Alpha-Read by Aani, Beta-Read by MasterChaos1
Inside the Maze
June 24th, 1995
Harry limped behind Cedric and Fleur, levitating an unconscious Viktor as the three of them continued making their way throughout the maze.
The maze had proven to be the most challenging task so far, something he had thought impossible given the previous two.
After their encounter with the Lethifolds and Doxies, the three of them had laid low for a while and re-gained their strength before finally deciding to continue on. Since then, they'd come across even more creatures - Boggarts, Sphinxes, and even a Graphorn! Cedric had been incapacitated by his fight with Viktor, which made it so that he didn't pick any fights with neither him nor Fleur, but it was because of this that they had been forced to handle most of the heavy lifting in battles while Cedric stayed behind and covered their backs. Thankfully, the two of them had managed to deal with everything with minimal injuries.
However, the hardest part of the maze ended up being the psychological aspect. Harry had no idea where they were, or if they were even close to reaching the end. They could be at the complete opposite end of the maze, and he wouldn't know. The maze also made time feel much longer - it genuinely felt to him that he'd been inside the maze for over twelve hours, however Harry knew that wasn't true given how the night sky still shone down against them.
But worst of all was the consuming effect the maze itself seemed to have - it made him feel exhausted, hopeless, paranoid, and in constant distress. The way the maze messed with his mind was overwhelming to the point where he'd considered sending red sparks to the air and giving up.
But he wouldn't - he couldn't. It wasn't in him to quit, especially not after how close he was.
Suddenly, Harry felt a disturbance in his magic and became instantly alert for a moment, only to relax when he saw that it was caused by Viktor moving while he was levitating him. Feeling irritated at the Bulgarian, Harry couldn't help himself and cancelled the spell, dropping him on his arse.
"Vhat vas that for?" Viktor grumbled angrily at Harry.
"Oops," He deadpanned back, only serving to anger Viktor more.
"Harry," Fleur snapped at him with a steely tone - to which Harry sighed in an annoyed manner before walking past them towards Cedric.
"How are you?" Harry asked him as Fleur pulled Viktor aside to talk.
"Managing," Cedric answered bitterly.
"Good."
An awkward silence fell upon the two of them as Fleur and Viktor argued a few meters away from them. Harry tuned out their arguments, though he did manage to tell that Viktor seemed to be venting his anger towards Fleur as she tried to reign him in.
She and Harry had talked about this earlier, there was no way they could manage to reach the centre of the maze if they continued letting the maze affect them. And with Cedric mostly neutralized by his injuries, the biggest issue would be making sure that Viktor didn't start or provoke any more squabbles between them.
Time passed as Fleur continued to be unable to tame Viktor's anger, and Harry thought about stepping in and helping her out. However, just before he was about to do that, Harry felt a slight shake of the ground accompanied by a low thump.
Thump.
Thump.
THUMP.
Harry turned towards Cedric, and seeing a combination of fear and determination in him, he knew this wasn't another hallucination. He immediately ran towards the other two, their heated argument becoming louder as he neared them.
"Hey!" He shouted over them, catching their attention. "Something's coming."
THUMP.
Fleur and Viktor immediately drew out their wands, training them on something behind him. Harry turned, seeing Cedric in a defensive stance as he stared against a massive monster. Five feet tall, the five legged creature with a massive head where its torso should be climbed on top of the opposite hedge before jumping down onto the ground.
THUMP!
"What the fuck is that," Harry whispered to himself.
The creature roared, revealing its massive, sharp teeth that were stained with fresh blood.
"Move!" Viktor shouted to Cedric.
The Hufflepuff didn't think twice to run and throw himself behind Viktor as the Bulgarian went through a complex wand motion before aiming it straight at the beast. A large burst of fire violently erupted from his wand.
"No!" Harry shouted, fearing that the surrounding hedges would catch fire, he was however relieved when he saw they were unaffected by the fire.
The massive wave of fire headed straight towards the creature, but it was ready for the attack as it managed to evade it with ease, jumping over it and hooking itself near the top of the left hedge. The beast roared in anger at them before jumping right where they were standing.
"Move!" Harry shouted as he ran forwards with Cedric, while Fleur and Viktor ran backwards.
"Hit it!" Cedric shouted and in a millisecond, both him and Harry trained their wands on the beast.
"Conf-" Harry was interrupted when Cedric jumped on top of him, pinning both of them to the ground as the monster launched itself straight towards them. The two rolled backwards towards Viktor and Fleur as the monster recovered from the jump and turned around.
"Confringo!" Harry shouted, casting the curse only moments after all three champions had cast their respective ones, having the edge due to their ability to cast them wordlessly.
The creature jumped over one red curse, climbing on the right hedge before jumping towards the left hedge.
"Reducto! Confringo!"
The four champions kept hurling curses at the beast, but its incredible speed and heightened reflexes made it so that it was impossible to even land a single one of them.
"What do we do!?" Harry shouted in between spells.
"Hit it!" Viktor spat.
"HOW!?"
"However you can! Move!"
The monster had jumped and was currently flying towards them. Viktor grabbed Cedric by the scruff of the neck, pulling him away from the monster while he and Fleur dove away to the opposite side.
The creature roared as it landed with an earth-shaking THUMP and used two of its legs to attack Viktor and Cedric - sending them flying across the trail and landing roughly with an audible crack. Immediately, the beast turned towards Harry and Fleur. Fortunately, it had focused enough time on the other two that Harry was able to stand up. He grabbed Fleur by the arm and pulled her with him as he ran away from the fastly approaching beast. All the while, the French champion began launching curses at it as she was forced to run backwards.
Once again, the beast began jumping on the walls of the maze, switching from one to another as it pursued them, managing to evade Fleur's curses.
Harry kept hurrying away from it, hoping one of Fleur's curses would manage to actually hit it, but as he got closer to the turn at the end of the path, the creature was managing to catch up to them - he didn't think they would be able to outrun it.
He continued running and just when he hit the corner, Harry made the turn, only to stop halfway and duck, making sure to bring Fleur down with him. That seemed to be the right move, as the monster had jumped right at where they would have been had they continued.
Harry and Fleur instantly stood up, both training their wands on it. Harry, however, didn't aim it at the creature, following his instincts, he instead aimed it at a high point of the right hedge.
"Confringo!"
Fleur, having cast the spell wordlessly, was the faster caster. The beast saw this coming, and easily avoided the curse, jumping towards the right wall, in perfect range for Harry's belated curse to hit one of its legs perfectly.
The monster roared in agony as it lost its grip from the wall and fell to the ground.
THUMP!
Taking advantage of the fact that the creature was injured, Fleur immediately sent a hail of white, red, orange, and blue curses -blasting the beast apart slowly as it writhed on the floor in agony, unable to jump or move fast enough to evade them.
"Confringo! Reducto! Diffindo! Expulso! Confringo!"
Harry joined Fleur, sending his own curses to stop the monster. With the two of them striking at it together, it was much easier to do more damage to it. It didn't take long before the curses started tearing it apart, breaking its legs to the point where the bones came out, blood started splattering everywhere and soon enough, even its innards were starting to blast out of its body.
They carried on, the storm of curses impacting the thrashing creature on the ground until its shrieks of pain finally stopped. When they did, Harry stopped casting spells - but Fleur continued. A combination of fear and rage overtook her face as she kept mutilating the corpse over and over again.
"Fleur," Harry said tiredly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Fleur," Harry repeated more firmly, managing to stop the girl from continuing cursing the body before she turned towards him. "It's over, it's dead."
Fleur only nodded, her eyes staring hollowly back at him.
Harry sighed, patting her shoulder awkwardly, before walking back towards the other two champions. Harry spotted Viktor kneeling beside Cedric as the boy clutched his arm with a grimace.
"I said I'm fine!" Cedric snapped at the Bulgarian as Harry stepped near ear range.
