanted barriers before. She also had time to prepare herself.
Professor McGonagall had always managed to walk in on the five fourth-years practicing the spells, gave them permission to use the Transfiguration classroom during lunchtimes to practice. Professor Flitwick had allowed them to use the Charms classroom when they needed it.
Hailey had soon mastered the Impediment Curse, a spell to slow down and obstruct attackers, the Reductor Curse, which blasts solid objects out of one's way, and the Four-Point Spell, a discovery of Hermione's that would make Hailey's wand point due north, enabling Hailey to check whether she was going in the right direction in the maze.
The only spell that Hailey was having trouble with was the Shield Charm, which was supposed to cast a temporary, invisible wall around herself which deflected minor curses. Hermione managed to shatter it with a well-place Jelly-Legs Jinx, which resulted in Hailey wobbling around the room for ten minutes while Hermione and Michael looked up the counter-jinx.
"I still think that you're doing really well," Michael said as Hermione crossed spells off her list that they had learned.
"Some of these are bound to come in handy," Hermione said.
"I wonder what Malfoy is up to," Mandy said, as she looked out a window. "I bet he's planning on ruining more things for us."
"What are you talking about?" Michael asked.
"Come and look at this," Ron said, looking out the window as well.
The other three went to the window.
Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in the shadow of a tree below. Malfoy was holding his hand up to his mouth and speaking into it.
"He looks like he's using a walkie-talkie," Hailey said. She added quickly, "I know that electricity doesn't work around Hogwarts, Hermione. Stop repeating yourself."
Hermione closed her mouth and then said, "Let's try that Shield Charm again."
"You're bound to get it right, soon," Michael said. "Even though it's supposed to be really difficult."
Sirius was now sending daily owls. He seemed to want to concentrate on getting Hailey through the last task before concerning himself with anything else. Sirius also had taken the time to tell Hailey that whatever was going on outside the walls of Hogwarts wasn't Hailey's responsibility, nor was it within her power to influence it.
In one of Sirius's letters, he wrote:
If Voldemort is really getting stronger again, my priority is to ensure your safety. He cannot hope to lay hands on you while you are under Dumbledore's protection, but all the same, take no risks: Concentrate on getting through the maze safely, and then we can turn our attention to other matters.
As June twenty-fourth approached, Hailey was growing more and more nervous. It didn't seemed to be as bad as the two previous tasks, but she seemed confident that this time it was because she had prepared for it. This was the final task and no matter how horrible or great she did, it was going to be over and that was an enormous relief.
On the morning of the third task, Hailey had gotten dressed in a long-sleeved shirt that had two different colours. The right half was black while the left half was dark blue. In red letters on the back was POTTER and had one red star below it. On the front on black half of her was the Hogwarts crest. She had to wear dark grey baggy trousers.
In the Great Hall, Hailey had noticed that Cedric was wearing the same thing as her, but in place of the dark blue, it was yellow and she was sure that he had his last name on the back instead.
Fleur was wearing what looked to be a light blue track suit and Krum was wearing a dark brown long-sleeved shirt with the Durmstrang crest on it and black trousers.
Hailey sat down at the Ravenclaw across from Mandy, who was sitting next to Terry Boot.
There was a great fluttering as the Owl post had arrived. Sirius had sent Hailey a good-luck card which consisted of a folded piece of parchment and a muddy paw print that was on the front. Hailey appreciated it anyway. She set it next to her plate, telling herself that she would remember to put it up.
Mandy's owl, Glinda, had delivered a news article, which Mandy looked at it, and preceded to choke on her porridge. She coughed and Terry Boot, who was sitting next to her, slapped her on the back a few times, before she said that she was good and that her porridge just went down the wrong way. She handed Hailey the article.
Before Hailey can even look at the artcile, she heard: "Hey, Potter! Potter! How's your head? You feeling all right? Sure you're not going to go berserk on us?" That was Malfoy.
Hailey tried to ignore him and looked at the article's headline:
HAILEY POTTER
"DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS"
It was no surprise that it was written by Rita Skeeter. Apparently Hailey was now unstable and possibly dangerous. Apparently there was alarming evidence that has appeared on Hailey's newfound 'strange behaviour' that cast doubt on entry into the Triwizard Tournament or even if she should be attending Hogwarts.
Apparently Hailey regularly collapses at school and often complains about her scar hurting, which was helpfully pointed out that was a relic from when Voldemort had tried to kill her.
It was written that Hailey had stormed out midway of a Divination lesson on last Monday, claiming that her scar was hurting too badly to continue studying.
