Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter 7

"The Riddles"

Harry was once again awoken by the world's best dressed, silent, gray-green, alarm clock, Dobby. He had passed on breakfast and was out the door before the boys, or Ginny were awake. Today was Friday November 17th, and he was excited to be headed back to Hogwarts. Harry was expected for breakfast with the Headmistress at the High Table. Characteristically late he rushed through the entrance hall. He stopped only to wave and smile at the statue of Dumbeldore as he passed. He entered into the Great Hall. The room quieted to a hush with his appearance. There was but one seat left open at the High Table and it rested between the Minister of Magic and Narcissa Malfoy. With all eyes upon him, thinking what to do, he heard a loud but sweet voice wash over the top of whispers of the crowd.

"Harry, over here, your late you know."

"Yeah, hurry up before Ron eats your share."

A moment of unbelievable happiness washed over Harry, as he looked at the Gryffindor Table only to find the owners of the two voices. The first had come from Hermione Weasley. She remained to this day one of the people closest to Harry in the world. He was very surprised to see her here, as she was employed as an Unspeakable for the Ministry of Magic, and was always kept quite busy.

The second voice belonged to that of Neville Longbottom. Neville another dear and long time friend of Harry's was married to Luna, and owned the largest and most exotic green houses in all of Britain. Sitting with them were Luna and Ron. Ron's mouth was too full of sausages to protest Neville's joke. The Longbottom twins and Richard, Ron and Hermione's son, were there as well, along with the rest of the new Gryffindor gang. Harry slid in next to Ron, smiling ear to ear.

"So what's all this guys? Not that I'm not ecstatic to see you. This is to cool. "

A number of the kids noticeably winced at Harry's choice of words. Hermione explained.

"Shush all of you. Well Harry, Neville and I had a small hand in today's task, so we had to be here early. Of course McGonagall, excuse me Professor McGonagall asked us all to stay for breakfast."

Ron finally came up for air.

"From the look of the seating arrangements at the high table, I think you should be rather glad too Harry. And wait till you find out who else is here."

No sooner were the words out of Ron's mouth then the door from the teachers lounge to the Great Hall bust open and Rubeus Hagrid ducked into the room. He made a bee line around the front of the table. He kissed and spoke to his wife, Madame Olympe Maxime, and then headed towards the Gryffindors. Harry leapt to his feet and greeted his old friend warmly. Hagrid friendly cuff of Harry's arm knocked him into the table. It would most definitely leave a mark, but Harry didn't seem to care.

"Almost like an old home week aye gang. Good to see you Harry, been far too long you know."

The Giant of a man clearly had tears in his eyes as he spoke the words.

"Visiting Olympe, Hagrid? Fang or Gwarp with you?"

Harry asked with a bit of reservation.

"Actually just like Neville there and Hermione, one of my ah… pets is being used in the tournament but keep that quite, no one is supposed to know and all. Officially I'm just visiting me lovely bride. But sadly no Fang or Gwarp, here with me, Harry. Gwarp is grounds keeper at Beauxbatons Academy now. And I thought you knew that Fang died a couple of years back now. Such a good sweet dog, big coward, but a great friend."

With that Hagrid reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief to clear his face with He took a seat at the Gryffindor table. With-out missing a beat the House Elves apparated a few additional platters to the table. Between bites Hagrid caught up with his friends. While most of the kids explained to their classmates, around the table, who Hagrid was.

"So Ron I understand congratulations are in order."

Hagrid pawed him on the back as he said so.

"No Hagrid, it's Harry & Ginny that are expecting. I think we're set with Vicky and Rich."

"I meant your 6th consecutive Swedish Short Snot Trophy for the winning broom in the Annual Wizarding Broom Race. But what's this Harry another Potter on the way?'

Hagrid looked over at Harry a bit hurt not to know.

"Sorry Hagrid, I will write more. Ginny and I are expecting a girl anytime now actually."

Harry said very apologetically.

Ron chimed in,

"Yeah Hagrid, you should she Ginny wobbling around big as a house."

He immediately caught a shot to the back of the head from Hermione, coupled with a rather serious threat.

"I have half a mind to tell her and Molly you said that Ronald. Might teach you to be a bit more sensitive."

Hagrid continued on.

