A/N: Haha, no one managed to find out who I'd be playing in the RPG! You guessed Hermione, Minerva and Ginny, but… I'm Rita Skeeter! I told you that I felt that role 'close' to myself, because you always told me what an EVIL writer I was! :)))

Many of you were guessing whether the visitor was Tatyana or James, someone even thought of Anck-sun-Amun and Dan Potter. Well, I only tell: it was someone who needs Harry for something, as he/she has told it.

linj: I hate the pure thought of D/G, so don't worry.

Lavendar Brown: David and Davie are the same, the younger Dursley boy. I don't know whether those two names are totally different, but I thought that David could be called Davie as well. Tell me if I'm wrong, I don't really know the English names and I might be using wrong nicknames.

Maddy: of course I know Ewan McGregor! He's Obi Van!!! And DO consider me a Star Wars fan! I was surprised to read that he would be playing Lupin – I think it's cool.

teacherchez: Gujerati? Sorry, never heard of that – what kind of language is that? Asian or African or something like that? You asked how this story could start in June 1999. Well, I have already explained this to many people who also didn't understand. So, a bit of maths: in book 2 Nearly Headless Nick had his 500th Deathday party, and it was told that he died in 1492. Thus book 2 happened in 1992, and then Harry was 12. So Harry had to be born in 1980. Now Harry is 19, so this way could the story start in 1999. So simple. I'm really bad in maths, but I've counted this all right, I'm sure.

Gwen Fifortry: where are you from? I've given my Horntail your greetings! :))

X_Tow_Naga: why couldn't they specify the fireplace? Well, in TGSoHH Dudley kept coming through wrong fireplaces all along (although he was a muggle), so I decided that it'd be fun for the characters to continue doing so. No special reason for that. Why couldn't magic doctors be acquainted with muggle medicine? Dunno. Maybe Pomfrey was, but this Russian one wasn't. Even normal doctors are like that: one of them says you have a bad cold, the other says you have flu. One of them gives you an antibiotic, the other says not to take any medicine. Even doctors don't know everything about healing (unfortunately.) I have heard about a case when a very stupid doc (who happened to be my school doc in the primary school) examined a child and told the mother that her child had an illness called… (he said some Latin name.) Then the mother asked someone who spoke Latin very well and it turned out that there was NO such illness at all! The doctor made it up! Okay, I'm blabbering, sorry.

aurora riddle: the word 'shipper' comes from the word 'relationship'. So if you're a H/G shipper, that means that you want to see H and G in a relationship. No, don't believe that Sirius has turned serious! In the Christmas chapters he'll be very far from being serious! :)

Arif: sorry, can't tell anything about Dan's future (and yes, his sister is one year older than him). How long will YOU live? Ask Trelawney! (and she'll predict you a very short life with lots of Grims! :)) Sorry, I'm not going to answer the villain part, wait it out. You're eighth grader? I fear I'm not too familiar with the American school system but does that mean that you're about 14?

Coolio: Ginny died to save Harry, not Lily! Her eye colour has nothing to do with Lily, it turned green because of the Green Flame Torch.

PepsiAngel: Tatyana has black hair. What is 'schnazzness'?

jennaration: my birthday was on 19th February. Yours?

star queen: no, we don't have Vanity Fair here in Hungary, but I do think that Hayden is damn sexy!!!!!!

Harrysgirl: sorry, I can't answer your question about 'The One'. How could Sirius' reply get there so quickly? Hm… the owl wore a rocket on his back? ;))))

Mikey: the Egyptian girl's name is Anck-sun-Amun. Sorry, I don't know when HP5 is coming. Months ago I heard that it might be right this February, but that wasn't true. Then I heard March – not true again. Then I heard July, then September, AND I heard that it might only be released next year! Oh, I hope it's not true!!! I can't wait to read it! J.K. told she was ready with book 5, but I heard that Bloomsbury (the British publisher) had some problems (though I don't know what kind of problems:(( Well, keep hoping!

Moony Lover: Mileta's not exactly good, but not exactly bad either. You'll see later.

phoenix6545: you are very sweet that you defended me against the flamer, but I guess I can't post your review anywhere for him to see (I don't think he reads my A/Ns.)

VeRyWiLdWiTcH: then you must have been given another antibiotic.

Mabel Weasley: clever.

