AN: One reviewer asked why Harry wasn't experiencing the pain or seeing vision from Voldemort. The Horcrux that was in Harry was destroyed fighting the lycanthropy. While some of the power (Parselmouth) remains, the soul connection and the piece of Tom was destroyed.
I also had one guest reviewer take me to task for the title of the story. I was told it would be correct to say "Where Is Harry?" or "Where's Harry?". Should I feel bad to point out the title is a pun?
Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. I finished up two of my last classes in my Masters program with long papers on Advanced Project Risk Management and the British efforts in counterintelligence during WWII. Then I brought my son home from Boise, ID to Philadelphia with a road trip through Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Nashville, and several other stops. Then my last class started. When you add in work, I just didn't have a lot of time to write.
So without further ado, I present …
The Princess Marauder
1 April 1995
In the months since the second challenge Hogwarts had been in a state of building suspense. Word had quickly leaked to the student population of Dumbledore's challenge to the Marauders and the Weasley twins. The staff thought the headmaster daft for proposing such a challenge. Yes the prank war between the twins and Harry and his friends had come to an abrupt halt but it was like knowing that a massive dragon was bearing down on them and they couldn't do anything about it. Amongst the students speculation ran rampant on what the pranksters would come up with for the challenge. Although there have been repeated attempts to get Harry or the twins to give some information on the Third task, no one had succeeded. That simply added to the fervour.
The champions had only one way of describing their feelings on the challenge: scared witless. Cedric and Draco had seen what the Weasley twins were capable of over the last several years. Fleur, Al, Viktor, and the other foreign champions had seen the prank war since their arrival. The thought that they would have to deal with the combined efforts of the Weasley twins and the Marauders had them all very nervous- especially Draco.
Not without cause Draco was rather sure the pranksters would target him. He tried complaining to his father to remove the pranksters' challenge as a school governor. The elder Malfoy even want so far as to complain to Minister Fudge but had no luck. Sirius's position as the head of the Ancient and Noble family of Black was enough to counter Malfoy's lobbying. It was only after Lucius failed that Draco realized his very attempt would probably focus more of the pranksters' attention on himself. Draco was not having a good spring.
Now the Great Hall was filled with the students of three schools along with the staff and ministry visitors. They were there to hear the details of the third challenge. The staff table had been removed and replaced with a large mirror. Several other mirrors were mounted on the walls of the Hall or small ones were freestanding on the tables. Standing in front of the large mirror were the familiar figures of Harry Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and the Weasley twins.
Once the students and guests were settled into their seats a door opened on the side of the Great Hall and Dumbledore led the other headmasters into the room and over to seats set aside for them near their champions. Dumbledore gestured for the other school heads to be seated before turning to the waiting pranksters.
"Gentlemen, the floor is yours."
Harry stepped forward from the group. He drew a quick breath and then started. "I have been chosen to be our spokesperson for explaining this event. Some people felt that my recent experience would make me a good speaker. Honestly I just said I would do it to stop us from listening to the Weasley's twin – speak and save us all the headache." Many of the students broke into appreciative chuckles as the twins pretended to act offended.
"Now as you may have heard they originally intended to grow a privet hedge maze on the grounds of the Quidditch Stadium, throw in some of Hagrid's pets, and then send the champions on a race to see who could get to the centre first. Since the hedges were going to be 10 feet tall we spectators would have once again been left with very little to watch. Now we couldn't have that could we?"
"I would've preferred that whatever you've cooked up, Harry," Al called out. Harry flashed his friend a smile that could only be called evil. The champions started to feel even more nervous.
Harry continued on, his voice building up like a showman.
"Instead the Marauders with assistance from the incomparable Weasley twins have developed a challenge that will thrill you and keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. We present to you: The Princess Marauder!"
At Harry's announcement the mirror started the cloud over until no reflection was visible. Instead it looked like the ceiling of the Great Hall before a storm. Thick clouds seem to roil around. The student seemed a bit shocked and focused on watching the mirrors. They didn't even notice when their presenters seem to disappear. At least, until Harry's voice seemed to boom out of everywhere.
"The Princess Marauder harkens back to the great tales of magic, heroism, and determination we all grew up with. Our champions must act as those champions of old to rescue our Princess marauder from her vile captors! To do this they must use all their intelligence, magic, and strength to be successful in the quest!"
The images in the mirror started to clear to show the edge of the Black Lake looking towards the Forbidden Forest. In the water shapes could be seen swimming around. A small sailboat floated nearby. The mirror seemed to move forward towards the lake and out over the water. Suddenly a shriek was heard and a massive serpent thrust its head out of the water and almost seemed to come through the mirror's surface. Many of the students screamed in fear.
"For the first part of the quest, our champions must cross the Black Lake that has been infested with shrieking eels. These vicious, meat eating eels emit a horrible, shrill scream when they're about to feed. They always get louder as they are about to feed on human flesh."
The mirror now seemed to fly over the water as the shrieking eels attempted to feast on whatever it was they could see. Several of the champions looked ready to flee the Hall with just the thought of facing those creatures.
"Once our champions reached the other side of the lake, they must plunge into the Forbidden Forest while avoiding quicksand, flaming traps… and, oh yes, the AOUS's."
