Taking Chances and Making Changes
Authors Note - This story is an AU. It follows canon events up until the end of Prisoner and beginning of Goblet.
Disclaimer - I own nothing except my OC's. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling. Basically, if you recognise it from the books/films then it is not mine.
Hayley POV
After dinner that evening I had gotten ready for the final task in the black tracksuit with scarlet red and gold detailing. It had the Gryffindor crest on the back of the top and a small Hogwarts crest on the front. Each champion was wearing similar outfits only the colour and slightly different styles differing them. Hermione had put my hair in a plait so that it was out of my face for the task.
After I was ready Hermione left the dorm and headed down to the common room giving me a few minutes on my own. I sat on my bed fiddling about with my pendant necklace trying to calm my nerves. Since waking up that morning I had been unable to shake the awful feeling that something bad was going to happen. Shaking my head and putting it down to nerves I stood up from my bed grabbing my wand and headed down to the common room. I talked with my friends for a few minutes before we left. I was meeting Ted and Andy at the Entrance Hall and we were walking down together while my friends went on ahead.
The walk from the entrance hall to the quidditch pitch was quiet and increased my nerves tenfold. After arriving at the quidditch pitch we waited at the entrance where the other champions were waiting with their escorts. Cedric was waiting with his father, Fleur was with Madame Maxine and Viktor was with Karkaroff. We would be announced to the audience one by one and would then enter. We were entering in order of oldest to youngest so I would be entering last. Viktor entered first, Fleur would enter second, Cedric would enter third and I entered last.
As I entered onto the pitch I was struck by the sheer height and intimidation that seemed to radiate off of the maze in waves. I looked around at the crowd that was gathered in the stands facing the maze. As Dumbledore started his introductory speech I could help but think to myself how boring the second and third tasks had been for the spectators. The second task they were just sat there watching a lake surface for just over an hour and the same thing was happening for the final task, just sat waiting for people to return. I zoned back in as Dumbledore began talking about the rules of the final tasks. They would enter into the maze at one of the four entrances going in place order. As I and Cedric were joint first we would enter at the same time, followed by Victor in second and Fleur last. If at any point we could not continue with the task all we would need to do is send red sparks up into the air to signal. The first person the find and touch the goblet of fire within the maze would be crowned the winner.
I took a breath and tried to calm my nerves as Cedric and I walked towards our respective entrances. We looked in each others direction giving the other a small nod of good luck before, on Dumbledores signal, both headed into the maze.
Once inside the maze, I quickly took out my wand keeping a tight grip on it as I walked through the maze. "Lumos".
I watched as the end of my wand lit up making it much easier to see where I was going within the maze.
I knew that getting lost in the maze was going to be inevitable but to make it slightly easier on myself I remembered the colour change spell and would change a small section of the hedge a different colour whenever I came to a crossroad so that I would know which exits I had taken and which ones I hadn't.
Soon enough I came across my first obstacle. As I turned left at my first set of crossroads I was faced with a dementor. As I was about the cast the Patronus charm I hesitated and realised the chances of it being a real dementor were quite slim, so I changed tactics and quickly cast a different spell.
"Riddikulus" I cast watching as the boggart changed form from a dementor to tapdancing monkey. The sight made me laugh and I watched pleased as the boggart disappeared and I carried on through the maze. Not long after encountering the boggart I came across my next obstacle. It was a sphinx. As I neared it I readied myself knowing that I would have to answer a riddle correctly in order to continue. As if sensing my presence began to speak.
"You measure my life in hours and I serve you by expiring.I'm quick when I'm thin and slow when I'm fat. The wind is my enemy. What am I?"The sphinx questioned
Frowning I began to think of things that those clues might relate to. After about a minute or so I look back up at the sphinx knowing that I have the answer.
"A candle, "I say confidently
I smile as I watch the sphinx move to one side allowing me to pass and continue on further through the maze.
