The general consensus from you guys seems to be 'oh no Gabriel!' Good to see my writing has paid off. I'm sure you're all looking forward to the third task, so I won't waste any more time!

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or Harry Potter

Gabriel missed an entire day's worth of classes while he hid in the abandoned classroom to recover from the loss of two of his wings. He managed to trick everyone into thinking he'd been there, since Gabriel definitely didn't have the energy for another double, much less to even leave the room until late that night.

If anyone stumbled into that room on accident, if would be very difficult for them to figure out how a charred outline of a pair of wings had been singed into the floor and walls, nearly reaching the ceiling. Gabriel knew that the burn marks wouldn't go away anytime soon.

Gabriel barely paid attention to any of his classes because the newfound silence in his head was deafening and he didn't understand how anyone coped with only their own thoughts.

Of course, humans had never needed to get used to the sound of hundreds of people talking in the back of their mind for billions of years.

It was only a week later when Gabriel was held back after Charms so Flitwick could tell him to go down to the Quidditch pitch at nine that night to be informed about the third task. The other three champions were already there when Gabriel arrived, and the pitch was overgrown with large hedges instead of the usual cropped grass turf.

Bagman was standing there as well and Gabriel almost groaned out loud - of course they had to send the most annoying judge to tell them what was going on.

"I suppose you all can guess what we have here?" He asked, grinning.

"Maze," Krum said eventually, after a long silence.

"Exactly!" said Bagman, overly cheerfully. "The third task is fairly straightforward - the Triwizard Cup will be placed in the center. Your job is to get to it first for full marks."

"We simply have to get through the maze?" Fleur asked, her astonishment somewhat camouflaged by her accent.

"Oh, there will be obstacles." Bagman was practically bouncing. "Hagrid is providing a number of creatures..." Wonderful. Exactly what Gabriel wanted to do. "There will be spells that need to be broken...all sorts of things, you know. The champion who is leading in points will enter first." Bagman grinned at Cedric. "Then Mr. Potter, then Mr. Krum, then Ms. Delacour. But you'll all have a fighting chance, depending on how well you get past the creatures. Should be fun, eh?"

No one answered. Gabriel wondered what Bagman's definition of 'fun' was.

"Well...if you haven't got any questions, we might as well head back up to the castle...it's a bit chilly."

Gabriel didn't get very far before there was a tap on his shoulder.

"What." Gabriel said shortly.

"Could I have a word?" Krum's accent was even thicker than Fleur's.

"Fine." Make it quick, was the unspoken addition, and Krum seemed to notice even if Gabriel didn't say anything.

"I want to know what is between you and Hermione." He pronounced Hermione's name very oddly.

"Excuse me?" Gabriel actually turned around. Krum was actually glaring at him and Gabriel was really not in the mood for this. "Look, I'm not Hermione's boyfriend or whatever bullshit that magazine published. I didn't think you read gossip rags." Spinning around, Gabriel ignored Krum and went straight back up towards the school.

Hermione's boyfriend. Honestly. It was like no one even knew them.

After thinking over it a bit harder and waiting a week, Gabriel figured out something very important.

One, using what the Winchesters had dubbed 'angel radio' when cut off from Heaven was a bit more difficult than it looked.

Two, angel radio had not been broken completely - his siblings, like he was, were figuring out how to use it again. It took more energy, and the conversations were barely whispers, but Gabriel was not completely marooned.

Where am I?

Hello, can anyone hear me? What's happened?

Why are we on Earth?

Where is Castiel?

What happened?

Heaven's been closed.

But how?

Who closed the gates?

Who survived the Fall?

Hermione and Michael cornered him several days later in the Ravenclaw dormitories. Gabriel wasn't entirely sure how Hermione had even gotten in there. Michael must have let her in.

"Alright," Hermione said severely. "What's going on?"

"Who says anything's going on?" Gabriel feigned innocence.

"Don't play dumb," Michael said heatedly. "You've been distant all year and especially after Christmas break. And a week ago you started acting all weird and zoning out a lot. Angel or not, we're your friends, Harry."

"Oh, so this is what, and intervention?" Gabriel snapped back.

"We're worried about you!" Hermione burst out. "You can tell us things, you know!"

"Oh, really?" Gabriel asked sarcastically.

"Yes," Michael stressed the word so that ne was practically shouting it. "What was the point of explaining about you being an angel if you're still going to keep secrets?"

"I'm allowed to keep some things to myself!" There was a sudden murmur through angel radio and Gabriel frowned, bringing up a hand to the side of his head almost unconsciously.

"What are you-"

"Ssshhh!" Gabriel held out a finger towards Hermione as he concentrated on the message. He didn't recognize who was talking, but he could make out the words clearly enough.

