Well, it's a little bit late for a Christmas gift, but I hope y'all enjoy it!
As Amelia Bone's fiery visage stared at the rag-tag group that stood with her niece around the fireplace, she couldn't help but chuckle in amusement.
"Susan," she began slowly. "I know I told you to contact me if your friends ever needed some sort of legal advice but…"
The fiery face of the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement smirked.
"I'll be honest, I had expected it to be a little more...low profile."
Those assembled at least had the self-awareness to chuckle awkwardly.
"Madame Bones," Harry said as he stepped forward for the group. "Thank you so much for your time. We just...well we thought we might benefit from someone who has some sort of understanding of Magical Law to ask about our situation." Amelia nodded in reply.
"And you were quite right, Mister Potter." she mirthfully replied. "I've already been dealing with an irate Barty Crouch over your current legal woes. You also have quite the right hook, so I've been told."
Harry blushed, embarrassed word of his outburst had spread so far. Luckily, it was Susan who spoke up to her relative.
"Aunt Amelia!" the girl interjected passionately, "You should have seen how these challenges have been going. Something really fishy is going on." Amelia tilted her head curiously at her niece's words.
"What do you mean?" she asked stoicly.
"Ma'am," Cedric spoke up, "We've just been given reason to believe someone is sabotaging the tournament results."
"And not for one of us to vin." Viktor added from the side, "But for one or more of us to not survive zis tourney."
Amelia frowned deeply at the new information.
"These are serious accusations, champions. For someone to compromise the integrity of the TriWizard Tournament…" Amelia explained, her face reflecting the grave nature of the situation.
"That would not only discredit this Ministries integrity, but to be able to sabotage something right under the nose of not only Albus, but Igor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime..."
Amelia leveled a stern gaze at the champions.
"Whomever is responsible for this supposed sabotage is not only organized, but is as powerful as they are bold. This is not a threat to be taken lightly, and know that my office is taking this matter very seriously." she assured the group, shooting one sly glance at Harry.
"We have been investigating since we became aware of Mister Potter's involvement, as he tends to...how did Minerva describe it to me? Be a magnet for controversy?"
Harry groaned pitifully as Daphne and the assembled group snickered amongst themselves. From the fire, Amelia seemed to turn away from the group as if looking for something.
"Now," she began, tilted her head from the fire slightly. "I have been going over the contract formed by putting your name into the Goblet, and I'm afraid I have bad news." the witch's voice echoed through the fireplace. Suddenly, in lieu of Amelia's bust, a highlighted portion of the contract appeared in the embers.
"Noble as your boycott may be," Amelia's voice came as a burning finger pointed to a certain portion of the contract. "You will all be required to finish the tournament. For an able bodied participant to withdraw would be in breach of the agreement."
Fleur spoke up, voicing the disappointment of the group.
"Zer iz no way to be free from zis hell? We must compete?" the witch declared loudly. Amelia could only offer a pitying look.
"I know, Miss Delacour. I'm sorry I cannot offer you a way out of this. The contract is old magic, very old. To attempt to fool it or back out would put your own lives and magic in jeopardy." she replied. Crestfallen, Hermione did her best to recover slightly to thank Madame for her time.
"Well, thank you for looking into the matter, Madame Bones." the bushy haired witch offered for the group, but Amelia held out a hand to silence the girl.
"Not all is lost, Miss Granger." Amelia added quickly, eyeing the renewed sense of hope her words brought to the eyes of those gathered.
"You may not be able to boycott competing, but the wording I'm reading only mandates that there must be a winner. Not whom that winner is or…" Amelia smiled knowingly at the champions.
"...Or how many winners there must be in the event of a tie."
Harry frowned, deep in thought as he considered this news.
"There isn't some sort of tie-breaker for that?" he asked confused.
"Oh there is," Amelia nodded, earning puzzled looks. "But the tie-breaker is only for after the tourney and, despite what Barty may insist, the wording of the contract specifically says that once any number of winners have been declared, they are free from the contact."
"So what you're saying," Cedric began to put the pieces together, "Is that if we all tie for the finish, we're free of the contract and then can just refuse to do a tie-breaker?"