Crazycutee831: yeah, my mother tongue is Hungarian. I live in Hungary (and have a Hungarian Horntail in the back garden.:) Yeah, the new Star Wars movie comes out in Hungary on the 16th May, and I'm totally over the moon, because episode one came out four months later! In September! Now we don't need to wait for it – AND we will see it earlier than the Americans, because we are in Europe, and there will be 00 a.m. earlier here than in America! I have read all four HP books 7 times in Hungarian and 3 times in English, and I've read the first book once in German as well. Read my answer to Mikey. Yeah, I'll write another fic after this (already started working on it.) Oh, you poor one! Surgery! I hope you're all right! Haha, I laughed when you wrote how you read TGSoHH! By mistake! LOL! Fates makes strange things happen, huh?

Potpourri: oh, you hallucinated that your siblings were bananas??? I hope you didn't eat them :))

Lady Lupin: congrats on your review! :))

Mage: I hope you have healed already.

BlueIce: haha… what's fanfic?!? You know people in Hungary don't know at all what fanfiction is. I read the very first fanfic in February 2000, by mistake. I was surfing on the net, looking for Star Wars sites, then I accidentally clicked on something and it turned out to be a Luke Skywalker/Mara Jade fanfic. It was totally new for me, I had never read anything like that before. Since then whenever I told someone about fanfics, they always asked: what's that? So there are only a couple of people here who know what it is: mainly my family and friends.

TO THOSE WHOSE REVIEWS I HAVEN'T ANSWERED: DON'T BE ANGRY WITH ME, BUT I SIMPLY CANNOT ANSWER ALL REVIEWS, BECAUSE THAT WOULD MAKE THE A/N SECTION LONGER THAN THE ACTUAL CHAPTER. THE OTHER REASON: MANY OF YOU ASK QUESTIONS THAT, IF ANSWERED, WOULD REVEAL TOO MUCH OF THE LATER EVENTS, AND I DON'T WANT TO TELL THINGS IN ADVANCE, BUT I DON'T WANT TO LIE EITHER.

Chapter 14

Edelweiss, edelweiss

As the days passed, Harry got better and better. He was still weak, but he didn't have a high temperature anymore, neither did he have hallucinations. He was constantly surrounded by people who volunteered to entertain him, but he never told anyone about his last 'dream' about the mysterious visitor. He wasn't even sure it had happened at all.

He thanked McGonagall for tending him with such care and Hermione for fetching him the necessary medicine.

Dennis and the other Hogwarts students (except the Slytherins) visited him every day, and he received dozens of get-well-cards from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students as well, whom he didn't even know.

"So many cards! I bet they've all been sent by ladies." Aberforth remarked on the first of December. "You look much better, kid. About time, you know, you'll have to be up and about in five days!"

"Yeah, I know. The first task." Harry nodded. "Are all security charms placed? Does everything go as planned?"

"Of course it does, don't worry." the old man replied.

"I wish I could help." Harry sighed.

"You just care about your health, young man, and Viktor and I'll care about everything else."

Harry shook his head. "That's simply not fair. When I was starting to feel useful again I came down with this illness. Now surely everyone here thinks that I'm…" his voice trailed off.

"Weak?" Aberforth finished the sentence. His eyes met Harry's, who nodded.

"I hate being weak. Helpless. Impotent." he flushed a bit. "Not that way, I mean…"

"I know what you mean." Dumbledore said. "And I know what this is about. It's not about your inability to help us with the organisation of the tournament. It's not that you couldn't leave the bed for weeks. It's still about your problem with your wife and son, right?"

Harry looked surprised. "Who told you about them?"

"Hermione."

"Hermione?" Harry sat up. "Oh, women! They can never hold their tongue!"

"She just wanted to help, Harry." Aberforth reached out to put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "She knew you'd never tell anyone here, because you think it's a shame."

"It is." Harry said.

The old man heaved a sigh. "It shouldn't be. You shouldn't feel ashamed about your son – things like this happen in the wizarding world. My servant, for example, is also a squib, but he lives quite happily, believe me."

"I know, Aberforth." Harry replied. "I feel so terribly ashamed… and NOT because my son's a squib, but because I feel ashamed of it! I hate and despise myself for it!"

"And you cannot forgive yourself."

Harry nodded. "What kind of a father am I, Aberforth?"

"A good one, I believe."

"Good? I'm the worst." Harry covered his face with his hands.

"No, kid. You feel ashamed that you feel ashamed. That means you love your son very much and will be able to be a wonderful father to him."

"Maybe… But that's not all…"

"I know. There's your wife, too."

"I'm so afraid I might lose her, Aberforth." Harry sighed. "That would kill me. She's my life."

