Chapter 17. Through the Maze
On the day of the third task, another article by Rita Skeeter came out, in which she talked about how Harry had recently dozed off during Divination and woke up with pain in his scar. The article included an interview with Draco Malfoy about Harry's ability to speak Parseltongue. Seeing these lines, Jeanne took the newspaper from Harry's hands. Her attentive gaze ran through the text of the article up and down several times.
"Do you remember how he mutte-gasped as if on a walkie-talkie?" she asked.
"Oh, come on, enough of your nonsense!" Hermione exclaimed. "How many times do we have to remind you - those things don't work at Hogwarts!"
"But what if it was a magical thing?"
"But how did she find out that your scar hurt during the divination?" Ron asked.
"The window was open. I opened it to get some air because it was stuffy in the office."
"But how?" Hermione puzzled. "If only…"
At that moment, it dawned on her. She ran her fingers through her hair, then covered her mouth with her hand, as if speaking into a walkie-talkie. A second later, she jumped up from her seat and ran away.
"Hey!" Ron called after her. "We have a History of Magic exam in ten minutes! Well, well," he said, turning to Harry. "This Skeeter is really under her skin, she even forgot about the exam. What are you going to do during Binns' exam - read?"
Harry, like all the Tournament participants, was exempt from exams. He just sat at the back and searched through books for new spells that could help him.
"Yeah, probably," Harry replied. But at that moment, Professor McGonagall approached them.
"Potter, all the Tournament participants are gathering in the room adjoining the hall after breakfast."
"But the competition doesn't start until tonight!" Harry exclaimed, afraid he had mixed up the times and dropped a piece of scrambled eggs on his cloak.
"Of course, Potter. The families of the Tournament participants have gathered in the room. They are invited to watch the final challenge. And you can spend the whole day with them."
With these words, she walked away from the table. And Harry watched her, gaping.
"Does she really think the Dursleys will come here?" he asked Ron, bewildered.
"I don't know," Ron shrugged. "Well, I have to go, I'm late for Binns. See you later!"
"And my relatives are far away, too..." Jeanne mumbled pensively, in such a tone that Harry briefly doubted if she was related to the Malfoys.
But when the hall emptied, Cedric called them. He and his family were seated right by the door. Krum and Fleur were talking nearby with their families, and Molly and Bill Weasley were waiting for Harry and Jeanne. Harry was very happy to see them, but it only confused Jeanne, and she stood before them, flustered, as if she didn't know how to react or what to do.
They spent the day together. They walked around the school and the surrounding grounds, and then Molly Weasley insisted that the young Gryffindor champions get a good rest before the task. She refused to accept any objections, promised to wake them up in advance, and made them sleep in armchairs by the fireplace in the living room.
— Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes I will invite you to go to the Quidditch field, where the third and final competition of the Triwizard Tournament will begin. And now I ask all participants to follow Mr. Bagman to the stadium.
— How are you, Harry? Are you ready for the competition?
A memory flashed in his mind: the imprint of a dirty dog's paw on a parchment. Magical formulas flickered in front of his eyes, spells echoed in his ears, the kind words of friends and professors, Hagrid's happy face, and Cedric's friendly smile. Today, he would succeed.
— We will be patrolling outside. If anyone gets in trouble and feels they need help, send up a red flare of sparks and we will come immediately. Is that clear?
— Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final competition of the Triwizard Tournament begins! Allow me to remind you of the current standings of the participants! Mr. Cedric Diggory, Miss Jeanne d'Arc, and Mr. Harry Potter, all from Hogwarts, are tied for first place with eighty-five points each!
Cheers and thundering applause awakened the birds in the Forbidden Forest, and they took off with a clamor into the dark night sky.
— In second place is Mr. Viktor Krum, from Durmstrang, with eighty points! — applause thundered again.
— And in third place is Miss Fleur Delacour, from Beauxbatons Academy!
Harry spotted Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ron, and Hermione in the stands. They politely applauded Fleur. He waved to them, and they saw him and waved back with joy.
— So, Harry, Jeanne, and Cedric, you will start on my whistle! — boomed Bagman. — Three...two...one...
He blew his whistle sharply, and the three of them rushed into the maze.
They separated at the very first turn, not knowing what awaited them ahead. They crossed paths several times later on. The first time was when Cedric was escaping from Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts. After warning Harry about their size and endurance, Cedric ran to the next turn and disappeared. A few moments later, Jeanne zoomed past Harry, loudly shouting something in French. Then, ten seconds later, Fleur raced by with her hair on fire and crashed headfirst into the first living hedge wall in her path. Harry, seeing this, simply shrugged. He had already learned from Hagrid's lessons that it was best to avoid the Blast-Ended Skrewts by a mile. Just in case, though, he decided to pick up the pace, fearing that the Skrewts might have managed to escape their designated area.
On his way, he encountered a Dementor, but as soon as Harry summoned his Patronus, the opponent became entangled in its cloak. Harry had never seen a cloak hinder a Dementor before, so he quickly understood the situation and dispelled it with a spell. For the next ten minutes, Harry ran through dead ends. When he turned in the right direction, he came across a Blast-Ended Skrewt. The Skrewt reminded him of a three-meter scorpion and tried to shoot Harry with its nozzle. Harry managed to dodge the line of fire, and on his third attempt, he disabled the creature by hitting it with a spell in its unprotected belly. He wandered and ran through various corners of the maze for a while until the darkness became dense. It also hinted to him that the center was very close.
