Power of the Prince Lineage

SeverusxLily & Children

Rated T

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters from the franchise. That honor belongs to JK Rowling

Power of the Prince Lineage

Chapter 20: The Third Task

Harry woke up the next morning to fingers lightly running through his untamable hair. He groaned softly and opened his blurrily opened his eyes, his vision fuzzy as he looked up. Seeing vibrant red in his vision he knew it was his mother gently coaxing him awake. With a sleepy smile he said with his voice laced with sleep, "Hi mum."

"Good morning, sweetheart," Lily replied with a warm smile. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright, though my stomach hurts."

"Are you hungry?"

"Yes, but I think it's mostly just nerves for the Third Task in just hours."

Lily's smile fell a bit at the mention of the final challenge her baby would have to face later that day. She knew it was to be his most difficult challenge yet, but she was praying that everything would be alright and that the most Harry would come out with was just a few scrapes and bruises. She didn't have to teach today, so she was going to attend the Third Task. Severus hadn't wanted her to come, but she had put her foot and said she was going to attend the tournament. She needed to be there for Harry, no matter what.

Giving him a kiss on his forehead she said to Harry, "Well get up and get dressed. You should eat before having to head back to school."

Harry nodded and climbed out of bed, heading to his connected bathroom to shower and relieve himself. Once he was in the bathroom and the door closed behind him, Lily sighed before leaving her son's bedroom to wake her other children. She hoped to Merlin Harry would be alright during the Third Task.

Later that evening just thirty minutes before the start of the Third Task, the triplets were all huddled together running over their plan once more. When they were certain that their plan was concrete—at least until they had to start improvising—they began to head down to the Quidditch Pitch where the task would be held along with the other students. As they went they ran into their parents that were standing and talking with Professors Flitwick and McGonagall. Walking over to them Tobias said, "Hi mum. What are you doing here?"

Lily hugged the other redhead before hugging her other two triplets replying, "I'm here to watch and support Harry." Looking back at McGonagall she said, "And while we still have time, I would like to ask you about Toby's work ethic and him in general as a Gryffindor."

Minerva smiled and said, "Mr. Snape is a wonderful student and top of his Gryffindor First Year class. I swear he knows more than he is letting on."

"I must say the same for Miss Snape, as well," Professor Flitwick piped in with his squeaky voice. "She is top of her Ravenclaw First Year Class as well. And like Minerva has said, I believe she knows more than she lets on. But she is humble and doesn't show it off or brag about it, and takes the time to help others that ask without making them feel academically inadequate."

"Same for Mr. Snape."

"And Roderick does the same," Severus said looking at his children.

Flitwick looked at the couple and said with a smile, "You two should be proud of your children, and Harry too. They all have grown here and always do their best. And I know Harry will pull through this tournament a winner, whether he actually wins or not."

Lily smiled down at the Charms Professor and said, "Thank you, Filius." Severus nodded in agreement with a small smile on his face.

Eileen looked at her Head of House and asked, "Does this mean I'm your favorite student?"

Professor Flitwick raised an eyebrow at her before answering, "I'll let you know when you graduate from Hogwarts."

Roderick and Tobias laughed as their sister pouted, her cute expression causing the four adults to chuckle as well. Severus' smile grew a bit before suggesting that they head down to the Quidditch Pitch so they weren't late for the start of the Third Task. As the adults walked away the triplets trailed behind and began to once again quietly discuss their plan to follow Harry all the way to the Goblet of Fire. When they finally reached the Quidditch Pitch, they could see that almost everyone was there and seated, others making their way to any vacant seat. Roderick scanned the crowd once more before ducking back out to join his siblings where they were hiding from prying eyes. They all looked at each other and nodded before casting the Disillusionment Charm on themselves, essentially disappearing and blending into their surroundings. They hurried into the Quidditch Pitch and made their way to where Harry was standing with Professor Moody, Roderick narrowing his eyes at the imposter. The triplets turned their attention to Dumbledore when he began speaking, knowing it wouldn't be long before the cannon went off to start the Third Task.

