A/N: This is very much a chapter where I should split the credit between myself and J.K. Rowling- it is very tied into the book. Any way, thanks for reading and as ever I am sorry for any proofing errors (seriously I am so sorry! There were some errors in previous chapters which made me stop re-reading so the fact that you got this far through the story is amazing- I swear I am trying to do better!)
When Leo returned from Magic School that afternoon, he subtly called Chris into Wyatt's room, and closed the door so the three of them could talk in private.
"I haven't told your mother about this, because I didn't want to worry her-" he began, keeping his voice low in case of eavesdroppers, "but Professor Lawrence told me about the incident with Excalibur. Is it something I need be concerned about?" Chris and Wyatt exchanged looks. Chris had been eager to have this discussion with his brother since that night. He wanted to discuss Malfoy and theorise over who the mysterious other man was, but every time he tried, Wyatt shut him down. Chris could tell Wyatt was ashamed he had allowed the sword to be stolen- he was meant to be the rightful heir and protector of Excalibur, yet he had allowed it to be taken from under his nose- even so, his refusal to discuss it had been greatly frustrating Chris.
"There's nothing to worry about." Wyatt assured Leo quickly, clearly still not wanting to discuss it. "Dumbledore has it in a much more secure part of the castle for the rest of the year and they changed the common room password so no one can come after us." Leo looked to Chris, who simply shrugged and nodded- Wyatt wasn't lying.
"Do they have any clue who was responsible?" Asked Leo, clearly still not convinced of the boys' safety.
"Draco Malfoy took it." Answered Chris before Wyatt had the opportunity to brush off the question. "He's a kid in my year that saw an opportunity- I don't think he'll try again." This was undeniably true as Draco no longer had any memory of Excalibur. "But then someone else attacked him and stole it and ran into the forest. We chased after him and got it back, but I didn't recognise him. We know he was a wizard, not a demon because he had a wand but that's about all we know." Leo nodded thoughtfully. As it wasn't a demon, there was no real need to concern the sisters- this was a job for Dumbledore, but he would be careful to keep an eye of the situation.
"Ok, well, if you hear anything else then let me know, and whatever you do- don't tell your mother. She is very happy that you are safe other than the occasional dragon or mermaid and she doesn't need to worry about this." Chris and Wyatt both agreed and Leo went down stairs to help Piper with dinner. Chris turned to his brother, hoping this was his opportunity to talk further about the mystery, but Wyatt had already turned back to the book he was reading, and was clearly expecting Chris to leave.
The brothers spent the whole weekend back home. Despite how much he was enjoying Hogwarts, Chris couldn't deny that it was nice to not have to descend seven floors just to reach breakfast, and it felt good to just study the Book of Shadows, rather than the immense pile of school work that he faced when he returned. The only downside of the weekend was that Melinda had now made several copies of Rita Skeeta's article, which she had merrily distributed around the family. This meant that when the whole family converged on the manor for Sunday roast, the conversation largely centred on Chris' relationship with Hermione. Once, Chris attempted to turn the conversation onto the second task, and Wyatt's heroic actions in the lake, but Wyatt didn't seem in the mood to boast about his second place 'victory', so quickly turned the tables on Chris by mentioning how Hermione had rushed to Chris' side the moment they were out of the lake, and the conversation quickly reverted.
The boys only slept for a few hours the second night. Momentarily forgetting about time zones, they left it considerably too late to return to the castle to sleep- by the time they got from the Hogwarts gates to their beds on the seventh floor it would have been time for breakfast. Instead they stayed an extra night in their own beds and planned to get up at one thirty a.m., San-Francisco time, and orb to Hogwarts in time for their first lessons. By the time they were dressed, ready, and Piper had fed them, however they were running very late- Wyatt had advanced potions first session, and Chris suspected Snape would deduct more than a few points for his tardiness. Fortunately for Chris, however, his first lesson of the day Care of Magical Creatures which was in the school grounds, so he arrived only a few minutes after the rest of the class.
Hagrid had already begun teaching by the time he arrived, so Chris stood at the back, rather than trying to push through to his friends, but he could see Ron's tall, ginger head over the top of the crowd.
Today's lesson was on nifflers- small rodents with a penchant for shiny things. After Hagrid was done with his explanation, he led them to a patch of clearly recently dug up ground, and began handing out real live nifflers to every student as he explained his lesson plan. He had buried coins in the soil and whoever's niffler dug up the most gold by the end of the lesson was the winner. Once Hagrid had handed Chris his, he made his way over to Harry and Ron, looking around for Hermione, but she wasn't there.
