A/N: thanks for the reviews, my friends! It's very flattering that you are competing to write the longest reviews, but you really don't need to write novel-length ones… I'm happy if you just drop a line :) Besides some reviews took me 10-15 minutes to read through… a bit too long. I love your reviews, and I'm grateful for them, but please… stop competing.

For those who don't know what Kinder Surprise is: it's an egg-shaped chocolate containing a small yellow (also egg-shaped) box in it, and in the boxes there's always a little toy.

Cassandra Anthemyst: no, your theory isn't even close.

Hayley Mills: I have asked you this before, but did you get your nick from the actress' name from Parent trap? You haven't answered this question yet, though I'm really interested! I don't like horror. Hungarian lesson: 'hello, my name is…' = 'szia, a nevem…', 'how are you?' = 'hogy vagy?', 'I'm fine.' = 'jól vagyok.' SW EPII is much better than EPI. No, I don't get MTV, VH1 or TRL. Anyway, I don't really listen music like that (I'm quite a weirdo, I know, but I rather listen to Johann Strauss – a 19th century Austrian composer, the so called 'King of waltzes'. I'm so old fashioned in this respect :) I also like to listen to film scores – especially when they're composed by John Williams (you know, the composer of Star Wars, E.T., Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones… he's the best, IMHO).

Bucky: I'm not going to go to gryffindortower. I like to read stories there, but I don't want to put my fic there.

Arif: first of all: X_Tow_Naga is a he, not a she. (you are the third person who believes him to be a girl, LOL:) No, I haven't read Dragonlance. What is memorial day? Idiotically proud, huh? :)) I didn't have a pic of Tatyana – until you wrote me your last review. So I drew one. My friend is scanning it, I guess I'll be able to send it to you on Monday. I don't think that Rowling will pair off everyone. But I seriously hope that she'll pair Harry off… possibly with Ginny. But if it's Hermione, it's okay, too (though who will Ron get, then?) Of course Ginny will find out! Yes, my mum likes what I write – she's rather modern-minded, LOL:) She gave me romances to read at the age of 12… not that I liked the romances… too sappy, yuck! I still don't like Danielle Steel, for example… not my type. My mum never minded what I read or wrote, she knew that I'm a moral girl and I wouldn't be spoiled by such stories. How do I feel about gays? Hm… I'm sorry for them, I guess. It's not their fault, it must be some genetic disorder, right? I'm happy that I'm hetero, that's all. So, your mum doesn't know that your brother is gay? How very strange… What kind of Internet Service do I have? I have Axelero Internet – a Hungarian one, you surely haven't heard of it yet. I'm not sure that I'm going to stay by it, though – it is going to raise its prices drastically, so I might have to find another Net service. Are you asking me to beta your future fic? Well… okay :) If it won't be too long :) What do you mean by 'please don't make the kids preppy at school in your next story.'? Does preppy mean 'too neat'? (that's what I found in the dictionary). Anyway, the kids won't bee too neat, don't worry. They'll be little devils :)) Not all of them, but most. No, I haven't written the third fic yet – I have only written 4 chapters, but nowadays I don't have time for it – you know, those damn exams… *sigh* No, I haven't heard of Virginia euwer Wolf. I don't know whether I'll ever write anything original… maybe. But I don't have ideas yet. I'm not driving yet, and I'm not going to learn how to for quite a long time. I wanted to learn it this summer, but my family had to sell the car, so now there's nothing to drive :(

blaubaerin: I guess Herm just wanted McGonagall to know about the twins – she and Minerva had befriended each other pretty much. They're on first name terms, have you noticed? Oh, you're right about the rock thingie! I DID mix up the English and German words, LOL! :))) I don't like dark chocolate at all. Kinder Überraschung is called Kinder Meglepetés in Hungary.

PepsiAngel: don't worry, Ron will be normal soon.

Myrtle: you wrote about a forum Almah also goes to. Is it that one where she wrote her story? (the one with the dark blackground? Sorry, I don't remember the URL of that site.)

Lavendar Brown: I'm not going to have a kid-naming contest, because I already have names for all future kids, however I'm going to have a poll near the end of the story. A long way to go until then… Don't worry, Tatyana won't kill the babies. She's evil but not that evil.

