Summery – Tournament Troubles … Terror awaits the rising wrath of a Black!

Disclaimer – J.K. Rowling, I am not… there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you've probably read before if you're reading Harry Potter fanfiction.

Segment 10 – The Fourth Task

Draco sat among the Durmstrang students largely forgotten by everyone else within Hogwarts, a recent letter from his father let him know that, while he hadn't been disowned (yet), his father had contracted two girls from the Black Dragon Tavern in Knockturn Alley to provide a replacement heir as soon as possible. The current Malfoy Heir didn't know what he could do about it, but he knew his life had gone to hell because of that slag Potter. He couldn't legally touch her, but that still left a lot of possibilities on the table… provided one had the funds for such things. He really needed to check on his accounts within Gringott's, things could be even worse than his father's letter lead him to believe.

Lilith was starting to curse stairs, especially the moving ones. While her expanding waistline isn't slowing her down to much yet, it was throwing off her balance, and since the moron in charge of safety decided handrails were unnecessary since the slick, marble, shoulder-height banisters were there to serve that function and hundreds of teenagers scrambling to get to classes or go eat couldn't possibly bump into one another; accidentally on-purpose, or not. Madam Pomfrey said walking up and down the stairs everyday would help strengthen the muscles used during delivery; and even if that wasn't supposed to happen until mid-August by the Mediwitch's calculations, Lilith needed to mount the stairs regularly even now. Never mind that her feet hurt, her ankles were swollen, her stomach was bigger than a basketball, her breasts were swollen and tender, her back ached, and Merlin the smells… she didn't even have names for half the things she smelled throughout the castle.

The reason for this particular trip down the stairs however… was Snape.

As much as she'd rather not have anything to do with him, she had to… besides he needed to know what she'd picked out to name her daughter by him… stupid court orders. The man scarcely even looks at her anymore, and hasn't spoken a word to her in over four months, he obviously wants as little to do with her and her daughters as she wants with him. She had no idea how this would ever work out.

She arrived at his office door and knocked, somewhat nervous and yet very annoyed that he had yet to acknowledge her since the trial.

"Enter," the silky voice of one of the men she despised drawled lazily.

Lilith slipped into the office, hardly even noticing the heavily encumbered shelves of potions ingredients and books lining the walls as she glared at the man, "You've been avoiding me."

"I have." Snape said simply, "I thought it better to let you be. I…" he trailed off into silence.

"You what?"

"I would like to apologize. I do not know what happened that night, but the results speak for themselves."

"Why should I believe you?"

"You more than likely never will, I…" he shook his head, "I am a master of the mind arts, I don't forget anything, and yet have no memory of that night. I would suspect Obliviation but for two reasons: one… it would have to be exceedingly strong, and I know of only three people that might have been able to do so… and two of those are dead; and two… my idiot of a Godson is bragging about what he did to you, though it could all be boastful blustering on his part. The only other option is that I removed those memories from myself."

"Why would you do that?"

"I… loved your mother once. If your hair was lighter you would look exceedingly like her. What happened between me and her is unimportant right now, and what occurred between the two of us… I am deeply regretful… though I can never make it up to you."

"You're right, you can't. What you took from me, you know you'll have to answer to my parents for later right? I never understood your anger at me for looking like my father in first year, then after the change you kept hating me but it wasn't as specific anymore… once I left, I had hoped never to set foot here or see you again. Then I'm summoned back for this stupid tournament… did you have a hand in that too?"

"I did not."

"Doesn't matter. This thing was designed for individuals to compete and somehow I was supposed to do everything twice. The First Task was doable that way, the Second couldn't be, the Third? I don't know… I know Daphne was down there, was there someone else down there for me as well?"

"McLaggen."

Lilith huffed a laugh at that, "I'd have left him anyway. The clue, as they told the crowd there, was some THING we champions would MISS most. My girlfriend is not a thing, and I'd certainly not miss that fool."

"You wanted to see me about something; I assume it was not the tournament."

"I decided on names for my daughters."

Snape nodded for her to continue.

"Charis Eirene Slytherin of the line of Snape."

