Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Third Task and the Parent Protection Plan
The day of the Third Task dawned bright and sunny. Orion sighed as he got out of bed, it was too nice a day to potentially risk his life, not to mention worry his friends and family. He hadn't heard any more whispers from the Marauders regarding his secret, but he'd been the recipient of several furtive and not-so-furtive glances from all of them in the few weeks in between the conversation he'd overheard and today. James, Severus and Remus seemed to be watching him as closely as they could, while Sirius and Lily were more polite about their interest in him, and looked away whenever he caught them staring.
"I really hope they don't decide to try and compare photos of me and Charles," he muttered to himself as he got dressed. Even if only to himself, he admitted that there was a resemblance between him and his grandfather, and it wasn't only the hair. Their facial structure was very similar too, and Orion consciously had to restrain himself from running a hand through his hair. If nothing else, having the exact same gestures would certainly be a large clue to his true identity, as while it would be natural for James to have picked up that habit from his father, it would be suspicious for Orion to have the same one, especially as he supposedly wasn't related in any way to either Charles or James.
A knock came at the door and Orion opened it to admit James, Severus and Remus, all of whom looked worried.
"What's wrong, boys?" Orion asked, flexing his wrist and sending his wand back into its sheath, which he always wore on his right arm.
"Can't we wish our father good luck without him asking us if something's wrong?" Remus asked, looking innocently up at Orion.
Orion snorted. "Right," he said, not bothering to hide his amusement, "now why don't I believe that?"
"It's true," James insisted, but his darting glances at the rest of the room betrayed him and Orion sat down in a chair with a sigh.
"What's really going on? I'm not in the mood to decipher more riddles, the Third Task one was hard enough," he said, allowing just a touch of irritation to edge his tone. He loved them, he really did, and usually he'd indulge their transparent attempts to hide their true purpose but he wasn't in the right frame of mind for it right then.
"We've just come from the Quidditch Pitch, there's a huge hole in the middle of it and some sort of gigantic snake inside, judging from the hissing," Remus said in a rush. "We don't want you to get hurt in this task."
Orion now smiled. "Boys, who am I?" he asked.
The question drew puzzled looks from the three Marauders. "Er, you're Orion Potter, our dad and James' uncle," Severus said slowly.
"Yes, and who else am I?" Orion prodded.
James suddenly groaned. "Lord Slytherin," he said. "Of course you wouldn't be worried about a snake, you can talk to them."
"Right," his uncle said. "Is there anything else?"
He was mildly alarmed when he was suddenly caught in a three-way hug, the tightness of which told him that they were worried about more than the task. "We just don't want to lose you," Severus mumbled into Orion's robe. Pulling back so he could breathe, he added, "The rumor is that this task is really, really dangerous, and, well,"
He trailed off and shrugged helplessly. Orion narrowed his eyes.
"Well what?" he asked.
"You almost died in the last task," Severus finished. "Is it wrong to wish you weren't competing? We don't want you to die."
Orion sat down. "Look at me," he said firmly. He waited until three slightly damp sets of eyes met his, and said, "Yes, this Tournament has been very dangerous, and I'm not taking this last task lightly. I will do everything in my power not to die, but you must realize that I can't promise it with any certainty whatsoever."
The Marauders held his gaze for a long time, not saying anything, and Orion now wished he hadn't been quite so thorough with Severus and Remus' Occlumency training. He couldn't get a sense of what his children were feeling, and James wasn't looking at him, aware that his shields weren't as good as his cousins' were, so he couldn't get a read on his nephew either.
Finally, after almost five minutes of silent staring, James broke it. "Do you promise?" he asked.
Sighing, Orion debated not answering but when Severus and Remus joined James in giving him their most earnest, pleading looks, he found he couldn't do it.
"I promise that I will do all I can to stay alive throughout this task," he said solemnly.
"OK," the boys said in unison, but they didn't sound happy.
"If you do get killed, we'll bring you back and kill you again," Remus threatened, drawing a chuckle from Orion in response.
"Oh really?" he said, ruffling Remus' hair affectionately.
"Yeah, either that or we'll implement the PPP," James said, some of his normal humor coming back.
"And what's the PPP?" Orion asked.
"The Parent Protection Plan," Severus answered, giving his father what he thought was a stern look. Orion had to swallow the urge to smile, it wasn't too far off the same sort of look he was used to from the older version but at fourteen, his son wasn't quite old enough to pull it off correctly, and while it would have intimidated Severus' classmates, it didn't have the same effect on him.
