"But, I thought you didn't want anyone to know you're still alive, why would you reveal your presence so publicly like this?" Harry eventually asked, once he'd been further introduced to Fleur's family, who were now technically his distant family.
"Bah, I've come to realise, I have no reason to hide anymore. My Philosopher's Stone is safely out of reach, especially since I don't plan to become a large public figure again. However, by publicly naming you as my successor, I may be able to gain some good for you.
"It was the prophet's article this morning that showed me I can and should be doing more for your public image. You are my apprentice, and it is my duty to protect you from all harm, including libel. I have already told the Prophet about our status, although from what I hear, I wasn't the first."
"Wasn't the first to what, claim me as your apprentice?"
"Ha, ah no. It seems like Mr. Lockhart disagreed with your name being degraded just as he's trying to advertise his new book, in which I'm sure you feature heavily.
"Now, I'm sure you'll want to spend time with Xenophilius and Nyphadora. You are of course welcome to join us, but I have no doubt Apolline will want to grill me on what this all means."
Stepping up to the entrance to the maze, Harry scanned the stands, easily finding Xeno, Tonks and Nicholas just behind the judges table. Further up, in one of the worst seats he could just about make out Remus and a large black dog beside him.
He'd had a great afternoon with Xeno and Tonks, first taking a walk around the lake, before going up so he could show them his workshop. It was there that Tonks had advised him to keep an eye out for Sirius and Remus, who'd be unable to publicly approach him, but had wanted to watch regardless.
At dinner, they'd joined with the Delacour family, before being sent down to the quidditch pitch. Unlike the previous tasks, the organisers had decided that moonrise was the best time, regardless of the audience's ability to see.
With Cedric's 85 points, he entered the maze first, then exactly five minutes later Harry and Krum entered, with their 80 points. With her 57 points, Fleur would have to wait another 23 minutes, practically eliminating her from the game.
The moment they stepped into the embrace of the hedges, Harry couldn't help shivering as the wait of the magic pushed down upon them. Where Dumbledore's magic normally felt light and gentle, Madame Maxime's made Harry think of wading through a thick rain cloud.
Silencing spells completely blocked out any outside noise completely, even the sound of the wind, leaving a perpetual eerie atmosphere. That, alongside the unnatural fog emanating from the hedges could almost trick Harry into thinking they were underwater again.
It was the rare moments like these that Harry regretted his ability to sense magic on a fundamental level. Beside him, Krum showed no sign of discomfort… at least no discomfort other than being in a giant maze grown to be as challenging as possible.
Even the enchantments expanding the space between them and the top of the maze were oppressive, with the sky almost completely blocked by the twenty foot walls.
"Well, here we go again." Harry said, gaining a grin from Krum. Together they set off into the darkness, both unwilling to lock their wand with a lighting spell. While Harry could rely on his magesight as a basic form of vision, Krum kept tripping over roots that deliberately shot out in front of him.
After his third trip, Krum moodily brought his wand to his face and began transfiguring his eyes, hissing through the pain. He'd clearly added some type of natural night vision to his eyes, giving them a bright grey appearance, which nevertheless seemed effective.
"You like transfiguration then?"
Chuckling, Krum dipped his head, "Da, I find it easier, instead of trying to remember many charms. Harder for another to undo too."
With that, they reached a fork, allowing them to go their separate ways. With Krum out of view, Harry could finally set up, starting with his invocation. It was a similar chain to what he'd cast during the attack at the world cup, but with the added rune of night sight.
The moment he'd finished, the previous dark grey surroundings gained a brighter green glow, one that only he'd be able to see. With his invocation bound to his magical aura, he set to work on his sword sigil, identical to what he'd used in the second task, but with the second form of silver replacing the phosphorus rune.
This gave the sword a shadowy silver look, allowing it to effortlessly blend into any nearby shadow. The crescent moon rune for silver was at its strongest while the moon shone, which under the current rising full moon meant his sigil sword was at its full potential.
Finally he cast his ever changing spell, which he made float over his shoulder. Fully armed, he tentatively tried to cut the wall of hedges with his sword, resulting in a sudden lurch as the maze grabbed a hold of his spectral sword. In panic, Harry wrenched it free, even as the hedge tried to consume it.
Swiftly backing off, Harry quickly jogged away, unwilling to test his luck. Glancing over his shoulder, he picked up the pace upon seeing the hedges clash together where he'd just been.
Taking the first bend he found, he hurried down the empty path feeling incredibly underwhelmed. So far, his biggest risk had been the maze itself, which was easily beaten by not trying to attack it.
Slowly growing bored, he was glad of a distraction when a scorched Cedric burst out in front of him. Seemingly not seeing Harry in the shadows, the Hufflepuff ran as fast as he could away from there.
Deciding he wasn't bored enough to see what would make Cedric run that fast, Harry slightly increased his pace, only to run into a moonlit Luna. Although his eyes told him it was his closest friend, his magesight held firm.
Instead of Luna's vibrant sky blue signature, he instead encountered the oily midnight black signature of a boggart, its magic slightly larger than the illusion it was projecting.
"I don't take kindly to you taking this form, boggart." Harry firmly started, sword raised threateningly. In reply, the illusion of Luna grinned mockingly, even as blood started dripping from her mouth.
"Why did you let me die, Harry? Why didn't you stop them before it was too late?"
