Chapter 20 – The Third Task

A suffocating silence surrounded Harry as soon as the hedge closed up behind him. Turning around, he placed his hands on the section of hedge behind him. Unsurprisingly, the hedge was completely solid blocking any attempt at turning back the way he came.

"Guess I'm all in now"

His attention turned back to the expansive labyrinth in front of him. How was he supposed to find his way towards the middle of the maze and reach the cup? Even with the additional spells that he and his friends had worked on, a lot could go wrong at any point. Placing his wand flat on the palm of his hand, he tried out the first spell Hermione had taught him.

"Point Me"

The wand immediately rotated until it pointed out in front of him to what he already knew was north. He thanked her for the spell before starting his way further into the maze. If anyone could invent such a useful spell, it would be Hermione Granger.

Thus began the process of Harry traversing the maze for several minutes before stopping periodically to check that he was heading in the right direction. The sound of a cannon firing off alerted him to Cedric's entrance, but it was the sound of a second explosion that caught Harry off guard. Using the Four Point spell to determine his best choice of route, he determined it was in his best interest to head towards his left. This also happened to be the direction that the explosion had come from.

As soon as he turned the corner, he found himself face to face with a Blast-Ended Skrewt. The beast moved to clasp Harry with one of its claws, but Harry had already turned about and was sprinting away in the opposite direction. The sound of another explosion told him the Skrewt was in pursuit, so Harry began firing spells back at it.

"Stupefy!"

The spell merely bounced of the creatures shell and no matter what spell Harry threw at it, the Skrewt would not be deterred. Deciding that more radical tactics were called for, he decided that if he couldn't outrun it by following the path, then he would have to try a different method. Calling upon his enhanced reflexes, he turned around and charged at the giant hybrid. With one adept bound, he managed to dodge a swipe from one of its massive claws before leaping up onto its back. Using the Skrewt's shell as a landing, he leapt high above the beast and over into the adjacent section of maze.

Deciding now was an appropriate time to catch his breath, Harry stood there for several more seconds. It wasn't until the familiar sound of cannon fire shot out into the night, that he finally decided to press onward.

-HP-

Fleur raced into the maze, determined to not let her delayed entrance stop her from winning the cup. No rhyme or reason went into her path choice, she figured that as long as kept moving she'd eventually find her way to the end of it.

The sound of twigs snapping broke her from her sprint causing her to turn around and investigate the disturbance. The maze behind her was closing up behind her, threatening to crush her if she stayed within its path. Sprinting faster than ever, she managed to make it to a crossroads where the path divulged into three other paths, two of which were slowly closing as well.

Behind her the sound of rustling underbrush stopped. Turning around, she found that the path behind her was just as she left it. Deciding that her best option was to head straight, she turned back around only to find that all but the left most path had disappeared.

Seeing no other way forward, she followed the path for what seemed to be several long minutes. The eerie silence that surrounded the maze was as oppressive as ever, the only sounds radiating through the maze was the roars of various beasts housed within and the occasional sound of spell fire.

The returning sound of snapping twigs immediately raised alarms inside Fleur's head but when she investigated the hedge had no moved. Puzzled, she staid still for a few moments until she became aware that summer moon was no longer shining light onto her. The last thing Fleur had expected was o come face to face with a hungry acromantula straddling the tops of two adjacent hedges.

A quick stunning spell bought her a few precious seconds, allowing her to take off away from the arachnid but the ominous clicking of its pinchers told her that it was not too far behind. It seemed that there was no way she could outrun it with its ability to climb on top of the maze. The French champion also noticed that she was beginning to tire.

She nearly sent up red sparks into the sky to save herself, but the sound of the hedges moving finally gave her an idea. Finding the energy to push on, Fleur made it to a section that wasn't changing and turn around to face the spider.

"Depulso!"

The banishing charm knocked the Acromantula back several feet back into the shifting hedgerows. After it regained its balance, it began to charge at her once again but was unable to make it out before the walls of the maze were upon it. The only sound that her plan had worked was a high pitched shriek from the creature as it was crushed by the maze itself.

