Reversal

Chapter 3. Of Vines and Men

The world flashed into heat, then to ice, swirling once before the brightest flare overwhelmed Harry's senses. The ground appeared suddenly, his attempt to land ended in failure as his body refused to listen in the split second he had control.

Harry took a moment to steady his breathing. The sudden apparition took him by complete surprise and he wasn't able to recover in time before he landed.

The room he found himself in was covered in greenery. Moss, leaves, vines and flowers littered the room and walls. He felt as if he had walked into an ancient temple, long forgotten by people and overrun by nature. There were no torches or lamps, yet he could see just fine, the room illuminated by some mysterious source.

He stood shakily, his feet feeling wobbly from the transportation. What on earth had happened? One moment he was inside the trophy room, being explained about the sudden addition to the champions, the next he was stuck in the void that was apparition.

"Champions!" A voice boomed from both nowhere yet also everywhere.

Harry winced at the loud noise, it felt as if it reverberated throughout his skull and echoed in his mind.

"Welcome to the first trial! You'll be taking on a new challenge in just a moment!" The voice continued. If Harry focused on it enough, he felt as if he had recognized the voice from somewhere. Somewhere recent, but it wasn't a voice he was familiar with enough to put a name to the sound.

The declaration of the trial had calmed Harry's nerves a bit, although part of him was still rather bewildered at the fact that they were to do something related to the task already. It hadn't even been a full hour since they were chosen! Maxime had said the first task would be later, yet perhaps she had been purposefully deceitful, choosing to differentiate the meaning of task and trial.

He couldn't help the heavy sigh that came out of his mouth at the revelation. He knew that the headmistress wasn't a bad person at heart, but damn he really could have used the heads up.

"The trials are a three part challenge that the triwizard committee has decided to include! Each of them will feature a specific branch of magic that it focuses on, chosen by the three headmasters of each school! The winners will be granted a boon for each upcoming task!"

The voice was obviously magical, for he couldn't find any other source of the sound, but also couldn't figure out where the voice was coming from. It was as if it was coming from all different directions at once, echoing throughout the room and purposefully being as loud as possible. For as much as Harry knew about the sonorous spell, it didn't work like that. It just amplified the voice.

"The first trial was decided by headmaster Igor Karkaroff. It will be a trial of magical combat and defence. Each champion will get a single scroll, with the colours of their school etched onto each one! To pass this trial, one must have two scrolls in their possession by the end of the hour! You may get another scroll by passing a series of difficult challenges using limited resources, or by taking it from another champion!"

Harry mulled over the words of the announcer. It was a rather straightforward explanation. Get the scrolls and pass the trial. He could probably duel it out with another of the champions if he wanted to get the scroll, though he had no idea how Krum or either of the French champions were dueling. But Sirius had drilled into him plenty of dueling and fighting reflexes into him, he was confident in his ability to hold his own in a fight.

The only problem was the unknowns. What would happen if you failed to have two scrolls at the end? There was a way that all four of the champions could have a scroll by the end of the hour, but the way they announced it made it seem like that just wouldn't be the case. 'A series of difficult challenges with limited resources'? There was so much left unsaid in that. What exactly qualified as a 'difficult challenge?'

But regardless, Harry was sure that not all of them would end up passing this trial. The consequences were unknown, but he would just have to be sure not to find out firsthand.

"In another three minutes, the door to your chambers will open, and the trial will begin. You'll be notified when there are thirty minutes, fifteen minutes, ten minutes and five minutes remaining." The voice echoed once more.

There was a sudden shimmer as part of the room he was in seemed to flicker for a brief second, before a small podium stood in front of him. It held a scroll that was painted in gold and red.

Harry could feel his body start to tense in anticipation. Every beat of his heart echoed throughout his body and up to his head. He swallowed the rise of his nerves that threatened to burst forth and forced his body to relax into a state of calmness.

Harry took a deep breath in. Letting the cool air permeate through his body. People had died in this tournament, but it didn't seem like anything bad would happen in the first trial. Perhaps the task, but not here. Not today.