"The Parent Protection Plan," he repeated thoughtfully. "What exactly would that entail?"
"That research we did when Lily was attacked proved helpful," Remus began. "We found the spells you suggested, and," he paused to glare at Orion, "if you don't take care of yourself in this task, we'll cast them on you and if you get in trouble, we'll come and rescue you."
Orion bit his lip, hard. He knew they were deadly serious about this and he wouldn't hurt their feelings by laughing at them, although he did find the idea of three fourteen-year-old wizards protecting an Unspeakable to be extremely amusing. Quelling the urge to laugh, he arched an eyebrow at his three would-be protectors and said, "Have you forgotten my reaction to Charles casting a spell on me without my consent? I appreciate the thought, but I'm supposed to be protecting you, not the other way round. Besides," he paused for a few seconds, "I would have thought that you'd use those spells to protect yourselves and Lily."
"We discussed it, but she said no in the end," James admitted. "She said that using the spells like that would make her feel like she had four bodyguards instead of friends and she didn't want that."
Orion nodded. "I see. Well, as much as I appreciate the thought, I don't need you using those spells on me, alright? Nothing's going to happen except for me winning the Tournament and Abraxas Malfoy being in second place."
The boys looked reluctant to leave but Orion firmly shooed them out the door, and as soon as they'd left he sank down into his chair and laughed until tears poured down his face.
"It's not funny, Harry, they were being serious," the older version of Remus said, disapproval evident in his tone.
"I know," Orion responded, "and I wasn't laughing at them, I was laughing at the situation. I think it's incredibly good of them to want to protect me, incredibly brave too, considering the nature of my job, but what I was really amused about was that I could almost see you, Sev, and Dad standing there while they were trying to threaten me into taking better care of myself."
"We wish we had been," James interjected, sounding more serious than Orion had ever heard him. "They might be young but they have a point, son, this task is going to be dangerous and people have died before. Hell, you and the other contestants all almost died in the last task, if you hadn't transformed into Salazar then you might have done."
"You have been incredibly lucky so far but luck doesn't last forever, and sooner or later, it will run out. Don't throw your life away because you got complacent," Lily added.
Orion gave vent to an inarticulate growl. "I know but I don't want them going overboard and doing something stupid just because they're worried about me. I'm still not convinced that they're not going to try something anyway, something worse than just casting a couple of spells."
"Why are you so convinced that they'll try something?" Sirius asked.
"Because I understand how they feel. In the original timeline, if I'd thought about it, I could probably have talked Hermione and Ron into helping me come up with a plan to protect you from harm," Orion shot back. "They want to protect me, they want to keep me from being hurt, and I think they'll do almost anything to achieve that objective if they perceive that I'm not looking after myself."
"Well you know what to do then, don't you," Severus said sarcastically.
"No, what," Orion responded equally sarcastically.
"Look after yourself," his spirit family chorused, and Orion groaned.
"Fine," he muttered, standing up and checking that he had everything he needed. The champions had been told the day before that they would have to bring everything they thought they might need with them when they gathered at the starting point for the final task. Accordingly, Orion had dressed in his Unspeakable robes, which were cut to allow maximum freedom of movement, and reinforced by complex layers of spells all woven together and then woven into the cloth the robes were made of. Additionally, underneath that, he wore a dragonhide vest and which was also spelled against everything except the Unforgivables. Dragonhide boots and arm guards completed the outfit and the arm guards also had sheaths on them, one which held his wand, and the other a sharp dagger, one of a pair which he'd found in Salazar Slytherin's study in the Chamber of Secrets.
Checking that his wand and dagger were in their sheaths on his arms, Orion twisted his body from side to side, checking that the other Slytherin dagger, on a sheath attached to his left calf would stay put, and that Gryffindor's sword, shrunk to dagger size, and in a sheath attached to his belt wouldn't impede his movement.
With all weapons secure, Orion closed his eyes and took a breath. In and out, in and out, in and out, the rhythm continued until he had succeeded in calming his emotions and focusing his thoughts. He couldn't afford any distractions today. The first part of the task, getting past the snake, might well prove to be the easiest part of it. He didn't want to think what the organizers had dreamed up for the rest of it.
"One thing is certain," he murmured to himself as he completed his preparations. "This task may very well prove to be lethal."