"Prince."

"Prince?" Lilith asked, not sure what House he was referring to, or why.

"My grandparents on my mother's side, she'll have fewer problems without my name to worry about. Why Slytherin?"

"I figured Malfoy would hate being associated with Hufflepuff and leave my other daughter alone, yet wanted them both to be as equal as possible… thus Slytherin."

"And the other's name?" Snape asked with a smirk.

"Valerie Kyriessa Hufflepuff of the line of Malfoy."

Snape nodded approval, "Charis Eirene?"

"Grace and peace."

"I like it, and I hope she will have that as well… however, I would prefer she not know I was her father."

Lilith cocked her head curiously, "Why?"

"What I did to you… was wrong. We've both been ordered to be part of her… Charis' life, and if she knows…"

"She will."

"I… I won't stop you from telling her, but I ask you to consider how it will affect her… how it will affect her friends… and we'll still both have to be part of her life." He looked away, "I'll keep my distance… act like a godfather or something… that way she will know me but she'll be yours. I'll help as much as you'll let me, but I won't push. I must warn you though," he looked at her sharply to make sure she was listening, "my grandfather has already tried to wrest some control of Charis from you. I believe that is why you were forced to have me in your daughter's life as well. Be very wary of him."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Was there anything else?"

"No."

"Thank you for letting me know her name."

"You're welcome."

Hermione sat alone at a table in the library working on homework or some random, annoying project she'd cooked up with Jamie probably, Ron thought as he peered at her through the stacks of books hiding him from her view.

At the start of the year, Ron would deal with his urges thinking about Hermione and all the ways he wanted to shut the brainiac up; and being able to see her while he worked on those urges always helped, but now he couldn't get Jamie out of his head. There was just something about her being pregnant that drove his fantasies wild.

Perhaps that was why his dad enjoyed his mom being in that state so much, resulting in so many kids.

He always did get on with Jamie so much better than he did with Hermione, even if they haven't really spoken much in almost two years; but hey, he could probably talk her into it, right? She's obviously already done it with one bloke, she wouldn't turn him down. Maybe even both of them, yeah, Jamie and Hermione, that would be awesome.

Ron was so lost in his head that he never saw the disgusted looks from the other people in the room or Madam Pince approaching until the stern librarian grabbed him by the ear and dragged him to her desk, summoning Professor McGonagall along the way.

"We've observed your Courage, seen your Wisdom, witnessed your Cunning, now it is time to view your Resolve," Percy declared glaring at Lilith.

Ludo picked up the next part of the instructions, "We've set up a special dueling ward in the Great Hall, one at a time you will cast your best defensive spell and students will attempt to break it. The wards will count the number and strength of the strikes required to breach your defense and your points will be awarded based on the results."

"You mean there's actually a basis for points this time?" Lilith asked shocked.

Percy barked her, "You only get one spell, so make it good and put everything you have into it."

"How… never mind this tournament makes no sense anyway," Lilith muttered.

"The order of contestants is the same," Hjørdis stated calmly, "so you are up first, Ms. Delacour."

Fleur pushed her long, silvery-blond hair over her shoulder and stepped up on the central platform, drawing her wand and facing the long line of students waiting to try breaking her shield. Taking a deep breath to center herself to cast, "Absolu Éviter," she said determinedly, causing an iridescent sphere to form on the tip of her wand and expand to envelope her. Then the barrage began.

Lilith started counting seconds as the first spell struck, unable to determine just how many spells were striking at once. The iridescent bubble started to shimmer violently and fail after about thirty seconds and failed by forty. For a single defensive spell it was quite interesting, though, as it completely encompassed the caster, she was not sure if Fleur would have been able to cast from within or leave the sphere behind to fight; definitely something she planned to ask the French Champion soon.

Taking Fleur's place on the stage, Lilith quickly cast an Aster Apsis defensive wall. Although her own research into her mother's shield had not overcome the deflection issues of her own spells passing through the wall, she had discovered that the curvature of the line inscribed when casting the spell would determine the 'front' thus making the deflection on the convex side greater than that on the concave side of the line, meaning that for greatest effect the ends of the line should be further away from the caster than the center. As a wall, there is the possibility for spells to curve around it, though the set up of this particular test made this form of shield just as effective as Fleur's sphere.

