Yes, it's a short one but it ends on the right cliffie.
Chapter 38
The day of the final task arrived, and Sirius Black turned up as family to all the younger contestants. He had a new tie pin, a colourful beetle encased in pale amber.
"Rita Skeeter won't be any more trouble," he said. "We need laws on what can and cannot be said about minors in the newspaper, and I'll be working with Percy on that when he's Dark Lord... I mean, Minister of Magic. Lucius and I came to some good agreements."
"She's been a pest," said Harry. "Someone ratted me up about who I am to her."
"Indeed," said Sirius. "She was beginning to bug me too, but I dogged her footsteps and she has finally been induced to be acquiescent. Hey, kids, did you know muggles make an artificial amber, which sets hard in hours rather than years? Great fun to play with."
"Are you serious?" asked Jurko.
"Well, I was, last time I looked," said Sirius.
"Amber, made by muggles, I mean," said Jurko.
"Well, it isn't amber, but it's a resin and can be made to look like amber," said Sirius. "It's something called a two-part epoxy, you mix the main gunk with the hardener, pour it into a mould, and wait for it to cure. Very soothing."
"He's flipped," said Harry.
"He did that a long time ago," said Jurko. "Unless he's setting us up for an elaborate prank."
Sirius laughed.
"Nope, just looking out for my Godsons, and trying to persuade you to go in for jewellery-making, manicure and coiffure-management, while I persuade my Cousin Draco to take up Rugby as a forward-prop."
"He has flipped," said Draco.
"And there was I thinking that all that role-reversal would be good for you to get in touch with your inner selves," said Sirius.
His smile was far too fatuously innocent for any of them to trust him, but frustratingly they could not think of what he might be up to.
Severus had a sudden feeling.
"Animagi can sense other animagi, right?" he said.
"Spot on, got it in one, give that man a coconut," said Sirius.
"That's... remarkably ruthless," said Severus.
"She went after my family," said Sirius. "And she had a full page spread on you with a copy of that pic in Teen Witch Weekly with snide comments about whether you exposed yourself to other young boys as well as your nephews. Made it sound as if you stripped right off. It was... gross."
Severus boiled.
"You can enjoy jewellery making all you want," he said. "Colin Creevey! Come here!"
Colin ran over, looking nervous.
"Sir?"
"I'm not putting you through this to punish you but to educate you; Sirius is going to tell you how Rita Skeeter used your photo for Teen Witch Weekly."
"Why, Sev, mate?" asked Sirius.
"Colin is a talented photographer, and not a bad reporter, and has ambitions to that end. He needs to know what happens when a reporter forgets compassion."
"Ah," said Sirius.
Colin had to go and throw up when Sirius had explained the article he had... quashed.
He presented himself to apologise to Severus again, and this time he was crying.
Severus sat him down with cocoa.
"And if a litigious parent found one of the photos you took, I could be accused of having had the student who owns it in my rooms," said Severus.
"I'm sorry, sir," said Colin.
"Well, lad, Fleur came up with a way to handle that," said Severus. "And between us we used a spell called the Protean Charm, using the negative. All those photos are now wearing a rain mac."
Colin breathed an explosive breath of relief.
"Thank you, sir," he said. "I'd better pay them all back."
"Now, that's an honesty which is unneeded. I look upon it as a fine on them for intruding on my privacy. You put it towards your sister's education. But I will remember that you thought of it; it makes it easier to forgive you. And you will never do that again."
"No, sir. I never will," said Colin.
"If in doubt about the ethics of anything, you can always come and ask me, without prejudice."
"Thank you, sir."
.
.
.
Jurko and Viktor headed the leader board, with Harry marginally behind. They went into the maze first, and waited. Harry joined them; then Cedric; then Fleur, then Draco. Jurko pointed his wand at Fleur's feet and turned her shoes into ruby red slippers.
"Ok, so Draxko is the cowardly lion, Viktor is the tin man..." said Harry.
"You're the scarecrow, Cedric is Toto, and I'm just along for the laughs," said Jurko. "The step sequence goes like this..."
A bit of coaching and they tripped along singing "We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz."
The muggleborn watching on scrying globes thought it hilarious.
They were more impressed when they defeated a blast-ended screwt and an acromantula without breaking step, continued through the reverse gravity zone, and the boggart ran away.
When they came upon the sphinx, Jurko said,
"Sorry, Luna, but every man must make sacrifices." With this he went up to the sphynx and snogged her.
"You Cossack git," said Draco.
"What can I say?" said Jurko. "Any woman is overcome by my Cossack allure."
"Is he serious?" said Fleur.
"No, that's our Godfather," said Harry.
They danced past the dazed and completely confused sphynx while she was still collecting herself.
.
"That's my Godson! Go, Jurko!" said Sirius.
"He may need to beg my pardon very, very assiduously to get rid of all the snickering Scumbles," said Luna.
"She said she is going to make him buy her plenty of puddings and kneel in supplication because she is jealous," translated Milliszka.
"I know what she meant," said Hermione.
"But Lord Black didn't," said Milliszka.
"And I might have to use my nagajka," said Luna.
.
The contestants approached the trophy, and got out invisibility cloaks. Draco had asked his father if he had one to borrow, and the two old ones joined together were almost perfect save in strong light. They all linked hands, and then Harry took a deep breath, and seized the cup.
The wrench behind the navel of each of them was rather sluggish, and they seemed to spin a few times before they landed in the graveyard, each of them careful to adjust his or her own cloak carefully.
There was only one thing to say, so Harry said it.
"Gee, Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas any more."