Ninja Wizard IV: Goblet of Fire 11
By David
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. JK Rowling has that honor.
Author's Notes: These marks [] indicate Japanese spoken.
Ninja Wizard IV: Goblet of Fire 11
'The Third Task'
"Harry," Neville asked as the crew hung out in his personal flat a few days later, "I've been wondering why you haven't knocked off Dumbledore and Snape's heads and be done with all of this mess?"
Harry leaned back and nodded. "Good question, Neville. I'm glad you asked. I would in a heartbeat, but I haven't as I know Dumbledore knows more than he's willing to tell as he likes to keep his secrets very close to his chest. As for Snape, if I took his head Dumbledore would get suspicious, as would the Slytherins, as they know I don't like Snape at all. I don't need that kind of scrutiny right now."
"What is it that you think Dumbledore's holding back on?" Hermione asked.
Harry sighed. "I've been going over all of my notes for the last three years to look for anything unusual and there's quite a bit to consider. First up is the sorcerer's stone. We all know what that was."
"A stone that makes gold and the elixir of life," George said.
"Right. We know for a fact that Voldemort in his spirit form took over Quirrell in an effort to get it and failed," Harry stated.
Ginny set down her can of soda and stared out into space. "Second year I found that diary and the memory of Tom Riddle used me."
"Third year was Sirius," Fred said.
"This year nothing has happened," Luna spoke up. "No DE's chasing you, no tweaked out werewolves coming after you, and no Voldemort."
"I know and that's got me worried. Something big is going to happen and I don't know what it is. But never mind that for now. As I've said, I've been going over everything and something did pop up as the number one most interesting thing," Harry paused to build up the suspense.
"Well?" Neville asked.
Harry reached for a box of pocky (a Japanese treat) and opened it. He took one stick out and passed the box around.
"The diary," he finally stated. "The diary is the number one bit of weirdness. Do you guys remember what I told you about it?"
There was silence for a few minutes as everybody searched their memories.
"According to Tom, he stored a bit of himself inside the diary so he could come back someday if he needed to," Harry reminded them.
Hermione jumped on that right away. "Isn't that dark magic?"
"I don't know if it is or not. It sounds like it is to me," Harry said.
"I bet Dumbledore knows," Neville said. "I bet Dumbledore knows and he's deliberately holding that knowledge back from you so he can try to make some kind of bargain with you."
Hermione looked shocked. "That…"
"Yip, be just like him to do that," Harry sighed.
The others looked serious as they took in what Neville had just said.
"Okay, so how do we find information on this?" Fred asked.
"We search it out," Hermione said. "The Hogwarts library won't have that information here. I'm sure Dumbledore has made sure of that."
"We tell Sirius," Luna said. "He could let Hermione into the Black library as he had stated once that it holds much information of dark stuff."
"I'll send him a letter right away," Harry said. "Hopefully he can help us out."
"So what do we do in the meantime?" Ginny asked.
"Do what we always do," Harry grinned. "We stick together."
That broke up the meeting and everybody headed back to their dorms.
Harry did send Sirius a letter the next day. Harry wrote about the incident down in the Chamber of Secrets and hoped that would get Sirius to allow Hermione into the Black Library. If anybody could find answers from a book it would be Hermione. The memory of the conversation with Tom about the diary was the first real clue about the mystery that was Tom Riddle. Harry wondered if that was the only thing that housed a part of him or if there were others. He recalled the conversation he had with Kazuya about the bit of darkness he had inside his scar when he first came to the village. Could that have been another bit of Voldemort from the night his parents were killed? Harry included that bit of information in the letter and then sent it off in the secure letterbox he had as Sirius now had one. The goblins insisted on it as they believed that if given the chance, Dumbledore would make an effort to steal Harry's mail. Harry agreed with them and accepted it before he left Gringotts after the initial meeting with Ragnock. Now everybody that was in the know had one. Harry insisted that Hermione's parents have one too even though they didn't know everything. He reasoned that there would be plenty of time to tell them everything once all of this was over. He just hoped that they would understand the need to keep them in the dark as Harry was afraid of Dumbledore picking their minds apart, and he was the kind of person who would do that. Hermione agreed with Harry once he explained his reasons for not telling them everything. Harry went back to his recliner and sat down and stared into the fire for a bit longer. Thinking about all of this was giving him a headache, so he closed his eyes and began to meditate in an effort to clear his mind of everything. Writing to Sirius had been the right thing to do as Harry was sure he would get answers.
