Author's Note: If you recognize it from J.K Rowling's series, I have no ownership of it.
Chapter 22 The Third Task
The months passed by in a blur and soon, the Gryffindor common room was full of notes, textbooks, and study groups. One April evening, the night before the exam, Alex was in the dungeons studying for her Arithmancy exam with Draco. They had told their friends that they had to still do their extra Potions even during the week before exams. Because of the Tri-Wizard tournament, exams had been pushed back into April instead of May.
Alex was working very hard at her Arithmancy and her effort showed. Before, when she saw an empty number chart, she would stare at it for a few minutes and guess answers. Now, she would smile happily as she finished it in no time at all.
"Excellent, Alex!" Draco said as he checked her work, "You'll do fine. All you need to do is relax and concentrate. You know everything and I know you'll blow this away."
Alex smiled shyly and said good-night, wanting to get a good rest for the exams.
…...
The next day, Alex had the Arithmancy, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Transfiguration written exams. When Alex came out of her Arithmancy exam, which was the last one that day, she let out a sigh of relief and grinned.
"You look happy," said Hermione, raising her eyebrows, "What's up? Usually after an Arithmancy test, you look like you're going to dunk your head in the toilet."
"I think I aced it!" Alex said as she skipped down the hall, "I knew everything on that test!"
"Well, I hope it's like that for the rest of them." Hermione looked at Alex questioningly but seemed to give up after a while.
The rest of the exams went well. The only one Alex wasn't sure of was the History of Magic exam. Then again, no one ever knew how well they did on that one, except Hermione who studied the notes word for word. After the last exam, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Alex were sitting under a tree, enjoying the warm weather.
"Now that the exams are finished," said Alex as she looked in her bag for her photo album she wanted to show Harry, "We can concentrate on the final task."
"Oh great!" groaned Harry sarcastically, "I can't wait to go into a maze and face imminent doom!"
Hermione and Ron laughed but Alex was busy looking at a piece of parchment she found in one of the outside pockets of her bag. It was another note from her secret admirer.
The exams are finished,
The stress is too,
Now the Tri-Wizard Tournament,
Is all that is left to do.
I hope you did well,
But I know this is true.
Because you are the smartest witch,
On this Earth that is blue.
Congratulations on surviving your exams. I know I almost didn't make it! Hopefully this poem is better than the last one. Practice makes perfect! How do you like the rose I gave you? Just write your answer on a piece of parchment and put it on the outermost pocket of you bag. I'll be sure to get it. And please don't go checking your bag after every period. Not only does that ruin the fun of having a secret admirer, but I could have anybody getting the letter from you. Enjoy the wonderful weather!
Love always,
Your Secret Admirer
"Alex?"
Her head shot up and she saw her friends watching her with suppressed grins.
"What?" she asked, frowning, "What's so funny?"
"You!" said Harry with a laugh, "You're falling in love with a guy made of paper! You don't even know who this boy is and you get this glazed eye look every time you read something by him."
"I'm not falling in love," said Alex with a bark of laughter so much like her father's, "I think what he says is sweet, but I'm not in love."
"Whatever you say, Alex," said Ron as he sniggered.
"All right boys, stop being so annoying," said Hermione as she shook her head and smiled, "I think we should start looking up spells that Harry ought to know for the task."
"I can help with that!" said Alex, "Snape's been teaching me things that can come in handy when you're facing the unknown."
For the next few weeks, Harry was drilled by his friends with spells for everything from Stunning to a Bubble-head Charm. Alex made sure Harry knew the Four Point spell, which turned your wand into a compass.
"After all," she said with an encouraging smile, "The point of a maze is to make you lose all sense of direction. This way, that won't happen."
