Chapter 31: What is the Worst that Could Happen?
March 13th, 1995
"So in conclusion, I think the IUC needs to take a larger role in preparing the champions for the final task," said Daphne. The war council was meeting for lunch, and Harry had not seen this development coming.
"It's a good idea," said Cedric, "though isn't it against the rules to have help? Can we do this publically?"
Daphne pursed her lips. She clearly hadn't thought of that.
"I think it will work," said Hermione, "so long as all the champions are invited. That means Fleur and Viktor as well."
"I have no objections to that," said Harry, "As far as I'm concerned, the more we work together, the better for the tournament."
"I think the rest of the IUC will agree to this," said Daphne, "so I'll bring it up tomorrow night. If they vote yes, then for the rest of the year the IUC meetings will be used to help train the champions."
It was a good idea, Harry had to admit. It was also Tracey's idea. Tracey was largely done pouting over Ron, but she was still deferring to Daphne more than Harry thought was necessary. She did seem to be more confident since they'd talked on Boxing Day. She also seemed to be taking a leadership role more and more. That boded well for her chances of making Quidditch Captain.
As Harry was leaving the meeting, Cedric pulled Harry aside. "Have a minute to take a walk Potter?" he asked.
Harry nodded. Hermione looked at him questioningly, but Harry waved her off. He had a feeling Cedric wanted to talk to Harry alone.
The two of them left the small classroom they had been holding the war council meeting in. Harry really needed to find a better place to hold these meetings. He wondered if the elves might know a place. He decided to make a point of asking them.
"You're lucky," said Cedric, "Most people don't get that sort of certainty as young as you do."
"Huh?" asked Harry, puzzled.
"Hermione," said Cedric, "You and her have something special there."
"We're just…" started Harry before he realized how stupid what he had been about to say was, "We want to get together, but both of us feel that we're too young to really get together yet. But I have to admit, that does seem to be less and less important."
"Well you are getting older everyday," said Cedric, "And you've had to deal with a lot of stuff beyond your maturity level. I'm not saying you need to jump into anything yet, but if what you are worried about is somehow ruining your friendship with Hermione, I wouldn't if I were you. The two of you have been through enough that even if your relationship fizzles, you'll still be good friends. You've saved each others lives. When a wizard saves the life of a friend, it reinforces those bonds of friendship, just as saving the life of a stranger creates a life debt."
"So what you are saying is that somehow, Hermione is always going to be a part of my life now?" asked Harry.
Cedric nodded.
"How are things with you and Cho then?" asked Harry.
"Good," said Cedric, "But I'm not sure I see a long term for us."
"From what I saw, you two have progressed rather far in your relationship," said Harry, thinking back to when Cho and Cedric had walked in on Tracey, Luna and himself in the Prefects' baths.
Cedric managed to not blush. "I mean yeah, we have a good time, but that isn't the point. We're both going to be going in very different directions after we leave Hogwarts. And I leave a year earlier than Cho anyway. I enjoy my time with her, but I'm not in love with her, at least not yet. Maybe that will change."
"Oh, and thank you for not staring at Cho too much back then," said Cedric as they walked out of the school towards Hagrid's hut.
"Well, by that point the novelty of having a naked girl in there had long worn off," said Harry, "though I will admit that I find Cho more my type than Luna. I kind of see Luna as a sister more than anything. I think." Harry still wasn't sure how much Luna had been joking back when they'd had their little heart to heart during Christmas break.
"I know Cho can be a bit much sometimes, but that's just her personality," said Cedric.
"Especially when it comes to Colin," noted Harry.
"Well that's just Quidditch," laughed Cedric, "Anyway this wasn't what I wanted to talk about."
Cedric stopped them near the edge of the Forbidden Forest. "I wanted to apologize. For putting you and Fleur and especially Gabrielle in danger during the second task. I was reckless, and I nearly got Gabi killed. I fired off those spells before I looked, and you saw what happened. I'm ashamed of what I did. I already talked to Fleur about this, I just wanted you to know too, as you were the one who saved Gabi."
"It isn't your fault," said Harry, "If the organisers of the tournament didn't place protections to prevent exactly this from happening then they are being absolutely derelict in their responsibilities. Yes, you could have been more careful perhaps, but you were under attack, and trying to save someone you cared about. That you would get desperate is understandable."
