Chapter 14 – Third Task

It was empty, eerie and quiet. Too quiet. Where were the cheering spectators? Even in the Forbidden Forest of the Second Task, Anya could occasionally hear them from their airships up above. Focusing on her right eye, Anya looked around the place until she finally found what she was looking for, the very same combination of Observation Charm and Tracking Charm that had hounded her during the Second Task. She expected the spectators to be lounging in the Great Hall, the entire event being broadcast on a magical panel.

Next, she drew her wand and cast the strongest Homenum Revelio she could muster. The spell turned up blank, there was no one in the general vicinity or the walls were enchanted to block the spell. Trying to figure out what the point of the Third Task was, Anya walked around the room she was in. The place had to be the Hogwarts dungeons, the air was much staler than the corridors of the upper floors. However, the place seemed new to her, the Tournament officials probably reconstructed the dungeons of Hogwarts. Or asked it to, Anya remembered a portion of the book Hogwarts: A History mentioning that Hogwarts was a pseudo-living castle that could repurpose its structure to fit the needs of its inhabitants.

If anything, she would say she was in a refitted classroom, the place being cleared out except for a table in the centre of the room. There was an amulet placed on the table, this one made of ornate gold with runes carved all over it. Anya picked up the amulet and inspected the runes, synchronisation rune scripts along with an auditory detection and project rune script. In short, it was a magical communication device.

"Comms check. Comms check. One, two, three. Can anyone hear me?" Anya spoke to the amulet, waiting patiently for a reply.

"Hello?" a gruff voice came from the amulet, Anya recognised Krum's voice. "What is this? What is going on?"

"Viktor Krum?" Anya asked. "Is that you?"

"Yes. And who is this?"

"Anya Seryy. This would be a method for communication between the Champion and his assigned Junior Champion. What is going on would depend on your current situation, do you happen to be trapped in a dungeon?"

"Yes."

"Then you are facing the very same problem that I am in now," said Anya, moving over to the door of the knob. She looked over it for magic and saw the swirls of magic emanating from it, she followed the trail of the magic which disappeared into the walls, probably connected to something else in the dungeon. Trying the knob, she found the door to be locked magically, at least she now knew what the magic she saw was. Looking at the dark mahogany door, she could spot circular patterns of runes carved on the wood.

"Describe what you are seeing," Anya ordered. "Because I'm seeing a locked door carved with runes and an empty room."

"I see the very same thing. Alohomora."

From the walls where the door's magic trailed out of, a simmer of magic she recognised as an Unlocking Charm snaked to the door and broke into shards as it impacted whatever magic it was that kept the door locked. As a result, the door rattled gently before coming back to a still. It appeared as though the spells Krum cast would affect her door and vice versa.

"Unlocking Charm doesn't work, Seryy."

"I noticed."

"How?"

"Alohomora," this time it was her who cast the Unlocking Charm, hoping that Krum would see his rattling door despite being unable to see magic. "You notice now?"

"Ah... yes. It seems our doors are connected. We must be tasked with opening each other's doors."

"Well the runes on the doors seem to be giving us a clue," Anya remarked.

"Indeed, and Arithmancy decoding spells seem to reveal the equations and formulas of the magic behind the door, even the Essence Revealing Charm works on the door. I suspect we are being tested on spell identification and spell dismantling."

Nothing like good ol' thermite.

Anya humoured herself with that thought, but there was no way she was going to conjure up thermite to use in front of a crowd. The poor Purebloods would all freak out.

"Well, let's get to work then," said Anya, moving over to inspect the runes on the door. "My door seems to be locked under a Triple Layer Sealing Spell, runes indicate that the layers are alternated in a positive-negative lattice pattern."

"Triple Layer Sealing huh?" Krum muttered in annoyance. "This is what they use for some of the doors in Durmstrang, it will be difficult to crack."

"Not in a set alternating layer," Anya countered. "Just apply enough pressure on the middle layer with a basic ward breaking spell to shift its nodes and the whole thing will come crashing down. Magical energy of like polarities will repel."

"And why are you so familiar in cracking wards?" Krum asked curiously.

"I read a lot," Anya evaded. "Just start working and tell me what your door holds."

"Nothing much honestly," Krum answered. "From the Arithmetic equations, all I can say is that there's a Locking Charm and an Anti-Alohomora Spell."

