A/N: I wished I owned Harry Potter. Alas, I do not. Ms. Rowling, I'd be happy to take it off your hands

Chapter 64: Underdogs

June 24th, 1995

Fleur watched with frustration as Harry and Victor entered the tunnel. She took deep breaths, waiting for her cue. After a minute Cedric raced down the tunnel, and then the whistle went off and she was gone. The tunnel was pitch black so Fleur conjured a couple of lights to orbit here as she ran.

Soon enough, she arrived at a split in the path. Fleur directed one light down each tunnel. They all looked the same. Perhaps it was luck of the draw? Fleur was about to head down the second most left tunnel when something caught her eye. She saw a Hufflepuff crest above the tunnel she was about to enter. She backed up and saw the next tunnel had a Durmstrang tunnel. The leftmost tunnel had a Gryffindor crest, and for a moment she was tempted to follow Harry, who would probably clear out everything in front of him in record time. That was clever strategy and nothing else, right?

The thought was gone as soon as it entered her mind. It might be clever, but it would make her a laughing stock, and Fleur still wanted to, thought she could win. Besides she didn't want to know, or possibly face whatever Harry feared. And what if his goal was to get past a creature or steal something from it, not defeat it? Fleur wanted nothing to do with the creature the ICW would chose for the strongest champion, the strongest by a significant margin.

The final path had a Beauxbatons crest, and with no hesitation Fleur headed down that path. It took a few minutes before she felt something change. One of her lights sensed something different so she slowed as the tunnel ended. To her surprise, as she entered a giant area, lights started flashing into place. She dropped her light spell as she tried to come to terms with the bizarre sigh in front of her.

She was staring at her house. Not the main mansion, the one she had been at on Friday. This was the smaller house where her mother had taken her every summer since her transformation. It was the only place where she could let her Veela side loose without keeping it in close control. Some of her fondness memories were of her mother and her working on charms, relaxing and enjoying the private beach, and learning about her powers and Veela history from Apolline. Something strange was going on.

With no better idea, after a few diagnostic spells on the door came back with nothing wrong, Fleur entered the house. Everything was exactly as she remembered. The furniture was identical, the pictures on the wall of consecutive generations of young Veela and their mothers. Even the smell was reminiscent of her time here, the smell of fresh Pain au Chocolat. What was there to fear here?

Fleur heard a sound from upstairs and headed up the stairs. The noise was coming from the master bedroom and Fleur heard the sound of a slap. She burst into the room and saw the man strike her sister again.

"Gabrielle!" Fleur cried out. She had not put her wand away, which she was thankful for now as she sent a powerful bludgeoning spell at the man. It impacted and sent him flying. Fleur rushed to Gabrielle, untying her and removing a gag from her mouth. "Are you ok Gabrielle?"

"Fleur! There's more!" Fleur turned to see two more men entering the room. She had surprise on her size and within moments had both of them on the floor. She turned and found the third man she had dispatched earlier and as she was in the process of binding the men, she felt a harsh pain on her head, and then she felt nothing.

Fleur felt herself coming back to consciousness slowly. Her hands and legs felt odd, and as she awoke fully, she realized she was bound to the bed. Gabrielle was staring at her in fear, tied to the chair in the room. She flexed experimentally, but the binding was tight and there was no wiggle room. It was certainly dire.

"Gabrielle, who are these men? Where is mother? Why are you here?"

"I was here with mother. We are working on charms, preparing for my transformation," Gabrielle managed to get out through sobs. "The men broke in and mother fought back. She hurt two of them so they…" Gabrielle glanced at the closet and began to sob. Fleur twisted her head following Gabrielle's eyes and saw with horror a hand sticking out from the closet. She had seen the bracelet countless times. It was her mother's favorite bracelet, an anniversary gift from her father. It had the same stone imbedded in it that her necklace from Harry carried.

The door to the room banged open and two men walked in. One of them could best be described as a thug, but the second man was different. He was dressed in clothes that would not be amiss at her parent's holiday party. He had a faint smile as he looked at both girls. But the eyes were cold, dead eyes.

"I apologize for your treatment so far, my ladies," the man said. "Allow me to introduce myself."

