Author: enchanted nightingale
BetaReader: pussycatadamah
Timeline: Book 4, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Pairs: Harry/Lucius
Disclaimer: The characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I merely use them in my plot for fun.
Chapter 21
Harry felt his nerves were ready to shred. He was in the Maze of the Third Task. Before entering he had looked to the stands. There was a huge crowd there. He barely saw anyone he recognised. Before that he had met the Weasley family that had managed to get there while the other Champions met with their families. The Delacour's had been interested in Bill. Yet they did not react to Molly's comments at Bill and Harry dating. The two had tried to say they were only friends.
"Then why did you dance together at the Ball?" Molly had asked.
Speaking the truth was out. Bill tried again but failed and they left the matter as it was.
Snape had also spoken with Harry, wishing the teen luck and slipping him three vials of potions. One was a poison that was absorbed from contact alone.
Flashback…
"Just in case the thing with the Portkey gets out of hand," the Potions Master had said.
"Is this legal?" Harry remembered asking.
"Barely. One other is a healing potion. It has Phoenix tears. The third, you drink this before the Task."
"What does it do?"
"Changes the quality of your blood," Snape had told Harry. "A failsafe, just in case. Lucius had a last minute plan…"
Harry nodded and thanked the man.
…end Flashback
And Harry had remembered to take that potion just before leaving the tent of the Champions. Now, with his wand out and his senses alert, Harry was on edge. He had entered the Maze first. He had also already encountered one of Hagrid's pets and he had used one of the spells he had learned lately. Apparently, a 'Bombarda' was all it took to get rid of the Blast-Ended Skrewt. He did not dare use anything more powerful or borderline dark for now. He knew that the viewers could somehow see inside the maze and that the spells were being somehow recorded.
So Harry moved on. While most tracking spells were useless, Harry had learned a couple. He knew that the entrance of the Maze was on the south side and the Cup was towards the North. The spell needed a focus and Harry's was the Cup, so he took the shortest path towards the centre. He hit no dead end as he did this. The Sphinx was not any trouble either, but it made Harry wonder how on Earth she had agreed to come to Britain when it was too cold for her here. After the Sphinx he came across a couple of spells and illusions but went on.
The spider web was the first clue that Harry got about an Acromantula being near.
"Hope they don't remember me," the green eyed wizard wished. Aragog's children had been really interested in eating him and Ron two years ago.
The good news, Harry soon found out, was that the huge spider did not remember him. The bad news was that it did not matter as the huge Acromantula attacked him none the less. Harry was worried but he found himself slipping into the state of mind Lucius had taught him when duelling. So Harry followed it. What did the spider's fear besides Basilisks? The answer was simple. Cold.
"Glacius!" Harry cast the spell that created a sheen of ice all over the ground and around the hedges. The Spider froze a bit and then it started backing away from the cold instead of advancing towards the wizard. Getting braver, Harry cast his next spell.
"Sectumsempra!" he yelled the next spell, one Snape had taken the time to tell him after Lucius asked and hit one of the creature's legs.
The spider crumpled.
"Sectumsempra!Sectumsempra!" Harry cast the spell twice again, hitting another two of the spider's legs.
Harry, seeing the Acromantula down got ready for another spell when he saw red sparks shoot out of the maze. He realized that someone had given up and hurried. The green eyed wizard knew that he was close; Aragog's child was probably the last obstacle towards the cup or Harry.
"Flamare!" Harry shot a spell towards the downed body. It was much stronger than an 'Incendio' but much better when trying to burn something down. The spider went up in flames. Harry quickly cast a fire repelling charm around himself and vanished the ice he had created before running past the dead Acromantula. He reached the area where the Cup was at the centre of the maze without any more opposition. Carefully Harry cast the position spell again four times consecutively, only this time he thought of the other Champions. Fleur, according to the spell, was not in the maze and Harry discerned that she had sent the sparks. Krum was at least ten minutes away from the Cup. Cedric was apparently near Viktor and Harry dismissed him.
"ScribeBartemiousCrouchJunior," Harry muttered under his breath. Then his heart skipped a beat. The Death Eater that was impersonating Moody was near the dead Acromantula he had passed and approaching fast from outside the Maze.
Harry turned to the Cup. It was a Portkey, according to the detection spell he cast.
With his Holly and Phoenix feather wand, he pointed at the Cup.
"Nihil Portus!"
The Cup glowed and fizzed and the Portkey deactivated.
"Potter!"
Harry turned just in time to see the Maze shrubs being torn apart by a fire spell.
The green eyed wizard saw the fake Moody advance on him.
"Took you long enough," Harry told the man.
"Crucio!"
Harry ducked. He had not expected Barty Crouch junior to give up his ruse. Lucius had said that might happen. He had warned Harry that the Death Eater had been unstable even before he went to Azkaban and that he would doubtfully have been any better after years under his father's care. Still, outright using an Unforgivable was a bit much.
"Potter!" he yelled again.
"Stupefy!Stupefy!Expelliarmus!" Harry cast a barrage of spells, all of which Crouch ducked out of with commendable grace. Harry saw him then carry a small flask in his hand and realized that it was not the one he was usually seen with. The Gryffindor realized it was probably another Portkey. And if he touched Crouch or that thing then both of them would be getting to wherever Voldemort was. And while Harry was confident against Pettigrew, Crouch junior was another matter.
"Crucio!"
Harry ducked away but the spell hit him the moment the words "Sectumsempra!" left his mouth. The Cruciatus took hold ofhim and Harry writhed in pain, kneeling on the floor. When the spell ebbed away he tried to stand on shaking knees. The first thing he saw was blood. His curse had hit its target... Crouch junior was clutching at his right hand with his left, using his robe to stop the blood flow. Harry had successfully managed to sever his hand.
"Stupefy," Harry said with a shaky voice, making sure to hit the man. "Incarcerous!" seeing him slump on the floor, Harry went for the Cup. When he touched it he was not whisked away. So he sent out red sparks and waited for someone to reach him.
End of chapter.