Hey guys! So this chapter was originally gonna cover a bit more and it was gonna be published a few days later, but today is the 20th anniversary of when the first Harry Potter book was published in the UK, so I decided to publish it now.

The next chapter should come in the next few weeks and it will feature the end of the tournament and of course Malec. Thanks for sticking around :) Enjoy!

Viria POV

When she was sure she was far enough away, Viria transformed back into her human form, simply because she knew she could run faster with her human legs than she could as a… well, as a gerbil.

Viria was an Animagus. She had studied up on the practice when she was very young, and, with the push and help of her parents, both being Animagi themselves, she was able to master it at the young age of fourteen… exactly. She finally became an Animagus on her 14th birthday, much to her parents' pleasure. Thus, from that day forward, she was able to transform into a gerbil wish ease.

The only downside was, well, she didn't really feel a need to be a gerbil. All it did was draw her friend's attention, always asking her to transform or to teach them how to do the same. Sure, it was sometimes fun when her friends got her to play a few small pranks on other students whilst using her ability, but they always got more joy out of it than she did. It was nice to see their smiles, but everyone else always seemed more happy about the ability than she did. It made her parents proud (nothing else really did) and it entertained her friends, but honestly she didn't prefer the attention. She would rather be alone.

That was the one benefit about skill. She could transform into a gerbil and just hid in some corner of the school, where no one would bother her. She liked being able to get away. It seemed the one thing that could solve all her problems was also the cause of it.

And, of course, being an Animagus has certainly benefitted her in this tournament. Not that it was her choice to compete in the first place.

Her friends had of course pushed her to put her name in the cup. "You have to," they had told her. "It'll be an easy win for you, since non of the other kids are Animagi, and you'll make our school champions! Plus, that prize money won't hurt." After a lot of begging, she had agreed to come on the trip, if only to shut them up. But she had avoided putting her name in the cup, only to find out that her friends had put her name in for her. She was furious when she found out. And it came to no surprise to her friends that the goblet had chosen her. Thus, now she found herself racing through underground tunnels in the final task, with the most points and a substantial lead. And, of course, the obliviousness of her contestants. No one else outside of her family and friend group knew that she was an Animagus.

Technically, she was registered as an Animagus; her parents didn't want her to break any laws after all. However, they had registered her on the down-low and had failed to inform anyone in the school system about it. So yes, she was on the list, but no one had ever even expected that someone at such a young age would ever be able to become an Animagus, so no one thought to check. Thus, she now had an upper hand in the Triwizard Tournament.

But honestly, she couldn't wait until this whole thing was over. She wasn't lying when she told Magnus that she hated all the attention she got. In fact, everything about the tournament rubbed her the wrong way. All the media attention, the enormous crowds of people, the risking of student lives just for some petty competition between schools and some measly entertainment. It wasn't long ago that someone died it this tournament, and he wasn't even the first one. It all just seemed pointless and unnecessary to her and she wished her friends had never pushed her into coming.

She was surprised that no one else had figured her out. The other champions didn't even have any idea, even after what just happened! She could have sworn Jean would have seen her enter the cave or that Jace saw her strike the squid. She had been trying to hide for as long as possible, but eventually the water filled the whole cave so she had to transform back and use the bubble head charm. That was when she saw the two boys struggling with the squid. It had both of them trapped and was about to swallow them, so she knew she had to act. She hit it with a single spell, just enough to get it to free the two boys. When she saw they were about to win, she swam back to the top and waited for the water levels to go down again so she could transform again. When the tunnels opened back up, she wasted no time racing down her path.

So that part of the challenge really did need all three contestants working together, she mused, reflecting on the fight and Jean's words.

But that didn't matter now. Once again, they were all on their own, and with each step, Viria got closer to the Triwizard Cup, and therefore closer the end of the whole tournament.

Soon, it would all be over. She wouldn't have to hide from another dementor, save her friend from a tree in a monster infested forest, attack a giant squid in a room flooded with water, or sneak past another sleeping dragon again.