Now the mirror was flying through the forest and paths. The image past an angry centaur with bow drawn, several trolls, and a mother bear with a young. Then the mirror seemed to draw nearer to a dark tangle of branches and leaves. An ominous clicking sound was heard in the plant started to shake. The watchers felt the creature was about to be revealed when the mirror swung away and plunged deeper into the forest. The mirror again came to a stop at the foot of the monstrous cliff that none of the students were even aware existed in the forest.
"The survivors of the forbidden forest must now climb the Cliffs of Insanity! The unpredictable winds that swirl along the cliff make flying almost impossible. Climbing is the only real option."
The mirror seemed to fly up the rocky face of the cliff. The onlookers were frightened by the sheer vertical surface. Rock climbing was virtually unknown in the Wizarding world so no one really had the first clue and how to deal with something like this.
The mirror view reached the top of the cliff. At the top was a small clearing with some ruins. The mirror flew a short distance into the ruins. There was an opening in the ground leading down into total blackness. The mirror image seemed to flutter around the opening as though it was too scared to proceed.
"Once at the top our champions face one final challenge. They must descend into the Pit of Despair to rescue our fair Princess! Here in the pit our champions must face their greatest fears."
"Now of course we can expect all of you to be following behind our champions to watch them meet their challenges during the Princess Marauder. As you have all seen we have placed enchanted mirrors throughout the hall," Harry gestured to the large mirror behind him and then to the other ones around the hall. "These mirrors show the images captured on special crystal balls. To track our champions we call upon some special assistants. Dobby!"
At Harry's call, a very familiar house elf appeared 10 feet off the ground riding an elf-sized broom. The broom quickly accelerated like the Firebolt it resembled to zip the elf around the room. Dobby was giggling madly as he dove on the students and whipped the broom back and forth.
Harry heard one of the twin's comment, "I didn't know elves inherited their master's desire to fly like crazy person."
"Either that or they were bloody made for each other!" the other Weasley responded. Harry grinned at them and refrained from commenting.
"Our Elven friends will follow our champions on their quest. Some others will be stationary at certain key places to capture the action. The images from their crystal balls will be presented here at Hogwarts for all to see and enjoy! Similar mirrors will also be installed in various places including: Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang for the rest of the population to watch."
Harry grinned over at the champions who were looking a bit pale. "So be ready champions – the world will be watching!
-I-
"Those mirrors are interesting, Harry," Hermione commented that night in the common room. "Where did they come from?" Harry and his friends including Ernie and Daphne had been sitting in the Gryffindor common room talking for two hours before Hermione finally asked her question. Harry was rather impressed. The twins had only expected her to last an hour.
"Spying on the girls' loo apparently," Harry answered with a small grin.
"Harry James Potter! What do you mean by that?" Hermione demanded. Padma had turned from her place leaning up against Harry to glare at her boyfriend.
"Not by me!" Harry protested. "The Marauders did it when they were in school- at least until Mum caught them and boxed their ears for it according to Mooney." Now the listening girls nodded with satisfaction.
"Still, when Padfoot told me the story I could see it had potential. It sort of looks like it works the same as a Muggle telly, but not really. Wizards used to use's scrying mirrors to observe distant events. Even Muggles heard about them."
"Like in the Disney stories," Hermione commented with a nod.
Padma shook her head. "Not really. I remember seeing Snow White with my aunt when I was little. Scrying mirrors are a part of divination that is now a lost art."
Hermione made a little face at the mention of her least favourite subject. "Divination? So really they were used to tell the future?"
"No," Padma disagreed, "divination used to be defined as the study of using magic to gather information. Seeing the future was only a part of the overall field. One ritual reportedly used a map and a focus of some type to locate missing people or objects or search for underground minerals or water. Even Muggles have heard of 'divining rods'. Wards started to become common that prevented divination magic from penetrating into protected areas and the Ministry suppressed much of it as interfering with privacy concerns. If you ask me they were helping some wealthy contributors hide their misdeeds. So over time we lost that magic.
"Now, the old scrying mirrors were used literally to watch events as they happened. But there were limitations on the mirrors. The user had to enchant a bird or other animal to link their vision to the mirror. If the animal died or the spell broke somehow the mirror became useless and could not be used again with another animal."
Harry smiled listening to Padma's explanation. He picked up when she paused. "Back when they were in school, my father and Remus managed to link a small crystal to a mirror. They mounted the crystal on a small statue and enchanted the statue as an air freshener. Then they tricked a First year girl into placing it in the loo.
"They learned that the size and quality of the crystal determines how good a picture they get on the mirror. The cheap, little crystal they used gave a blurry image. Our crystals are larger and of good quality so we get good images on the mirrors. Plus, the crystals take images from all directions around it and above and below it. Even if you're not seeing it on the mirror you can go back later and see the rest of what was picked up by the crystal." Harry's friends looked impressed with the abilities of the new mirrors.
"How do you control what images people are going to see during the challenge?" Ernie asked. Harry grinned.
"That we stole from the telly. We took over an unused classroom and turned it into a control room. It's entirely staffed with house elves. They are acting as the directors and stuff to control what is seen on the mirrors. Then the images of course are captured by our very own elven flying corp."
Hermione looked indignant over the use of house elves. Harry caught her expression and added, "All the elves are volunteers. They've been having fun and we promised them they could keep the brooms when we were done. You should have seen their faces." Ron and Ernie smiled at the mention of the elves and the brooms.
"Do they all fly like Dobby?" Ron asked.