"She's in the hospital wing." Said Ron, not needing Chris to ask the question that was written all over his face. "I warned her not to mess with Rita Skeeta." Chris' eye's widened, wondering what Rita had done now that had landed Hermione in hospital. Harry quickly leapt in and took over the narrative.
"She received a load of hate mail from Rita's readers this morning- about the article." He explained. "Most of them were just words, but someone booby-trapped theirs to cover her in undiluted Bubotuber pus. She went to the hospital wing to get it cleaned off, but she should be back soon."
Chris was appalled. He hadn't been having the best of times as a result of the article either, but he couldn't believe anyone would take it so seriously as to attack a fifteen year old girl. Hermione didn't turn up for most of the hour, but Chris tried to push his concerns to her to the back of his mind as, despite this initial low point, it ended up being the best care of magical creatures class he had had yet.
Chris' niffler was undeniably the most stupid of the pack. Whist most of them were diving in and out of the soil like dolphins, eagerly running back to their student with a new piece of gold every few minutes, Chris' seemed to get stuck every once in a while as if it wasn't quite sure what it was meant to be doing. Twice Ron's niffler stole a coin from between its teeth, which seemed to disorientate the niffler even more, and once it brought a coin to Harry rather than Chris. The boy's just laughed however- merrily ridiculing Chris' pathetic niffler, or marvelling at the efficiency of Ron's which was the champion by far. Every now and then Chris still checked over his shoulder to see if Hermione had arrived yet, but the lesson was certainly enough to push aside his worries.
Hermione finally arrived just as Hagrid called an end to the competition. Her hands were heavily bandaged and she looked miserable, bus she brightened up slightly when she saw Chris, who quickly gave her a tight, comforting hug. He could feel the mocking stares of the Slytherins, but he didn't care. Hagrid handed Ron, the obvious winner of the competition a large slab of honey dukes chocolate, before also turning his attention to Hermione.
Hermione told him all about the letters and the booby-trap, and Hagrid smiled at her gently. Apparently he had experienced much the same problem when Rita had written about his mother being a giant. He instructed Hermione to ignore any more and to throw them all into a fire, and Hermione gave him a weak smile, assuring him she would do just that.
On the way back to the castle, the three boys filled her in gleefully about the lesson she had missed. Ron seemed a little disappointed to discover that all the gold his niffler had collected for him had been leprechaun gold which would disappear soon, rather than the real thing, but he still merrily shared out his victory chocolate and agreed it had been one of his favourite ever lessons.
When they entered the Great Hall, Chris quickly scanned the room for Wyatt, locating him on the far side of the Ravenclaw table talking with Fleur. Chris could tell they were having a private conversation, but he could also see the pain Hermione was still in from the morning's attack, so he quickly guided her over to where his brother was sat.
"Hey, sorry to interrupt." he said, interrupting Fleur who was talking very fast French.
"No, it is fine." Replied Fleur, "I waz just leaving." She stood up looking down at Wyatt, clearly expecting him to say something, but Wyatt just nodded and turned to his bacon. Fleur rolled her eyes, flicked her hair over her shoulder and flounced away.
"Relationship going well then?" asked Chris with a grin.
"Don't even-" Sighed Wyatt, rubbing his face. "So what's up?" Chris briefly explained the incident with this morning's mail and Wyatt had no problem healing Hermione's wounds. Chris was slightly pleased to see that Wyatt was no longer finding the article quite so funny, but the slight moral ground he had gained in that argument didn't really make up for the trauma Hermione was experiencing.
The hate mail didn't stop coming and every letter seemed to strengthen Hermione's desire to fight back. She became determined to discover how Rita was listening into conversations, spending more and more time in the library investigating magical surveillance methods. Chris suggested that Rita might have found a way to electronically bug the castle, though Hermione patiently explained to him that all the magic around the castle interfered with electronics making them useful. She advised him to read Hogwarts a History for more information, and Chris decided it certainly sounded like an interesting read.
As much as Chris would have liked to help Hermione with her research, he was swamped enough with his own school work and didn't understand how Hermione had time for both. He therefore spent and increasing amount of time with Harry and Ron whilst she camped out in the library- Harry even had to take over Chris' usual wand practice with Hermione.
