AN: I hope everyone had a great week. As always, thanks for all your support with this story. It means a lot. Sorry about this not getting out yesterday. I swear I posted it, but I noticed today that it didn't seem to go through. Oh well. Hope you enjoy it.

Prakith - Thanks!

Mando-Vet - Thanks! Hopefully I can keep it up so you can keep looking forward to the next chapters.

scrappy8 - Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

Urbanator93 - I guess you'll just have to wait and see. It's my least favorite book as well, so hopefully you'll enjoy how I twist it.

Chapter 42

As they entered June, the mood in the castle grew tense and excited, everyone looking forward to the Seventh Task, and the fifth and seventh years dreading their OWLs and NEWTs. While his nerves were rising, he still felt confident about the coming Task, and with his friends help, he grew more and more confident that he would be able to pass his OWLs just before the Task. Then, he would give his best shot at winning the Triwizard Tournament and surviving whatever came after.

Harry and his friends kept up their studies, especially now that he and Katie were in OWL prep, but Ron and Alicia took up his old cause of ensuring they had adequate fun in between their study and training sessions, whether that was skiving off to go flying, enjoying games of chess or exploding snap, a night under the stars in the Room of Requirement or a day out on the grounds lounging in the sun.

Still, time marched ever on and it wasn't long before it was time for him to learn what the Seventh Task entailed.

**HP**

"Alright, Potter, spill," Angelina said with a grin. "What's the final Task? How can we help?"

"Well, the good news is the Seventh Task is a maze," Harry said to his group of friends, in their corner of the common room. "They've turned the Quidditch Pitch into a maze with hedges, and we have to get to the center of the maze, where the Triwizard Cup will be waiting for us. First to get it wins. In the maze there will be obstacles. Hagrid will provide creatures, and Bagman said there will be spells to be broken and all other sorts of things."

"Well, that's very worrying," Katie said with a frown before it brightened, "however you've been training for and dealing with this sort of thing the whole year . . . really for a couple years now. This is right in your wheelhouse."

"It doesn't mean he needs to get overconfident," Hermione said sternly and Katie sighed.

"Of course not," Alicia said, coming to Katie's defense, "but there is a difference between confidence and overconfidence. Harry is allowed to be confident. We'll keep working these last couple weeks, especially since Katie and Harry here has OWLs to worry about, but I have faith in Harry's abilities."

"Harry literally duels all six of us at the same time and wins," Ron said with a snort. "I think you've got this one in the bag, mate. This is right up your alley."

Harry enjoyed his friends' confidence, even if he wasn't sure himself.

**HP**

Sirius grinned at the exhausted looking Dora, who had just portkeyed back into England from the States, and came straight home only a few minutes prior.

"Looking good there, little cousin," Sirius greeted. "How were the months in the states?"

"Bloody miserable, even if I learned a lot," Dora admitted. "Those yank's courses are bloody insane. We spent a vast majority of the time living in the bloody woods, sleeping in tents we conjured, getting attacked at night, having to fight off our instructors, and getting bloody pissed on all day and night. The long range course was better, but still a lot of it in the field. I learned a lot, but that didn't mean it was very enjoyable except for the people . . . I did have Barry and Cole in that second course with me, which was nice."

Sirius chuckled at that before he sobered up slightly.

"Well, while you were gone, Albus completed the ritual," Sirius said, and Dora froze, her eyes widening. "It worked . . . but there were complications."

"It . . . it worked?" Dora asked with a frown.

"Albus decided to test the spell on Frank and Alice Longbottom. It worked, but while we suspected the person's memory would be removed back to the point of the magical alteration or injury, there was another complication."

"What happened?" Dora asked, concerned.

"It also deaged Frank and Alice," Sirius said and Dora blinked. "They wanted to run tests before declaring the test a success, but I've just been alerted that the Longbottoms will be officially re-entering the world soon. St. Mungos has given them a clean bill of health. The last thing they remember is Death Eaters entering their home. They don't remember anything else, and they now have the bodies they had when it happened to go with their memories."

Dora sat down on the couch in shock, and Sirius nodded slowly.

"As you can imagine, they're . . . understandably shaken to know they missed out on thirteen years of their son's life, but they are perfectly healthy. The spell worked. They just now will have to adapt to feeling like they time traveled and missed much of their son's life. Now, I need to set up a meeting with Fudge to try and get Bellatrix released for the same treatment."

Dora sighed.

"I can't believe we've finally reached what we thought we might never reach. We can get her back . . . I can get to know her . . . and we're going to have to adapt to thinking of her like she was . . . and not how she is known. First though, Harry needs to survive the Seventh Task."

"Tomorrow," Sirius said with a nod. "Tomorrow, we can stop worrying about the Tournament, and not long after that, Harry will be home where we know he's protected. His visions through his scar worry me. Voldemort's getting stronger."

"We need to do something about the Prophet," Dora said with a scowl, and Sirius nodded, knowing she was angry about the latest story lambasting Harry, a story which revealed Harry's scar problems, his parseltongue ability, and called him 'possibly deranged and dangerous,' even having unnamed St. Mungos experts say that his curse scar might have addled his mind, or that he could be faking it for attention. Since so much of it was 'possibly' or 'may have' there was little that Sirius could do about getting it retracted.

"I'm not really sure what to do," Sirius said. "Discrediting Skeeter would be helpful, or telling the story from Harry's point of view, but there isn't another newspaper that will . . . except maybe the Quibbler, but I doubt printing stories there will help too much. Not right now . . . then again . . . maybe that's the angle. Real competition for the Prophet."

