Chapter 41: The Third Task
"Honestly, how can you misplace a wand," Sirius asked as Calamity threw a book passed him, nearly hitting him in the nose. He dodged it artfully and Calamity considered that this was likely a trait all the marauders had developed.
"You should talk," Calamity snapped back.
"I should talk," Sirius scoffed. "I never misplaced my wand. Worst I did was have it taken from me when I was arrested."
Calamity paused and glanced at Sirius. He made a snapping motion in the air as he said, "I imagine it's splinters now."
"You know, I got that other one in America. You could have that one."
"I tried that one yesterday," Sirius said leaning lazily against the headboard. "It doesn't like me. Very particular."
"What makes you say that?"
Sirius held up a book with a hole in it. Calamity looked at it- it was Anna Karina. She gave Sirius an exasperated look, but he held up his hands defensively.
"I only tried to summon it to see how rusty I was. It shot fire! You keep that one. I'll take your old one if you're offering it."
"I'll be late to the briefing for the third task, Sirius. It's tonight," Calamity said tossing a shoe over her shoulder. This time it just missed Sirius' shoulder.
"I don't hear you saying no," he replied hopefully. "Look, just take the picky bugger."
Calamity looked up to see him pointing at the wand sitting on the windowsill. She checked the clock again. She was going to be late as it was. With a huff she grabbed the slim and slightly twisted wand. It felt cool and oddly comforting in her hand. She pushed it into her pocket.
"You'll be in Dumbledore's office the whole task," she asked.
Sirius nodded. "He says I should come during dinner through the hump and up to his office. He expects the worse."
"You agree?"
Sirius looked grave. "I'll be there in case I'm needed. I've been sending Harry owls every day. His friends are helping him prepare, but I can't image what is going to happen. Dumbledore thinks Voldemort is getting stronger again."
"Find my wand," Calamity said firmly. "Then you can take it just in case."
The meeting was held in an empty classroom in the dungeons and Calamity found she wasn't the last to arrive. The aurors were still meeting with Dumbledore, so she took a seat next to a young medi-wizard reading the Daily Prophet, muttering to himself every so often. Calamity waved at the medi-wizards she'd worked with during the second task, but did a double take back to the prophet. There on the front page was an image of Harry Potter staring out beneath a banner headline: Harry Potter: Disturbed and Dangerous.
"Bloody hell," Calamity said.
The medi-wizard looked at her, then to the front page, seeing what she was reacting to.
"Terrible, eh," he said making a sound of sympathy. "The kids been through so much and Rita Skeeter won't let him be. I mean, no one's ever survived a death curse, so who knows what kind of long term effects it has, but give the kid a break."
"Right," Calamity said, trying to quickly scan the article. Works like deep-seated confusion, plea for attention, and dark art leaped off the page.
"Course, it doesn't help that Dumbledore kept it quiet that he was a parseltongue. I always heard that he might have been able to defeat You-Know-Who cause he's a more powerful and evil wizard, but I never believed it. Who knows, eh?"
"I doubt Harry Potter is an evil wizard," Calamity said, but the medi-wizard just shrugged and opened the newspaper again.
"Might be worth doing some kind of test. Maybe a week in Azkaban will deter him."
"You can't be serious!"
Before the medi-wizard could reply the aurors entered. They spread about the room, taking seats.
Nymphadora sat next to Calamity, though not before knocking two chairs over and nearly falling with them onto the floor. She beamed. "So exciting," she said nudging Calamity with her elbow a bit more sharply than she needed to. Moody took the front of the room, looking as stern as he always did, his magical eye zipping around the room while his normal eye moved slowly from face to face.
"As you know this Triwizard Tournament has had a number of abnormalities which neither I nor Dumbledore find coincidental," he growled. His magical eye fell on the medi-wizard who had been reading the paper and Calamity felt him stiffen next to her nervously.
"I can't stress enough the need for constant vigilance tonight as the third task gets under way. Each medi-wizard will be partnered with an auror and assigned a specific area of the maze. You are not to interfere with any part of the task unless you see sparks- red ones. If that happens you should rush in and pull out the champion by any means necessary. No sparks, no rescue." Moody looked around the room and this time his eyes fell on Calamity.
"Is that understood?"
"Yes," the room said as one. Moody's magical eye did not move from Calamity as he continued.
"You're to eat lunch here, then get some rest in the rooms provided. Then meet at the pitch just before dusk. We need to be in position before the rest of Hogwarts arrives. I'll be positioning the trophy in the center when you arrive, so remember your location and don't be late. Remember: CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
The room jumped and Calamity could have sworn she saw the corner of Moody's scarred mouth twitch.
"Come up for your assignments," he said. "Aurors, you're dismissed for your initial inspection of the maze."
The aurors left as Moody called them up one by one. As each medi-wizard was called to the front, they listened to their auror partner's name and received instructions of where to meet them that night. Then, they left the room. The room emptied out until it was just Calamity and Moody.
"Erza-Mahoney," he growled.
Calamity walked forward and stood next to Moody, who had a large blue print of the maze laid out on the table. He took his hand and pointed to the center.
"This is where the trophy is," he explained. "You and Tonks will be here." he moved his finger a few centimeters to the right. "The bushes move, so the actual position might vary from time to time. Stay close to the edge even when the bushes move. Your job is to respond to any red sparks within this immediate area. "
"That includes any person next to the trophy," asked Calamity.