Notebook Girl: no, your theory isn't even close. No, Ginny isn't pregnant, because the condom didn't break.

Aimee: enchanting the unicorn is a very sweet idea. You'll get to know about Sirius near the story's end (no, not in the last chapter, earlier). Dan matures like a regular baby, I guess, but I'm not sure how quick regular babies mature – I haven't had a child yet :) I know that babies need breast milk, but if it ebbs then they cannot get it any longer (at least not from their own mothers). My mum only had milk for three months after I was born. Well, of course the pogrebins will stop wanting to kill Harry! How could they NOT STOP, when they're dead??? (Tatyana killed them in last chapter!) I gave my mum your thanks for betareading and she was very happy :)

Bexpotter: of course SW is better than LotR! Much better! I didn't like Shakespeare in love… I only liked that scene where the girl's chaperone listens as they are having sex and makes funny faces. That was cool, but I wasn't really taken with the movie.

Qahira Galatea: Tatyana won't kill Herm, I promise.

Almah: yes, Kinder surprise is exactly what you mentioned.

X_Tow_Naga: how do you have this much time to write such a long review, huh? I envy you, I don't have this much time. I'm glad you also learnt to use the Enter, thanks, it made it much easier to read. It's possible that ghosts could smoke, I don't know. Ginny's name wasn't pronounced in the movie. In the next one it surely will. Well, Ginny really should have visited Ron… you're right. I guess Ron just didn't want to see anyone of his family. Sirius's disappearing has nothing to do with Lupin. You're the second one suggesting me to make the stuffed unicorn be able to move. Cute idea, really. However there won't be 'place' for it in this story. Maybe in the next one. Harry might have been able to go home for a day or so, but I didn't want him to. It's so simple. He needed to be at Durmstrang, because I wanted him to be there. I think there are only Muggle paternity tests, but both Harry and Herm had Muggle upbringing, so that's how they knew about it. I don't know whether Ron has heard about it at all. Yes, Lily has red hair. I thought it'd be better not to know the babies' sex beforehand. I was contemplating to include a charm that tells you their sex, but decided against it. I never even wanted to name the babies Luke or Leia, especially not Jacen or Jaina, because I HATE Jacen and Jaina. The only normal Solo child was Anakin, but he got killed off. I'm mad! No, your theory about Harry's wand wasn't right. Aberforth levitating himself? LOL… no. Arrows hitting someone in the eye? Aaaarrrgghhh… what an idea! I was rotfl when I read that! Although everyone knows that Vicky loves Herm, he wanted to keep his pride and not show his sorrow. Be a man, you know… I guess Ron was just too mad to send Herm a Valentine (or maybe forgot it, too.) I don't know much about mood swings, either, so don't ask me that. Fred and George aren't making new inventions nowadays. They have already quite a lot of those. No, neither of the twins has proposed to Angie. It doesn't mean that neither of them will :) You got me – I have no idea how Dan got out of the crib… maybe Lily unintentionally levitated him out of it :) The Durmstrang elves served Vodka only for the teachers. Dennis surely tried to talk to Mileta again, and he surely managed to get a couple of words from her, and in those couple of words she could tell him that she wasn't talking to Harry anymore. The Videus Camericus charm is just watching one spot, but it can work as real TV as well… you'll see soon, there'll be a bit of it again. Hm… I didn't think of using a Pensieve… Hermione doesn't have one. Go to http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/home.asp , there you'll find a pronunciation dictionary and Avada Kedavra is there, too. Click on 'Voldemort', too, you'll be surprised!

princesswitch: what chapter will Herm and Ron make up? Hm… 32, as far as I remember… but I might be wrong.

star queen: I have read all 3 LotR books, but found them terribly boring. I started to read book one again in December and I'm still at the middle of it… I simply can't get myself to read on. I also think that Galadriel wasn't good in the movie. Who's Haldir and Faramir? I don't remember. I haven't seen the trailer of The Two Towers yet.