"You think the answer is to start a newspaper?" Dora asked in amusement. "What do you know about running a newspaper?"

"Absolutely nothing," Sirius said with a grin, "but I'm sure I could hire people that do know something about it. We'd need to hire some reporters too."

"How would we get people to move off of the Prophet though?" Dora asked. "They've been the main paper for generations."

Sirius grinned wickedly.

"We play their game. We target Prophet employees, revealing their dirty laundry and throwing their stories into question. We find people the Prophet slandered and tell their stories, showing the other side. We paint holes in Skeeter's stories, by pointing out that her claims are far fetched or that she's breaking the law, and in the case of Harry, putting students at risk, since she's apparently breaking into Hogwarts and saying nothing about a breach in security. The difference between us and them will be that we won't report unconfirmed rumors. Only truths or other points of view. We make it impossible for the Prophet to refute us without calling our paper a liar and drawing a lawsuit at the Ministry."

"That's a rather Slytherin idea," Dora admitted. "Still doesn't tell me how we'll get people to start reading the paper."

"Because we'll give the first week's set of copies, free," Sirius said with an evil grin, "and we'll include evidence of our claims in as many articles as we can to draw interest and to start people talking. The one we start with is Rita Skeeter. If we can find something on her, it will be a huge blow to the Prophet. Then, we go for Cuffe. Hit the editor and the Paper will take another large hit."

"You really are financially committed to this idea," Dora said, a bit in awe.

"Nobody fucks with my godson," Sirius said. "Besides, I'm filthy rich, our land is already paid for, and much of my wealth is ill gotten. Might as well spend it on something good."

Dora smirked.

"Alright, let's do it. Let's watch Harry win the Tournament, get Aunt Bella free, and then tear down the Daily Prophet. Anything else?"

**HP**

Harry sighed watching all his friends head off to their end of semester exams. The month had flown by, what with him studying for his two OWLs and preparing for the final task, while dealing with his scar hurting and the visions that accompanied, and Skeeter's articles and whatever else the Slytherins threw his way.

Still, for him, the exams were done, and he was confident he did really well on both OWLs, proving that Mad-Eye had been right. Hermione had been a tad disbelieving when he said the exams were tiring, but not that bad. Katie had punched his arm in a sign of mock jealousy, even if she was smiling while she did so. Now, his nerves were high for the task, but he had the day to laze away while waiting for it in the evening.

Just as he was thinking about grabbing his broom and going flying, McGonagall came over to him.

"Potter, the champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall," she said.

"But the task's not till tonight!" said Harry, wondering if he was missing something.

"I'm aware of that, Potter," she said. "The champions' families are invited to spend the day with them before the final task, you know."

She moved away, and Harry stared after her for a moment before he grinned and quickly made his way to the side chamber, seeing Fleur, Cedric, and Viktor all entering just in front of him.

Cedric and his parents were just inside the door. Viktor was over in a corner, conversing with his dark-haired mother and father in rapid Bulgarian. He had inherited his fathers hooked nose. On the other side of the room, Fleur was jabbering away in French to her mother, with Gabrielle hugging Fleur's side. Harry knew Fleur would expect him to come talk to her family and greet her sister again, something that would not be an arduous task in the least. Gabrielle saw Harry and then waved at him, so he smiled and waved back. Then he saw Dora, Sirius, Remus, Alexis, and to his delight, Mrs. Weasley and Bill standing in front of the fireplace, beaming at him.

Harry rushed forward and Dora reached him first, grabbing in a firm hug.

"Wotcher, little brother," Dora said happily.

"Wotcher, big sister," Harry replied, having really missed her over the past couple months she was away.

He pulled back and was immediately engulfed in a hug from Sirius, and then Remus.

"Surprise!" Mrs. Weasley said excitedly as she smiled broadly. "Thought we'd come and watch you. Harry!" She bent down and kissed him on the cheek.

"You all right?" said Bill, grinning at Harry and shaking his hand. "Charlie wanted to come, but he couldn't get time off. He said you were incredible against the Horntail."

"He was," Dora said, grinning broadly, "and he's been incredible in everything else since!"

Harry could see Fleur eyeing Bill with great interest over her mother's shoulder, and Harry filed that away for teasing later, but also to give Fleur and Bill an introduction. It was the least he could do as a friend.

"It's great to see everyone," Harry said, smiling. "I didn't think I'd get to see anybody until maybe just before the Task or possibly not till the end."

"Nope, you get to spend the whole day with us," Dora said brightly. "Last rites and all that."

"Tonks!" Mrs. Weasley scolded, but it fell short with Harry laughing.

"It's great being back here," said Bill, looking around. "Fancy giving us a tour, for old times sake, Harry?"

"Of course not," Harry said, and grinning slyly, he thought this was the perfect chance to kill several birds with one stone. "First though, let me see if some friends can join us."

Harry winked at Dora before he moved over to where Fleur, her mother, and Gabrielle were.

"Bonjour, mademoiselles," Harry said, smiling, and he laughed as Gabrielle left her sister's side and hugged Harry's side, and he knelt down and gave her a proper hug.

"Bonjour, 'arry," Fleur said, smiling. "Zis is my mozzer, Apolline."

"It es a pleasure to finally meet you, monsieur," Apolline said, smiling at him, and Harry took her offered hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles.