"That's alright there Harry, important work you do, the charity and all. Wish It had been around when I was at school. Give Ginny my love. Oh and Harry, Fridwlfa is lovely name for a girl, don't you think, me moms name and all, you know."

Harry smiled back at Hagrid and promised to pass it along to Ginny. Harry excused himself and headed up to the high table, as things were breaking up in the Great Hall. He spent a quick moment with Remus, who was looking remarkably fit and healthy. Remus informed Harry, that Lilly was doing rather well and that Tonks would be in the faculty box for today's event. Minerva McGonagall interrupted before they could continue. With a bit of a smirk on her face he chastised Harry a bit.

"Late again Mr. Potter, your friends did a rather poor job of trying to cover for you. I would expect more from a Gryffindor, and one of my favorite Quidditch Captains."

"I'm sorry Professor McGonagall, it won't happen again."

Harry played along, both of them enjoying the fun of the moment. The Headmistress caught Harry up to speed in regards to the day's events. There would be a brief meeting for the Judges and Champions in her office. From there the Champions would be sequestered in a sealed room, while the Judges were lead to the Stadium. At the stadium the judges would watch the champions from private insulated tents. Harry also found out that Hagrid and Neville along with Remus and a number of Aurors would be protecting the Champions during the task which was to take place in the Castle. As Harry was leaving the Great Hall and heading for a closer look at Dumbledore's statue he was greeted by Lee Jordan. Lee was a Gryffindor a couple of years older then Harry who had become the premiere Quidditch announcer in England. He had been lucky enough to have been asked to commentate for the Tri-Wizarding Tournament. Harry playfully reminded him to try and not be too prejudicial.

Harry looked down at his watch and hurried up to the McGonagall's office, whishing he was not late again. He gave his password of "Tardy" to the Gargoyles and was granted entrance.

"Glad you made it Harry."

McGonagall admonished him. In the office seated around a rather luxurious long polished wooden table sat all three Heads of each school, the three champions and Percy Weasley. Harry took his seat and looked at Percy and then to the Headmistress questioningly. She responded immediately.

"I'm glad you all are here. For those whom he might not have introduced himself to, this is Percy Weasley, Head of International Magical Cooperation for the Ministry. As his sister, Mr. Potter's wife, is rather pregnant, and Mr. Potter might be required to leave on a moments notice, he has appointed himself as an alternate judge".

Percy paid no attention to the wording at all. He proudly smiled and raised a hand in recognition.

"Too glad to be of help, my pleasure."

Harry's mild head ache seemed to return. Minerva continued on, with the quickest flash of disappointment on her face.

"Today at noon, a scant one hour from now the first task for the Tri-Wizarding Tournament will begin. Champions, today's task will test not only some of your wizarding skills but even more so your intellect. You will face a number of doors which will lead into rooms that you must pass through. Once you reach the last room you will be out of the Castle and brought into the stadium. This will be a timed event, and you will be going individually into the task corridor. Your order was selected randomly and you will not be told who goes when until right before you are sent in.

You will be sequestered during and after the event as to make sure no one has an unfair advantage in this or any other task. Please do not ask me to explain. At each door you will be given a riddle. By correctly solving this riddle you will gain information that will aid you in getting through the room quickly. Poor decisions and failure to solve the riddle will most definitely cost you time, but hopefully not too much injury. There will be very competent wizards and witches watching you at all times, if you feel you are in too much danger simply speak the words, "I Quit" or shoot red warning sparks from your wand. You will be pulled out of the task and receive a score of 0 points. Though I doubt this will be needed, in this task at least.

The judges will watch your performance from their own isolated tents, so that their scoring can not be influenced. There is a maximum of 18 points that can be awarded to the winner. A maximum of 16 points can be awarded to the runner up and a maximum of 14 points to the third place finisher. There will be 10 points awarded for the fastest time, then 8 for the second fastest, and finally 6 for third quickest. Each of your three judges will be able to award a maximum of 2 additional points for your performance, based on your abilities and your use of the riddle clues in finishing the task."

Gabrielle Hinault, the Beauxbatons Champion, interrupted.

"Excuse me Madame but that is two points short, no?"

"Yes it is Miss. Hinault, and this is where the task officially begins."