Dumbledore squeezed his shoulder encouragingly. "You won't lose her."

"What if I already have?" Harry insisted. "I long to apparate home to her, but I'm also afraid of it. I fear to get to know what I'll find when I go home… I've let my wife send me away while I should have stayed in Great Britain."

"There was nothing you could do then."

"That's it!" Harry punched his pillow with anger. "That I can't do anything!"

"Maybe you can't do anything right now, but things may change."

"Some things will never change." Harry replied defiantly.

"Have it your way, I see I can't convince you." Aberforth stood up to leave. "You are angry with yourself, the world and everything, young Potter."

"And now I'm going to turn to the Dark Side, eh?" Harry snapped and watched the old man open the door. "Sorry." he called after Aberforth. "I didn't want to hurt you, you just wanted to help me."

Dumbledore turned back from the doorframe. "It seems I can't help you, kid." with that he left the room.

Harry slumped back into his pillow and felt miserable. *Gosh, I never thought I'd be as sour as Filch by the age of nineteen!* he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to go back to sleep. However, he couldn't. Aberforth's words kept echoing in his mind: you are angry with yourself, the world and everything, young Potter… I can't help you…

He shook his head. This couldn't carry on like this. He needed to get well, play judge in the tournament and bravely face whatever the future had in store for him – and he decided that it was exactly what he'd do. Be a man.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in!" he shouted and – to his surprise – he saw Krum enter.

"Hello, Viktor, what's up?" he tried to sound nonchalant. He was determined not to hurt anyone else so early in the morning.

"I've just come to see how you are doing." the headmaster replied, avoiding Harry's stare.

"Fine, thanks. It seems I'm going to stay alive, after all. You can count on me in five days."

"Glad to hear." Krum pulled a chair next to Harry's bed and sat down. "But it's not the tournament I wanted to talk to you about."

"What, then?"

"I… I wanted to apologise. For thinking that you and my sister…"

"Oh, come off it, Viktor." Harry waved. "I've already forgotten that."

"But I haven't. I beat you up and tossed you into the snow in minus twenty degrees! Had you not survived, it would have been my fault!"

"I survived, so you don't need to worry about that."

"But I need to!" Krum replied. "I feel pangs of remorse. I'd deserve to be punished."

"Punished?" Harry stifled a chuckle. "Well, had I died, I'd surely haunt you every night along with Anegin and Ivan Ilyich, and you'd have to listen to my whining as well."

Krum's mouth tucked into a smirk. "You're not angry with me, then?"

"No, Viktor." Harry replied.

"And what about my sister?"

"Told you I wasn't interested in her." Harry shrugged.

"That's not what I mean." Viktor said. "Are you angry with her?"

"Let's say I've forgiven her, as long as she doesn't even come near me."

"Don't worry about that. I'll hold her off, even if I need to put Imperius on her."

"Locomotor Mortis will suffice." Harry grinned.

* * * * *

Finally the big day had come – 6th of December.

Harry was awoken by the excited buzz of the Durmstrang students. Although no student lived on the fourth floor where Harry's room was, the noise they were making reached the fourth floor as well.

Harry stretched with a contented smile. In the last five days he was getting his strength back and had meals in the great hall with the others. On Hermione's advice he also spent a bit of time outdoors to get used to fresh air again. He missed the Weighing of the Wands ceremony, but according to Hermione everything went all right.

He was feeling okay now – at least physically. During the past few days the words of Aberforth kept echoing in his mind, but he tried not to pay attention to them. Anyway, the excitement of the upcoming first task managed to take his mind off his family problems.

Harry jumped out of his bed, dressed quickly and headed for the great hall. On his way downstairs he met with the ghost of Anegin, who didn't look a bit excited about the tournament. He was as indifferent as ever. Harry didn't care for him, neither for Ivan Ilyich, who was complaining about his pains more desperately than ever before.

"Neither of you will ruin my mood today." Harry grinned at the two ghosts and hurried away.

"Good to see that you have a great appetite again, Harry." Viktor greeted him. "Are you totally okay?"

"I'm fine." Harry sat down, ravenous.

While he, the teachers and most of the students were eating with relish, Harry couldn't not notice that Dennis wasn't eating at all.

"You all right, Dennis?" he asked the young Gryffindor sitting at the neighbouring table.

"S'pose so." Creevey nodded with a pale face.

"Poor one." Harry whispered to Hermione. "I still remember my triwizard tournament… I couldn't eat either."

"Could you go and encourage him a bit?" Hermione suggested.