It was Metatron!

Metatron? That upstart little scribe? Gabriel had almost forgotten about him.

He's responsible for this - he and Castiel made some sort of spell which cast us out!

What about Naomi? She was in charge!

She hasn't responded to any calls - she either died in the fall or was killed prior.

Are there any confirmed casualties?

Ezekiel is unresponsive. So are many others. Naomi's deputy Nathaniel is dead as well.

Hael has been killed, put in another voice. I know for a fact she survived the Fall, but I have been unable to contact her.

And Castiel?

We attempted to discover his location from Dean Winchester. So far, we've been unsuccessful. The two who were sent after him have not responded since then.

Do you think Castiel killed Hael?

If they were in the same area, it's possible. But we don't know where either of them are.

What about those of us who have no vessels?

Bartholomew is organizing something. He'll have vessels for us eventually. Bartholomew? He was barely a seraph.

I have heard that Malachi is amassing his own following.

Malachi? He's an anarchist. You could do better than that.

What do we do about Metatron?

Gabriel had heard enough. He pulled away from the conversation and looked back at Hermione and Michael.

"Who were you listening to?" Michael asked.

"Who said I was listening to anything?"

"You looked like you were. Or maybe seeing something." Hermione was way too observant.

Gabriel put his face in his hands and let out a long breath. "You're going to want to sit down."

Hermione took a seat on the bed, next to Gabriel - he must have sat down while he was listening. Michael pulled over a chair and looked at Gabriel expectantly.

"Something happened," Gabriel began. "With my family. The angel side, I mean."

"What?"

"I'm not telling you that. And it's not because I don't trust you-" Gabriel held up a hand to forestall any protests. "-But it's because if my siblings do find out I'm here and decide they need information, they wouldn't hesitate to go after you."

"We can protect ourselves," Michael objected.

"I'm not underestimating you. If anything, I'm underestimating my siblings." Gabriel snapped. "You have to understand - most of them wouldn't think twice at killing you or anyone in this school. It would be like you stepping on an ant, except in their case the ant can yell and is significantly smarter."

Hermione looked rather pale after this, but she cleared her throat and spoke. "This...thing that happened," she said carefully. "What did it do?"

"Something happened upstairs - in Heaven, I mean. My siblings are...mostly panicking. Basically, we've all been cut off from the main power source and no one can go back up," Gabriel explained. "Luckily, none of them landed here, as far as I can tell, or we'd be in a lot more trouble."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Michael asked, leaning forward slightly.

Gabriel shrugged. "There's not much I can do. I'm stuck at Hogwarts for now, and I still don't really know what's going on, since all the information I'm getting is from eavesdropping on other conversations."

"Is that what you were listening to? But I didn't hear anything." Hermione furrowed her brow thoughtfully.

"It's a mental connection - I've heard it called 'angel radio'." Gabriel told them. "Basically, I can hear what any angel is broadcasting over it whenever I like."

"So you hear your siblings talking all the time?" Michael looked thoughtful. "Sounds like it could be pretty useful, if you needed to talk to them from far away. No Floo or anything, at least."

"Yeah, I guess," Gabriel agreed. That was its original use, after all - so that all members of the Host could keep in contact with each other at all times.

"Harry-" Hermione suddenly looked worried. "What happens when you do know what happened?"

Once Gabriel had reassured Hermione and Michael that no, he was not going to vanish as soon as he figured out what had happened, they were willing enough to leave the subject alone.

Gabriel, meanwhile, was enjoying not having to study for exams he didn't really need to take and the days until the third task went by rather quickly. The day of the task, however, Flitwick approached him at the Ravenclaw table during breakfast.

"Mr. Potter?"

Gabriel and Michael both looked up, wondering why Flitwick had come down. "Yeah?" Gabriel asked.

"The champions will be congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast," Flitwick informed him.

"I thought the task wasn't till tonight."

"I'm aware of that! The champions' families are invited to watch the final task, you know. This is an opportunity for the champions to greet them!" Flitwick continued on to the staff table, Gabriel staring after them.

"But I thought you said-" Michael began.

"Believe me, I'm just as confused as you are." Had Balthazar shown up? "Let's just hope it's not my brother." A brief thought of Sigyn popped into Gabriel's head, but he dismissed it - Sigyn probably wouldn't bother to come to his funeral if he died.

Michael glanced over at him. "The brother that you live with?"

"Yeah."

"I thought you said that he was okay."

"I can deal with him, but I don't think Hogwarts will be able to."