-HP-

"Oh Bloody Hell!"

Though Harry was successful at dodging another attempt by the maze to crush him, he had failed to notice that a sphynx had crossed his path. The majestic beast was as wide as the path, making getting passed it impossible.

"To get by me, you'll have to answer my riddle. If you guess correctly, I'll let you pass. Guess incorrectly, I'll attack. Choose not to guess and I'll let you leave here."

Despite his reluctance to participate in the sphynx's game, the most direct path towards the cup was passed it. A quick recasting of the Four Point Spell confirmed his suspicion so Harry begrudgingly decided to play along.

"Okay. What's the riddle?"

"I can fly like a bird not in the sky, which can always swim and can always dry. I say goodbye at night and morning hi. I'm part of you what am I. I follow and lead as you pass, dress yourself in black my darkness lasts. I flee the light but without the sun, your view of me would be gone."

Harry stood in thought trying to decipher the riddle for what felt like several minutes.

"What flies but isn't in the sky and can swim but remain dry?"

He wracked his brain for a possible solution but he seemed unable to come up with a reasonable answer.

"Do you have a guess?!" cried the sphynx impatiently. Judging by the look in its eyes, Harry wouldn't have been surprised if tit lunged at him for taking too longer.

"Give me a minute!" Turning his gaze to the sky, he stared at the moon for several seconds before a light bulb went off in his head. Looking at the ground behind him, he finally figured out the riddle.

"It's a shadow."

The sphynx looked quite unhappy by that answer, had he not guessed right?

"That is correct human. You may pass." Leaping off of the path Harry continued forward putting as much distance between himself and the irate creature as possible. Cursing himself for being caught off guard twice now, Harry decided to use his senses to his advantage. Though his hearing wasn't his most gifted attribute, he figured that it would do the job well enough to tell him if there were any other surprises nearby.

Quieting his breathing, he focused on all the sounds around him which in turn only made him more aware of how alone he was. He had almost decided that I was safe to continue before when a sound caught his attention. He paled at the implications of what the sound could possibly be. They wouldn't put something like that in here, right?

-HP-

Not only was the howl heard by all those inside the maze, but they had also pierced through and made it to the stands just outside the entrance. Upon hearing it, Hermione started to fear for the worst. Glancing at the moon, even though she knew that the full moon was still days off but Harry always struggled with control leading up to it.

'Had Harry lost control of himself in the maze?'

The rest of the crowd seemed to have taken no notice to the howl coming from the maze. A lot of sounds and roars had come from the maze in the half an hour that the task had taken place and it seemed that few people realized what it really meant. She looked to her right and made eye contact with Ron, who had a similarly shocked expression on his face. She knew that his thoughts weren't much different from hers.

"You don't think that he-"

Ron was cut off by the sound of more howling. In fact this time it sounded like a dozen howls were coming from somewhere within the maze. With fire in her eyes, Hermione made her way off of the stands and began searching for someone who could answer her questions. After several minutes, Hagrid had made his way back to the starting area during his patrol of the maze, fear and nervousness apparent on his face.

"What were you thinking Hagrid?"

Hagrid was startled by Hermione's sudden approach. He did manage to school his features to a normal expression before answering her question.

"What do'ya mean?"

"Putting something like that in the maze."

The argument began to get quite loud and many people had begun to watch what was happening in front of the maze instead of the maze itself. The task itself wasn't the most thrilling thing to watch, as all the ground could do was wait until someone exited the maze, and they were glad that something was able to occupy their attention. One person who too particular interest in the argument was the Headmaster.

"What is going on here Miss Granger?"

Whirling on Dumbledore, Hermione turned her ire towards the head of school now. "How could allow such creatures to be put in the maze?"

"Whatever do you mean Miss Granger?"

"Werewolves." It was the only word that escaped her lips and Dumbledore immediately understood her implications.

"I can assure you that I did not permit such a danger to befall any of the champions."