She speeded on forward, feet pounding on the floor, her heartbeat loud in her head. She knew she should be tired, but she didn't care. She just wanted to get the whole thing over with as quickly as she could. She didn't even care if she won, she just wanted to reach the end as fast as she could.

Suddenly, she noticed that the path up a head seemed to become more… cramped. The ceiling was a bit lower, the was a bit tighter, with the floor on a slight incline. She slowed down as she approached the shrinking end of the tunnel, her red curls coming to rest around her face. She began to proceed cautiously, crouching further and further as she went. It got to a point where she couldn't even walk upright anymore, and by the looks of it, the path only got smaller and smaller until it was…

just big enough for a gerbil.

Incredible, she mused. The tunnels figured me out before anyone else at this school. And without another though, she transformed back into a gerbil and dashed on ahead.

The walls closed around her until she was moving in a space no wider than a pipe. But, by the looks of it, the tunnel end was not to far, opening up to a different room that Viria couldn't make out due to the blinding light. Or, at least, relatively, the light seemed blinding. Nonetheless, she speeded on forward, ready for whatever lay ahead. She ran and ran until she burst out of the tunnel into…

a large square room of all white. The walls, ceiling, floor — practically everything was white. The only exception was the golden box that rested atop an all white table.

Viria transformed back to her human self and cautiously approached the table. The box had some strange carvings lined in a deep purple, but other than that, there was nothing special about it.

And it was unlocked.

Viria hesitated. Despite it's simple appearance, the box felt wrong. It felt eerie to her and it made her uncomfortable. She wasn't sure if she should open it. Maybe she should just head back and find an alternative path. The tunnels move and change all the time, surely there was another way to go.

She knew before she even finished turing around what she would find when she looked back at her entrance. And sure enough, just like every time before, the path she had come into the room from, the little mouse hole at the bottom of the wall, was gone.

She was left with only one option.

She had to open the box.

Cautiously, she approached it. It didn't move or change or make any noise. It just sat their, looking just as harmless as ever.

But it still felt inherently wrong. Yet, there was nothing else for her to do.

So she placed her hands on the box, ready to open it.

That's when the whispering started. One voice, but it sounded like many, speaking words both clear and incomprehensible, both loud and soft, in languages known and unknown. Viria shivered, chills running down her spine. She swallowed.

This was wrong. So unbelievably wrong. But it had to be done.

She opened the box.

The whispers turned into shrieking, a thousand demons screaming in her ears. She felt wind rush by her as a purple smoke escaped the box and wrapped around her. It was like being stuck at the center of her own personal tornado. The bland room she was in just a second ago became overrun with chaos and destruction.

It all got to be too much for her. The piercing screams, the blinding colors, the suffocating wind. She cover her ears and shut her eyes, begging — pleading — for everything to just stop.

"Please, please, please!" She gasped. The wind was getting faster, and she could feel the oxygen being sucked out of her area. She knew she wouldn't last long.

Suddenly, everything stopped. She gasped for air, her lungs elated at the return of oxygen. Her hair fell back around her head, the air now deadly still. She couldn't hear anything but the sound of her own breathing. She slowly opened her eyes and dropped her hands.

The room looked exactly the same. She could see the box in front of her, still on the table, open, and looking no different. She approached it, finding it empty once she looked inside. It seemed that all that chaos had just been for show.

But if that was just meant to give her a little jump, what was actually in the box? What was the actually challenged. Surely there was more to this —

"Viria," a familiar voice called from behind her.

She turned around, only to find that no one was there. The room was as empty and silent as always.

What was that? she questioned. It has sounded so familiar, yet she couldn't quite place whose voice it was.

Maybe I just imagined it, she tried to convince herself.

"Over here, Viria," the voice called again, in her native tongue, suddenly from a different place in the room.

She turned again, facing the center.

What?

No. It can't be.

Right in front of her, next to the opened box, stood her mother.

"I've missed you so much, darling," her mom said, holding her arms out in the probable expectation of a hug. Her hair was up in a bun, as usual, with not a single strand out of place.