With that cheerful thought, he made his way down to the starting point. On the way, he met Abraxas Malfoy, who looked as calm as ever, but Orion thought that beneath the façade, Malfoy would be about as calm as he was. Arriving at the Quidditch pitch, Orion frowned as he saw the hole that Remus had described. The hissing from inside it certainly sounded like a large snake, but Orion couldn't be sure whether it was the basilisk or not. Swallowing a sudden surge of apprehension, he turned to the organizers, his face a blank mask, wondering exactly what they'd have to do.
The apprehension increased when the chief organizer put a sonorous charm on himself and addressed the crowd, which quieted instantly, wanting to hear what awaited the six champions. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have come to the final task of this tournament. This is the most dangerous task of the three, and while six may start this task, it's anyone's guess as to whether six will finish it. The task is quite simple; the champions will have to make their way through several challenges, which incorporate both tests of knowledge and tests of physical skill. At the end is the Triwizard Cup, and the champion who makes their way through all the challenges and touches the Cup first is the winner. To start the task, the champions will enter this tunnel behind me and face their first challenge. If they make it through that, they will go on to the others. They will start the task in the order of the points they have, so the one with the most points will start first and then after one minute the second placed champion will enter and so on. It's time to start, so champions, good luck."
Orion entered first as, due to his efforts with the Patronus in the second task he'd rocketed into first place. Abraxas had slipped into third, with one of the French champions occupying second place and the other French champion and two Bulgarian champions occupying fourth, fifth, and sixth places. He had one minute to get what head start he could, which as it turned out, wasn't much. Jumping into the hole, he used a levitation charm to slow his descent.
Reaching the bottom, he was almost crushed as the French champion landed almost on top of him, his descent having lasted just over a minute. Swearing in French, Orion pulled himself up and glared at his closest rival. In French, he snarled, "What the hell was that? Did you not learn the levitation charm at school? You could have crushed me. Idiot!"
The French champion glared back and replied just as heatedly, "You should have moved! You're the crazy one!"
They were still glaring at each other and hissing insults when Abraxas landed smoothly beside them. "Well, this is interesting," he drawled. "Lord Slytherin, should we continue onwards?"
Orion abruptly switched focus and pulled himself under control. "Don't call me that!" he snapped, but although the tone was sharp, Malfoy's distraction had served its purpose and Orion turned to the tunnel which they were now in. As they moved down the tunnel, Orion's keen hearing picked up the sound of soft thumps which signaled the arrival of the other champions. Picking up the pace, he moved faster, but kept his senses trained on what lay ahead.
The hissing increased in volume and the champions, now six in number, stopped. The five non-Parselmouths looked to Orion with some trepidation. "What's ahead of us?" Abraxas whispered, keeping his voice low so he didn't attract the unknown creature's attention. Orion frowned, and shook his head.
Hello he hissed.
The hissing stopped and then began again. Who speaks?
Orion swallowed hard. The hissing voice of the snake sounded old, and, he thought, male. This would prove difficult. The tunnel was too small for a decent fight, but he knew there had to be a way round it.
Orion Potter. I and my friends wish to pass by. Will you allow us to do so peacefully?
A burst of hissing greeted his question, which Orion interpreted as laughter. No. You will have to fight me to get past. I will not allow any to get past without a fight.
Orion broke off the conversation and swore in several different languages. "It's a very large snake, probably quite old, and it's said that it won't allow any of us to get past it without a fight. I'm guessing, based on the clue, that it's a basilisk, which means that we'll have to be very careful."
"What about your basilisk form, won't you be able to kill it?" Aleksandar asked.
Orion scowled. "No. The tunnel is too small for my form to fit, much less fight. Plus that basilisk sounds like a really old one, and if I'm right, it will be more powerful than mine."
"You're Lord Slytherin, aren't all snakes supposed to bow before you?" This was from the French champion that Orion had been exchanging insults with at the start of the task.
Orion chuckled. "Snakes are very independent; they will do as I ask if they feel like it, not because I command them to do it. That basilisk has been assigned to guard the path; it won't slither aside if I ask nicely."
The champions looked at each other and shivered. None of them said it, but as they continued towards the basilisk, they were all thinking the same thing: How many of us will make it to the second challenge?
After a couple of twists and turns the first challenge came into view. The snake was indeed a basilisk, and Orion's suspicion that it was an old, powerful one, was proven correct. The six champions stopped and stared at it for a minute, all holding their breath. "Bloody hell," Abraxas muttered. "How the hell are we going to beat that?"
"Blind it first," Orion whispered back.