"What's going on?" Harry asked, having arrived with Fleur right behind him, looking only slightly better than she had a second ago.
"Diggory broke his arm," Viktor answered him.
"I did not break it, it's fine, it just hurts." Cedric stated stubbornly.
"Let me see," Fleur told him as she too knelt beside him.
Cedric sighed reluctantly before slowly extending his arm to her, an action which made him immediately wince and whimper in pain. The arm was clearly broken, even if it wasn't for all the swelling and cuts it already had, the obvious deformity was a dead giveaway for Harry. Thankfully, there didn't appear to be any bones sticking out of his body, which was always a plus.
"Zis is definitely broken," Fleur said in a no nonsense tone, sounding more like herself.
"It's fine, I'm fine." Cedric reiterated.
Fleur shot him a dirty look, whether for interrupting her or his dim-witted self assessment, Harry wasn't sure.
"Fortunately," She continued. "I know ze spell zat fixes a broken bone."
"Really?" Cedric asked, a jovial relief clear on his face.
"Yes, but zat still wouldn't 'elp. You would not be able to move your arm very much, and it will still be as painful as it eez right now. You would also need to drink healing and pain-numbing potions, potions zat we do not 'ave."
"Can't we just summon them?" Cedric asked desperately.
"I mean, if they're relatively close enough, then theoretically yes," Harry answered before aiming his wand at the sky. "Accio healing potions."
Harry stared at the sky for a couple seconds before turning back to his friends.
"I'm sure they'll get here eventually."
"I doubt it," Viktor said. "The judges vill haff most likely placed jinxes to counteract a summoning charm like that."
"Oui," Fleur answered before turning back to Cedric. "I can fix your arm, but I do not zink zat you would be able to continue ze task. I zink zat it's best if you withdrew."
"WHAT!?"
"It eez for ze best, Cedric. You are in no condition to compete." Fleur pushed.
"No!" Cedric yelled. "I have to continue! Besides, we agreed! We'd all finish this together! We'd all win together!"
"We would still give you your share of the winnings," Harry quickly reassured, to which Fleur nodded fervently. "We'd make sure that you were credited for the win with the rest of us."
"No! I still won't do it!"
"Zen we will stun you and send red sparks anyway!" Fleur snapped.
"No! You don't understand! I have to prove it!"
"Prove what!?"
"That I'm not a mistake."
A cold wave erupted with those words as the three champions stared at Cedric.
"Please," He said, looking straight at Fleur as a tear fell from his right eye and ran down his cheek. "I have to prove it. I have to show my father that he should be proud of his son."
"Cedric-"
"Please," He interrupted her. "Just please let me do this."
Fleur turned helplessly towards Viktor and then towards Harry, but both boys looked back at her with no clear answer on their faces, both as conflicted as she was. She turned back towards Cedric, and seeing nothing but vulnerability and plea written on his face, she could only nod - even if only reluctantly.
After Fleur finished mending Cedric's broken arm and immobilizing it by sticking it to his side, the group continued making their way across the maze. The Hufflepuff had started using his wand on his left hand, having no other option. As they walked, he began practising with it, casting spells, checking his aim, even testing out how fast he was at using it. He was clearly not as good with it as he was with his right hand, but it was still better than walking around completely unarmed.
After that last fight, the group seemed more settled down. Harry knew that whatever curse or jinx that was affecting him was still affecting the other two. Cedric was hurt and even though he was still irritable at times, it was nothing compared to how he was near the beginning of the maze. Viktor on the other hand seemed much more calm than before, maybe he was using Occlumency or using some other method to keep whatever external force from affecting him.
Or maybe it wasn't manifesting in violent emotions anymore.
The lack of the point-me spell or any other ways of locating the path towards the exit, however, didn't help, as it made it all much more exhausting. They were hitting dead ends constantly, having to go back and choose another path that they hoped without any real knowledge that it would lead them to the centre. In their path, they faced some more creatures, but these were extremely low level creatures compared to the five-legged monster, or even most of the other creatures they had faced before.
However, the deeper they went into the maze, the rarer it was for them to come across other opponents, even if they were easy. That immediately alarmed the four champions, but they carried on nonetheless, only in a much more cautious manner.
Harry didn't know what would be worse, if this was a sign that they were going in the wrong direction, or if they were going in the right one.
It was in this nearly paranoid state that the four of them had been moving for the past twenty minutes: in complete silence, checking every corner before turning it, and making sure to constantly check behind them.
"Stop," Viktor commanded the group as he glanced around the corner.
"What is it?" Harry asked as Cedric and Fleur tried to take a peek at what Viktor was looking at.
"I do not know," The Bulgarian answered. "It is far away."
Unable to keep himself out of the loop, Harry slowly made his way around the corner, making sure to stay behind Viktor. At first, he didn't see anything. It was just an extremely long path with seemingly no end.
But then he saw it.
It was a miniscule blue light at the end of the trail, shining brightly enough to still be visible at such a long distance.
"Wait, that's-"
"The Triwizard Cup" Viktor finished for him.
Cedric and Fleur fully stepped out from behind the hedge and stared at it. Finally, after everything they've gone through. The hours they spent inside this bloody maze, fighting what felt like every monster in the whole wizarding world, they finally found the thing they had been looking for.
Harry took a step forward, only to be stopped by Viktor.
"It can't be that easy."
Viktor conjured a large rock, large enough to cover his hand, and threw it across the path. It flew in the air before landing on the ground - nothing happened.
"Hmmmmm…" Viktor hummed to himself.
"Conjure another one," Cedric told Viktor, who immediately complied and handed it to him.
Cedric scrunched his face in concentration before moving his wand in an intricate manner. The rock quickly began expanding in size, and it only took a few seconds for it to completely transfigure itself into a medium-sized dog.
"Smart," Viktor grunted before casting a charm at the animal.
The dog immediately dashed across the path, heading straight towards the Triwizard Cup. But the animal didn't get far as suddenly, the hedges closed themselves, obstructing the straight path towards the end. This wasn't the end of it, as the maze kept moving, expanding horizontally and creating new pathways. At the same time, the corner they had just turned to enter this pathway also closed off, leaving them trapped inside this final section of the maze with no way out.
The maze continued moving, changing completely in its structure, however the four champions didn't have the luxury to marvel at the changes as their attention was grabbed by the mass of pitter-patters that was coming from behind the wall that was right behind them.
"Let's go!" Harry shouted, dashing away from the hedge and towards the centre of the path. The other three champions followed him before turning towards where the sound was coming from.
Pitter-patter.
Pitter-patter.
Pitter-patter.
The sound of a thousand steps filled Harry's ears as they grew louder and louder from every direction. A sense of dread filled Harry as they got closer, until he couldn't take it anymore. Raising his wand, Harry shouted.
"Lumos Maxima!"
A bright surge of light emanated from the tip of Harry's wand, lighting up the whole lane completely. That's when he saw it - a group of dozens of gigantic Acromantulas, maybe even a hundred of them, all creeping towards them at a terrifying pace. They were coming at them from everywhere, surrounding them from the ground, the air, and the hedges beside them.
"Viktor!" Harry shouted.
"On it!" The Bulgarian replied as he waved his wand.
A mass of fire erupted from Viktor's wand, racing across the field towards the nearest spiders and burning them alive. The spiders that were hit shrieked in pain as they writhed on the ground, while the others immediately began to fall back, climbing back the hedges and looming at the top, far away from the inferno.
While Viktor was dealing with the Acromantulas coming at them from behind - Harry, Cedric, and Fleur began launching curses at the ones coming at them from the other side of the path, where there was now a fork path leading into three different directions.
"Confringo! Expulso! Bombarda Maxima!"
The three of them hurled curse after curse, blasting the Acromantulas apart in a gruesome scene as their bodies exploded, their legs and blood flying all over the place. It was only after they had killed around twenty-five Acromantulas collectively that they started to fall back to.