"Well then how did they get in there?"

Both turned their heads to Hagrid who immediately raised his hands in an attempt to defend himself.

"I didn' do it. I would never let werewolves anywhere near a student." He paused for a second while both Hermione and Dumbledore lessened their accusatory gaze before continuing. "The only thing I can think of is that they might've came in through the forest. The maze stretches beyond the pitch and borders it. They might've somehow climbed in from there."

Before he could explain any further, the sky was illuminated as red sparks rained down from the sky signifying that one of the champions had opted out. She could only hope that it wasn't Harry and he wasn't extremely hurt.

-HP-

"Reducto!"

Fleur just barely managed to dodge the spell leaving a large scorch mark where her head once occupied. After dealing with the Acromantula, she later encountered a boggart, and met a mist that was designed to disorient her. Neither were able to halt her progress for long. That is until she ran into fellow champion Cedric Diggory.

"Cedric! What are you doing?"

As soon as he had seen her, the Hogwarts champion began throwing curses at her left and right, curses that were definitely more lethal than most would deem appropriate for such an encounter. She seemed unable to go on the offensive the constant stream of spells the Cedric used was keeping her from retaliating and until unless she could, it was only a matter of time before she slipped up and lost.

Another blasting hex was fired at her but instead hit the ground in front of her. Fleur covered her face from the debris but wasn't able to block the next spell that was sent her way.

"Crucio!"

It seemed like her skin was being prodded by a thousand knives as the curse took hold of her. She was unable to stop the scream that exploded out of her lungs and found herself on the floor of the maze thrashing about. The world faded away as all that existed was pain and the hope that her suffering would end.

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind that she faintly heard a grunt before the effects of the curse dissipated. Chancing a glance back at her attacker, she was surprised to see that someone else had shown up and was now dueling Cedric. One look at the figures unruly black hair and she knew that it was Harry.

The two traded spells for several seconds, Cedric using a considerable amount of energy by blocking all of Harry's spells with Shield Charms while Harry merely dodged out of the way.

"Stupefy!"

"Stupefy!"

"Expelliarmus!"

Harry's Disarming spell did the trick, sending Cedric's wand flying from his hand. The older boy was shocked at first and watched his wand sail away behind him. Turning back to his opponent, he managed to see Harry cast a Body-Bind Curse on him before going rigid and falling flat on the ground.

With the immediate danger now passed, Harry offered Fleur a hand up which she gratefully took.

"Are you alright?"

"I will be. Zank you 'Arry from stopping him. I'm not sure how much longer I could've endured zat."

She saw Harry glance back at the other champion for a moment before looking back at Fleur.

"I can't understand why Cedric would do something like that. I mean…he always seemed like a nice guy."

"Somezing was wrong with him. His eyes didn't look normal." She thought about what it could possible mean until one of the lessons from her classes came back to her. "It was almost as if 'e was Imperiused."

Harry's eyes widened at that. "Why would someone want to Imperius Cedric?"

A rustling sound behind them caught their attention. Looking at where Cedric's body was, they saw that vine were protruding from the bottom of the maze and were beginning to snake themselves around him.

"Devil's Snare."

Fleur began trying, unsuccessfully, to cast a spell that mimicked sunlight while Harry sent red sparks into the air. They tried to keep the vines from constricting around Cedric until the silhouette of Professor McGonagall appeared overhead.

-HP-

Deciding it was best if they tried to stick together, Harry and Fleur continued on their way towards the center of the maze. Harry quickly taught Fleur the Four Point Spell so that she could check their bearings while Harry tried to detect if any other creatures were nearby.

They continued walking for what seemed like an eternity, comfortable that they were no longer alone for the task. It was during this silence that Harry's thoughts turned to what had happened. It seemed oddly suspicious that within days of each other, someone would try to knock Cedric off of his broom and Imperius him. Something else that had caught his attention was that the spells Cedric used were as dangerous as the one's he used against Fleur.

Almost as if he didn't want to hurt Harry.