Apparently St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries' top experts say that it is possible that Hailey's brain was affected by the attack inflicted on her by Voldemort and Hailey saying that her scar still hurting is her expression deep-seated confusion.
According to the article, one specialist was saying that Hailey's pretending and trying to get attention.
The article says that newspaper had 'unearthed' worrying facts about Hailey that Dumbledore tried to hide.
Malfoy says that Hailey can speak Parseltongue and that there was a lot of attacks on students a couple of years ago, and most people thought that Hailey was behind them after she supposedly lost her temper at a dueling club and set a snake on a boy. Malfoy claims that it was all hushed up. He says that she made friends with werewolves and giants. Apparently this 'we' that Malfoy mentioned thinks that Hailey is trying anything for a bit of power.
The article explained that Parseltongue is the ability to talk to snake, and has long be considered a Dark Art. It says that the most famous Paselmouth of their time was Voldemort himself.
The article claimed that a member of the Dark Force Defense League, who wished to be anonymous, stated that anyone who can speak Parseltongue was worthy to be investigated and they personally would be highly suspicious of anyone who can speak to snakes. He said that serpents are often used in worst kinds of Dark Magic and are associated with evildoers. Apparently they said that anyone who seeks out the company of vicious creatures like werewolves and giants would appear to have a fondness of violence.
The article ended by saying that Dumbledore should consider whether a girl like Hailey was made out to be should be allowed to compete in the Triwizard Tournament and some fear that Hailey might resort to the Dark Arts in desperation to win the tournament, and that the third task takes place in the evening.
"Gone off me a bit hasn't she?" asked Hailey, handing the article back to Mandy. She didn't turn around and sighed. "The Slytherins are making faces at me, aren't they? I don't need to turn around to know that they're making faces at me!"
"Hey, Malfoy! Satan wrote me a letter! He says that you and your friends are pretty bloody pathetic!" Eva shouted in a very cold and scathing tone that seemed uncharacteristic of the deeply religious twelve year old girl that Hailey semi-knew.
Someone busted out laughing, although Hailey couldn't be sure if they found what Eva said funny or that person was laughing at how quiet everything got after Eva said that.
Michael made a face like he was impressed, "Ooh. That would've been more scathing if they knew what she was talking about."
A few seconds later, noises picked back up again.
"I just want to know how Skeeter knew about Divination," Mandy said. "There was no way she was up there. No way could she have heard it."
"The window was open because I opened it to breathe," said Hailey.
"You were at the top of North Tower, there's no way your voice could've carried all the way down like that," Michael said.
"Isn't Hermione supposed to be researching magical methods of bugging?" Hailey asked.
"We're trying," Michael muttered and looked at the good-luck card Sirius sent Hailey. He tilted his head and stared at it. He squinted and held up his hand. He lowered it and looked at the card again. "I think I got it." He grabbed his stuff and ran out of the Great Hall.
Hermione was soon following after him.
"Don't we have class in ten minutes?" Mandy asked.
"They must really hate Skeeter to skip the start of an exam," Hailey said.
"So, what're you going to do? Look up fresh hexes again?" Mandy asked.
"S'pose so," Hailey said.
Professor Flitwick walked up the Ravenclaw table towards her. "Potter, the champions are gathering in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast."
Hailey spilt scrambled eggs down her front and felt panicked, "But the task's not till tonight!" Had she mistaken the time?
"I'm highly aware of that," Flitwick said. "The champions' families are invited to watch the final task, you know. This is simply a chance for you to greet them." He moved away and Hailey gaped after him.
"Does he expect the Dursleys to show up?" Mandy asked. "I can picture them laughing as they burn the letter telling them that they're allowed to visit you. Is that rude to think?"
Hailey shook her head. "No, no it's not."
"I better get going," Mandy said.
"Good luck on the third task," Terry said to Hailey.
"Thanks, you too," Hailey replied and realized what she said after the two had left. Maybe he would take that as her wishing him luck on an exam or something.
She finished her breakfast in the emptying Great Hall. She saw Fleur leave the table and join Cedric as he crossed to the side chamber and enter. Krum slouched off to join them a few minutes later. Hailey stayed put because she didn't want to go in the chamber to be left out of the happy parents. She had no family, no family to turn up to see her risk her life anyway. Just as she was thinking that she might go to the library to read some more hex research, Eva stepped up to Hailey.
"Come on, let's go in the chamber," Eva said.
Hailey was briefly confused, "What?"
"I'll pretend to be your sister or something," Eva said.
"You have exams," Hailey muttered.