Dumbledore wouldn't let them be thrown into something dangerous with no real warning. He was a good man, flawed as he was.

The thought calmed Harry considerably, and let him fall into a state of nervous readiness. His breathing was calm, but the jitter in his leg kept him moving.

"One minute left." The voice called.

Harry readied his wand. His grip tight and firm around the trusty magical instrument. He wasn't sure what exactly would happen as soon as the doors opened, but it would be better to be safe than sorry.

Krum was an unknown, for all his fame and fortune, his magical ability was largely stuck in the backdrop, his quidditch skill was legendary, so why would anyone want to write about his magical ability? Though he doubted that he was any sort of slouch. Durmstrang was notorious for having 'Dark wizards'. Although Harry rarely put any thought into such rumors, it was true that they studied magic that could be considered dark, much more than either Beauxbatons or Hogwarts.

He likely would be able to beat Krum in a straight duel. The man's focus and passion was in quidditch, not dueling. Anyone could see that with a simple glance. To get as good as he was at such a young age, he needed to have poured countless hours into the sport. Which meant countless hours not spent dueling.

"Thirty seconds!"

Sophie was a complete unknown. There was simply nothing that he knew about her at all, only that she was good enough to be picked, and confident enough in her skills that it was her name that came out over anyone else's.

If what Maxime had told him was true, then above all else, it was someone's desire to win that factored into the choosing.

Perhaps that was the most dangerous factor of all.

"Ten seconds!"

Fleur Delacour…

"Five!"

There wasn't any time left to think.

"Four!"

Harry closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.

"Three!"

He exhaled and cleared his mind.

"Two!"

He was ready.

"One!"

The doors opened.

And Harry was off.

Harry raced out of the chamber. The moss-covered door vanished from sight the moment time was up.

The sight that greeted him made him stop in his tracks with a skid.

Vines hung in suspension, creeping up the air further than he could see. Grass and flowers decorated the entire landscape, rustling as a soft breeze flew by. A river with water as crisp and clear as the daytime sky cut through the earth, flowing into an amalgamation of trees and bushes.

It was like a paradise of nature. A portion of earth, untouched by human hands. Life bloomed and spread throughout the land, covering the entirety of Harry's vision.

The air felt fresh, it cut through his senses as he inhaled, there was an indescribable feeling of rightness as he breathed in as deeply as possible. Like he was only breathing through one nostril his entire life and the other was finally fixed.

Merlin, he felt good. Just by being in this place he could feel his senses clear and his thoughts sharpen.

He knew he needed to get back on task, so he inhaled once more, as deeply as possible. Letting the ambience and atmosphere fill him up and purify his body.

Harry exhaled, his eyes snapping open and his mind cleared. He was ready for whatever was in store.

He sprinted ahead, his feet sunk slightly into the moist ground, each step enunciated by the sound of feet against mud. Splashes of wet mud sprung up and licked the lower parts of his outfit.

He wasn't exactly sure of the location that he should be going, but inward seemed like the best option. Behind the room he was in was just a long mossy wall that seemed to curve gradually, as if they were inside a large dome that kept them inside an arena.

Thinking it would be prudent, Harry cast a quick silencing spell on his feet. It wouldn't completely nullify the sound his shoes made against the wet ground but it would dampen it considerably. It proved to work instantly from the way his feet no longer sounded like rocks crashing into a lake and more like raindrops pelting a small puddle.

As he got closer to what he presumed to be the middle of the arena, the greenery and forest grew thicker and denser. Until he had to slow his sprint down to a crawl just so he could move the gigantic leaves and tree branches out of the way.

It was like those old documentaries on the television about visiting the Amazon Rainforest, only real. What an odd feeling, he thought.

Harry took a moment to gather his bearings, although it wasn't long since the start of the match, he had yet to see or hear another champion. That could have easily meant several things, but he'd rather not focus on the many hypotheticals. There was a simple spell that could get him in on the action.