"That simple?" Anya was surprised, expecting much more.

"Well, this is for a Junior Champion..." Krum trailed off, leaving Anya to snort in disbelief.

"Alright, then I know what to do. You start working on my door first Krum, the wards will take time to be dismantled."

Anya patiently waited as Krum began to tear down the spell sealing her door. A few minutes passed and her door sprang open, causing her to hear a slight chuckle of satisfaction from Krum.

"Well, Seryy. What are you waiting for?"

"You may want to step away from your door." Anya gave the Bulgarian ten seconds before aiming her wand at the door. "Confringo!"

The door absorbed her spell readily and Anya was pretty sure Krum's door just got blown open by her Blasting Curse.

"Merlin! Seryy what did you do?"

"A Blasting Curse," Anya replied casually. "No point wasting time trying to crack a spell. We better get going, this Third Task is probably some sort of a puzzle course that the champions have to race against."

"Alright, use a Reductor Curse the next time, you seemed to be very proficient in those."

Laughing quietly at the jibe, Anya proceed down the now open hallway, keeping her wand up at all times. Her eyes were practically lighting up at the number of glowing lines all over the dungeon, various spells holding together this fiesta of a Task. Among all the Tasks so far, this was the most reliant on magic, everything from the doors to the walls seemed to be tied up in a vast array of interconnected charms and enchantments, powered by either runes or spells.

Because of this, it was quite easy to notice the subtle shifts and changes the dungeon was undergoing as she made her way down the stone path. A swarm of charmed candles hanging on a chandelier was easily noticed by a coiling twist of purple lines, causing them to clash with a pre-emptive Freezing Charm before they could get near to Anya. The hallway of armour suits were met with similar pre-emptive spells – this time Reductor Curses – before they could rush the Junior Champion, strings of orange from the ceilings attached on their joints like puppets controlled by the dungeon itself.

Some of the challenges like the animated objects were dealt with alone, but others required cooperation with her partner. A giant stone door that Krum faced required Anya to decipher a riddle to open. A giant golem that attempted to pummel Krum into a glob until Anya was able to rearrange a hall or mirrors for a red beam to shine on a gemstone. The further they went, the surer Anya was that the person who designed this Task in particular was a Muggleborn who had lived off Indiana Jones movies.

"Seryy, how long have we been in this dungeon?" Krum asked impatiently.

"Two hours at most," Anya replied, ignoring a growling stomach as she fired a spell at a purple valve at the ceiling. "There, the water should stop now."

"Thank Merlin, drowning in a dungeon is not at the top of my list," said Krum as the door in front of Anya opened, revealing a corridor and an opening door. Said door revealed a flooded room with a drenched Krum who was firing off another Stunning Spell at a Grindylow.

"Well this is a pleasure," Anya remarked, taking her eyes off Krum to check the corridor. "Good to see you here, Krum."

"I do hope this means that the Task is reaching its end," Krum sighed, stepping into the corridor and casting a Drying Charm on his clothes.

The pair made their way down the stone corridor before entering a large chamber. The chamber was vast and cavernous, rows of towering Romanesque columns held the vaulted ceiling in place, their stone blocks bearing a pristine shade of white. At the end of the chamber stood the light at the end of the tunnel, a sloping corridor that seemed to lead out of the dungeon. Two other corridors stood beside the corridor they just came from, presumably for the other teams.

Making their way into the chamber, Anya immediately noticed circular swirls of dormant magic scattered throughout the ceiling and walls. She recognised them as the same kind of magic behind the Leaky Cauldron that opened the path to Diagon Alley, there was probably a nasty surprise waiting behind the stone blocks. Accompanying that were invisible – not to her though – tripwire spells that smothered the entire chamber, Anya could spend her time deactivating them but it would risk providing more time for the other champions to catch up. After all, feeling quite confident with their rate of progress and the absence of the other teams, Anya reckoned they were at the lead.

"You seem hesitant," Krum observed. "Is there something wrong?"

"This whole room is a big trap," Anya stated.

"Of course," Krum softly snorted. "The exit lays right in front of us with no obstacles in between? Even a child would notice that something is off."

Suddenly, a cry of joy from their backs made the pair spin around, pointing their wands at the source of the disturbance.