"The pleasure is all mine," Harry replied, and Apolline chuckled.

"Fleur, you didn't mention zat 'e was such a charmer," she said, and Fleur laughed throatily.

"'E get's enough compliments, mama," Fleur said, and Harry laughed.

"I was about to show my friends and family around Hogwarts if you'd like to join us?" Harry asked, and he noticed Fleur glance at Bill briefly before turning back to look at him, and her eyes narrowed playfully, and he winked.

"Zat would be wonderful," Apolline said, so Harry brought the three Delacours over to a partially confused group to make introductions.

"Everyone, may I introduce Fleur Delacour, her mother Apolline, and her little sister Gabrielle. Delacours, may I introduce my friends and family. My godfather, Sirius, my uncle, Remus, my big sister, Dora, my godfather's girlfriend, Alexis, and our friends Molly and Bill," Harry finished gesturing to each person.

"It es a pleasure to meet you all," Apolline said.

Dora smirked as Bill kissed Fleur's knuckles and she blushed a bit and introductions continued.

"Well aren't you the little match maker," Dora whispered to Harry.

"Eh, she's like another sister these days," Harry whispered back. "Might as well help her and a friend out."

"A very good brother, like always," Dora said with a wink.

With the introductions done, Harry started guiding the group out of the chamber, passing an angry looking Amos Diggory who was exchanging heated words with Cedric. As they passed, Amos looked around.

"There you are, are you?" he said, looking Harry up and down. "You might be ahead, but it won't matter how much you've been favored or how much you've cheated."

"What?" said Harry.

"Ignore him," said Cedric in a low voice to Harry, frowning after his father. "He's been angry ever since Rita Skeeter's article about the Triwizard Tournament - you know, when she made out you were the only Hogwarts champion."

"Didn't bother to correct her, though, did he?" said Amos Diggory, and Sirius and Dora glared.

"Like he's had any chance to do so," Sirius said. "Skeeter hasn't reported a single good thing this entire Tournament. At least Cedric isn't being called a delusional deranged maniac."

"Maybe she's not making that up!" Amos responded, and Cedric looked disappointedly at his father.

"Amos," Alexis said angrily, her eyes flashing, and he matched her stare.

"It takes a big man to make fun of a teenager," Dora said with a clenched jaw.

"Rita Skeeter goes out of her way to cause trouble, Amos!" Mrs. Weasley said angrily. "I would have thought you'd know that, working at the Ministry!"

Mr. Diggory looked as though he was going to say something angry, but his wife laid a hand on his arm, and he merely shrugged and turned away.

Harry sighed and led everyone out of the chamber, with most of his group muttering angrily, including the three French women, who were muttering angrily in French, which meant only a few of them could understand, but Harry winced at some of the colorful language leaving Fleur's mouth. These days he really did consider a close friend. He sometimes felt almost as close to her as he did any of his friends and family. She was just so open, wearing her heart and opinions on her sleeve. Sometimes a little vain, but proud, fierce, and loyal, and it wasn't hard to get close to her once she opened up.

Still, despite that initial hiccup, Harry had a very enjoyable morning escorting his friends and family around the castle, using some of the lesser known passages, and then all across the sunny grounds, including seeing the Beauxbatons carriage, the Durmstrang ship, and the Whomping Willow. Out on the grounds, Astra joined them, and various people traded off running with the shadow hound, playing with her while the rest enjoyed the simple conversation.

They returned to the castle for lunch.

"Mum - Bill!" said Ron, looking stunned, as he joined the Gryffindor table. "What're you doing here?"

Ginny had moved over and gotten a hug from Dora before sitting next to her, which was also next to Harry.

"Came to watch Harry in the last task!" said Mrs. Weasley brightly. "I must say, it makes a lovely change, not having to cook. How was your exam?"

"Oh . . . okay," said Ron. "Couldn't remember all the goblin rebels' names, so I invented a few. It's all right," he said, helping himself to a Cornish pasty, while Mrs. Weasley looked stern, "they're all called stuff like Bodrod the Bearded and Urg the Unclean; it wasn't hard."

Next to show up were the sixth years, and Angelina, Alicia, Fred, and George all looked surprised, but happy, to see the whole crew. As Fred and George moved to greet their mother and eldest brother, Angelina and Alicia made their way to Dora and Harry.

"So, the prodigal sister returns!" Angelina said, smiling. "Now Harry's guaranteed to win."

"Well, obviously," Dora said, lengthening her hair so that she could flip it back for dramatic effect. "Now that he has all four of his adopted, gorgeous, and incredible sisters together cheering him on, he can't fail."

"Humble too," Harry said dryly.

"Hush you," Alicia scolded with a teasing grin. "You know she speaks only the truth."

"Well, obviously," Harry agreed with a wry smile.

With Fred, George, Angelina, Katie, Alicia, Ron, Neville, Hermione, Ginny, Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Sirius, Alexis, Remus, Dora, Fleur, Gabrielle, and Apolline all present, they took a significant portion of their area of the table, and Harry truly felt almost isolated from his house, but also completely surrounded by those that he cared for most. He was having such a good time, he almost forgot about what he had coming in only a few hours.

After lunch, Harry continued the tour of the castle with his family, Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and the Delacours before making it back to the Great Hall for the evening feast. Ludo Bagman, Barty Crouch, and Cornelius Fudge had joined the staff table by then. Bagman looked quite cheerful, Crouch seemed as stoic as ever, but Fudge, who usually seemed fairly cheerful, or at least put on that facade, looked a bit annoyed, and he was seated next to Madame Maxime who was concentrating on her plate, with her eyes looking a bit red. He suspected that she, like Hagrid, was part Giant, and probably hadn't had any good conversations with the Minister.