"You didn't though," said Cedric, "You were about to stay and make sure all the hostages were rescued when I blundered in."
"Actually, I got assurances from the merpeople that the hostages would be fine," said Harry, "so I was about to leave with Hermione."
"I didn't even do that much," said Cedric, kicking a small stone off into the forest as he did. It hit a tree with a dramatic crack.
"You were a bit busy," consoled Harry.
Suddenly, a man came running out of the Forest. Harry was shocked to see that it was Barty Crouch Sr.
"Get Dumbledore!" he said as he ran towards them.
"Mr. Crouch!" said Harry urgently, "Where have you been?"
"No time to explain!" he said breathlessly as he fell to his knees.
"Were you imperiused?" Harry asked, "Was it your son? Was it Barty Jr.?"
Crouch looked at him in amazement. "How did you know that? Never mind, yes it was my son, now will you please get Dumbledore?"
"I'll stay with him," said Cedric.
Harry nodded, then ran towards the castle. Running up the stairs he made a beeline for the Headmaster's office. Stopping before the statue in front of the office, he yelled "Professor, Barty Crouch just ran onto the grounds! We need you immediately!"
The way into Dumbledore's office swung open and the Headmaster ran out moments later.
"Lead the way," said the headmaster.
Harry wasted no time. They made record time getting down to the ground floor, and soon Harry and the headmaster were out on the grounds. But when they reached the spot Crouch had been, instead they found Cedric unconscious and Crouch nowhere to be found.
"Damn it!" shouted Harry, "He admitted he was Imperiused by his son. We had him!"
Moody suddenly ran out of the woods. "I saw someone crawling around out here, he attacked Diggory and ran."
Immediately Harry was suspicious of Moody. It couldn't be a coincidence that he was here. And suddenly Harry realised that made Moody his primary suspect. After all, Crouch Sr. hadn't been at the second task. Could Moody be a polyjuiced Crouch Jr.? It all made sense. He kept trying to help Harry. He only drank from his flask, so the potion could easily be hidden. And it would explain why he had no problem torturing Neville Longbottom by callously using the cruciatus curse in front of him.
"Was it Crouch?" asked Dumbledore.
"Looked like him," said Moody.
"Can we trust what he says?" demanded Harry, "this is awfully convenient, you being here."
Dumbledore shook his head, "Harry…"
But Moody interrupted him, "No, the boy is right, you should be suspicious of me just showing up here! Getting soft in your old age Albus?"
Dumbledore smiled, "I stand corrected, why were you here?"
"I saw Potter and Diggory walk out here l, so I followed at a distance to make sure that no one was going to try something," explained Moody, "I was too far away, it turns out, I didn't see Crouch, or whoever it was, come out of the forest until he started trying to hex Diggory."
Harry nodded, not satisfied, but there was nothing for it. Dumbledore was clearly not willing to believe Harry without proof.
"Mr. Diggory may shed more light on this," said Dumbledore, "Ennervate." With that last Dumbledore pointed his wand at Cedric. Cedric's eyes popped open.
Useful spell, thought Harry.
"Who attacked you Cedric?" Harry asked.
"It, it was Mr. Crouch!" said Cedric, at first haltingly, then suddenly confidently.
Harry's heart sank. That could be a normal reaction. It could also have been Cedric trying and failing to overcome an Imperius Curse. There was literally no way to tell. Well no way except for invasive legilimency that both Moody and Dumbledore would immediately detect. Hell, Harry didn't even know if that would work.
"Satisfied Harry?" asked the headmaster.
"No," said Harry, "but it will have to do for now."
"Boy, you should be an auror with an attitude like that," said Moody enthusiastically.
"I'll consider it," said Harry.
Dumbledore gave Harry a troubled look. Oh that's all I need right now! thought Harry. Dumbledore had no ground to stand on when it came to not trusting people.
XXXXX
"So what do I do?" Harry asked Hermione later that night, after curfew. He had just told all his Slytherin friends about his run in with Cedric, Crouch and Moody. All of them had been very concerned, especially Luna. Harry hadn't mentioned the idea of using Legilimency on Cedric to them however. He'd waited until he was alone with Hermione.
"So either Cedric is under the Imperius curse or he isn't," said Hermione, "It doesn't change anything. If you knew he was Imperiused then you could justify using legilimency on him to find out who did it. But you don't know. You suspect."