"Not today. Ivy's taking notes," Eva said. "Besides, I think I know what it's like to be abandoned by family. Well, my parents abandoned me anyway, but the feeling is still there. Hoping that they will show up soon, but never coming."
"Hailey, come on, they're waiting for you!" Cedric's voice rang out.
Hailey was feeling confused and got up. Eva and Hailey walked across the Hall together, while Hailey wondered if the Dursleys were there. They couldn't possibly be there.
Cedric and his parents were just inside the door. Viktor Krum was over in a corner, conversing with his dark-haired mother and father in rapid Bulgarian. Hailey could see that Krum had inherited his father's hooked nose. On the other side of the room, Fleur was talking in French to her mother, while Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle was holding her mother's hand. Fleur waved at Hailey, who waved back, grinning.
Hailey saw Mrs Weasley and Bill standing in front of the fireplace, smiling at her.
"Surprise!" Mrs Weasley said excitedly as Hailey smiled broadly and the two walked over to them. "Thought we'd come and watch you, Hailey!" She bent down and kissed Hailey on the cheek.
"You all right?" asked Bill, grinning at Hailey, and shaking her hand. He shook Eva's hand, who blushed. "Charlie wanted to come, but he couldn't get time off. He said you were incredible against the Horntail."
"She was," Eva said.
Hailey couldn't help but notice that Fleur was now eyeing Bill with great interest over her mother's shoulder. Hailey was sure that Fleur didn't have any objections to long hair or earrings with fangs on them.
"This is really nice of you," Hailey muttered to Mrs Weasley and Eva. To Mrs Weasley, Hailey said, "I thought for a moment—the Durselys—"
"Hmm," said Mrs Weasley, pursing her lips and her eyes flashing. She had always refrained from criticizing the Dursleys in front of Hailey.
Bill was looking around the chamber, "It's great being back hair." Violet, the Fat Lady's friend, winked at him from her frame. "Haven't seen this place for five years. Is that picture of the mad knight still around? Sir Cadogan?"
"Yes," Eva said at the same times as Hailey said, "Oh yeah."
Hailey had met Sir Cadogan the previous year.
"And the Fat Lady?" asked Bill. Eva nodded.
"She was here in my time," said Mrs Weasley. "She gave me such a telling off one night when I got back to the dormitory at four in the morning—"
"What were doing out of your dormitory at four in the morning?" asked Bill, looking at his mother with amazement. Even Eva looked a little shocked.
Mrs Weasley grinned, "Your father and I had been for a nighttime stroll. He got caught by Apollyon Pringle—he was the caretaker in those days—your father's still got the marks."
"You lie," Eva whispered in an almost awed way.
"Fancy giving us a tour, Hailey and Eva?" asked Bill.
"Yeah, okay," said Hailey, and they made their way back toward the door into the Great Hall.
As they passed Amos Diggory, he looked around. "There you are, are you?" He looked Hailey up and down. "Bet you're not feeling quite as full of yourself now Cedric's caught you up on points, are you?"
Hailey was, once again, confused, "What?"
"Ignore him," said Cedric in a low voice to Hailey, frowning after his father. "He's been angry ever since Rita Skeeter's article about the Triwizard Tournament—you know, when she made out you were the only Hogwarts champion."
"Didn't bother to correct her, though, did she?" said Amos Diggory, loudly enough for Hailey to hear as she started to walk out of the door Mrs Weasley, Bill, and Eva. "Still…you'll show her, Ced. Beaten her once before, haven't you?"
"Rita Skeeter goes out of her way to cause trouble, Amos!" said Mrs Weasley angrily. "I would have thought you'd know that, working at the Ministry!"
Mr Diggory looked as if he was going to say something but was silenced as his wife placed her hand on her arm. He shrugged and turned away.
"I thought adults would be more mature enough not to hate on children!" Eva called out as the little group left the castle.
Hailey thought it was rather enjoyable as she walked over the grounds with Bill, Eva, and Mrs Weasley. Hailey showed Mrs Weasley and Bill the Beauxbatons carriage, Eva showed them Hagrid's cabin, which made Mrs Weasley reminisced about the previous gamekeeper that was named Ogg, Hailey showed them the Durmstrang ship and the Whomping Willow.
"Didn't Michael almost get his arm ripped off by a mad dog right about there last year?" Eva wondered.
Mrs Weasley was intrigued by the Whomping Willow because it had been planted after she had left school.
After a few minutes, Hailey asked, "How's Percy?" She replied how busy and angry Percy had been during Easter.
"Not good," replied Bill.
"Why? What's wrong? Is he ill?" Eva asked.