Draco Malfoy and his crew did their best to antagonize Harry in the weeks leading up to the Hogwarts match with Durmstrang. Harry did his best to ignore the little rotter and took out his anger and frustrations out on the training dummies he had in his training room. Hermione and the others could tell when Draco and Snape had been ragging on Harry in the worst way on certain days by the number of shredded dummies he left behind. Hermione did her best to keep Harry calm during those encounters by sticking close to him and Harry appreciated that. Even Dumbledore got into the act by trying to give him detentions for anything that went wrong in the classroom. Harry took to spending his weekends in his flat as he thought the less encounters with the wrong sort of people was the best thing he could do. If the other champions wanted to see Harry they would meet in various empty classrooms, as they were doing at the moment on a rainy April day. Viktor was expressing his anger at the situation.
"I am ready to punch out that little rotter," he stated as he paced the floor. "That Malfoy is always running off his mouth as to how much more superior he is over you, Harry. The other Durmstrang students don't like him either."
Harry chuckled at that. "Well, think of what would happen if Malfoy Sr. did send him to Durmstrang. I distinctly remember him telling people that his father wanted to send him to Durmstrang instead of Hogwarts, but his dear Mommy wanted him close to home."
Viktor turned and growled at Harry. "That little punk wouldn't last the day. He would have been beaten up the moment he started spouting that pureblood crap."
"You don't believe in it?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Never have," Viktor said. "I've always believed it's the amount of magic in a person that makes them who they are."
Fleur nodded. "Beauxbatons doesn't follow that kind of talk either. I stand with Viktor on what he said. I believe that as well."
"Don't let Draco get to you, Harry. It's what he wants. He's trying to get a rise out of you so he can go crying to Snape that you're beating him up or some such nonsense. How you are keeping your cool around him is beyond me," Cedric said.
Harry smiled. "You should see the condition of the training room after I get done shredding up Draco, Snape, and Dumbledore dummies."
The four of them shared a laugh over that.
Harry passed around another round of butterbeer to the group as the conversation continued about the situation.
"We have one on our ship," Viktor said after a moment. "Feels good to give my magic a good workout."
Fleur nodded. "I have been doing the same inside the coach as Madame Maxime insisted I do so after putting in one. The others have been practicing their practicals in there as well. She believes that constant practice will make us better at our magic."
"So what are you going to do during the game?" Viktor asked.
"Read," Harry replied. "I got a new novel I've wanted to read and that seems to be a good time to do it."
"Won't people think you're hiding out?" Cedric asked.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Let them think what they want, I don't care. Yes I am hurt by it. It truly bothers me that the school has turned on me. What really surprises me is the fact that a lot of people voted for Draco to be the seeker."
Cedric sighed at that and looked uncomfortable. Then he looked up at Harry.
"I was told by a friend that all four houses agreed to vote for Draco because they wanted to get back at you for submitting your name into the goblet and cheating the Age Line," Cedric sighed.
"But Harry swore an Oath that he didn't do it!" Viktor protested.
"The four of us know that," Fleur said. "There's no doubt in my mind that Harry didn't do it. If he had, his magic would have left him when he made that oath."
"If Harry had done it he would have never made that oath knowing he would lose his magic," Viktor said.
"Good point," Cedric conceded. "But Harry's not like that."
Harry stood up. "Don't worry too much about it, okay? Just go and have fun."
