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 11 – The Maze
Alice Tolipan sat with Daphne Greengrass quietly discussing Valentine's contract with the Black Dragon Tavern, and the best way to tell Lilith about it when the former Gryffindor arrived in their little used, out-of-the-way hidey hole of a classroom. The fifth-year Hufflepuff prefect tried to stop the conversation before the new comer to the room heard what the two of them had been discussing, but the Slytherin wouldn't let her get away with that.
Daphne quickly stepped out to grab Lilith and pull her into the room. Knowing that she couldn't put this off any longer Alice put her mask in her lap and turned to face the girls she loved, sadness radiating off of her like the desert heat at high noon, "We need to talk."
Five minutes, and two passionate kisses with her girlfriends later, the young pregnant witch was waddle-marching off to the Owlery with a fire burning in her eyes to send a note to her lawyer/guardian to purchase a business in Knockturn Alley along with all assets. She didn't care what the price was, but she now had a goal in mind to throw her, supposedly considerable, political capitol behind eliminating.
After the twelfth meeting in two weeks following the Fourth Task, Lilith was getting rather annoyed with the DMLE, DoM, ICW, and just about everyone else in the Wizarding World who wanted to know every little detail of her shield spells; not that she was telling anyone anything they could use with regards to the Absorbing Sentry Ward. The meetings would probably have gone much better if the Ministry hadn't sent a certain pink toad to every one of them threatening and harassing Lilith at every turn. After the seventh meeting, Lilith walked out when the point defense spell was brought up, and for the last two 'meetings' she departed as soon as Madam Umbridge arrived… and now she was heading towards yet another of these useless things.
She had better things to do, like class.
A brief flash of pink near the door saw Lilith turning and waddling away; being six months pregnant with twins, however, sucked for moving quickly.
"Ms. Black, where are you going?" behind her the voice of Professor Sprout asked.
"That way," Lilith replied waving vaguely in front of her, without bothering to turn around.
Sprout scoffed, "The meeting for the final event of the tournament is in here."
Lilith sighed and turned around scowling at the professor, "If… Umbridge… asks about my spells again, one of us is leaving."
The meeting room was on the sixth floor of the Astronomy tower in a seldom used conference room with large bay windows overlooking the grounds, the grey stone walls bleached nearly white added to the feel of space surrounding the rich mahogany table and elegant chairs that each sported the crest of Hogwarts in vibrant colors using metals and stone. Lilith loved the room and was planning to bring Daphne and Hermione here for future study sessions.
"So the little delinquent finally shows her face," the simpering voice of the pink toad verbally sneers at Lilith as she approaches the table.
"I would be careful about saying such things about myself in public, Delores. People may take your self-incriminations seriously," the pregnant Heiress, who was in fact a couple inches taller than the 'Senior' Undersecretary, returned smoothly.
"Enough!" Albus said before anyone else could interject, "We have assembled here today to reveal the nature of the last event of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Would the Champions please approach the windows. As you can see below, the Quidditch pitch has been altered into a magical hedge maze that the four of you will need to navigate through, and overcome the various obstacles, puzzles, and traps liberally distributed throughout, in order to locate and obtain the Tri-Wizard Cup. The first Champion to retrieve the Cup from its' pedestal, will be declared the winner."
Bagman then put in, "You will be starting in order of your current placement in the rankings at thirty seconds per point intervals. That means Mr. Krum starts first, followed by Mr. Diggory two and a half minutes later, then Ms. Delacour eight minutes after him, and finally Ms. Potter…"
"Black."
"… seven minutes after her. Questions?"
"Seventeen and a half minutes before the girl who will be, at that point, about seven months along begins to attempt the event. Is there really even a point to me participating at that point?"
"We're anticipating the course to take around two hours to complete, at minimum. There are multiple paths through the maze, but not all of them will lead where you want to go; and do keep in mind that the maze itself can shift about a good deal while you are in there. Any of you have the potential to win still; so, don't give up simply because you start off a bit later than someone else," Professor McGonagall said calmingly, "Anything else?"