Chris had initially planned to return home for the Easter break, but in the end he stayed with his friends- using the time to catch up on his work, and for a few more Quidditch sessions with Harry and Ron. Even Wyatt opted to stay in the castle for most of the holiday. Although he was technically exempt from end of year exams due to being a Champion, professor Lawrence had informed him that every Magic School student would have to take a test to find out how much they had learned, and to confirm that they hadn't fallen too far behind the magic school curriculum, so Wyatt decided to put a few extra hours into his wand studies as well.
To make up for them not being at home, Piper sent both her boys a large tin of brownies each to share with their friends. When Chris brought his to the Gryffindor common room, Ron returned the gesture by throwing him a small Easter egg his mum had apparently made for him. Chris couldn't help but note that his and Hermione's eggs were significantly smaller than those Mrs Weasley had sent to Harry and Ron- apparently she was an avid Witch Weekly reader- but Chris still greatly appreciated the thought.
At the start of the summer term, Wyatt's new found dedication to studying was interrupted by the revelation of what the third task would be. Professor Lawrence instructed him to meet Ludo Bagman at the Quidditch pitch at nine one evening, and he, Callum and Chris spent the day speculating what the third task might involve.
"Maybe you'll have to battle each other in some sort of arena combat." suggested Callum eagerly. Wyatt hoped this wasn't the case as, although he had little doubt he would win, amongst the champions was his current girlfriend- who seemed annoyed enough with him to quite happily jinx him- and Harry- and Wyatt saw too much of Chris in the boy for him to do any serious damage.
"Fleur thinks it might involve underground caves." Said Wyatt, thinking back to one of the few rational discussions he had had with her since the second task- though now he came to think about it that discussion had also ended in an argument.
"Well, that shouldn't be too difficult then." mused Chris. "I mean after all the time you've spent in the underworld; underground tunnels are basically your second home."
As Wyatt had no clue where the Quidditch pitch was, he arranged to meet Harry in the Great Hall so they could walk together. When they reached the pitch, Fleur and Cedric were already there. They were standing very close together and Wyatt could see she was openly flirting with the Hogwarts champion. Wyatt walked over to the pair, choosing to stand next to Cedric rather than Fleur. She two didn't speak to him, though there was something about the way she was glaring straight ahead that made Wyatt suspect she had a lot she wanted to say.
Ignoring Fleur, Wyatt instead turned his attention to the pitch. He hadn't seen it before, so for all he knew this was how it usually looked, though he suspected from Harry's slightly horrified reaction that Quidditch pitches didn't usually have low bushes running along them in intricate patterns.
"Hello there!" Called Ludo Bagman's voice as he approached. He wore his usual beaming grin as he walked over to great them. "Well what d'you think? Growing nicely, aren't they? Give them a month and Hagrid'll have them twenty foot high." He turned away from the hedges, and spotted Harry and Cedric's less-than-happy faces. "Don't worry," he assured them, "you'll have your Quidditch pitch back to normal once the task is over! Now, I imagine you can guess what we're making here then?"
"A maze, right?" guessed Cedric after a moment's silence from the group. Bagman nodded happily.
"That's right! A maze. The third task's really straightforward. The Triwizard Cup will be placed in the centre of the maze. The first champion to touch it will receive full marks."
"So we seemply 'ave to get through the maze?" said Fleur.
Bagman clarified that there would be a number of obstacles put in their way- including several magic creatures provided by Hagrid- but Wyatt couldn't imagine anything that would cause him too much difficulty. Bagman then went on to say that the Champions would enter the maze in order of their current standing in the competition- Harry, Wyatt, Fleur then Cedric. Wyatt still couldn't believe he was being beaten in this competition by a kid Chris' age but he felt confident that this challenge would put him back on top.
"If you haven't got any questions, we'll go back up to the castle, shall we, it's a bit chilly." Finished Bagman. No one had questions, so the group began the trip back to the warmth of the school.
Wyatt and Fleur walked in silence for a while, but his silence seemed to annoy Fleur even more than their earlier conversation at the Ravenclaw table as not soon after they started heading back, she turned to him with an angry look. "We need to talk." She announced. Ahead of them, Harry, Bagman and Cedric paused and turned back, but Fleur indicated they should keep walking. Bagman seemed prepared to do this, apparently wanting to continue his conversation with Harry, but Wyatt heard Harry tell him that he would wait for Wyatt to make sure he knew his way back. This wasn't really necessary as Wyatt now knew the way, but he didn't object. He suspected that Harry wasn't terribly fond of Bagman, and he also wanted to make sure there were witnesses to his conversation with Fleur.