Viktor nodded at Harry. "You are a much better person than they are, Harry Potter."
"Thanks Viktor," Harry nodded at Viktor. "I appreciate that."
"I agree," Fleur said.
"As do I," Cedric said.
Harry felt a warm feeling deep inside. This was what having friends was all about.
"Thanks. I appreciate that. Nice to know who my friends are," Harry said.
From somewhere inside the castle a bell tolled the time. They counted off nine bells.
"Curfew is in an hour," Cedric said. "I need to get back."
The meeting broke up as they headed off to their respective dorms.
Game day was on a Saturday in the middle of April, and the day was a clear one. Harry followed his usual morning routine going down into his trunk to the training room and putting in a hard workout. Dobby had his breakfast out on the table in his flat when Harry came out of the bath. He opened up the Daily Prophet to look at the headlines while having coffee and it was talking about the match between Hogwarts and Durmstrang. Not a word was said about Harry not being the seeker for Hogwarts in the match nor was anyone questioning why he hadn't been chosen for the Hogwarts seeker position. Harry went through the paper front to back and didn't see anything else unusual except for the talk regarding the third task. There was speculation as to who would win it. Cedric was getting the best odds with Harry getting very poor odds. Harry kept on reading and didn't find anything else. He put the paper aside and reached for his new book when Miyamoto spoke up.
"Hermione's coming," he reported. "One of the paintings on the second floor landing sent word."
Harry nodded. "Okay. Let her in when she gets here. Make sure she's clean."
"She is. Miss Leanore in the charms classroom told me she saw Hermione leave a tracking spell in the classroom on a rat," Miyamoto said.
"Good for her," Harry said as he pulled on a short kimono. "Sirius insisted that we check ourselves constantly. If Dumbledore were to learn where I am he'd be in here in a heartbeat and there would be trouble."
"We can't afford that," Miyamoto said as he swung open the hidden door.
Hermione came in and the door closed behind her just as Harry's letterbox chimed. Harry went over to it and opened it to find a letter in there from Sirius.
"Perfect timing, Hermione. Just got a letter from Sirius," Harry said to her as she hugged him.
"What's it say?" Hermione asked as she stripped off her heavy jacket and scarf.
Dobby popped in with tea and biscuits and left. Harry sat down and opened the letter and scanned it.
"Okay, Sirius said that the diary sounded very scary. The fact that it held a fragment of Voldemort is even scarier. He went looking for answers in the Black library as there are very dark books in there and didn't want you getting hurt. He came across something called a horcrux that fits the description of what Tom said the diary was. He is continuing to search for more answers as there seems to be very little known about it. He has friends in certain places that can help him. He thinks I'm onto something, and he thinks this could be one of Dumbledore's big secrets," Harry summarized the letter.
Hermione had written the word down and was looking at it with a serious look on her face. "I'm very positive we won't find anything about it in the library as I am sure Dumbledore has removed any and all books that would hold any kind of a reference to it. So how do we squeeze the information out of Dumbledore?"
Harry laughed out loud. "Never happen. The old man has a way of avoiding the questions by very subtly redirecting you someplace else. No, we'll have to find out things on our own. I think that sooner or later Dumbledore is going to try and placate me by sharing one of his secrets with me thinking I'll be so happy that I'll be willing to work with him. Not gonna happen. As I said before, if I did anything to Dumbledore, it could backfire into my face and Dumbledore could and would use it against me. Same thing for Snape. Both of them are just too crafty to let a fourteen year old kid take them down. I'd get taken in. Too many questions would be asked. They want to avoid that as much as I do. They would make an effort to work something on me from the shadows using other people and I wouldn't put it past him if he was trying to work something so he could regain power in one of the three seats he's lost because of my lawsuits against him. So I have to find a way to get the information I need."
"At least you know what the prophecy says thanks to your Dad's journals," Hermione said.