Soon enough, all the Acromantulas disappeared from their view, climbing above the hedges and towards other sides of the maze, though Harry could tell they were still close by how he could still hear the strong pitter-patters all around him.
"Well, that was easy!" Cedric said, sounding relieved.
But before anyone could answer, a loud growl emanated from one of the three pathways ahead of them.
"For fuck's sake," Harry muttered under his breath, shooting Cedric a dirty look before joining the other three by readying himself.
The growling began to steadily get louder and more feral, the four champions slowly began to back up, never taking their eyes from any of the three paths where the sound could be coming from.
Suddenly, Harry saw Fleur cast a yellow spell towards the path furthest to the right. The yellow curse light plunged into the darkness ahead before exploding in a bright blast, exposing the growling beast.
It had the head of a man, the body of an overly large lion, and a gigantic scorpion's tail that seemed to have a mind of its own. The manticore growled in anger at having been disturbed, before dropping the half-eaten Acromantula that it had on its massive jaws, before setting off towards them in a sprint, accompanied by a petrifying roar.
Viktor didn't wait to be told this time, casting the mass of violent flames directly at the Manticore. They hit their target perfectly, and for a millisecond, Harry wanted to cheer. All that changed when the Manticore jumped through the fire, not a scratch on its flesh nor a burn on its hair - the only thing the fire seemed to do was increase its anger.
The Manticore landed right in front of them, turning mid-air so that it could use its massive tail against them. It swung at them at a breakneck speed, too fast for Harry to even react. He, along with Fleur, was thrown back violently before landing on the ground, hitting the back of his head in the process.
"I'm so tired," Harry panted as he tried regaining his clear-headedness before immediately getting up.
"AHHHH!" Viktor shouted in pain as the Manticore bit at his side roughly.
"Viktor!" Fleur screamed in a terrified voice before immediately going into action.
She enchanted the hedges near the Manticore and used them to attack it - acting as ropes, grabbing at the Manticore's legs, arms, and head, trying to restrain it. All the while, Harry and Cedric began launching curses at the Manticore, however, they all bounced off of it without the creature even flinching at them.
The Manticore roared as all the plants pulled at it, forcing it to the ground. It let go of Viktor as it began to struggle against the plants binding it. The Bulgarian quickly moved away, but kept fighting, even with his large injury. He began launching a barrage of curses at the creature, all of them bouncing off of it without leaving any damage.
The Manticore was smart, however, using its tail, it began breaking its bindings and fighting off the other ones. Fleur grunted as she increased her concentration, using more and more of the hedges as weapons against it. But instead of trying to restrain it, they began attacking it, stabbing it anywhere they could.
The beast roared in pain as the plants succeeded in attacking it, drawing blood from their force.
"Fleur!" Harry shouted, realising how to kill it.
"I know!" She snapped back, increasing her concentration even further as more plants began attacking the monster.
The Manticore became even more enraged, which only served to make it more dangerous. Its tail began moving at incredible speeds, managing to stop all of Fleur's attacks and fully rid itself of the bindings that were prohibiting its movement.
Just as the Manticore was about to jump on Viktor again, Cedric, who had stopped launching attacks, sprinted towards his friend and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him away from the Manticore.
Harry was about to shout at Viktor and Cedric to conjure some sort of physical weapon and use it on the Manticore, when he saw something in his peripheral vision.
"DUCK!" He shouted at Fleur before doing just that.
A giant Acromantula jumped right at him, and even though he had managed to duck under it, Fleur hadn't. It tackled her, making a vicious sound when it did. Harry immediately rolled away from them and saw that the Acromantula was just about to bite Fleur.
"Expulso!"
The creature didn't even get a chance to scream in pain before it exploded in a macabre fashion, completely drenching Fleur in its blood and innards. Harry didn't have the time to even utter a word to Fleur, as he was sure the Acromantula hadn't come alone.
He moved to the centre, as far away from the hedges as possible, before he scoured the place for the other Acromantulas, finding all of them coming towards them from above.
"Confringo! Reducto! Expulso!"
Harry launched a hail of curses, managing to hit every single Acromantula, as Fleur slowly recovered from her shock on the floor.
"VIKTOR!" Harry shouted as soon as he had an open window. "SWORD! NO MAGIC!"
He hoped the Bulgarian managed to hear him and continued focusing on the cluster of Acromantulas above him. Fleur had managed to recover and sprang into action, helping him deal with the incoming attackers and giving Harry enough windows to look towards the other two champions.
It seemed that they had heard him, as Viktor and Cedric had stopped launching curses at the Manticore, instead opting for more creative ways of attacking him. Viktor was rapidly conjuring large boulders that Cedric then quickly transfigured into large hounds that were managing to deal some small physical damage to it, at least those that weren't immediately caught and ripped to shreds by the massive creature.
"They're not going to manage!" Harry shouted at Fleur in between curses.
Fleur quickly looked back at the other two.
"'Old them off!" She shouted at him, casting three final curses before turning and sprinting, leaving Harry alone to deal with the rest of the Acromantulas.
"Oh, great!" Harry exclaimed, as Fleur ran back towards the other two champions. "Confringo! Join the Triwizard - Expulso! - Tournament, where you can - Reducto! Expulso! - get killed, in the most brutal ways - Confringo! Confringo! - by the most horrific creatures - Bombarda Maxima! - you could possibly imagine - Expulso! - for free!"
As Harry kept keeping the army of Acromantulas away from himself, and the other three champions, Fleur ran towards Viktor and Cedric, once again enchanting the hedges behind the Manticore to attack the beast. However, it seemed that it was ready for it, as it used its claws and jaws to fight off the large hounds attacking it - its massive tail began fighting the plants that were trying to bind it.
"We need to do something!" Fleur shouted, standing in the middle of Viktor and Cedric, as the three avoided the few attacks the Manticore aimed at them.
"If you haff better idea, be my guest!" Viktor shouted back.
Fleur huffed in exasperation. "Cast shards at it! Like ze ones you used to attack Cedric!"
"We tried that, already!" Cedric shouted. "The Manticore uses its tail to block them!"
"Good zing I'm keeping its tail occupied, zen!" Fleur snapped back.
"Ve can't switch now! The hounds are keeping the creature occupied! If ve stop sending them, it vill come after us!"
"Where's Potter!" Cedric growled. "We could really use his help here!"
"'E's making sure we do not become spider food - DUCK!"
The Manticore used one of its small windows of time it had to slash at them with its tail, Cedric and Fleur managed to duck out of it, but Viktor wasn't fast enough, managing only to avoid the stinger by mere centimetres, however he was hit by the base of its tail and sent flying against one of the hedges behind them.
"AHHHH!" He screamed in agony, having fallen on top of his ankle.
"Viktor!" Fleur shouted without stopping her enchantments, as they were the only thing left slowing down the Manticore. Cedric ran towards her, pulling her with him as he fell back towards Viktor's position and away from the monster.
The Manticore kept fighting the last three hounds that were left, using one of its claws to grab at them before biting off their heads as if they were nothing, while using the other to keep the others away. It continued with this pattern until it finally killed all three of them, focusing fully on the plants that were trying to bind it, clawing at them, gnawing them, and cutting them - managing to get the upper hand on Fleur.
"I can't 'old it very long!" Fleur stated, fully focusing on her enchantments.
Viktor stood up, grimacing at the pain that was shooting from his body. "I vill hold it off!" Without waiting for an answer from the other champions, he conjured a large dagger before sprinting towards the Manticore.
"Viktor!" Fleur shouted, accidentally breaking her enchantments and letting the Manticore free.
The Manticore dashed towards Viktor, brandishing its claws as it jumped on him. The creature tackled the Bulgarian easily, its claws ripping into his shoulders. "AHHHH!" Viktor screamed - not in pain, but in anger, as he brandished the dagger and began repeatedly stabbing Manticore's torso.