The Great Hall emptied around Gabriel as he stood to make his way into the side chamber they had directed the champions into on Halloween. Cedric and Fleur were walking towards it as well, Krum slouching behind them. Utterly bewildered, Gabriel nodded at Cedric as he held the door open. Who would have come to see him?

Cedric was talking to an older couple just inside the door, and Krum was deep in a conversation in rapid-fire Bulgarian with someone who looked very similar. Gabriel nearly gaped when he noticed the pair standing by the fireplace.

"Surprise," said Vali, grinning.

"Didn't think anyone would show up, did you?" Narvi had an identical grin.

"I only learned about it five minutes ago," said Gabriel, grinning despite himself. "What are you doing here?" There was no way Sigyn had approved of this.

"We got the invitation and thought we'd come." Vali leaned closer. "Just so you know, according to everyone else we're cousins on your aunt's side."

"This school looks pretty cool, though," Narvi interrupted, looking around at the paintings. The woman in the one nearest to them giggled. "Mind giving us a tour?"

"Do we need the fancy uniform?" Vali teased.

"Very funny," Gabriel said with no real heat. "Do you want to be shown around or not?"

They made their way out of the door of the chamber again and back into the great hall. Vali tilted his head back to view the ceiling and whistled. "Impressive!"

"I guess."

"You guess?" Narvi asked incredulously.

"It looses the shine when you're sitting under it every day for four years."

They were similarly interested by the Whomping Willow [Vali nearly broke his ribs when they decided to try and test its reflexes before Gabriel hauled them both away] and inspected the moving paintings, trying to figure out the spells which animated them. Narvi was also very willing to give updates on the kids.

"Mom's pretty good with them," he said as they walked up one of the flights of staircases. "Fenris is doing pretty well, and like we said Slepnir helps a - whoa!" The staircase had abruptly shifted under their feet, swinging around to reach a different landing.

"Did I mention they move?" Gabriel asked nonchalantly, continuing to climb upwards. Vali shook his head and let go of the railing.

"This place is insane."

"I think it's less the school and more the wizards who built it."

They went back to the great hall in time for lunch, where Michael and Hermione were both already waiting, this time at the Gryffindor table.

"Hey." Gabriel slid in next to them. Hermione, and Ron [who was sitting next to her] looked up at Vali and Narvi.

"Who're they?" Hermione asked.

"Technically cousins. Distant ones, though."

"I'm Neil," Narvi said. "This is my brother, Vincent."

Gabriel internally raised his eyebrows at the names, but didn't say anything, and merely moved to make room on the bench.

"This isn't your table," said Vail, glancing down at Gabriel's bronze and blue tie but sitting down anyway.

"It's hers," said Gabriel, poking a thumb towards Hermione. "This is Hermione, by the way, and that's Michael. And that's Ron."

"Hello," said Michael, watching the twins curiously.

"Friends of yours?" Narvi asked, shoving Vali over with his foot before taking a seat.

"Yes," Gabriel said, rolling his eyes. "Did you think I just chose a seat randomly?"

"Well, you never know." Vali rested his chin on one hand. "So you're the guys who put up with my cousin." There was the tiniest of pauses before the last word, but Vali wasn't Gabriel's son for nothing. Gabriel doubted that even Hermione noticed.

"I'd say we do more than just put up with him," said Hermione. "Are you twins?"

"Would we be anything else?" Vali and Narvi were exactly identical, the only difference being that Narvi's hair was much shorter and the ends looked much blonder than their usual reddish brown.

"Well - I suppose not-"

"Do my ears deceive me-"

"Or is there another pair of twins in the vicinity?"

Fred and George were leaning over the table with huge grins.

"No." Gabriel said immediately.

Sirius showed up just after lunch, and he seemed rather surprised to see Vali and Narvi - obviously, he hadn't expected anyone else to show up for Gabriel.

"Who're they?" Sirius asked. "Er, sorry I'm late. Got held up."

"It's fine. These are my cousins on my uncle's side - you know, the uncle I stay with."

"Right." Sirius held out his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"You too." Vali accepted it. "I'm Vincent, this is my brother Neil - unfortunately our father couldn't make it." Gabriel had to try very hard not to laugh, both at the idea that Balthazar was their father and the fact that he was standing maybe six inches away from Vali.

There was a reason Loki had been the god of Lies. They were hilarious, in the proper situation.

It turned out that Vali and Narvi got along well with Sirius [maybe a little too well] and the evening sped by until Gabriel was heading down to the Quidditch pitch that night with the twins.

"Good luck, though I don't think you'll need it." Vali said as they got closer. "What is this, a load of hedges? A maze? Doesn't seem like much of a spectator sport unless they've got some sort of screen that lets you see all the champions."