Kristen Michelle: you're older than me? Hm… that surprised me, really – in a good way :)) Yes, Herm's babies will be born in this story, but there won't be much about them. In the next story. Well, if identical twins are genetic, then Herm surely had a grandma or great-grandma who had a twin. You call your mum Sissy? How cute… there was an Austrian Empress called Elizabeth, the wife of Franz Joseph, whose nickname was also Sissy. She was also Hungarian queen and our nation loved her very much. I have read several books about her life.

aurora riddle: sorry, you didn't beat X_Tow_Naga… and I don't think that anyone will beat him now… he wrote me a 2,5 A4 page long review. You really don't need to beat him, I'm not expecting anyone to write me such long reviews!

jeanine23Dr: yes, I have names for the twins. My mum uses the PC, but not for Internet. Unfortunately I don't travel a lot. The farthest I have been is Paris (oh, I loved Eurodisneyland! The best place in the world!) I'm sure that the Dominican Republic is beautiful, but I don't have that much money to go that far :( Yes, lucrative is the right word, I guess.

spangle*star: don't worry, Ron will get to know, just not right now.

Maddy: am I one of the most evil people in the world? Wow, I never knew :)

zzxm: I promise not to hate this fic, as long as my readers promise me the same (which I'm not sure they'll do, given that I KNOW what is going to happen… and it's not good. It's evil… :)

The Face of Evil: no, Tatyana never was a squib.

Nefertiri: I'm terribly sorry, but your record has been taken away. (You don't need to try for it again, really! Just write me normal-length reviews, I'm totally happy with those!) Hermione won't tell her pregnancy to Ron… still she will. You'll see what I mean. No, Angelina wasn't wrong about the date of the baby's conception. It's George's, not, Fred's. Lily will continue calling her parents Harry and Ginny, but Dan will normally call them mum and dad.

Whit2005: why do you think that you cannot write stories the proper way? What do you mean by 'the proper way'? It's very subjective, you know… Something that seems proper for someone might not be regarded proper by someone else, and vice versa. So have faith, I'm sure you can write good fics! You know what? Send me one of your short stories (in two weeks when I'm ready with my exams – hopefully), and maybe I can suggest something. Anyway, I don't know whether I'm writing my fics 'the proper way', because I don't know what it is…

apple-pie: Hermione cannot protect Harry forever. Sorry. No, Tatyana won't kill either Herm or the twins, I promise.

thebiggesthpfan: no, Tatyana doesn't use Imperio on Harry, because he cannot be controlled by it (remember, Dennis told her that Harry couldn't be controlled by it and Tatyana was surprised to hear it. Anyway, she knew that she needed to use something else. So she used a potion that had about the same effect as Imperio, just with a bit of aphrodisiac and with a bit of something that made Harry think that Tatyana was Ginny.) No, Tatyana didn't use Obliviate, either: remember, she used a hypnotising charm while Harry was sleeping… with that spell she made him forget it all. I think that these spells and potions are illegal, but IMHO not only the unforgivable curses are illegal… remember book two, where Lucius Malfoy wants to sell Mr. Borgin some potions that are definitely illegal. I'm sorry if I hurt you or your country, I didn't mean to. By mentioning that women were treated badly in the Middle-East, I rather meant Afghanistan, for example. There they ARE treated badly, right? Correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, I can understand that you are upset, I remember how upset I was when one of my reviewers asked me whether people got their hands cut off in Hungary. I thought: "heavens, what does this guy think of us? That we are barbarians?" I really didn't want to hurt anyone.

Analyse: no, Lupin doesn't even know Tatyana.

PadmeSkywalker: thanks for asking your teacher :)

LilyGinny: you'll find out about Tatyana's intentions VERY soon.

Eclectus: yes, Sophie Friedrike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst is really the original name of Catherine the Great.

Paperdoll58: (are you the same as Crazycutee831? Just wondering…) No, Angelina won't miscarry.

Also thanks to: Aurumlupi, K.C. Hunter, goldenstar555, AmandaPanda, ILOVELINKINPARK222, Padfoot, ladyyuy, Coolio, Super saya-Jin Gotan, Harryismyhero, Amen, !Cedric!Diggory!Fan!, HerbieWerbie, Blondie in Disguise, Saphron, Ari Potter, Alexander Pheonix, Harrysgirl, Katie Bell, Kit Cloudkicker, phoenix6545

Chapter 24

Exsugo vium magicae

"With Krum? Hermione! You cheated on me!"

"Do you think I'm totally crazy?"