"He's very upset," replied Mrs Weasley lowering her voice. She was glancing as if someone could overhear. "The Ministry wants to keep Mr Crouch's disappearance quiet, but Percy's been hauled in for questioning about the instructions Mr Crouch has been sending in. They seem to think there's a chance they weren't genuinely written by him. Percy's been under a lot of strain. They're not letting him fill in for Mr Crouch as the fifth judge tonight. Cornelius Fudge is going to be doing it."
"He didn't disappear. He was here like last month. He wasn't making sense when he was talking. After Hailey went to get Dumbledore, he attacked Ivy and me," Eva said. "I don't even know if they ever found the madman." She looked at Hailey, "Did they?"
Hailey shook her head.
They headed back to the castle for lunch while Eva explained to Bill and Mrs Weasley about what happened that night.
They entered the Great Hall where Eva broke off to sit at the Hufflepuff table. Hailey wondered if the two Weasleys were going to sit with her at the Ravenclaw table or should she join them at the Gryffindor table. She decided to lead them to the Gryffindor table.
"Mum—Bill," Ron said, looking stunned as he walked up to the Gryffindor table. "What're you doing here?"
"Come to watch Hailey in the last task," Mrs Weasley said brightly. "I must say, it makes a lovely change, not having to cook. How was your exam?"
"Oh…okay," replied Ron. "Couldn't remember all the goblin rebels' names, so I invented a few," Mrs Weasley looked stern. "It's all right," Ron helped himself to the Cornish pastry, "they're all called stuff like Bordod the Bearded and Urg the Unclean. It wasn't hard."
Hailey ended up going to the Ravenclaw table, feeling a bit bad for leaving the two at the Gryffindor table, but she figured that the Weasleys that attended Hogwarts could spend time with their mother and Bill.
Mandy was telling Hailey about a story that had happened in Transfiguration which got to the point that she had forgotten about the task.
Halfway through lunch and Mandy's story, "…so Anthony said—"
Michael and Hermione entered the Great Hall at that time. Michael sat down and Hailey remembered that Michael may have had a brainwave about Rita Skeeter.
Hailey started, "Hey, are you going to tell us about—"
Michael looked over at Colton Taylor and Stephen Cornfoot who seemed to be listening intently to the conversation.
After lunch, Bill, Eva, Hailey, and Mrs Weasley spent the afternoon with a long walk around the castle. When it was the evening, they returned to the Great Hall for the evening feast.
Eva grabbed Hailey's arm as the two Weasleys went inside the Great Hall.
"What is it?" Hailey asked, confused.
"Don't forget to use Expelliarmus," Eva said in a low voice, looking terrified.
Hailey was confused, "What?"
"Just don't forget," Eva whispered before heading inside the Great Hall.
Hailey was confused and walked inside the Great Hall, wondering what Eva had been talking about.
She saw that Ludo Bagman and Cornelius Fudge had joined the staff table now. Bagman was looking quite cheerful and Hailey tried not to cringe at the mental image of Bagman dating Malachi's mother. She couldn't remember what Malachi's mother looked like and pictured Malachi with long hair and wearing lipstick. It was a disturbing mental picture. However, Cornelius Fudge, who sat next to Madame Maxime, was looking stern and not speaking. Madam Maxime was staring at plate and Hailey couldn't help but think that her eyes looked red. Hagrid kept glancing at the Headmistress.
There were more courses than usual, but Hailey, who was beginning to get really nervous, didn't eat as much. When the enchanted ceiling overhead faded from to a dusky purple, Dumbledore rose to his feet at the staff table. Silence fell over the Great Hall. "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?"
Hailey got up. It seemed like the Gryffindors were applauding her as the at least half of the Ravenclaw clapped for her. The Weasleys, Hermione, Malachi, Michael, Mandy, and a few Ravenclaws wished Hailey good luck as she headed out of the Great Hall with Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor.
"Feeling all right, Hailey?" Bagman asked as they went down the stone steps onto the grounds. "Confident?"
"I'm okay," Hailey said which was sort of true. She was nervous and she kept thinking of all the spells and hexes she learned, as they walked. Hailey felt better, knowing that she remembered all of the hexes and spells.
They walked onto the Quidditch field, which had a twenty-foot-high hedge that ran all around the edge of the field. There was a gap right in front of them which was the entrance to the vast maze. The passage beyond it looked dark and creepy.
Five minutes later, the stands had begun to fill. The air was filled with excited voices and the rumbling of feet as hundreds of students filed into their seats. The sky was now a deep, clear blue now as stars started to appear. Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and walked over to Bagman and the champions. They had large, red, luminous stars on their hats, except Hagrid, who wore a moleskin vest, had his star on the back.