When not helping Harry, Alex spent time leafing through old photos and exchanging letters with her secret admirer. True to her word, Alex never opened the front pocket until she knew she would be in the common room the rest of the evening. So far, she had learned he was definitely a boy (she had never let go of the suspicion a Gryffindor girl had liked her until she asked), he went to Hogwarts so he would still be there after the other schools left, and she saw him everyday. The last hint didn't help because since he went to Hogwarts, she would obviously see him at least once a day at the Great Hall during dinner.
Once in a while, she received a letter from her father asking how things were. She wanted to tell him about the secret admirer but her father's own words went through her mind when she thought of telling him, "Stay close to your friends. Don't let anyone who you wouldn't trust with your life near you without someone else being there". She was pretty sure talking with a person she didn't even know the name of counted as trusting them without having a friend you know well around. So she would leave out the secret admirer parts in her letter and fill it instead with stories of helping Harry prepare for the tournament.
Finally, it was the day of the final task. The task itself did not start until dusk so that it would be harder for the champions to find their way. When Harry heard this, he got angry.
"Oh wonderful, simply splendid!" he half-shouted in the common room, causing silence to fall, "It's not bad enough we're going into a maze to face unknown challenges, but we have to do it at night too!"
"Please Harry," said Alex, putting a hand on his shoulder and pushing him down into a seat, "You don't need to worry about that. Just remember what we taught you and I'm sure you'll win. You have more heart than anyone else in this challenge and you also have a better reason to win: to show everyone that you were chosen not because of your name, but because of your bravery."
So when the sun began to set, the students of Hogwarts, Beauxbaton, and Durmstrang filed into the Quidditch stadium to watch the final task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Ron, Hermione, and Alex found great seats in the middle of the stands. This way, they weren't too close but not so far up that everyone looked like ants. Alex closed her eyes and searched for Harry. He and the other champions were in the locker rooms waiting to enter.
"I'll be able to see Harry," she told Hermione and Ron, opening her eyes, "I think it has something to do with that weird connection we have. So I'll let you know how he's doing in the maze, okay?"
They nodded and the whole stadium erupted into cheers. The champions had arrived out onto the part of the field not covered with ten feet of bushes. Dumbledore stood on a platform and magically magnified his voice for all to hear.
"Good-evening students, teachers, and family members!" Dumbledore's voice boomed, making the entire stadium silent, "Welcome to the third and final task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. The task our four champions have is to travel through the maze to the very center where they will find the Tri-Wizard Cup. When they grab the cup, they will be transported back here to receive their prize money and honor.
"The maze is full of magical obstacles," continued Dumbledore seriously, "And I advise the champions to be wary. The maze not only changes course, but those who enter." He allowed the silence to hang in the air for a few seconds before saying, "Now then, since Mr. Diggory and Mr. Potter are tied for first, they have the advantage of entering first."
Harry and Cedric each stood at one of the four entrances to the maze. Harry turned to Cedric and nodded, the older boy returning it.
"On the count of three, you may enter. One…two…THREE!"
Cedric ran into the maze quickly while Harry went tentatively. He turned back and then continued on his way. Alex closed her eyes and found herself walking beside Harry through the maze, although he did not see her. At least she could move her arms and legs now and she wasn't floating along next to him.
"What's happening?" the distant voice of Ron asked urgently.
"He's walking," said Alex with a roll of her eyes, "I'll let you know if anything exciting happens."
Harry kept walking, using the Four Points charm Alex taught him to keep him heading north, to the center of the maze. He had just made a right when he stopped short, Alex running right through him. She shivered and looked up, gasping in alarm. A hooded dementor was gliding toward Harry, its breath coming out in rasps and its scaly hand outstretched.
"Dementor at twelve o' clock!" said Alex aloud.
"What do you mean?" said Hermione. She sounded so far, but Alex could tell her voice was higher than normal. "They really wouldn't put a dementor in there, would they?"
Alex watched as Harry tried to produce his stag patronus, but it didn't work. Then Alex noticed the dementor's feet appeared out of the cloak. Dementors didn't have feet though, Alex remembered Professor Lupin telling them that there was nothing under their cloaks but darkness.