The Manticore roared in pain, a sound powerful enough that it terrified the two dozen or so Acromantulas that were left, causing them to immediately flee. Harry quickly turned around and watched the scene in front of him.
Viktor kept stabbing at the underside of the Manticore, putting all of his energy into it as he did his best to make sure the beast went down with him. However, he did not expect for the Manticore to bat his arm away with one of its claws.
Viktor roared in agony as the claws ripped through his arm, he lost his grip and the dagger flew out of his hand, landing behind the Manticore, meters away from Viktor's grasp. He couldn't focus on his pain much as the Manticore pressed its foot against his chest, lightly brushing it with its claws as it stared venomously at him.
In what felt like slow-motion, the beast growled at him, opening its jaws and raising its head, just about to bite his head off.
And then… it howled in pain as the dagger was plunged into the back of its neck. Cedric removed the knife only to stab it again harder before ripping at it, creating a deep, large gash on it.
The Manticore turned its head around, locking eyes with its attacker before immediately striking him. Using its long tail, it stung Cedric on the neck.
"AHHHH!" The Hufflepuff shrieked in agony, dropping to his knees in less than a second.
"CEDRIC!" Both Harry and Fleur shouted, not being able to do anything as they were both paralysed inside their own bodies, with no other option than to watch the carnage in front of them.
With its head turned, however, the Manticore never saw as Viktor grabbed hold of the dagger sticking out of it, and ripping at its neck. The creature's roar of anguish was cut off by Viktor slicing at its vocal cords, ripping its neck completely open and letting the blood fall all over him, showering him in it.
A second passed as Harry stared in shock before he sprang into action. "CEDRIC!" He shouted, running towards the boy who was lying on the ground. As he did so, he absently heard Fleur's shriek as she ran towards her boyfriend as well.
Viktor had managed to move from underneath the Manticore's corpse, and was lying prone on the ground, gathering his breaths. Fleur immediately went into action, healing over the injuries in his chest and shoulders as she tried to make sure that he didn't bleed to death.
"'M fine," Viktor said weakly, not managing to deter Fleur from her mission.
While this was happening, Harry reached Cedric's side, kneeling beside him. "Cedric!" He grabbed him and shook him, trying to get the older boy to look at him. But he didn't, Cedric stared at the sky, an empty look in his eyes, as his body convulsed on the ground.
Not knowing what to do, Harry resorted to his final option. He aimed his wand at the sky.
"Vermillious!"
Red sparks launched from his wand, exploding in the sky as he called for a teacher. In less than a second, Harry heard two cracks of apparition as McGonagall and Sprout appeared before him.
"Take him!" He shouted at them. "He needs Madam Pomfrey!"
Sprout immediately knelt beside the Hufflepuff champion, checking his condition as her face darkened with worry. However, just as she was about to grab him and apparate him away, McGonagall spoke.
"Potter, you are surrendering for Diggory. If you do this, you won't be allowed another surrender-"
"Just do it!" He bellowed at her.
Professor McGonagall looked at him, fear etched all over her face, before she reluctantly nodded towards Sprout - who instantly apparated away with him. McGonagall, however, stayed, giving him a grim look.
"Finish this, Potter." She whispered.
Harry didn't get the chance to nod before she turned on the spot and vanished.
Entrance of the Maze
A loud CRACK announced Pomona Sprout's arrival at the entrance of the maze, clutching at Cedric Diggory's prone body.
"We need some help!" She shouted at Madam Pomfrey, who was running out of the healing tent they had installed besides the entrance of the maze.
Pomona levitated Cedric's convulsing body and brought it to Madam Pomfrey with as much haste as she could. Seeing this, the Hogwarts Matron conjured a stretcher. Cedric was dropped on it, before being rushed inside.
The two women, joined by Professor McGonagall, who had just portkeyed out of the maze, moved Cedric from the stretcher to one of the four beds installed inside the tent.
"What happened to him?" Madam Pomfrey asked the two teachers.
"Stung, Manticore's tail."
All the blood rushed out of Madam Pomfrey's face as her eyes widened. Before anyone could say anything, the matron turned around and scoured her drawers, looking for something. She found it, pulling a large flask filled with purple liquid, before immediately shoving it down Cedric's throat.
"Call Dumbledore!" She told them. "I need him."
"Poppy-"
"Just call him!" She snapped at them.
Pomona immediately left the tent, presumably to get the Headmaster, while McGonagall stayed, incapable of doing anything but watching.
"P-Poppy,"
"I'm giving him a potion that is slowing his heartbeat," She recited mechanically, as she frantically began searching around the tent. "This will slow the blood flow in his body and the poison within it. We- we- we-"
"Poppy, what are you looking for?" McGonagall asked, finally finding something she could help at.
"I'm- I'm- Potion- Antivenom- Manticore poison-" Poppy kept going through everywhere she could, trying to find it. She looked everywhere, all her drawers, all the tables, all the potions she had readied outside for what she thought would be needed after the task was done.
"It's not here," She whispered brokenly. "It's not here, it's not here, it's not here," She kept repeating in a manic frenzy, not once stopping to look for the antivenom.
Suddenly, Cedric began convulsing more violently, his eyes had fully become bloodshot, blood was pouring out of his mouth, flying everywhere due to the speed of his irregular movements, before white foam started forming.
"No- no- no- no-"
McGonagall felt stuck, trapped inside her own body, as Cedric's condition worsened considerably and Poppy started having a panic attack right in front of her.
Suddenly, the flap of the tent opened as Dumbledore and Sprout stepped inside - the latter immediately gasping at the scene in front of her.
"Poppy," Dumbledore whispered urgently. "Poppy!"
"Antivenom! Not here! Not here! Not here!"
Before Dumbledore could even process what Madam Pomfrey had said, Cedric's body had abruptly stopped moving, the foam starting to drip off his face as dead eyes stared directly into those of the Headmaster.
Cedric Diggory was dead.
Inside a jewelled casket, a small wooden cup stood there, unmoving. To anyone, this would seem like an ordinary wooden cup, no special qualities, nothing particularly notable about it. Just an antique from a long gone time.
It would take the most powerful and advanced wizards to even notice the presence of the powerful magic emitted from the cup, and even they would have a hard time at doing so.
That was, at least, until a powerful blaze surged from within the cup. It had a cobalt blue exterior that steadily morphed into a pure white colour in the centre of the flame. Slowly, previously invisible runes around the cup started lighting up in a sapphire blue. One by one, they slowly began appearing, the intensity of the flame growing as more runes appeared.
The fire grew in size until all the runes had lit up completely, the inside of the casket glowing in a blinding blue light. Suddenly, the flame erupted in a blast of crimson red as the runes burnt brighter than ever.
And then, in a second, it all stopped. The runes were no longer visible, and the fire that had erupted had completely vanished. It was as if nothing had happened, and nobody noticed, or would notice, any change.
Not even the fact that the Goblet of Fire now had a more powerful aura than before.
Inside the Maze
Harry was on the floor, his back leaned against a hedge directly opposite from where Fleur was tending to Viktor's injuries. They had spent the past five minutes in silence, the three of them recovering from their most recent encounter with the Manticore, whose corpse was rotting just a few feet away from them. The fatigue Harry felt was overwhelming, both physically and mentally - it was taking all his effort not to lie on the floor and sleep for three days straight.
"You were lucky zat ze fangs or claws of ze Manticore were not poisoned as well," Fleur broke the silence, staring at Viktor intently, who just grunted in response.
The French champion clearly didn't like his lack of an answer, sighing exasperatedly. "Viktor-"
"Don't," He cut her off coldly. "Don't even think about it. I am finishing this. Ve are right there! I vill not give up now."
"You saw what 'appened to Cedric!"
"He'll be fine!" Viktor snapped before looking away from Fleur. "He'll be fine."