Viria never understood how she was able to manage her hair so well. Heaven knows Viria's hair never seemed to agree with her.

"What are you doing here, mom?" Viria asked, wary of the whole situation.

"Well that's no way to greet your mother," she replied. "Come, why don't you give me a hug? Come he—"

"What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" Viria asked again, teeth clenched. Seeing her couldn't be a good sign. It never really was.

Her mother sighed, arms dropping. "I came here for you, darling," she stepped forward. "I wanted to congratulate you on how well you were doing—"

"No. Stop," Viria insisted. "Why are you really here."

How did she even get in here? It doesn't make sense. Viria couldn't reason it out.

"Why can't you believe me? I wanted to tell you how proud I am of you and—"

"—That's it! You're never proud of me! Only once have you been proud, and that's because you made me do something you and dad wanted! You'd only be proud if I actually won! You and dad didn't even show up in time to encourage me before the race and you expect me to believe that you—"

SLAP

Viria put her hand to her cheek, which now stung so much it brought tears to her eyes. She turned back to her mom, who was breathing heavily, her cheery, loving attitude replaced by a beet-red face, furrowed brows, and an impressive scowl.

"You ungrateful little girl!" she growled.

Viria stared back in shock. Her mom never hit her. Never. Of all the horrible things she's done in the past, the one thing she would never do was lay a finger on her. Viria was always scared of the one day her mom would snap and just do it, but she has never, ever hit her.

And she just did.

"M-mom?" she stuttered out, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

Why did she hit me?

"You're right, I'm not here to tell you how proud I am of you," she snarled. "You've done nothing to deserve my pride. Nothing! Everything you are, everything you have ever done or accomplished is because of your father and I. Because we gave you the push!"

"Stop, mom, please stop," Viria whimpered. More tears began to stream down her face. She curled into herself, as if she could shield herself from her mother's words.

"You would be nothing without us and you have the audacity to complain?"

"Please, stop!" Viria begged

"After all we've done for you? You're worthless and everyone knows it."

"No…" Viria gasped, closing her eyes.

"She's right, you know," a different—yet still familiar— voice added. It was rougher, but that's not how it usually sounded. Normally, it was much softer. A melodic voice, one as smooth as honey.

She looked up.

It was the voice of her father, who now stood before her where her mother had been not a second ago.

What?

"Dad…? Where did… How are you—" So many questions raced through her head.

"You really should listen to your mother."

"Huh…?"

Viria stared at her father, puzzled, her face still wet from the tears. Too much was happening, most of which made no sense at all.

She wiped her face with the sleeve of her robes.

"You are… my greatest disappointment," her father sighed.

"Dad… but…" Viria said, disbelief coloring her tone.

This cannot be happening why is this happening? Her father had always been the more supportive one. Sure he pushed her just as hard as her mother, but at least when she looked in his eyes she wouldn't see the stern, cold, emptiness she saw in her mother's. At least sometimes he looked at her with sympathy.

The look her gave her now was the complete opposite.

"I had hoped you'd become you're own person. I had hoped you'd do something by yourself, for yourself, but you never did."

"Because you never let me do what I wanted!" Viria fought back.

"Everything you are, we made you wouldn't be who you are without us. You would have never achieved what you have achieved without us. But those aren't really your achievements, are they?"

"You're wrong."

"No, I'm not!" he suddenly raised his voice. "Those are our achievements, because we were the ones who did all the hard work to achieve them. You just reap the benefits of our sacrifices."

"That's not true! I never wanted any of this!"

Viria didn't know when she started crying again, but she just realized how fast the tears were pouring. Her vision blurred and the thumping of her heart was getting too loud to ignore.

"You're right," a third voice pitched in. "You're not only what your parents made you."

"Tyra?"

Sure enough, her best friend, the one she saved in the second task, stood in front of her, her father nowhere to be seen.

"Where's my dad? And what happened to my mom earlier? What's happeni—"

"Oh my god, will you shut up?" Tyra asked, clearly frustrated.