"Welcome everyone to the third and final task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament," Dumbledore began, the crowd clapping and cheering at the announcement. The Headmaster nodded as the four Champions made their way into the arena, where he then began to tell of how they would all have to navigate their way through the maze to reach the center where the Goblet of Fire was waiting to claim one of them as Tri-Wizard Champion. As he continued to speak, a sudden realization came over Eileen, causing her to gasp softly before grabbing Roderick and Tobias' arm and whispered, "If we're going to beat the bad man, the other Horcruxes need to be destroyed to completely increase our chances."

Realizing their father was still holding onto them, Tobias whispered, "Maybe we can send a message on the wind to him before we venture inside."

Roderick nodded and took his wand, tapping the tip against his temple and mouth, a magical bubble containing the words he didn't actively speak sitting on the tip. Finding his father in the crowd he sent it his way and straight into his ear, noticing how the dark haired wizard frowned in confusion before looking around to try and find his son as the whisper used his voice. Just then the cannon went off, causing everyone to jump before both Cedric and Harry entered the maze first, the triplets following close behind their older sibling. Looking back they noticed Moody discreetly pointing in a certain direction towards Harry, telling him to keep turning that way to make it to the center. Beyond him they saw their father looking towards Harry with an alarmed look on his face, and they all knew that he knew they were inside the maze right before it closed behind them.

Severus had been looking around the Quidditch Pitch to try and find his children after hearing Roderick's voice in his ear, and could find them to no avail. A horrible feeling sprouted in his stomach and he quickly looked to the maze entrance where Harry was walking inside and could see three flickers of magic seemingly following the fourteen year old. Upon closer inspection he realized that those flickers were actually the shape of people, little people. And then suddenly it hit him: the triplets had Disillusioned themselves and were following Harry into the Third Task!

Before he could do or say anything, the maze closed behind all of his children, trapping them inside and he knew it wasn't opening again until someone came out a winner or until someone forfeited. Even so he thought about what his son's whisper in his ear said to him.

Destroy the Horcruxes now, dad. It's crucial it is done today.

He wondered what Roderick, Tobias, and Eileen were up to. Whatever it was it was important, especially for Roderick to request the Horcruxes be destroyed today, and he figured as soon as possible. But what could the reason be? Before he could think on it more, Lily gasped and grabbed him by his arm, turning his attention towards her.

"What is it?" Severus asked.

Lily pointed down to where Professor Moody was standing and whispered, "There's something about him that's just not right. And between you and me, I swear I saw him point Harry in a certain direction before the maze closed, as if to deliberately tell him which way to go to get to the Goblet of Fire."

Severus looked at the Auror and said in a low voice, "Roderick also told me he believes that Moody put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire. And if he did, that means he enchanted it so that it would specifically spit out our son's name."

"But why? Why would he do that?"

Black eyes stayed fixed on Moody, wondering too why he would deliberately place Harry in danger. However his eyes widened when the man stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth about three times before taking a swig of whatever was in his little flask. His mind suddenly flashed back to his time as a Death Eater and knew of only one person that had ever done that in the Voldemort's ranks during the First War.

"Because he's not Moody," Severus all but growled before waving his wand towards the school, a phial of clear liquid flying into his hand mere moments later. Standing up he made his way down from the stands towards the field where Professor Dumbledore, Cornelius Fudge, and the imposter stood among others, Lily following close behind. He saw Dumbledore ready to greet him and most likely ask him what he was doing, but his eyes stayed on the Moody imposter. Without missing a beat and not allowing anyone to say or do anything, he took his wand quickly pointed at "Moody" incanting, "Petrificus Totalus!"

Everyone gasped upon seeing Professor Snape suddenly use the Full Body-Bind Curse on the Auror, instantly locking him up and causing him to fall on the ground. Appalled Dumbledore asked, "Severus, what is it do you think you're doing?"

Severus stood over the imposter and answered, "Catching a fake."

"What do you mean, Severus? What is the meaning of this?"

The Potions Master said nothing except for canceling the curse around the bound man's head so that would be moveable and forced his mouth open, pouring in the potion that was in the phial. Lily looked on with wide eyes as she said, "Veritaserum."