Harry snickered. "Padfoot wants to create a house elf Quidditch league. Moony yelled at him for it but he just keeps talking about. The elves got excited about the idea. It's a little scary to see Sirius being followed around by a small horde of excited elves. I think they were feeding ideas off each other."
The others laughed while Ron just shook his head. Harry asked him what the problem was.
"England just managed to survive the Dark Lord, I'm not sure we'd survive a Prank Lord with an army of house elves at his command." The other stopped laughing as they considered Ron's comment.
Ernie gestured towards Ron with his bottle of butterbeer and said, "Bloke's got a point."
Harry made a waving off gesture as he leaned back into his couch with an evil grin. "Ah, it's far worse than that." Harry turned and made eye contact with Ron. "You know that prank shop your brothers have always dreamed of opening?" Ron nodded warily. Harry's grin grew wider.
"A couple of days ago they were telling Sirius and Remus about their plans. Padfoot decided to become their financial backer. So now the Marauders and the Weasley twins are business partners."
Harry chuckled at the scared looks on his friends' faces at that concept. It would make life interesting to say the least.
-II-
20 May 1995
It was the last Hogsmeade weekend of the school year. An early spring had come to Hogwarts. It had rained much of April and early May but had been dry for the past several days. This gave the students a beautiful warm weekend surrounded by the new green foliage. It was not an opportunity any of the students were likely to waste.
Harry and his friends had broken into the respective couples to enjoy the magical village. On the advice of Remus, Harry took Padma to a small restaurant that was outside the area the students normally visited. They had a nice lunch together and Harry mostly listened as Padma discussed her plans to become a Healer after leaving Hogwarts. She was particularly interested in the growing field of combining magical healing with new advanced Muggle surgical techniques.
"Yes, we do have a potion that can remove an infected appendix, but it takes 24 hours for the potion to completely work and it's rather messy for the next two days as the body expels what's left of the appendix. Muggles can now make a small incision, take out the appendix, stitch it back up and have you home the next day. If we could do the removal and then give a general healing potion you would be able to leave in the same hour!"
For Harry's part, he simply enjoyed the lunch and nodded in the appropriate place. He liked Padma's enthusiasm but he could do with a little less detail. He spent enough time in the hospital wing for his own injuries without having to know all the details. But it made Padma happy so he was willing to deal with it.
After lunch the young couple roamed around the village for a bit before heading to the Three Broomsticks to meet their friends. As they approached their meeting place they saw a small crowd gathered just outside. They heard a familiar voice yelling from inside the crowd. They quickly made their way through the crowd. Standing in the opening in the centre of the crowd was Hermione with Ernie standing behind her with his wand at the ready. The witch was confronting Draco Malfoy and his bookends.
"Let me ask you a question, Malfoy. What percentage of the Hogwarts students is Muggleborn?"
Malfoy sneered at the question. "Why would I want to count vermin?" Snickers were heard from the surrounding Slytherins.
"It's about 30 per cent; half-bloods makeup about 45 per cent with the rest being purebloods. When Voldemort started the first war, Muggleborn only made up 20 per cent of the Hogwarts students. Do you know why that per cent changed?"
"Obviously, the Dark Lord missed a few and you breed like the vermin you are. I guess we need to do some housecleaning again. "
Hermione ignored Draco's comment. "In absolute numbers we have one more Muggle-born in Hogwarts today than we did when Voldemort started his attacks. So if our numbers stayed the same but a percentage went up what does that mean? I'll tell you what it means; it means the number of purebloods is what went down. How many old pureblood families died or are down to only a few members left? The Potters, the Bones, the Blacks, the Longbottoms, the Crouches, the McKinnons, the Wilkes, the Prewetts; all of them are gone or down to one or two family members. Then you have the families where all the child-bearing age members in in Azkaban- not that that is any great loss. At the rate the Death Eaters were going there would be no one left in the magical world that was a Pureblood. Today, the average Pureblood family has 1.4 children - even less if you take out the Weasleys. That means you Purebloods aren't even reproducing your own numbers let alone making up for those lost on both sides in your Master's war. Meanwhile, new Muggle-born are born every year at the same rate as before the war. And every new Hogwart's class is left with have fewer Purebloods."
Draco was furious. "That's a LIE!" he screamed. "The Dark Lord was here to protect the pureblood way of life! Your lies won't change that!"
"Check the facts yourself, Malfoy," Hermione growled. "That is, unless you're too scared to learn the truth. In either case, I'm done with you." Hermione turned and started heading towards the Three Broomsticks. As she crossed in front of Ernie's field of vision, Malfoy struck.
Or, at least tried to.
The blonde Slytherin made a sudden motion and his wand appeared in his hand. He started to cast a curse directly at the witch's unguarded back when he suddenly found himself smashed to the ground.
"Don't try that again ya little ferret." Harry growled. The crowd unconsciously took a step back from the aura of menace that Harry was radiating. Harry glared down at the prone boy. "Do you want to try trading spells with me?"
Malfoy stared up at the Gryffindor in sheer terror. Somewhere in the bottom of that place where most have a heart, Draco Malfoy knew that Harry Potter would kill him given the opportunity. Father had told him stories when Draco was a child of the power and menace of the Dark Lord to those that opposed or failed Him. Nothing in his imagination matched the way Potter made him feel right now starring up into those green eyes that seemed to glow with repressed power.
"I'll take'm from here, Potter."