"You accepted a gift from Krum! Why is he giving presents to you, huh? Someone would think… that…"

"You surely have been having a relationship with him since summer!"

"Stop, please, please, Ron, believe me! I'm innocent!" Hermione shouted back.

"Why should I believe you?"

"Yes, why should he believe you, you little prat? You've lost your husband, you are going to lose your best friends as well!"

"No! NOOOOO!"

Hermione sat up in her bed, panting. Her whole body was drenched in sweat as her heart was racing so fast that she thought it'd leap out of her chest.

"Just a dream. Just a dream." she whispered to herself, hoping that no one had heard her. It would be rather unpleasant if people from the neighbouring rooms started flooding into her room now. "Calm down. Everything's all right." her hands wandered down to her still flat belly, gently caressing it. "Don't worry, my sweets, mommy just had a nightmare. Nothing is amiss. Your father is really a prat, but… I love him. You'll love him, too. He's a great guy, really. You'll have so much fun with him… And your Uncle Harry… he's all right. Nothing happened to him…" she suddenly gasped. "Oooooh!" she slapped her forehead. "Why haven't I thought of this before?"

She jumped out of her bed, waved her wand to rekindle the candles and ran to the table, opening Beautiful Bill's Biography, volume three, with trembling hands.

"It has to be here… has to…" she muttered, flipping over the pages with such haste that some leaves tore. "Oh, yes!" she exclaimed when she found the page she was looking for. "Exsugo vium magicae…" she began to read, her eyes widening in shock. When she reached the end of the description, she was practically hyperventilating. "No…" she clutched at her chest, gasping for breath. "No, please!" her eyes skimmed through the page once again, hoping that she had misinterpreted the lines… but there was no misunderstanding. "Oh, why haven't it occurred to me earlier?" she hid her face into her hands, feeling miserable. She had read this part of the book years earlier and had almost totally forgot about it by now… "But… it has to happen three times… the third hasn't happened yet!" she started to feel a bit hopeful. "I can prevent it if I keep following him around! I mustn't let him out of my sight… I'll accompany him to the toilet as well, if needed, but I can't let this happen!" she squeezed her eyes shut. "Why… why is this horrible woman doing this to him? What goal does she want to reach?" her mind racing, she slipped back into her bed. Try as she might, she couldn't fall asleep all night.

* * * * *

"Tomorrow… tomorrow… oh, heavens!" Dennis kept muttering to himself at the dinner table the next day.

"Hey, cheer up, Den, it's going to be okay!" Natalie McDonald patted his arm.

"Yeah, you are gonna be superb!" Eleanor added.

"You have to beat that dandy, you hear me?" Graham Pritchard told him. "I couldn't stand if Guillaume Jan Luc Whatever won the tournament!"

"You've got to win, Creevey!" Malcom Baddock added.

"I'll try, all right?" Dennis said irritably.

"Do or do not. There is no try." Eleanor said wisely.

"Yoda?" Dennis had to smile – the first smile he had shown for days. He had been simply too nervous to smile.

"Don't worry, Dennis, the Force will be with you! And your wand as well. You'll be great." Eleanor grinned.

"I wish you were right." he grinned back.

* * * * *

Over dinner Harry was discussing the second task with Aberforth and couldn't not notice that the old man was casting surreptitious glances at McGonagall, who occasionally caught his glance, then turned away again and again.

Harry found this highly amusing but knew better than to mention it to either of them.

Krum was now in a bit better mood, talking animatedly with Madame Maxime.

Harry, though deeply immersed in discussion with Dumbledore, noticed that Hermione wasn't eating at all. She looked rather pale as though she were sick. Harry put it down to her pregnancy that now was common knowledge in the castle. She had received several congratulating cards from fellow teachers and even from students. Harry had written Ginny about the pregnancy, but asked her not to reveal it to Ron. Ginny was very happy about the news, but promised that she wouldn't spill the beans to her brother.

Harry found it ridiculous that Hermione couldn't forgive Ron, but decided not to bring it up. This time, however, he felt he needed to ask whether she was all right.

"Don't worry, Harry, I'm fine. Just a bit dizzy." she forced herself to smile. "That's quite normal in my condition, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Ginny also used to have morning sickness." he nodded.

"But it's evening, Harry." she scowled. "Never mind."