Fleur did not set their cause for the Beauxbaton carriage, as Wyatt had thought she would, but rather in the direction of the forest. Harry hung back a little way, clearly feeling slightly awkward about his decision to stay behind. Eventually, when they were almost at the tree line, Fleur stopped walking and turned to him, arms crossed.
"I zink we need to see other people." she announced. This did not come as a great shock to Wyatt. The pair weren't the greatest of couples- they had had fun at the Yule ball but they were both competitive people and since the second task they had been bickering a lot. He had considered breaking up with her earlier, but had never had the will power- the moment she started flicking her hair, and fluttering her eyelids, he fell under her spell.
Fortunately that was not so much of a problem now she was glaring at him, waiting for a response. "I... think... um... well yeah." He agreed- ever the master of such conversations. Fleur nodded, and Wyatt wondered if she had been hoping for a different response.
"Good." She stated. "Zen I look forward to facing you in ze next task, un-conflicted. Wyatt nodded, and then registered what she had said.
"Wait, so you're saying you were taking it easy on me in the last task?" He clarified doubtfully, still bitter that she had followed him rather than worked it out for herself. Fleur wasn't listening however. She turned her head towards the forest suddenly, frowning.
"What was zat?" She asked, listening intently for whatever she had heard
"What is it?" Asked Wyatt, but before she could say Wyatt saw a shadow move through the woods. Harry ran up to them, apparently having seen the same thing. His wand was out, and when Wyatt turned back to Fleur, he realised she had produced hers as well.
Wyatt considered raising his shield, sensing danger, but before he could act, a man staggered out from the trees. Wyatt vaguely recognised him, and felt fairly certain this was the same man that had initially outlined the rules of the competition- Mr Crouch. He had been at the first task as well, but since then Ron's older brother, Percy, had taken his place as one of the judges. Wyatt hadn't given this much though at the time, but looking at the man before him- his clothes in tatters, his face unshaven, bruises on his exposed skin and blood on his clothes- Wyatt's mind began to race with possible explanations.
"...and when you've done that, Weatherby, send an owl to Dumbledore confirming the number of Magic School students that will be attending the Tournament, Leo had just sent word there will be twenty." Wyatt looked around, but there was no one else there- clearly the man's experiences had driven him slightly mad.
"Isn't 'e one of ze judges?" said Fleur, taking a step back from the crazed men. She turned to Harry. "'e is with your ministry isn't 'e?" Harry nodded, and took a step towards the man.
"Mr Crouch?" He said cautiously, but the former judge didn't seem to be able to hear him as he continued to talk to his non-existent assistant.
"...and then send another owl to Madame Maxime, because she might want to take up the opportunity of bringing younger students for lessons as well... do that, Weatherby, will you? Will you? Will..." Wyatt noticed the man's eyes were slightly bulging. He stood staring at the tree, no longer speaking audibly. Then he staggered to his left, and fell to his knees.
"Mr Crouch?" Repeated Harry, raising his voice to try and get through to him. "Are you all right?" Clearly Mr Crouch had no clue what was going on. His eyes were rolling in their sockets, and he looked like he was about to pass out. Harry turned back to Fleur and Wyatt.
"What is wrong with him?" Questioned Fleur, who was looking at the deranged man in alarm. Harry shrugged.
"Maybe we should get someone..." He suggested. As if Crouch had heard him, he suddenly gave a loud gasp, making all three of them jump.
"Dumbledore!" he cried, turning towards Harry and seizing his robe, pulling the boy closer. "I need... see... Dumbledore." Harry tried to persuade the man to get up so they could go find Dumbledore together, but the man still seemed to be unable to hear him as he kept talking. "I've done... stupid... thing..." he breathed, Fleur took another step away from the man, but he still had Harry in a tight grip. "Must... tell... Dumbledore."
"We should get someone." Decided Wyatt, impressed at how well Harry was handling the ex-judge. Harry nodded, prising his robes free of Mr Crouch's desperate grip. "We'll stay here with him; you go find Dumbledore- you know where his office is." Fleur seemed slightly panicked at Wyatt's suggestion of staying with the madman, but she didn't disagree. Harry turned to leave just as Crouch continued speaking.