The crowd of students parted to allow their Defence professor passage. Moody stumped forward with his wand drawn. A silent spell shot out of his wand and connected with Malfoy tuning into him into a snowy white ferret. The creature let out a startled squeak and tried to run only to be levitated into the air by the former Auror.
"I think a ferret fits 'em, lad," Moody said to Harry with a disturbing grin.
"Professor," Hermione started, "Harry was just …"
"No need for that, lass," Moody interrupted her. "Saw the whole thing. Yon boyfriend of yours did a solid job of watching yer back till you blocked his line of sight from these idiots. Fortunately Potter was here to cover. Good team work. Would have made decent Aurors. Nice speech on the stupidity of those idiots' little war too.
"Well, I am going to take young Mr Malfoy here up so he can start serving his detentions. I'm sure Filch or Hagrid can find something appropriate for 'em to do." A few Slytherins started to protest but the Defence professor's glare silenced them as he stomped up towards the castle.
Harry walked over to where his friends were gathered around Hermione. Ron was standing there also but he just stood with a blissful zoned-out expression.
"Ron- you okay, mate?" Ernie asked. Ron nodded vacantly.
"Just trying to burn that into my memory. First Malfoy nearly wets himself because of Harry here and then Moody creates Malfoy, the Incredible Floating Ferret. Hey Harry, can you try to teach me the Patronus Charm again? I think I have a good memory for it now." The friends laughed and went into the Three Broomsticks to resume their day.
-III-
The students filtered into the Three Broomsticks and soon the inn was filled with laughter and talking like any normal Hogsmeade weekend. Harry had just managed to finish his first butterbeer when their table had a new arrival.
"Hello, Furry Potter." Harry turned from his friends to see a familiar blonde witch standing next to him.
"Hello, Luna. Do you want to join us?"
"Hmm, that would be nice. Almost like having friends. But first I have to tell you something, Furry Potter."
Harry felt a sense of dread. Luna always had a way of saying completely screwy things that later seemed to make perfect sense. The fact she'd sought him out to tell him something raised his hackles. "What is it, Luna?"
Luna's wide eyes stared directly into Harry's. "Soon your opponent will know your secret. You will need to decide if the ones on your side will still need to play with blinders on." Luna turned and looked at the rest of the group; her head cocked in a curious fashion. "Did you know Muggles can't understand how a bumblebee can fly? They can't see the little piece of magic that keeps them up."
Hermione looked like she was in pain trying to interrupt the blonde witch's words. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what I said."
Hermione looked as though she wanted to tear her (or Luna's) hair out. "That doesn't make any sense!"
Luna giggled. "Of course not, silly. The magical world is completely nonsensical. But it is in keeping with the best traditions of the Lovegood family motto."
Harry didn't want to ask but apparently Ernie just needed to know. "And what is your family motto?"
Luna still smiled but her gaze sharpened as she looked directly at Harry. "If you can't lead them with logic, baffle them with bullshit."
-IV-
21 June 1995
The morning of the final challenge was an absolutely beautiful morning. The sky was the kind of blue that poets wrote bad sonnets about. The temperature was a wee bit higher than normal but a small breeze kept it from being uncomfortable.
Due to the beautiful weather, many of Hogwart's inhabitants and their guests chose to watch the final task from the Quidditch stadium. Down on the pitch, the goal rings on one side had been replaced with six large mirrors fitted together. Smaller mirrors hovered in place around the stadium.
Across from the large mirrors, those rings had also been replaced with a large stage. The middle part of the stage was six feet off the ground with the 'wings' raised up as VIP boxes. One VIP box was for the schools' faculty while the other was for Ministry guests. Many of the spectators had moved to sit on the grass of the pitch using blankets thoughtfully provided by the elves.
A party atmosphere was filled the stadium as the spectators gathered. The task was a source of that excitement but the mirrors were a factor also. It seemed even the magical world liked gadgets, particularly when they added to their entertainment and didn't seem to endanger their livelihood. Since this was a purely magical device and not making a Muggle device work in a magical environment, even the hard-core Purebloods did not find issue with it.
Inside a large tent behind the stage, the champions were gathering along with their families. The school headmasters and the judges were also filtering around. In one corner, Sirius and Kalina were holding court with their one month-old daughter, Cassiopeia Lily Black. Sirius was playing the bragging, doting father; Kalina looked smug while Cassi looked like she wanted a nap. (When she spit up all over Sirius's new robes, Harry silently promised to buy her a new toy. That's what good Godfathers did. Was it too early to get her a broom?)
The Blacks were surrounded by well-wishers- including Narcissa Black Malfoy to Harry's surprise. Harry expected her to avoid Sirius and his half-Veela daughter as an affront to the "Always Pure" motto of the Black family. However, it seemed a cute baby was universally attractive. Harry actually enjoyed the snarky comments Narcissa slipped in on Sirius. For the first time he could see the family resemblance between the cousins. Harry found it odd she was not hovering over Draco but noticed the Malfoy scion in a corner surrounded by Malfoy Sr and several other men, all seemed to be giving the Slytherin advice.
'And in this corner, the Death Eater Champion, Draco Malfoy!' Harry thought as he watched the group. Just looking at them made the Beast want to run wild. Harry walked away before he would cause an international incident.
Soon Dumbledore came in to announce the start of the Third task. The Champions took a brief minute for a last word with family for encouragement and then proceeded out onto the centre stage.