"It's not real," Alex said, "It's a boggart! Harry's boggart was a dementor, remember?"
Harry seemed to realize this too because he cried, "Riddikulus!" The boggart tripped over it's now oversized feet and vanished with a loud BANG! Alex followed Harry as he went through the maze, telling Ron and Hermione what was happening. Whenever they spoke back, however, their voices kept getting more distant as she traveled closer to the center of the maze.
Harry had just gotten out of an upside down room when he heard something behind him. Spinning around with his wand raised, he looked around. Nothing was there but emptiness. Alex listened too but heard nothing. They were about to continue walking when there was a loud scream, a girl's scream.
"Fleur," said Harry and he dashed towards the noise, Alex at his heels shouting at him.
"Harry, are you nuts? You're almost there!"
But, like before, Harry couldn't hear her. They didn't need to travel far though for in just a few minutes, they found Fleur unconscious on the ground. Harry looked around and sent up red sparks, a sign that someone was in danger. Quickly, he ran the way he had come and continued his walking. Alex could tell Harry was frightened by what he had seen and wished she could comfort him. They turned a corner and saw a great creature before them. It had the face of a woman but the body of a lion. It was a giant sphinx.
…...
"Alex? Come on Alex, snap out of it!" Hermione said, shaking her friend who was facing the maze with her eyes shut.
"Hermione, she can't hear us," said Ron, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Look, we need to get Dumbledore over here."
"What's wrong?"
They turned and saw Draco Malfoy coming down the row towards them. He saw Alex's blank expression and tried to go to her, but was blocked by Ron.
"Piss off Malfoy!" he snapped, "Don't you have some celebrating to do or something?"
"Is she okay?" Draco asked, looking over Ron's shoulder at Alex's stiff-sitting body.
"Oh yeah, bloody fantastic," said Ron sarcastically, "Because everyone gets all stiff and refuses to move when their friend is in the middle of a huge maze, instead of cheering them on!"
"I'll get Dumbledore," said Draco and went down the stairs to the field.
Ron watched with suspicion as the Slytherin talked quietly to Dumbledore and brought him along with McGonagall, Snape, and Moody over to where Ron and Hermione were sitting. People were turning around and straining their heads to see what was happening, but Dumbledore cast a charm around them so that the people wouldn't see what they were doing.
"Tell me what happened," the Headmaster asked as he began murmuring spells that didn't seem to make any difference to Alex.
"We don't know," said Ron, "She was fine before and we asked her what was going on in the maze and she wouldn't answer."
"How would she know what is happening in the maze?" Snape asked with a frown.
"S-She said th-that," Hermione stuttered, tears spilling down her face, "She told us th-that she could see what happened to Harry during the tasks because of a connection between them. She did it before for the second task, she said. We…We thought it was fine because Harry can't hear her or even see her, so it's not like she was helping him. Please Professor Dumbledore, is she okay?"
"She will be fine, Miss Granger," said Dumbledore with a nod, "We must wait until Harry leaves the maze and is out of any danger before Alex can come back."
"We should move her, Headmaster," said McGonagall, looking around at the students who were whispering amongst themselves, obviously talking about what little they had seen.
"A good idea, Minerva. Alastor, will you keep her in your office until she awakens?"
"Yes sir, but you also asked me to be here in case the champions call for help in the maze. One has already done so and…"
"Alex will be safe without you being there," said Dumbledore as he and McGonagall lifted Alex up and Moody put her over his shoulder, "We don't want the students to see her and become frightened."
Professor Moody nodded and left, creating an invisibility charm on himself and Alex as he went. The other professors returned to the field and left Draco, who had been there the entire time, with Ron and Hermione. The two latter turned and stared icily at the former. Draco took this as his cue to leave but as he was, Ron opened his mouth.
"Why did you do that?" he snapped.
"Do what?"