"Yeah, and I'm lucky it was in the previous one before the last one so it's still a secret. I'm sure that Dumbledore knows that I know it due to the fact that I had discovered Mum and Dad's journals. I do have them locked up tight in Potter House. Dad's final journal is there now with the others in secure storage," Harry said.
"Now that we know about the diary having been one and you had one in your scar, I'm wondering if Voldemort made any others," Hermione getting a serious look on her face, and Harry knew she had gone into researcher mode.
"I didn't think of that," Harry confessed a moment later as he considered what Hermione had just said. "I'll include that in the next letter to Sirius."
"If there are others, what would they be in?" Hermione questioned.
Harry stood up and began pacing the floor. "Good question. Unfortunately we have no way of knowing unless Dumbledore decided to give up whatever information he knows."
"Which might never happen," Hermione sighed.
"Precisely, my dear Miss Watson," Harry cracked.
Hermione had to giggle at that. Harry stopped in front of the fireplace and stared into the fire for a few minutes and then sighed. Hermione got up and walked over to Harry and put her hands on his shoulders and rubbed them for a bit.
"Patience, Harry. I'm sure we will find out soon enough," she said.
Harry hoped that she was right.
Monday morning Harry headed to his first class of the day, double potions with the Slytherins. Harry took his usual place in the back of the room and sat down as people in the room chattered away about the Durmstrang-Hogwarts match. Snape strode in as he always did and the door slammed closed behind him. The room went quiet as he glared at everybody. He pointed his wand at the blackboard and the potion for the day appeared. Harry was the last to collect the ingredients for the potion and Snape sneered at him as he went back to his worktable.
"Poor Mr. Potter. Had to go and sulk in his hidey hole and pout about not being the big star out on the Quidditch pitch," Snape sneered.
Harry ignored him and went about his work putting together his potion. Snape spent most of the time hanging over Harry's shoulder criticizing his potion making skills, jumping on him for every little thing, and when the potion was done Snape examined it, using the ladle to get a closer look at it.
"A poorly made potion, Potter. You get a zero for the day," he snapped as he vanished it with a wave of his wand.
Harry knew that was a lie as it had been the right color and consistency. Harry didn't say a thing but let Snape's comments slide. Harry took notes on the lecture that followed and once the class was over, he packed up his pack and left quietly, Draco's equally cutting comments following him out the door. The Ravenclaws didn't say a thing in Harry's defense and Harry was hard pressed to keep a grip on his temper. Harry headed up to the great hall from the dungeons for lunch. He left lunch a bit early and slipped into an unused classroom to document the event in potions as he was planning another suit against Snape for harassment. He was now seriously reconsidering his stance on assassinating Snape. Harry headed for charms class as that one was next. Flitwick nodded to Harry as Harry entered the classroom. Harry took his seat in the back corner as he usually did. As this class was shared with Gryffindor, Hermione joined him and Harry felt a little better for having somebody familiar with him. Hermione nodded to Harry and gave him a smile and he felt better about his day.
"Want to go into Hogsmeade with me this Saturday?" Harry asked her after charms class.
"Yes," she said without hesitation as one of the Gryffindor boys came up to them.
"Why do you want to go out with that loser, Granger, when you can have me?" Cormick McLaggen sneered at Harry while trying to show off.
"Because Harry is more of a man than you will ever be," Hermione shot back.
McLaggen glared at Harry before turning to Hermione. "He's got you confounded, Hermione. I can show you a much better time than he can."
"You're the one confounded, McLaggen. You're so hung up on yourself it's pathetic," Hermione shot back.
McLaggen turned on Harry but before he could do anything, Flitwick came out of the classroom and McLaggen immediately walked off. Everyone watching the confrontation immediately scurried off leaving Harry and Hermione alone in the hall.
Harry and Hermione never made it to Hogsmeade that weekend, as Neville found out about a potential attack on them and reported it to McGonagall. McGonagall in turn talked to Harry and it was decided for their safety they should remain in the castle until the end of the year.