"Has anything been discovered as to how I was entered into this tournament?"
McGonagall sighed and shook her head. Lilith was surprised that Umbridge hadn't issued forth that insufferable 'hem, hem' once yet and deigned to glance at the woman to see her glaring at Albus, obviously trying to talk with no sound coming out. Lilith chuckled and left the room as Cedric asked Professor Sprout about the hedges themselves.
Peneus couldn't believe his luck. He'd negotiated Timothy Selwyn into buying his eldest step-daughter's contract for a rather higher sum than he'd been expecting from the deal he had no intentions of walking away from; granted it had taken over a month of haggling back and forth over the price, but that had been mostly for show. Even though she couldn't technically 'work' until she'd sat her OWLs, he was certain her 'training' this summer would see the end of that disgusting relationship with that filthy Potter girl.
Now he just had to use today's lunch meeting with Lucius to betroth his 'daughter' to the Malfoy Heir, and his lawyer's carefully worded contract should pass the wily Slytherin's inspection to lock Astoria into doing exactly as her future husband wishes. They'll be no chance of his other step-daughter following in her older sister's ungodly footsteps.
Slipping out of the Dragon and quickly moving away, Peneus barely noticed, let alone recognized, the other lawyer he used from time to time heading in the opposite direction.
Albus sat in his office rubbing his temples to ward off the worst of his pounding headache. Impersonating Gellert's version of himself was but surprisingly easy and incredibly hard. His old lover had obviously gone insane but managed to cover it well as simply being eccentric. Trying to ween the image he'd created that he absolutely despised Lilith in public was becoming more difficult the longer he studied the pensive memories they'd found in the Headmaster's Office; it was almost as if they were trying to supplant his own feelings toward the young heiress.
Thankfully the end of the tournament was upon them and he'd be able to take a vacation soon, he really needed a break.
Eighteen-degree temperatures (low sixties for Americans) and thunderstorms awaited the four champions as the 24th of June wound down to the start of the final event and Salem once again proved the organizers to be morons by providing large enchanted mirrors for the Great Hall of Hogwarts that would display an over the shoulder view of each champion's progress that spectators could observe instead of simply staring at the hedges; without having to deal with the torrential downpour outside either. So while the judges waited all nice and cozy up in the castle, only Percy Weasley was in the Champion's Tent to send them off into "The Maze;" as Bagman put it using air quotes and everything.
The castle's clock tower rang out with the reverberating gongs of six o'clock post-meridian and Percy waved Viktor out of the tent to start his journey through the maze. A couple minutes later a chime went off altering them it was not the sneering Diggory's turn to venture forth. Lilith chatted with Fleur about nothing, distracting both of the girls from their own impending chimes ringing in the otherwise silent tent. No sooner had the Veela Champion slipped out of the tent, Percy collected the few things he'd had out and made to depart himself.
"Oh, so I can go anytime now?"
"What? No. The entrance is warded so the champions can't open it on their own."
"Then where are you going?"
"What business of yours is that?"
"Ah… so you are deliberately attempting to interfere with the tournament then… I hope you're ready for the consequences."
"Don't be silly. Nothing is going to happen to me; you on the other hand…"
"Well… you're wrong there. Me being here is enough to say I've participated… especially as it is the representative of the ministry and judges of the tournament that is preventing me from moving onward. Your actions jeopardize not only your own magic, but that of Minister Fudge, Minister Oblansk, Vice-Minister Delacour, Bartemius Crouch, Ludo Bagman, Headmaster Dumbledore, Highmaster Karkaroff and Madam Maxime as well since they are the signatories on the contract for this tournament; and perhaps others as well. As I'm pretty sure all of them are currently in the Great Hall watching you abandoning your post to trap me here on the live displays my school so generously provided… I don't think you'll find yourself very welcome in the castle."
