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Chapter 37

James kept one eye on the clock and another on the green glowing dots that represented aircraft in motion over the mountains of Scotland, less than three minutes till the estimated intercept.

He glanced wordily at M, his question evident on his face she nodded.

"This is now a codeword Zeus operation under the Official Secrets Act," he announced to the room. "Anything discussed about it outside after the fact, from this point onward until the room is unsealed, will be considered treason to the crown unless under direct order of the Defense Minister in accordance with the Act!"

He watched as the guards quickly stepped outside sealing the operations room door and a red light started blinking.

'Sometimes the old ways are still the best,' he thought.

"Give me AWACS information on the main screen, and telemetry on two!" he snapped. "Then scrambler channel Bravo 6 on headset," he continued as he, M. and Pat reached for the headphones arranged on the desk. "Leave RAF on the speaker."

As soon as they were connected it was evident something was very wrong at Hogwarts as well. "Damn!" James cursed under his breath, as the line was filled with anxious voices.

"Bravo Actual, All!" he growled, keying his mike causing the line to fall silent.

"Incoming! Repeat, Incoming! You have incoming hostiles! Three airborne Bogies, from the northeast! Estimated arrival…" He glanced at the clock on the telemetry board. "Three minutes! We are attempting to intercept!"

There was a brief pause, then, "One, Bravo. Be advised defense plan one compromised! Repeat defense plan one compromised! We are evacuating! VIP's are away, all others being moved as we speak, using plan two!"

James's hands tightened on the edge of the desk, his knuckles turning white. "Status?" he requested urgently, glancing at the time to intercept.

"We are unable to verify at this time," said the voice. "We are relying on radio only at the moment, all surveillance systems are offline."

'This is bad,' James thought. 'If they have lost the map then the school's wards are down!'

"Shadow one and two are reported as engaged along with Glenda at the edge of the pitch containment zone after several breaches. They are trying to push in, we are waiting for word," he said in a flat tone. "My team, as well as Lea's are helping with the evacuation via site two. I'm sorry Bravo but I have no ETA on that evacuation at the moment!"

There was a long pause. "We have had no contact with the Nest… or Strider after the loss of surveillance."

James grimaced. "Understood one…" he said, his voice hesitant. "Do your best to get those people out of there," he said pulling his headset loose.

"How long till intercept?" asked M from where she had moved to stand next to him, asking the question that had died in his throat.

"Two minutes till they reach maximum range," said a voice from the 'pit.'

Luna made her way down the darkened corridor that was shrouded in an unpleasant smelling haze, her wand held high to cast as wide a light as possible around her.

A sudden pop had her jumping and spinning to her right, only to hear a familiar voice come from the darkness. "Who's there? Charity? Is that you? Are you okay?" it asked.

"Professor Flitwick?" she gasped. "Thank goodness! Something is very wrong!"

The tip of the diminutive man's wand lit up but unlike Luna's it was more akin to a flashlight than a lamp and it flashed around the area searching before landing on her. "Ms. Lovegood? What in the name of Merlin are you doing here? I would have expected you to be with your friends at the tournament," he said.

Squinting into the light she moved towards him. "I would have been but I was helping with something Lord Potter requested me to do and was detained unavoidably."

He frowned at the young woman as he approached her. He was sure there was more to that story than she was saying but now was not the time. "Hmmmm… We'll speak about that at a later time, for the moment I need you to stay close to me and tell me what happened here."

She fell into step next to him, her wand giving the haze around them an eerie glow, while his plumbed the depths of the darkness. "I was in the Ravenclaw common room when shutters suddenly began closing over the windows. I was trying to figure out what was going on when there was a large explosion, it shook everything! I tried to get out through the entrance but it was sealed, then there was another explosion. I tried the door again and it just pushed open."

The small man nodded. "It sounds as if Professor Burbage activated the wards prior to the first explosion for some reason, that is why the shutters closed… And the door would have been sealed then as well. Those explosions worry me… please continue."

She nodded, and did so. "I then went to the Grand Staircases… they've collapsed sir."

He grimaced at that news. 'This could be very bad,' he thought. "Please go on Ms. Lovegood."

"I had to use one of the back staircases, it came out near the kitchens… that's where I found the unconscious houselves… well most of them, one was still awake, I sent her to the Headmistress…"

"Yes the young elf, Winky, came to the judges' box. That is why I am here," he said, urging her on as he led them deeper into the dungeon.