Professor McGonagall turned around and purposefully marched back to a cabinet in her room. She opened the cabinet doors with a whispered spell and removed three green hats. They were obviously form fitting and resembled wool knit winter scull caps. Each however had a galleon sized red jewel embedded in it. Each hat also had a contestants name stitched into it. The Headmistress handed their respective caps to each champion.

"Please do not put them on your heads, as once they are on they can not come off, with out an incantation from me of course. These are Clabbert Hats and they will serve two purposes today. They will glow red when you are in danger which you will be able to notice, even though they are on your head. Secondly, and possibly more importantly, the hat that finishes last will receive two additional points."

Tormes Meliflua at his point objected.

"Are you trying to tell us that the loser gets extra points? What is this? A way to keep the weakest person in the event? This is simply wrong. Surely you could not have agreed to his Headmaster."

He looked to his Headmaster, who looked a bit embarrassed by the outburst. He quickly reminded his student of his place.

"Tormes hold your tongue; you know better then to speak to a Headmistress like that. You must learn to show patience."

Headmistress McGonagall continued, unfettered.

"That is not what I said Mr. Meliflua. I said that the hat that comes in third will receive two extra points. Those are all your instructions. No more questions will be answered. Your guard should be outside my stairs to take you to your waiting room outside of the third floor corridor. Good luck to you all, and do not forget to use your wits along with your Magic."

Outside of the professors stairs Remus, George, Neville, and several Aurors escorted the Champions to their waiting room. They all looked a bit puzzled.

Minerva took Harry's arm and walked with him out of her office. The rest of the judges followed.

"Harry since you are the, shall we say, independent judge. You, much like the students, are being kept in the dark as to the nature of the riddles and tasks. I hope you do not object. We all agreed that having you looking at the task as the champions are, would allow you to judge the merits of their accomplishments as independently and fairly as possible. However if at the end of the competition, before the scoring, you feel that you need any part of the riddles or tasks explained for you, we have the designer here to explain. I believe you and Hermione Weasley know each other rather well."

Harry was shocked. Hermione had designed this task, and never mentioned it. She was over for dinner three weeks ago. Harry let his thoughts slip out.

"But she never said a word, not a hint, nothing."

"Well Harry keep in mind that she is an unspeakable, no one better to keep secretes. But I imagine that you have known about her ability to keep secrets for quite a long time. "

Professor McGonagall smiled as she parted company with Harry.

As they walked off the school grounds the noise from the full stadium was amazing. Harry and the judges entered the horse shoe shaped arena to thunderous applause of over 100,000 witches and wizards. There in the middle of the relocated Quidditch World Cup Stadium, were the three enormous screens still blank. Harry noticed that most people were wearing their WWW earphones. He entered his tent to find a screen for viewing, a small personal desk that had a simple stack of blank parchment. There was also a number of quills and his own pair of ear phones. Tucked into the desk was a comfortable looking cushioned chair. As Harry was seated he noticed 4 guards stationed around his tent, and that it was dead silent. He peeked his head out of the tent and it was as loud as ever. One of the guards, with a French accent, asked him if everything was ok. He was hard to hear over the crowd, but Harry nodded in reply and returned to the silence of his personal tent.

The screen flittered on as Tormes Meliflua's Humming Bird was activated. All three screens in the stadium showed the same picture. There was a minute of images of nothing more than him pacing around, before George Weasley gave a thumb up to the Bird and the room cleared of Guards and the Champions were alone. The room was rather bare as well. In it was a small table that had a pitcher of pumpkin juice and a pitcher of water, a few sandwiches and some fruit. On either side of the table were two medium sized couches. Tormes was pacing, Titus and Gabrielle shared a couch. Gabrielle Hinault was the first to speak.

"I believe I have figured out the Hats and the points."

Tormes cut her off, with the raising of his hand.

"Please realize that the contest has begun, we are being watched for judging. I to believe I have figured out the Hats."

With that Titus Ogden took his turn.

"It was not all that difficult of a riddle to solve, really. I hope they get more difficult. But how should we proceed, since each of us does not want the others to gain an advantage."

At that moment the door to the private room opened. Remus Lupin's head entered the camera frame, Harry was glad he was looking so fit, as a 50 foot high version of him was being seen in the stadium.