The fear in Percy's eyes showed that he didn't know if she was right or not, but he definitely didn't want to find out if he was wrong. With a hate filled glare he returned to the maze side exit and waited for the final chime to sound.
Had Percy realized just how much trouble that little stunt had landed him in with the people in the Great Hall, he would have quickly walked into the maze himself, swiftly walked to where he knew there was a sphinx waiting for the champions, and purposely answered it's riddle wrong. Fortunately for him, Minister Fudge was writing out Percy's immediate transfer orders to the ministry's arctic research facility, complete with touch activated Portkey, so the twerp would only have to endure his mother's screeching rant for about thirsty seconds before the minister's little, puce green, paper airplane arrived and he was blissfully swept off to frigidly the cold climes he'd once called the seventh circle of hell… but now called heaven because he knew, from various reports he'd had to write, that owls could not reach this location… which means his mother couldn't send him any Howlers.
The maze consisted of ten-foot-high walls of various types of magical shrubbery… including Devil's Snare, Snargaluff, and Fire Seed Bushes… and that's just what Lilith could see from the entrance. Of course, it's what those hedge walls concealed that were the real problems, considering Hagrid's bent for unusual pets and the tournament organizer's utter stupidity with regards to the danger posed by the creatures they've chosen to include so far, anything could be lurking within the rain drenched, shadowy pathways.
Lilith decided to give the tentacle waving tree stump a pass and threw a line of blue-bell flames along the Devil's Snare path to start off, carefully watching the shivering plant as she made her way past the constricting vines. A faint golden aura hung in the air around the next corner, but she had no idea what it did. Reaching out with her left hand to bath it in the gently glowing light of the area yielded no results, yet the moment her head entered the zone nauseous vertigo assailed her. Stumbling back a bit to clear her head, Lilith tried to take stock of the situation, then thought of something she'd said to the judges during the Third Task… there were no rules against getting help, only that the teacher's of one's own school couldn't help with the Tasks.
"Mizyl!"
With a soft pop, the lavender eyed house-elf maiden appeared next to her carrying the sword, "Mistress called Mizyl?"
"Mizyl… there's a chalice on a pedestal somewhere in this maze. I would like to retrieve it as quickly as possible…"
Another pop sounded and the green-eyed form of Dobby appeared briefly with a "Dobby do!" before popping away again.
Lilith looked at Mizyl who shrugged her shoulders and waited for Dobby to return. A few seconds later the little guy popped back to her holding the prized Tri-Wizard Cup, but looking a bit dizzy. "Thank you, Dobby," Lilith said as she reached for the handle of the goblet… then the world became a tilt-a-whirl as the familiar sensation of a portkey took hold behind her navel.
Percy's actions caused a commotion in the Great Hall, the sudden appearance of a couple house-elves raised the din to a certified ruckus, and the abrupt kid-napping by Portkey of the pregnant witch they were all watching resulted in the furor catapulting all the way to a full blown chaotic maelstrom centered on the judges sitting at the head table.
Thankfully the live feed was still broadcasting the witch's current location like a blessed beacon of hope, so Amelia could dispatch her Aurors to the location right away; though with what happened next, that blessing certainly felt more like a curse.
The first thing she did when the spinning stopped was drop to her knees and expel everything she'd eaten since lunch. There was a reason why pregnant women were forbidden from traveling by Portkey. Dobby didn't look much better than she felt once she was able to lift her head a bit and try to take stock of her new surroundings: A graveyard, complete with a bubbling cauldron straight out of Macbeth, and a rat-faced villainous henchman scurrying about muttering about some ritual, but at least it wasn't raining.
Lilith was honestly surprised Pettigrew hadn't noticed her yet, but then saw Mizyl weaving some kind of spell over the area.
"Bad men here. Very bad. Yous must go Mistress," Mizyl stated quietly.
A huge snake suddenly burst out of the overgrown grass surrounding the headstones of the clearly abandoned graveyard, only to be sliced in two by Mizyl wielding Fragarach.
Unfortunately that also ended her concealment spell.