"But surely it's justified to use it to make sure he is himself, right?" demanded Harry.
Hermione shook her head sadly. "But what if he isn't Imperiused? Then you just read the mind of your friend without their permission! There is no ethical way to do this. If you had anything more than suspicions, any proof Moody was Crouch, anything at all, I'd say go for it. But as it is, it would be a tremendous betrayal of trust to use legilimency on Cedric."
"What about the Marauder's Map?" said Harry.
Hermione blinked in surprise. "That might work," she admitted, "Where is it?"
"I loaned it to Ginny last year," said Harry, "She never gave it back. I think she just forgot about it, given all the craziness that happened the last time she used it. I don't begrudge it to her, after all it was her brothers who gave it to me."
"Well let's get it!" said Hermione.
Harry and Hermione ran over to the third year dormitories and knocked on Ginny and Luna's door. Ginny opened the door. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" she asked.
"We need the Marauder's Map," said Harry, "we think it might prove Moody is Crouch Jr."
Ginny laughed slightly at that. "Great minds think alike. Luna just had the same idea. She asked me for the map and ran out of here."
"Why?" Harry said excitedly, "We could check it from here!"
"Oh, bollocks!" swore Ginny.
The three of them ran out to the Slytherin common room only to find Luna being marched in by one of the prefects. Luna had tears in her eyes, but she was trying hard not to let it show.
"Luna?" asked Ginny.
"Professor Moody caught her out after curfew," said the prefect, "She has a week of detentions."
"We'll take her back to her room," said Hermione.
"That's my job," said the prefect, but Harry cut her off.
"You did your job," said Harry, "we'll make sure she stays put for the rest of the night."
The prefect nodded, obviously realising some plot was up, and willing to defer to the most powerful man in Slytherin. He left, heading towards the seventh year dorms. Ginny and Hermione led Luna back to her room, with Harry close behind.
As soon as they closed the door, Luna leapt into Harry's arms, crying. "I'm so sorry!" she cried, "I thought I could catch Moody with the Marauder's map. It's magic is tied into the Hogwarts wards, which are far more sophisticated than my aura reading. But I got caught and he took the map! He tried to Imperius me! I am so sorry Harry."
"Shhhh," said Harry as he held her close to him, "It's all right Luna. You'll be all right. He tried to Imperius you?"
"I managed to shake it off," said Luna.
Harry kissed her on the top of her head. "Good for you," he said.
"Aren't you angry with me?" asked Luna.
"I do wish you'd come to me with this," admitted Harry, "but I'm not angry with you. I'm just glad you didn't get hurt."
"Did you happen to see Moody on the map?" asked Hermione.
"Moody was on the map, but he was in his office and not the hall I was caught in. The map said the person in the hall with me was Bartemius Crouch," said Luna.
Ginny grimaced and Hermione closed her eyes.
"Without the map, how do we prove it to Dumbledore?" wondered Hermione.
"He has the real Moody in his office, probably to harvest parts of him for polyjuice potion," said Ginny, "All we have to do is free him."
Harry grimaced. That might be more difficult than they would like.
XXXXX
April 7th, 1995
With Luna's word that Moody was indeed Crouch, Harry did use Legilimency on Cedric. The whole thing was useless though, as the memory had clearly been Obliviated out of his mind. Harry could see the places where the new memory didn't fit. Harry cursed himself. Moody had probably obliviated Cedric the first moment he could once he was away from Harry. The only saving grace was that if Cedric was obliviated he probably wasn't imperiused anymore, but Harry couldn't be sure. In any event, he wasn't acting any differently.
The IUC voted to start helping the champions train at the next meeting. And so they set up a joint training session. When it finally arrived, all the champions attended. At first they were divided into different groups with different people helping each champion. But as time went by, there was a lot of cross pollination between the groups, Hermione kept moving between the group helping Harry and the group helping Fleur, while Tracey did the same except with Krum, and Justin did the same except with Cedric.
But as the session went on the champions naturally gravitated toward each other. Soon the champions were chatting together and showing off their unique abilities. After all, they weren't supposed to be fighting each other.
Dumbledore came in towards the end, along with Maxine and Karkaroff. Karkaroff seemed angry at what was going on. But Dumbledore and Maxine clearly approved. As the meeting ended, the headmasters approached the champions.
