Chapter 7: The Third Task
When Harry arrived in the Great Hall the following morning, he could feel the tension and excitement. Tonight, the Triwizard Tournament would end with the Third Task. For the other students, it was the last day of exams. While the others took exams, Harry, who was exempt, looked up some more jinxes and curses. Finally, with the end of exams, his friends left the room, whooping and cheering. Harry made to follow them, but was stopped by Professor McGonagall.
"Potter! You are expected in the antechamber of the Great Hall. The family of the Champions have been invited to watch the third task."
Harry looked at her, dumbfounded. "I don't think the Dursleys would want to visit Hogwarts, Professor. They hate magic."
Professor McGonagall merely smiled. "I think you'll be surprised," she said, and she left him alone.
Harry didn't really know what to expect when he entered the chamber. He saw Fleur and Krum with their families, Fleur jabbering excitedly in French and Krum standing silently by his gruff father. By the fire, he noticed Cedric with his parents, and waved at him before realizing the family that was standing next to them.
"Harry!" Lupin exclaimed. He hugged Harry and said, "I'm proud of you, Harry. I knew you were capable of holding your own in this tournament, but you're doing better than even I expected!"
Harry grinned. "I learned from the best," and Lupin smiled broadly.
Molly Weasley, along with Arthur, Bill, and Charlie, was also standing there and engulfed him in a hug that almost cracked his ribs. They exchanged some pleasantries before Harry led them on a tour around Hogwarts. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked interested in the various changes that had happened to Hogwarts, including the Whomping Willow. Harry and Lupin exchanged a brief, knowing smile as the elder Weasleys wondered about the purpose of the violent tree.
Afterwards, they had dinner in the Great Hall with the other Weasley children and Hermione. Harry enjoyed and basked in the presence of his surrogate family. It was almost like being back at the Burrow. That illusion was shattered by Professor Dumbledore, who had raised from the staff table and requested the champions to accompany Ludo Bagman to the Quidditch pitch. Harry started to get nervous again, but was still fairly confident. They all wished him good luck and Hermione and Ginny both kissed him on the cheek. Ginny hadn't told her parents that she was dating yet.
"You ready?" Cedric asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Harry said, with confidence in his voice.
Cedric gave him a pat on the back. "We can win this thing."
When the other students had meandered down to the Quidditch pitch, Ludo Bagman again announced the scores and allowed the champions to enter the maze, with Harry going first, as he was in the lead. However, he waited for Cedric to show up, and five minutes later, he did.
"I was hoping you wouldn't ditch me," said Cedric, smiling.
"You didn't really expect that, did you?" Harry said.
"Not for a single moment. You're a Gryffindor," Cedric stated. "Come on, let's go."
They quickly searched their way through the maze. They had been walking for about half an hour and still hadn't encountered anything. Cedric pulled out his wand and said, "Point Me!" The wand spun around and pointed them towards the center of the maze.
"We've wandered too far to the north, let's go to the left."
They walked around the corner and saw…
"Oh, bloody hell," Cedric said when he saw the Blast-Ended Skrewt. He paled and looked rather frightened.
"Impedimenta," he shouted, but the spell simply bounced off the creature's shell. The Skrewt was advancing rapidly, but Cedric looked petrified.
Harry jumped in front of him and sent a stunning spell at the Skrewt, except it changed forms… into a Dementor? He shouted, "Expecto Patronum!" when it stumbled. Dementors didn't stumble… unless…
"Riddikulus!" he shouted. The Boggart disappeared, and Harry turned back to a rather ashamed Cedric. "Sorry about that," the Hufflepuff muttered.
"No problem." Harry grinned. "Blast-Ended Skrewts, huh?"
Cedric blushed. "Have you seen those things? They're gigantic!" But he grinned back, before saying, "Let's go."
Harry and Cedric hurried through the maze and encountered several more creatures, using the Point Me spell often. Finally, they reached a strange-looking fog.
"Should we go on?" Harry asked.
"It could be dangerous," Cedric answered. We could try and find a way around."
"But we have to be almost there! And there's two of us. I doubt we'd really be in danger."
"All right," Cedric agreed. "I'll try and walk through it, you stay here in case something happens."
Harry nodded and Cedric slowly approached the weird fog that blocked their path. Suddenly he gave a yell of fear.
"What? What's wrong?" Harry asked.
"I'm upside down!" Cedric yelled. "The whole world is upside down!"
Harry looked at him dumbfounded. "What are you talking about? You're just standing there!" Then it hit him. "It has to be an illusion! Just walk on."
Cedric looked terrified but moved one step further. His face visibly relaxed. "It's alright, you just have to walk through it."
Harry followed him, and had the weird feeling that the world was upside down for a split second before he took another step. The feeling subsided, and he realized that he was at the other side of the fog. They continued onwards, and suddenly, the two were standing in front of a sphinx. Harry took the lead this time and answered her riddle, and smiling, the sphinx allowed them to pass. Then, they saw it. The Triwizard Cup. Harry tentatively took a step towards it, but then a figure dropped down in front of him. It was a giant spider.
Cedric noticed as well, and shouted, "Reducto!" At the same time, Harry also cast the Reductor Curse, and the spider simply disintegrated into a fine brown powder.
Cedric quickly rushed over to his friend and asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I think I'm fine. It got my leg, though."
Cedric helped Harry get up and looked at his leg. "Looks painful. But nothing Madam Pomfrey can't fix. Come on, let's get out of here. Wait!" Cedric then cast a spell that bound Harry's leg in a thick, long bandage. Harry sighed in relief when he tested his weight, with his leg only a little tender.
The two of them moved over to the Triwizard Cup, which was glowing with a blue light.
"You ready?" Cedric asked.
Harry nodded. "On three," he said. "One, Two, Three!" They both grabbed the cup at the same time, and felt a hook grab at his navel.
When they touched the ground, Harry's bandage unravelled and he crumpled onto the ground.
Cedric looked at him worriedly before realizing that he wasn't at Hogwarts.
"Where the hell are we? I thought the task was just finding the cup in the maze? Why are we in this… this graveyard?" Cedric asked. "I think I hear someone," he added.
Harry dragged himself back up with the help of Cedric, and looked around until he saw the closest tombstone.
"Tom Riddle," he muttered. "Cedric, we have to get out of here!" he yelled as his scar started burning. "We have to get back to the Cup!"
"Harry? What the hell is going on?"
"It's him, Cedric! It's Voldemort!"
"What?!" He turned around, only to see a cloaked figure coming towards him.
"Kill the spare," a high voice ordered.
The cloaked figure pulled out his wand, but Harry was faster. "Expelliarmus!"
The man was blown backwards by the force of Harry's spell, and his head hit the tombstone behind him. He fell on the ground, unconscious, next to the Triwizard Cup.
"Harry, please, tell me what the hell is going on," Cedric asked, with more than a little fear in his voice.
"I don't know either, but we need to leave now."
"Why?"
"Because my scar – ," Harry started. "Agh! We don't have time for this now. Just get to the cup!"
Cedric looked at him for a moment and then followed him to the Triwizard Cup. "Alright," he said. "Ready? Go!"
As he grabbed the Portkey, Harry felt an arm grasping his elbow firmly.
"We are in the same boat and we owe each other a terrible loyalty" – G.K. Chesterson
A/N: Once again, many thanks to Joonbang for helping me edit this story. Thanks also to all of you who left a review. Every one of them is a huge support and motivates me to keep writing.