"We made it! Exit's right there!" Poitiers jabbered excitedly to his Hogwarts partners, Harry and Cedric, before screeching into a halt. "Merde."

Cedric was the first among the three to react, aiming his wand at Anya whom he perceived to be the bigger threat. Harry and Poitiers followed suit, aiming at Krum instead. There was a minute of silence as each side stared at the other, waiting for someone to make the first move. Eventually, it was the Frenchman who broke the awkward silence.

"I believe this is what's called an impasse," said Poitiers lightly. "Is duelling allowed in this Task?"

"Nobody said anything," Krum shrugged. "It's a free for all. And shouldn't Potter and Diggory be competing against each other?"

"Well," said Cedric hesitantly. "Let's say we agreed on a Hogwarts victory here."

"Expelliarmus!"

"Protego."

Both green-eyed champions fired their spells at the same time, Harry's Disarming Charm splashed harmlessly against Anya's Shield Charm, signalling the start of an ensuing chaos. Both teams ran for the exit, firing off spells as they ran. Cedric, having experience with Anya and her insanely accurate aim, held a Shield Charm for his team as they rushed for the exit, allowing the other two to fire Stunner after Stunner.

It did not take long before someone activated the tripwire spells scattered throughout the chamber. There was a deep rumbling sound and the ceilings and walls began to move, the stone bricks shuffling and rearranging to form circular holes. A wave of clicking sound filled the champions' ears as several acromantulas crawled out from the holes, making their way to the champions as the holes behind the arachnids sealed back shut.

Seeing the giant spiders make their way towards them, the champions all made a mad dash for the exit, occasionally firing spells at either the acromantulas or their competitors. As the teams neared the exit, Anya felt a sharp jerk across her gut. Next thing she knew, she was hurled back into the chamber and the acromantulas, landing on her back.

She reacted on reflex when the red lines flickered in her vision, eyes darting around her periphery before rolling aside to dodge the incoming pincers of a pouncing acromantula. With a wide swipe of her arm, a Severing Charm decapitated the arachnid. Climbing onto her feet, she observed her surroundings.

Around her were the traces of a Summoning Charm, faint broken strands of yellow scattered in the air. Krum laid a few feet away, moving up from his prone position as well. It seemed that he was also pulled by the Summoning Charm. Five acromantulas were making their way closer, their pincers clicking rapidly. To the exit, the other champions were almost at the exit, Cedric waving on his teammates to move faster.

However, all those were of little concern compared to what her right eye saw. Fluctuating wildly were the various lines of magic that covered the entire dungeon. Iridescent cords curled and thrashed violently before starting to stretch and pull, shaking dangerously in protest to the strain it was under. The tension grew higher and higher until, finally, it snapped.

The explosions went off all over the chamber like a lit ammunition dump, the tremors throwing Anya off her feet. Blocks of stone raptured into fragments, showering the chamber with rubble. Slowly, parts of the chamber began to collapse, the columns that held the ceiling crumbling down into piles and large chunks began to block the place. At least Fleur and Dulovo would never reach this mess as a segment of the ceiling blocked out what would have been their corridor. Once again, she was forced to roll went a large piece of falling rubble threatened to kill her. When she got back onto her feet, she found an incapacitated Krum lying on the floor, having been hit on the head with a loose fragment of stone. Trying to stabilise herself with the still shaking chamber, she made her way to the Durmstrang Champion and checked his vitals. There was a strong pulse, he was in no immediate danger.

Rather, the real danger came in the form of the now torn down walls. A mass of acromantulas now poured from the holes, cracks and raptures all over the walls and ceiling. Five she could easily deal with, fifty, sixty, no- seventy with a deadweight to carry out was starting to seem impossible.

"Rennervate," Anya muttered, watching the spell fail on Krum. The hit on his head must have been hard enough for severe concussion. Anya glanced down at the unconscious body and considered abandoning him, but a voice pull her from her thoughts.

"Come on Seryy, move! I'll get Krum," yelled Harry as he shot a Reductor Curse at the acromantula closest to Anya. Ignoring the falling rubble, the Gryffindor rushed over and began lifting Krum up as Anya watched on with shock.

"Potter, are you fucking retarded?" exclaimed Anya, voice thick with disbelief. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I can't just leave the two of you behind," said Harry feverishly, trying to place the Bulgarian on his shoulders. "You'll die here."