"Potter's here! Wormtail seize him!" a chilling voice rang out through the decaying mortuary.
Half a dozen rapid-fire pops saw Wirpy, Reesy, Zabby, Mindy, Nibsy, Veeny, and Hywil join Dobby and Mizyl in the graveyard; all but Dobby armed with some type of weapon from the tower's arsenal. The Potter and Slytherin elves were ready to do battle to protect their Mistress.
A frission of magical static washed over them as some form of ward was erected preventing some of the elves' magic from working, however, each of the house-elves, when defending their families, controlled powers no wizard could truly comprehend; and the weapons had powers of their own.
Poppy Pomfrey had been dreading this event so had been in the infirmary making sure everything was perfect for when the inevitable injured champions arrived she'd be ready for them. What she hadn't expected was two very determined witches bursting into her domain little more than twenty minutes after the event started. Miss Tolipan had started studying with her to learn if the girl had what it took to eventually become a healer herself, but the mediwitch didn't think Miss Greengrass had that ambition.
"What seems to be the nature of the medical emergency, ladies?"
"Lilith… kidnapped… dark lord…" Alice gasped out trying to catch her breath.
"How can we help?" Daphne finished.
Whatever Poppy had been expecting, that was not it, but could tell her current preparations would likely be woefully inadequate to the task ahead and began issuing orders to the two volunteers.
Umbridge was ecstatic, the little shit was in for a fight and she'd get to see exactly how the brat cast those wards. Then the girl cast a spell she called "miden parousia" and seemed to disappear for a minute. She felt like cheering when one of the disgusting elves got sliced in half by the wizard. Only the fact that she was surrounded by so many people rooting for the turd on screen kept her from showing her glee.
Fudge was having a mini panic attack. He like many of the adults in the hall recognized the supposedly deceased Order of Merlin (3rd Class) holder. Then the old elf using a long spear that seemed to pass through any shield Pettigrew threw up, knocked the cauldron over and the ugliest baby-like thing he'd ever seen rolled out of a blanket and started casting killing curses at everything.
Then the Aurors arrived on the scene.
Zabby and Veeny were dead and between Pettigrew and Voldemort, Lilith was trapped behind the headstones while the other elves tried to harry the enemy enough to let her get away. She thought she'd at least been able to hit the baby-ish thing with a piercing hex, but was unable to get a really good look at the two of them. Then the Aurors arrived, and two of them joined with Pettigrew against the others. Reesy collected the fallen weapons while Dobby and Hywil pulled the bodies of the fallen elves away from the fight. Then Wirpy fell to a bombardment curse from one of the traitor Aurors, while Nibsy was clipped by a stunner, and Pettigrew transformed trying to flee the fight only to transform back when he ran into Mindy allowing the 'good' Aurors to re-engage the rat Animagus.
With three dead and two injured, Lilith ordered her elves to pull back until only Dobby remained at her side. Between the two of them blocking and shuffling quickly away from the central focus of the fight, they managed to get beyond the wards and Dobby popped her back to Hogwarts.
Anger seethed just below her calm façade. She didn't know why she'd been brought here originally, but the flashes of memories she saw as she slept were horrifying. The feeling of torturing and murdering random people with her own wand… she needed out of here before the thoughts they were putting into her head made her think they were real and started to twist her into the demon she dreamed about when she fell asleep.
Lilith had passed out shortly after Dobby brought her back to Hogwarts, so it was little surprise to her to be waking up in the Hospital Wing with Daphne and Valentine watching over her from one side and Amelia on her other. The argument between Fudge, Umbridge, Hyrenthal, Bones, and Pomfrey however could wake the dead… which is what she felt like.
"Hey, you're awake," Daphne said softly with a voice full of the emotions she so rarely showed.
"Not that I want to be," Lilith replied with a glare at the group at the far end of the hall.
Alice waved her wand and the noise at the other end of the ward abruptly stopped. "Might as well use it while I still can," the Hufflepuff prefect said with a shrug.