Fleur gulped, a sorrowful expression crossing her features before she shook it away. 'E'll be fine," she echoed Viktor before turning to Harry and repeating it.
Harry nodded mechanically.
A long silence fell upon the trio once again, painfully eating at their insides like parasites. During which, Fleur continued working on Viktor, closing the gashes on his shoulders and chest, stopping the bleeding from where the Manticore had bitten him, and healing his broken ankle.
"It eez done," She told Viktor when she finished. "You will still need to see a healer when you finish, but zis should be enough for now."
"Thank you," Viktor said with a small smile on his face, one which Fleur reciprocated.
"What do you think is out there?" Harry suddenly asked, motioning towards the three paths ahead.
"Vhatever it is, it can't be vorse than the beast," Viktor said, kicking the Manticore's corpse.
"What were ze organisers thinking?" Fleur asked, her tone becoming heated. "Dragons, Manticores, Quintapeds, Lethifolds! It's like they want us to be killed!"
"No vonder at least one champion has died during each Trivizard Tournament," Viktor mentioned absently. "And that is vithout counting the times vhere judges, vorkers, and even spectators haff died."
"Let's make sure zat does not happen zis time, then," Fleur told them as she stood up, facing the three paths ahead.
Viktor followed her, shakily standing up and limping towards her side, with Harry not far behind from doing so as well.
"Let's go."
Outside the Maze
Alastor Moody marched outside the borders of the maze, making sure to maintain the champions' pace.
He could see them as they wearily ambled along the maze, the magic within the hedges allowing him, and the other teachers on duty, to see through them and spot the champions. After their most recent encounter with the Manticore and the Acromantulas, the three of them had been sloppy. They hadn't been on guard and alert as they used to be, instead they were aloof and jaded - lost in their own heads without any disregard for their surroundings.
Alastor snorted disdainfully, if anything, after their latest confrontation and Diggory's subsequent hospitalization, they should be more vigilant than ever.
He sighed exasperatedly but did nothing. When Albus had called him the previous summer and asked for his help to make sure the Triwizard Tournament went without any problems, he wasn't exactly thrilled to accept the position. Teaching overconfident brats and dimwitted fools was the last way he wanted to spend the following year - but this was Dumbledore asking, and he owed it to him.
Not surprisingly, it turned out that Dumbledore was right in calling him in, the Triwizard Task hadn't even begun before it had gone to shit. With Potter's name coming out of the Goblet in a clever assassination plot, he had worked overtime with Dumbledore, McGonagall, and, much to his displeasure, Snape, trying to find a way to get Potter out of the blasted Tournament, and to make sure that the security of the tasks was near pristine.
Unfortunately for Potter, they couldn't help him in any way to survive the tasks. However, the boy seemed to have done an adequate job at it, and even befriending the other champions had paid off in this last task.
But just because the Potter boy had managed to do well so far, didn't mean that they were out of the woods quite yet.
This was mainly because of the magic of the Goblet, the magic that fuelled all the events in the Triwizard Tournament. Because of it, no one was allowed to interfere in the task. No one could apparate inside, and the only way to go in or out of the maze was via Portkeys fuelled with the magic of the Goblet - and these Portkeys could only be used when it fit the rules of the task, which was when a champion surrendered, and when the winning champion touched the Triwizard Cup, sending them back to the entrance of the maze.
This made it so that this final task was the most optimal moment for whatever plot to unravel, he knew it, and Dumbledore knew it too. Which is why, unlike the champions, he was fully alert and vigilant.
And so, as he observed the champions make their way through the path laid out for them, something caught Alastor's eye.
The Triwizard Cup.
It was right there, in front of the three champions. To the naked eye, it seemed just like anyone would expect; grandiose, intense, oozing of powerful magic. But there was something not right with it. He stopped using his magical eye to keep looking out for his surroundings and aimed it at the Cup.
He immediately recoiled it away, the potent magical energy coming off from the object being blindingly bright. Still, there was something about the Cup that felt off, made his whole body want to shudder at its mere presence.
The feeling was overwhelming, his gut sounding out the alarms of danger inside his mind as he stared at it with his normal eye. In the past, his gut had never failed him, it had saved his life many times, and Alastor didn't think it would fail him now.
There was something wrong with that Cup.
Inside the Maze
The three Champions had been walking for what had felt like an eternity. The more corners they turned, the longer and longer the paths seemed to be. There were even times when it felt as if the path was elongating itself as they made their way through it, helpless to do anything but keep walking.
It had been a straight road ahead ever since they had crossed the fork that had manifested in the maze, choosing to use the path where the Manticore had come from. There had not been any other forks or interjections, just a long, single road, with many twists and turns, and the path behind them closing as they passed.
But as they turned, what Harry was sure was the twenty-fifth turn since they decided to continue, he spotted an indistinguishable bright blue light, emanating from the end of the path.
"There!" Harry shouted, pointing towards it.
"Careful," Viktor warned, suddenly alert.
Harry nodded and watched as Viktor went about the same routine as he had last time. But when the conjured boulder and hound didn't set anything off, the Bulgarian nodded solemnly at them. Total silence fell on them as the three Champions made their way across, almost expecting a Chimaera to suddenly leap at them. Harry's wand felt slippery in his hands, forcing him to constantly accommodate his grip.
He could see a drowsiness in Viktor's features, he was trying to hide it, and doing a good job at it, in Harry's opinion. He doubted most people would be able to tell, but it was the way his jaw was clenched, and how his eyes were slightly vacant. Fleur wasn't doing much better, but she wasn't actively trying to hide it, the opposite in fact. It should have probably alarmed him to see her like that, but he got the sense that, if push came to shove, she'd be able to handle herself just as well as the two of them.
When they finally got near the Triwizard Cup, Harry got to see it in its full glory. It was magnificent, imposing even, exuding a larger than life feel to it that Harry had only felt when he'd had the Philosopher's Stone in his hands, or when he entered the Chamber of Secrets - a feeling that many people would never be able to even describe, and one that seemed to be recurring in his life.
The path started growing, the hedges inside the maze rapidly changing, making all three champions stop in their tracks, immediately on guard and alert. Harry turned back to see the path behind them had already closed off, leaving them trapped, no more than fifteen meters away from the Triwizard Cup.
"Let's just grab it!" Fleur shouted at them, the sound of the maze and the burst of wind almost drowning her voice.
"Let's go!" Viktor exclaimed.
The three of them dashed towards the Triwizard Cup, the straightforward path having shifted into some sort of large circular arena. Harry could see from his peripheral vision as an entrance formed straight ahead of them, but he ignored it, his sole focus was on grabbing the Cup.
It was so close, it couldn't be more than five meters away from him.
A massive ROAR emanated from the dark entrance in front of him. His stomach clenched, and his chest constricted at the sound, but instead of paralysing him with fear, it only made him go faster.
He was about to reach the Cup, when he was suddenly blasted backwards, it wasn't a particularly hard blow, but it was hard enough to send him a couple meters back, landing on his arse.
By the time Harry had realised what had happened, he noticed that Viktor and Fleur too were on the floor.
"What happened!?"
"Cup has some sort of shield, ve can't get past it."
"Well then what do we do!?"
ROAR!
The terror inducing blare had finally gotten his full attention, as well as Viktor's and Fleur's. The three of them immediately rose to their feet, aiming their wands towards the sound.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!!
The sound of massive footsteps was inching closer to them. Harry's clammy hand shook as he held his wand, he could feel his knees wanting to give up on him, it was honestly a miracle that they hadn't buckled under him.
Suddenly, a colossal hand grabbed at the left hedge, creating a loud THUMP and sending a blast of air at them with its sheer force. The creature ROARED once again before stepping out of the shadows.
In front of them, a monster of tremendous size loomed over them, almost ten feet tall. It had the broad and muscular body of a human, and the head of a bull. In his right arm, it had a massive silver axe that looked as if it had just been sharpened.