"And so will you," spat Anya, whirling around to send a Blasting Curse into the mass of black. The curse blew open an acromantula, sending its nearby compatriots scattering around. Anya turned back to see her brother struggle with carrying Krum, taking slow steps towards the exit where Cedric and Poitiers were yelling at them to move. With a suffering sigh she pulled the unconscious body off Harry's back, she heaved the body over her and carried Krum with ease in a fireman's lift.

Anya immediately launched herself into a sprint, keeping a hold of Krum with one hand while holding her wand in the other, occasionally letting loose a curse at the horde of arachnids. Harry stuck close behind her, firing Stunners as he forced himself to keep up with her. All around them, pieces of the chamber were still falling, mounds of stone bricks creating a difficult path to traverse. Dread gnawed on her bones when the still collapsing magical system caused another burst of explosions, this time bringing down the exit. Cedric and Poitiers managed to dive out of the way to safety, but now she had no way out.

Cursing softly under her breath, she placed Krum down on the floor and considered her options. The acromantulas were encircling them by this point, the prospect of fresh meat sending them into a frenzy as the clicking of their pincers grew louder. Harry backed into her, face pale and shaking slightly.

"Shit. Shit. Shit. What do we do?" Harry aimed his wand at the approaching acromantulas, shifting his aim jerkily every so often to the nearest acromantula. The arachnids – having the intelligence to understand its threat – reacted to his wand, jumping back whenever the wand was pointed at them.

"For starters, calm down," Anya responded, staring at the acromantulas as though searching for an opening. "You're a Gryffindor, be brave."

"Heh," Harry snorted. "What about you, Slytherin?"

"Being cunning here," said Anya softly, not giving her full attention to the conversation. "And that requires me to calm down."

"So you have a cunning plan?" Harry asked, pointing his wand at other creeping acromantula, which jumped back angrily, its pincers clicking even more loudly.

"Yes. We simply wait and stay alive."

"What!?"

"Think about it Potter," Anya reasoned calmly. "This is a controlled tournament, not a real scenario. Even with this major screw up, the officials are probably hauling their arses to get this fixed as we speak. So we stay alive, and let them do the work. It's bad publicity if three champions were to die in a Triwizard Tournament that has just been reinstated."

"You're gambling here, Seryy."

Another acromantula tried to make its way forward, but dropped dead when Anya sent a Severing Charm it, cleaving its head open. The clicking grew louder, the arachnids were growing restless.

"And those are some good odds."

"Good Godric," Harry sighed through his ragged breathing. "Are you damn sure on this?"

Anya turned and faced him, staring straight at his eyes. Her voice was soft, but there was a steely edge to it. Even amidst the loud clicking of acromantula pincers, her soft voice easily found its way into Harry's ears.

"Do you trust me? Absolutely and unconditionally?"

Hesitating for a few seconds, Harry nodded slowly and Anya continued to stare at him, scrutinising for something. To his surprise, she cracked a smile. It wasn't her usual small, amused smile which she wore. It was a wide smile, genuine and radiant, her eyes crinkling as her lips tugged upwards. The smile went as fast as it came and her face went back to its calm and grim countenance.

"Then I'm glad we have mutual understanding," Anya threw a standard set of concealment spells over Krum's unconscious body. She turned around and levelled her wand, back facing Harry.

"Face front. Wands up. Stay sharp. Back to back." Anya ordered crisply. "Name me your best combat spells."

Scrambling to his position, Harry faced the encircling acromantulas. The pair now stood back to back, preparing themselves for the inevitable.

"My best would be the Disarming Spell."

"Anything else?" Anya asked, suppressing a snort of disbelief.

"Stupefy, Petrificus Totalus, Reducto..." Harry began listing off spells.

"Reductor Curse or a Blasting Curse if you can," Anya interrupted the ramble. "Keep those as your primary arsenal. Take out the biggest threats you see, I'll focus on crowd control."

"Alright, got it," Harry nodded feverishly. He kept looking around at the swarm of arachnids surrounding them, with more crawling out from the broken walls. Left. Right. Front. Back. There was no way he could cover all directions. He stole a glance back the raven-haired girl. She kept her attention forward, poised for action.