"That's exactly what I was about to do." Harry nodded.

"Hey, Creevey, nervous?" Graham Pritchard asked, smirking.

"No." Dennis replied with shaking lips.

"But of course he is!" Natalie McDonald said. "It's natural. But I'm sure he'll do it all right. I trust you, Dennis."

"Me too." Eleanor Branstone added.

"Thanks." Dennis gave them a small smile and stood up from the table without having touched his sandwich.

"Dennis, could I have a word with you?" Harry stepped to him. "Outside?"

"Er, sure."

They entered the entrance hall where no one was to be seen at the moment.

"I know how you feel, Dennis." Harry began. "I felt the same five years ago."

"But you did it all right, Harry. I'm not sure I also will."

"But I am sure."

A grateful little smile appeared on Creevey's face. "Thanks, Harry… I really hope I won't disappoint you."

"You won't. Especially if you have prepared. Have you?"

"'Course I have. I know what to find and where."

"Good. You found it out all by yourself, I presume?"

"Er… well…"

"You know what? It doesn't matter how you managed to find it out." Harry winked at him. "Even I got help with the dragon task."

"Did you?" Dennis blinked.

"Yes, actually I did." Harry shrugged. "Mad-Eye Moody tipped me off. Not of pure good will, you know…"

Dennis gulped. Did professor Fiodrovna tip him off of pure good will? Well, she told him her reasons, still…

"I gotta go, Harry. To exercise some enchantments, you know." Dennis said and hurried off.

"Good luck!" Harry shouted after him.

"How is he?" Hermione stepped to her brother-in-law.

"How could he be? He feels as though he was going into the lion's den."

"Well, at least Krum's sister doesn't look better than Dennis. Never seen her this pale."

"And that Guillaume Lochar?"

"Self-confident, as ever. He ate well, must have slept well, and he was looking rather sure of himself. I think he must have been tipped off."

"Just like Mileta and Dennis." Harry grinned.

"Dennis?" Hermione raised an eyebrow. "I understand if someone here told Mileta, but who would tell Dennis??? Oh, tell me it wasn't you, Harry!"

"It wasn't me, I swear. Though I really don't know who it could be. Aberforth?"

"Maybe. He used to be a Hogwarts student, after all."

"Well, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that Dennis has to win the tournament for Hogwarts."

"Really, Harry, now that it's already the day of the first task, would you tell me what it is?" Hermione asked with an impish smile.

Harry led her to the window. "Do you see those mountains over there?"

* * * * *

By ten o'clock all the students had left the castle, gathering at the foot of the nearby mountains.

"Do they have to climb the mountains or what?" Eleanor wondered.

"Dunno. They have to get some plant, don't they?" Natalie said.

"Yeah, Dennis told us something like that. Do you reckon he knows what that plant is?"

"I hope so." Malcolm Baddock cut in.

"You, Malcolm?" Eleanor blinked in surprise. "I thought you hated Dennis."

"I really don't like him, but you know… he's still the Hogwarts champion, and I'd rather be rooting for him than for that blonde Apollo or Krum's ugly sister."

"Nice to hear that." Natalie remarked.

Shortly before eleven o' clock all teachers and judges arrived, along with the three champions.

Madame Maxime was proudly walking up to the others, arm in arm with Guillaume Etienne Pierre Louis Eugéne de Lochar, who was wearing a broad smile, showing all his thirty-two gleaming teeth. Harry was strongly reminded of Gilderoy Lockhart – and that gave him the feeling that Guillaume might not be an honest fair-player.

His gaze met that of Mileta Krum, who was practically trembling.

"Good luck, Mileta." he told her as she passed by him.

She didn't even look back at him, which could be due to her extreme nervousness or her fear of Harry because of her little lie that got both of them into such an unpleasant situation.

As all three champions lined up before the judges, Aberforth Dumbledore rose to speak:

"Welcome to the first task of the Triwizard Tournament!" fervent clapping followed his words. "As you all know, the three champions, Mileta Krum, Guillaume Lochar and Dennis Creevey, will have to accomplish three magical tasks. For each task they can get fifty points, and the one with the most points will be the winner at the end. Today's task is going to start in a couple of minutes." the crowd squealed with excitement. "The three champions have only been given a clue that they will have to find a special magical plant, but they had to find out what it was, and where to find it." Harry's glance shifted to Guillaume's face, who cast a surreptitious glance at Professor Zvezda, astronomy teacher. The young teacher blushed and diverted her stare, while a triumphant grin spread on Lochar's face. Aberforth, meanwhile, was carrying on with his speech: "If they managed to find it out, then they could prepare for the task that is to be accomplished on the Blue Mountain here." he pointed his wand at the highest mountain. "I hope that all three champions have succeeded in finding out what the plant concerned is. I'm not going to name it: you either know it or not. As you know, the Plant-That-Must-Not-Be-Named lives only on the Blue Mountain, and has an exceptional power to heal serious injuries caused by curses. The champions have about four hours before sunset, and it is strongly advised to find it, before it gets dark. There is only one specimen of the You-Know-What living on the mountain, so all three champions will need to hurry to be the first to get it. There will be of course some interesting traps and jinxes on their way up the mountain, but if they knew what to look for, then they also know where to look for it, and what to expect… Well, not everything, of course, but hopefully you all have managed to prepare yourselves for dealing with the dangers of a mountain. The champions don't need to worry, they won't be entirely alone, because we'll be following their movement on magic maps." Aberforth grinned at Harry, who had told him about the Marauder's Map and together they designed such maps of the Blue Mountain. "And now, it's time for you to start. Ready?" Dennis, Guillaume and Mileta nodded. "All right, then. One… two… three!" green sparks shot out of Aberforth's wand, and the three champions started on the path that led up to the top of the mountain.

* * * * *

"Do you see them?" asked Hermione, holding her omnioculars to her eyes.

"Nay. Their path must have bent somewhere and now they are on the other side of the mountain." Harry replied, looking at the map. "Yeah. They're on the other side… I just hope Dennis is well."

"He's a Gryffindor, Harry. He'll do all right." she said.

Meanwhile, the three champions where climbing the mountain, following the narrow path. After an hour of walking the path branched off into three paths.

"I don't care which way you go, but I'm going separate from you." Guillaume Lochar stated and took the path to the right.

"I guess I'm going on the left path." Mileta said. "You'd better not follow me, Creevey. You would only hinder me."

Dennis shrugged and took the path in the middle. After ten minutes of walk he lost sight of the other two competitors. The thick, snowy rocks of the Blue Mountain hid them from his eyes. Dennis sighed, not too happy to be alone, but hoping to be the first to glimpse the Black Edelweiss. Suddenly he came to a halt: his path ended. There was a thick wall of rock in front of him. "Where now?" he mused, looking up. "Oh, there!" he saw that his path continued three metres above. He contemplated for a minute whether to try and climb, but decided against it. All rocks seemed too slippery with ice and he had never before climbed a mountain. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he said, making a swish and flick, then pointing the tip of his wand at himself. He had never seen people using the levitation charm on themselves, but he couldn't think of anything better. To his great satisfaction the charm worked on him. Soon his feet touched solid rock again.

"Whew, that was cool!" he told himself, wishing that someone had seen him now. He had no idea that someone had really seen him.

He continued his way up the path that kept curving and ramifying into several paths. Whenever the way ramified, Dennis chose one of the paths with instinct, hoping that he made the right choice. He couldn't be sure, though. To add to his insecurity, he had a funny feeling of being watched. He looked around, but saw no one at all.

As he turned left on the path, he caught a glimpse of a flower: the very first plant he had seen so far.

The flower was blood-red.

*Strange…* Dennis thought. *There isn't supposed to be more than one kind of plant on the Blue Mountain in December… is there?* he knelt down to examine the flower and started to feel more and more insecure. *What if it isn't the Black Edelweiss we have to look for? What if that Potions teacher gave me the wrong book to mislead me? She's rooting for Mileta, after all! What if the required plant is this red thingy? But… there wasn't another winter-flower mentioned in the book…* he shook his head. *Get a grip, Creevey and have a try. Fortune favours the brave, and you're a Gryffindor, after all…* he convinced himself and reached out for the flower. As soon as he picked it, the hillside started to shudder all around him – and especially over him.

"Avalanche!"

"Oh, damn it, Dennis picked the decoy flower!" Harry groaned, looking at the little map that indicated an avalanche.

"Avalanche?" Hermione paled. "But Harry… that's extremely dangerous! He might even die!"

Dennis knew that he was in trouble. Big trouble.

An immense shower of snow started down the hillside, advancing on him with a thundering roar.

*Think, Dennis, think!* he told himself, madly trying to remember a spell that could help now. "Avalanche, avalanche… what is the spell, I've read it, I know, but… Nives… nives… aha! Nives de monte devolutae sisto!" he shouted, pointing his wand at the huge amount of pouring snow. The avalanche had almost reached him, but at this instant it stopped and the snow settled peacefully onto the slope again, as though there had never been an avalanche.