Amelia smiled from the fire. "Precisely, Mister Diggory."
All four of the champions quickly looked between each other, a sense of hope flashing in their eyes.
"I don't know about you three," Harry said with a growing smile, "But I really don't need any more publicity." Cedric and Fleur both nodded vigorously in agreement.
"I only vant to return to my quidditch." Krum gruffly replied. Noting the group coming to an agreement, Amelia spoke up once more.
"But a word of caution, champions." she added as all eyes turned back towards the fire. "Barty Crouch is taking this situation incredibly seriously. Whatever happened to you in that lake was not planned. Barty may be paranoid, but I agree with him. The final task may very well be compromised."
Amelia's words hung heavy in the air. They had barely survived the second task, and if whomever was attempting to have them killed tried again, who was to say they'd get out so lucky again?
"Work together and prepare together." Amelia cautioned. "But I'll be sending extra enforcers to help Barty when you agree to compete. They've moved the date of the final task in light of your boycott, so I would go tell Mister Crouch you will compete so he can begin to prepare once more."
Amelia shot Harry a sideways glance. "Preferably not Mister Potter. I'm not so sure Mister Crouch would be overly receptive." Harry blushed in embarrassment.
"Good luck, champions" Amelia finished with a small wink.
"Thank you, Aunt Amelia!" Susan beamed, blushing slightly at the grateful smile Cedric sent her way.
"Thank you, Madame Bones." The champions all replied in unison. Amelia gave a curt nod before the fire slowly returned to its gentle roar. Turning towards the assembled group, Harry leaned back and collapsed into the red arm chair behind him.
"Well," he said, folding his hands and holding them in front of his face. "It seems we are still competing."
Krum gave a small laugh. "Competing for the tie, yes?" Harry smiled and nodded.
"Well, the only question now is whether or not we make it convincing."
Cedric, reclining next to Fleur, gave a shrug.
"They think we're a united front now. May as well blaze ahead with that theme." he suggested, earning a nod from Fleur and Viktor.
"Ze final task may still prove quite ze challenge. We ought prepare together." the witch added, earning a smirk from Krum who pulled out his wand in a battle stance.
"Slaying dragons and squid. I do not fear of the creatures they send our way." he boldly proclaimed, shooting a quick glance at Hermione as he did. The witch in question suddenly found her hand incredibly fascinating and her cheeks oddly warm.
"Still," Cedric added, "We really should prepare for the task."
Daphne quickly raised her hand and interjected. "All for you training, but shouldn't you figure out when the task will be?" Cedric nodded, conceding to the interjection and pointed at Fleur.
"If Fleur wouldn't mind joining, seeing as Mister Crouch probably hates us the least, I'll go talk to him this evening. They had the other events prepared weeks in advance, so I can't imagine it would be that difficult to reschedule as soon as possible."
"Well then," Harry finished, clasping his hands together, "Who wants to meet tomorrow in the field and start training?"
Viktor brightened considerably, eagerly looking between the champions.
"We can do my daily routines to prepare for quidditch season!" he bellowed, rising from his seat in excitement.
Harry nodded vigorously, but paused slightly noticing the devilish gleam in the Bulgarian's eyes. Viktor was a professional quidditch player, but Harry quickly shrugged off his concern.
After all, it was just some light, pre-season training? How hard could it be?
Bad.
Training with Viktor had been a bad, bad idea. They really should have known the moment they had shown up on the first day of training. Harry, Fleur, and Cedric had all come in simple workout clothes. Tennis shoes, t-shirts, sweatpants. Harry and Cedric thought Fleur had gone the extra mile by bringing a thermos. The three had met in the Great Hall before for breakfast where an oddly peppy Viktor had dropped by and informed the trio that Karkaroff had managed to procure the use of the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch for a training ground and for them to come meet him in an hour before busily rushing off.
They had thought nothing of it.
Fools.
When the three champions had walked up, the found Viktor doing lunges around the pitch, holding over his head weights that, Harry morbidly noted, weighed as much as he did. Throwing the weight to the side like it was a feather, he had rushed over and greeted the Trio with three matching Bulgarian jerseys. Harry had eyed the jersey suspiciously as he took it.