"That's about it sir," she said.

"Then you haven't seen Professor Burbage?" he asked as they arrived at a staircase leading down that was filled with dust and a metallic odor.

"No sir," she replied.

With a sigh he nodded. "Very well," he said, looking her in her eye. "I want you to stay right here. I'm going to go down and take a look around. You are not to move unless you think you are in danger. Once I have seen what has happened in the Ward Chamber I will return and escort you outside so you can join your friends."

"I'll be right here sir," she said, moving to one side of the doorway.

"Right, I'll be back as quick as I can," he said, and started downward.

Harry watched the small Decoy Detonator disappear into the darkness as he motioned for Fleur to be still and silent. Ten seconds later a loud report sounded from the darkness just off to their left, then after a five second gap came another report, then another.

Between each he strained his ears, trying to pierce the darkness… there was something… a strange sound.

After the last report he shook his head, he couldn't tell. Reaching forward and making sure the barrel was pointed down and as close to the ground as possible without touching it, he turned to Fleur.

"Things may get crazy in there," he said. "There is something or someone hidden in the darkness. I need you to follow me, with your wand ready, and remember this is no longer a game! Our lives are in danger! Stay close to me, and get to the cup. Once we get to it this tournament is over! After that we get out any way we can! Understood?"

She nodded. "Right," he said, flipping on the tactical light he had added to his pistol. "Let's go!"

He stepped forward, his pistol in one hand and wand in the other, keeping low in a crouch with Fleur's left hand lightly resting on his lower back. The high intensity Mag light pierced the darkness in front of him swinging across the clearing as they went.

Just a few steps in he spotted a glow to their left, passing between sections of the hedge. His light played in that direction but came to a stop as it passed along a silver strand just above the ground.

He froze.

'A trap wire!' flashed through his mind. The light played over it following till it passed another going a different direction.

'No… too thin,' he thought, as he found a third then a fourth. He racked his brain trying to remember the list Luna and Hermione had prepared. 'There had been something… some kind of spider… An…'

"Bollocks!" he said under his breath. "Acromantula!" he said.

A gasp came from behind him. "If you see one cast cutters!" he said. "We've got to move!"

He bolted forward following the path blazed by his flashlight towards the glow, as skitters began to come from deeper in the darkness. He pulled out a second Decoy Detonator, activated it and tossed it on the ground in front of him as they rounded the corner that he hoped would lead to the center of the maze, also hoping the trick might buy them the scant few seconds they would need.

There it was. Just feet away, on a small dais, stood the Tri-wizard cup!

As his eyes focused on his prize he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Cedric Diggory appeared from the entrance to his left, looking disheveled, a long gash leaking blood ran down his wand arm and he was gasping for breath.

Beyond him a grey form moved out of the corner; it was the size of a large dog and had black glittering eyes and large mandibles that worked as it skittered from its hidden place.

Harry's Glock barked in rapid succession, even as the Decoy Detonator erupted for the first time. Each shot impacting the advancing creature causing a splash of ichors to erupt from the monster.

Cedric's face turned towards him, his eyes widening, Harry pivoted bringing his pistol to bear on another corner firing again and again, dropping a second creature, this one appearing as if on cue from between them, as the second report from the detonator sounded and a shout and flash from a spell came from behind him.

He quickly reloaded as the second fell and he turned toward the young man. "Get to the cup! We've got to end this and get out of here!" The three teens bolted forward, each grasping for the cup.

"Unknown flight," said the leader of RAF flight 6871. "This is your final warning! You will come about immediately or be fired upon!"

He watched as his HUD (Heads Up Display) flared briefly and his sight reticle indicated the first of three vehicles was now in range. "Anything Andy?" he asked his radar operator, as he moved his weapon selector to fire a Stinger missile.

"Negative," said a voice over his head set. "All reporting targets are locked and a good tone."

"Flight this is lead," he said, dreading his next command. "Fire!"

He depressed his trigger and felt the airframe shudder slightly as the explosive bolts discharged, releasing the missile from its mount to drop momentarily into freefall before its rocket engine flared to life shooting it forward on a pillar of fire that left a streak of white smoke in its wake, two others close behind following from the other member of the flight, each on a lethal path toward their individual targets.

"Impact in thirty seconds," said the man from behind him.