There were more courses than usual, but Harry, who was starting to feel really nervous now, didn't eat much. As the enchanted ceiling overhead began to fade from blue to a dusky purple, Dumbledore rose to his feet at the staff table, and silence fell.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the seventh and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman, Master Crouch, and Minister Fudge down to the stadium now."

Harry got up. The Gryffindors all along the table were applauding him; his friends and family all got up to hug him, pat on the back, kiss his cheek, and wish him good luck, and he headed off out of the Great Hall with Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor, Astra at his side, providing comfort where nobody else could.

They walked onto the Quidditch field, which was now completely unrecognizable. A twenty-foot-high hedge ran all the way around the edge of it. There was a gap right in front of them: the entrance to the vast maze. The passage beyond it looked dark and creepy.

"Before we begin, there is one thing that we need to do before we can begin the remainder of this tournament," Crouch said, in his courteous business voice. "Mr. Potter, this applies only to you."

Harry glanced at him, noticing Bagman wincing, while Fudge seemed highly approving.

"What is it, sir?" Harry asked.

"To remove the temptation of cheating and to prevent your familiar from acting on her own accord, she must take a sleeping potion," Crouch said, and Harry's eyes narrowed. "Your own impressive elemental travel abilities were witnessed, but the wards over the school will prevent you from doing that here, unlike at the First Task where they were allowed, however she cannot be stopped, which is why she must be put under a sleeping potion until the end of the Tournament, or you will forfeit."

"There is no negotiating on this one, Harry," Fudge said, looking more serious than Harry was used to. "This Tournament has had a lot of problems, and the last thing we need is more claims that you cheated by using your familiar."

Harry glanced down at Astra who whimpered, but then he felt her acceptance through their bond, and he nodded and sighed.

"She agreed, but I want the potion verified by two people before it's used because if anything happens to her, you will all deal with me and my patron," Harry said dangerously, and Crouch and Fudge's eyes narrowed at the threat while Bagman nervously nodded.

"Very well," Crouch said, and as the stands began to fill with excited voices, Snape and Alexis, who incidentally had a Potions Mastery, verified the sleeping potion which was then fed to Astra, who slumped and was carried off by Alexis over to Dora. Harry grimaced once she fell asleep, feeling their bond dampened by her magical induced sleep.

The sky was a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars were starting to appear. Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and approached Bagman and the champions. They were wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid, who had his on the back of his moleskin vest.

"We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze," said Professor McGonagall to the champions. "If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?"

The champions nodded.

"Off you go, then!" said Bagman brightly to the four patrollers.

"Good luck. Harry," Hagrid whispered, and the four of them walked away in different directions, to station themselves around the maze. Bagman now pointed his wand at his throat, muttered, "Sonorus," and his magically magnified voice echoed into the stands.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the seventh and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! In first place, with two hundred and fifty points - Mr. Harry Potter, of Hogwarts School!"

The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky.

"In second place, with two hundred and forty-five points - Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"

Harry could make out Harry's friends applauding loudly, while everyone else applauded politely.

In third place, with two hundred and forty-three points - Mr. Cedric Diggory, of Hogwarts School!"

The crowd yelled and cheered.

"And in fourth place, with two hundred and forty-two points - Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!"

"The Triwizard Cup has been placed in the center of this maze, and the first champion to reach the Cup is the winner," Bagman explained. "As with the previous tasks, each champion has a screen assigned for your viewing pleasure. Now, Mr. Potter, being in the lead, will enter the maze first, with each champion following, thirty seconds after each other."

"So . . . on my whistle, Harry!" said Bagman. "Three - two - one -"

Bagman gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry rushed into the maze. The towering hedges cast black shadows across the path, and, whether because they were so tall and thick or because they had been enchanted, the sound of the surrounding crowd was silenced the moment they entered the maze. Harry almost felt the tension leave him, now that he was in the dark. He smiled, and deployed his wand.

"Revelare in lumine lunari," he thought with a light flick and he watched his surroundings look like they were bathed in moonlight. Then he flicked his wand again, "Vide noctem," and made it so he had perfect vision in the dark for the places the moonlight didn't quite reach.

After about fifty yards, he reached a fork and heard a whistle. Fleur was in the maze. Harry grimaced and quickly cast a mapping charm, so that if he ended up taking the wrong turn, he should be able to find his way back. Then, deciding it didn't really matter, he chose the left path, and started moving down the path as he heard a third whistle.

Harry's nerves rose as his path seemed completely deserted. Coming up to an intersection, he made a right, so that he'd be heading north when he heard the fourth and final whistle. Everyone was in the maze.

Harry continued to move through the maze, using his survival, mapping, and tracking charms to try and help him stay north, and to help him keep his bearings, but the lack of obstacles was unnerving him.

Surely he should have met something by now? It felt as though the maze were luring him into a false sense of security. Then he heard movement right behind him. He held out his wand, ready to attack, but its beam fell only upon Cedric, who had just hurried out of a path on the right-hand side. Cedric looked severely shaken. The sleeve of his robe was smoking.

"Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts!" he hissed. "They're enormous - I only just got away!"