"Don't leave me!" he said, now in a fearful whisper. "I... escaped... must warn... must tell... see Dumbledore... my fault... all my fault... Bertha... dead... all my fault... my son... my fault... tell Dumbledore... Harry Potter... the Dark Lord... stronger... Harry Potter..." Harry paused at the mention of his name, but Crouch seemed to have no more to say on the matter, so Harry hastened away to find his headmaster.
Wyatt and Fleur stood in silence, both surveying the madman. Wyatt had wondered briefly if this was the same man that had attacked Malfoy and stole Excalibur, but that man had been much younger and his madness had been menacing, not fearful. How many mad men roamed the school forest? Crouch had returned to his business like wittering's- once more addressing the nearby oak as 'Weatherby', giving it instructions for further correspondence to send, calling for tea and telling it of his wife and son.
He seemed quit harmless- his exploits had clearly left him weak, and Wyatt could see no sign of a wand. Even so both of the Champions were weary of the man, so they moved slightly away from him, both giving them a better eye line to the castle to watch for Harry's return and putting enough distance between them and Crouch that if he did decide to strike; they would have enough time to defend themselves.
"What do you think has 'appened to him?" wondered Fleur, watching the man with curiosity.
Wyatt had no clue. A part of him wanted to knock the man out until Harry returned with reinforcements. Although the man was clearly no match for him, he was also delusional and unpredictable and his sudden changes from coherently talking to a tree to desperately seeking out Dumbledore made him nervous- what other personality's was he hiding? Wyatt refrained from this course of action, however- he man looked so weak that even a minor injury could do some serious damage.
"Are you just going to stand zere like an idiot?" demanded Fleur, angry that Wyatt was ignoring her when right now any normal conversation would make her feel far less nervous.
"I was just thinking..." Began Wyatt testily, but Fleur hushed him, making him roll his eyes.
"I zink I 'eard somezing..." She whispered, pointing into the forest behind where Mr Crouch stood. Wyatt instinctively raised his shield, keenly listening out for what Fleur had heard. Suddenly a twig snapped nearby. Fleur brandished her wand, her hand impressively steady, a steely look in her eye. She edged closer to Wyatt. "Zere!" she cried, and Wyatt saw it too- a second shadow fleeting through the woods. The pair edged towards Mr Crouch- thinking to get him into the safety of the shield as well, but before they could reach him, a yell came from the forest and a jet of red light flew at them, exploding on the shield. It didn't hurt either of them, but the light was so bright it sent the pair stumbling backwards, shielding their eyes. By the time their vision had cleared, both the mysterious shadow and Mr Crouch were gone.
"Where did he go?" Exclaimed Wyatt, running forward to where the ministry official had stood but moments ago. Fleur ran forwards too, looking past Wyatt into the trees, lighting up her wand to see further into the forest.
"We should 'ead back to ze castle." She suggested, not wanting to run into any more madmen tonight. Wyatt nodded, letting her go first.
They were half way back to the castle when they ran into Dumbledore and Harry coming in the opposite direction. "What happened?" Enquired Dumbledore. Wyatt quickly filled both Harry and Dumbledore in on the arrival of the second shadow, the bright light and disappearance of Mr Crouch. Dumbledore was clearly concerned by this tale, but tried to hide it by sending everyone to their beds- assuring them he would investigate fully. He asked Fleur to ask Madam Maxine to come see him, Wyatt for Professor Lawrence and Harry if he could call in on Professor Moody's office- though just as they were leaving, Professor Moody stomped up- apparently Snape (who had seen Harry outside Dumbledore's office) had already filled him.
By the time Wyatt had called on Professor Lawrence and returned to the Magic School common room, it was late, but Chris, Callum and a number of other students were all waiting up for him- eager to hear what the third task would be.
What with all the commotion over Crouch, the third task had quite slipped his mind. He briefly told everyone about the maze and the obstacles he might face, but his mind was elsewhere so soon after the inevitable excited discussions broke out; he slipped off to bed. Something strange was going on- first Excalibur had been taken and now ministry officials were disappearing. Wyatt suspected the shadow he and Fleur had seen belonged to the same person that had attacked him during his first venture in the woods, and now he was more determined than ever to discover the man's identity.