"Champions you have 5 minutes before Tormes begins."

Remus left as quickly as he entered. Titus Ogden was the first to speak up.

"I believe we all do understand the riddle of the last place hat, shall we call it. So lets simply offer ours to the person we want to give it to."

At that exact moment Harry felt a bit foolish. He had not gotten, the whole last place hat getting 2 points. No one said you had to wear your own hat! If you felt that you were going to lose you could of course keep the hat. However, you could also ask the person whom you thought was going to lose, to wear your hat for you. It was taken from the old riddle;

A long, long time ago, two Egyptian camel drivers were fighting for the hand of the daughter of the sheik of Abbudzjabbu. The sheik, who liked neither of these men to become the future husband of his daughter, came up with a clever plan: a race would determine who of the two men would be allowed to marry his daughter. And so the sheik organized a camel race. Both camel drivers had to travel from Cairo to Abbudzjabbu, and the one whose camel would arrive last in Abbudzjabbu, would be allowed to marry the sheik's daughter.

The two camel drivers, realizing that this could become a rather lengthy expedition, finally decided to consult the Wise Man of their village. Arrived there, they explained to him the situation, upon which the Wise Man raised his cane and spoke four wise words. Relieved, the two camel drivers left his tent: they were ready for the contest!

"Take each other's camel."

Harry had been told that riddle by Hermione years ago, back at school. By winning wearing someone else's Clabbert Hat, you guarantee that they will not gain the two additional points. He knew the riddles were just warming up. The champions were either lucky or gracious, as Titus offered his hat to Tormes who in turn offered his hat to Gabrielle. She on the other hand appeared to be a bit put off by offering her hat to Titus. They placed their hats on the heads. The door opened and the picture followed Tormes Meliflua out the door.

Remus Lupin led him to a large wooden door that had a very large grim looking brass door knocker on it. Lupin spoke the words,

"Good Luck, Begin."

With that a small clock appeared in the corner of all the screens. The door knocker consisted of an old man with a heavily wrinkled face; he had a long pointy crooked nose and appeared rather bald with rather large ears. He had sinister high sharp eyebrows and narrow angry lips.

Time ticked off the clock, while nothing happened. Tormes look frustrated and angry. Finally he got it and banged the handle against the old harsh face.

"Not so rough my son, not so rough. Well, for your first room there are two riddles that should help you discern what you need to pass through to the next door knocker. Please be Chivalrous with her, if you get there of course. The first riddle;

Each morning I appear
to lie at your feet.
All day I will follow
No matter how fast you run.
Yet I nearly perish
in the midday sun.

And the second riddle;

I am always hungry,
I must always be fed,
the finger I lick
will soon turn red

Now keep in mind, my boy, that I can indeed repeat them as many times as you like but, each time takes just that, time. Safe Passage.

Tormes reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of blank parchment and an ever-full quill. Harry thought it odd that he had come prepared. Tormesasked the Knocker to repeat itself, but nothing happened. The irritation on his face grew. Once again he banged the knocker hard against the metal face.

"See hear, it would do you well to mind your manners. A fatherly lecture from me would not speed you along your way, now will it? What is it that you want of me?"

"The first riddle again,…………..please"

The please felt rather forced, and definitely unpleasant. The old brass knocker cleared its throat.

"Certainly,

Each morning I appear
To lie at your feet,
All day I will follow
No matter how fast you run,
Yet I nearly perish
In the midday sun"

Tormes wrote the words down, but appeared to stop half way through. He abruptly pulled the door open and entered the room. From Harry's vantage point the room appeared virtually empty. It was a rather long room. Made of solid stone blocks, there were but two doors the one Tormes had entered into and one at the opposite far side of the room. The only other thing Harry could see on the screen of the room were two red lines painted on the floor. One stood a foot or two in front of Tormes and the door. While the other sat all the way at the far end of the room a foot or two in front of the other door.

As Tormes drew his wand and strode confidently forward the red gem on his hat glowed strongly. As he passed the first line he was violently knocked back. A loud deep roar was heard as he flew against the wall. Harry noticed the front of his robe had been torn. The Drumstrang Champion got back to his feet and looked surprisingly cool and focused, the hat had stopped glowing.

Meliflua approached the line again.