Harry could hear Fleur's breathing stop as the Minotaur stared at them, a wrathful expression on its face. None of them moved, none of them even dared to breathe. He felt the urge to run, whether towards it or away from it, he wasn't quite sure. He just felt the burning need to do something, anything, other than standing there waiting. But it seemed that his body had shut down and immobilized him there against his own will.
It was the longest three seconds of his life, and yet, somehow the shortest as well.
All that ended when the Minotaur ROARED and charged towards them.
Luxury Box
Alastor Moody rushed up the stairs of the Luxury Box as he headed towards the judges' table in the ninth floor, where he would find Dumbledore. Because of the bloody security precautions inside the stadium, he knew he wasn't able to just apparate himself inside - it was his own suggestion after all. So, he was forced to take the long way there.
When he had finally climbed all nine floors of the Luxury Box, he showed no restraint as he pushed the doors open. They crashed against the walls, creating a thunderous sound that echoed all over the floor, garnering everyone's attention.
But Alastor ignored them as he strode towards the judges. They were seating in the centre of the room, right in front of the large glass window displaying the maze to them, as well as the massive four-way projector hanging above it.
"What is the meaning of this!" Bartemius Crouch hissed. "Go back to your post, Mad-Eye."
"Shut up, Crouch!" Alastor barked before turning his attention to Dumbledore. Alastor was surprised at the Headmaster's appearance, he appeared just as fatigued as the other three champions, he had not seen him look like this ever since the First War. "You have to stop this task!"
The other two judges went into immediate uproar ("Are you insane!?" "We can't stop it!"), but Dumbledore stayed quiet. Alastor watched as the tired old man in front of him turned into the powerful leader the Wizarding World knew he was, but rarely saw. His face hardened as his eyes gained some of their life back.
Suddenly, the other two judges were silenced wandlessly and wordlessly.
"What is it, Alastor?" Dumbledore asked him.
"It's the bloody Cup. There's something off about it, Albus. I don't know what it is, but I don't like it."
"Is it dark?"
"I can't tell, but it bloody could be. The Cup, it's unlike anything I've ever seen before. So much magic, way too much magic for a damn Portkey, especially one for as close a range as this one."
"It's imbued with the magic of the Goblet. It's not out of the ordinary for it to be radiating such power - I checked it myself right before Ludo took it to the centre of the maze, and there was nothing wrong with it then."
"Albus," Alastor growled, before stopping himself. "I don't like it, something tells me that the Cup is compromised. This is the perfect moment, the only moment. Potter is in there, alone, and we have no way of interfering. If someone was going to attack, it would be now."
Dumbledore nodded gravely. "Ludo," He said, moving one of his fingers to remove the silencing spell he'd placed on the man. "Were there any problems in the transportation of the Cup?"
"No!" He exclaimed immediately. "Everything went perfectly, there was no hassle or anything of the sort."
"Are you sure? This is of utmost importance, even if it's a small detail, you must tell me."
"I," Ludo sighed. "I'm sure. Everything went according to plan."
"We can't take that chance!" Alastor snarled. "We need to pull them out of there, if not all of them, then at least Potter!"
"I'm aware, Alastor," Dumbledore replied absently, turning towards Bartemius. "We need to get them out of there, is there any way we can enter the maze and alert them?"
Bartemius huffed, staring hatefully at Dumbledore. "There's nothing to be done, Dumbledore, I won't make a fool out of the British Ministry by cancelling the final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Especially on the baseless assumptions of a batshit hermit, such as Mad-Eye Moody."
"I may be a batshit hermit, Crouch, but at least I didn't kill my own son."
"Enough!" Dumbledore shouted, surprising everyone around him. "Bartemius Crouch, if there's a way to get the Champions out of there you will tell me, and you will tell me now."
"I-" Crouch began stuttering, unconsciously taking a step back. "I don't know! The maze is impenetrable, no sound or object from the outside can enter the maze - not even a Phoenix's magic would be able to penetrate the magical defences set by the Goblet. The only way would be for one of the champions to surrender or for one of them to touch the Cup and win."
"Not necessarily…"
"What are you thinking, Albus?"
"The Dark Mark."
"What!?"
"The Death Eaters, they use the Dark Mark as a signal. It's not reliant on sound and doesn't need to be sent to them. They only need to look at the sky and see it for themselves. They are still able to see the night sky, aren't they?"
"Y-yes, of course, but-"
"So what, we conjure the Dark Mark and hope they get the message?" Alastor asked Dumbledore harshly, cutting off Crouch.
"Not the Dark Mark, but a sign, some way to warn the champions not to touch the Cup and to-"
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
As soon as Alastor heard the start of the killing curse, he immediately jumped out of the way and rolled over. It wasn't until he was in the middle of dodging the curse that he realised it hadn't been aimed at him at all - but at Dumbledore himself.
The Headmaster's reflexes were impressive, moving faster than most twenty-year-old wizards he'd ever met. He easily managed to step out of the curses, moving like a dancer in a ballroom, before training his wand on the attacker.
"Ludo, what have you done?" He asked, a tinge of sadness in his voice.
But Bagman didn't respond, instead he snarled as he quickly moved his wand away from Dumbledore.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Both Albus and Alastor tried to act faster than Bagman, each sending a stunning charm at it just as he was casting the spell. However, by the time the spells had hit him, sending him flying across the lounge, a poisonous green curse had left his wand - hitting Bartemius, who had stayed paralysed after the first curse was uttered, straight in the chest.
The older wizard fell on the ground, his body hitting the ground in the deafening silence that had fallen upon the floor.
And then, chaos ensued inside the Luxury Box.
Inside the Maze
As the Minotaur charged at them, the three champions immediately went into action. Viktor and Fleur flanked him as they ran to each of his sides, sending curses at the beast as they did so. But they were all easily avoided by the Minotaur, who dodged most of them and blocked the rest with its imposing axe.
Harry, too, had begun sending curses at it, but when he saw that the beast showed no signs of stopping, he began running away from it. The Minotaur was bigger than him, and much faster than him, so it didn't take long for it to begin catching up. His sense of self-preservation kicked in as Harry jumped and rolled out of the way, barely avoid the large axe that had nearly chopped off his head.
The Minotaur stopped abruptly, groaning as a couple of Viktor and Fleur's curses managed to hit him, but they barely seemed to do any damage, leaving a few cuts and small bruises on it, but nothing more. The beast roared at them, roughly pulling the axe from out of the ground, where its toe had lodged itself.
With a sturdy swing, the Minotaur threw the axe directly at Viktor. The Bulgarian rolled under it as it flew directly where his head had been only moments ago, before swerving to the right as it somehow made its way back to the Minotaur.
"Where did he even get this axe?" Harry asked in annoyance as he sprinted away from the creature, launching curses at it in the process.
"LOOK OUT!" Viktor shouted, and Harry turned to see Fleur shriek as the axe, while returning towards the Minotaur, targeted Fleur.
She managed to dodge the blade of the axe, but couldn't avoid its base. It hit her roughly, forcing all the air out of her body as she stumbled to the ground, clutching her middle.
The Minotaur, making a sound between a laugh and a grunt, grabbed the axe with an ease that Harry thought impossible, before lunging towards Fleur. Viktor, completely enraged, attacked the Minotaur with all his might, not just resorting to curses anymore. The Bulgarian first sent a violent blast of flames that the Minotaur managed to shield with its arm, but it was effective as it managed to burn it considerably.
The beast roared in pain as it shook its arm, succeeding at stopping the flames that had begun forming on his arm as he kept on his rampage towards Fleur. Seeing that it wasn't stopping, Viktor once again used his elemental knowledge of magic and created a large, fifteen feet earth barrier between the Minotaur and Fleur.
