The weeks after the second task was sheer hell. All the Gryffindors (and half the girls from the other houses) were steamed about how callously Harry had 'dumped' Parvati. Which made the comments about him dating Luna all the more barbed.

Harry sat down at the back of the classroom for Foreign Runes and sulked, 'After three years of keeping a low profile, avoiding the bullies, not getting yelled at, not doing anything to draw attention, I get this. A stupid tournament that I am getting blamed for entering, and a stupid girl I get blamed for dumping, and I get blamed for Luna being Luna.'

Ron sat down next to him, "Dude, I know Parvati is a tool, but what you did to her was uncool."

Harry glanced up - Professor Loew was still writing something on the blackboard before class started, "I didn't do it! It was the twins - I told them that I told you that it was them that stole the, you know."

Ron's eyes glazed over as he slowly parsed what Harry had said, "Right. I can see that, but why on earth were you stupid enough to admit something like that to the twins? I know the rest of the school thinks they are funny, but if you cross them, they are vicious!"

Harry hung his head, "because they thought Luna had told you, and I didn't want them hurting her."

Ron took a good look at Harry, "You know, you're ok."

*Zero*Zero*

Later that day, as Harry and Ron lined up for Self Defense, Professor Loew came in with Terry. "Students, Mr. Boots will be joining the class, so we will start with a review before moving on to your material." The first half of the class was fairly boring exercises, but at least Harry got a workout.

But finally Harry and Ron split off to practice locks and takedowns as Adam continued working with Terry. "So, I think it's pretty obvious why I am here" started Harry, "But how come you signed up for Self Defense? All the other Purebloods that I've talked to think it's silly." He punched slowly at Ron.

Ron stepped in, brushing the punch aside with his left hand and popped Harry gently in the stomach. Then he grabbed Harry's (still extended) right hand and lifted it up as he shoved Harry's head down with his other hand.

Harry spun down to the floor.

"It's funny you should ask. Professor Lupin was just here last week asking about this. Well, sort of. You probably never heard about what happened last year, around finals time… an escaped convict kidnapped me and dragged me off to the Shrieking Shack."

"Was it that guy Sirius Black who was in the news all last year?"

"Yeah, I think so. I thought I was going to be killed, or worse, but all he did was take Scabbers, my pet rat, and blast it's head off. Then he cackled madly and ran off. I was left lying there, petrified, for hours, until the spell wore off. I hated how I wasn't able to do anything to stop the psycho. So I vowed that I would learn as much fighting as I could. Whether It's magic in DADA, or here, it doesn't matter to me. I just want to be able to defend myself and my family."

Harry nodded as he stepped in past Ron's punch so that they were side by side, and he elbowed him in the chest as he kneed him in the back of the thigh. Ron flipped over Harry's leg.

"Oy! take it easy!" Ron got off the floor, "We aren't supposed to hurt each other in here."

"Sorry" Harry replied, contrite. Though it was cool that he could throw around somebody as tall as Ron so easily, 'This summer, I'll have a little surprise for Dudders...'

"Oh," Ron muttered, looking a little embarrassed, "could you keep what I told you to yourself? If mum finds out, especially after what happened to Ginny, then my parents would probably pull me out of Hogwarts."

"Yeah. Ok." Harry thought for moment, "and thanks for trusting me." After helping Ron up, he asked, "So why was Professor Lupin interested in this? He didn't seem like the sort that would be interested in weird stuff." Harry's memory of Lupin was that he was a dowdy, scholarly sort. Him and McGonagall were the two most normal teachers in the whole school.

"I don't know. Maybe he's secretly related to the Lovegoods on his mother's side?" Ron shrugged and came in for the next attack.

*Zero*Zero*

Harry and Luna sat eating dinner. It was a painful process - Harry could feel the eyes of all the other students on him, and it felt like their gaze was pressing down on him, squashing him like a bug.

"And so Daddy decided to set the Snorkack trap in the tree. But apparently, we used the wrong kind of butter, because we didn't get a single photo of a Snorkack."