"Seryy, they're all around us," sweat trickled uncomfortably down his forehead. "How am I supposed to handle all this?"

"That's the whole point of being back to back," Anya replied logically. "We cover both sides. When the crowd gets too rowdy on your end and the big threats get too dangerous on my end, we simply switch places."

"What if one of us screws up?"

"That's not going to happen."

"How do you know?" Harry snapped. The clicking sound grew even louder, the acromantulas were going to pounce any moment.

"Absolutely and unconditionally," Anya replied with an unnatural calm. "You see? I'm not the one darting back every few seconds because I know you've got my back. Now, just do the same. We both do our parts and we'll make it out clean."

Harry looked back at Seryy incredulously but found her staying true to her words, she was focused on the eight-legged crowd that was in front of her, leaving her back completely open for him to defend. Taking a deep breath, Harry faced front and steeled himself for what could be a last stand.

The clicking of pincers reached a crescendo and in the moment Anya saw the legs of the acromantulas around her tensing for a leap, she aimed her wand above her.

A blinding white flare erupted from the tip of the wand, hovering a few feet above the two siblings. The sudden burst of illumination interrupted the acromantulas from their pounce, forcing them to scatter. Slashing back downwards, Anya's wand transfigured the surrounding rubbles into feral dogs and a jab of Harry's wand sent a Reductor Curse into the head of the biggest, meanest arachnid he could spot. Around the edges of Anya's vision, familiar red lines made themselves known. They always did this during combat, reminding her that she was in danger, waiting to tighten straight in the moment when her life was in direct threat.

All hell broke loose.

XXXXX

There had been 'ohhh's and 'ahhh's, gasps and cheers. But at the moment, a deathly silence smothered the Great Hall in a mood that was oppressively grim, punctuated by hushed nervous whispers and an equally nervous commentary. The house banners that adorned the walls were now replaced with a monolithic banner charmed to display the champions' progress based on what the Observation and Tracking Charms were recording. Long tables and benches used for mealtimes were replaced by rows and rows of chairs. The Great Hall had been converted to a theatre.

Cedric and Poitiers had made it to the exit and left the dungeons. Fleur and Dulovo were cut off from the chamber but had been retrieved by the tournament officials. All that was left to see on the banner were two Hogwarts fourth-years standing back to back, an unconscious Krum – now concealed – in between them and acromantulas surrounding them.

"Well, it looks like Potter and Seryy are preparing themselves for a desperate stand. Officials are still trying to resolve the issue, but there- uh..." Bagman licked his lips nervously. "There seems to be a bit of a... technical issue. N-no worries there, ladies and gentlemen, I'm pretty sure it's all going to be dandy soon."

Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were whispering heatedly to each other, anxiously waiting for Moody and any of the tournament officials to bring them an update on the situation. The students were all nearing panic, biting their nails and hugging their friends for comfort. Neville had fainted long ago from the sight of all the spiders and a pale-faced Ron looked quite close in following his footsteps.

When Anya shot the flare and the volley of spells began flying loose, there was a collective intake of breaths and several screams throughout the Great Hall. The transfigured dogs formed a protective circle around the duo and leapt at the acromantulas, snapping at the legs and eyes. In addition to a blinding flare that impeded the arachnids' advance, Anya flicked her wand in multiple directions, sending jolting streams of red sparks all over the horde, resulting in rippling flicker of tiny explosions. The spell went off like an ignited crate of firecrackers, flickering bursts of flame and loud rattling showered the acromantulas. It did little harm, but it sent the large crowd scattering away from the pair. However, the larger acromantulas were unfazed by the dogs, lights and firecrackers, the effort from Anya only slowing them down.

Harry focused on targeting the larger acromantulas on his side, well-aimed Reductor Curses making short work of them while the mass of smaller ones scuttled forth. When the swarm on Harry's side and the large acromantulas on Anya's side got too close, the crowd in the Great Hall could see Anya's mouth moving in what lip readers could discern as 'Switch!'

Grabbing the back of Harry's tracksuit, Anya pulled him towards her position while she spun and lunged over to his position. The two barely reached their place before two spells fired off in synchrony, a Blasting Curse tearing up two large acromantulas on one end that were too close for comfort and a firecracker spell sending back droves of smaller acromantulas on the other end.