The champions all aimed their wands at the snake, and their most powerful spells. The snake dodged the first barrage, and hissed menacingly, its fangs exposed and dripping venom. Orion led the charge, as the champions spread out, to make themselves less of a target. As the snake struck, aiming for Aleksandar, Orion drew Gryffindor's sword, enlarged it, and struck at the basilisk's exposed neck. The sword bounced off the diamond-hard scales, as Orion had expected, but as the snake turned on him, he waited until the last moment and jumped to the side, landing on a small rock formation. Holding the sword at an angle and with the snake's head lower than he was, Orion thrust it down. It was more luck than skill which saw the point of the sword land in the snake's left eye.
Screeching in agony, the basilisk reared up and, blinded in one eye and unable to properly see where it was going, inadvertently left the path forward open. The champions took the chance and ran for it. Abraxas made it through first, followed by one of the Bulgarian champions, then one of the French. Orion was last through the gap before it closed and he turned to see the two remaining champions had been cut off.
The snake, enraged by being partially blinded, resorted to its sense of smell to locate its opponents. As the two remaining champions dodged and ducked and tried to cast spells at their scaly opponent, the snake quivered, and then turned the full power of its one good eye on the two opponents in front of it.
Soft cries came from the Bulgarian and French champions standing behind Abraxas as they saw their friends die. Orion closed his eyes, offering a quick prayer that the surviving champions made it through the rest of the task, and then murmured a prayer for God to look after the two dead wizards.
"Come on," he ordered softly. "We can't do anything for them, and standing around here brings the risk that that ugly great snake will turn round and have us for dessert."
With murmurs of discontent and grief, the others slowly followed him. They were all shaken and severely worried about the rest of the task ahead but they had no choice but to continue on.
In the stands, the crowd was also upset at the death of the two champions so early in the task. The French and Bulgarian contingents were more subdued than their British counterparts although the British wizards and witches were keeping their celebrations to a minimum out of respect for the recent tragedy. James, Severus, and Remus were clinging to Charles and Emma, all worried that Orion might be next to go, while Sirius was clinging to his father, as worried about Orion as his friends were.
The second challenge almost surprised the remaining four champions. Coming out into a subterranean cavern they saw that the second challenge seemed to be in two parts, and the first part was a written test on the development of poisons and their antidotes throughout history. Orion chuckled as he mentally thanked Severus and Remus for forcing him to study magical history properly, including the history of poisons and antidotes. His surrogate uncle and mentor had hauled him into Godric's Hollow every night for mental tutoring sessions, and Orion had studied hard. He had tried, once, to get out of the lessons, but a stern lecture from both Remus and Severus, followed by one from James and Lily, had convinced him to give in. It was still a source of amusement for the spirits that Orion had stubbornly protested that he could study for himself throughout Remus and Severus' lecture, but had crumbled quickly during the following one from his parents. Orion put it down to having used up all his arguments with his former professors, while Sirius maintained that it was the shock of being scolded by his parents which had led to Orion conceding defeat. They were still keeping a friendly running argument going on the subject, and keeping score of all the points won and lost, much to the amusement of the other four spirits.
"What is this?" Aleksandar muttered, chewing the end of his quill, one of which had been provided for each champion.
"Keep going, I have a feeling that it will have something to do with the next part," Orion murmured back, already halfway through the test. He came to one question and frowned. It was a tricky one, and he tilted his head to the side. "Severus?" he asked mentally.
"No, Harry, I'm not going to help you," Severus replied dryly. "You have all the knowledge you need to get through this, the answer is in the question itself. Look harder."
Sighing, Orion took a closer look at the question and after a few minutes, he swore at himself. "Of course," he muttered, writing down the answer. Minutes later, the parchments rolled themselves up and a new parchment unrolled itself in front of each of the champions. It read,
You may now approach the second part of the task. There are three poisons you have to identify and create the antidotes for. Get it right, and you may pass through the fire and on to the rest of the task. Get it wrong, and you will stay until you manage to get it right. When you have correctly identified the poisons and created the antidotes, a vial will appear on your station which contains a potion allowing you to pass through the flames. The flames are impervious to flame freezing spells so the potion is the only way through. Good luck.
"Merlin's bloody balls," Orion sighed, ignoring the choking sounds in his mind as Lily took exception to his choice of words. Minding his language was the lowest on his current list of priorities.
Outside, in the stands, the crowd chuckled at Orion's language, but by the looks on their parents' faces, the Marauders knew that they wouldn't be allowed to use the same sort of language unless they wanted their mouths washed out. They'd recovered from the basilisk incident, and now they were eagerly watching to see what sort of trap awaited the champions in the second challenge.