Viria was taken aback. Tyra never talked to her like that. She was her best friend, she was always there for her.

"You're so pathetic, you know?" Tyra told her. "'Where's my dad? And what happened to my mom earlier? What's happening,'" she mocked. "I can't take your whining all the time. It's all you do and you never shut up!"

"What are you talking about, Tyra, you're my best friend…" Viria pleaded. her eyes hadn't dried.

Tyra laughed. "Please, we're not 'best friends,' Viria. If we were, it'd be a very one-sided relationship, don't you think? What have you ever done for me?"

Viria couldn't believe her ears. "What do you mean…"

"To think, I helped push you to join this contest. To think all of us did. To think we went through the effort to put your name in the goblet. And now here you are, complaining about the whole thing. Crying out to know where your parents are, the same parents you always complain about."

"Stop it, Tyra, please…"

"Honestly, you were just a fun experiment for me. That's all you were for all of us. We delighted in the fact that your parents made you an Animagus. I doubt any of us would have stuck around you for long if you weren't one."

Viria shook her head back and forth in disbelief. The tears were coming fast now, dropping off her jaw and onto the floor.

"No…" she gasped, closing her eyes.

"You're just the weird, loner kid who can't do anything for herself. You couldn't even enter this contest by yourself."

"Stop…"

Viria covered her ears with her hands.

"You only made it this far because of what your parents turned you into."

"Please," she begged. She curled into herself as suddenly all the voices surrounded her.

"You're pathetic."

"A disappointment," her father's voice.

"Ungrateful," her mother.

"Stupid."

"Weak."

"Worthless."

"Stop, stop stop," she cried to herself, rocking back and forth on the floor.

"We never really loved you."

"No one ever did."

"Stop, stop, STOP!" Viria cried, doing all she could to block them out.

Viria couldn't believe what was happening. It was like her worst fear brought to life.

"You are nothing."

Wait, Viria thought to herself through the madness. Fear…

Time seemed to slow down. All the insults being thrown at her faded into the background, replaced by white noise and the steady beat of her heart.

This isn't real.

It never was.

All the pieces were falling into place. Realization dawned on Viria.

Her parents and best friend weren't here. They had never found a way into the contest. All the things they were saying, they weren't true.

She wiped her eyes for the last time and looked up at the creature in front of her, who now took the form of her mother. She stood up shakily but determined, both fists clenched.

But one was now tightly grasping her wand.

The form of her mother glared at her, heaving heaving breaths.

But Viria now knew it wasn't her mother.

"Well?" the form of her mother asked, clearly surprised at Viria's change in demeanor.

Viria held her stare, no longer intimated.

"I'm not worthless. I'm not a disappointment. I'm not pathetic, or weak, or stupid. And you should know that."

She raised her wand, finding her strength.

"Riddikulus!"

The boggart stepped back as suddenly her mother's outfit slipped away, replaced by a stage costume of a lion. It was a big fur suit, complete with tail and all, and her mother's face was covered in makeup, her hair out of it's perfect bun, frizzing around her face — the perfect fit for a mane.

The boggart, still with her mother's face, held the tail with both of it's hands in a fitting whimpering stance.

Viria knew enough about Muggle classics to understand what she was seeing.

The Cowardly Lion.

Viria couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up in her chest and soon came tumbling out of her mouth. She had never seen her primp and stern mother in such an absurd state. She laughed so hard her sides hurt.

She bent over in laughter and almost missed how the boggart disappeared at once.

Almost.

Quickly, she rushed to the box, which still stood at the center of the room and shut it.

She breathed a sigh of relief. She was alone, again.

That was when another door appeared and opened itself for her. She smiled to herself, anticipation dousing through her veins. Without a look back, she took a running start down the new tunnel.

She had a tournament to win. And she wasn't going to just try and get it over with like she originally planned. And, no, she wasn't going to win it for her parents to make them proud. She wasn't going to win for her friends or for the school or for anyone.

She was going to win for herself.

Thanks for reading! Comments are always appreciated :)

I'll be back in a few weeks.