"Stupefy…Stupefy…Stupefy"

He shot a number of strong looking stunners at the point were he had tried to cross the line before. He heard a groan, and launched himself towards the door again, this time running against the wall. The hat glowed red once more.

"ROAR!"

He was hurtled back again. He got up a bit slower and looked a bit less composed. He stood up to the line and then cast his wand again.

"Incendio, Incendio"

Two burst of flames went across the room. Harry noticed three separate shadows that flashed across the floor temporarily. Tormes held his ground. He swiped his wand through the air again.

"Aguamenti"

A stream of water poured out from his wand, he moved it back and forth until the entire room had been wet. The water had clung to what looked like the fur of three hairy giant apes. They were thick, walking upright but hunched over. Each had to be at least 10 feet tall and weight 500 pounds. Most confusing of all, was that they were invisible. Tormes smiled and stood up to the line again.

"Orbis Incendio!"

A sweeping ring of violent orange and red flames encircled him and he marched forward once again. The hat remained unlit. The beasts cringed back from the fire. He passed without incident to the other side of the room. He opened the door and walked through.

Harry looked down at his notes; the answer to the first riddle was Shadow. All things invisible or not cast a shadow. Though you can't see them all things have substance. The answer to the second riddle was obvious, Fire. Apparently the beasts in the room were very afraid of it. Harry thought that they might be Yeti, the height, the size, the roar, and the fear of fire was right. But invisible?

"Hagrid!"

Harry said it out loud. Hagrid had bred another animal for this tournament. Demiguise were ape like and could make themselves invisible. Their fur was used to make invisibility cloaks. Harry was glad this new creature was not out in the wild, or he hoped they weren't at least. Fifteen minutes had passed so far.

On the screen Tormes had come to another door with another large brass knocker on it. The face on this knocker was that of a smiling, plump, old witch with a round nose and very curly hair. He grasped the handle and knocked firmly. The knocker came alive.

"Ah yes the first student, hello young man. I have two riddles for you as well. As you know, their solution can aid you in passing through to the next room. Shall I recite them to you now?"

Meliflua face showed his frustration with the chatty door knockers. He again had his paper and quill out.

"Get on with it, please!"

The eye brows of the pleasant witch knocker raised high in the air, and she looked disapprovingly at the champion.

"Well then, the first riddle,

I am a box without hinges, locks or lid

Yet golden treasure inside is hid.

And the second riddle,

My love, when I gaze on thy beautiful face,
Careering along, yet always in place --
The thought has often come into my mind
If I ever shall see thy glorious behind.

I'm sure by now you know you can have your riddles repeated."

As she finished the sentence and fell silent Tormes was already pulling the door open.

The room was a bit hard for Harry to see on the screen as it was very dimly lit. It was small round room with smooth walls that contained no windows, no doors, nothing except two small torches that failed to cast much light at all. In the middle of the room was a most unusual looking stump. It was a round stalk of a gigantic plant, cut so the top was flat. It was at least 3 meters across and about 2 meters tall. It was a healthy green in color and had a few leaves as large as elephant ears coming out of its side. It looked very sturdy. The stump was planted in the largest clay pot Harry Potter had ever seen. The plant and pot together stood close to 5 meters off the ground. The humming bird must have dove down to view upwards with Tormes vision. The ceiling was out of sight, too high and too dark to see. Tormes cast he wand up wards.

"Lumos"

Harry noticed the plant twitched as the room got brighter and a door could clearly be seen at the top of the ceiling, some 30 meters up. Harry thought the room must be a tower. The view of the room changed. Along the floor of the room against the curved walls sat small wooden boxes lined up side to side with similar boxes. One after another after another they encircled the entire room, there had to be close to 100 boxes in total. As Tormes walked closer to the boxes it became apparent that they were indeed identical. Each box was plain beige wood with two small brass hinges on the back and a small lock on the front. Tormes looked down at the parchment in his hand and repeated the first riddle out loud.

"I am a box without hinges, locks or lid. Yet golden treasure inside is hid. This isn't right they all have hinges and locks, and lids."

He drew his wand and commanded,

"Alahomora"

The box he was pointing at opened. It contained a metal cup. He raised his wand again.