"Tomorrow, Ludo Bagman will explain the final task to you all," said Dumbledore, "Though from what I've seen, you are all doing a very good job preparing for it. And might I add that this display of camaraderie between the four of you is exactly why this tournament was formed. I am very proud of all of you."
Harry nodded gratefully. He wanted to tell Dumbledore what he knew about Moody, but knew that without proof the headmaster wouldn't believe him. Ginny had been trying to sneak into his office when he wasn't there, but so far he had not left it unlocked or unguarded. Harry was beginning to get nervous. He wanted Crouch caught before the third task.
XXXXX
April 8th, 1995
Harry wasn't in a good mood on the April Hogsmeade trip. Hermione and Ginny had accompanied him to this cave (laden down with a large amount of food) right outside town after he'd received a letter from the last person he'd wanted to run into right now.
"Harry!" said Sirius as he transformed from Padfoot into himself, "Why didn't you tell me you were entered in this tournament!"
"Because I didn't want you coming back!" said Harry angrily, "The deal I made protects you, but only if you are out of the country!"
"You need help," said Sirius, "Someone is out to get you. I suspect Karkaroff or Snape. Karkaroff…"
"I know who Karkaroff was, Daphne has kept me well informed, thank you," said Harry, "And I guarantee it isn't Snape. It's Barty Crouch Jr, but he is masquerading as Mad-Eye Moody using polyjuice potion."
"Have you told Dumbledore?" asked Sirius.
"I mentioned I was suspicious, but you know he won't do anything without proof," said Harry.
"I am going to get proof though," said Ginny.
"We had proof before," said Hermione, "In the form of the Marauder's map. But Crouch confiscated it, so we can't show Dumbledore his true identity."
Sirius grew very grave. "It is strange that he doesn't trust you," said Sirius finally, "There must be something going on that you aren't aware of. He always listened to the wildest imaginings of everyone in the Order of the Phoenix before."
"Sirius, promise me you will not get yourself caught!" said Harry, "Keep a low profile!"
"Fine!" said Sirius petulantly.
XXXXX
May 16th, 1995
Sirius was as good as his word. No one had heard anything about him in Hogsmeade as late May approached. By that time, Harry was beginning to feel ready for the task. True, he was far behind the other Champions in ability, but he was starting to catch up, and where he was skilled he was very skilled. The task probably wasn't going to kill him, which was a relief. The revelation that it was going to be a maze full of traps and monsters was actually a little relieving as well. That was the sort of thing that he was good at navigating, though he'd have to do this one alone.
Harry of course did his own private training with Ginny and Hermione. Ginny showed Harry a number of spells that could be used to get him out of a fix. Hermione had even developed a spell of her own that allowed him to get north by saying "Point me."
But then word around school began circulating that a student had tried to sneak into Moody's office. Luckily none of the rumors seemed to know who it was.
As soon as he could though, Harry ran to meet Ginny.
"I know, I know, I nearly got caught," she said angrily, "Crouch is good. When he isn't in that office it's locked up tighter than a pureblood's zipper in a muggle whorehouse. I could probably break into the office, but I'd have approximately three or four minutes to find Moody before the alarms brought Crouch back, and it's really unlikely that I'd be able to do that in so little time."
"Dammit," said Harry angrily. Then he really had a reason to swear as he saw Dumbledore walking towards him.
"Want to bet he suspects me?" Harry said to Ginny quietly.
"Harry, do you have a moment?" asked the headmaster.
"Of course," said Harry as he followed the old man to his office. Once there, Dumbledore turned and pinned Harry with a harsh stare.
"You need to stop harassing Professor Moody, Harry." said Dubmbledore, "this is starting to get ridiculous."
"Professor Moody is hidden somewhere in the Dark Art's professor's office," said Harry, "Barty Crouch Jr. is using him for polyjuice potion."
"Is that why you tried to break into his office?" demanded Dumbledore, "Do you know how unlikely that scenario is?"
"I didn't go near Moody's office," said Harry, "And if I had the Marauder's Map, I could prove that 'Moody' is Crouch. But Crouch confiscated it from Luna."
"Harry, Alastor Moody is one of my oldest friends, I believe I would notice if he had been replaced," said Dumbledore, "This is just Slytherin paranoia run amok. You will drop this matter."