The champions looked nervous as they assembled on the centre stage. The nine students all seemed nervous and somewhat impatient for the event to start. Unfortunately for them they had to sit through a lot of talk from all three Ministries. Fudge talk the longest of all and managed to say the least. Watching the man speak Harry, at first, could not decide what would be worse: his childhood with his relatives or being raised by Fudge. But after the man droned on for 10 minutes he had his answer. Vernon never made Harry want to go jump in the lake with the shrieking eels.
A burst of fireworks behind the stadium cut off Fudge's speech. Sirius took advantage of the Minister of Magic's surprise to take over the stage.
"Now for the event you have all come to see!" The large crowd cheered. Harry was rather impressed with the volume they reached.
"Before we get started today we have a few simple rules," Sirius announced. "First, no champion is allowed to hex, curse, charm, transfigure, or in any other way using magic on another champion except in a situation to assist where the targeted champion's life is in imminent danger. Second, our champions will start two at a time in random pairings. And finally the creatures within the Princess Marauder are here of their own free will. Champions will refrain from the use of potentially deadly spells. If you do use a deadly spell the creatures are free to respond in kind." Sirius levelled a deadly serious gaze at each of the nine champions.
"Short of lethal magic, your opponents in this challenge will use whatever they can to prevent you from completing this challenge. Do you understand?"
The champions all nodded agreement. Harry noticed that a few of them, including Malfoy, now looked rather cocky with the news that their lives were not in danger. Harry held back his laughter. Sometimes to a teenager there were things worse than death.
-V-
The champions were sent into the tent to await their call. This prevented them from watching the progress of those called before them and learning from their efforts.
Viktor and Al were the first to champions to start. They each jumped into a small wooden sailboat. Viktor used a charm to blow wind into the sail while Al pointed his wand at the water behind the boat and cast the spell to propel the boat forward. The eels went crazy swimming around the boats and screaming. Al's spell seemed to attract the eels. Viktor managed to pull ahead as the eels forced Al off course. Viktor made it to the other shore almost 20 seconds before Al.
As the boys disappeared into the Forbidden Forest, two more started, Roger Davies and August Penev. Both boys tried to use the same wind generating charm Viktor used to a less effective result.
On the monitor he could see Victor and Al moving through the Forest. They had chosen separate paths. Viktor vaulted a quicksand trap with an impressive display of athleticism. Harry turned to another mirror just in time to see Al using a Flame Freezing Charm to charge straight through a fire trap without so much as a burn mark. The crowd was going crazy cheering for the two champions. Harry was glad to see the two were doing well.
Then screaming started from certain audience members. Harry glanced at the mirrors and saw the Durmstrang wizard, August Penev was in trouble on the lake. The eels managed to capsize the boy's boat and were circling in an excited frenzy. The boy was screaming in panic as his grip started to slip. One of the eels latched onto the boy's foot- jerking him back into the water. The boy disappeared under the black water in a boil of eels. Further ahead, Roger Davies was watching in helpless shock at the loss of a fellow champion.
The audience started to protest when August appeared in the centre of the stage dripping but none the worse for wear. He looked around in shock at his sudden apparent rescue before fainting to the floor.
"Ladies and gentleman, how about a round of applause for our first champion, August Penev!" The audience was silent in shock themselves as they watched a trio of house-elves help the unconscious boy off the stage. "Come on now, surely you didn't think we would allow a student to potentially die! "
"Do you think potentially scaring a student to death is a prank, Mr Black? That it is funny?" McGonagall demanded as she stormed onto the stage.
Sirius looked like a Firstie caught sneaking into the girls' loo. "Um, yes?"
It was only Dumbledore's arrival that saved Sirius from becoming a throw rug in front of the Transfiguration professor's fireplace.
"Now Minerva, don't be too upset. Mr Black has assured me there are no truly dangerous obstacles on the course. And I have assured myself they have a sufficient supply of Calming Potions."
"Can we give her one now?" Sirius asked. McGonagall stared in outrage as Dumbledore chuckled.
"Sorry my boy. Those are for the students. You shall have to deal with Professor McGonagall on your own." Sirius looked betrayed as the crowd laughed. McGonagall silenced them with a glare that even impressed the Beast.
Turning back to her former student, the professor announced, "For every student that is physically harmed on this 'quest' of yours, you will serve a day's detention!" Sirius tried to protest but the Scottish witch was on a roll. "No, I don't want to hear it, Sirius Black! Or do you want to make it two days!"
Sirius' arse chewing was interrupted by the tone announcing two more champions were starting. Harry saw Malfoy jump into a boat with Michele Desmarais of Beauxbatons just behind him. Harry moved over to the mirror showing Draco. He really wanted to see this.
Malfoy tried to use the same propulsion charm Al had tried. Harry expected the wealthy scion had used small boats before as he seemed rather comfortable in the boat and was making good time crossing the lake. He was nearing the far shore when an eel suddenly leapt out of the water.
The eel smashed into Draco's chest sending him crashing to the bottom of the boat. The eel thrashed around while Draco tried to dodge its thrashing jaws while trying to recover his wand. He managed to get his wand from where it had fallen without being bitten. His panicked but angry expression was visible as Malfoy prepared to cast a spell at the land-bound eel.
Before he could cast, another eel hit the front of the boat knocking it to the side. Concentrating on punishing the beast that threatened him, Draco was not prepared for the sudden lurch and fell back over the small sides of the boat. He hit the water as the shrieks of the eels grew incredible loud drowning out any noise coming from Draco.