"You look concerned." he perceived. "And I don't believe it's about morning sickness, is it?"

"Can you read in my thoughts, Harry?" she gave him a penetrating look.

"No." he shook his head, reaching out to take hold of her hand. "But I know my best friend. I know you. And I know that something is worrying you."

She heaved a deep sigh. "That's right, Harry. Something is worrying me."

"What?"

"I have read something… creepy in Beautiful Bill's Biography. You've got to see it for yourself."

"Seen that book already, Herm… carried it too. Awfully heavy."

"Harry. Come with me. I want to show you this. I have to."

"All right." he sighed, standing up.

She also rose to her feet, then doubled over, letting out a small yelp, falling into Harry's arms.

"Hermione!" he slapped her face gently, trying to bring her round.

"Herm-own-ninny!" Krum jumped up and raced to her with an expression of sheer horror on his face.

"What happened to her?" Minerva worried.

"Fainted." Harry replied. "That's normal… I guess. I'll carry her upstairs."

"I'll do it." Krum said. "You go and find the nurse!"

Harry nodded, leaving the hall.

By the time the nurse had finished examining Hermione, the whole castle had become deserted – everyone had gone to bed.

Harry was relieved to hear that she wasn't in any danger and her babies were all right as well. Viktor Krum insisted on staying by Hermione's bed and told Harry to go and have some sleep.

Harry, however, decided to have something to eat instead, because – having discussed the second task with Aberforth, then having chatted with Hermione – he practically didn't have time to use his mouth for eating, just for talking.

Aberforth had told him months ago where the kitchen was, so he went downstairs to ask the house-elves for a bit of that delicious-looking steak that had been served for dinner. He could have conjured some food himself, but he was sure that his wand couldn't 'cook' as well as the house-elves.

After having finished dinner, he headed upstairs, feeling happy that he had finally managed to remember which way to take up to his room. Or had he?

He turned left on a familiar-looking corner, only to realise that this part of the castle was unfamiliar. How could the corner be familiar, then? Madness, he thought. He also had a feeling of deja vu, but didn't remember having entered these corridors yet.

He saw a huge painting with a rather upset Boyar (Russian nobleman) on it – he was irritably touching his chin again and again, muttering "I hate Peter the Great! I hate him!"

"Why do you hate him?" Harry asked curiously. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"Ah," the nobleman waved impatiently. "Peter is simply crazy. Look what he did to me! And to all Boyars!"

"What?" Harry raised an eyebrow. He didn't see anything out-of-place on the man.

"What? He shaved us!" the Boyar looked scandalised. "He went on this stupid journey to Western Europe and saw that people there were shaving… and then he came back and made us all shave our beautiful beards off!"

"I think you look quite okay without a beard." Harry shrugged. "Could you tell me where I am?"

"In Durmstrang, fool." the nobleman grunted.

"I'm aware of that much. But in which part?"

"Western Tower." the painting replied. "I hate everything that is western, and they knew it! That's why they put me here, to irritate me! I hate Western-Europe, I hate the Western Tower, I hate Peter the Great!"

Harry rolled his eyes and walked away, having had enough of the Boyar's whining. In this castle everyone seemed to be whining: Anna Karenina, Mileta, Ivan Ilyich, Mileta, Catherine the Great, and of course Mileta.

Harry was downright pleased that he hadn't had to talk to Krum's sister lately.

"Lost again, Harry?" a voice asked from a half-open door.

"Um, Tatyana." he said. "No, I haven't got lost, I just felt like walking a bit." he lied, not wanting to admit that he had been lost again.

"Walking on the dark corridors?" she furrowed her brow. "Really. Durmstrang is dangerous, Harry, didn't you know? There are dangerously stupid ghosts, dangerously irritating paintings and dangerous Potions masters, like me."

"I don't think you're dangerous." he replied. "I don't have any reasons to think you are… You saved my life, after all."

She rewarded him with a smile. "Then… feel like coming in and having a drink with me? I was kind of bored, you know. It's always nice to have company."

"Company is exactly what I need now. And a nice drink." he smiled back at her, feeling rather thirsty. He hadn't drunk anything after the salty steak.

"You look worried." she perceived as they seated themselves at Tatyana's stone table. "What concerns you that much?"