Harry was half listening, and half glancing around like a cornered animal, "Why would you get a photo from a Snorkack trap? Wouldn't you get a Snorkack from a Snorkack trap?"

"It's a photo trap, silly. We don't want to hurt the poor things, after all. They are endangered." Luna blithely spread some butter on a piece of bread before giving it to Harry, "And that is why we have a tub of leftover Snorkack butter. Here, try it."

Harry skeptically took a nibble. "It's not bad.. Taste a bit like almonds. What's in there?"

"It's a secret Lovegood recipe. If we just gave it away, then everybody would be able to catch Snorkacks."

"But you said it didn't work."

"This time. But you never know, maybe next time it will." Luna took a dainty bite of her ratatouille. "You know, you should just ignore them."

"Who? the Snorkacks?"

"Yes, them too, but no, I meant the dirty looks." She nodded toward the other students, "Worrying about it doesn't help anything."

"Is that what you do?"

"Um-hmm" She replied, slurping up the rest of her tomato sauce through a straw that she had produced from somewhere.

"And has that worked well for you?"

"Pretty much," she nodded. "I'm happy, they're happy, and my socks are booby trapped."

Harry quirked an eyebrow, "If it was me, I wouldn't be happy if somebody had booby trapped my socks."

"Oh, that was last year, silly. This year, I booby trap them myself, proactively."

"So nobody dares mess with Luna Lovegood's socks." Harry finished.

"Darn tootin'!" Luna beamed.

Harry glanced up at the other students. They seemed to be ignoring him and Luna now. Maybe the novelty had worn off. After all, Goyle was dating Hannah and the Hufflepuffs weren't giving them any trouble. Though Goyle could probably turn them all into 'Puff paste, which helped. Harry took a deep breath and prepared himself, "Luna, um would you like to go to Hogsmead this weekend? I mean, with me"

Luna nodded, "Yes!"

*Zero*Zero*

Harry and Luna walked through Hogsmead side by side. 'This is not so bad' Harry was starting to relax. So far nobody had commented on him and Luna. Terry looked bemused, but neither he nor the rest of of Team Harry had said anything to his face, and Harry hadn't dared to ask if they were laughing at him behind his back. And oddly enough, Draco hadn't said anything either. but that might have been because he had been avoiding Draco all week.

"So, where do you want to go?" asked Harry, nervously, 'Please don't say Madam Puddifoot's. Please don't say Madam Puddifoot's' He crossed his finger on (on his free hand) behind his back.

"We went to all the places I thought you would like on our first date to Hogwarts, so this time, lets go to the places I like" Luna smiled.

'NOOOOO!' Harry wailed internally, "Wait.. first date? I thought this WAS our first date."

"Silly" Luna patted Harry's captive hand with her free one, "You need to pay more attention."

Harry realized something: 'Um, how long have we been holding hands?'Not that he minded, really. He darted a glance at Luna, 'She is very pretty when she smiles.' He was still processing that thought as Luna led Harry down a little path off to the side of the main village and up into a small field of snow flowers.

"This," Luna released his hand and spun, "Is my favorite place in all of Hogsmead." She sat down on a small rock and poked a flower with her wand, causing it to wiggle.

Harry sat down with relief, 'Right this is Luna, not Parvati or one of those girls.'

The two teens sat and talked. "You know, these flowers make it seem like its already spring."

"That's why I like this field so much" Luna cast a charm to turn the white flowers to a cyan blue. The teens spent the afternoon casting color charms on the snow flowers., which somehow led to a snowball fight.

"At least you're properly dressed this time." cleaning the snow out of his collar, Harry recalled the sun-dress that Luna wore last time she had dragged him to Hogsmead. Thinking about clothing and such, Harry recalled something Luna had mentioned at the beginning of the year. "Do you really have a chastity belt under your bed?"

"No."

"Oh, that makes.."

"It's not under my bed anymore. I decided that given that we were dating, it would be appropriate for me to wear it. Want to see?" Luna started to hike up her skirt.