When the barrage recommenced, the Madam Maxime halted the test after the first spell, saying that the shield had been penetrated, however Hjørdis countered that the spell had been defected away from the target, making the shield a viable choice. Percy Weasley wanted Lilith to lose, Highmaster Karkaroff didn't really care, Albus supported Ms. Hyrenthal, and Bagman wanted a good show, so the test was allowed to continue. After ten minutes, not one spell had come within five feet of Lilith, and the judges had decided to halt the test again, deciding to award the girl full points for an 'impregnable' defense.

A quick Apoluo later Lilith stepped off the stage to be replaced by Cedric Diggory.

The NEWT level Protego Totalum charm that Cedric cast caused the air to ripple and wave like the heat disturbances over an open flame. It was interesting to see the differences between the standard shield spell and this area effect version, Lilith would have assumed Fleur's sphere would have been a closer variant of the basic defensive spell. It did fail faster, lasting only about twenty seconds, but Lilith had no idea how many or how strong the various spells used were.

Viktor quickly took the stage casting Rétegez Kórterem, or the 'Layered Ward' causing a wall of honeycomb like hexagons to form between him and the students. Lilith was reminded somewhat of Pong, a video game she had once played in the library of her primary school before her cousin Dudley ruined yet another of her hideaways, as each spell chipped away at the wall, slowly eroding a hole. For a defensive spell to allow the caster a change to escape it was a good choice, though being opaque meant that neither side would be able to tell what the other was doing.

Lilith surprised everyone by stepping onto the stage again as Viktor stepped down, nonchalantly saying that she had another spell she wanted to test. The Frouró Aspída Kai Aporrófisi summoned a dozen small glowing disks that began orbiting her, swiftly intercepting every spell aimed at her and slowly growing with each impact until, at some unknown triggering point, a disk would split forming two disks from the one previous and both would continue the defense. The 'Absorption Shield' took a lot of power to cast and was a bit unwieldy in her opinion for a combat spell, though once cast it was very effective. Once again, the judges halted the test after ten minutes and awarded her full marks for another impregnable defense; much to Percy's consternation.

Professor Flitwick quickly approached Lilith for more information on this new shield, but unlike the Aster Apsis, she wasn't quite ready to share this creation.

That evening, after the spell counts and power totals calculated, the points were awarded to each of the Champions. The over all standings did not change; Viktor was still in first, followed by Cedric, then Fleur, and finally Lilith, though the separation between each of them dropped precipitately so that Lilith was only thirty-five points behind Viktor instead of having less than half of his score.

Working in the greenhouses with Professor Sprout was almost as good for Neville Longbottom as a pure meditation to anyone else. 'Playing in the dirt,' as his grandmother would call it, was not a fit career for someone with his family's long history of law enforcement, but Neville just didn't feel like he was destined to be an Auror like both his parents had been. After working with Motherwort and Lady's Mantel all day, his thoughts turned to the girl he'd broken a Betrothal Agreement with.

Her life has never been simple, but he'd often wondered if he'd done the right thing ending that agreement, not for himself, but for her. She still had to deal with the political ramifications of all those Houses on her own, and though she could now double up on what houses her children could inherit, that still meant that she would have to have at least three more; and with the laws as they are, more likely six or seven more.

Should he offer to write up a new agreement with her? He knew she had a girlfriend, he liked Daphne as well, and he didn't want to interfere with the two of them, but he knew she could use the help; especially as she hadn't been taught about everything she would soon need to know.

He was torn… he just wanted to help, but wasn't sure how to offer that help yet.

Dora handed her boss the report on the Fourth Task to her boss, Amelia Bones.

"Anything interesting in here?" The Director asked.