"Well… Hermione… and Ron, I guess." he replied.

"Did they have a row?" she asked, passing him a drink.

"Yeah. A bad one… and an absolutely stupid one."

"Most rows are stupid, aren't they?"

"Yeah, but most couples have them, nevertheless."

"Do you know it from experience?"

"Uh-huh. But my wife and I always managed to sort out our problems."

"Then you are a lucky man." she smiled.

"I am." he nodded, sipping a bit of his drink. "I'm the luckiest guy in the world, because she loves me." he took another draught of the sizzling, orange liquid. "Ginny is simply… wonderful. Ginny is…" his eyes looked at Tatyana's grey ones, that – for the time being – he believed to be green… and her ebony-black hair, that – at the moment – seemed to be flaming red to him. "Ginny…"

* * * * *

Hermione woke at seven in the morning. She looked around and was quite surprised to see Viktor Krum slumbering at the foot of her bed. He was sitting on an armchair, bending his head on her mattress.

"Viktor?" she called.

"Herm-own-ninny!" he opened his eyes, blinking and yawning. "You feeling all right?"

"Yeah, but… what are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to sit up for you." he said, massaging his sore neck.

"But why?"

"'Cause I was worried about you." he said with a small smile. "You fainted, after all."

"Fainted?" she frowned, trying to remember. "I was talking to Harry at the dinner table, then I told him to come with me because I wanted to show him… ooooooh…" she grabbed his hands. "Viktor! Go and see if Harry's in his room! Go!"

"Why?"

"Just go! Please!"

Viktor found her request a bit strange, but complied. He exited her room and knocked on Harry's door.

"Whaaaaaaat?" a sleepy voice came from inside.

Viktor ran back to Hermione. "He's in there."

"But alone, isn't he?" she asked with a worried expression.

"Er, dunno. A minute." he replied, running back to Harry's room, knocking again.

"Come in!"

Viktor entered to see an extremely tired-looking Harry blinking at him.

"Hi, Viktor. Whad'ya want?"

"Nothing. Er… I just wanted to ask you whether you were prepared for the judging today."

"'Course I am!" Harry growled, pulling a pillow over his head.

"All right, see you at breakfast, then."

Krum hurried back to Hermione.

"He's alone." seeing her heave a relieved sigh, he asked: "Who did you think might be in there with him?"

"No one." she smiled. "Time to get up, I think."

"Do you feel up to it?"

"Sure I do. I'm fine." she said. "Would you leave so that I can dress up?"

Krum flushed a bit and nodded. "Okay."

"Hey, Viktor!" she called after him.

"Yeah?" he turned back from the door.

"Thanks for sitting up for me."

"You're welcome."

* * * * *

By nine o'clock in the morning all students and teachers were down beside the lake.

"I wonder what the task will be." McGonagall turned to Hermione.

"Me too. Hopefully nothing that makes them get soaked to the skin. I still remember having had to wear wet clothes for about half an hour after Viktor pulled me out of the lake. That was sheer torture."

"Don't worry, the champions won't get wet this time." Aberforth chimed in as he approached with his crutches – he wasn't wearing plaster anymore, but he still couldn't walk properly.

McGonagall turned away, trying to seem highly interested in Guillaume Lochar who was arranging his locks while two Beauxbatons girls were holding a huge mirror for him.

While Lochar looked totally carefree, Dennis was trembling with anticipation. Mileta, on the other hand, seemed to be rather grumpy, eyeing Guillaume suspiciously.

Hermione saw Harry walk up to them, looking quite haggard.

"What happened to you?" she asked.

"Dunno." he said. "But I feel terrible. As though I had been a sponge that got wrung out. I barely had enough power to get up."