"Point me." He whispered, holding his wand flat in the palm of his hand. He had thought of finding Krum first, but Sophie seemed like a better choice. If she had proved to be more than he could handle, he would go for the bulgarian seeker next.

The wand circled in his hand once, twice. Then pointed directly behind him.

Harry blinked in surprise, before his heart rate shot up and he regained control of his wand, pointing it behind him in caution. He gave a slow rake over the scenery with his gaze, looking for any sort of indication that someone was there.

His caution was rewarded when he locked eyes with the older french champion. She seemed surprised for a brief moment, before her arms moved quickly to her side, likely where her wand was holstered.

He was quicker, and more ready. Harry shot out a quick expelliarmus at Sophie's wand arm, hoping to catch her unprepared.

There was a grimace that flashed on the girl's face before she dove into a nearby brush, dodging the spell by the faintest margin. Harry sprinted after her, shooting red stunners blindly into the greenery.

Harry pushed forward, moving leaves out of the way and shooting a cutting curse at a particularly thick branch. She was quicker than he had expected, at first he had been able to follow her, but over time her tracks had faded and the path she had taken had become less and less obvious.

Fuck. That wasn't good at all.

Harry stopped for a brief moment, redoing the movements earlier and casting another Point me spell to search for the girl. His wand circled twice, before pointing directly to his left, in the direction that the forest would start to thin out.

He bolted that direction, he knew that there was always a chance he was running right into a trap, but he doubted there was any chance for her to set one up this early. If there was a chance to take her out, then the present was the best option. Wait any longer and it could easily be her that gets the drop on him instead.

He shot another cutting curse into the forest ahead of him, a large branch fell and freed up a path. He leaped over the branch and continued onwards, the soil underneath his feet gradually changing from the slightly wet grass from underneath the large forest tops, to a more damp muddy texture similar to when he had first started the trial.

The view became more clear the further out of the forest he went, until eventually the plains opened up and became a field of flowers and dampness. He started with his gaze sweeping from right to left, looking for any sign of the fleeing french champion.

And he found her.

She was off to the far left, running across the wetlands. To Harry's surprise, she was chasing after another champion. Krum.

Harry took off sprinting towards the two of them, he nearly tripped over a stray vine that caught the tip of his shoe, but he regained his balance and quickly caught up with the dueling champions.

He shot off a stunner quickly at Sophie, seeing as how her back was turned.

There must have been some sort of indication, or perhaps it was just pure instinct, but Sophie turned at the last moment before the spell connected and ducked. Surprise was etched onto her features before it became a vicious snarl.

Sophie shot a large blasting charm into the mud, flaying up water and mud everywhere. A surprising amount of dust covered the field. It created a large screen of blindness that forced Harry on the defensive, before he had to dodge a sudden spell that veered just slightly off course of him. It hadn't come from the direction of Sophie, which meant only one thing.

Krum had fired against him.

He gave a quick glance to the Durmstrang champion, seeing the boy's wand leveled towards Harry's direction, even if he was still quite a bit away. Harry shot off a cutting spell towards one of the tree's near Krum, hoping to catch a branch and cause a distraction.

The spell struck true, slicing through a branch and it clamored behind Krum, causing him to turn by reflex at the sudden movement and noise behind him. Harry fired off a modified incendio, a ball of hot flames darted towards Krum and struck him in the thigh.

Krum went down.

Harry sent out another spell, this time towards the french champion, by now the wall of mud and debris caused by the blasting charm had settled, and the girl was lying in wait. He had hoped to get at least one of them in the confusion of events.

Sophie, to his absolute surprise, deflected his spell with her wand of all things, before retaliating with a barrage of colour. He recognized most of them as normal dueling spells, but the last, the one that she gave a small twirl of her wand and said something distinctly french.

Harry clicked his tongue in annoyance, procuring a strong shield to absorb most of the spells. Most of them battered against his shield with only a slight bit of force, but the last one hammered into his shield like a sledgehammer, cracking it and forcing him back with a small push.