A familiar scent found its way to Harry's nostrils causing him to tense up and prepare for any danger. He recognized the smell as that of Krum but he didn't see him anywhere around him. Not wanting to chance another meeting with a fellow champion he urged Fleur forward but after a few steps a voice rang out from an adjacent path.

"Bombarda!"

The spell knocked both Harry and Fleur back, her hitting the ground while Harry was knocked into the hedge behind him. The second his back connected with, vine started to slither their way across his body holding his wand arm and his torso firmly in place.

Krum stepped through the hole in the maze strutting as if he had just been named Minister of Magic. Seeing Harry in his predicament, he walked over to him and couldn't resist taunting him.

"Look who has the best of you now Mr. Potter." Harry reached out with his free hand to try and grab at Krum but the older student was just out of his reach. This only seemed to bring more amusement to the Bulgarian. "If only Hermy-own-ninny could see you like this, maybe she wouldn't be as fond of you."

"Leave her alone you bastard!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that. I also can't leave you here to rot. There is much that you still must do." Turning towards Fleur, an evil smile grew on Krum's face. "Her however…she is not needed."

By this point Fleur was up with her wand ready. Krum began firing spells at her at an alarming rate yet Fleur managed to hold her ground against him. She was exhausted though and t wouldn't be long before Krum had the upper hand.

Harry struggled with all his might to get himself free. His left arm was still free but the more he struggled with his right arm, the tighter the vines constricted around it. He cursed himself for not thinking to bring a knife. That was when an idea popped into his head.

Focusing on his left hand, his finger nails began extending into claws. Soon they were long and sharp enough that he was able to cut himself free from his restraints.

The duel between Fleur and Krum was still going on and neither of them seemed to have noticed that Harry had freed himself. They continued to duel even as the sounds of the maze beginning to change started to spill out. Hearing a change behind him, Harry turned to see that the path behind him had opened up behind him leading directly to the Triwizard Cup. Another idea popped into his head as he raised his wand at the Krum.

"Depulso!"

The spell sent Krum flying backwards away from the others and the cup. He didn't stay down for long and was quickly back up on his feet. He began to run back towards Harry and Fleur but the shifting of the maze blocked off the path in front of him, saving the two.

Harry looked to Fleur and noticed she was staring at the cup. Even though he himself wanted to win, he knew how important this was to Fleur and that was all the reason he needed to come up with a decision.

"You should take the cup Fleur?" The questioning look he got from Fleur was his cue to elaborate further. "It's not like I need any more fame."

"But you saved me from both Cedric and Krum. You deserve it."

"No you had the harder job. You held them off and stood toe to toe with them. I just came in and finished them off." Fleur nodded her head in affirmative, thankful that he was willing to give this up for her.

"Fiendfyre!"

The shout from behind them startled the pair but nothing could compare to the sight of a giant magic flame radiating from where they just left Krum. The flame began to spread through the maze engulfing all the hedgerows in its destructive wake.

Sensing the danger, both Harry and Fleur took off towards the cup. As he ran, Harry became vaguely aware that it seemed all the teachers who were patrolling the maze were now circling overhead. The thought was comforting to him but something Krum said didn't seem quite right.

'There is still much you have to do'

All the pieces seemed to fall into place. Cedric using lethal spell on Fleur. Krum's word. Cedric's broom being cursed.

It was an attempt to get rid of his competition.

Seeing Fleur begin to reach for the cup as they got closer set off alarms inside Harry's head.

"Fleur! No!"

He reached out and grabbed her arm at the same time she grabbed the cup. He felt the familiar pull at his navel and then, they were gone.

Author's Note:

Hey it's been awhile. With my finals coming taking place last week, I didn't really have much time write as much as I wanted to. I hope to have forth year done by the end of the year.

I hope that everyone enjoys this chapter. I tried to do the maze justice by adding my own spin on evens, changing others and what not. The next chapter is the revival of Voldemort which will be fun and after that is the turning point when the story will start to get more AU.\

As Always thanks for reading.