Harry shook his head angrily. "I am not paranoid. Someone is out to get me."
"I am aware," said Dumbledore, "But your actions above all else have convinced me that it is not Alastor Moody."
"My actions have nothing to do with whether you can trust your 'friend' or not," said Harry struggling to remain calm, "I realize that a certain… distrust has begun to manifest between us. But I have never tried to willfully deceive you! You have to believe me!"
Dumbledore shook his head, "You send others to do your dirty work, you blatantly manipulate others, even those you claim to be friends with. No, I do not have to believe you about anything."
"That is a complete lie!" said Harry angrily, "I do not manipulate my friends."
"Now that I believe," said Dumbledore, his meaning obvious, "you are dismissed Harry."
And it was then that Harry realized that Dumbledore no longer believed that he had not put his name in Goblet of Fire. And for the first time Harry began to suspect that something was wrong. Very wrong. Dumbledore knew the evidence. He couldn't realistically believe what he was saying.
Unless something was convincing him otherwise. Was it Crouch? Had Crouch gotten into his head, or used magic? Somehow that was not a satisfactory answer. Whatever the case, Dumbledore's current position was beyond reason.
"Fine," said Harry, "But if I die, remember, it's your fault. I tried to warn you."
And with that he stormed out, leaving a very troubled looking Dumbledore.
XXXXX
June 24th, 1995
When the day of the third task came, Harry made one thing very clear.
"Luna," he said, "Whatever happens, it isn't your fault."
"But I lost the Marauder's map!" she protested.
"You did take a risk that didn't pay off," said Harry, "but Crouch managed to fool some very sophisticated witches and wizards, including Professor McGonagall, who is a master of Transfiguration, and Professor Dumbledore, who knows Moody better than anyone. If we had thought to use the map earlier though we wouldn't have been in this position."
Luna still looked miserable, "I shouldn't have been sorted into Slytherin," she said sadly, "I'm not sneaky enough for it."
"There's more to being in Slytherin than being sneaky," insisted Harry, "And I wouldn't trade your friendship for anything Luna."
Luna managed a small smile at that.
Snape chose this moment to interrupt the two of them. "Mr. Potter, there are visitors waiting to see you near the Quidditch Pitch."
"Oh?" said Harry.
"The families of the champions have been allowed to come to Hogwarts to watch the third task," said Snape.
"I am quite certain Vernon and Petunia aren't here, so I'm guessing it is Mrs. Weasley," said Harry, "Ginny want to go see your mum?"
"I guess," said Ginny.
Harry winked at Hermione, and headed off to meet Mrs. Weasley, Ginny in tow.
"I'm going to try and break into Moody's office once the third task starts," said Ginny.
"A little late for that, isn't it?" asked Harry.
"If I can produce the real Mad-Eye maybe I can get them to call off the last task," said Ginny, "I have to try."
Harry gave her a quick pat on the shoulder. "Thanks," he said gratefully.
When they reached the pitch (which was now covered in a giant hedge maze) they saw not just Molly, but also Bill. "Bill!" yelled Ginny as she ran to hug her older brother. Harry felt a brief twinge of conscience that Ginny would have to shorten her time with her favourite brother in order to help him, but he knew she was doing it because she cared about him, so he didn't feel too bad.
Harry also noticed that Bill very much had his eyes on the champion from Beauxbatons. Fleur was talking with her mother and father, as well as Gabrielle. Fleur and Bill had met before, of course, at the Quidditch world cup. They hadn't spent that much time together though. Bill's eyes didn't have any of the signs of being affected by Fleur's veela nature. He was just admiring an attractive woman.
He spoke to Molly and Bill for a bit, thanking them both for coming over. But he saw an opportunity here, and he wasn't about to waste it. "I do need to say hello to the Delacours for a moment, given what happened at the Second Task," said Harry, "Bill why don't you and I go over and say hello for a minute while Ginny catches up with your mum."
"Good idea Harry," said Ginny, clearly understanding his intent.
"Uh, sure," said Bill.
Harry walked Bill over to the Delacours. As he approached Gabi ran towards him and threw her arms around his neck planting a kiss on his cheek. Harry managed to retain his composure through this, returning Gabi's hug briefly before continuing on to her parents.
"Madame Delacour, it is wonderful to see you again," said Harry to Fleur's mother, "And you must be Fleur's father, she has told me so much about you. I am Harry Potter."