"Good Godric! Will you look at that," Bagman croaked in shock. "The two are holding their ground."

The staff and students stared in awe as the two worked in harmony, rotating positions every so often. At first, Anya had to be the one to call out when to switch, tugging Harry along. But a few rotations in and neither words nor actions were needed, the two seemed to work in the same mind. One kept the crowd of acromantulas back while the other picked out the big ones that could not be held back.

"Albus, I've got bad news," Moody grunted as he entered the Great Hall from a side entrance, flanked by two tournament officials. "The magic system supporting the Third Task is completely fried. Tournament officials placed too many damn spells there, it couldn't handle the stress. The officials can't get through, neither can I."

"I feared the worse," Dumbledore sighed before rising from his seat. "I'll have to try to fix it myself."

"I don't enjoy being the one who has to say the ugly truth, Albus. But-"

Moody's next words were cut off momentarily when he saw the banner. Seeing Harry Potter amidst the swarm of acromantulas was not what he intended. The boy should have made it out safely with Diggory and Poitiers when he activated that trap. Why in Merlin's name was he still in the chamber?

"But you wouldn't be able to solve this alone," Moody managed to change his intended words without missing a beat. "Filius! Minerva! You'll need to come as well. The sooner we fix this, the better."

The two Head-of-Houses stood up and followed the two aged wizards out of the Great Hall, rushing for the dungeons. Moody moved as fast as his wooden leg could allow him, hoping that he would reach the chamber in time. He intended for the Bulgarian and the Slytherin girl to die, thus reducing the competition for Harry Potter to win the Tournament. After all, the Second Task showed the two of them as the most capable champions and the girl was too sharp and dangerous for her own good. How Harry Potter managed to stumble his way back into the chamber when he was already at the exit was equally confusing and infuriating.

He needed to hurry, before the second phase of his trap sprang.

XXXXX

Fifteen minutes passed, they were holding their ground and they were doing it well, the floor was soaked in acromantula blood at this point and the transfigured dogs shattered. No words were needed, the two siblings simply knew when to rotate and trusted the other to move as well. Turn, move, and cast.

"Reducto!"

"Bauzuk!"

Another fat acromantula vaporised and a widespread ripple of explosions scattered the swarm back. Anya was drenched in sweat, more so from magical strain and physical. The sounds of Harry's ragged breathing told her that he was just as tired. The red lines in her vision twisted a little more tightly, as it had been doing throughout the entire onslaught. If no help came soon, they would soon be in dangerous waters.

Even more dread pooled in her stomach when the chamber was hit with another wave of tremors. So far, tremors only meant that things were about to dive further down the rabbit hole. Anya drew in a sharp breath as the snapped and broken lines that surrounded the chamber whirled into a frenzy, compressed itself and exploded. The ensuing shockwave was more magical than physical as Anya felt her breath taken away. Black lines flew all over her vision, clouding the chamber like a thick fog.

"Reducto!"

No spell came from Harry's wand and he gaped at his failed wand in shock.

"Fuck." That was the sole word Anya uttered before she scrambled onto the floor, biting viciously on her hand. Blood trickled from her bite and using her other hand, she smeared blood on her fingers. With desperate haste, she began drawing out runes on the floor. "Potter! Give me fifteen seconds! Don't die! Don't let me die!"

Black lines as dark as an ink-filled void. Null magic. A rare occurrence that – as its name implies – nullifies all nearby magic, essentially a magical EMP. The dread in Anya's stomach tripled when she realised the implication of this. Null magic took a lot of specific circumstances to manifest, the odds of it happening in a collapse of a magical system was one in a thousand. There was no way it was coincidence, someone engineered this, someone wanted her dead.

Harry stumbled about helplessly before composing himself and hissing loudly at the acromantulas, the arachnids back off in surprise at the sound of their mortal foes. Anya busied herself with the blood runes, four sigils at each corner of a three metre circle with a smaller circle in the centre. The acromantulas paused momentarily at the resurgent tremor and Harry's Parseltongue, pincers clicking in confusion before slowly approaching their prey once more. With the finishing touches to the runic circle complete, Anya rubbed her bitten hand on the small circle at the centre, aggravating the wound to release more blood onto it. Wizarding blood was innately magical, providing a fuel source for the runic circle. Muttering a runic activation incantation and forcing in a good measure of willpower, bronze lines sprung up in a hemisphere, pushing the black away.