Harry winced, knowing just how bad those things were. Cedric shook his head and dived out of sight, along another path. Keen to put plenty of distance between himself and the skrewts, Harry hurried off again. Then, as he turned a corner, he saw . . . a dementor gliding toward him. Twelve feet tall, its face hidden by its hood, its rotting, scabbed hands outstretched, it advanced, sensing its way blindly toward him. Harry could hear its rattling breath; he felt clammy coldness stealing over him, but knew what he had to do.

Harry launched his patronus at the dementor, which fell back and tripped over the hem of its robes, and Harry smirked as he advanced.

"You're a boggart. Riddikulus!" Harry said, and the shape-shifter exploded in a wisp of smoke.

Harry continued to move on, left, right, left again, occasionally finding dead ends forcing him to use his mapping charm to retrace his steps. He made a turn and found himself facing an odd golden mist floating ahead of him. Harry approached cautiously.

He closed his eyes, reaching out with his Sensing skill. He didn't know what the enchantment did, but he could tell that it wouldn't physically harm him, though that wasn't completely reassuring.

"Finite! Reverte! Offero!" Harry thought, but none of the counters did a thing to the mist, and Harry was deciding to go around when a scream shattered the silence.

"Fleur?" Harry yelled, concerned.

Fleur screamed again, and Harry growled and rushed into the enchanted mist.

The world turned upside down. Harry was hanging from the ground, with his hair on end, his glasses dangling off his nose, threatening to fall into the bottomless sky. He clutched them to the end of his nose and hung there, terrified. It felt as though his feet were glued to the grass, which had now become the ceiling. Below him the dark, star-spangled heavens stretched endlessly. He felt as though if he tried to move one of his feet, he would fall away from the earth completely.

Think, he told himself, as all the blood rushed to his head, think. . .

But not one of the spells he had practiced had been designed to combat a sudden reversal of ground and sky. Did he dare move his foot? He could hear the blood pounding in his ears. He had two choices - try and move, or send up red sparks, and get rescued and disqualified from the task.

He shut his eyes, so he wouldn't be able to see the view of endless space below him, and pulled his right foot as hard as he could away from the grassy ceiling.

Immediately, the world righted itself. Harry fell forward onto his knees onto the wonderfully solid ground. He felt temporarily limp with shock. He took a deep, steadying breath, then got up again and hurried forward, as Fleur's scream pierced the night sky again.

"Semita Fleur Delacour!" Harry called out, not bothering to do it nonverbally, what with the shock of that enchantment and worry about Fleur in his mind. The golden tracking charm flew from his wand and he followed the charm and Fleur's screams until he reached a hedge and knew she was on the other side.

His eyes narrowed and he gathered his power.

"Virga Flammae!" he shouted, and a jet of fire rushed from his wand striking into the hedge. Harry could feel the hedge's enchantments fighting him, but he plowed through them, burning a hole through the hedge. He rushed through the burning hedge, and his eyes widened in horror seeing Krum standing over Fleur whose body was twitching by his wand, her clothing ripped.

"Exarmaueris!" Harry shouted, and a white light blinded Fleur, Krum, and the audience, though Harry didn't know it.

The light faded, and Krum was on his knees, his wand ripped from his hands. Harry moved forward, his eyes cold, his wand leveled on Krum and he moved to check on Fleur, while glancing at Krum, who seemed to not even realize that he'd been disarmed Krum seemed completely out of it.

"He's been imperiused," Harry said aloud in horror, and Fleur sobbed next to him.

"Oui . . . 'e . . . 'e did not know," Fleur said between sobs, and Harry hit Krum with a stunner and launched red sparks into the sky, as he knelt down, and helped Fleur into a seated position.

She hugged him, crying, and he held her, rubbing her back, trying to provide comfort. With a quick flick of his wrist, Fleur's clothes repaired themselves, a bit shoddily, but still enough to give her back some cover.

He continued to hug her and provide as much comfort as he could for the next few minutes, as she slowly regained control of her emotions.

"It's going to be okay, Fleur," Harry said, and she shook her head, looking at him.

"Non, not if you don't win," Fleur said firmly, her cheeks red and tearstained. "You 'ave saved me again, but you must go on. I will stay with Viktor . . . you must go!"

"Fleur, it's just a competition," Harry said, even though in the back of his mind, he knew what his patrons had told him. "This is more important."

"Non, we are still bound to compete, and you 'ave been the best of us. My patrons told me that I would not finish the tournament. Zhey said I would not survive if I tried to win, but now I zhink they were telling me zhat I shouldn't win . . . but you should. You can do it. End zis 'orrid affair."

Harry sighed, and then finally he nodded, seeing how much it meant to her, and knowing what his patrons had said. The Tournament did still magically bind them, and he needed to win. Fleur smiled at him proudly, and he ran back through his hole in the hedges and turned back north and started running, determined to beat Cedric.

**HP**

"We need to stop the Tournament," Sirius said angrily, his voice quiet, but loud enough to be heard over the cries and screams going through the crowd.

"We can't," Fudge said miserably, glancing at Crouch.

"Why not?" Dora spat.

"Because technically, Unforgivables are allowed in the Tournament's bylaws," Crouch answered darkly, and the several members of the DMLE that were congregated around the judges table all stopped and paused at that. "The Tournament was created before those spells were outlawed . . . and we didn't make a rule making them cheating in the Tournament."

"Except, we don't know who cursed Viktor Krum," Alexis pointed out. "He was obviously cursed before he even went into the Maze, which means that it was done outside of the Tournament's bounds."