Monsieur Delacour took Harry's proffered hand in a strong handshake. "Thank you for helping to save Gabrielle during the second task 'arry. I am very glad that Fleur has a friend that she can count on."
"This is Bill Weasley," said Harry, "He's a curse-breaker with Gringotts, I thought Fleur might want to talk to him for a bit, as she was considering a similar career path."
"Of course I remember Monsieur Weasley," said Fleur, "Oh I wouldn't mind talking to him at all," she said eyeing Bill, not exactly lewdly, but appreciatively.
"Uh, likewise Fleur," said Bill slightly nervously. He probably hadn't expected her to be so game.
Harry talked with the Delacours for a short while, then headed back to speak to Molly and Ginny.
"Where's Bill?" asked Molly.as he got back.
"He's still talking with Fleur," replied Harry, "They both seem to be, uh, enjoying themselves."
Molly saw her son talking to the young part-Veela. "So I see," said Molly dryly, "I take it this was your intention?"
Harry shrugged. "I like Bill, I like Fleur. They certainly seem to like each other. Maybe nothing will come of it, but who cares? It's not like I'm making them do anything."
Molly laughed in agreement. "I suppose maybe Bill could use a little encouragement in that area. Though it is a little hypocritical of you to do this and get mad at me for trying to set up the two of you."
"The difference is, if this fails, Harry won't try again," said Ginny, "Hope that helps."
After some time Dumbledore arrived with the other Headmasters and Bagman.
"Minister Fudge will be arriving soon," said Dumbledore, "And we have had Professor Moody go place the Triwizard Cup in the center of the maze. So champions should all start getting ready, we'll be letting people into the stands soon."
"Well, now we know what the trap is," said Harry once Dumbledore had walked away.
"Where the bloody hell does he get off letting Moody touch the Triwizard Cup!" seethed Ginny.
"Mind your language Ginevra!" said Molly.
"Ginny's just angry because Dumbledore has probably just assured my death," said Harry.
"Harry, you could just not take the cup, you could!" begged Ginny, "You have to know it's almost certainly a portkey!"
"I will probably die if I touch that thing," said Harry, "But Viktor, Fleur or Cedric? They will die if they touch it. No, I have to see this through."
"What are you talking about?" asked Molly.
"Remember that night Mr. Weasley had to go calm down Moody at his home this last summer?" asked Harry, "We're pretty sure that Barty Crouch Jr, having just freed himself from his father again, attacked and replaced Moody using polyjuice potion. And he's been masquerading as Moody all year."
"Do you have any proof? Why didn't you tell Dumbledore?" asked Molly, "I have a hard time believing it."
"Dumbledore thinks I'm lying," said Harry, "And we had proof, but 'Moody' confiscated it."
Harry stood up as straight as he could. "No, there's nothing for it, I'll just have to try and survive this as best I can."
Molly looked at Harry very sceptically. He couldn't really blame her. It sounded insane to him too.
Amos and Cedric walked by to say hello to Molly. As they were talking, Ginny whispered in Harry's ear. "If Voldemort tries to use your blood in a resurrection ritual, give it to him willingly. That ritual requires an unwilling victim."
Harry nodded grimly. Cedric seemed to catch his mood, because he walked over to talk to Harry.
"Nervous Potter?" asked Cedric.
"A bit," said Harry.
"No need, no need," said Amos, "What's the worst that could happen?" Was he for real?
"We could all die," said Harry, and with that he decided to find some privacy.
XXXXX
"Welcome to the third and final task of the Triwizard tournament!" shouted Fudge to the crowd, "Inside the maze before us we have placed the Tri-wizard Cup. Whoever retrieves it is the winner! As he is in first place, Harry Potter of Hogwarts will enter the maze first, followed by Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons, who will be followed by Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts, who will be followed by Viktor Krum of Durmstrang. Harry, you may enter the maze!"
There was a wave of fireworks set off (probably from the Weasley twins) as Harry rushed into the maze. He had to get to the cup first, but he wouldn't take it unless it looked like another champion was going to claim it. He had to give Ginny the maximum amount of time to rescue Moody.
Harry chose his direction randomly. There was no right or wrong path at this point. He just had to hoof it and hope for the best.