"Gah! Stop" Harry waived his hand in agitated denial. He jumped off the rock and said, "maybe we should head back"

*Zero*Zero*

The two teens were just coming back into Hogsmead proper when a voice called out, "Hey, Potter, if she's Looney, what does that make you?" It was Crabbe, and he was walking with Draco.

Harry took a step away from Luna, "Uh, hi, guys. What are you doing?"

"Normal stuff, what about you? You doing Looney… stuff?" Draco asked. Crabbe chortled.

"Hey," Harry colored, "What are.. I mean we were just.."

"Walking in a field" Luna finished "You should try it, It's much more romantic than Madam Puddifoot's."

"What, why would we go there?" sputtered Draco.

"Aren't you a couple?" Asked Luna airily.

Crabbe blanched, and sputtered denials, but Draco took a step forward, "look here, you little freak-tard!" He growled, shaking his fist at Luna, "I don't care about your little airs and pretensions, I am tired of your little insults disguised as unworldly comments" He continued, ranting. Luna's eyes got big and she took a step backwards.

Harry stopped listening after Draco said "freak". Something had just snapped. All the built up anger at the little slights from these two that he had ignored for years with a smile and a shrug all coalesced around that word. 'Freak'. It was a special word. Petunia used it to show that he wasn't her son. Vernon said it, and shook his fist at him, to let him know how much he hated Harry. Dudley called him that, just for fun, to let Harry know that he was powerless..

thup

"Uhh"

Draco sat down hard, holding his stomach. His eyes were real big, and he was gasping small breaths.. "Don't call people freak" Hissed Harry as Draco tried to catch his breath.

"Hey, what do you think.." Crabbe took a step forward, reaching to grab Harry's collar.

Harry ducked under the arm, grabbed it, spun and twisted.

THUMP

Crabbe hit the ground hard. Luckily for him, Harry had let go of his arm, so that it didn't tear the shoulder.

"Don't move, Dudley. You even think of touching me again, and I will break every bone in your body." Harry growled in cold fury.

"My name's not Dudley" Vincent replied weakly from the ground.

Harry didn't hear him. Luna gently took his arm and pulled, "Harry, let's go. There is nothing more to accomplish here."

*Zero*Zero*

Harry found himself in the dojo, ready for his daily practice session. He wasn't exactly certain where the rest of the day went. It was all kind of vague after the confrontation with Draco.

"Hey, Harry" Ron walked in, "I hear you popped Draco one." he said approvingly .

"Where did you hear that?" Harry's stomach was roiling, 'If Dumbledore hears that I've been fighting, I'll get expelled!'

"Luna has been telling everybody that you stood up for her when Draco was bullying her. I know that you used to be friends with him, but you did right."

Harry put his head into his hands, "That girl is going to get me into so much trouble!"

Ron opened his mouth to say something, to reassure Harry, but he couldn't really think of anything. Deep thoughts had never had been one of Ron's strengths. "Let's do some katas"

*Zero*Zero*

"Hey, Draco…" Harry walked up to his Slytherin friend as he walked down to dinner.

"Get away from me," Draco backed up, defensively, "And don't use any of your muggle arts on me!" He walked away quickly, almost running.

'Great. Now the crazy girl has cost me my only friend.'

*Zero*Zero*

It was the following day, as Harry slowly mixed the potion, 'three turns clockwise, one counterclockwise, then repeat for 72 stirs' when Snape walked over. As he stood, looming behind Harry, Harry's shoulder's slowly crept up towards his ears.

"Potter. See me after class"

Harry nodded 'Oh, shit. I'm in trouble.' He glanced down at his potion, 'was that 34 or 35?'

Later, after bringing up his potion (which was the wrong color - he must have been on 35) he turned to Snape. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes. I heard about your altercation with mister Malfoy yesterday. I know that the other professors have a 'boys will be boys' attitude, but I will NOT tolerate any bullying or fighting. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir." Harry answered in a whisper.