"Not necessarily," Crouch admitted. "The Tournament's bounds exceed the Tasks. We don't know who cursed Mr. Krum, but we also don't know that it wasn't one of the other Champions, or that it wasn't one of the judges here who technically can affect things within the contest, which means that it could very well be in the bounds. If we stop the Tournament and forfeit the Seventh Task, the four contestants will be punished for failing to fulfill their contract."

"So, we can do nothing," Dora muttered hopelessly, and she, like the rest of them glanced at Harry and Cedric's screen, both of whom were fighting, Harry a skrewt, Cedric, an enchanted section of the hedge that was trying to bind him and drag him into it.

Dora, Sirius, and Alexis returned to the large group of people worried for Harry's safety and relayed the news which got a large volley of protests and curses. Dora looked at Harry using a charm to jump over the skrewt which he'd had sucked into the ground with an orbis charm.

"I feel so helpless," Angelina muttered angrily. "This isn't fair. Why is it always Harry? Why does he always seem to have to do these things alone?"

Nobody had an answer for her, but Dora at least hugged the girl from the side, trying to provide comfort, and thinking about Harry's request of her and Sirius a couple months prior and wholeheartedly agreeing with it, whether Harry got out of there or not.

They watched as Harry continued to navigate the maze, and there were some murmurs of awe and wonder, despite the horror that still filled the air as Harry encountered a sphinx, and then to Dora's pride, he solved the riddle and moved forward at a fast pace.

"Cedric's going to win!" someone from the crowd shouted, and Dora focused back on Diggory's screen and noted the boy heading straight for the Triwizard Cup, but everybody started to gasp seeing what Diggory had missed, and what they could see from their third person point of view.

"Cedric on your left!" Harry's voice rang out from his and Diggory's screens, and Diggory heeded the younger boy's call, jumping away from where a large acromantula had just sprung down in an attempt to grab him.

"Tenebris industria telum!" Harry shouted, and everyone watched in shock and awe as the darkness seemed to gather into a dark bolt that leapt from Harry's wand, a bolt that seemed to get stronger as it approached and smashed into the acromantula, blasting the creature apart upon impact.

"Bloody hell," Ron remarked in awe.

Dora watched Harry approach Diggory who had gotten to his feet, staring at the remains of the dead acromantula in disbelief. Just before it seemed the two boys were about to start a conversation, the screens went dead.

"What!? What just happened?" voices rang out through the crowd, and Dora exchanged startled and worried glances with Sirius and Remus.

Whatever was going to happen to Harry, was happening now. That was clear. The purpose of Harry being in the Tournament was going to be realized.

Dora, Sirius, Remus, and Alexis all quickly made their way back out of the crowd, and ran over to Dumbledore.

"I just sent Alastor a message," he said, his face pale and his age showing. "He's going to check on Harry and Cedric. All we can do now is wait."

The adults all exchanged worried and hopeless glances, wondering how it had come to this and how they had all failed Harry so much.

**HP**

Harry stared coldly at the monster before him, his body aching from the cruciatus curse that Voldemort had put him under while he had still been tied to the gravestone. He held his wand at the ready, but he knew that he wasn't yet a match for Voldemort, and maybe never would be. Now, there was a good chance he would never find out, but he was going to give everything he had to fighting Voldemort to his last breath.

He and Cedric had been about to have a discussion. Harry had planned on telling him about what his patrons said in an effort to convince the boy to let him win, telling Cedric about what happened to Viktor and Fleur, but before he could Cedric had spoken.

"It's gotta be you to win," Cedric had said with a tired sigh. "My patrons warned me that I couldn't win. They warned me that I would be foolish to try and push fate, but I just wanted to show everyone what I could do. I wanted to show the school what Hufflepuffs could do."

Before Harry could respond however, their discussion proved moot as the Cup pulled them both into it with some sort of attraction charm before it portrayed them away. They landed much, much harder on the ground than a normal portkey would, knocking the wind out of both boys and disorienting them.

Harry had barely managed to comprehend what had happened when blinding pain had ripped through his scar when he'd heard a voice hiss, "Kill the spare!" followed by a voice he knew yelling, "Avada kedavra!" Green light had flashed through his eyelids, and he'd heard something drop next to him. He'd tried to react only to immediately have darkness claim him as he was stunned.

He'd awoken, tied to a gravestone, which had the name TOM RIDDLE, engraved on it. He could feel a ward that prevented elemental travel covering the area and he was disarmed. He'd been forced to watch as Wormtail took a bone from the gravestone Harry was tied to, cut off his own hand, and then cut blood from Harry's arm, all of which was added to a pot with a horrifying, slimy, snakish, child-like body which eventually became Voldemort returned to his body.

From there, Voldemort had taunted him and told him some of Voldemort's own personal history while he waited for Death Eaters to answer the call to him from their dark marks on their arms. It hadn't been long before roughly thirty Death Eaters started apparating in, forming up in circles around Voldemort, prostrating themselves before the vile creature, and begging his forgiveness, which he would not give until they had given him time back for the years lost.

Finally, Harry had been forced to hear Voldemort ramble on about what had happened the night he killed Harry's parents, about Voldemort's years in exile, and a recap of Harry's first year before getting to how Wormtail had returned to him and trapped Bertha Jorkins, who was interrogated and then killed. He then explained how Wormtail and some other unnamed Death Eater had helped get Harry's name into the Goblet, leading to his rebirth, before Voldemort decided he was going to make an example of Harry and hit him with a cruciatus curse, which was more painful than anything Harry had ever experienced before, while he was tied to the gravestone. Then, he had Wormtail give Harry back his wand, so they could duel, which was how he found himself facing the monster before him.