"Whew, that was close." Dennis wiped his forehead.

"He stopped it! He stopped it!" Hermione jumped for joy.

"Well done, Dennis!" Harry said proudly, looking at the map, seeing that the little dot labelled Dennis Creevey moved on, walking up on the hillside again.

"But Harry… you said that you and Aberforth had placed some security charms." Hermione said. "Such charms wouldn't have let an avalanche to start, would they?"

"Well, you know, we placed the decoy flower there, so that if one of the champions sees it and isn't sure what he should be looking for, then he might pick it. In the instant you pick it, you set off the avalanche, but don't worry, the security charms were well-placed. Had Dennis not been able to stop it, the charm would have been automatically activated and would have stopped the snow a second before it reached him. Not dangerous, but a bit of a nasty shock for the careless champions."

"I see." she nodded.

* * * * *

Although it was minus twenty degrees, Dennis was sweating profusely. He wiped his forehead, not wanting his perspiration to freeze. It was hard work, mountain-climbing. "Where are you edelweiss? Where are you?" he muttered as his path turned left. He was surprised to see the entrance of an ice-cave in front of him. He looked around to see whether there was another path, but there wasn't. He had to enter the cave.

The cave was huge: not wide, but very long with an extremely high ceiling. Dennis was positive that he would get to the other side of the mountain again if he walked through it.

To his surprise the floor of the cave wasn't rock, nor ice: it was water. He couldn't imagine how water hadn't frozen in here – it must have been some kind of magic. "Now how am I going to reach the other end of the cave?" he simply didn't feel like swimming in such a cold. On the other hand, he was sure that it wasn't advisable to swim in that water at all, because the surface of it was bubbling madly. It might contain dangerous materials…

"All right, I'll sail through, then." Dennis said and conjured a boat just big enough for one person. He launched it, and was just about to go aboard when the small wooden construction started to give off fumes, then caught fire. Dennis watched as it submerged into the 'water'. "This is some kind of acid, or worse." he stated. "But how am I going to cross it, then? I cannot levitate myself long enough to reach the other end of the cave!" he heaved a deep sigh and crouched down to examine the liquid.

Suddenly a strange figure materialised in front of him. It was a man dressed in some ancient-looking armour and a helmet with two horns protruding from it. The guy strongly reminded Dennis of a Viking warrior.

"Good day to you, young champion." the man bowed slightly. "My name is Heimdall, the guard of the rainbow-bridge."

"The rainbow-bridge?" Dennis blinked. "I thought it was some legend. A fairy tale."

The man smiled furtively. "Believe me, it isn't a legend. The rainbow-bridge truly exists, up in Norway."

"But if you are its guard, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in Norway, guarding your bridge?"

"Ah, I asked a good friend of mine to take care of it for the duration of the first task." Heimdall replied. "I was asked by Aberforth Dumbledore to come here and play a bit. He's also a good friend of mine. So I came and I'm ready to help you by conjuring a small replica of the rainbow-bridge, on which you can cross the cave."

"And what do I have to do for that? 'Cause you aren't doing this gratis, are you?"

"No, of course not." Heimdall shook his head. "You have to fight me. If you win, I'll give you the bridge."

"And if not?" Dennis asked suspiciously.

"Then you can go back the path you've come here…" the guard replied, smiling. "…if you are still able to walk, that is."

"Oh, great." the boy sighed. "All right, how do we fight? Wizard duel?"

"Wizard duel? What's that?" Heimdall asked. "I meant real fight. With these." he conjured two swords out of nowhere, throwing one of them at Dennis. The boy caught, and almost dropped it – it was so heavy.

"How am I supposed to duel with this? This must weigh at least thirty kilos!" he said reproachfully.

The guard shrugged. "Then make it be lighter."

"Oh, of course!" Dennis slapped his forehead and accomplished a charm to make the sword light enough for him to hold, but heavy enough to strike with it. He also took off his fur-coat, so that it wouldn't hinder him in the fight.

"And now, we duel." Heimdall bowed, so did Dennis.

The guard was the first to strike, but Dennis managed to duck out of the way. He was a small boy, after all, and now it was a great advantage. Heimdall stroke again, and Dennis parried it, making their swords clash with a loud clink.

"Not bad, boy!" the guard said appreciatively.