"I do not care who you are," Fleur said. "You will release us or you will regret it." The two men looked at each other and started to laugh. "Oh you think this is funny? You will not think it is funny soon."

"Why?" the well-dressed man asked. "No one is looking for you. Your attitude will make breaking you all the more fun. Though I think I will have you watch your sister learn all about being an adult first. You'll beg for my attention soon enough." The man laughed coldly. "We'll be back soon." The two men left, and Gabrielle started sobbing.

"Do not worry Gabrielle. It will be ok," Fleur lied. She could sense her wand in her holster. If she could just get any part of her body to touch the holster then she could get them free. The house did not have apparition wards, since no one knew it existed. Or at least no one had known. "Does no one truly know where we are?"

"Harry might!" Gabrielle seemed instantly cheered by the thought. "Harry will come and rescue us, I know it. He is busy all the time, but he will come." Fleur's heart dropped at the second sentence. They were on their own. There would be no rescue. Then her head popped up. Why did they need a rescue? Did she truly need a knight in shining armor?

Harry had rescued her more than once. It was his white knight complex, he couldn't help saving and rescuing everyone he could. Even during the fight at the carriage, she had let Neville rescue her. She was a school champion! She could defend her family, she could defend herself! All of the sudden one of the cuffs was loose and Fleur managed to free her hand, and instantly she was armed. She banished her bonds and quickly sneaked to the door. She shushed Gabrielle and opened the door a crack. She summoned a small bird and sent it down the corridor. She hard someone trotting up the stairs and when they were a few feet away Fleur whirled out of the door and a stunner flew from her wand.

"Woah!" the man dived to the side, the stunner flying through the space he had been in. "Flower, it's me."

"Harry?" Fleur looked down and saw her love getting up with a smile on his face. "You came?"

"Of course I came for you," Harry said, getting to his feet and putting his arms around her. Fleur snuggled into his chest. "The four men who took you are taking a nap right now."

"Four men?" Fleur pulled back for a second. "Harry, I think there were five.

"Huh? Are you sure?" Fleur heard a spell launched and Harry threw her to the side and Fleur saw the spell impact on his chest, sending Harry reeling down the corridor. Fleur screamed and fired two flame spells down the corridor, both of them blocked by the firth man. It was the well-dressed man, of course. He smiled his creepy smile at Fleur.

"No shining knight for you today," he said, firing two spells at Fleur, who deflected them both away.

"Don't be so sure," Harry said, stepping in between them. Fleur could see blood flowing from his chest, and his eyes were unfocused. "I'll take him Fleur. You get somewhere safe."

"Non!" Fleur declared. She grabbed Harry and threw him behind her. "We are a team! I am happy you are here, but I am no helpless maiden. I will protect you too. I will protect Gabrielle. I will win!" Her wand was a blur as she sent spell after spell at the man who dared to harm her family. There was no gap in her spell, and the man was forced to shield on the narrow hallway. A few spells sent debris up into the air, and Fleur transformed the debris into spears, imbued magic in them and sent them flying towards the man. One caught him in the shoulder and another caught him in the ankle, sending him flying. A well placed stunner ended the fight.

"I guess you didn't need your knight after all," Harry said, his eyes still a little unfocused.

"Harry, I will always be happy if you come," Fleur told him, helping him up. "You will always be my champion. But I am no helpless maiden. Now, let's go check on those other men." Harry nodded and then a blinding light flashed. As the light cleared, Fleur found herself in a giant cave. She was back in the final task! She took a deep breath, steadying herself. She saw a hole open in the far wall.

She had indeed faced quite a few of her greatest fears. That she would be unable to protect her family, especially Gabrielle, if they were in danger. That the man she loved would not respect her and would feel the need to always save her. That she could not stand up for herself and stand beside the men in her life as an equal instead of behind them as a lesser person. But she had resisted the urge to fall to fear, and let patterns continue. That must have been what broke the illusion.

It didn't make Fleur feel that much better. Apparently, whatever had created the illusion had felt like Harry would still need to get involved to save her. She had meant what she said to illusion Harry. They were partners, equals, and Fleur worried for a moment if he knew she felt that way, and more importantly, if he felt that way again, or if she was the helpless maiden who always needed his saving, even if he was happy to perform the task. It would be a conversation for later, after she won the tournament.