"If you have any problems with Mr. Malfoy in the future, I expect you to bring them to me, and I will deal with them. In the meantime, I will expect to see you here after dinner for the rest of this week to scour the cauldrons. Thoroughly."

Harry didn't get back to his dorm until well after curfew for the rest of the week.

*Zero*Zero*

The following week, Harry did his best to avoid Luna, which was doable, since they were in different years. And whenever he wasn't in class, he hid up in the boys dorms or at the dojo. He also avoided Draco and pretty much everybody else, because at this point, it felt like Hogwarts was a maelstrom of rumors, all about him. 'Why does she have to be so Luna?' Harry kind of missed spending time with Luna, but there was no way that he was going to be laughed at like that.

He wolfed his meals and fled the great halls as soon as he could, and avoided the Ravenclaw common room.

The only person that he saw regularly were Ron and Professor Loew, down at the dojo (Terry had dropped martial arts after the first week). The red-head gave him his space, and surprisingly, the large professor didn't say anything about the incident either. Perhaps he had not heard about it.

The week dragged on into a month. It was late March when Ludo Bagman called all the champions together.

"Well, the time for the third task is quickly approaching", he announced with artificial good cheer, "We will be announcing it to the whole school this evening, but I wanted the champions to have a heads up. This task will be a race through a maze that we are setting up in the quidditch pitch. You will have to circumvent assorted obstacles that are being installed by the professors." He slapped Cedric on the back, "So just think of what your professors are fond off. That's as much of a clue as I can give you! Ha, Ha, Ha." He laughed artificially.

Harry released a breath he hadn't been aware that he was holding 'A race. A race I can do. Even if I don't win, what's the worst that can happen?' Harry looked at the other Champions, They didn't look so tough: they might know more charms than him, but the only athlete in the bunch was Krum. 'And if I do win… maybe people will like me again.'

That evening, Harry stayed at dinner to hear the official announcement of the third task. Which is why Hermione was able to sit down next to him, "What's going on with you, Potter?" She started, "You two time on Parvati, and then you ditch Luna. Are you with some other girl now?"

"What? NO!" Harry recoiled. He glanced around the room - they were attracting a few curious looks, "And keep your voice down!"

"Why should I keep my voice down? ARE you doing something you shouldn't?"

"No. I'm not. And I'm not running around on Parvati or Luna or anything" Harry hissed, "The whole thing with Luna was a prank by the Weasley Twins. I had nothing to do with it." Though a quite voice in the back of his head reminded him about the Hogsmead weekend. And the fact that he had quite enjoyed it. Harry made a point to ignore it - it was probably just his conscience.

"Well" Scowled Hermione, "You hurt both girls feelings, by leading on Luna and and not being honest with Parvati" She sighed, and her expression softened, "Maybe if you apologize and explain the situation, Parvati will take you back."

"No!" Harry whispered vehemently, "I don't want to go out with her. I'm not interested in either of them."

"Oh?" perked up Hermione. After a moment, she asked hesitantly, looking at her nails, "is there somebody you are interested in?"

Harry opened his mouth to reply when Luna sat down on Harry's other side, "I hope the transfiguration wasn't too painful" She said mournfully.

"What are you talking about?"

"The ghosts said that Snape was using you to clean the cauldrons. And I know how unpleasant being a wire-brush is. You should see some of the things I've down with mine. Why, I used it once to clean the loo in the girls dorms, but that was before I knew that the brush could have feelings too." Luna sobbed.

Harry frowned in confusion. 'She's nuttier than squirrel shit.'

At the same time, a light dawned on Hermione and she snorted and quickly covered her face with her napkin to hide her laugh 'Excuse me, please" She quickly fled so as to avoid laughing at the poor girl.

'What do I do?' Harry looked around. people were giving him looks, 'They think I did something to upset Luna.' he tentatively put an arm out and patted the blond girl on the back. Luna calmed down , hiccuping a little, and gave him a hug. 'Was she worried about me?' Now it was Harry's turn to feel like a complete heel, "Um, Luna, I wasn't.." His confession was interrupted by Ludo calling out "May I have your attention" And then proceeding to give a long winded , overly exuberant description of the third task that would have done a cheerleader proud. Harry glanced around. Nobody was paying any attention to him as Ludo talked. So he left his arm around Luna and pulled her in a little closer.