Moody drew up and looked at her for a long moment of silence. It was unnerving and Calamity felt her leg getting warm, though she couldn't explain why.
"Just clarifying," she said, doing her best not to break eye contact with him.
"Excellent," he growled, a rough smile breaking across his face. "I knew you and Tonks would be best for this area. Yes. That includes the area with the trophy. Dumbledore thinks that there might be a weak area here and he wants to make sure he has the best people there. You can't interfere in the task unless you see the sparks, but if you do, charge in. Even if it is right next to the trophy."
"Got it," she said. She adjusted her robes, but her leg still felt too warm for comfort.
"Got a new wand?"
Calamity blinked surprised and pulled out the wand. It was hotter than usual and as it left her pocket her leg cooled.
"Yes," she said. "I got it in New Orleans."
"Nice draftsmanship," Moody observed, though he made no movement to take it. "And how is your father?"
Calamity blinked at the abrupt change in subject. "I assume he's fine. I haven't spoken to him in some time."
"How much time?"
"Not since he fled the country when You-Know-Who was around," lied Calamity.
Moody said nothing again, staring at her. She looked back determinedly. "We didn't ever have the best relationship. Not after what he did in America."
"Monsters come in all sorts of families," Moody said with a nod. "See you tonight."
Calamity nodded, returning the wand to her pocket and walking from the room pondering over the strange interaction.
As dusk approached, Calamity made her way to her station. Tonks waved to her and Calamity smiled at the sky behind her which was starting to fade to match her pink hair. The Quidditch field looked unrecognizable. A twenty-foot-high hedge ran all the way around the edge of it. Though Calamity knew there was an opening on the other side, their edge had nothing to signal that anything lay beyond the wall of leaves. Across the field Calamity could see the stands begin to fill. She imagined the air must have a buzz of excitement, but their edge was silent.
"Dumbledore added in some extra patrol," Tonks said twirling her wand, though she nearly dropped it. "Some of the teachers will have red hats with stars. So our area is smaller than originally planned, but we still get the trophy area."
"Right," Calamity said staring at the bush wall. It seemed to shiver in anticipation. From across the field they heard Ludo Bagman's voice boom over to them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each - Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School! In second place, with eighty points - Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute! And in third place - Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy! So...on my whistle, Harry and Cedric! Three - two - one -"
He gave a short blast on his whistle, and two figures hurried into the maze. Then he whistled a second time and the next figure rushed into the maze. Bagman's whistle blew in the distance for the third time. The final figure rushed out of sight.
"All of the champions are in the maze now," Tonks whispered, though there was no one but the two of them. "Let's hope for some red sparks soon. I'd love to see what's in there."
Calamity looked back at the hedges again. She could hear the shifting of branches and leaves.
They waited like this for some time before the first sparks burst out, but not in their area. Tonks sighed and stretched, pacing back down their area. An hour or two later, another set up sparks burst from the maze. Tonks looked over hopefully, but gave an exasperated noise. They were closer, but still not in their area. Calamity paced next to Tonks, her shoulder close to the bush.
"It's ruddy boring this way," Tonks said. "I can't imagine what it's like to be a spectator, just waiting."
Calamity paused. Her pocket felt warm again. She reached in and brought out the wand.
"Never seen a wand like that," Tonks mused. "it's suppose to look like that?"
"Yeah," Calamity said. She wrapped her palm around the wand and it's heat intensified, though did not burn. "It's an odd thing. Keeps getting warm randomly."
"Weird," Tonks said peering at it. "Can I hold it?"
Calamity offered it to Tonks, who took it and inspected it.
"Doesn't feel warm to me," she said with a shrug handing it back.
It was long passed dusk when Tonks checked her watch. The bushes shifted again and they hugged closer.
"I reckon we're right by the cup now," Tonks hissed staring at the bushes as if she hoped to see through them. As if on command they heard a young voice call "Cedric! On your left!"
Calamity stared at Tonks. "Cedric, that's a Hogwarts champion," she said.
There was the sound of spells being shot and the bushes began to move again. Tonks was nearly jumping up and down with anticipation, staring at the sky for any red sparks.
"Now we've got some action, Calamity," she called. But Calamity's wand was heating again and suddenly Calamity had the feeling that she needed to get in the maze. Something wasn't right.
"Tonks," she said. "Blast the bush."
Tonks stopped jumping and stared at her. "What?"
"Blast the bush," Calamity repeated urgently. "They didn't tell me the spell to do it and some thing is wrong."
"We can't, Calamity. Not without sparks-" Tonks began but a loud popping sound cut her off. There was silence.
"What was that," asked Calamity.
"Oi!" called Tonks. "Oi! Did you get the trophy?"
Calamity took her wand and shot red sparks into the air. "Blow the bush, Tonks."
They rushed into the maze, standing in the center were the trophy should have been, but there was nothing and no one. Calamity's wand was cold once more.
"Maybe someone got it," Tonks said looking at the spot the trophy should be. "It might just take them back to the start." She didn't sound very confident with her idea.
"Let's find Dumbledore to find out," Calamity replied and they rushed out of the maze and back to the stands to find Dumbledore.
A/N: Sorry for the delay! don't forget to review!