As she walked through the new tunnel, Fleur felt both confidence and horror flowing through her. Confidence because she was reminded that she was a powerful witch, dispatching the three men with ease and then taking out the powerful wizard in seconds. She had not had too many serious spars with Flitwick, and the charms professor always beat her. She had to stop comparing herself to a dueling master who had remained unbeaten on the European circuit for an entire year. Fleur was powerful, and she would do what she could to grow.

The horror was from the incredibly real illusion and the fear in Gabrielle's eyes. Not in the men, that was dealt with. But the image of her mother's bracelet on the lifeless hand sticking from the closet still made her sick. Fleur knew it was an illusion, that much was obvious. She could tell herself that over and over again. But it didn't make her feel all that much better.

She reached the end of the tunnel and entered another large cave. This time no lights flashed, so Fleur summoned a few more and sent them up to the ceiling, illuminating the entire cave. She pushed the image of her mother from her mind, finding her center. It was time to face the mysterious creature. She looked around but saw nothing.

An impact behind her had Fleur whirling. She saw a blur of motion and threw up a shield, jumping to the side as she did. The impact of the shield slowed the beast down enough for Fleur to dance aside. She turned and her eyebrows rose as the beast turned towards her.

It was big, at least up to her shoulder. It was equally wide and as it turned Fleur saw tiny slits it the beast's head. She had no idea what the beast was but she saw a hard carapace encasing the creature. The beast had a giant stinger on the edge of its body and it scuttled around her much like a fire crab.

"Welcome to the chamber of the beast!" A voice called out. "Your job? Defeat the beasts in front of you." Fleur turned 360 degrees and saw another two of the odd creatures swarming around her. "Every 5 minutes, one of the beasts will be removed if you have not eliminated one. Either outlast them, or defeat them. If you are in danger…" Fleur tuned the voice out and brought up her wand, firing a water blast and then summoning and banishing two arrows at the foremost creature, only to see all her attacks bounce clear of the armor.

She was forced back as the animal on her left scurried forward, it's longer tail slashing furiously through the space she had just occupied. It turned, showing Fleur an uncovered spot, but just as she went to fire a blasting spell, fire shot from the beast's rear end, and Fleur was forced to shield and take a few steps back. She was almost at the cavern's edge, and the beasts were pinning her in. They seemed to work in tandem, as whenever Fleur tried to go one way, the other two moved to constrict her movement, and soon her back was at the wall.

Fleur moved her wand back and forth slowly, tracking the movement. She saw one of the beasts fall out of formation as it scampered towards her. Her wand snaked up, a blasting curse flying from the end and pushing the beast back. A hole appeared in their formation and Fleur cast an oil spell on the floor. She slid across the floor, using the smooth texture to hasten her escape, throwing a flame charm behind her to ignite the oil. The beasts shirked back from the flame, allowing Fleur to catch her breath.

The armor surrounding the beasts could be penetrated, but what Fleur saw, it would be hard and not worth the effort. Of course, she could run and dodge for 15 minutes, but with the lead Victor and Harry had, not to mention how long the chamber of fear had taken her, Fleur suspected she would need to be quick and efficient to get to the chamber of logic, where she could hopefully catch up and surpass the other competitors. So she had to find a weakness from the unknown creatures she faced, stalking towards her as the fire died.

The beasts all spurted fire as they walked towards her, and Fleur began to allowed her inner fire to surge. Perhaps the best way to defeat the beasts would be to take them on directly. Fleur had been training her inner fire powers with her mother when she managed to sneak off Hogwarts grounds recently. Now would be as good a time as any to see how her firepower stacked up against her foes.

Veela fire was not wand based, like other fire spells. Yes, her affinity for fire would translate into more efficient and powerful fire spells, but her inner fire, the fire that came from her heritage did not need wand work. It was instinctive, a part of her, and Veela who mastered their fire were said to be capable of incredible feats, such as using the ambient heat and air pressure to fly, as well as meet a dragon's flame blasts and walk through unscathed. Fleur was nowhere near that level, but luckily these were not dragons, and while she felt the heat, the flames were manageable.