The pink haired Auror nodded, "Delacour, Diggory, and Krum did what you expected them to, and about as well, averaging about thirty spells to a breach; but you'll want to take a look at Black's spells. I asked her about the hex she used first, and she claims that even the Unforgivables are 'deflected' by the spell; not blocked mind you, just redirected away. She taught that one to Professor Flitwick and has offered to show us as well. The second one, however, she called a 'point defense' charm, and she refuses to share it right now. She claims it absorbs any spells it blocks, adding that power to the shield to increase your defense, and from what I saw of it, I say it does exactly that; though I don't know if that spell would have any effect on the Unforgivables, I'd kind of doubt it."

"Did you ask in an official capacity or as her adoptive sister?"

"Not really either, Ma'am. Professor Flitwick asked, I merely added that I'd like to know as well. It's possible that a direct request could receive a different answer, but she seemed a bit… reluctant to even talk about it. Knowing her as I do, I'd think the basis of the absorption would be considered dark magic, and she doesn't want to confirm that and get in trouble somehow."

"You may be right. Merlin! It blocked over a thousand spells? I'll have to speak with Croaker and see about making an exemption for this spell… if she'll agree to share it with us, even if we'd have to take an oath not to pass it on… this could be a massive boon to our work."

"We don't know what the spell is truly capable of yet, nor do we know any of the drawbacks, if any, but I would agree with you on that."

"Go talk to her. Don't promise anything on our end, and I doubt you could extract a promise from her if she was that cagey with Flitwick, but do sound her out. See what she would need to have before she would share that spell with us."

"Right away, Ma'am."

Daphne pulled Lilith into an unused classroom where Valentine was waiting. As the door closed the older girl took off her mask and turned to the other two, "We need to talk."

-Author's Notes-

Point Totals: (Sixty points per Task)

Viktor 47, 36, 46, 41 = 170 1st place

Cedric 45, 36, 33, 52 = 165 2nd place

Fleur 43, 28, 29, 49= 149 3rd place

Lilith 54, 40, 24, 0, 16, 16, 60, 60 = 135 last place

I'm working on another story that will be very different from this one… if you're interested in seeing a bit of what it might be like, check out the HP Writing Ideas I posted. I'll add other ideas to that file later, but I've been writing a lot on the story about the 'Thing Under the Stairs'. Hopefully y'all will like it (already over 14k words and not even to Hogwarts yet).

Unlike JP&TAWC I'm going to write the bulk of that story before posting it… though I might do a year by year approach… haven't truly decided yet. This write a chapter and post it thing works okay, but as the story evolves I can't go back and add stuff I've thought of that would be cool to add, but would have effected or at least needed to be shown earlier in the story. So yeah… y'all are missing out on stuff.

I will more than likely re-write this entire story at some point, though with the new story I'll probably hold off until after this one is complete before doing so.

I expect the first part of the new tale (currently titled the Thing Under the Stairs) will probably be posted this summer… if you have any suggestions for a different title, drop it in a review on the HP Writing Ideas… 'The Letter' will be part of the story as well, though some of the details have been altered.

If you are interested in the spells used this time… Fleur's Absolu Éviter charm is French for Total Ward… Viktor's conjured Rétegez Kórterem is Romanian and means Layered Ward… Cedric's Protego Totalum charm is what Hermione and Harry used in book seven during the Horcrux Hunt… Lilith's Aster Apsis hex or Star Shield is the same one she used in year two (released with Apoluo), and the new Frouró Aspída Kai Aporrófisi 'point defense' charm means Absorbing Sentry Ward (when very poorly translated)… both are in Greek.

Yes, the Aster Apsis is a defensive hex… though it acts more like a jinx if you're looking up the spell types… you don't have to maintain eye contact and it makes for a fairly annoying effect. The fact that it is cast on the ground between the caster and the target could see it placed in the charms category, but it really doesn't fit there as it is not adding anything to the target but the area above it… it's also not changing the target so transfiguration or conjuration are also removed as possible categories.

As for the Absorbing Sentry Ward being dark… it 'steals power' from others, though it could be argued that by throwing magic at someone else you are 'giving' that magic to them… it's all semantics really. The things you learn when you go spell-crafting…

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.