"We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze," said Professor McGonagall to the champions. "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?"
The champions nodded.
"Off you go, then," Bagman said brightly to the patrollers.
"Good luck, Hailey," Hagrid whispered.
"Stay safe," Professor Flitwick whispered to Hailey. The four patrollers headed off in directions to station themselves around the maze.
Bagman pointed his wand at his throat and muttered, "Sonorus." With his magically magnified voice, he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place with eighty-five points each – Mr Cedric Diggory and Miss Hailey Potter, both of Hogwarts Schools!" The cheers and applause from the stands sent birds from the Forbidden Forest flying into the darkening sky. "In second place, with eighty points—Mr Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!" There was more applause from the stands. Bagman continued, "And in third place—Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"
Halfway up the stands, she spotted Mrs Weasley, Bill, Ron, Mandy, Michael, and Hermione clapping for Fleur in a polite manner. She smiled and waved them, and they waved back, smiling at her.
"So…on my whistle, Hailey and Cedric!" Bagman said. "Three—two—one—" He gave a short blast on his whistle and the two Hogwarts champions hurriedly entered the maze.
The towering hedges cast black shadows across the path and a heavy mist settled in. Hailey wasn't sure if it was because the towering hedges were so tall and thick or if it was because they were enchanted to drown out sounds of the surrounding audience. Hailey almost felt as if she was underwater again. She pulled out her wand and muttered, "Lumos." She heard Cedric doing the same behind her.
After walking for fifty yards, they had reached a fork, and they looked at each other.
"See you," Hailey said as she took the left fork while Cedric took the right.
Hailey heard Bagman's whistle, letting them know that Krum was now entering the maze. Hailey hurried up, noticing that her chosen path seemed deserted. She turned right and hurried on. She held her wand high over her head and trying to see as far ahead as possible. There wasn't anything in sight and she was beginning to get a little disconcerting.
In the distance it sounded like Bagman blew his whistle, letting them know that Fleur was now entering the maze. Now all four champions were inside the maze.
Hailey kept looking behind her, feeling as if she was being watched upon her. With every passing minute, the maze was darkening as the sky deepened to a navy colour. She reached a second fork.
She held wand flat in her palm and whispered, "Point me," to it. The wand spun around once and pointed towards the right, right in the solid hedge. That was north and she knew that she needed to go northwest to get to the center of the maze. She knew that she had to take the left and then go right again as soon as possible. She went left, which was empty and then took a right, only to find that there weren't any obstacles in her path. It was really unsettling Hailey now. She was sure that she should've at least come across something by now. Was it the maze's way of trying to lure her into having a false sense of security, before sending something to catch unaware?
There was movement right behind her and she was briefly relieved at finally having something to fight. She turned around and the wand's beam fell on Cedric, who hurried out of the right-hand path. He was looking severely shaken and the sleeve of his shirt was smoking.
Hailey arched an eyebrow and stared at the older boy.
"Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts!" Cedric hissed. "They're enormous—I only just got away!"
So that's why Hagrid had them take care of the skrewts. Cedric shook his head and went along another path. Hailey hurried off again, keen on avoiding the skrewts. As she turned a corner, she saw a dementor gliding toward her. It was twelve feet tall, its face was hidden by its hood, its scabbed, rotting hands were outstretched. It was advancing, sense its way blindly towards her. Hailey could hear its rattling breath, and felt the clammy coldness hitting her.
She summoned the happiest though that she could, concentrated with all her might on the thought of getting out of the maze and celebrating with Ron, Hermione, Mandy, and Michael, raised her wand, and shouted, "Expecto Patronum!" A silver doe erupted from the end of Hailey's wand and galloped toward the dementor, causing it to stumble back and stumble over its robes…Hailey never saw a dementor stumble, realized that it was a boggart. Of course it would be a boggart. Not after what happened last year with the dementors.
She approached the dementor, following after the silver doe. "Riddikulus!" With a loud crack, the boggart exploded in a wisp of smoke and the doe faded from sight. Hailey momentarily wished it could've stayed because she wanted company, but she moved on, quickly and quietly as possible. She was listening hard and held her wand up high again.
She went left, right, and left again. She had ended up facing dead ends twice, and she did the Four-Point Spell, to find that she was going too far east. She turned back and took the right turn, only to find an odd golden mist floating ahead of her.
She approached it as cautiously as she can, pointing her wand it. It looked like it was some sort of enchantment that Hailey wasn't sure she read about. She might be able to blast her way through it.
"Reducto!" she said. The spell went through the mist, leaving it intact.