"It seems I'm a natural talent." Dennis grinned, and moved a millisecond late, so Heimdall's sword made a long gash into his robes, slicing into his flesh as well. "Ouch!" he hissed, jumping back, touching his bleeding arm.

"Conceited, aren't we, little friend?" the guard asked, grinning.

"Don't think so!" Dennis retorted, making his first offensive. For Heimdall fighting was nothing but a bit of every-day training, so Dennis' ridiculous strike didn't frighten him at all.

"Easy does it, little friend!" he laughed, and with a swish, he knocked the sword out of the boy's hand. Dennis immediately reached for his wand to get the sword back, but before he could have shouted the summoning charm, Heimdall dropped Dennis' weapon into the water.

"Oh, no!" the boy screamed as he saw his sword plunge into the poisonous lake.

"Oh, yes." Heimdall smirked and pointed the tip of his sword at Dennis' throat. Dennis gulped and muttered something incomprehensible. Heimdall thought he must be praying. "You're defeated." the guard stated.

"Not yet!" the boy spat.

"What makes you think that?" Heimdall asked jovially, looking directly into the boy's eyes.

"Just this." Dennis reached out and pushed the guard backwards. Heimdall let out a yelp and fell on his back, dropping his sword.

Dennis immediately shouted Accio at the sword and pointed it at the guard's throat. "I've won."

"Yeah, you've won." Heimdall growled, sitting up. "I should have noticed you jinxing me with a hidden wand. Clever tactic, though. Now would you take this curse off me?" he pointed at his legs.

"Sure. If you conjure the bridge first."

"All right." the guard nodded, taking a horn out of his pocket, and blowing it. As the horn's sound reverberated on the cave's walls, Dennis saw some transparent, bow-like thing appear above the 'water'. The thing rippled and turned from transparent into a disarray of colours that finally organised themselves into order: on the right hand side it was lilac, next to it red, then came orange, yellow, green and blue. The rainbow was completed.

Dennis reached out to touch it: it was solid, and presumably thick enough for a man to walk through it.

"Thanks." he smiled, put on his coat and stepped onto the bridge. "Oh," he turned around, pointing his wand at Heimdall's legs. "Finite Locomotor Mortis."

"Thanks." the guard called after him. "It was fun fighting with you. I hope at least one of the other two champions also come this way. I'm always up to a good scrap."

Dennis chuckled and started down the bridge. "Good bye, Heimdall!"

"Bye, and good luck!"

"Ah, so Dennis Creevey battled and defeated my friend, Heimdall!" Aberforth whistled admiringly, looking at the magic map of the mountain. "Not bad, kid, not bad!"

The rainbow-bridge ended at the exit of the cave. Dennis stepped out and welcomed the fresh winter air. He saw that he was at a much higher point of the Blue Mountain than he had been when entering the cave. *Was the cave not horizontal?* he mused. *But it looked horizontal… strange. Must have been bewitched.* he looked down from the path and saw several small points beneath him. He had arrived back at the front side of the mountain, and he was seeing the judges and the other students below.

"I can see Dennis again." Harry told Hermione, holding his omnioculars to his eyes. "He looks all right. But the worst is yet to come. He is going to reach the Devil's Slope in a couple of minutes. My, I wouldn't be in his place!"

Dennis looked around after having exited the cave. There were two paths there, but both led up to an extremely steep slope. "Do I need to climb this?" he groaned, pulling out a small pair of binoculars from his coat-pocket. "Oh, yeah… I need to!" he breathed, as he caught a glimpse of something small and black at the top of the slope. "The Black Edelweiss!"

Suddenly he felt full of energy and confidence, being so close to his destination. He started climbing the slope, but soon realised that it wasn't as easy as he expected. The snow was frozen up here, making him slip down after each step.

"It's so close! There has to be a way to get up there! It's so damn high to levitate!" he muttered, groping around for a protruding rock to hold onto, but there was none. The slope was sleek and totally devoid of rocks. Dennis had seen Muggles climbing mountains on TV, and remembered that they were using spikes that they pushed into the small crevices. He flipped his wand, conjuring a peg, and embedded it into the ice with another flick. He tried it, and it held strong enough to bear his weight. He conjured another dozen pegs, boring them into the icy slope, this way creating a series of footholds.

He started to climb. One peg, the next one, another again… he was getting nearer and nearer to his destination: the peak, where the desired flower bloomed. He started sweating again, his mouth felt as dry as a parchment, but he kept climbing. Having stepped on the last peg, he reached out for the edelweiss. However, in the same second another hand also reached out for it, from the other side of the cliff.