"Hogsmeade isn't going anywhere, Harry. There will be other times," Hermione said as they enjoyed tea and sandwiches in his flat.
Harry nodded. "I know. Would have been fun to get away for a few hours. I will be glad when this year is done."
"I agree," Hermione said, and the matter was closed.
Harry continued to train, knowing he was going to need every bit of skill he had to survive the third task, never mind winning the thing. That wasn't important anymore. Harry would be satisfied with second or third place. Harry kept a watch over the maze developing as the hedges grew over the next few weeks. The third task was now scheduled for the first weekend in May and Harry worked even harder to make sure he was ready for it. Sirius had shown up and volunteered to stand with Harry on the field prior to his going inside the maze. Harry felt relieved by that as Flitwick was going to be one of the watchers. All of the tournament officials would be surrounding the maze on the night of the third task as their job would be to prevent other people from going inside and to go in if and when one of the champions signaled for help. Harry had gone out there two days before to walk around the maze and check it out. He wasn't allowed to go inside and there were a few people watching to make sure nobody got in there until after the third task was over. All he knew was that it was scheduled to start Saturday evening. Harry decided to go into meditation Saturday morning and use the time to mentally prepare. He knew he would be checked for any kind of device or weapon prior to going into the maze as the rules stated that nothing could be taken into any of the tasks other than his wand. Harry changed his mind after another confrontation with Draco making nasty comments to him.
"Are you scared yet, Potty?" Draco sneered at him. "I've got a bet going that you'll be pissing your pants and screaming for help within five minutes of going in there, or are you gonna have that mudblood Granger holding your hand while you're in there?"
The other Slytherins behind Draco laughed as Harry stood there staring at Draco.
"Good for you, Malfoy. I'm so proud of you for coming up with that insult. Did you have help on that or did it take you a few days to come up with that?" Harry shot back. "Oh I forgot, you don't have enough brain cells to think on your own."
Draco immediately got fluffed up over the comment, his face turning red with anger as the other Slytherins hissed in anger.
"You'll pay for that insult to my honor, Potter!" Malfoy snarled.
"I will?" Harry asked as he patted down his pockets. "Oh dear, it seems I left my wallet in my other pants. Sorry old boy."
Malfoy started reaching for his wand when a loud thunk was heard from nearby. The Slytherins immediately scattered like the cowardly rats they were. Harry turned around to see Alistor Moody behind him. The man didn't say a word, just nodded to him. Harry took it for what it was, a warning to move on. Harry headed up to his private flat making sure nobody was trailing him. Harry stayed in there from Thursday evening to Saturday evening, when it was time to start. Sirius and Hermione would escort him down.
The area where the Quidditch pitch had stood had been changed. The spectator stands were in a half circle around the four openings. There were torches everywhere. The stands were jammed full of people. Hermione gave him a kiss for luck and Cho Chang did the same to Cedric before the two girls headed up to the stands. Viktor walked over to the three of them and shook hands with the three of them.
"I wish you all good luck," he said.
"Thank you Viktor, and the same to you," Harry smiled as he returned the handshake and did the same with the other three.
Harry went over to where Sirius was standing in front of the entrance that Harry was assigned to. Sirius nodded.
"Well done, pup. Keep your head together, approach each situation carefully, and watch your back," Sirius advised him as Daichi Souta approached the podium.
Harry watched the man stand there with his hands behind his back and glare at the spectators and they fell quiet. Harry wondered if the man was ninja as he felt the immense power rolling off the man.
"It is very simple," Daichi began after a moment. "Each champion will enter the maze through their assigned entry point. They will them move through the maze to the center where one of them will find the TriWizard's Tournament Cup. The first to claim it wins. But they now will be warned. There is much danger within. If they are unable to continue they are to send up red sparks and the many Aurors, tournament officials, and volunteers will go in and assist them."