"You don't need to worry about that. Remember what Lilith told you… Ted's looking into it."
"What are you two talking about?" the purple haired Navajo girl asked.
"Just a bad living situation. Nothing you need concern yourself with," Alice quickly replied, hoping to change the subject.
The subject did change, however it had nothing to do with Alice's desire, as Madam Umbridge roughly grabbed the girl and began berating her silently for having been muted in the middle of the 'adult conversation' that had been taking place. Umbridge's eye opening comically wide at the feeling of a wand pressed into the back of her neck however quickly put a stop to that.
"You will unhand my student this instant, Deloris," Poppy said coldly, having been released from the spell by Madam Bones. "This is a medical ward not the Wizengamot chambers, you will obey my rules here."
"When can my student leave?" Hjørdis asked at the same time as Lilith requesting how the others were.
"She may be weak for a bit yet, but should be fine to leave any time now," Madam Pomfrey stated, ignoring the dirty looks from Fudge and Umbridge who wanted Lilith to support their version of events over the truth. The Mediwitch then turned to the Girl-Who-Lived, "The other champions are fine, minor bumps and such. It likely would have been much worse had you not ended the event so quickly."
"And the Aurors?"
"I'm afraid that's classified, Lady Black," Madam Bones interrupted, "but it does look like I've got a fair bit of work to do once I get back to the office."
"…tacking the Senior Undersecretary and Minister!" Umbridge interrupted herself mid-rant as the silencing hex was lifted, "I WANT THAT GIRL ARRESTED!"
Unfortunately for her, not even Fudge could see a way to make her wish a reality. Handing the bag of Galleons to Hjørdis, Cornelius pulled Umbridge away from the girls around the bed and out of the infirmary.
Salem's airship departed that evening, without even a by-your-leave to the Tournament Committee, shocking most of the students and guests currently residing in the castle. Only three had known what was happening, Alice, Daphne, and Hermione stood witness to their friends' departure. Even the note from the unwilling champion Daphne pressed to her chest promising to come back to her and Alice soon couldn't stop her tears from flowing. The shocking thing though was how she signed it: 'With all my love, Jamie Potter.'
-Author's Notes-
Sorry it's taken me so long to update this while I work on Risen… the two stories are so completely different it's not easy to think about one while working on the other. I have some plans with regards to fifth year in this story, though nothing really beyond that, so I think I'll place this one on hold while I see where Risen is headed and come up with some more material to work on here.
I'm glad so many of you have enjoyed this so far, but it feels more like a stage play from an audience member's point of view to me… check out Risen… that's more of a story style of writing.
Anyway… see y'all later…
Krys Griffin
Here's some biographical info for my story…
Daphne's birthday is August 22, 1980 (Leo Peridot)
Freyja Kathrine Sophia Hufflepuff (Lilith/Jamie) - Valerie Kyriessa Hufflepuff of the line of Malfoy
Lady Tanith Selena Slytherin (Lilith/Jamie) - Charis Eirene Slytherin of the line of Prince
Names preselected, blood test to determine parentage, only question is… which is born first?
Pregnancy Progression
Nov 24 Task 1 Dragons & Inception (termed week 2 for the chart I'm using)
December 24 Event 1 Yule Ball 6.3 weeks
January 24 Task 2 Face Yourself 10.6 weeks waist thickening
February 24 Event 2 Cultural Exchange 15.1 weeks More energetic, less nauseous, sinus issues
March 24 Task 3 Rescue 19.1 weeks hungry, sharp pains in lower belly and groin on either or both sides
April 24 Event 3 "Exhibition Duels" 23.5 weeks swollen ankles and feet, soccer ball size belly
May 24 Task 4 Defensive Creativity 27.9 weeks baby tickles
June 24 Finale Maze Race 32.3 weeks mood swings, clumsiness, and fatigue due to baby's strong kicks
Birth on Sunday morning August 13, 4 days early… 40 weeks ends on Thursday August 17 (Leo Peridot)
As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.