"The entire quidditch pitch will be magically expanded and filled with challenges for our brave champions" blah blah blah "Mediwizards will be standing by, in the unexpected case that one of the Champions is slightly injured. Of course, the tournament has been designed to be as safe as possible" blah blah blah. "Your goal is the Goblet of Fire itself. The first person to… " blah blah blah. 'Man, that old bag of wind sure likes the sound of his own voice'. Harry missed most of what Ludo had to say, His stomach was roiling as he tried to see if anybody was paying any attention to how close Luna was sitting to him. Or the fact that her head was resting on his shoulder.

*Zero*Zero*

That same night, Harry snuck into the Herbology greenhouse. 'I know prof Sprout keep some emergency Herbicide here somewhere.' Harry rummaged through the teachers supply closet. 'Ah. Here it is!' He triumphantly held up a small vial of vile purple liquid. Prof. Sprout kept it handy in case there was an accident with one of the plants.

Harry was just about to close the closet and leave when he paused, and put a stack of sickles where the herbicide used to be. 'I hope that covers the cost.'

*Zero*Zero*

The rest of the semester was so busy that Harry felt that his head would explode. As a professional slacker, he had never worked this hard in his life. First he had his regular classes, then Remedial Charms tutoring with Flitwick, then training in the dojo, then down to the library, cramming anything related to mazes and booby-traps. And hanging out with Luna, either at the library or after dinner. Ideally when nobody else was around.

Harry staggered out of the library one fine day in april (Or so Luna had said. Harry hadn't made it outdoors yet), 'The professors wouldn't put a strangler vine in the maze, would they? That could kill somebody'. He dropped his book bag in the dojo and pulled on his gi just as Professor Loew came in.

"You look tired Harry. Are you up for this?"

"Yeah. I've been sitting on my bum all day. I need to work off some energy" Harry bowed and took up a sparring position. The last couple of weeks, they had started to concentrate more on sparring and less on forms.

"Uff"

"Looks like you are sitting on your bum again, Potter" Adam rumbled with a smile, "You need to smooth out your motions, flow more. Don't pause and wind up. Small quick circular motions."

Harry got up off the floor, "Yeah, but I'm a small guy. I got to hit hard to take down somebody like you."

"If you hit your target" Loew pointed to different nerve clusters on Harry's body, "then the small blows will do a surprising amount. And if you don't, they will confuse your opponent long enough for you to line up a knockout shot" Adam go back into a fighting stance, "And also, don't judge yourself by me. I have been fighting for over 400 years."

'That, and you're built like a brick out-house with gorilla ams' But tactfully, he didn't say that. "I didn't know wizards lived that long!"

Thump. "Don't get distracted" Adam helped Harry get back up, "And I have already explained, I am not a wizard. Lets work on take-downs, since you are falling down a lot today already."

*Zero*Zero*

"Impedimenta"

Harry dropped onto his back to avoid the jinx and then scissor kicked to fling himself back upright. His books went flying everywhere as he pulled out his wand and yelled "Protego".

"Very good Harry". Professor Flitwick approached the glowing blue shield in front of Harry and tapped it with his finger. "Why don't you collect your books and we can get started on your tutoring." The tiny teacher motioned for Harry to come the rest of the way into the classroom.

"Professor, would it be too much to ask to wait until I put my books down before starting?"

"Uhm, yes, it would be." Flitwick smiled, "I wanted to see how well you were able to cast a spell when surprised. Though I must say your initial reaction was somewhat unexpected."

"Oh. ok" Harry wasn't certain if he was still getting 'remedial' tutoring or if Flitwick had switched to teaching him advanced material, but he didn't want to ask - he was afraid that Flitwick would realize that he wasn't supposed to be giving him this much training and stop. and Harry wanted every single advantage he could get. He had no problem with cheating at the Triwizard tournament, if it kept him from getting killed.