"You have been taught how to duel. Harry Potter?" said Voldemort softly, his red eyes glinting through the darkness. "I seem to remember hearing that you're the current Under 16 British Dueling Champion. How impressive," Voldemort finished mockingly.

The Death Eaters all jeered and laughed.

Harry didn't answer, but his mind went to the hundreds of hours he spent preparing for exactly this sort of situation with Mad-Eye, Remus, Sirius, and Dora . . . and even with Angelina, Alicia, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Katie. He thought about the battles he'd watched the mysterious shadow mages fight in his dreams, and while he knew he wasn't at the level he needed to be at, he knew he was no pushover.

"We bow to each other. Harry," said Voldemort, bending a little, but keeping his snakelike face upturned to Harry. "Come, the niceties must be observed . . . . Dumbledore would like you to show manners . . . . Bow to death, Harry . . . . "

The Death Eaters were laughing again. Voldemort's lipless mouth was smiling. Harry did not bow. He was not going to let Voldemort play with him before killing him . . . he was not going to give him that satisfaction . . .

"I said, bow," Voldemort said, raising his wand - and Harry felt his spine curve as though a huge, invisible hand were bending him ruthlessly forward, and the Death Eaters laughed harder than ever. Harry cursed himself for not being ready . . . for being too stubborn and proud and committed to defying Voldemort. Mad-Eye would be disappointed.

"Very good," said Voldemort softly, and as he raised his wand the pressure bearing down upon Harry lifted too. "And now you face me, like a man . . . straight-backed and proud, the way your father died . . .

Harry glared, but then his eyes moved to the fallen form next to where the Triwizard Cup was and he felt sadness rise up seeing Cedric's fallen form. Killed simply for being at the wrong place at the wrong time . . . killed because he had been skilled enough to make it to the end.

"And now - we duel. "

Voldemort raised his wand, and while Harry was distracted by Cedric's fallen form, Voldemort had quickly raised his wand, and Harry found himself under the Cruciatus Curse again. The pain was so intense, so all-consuming, that he no longer knew where he was . . . White-hot knives were piercing every inch of his skin, his head was surely going to burst with pain, he was screaming more loudly than he'd ever screamed in his life –

And then it stopped. Harry rolled over and scrambled to his feet; he was shaking as uncontrollably as Wormtail had done when his hand had been cut off; he staggered sideways into the wall of watching Death Eaters, and they pushed him away, back toward Voldemort.

"A little break," said Voldemort, the slit-like nostrils dilating with excitement, "a little pause . . . That hurt, didn't it. Harry? You don't want me to do that again, do you?"

Harry didn't answer. He was trying to get his breath under control, trying to stop his muscles from shaking so that he could properly fight Voldemort, so that he could give a better showing than he was giving now.

"I asked you whether you want me to do that again," said Voldemort softly. "Answer me! Imperio!"

And Harry felt, for the fourth time in his life, the sensation that his mind had been wiped of all thought . . . . Ah, it was bliss, not to think, it was as though he were floating, dreaming . . . just answer no . . . say no . . . just answer no . . . .

'I will not,' said a stronger voice, in the back of his head, 'I won't answer. . . .'

Just answer no . . . .

I won't do it, I won't say it . . .

Just answer no . . .

"I WON'T!"

And these words burst from Harry's mouth; they echoed through the graveyard, and the dream state was lifted as suddenly as though cold water had been thrown over him - back rushed the aches that the Cruciatus Curse had left all over his body - back rushed the realization of where he was, and what he was facing. . . .

"You won't?" said Voldemort quietly, and the Death Eaters were not laughing now. "You won't say no? Harry, obedience is a virtue I need to teach you before you die . . . Perhaps another little dose of pain?"

Voldemort raised his wand, but this time Harry was ready; and he moved, letting Voldemort's curse sail past him and crack the headstone of Voldemort's father. Harry shouted, "Fulmen!" and fired back a lightning bolt which Voldemort shielded himself from with slightly widened eyes. "Secare! Confringo! Augue!" Harry said rapidly firing off a cutting curse, a blasting curse, and a fireball, that Voldemort shielded himself from before he fired back a volley of curses.

Harry spun around, letting two sail past him, and yelled, "Defendo!" throwing up a shield, absorbing the next two. He could feel his energy taxed from the tournament, but it was night, and he didn't need to use his own strength.

"Umbra sectionis!" Harry called out, letting the darkness of the night fuel his spell, which Voldemort was just barely able to shield against, using his own shadow shield. "Tenebris industria telum!" The bolt of energy smashed into Voldemort's shield with such power that it shattered the shield and forced the dark lord back a couple steps, and he glared at Harry.

"Impressive, Harry, but you cannot match me in magic. You cannot match me in your mastery of the elements," Voldemort said dangerously, his voice cold as ice. "You may have a patron and skill in one element, but I know them all, and I have no need to bow to some paltry god for aid."

Voldemort's wand charged with light, and Harry knew he was using light elemental magic to nullify Harry's darkness, but it was night, and this was Hades's, Nyx's, and Erebus's domain, and Harry wasn't going to let Voldemort trespass on their domain without a fight. He would show Voldemort just how paltry his patron's power was.