Wreathed in her own fire, Fleur jumped through the burst of flame from the nearest beast. There was a chink in the armor where the fire spurted out, and now Fleur was inches away. She slapped her hand onto the weak spot and flames burst from her hand. Within seconds the beast was aflame, Fleur skipping out of range in surprise. Apparently, the matted skin below the armor was incredibly flammable. That was an odd characteristic for a creature that spouted the substance, but it would make her fight easier.

The flames of the now dead beast had been extinguished, but apparently Fleur's quick demolition of the first creature had scared the other two, who were much less aggressive as they approached. Well, Fleur reasoned, if they were going to attack, it was up to her. She tried to get them to expose the weak spots, but apparently the creatures could learn, and quickly, as they attacked with only their tails, leaving their exposed backsides pointed away from the French witch.

The tails were now joined by claws that were dripping with an ominous looking liquid. Fleur wanted nothing to do with something that could be poison. Harry, Victor, and Cedric were all fairly poor brewers, and even though Fleur was the best brewer of the four of them, she didn't want to experiment with brewing an antidote to an unknown poison on the fly with no supplies. That mean staying well away from the claws.

Still, she had to make some progress with the fight. A burst of Veela fire sent the creatures scurrying back, but was unable to penetrate the hardened armor. They had apparently learned that close contact with Fleur's natural fire was to be avoided, and clearly the creatures did not know that a time limit was involved. Fleur did not have the world's greatest internal clock, but she sensed that it was close to 5 minutes since she had burned the first one. So she simply backed away, and less than a minute later magic swirled around one of the creatures and then it was gone, leaving Fleur one on one.

Without any assistance, Fleur was able to easily exploit the lack of flexibility and agility, pinning the beast against the wall within seconds. It put the exposed rear against the wall, but with a few swishes of her drawn wand, Fleur flipped the creature over for a second, revealing the unarmed stomach. A simple blasting curse finished the beast, and Fleur saw a hole open directly above her. The chamber of logic must be next, so Fleur quickly transfigured a set of stairs that stopped right before the hole. She leapt in and grabbed for a handhold, finding something in the dark. It was only a little bit of scrambling before the tunnel evened out and Fleur could let go and start racing forward.

It felt like a few minutes before Fleur saw some light out ahead of her. She was nearing the end of the tunnel, so the chamber of logic must be next. Fleur burst into the light and stopped herself as she looked around at her surroundings. Somehow she had gotten turned around in the two chambers below and had somehow ended up back at the quidditch stadium, exiting from underneath the screen that she had started the task at. She saw Victor and Harry both stationary, but the cup was right ahead of them!

Fleur raced towards the cup, but was bounced back by an invisible wall. Fleur looked down and saw a few wards fading away. On the floor Fleur saw a few objects that felt off. She waved her wand over them and the diagnostics came back positive. These objects were definitely enchanted. As her diagnostic finished, a scroll appeared on top of the object, and Fleur grabbed it and tore it open.

Apparently, each of the four objects, (one hairbrush, one shoe, one goblet, and one book) had an enchantment on them. Fleur's test of logic, or knowledge, was to show that she had ability as an enchanter, and for an enchanter, the ability to identify and remove malicious enchantments was just as important as adding their own spells. With each enchantment Fleur removed, the wards would weaken, until they dropped and the cup would be 100 feet away.

Fleur got to work, starting with the shoe. It took a few more specific diagnostic charms before Fleur identified the shoe was charmed with the geminio charm, and if any magic was cast on the shoe to try and dispel it, the shoe would multiply at least 10 times. It needed a very specific dispelling spell, but one Fleur was more than familiar with. She dispelled the charm and saw the wards holding her in place flicker.

She tossed the shoe to the side and picked up the hairbrush. This was a little more complicated, as it was certainty enchanted, not a simple charm embedded in the item. Enchantments were notoriously challenging to identify, since they were often very specific and there was not singular spell that would be able to identify the enchantment. It relied on the experience and ingenuity of the person trying to solve the item in question.