She hated herself for being stupid because the spell was for solid objects, but she couldn't be considered dumb for thinking that it may have been solid, considering that walls inside Hogwarts looked like doors, too. She wondered what she should do. Should she stick her arm through the mist just to see what would happen? Should she double-back?
While Hailey debated that, she heard Fleur scream. Then there was silence. What had happened to her? It sounded like it came from somewhere ahead of her.
She took a deep breath and ran through the golden mists.
The world turned upside, while Hailey hanging from the ground. Her hair was on end and she grabbed her shirt to keep it from riding up. She was terrified. What if she took a step and fell to the sky? She didn't recall a single spell about a reversed sky and ground. She could hear blood pounding in her ears and she had two choices. Should she move and see what happens or should she send up red sparks and disqualify herself?
She decided to at least try before she disqualified herself. She pulled her foot very hard from the ground and she ended up falling onto her knees right onto solid ground. She felt temporarily limp from shock and took a deep, steadying breath. She got up and hurried forward. She looked back at the golden mist, which seemed to twinkle innocently in the moonlight. She told herself to avoid paths that have that damn golden mist hovering there.
She came across another fork in the maze. She was sure that it was Fleur who screamed and she wondered what Fleur came across. She looked at the sky but there wasn't any red sparks, and she wondered if Fleur had been received yet. Or maybe Fleur was in so much trouble that she couldn't reach her wand.
Hailey took the right fork, increasingly growing uneasy, but she couldn't help but think, one champion down…
She knew that the cup had to be somewhere close by and it sounded as though Fleur was no longer in the running. Hailey had gotten this far, hadn't she? For the first time since she had found herself champion, she pictured herself raising the Triwizard Cup in front of the rest of the school, even if it was a fleeting thought.
For the next ten minutes, she ran into dead ends and twice she had taken the same wrong path. Finally she had came across a new path and started jogging along it. Her wandlight was waving, making her shadow flicker and distort on the hedge walls. She rounded another corner and found herself facing a Blast-Ended Skrewt.
It was ten feet long and looked more like giant scorpion. Its long sting was curled over its back; its thick armour was glinting in the light from Hailey's wand, which she pointed at it.
"Stupefy!" She said.
The spell hit the skrewt's armour and rebounded. Hailey ducked just in time but she could smell burning hair. The spell had singed part of her hair. The skrewt fired a blast of fire from it sting and came forward.
"Impedimenta!" Hailey yelled and the spell bounced off the armour again. The skrewt kept going forward, forcing Hailey to walk backwards. She fell over and tried the spell again, "Impedimenta!"
This time the skrewt froze a few inches from Hailey. She realized that she had hit the skrewt fleshy, shell-less underside.
She got up, panting, and ran in the opposite direction before the Impediment Curse wasn't permanent. The skrewt would regain movement at any moment.
She ran left, got to a dead-end, then took a right only to end up at a dead-end. She forced herself to stop because her hear t was hammering. She performed the Four-Point spell again, and had to backtrack, choosing a path that would take her northwest.
She hurried along the new for a few minutes, when in the path that was parallel to her own, she heard:
"What are you doing? What the hell d'you think you're doing?" That was Cedric's voice.
"Crucio!" That was Krum.
Cedric started yelling. Hailey was horrified and sprinted up her path, trying to find a way to get into Cedric's path. There weren't any new paths, so she tried the Reducto Curse again on the hedge. All it did was burn a small hole in the hedge, so Hailey was reduced to kicking at the thick brambles and branches until they finally broke and made an opening. She struggled through the opening, which seemed to tear at the clothes. She looked to her right to see Cedric jerking and twitching on the ground, while Krum standing over him.
She pulled herself up and pointed her wand at Krum, who turned and started to run. She shouted, "Stupefy!"
The spell hit Krum in the back, causing him to stop in his tracks. He fell forward and lay facedown in the grass, not moving. Hailey ran over to Cedric, who had stopped twitching and lying there panting, with his hands over his face.
Hailey grabbed at Cedric's arm, "Are you all right?" she sounded rough.
"Yeah," panted Cedric. "Yeah…I don't believe it…he crept up behind me…I heard him, I turned around, and he had his wand on me…" He got up, still shaking. The two Hogwarts students looked down at Krum.
Hailey was a little in disbelief as she looked down at Krum. "I can't believe this…I thought he was all right."
"So did I," replied Cedric.
"Did you hear Fleur scream earlier?" asked Hailey.
"Yeah," replied Cedric. "You don't think Krum got her too?"
"I don't know," Hailey said slowly.
"Should we leave him here?" asked Cedric.