After some time I was walking along becoming frustrated with the whole task I heard a scream coming from nearby. I quickly ran in the direction of the scream recognising it as Fleur. When I arrived I saw Fleur on the floor thankfully appearing unharmed apart from a few cuts and scratches which I put down to the obstacles in the maze. I checked her pulse and was pleased to find that she was just unconscious. After seeing that no one was in the immediate vicinity from what I could tell I sent red sparks into the air so that one of the teachers or aurors would know she was in trouble before continuing. I kept an extra vigilant lookout as I walked away. I had a bad feeling about Fleur being unconscious as it seemed unlikely that it was the cause of one of the obstacles. That left it either being Cedric or Viktor. I hoped that it wasn't either of them but I had to be on guard either way.
After a while, I had a feeling I was getting closer to the centre of the maze as the number of obstacles that I was encountering was growing in frequency. Luckily they had all been relatively easy to deal with something with was adding to my anxiety and feeling that something wasn't quite right. It was the final task, so surely it shouldn't be this easy.
After dealing with another boggart and a swarm of Cornish pixies I turned a corner just as I heard another scream this one sounding distinctly male and was so loud it sounded as though it was happening right next to me. I frowned seeing nothing ahead of me and as I heard it again I backed up and raised my wand at the hedge now opposite me.
"Bombarda" I shouted
The hedge in front of me exploded and after a few seconds, I ran forward and went through the large gap in the hedge. Just as I went through to the other side the hedge magically repaired itself. Turning around the sight in front of me made me sick to my stomach. Cedric was on the ground screaming and writhing in pain as Viktor stood over him torturing him with the cruciatus curse. I frowned quickly noticing Viktor's glassy expressionless eyes and I quickly realised he must be under the imperious curse.
"Stupefy" I cast aiming my wand at Viktor
Cedric stopped screaming soon after the curse stopped as Viktor fell to the ground stunned. I ran forward over to Cedric to make sure he was okay.
"Cedric are you okay?"I asked kneeling down on the ground next to him
"Yeah, I'm okay now. Thanks by the way" He said sounding much weaker than normal as he slowly sat up from the ground.
"Don't mention it"I said as I helped him stand up once he was feeling up to it. We looked over at where Viktor was laying on the ground.
"He was under the imperious curse. He stunned Fleur earlier on. I sent up red sparks" I explained
Cedric nods."I saw them but I wasn't sure who sent them up"
"We should do the same thing for Viktor. Are you sure your feeling well enough to continue?"I ask concerned
"Trying to get me out of the running Potter?"He teased playfully
"Maybe. Maybe not"I smiled back
He shook his head a smile on his face as he raised his wand and sent up red sparks. "Come on we should move away from here"
I nodded as we continued forwards leaving Viktor behind. We worked together to take out the increasing numbers of obstacles we were facing.
"We must be getting close to the cup now," Cedric said.
What felt like at least an hour but was probably only a few minutes went by and we turned a corner and saw the cup at the end of the path in front of us. As we reached the cup we looked at each other silently asking who was going to take the cup.
"Cedric you take it. You were the original Hogwarts champion. You deserve it"I say to him
"No Hayley if either of us deserves it, it's you. You saved me back there with Viktor, you made sure to forewarn me about the dragons in the first task and you stayed behind in the second task to rescue Fleur's sister in addition to Blaise."Cedric argues.
I sigh and hear loud rustling begin behind us. I look back and see that the hedge has started to move and is quickly racing towards us. I look back glancing at the cup and then back at Cedric.
"Let's grab it together," I say
He looks at me and nods."Okay. On three"
I start counting and on three we reach out and grab the cup at the same time. I watch as the maze dissolves around us into a mix of swirling colours and close my eyes as nausea starts to kick in.
I reopen them when nausea subsides and I notice that we are not back at the entrance but rather an old and really eerie looking graveyard that for some reason feels extremely familiar.
Authors - Hey guys I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I finally got this to a point where I am happy with it. I am hoping to get back onto a more consistent schedule as I finish uni in about a week and a half. Once I have gotten to the end of the events of Goblet of fire I will be continuing the story into Year 5. If you have any ideas don't hesitate to PM me.