"Lumos"

His wand tip went bright and he noticed the giant stump twitch again. He moved his wand closer to it. It seemed to grow ever so slightly. Tormes looked down at the second riddle again. Then he climbed up and stood on top of the stump. Harry noticed that at no point had his hat glowed red. He waved his wand and said,

"Luna Lumos"

Moonlight erupted out of his wand and the stump began to rise. He cried "Nox" immediately the light stopped and the plant shrunk back to its original height. He hopped off. Harry had solved both riddles, he thought. Tormes had figured the second riddle was the Moon. Had he figured the first one out by now? In a Quick sweeping motion Tormes took a wide sweeping wand stroke and spun his entire body in a complete circle as he cried,

"Omnis Alahomora"

All the boxes flew open. Each reveled a different item inside. Tormes quickly ran along looking into each box. There was a locket in one, a challis, a stone, even a snitch in one. Then Tormes and Harry both spotted an Egg. Tormes grabbed it and mounted the stump again. He smashed the egg against the stump and a key fell out of the broken shell.

"Luna Lumos"

The plant climbed until it was nearly at the ceiling, Tormes pushed the key into the lock. The door swung open and the plant carried him through. He jumped off and cried "Nox" the plant descended, and the door slammed closed behind him. He was once again in another small corridor with a large door with another door knocker.

Harry quickly jotted down some more notes. He had solved the first riddle this time as it was spoken. It was of course an Egg. He made a few more comments about Tormes' performance, but watched the screen in front of him carefully. 26 minutes had passed so far.

Once again the door knocker was a witch. She was older put she had attractive, sharp, striking features. Tormes knocked once more, and the brass face came to life.

"Well young man I'll let you know that you are now past half way, after me you have but one more of my friends to meet. I will not delay here is the only riddle I have for you.

My life can be measured in hours,
I serve by being devoured.
Thin, I am quick
Fat, I am slow
Wind is my foe.

Good luck."

Tormes had copied the words down again, as did Harry in his tent. Tormes open the door.

This room was square shaped with bare walls of heavy stone there were four stone pillars mid way from each corner to the center of the room. Tormes currently stood in between two of the pillars. Between the other two pillars, seemingly guarding the door he must get through, stood four marble wizards. Tormes scanned the rest of the room. It was lit by sunlight from numerous windows. The only other thing of note in the room was a collection of shapes that were etched into the stones. There were 24 of them, which Tormes knew without counting, but Harry didn't. They were Runes. Tormes Clabbert Cap Glowed red. The four marble statues came to life and assumed a dueling stance. In unison they warned.

"Arm your self!"

Tormes did just that, all four statues fired stunning spells at him. He conjured a shield.

"Protego"

The first volley of stunners bounced off the shield. Meliflua returned the favor.

"Stupefy…Stupefy…Stupefy…Stupefy!"

They bounced off the enchanted statues harmlessly. He took cover behind one of the pillars. He could feel the clock ticking away. He looked up at the Runes he was facing; he saw the runes for Odin (Ansuz) and victory (Tyr) which looked like an arrow. He peeked back around the pillar to see one of the four statues had begun to move to his right making himself vulnerable. He shot another spell Harry didn't recognize at the marble wizard.

"Lacer!"

The spell hit the statue on its right side, a bit of the marble fell to the ground. Apparently the statues were vulnerable thought Harry. The injured statue fired a stunner at the champion. He put up another shielding spell.

"Protego"

This time the spell bounced high off the shield and hit the wall. It struck the Thurisaz Rune, which can mean Giant; it looks a bit like a triangle on its side. As it did the 4 marble statues grew larger.

Tormes fled to the other pillar, looking around the room for what Harry could guess was a specific rune. Harry saw him fire a blasting spell at the wall.

"Inflatus"

It hit a Rune shaped like a V but on its side , one of the statues crumbled. The Rune was Kaunaz, which along with meaning inspiration, can also mean torch or Candle. Before he could fire again another statue moved away from the door and towards him. At the same time a third marble wizard fired a spell at a different Rune, Uruz, which can represent strength and speed. As it hit the three remaining statues seemed to move faster, and launched faster spells at Tormes. He dove to his side, rolled and cast three rapid spells at the Kaunaz Rune.

"Inflatus…Inflatus…Inflatus!"