Fleur was surprised when one of her more esoteric enchantment diagnostics came back positive. Apparently the enchantment was an withering curse, a fairly serious curse for a test. Granted, it wasn't like she was planning on brushing her hair with something she knew had a malicious enchantment on it. Fleur channeled her magic into a counter enchantment, and she tossed the brush down, seeing it was clean.

Fleur heard the crowd roar and her heart sunk as she saw Harry step past the wards holding him in. The cup was barely 50 feet from him when Harry stopped. He glanced around, and Fleur followed his gaze, seeing Victor looking at Harry in confusion as well. Harry squared his shoulders, and moved to the left. Fleur realized he was facing the fourth exit, where Cedric should be. Fleur had been so caught up with her task that she had not realized Cedric was still no present.

Fleur saw a few of the organizers from the ICW racing towards Harry as he smashed through the wards Cedric would have had to deal with and he was gone in a flash down Cedric's tunnel. She shook her head fondly. Harry had told Fleur he was going to take the tournament seriously and try to win, but the moment one of his friends might be in danger competition was out the window. Fleur was well aware that Cedric was a capable wizard, who underwent a lot of special training with Harry's brother, a defensive specialist himself. Harry might need some help, so Fleur returned to the third item, the goblet.

Curiously, the enchantment on the goblet was certainly did not have any malevolent intent. Fleur smiled as she began to unravel the familiar enchantment. She doubted the tournament organizers had known, but the illusion enchantment on the goblet was remarkably similar to the first ever enchantment she had created back when her interest had been piqued by the career in 4th year. It was a little more advanced as was to be expected, but it was still so similar to Fleur and she grabbed the book.

She heard a commotion to her left and saw Victor was arguing with the ICW wizards. He angrily pushed one away and another had their wand on him. She was amazed to see Victor knock the wand away and with a regretful look at the cup he was gone, down the Hufflepuff tunnel after Harry. Apparently Victor was worried enough that he was willing to forfeit too. It surprised Fleur a little, as she knew Victor wasn't too fond of anyone in Scotland not named Harry or Luna, let alone Cedric.

Now there was no doubt that she would have to join them. Harry had finished first, he deserved the chance to hoist the cup. But he had been down the tunnel more than a little while, and Fleur was starting to get worried as she started to undo the enchantment on the book. It was a bewitched sleep enchantment, but it had a tricky secondary trigger that would activate waking nightmares. Despite her growing worry, Fleur stuck to her task doggedly and soon enough she tossed the book to the side and saw her wards falter. Fleur didn't even move towards the cup, heading back towards the tunnel Victor and Harry had disappeared down.

"Ms. Delacour! Please stop!" Fleur turned as two of the ICW wizards stepped in front of her. "If you are concerned about whatever is going on with Mr. Diggory, please take the cup! That will end the tournament, and we will be able to go in and assist the situation."

"You don't seem to understand," Fleur said as she stepped around them. "Yes, it would end the tournament, but I did not win. Harry won, and if he turns down the trophy, Victor should be given the right to win. But right now they are down with Cedric, rescuing him, I'd assume. Do you foolishly think that your group of paper-shufflers will be able to do better than Harry and Victor? I am going to help speed the process up, and then we will come back and then the three school champions can bully Harry into accepting the cup.

Fleur was a few steps from the hole, the ICW staff beseeching her to turn around when with a rumble a wall of earth rose up, blocking the whole. Fleur's wand was instantly up in an attack position as she whirled angrily. The looks on the ICW personal faces confused her, as they were not determined but seemingly baffled.

"You will lower that wall right now!" Fleur demanded.

"We can't" one of them said. "That would be interfering with the task."

"If you raised the wall, you can take it down!"

"That's just the thing, Ms. Delacour," the man who seemed to be in charge said. He held up a pendant that was slowly pulsating. "This pendant shows that no one has interfered with the task. Someone down in the chamber of beasts on the final path is the one who created that wall." Fleur whirled to look at the wall. What in the world was going on that Victor or Harry felt the need to stop her from going down? Or, her mind realized, what were they stopping from escaping?

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O—O-O-O—O-O-O—O-O-O-

Cedric took a few deep breaths as the tunnel leveled out. He was confident in his abilities. Akira and he had been drilling non-stop for almost a month. Akira had Cedric hyped up, saying he would be thrilled if Harry was showed up by his student. But the chamber of fear was something else entirely. He had no idea what to expect, and could only hope that something he had learned the last few months of training could help him here.