Narcissa Malfoy screamed as her son disappeared in the swarm of shrieking eels. She ran down from the VIP section of the stage anticipating her baby appearing like the Durmstrang boy. But Malfoy never appeared.
The crowd was breathlessly silent as they waited for Malfoy. Then a spectator cried out, "Look there!"
As one, the crowd turned to the mirrors to see Malfoy flying over the lake in a ballistic trajectory. The young wizard was already at the top of his arc as he rocketed towards the lakeshore. The projecting crystal's location was at a 90 degree angle from Malfoy's path and was pulled all the way back so the crowd could easily visualize his probable flight path.
"And it think he has the height!" Harry announced from the stage. "Does he? Yes! Young Draco Malfoy has successfully made it to the other side of the Black Lake." Draco smashed into the small sandy beach area that had been created as a landing spot for the sailboats. A new crystal activated that was much closer and zoomed in on Draco. He was laying in the sand drawling deep breaths; his eyes wide in shock at his encounter with the eels and his sudden unpowered flight.
"Get moving, Malfoy!" Harry yelled into his microphone. Draco seemed to hear him as he sat up with a jolt.
"Damn you, Potter," the blonde wizard cursed as he forced himself to his feet. The crowd watched as he drew his wand and ran shakily towards the Forest.
"I guess there are some things even the eels won't eat," Harry commented to Sirius. The glare Narcissa threw him when she heard was truly worthy of Snape.
-VI-
Sarah Dimitriova was the next contestant to fall out of the task. The Durmstrang witch dove to avoid a fireball and landed flat in the centre of a quicksand trap. The panicked witch thrashed about helplessly as she was pulled down into the muck. When she appeared on the platform two seconds after disappearing into the sand, the poor witch was almost out of her mind in fear and could barely grasp that she was safe.
Madam Pomfrey arrived almost immediately with a Calming Potion in hand. She coaxed the terrified girl into drinking it and a short time later led the girl off the stage to the applause of the crowd. However, the glare the Healer gave Sirius was not very friendly.
"Wow, Padfoot, you're gonna be in detention all summer at this rate," Harry commented with a cheeky grin at his godfather.
"You can always join him, Mr Potter," Professor McGonagall announced from behind the Fourth year wizard.
"Yes, professor," Harry acknowledged while glaring at Sirius for not warning him of the witch's approach.
Screams broke out in the stadium distracting the pair of wizards. One the giant screen they say the image of Draco Malfoy being chased by a pair of Acromantulas. The giant spiders were flinging large balls of webbing the size of softballs at the fleeing wizard. Draco had apparently lost his wand in the forest at some point.
"I see Malfoy found the AOUS's," Sirius casually commented.
Fred disagreed. "Looks more like they found him." Fred and George had just joined them as they watched Draco's attempts to get away from the Arachnids Of Unusual Size.
"They don't seem to like him too much," George observed. The spiders now had Draco stuck between two web lines and swinging the boy from tree to tree.
The spiders were so distracted they failed to notice Fleur run past them but the crowd did. Some boo' d the French witch feeling she should have stopped to help her fellow Champion but most cheered her for taking advantage of her opportunity.
In any case, shortly after Fleur disappeared from view, Draco passed out and a portkey hidden on his body activated. Narcissa was already moving when her son's limp form appeared on the stage. Those on the stage were immediately assaulted by certain smells coming from the unconscious Slytherin. The cause of the smell was obvious a moment later when Madam Pomfrey floated the wizard off the stage.
"Dobby not cleaning that up," Dobby announced as he popped in. "Bad Old Master used to make Dobby clean up after Bad Old Master's Son all the time. Bad Old Master's Son took a long time to learn to use the loo like a proper wizard. But Dobby is a free elf now and Dobby say 'No!'" Then he popped away again. The crowd broke into shocked laughter to hear such a thing from an elf.
When they finished laughing, Sirius commented, "Freeing that elf was the best thing you've done, Harry." Harry could only nod his agreement as he tried to get his breath back.
-VII-
Al DiGiamotto burst from the Forbidden Forest to find himself standing in a small clearing looking up. The Cliffs of Insanity turned out to be a steep, craggy-faced cliff with a thick rope hanging down- one for each Champion. Nine ropes hung down the entire height of the cliff. Each was spaced thirty feet apart. He could see Cedric scrambling up one of the ropes in the centre of the cliff. The Hogwart's wizard seemed to be making impressive progress up his rope. All the way over to the far left of the cliff Al spotted Viktor Krum working his way up. The Bulgarian was solid muscle but seemed to be having problems as he clung to his rope and was pointing his wand off at something Al couldn't see.
Al started up the cliff while cursing Harry under his breath but loud enough for the magical microphones to pick up to the amusement of the spectators. Unlike the others, Al recognized the source of the challenges and while he loved the film, facing the eels, the "fire forest" and the giant spiders was a bit much. What the Marauders and the Weasley twins had planned for the cliff and the pit made the wizard nervous.
The French-Italian wizard had progressed a third of the way up the Cliff when the first strains of screams reached him. Al's eyes darted franticly above him looking for the source of the eerie wailing. That is when he saw the woman with the long, flowing black hair and a gaunt, green-tinged face.
A banshee.