His aim was dead on. All three statues crumpled to the ground. Tormes righted himself up off the ground and ran to the door and went through it. The clock read 46 minutes.

Harry had solved the riddle, a Candle, and for now he would have to assume that the Rune that looked like a V on its side could represent a Candle. He was very glad that this had not been one of his tasks so many years ago. Then again he thought if it had been, and I had lost? Harry finished a few quick notes in time to see another brass door knocker, the fourth, come alive. It was a noble looking old wizard, with a strong chin partially hidden under a long beard. He had a commanding voice but soft kind eyes.

"Made it this far have you young man. I'm your fourth and last aid in this trial. Ahead of you lies the last task you must complete in this leg of your Journey. I present you with my Riddle:

When young, I am sweet in the sun.
When middle-aged, I make you gay.
When old, I am valued more than ever.

I hope to not see you again young man, good luck to you."

Tormes had copied the riddle down, he walked into the room.

What stood in front of him was unmistakable. It had the body of a giant lion, and the face of a lady. It was a Sphinx. And if Harry could tell from the clear image on the screen it was the same one he had encountered in the Tri-Wizarding Maze when he competed. The room itself was very ornate compared to the rest of the rooms that Tormes, the Drumstrang Champion had been in so far. The walls shimmered of a gold fabric with red decorative patterns. The Sphinx guarded a deep black carved wooden door. Along with four roman columns that ran from ceiling to floor there were 4 stain glass windows each was a picture. Two of the windows were witches and two were wizards and on second glance Harry recognized them as the founders of Hogwarts. With a second more to think he realized that they bared an eerie resemblance to the brass knockers as well. The only other Item in the room was a table that sat between Tormes and the Sphinx. On that table was a very large empty bowl, it was gold and bejeweled. Next to the Bowl sat a pitcher of Water, A bottle of wine, and a Decanter of liquor. Tormes foolishly raised his wand. As he did so his hat glowed brightly red.

"It would be in your best interest to put that away Wizard!"

The Sphinx warned.

"I am here to test your knowledge not your power, unless you care to lose your life."

Meliflua put his wand back into his robes. The hat stopped glowing. The Sphinx nodded and continued.

"What is it you offer me from this table? Choose well or it's back out the door you go and a new riddle to solve. I believe time is of a rather large concern to you."

Harry thought to himself that the riddle had almost been to easy could this really have be it. Tormes must have solved the riddle as well, as he quickly grabbed the bottle of wine, poured it into the bowl and presented it to the sphinx. The she motioned for the bowl to be left at her feet. She bent down and enjoyed a few deep sips.

"Lovely Wine, you have earned the right to be given my Riddle."

Tormes looked very much put off, as he had expected this to be the end.

"Now young man a present you with a quandary.

Champion this is your final task. You will be allowed to make one statement and one statement alone. After which you will be sent back to the beginning of the task, to start over, if your statement is false. Or if your statement is true, you will be held for an additional 10 minutes, and then be allowed to pass. Be clever and pass right through. What is your statement?"

Tormes did not speak a word. He had not written the Riddle down. He spoke not a word. Finally after a minute of what looked to Harry like Meliflua talking to himself, Tormes smiled and answered.

"I will be sent back to the beginning."

The Sphinx took a step to her side and gestured for Tormes to pass through the door. As he did so the clock stopped at 58 minutes and 19 seconds. The second his hand touched the doorknob it glowed blue and the screen went blank.

Harry leapt to his feet and pulled his wand. He exited the tent to hear thunderous applause. At first he thought they were for him and that he alone had seen the portkey. But there on stage being led down a ramp to a small tent was Tormes Meliflua and his headmaster Nikola Vulchanov. Harry went back into his tent embarrassed and relived.

One down and two to go he thought to himself. Harry wrote the solution to the riddle down, as he intended to teach his children the answer.

I will be sent back to the beginning. If this statement was true, he would have been held for 10 minutes and thus not be sent back. But then his statement would be false, which implies that he should be sent back to the beginning, making the statement true again, etc... In other words: the answer he gave could be neither true nor false and both true and false, allowing him to pass through.

With out a significant increase in feedback I think I will stop posting the story.

Please feel free to review, criticize and correct as much as you want. This is a first for me and just some fun.