Orion approached his station and frowned at the vials in front of him. Another roll of parchment lay beside them and he picked it up, reading it quickly. His frown grew deeper as he read down the page, this was very tricky indeed. The poisons were all obscure ones, not ancient, but definitely not on the list of modern poisons and antidotes either. Sighing, and venting his frustration with another string of creative swear words, he got to work.
"Stop," Severus suddenly snapped, as Orion was about to add a reagent to the liquid swirling in a cup in front of him.
"What?" Orion snapped back, making very sure that he kept the conversation purely mental.
"Let me help," Severus said, "and for Merlin's sake, put that reagent down."
"Why are you helping me now?" Orion asked suspiciously, putting the reagent down and acting as though he'd had second thoughts about it.
"Because I don't want you blowing yourself and everyone else sky-high," the former Potions Master growled. "I won't do all the work, but I'll give you as much help as I can."
Orion sighed. "Fine. What am I doing wrong here?"
Severus peered at the poison, using Orion's eyes to do it. "Nothing, but you were going to add the wrong reagent. You're almost there with the identification, just keep going."
In the end, it took Orion fifteen minutes to identify all three poisons, and another fifteen to create the antidotes. Looking up from his work station as the vial appeared in front of him, he was startled to realize that Abraxas had already finished and gone, and the French champion had also evidently got it before him as well. He was heartened, as he stepped through the fire, to see that he was at least in third place, Aleksandar was looking more and more frustrated and angry as he tried to get the correct answer.
Faint noises up ahead alerted him to the fact that Abraxas and the French champion was entangled in whatever the third challenge was. Shifting to Shadow, he quickly yet quietly made his way towards the noise, noting that the tunnel was sloping upwards, and it was lighter than before. Shifting back to human form, he disillusioned himself and waited for a minute. Stretching out with his magic, he tried to determine what was ahead, and then decided that as he was already behind, he shouldn't spend too much time waiting.
He ran to the end of the tunnel, and saw that it opened out into the arena, and the third and, it seemed, final part of the task, was a duel. Who it was between was momentarily unclear, until he spotted what had to be an army of dueling dummies. Dueling dummies, as their name suggested, were training aids for professional duelers, they could be set to the level the dueler wished, and gave extremely realistic, human reactions, both when they were hit and in terms of reflexes, speed, and spell arsenals. The dummies that Abraxas and the French champion were fighting seemed to be set at professional level, which would be a problem for most witches and wizards, who didn't bother to learn dueling beyond what was required in sixth and seventh year DADA. For the champions, however, they posed an interesting challenge, a chance to test their skill without any lethal consequences.
'I stand corrected' Orion thought as several dummies converged on him at once, and two fired Killing Curses. "Reducto!" he snarled, blowing the two AK wielding dummies to pieces. He kicked the third in the face, sending it reeling backwards, and settled himself in a loose stance, ready to move whatever way he needed to. Six more came at him, moving in a semicircle, trying to surround him.
He backed up, focusing on keeping the dummies in front of him and letting none get behind him. He kept a peripheral awareness of where his rivals were, and what they were doing, but the rest of his world narrowed to the dummies that were keeping him on his toes. Shielding, dodging, ducking and casting, he was unaware of the picture he presented to the students in the stands, who were stunned into silence at their DADA professor's skill as a duelist.
Severus, Remus, and James were yelling themselves hoarse, cheering their father/uncle on, while Orion Black was thinking that he definitely didn't want to engage the Unspeakable in a duel anytime soon, even a friendly one. The level of skill that was on display in the arena was one he didn't think he could match, although if asked, he'd certainly give it a go.
James suddenly grasped Severus' arm in a tight grip. "LOOK," he yelled, pointing to the three dummies that his uncle had dealt with earlier. Severus and Remus looked and gasped in shock.
"DAD!" they yelled.
Orion, busy dispatching a couple of dummies with a creative but lethal combination of spells, risked a glance up at the stands where his family was sitting. "WHAT!" he yelled back.
"BEHIND YOU!" the boys yelled in reply, and Orion spun to see the dummies that he'd "killed" had come back to life, and there were more of them.
"Oh shit," he breathed. Leaping over to where Abraxas was pinned down behind a conjured stone wall, he snapped, "Those bloody dummies have self-healing capabilities and replication charms on them. For every one we kill, they'll turn into two."