Then he spotted another woman nestled on another rocky ledge several feet higher than the first and twenty feet over to his right. This was a small woman wearing a white cap and wearing a faded, decayed-looking green shawl wrapped around her. She seemed to spot Al at the same time and let out another keening wail different from the banshee.
The wall of sound from the two female creatures hit Al with an almost physical force. A wave of fear swept over Al as he fumbled for his wand tucked into his belt. His shaking hand fumbled as he pulled his wand out. The world seemed to be spinning as he grasped towards the wand only to see it fall down towards the forest floor below. Al whipped his head around in panic now. Without a wand how could he compete? He would have to go back down for it! But these creatures….!
Al seemed to see another woman appear of a nearby ledge. But he blinked and it seemed as though he'd just seen an afterimage- like after looking into a muggle flash-bulb. But then another wail joined the unholy chorus of sound. In desperation, Al reached up to cover his ears to protect them from the hideous wails.
And let go of the rope.
"God damn you, Potter!" Al screamed as he fell headlong towards the ground.
The port-key activated just two feet from the ground.
Sitting in the stands, Ron blurted out the question almost everyone sitting around him was wondering.
"What the bloody hell were those things?!"
"Well, the first thing was a banshee," Seamus answered in a shaken tone. The creatures were a particular fear of the Irish wizard.
Morag McDougal supplied the next answer in her Scottish brogue. "The second was a Caointeach. Similar to a banshee, but they live in the Western Highlands of Argyle. Don't know what the last thing was. Never really saw it."
Hermione answered as she returned to the stands with Ernie in tow.
"Based on what the first two were, I'd guess they found a Cyhyraeth. According to the Monster Book of Monsters, Banshee, Caointeach, and Cyhyraeth are believed to all be formed by the spirits of witches that have faced some type of tragic event just prior to their death. Obviously there must be something else to it or many more would have been formed after the war. No one has ever managed to communicate with one or observe them in the wild for long. I honestly have no idea how they managed to get them to come here."
"Where are Cyhyraeth from?" Daphne asked. She'd never heard of the creature before.
"Wales –South Wales actually," Hermione answered.
Further discussion was forgotten as Fleur arrived at the base of the cliff. To the amazement of the crowd, the French witch ignored the ropes and used her broom to zoom to the cliff top where Cedric and Viktor had just finished their climbs.
-VIII-
"I professional Quidditch player and I never think of using broom," Viktor commented in disgust as the beautiful French Champion landed gracefully nearby.
Cedric snorted a laugh. "Me neither."
"They never said we must take one of their little boats to cross the lake, no?" Fleur responded with a superior little smirk. Her male competitors laughed in agreement.
"Clever," Cedric acknowledged. "Plus since you started behind us and caught up that means you are in the lead." Fleur waved that off.
"I just want to get this thing done. Harry must pay for this. One of his little fire traps managed to catch me at a too-conveniently timed burst." She turned to show the other two Champions burn marks on her robes just where her bum was. "I was jumping about trying to put out the flames on my rear while one his damned elves hovered nearby waving at me. I am sure the spectators enjoyed that!" The wizards were laughing again as they listened to Fleur describe her encounter in her French accent.
"Not sure you can blame Harry," Cedric pointed out. "Mr Black and his wife may have done it too. And there is always the Weasley twins." Fleur looked a bit surprised by the idea and then her eyes narrowed in thought. Cedric was seriously glad the French witch wasn't annoyed with him.
The entrance to the Pit of Despair looked like a natural cave ripped open at the top of the cliff. A set of rickety-looking stairs led down twisting in a giant spiral leading down into the darkness.
"I will go first," Viktor announced as he stepped to the top of the stair.
The Bulgarian wizard led off down the stairs. Cedric motioned for Fleur to go next. The Hufflepuff planned on bringing up the rear. He doubted Harry and his friends really had anything truly dangerous in the Task, but he reckoned on making sure nothing came up behind them.
The trio had descended forty feet down. The stairs felt fragile and trembled as the teenagers moved down. Streams of dust soon filled the air as the stairs pulled at their supports. All too soon, the spiralling stairs and a slight angle of the cave's shaft soon blocked out the sunlight. The three Champions made their way down the stairs now with their wands out and holding a Lumos spell.
Fleur felt a chill descend into her bones as she followed Viktor down the stairs. It felt like they had already descended further than the cliff face they'd risen over. She idly wondered how deep the cave went.
Then she noticed that the light coming from behind her from Cedric's wand was gone. In shock, she turned around to check on the English wizard, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Cedric?" she called out. There was no response. "Viktor! Cedric is…" Fleur turned to face the Bulgarian wizard only to see only the inky blackness at the limit of her spell's light.
A lessor witch would have yelled out in panic with the disappearance of her two male companions. Fleur took a series of long slow breaths to calm the sudden adrenalin spike that shot through her body on the disappearance her two missing friends. As her heart settled, Fleur started down the stairs again.
Fleur approached what appeared to be a landing with something of relief. A lone torch burned dimly in a sconce but it was enough to cut through some of the cave's gloom. Yet that relief was short lived as the dank chill of the cave ratcheted up sharply. Fleur felt a fear she'd never known before. It was as though everyone she'd ever loved - everyone she'd ever known – was lost to her. Images of her parents, her little sister Gabriella floated past her eyes as corpses. She wanted to simply curl up and cry forever.
Then through her tears she saw a small cave opening in the rock wall. Thick but rusty looking iron bars blocked off the cave. Trapped on the other side was a hideous, unmistakable creature.