"Today, we will be working on the Patronus charm. Did you do your homework?"

"Yes, sir, but I couldn't think of anything really good." The homework had been to think of a happy thought.

"Well, some people have a hard time finding the happiness in life. They worry too much, or they always see the grey cloud attached to the silver lining. But that is ok. If you can't find a happy thought, we can make one. It is a skill, like any other." Flitwick sat down on a desk and motioned for Harry to have a seat. "Think of something that was a good moment in your life. Do you have anything?"

Harry nodded, "When I helped a friend" He was thinking of how he had felt when he had punched Draco for teasing Luna. The raw sense of power he had had. But that thought was also laced with guilt, over hurting Draco, over acting like a bully himself.

"You don't have to tell me what your thought is, but I would like you to look at the good that you did at that moment. How did your friend feel. Did it make them happy?"

Harry remembered the expression on Luna's face. How it had changed from fear of Draco to… something else. She had kept looking at him, and holding his arm. And afterwards, all her talking it up..."Uhm, yeah, I guess?"

"And you - was what you did easy for you?"

"Yeah. surprisingly. I thought it would be much harder. But I am worried..."

"Don't worry. All of our actions have unintended consequences, and we do have to deal with them. But think of that one tiny instant. Not what came before, not what came after. That was happiness. Now cast."

"Expecto Patronus"

A golden mist sprayed out from the tip of Harry wand, but instead of falling to the floor, it stayed up, hanging in the air.

"Very good. Lets work on your wand swishes, and then we will come back to this at the end of class"

*Zero*Zero*

Finally, the big day arrived. Harry's stomach was roiling, and that windbag Ludo was saying something.

"Harry, you need to eat something." Luna held up a piece of toast. She was seated at his right side as he sat staring at his breakfast.

"She's right - you will need the calories," Terry added from his other side. He was wearing his 'Team Harry' button, as were a surprising number of Ravenclaws.

One of the Weasley twins approached. He was also wearing a button, "Can't keep your food down because of the pre-game jitters?" he pulled out a small vial, "My talented brother and I came up with a potion for that. It will sooth your stomach and your soul"

Harry recoiled at the idea of voluntarily eating anything that the Terror Twins had produced.

"Fred, he doesn't need to 'sooth his soul' He needs to keep his edge so he can compete!" Terry growled.

"I'm George"

"No, you're not. I'm in Ravenclaw for a reason, dufus. Now go away."

"And now, all the Champions should proceed to the quidditch pitch, or should I say, the Maze of Amazement!" Bagman wound up his pitch.

"Ok, show time!" Terry gave Harry a slap on the back.

Luna quickly leaned in and gave Harry a peck on the cheek, "He's right."

"Ok. Let's see how bad it looks."

As they were walking out of the hall, Harry spotted some first years playing exploding snap. "Hey, can I buy that deck from you? He pulled out a hand full of sickles – more than the deck was worth new.

The boys nodded, looking half star-struck, half greedy.

Harry quickly cast Confundo on the deck and gently slipped it into his pocket.

*Zero*Zero*

Harry walked out of the castle to the quidditch pitch, accompanied by Terry and Luna. Ron and Neville joined them on the way out.

"Ok, this is bad."

In front of him was a huge maze of dark thorny brambles. The bushes were so dense you couldn't see through them, and the brambles seemed to be moving, with thorny vines shifting and coiling about themselves. The walls reached up ten feet at least, and they seemed to darken the day by their very presence.

"You can do this, Harry" Neville said from his side. Harry nodded grimly.

The stands around the pitch were crammed full of students and visitors. The Champion's starting line was just up ahead, and the other Champions were already there, with some well wishers standing a few feet back.

"Oy, Potter" Draco called out as he and his two beefy sidekicks walked up. Ron scowled, and clenched his fists. Draco held out his hand and gave Harry a firm shake. "Now you're in for it, Potter." He leaned in and whispered, "Your ass is toast" he slapped Harry's back with false comradery.