"Thanks Viktor." he said puzzled, not understanding the eager look on the Bulgarian.
"I had spares for training," he explained, "You should wear them at all times! We have a month and a half before combat. Plenty of time to grow."
Harry stared at the jersey quizzically. "What do you mean wear them at all times?"
"Ack!"
Harry's head whipped around to find Cedric lying flat on his back, breathing heavily.
"W-What the hell is this?" the brown haired wizard gasped while clawing at the jersey, much to the amusement of Viktor who reached down and helped pull the Hufflepuff back to his feet.
"You have the legs of a lamb, friend." Viktor boomed as Harry and Fleur stared horrified at the jerseys in their hands.
"These are our team weights. Very heavy. They do wonders for us when we train." Viktor explained as he urged Harry and Fleur to don theirs. Slowly and cautiously, Harry put his on. It wasn't until the shirt was totally on his body that suddenly Harry felt his weight virtually double. He grit his teeth as his muscles strained under the magical new weight.
"Viktor." Harry had gasped slowly, already breathing heavily from the weight. "We've only got six weeks before we start. We're not just going to magically end up buff with body weights. I was more just thinking battle magic and some light cardio."
The Bulgarian gave Harry a smirk.
"A weak body breeds weak magic." he sagely responded before motioning to the track.
"Why not start becoming strong now? Why use challenge as excuse? You can continue long after Tournament is done!"
The Bulgarian began a light jog, brightly ushering his friends behind him to follow.
Krum was lucky Harry couldn't lift his arm to hex him.
But, six weeks of training had come and gone and, Harry had to admit, he was in a lot better shape than he had been. Daphne had been a monster over his diet, hexing anything not healthy to taste like toothpaste and peanut butter.
Once the initial shock on his "feeble" body, as Viktor so kindly put it, had begun to dissipate, they had begun dueling practice. Harry was an incredibly powerful young wizard, but training with students three years his senior had shown him he had a lot to learn. Where Harry could cast maybe six spells with power most adult wizards could only hope to one day reach, the other champions, especially Fleur and Cedric, could cast two dozen varied and useful abilities with little difficulty.
Their training had actually become a bit of a spectator sport. In the absence of Quidditch, students from all three schools had all come out to watch their respective champions train. Some eager students had even joined them. It had become quite an event, even some teachers coming out with full classes during lecture times.
Harry idly rubbed his stomach in pain, remembering the day Professor Flitwick had brought a class out and asked the champions to display the offensive capabilities of low level bombardment charms.
Viktor had been far too eager to oblige.
Complaining aside, the training had instilled a small fire in the young man. Harry even asked Viktor if he could keep the kit, so he could continue his own training after the year was over. The Bulgarian and beamed brightly at sharing his love for fitness with his new friend, offering heavier weights, though Harry had politely declined. Overall, though, he felt better, and certainly more focused for the final task.
Barty Crouch had seemed extremely thankful the champions had decided to drop their boycott and continue the tournament, though he had kept a watchful eye on them throughout their training, usually shooting salty glares towards Harry while nursing his chin.
When the fateful day of the Task arrived, Harry and the rest of the champions were required to meet at ten in the morning for debriefing, so Harry had told Daphne to meet him for a quick breakfast in the courtyard outside the Great Hall.
"Morning Daphne." Harry had said with a small smile as the girl approached. Daphne returned the smile in earnest as she took a seat on the bench next to the boy, pulling out a small basket of food from the kitchens.
"Morning, you." she replied, opening the basket and offering Harry the assorted fruits inside. "How're you feeling?"
Harry gave a small shrugged as he pulled out a banana and began to undo the peel.
"Fine, I guess."
Daphne raised an eyebrow.
"You're a pretty awful liar, you know that?" she chastised while pulling out an apple and beginning to cut it into slices. Harry offered a weak smile and took a bite of the banana.
"Yeah," he grumbled through a mouthful of food. "I guess I'm a little more worried than I thought I was." Daphne quietly placed her hand on top of Harry's an offered a supportive smile.