Fucking hell, Harry thought. What on earth was that last one?

Harry redoubled his shield as the french champion bombarded his shield again, a flurry of silent Stupefies and Expelliarmus left her wand, and like the first time, a french spell with a twirl at the end.

This time however, Harry was expecting it. He let the shield absorb most of the magic, before dispelling it at the last second and dodging out of the way before the final spell could connect. Harry ducked and rolled underneath the spell, letting out a flurry of his own spells against the witch.

He threw out a blasting curse into the ground, similar to the way Sophie did earlier, sending mud and grass flying into the air in a smokescreen of debris. But Harry fired off his spells regardless, deciding to sacrifice firepower in exchange for quantity. Some of his spells caught onto small rocks that were flying into the air from his explosion, but a large amount passed through his impromptu smokescreen.

There was a loud shriek that seemed to echo throughout the field, before the arena went silent. Harry crouched down near a small ditch, waiting for the dust to settle and see if Sophie was still conscious.

"Fifteen minutes!" The voice boomed throughout the arena.

Fifteen minutes already? He could have sworn there wasn't a thirty minute callout, but perhaps he was just so immersed into his fight that he simply missed it. He waited, ten seconds, twenty seconds, before reappearing from his ditch and sprinting towards the place he had seen the french champion last.

Harry hadn't realized it until he came upon the unconscious body of Sophie Florence, but his heart was pounding and he was already out of breath. Adrenaline had kept him going but with the fight winding down and Krum nowhere to be seen, his body was finally feeling the full force of exhaustion from the near constant action from the start of the trial.

He kept his wand pointed towards her for a bit as he approached even closer, just in case she wasn't actually unconscious. It was a habit he had gained from when he dueled Sirius, too many times had he thought he had won before Sirius had turned the tables at the last second by pretending to be unconscious.

Once Harry was sure that the girl really was down for the count, he crouched next to her. He scanned over her body, looking for the scroll so he could play safe for the rest of the trial. He felt only a slight note of awkwardness as he turned her over to check any back pockets, only to sigh in confusion.

Where the hell was her scroll?

Harry pulled out his scroll for a brief moment. It was curled up tightly, with obvious stripes of gold and red at both ends, finished with a multi-coloured bow that held the colors of all the four Hogwarts houses.

There was absolutely nothing like this on her person, and although he hadn't checked in places like underneath her clothes, he was fairly certain that wouldn't be allowed.

So where the hell was it?

Harry mulled over it for a brief second, the entire encounter replaying in his head in fast succession. She had escaped from his initial attack back in the forest, yet by the time he had found her again she was chasing Krum through the plains.

At first he had assumed she was chasing him to get his scroll…

But now…

Fuck.

He was so FUCKED.

"Point me Viktor Krum!" Harry said, his adrenaline flaring back up as he held his wand in the palm of his hand once more.

The wand spun twice, before pointing towards the direction that Krum had been previously. Harry sprinted off without a second glance towards the fallen champion. He had no time to lose if he was going to win this trial.

He leaped over another severed tree branch and darted into the growing forest. His lungs burned in exhaustion as the turmoil started to take a toll on his energy.

He was fucking tired.

It was rather pathetic, he thought. One small chase, one small fight and he was tired already. What had all the training he had done with Sirius been for if he was tired after that? What was the point if he could barely handle a girl one year his elder?

Damn damn damn. He really messed up.

All this time he had gone thinking that Krum wouldn't be too much of a challenge, the man was too obsessed with his quidditch to be a real threat. But he had completely overlooked part of the trial. You didn't need to beat someone to get their scroll, you just needed to have two at the end of the hour.

How Krum had achieved it, he had no idea, but it didn't matter. He would need to get it from either Krum or Fleur, and Fleur's whereabouts were completely unknown. It was likely she had gone after the alternative challenge if she wasn't in the altercation between the three original champions.