"Yeah, where do you want us to have them send your remains?" cackled Crabbe.

Goyle punched Vincent in the arm, "You don't have to win, Potter. Just stay alive in there."

"Thanks." Harry made his way down the final few feet to the starting line.'I can do this. I don't have to win.' He took a deep breath and made wiped his palm on his robes before drawing his wand.

"Champions, on my mark, you will start the race. Each one has their own entrance."

"Get set!"

"Go!"

As the other Champions ran for the openings leading into the maze, Harry advanced cautiously, his wand held at the ready.

"Aah! Let go!" came a cry almost immediately 'that sounds like Cedric. I hope he's ok' Harry kept going. 'If he isn't, that's what the Mediwitches are for'. Harry tried to look everywhere - the ground, the path ahead as well as anything that could drop onto him from above. He was also careful to keep some space between his body and the hedge walls.

Something grabbed his foot.

Harry jumped back, only to land on his back as the strangler vine held on to his boot. It started to pull him towards the hedge wall, which was squirming in agitation 'oh, shit, oh shit, oh, shit' Harry scrabbled backwards, but the plant-thing was too strong.

'Where's my wand?' It was on the ground, out of reach. He must have dropped it when he hit the ground. 'Ok, then take it!' Harry pointed his toes and yanked his foot. His boot went flying off and disappeared into the hedge. As he scrambled back, more vines reached for him. One was already starting to pluck at his robe. 'The herbicide!' Harry whipped out the purple potion that he had purloined from herbology and threw it on the vines. The green leafy tentacles recoiled, smoking slightly. Harry grabbed his wand and stood up, one foot shod, the other in just a sock. He caught a momentary glimpse of his boot - vines were twining all through it.

"Ok, great, now I have to do this barefoot." He muttered as he limped forward.

For a time, Harry made slow but steady progress. Nothing leaped out at him, or tried to grab him or eat him or…

A giant lobster-sporian thing stepped out from around a bend.

'It's one of Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts. That crazy bastard put one of his pet death machines into the maze!' Harry started to hyperventilate. The creature advanced slowly, clicking from its orifices 'They are nearly as tough as dragons. Think. Think. What can I do to it?'

All of a sudden, a blast of fire shot out of it's backside, propelling the monstrosity at Harry at dizzying speed. Harry rolled out of the way just in time. As he got back up, the Skrewt pulled itself out of the hedge wall and turned to face Harry again.

"Rictusempra!" Harry cast wildly, in the hopes of distracting the creature, but the tickling charm had no effect. 'right. no nerves. No eyes, no ..' "Incendio!" Harry's wand sprouted a two foot long flame, which he threw at the Skrewt, but the flame faded out as it hit, "Tarantallegra!" Harry cast desperately as he dodged the monster's giant stinger. That slowed it, as the creature staggered about on legs that didn't respond correctly. But the effects faded almost at once, "Locomotor Mortis" Harry tried again. this time, the Screwt stopped dead for a moment, before it was a able to move it's legs again.

Harry was almost backed into the hedge, which was writhing with anticipation. Little thorny loops reached out towards him.

"Locomotor Mortis! Locomotor Mortis! Locomotor Mortis! Locomotor Mortis!" Harry yelled as he darted towards the Skrewt. The monster's stinger lunged at him, and Harry barely ducked under it. "Locomotor Mortis! Locomotor Mortis" he repeated as he regained his footing. He was past the Screwt. It was still facing where he used to be, and he was behind it. A small strand of bramble had wound around one of the Screwt's legs. "Engorgio! Engorgio! Engorgio! "

The vine thickened and lengthened, wrapping around the hard shelled creature and pulling it into the hedge. Harry took the opportunity to race away, before it could get free.

*Zero*Zero*

Harry limped around a corner. his shoeless foot was hurting from where he had stepped on a sharp stone. He wasn't certain how far in he was, but at least the 'point me' kept him from getting completely turned around.