"How are we supposed to beat them and where's the Cup?" Abraxas snarled back, looking disheveled and not at all like how he usually liked to present himself.
"No idea. These must be a distraction, or an obstacle to overcome. What happened to the French guy?" Orion asked, breathing slightly harder than normal.
"Died when one of those dummies fired a cutting curse at him. It caught him in the neck and decapitated him," Abraxas answered tonelessly.
Orion winced. "Are you thinking that someone's out to kill us?"
"Us as in just us, or us as in all the Triwizard champions?" Abraxas enquired.
"The first option is frankly disturbing, but the second is unthinkable as well," Orion replied after a few minutes which he spent shielding himself and Abraxas from several high-powered offensive spells.
The wall blew apart, and the two champions rolled away from the debris in separate directions. Coughing, and covered in dust, Orion swore as he felt a sharp pain in his leg and then a sticky wetness. Not needing to look down to know that he was injured, the Unspeakable drew his daggers and threw them with unerring accuracy.
Two dummies fell with his daggers buried in their foreheads. They didn't get up, and Orion turned his attention to the dummies surrounding him. Drawing Gryffindor's sword again, he decapitated four of the dummies with one sweep, and crushed the heads as he stood on them. Calling his daggers back with a wandless Accio charm, he Disillusioned himself and stayed close to the stands. Catching his breath, he surveyed the arena, which was looking more like a battlefield.
'Hmmph, substitute Death Eaters for dummies and it would be a battlefield,' he thought, wondering where the hell the Triwizard Cup was. Looking around, he spotted a gleam of silver behind the dummies which were closest to the judges and he had a flash of insight. He took a closer look at the dummies' movements and realised that the champions had been attacked with more vigor when they got near that side of the arena.
"Yes," he murmured. Groaning noises alerted him to a new problem and he snarled in frustration as he saw the dummies that he'd killed with the daggers and sword get up and replicate themselves. Sweeping the battlefield with his eyes, he saw that only himself and Abraxas were alive, Aleksandar having made it out of the tunnel and died from wounds sustained from several dummies who caught him unawares.
"GET DOWN!" he roared. Abraxas turned round and threw himself to the ground as Orion unleashed his most lethal spell yet.
"INCENDIO!" Flames poured out of his wand, and rushed across the ground, bending round the prone form of Abraxas Malfoy as Orion directed it at the dummies. The dummies went up in smoke, and the two British champions were the only ones left standing at the end.
"Potter," Abraxas said tiredly as Orion made his way over to him, "you are quite possibly the most dangerous wizard I've ever come across."
"Thanks," Orion murmured equally tiredly. "How about we get that cup now and finish this blasted tournament. All I want at this moment is a nice hot bath and to spend time with my children."
"Considering we're the only two still alive, it's a British victory anyway, so how about we tie for it. We'll touch it at the same time," Abraxas offered.
Orion stared at him. "What happened to, "I'll win but I want you to be in second place?""
"That was before our competitors all died, it was only sheer luck that we weren't in their place," Abraxas responded, too tired to snap at Orion the way he wanted to.
"True. OK, but if it turns out to be a Portkey or anything like that, I'm going to kill the organizers," Orion said.
Wearily, the two champions made their way over to where the Cup sat in the middle of a small patch of earth, surrounded by a shield. Looking at each other, Orion and Abraxas swiftly dismantled the shield and lifted it up between them. Only then did their senses come back to them in a rush, along with the cheering of the crowd. As they made their way towards the judges, still holding the cup, they were assaulted by their respective children, who, after assuring themselves that their fathers were alright, just tired and sporting minor wounds, eagerly escorted them to the judges' table.
The verdict was no surprise. Abraxas and Orion tied for the victory, the first tie in the history of the Tournament, as both wizards refused to duel each other to decide a winner. They firmly told the judges that with the deaths of the other champions, it was pointless to have one winner as both surviving champions were from the same country. Faced with this logic, the judges backed down and declared a draw.
That night, as Orion slept peacefully after the conclusion of the celebration feast and the presentation of the prize money, the Dark Lord was fuming. He'd managed to find a new headquarters and was currently trying to get in touch with his Death Eaters.
"I'm going to make you suffer before you die, Potter!" Voldemort promised, trying to send it down the link he shared with his nemesis. Scowling as it bounced off impenetrable shields, he too settled down to sleep, planning the best way of killing off the one person, in his view, who posed the greatest threat to his plan of world domination.