It crashed roughly against the thick hurdle, completely going through it but immediately falling onto the ground. He landed meters in front of Fleur, who had just noticed the looming monster and began backing away, still clutching at her stomach.
The creature looked up at her, cuts and swellings adorning its infuriated face. It gripped the axe as it shakily stood, and jumped at the French champion.
Luxury Box
For the past two hours, Hermione had been forced to watch as her boyfriend and her three friends face off against all the dangers of the maze. She had never felt so powerless, at least in the first task she'd managed to assist Harry with the broom, and on the second task she hadn't been conscious. But now, being forced to watch as he faced all these vicious creatures, as he nearly died more times than she was able to handle without losing it, she felt helpless to do anything but watch and hope that he'd make it out fine.
He always did, after all.
But after their encounter with the Manticore, where she had to watch as Cedric got seriously injured and forced Harry to call the medics for him, she had thought it couldn't get worse.
A part of her had wanted to visit Cedric in the hospital, she was even offered to go by Cho, who had approached her quietly and told her that Dumbledore had instructed them to come to the infirmary. But she couldn't leave, she wouldn't feel comfortable until she saw Harry get out of that blasted maze and was in her arms. And even then, she wasn't sure she'd feel fully okay.
And how wrong she had been.
Out of the blue, a fight had developed at the judge's table, and before Hermione could even understand what was going on, the whole Luxury Box descended into chaos. People started throwing jinxes and curses all over the place, creating what was basically a massive battlefield inside the floor.
From where she was, she could see as Lucius Malfoy, as well as a group of six hit wizards, tried to escort Minister Fudge out of the building, all the while blocking the incoming curses. She spotted Sirius and Remus fighting against four Bulgarian wizards, including Viktor's father. And she spotted Professor Dumbledore duelled against four wizards, while trying to save Professor Moody, who was being ambushed by another three.
"Come on!" She shouted at Neville, Lavender, and Parvati.
They needed to get out of here, with all the curses flying around, it was incredibly lucky that neither of them had been hit yet. Lavender and Parvati looked terrified, clearly having never been in anything like this. Neville looked determined, just as he had seemed that night he had tried to stop them from leaving the common room to go under the trapdoor, but behind that she could tell he was incredibly scared as well.
Hermione grabbed onto Parvati's hand and pulled her along as she began moving across the room, looking for the nearest exit. She saw that Neville followed them, pulling Lavender along with him, as well.
"Hermione!" She heard someone shout, before Katie rushed towards her.
"Where's Lee!?"
"I lost him! I don't know!" Katie said, extremely panicked.
"I'm sure he's alright!" Hermione said, sounding completely unsure. "There!" She exclaimed, finding an exit to the left-hand side of the room.
"No! We need to go back for Lee!" Katie shrieked as a curse exploded meters away from them.
Hermione glanced at the girl, she was frantic, erratic. She knew that whether they went with her or not, Katie would not leave until she found Lee.
Hermione sighed internally. "Where did you last see him?"
"He was at the bar! We got split up there!"
"Neville, get Lavender and Parvati out of here!"
"NO!" was the answer that met her from her three friends.
Hermione wanted to throw her arms up in exasperation, but refrained from doing so. Not wanting to waste any more time, she reluctantly forced herself not to argue and led the way towards the bar.
As they crossed the floor, Hermione began becoming paranoid. She had no idea who would be her friend and who would try to kill her. This wasn't like the Quidditch World Cup, where the Death Eaters were all wearing costumes, and it was easy to tell them off. Here, she saw normal people fighting with one another, with no way to tell which side they were on.
Hermione spotted Lee, he was with Fred and George, right beside the Delacours, who were fighting with Dragomir against members of the French government.
"Lee!" Katie cried out as they reached them, hugging him tightly.
"Katie!"
"We have to go!" Hermione shouted over them. "There's an exit at the left-hand side! If we can make it out, then-"
"DIFFINDO!"
Hermione quickly ducked, pulling Parvati down with her as she hoped to avoid the curse. Neville and Lavender also did the same, but Katie and Lee, who were right behind them, didn't manage to do so. The severing charm hit them both, cutting Lee across the arm and slicing at Katie's neck.
"KATIE!" They all shouted, but it was fruitless as it didn't stop her dropping to her knees, clutching at her bleeding neck as she tried to stop it from spilling out. Lee immediately knelt at her side, clutching at his chest tightly as he tried helping to put pressure on the wound.
"No, no, Katie, please!" He cried out.
"Ugh, how dramatic." An unknown voice groaned, immediately drawing Hermione's attention.
She looked over to see Dragomir walking towards them, a bored look on his face, flanked by the two French men that were attacking the Delacours.
"You bastard!" Lee shouted, immediately letting go of Katie's no longer twitching body as he lunged at them.
Dragomir sighed exaggeratedly before wordlessly blocking two of Lee's curses and training his wand on the boy. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
The violent green curse struck Lee, throwing him backwards before he landed lifeless on the ground.
"Now," He drawled, a perfect British accent rolling off his tongue. "Where was I?"
Inside the Maze
Fleur shrieked as the Minotaur jumped at her, barely managing to roll out of the way of the axe it had used to try to stab her. But just as she was sitting up to run, she was struck by the Minotaur's arm and sent flying in the air, crashing against the hedge behind her.
As Harry was rushing towards Fleur, he noticed that the Minotaur had gotten on its knees and was about to stand up.
"Oh, fuck it!" Harry shouted helplessly before he jumped on the Minotaur's back and grabbed him by the neck.
He held tightly onto it and tried to stab it with his nails, but its skin was too strong for it, making his efforts futile. Fleur, who was watching this from the ground, quickly got over her shock and sprang into action, hurling curses at the Minotaur's legs as she ran away from it.
The beast began to shake, trying to get Harry off his back, but his grip was strong enough to hold himself there. An idea suddenly burst into his mind, and he immediately acted upon it without a second thought. He used his legs to climb higher on the Minotaur, before letting go of his right hand. He clutched his wand tightly as he stabbed it at the beasts' ear.
It roared in agony, but Harry couldn't hear it over the sound of his own scream. "Confringo!"
The spell exploded inside the Minotaur's ear, completely blowing it up and blasting Harry backwards, his wand miraculously still in one piece. As he was trying to steady himself on top of the beast, he felt a large hand grab him and launch him through the air.
He crashed against the hedge, the same one where Fleur had crashed only moments before.
"I don't remember it being this hard last time," he grumbled, a pulsating headache assaulting him.
He could notice as Fleur kept sending curses towards the Minotaur while Viktor attacked it with blazes of fire. It roared and screamed as it ran away from its attackers, covering the burnt out part of where Harry had exploded his whole ear.
Harry stood up just in time to be thrown back down by Viktor's burst of wind, which was forceful enough to knock down the Minotaur as well. The Durmstrang champion rushed towards it before standing inches close to its face. The Minotaur attempted to knock Viktor down, but in a second, long vines from the hedges had bound the monster, restraining it completely.
It writhed in the ground in a hollow attempt to free itself. Using his chance, Viktor trained his wand on the creature's head, and whispered a spell Harry wasn't able to hear. Violent flames burst from his wand, and the creature howled in agony as the rain of fire burnt it alive. Its skin had a strong magical protection, but it was being broken down by the sheer intensity of the inferno.
The monster's screams would haunt Harry one day - he was sure of it.
Viktor continued, unrelenting in his assault, burning the creature's head until there was no more sounds coming from its throat nor twitches from its body. It was until then when he stopped the spell and threw himself on the ground, revealing its completely burnt out head to Harry.
He could see how its eyes had melted into the sockets, its face completely burnt off, replaced by the skull, facial muscles, and brain matter which hadn't been completely burnt off.
Viktor turned towards Fleur and then glanced at Harry, making sure that they were okay, before the Cup garnered his attention. The shield surrounding it shone brightly for a moment before completely disappearing. Leaving the Triwizard Cup open for them to finish the task.