The tunnel was now gone, and Cedric was in a small room. He looked around curiously, and then felt himself falling, the floor gone. He landed hard, and realized he was in what looked like an office. This was curious. There was no giant monster, no evil wizard. It looked a little like his father's office, which he had visited quite a few times over the years. He was surprised to even see a picture of what looked like him and his father on the wall.

Cedric's eyes caught on a scorch mark on the wall. He remembered accidentally setting fire to the wall of his father's office in British Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures after his first year. His father had been so proud of his successfully casting an advanced charm Cedric hadn't gotten in trouble. The older Cedric got, the more he realized his father was an awful disciplinarian.

But why was he in his father's office? Perhaps the better question was how, Cedric mulled as he looked around. He was sitting in the chair his father had sat in so many afternoons in the office where Cedric, before his Hogwarts days, had played happily on the floor. There was not fear of this place. He had only fond memories of this place.

"Hey!" Jason burst in the door, waving a letter in his hand. "Guess what I saw on your receptionists' desk!" Cedric chuckled and reached for the envelope. Something was a little different about his best friend, but he couldn't place it. In his mind, he was rebelling against the idea he had a secretary, but his body ignored it and opened the envelope. "Read it for me!"

"Undersecretary Diggory," Cedric looked up and grinned at Jason. "It's still weird to hear that."

"Come on!"

"Fine." Cedric looked back down. "We regret to inform you that…despite your excellent results the ministry has not decided…"

"Oh man." Jason grabbed the loosely held letter and read it over. "Dude, I'm so sorry. I assumed that you would have gotten it this time."

"So did I," Cedric said, grabbing for a quill on his desk. "I guess it's back to paperwork then."

"You know this is all politics," Jason said, clearly unwilling to leave. Cedric knew it was because he looked like his dog died. "You are more deserving than almost everyone that passes the test."

"I sure hope so," Cedric said with false cheerfulness and a forced laugh. "I thought so when we graduated. I thought the first failure was a lack of experience, the second time was a fluke. After two more failures… Is it just time to give it up?"

"You? Give up?" Jason looked at him incredulously. "You know you deserve it. Come on, just picture it. Cedric Diggory, Master of Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Celia will be disappointed," Cedric said sadly. "She was really expecting me to pass this time."

"She'll understand," Jason told him. "You know she will-" the world around Cedric blurred and he found himself sitting at a fancy restaurant, a stunning brunette sitting across from him.

"So, I understand it was a big day today," the woman said, her eyes sparkling. "I heard from a friend in Magical Transportation that some of the mastery tests for ministry officials came back today. Tell me the good news."

"I'm really sorry Celia," Cedric told the woman. He was still watching all of this, unable to control his body. But he felt in his mind that he cared for this woman. "I guess I didn't get it this time."

"You failed again?" The woman hissed at him. "Cedric, Theodore Nott passed this time. How did you fail?"

"Nott?" Cedric spluttered. "He's an idiot."

"Smart enough to pass," Celia responded angrily.

"He must have paid someone," Cedric proclaimed.

"Then pay someone yourself," the woman spat back. "Why do you have to be so noble? Sometimes the world is unfair. Just get it done, then you can move out of that disgusting ministry job."

"Hey!" Cedric stared at the woman. "My father and I are doing important work at the ministry."

"With stupid and pointless creatures?" Celia was almost foaming at the mouth. "Just put them all down and be done with it."

"Celia, control yourself!" Cedric screamed, not caring about everyone who was staring at them.

"I thought the Diggory name would be worth something. Prefect, Head Boy, Undersecretary?" Celia stood angrily. "You are going nowhere Cedric. You peaked in Hogwarts, and if the last year has proven anything, you aren't going anywhere. Don't try and contact me." She stalked out of the restaurant and Cedric sank down into his seat.

"You dated her?" Cedric found himself sitting in the seat across from the version of himself he had been unable to control. He looked tired. "She is a horrible bigot."

"None of this happened." Cedric was all of the sudden faced with his father. "Just know that it will."