A dementor.
Fleur forced her brain to think. Her Defence class covered the fowl creatures. They'd discussed the casting of the Patronus Charm to defend against the beasts but never did so as no dementor had been sighted in France in over 300 years. It had only been an academic discussion so Fleur never bothered with learning the spell on her own. Yet the bars prevented the creature from approaching her or stopping her passage. It would only be her own fear that would stop her.
Forcing herself to her feet (she didn't remember kneeling down), Fleur pushed forward cursing her laziness in not learning the Patronus Charm. The landing was wide enough that Fleur never had to come within ten feet of the creature. Fleur steeped quickly past the creature's barred prison staying as far over as the platform allowed and to the stairs beyond.
The stairs continued to drop into the darkness. Now water dripped from the cave walls adding to the damp air a musky, decayed smell. Fleur was just beginning to feel better after the dementor when she saw another torch ahead. The added chill in the air left her no doubt what waited ahead.
This platform was a third less the width of the first with the dementor trapped like the last. The smaller platform meant she would have to pass that much closer to the creature. The dementor had managed to get one skeletal arm through the bars and grasped desperately in Fleur's direction.
Fleur screwed up her courage and rushed past the dementor dodging the swing arm as she past.
The Veela witch dropped to her knees just past the creature and started sobbing uncontrollably. Running had gotten her past the creature but it meant its power had hit her all at once. Fleur forced herself to crawl further away - down the stairs – away from the creature's power.
Fleur didn't know how she could go on. But how could she stop? There was nowhere to go. Her only option was to continue down, out of this damnable Pit of Despair. She wrapped her mind around that thought as she shuffled her feet forward and down the stairs.
It was no surprise when she reached a third platform. Like the last, this dementor had one arm through the bars. But unlike the last, this platform was almost narrow enough for it to reach the railing on the other side of the platform.
Fleur cast a quick spell on the floor, followed by another. Then she steeled her courage and ran forward down the stairs. Just before reaching the dementor's cave she dropped to her knees and slid down the icy path her spells and the creature's own cold created.
She was almost past when the creature managed to grasp a handful of the witch's long blonde hair. Fleur let out a scream of fear and pain as the creature tugged at her hair. Fleur grabbed the nearby railing to stop from being pulled back. Her other hand reached back to grab her hair and pull back reducing the pressure and pain. Fortunately, dementors possessed little physical strength and Fleur was able to pull free of the creature's grasp.
Fleur dragged herself up off the floor and away from the dementor. The creature's effect was waning when a new sight appeared. This was two torches burning brightly on either side of a stout-looking wooden door. While this was something unknown, at least it wasn't another dementor. Fleur reached out and grabbed the door handle. The door swung easily and silently open.
The room beyond was filled with light and a warm breeze came from the wide windows that let in the sunshine. On a pedestal in the room's centre was the Tri-Wizard Cup. Fleur stood in disbelief as she stared at the cup. She'd won? In a haze of shock, Fleur stepped forward and grasped the arm of the cup.
-XI-
The crowd was thinning as most made their way to Hogsmeade for the public festival celebrating the Tri-Wizard Tournament's conclusion. The VIPs and champions' parents went with the students up to Hogwarts for the school's celebration banquet and to officially award Fleur as the Tri-Wizard Champion.
Harry was glad the French witch had won. After getting to know her over the winter holidays, he'd come to realize the French Veela had a massive insecurity complex because of the way she looked. She expected people to not take her seriously because of her looks … and feared they were right that she wasn't a real witch. Maybe this would give her a confidence boast.
Most of the third task had been a trick of some sort. The eels were transfigured Selkies. Selkies resembled large seals but had human-level intelligence and often lived in conjunction with Mer-colonies. Selkies did however retain the seals' sense of mischievous humour and were more than happy to help out. The Acromantulas were quite real but had been paid off in whole cows before the contest ever began. The Banshees and their cousins were illusions coupled with WWW product that created a Confundus-type effect.
The 'Dementors were a single Bogart trapped in the Dementor shape by a spell they had found in the Black Library. The Pit had been something like a Muggle treadmill. Each Champion continued down their own "path" until it was their turn to face the 'Dementor'. The platform shrank with each encounter. Viktor failed to get past the first one. He was the last of the Champions to encounter the 'first' dementor and came too close to it. The creature grabbed him and made to kiss him when his portkey activated. Cedric got past the second trial but couldn't bring himself to face the third dementor. He tried but the fear was too great.
Now Fleur was receiving her accolades as she deserved. The students from all three schools were celebrating. Fleur looked relieved it was over but the glare she gave Harry said there would be paybacks sometime in the future.
"Ya handled yon Malfoy brat too kindly, boy," a rough voice interrupted Harry's thoughts. "Should have let the eels 'ave'em! But the thing with the giant spiders was a treat too in my book." Harry turned to see Filch standing behind him with an evil smile on his face.
"Should've tortured the little shit some more if you asked me. Deserves it … 'im and his worthless father."
Harry merely nodded and said, "I'm glad you enjoyed it. Now if you'll excuse me, I am needed at the castle." Harry turned to continue of his way to the castle. He could see Padma and the rest of his friends ahead waiting for him.
"Afraid you're not going to make that party, Potter." A hand suddenly grabbed Harry's right bicep. "The master has need of you."
Harry felt the sudden jerking of an activated portkey and then nothing.