Harry felt his wand warming up, coming back to life. He had to admit, Anya truly was a prodigy in Runes. It was about time too, the acromantulas were edging closer.

"Nice one, Seryy."

"Not yet, needs more blood. Diffindo."

Had it not been for some of the still present null magic, she would have severed her arm completely. Her arm tore open, allowing for blood to gush into the circle, which the circle absorbed ravenously. Anya wheezed out in pain and saw the bronze lines glow and widen, pushing the black even further away until there was no null magic around them.

"POTTER! SPELLS!"

There was no further instructions needed as Harry sent a Blasting Curse at the closest acromantula, blowing it open in a spew of mushy parts. Another Blasting Curse from Anya took out another large acromantula, but the arachnids have gotten too close.

From the corner of her eye, Anya saw an acromantula leap from Harry's side as he was firing a Reductor Curse at another acromantula. High on adrenaline and clouded by pain, she reacted on instinct and lunged to shove Harry aside. The moment her feet left the ground, the red lines in her vision drew taut.

She knew.

There was no turning back.

No dodging.

No coming out unharmed.

Her shoulder slammed Harry out of the way as pincers sank into her back. She shrieked in pain as the venom burned through her body, the searing sensation piercing into her bones. The arachnid landed onto her and drove its pincers deeper, Anya swung her wand to the acromantula's sternum and jabbed it hard enough to break its skin.

"CONFRINGO!" screamed Anya, the point blank Blasting Curse showered the place with the acromantula's remains. Summoning the pincers out of her back, Anya rolled over and writhed in agonising pain.

"Seryy!" Harry cried out as he climbed back to his feet and rushed over to Anya, firing a Reductor Curse at a pouncing acromantula. He made his way over to Anya and pulled her off the floor. He tried to find a way out, but the acromantulas were all over them at this point.

"Potter, Impervius Charm. All of us, don't forget Krum," Anya forced the words out with gritted teeth, struggling to claw her way up with as the venom burdened her movement. "Followed by a Shield Charm, aim on the floor."

Harry rushed to obey without hesitation. Casting the spells as the acromantulas closed in what little gap there was.

"Impervius. Impervius. Impervius. Protego!"

No sooner had the words leave Harry's mouth than Anya bellowed at the top of her lungs.

"FULGUR MAXIMA!"

Arcs of bright blue lightning lanced from her wandtip. The paralytic effects from the venom prevented her from aiming, but the blood from both her runic circle and the slain acromantulas provided all the conductors she needed to kill the acromantulas without aiming. Bolts of lightning snaked through the pools viscous liquid on the floor, electrocuting the surrounding acromantulas.

The arachnids went into a crazed spasm before collapsing on the floor, either dead or paralysed. Smoke filled the air and a nauseating stench filled their nose. By then, the overexertion, blood loss and acromantula venom had taken a toll on Anya's body. Darkness took over and she slid back onto the floor, passing out and twitching from the effects of the venom.

"Oh Merlin, Seryy! Seryy!" yelled Harry, shaking her unconscious figure. He turned around to see more acromantulas scuttling in from the holes in the walls. "Bloody hell..."

Thankfully, rescue came in the form of Dumbledore, Moody, Flitwick and McGonagall. Stones at covered the exit were shifted aside magically, the raw power of the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot brought to bear, aided by Moody and Professor McGonagall. Professor Flitwick busied himself in stabilising the haywire magic in the area, swishing his wand while muttering incantations. Dumbledore rushed over to the champions, with Tournament officials and mediwizards in tow.

A wide sweep of Dumbledore's wand and the acromantulas were all set ablaze. Professor McGonagall and Moody rushed to seal off the holes in the walls and ceilings leaving the chamber safe for the mediwizards to attend to the champions. Anya was quickly strapped onto a levitating stretcher and a mediwizard immediately shoved a temporary antidote and a Blood-Replenishing Potion down her throat.

The concealment spells on Krum were removed and he too was strapped onto a stretcher. Harry tried to resist, to busy worrying for Anya's health as she had shoved him away only to be attacked by an acromantula. However, the mediwizards were adamant in having him lie down, and thus Harry was forced onto a stretcher as well. The exhaustion finally found its way into Harry's senses and he simply allowed the darkness of sleep to take over him.