Harry's eyes sharpened at the sudden influx of tracks that were left behind in the forest. Cut branches, stepped on twigs and leaves. Krum had been through this exact path. Harry knew exactly where to go to catch up to him now.

"Ten minutes!" The voice called again, piercing through the denseness of the forest. It was crisp and clear, as if it were right beside him.

Harry dashed forward, his exhaustion forgotten at the prospect of catching up to Krum. Ten minutes left was both a blessing and a curse. Ten minutes to catch up and defeat Krum, but that also meant that Krum couldn't have gotten far in the short amount of time that it had been.

Harry cut another vine out of the way, before swerving sharply to the left in an attempt to dodge a flaming log in his path.

Who the fuck does that?

Krum obviously, but he wouldn't have thought that the bulgarian champion would be so bold as to use a fire spell inside a literal forest of all things. Especially not one as nice and removed from humans as this one.

He moved forward for another minute, before he came upon a large clearing inside the middle of the forest.

It was beautiful, a large pond sat in the center of it. With water as clear as crystal and small little creatures swimming around in it. A circle of trees surrounded the outside of the clearing, before nothing but soft dry grass made up the inside of it. At one of the clearing's entrances, sat a large Sphinx, lounging in peace, with one arm propped up against its face as if amused.

Harry's brain short circuited for a moment. A sphinx? What the fuck were they thinking?

Near the center of the clearing was Krum, wand out and eyes locked with a blonde haired, blue eyed woman. Fleur Delacour.

The two of them were in a standstill, neither of them moving, but their gaze unwavering from one another.

"Oh?" A voice rumbled. It was deep and feminine. It echoed throughout the clearing and reverberated through his head.

Harry knew at that moment the Sphinx had noticed he was there, despite being on the opposite side of the clearing and making an attempt to stay hidden.

He tsked, firing a stunning spell at Krum while his focus was still on the french girl. But luck wasn't on his side, Krum had a shield spell out by the time the spell left his wand. It was as if the Sphinx had alerted him of his presence.

Harry came out of his makeshift hiding spot, walking into the clearing with his wand leveled towards Krum.

Krum was caught in between the two champions. Fleur to his left, Harry to his right. His attention swiveled from one another constantly.

"Potter." Krum spat. He sounded exhausted, as if the entire trial had left him without a moment to catch his breath.

It was at least slightly amusing to Harry, to know that he wasn't the only one winded beyond belief at this entire debacle.

"Krum." Harry responded "Mind giving me Sophie's scroll so I can win?"

He made an attempt to not sound nearly as tired as he felt, but felt that he was ultimately not nearly as successful as he wanted to be.

Krum just scoffed. "Was that one of your rhetorical questions?"

Harry had to admit that the question unnerved him just slightly. If Krum could still spit out a joke while being cornered by two people, it either meant he was at his wits end, or he still had one last trick up his sleeve.

And Harry wouldn't risk losing this trial because he let his guard down. He had already made that mistake once in the past hour, he wouldn't do it again.

He reaffirmed his stance, his feet planting in a more steady position and shoulders squaring just a bit more. If Krum pulled anything, he would be the first to react.

There was silence between the three champions. The two younger champions were poised, wands at the ready, aimed towards the older bulgarian player. Krum had his wand close to his body, the only movement being the faintest swivel of his head to make sure neither of them did anything that caught him unaware.

The two boy's eye's locked. Krum had a fire burning behind his pupils, the fierce determination of winning fought back against the exhaustion that settled into his body. Harry knew that look. It was one that he had after at only the most perilous moments. To see it on someone else's face threw him for a loop.

Harry chanced a look over to the other girl, Fleur. Her eyes were dead set on Krum, a stern look of concentration on her face.

"Five minutes remaining!" The voice boomed across the land.

The announcement was the catalyst. Fleur's gaze looked over to Harry. Blue met Green and it was as if an unspoken agreement came upon them.

They both locked onto Krum, spells rising from their wands and bursting forward.

"Stupefy!" Fleur called, red erupting from the tip of her wand.