"No," said Hailey shaking her head. "I reckon we should send up red sparks. Someone'll come and collect him…otherwise he'll probably be eaten by a skrewt. He forfeited when he used an Unforgiveable on you."
"He'd deserved it," Cedric muttered, but raised his wand and shot a shower of red spark into the air. The sparks hovered high above Krum, marking the spot where he lay.
The two stood in darkness for a moment, looking around. Cedric said, "Well…I s'pose we'd better go on…"
"What?" asked Hailey, momentarily confused. "Oh…yeah…right…"
Hailey thought it was an odd moment. They had been briefly united against Krum—now the fact that they were opponents came back to her. They proceeded up the dark path without speaking and Hailey turned left, while Cedric went right. Cedric's footsteps died away.
Hailey used the Four-Point spell as she moved on, making sure she was going in the right direction. The tournament was now between her and Cedric. She was now burning to get to the cup first. Her mind was now racing, over what Krum had done. The use of an Unforgiveable Curse guarantied a life term in Azkaban, which Moody told them about. Krum certainly couldn't have wanted to win the cup that badly if he had to use an Unforgiveable on someone else like that. Could he?
Every so often, she kept heading ends. The increasing darkness made her feel sure that she was getting near the heart of the maze. As she walked down the path, she saw movement once again. Her beam of wandlight hit a creature that Hailey had seen as a picture in her Monster Book of Monsters. The creature had a body of an over-long lion, clawed paws, and a long yellowish tail that ended with a brown tuft. Its head was of a woman. It was a sphinx. The sphinx turned her eyes upon Hailey as she approached. Hailey held her wand up. The sphinx wasn't crouched as if to spring, but she was pacing from side to side of the path, blocking Hailey's progress.
The sphinx spoke, "You are very near your goal. That quickest way is past me." She had a deep, hoarse voice.
"So…so will you move, please?" Hailey asked. She knew what the answer was going to be, but it couldn't hurt to try.
"No," the sphinx said, continuing to pace. "Not unless you can answer my riddle. Answer on your first guess—I will let you pass. Answer wrongly—I attack. Remain silent—I will let you walk away from unscathed."
Hailey perked up a little. She was good at riddles, considering how many times she had to enter the Ravenclaw common room. If she didn't know the answer, she could remain silent and walk away, unscathed. She would find another way to the get past.
"Okay," Hailey said. "Can I hear the riddle?"
The sphinx sat down on her hands legs in the middle of the path and recited:
"First think of person who lives in disguise,
Who deals in secrets and tells naught by lies.
Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend,
The middle of middle and end of the end?
And finally give me the 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?"
Hailey gaped at her and tentatively asked, "Could I have it again…more slowly?" The sphinx blinked at her and repeated the poem. "All the clues add up to a creature I wouldn't want to kiss?" The sphinx smiled at her in a mysterious way. Hailey took that as an 'yes'. Hailey thought about it. There were plenty of animals she wouldn't want to kiss, her first thought was a Blast-Ended Skrewt, but she knew that it wasn't right.
"A person in disguise," Hailey muttered, staring at the sphinx, "who lies…er…that'd be a—an imposter." The sphinx moved, "No, that's not my guess!" The sphinx sat back down. "A—a spy? I'll come back to that…could you give me the next clue again, please?"
The sphinx repeated the last four lines.
"'The sound often heard during the search for a hard-to find word,'" repeated Hailey. "Er…that'd be…er…hang on—'er'! Er's a sound." The sphinx smiled at her. "Spy…er…spy…er," Hailey packing up and down. "A creature I would want to kiss…a spider!"
The sphinx smiled broadly and got up, stretcher her front legs, and moved aside for Hailey to pass.
"Thanks," said Hailey, as she dashed forward.
She had to be close now, she had to be…Her wand was telling her that she was on course, as long as she didn't meet anything too horrible, she might have a chance. She started running and had a choice of paths up ahead. She did the Four-Point spell which spun around and pointed to the right hand side. She ran through that one and saw light up ahead.
The Triwizard Cup was gleaming on a plinth a hundred yards away. A dark figure hurtled out onto the path in front of Hailey.
It was Cedric. He was sprinting as fast as he could towards the cup, and Hailey knew that she would never catch up, because Cedric was much taller than her, and had much longer legs.
Something immense was over a hedge on her left, which was moving quickly along the path that intersected with Hailey's. The thing was moving so quickly that Cedric was going to run right into it, because he was focusing on the cup—
"Cedric! On your left!" Hailey yelled.
Cedric looked around just in time to throw himself past the thing to avoid a collision. He tripped and Hailey saw Cedric's wand fly out of his hand. The giant spider stepped in to the path, bearing down on Cedric.