"Auget tenebras!" Harry called out, and he felt the darkness start growing to counter what the light was trying to push away. They continued to fight, the elements battling for dominion, but whereas Voldemort had to use his own power, Harry could draw on the natural energies and augment with his own power, which meant it wasn't long before he saw Voldemort snarl as Harry's magic overpowered his own.

Voldemort leveled his wand at Harry, giving up on the power struggle.

"Avada kedavra!" Voldemort cried, while Harry yelled, "Fulmen!"

The green jet of light from Voldemort's wand met Harry's white lightning in midair and before Harry knew it, his wand was vibrating as though an electric charge were surging through it; his hand seized up around it; he couldn't have released it if he'd wanted to - and a narrow beam of light connected the two wands, neither white nor green, but bright, deep gold. Harry, following the beam with his astonished gaze, saw that Voldemort's long white fingers too were gripping a wand that was shaking and vibrating.

And then - nothing could have prepared Harry for this - he felt his feet lift from the ground. He and Voldemort were both being raised into the air, their wands still connected by that thread of shimmering golden light. They glided away from the tombstone of Voldemort's father and then came to rest on a patch of ground that was clear and free of graves . . . The Death Eaters were shouting; they were asking Voldemort for instructions; they were closing in, reforming the circle around Harry and Voldemort, the snake slithering at their heels, some of them drawing their wands –

The golden thread connecting Harry and Voldemort splintered; though the wands remained connected, a thousand more beams arced high over Harry and Voldemort, crisscrossing all around them, until they were enclosed in a golden, dome-shaped web, a cage of light, beyond which the Death Eaters circled like jackals, their cries strangely muffled now . . .

"Do nothing!" Voldemort shrieked to the Death Eaters, and Harry saw his red eyes wide with astonishment at what was happening, saw him fighting to break the thread of light still connecting his wand with Harry's; Harry held onto his wand more tightly, with both hands, and the golden thread remained unbroken. "Do nothing unless I command you!" Voldemort shouted to the Death Eaters.

And then an unearthly and beautiful sound filled the air . . . It was coming from every thread of the light-spun web vibrating around Harry and Voldemort. It was a sound Harry recognized, though he had heard it only once before in his life: phoenix song.

Feeling hope rise up in him, he focused on the beam of light that was being pushed towards Harry's wand, causing his wand to vibrate more and more, and he concentrated with everything he could, feeling strength fill him from the phoenix song and the beam of light pushed its way back towards Voldemort, whose eyes were astonished and almost as his wand started vibrating more and more. With every last bit of concentration he had left, Harry forced the beam of light to connect with Voldemort's wand, and Voldemort's wand began to emit echoing screams of pain . . . then - Voldemort's red eyes widened with shock - a dense, smoky hand flew out of the tip of it and vanished . . . the ghost of the hand he had made Wormtail sacrifice . . . more shouts of pain . . . and then something much larger began to blossom from Voldemort's wand tip, a great, grayish something, that looked as though it were made of the solidest, densest smoke . . . It was a head . . . now a chest and arms . . . the torso of Cedric Diggory.

Harry stared at the shade of Cedric, who looked at Harry, and spoke.

"Hold on, Harry," it said.

Its voice was distant and echoing. Harry looked at Voldemort . . . his wide red eyes were still shocked . . . he had no more expected this than Harry had . . . and, very dimly. Harry heard the frightened yells of the Death Eaters, prowling around the edges of the golden dome.

More screams of pain from the wand . . . and then Harry watched an old man he'd seen only in dreams appear out of Voldemort's wand, just like Cedric. Following him came the shadow of Bertha Jorkins, both of whom told him to keep fighting. Finally came the first person who Harry had hoped to see since Cedric's head came out . . . a tall man with untidy hair, and Harry looked upon the ghostly face of his father.

"Your mother's coming . . ." he said quietly. "She wants to see you . . . it will be alright . . . hold on . . ."

And she came . . . first her head, then her body . . . a young woman with long hair, the smoky, shadowy form of Lily Potter blossomed from the end of Voldemort's wand, fell to the ground, and straightened like her husband. She walked close to Harry, looking down at him, and she spoke in the same distant, echoing voice as the others, but quietly, so that Voldemort, his face now livid with fear as his victims prowled around him, could not hear . . .

"When the connection is broken, we will linger for only moments . . . but we will give you time . . . you must get to the Portkey, it will return you to Hogwarts . . . do you understand, Harry?"

"Yes," Harry gasped, fighting now to keep a hold on his wand, which was slipping and sliding beneath his fingers.

"Harry . . ." whispered the figure of Cedric, "take my body back, will you? Take my body back to my parents . . ."

"I will," said Harry, his face screwed up with the effort of holding the wand.

"Do it now," whispered his father's voice, "be ready to run . . . do it now . . ."

With an almighty wrench, Harry broke the golden thread, falling to the ground, and then he took off running, turning only to yell, "Fluctus area inpulsa!" firing the area shock charm, causing a small earthquake that unbalanced the Death Eaters that were now trying to curse him.

Harry dodged curses, using pure will to form shadow into solid darkness that absorbed spells as Harry ran to Cedric"s body.

"Stun him!" he heard Voldemort scream.

Harry dived onto Cedric's body and felt a grim sense of justice knowing he'd survived the match, even if he hadn't won as he pointed his wand at the cup and nonverbally summoned it to him, and he caught it by the handle, hearing Voldemort's scream of fury as he was jerked away as he was transported back to Hogwarts.