As Daichi spoke, he scanned the crowd and the people listening shivered from the glare he was giving them. Harry saw Dumbledore react to the glare and wondered once more what kind of power the man had that made Dumbledore so nervous.
"Now is the time for the champions to enter," he said.
He turned to face the champions and Harry returned his stare with one of his own. The man's black eyes did not react.
"Turn and face the entry," he commanded.
All four of them did and Sirius stepped away from Harry as Dumbledore, Karkaroff, and Maxime stepped back.
"Go!" he commanded, and Harry entered the maze.
Harry immediately went defensive and alert.
The first thing he noticed was the hedge closing in behind him. The entry had closed up and he knew he was on his own now. He stood there for a moment and relaxed, feeling an icy calm come over him. He slipped into Getsumi no Michi, becoming aware of everything around him. Harry began moving forward, letting his senses lead him. Any doubt he had, any fear that he had, and any thought he had faded away. He was now completely focused on the task at hand. His Potter wand was in his right hand by his side. He moved forward, looking around him as he moved. He stopped at the t intersection and was looking to his left when he heard the sound of a branch breaking from his right. He immediately went into a defensive stance and moved forward cautiously. He reached a right turn in a few steps when suddenly a large snake popped out at him. Harry reacted quickly, moving to the right as his left hand whipped out and caught the snake's head with his left thumb just below the gaping jaw. Harry brought up his wand and used stupefy to knock out the snake. It immediately went limp in his left hand. Harry laid it on the ground in the middle of the path to make it obvious to the others if they came this way. Harry listened carefully as he stood up. If the snake attacked him here, then he must be on the right path, he reasoned. That meant the other threats would point him in the right direction. Harry started moving once more. He stepped cautiously, his wand by his side, listening carefully, looking in all directions, and using his well trained senses to search for more threats. Harry knew that not all of the threats would be that easy to overcome. Some of them would really test him. Harry reached a four way and paused for a moment. He happened to glance down and there on the ground was a bottle. It was dark colored so he couldn't see into it. It was stoppered so he had no way of knowing what was inside. Harry used his wand to try and scan it but the spells were reflected back at him. Harry got on his knees and carefully probed the ground around the bottle for any kind of triggers. He didn't find any to he touched the bottle and it felt cool to the touch. He wondered if there was a cold liquid inside of it. This would be a Snape trap. Harry carefully rotated the bottle and examined it carefully for some kind of clue as to what it was. Then he started to lift the bottle.
Harry immediately regretted it as the worm like creature came flying out of the hole that had been beneath the bottle. Harry didn't waste time as he reacted, bringing the bottle down hard on top of the creature's head. The creature squealed loudly as the bottle shattered, the liquid inside of it going everywhere. The creature retreated for a moment, giving Harry the chance to roll backwards, knowing the creature would have to come out of the hole a lot further than it had in order to get Harry. It did, and Harry used the blasting spell to knock it away from him. Suddenly vines popped out of the hedge on his right side and wrapped themselves around the worm like creature and dragged it into it. The hedge stopped quivering a moment later and Harry watched the hole in front of him expecting something else to pop out of it. Nothing did. Harry brought his left hand up and sniffed at the liquid on his skin. Water. It was water. Harry stood up and moved forward once more. His mind tucked the image of the creature away in his to check out later file in his head. Seeing the creature made him wonder just how many strange creatures would be in there and if they were Hagrid's doing knowing the half giant's fondness for interesting creatures. Harry slowly cracked his neck muscles to try and relieve the stress and moved on. His theory about the threats pointing him in the right direction seemed to be a good guess but he wasn't going to rely on them pointing him in the right direction. Harry was sure one or more of them could be misdirection. Harry moved a bit faster now as he continued to look in every direction as his senses were very alert. A wisp of fog drifted through the hedges in front of him and he paused to see what it would reveal, and it did reveal something, a silver gate with a dragon in the middle of it. Harry stopped a few feet from it and started to study it carefully.