He found himself in a long section of hedge. He couldn't see the end of it. It seemed as if this first pathway kept going and going in a straight line. And of course it was doing just that. Harry stopped and considered his options. He doubted a simply finite incantatem would deal with this problem. He could blast through the hedge, but he had no idea where that would lead him. Suddenly Harry had a thought. If this was just an illusion maybe it was his eyes that were tricking him.
Closing his eyes, Harry walked forward in a straight line. For several moments he thought it wasn't working, but then he walked right into the hedge. Opening his eyes, he saw that he had indeed walked past the enchanted spot and found the end of that first passage.
Turning down the next path, he saw the last thing he wanted to see. A blast-ended skrewt.
Harry didn't waste any time. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he cast on the skrewt followed by, "Confringo!" That last one was the blasting curse; one of Blaise's favourites, naturally. It shredded the skrewt in an instant when it hit the thing's softer underbelly. Harry felt a little sorry for Hagrid that he'd killed it, but not enough to regret doing it. Those creatures were just annoying.
Harry continued on, using Hermione's direction spell as needed. He was making progress, but he wasn't running across obstacles. Which meant he was almost certainly going the wrong way. So he was about to break through the hedge, when he heard grunts and yells.
It was Krum, "Cedric! Vhat are you doing?" he heard the Bulgarian say. Harry swore. Cedric was still Imperiused!
Harry ran towards the sound, only to discover he wasn't the only one to do so. Fleur was there as well.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Cedric's Imperiused and is attacking Krum!" said Harry, still following the sound. Sure enough they found Cedric standing over an unconscious Krum. Or at least Harry hoped he was unconscious. He ignored Harry but immediately started firing spells at Fleur. Luckily Fleur was warned, so she managed to shield herself.
"Stupefy!" said Harry sending a stunner straight towards Cedric. Apparently he'd been instructed to ignore Harry, so he didn't even try to dodge or shield. The stunner dropped him cold.
"What is going on 'arry?" asked Fleur.
"Cedric was Imperiused by Moody to make sure I won the tournament," said Harry.
"What?" demanded Fleur suspiciously.
"Moody isn't Moody, he's the son of Barty Crouch, and one of Voldemort's followers. He's probably turned the cup into a Portkey or something so he can abduct me," explained Harry.
"That's quite a story 'arry," said Fleur. She clearly didn't believe him.
"Believe it or not," said Harry as he checked Krum's vitals. They were very strong. He'd probably only been stunned. Picking up Krum's wand, he cast the sparks to call for help into the sky.
"It doesn't matter," finished Harry, "It's you vs. me now. And I intend to win."
He smiled sadly. And then he was off running.
"No fair!" shouted Fleur teasingly as she ran in a different direction.
XXXXX
Ginny had a bit of a difficult time getting away from the Quidditch Pitch. First she had to escape her mother, not an easy task. She eventually managed to use the excuse she needed to find Luna, who had hidden herself away at Ginny's signal. Then she had to get away without Moody/Crouch seeing her. Luckily, his eyes (both the mechanical and the real one) seemed mostly interested in the task right now.
She ran back to the school as fast as she could. She would have flown directly into the dark arts tower if she'd dared, but she couldn't attract the attention. Luckily even Filch was at the task so there was no one to accost her in the school.
Finally reaching the dark arts classroom, Ginny ran to the door of the professor's office. As she expected, when she got there it was completely warded up. But after a cursory examination, Ginny realized there was a slight flaw in the spells cast on this door.
He didn't think he was coming back, so he got sloppy, thought Ginny. With a single spell the protections on the door unraveled, all without alerting Crouch.
Walking into the room confidently, Ginny began to explore the room. There was a closet, but checking it turned up an empty closet. There was a small case on the desk. Opening it, Ginny saw it was full of small bottles. Sniffing one revealed the aroma of polyjuice potion. All the bottles seemed to be empty, noted Ginny. Ginny found the Marauder's Map in a drawer.
There was also a trunk. Ginny jabbed her wand at it and it opened. Nothing but clothes inside. But then, Ginny realized that this was a collapsible trunk. Shutting the trunk, she thrust her wand at it again. It opened again, this time revealing a long passage down, in which she could see a rather battered, and familiar, man.
"Mad-Eye Moody!" she shouted.
"Who is there!" he yelled, frantically.
"I'm Ginny Weasley!" she replied, "We have to get you out of there and to Dumbledore! If we hurry we can still stop Lord Voldemort's return!"