"I doubt it." Narvi grinned at Gabriel. "I think we should be wishing the other champions good luck, unless they've magically discovered who they're up against."

"Shut up," Gabriel said affectionately. "You'd better go up to the stands, they'll think you're giving me last minute advice."

Vali and Narvi did so, and Gabriel approached the pitch. There was a gap in front where the other three champions were already waiting. Several teachers, all wearing luminous red stars in various locations, were apparently going to be patrolling the maze in case someone needed rescuing.

Well, didn't that bode well for what they'd be facing.

Cedric went in first, once the stands had filled up and Bagman had made whatever announcements needed to be made. They waited a minute and then Gabriel, who was in second for some reason, entered the maze.

It was gloomy, the hedges stretching up on either side and fading into darkness as the path led on. Obviously an intimidation technique, or perhaps a coincidence, but the height of the hedges and the timing of the task [the sky was already fading to a dark cobalt blue] made Gabriel wonder whether it hadn't been on purpose.

The path Gabriel chose was almost unnervingly clear of any obstacles. He was sure that he should have encountered something by now; wasn't the maze supposed to be challenging?

It was nearly half an hour before he encountered anything.

Gabriel rounded the corner and ran straight into his brother.

What is Lucifer doing here I thought he was locked in the cage. Gabriel almost froze, until he realized that Lucifer had stumbled backwards from the collision.

"Hold on, you're a Boggart! Riddikulus!" Not-Lucifer grew a mustache which kept growing and buried him in hair as Gabriel darted past.

His wand remained by his side most of the time, since even in the gloom Gabriel could still tell when he was about to crash into a hedge or where the path went. The maze was still, for the most part, oddly empty of anything save Gabriel.

Someone screamed.

Gabriel whirled around, but it had already stopped. It was coming from the left, but Gabriel had no idea of how far - or even who had screamed. Had someone lost to whatever creatures were supposedly in here?

Nothing else broke the silence, and as far as Gabriel could see, there were no red sparks sent up. Slightly more warily, he continued on.

The maze seemed even quieter now, but with a more ominous air. Gabriel could hear distant noise and the occasional rustle of the hedges, but nothing else approached him.

Something was off. There was no way he was just being ignored by everything in the maze...unless whatever creatures were in here were sentient enough to know to go the other way.

Gabriel doubted that.

"What are you doing? What the hell are you doing?"

Gabriel glanced to the side when that got yelled. It was Cedric - he must have been on a path right next to Gabriel's.

"Crucio!"

Holy shit.

The air was full of screams as the spell took affect and was it seriously that important for them to win this? Gabriel hesitated in leaping to the rescue, because he could make off for the trophy while they were both...busy...

What the hell.

Gabriel blasted a hole through the hedge, and as the spell caught whoever was torturing Cedric his yells abruptly died out. Gabriel leaped through the hole and nearly landed on Cedric, who was lying on the ground. Krum was slumped against the hedges on the other side, obviously unconscious.

"Thanks," gasped Cedric. "I don't...I didn't think he'd...do something like that. I thought he was alright."

"He probably got Fleur," Gabriel muttered, half to himself. "She must have been the one who screamed earlier."

Cedric looked rather pale. He glanced down at Krum. "Should we just leave him here?"

"He'll be fine." Gabriel leaned over Krum on the pretense of seeing if he was hurt and put a hand on his forehead. There was definitely a trace of something...most likely the Imperius Curse, but the trace had faded so that Gabriel couldn't tell who had cast it. "See you."

Gabriel stood up and took off down the path. He heard Cedric behind him a few moments later, and when he glanced up there were red sparks hovering in the air to mark where Krum had fallen.

The kid was too nice for his own good.

Spiders. Of course, they'd put some of the giant spiders from the forest inside the maze. Why should Gabriel have expected anything else. There had been a sphinx, for Christ's sake.

Admittedly, the behemoth had taken him by surprise as he and Cedric sprinted towards the cup. Cedric was forced away from the plinth and the shiny blue trophy as Gabriel forced the spider to drop him and wondered how he could play off his leg miraculously becoming unbroken once Cedric looked closer and realized it was no longer injured.

"Stupefy!" The spider jerked backwards from the force of both spells - Cedric had fired at the same time - and fell over, slumping into one of the other paths which led to the center.

Gabriel leaped to his feet and saw Cedric leap for the cup.

Oh hell no he's not beating me.

Their hands closed around it at the same time.

Mwahahahaha. Yes, I'm really going to end it there. It will give you guys some incentive to review! And besides, this chapter is almost four thousand words. That's enough for one helping.

Read and review, please!