Hey guys, I'm back! I changed my pen name (it used to be HPsibunaSara) so I apologize for any confusion.
I'm so terribly sorry for the long wait, I had writer's block for a while(again, I know :P ) so I've done a few challenges and school just started, so it's been pretty insane. But, I hope this chapter is worth the wait! :)
School was cancelled for me today because we've been getting a lot of rain and the roads have been flooded, so I spent most of the day working on this because I luff you guys so much!
So, enjoy chapter...what is it now, 22? Wow! When I started this, I didn't expect to get past chapter five xD But, it's all thanks to you lovely people! Your reviews seriously make my day, and I don't know where I be right now if I hadn't continued writing! I luff you all! Enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 22: House of The Third Task
Diffindo!" she whispers, and a hole appears in the side of the hedge. She begins to frantically pull it open until it is large enough for her to climb through.
Once she's inside, she quickly glances around, before running along the path to her right.
She comes to a dead end and pulls out her wand. "Point me." she whispers, and her wand spins around and points to her left. She runs in that direction for a while, slowing down when she sees a glowing, bluish light in front of her. Frowning, she pulls out her wand.
As she gets closer, she realizes what it is and begins running again.
All of a sudden, she feels something hit her, and is knocked to the ground. She feels ropes coil around her entire body. She struggles to free herself, but the ropes are too strong.
A person steps out of the shadows with their wand out. The girl sees them and gasps. "Help me, please!"
The person merely smiles.
"Please! Let me go!" The girl shrieks, struggling to free herself of the ropes. "You don't understand, I have to-"
"No, we haven't come all this way to be thwarted by a group of children!" says the person.
The girl struggles even harder, but the person waves their wand in front of her face, and she blacks out.
-Twelve Hours Earlier-
Nina's POV
"Harry, you're doing brilliantly." I said, after he had successfully stunned Ron for the fifth time in a row. Hermione quickly went over to revive him. "You're going to win, I know it."
Harry grinned. Ron sat up, rubbing the back of his head.
"Can't we kidnap Mrs. Norris? Let's stun her for a bit. Not that I'm complaining," he said ruefully, "but I'm aching all over."
"Well, you keep missing the cushions! Just try and fall backwards." said Hermione impatiently.
"Once you're stunned, you can't aim too well Hermione!" said Ron angrily. "Why don't you take a turn?"
"Well, I think we'd better get to breakfast." I said hastily, before another agrument could break out between them. It was the day of the third task, and Hermione, Ron and I had woken up early to help Harry practice. We thought he could use some more, because after all the weird stuff that had been happening lately, we didn't know what to expect tonight.
Harry had fallen asleep in Divination, and had a dream about Voldemort and his follower, Peter Pettigrew. Then, he had gone down to the Quidditch Pitch to find out about the first task and had seen Mr. Crouch wandering around, but when he came back with Dumbledore, Crouch was gone. Combine those things with the other weird things that had happened already(like the incident after the Yule Ball) and you had some very suspicious circumstances.
"Yeah, you're right." said Harry. "But you lot need to study for your exams."
"Don't be silly." said Hermione. "Helping you is much more important."
Ron nodded. "At least we'll do well in Defense Against The Dark Arts."
At breakfast, a screech owl arrived for Hermione, carrying the Daily Prophet. She took a glance at the front page, and spat pumpkin juice all over it.
"What is it?" Harry and I asked at the same time.
"Nothing." said Hermione, but Ron grabbed the paper.
"No way." he said furiously. "Not today. That old cow!"
"What?" I asked. "Rita Skeeter again?"
"No." said Ron and Hermione at the same time.
"It's about me, isn't it?" Harry asked.
"No." said Fabian, who had just taken the paper from Ron, in an unconvincing tone.
I grabbed the paper from Fabian and read it. The headline was: Harry Potter, Disturbed and Dangerous.
I glanced sheepishly up at Harry. "It's not that bad."
"Let me see it."