"Bring the professors over here!" said Ron angrily, "That would be a nice thing to do!"
"So you're mad at me…for doing something nice?" Draco asked with a frown, "Isn't that kind of oxymoronic?"
"You never do anything unless you have something to gain by it," Hermione said furiously, "So out with it, what is Alex doing for you that you would something kind for her? Is she doing all the potions work and you're taking the credit?"
"No, not at all," said Draco calmly, "We split the work evenly. Look, whether you like it or not, Alex and I can get along all right. She may or may not have told you, I don't know, but we have a good time down in the dungeons once in a while."
"What do you mean-?"
"I mean," Draco interrupted, getting a little impatient, "We can talk to each other without blowing the other's brains out. Get your mind out of the gutter, Granger." He let out a deep breath and continued in a calmer tone, "Well, I better go back to my seat. People may start to think that I actually enjoy talking to you two."
He said this with a small smile and left, leaving Ron and Hermione very confused while they worried for their two friends.
…...
"Nice going, Harry!" said Alex as they continued through the maze, "Spider; Ron would have had a heart attack if he had heard!"
They had just figured out the sphinx's riddle and were walking through the labyrinth's paths. During the riddle, Alex had tried to ask Hermione for her thoughts, but she never answered. Alex was nervous about that but eventually put it aside and tried to focus on what Harry was doing. He had stopped and was listening. Then Alex heard it too, someone was shouting and there were spells being cast.
Harry raced towards the noise and found Cedric and Krum dueling. Krum's eyes were glazed over and he was attacking Cedric with so many curses, it was all Cedric could do to keep them away. Harry pulled out his wand and stunned Krum, whose attention had been fully on this opponent that he hadn't seen Harry at all. Cedric ran at Krum to finish him off, but Harry intervened.
"Cedric, he's not himself!" Harry shouted, holding the older boy back with surprising strength, "Look at his eyes!"
"He tried to kill me!" Cedric roared, "He put the Cruciartus Curse on me!"
Harry pushed Cedric away, bound Krum with cords that sprang from his wand, and sent up red sparks.
"They'll take him out soon," said Harry quietly, "Come on, we don't want to be here when they come."
They ran off and when they came to a fork in the path, Cedric went right but Harry waited until the Hufflepuff was gone and pulled out his wand. He found north and went to the left, Alex following though invisible to him. Nothing else met them on their journey except some ravens who tried to peck Harry to death. He eventually made his wand emit the sound of a shotgun and they all took off like bandits. Alex was beginning to wonder how long it would be when Harry stopped dead.
Ahead of them was a shinning gold cup in the center of an open area. And, just a few feet ahead of them coming out of a different path, was Cedric. He saw Harry, turned and saw the cup, looked back at Harry, and sprinted towards the cup. Harry tore after him, but Alex saw this as a lost cause. Cedric was taller and had a head start; he was bound to get there first. Then, she saw a large black figure appear from a corner and screamed in shock.
"Cedric! Look out behind you!" Harry yelled.
Cedric spun around and saw a gigantic, black, hairy spider descending upon him.
Author's Note: Duh duh DUH! Haha, sorry I couldn't resist! ;) So here is the final task for all my totally awesome readers. What did you think? Like, dislike, not really sure? The next chapter will be when Harry goes to the graveyard and I promise it will be epic. I've been working hard to make it as amazing as I can and can't wait to let you all read it!
Are you calling me crazy?: Oh don't you worry, Nick will pay for what he did. Hehe! ;) Wow, you're right about Levina's uncle! That is one crazy coincidence and totally not planned, I promise. As to the secret admirer, you'll just have to wait and see... ;D
To everyone who reviewed, keep them coming! I love knowing what you like and want to see more of in my series. To those who favorited and put me on alert, I'm so glad that you enjoy my stories enough to want to follow them. If anyone who is reading this hasn't reviewed before, I'd love to hear from you! Every reader is important to me. Thank you all for your support! :D