"Potter. It's okay to be scared. These tasks are dangerous." Daphne replied simply. Harry gave a small smile at her words and stared forward out over the courtyard with a long, sad sigh.
"I swear, I never ask for any of this." he whispered softly but still loud enough for Daphne to hear. Her face softened.
"You know," she replied, "Up until this year, I really didn't believe you."
Harry shot the girl a puzzled look as she continued. "I thought all the bullocks we'd be told about the things you would do throughout the year and just think you had a massive complex. But now, I've got a new opinion."
Harry gave a bitted laugh and raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
Daphne nodded sagely. "You just are physically incapable of not getting tangled up in controversy. You don't go looking for it, but it comes looking for you."
Tipping his banana in agreement, Harry finished the last bite and tossed the peel into the bushes behind him. The two sat in silence for a time before Harry spoke up.
"Listen, Daphne." he began slowly. "If I don't make it out of this. I just want you to know I -"
Harry recoiled as Daphne slapped him hard across the cheek before immediately returning to eating her apple, pointedly ignoring Harry's shocked glare.
"What the bloody hell was that-"
"You're going to finish this tournament." she replied simply, turning to look Harry right in the eye.
"You're going to finish this tournament and then you are going to take me out to a very nice restaurant and we are going to have a wonderful evening."
Daphne raised an eyebrow, inviting Harry to challenge her.
"And you're going to get the best table in the house because you are Harry Potter and you deserve it. Are we clear?"
Harry stared at his girlfriend in silence for a long moment before grabbing her by the neck and pulling her into an intense kiss. Lips desperately slammed together as Daphne wrapped her arms around the raven haired boy. Slowly, both parted, panting slightly for breath, as Daphne huskily whispered into Harry's ear.
"I'll be waiting for you when you're done." she said simply, before rising and quickly rushing back into the castle. Harry sat, dumbstruck and gaping, before a voice snapped him back to reality.
"My, my 'Arry. In public, no less. And I thought British men were prudes." came a soft, amused voice next to him.
Harry's neck whipped around so fast he heard it crack. Nearby, he found Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor all eyeing him with amused expressions, causing the boy to blush furiously as he stood up.
"I uh," Harry stammered for words, but that only caused his fellow champions to laugh more, so in the end he just resigned to his fate and approached the group.
"Are we ready?" He asked the trio, earning nods all around.
"As we will ever be." Cedric responded with a shrug. Harry couldn't argue with that.. Preparing for one's possible demise was a difficult task. He still hadn't quite figured it out.
The four made their way towards the staging area for the final task of the tournament slowly, caught in their own thoughts as they walked. Approaching the tent, they were greeted by Barty Crouch with a curt nod.
"Ah, so you are all here." he acknowledged with pursed lips. Ushering the champions inside, he had them sit down in a circle around a covered object.
"The goal of the final task of the TriWizard Tournament is a simple one. Outside of this tent is the entrance to a maze. At the center of this maze is the prize you so, "Barty paused as he frowned slightly, glancing icily over the champions. "Is the prize past participants so fervently competed for."
With a small, dramatic flair that looked odd on the stern man, he lifted the cloth covering the item in the middle. Harry and the champion's eyes widened as they caught sight of the massive, crystal TriWizard cup.
"The first Champion to reach the cup shall be declared the winner, and eternal glory shall follow them for the ages to come!" he declared proudly, though seemed irked by the lack of interest by his audience. Giving a small growl of frustration, Crouch pointed to a muscular, brown haired man next to him Harry recognized as Ludo Bagman.
"Mister Bagman will explain the particulars of this event in more detail." Crouch grumbled as he stepped aside. Ludo Bagman stepped forward, a large grin on his face as he held his arms out wide.
"Well," he boomed, clasping his hands together. "You four are just causing all kinds of stir, aren't you?" The four champions had the decency to look a little sheepish, but Ludo continued unperturbed.
"But, hey. I'm not here to complain. You're here and you're competing. That's all that matters." the man cheerily continued.