"How do you know Lord Voldemort is trying to return!" asked Moody suspiciously.
"Because I'm not an idiot," said Ginny, "Of course that's why he sent his most loyal henchman to abduct Harry Potter!"
Moody seemed to hesitate for a moment. "All right, get me out of here," he said finally.
XXXXX
Harry still couldn't find any obstacles. And he'd been wandering twenty minutes. Either he was going the wrong way, or he was going the long way around. He couldn't afford to waste any time. So with a string of Confringo's and Incendio's he cut his way through the hedge. Which then started to attack him. For a moment Harry was a blur as he used fire to hold back the hedges, along with a few cutting charms and one reducto. Of course he had a few cuts for his effort, but he figured that was worth Fleur's life. He had to be very close to the middle of the maze now, which meant there was only one way to go.
Coming around a corner, he saw it. The Triwizard cup. He began to run towards it, but roots began to shoot out from the side of the maze to trip him. Stumbling he pushed towards the cup. He was halfway down the row when he saw Fleur emerge from the other side. She saw the cup and began to run towards it. The hedges started trying to trip her as well, but she nimbly avoided them, managing to keep moving forward.
"No!" roared Harry as he hurled himself forward. He wasn't about to let Fleur die in his place!
XXXXX
Ginny ran as fast as she could to the Quidditch pitch. She had no idea how Moody kept up with her given how feeble he'd seemed to be when he came out of the trunk, but somehow he was only a short way behind her. He'd probably tethered himself to her somehow. Probably a useful spell to know.
Running onto the field of the pitch she ran toward Dumbledore.
"Professor!" she screamed, "The real Professor Moody would like to have a word with you!"
Dumbledore turned, looking as if he was going to rebuke her, but then he saw Moody. And the doubts left his eyes immediately. He turned to Crouch, who threw himself forward to avoid the headmasters spell. But it wasn't Dumbledore that Crouch needed to be worried about. Ginny threw a spell that hit him right in the chest. It only momentarily took the wind out of Crouch, but it was enough for her disarming charm to hit. Crouch's wand flew out of his hand and landed in Ginny's. And with one last swipe of her hand, Ginny conjured ropes to tie Crouch up.
"Ginny! What are you doing!" screamed Molly.
"Well done Miss Weasley!" said a very surprised Dumbledore.
"Well done indeed!" said Flitwick from the stands, "That was first class dueling style!"
"Stop admiring Ginny's spellwork and STOP HARRY AND FLEUR FROM TOUCHING THE CUP!" screamed Hermione from the stands.
Dumbledore put his wand to his neck. "HARRY! FLEUR! DO NOT TOUCH THE CUP!" boomed his voice through the Sonorus charm.
XXXXX
"HARRY! FLEUR! DO NOT TOUCH THE CUP!" came the sound of Dumbledore's voice. Exactly as Harry and Fleur both grabbed the opposing sides of the cup at the same time.
And suddenly Harry and Fleur found themselves being spun around through the ether as the portkey they had both grabbed pulled them towards their new destination.
Author's Note: Sorry about the cliffhanger, but I couldn't resist ending there. It is such a natural place for a chapter break!
So I'll start with the news. My beta reader hasn't been able to review my stuff much recently for real life reasons, which is why the pace of updates slowed. I haven't managed to contact them at all for nearly a week and a half. So I published this chapter and the previous one without them being beta'd. I also published the last chapter of Harriet Potter without a beta reader as well. I do want to maintain a better pace of updates though. So if anyone wants to beta either story, please, send me a pm!
This delay hasn't been entirely a bad thing though. I have done a major series of rewrites on years 5-7, and fixed some major problems. It also convinced me to tone down some elements in the last few chapters. The feeling just wasn't right.
I have also opened a new Forum, called Xetarma's Fanfics. If you have questions/comments/suggestions that aren't strictly review related, that would be a good place to voice them. My primary reason for doing this is so that I can post responses to things other than via pm or author's note. I may post responses to reviews there, so be on the lookout for it!
The next four chapters are all really crazy, and they finally begin to show how this story is going to make its permanent breach from canon. It won't get all the way there until the end of sixth year, but it will get there. I know people read a Harry in Slytherin story and expect to see a powerful Harry. It's coming, I promise you.