"Creevey!"

"Lochar!"

"Zat's mine!"

"No, I saw it first!"

"I'll curse you, you filzy little…"

"Leave my edelweiss alone!"

"Eat dung!"

"Beat it!"

Guillaume Lochar's blonde head appeared from behind the cliff, as he climbed over the ridge. "Sod off, Creevey!" he shouted, pointing his wand at him.

"You sod off, Lochar!" Dennis bellowed.

"Aaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhhhhhhh! Heeeeeeeeeeeeelp!" a female voice tore into the air.

"Mileta!" Dennis turned back from Lochar, looking down the slope. Mileta Krum was being attacked by something big, white and furry.

Guillaume – using the lapse of Dennis' attention – picked the edelweiss and descended on the other side of the cliff, without caring for the damsel in distress.

Dennis, however, forgot about the flower and was desperate to help the girl. He sat on his butt and slipped down the slope. If it hadn't been about rescuing someone from lethal danger, he would have enjoyed it.

"Mileta! I'm coming!" he yelled with his wand at the ready. "Hey, you big furry oaf! I'm heeeere!" he waved, trying to distract the attacker's attention.

"Hmph?" the big, furry oaf grunted and turned to Dennis.

"Petrificus Totalus!" the boy yelled, and the beast stiffened, then fell into the snow with a loud thud.

"Where are they? I cannot see them!" Hermione said, looking into the omniocular.

"Neither can I." Harry replied. "They must be hidden from us by a cliff or something." he looked at the map he was holding. "Oh, come on, Dennis! You're so close to the edelweiss!!!"

"Look, Harry! I see him! He's climbing!" Hermione squealed with excitement.

"Yeah! He's using pegs like Muggle mountaineers! Great!" Harry said, watching the scene through his omnioculars. "He's going to get the edelweiss! Go, Dennis!"

"Hey, what's happening up there?" Hermione gasped. "There's someone… blonde!"

"Lochar!" Harry spat, casting a glance at the map as well, where a dot with the label 'Guillame Lochar' was to be seen. "He's going to hurt Dennis!"

"No! Something's happening! Dennis is… leaving the edelweiss and slipping down the slope?"

"What the hell got into him?" Harry shouted. "He was so close!"

"Oh my, what is happening to Creevey?" McGonagall's worried voice cut in.

"Dunno, professor. Something must be going on at the foot of the slope, but we can't see it from here." Harry replied, looking at the map again. "There's Mileta and… there's a fourth dot, Hermione… but… what is that thing?"

"A fourth dot?" she gasped.

"Yeah. And… it seems that Lochar got the flower." he sighed.

"Vairy good. Guillaume iz talented, indeed." Olympe Maxime stated proudly.

More than one hour passed before the spectators saw the first figure return.

It was the Beauxbatons student, holding the Black Edelweiss, grinning smugly.

"Wondehrful!" Olympe clasped her hands. "Well done, Guillaume!"

"Thank you, headmistress." the blonde boy nodded, handing her the edelweiss. "Flower to ze flower."

"Oh, my." Madame Maxime blushed and took the edelweiss.

"And where are the others?" Viktor Krum asked.

"No idea." Guillaume shrugged.

"What happened there on the peak?" Harry asked. "We saw you and Dennis fight over the edelweiss, then he disappeared."

The blonde boy shrugged again.

"This is fishy." Harry whispered to Hermione, who nodded her agreement.

"Oh, there they come!" Aberforth shouted, pointing his finger at two figures walking down a snowy path. They both looked extremely tired, and in Mileta's case, bruised, too.

"What happened? Mileta!" Viktor ran up to her, embracing her tightly.

"What happened to you two?" Minerva clasped her hands. "You look like as though you had been run over by a hipogriff!"

"It was a yeti." Mileta Krum sniffed, her whole body trembling. "It attacked me."

"Yeti???" Hermione gasped. "There are NO yetis in Russia! They reside in the Himalayas!"

"That's right." Viktor nodded. "How on Earth did a yeti get here? Does anyone know?" he looked around with a serious expression.

Aberforth Dumbledore, trembling from head to toes, raised his hand slowly into the air.

A/N2: Latin explanation: nives de monte devolutae sisto = to stop an avalanche (sorry, I still don't speak Latin, only got it from a dictionary).

Heimdall is a Viking god who guards the Rainbow Bridge (though I don't know whether it's in Norway, or Sweden or where. We should ask the Vikings about that.)