In front of him was Fleur. She turned around and gave him a condescending sneer. Then she pointed at him and started to laugh. Harry froze. He knew he was a loser, but he was hoping nobody else had noticed. But he always suspected that Fleur and the others knew. He stopped. Fleur advanced on him, a look of disgust on her face as Harry cringed back "Hey, gimme a little room." he whined. He was almost in the hedge. Again.

She was now standing over him, as he crouched on the ground "Flipendo" he whispered, trying to push her back. The blue spell went right through with no effect. 'what? she's...' A light dawned "You're a prissy little slut! not worth the trouble of knowing" he yelled. "You think you're so cool with all your friends and cliques, but after school, you'll be nobody and nothing. You'll be pumping gas at a local gas station!' Harry concentrated on the image of Fleur in in stained overalls. "Riddikulus!" The image in front of him whirled and changed into a faded, middle aged woman in pancake makeup. She looked remarkably like Petunia. Harry darted past.

The boggart hung there for a moment before collapsing back into a floating amorphous blob with a pop.

*Zero*Zero*

"I look like a refugee," Harry muttered as he stood back up. His foot had hurt enough that he had torn the sleeve off of his robe and wrapped it around his foot. He was just setting out again when a scream sounded. 'Was that the real Fleur?'. Harry was standing at a bend in the maze, and there was currently nobody in sight. Better yet, the hedge seemed to be just a regular bramble, with nothing malefic hidden inside.

"Point Me" Harry held his wand flat on his palm as it spun. He walked back 20 feet. "Point Me". And one more time, he went down the passage to his left. Each time, the wand pointed at a slightly different angle. 'I'm getting close. Thank Merlin for Terry. I'd never have thought of this on my own.' With how much the wand angle changed, he was no more than 2-3 passageways from the Goblet.

Harry slowly edged down the path, his neck was getting tired of his constant peering in all directions. But Harry had learned as a small child that Dudley.. erg danger could come from any direction.

Several minutes later, Harry heard shouting and the sounds of struggle. For a moment, he considered waiting it out, that maybe whoever it was would weaken or destroy the trap.

"Ah, damn." Harry limped forward. 'It could be Cedric. And some of the stuff in here is WAY more dangerous that that Croutch bastard claimed.' As he rounded the corner, he was confronted with Cedric and Krum struggling. Krum had Cedric by the collar and was throwing punches as Cedric tried to get his wand up.

"What the?" Harry stopped, stunned, "Stupefy!" Nothing happened 'Calm down. Wand, hand arm jab' He tried again "Stupefy!" this time, a bolt of red light flashed out, hitting Krum.

The large Bulgarian collapsed where he stood, and Cedric pushed his way out from under the stunned seeker.

"You ok?"

"Yeah. I.. What happened?" Cedric put his hand to his head.

"Send up some sparks - You need a mediwizard. Why did Krum attack you?"

"Go on ahead. I'll send up the sparks" Cedric cast Incarcerous on the prone Krum and then sat down hard. His face was bruised, and his left eye was starting to swell shut.

"Ok" Harry nodded and walked off. He was part way down the corridor when he turned around and looked back with a frown. Cedric continued to sit, dazed, looking straight ahead. It looked... creepy, like there was something missing 'Does he have a concussion?' Harry made his way back. "Give me your wand - I'll send up the sparks"

"No. Not yet. I need too…" Cedric staggered up. "I'm ok. Lets go, as a team, for Hogwarts!"

Harry smiled ,"Ok, but take it easy."

The two of them staggered down the remaining passage ways and out onto a grassy knoll. In the center, on a plinth, stood the Goblet.

Harry paused and looked at Cedric, "You take it."

"No, that's not fair." Cedric shook his head. "You got here first. You deserve it."

"But.." It felt wrong. He, Harry didn't win things. That was for other people. But maybe just this once… Maybe, just this once, he WOULD be a winner. He would be the Champion. "Ok"

A slow smile broke over Harry's face as he grasped the Goblet.