Very reluctantly, I handed him the paper. He read it over, looking unconcerned.
"Gone off me a bit, hasn't she?" said Harry lightly when he looked up.
"She must be trying a new angle." said Hermione. "People are probably getting bored of reading about you being a tragic hero."
Mara sat down at the table next to Harry. "What's wrong?" she asked, noticing our expressions.
Harry handed her the paper. She read it over, looking furious.
"I've just about had it with that stupid Skeeter woman!" she said angrily. "I'll get her back if it's the last thing I do!"
She took an angry bite of toast and stormed back out of the hall.
"Wait! We're due in History od Magic in ten minutes!" Harry called after her. He shook his head. "She must really hate that Skeeter woman to risk missing an exam."
"How much do you want to bet she does a Hermione and comes back with a box of 'I Hate Rita Skeeter' badges?" said Ron. Hermione glared at him.
"Well, we can't think about that right now," I said briskly. "Harry needs to focus on preparing for the third task."
"Yeah, have you got all the spells down?" asked Fabian. Harry nodded. "What d'you suppose you're going to do while we're taking exams?"
Being a school champion, Harry was exempt from taking exams.
"Dunno, read again I supose." Harry replied.
"Potter." said a firm voice from behind us. It was McGonagal. "The champions are congregating in the hall after breakfast. Your families will be there to greet you."
"My family?" Harry gaped after her as she walked away. "She doesn't expect the Dursley's to turn up, does she?"
"No idea, but we'd better hurry or we'll be late for Binns." said Hermione, jumping up. Ron, Fabian and I followed suit. We wished Harry luck and hurried to History of Magic.
The morning was extremely dull, but our exams were easier than I thought they'd be, considering we had put all our studying time into helping Harry prepare for the third task.
We returned to the Great Hall for lunch to find that Ron's mother and older brother, Bill, had turned up to support Harry. Mrs. Weasley was short, stout, and very kind. She greeted each of us warmly as we were introduced. Bill was tall and thin with long hair(which was red like the rest of his family) and seemed nice enough.
The afternoon went the same way the morning had, so by dinnertime, everyone was just about bursting with excitement for the third task-everyone but Harry, that is. I kept glancing nervously at him all throughout dinner to make sure he was alright.
Finally, Dumbledore spoke. "In five minutes time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now."
Harry, Cedric, Fleur and Krum stood up. The hall burst into applause and cheers. We wished Harry good luck (Mara gave him a kiss for luck) and he left the hall with Mr. Bagman and the other champions.
"Ladies, and Gentleman, the third task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin!" Bagman's magically magnfied voice echoed through the stadium. "On my whistle, Harry Potter-" A loud cheer rang through the stadium from all the Gryffidors. " and Cedric Diggory-" More cheers came from the Hufflepuffs. "-will enter the maze first."
The whistle blew, and Harry and Cedric entered the maze.
"What kind of things do you think will be in there?" I asked worriedly. "I hope we prepared him enough!"
"He'll be fine, Nina." said Fabian, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. "He's a smart person. I have a good feeling that he'll win."
"I hope so." I said. "Anyway, I don't care if he wins or loses, as long as he gets out of that maze alive."
I looked at Fabian again, but he was frowning at something on the ground below us. "What are looking at?" I asked.
"Look, over there." he pointed towards the edge of the stadium, where I noticed Snape and Rufus talking. They looked like they didn't want to be overheard.
I frowned. "What d'you think they're talking about?"
"No idea." replied Fabian. He glanced at me. "Should we go check it out?"
I nodded, and we exited the stands, and walked over towards Snape and Rufus.
"But he's done it!" I heard Rufus exclaiming as we got closer. Fabian and I ducked down behind one of the stands so they wouldn't see us. "The cup's a portkey that will lead him straight to The Dark-"
"Quiet Zeno." snapped Snape. "We don't want to be overheard."