"Now, the maze has four entrances, but your paths will cross once you are inside. How you handle each other is up to your own discretion, but be warned that the other Champions are not the only threat inside the maze. Those grassy walls hide a variety of magical creatures, deadly and dangerous, that you will have to navigate if you wish to reach the end. If any of you wish to surrender at any point, all you need do is raise your wand into the air and fire a lumos." Ludo finished. Suddenly, from behind the flap, Mad-Eyed Moody hobbled in roughly, walking up behind the group.
"Ah! Alastor." Bagman smiled brightly, "Just in time to take the Cup back." The Defense against the Dark Arts Teacher responded only with a grunt, quickly grabbing the Cup and storming out of the tent, his magical eye lingering on Harry longer than the boy was comfortable with. Ludo awkwardly coughed after the sudden interruption and turned back to the champions.
"Well," he finished," We'll be ready to start in just a few minutes. Feel free to take some time to prepare yourselves." With that, both he and Crouch left the room, leaving the champion to themselves. Fleur was the first to speak, turning to her peers.
"It would seem that teaming up will be difficult if we begin apart." she said, earning a grimace from Cedric.
"What do you think they put in there?" he asked. Harry didn't answer, walking over to the flap to the tent and peeking out. Bleachers were filled with fans and spectators all huddled around the entry was to a massive bush maze. The walls must have easily been seven meters tall, absolutely towering over everything else. Harry gave out a low whistle.
"I don't know," he slowly replied, "But looking at the size of that maze, I'm guessing it's going to be dragons, round two." The other champions quickly stood behind Harry and looked out through the slit in the tent, their faces falling like his as they eyed the monolithic shrubbery. A few minutes later, Ludo Bagman returned. He walked into the center of the group and gave a small smile as he looked around.
"Stay safe, and best of luck to all of you." he said before reaching out and eagerly shaking each contestant's hand. Walking over to the tent, he wildly held the flap open and gave a small bow.
"We're ready to begin."
The crowd gave a thunderous roar as the champions exited the tent and walked to the entrance to the maze. A marching band played loudly to Harry's left, though most noise just sounded like a dull hum in his ear. He saw Dumbledore and Crouch stand and address the champions, spouting some nonsense about glory and honor, but Harry's eyes were glued to the misty darkness in the shade of the maze.
Fleur would enter first, being randomly selected due to the four way tie the second round had concluded in. Cedric was next, then Viktor, and then finally Harry.
The boy groaned. As if today didn't suck enough.
With the sound of a cannon blast, Harry watched as Fleur's petite form dashed into the forest. The three champions left waited in silence before a second cannon blast saw Cedric dashing into the maze, followed quickly by Viktor.
Slowly, Harry walked to the mazes entrance and cracked his knuckles before pulling out his wand and gripping the wood tightly in his hand.
"Just get to the end, Potter." he whispered to himself. The four had agreed to just meet at the end if they couldn't find each other before the maze was over, which was entirely possible. Just meet at the end.
BOOM!
With the sound of the blast, Harry darted headlong into the maze. He didn't come to a decision until almost four turns in, the impassable wall of thorns having made his choice for him. Harry fell into quick pattern of left, left, right, but after almost thirty turns, he found himself staring at a dead end of foliage.
Harry cursed under his breath as he quickly began to back track, only to cry out as a cluster of roots that suddenly appeared at his feet. Harry grunted in pain as fleshy, green tendrils wrapped themselves brutally around Harry's ankle. He struggled violently as dozens of roots emerged from the maze and wrapped themselves around his wrists and waist. Harry gasped in pain as thorns like small daggers sliced and dragged against his skin, shredding his shirt and leaving thin but long, bloody gouges in his body.
Harry's mind raced. The vine was quickly tightening around his body, a few tendrils beginning to wrap their way around his airway. He struggled violently, but the plant only seemed to ensnare him further.
Wait...Ensnare.
Devil's Snare.
"Lumos...Solem." Harry barely whispered with what little was left of his breath. From it's spot pinned on the ground, Harry's wand suddenly erupted with a blindingly white light. The plant around Harry's seemed to writhe in pain was it released the boy and quickly retreated to the darkness of the maze. Gasping for breath on the ground, Harry shakily planted his arms and began to try and raise himself up.