"Mr. Snape, what is the meaning of this?!" Minister Fudge demanded as he pushed the younger man out of the way to stand in front of "Moody". "What are you doing to my Auror?!"

Severus looked at the Minister with a blank expression before looking past him to the imposter sitting with a dazed expression. Catching his eye he asked, "Are you an Auror?"

The imposter tried to not say anything, but eventually opened his mouth answering truthfully, "No."

"What?" Fudge said confused.

"Are you Alastor Moody?" Severus asked.

"No."

Dumbledore looked at him with an incredulous expression before his gaze hardened, him then asking, "Who are you really?"

The imposter tried to keep his mouth shut once again but instead blurted out, "Barty Crouch Junior, faithful servant to the Dark Lord."

The crowd gasped in shock at the statement, many of them standing in disbelief that there had been an imposter amongst them the entire school year. Fudge was also in disbelief, but knew the man wasn't lying due to being under the influence of the Veritaserum Severus had given him. Looking down at him he asked, "Where is the real Alastor Moody?"

"Locked in a chest in the Defense Against the Dark Arts office."

Fudge looked at some other Ministry officials and demanded they follow him back up to Hogwarts. As they hurried off towards the castle Severus looked back at the disguised Barty Crouch Jr. and asked, "What was your purpose for putting Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire?"

Dumbledore looked at in shock and asked, "You put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire?"

Barty Crouch Jr. looked up at the old wizard and answered, "Yes, I put his name in it." He then looked at Severus and answered, "His name was placed in that blasted cup because tonight when he reaches it, he'll be taken to the graveyard where he will be used to revive the Dark Lord, and soon the Dark Lord will finish what he started and kill Harry Potter."

Lily gasped and grabbed her husband's arm, her green eyes showing fear as she exclaimed, "Severus! We have to stop Harry from reaching the Goblet of Fire!"

Dumbledore turned to the couple and shook his head forlornly saying, "I'm sorry Lily, but that's impossible. We cannot get into the maze until the Third Task is over and all of the Tri-Wizard Champions emerge from the maze, one of them bearing the Goblet of Fire in hand. The only ones that can enter are those that are assigned to bring anyone out that forfeits. And from the sounds of it, Harry will most likely have it, if he survives."

Severus glared at the old man before taking Lily's hand and quickly pulling her from the Quidditch Pitch back up to the castle, the both of them running as quickly as possible. As they ran Lily asked, "Severus, what are we going to do?"

"Before Harry entered the maze I heard a whisper in my ear that was Roderick's voice. It told me that we need to destroy the remaining Horcruxes that we've collected. As we both know the Horcruxes are pieces of the Dark Lord's soul, and if he is to come back tonight, then destroying them will render him weak enough for Harry to beat him and hopefully get away," Severus answered.

"Then we need to hurry and destroy those items. You've already destroyed one, so we just need to destroy the others."

"There is still one more that we don't have."

"What is it?"

"The snake."

"Do you think Harry will see it if he's supposed to also see You-Know-Who?"

"Possibly, and I hope he'll know what to do to get rid of it, because that will allow him to get rid of the Dark Lord."

The couple ran inside the castle and hurried down to the Dungeons to hurry to Severus' office to retrieve the hidden Horcruxes that Roderick, Tobias, and Eileen has collected over the school year. As they entered the Severus' private quarters Severus turned to face his wife and said quickly, "By the way, the triplets are in the maze with Harry and I suspect following him all the way to the graveyard when he reaches the Goblet of Fire."

As Severus hurried to where he had hid the objects, Lily stared at him with wide green eyes filled with incredulity. As her mind processed what her husband had told her she couldn't help but screech, "What?!"

Roderick, Tobias, and Eileen couldn't believe all that they had encountered while in the maze and following their older brother. They had faced off against a Boggart, a golden mist that turned things topsy-turvy, found Fleur indisposed and sent up a red spark for her to be retrieved, and a Blast-Ended Skrewt. They weren't entirely sure what else they were going to encounter upon following Harry, but they hoped that Harry—and themselves as well—got any more hurt than he was. The Blast-Ended Skrewt had singed Tobias and burned Roderick, this only happening as Eileen had ducked when Harry had and the boys hadn't had time to fully throw up shields. It had taken everything in them to not cry out in pain.