He didn't see anything unusual about the gate. He waved his wand over it but the revealing spell didn't uncover anything. Harry put his hand on the lever and tried to open the gate but it was locked. Harry stepped back and cast the unlocking spell. It popped open with a click and stopped a few inches away from the post. Harry moved forward to push it open and waited for the threat to pop up. Nothing happened and Harry went through the gate. It closed behind him and he took one more step and suddenly found himself upside down, hanging in midair by his right ankle.
"Finite incantem," Harry whispered as he waved his wand.
This had to be a Sirius inspired trap. As Harry dropped down, a pair of fire salamanders popped out of nowhere and attacked. Harry used his left hand to propel himself over them and landed behind them. He whipped up his wand and attacked.
"Aquamenti!" he called out, putting a bit of power behind the spell.
Water burst out of the tip of his wand, hitting the one to the right of him in the face as the salamander had spun around in an attempt to attack Harry. It got blown back into the silver gate as the one on Harry's left attacked. Harry turned the water on that one and knocked him back into the other one, pinning both against the gate. He kept up the stream of water as the first one faded away, and then the second one faded away a few seconds later. Harry immediately spun around to check behind him for any more threats. There was a rustling sound in the hedge and a fire crab appeared. It turned around and fired a stream of fire at Harry from… well, from someplace. Harry immediately reacted, doing a flip in midair as he flew over the crab and hit it with flipendo, knowing the spell would knock it onto its shell. He landed on his feet and quickly moved to the corner that would make him go left and quickly checked to make sure the coast was clear, and it wasn't. There were two more waiting for Harry and he immediately did a couple of forward flips, hitting each one with flipendo as he passed over each one before they could react. He scrambled into the safety of the next turn going right. Three imps popped out of the hedge and Harry went defensive, using a right leg sweep to knock them down. He saw the cage at the end of the path and managed to stun one of them and tossed it into the cage as he hit the second one coming at him with the blasting spell, sending that one into the one behind him. Harry pounced on that one and tossed him into the cage while punching the third one in the face, knocking that one down. Harry tossed that one into the cage without breaking his stride and slammed the cage shut with the accio spell on the lid, trapping them inside as he cast the locking spell. Who knew all those spells he learned from Hogwarts and the crew would be so helpful? They were, and Harry was glad he learned them.
He paused for a moment to catch his breath as the imps squealed in rage behind him. Harry was glad they were in there and not all over him. Time to get a move on. Harry looked up in front of him to find another four way in front of him. Reaching out with his senses he knew that going straight would put him at a dead end. Going right didn't feel right and going left gave him the feeling that something was waiting there. Harry went left. He jogged down the passageway until he saw something dark in front of him. Just before he was able to find out what it was, something was coming at him fast out of the right hand turn. Harry turned just in time and got his left hand up to block the punch Viktor had aimed at his head. As Harry blocked the punch, he got a good look into Viktor's eyes. They were wide open and they had a crazy look to them.
"He's been cursed!" Harry realized.
Harry moved, using the right side of his body to check Viktor and put him into a spin. Viktor's arms flailed as he tried to keep his balance. The dark shape ahead of Harry began to move and Harry fired a flash spell at it. The bright light stopped whatever it was and it squealed loudly. Harry instantly knew what it was, having heard that sound before accompanied by clicking sounds. It was one of the acromantulas, a giant spider from Aragog's nest. Harry mentally cursed his luck as the spider recovered. Harry moved quickly as something colored flashed past him, hitting the spider. Harry ducked under Viktor's wild swing and jabbed his wand forward, casting stupefy. Viktor went down knocked out cold.
"You okay, Harry?" Cedric called out.
"For the moment," Harry called out. "Viktor was looking to check my hat."
Both of them moved in opposite directions as the spider attacked once more.
"He got cursed?" Cedric asked as the both of them cast flipendo.
"Yeah. I hope he didn't get Fleur," Harry said as both of them jumped backwards out of range of the spider's leg.