As he made it to his feet, Harry heard footsteps and a rustling of the maze fast approaching his location. Harry crouched low against the maze, leveling his wand towards the footsteps. Harry was half way through the incantation for a stunner when Fleur burst around the corner.
"'Arry?" she asked, rushing to the tattered looking boy's side. "I saw a flare. Are you okay? You look 'orrible!" the part-veela asked concerned. Harry smirked painfully as he gasped for breath.
"Oh, you know." he wheezed. "Just a little scratch." Fleur rolled her eyes as she quickly ripped a shred of Harry's shirt off and wrapped it around a particularly gushing scratch as a makeshift bandage. Harry smiled graciously at the girl as he pointed down the path Fleur had come from.
"Have you seen anything?" he asked. Fleur nodded as she finished tying the bandages.
"A minotaur was sleeping along the path. He opened his eyes to look at me, but I got lucky. Veela and Minotaur do not mix well, and he let me run past." she explained, her eyes cautiously looking around.
"'Ave you seen anyone else?" she asked. Harry shook his head in response.
"No," Harry answered, "I ran into a dead end before I found the Devil's Snare." Fleur nodded and made her way to the next corner, cautiously peeking around it before continuing.
"Then let us go." she called out, signaling that the coast was clear. "Zis is far more dangerous than we imagined."
The duo sped through the maze, cautiously attempting to avoid conflict. Neglecting to check around an upcoming corner, Fleur had been spared a fireball to the face from a booby trap as Harry had managed to push the girl away just in time, causing the fireball to only just singe the back of the girl's ponytail. Harry and Fleur continued for what seemed to be almost half an hour before Harry signaled for Fleur to stop as he quickly pressed his ear against the wall of the maze. Fleur froze and listened in just in time to hear a furious battle cry.
"You filthy traitor!" came the roaring voice of Viktor Krum from the other side of the hedge. Harry's eyes widened and he called out to the Bulgarian.
"Viktor! It's me and Fleur! What's happening?" he yelled. The sound of stunning hexes and bombardment charms filled the air as Fleur began to look for a path to the embattled Krum.
"Potter!" Viktor's voice bellowed from the other side of the wall. "It is Diggory. He is a traitorous worm! He atta-AUGH!"
"Viktor!" Harry screamed as a massive explosion shook the giant hedge wall. Frantically, Harry rushed to Fleur, who had found what she thought was the right direction. The two dashed around a double corner towards the sound of the duel. Harry rounded a corner with his wand leveled to attack.
"Viktor!" he called out. He froze as he and Fleur finally found the Bulgarian, bleeding heavily from a large gash against his forehead held in a chokehold from Cedric, who had his wand pointed to the boy's skull.
"Freeze, Potter." the Hufflepuff slowly demanded. "Or I blast his skull out of his dirty head."
Harry and Fleur both held their wands in surrender as the slowly straightened up.
"Cedric," Harry cried, confusion and panic etched on his face. "What are you doing?"
The brown haired boy remained emotionless.
"Put your wand on the ground." he demanded of the duo. Viktor snarled against his captor.
"Do not disarm yourself, Comrade. Kill this worm." the Bulgarian hissed. Harry slowly took a step forward, lowering his wand slightly.
"Calm down, Cedric." he shakily replied, slowly inching forward. "We can talk this out. You can win the tournament. Just let Viktor go." Cedric's face remained emotionless, but Fleur leaned forward slightly, whispering into Harry's ear.
"'Arry." she quietly said, attempting to keep from moving her lips. "Look at his eyes. Something iz wrong." Harry stared intently into Cedric's eyes only gasp in shock as he saw what Fleur was telling him. Cedric's eyes were hazy, a grey mist forming over the normally greenish-brown pupils. They lazily stared back at the witch and wizard as if he was totally uninterested or aware of their presence.
"I think..." Harry whispered back slowly to Fleur, "I think he's under the Imperius curse…." The girls eyes widened in horror at the mere name of the Unforgivable.
"Can he hear us?" she whispered back, causing Harry to shake his head.