"Harry, you didn't…" Hermione began, but she couldn't finish her sentence, because Aberforth's magically magnified voice spoke up:

"Welcome to the second task of the Triwizard Tournament! I hope everyone is excited, not only the champions! As you all know, each of them can receive fifty points in this task, that is about going in there." he pointed his finger at the mouth of an ice cave in a small hill next to the lake. "You will find various traps and enchantments in your way… just the usual, you know… but there is only one way in this cave, while you could choose from several paths on the mountain in the first task. The one way means that you will be going together, so you'll need to test yourselves at teamwork. Yes… I know that you might find it rather strange to make the champions do this task as a team, but remember, good wizards not only have to know how to fair on their own. They need to be able to co-operate… help each other, fight for each other… get over their possible grudges... Your activity will be watched from out here by Videus Camericus charms that are hidden in several places in the cave. You may never know where you are being watched and where you aren't. The judges will award you points on basis of your ability in co-operating." he flashed a toothy smile at the champions who didn't seem to like this at all. Dennis, for one, couldn't imagine himself co-operating with Guillaume Lochar, because he hated that stuck-up guy, and he didn't feel up to work together with Mileta as well, whom he fancied. He knew that she didn't reciprocate his feelings and that made him feel awkward in her presence. They hadn't talked to each other since the Yule-ball – he was practically hiding from her.

Mileta wasn't too keen on working together with either the French guy, who hadn't bothered to help her at all when she had been in trouble with the yeti, or with Dennis, whose crazy infatuation irritated her.

Guillaume shot a despising glare at the other two, but deep in his heart he was trembling with fear. If this task was really about helping each other, he knew he'd be in serious trouble – he doubted that either Dennis or Mileta would be willing to help him when he needed it.

"Before you go in," Aberforth carried on, "you need to know that the cave is horseshoe shaped, that means you'll see two paths in there, but either one you take, you'll go through the same path. Anyway, the entrance is the right-hand path, the exit is the left-hand one. Good luck to you all!"

All three champions stepped to the entrance of the cave, holding their wands at the ready. All three of them wore thick fur coats, because the ice cave was supposed to be very cold.

"May the Force be with you, Dennis!" the Star Wars fan Eleanor Branstone shouted after him, making the boy double back and give her a grateful smile.

"All right, then…" Aberforth lifted his wand, ejecting green sparks. "Off you go!"

Harry watched the three champions enter the cave and felt happy that it wasn't him who had to do it this time. Anyway, he felt way too tired and weak to be able to fight down monsters or neutralise the effect of enchantments.

Hermione looked around, searching for professor Fiodrovna in the crowd, but she was nowhere to be seen. Hermione felt a shiver run down her spine. She had a bad feeling about this.

All teachers and students were watching the events that took place in the cave through three huge, hovering magical screens. How thoughtless it was of Hogwarts not to use such screens, McGonagall thought. Had they used such screens, they could have seen everything that was going on at the bottom of the lake and in the maze. This way they could have seen that Harry was the first to find the hostages, or that someone had cursed obstacles out of Harry's way in the labyrinth.

Suddenly one of the screens went blank.

"Malfunctioning charms!" McGonagall fumed, raising her wand, but Harry was quicker to wave with his wand, trying to restore the transmission. However, nothing happened.

"Malfunctioning wands!" Harry groaned. It wasn't the first case that his wand wasn't working properly. He flipped it again, trying to make it do… anything. But it did nothing. "Stupid wand!" Harry started waving it furiously, to no avail.

"Try an incantation, whatever." Aberforth suggested.

"Orchideous!" Harry said, but his wand didn't sprout flowers. "Lumos!" still nothing.

"Let me try." Hermione said with shaking voice and chalk-white face, pulling the wand out of Harry's hand. "Lumos!"

A tiny flame appeared at the tip of Harry's wand.

"Why didn't it work for me?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"Harry…" Hermione gulped. "Did you… did you meet professor Fiodrovna last night by any chance?"

"Tatyana?" Harry scratched his head. "Yeah. She invited me for a drink, then… I don't remember."

"Oh, no!" Hermione gasped, pushing the wand back into Harry's hand. "Try again! Please, try again!"

"All right… Incendio! No, Avis!… Serpensortia!… I can't."

"Here, try mine." Hermione handed him her wand.

"Lumos!" Harry shouted, exasperated. "I can't, Hermione…"

"What happened, Potter?" McGonagall asked after having repaired the screen.

"I… I have…"

"What?"

"…lost my magic powers."

A/N2: the title means: to suck the magic powers out of somebody. Now you know what Tatyana did to Harry. I'm awaiting your howlers :)

Btw, congrats to blaubaerin, Kristen Michelle and The Face of Evil for having managed to find out what was about the happen! You're clever, ppl! :)