Harry was silent in the casting, but a spell just as red flared forward.

Krum, as if by some precognitive ability, or perhaps just years of reflex ingrained into him. Dove forward, his wand jolted out towards Harry's side and formed a quick shield. Harry's spell spattered uselessly against the older boy's charm, while Fleur's spell sailed aimlessly over the diving boy's head.

Harry was quick on the uptake. He immediately started dashing to his right, firing off two more stunners during the quick sprint and forcing Krum to be between him and the pond instead.

As soon as Krum hit the ground, he dispelled his shield and conjured a thin dirt wall from the ground. Harry's spells impacted the wall, cracking it slightly and breaking off a piece of the dirt. Causing dust to fly out from the sides.

In the moment of reprieve, Harry looked towards Fleur. She seemed frozen for the slightest bit of time, likely surprised that Krum managed to dodge their pincer attack, before she had readied her wand once again. Firing off another red coloured spell towards the Durmstrang champion.

There was a loud splash that caught Harry unaware. It was distinctly of something rather large falling into water.

What on earth? Did Krum dive into the pond? That tiny thing?

Harry shot a medium powered blasting curse towards the dirt wall. It disintegrated into an explosion of fine powder on contact. He raced towards the water, looking in at the crystal clear liquid to see Krum swimming beneath the water away from the two of them. Harry couldn't stop the exasperated sigh that ran through his body.

Harry prepared several spells that would pierce through the water, hopefully enough so that it would reach Krum and stop him dead in his tracks. He felt the power well up inside him briefly, rising up and extending towards his wand hand.

"I do hope you are not about to fire off any spells inside my pond." said a voice beside him, deep and feminine.

Harry turned in shock and barely was able to stop himself from firing off several spells towards the Sphinx that was suddenly beside him. His pulse skyrocketed to the point that his vision blurred and he could feel himself nearly faint in fright.

He really did not want to be fucking cat food on the first day of the tournament.

"Wha-" Harry choked, his fear rising up and seemingly suffocating him. He took a moment to calm down. The feeling of imminent death disappeared as he lowered his wand.

Harry swallowed hard.

"N-No. I wasn't going to." He stuttered.

The Sphinx smiled. "Good." She relaxed back into a sitting position, similar to a cat. "I sense you have a question, young one. Don't be afraid to ask."

Harry was very reluctant to ask it a question.

"I don't bite." The Sphinx smiled again, teeth full of large pointed objects of death.

And the Sphinx wasn't making him feel any better. But he decided to ask anyway. He wasn't about to lose just because the Sphinx was feeling a little territorial. Even if that was a very good reason to lose.

He took a look over at Fleur, who seemed just as frozen in fear as he was. He could always just stun her instead but…

Harry wasn't sure if he pitied her or if he was being a dumb idiot in the presence of a beautiful girl. But something about her reminded Harry of himself.

Probably the entire being forced into something that she had nothing to do with just screamed 'Harry Potter' at him.

That little fact also meant that a giant Sphinx with teeth bared was decidedly not the most dangerous thing he had faced before.

Especially since it wasn't actually attacking him yet. That was a bonus.

Harry Potter decided to just throw any caution to the wind because asking a Sphinx of all things a question likely wouldn't end up with him mauled.

"How can I get the scrolls from Krum if he's in the pond protected by you?" He asked, eyes locked into the Sphinx's own.

The Sphinx gave a cheshire smile, mouth pulled into an impossible grin.

"You just need to answer a riddle."

Start: March 12th. 2021.

End: May 19th. 2021.

Words: 5090.

Long delay. Sorry. I struggled with this chapter a lot. I actually had the entirety of THIS written out by March 20th but I wanted to finish the entire trial. I just kept getting stuck and it felt awful. I decided to just cut it in half and see what I can do from starting with a nearly blank slate.

I'm not in a great place mentally. Lots of personal issues have risen up and I'm just a mess atm. Trying to get it sorted out. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter out before it hits another two months.

Hope you enjoyed it at least.

-FN