"What are you talking about dad?" Cedric asked, staring at the sad face of Amos Diggory. The restaurant was gone now, as were the people watching him fight.

"Do you think your mother is truly happy with where I am in the ministry?" His father asked him.

"But you could be the next minister," Cedric pointed out. "You are the secretary of one of the branches in the ministry of magic."

"One of the least respected," His dad observed. "Dealing with creatures the like. A step above muggleborns, I guess, but-"

"What did you just say?" Cedric's voice got quiet. "Father, I know you don't like some of the sentient creatures you deal with, but to compare them to muggleborn wizards and witches."

"Ah, I guess you don't like that word?" Amos cocked his head at his son. "Well, I guess you should get used to using mudblood anyways. Won't get far in the ministry without it."

"Father, stop it!" Cedric yelled.

"You know better to believe in the equality of magic," Amos said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Could you imagine if I hadn't married a pure-blood? I would have been disowned. I mean, I let you go with that silly dalliance with the mudblood when you were in school, but you have a legacy to live up to!"

"Shut up now!" Cedric was fuming as he stared at his father.

"That's what the ministry is, my boy!" Amos said brightly. "Keeping out the unfit and driving the fools from British Wizarding society. I'm sure you'll get quite good at it in time!"

"I would never-"

"Nonsense son! Tri-wizard champion from Britain, you'll be excellent at it. Sorted to Hufflepuff too, you'll be the person to trick all those mudblood fools-" Cedric's wand fired a single blasting curse, destroying the image of his father in front of him.

"I won't be a cog in a world like that," Cedric seethed. "I'll make a difference, and I won't let the world stand still. People will remember the name Cedric Diggory, and when they do, they will say he made a difference." A quick light flashed and Cedric found himself staring at a rock wall that was slowly dissolving in the middle to show a path. It took him a moment to reorient himself. He was in the tri-wizard tournament, the final task. He still had a beast to face.

Cedric slowly exited the chamber, forcing the harsh reality of the fear he had just come face to face with out of his mind. He didn't know what scared him more: that he was afraid that what his father said was true, or that he might not have the requisite bravery to stand up for what he believed in at school, not alone. Regardless, winning the tournament still awaited him. So it was time to buckle down and focus.

The tunnel started to have white patches spattered around on the edge of it as Cedric saw the exit. Akira had been training Cedric on the basics of sensory magic, and Cedric extended his magic out as far as he could, but he didn't feel anything. Cedric poked his head out the tunnel and held back a gasp as his eyes lit on what he would have to face.

It was a massive chamber, a cave the size of the great hall a few times over. It was covered with white splotches, what Cedric slowly realized was webbing. Hanging from a thread in the center of the cave was a massive acromantula. It was not that much smaller than the dragon he had faced earlier in the year. Maybe it was just perspective, framed by what seemed like an endless swarm of tinier spiders on the ceiling. Was he supposed to make his way through a nest?

That was insanity. Sure, he and Akira had gone over some of the creatures he might face once the ICW revealed the three chambers he would face. And of course acromantula had been on the list, and Cedric felt like if he had been able to face a single full grown acromantula he would have been able to win rather handily. But he was right outside a nest with at least 20 of the spiders, and the one resting in the middle of the chamber was no simple full-grown beast. It was almost double the size Cedric would have expected.

But there was no way back, so Cedric slowly edged into the cave, taking cover behind a rock formation inches from the entrance. As he crouched, he heard a loud voice.

"Welcome, champion, to the chamber of the beast! Your path will be opened after you defeat the creature withtin."

"Ah, you have arrived." Cedric heard a deep voice calling. "Come forth champion. I have been asked by your wizards to test your strength." Cedric heard scuttling behind him and turned to see a smallish spider launch at him. He had turned in time and his wand was ready. Flame leapt from his wand as Cedric's fire charm killed the spider the moment it hit. Unfortunately, the spider gave a dying wail.

"He's over here!" Cedric looked up and saw another absurdly large spider, though not as large as the one sitting in the center of the chamber, on the wall above him. He raced to the side, just dodging the giant mandible of the creature striking through the space he had just been standing in, demolishing the rock and sending dust flying every which way. This spider would require a little more firepower.