Cedric attempted a blasting spell and knocked it back a few feet. "I haven't seen her ever since we got started."
Harry dropped onto his back and pointed his wand at the underside of the spider and fired off a concussion blast. That one worked, the shock wave tossing the spider backwards. Cedric followed up with one of his own and both of them worked as a team, knocking it back until suddenly it disappeared. Both of them stared into the hole it had dropped into that was now rapidly filling in.
"Damn that was a slick one," Cedric commented.
Harry turned back to check on Viktor. He was still out cold. Harry raised his wand and sent up a shower of red sparks.
"That will bring people running," Cedric said.
"Good. I'd like to know what the hell happened to him," Harry said as they started down the passageway past the spot where the spider had been.
They came to a t intersection and something within Harry said to go left.
"I'm going right," Cedric said. "See you later."
"Take care," Harry called out as he went to the left.
He jogged down the passageway until he reached another turn and ducked at the last possible second as branches suddenly reached out for him.
"Diffindo!" Harry called out the cutting spell, cutting the branches that were attacking him.
The branches that got cut fell to the ground as the others retreated back into the hedge. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and moved on.
Harry paused at a four way intersection to rest as he was starting to tire. He wanted something cold to drink and risked reaching into shadow for a bottle of cold water hoping that that bit of ninja magic wouldn't be noticed. Nobody could explain that bit of power that Harry had, and the only explanation that Kazuya could come up with was that Harry's magic recognized the ninja magic he had learned and created some kind of 'pocket' for Harry to store things that were needed and gave them to him when they were needed and always the right item at the right time. At the moment Harry wanted a bottle of cold water and that's what it delivered to Harry. Harry chugged down the cold water and immediately felt refreshed. He put the bottle back in the 'pocket' and moved on, going straight as he felt it was the right move. It had been the right move as Harry came upon Fleur getting yanked under the hedge by a bunch of branches wrapped around her. He cast diffindo in an effort to save her and tried to pull her out of the hedge but failed. Harry sent up a shower of red sparks and moved on, hoping she would be okay. He turned the next corner and came upon another creature, and he recognized it as a Sphinx from history of magic class. This was going to be fun as he liked logic puzzles.
"In order to get past me, Harry Potter," the creature spoke in a serene manner, "you must solve a riddle foe me."
Harry nodded. "Okay. May I hear it please?"
The Sphinx nodded and then spoke once more.
"First think of the person who lives in disguise
Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.
Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend,
The middle of middle and end of the end?
And finally give me the sound often heard,
During the search for a hard-to-find word.
Now string them together and answer me this,
Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?"
Harry thought about that for a few minutes, his mind picking apart the puzzle as Hermione had taught him to do. He smiled after a few minutes of working it out and looked up at the Sphinx.
"Spider. It's a spider," Harry beamed in triumph.
The Sphinx nodded, looking pleased. "Well done Harry Potter. I was honored to have met you. Fare thee well, young wizard."
The Sphinx stood up and moved to the side. Harry went past it and made one last turn to see Cedric coming from the other side. Both of them arrived at the cup at the same time. Cedric grinned at Harry.
"Wow. Talk about perfect timing," Cedric laughed.
Harry laughed too. "So how do we decide who gets the cup?"
Cedric grew serious. "How about the both of us? I don't mind sharing the prize or the glory. Be a Hogwarts win no matter who takes the cup."
"I like that idea," Harry said. "So let's both grab it on the count of three."
Cedric grinned. "Deal. I like you, Harry. Always thought you were a good man."
"Thanks Cedric. I appreciate that," Harry said.
Both of them went over to the cup, Harry on one side and Cedric on the other. They reached out for it and got ready.
"One, two, and three!" both of them called out and grabbed the handles at the same time.
Cedric and Harry felt the portkey effect grab hold of them and the world around them instantly disappeared in a swirl of colors and sound.
To Be Continued