"If he is, no. He'll only know if the person who is controlling him can hear us, which I doubt in this maze." Harry whispered back before crouching low to place his want on the ground.
"Viktor, are you okay?" he asked. The Bulgarian nodded in reply his teeth furiously gnashing in frustration at his capture.
"Okay, good." Harry said slowly, attempting to gauge Cedric's reaction. "I don't think Cedric is here right now. When I move, you need to practice being a bludger, okay?"
Viktor stared at Harry quizzically for a moment before his eyes widened in realization of what was happening. Cedric, who had been staring idly in the distance, spoke yet again.
"Your wand. Put it on the ground before I kill him." he coldly demanded. Harry raised his wandless hand high in surrender as he slowly crouched low and lowered his wand to the ground.
"Okay." Harry said loudly. "Alright. I giv-"
"Stupify!" Harry roared as a jet of scarlet light arced across the ground and struck Cedric in the foot. The boy didn't cry out in pain, but his body convulsed violently, giving Viktor just enough time to practice being a bludger. With a grunt, he slammed his face into Cedric's nose, sending the Hufflepuff crumbling to the floor. Immediately, Viktor and Fleur rushed forward and pinned Cedric to the ground. Harry straddled the boy and pointed his wand at his face.
"Cedric!" Harry yelled, shaking the boy roughly. Cedric made no attempt to respond, causing Harry to call again and shake him. On his third attempt, Fleur pushed Harry to the side and straddled the boy. Leveling her own wand at Cedric's face, she called out.
"Aquamenti." she yelled. A stream of fresh water erupted from the tip of her wand and flooded onto Cedric's face, causing the boy to sputter and gasp for breath.
"Wha- What the hell?" he spat out, dazed. The other three champions relaxed, relieved that it seemed the curse was lifting. Dazed and confused, Cedric stared between the champions.
"Alright...Alright…" he began slowly. "What the bloody hell just happened?"
"Someone cast the Imperius Curse on you we think. You took Viktor hostage." Harry replied. Cedric's eyes widened in horror as he turned to the Bulgarian only for Krum to hold up his hand.
"Stop." he gruffly replied. "You fight like lamb. I am fine." Cedric, still extremely confused, took Harry's hand and rose with the other champions.
"Who cast it? And why does my nose feel broken?" he asked, earning helpless shrugs from the other three.
"I don't know." Harry said slowly, breathing heavily from his exertion in the maze. "But we need to find that cup and get out of here before anything else happens." The four champions nodded and continued to journey through the maze. Luckily for them, Viktor soon saw a glow down a pathway and called out to his friends.
"I see the cup!" he yelled. The champions finished the final sprint together before finally reaching the cup. Walking up the small stone staircase surrounding the pedestal, the Champions gathered around to the cup. They quizzically looked to each other, relief beginning to creep onto their faces.
"Together?" Fleur asked the group with a small laugh. Harry smiled and gave a nod.
"On go." he replied.
Holding out their hands, the champions began to count.
"Three...Two...One…"
"GO!"
Harry nearly puked as he felt a tug in the back of his navel and the world began to swirl rapidly. He felt like he was free falling before the sudden smack of earth brought him back to reality. Bewildered, he blinked and attempted to decipher his surroundings. Though the night made it hard make out specifics, there was plenty of moonlight to tell Harry he was in…
...a graveyard? A gravelly voice nearby whispered harshly.
"Kill the spare."
The order, however, was soon followed by a pitiful protest as Harry heard Cedric, Fleur, and Krum all groan as they slowly recovered from the sudden trip
"But, my Lord. Which one?"
This entire chapter was written from the idea of the last sentence in it. I really hope y'all enjoyed it! I'm very excited about the next chapter. The goal is to have at least 50k+ words finished before I leave for a Ski Trip on January 5th. I did, however, just get a PS4. So that may be an issue.
As always, I love reading reviews and yes, my grammar and spelling are atrocious and I'm trying very diligently to improve. I'm also going to have the first chapter to a Naruto story that I am quite smitten with out soon, so if you're a fan be on the lookout for that.
It's good to be back, guys.
The Doctor is in.
-Bayou