Cedric sent two quick cutting charm's at the spider, but it somehow flew up into the air, vanishing from view. Cedric cursed as he saw an outline of the spiderweb it must have used to escape. He whirled in 360 degrees, picking up two more medium sized spiders heading towards him.

"Geomi geunjeol!" The Korean spider exterminate spell his advisor had taught him worked perfectly, exploding both spiders as Cedric raced for cover. He could heard the hive seeming to come alive at each spell, and he destroyed a smaller spider that had almost caught him from behind. What in the world was he supposed to do now? Cedric could see at least another 30 spiders all around him, all with murder in their eyes.

Cedric whipped his wand up and a giant earth dome appeared around him, with a few wand sized holes. He stabbed his wand out one and fired a blasting curse. He moved to the next and flames burst from his wand. He moved to another hole and conjured some ice spears sending them into the chamber. He saw the dome above him crack and jumped back just in time as his earth dome collapsed, destroyed by a man sized spider that Cedric hit with the spider extermination spell.

Some of the spiders now seemed hesitant, so Cedric raised his wand and with a flick a long black whip appeared in his off hand. He snapped the whip and it hit one spider, sending it into convulsions. Another spider jumped over the whip and right into a cutting curse that removed its legs. The next spell cut it right down the middle.

The key when fighting multiple enemies was to always stay on the move, and never let your attention get too focused on what was right in front of you. Cedric turned and took off running, and out of the side of his eyes, he saw a medium sized spider trying to grab his leg. He vaulted over the attack, flicking his wand back as he jumped, sending the spider flying. He hadn't managed to put too much power into the spell, but it gave him space as he stopped, scanning the area around him. He was finally away from the walls, but it didn't mean attacks were coming from multiple directions.

Cedric felt a presence above him and wasn't fast enough to dodge a mandible coming from above, scraping down his shoulder blade. Cedric responded with an exploding hex and his attacker fell in front of him unmoving. His wand out in front of him, Cedric whirled the wand and began a complex pattern of jabs. There must have been 10 spiders a few feet from him when the ground began to rumble and spears of earth began to shoot up, seemingly randomly as spiders were pierced by the jutting harsh stalagmites appearing from the floor.

"How do you like that!" Cedric yelled as he cleared the disturbance. He couldn't see any more spiders, but he could hear the angry clacking. HE looked up and groaned. There were at least another 20 spiders just above him, and he could tell from the cacaophny of noise from all around him that those were just the spiders he was looking at. He was tempted to summon another dome, but all of the earth manipulation was taking a magical toll. Perhaps it was time to look for an exit.

He took off running again, throwing spider extermination hexes out all around him. The hexes were not aimed all that well, but almost all of them hit due to the massive amount of spiders around him. The majority of them were sizable, not his size but more than large enough that his spells had a large surface area to hit. There didn't seem to be any exit, but he was quickly running out of energy, both magical and physical as he ran. Cedric was panting as he backed himself up against the wall, the hole he had entered the chamber through above him. He wiped his sweat away, but a frown rose as he felt a tremor run through the chamber.

"Hey Mr. Giant Spider Man!" A giant explosion rang out and Cedric stared at the opposite wall to see Krum standing in the hole one of their spells had just created. "Hey you moron Aragog! Wait down there for a moment."

"More humans!" The giant spider in the center of the chamber roared. "Children, kill him and bring him to me! Along with the other!"

"Hey Cedric!" Krum called. "How strong is your strongest shield?"

"What?" Cedric yelled, racing towards the Bulgarian

"Oh, never mind." Krum leapt down and landed next to Cedric, not stumbling in the slightest despite the fact he had jumped almost 20 feet. "Your fear must have taken forever. You've only been here a little while. Now on my count, strongest shield, ok?" Krum turned and fired a spell, eliminating a spider. "For now, kill those pesky monsters." Cedric nodded and fired the Korean spell four more times, killing three spiders. The fourth was less than a foot away when Krum severed its body in half, covering Cedric in spider blood.

"Stop!" Every spider and wizard in the room froze as Harry seemed to materialize on the roof of the chamber.

"Now!" Victor hissed, and Cedric raised his wand, putting up his most powerful and layered shield.