"Stupefy!" Hailey yelled. The spell hit the spider's gigantic, hairy black body, causing the spider to jerk and scuttle around. Hailey felt as if she should've thrown a stone at it. The spider ran at Hailey. Hailey fired off spells, "Stupefy! Impedimenta! Stupefy!"
The spells didn't work because it was either too large or magical, and she was aggravating it.
Hailey had one terrifying glimpse of eight shining black eyes and razor-sharp pincers before it was upon her. She was now into the air by the spider's front legs. She was struggling madly and she tried to kick it. He leg was connected with the pincers and she was now in excruciating pain.
"Stupefy!" Cedric yelled, but it didn't work.
Hailey raised her wand right as the spider opened its pincers once more. "Expelliarmus!"
The spell made the spider drop her, which meant that she fell twelve feet onto her already injured leg, which crumpled beneath her. She aimed high at the spider's underbelly and shouted, "Stupefy!" at the same time as Cedric.
The two spells caused the spider to keel sideways right onto a nearby hedge, flattening it, its legs strewing the path.
"Hailey! You all right? Did it fall on you?" Cedric yelled.
"No," Hailey called back, panting. She looked down at her leg, which was bleeding. She could see some sort of thick, gluey secretion from the spider's pinchers on her clothes. She tried to get up, but her leg was shaking badly and it couldn't support her. She leaned against the hedge, gasping for breath. She was looking around.
Cedric was standing feet from the Triwizard Cup, which was gleaming behind them.
"Take it, then," Hailey panted. "Go on, take it. You're there."
Cedric didn't move and was looking at Hailey. He turned to stare up at the cup. Hailey saw the longing expression on his face, which was illuminated by the cup's light. Hailey was holding onto the hedge, trying to support herself.
Cedric turned to look at Hailey and took a deep breath. "You take it. You should win. That's twice you saved my neck there."
Hailey was suddenly angry. Her leg hurt and she was sore all over from throwing off a spider. After all her efforts, Cedric had gotten there first, just like how he had beaten Malachi on asking Cho to the Yule Ball. "That's not how it's supposed to work. The one who reaches the cup first wins the points. That's you. I'm telling you, I'm not going to win any races with this leg." She motioned to her leg.
Cedric walked to the Stunned Spider, away from the cup. He was shaking his head, "No."
Hailey was irritated, "Stop being noble. Just take it, and then we can get out of here." She was steadying herself on the hedge.
Cedric was watching her, "You told me about the dragons. I would've gone down in the first task if you hadn't told me what was coming."
"I had help on that, too," Hailey snapped, getting irritated. She was wiping her bloody leg. "You helped me with the egg—we're square."
"I had help on the egg in the first place," replied Cedric.
"We're still square," said Hailey. She tested her leg gingerly, which shook violently as she put weight on it. She must have had sprained her ankle when she got dropped.
"You should've got more points on the second task," replied Cedric. "You stayed behind to get all the hostages. I should've done that."
"I was the only who was thick enough to take that song seriously!" snapped Hailey, bitterly. "Just take the cup."
"No," replied Cedric. He stepped over the spider's tangled legs to join Hailey.
Hailey was staring at him, seeing that Cedric was being serious. He was walking away from the sort of glory that Hufflepuff hadn't had in centuries.
"Go on," Cedric said. He looked as if it was costing him every ounce of resolution, but his face was set. He had his arms crossed and he seemed like he decided on it.
Hailey looked from Cedric to the cup. For one moment, she saw herself emerging from the maze holding it. She pictured herself holding up the Triwizard Cup, heard the roar of the crowd, and Michael looking at her with admiration…but the picture faded and she was staring up at Cedric.
"Both of us," Hailey said.
Cedric looked taken aback, "What?"
"We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory. We'll tie for it," Hailey said.
Cedric was looking at Hailey, and unfolded his arm. "You—you sure?"
"Yeah," replied Hailey. "Yeah…we've helped each other out, haven't we? We both got here. Let's take it together."
Cedric looked as if his ears were deceiving him and then he grinned. "You're on. Come here." He grabbed Hailey's arm below her shoulder and helped Hailey limp towards the plinth that was holding the cup up. When they reached, they both held a hand out over one of the cup's gleaming handles.
"On three," said Hailey. "One—two—three—"
They each grabbed a handle and Hailey felt a jerk somewhere behind her navel. Her feet left the ground and she couldn't let go out of the Triwizard Cup, because it was pulling her onward in a howl of wind and swirling colour, with Cedric at her side.
