Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series and all of its characters are property of J.K Rowling. This is a parody fanwork made by fans for fans. No money was made of the creation of this fanwork.

\Krum\

Library, library. Vere are you? Krum wondered as he made his way through the endless corridors. He recalled briefly a story his mother had once told him on his Christmas break so many years ago. It had been Greek mythology, something about string. Yes, Ariadne's string, that was it. Theseus had used it in that maze when he killed the Minotaur to guide himself back out. Now that he thought about it, Krum found himself wishing that he had some. With all the changing staircases, secret doors and whatever else was waiting to surprise him in the remainder of his stay, they might as well put him in a straitjacket now.

Still, Viktor continued his search for the library, looking for the girl that had been running through his mind ever since he met her. He turned another corner.

"Um…hi," the voice startled Krum, and he whirled around with wide eyes.

"Are you lost?" It was a girl, no older than thirteen, with stringy blonde hair, a splash of freckles, and big green eyes.

"I vos looking for the library, could you help me?" Viktor was rather desperate now, and grabbed the end of the fraying rope that had been offered to him.

"Um, sure," the girl said tentatively, "It's this way." She gently took hold of his hand and began to guide him back the way he'd come, all the way back to the entrance to the Great Hall. Krum silently cursed himself.

"So from here, you turn left, go up the two staircases, to the end of the corridor. It's huge, you'll see it," she says with a small smile, already turning to walk away.

"Vait! Vot is your name?" He almost yelled it.

The girl gave him a quick backwards glance.

"Avery."

"Thank you, Avery." With a small nod, Avery scurried down the corridor and disappeared out of sight. Giving himself a good shake, the now un-confused Durmstrang student followed Avery's instructions, stumbling once when a staircase decided to change. After a few mid-air turns, he found himself in front of two massive double doors. As quietly as he could, Krum slipped through, and found himself promptly amazed.

Bookshelves lined everywhere went from floor to ceiling, with many more stacks of books teetering on tables. Viktor, of course, spent so long looking up that he almost missed the book floating inches in front of his nose. When he finally caught sight of it, he almost jumped out of his skin, shooting himself backwards into none other than Hermione Granger. Her books were knocked out of her hands and toppled to the floor. Again.

"I swear I'm not doing this on purpose," Krum moaned.

"Hey relax, it's fine, nothing I can't handle," Hermione joked as she stooped to pick up her possessions, "Are you looking for something?" To this, Krum had no answer. He couldn't say he was looking for her…

"I-I came to look for…books." He was so not himself. This girl transformed him into a blubbering buffoon every time he came into contact with her.

"Anything in particular?" Asked ever-bright Hermione.

"Um…spells." She let out a light laugh which sounded like shimmering bells.

"What sort of spells?" Krum finally got control of his tongue.

"Combat." The perky Gryffindor's smile vanished, replaced by a mixed look of concern and sternness.

"This way."

/Hermione/

When Krum first entered the library, Hermione decided it was time to leave. Unfortunately, he stopped dead still a mere three steps inside the doors, presumably taking in the grandness of it all. It wasn't that she wanted to avoid him, she just…well, she didn't want to any awkwardness. Not that there wasn't any. What the heck, she thought. What do I have to lose? Everyone takes a risk at some point.

In times like this, Hermione's book smarts were worse than useless. There was no spell to sneak past a boy without getting caught. But it was either this or hiding in a corner for who knows how long. So, she gathered up her books and bag and prepared herself to run.

She was almost there. Viktor was standing in the same place, looking upwards, mouth slightly open, clearly in awe of what he was seeing. But, of course, since bad luck was determined to find Hermione, a book floated past Krum's nose, scaring the living daylights out of him and causing him to jump a mile backwards – into Hermione.

As her books were yet again thrown to the floor, she let out a sigh and put on a smile. Hermione was not much for starting conversations, and had to come up with a funny and friendly to his apology too quickly. She said the first thing that came to her mind, and, surprisingly, it hadn't been so bad. It got small talk going, at least. Her fake-but-real-looking smile didn't have to stay too long; it quickly faded when Krum asked her where the combat spell books were. Knowing the library would be too big for explain where to go, Hermione pulled herself together and brought him to a shelf.

"These ones would probably be best for you," Hermione said nonchalantly, pulling out books that contained spells on breathing underwater and sea life transfigurations. Krum, of course, had no idea that Hermione already knew what the second task was. Before Krum could even open his mouth to say his thanks, Hermione was gone.

After she walked out of the library, Krum turned back to the books laid out in front of him. He began disinterestedly skimming through the pages, sure that he was going to fall asleep there. He flipped another page and his breath caught in his throat as the three dimensional shark appeared to be jumping out the water, off the page. It was a Transfiguration spell.