On a long, straight stretch of the path, he saw movement again, and the light from his wand illuminated a creature he only knew from a picture in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." It was a sphinx with the body of a huge lion, the head of a woman, heavy clawed paws, and a long yellow tail with a brown tuft at the end. When Harry approached the lioness, she turned her mighty head towards him and stared at him with large almond-shaped eyes. Harry hesitantly raised his wand. But instead of crouching to pounce, the lioness with the woman's face simply paced back and forth across the path, blocking the passage.
- You're close to the goal, - she said in a low, raspy voice. - The shortest path lies right here.
- Maybe... maybe then you can let me through? - Harry asked, anticipating the answer.
- No, of course not, - she replied, without stopping. - Guess my riddle, and then I'll let you through. If you guess it on the first try, the path is open. If you don't guess it, I'll attack. If you don't answer at all, you'll go back the way you came.
Harry's heart skipped a beat. Riddle-solving was Hermione's specialty. He weighed the risks. Well, even if he couldn't solve the riddle, no big deal - he'll just stay silent. The Sphinx will let him go, and he'll find another way to the Cup.
- Alright, - he said. - I'm listening to your riddle.
The lioness-woman sat in the middle of the path and recited the following poem:
First think of the person who lives in disguise,
- Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.
Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend,
- The middle of middle and end of the end?
And finally give me the sound often heard,
- During the search for a hard-to-find word.
Now string them together and answer me this,
Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?
- Um... can you repeat it again, but a little slower? - he politely asked.
The Sphinx blinked, mysteriously smiled, and repeated the riddle.
- So, the hints combine to form a creature that I'd rather die than kiss? - Harry asked.
The Sphinx smiled benevolently. Harry assumed it was an affirmative answer and started to think feverishly. There were plenty of creatures he wouldn't kiss if his life depended on it. For example, a Blast-Ended Skrewt. But the Sphinx's riddle was clearly about someone else. Perhaps it was best to start with the hints first. What was the first syllable, quick? Fast, swift... Well, he could think about it later.
- Um... could you repeat the next line?
She repeated it.
- A person in disguise," Harry muttered, staring at her, "who lies. . . er. . . that'd be a - an impostor. No, that's not my guess! A - a spy? I'll come back to that. . . could you give me the next clue again, please?
The Sphinx repeated the next lines of the poem.
- 'The last thing to mend,'" Harry repeated. "Er... no idea... 'middle of middle'... could I have the last bit again?
She gave him the last four lines.
- 'The sound often heard during the search for a hard-to-find word,' - said Harry. - Er... that'd be... er... hang on - 'er'! Er's a sound!
- Spy... er... spy... er..., - Harry repeated, measuring the path with his steps. - The creature I wouldn't want to kiss... a spider!
The Sphinx beamed, stood up, and moved aside.
- Thank you! - Harry exclaimed, amazed by his own cleverness, and hurried forward. He must be close to the goal, he must... the wand said so, he was on the right path... If nothing else went wrong, he would win...
Just a little bit more, and he would reach the goal. A turn, another one, a fork... And there it was... Yes, just a little bit more running and he would claim the Cup!
A second later, Cedric appeared ahead. Chasing after Cedric was some kind of creature that Harry couldn't make out.
- Cedric! Turn around! - Harry shouted.
Cedric looked back just in time - he would still be able to bypass the turn and avoid the collision with the monster! But as if someone tripped him, Cedric stumbled and fell to the ground at full speed. The wand flew out of his hand. And right then, a huge spider emerged from around the corner and headed towards Cedric.
Harry cast several spells at the spider, but they only irritated the creature rather than causing it harm.
"Step aside!" called out Jeanne from behind him and she cast a spell at the spider.
She glided several meters on her heels along the grass before coming to a stop. At the end of her path, she lost her balance, but Cedric immediately caught her. Three voices shouted the spell together, and the spider collapsed to the ground. Harry and Cedric caught their breath for a few more seconds.
"How are you, Cedric?" Harry asked.
"I'm alright. And you?"
"I'm fine."
"And you?" Cedric asked, turning to Jeanne.
"Couldn't be better," she replied.
She glanced at the Cup and then they exchanged glances with each other.
"So, whose Cup is it?" Jeanne asked.
"You take the Cup," Cedric told Harry. "You won, you're closest to it among the three of us."
"No, you take it. You've helped me so many times, I'll never forget it," Harry objected.
"No way!" Cedric protested.
"You both annoy me!" Jeanne exclaimed.
"Lady's word is law!" Cedric smirked.
"What?" Jeanne didn't understand.
"Let's take the Cup together. It's not just my victory or yours. It's the victory of all of Hogwarts. Our collective victory."
The three of them approached the pedestal on which the Cup stood and reached out their hands towards it.
"On the count of three! Okay?" Harry suggested. "One! Two! Three..."
At that moment, Harry felt the familiar jolt somewhere below his navel. His feet left the ground. The hand holding the Cup didn't let go. The Cup carried him away through the howling wind and swirling colors, and Jeanne and Cedric flew alongside him.