At the moment they were following Harry once again when they could hear someone yelling out in pain. Harry took off running towards the yelling, the triplets following behind as quickly as possible. They turned a corner of one of the many hedges in time to see Harry stun Viktor who had been apparently torturing Cedric. They watched Harry help Cedric up and Cedric thank him before leaving on his quest to find the Goblet of Fire. Turning their attention back to Harry, they saw him staring down at Viktor before sending up a red spark as well, signaling for someone to come get him before carrying on his way.

Eileen turned to her brothers and whispered, "What do you think caused Viktor to torture Cedric?"

Roderick thought for a moment before answering, "He was probably bewitched to do so. And I wouldn't be surprised if that Moody imposter did it before he entered the maze or is doing so right now."

Tobias nodded before saying, "We should continue to follow Harry before he gets too far away from us."

Roderick and Eileen nodded and the three of them took off to catch up with their older brother in time to find him answering a riddle from a Sphinx. The Sphinx let him pass and they hurried past it as well, continuing to follow Harry until he ended up running into Cedric once again. As the two of them spoke Eileen felt as if something was slowly walking up on them from the midst of the maze. Her eye twitched before she slowly turned around and came face to face with an Acromantula. She let out a horrified gasp and took in about three high pitched breaths before releasing a loud scream. The scream echoed throughout the maze and honestly could have blown hers and her brothers' cover, but luckily Harry and Cedric thought it was another trick of the maze and it got their attention on the giant arachnid. Tobias quickly grabbed his sister as he and Roderick ducked out of the way of the Acromantula as it lunged at Cedric and Harry in attack. Cedric and Harry battled the giant spider, the triplets throwing in spells from time to time as well while making the older boys think they were the ones throwing those spells. Eventually the large arachnid was finally defeated and Harry and Cedric were both panting from exertion of facing off against the creature.

The triplets began to all think at once that this time they may have bitten off more than they could chew. And the worst part was they hadn't even gotten to the real part of their secret mission. Eileen felt like crying already and Tobias wanted to be with their parents. Roderick wasn't allowing himself to think weakly yet, though he figured his burnt arm and shoulder was bound to make him do so later. He was about whisper something to his siblings when a sudden blue glow caught his attention from his peripheral. Turning to look he saw a blue light glowing a bit down the ways from where they standing and he realized that it was the Goblet of Fire.

Cedric looked towards the light as well and pointed saying, "Harry, look!"

Harry turned and saw the light as well, knowing it was the prize they were looking for. Both he and Cedric looked at each other before taking off running for the goblet, rushing past the Disillusioned triplets that took off after them. Pretty soon they all reached it, all of them looking at it in wonder. Harry offered the cup to Cedric, stating he didn't want it while Cedric offered it to Harry. The two of them argued about who should take the blasted thing, giving the triplets ample time to put their plan in motion.

"Okay Toby, do it now. Change into Cedric," Roderick whispered, to which Tobias nodded and canceled the Disillusionment Charm, using his Metamorphmagus magic to turn into another Cedric Diggory. To his surprise he grew taller as well, making himself an exact replica of the Hufflepuff. As he did Harry had just suggested they take the Goblet of Fire together, the Gryffindor not noticing what was happening right beside him as he was so transfixed on the goblet. Wasting no time Roderick petrified the real Cedric, Tobias catching him and quickly moving him from beside of Harry and behind him, quickly taking his place as Harry began to count to three.

Eileen quickly sent a red spark into the air to signal someone to come and retrieve Cedric before grabbing Roderick's hand who grabbed Tobias. Tobias grabbed the goblet just as Harry did on the count of three, and the Goblet of Fire activated the Portkey it had been turned into, instantly transporting them away from the maze to where the triplets knew they were going: the graveyard in Eileen's visions.

Author's Note: So sorry this chapter is so late. The semester has ended for me and I can finally come back to writing chapters and stories. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and keep in mind that we are nearing the end of this story. I hope you all stay tuned for what's to come next for when Harry, Roderick, Tobias, and Eileen all face off against Lord Voldemort. Love, SehunsBae37.