XXXXX

"Look! He's waking up!"

"Quiet down, Ronald. Madam Pomfrey will kick us out if you're too loud."

With a groan, Harry finally woke up, feeling his entire body aching. His throat was dry and the pangs of hunger hit him immediately. After all, he missed breakfast during the Third Task because he woke up to find himself in the dungeons. He was in the Hospital Wing, lying on a bed. In front him were Ron and Hermione, sitting on wooden chairs and looking at him with expressions of concern.

"How long was I out?" Harry asked.

"Not that long mate, it has only been a few hours," Ron answered while Hermione poured him a glass of water which he gratefully accepted. "Dinner just ended half an hour ago. The lot of you gave Madam Pomfrey a big shock."

"I can imagine that," Harry snorted as he sipped the glass of water. "What happened after the Task?"

"Big fiasco, everyone panicked, the teachers panicked, Bagman panicked," said Ron. "Imagine the shock when the screen went blank after the tremor at the chamber. And when it came back, it was you with an unconscious Krum and Seryy, surrounded by smoking dead spiders."

"We were so worried," said Hermione, bringing Harry into a bone-crushing hug before hitting him hard on the shoulder repeatedly, forcing Harry to bring his pillow up to shield himself from her fists. "What on earth were you thinking? You were at the exit and the place was going to collapse. What did you do? You ran back to the swarm of acromantulas? Are you mad? You could have died."

"He didn't though," Ron grinned happily. "Got off with forty-eight points."

"Forty-eight points!?" Harry spluttered.

"That's right," Ron said brightly. "For showing bravery and moral fibre by going back for your fellow champions when they were in dire straits. Also that bit with the whole taking down a horde of acromantula by yourself probably helped."

"Oh yeah! How did you manage to do that?" Hermione asked.

"What?" Harry was pretty sure he was not on the same page as his friends.

"Didn't you remember?" Ron pressed. "The last we saw in the Great Hall, you and Seryy were surrounded by acromantulas. The charm that showed you guys broke for a while, when it came back it showed you and an unconscious Seryy and all the acromantulas were dead. You took them all down yourself, right?

"What!?" Harry repeated, the gears in his head turning. "That wasn't me! That was Seryy, she was the one who did it before passing out."

"Oh well..." Ron grinned. "Too late for that mate, just accept the damn points and stop being a Hufflepuff."

"I can't just take credit for her work," Harry protested. "How is she and Krum? Are they alright?"

"Krum's alright," Hermione answered, ignoring Ron's indignant huff at the mention of the Bulgarian. "Just a bad concussion, nothing Madam Pomfrey couldn't fix. Seryy had it much worse, acromantula venom is a nasty thing."

Harry sank back into his pillow, wallowing in guilt. She took a blow for him and he took her points, hardly fair. Soon enough, Madam Pomfrey came to chase Ron and Hermione out, stating that he needed rest.

"Madam Pomfrey, is it alright if I checked on Seryy?"

"Now, Mr Potter, you really need to rest. Furthermore, I don't think you should be disturbing Ms Seryy."

"I'm alright, I wasn't the one who got injured," Harry protested. "And Seryy really saved me back there, I should at least see if she's alright in return."

"Well..." Madam Pomfrey grew flustered at the reasoning, professionalism fighting with morality. "I still think you shouldn't see her."

"Come on, Madam Pomfrey. I owe her this," pleaded Harry.

Madam Pomfrey sighed, silently cursing the soft spot she had nursed for this Gryffindor.

"Fine... make it quick, and I want to see you back in bed when I get back," Madam Pomfrey relented. "And not a word about her scars to other people, I'm sure she hid them to prevent an embarrassment."

"Huh, scars?"

"Yes, I had to flush her body from all magical interference to rid her of the acromantula venom. It removed the glamour charms that she apparently had, revealing scars all over her body. Now go, and remember, be back in bed don't go spouting out other people's secrets."

Nodding in confusion, Harry made his way down to Anya's bed, pulling the curtains open. His jaw dropped, disbelief in his eyes. All the past suspicions that he had once harboured came back in full force.

"Anne!?"

AN: Is this... a cliffhanger? It was only a matter of time.