Luxury Box
"Stupefy!"
The red spell was easily blocked by Dragomir wizards with a simple wave of his wand.
"Really, you must try harder than that." He taunted her, just like he had been taunting them for the past couple minutes, the smarmy prick.
An all out brawl had erupted between them. Neville, Lavender, and Parvati were on her right, the three of them barely managing to fight off against one of the French officials, while Fred and George dueled the other one to her left. Leaving Hermione to face off against Dragomir on her own.
"You arse!" She shouted, sending two more stunning charms at him. "You were our friend! We trusted you!"
"Friend? I took you for many things, Granger, but gullible wasn't one of them. Out of all of them, I expected you to be the one to figure it out - even if you are nothing more than a filthy mudblood."
For the first time in their fight, Dragomir retaliated at her, sending her two wordless killing curses, which she barely managed to dodge.
"You have no idea how much I've wanted to do this," he spat. "Putting Potter into the tournament was hard, even making sure that he survived all the tasks - but dealing with all of you was excruciating. But still, I bid my time, and now, trust me when I tell you, I'm going to enjoy this."
"FRED!"
Hermione turned to see Fred fall on the ground, a large gash all over his chest. However, she couldn't stare long as she felt Dragomir launch another three curses at her. She blocked the first one, but seeing how the second one was green, Hermione didn't want to risk it and jumped out of the way, unfortunately right into the path of the orange curse.
She was blasted back as she felt the powerful spell hit her midsection, a burning pain erupting from her hip before she even fell to the ground. Quickly looking up, Hermione saw Dragomir aiming for another spell and, not feeling confident enough on managing to dodge it, she placed a quick shield between her and the Bulgarian.
Hermione yelped as the spell managed to break her shield, the remnants of it leaving a large cut on her right cheek, and the force of her shield breaking, throwing her backwards.
"NO!" She heard some scream, though it was more like a furious growl.
Hermione looked up to see Neville charging at Dragomir. Before the Durmstrang could even react, Neville tackled him to the ground and began punching him.
"Ah," Dragomir laughed before getting struck on the face once again. "Longbottom!"
He blocked one of the punches before aiming his wand at the boy's torso and casting a wordless reductor curse.
Neville screamed as he was thrown off of Dragomir, landing on the ground on his back. His whole torso was burning with pain, but he ignored it as he forced himself to stand up.
"Tell me," Dragomir grinned. "How's mum and dad?"
Neville roared before launching two stunning charms at the Bulgarian, but both of them were extremely weak, easily blocked by Dragomir.
"Oh, I'm sorry, have I hit a nerve?"
Neville answered by continuing casting spells at him, but all of them were dodged with a maniacal pattern, as the Bulgarian seemed to be having the time of his life. However, suddenly, he stopped dodging and sent a blasting curse at Neville. The boy managed to cast a shield, but it was flimsy, and easily obliterated by the curse, throwing him backwards before landing on his backside.
"Maybe, I should complete the whole set and let you join them. I'm sure it would be a nice gift to your poor little grandma."
Neville yelled, his eyes bloodshot. "AVADA KED-"
"CRUCIO!"
Neville howled in pain as he rolled on the ground, the curse held for mere seconds but to Neville, those were eternities. In all the times he had imagined how excruciating the cruciatus curse must have felt like, he now realised how incredibly inaccurate he was. It was as if he had drawn a few blue lines and then claimed to have experienced the ocean. The pain was burning, an endless flame inside every single part of him, burning his insides alive over and over and over again.
"You dare," Dragomir spat as soon as he had removed the curse. "You? What is it with you Longbottoms? Always snarling at the beast and then acting surprised when it bites back."
Neville didn't answer - couldn't answer - he felt his whole body shaking, the agony from the cruciatus repeating inside his mind as if on loop, unwilling to let go of him.
"I think I'll pay a visit to your grandma, after all, we're practically family." He sneered, raising his wand at Neville, another cruciatus curse on the tip of his tongue.
"STUPEFY!"
Dragomir barely managed to step aside from the incoming spell and automatically cast a silent killing curse at his attacker. Hermione managed to evade it before sending a couple of them, which he then easily blocked.
However, before any of them could do anything else, a large booming voice rang throughout the whole stadium.
"HARRY, STOP!"
Everyone on the floor turned towards the giant four-way screen and watched as the champions nodded at each other, proud and relieved smiles adorned their faces as the three of them stood on each side of the cup.
Hermione heard Dumbledore continuing to shout at Harry and the others to stop, and to not touch the cup, but it was as if they hadn't been able to hear it at all. With one final nod, the three of them reached for the trophy, before they suddenly disappeared in a blinding blue flash.
Hermione, completely ignoring everyone around here, ran towards the large windowpane that displayed the entrance of the maze. But when she got there, she didn't see Harry and the rest of the champions on the front of the entrance, as she had expected. There was no one there
The whole stadium had gone into a stunned silence, all waiting for something to happen. But when a couple seconds passed and everything had stayed the same, everyone got the message.
The three champions were gone.
Little Hangleton Graveyard
June 25th, 1995
00:02
Harry felt his feet crash onto the ground, forcing his weary body to completely fall - not dissimilar to the other two champions.
His whole body had a constant stinging ache, his own legs unwilling to handle the weight of his body. He felt a burning sensation in his chest, and Harry was sure that it was because a couple of his ribs were broken. His head, though, was by far the worst, a dizzying headache assaulting him at every moment, not helped by the nauseating feeling from the Portkey.
Harry raised his head and looked around, only to immediately become alarmed.
He had known the Cup was a Portkey, but it was supposed to bring them to the entrance of the maze. But as he looked around, he felt as far away from Hogwarts as possible.
"Guys!" Harry hissed, forcing his body to comply with his wishes and stand. "Get up!"
"Vhere are ve?" Viktor asked, immediately on guard, placing himself as close to Fleur as possible.
Harry didn't answer, looking around the barren, overgrown graveyard, illuminated only by the full moon in the sky. He could see a small church nearby, with the outline of a manor on top of the tall hill on their left.
Suddenly, a fire erupted from nearby - illuminating a large, dirty cauldron no more than fifteen meters away.
And then… Harry's scar exploded in agony.
"AHHHHH!" He shrieked, throwing himself on the ground and firmly clutching at it. His scar had burnt many times during his life, especially after he got to Hogwarts, but never had it burnt with such pain and intensity to completely cripple him.
"Harry!" Both Fleur and Viktor called out, immediately rushing to his side.
"GO! TAKE THE CUP AND GO!"
Viktor turned to Fleur, seeing his worry etched on her face. But before they could do anything, a high cold voice, which sent shivers down both their spines, hissed.
"Leave?" It asked.
Out of the darkness, a group of figures emerged, surrounding them. They were all wearing silver masks, they had slits for noses and illuminated the eyes with an eery red glow. The group of them slowly inched towards them, completely closing all the exits.
The high voice coughed, drawing Viktor's attention towards the small creature in one of the men's arms, completely covered by blankets.
"But you've only just got here," it said, and Viktor could practically hear the gleeful smirk on its face.
Thank you for continuing reading, favouriting, and reviewing!
And finally, the Third Task has come to an end. I hope you guys enjoyed my rendition of the three tasks for the tournament, especially these last two since I changed more about them than the first task.
Honestly, with the benefit of hindsight, I wish I could go back and change the tasks completely, as well as delve into the tournament and the impact of it on the school, and all the such. Go more in depth into that than take it at surface level.
But even though that's not something I'll go back and fix, I will use what I've learnt to improve on fifth year, even if that means making the year a million words.
Anyhow, next chapter will actually not pick up on the Graveyard. There will be a lengthy interlude exploring the rise of Lord Voldemort, and his new inner circle.
You can find me on instagram by noir_wolf5 and access my discord server using the link discord .gg /S64anMh7YU