Chapter Twenty-Six: The Third Task

In no time at all Harry found the Third Task fast approaching. For over one and a half months he had been practicing non-stop, honing his skills and learning difficult spells that were sure to help him. His marks in Defence Against the Dark Arts were impressive and he was even finding Potions a little easier - but that was only due to Hermione pressuring him into researching potions of all sorts - just in case one of the obstacles turned out to be something about Potions. Despite his progress in that subject, Snape still hated his guts. It had only been a month since he had learned of the actual Task, but starting practicing before he knew had helped him a lot.

June was fading fast, the days blurring past quickly, and soon he found himself looking at the date on his calendar. Two days to go before the final task would begin.

Thursday, the twenty-fourth of June, was coming ever closer.

He was just waiting.

Why was he standing in the dark, all alone?

Harry looked around cautiously, his right hand holding his wand, his mind whirling as he considered what he should do. He couldn't see anything. Pitch black. He wondered how he had got here, and why he was here.

Then he heard the unmistakable sounds of footsteps approaching behind him. He whirled, intending to light up the area, but before he could do such a thing, the words "Avada Kedavra" reached his ears. Harry's eyes widened as a jet of green light headed towards his chest.

Just as it was about to hit -

He woke up screaming, his bed covers on the floor. Everyone in his dormitory were looking at him, worry in their faces.

"Are you alright?" Ron asked, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, it was just a bad dream."

Or was it a premonition of the future?

Harry shivered. "I'm fine. Go back to bed." He smiled at Dean, Seamus, Neville and Ron, willing them to go back to sleep and ignore him. "I was just being chased by a rabbit and I fell down a hole," he lied. "There's nothing to worry about." He tried to laugh, but failed to do so. He could see that Ron wasn't convinced.

"Yeah, sure," Ron replied, darkly; however he drew the curtains round his bed and left Harry alone in the darkness.

"Harry had another dream last night, Albus." Sirius sat in the headmaster's office, watching Dumbledore finish off writing a letter.

Calmly laying the quill on the table, Dumbledore looked up and gazed at Sirius. "Harry told you, did he?"

Sirius nodded. "This morning: he saw himself dying." He folded his arms. "It's too dangerous for Harry to do the Third Task."

"He has to take part. I can't change the rules; if I could I would prevent him from taking part from the outset, but I am not the one who judges over who participates. Believe me Sirius, I would use everything in my power to stop this from happening, but I can't."

Sirius shook his head. He could feel anger bubbling beneath the surface. "If I lose him, then I will be holding you responsible, you know that?"

The headmaster nodded. "You would have every reason to do that." He clasped his hands together. "But we have other things to discuss now. You have been in contact with Alastor?"

"Yes," Sirius grated, "we've formed a plan. Alastor and I are going to remain near the entrance to the maze. I will keep an eye on Harry by the two spells you cast on me and Harry before the First Task. If anything that looks suspicious appears in the maze, and Alastor detects it, we will both run into the maze. We will find Harry before anything happens to him. Then, if we feel that he can continue, we will remain in the same place where we found him in case something else could threaten him. Hopefully, through that, Harry will remain safe."

"Are you arranging for Harry to meet with Alastor?"

Sirius shook his head. "No. We decided that it would be best if we didn't burden Harry with anything else. He is already suffering from the Tournament and the dreams - and it's not fair on him. Besides Alastor is a little bit frightening, and might give Harry the wrong impression. I'd rather he concentrated on surviving the Task, without having to worry about the people that will be watching his progress with every move. He doesn't have to know, and I refuse to tell him. If he is to survive Albus, he cannot afford to be distracted by knowing what we have planned."

Albus shook his head. "I do not like this decision, but I cannot force you to do something that you don't want to do."

"Good. Besides Alastor didn't feel it was right either. If he had said yes, then I'd be suspicious. But, frankly, I'm not," concluded Sirius.

Thursday 24th June

There was a lot of tension around the school as the morning of the day of the final task dawned. Students were excited, while those teachers who knew what was coming were worried constantly for Harry's well-being. Dumbledore had succeeded in persuading Fudge that he needed qualified Aurors to keep watch on the maze. As a precaution, the headmaster also lifted the apparition wards from the area of the maze, so that if anything went wrong, they could automatically jump into the maze.

That morning, Sirius and Moody went over their plan for the day. To ensure Harry's security they would post Aurors at every section of the maze, on the outside. With Moody's magical eye, the old Auror would be able to track Harry's progress throughout the maze. Though the apparition wards had been lifted for that particular area, Sirius knew that apparating in front of a whole crowd of students would not be a good idea. Therefore, he and Moody had come to the conclusion that if something happened to Harry, they would have to run into the maze, before apparating to the source of the trouble. Hopefully that way, they would not scare as many students as they could do if they suddenly vanished.