"But the Dark Lord will rise again!" said Rufus frantically. I shot Fabian an alarmed look. "We will be punished-"
"I said, be quiet!" said Snape angrily. Then he paused. "How do you know this anyway?"
"I saw him do it." said Rufus. "I saw him make it a portkey."
Snape scowled. He spoke so quietly that Fabian and I had to strain to hear him. "Don't lie to me, Zeno. I don't like games."
He swept away, leaving Rufus looking extremely angry. When he too had left, I looked a Fabian. He looked terrified, and I was sure I did too.
"If Rufus was telling the truth..." Fabian began.
"Then the cup's a portkey, to take Harry to You-Know-Who, who will somehow come back." I sucked in a breath. "We need to call an emergency Sibuna meeting."
We sprinted back to the stands, where Hermione, Ron, Mara, Amber and Patricia were sitting.
"Where have you two been?" asked Amber, grinning mischieviously.
"Guys, emergency Sibuna meeting, now!" I said breahlessly. Patricia, Hermione and Amber jumped up at once, but Mara and Ron just looked confused. "I suppose you two better come as well." I added, gesturing to Mara and Ron.
"What's Si-" Mara started.
"Never mind, just come quick!" said Fabian.
We ran down to the bottom of the stands. Night had fallen, so it was hard to see. We snuck underneath the stands and huddled in a circle.
"Will someone please tell me what a bloody Sibuna is?" said Ron exasperatedly.
"No time." I replied. "Fabian and I just overheard Rufus and Snape talking, and Rufus said that somebody-we don't know who-made the Triwizard cup a portkey, and Harry was going to grab it and it was going to take him to You-Know-Who!"
For a few moments, everyone was silent.
"W-what?" Amber asked. "I though You-Know-Who was...gone."
"He said the Dark Lord would rise again." said Fabian grimly.
"Well, we've got to stop it, Harry can't get that cup, he just can't!" said Mara frantically, her eyes welling up with tears.
"We will stop it." I said firmly. "Anyone have any ideas how?"
There was a pause.
"Well, I have one, but it's completely mad, dangerous, and pretty close to impossible." said Hermione quietly.
Everyone stared at her.
"Well, what is it?" Patricia asked after a few seconds.
"Someone...Someone will have to go in the maze after Harry." said Hermione. "I don't know how, but they've got to find him, and stop him from taking the cup."
Silence.
"I mean, I'll go if nobody else does." said Hermione.
"No!" Ron and I said at the same time. "No." I said more firmly. "I'm going."
"No! Nina, you can't!" said Fabian. "I'll go!"
"Fabian, I appreciate it, but I have to do this." I said.
We looked at each other for a few seconds. I tried to make him understand why I absolutely had to do this-Harry was my brother, and I felt I owed it to him.
Fabian looked away. "Okay." he said finally. "Just remember all the jinxes we taught Harry in case you run into anything. And keep your wand out. And-"
"Fabian." I said. He stopped talking and looked at me again.
"Just be careful." he said softly.
At that moment, I was hit with a wave of affection for him. I ran towards him, threw my arms around his neck, and kissed him.
I felt him tense up for a second, then, slowly relax and put his arms around my waist.
"Uhhh...guys?" I heard someone say uncertainly, but we ignored them. All of my problems slipped away, I was in pure, utter bliss-
"Oi! Nina! Fabian! Harry's in danger! We have to help him!" Patricia said loudly.
Annnd it was gone. I let go of Fabian, my mind screaming in protest. But Patricia was right, we had to help Harry.
"I'm always careful." I said to Fabian. He grinned, still looking like he was in shock. He dropped his arms from my waist, and I walked towards the edge of the stands.
"If I'm not back in an hour, tell Dumbledore." I said, glancing around at them. I took a deep breath. "Wish me luck."
Ta da! I hope it was worth the wait :3 Sorry if the beginning confused you, I just wanted to try something different. Oh, and feel free to check out my other stories! -shameless advertising- :P
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