Everything was ready. The Aurors had been informed and were already spread out around the outside of the maze, away from the prying eyes of the students.

Within a few hours the Third Task would begin.

Harry found Sirius standing by one of the entrances to the maze. His godfather gave him a wistful smile.

"So, the last task," Sirius began, "your nightmare will soon be over." Even as he said it, Sirius realised that those were the last words he should've spoken. Something was bound to occur now. He cursed himself, before giving Harry a hug. "You better be careful. You've studied hard?"

"Yeah. I can perform a Patronus. If there is a Boggart in the maze then I may have to use that first before performing the counter-spell on the Boggart."

"Good thinking. And that is something I never even thought of teaching you…though only older students are taught that spell."

Harry shrugged. "Professor Lupin taught it to me last year to help me fight off the Dementors. It's just a mist…that's all. Hermione mentioned that maybe a stronger memory would make it powerful, would that work?"

"You know I can't give you help." Sirius twiddled his wand in his fingers. "I think you can work that out on your own anyway, without my help." He ruffled Harry's hair.

"Hey! I just combed it!" He slapped his godfather's arm away.

Sirius laughed. "So like Prongs. Mind you, the only person who could get away with that was your mother. If I did anything like that, I would be cursed. Your father was so besotted with your mother that he let her do what she wanted."

"Really?"

Sirius nodded, grinning. "I bet you will do just the same when you find the girl of your dreams."

"Doubt it!" Harry laughed.

"You are so like your father….I'd be amazed if you shouted at the girl you love to stop doing that. I highly doubt that you would do something like that."

Harry shuffled on his feet. "Yeah…you're probably right."

"I always am."

"You are so full of yourself," Harry stated.

"I know."

Sirius glanced up at the stairs that encircled the entrance to the maze. They were rapidly filling up. "Good luck. You'll need it."

Harry gave him a small smile. "Thanks."

~The Maze~

Harry gazed at the Triwizard Cup situated in front of him. He turned towards Cedric, who had arrived at the same time as he had. He held his wand in his right hand, scratches marring his right arm and face.

"What do we do?" Harry asked. "It's still a Hogwarts victory whoever takes it. I don't need the money, I've got my inheritance from both my parents and Sirius."

Cedric gave him a smile. "You're sure? You were here first; I was just behind you. You should take it."

Harry shook his head. "No. I want you to have it Cedric. It's time Hufflepuff earned some recognition. Go on." He pointed towards the cup. "I don't mind." Harry knew he was doing the right thing.

"I feel bad for taking the victory from you. You've got better marks then me throughout the tournament," Cedric continued. "How about we both take it?"

Harry frowned. "This may seem like a personal question, but are you rich?"

Cedric shook his head. "My dad has a good job at the Ministry and is well respected…I'd say we are actually."

"I'm not taking the cup. You deserve it more than me. I don't need the recognition. I get enough of it anyway. I was in the paper practically every day this last year due to Sirius adopting me."

Cedric's shoulders slumped. "There's no way that you'll change your mind?"

"No," replied Harry, giving Cedric a stern look.

He could see that Cedric hated what he was about to do, but to Harry it felt right. Cedric stepped towards the cup, stretching out his hand…and then he crumpled to the floor as a burst of light slammed into him.

Harry whirled round, hardly daring to breathe as his eyes met their attacker.

It was not Fleur Delacour.

It wasn't even Krum.

It was Wormtail.

A flash of red light engulfed him, and everything went black.

"We have a problem," Moody muttered into his Sirius' ear.

His heart sped up as images raced through his mind. "What is it?"

"There's a Death Eater in the maze. He was disguised as a rat."

"What?" Sirius nearly exploded. Before he could even think, he was already running into the maze, his wand gripped in his hand as he sped forwards. Behind him Moody followed. Reaching the crossroads, Sirius focused his will and apparated to the centre of the maze, hoping that he wasn't too late.

"What happened?" Hermione leaned from her seat, looking down at the place where Sirius and another man had been standing. They had just run into the maze. Not many students had taken notice, but the news was quickly spreading. She felt anxious as she wondered if something had happened to Harry. "Ron? What do you think?"

He shrugged. "Dunno…but I hope Harry's alright."

"Me too," Hermione rubbed her hands together, hoping for everyone's sake that nothing bad had happened to her friend.

"We're too late," said Sirius.

Having apparated to the centre of the maze, Sirius had hoped that Harry would still be there, but he wasn't. All that was left was the unconscious form of Cedric Diggory. What he had tried to prevent had turned into a complete failure. His Godson was all alone, taken by the enemy.

But there was still something he could do. Steeling his face, which made him seem more dangerous than ever, he turned to Moody. "Plan B. Now."

To be continued...