"Stop this." Harry ground out, glaring solely at the magic, while trying to ignore what his eyes and ears were telling him.
"Are you going to kill me again? Going to extinguish another innocent life, like you took Hermio-" But the boggart never got to finish its sentence, as Harry's sword leaped forward, passing through the illusion and striking the phantom form behind it.
With a hiss of anguish, the boggart started breaking apart into wisps of vapour, unravelling into nothingness. Cautiously stepping forward, Harry carefully scanned the area, finding nothing but a puddle of steaming black ectoplasm.
Carefully giving the puddle a wide berth, he set off again, relying on the point-me spell to keep north. Once again, he grew suspicious at the lack of obstacles.
He knew Hagrid well, and if given the chance the man would've tried to fill the maze with as many 'interesting' creatures as he could've. Never mind what any of the other teachers and headmasters would contribute.
Which was precisely when he spotted an odd golden mist, slowly floating down the path towards him. Running through as many diagnostic spells as he could, he easily concluded this was a limbo mist enchantment. He hadn't seen it in person before, but he'd read about it in Dippet's conditional magic book.
Backing up slightly, Harry sprinted towards the mist, letting momentum carry him forward as gravity first flipped and then flopped. Crashing into the ground, safely on the over side, Harry lay sprawled as he thought not to be sick.
Suddenly, a feminine scream broke the air, prompting him to swiftly jump to his feet. With the silencing charms still in effect, Fleur must be quite close to be so easily heard, making him spin around desperately.
Picking a direction he thought the sound had come from, until he came face to face with Hagrid's fabled blast-ended skrewts. It looked like a firecrab, but with a second stinger in place of a face. Easily ten feet long, its thick grey shell glinted threateningly.
With a wrench of will, his previously docile spell became imbued with stunning, as it flew towards the creature. Quick as a flash, one of its stingers came down to intercept it, its armour easily negating his own magic.
Expelling a blast of fire, the skrewt flew towards him, which he was only just able to dodge, getting a warm tan in the process. It did give him the sight of an exposed underbelly, but with the creature now crouched low, he doubted his ability to hit it.
Instead, he recast his spell, and then aimed it in front of the creature just as it took a step forward. Instantly, the leg sank into a boggy quicksand, soon followed by the rest of its body. Due to the spell's limited power and the creature's size, the liquidated ground was unlikely to kill the creature, but it did the job.
As the creature stood, it was nothing but a very dangerous sentinel, but one that couldn't chase after Harry as he took off. Somewhere deeper into the maze, he could hear Cedric and Krum fighting, but with the enchanted hedges in his way, he was unwilling to intervene.
Trusting the two to handle themselves, he carried on his way. To his senses, the pressure of the enchantments seemed to be growing stronger, indicating he was nearing the central point.
Eager to get the whole thing done with, he was almost pleased to come face to face with a sphinx. As a Ravenclaw, he doubted the organisers could've picked an easier obstacle.
"You do riddles right, if I get it I pass and if I fail you kill me?" Harry hurried, getting a slow blink in return.
"I am also to let you walk away, should you wish to avoid my riddle." She replied, clearly taking her time to spite him.
"I chose the riddle, please, ask away."
He just barely withheld his laugh, when she finished her riddle. He'd struggled with a very similar riddle back in his second year, one which he'd needed Penelope's help with.
"Lives in disguise: A spy. Last of mend, end of end, middle of middle: the letter d. A hard to find noise: er. I would be unwilling to kiss a spider."
Lazily stretching, the sphinx rose to her padded feet and moved out of his way. Trusting his instinct and magical detection, he soon spotted the Triwizard Cup, prompting an extra spurt of speed.
His invocation runes had started going wild in warning, but with his target in sight he didn't pay it much heed. At his run, the hedges grew alive and tried to grab him, only to be far too slow. Instead, he ran head first into the giant spider jumping into his path, knocking both his air from his lungs, and his wand from his hand.
Somewhere, he could hear Cedric yelling, but he was too busy physically wrestling the creature to notice. In his fall, he'd lost focus of his sigil sword, which gracefully faded into nothingness, leaving him weaponless.
Its pincers gnashed distressingly close to his throat, while his hands bled from contacting the spider's sharp exoskeleton. For the first time since taking the strength ritual, Harry was feeling weak, the spider's superior strength winning out.
Just moments before failing, a concentrated wave of earth smashed into the spider, sending it tumbling away. Crouching over him, Cedric started a barrage against the acromantula, which shrugged off his spells with extreme vengeance.
Reaching out, Harry threw his changing spell towards the spider, for once glad it required wandless magic to work. While the spider tried to dodge, it was unprepared for the spell to turn enough to catch it. Instantly, its body went rigid as miniature lightning bolts jumped from it into the ground below.
Unfortunately Cedric had also chosen that moment to leap forward with a transfigured shield raised. Not only did the momentum of the giant spider audibly break the boy's arm, the lightning jumped into him.
Rushing to check on Cedric, Harry was extremely relieved to find him still breathing, albeit unconscious. If he'd been responsible for the boy's death, even indirectly, he didn't know what he'd do.
Throwing up red sparks, and sending a spike through the spider to ensure its death, Harry scooped up his wand and limped over to the damned cup. Each breath raised a twinge of pain in his chest, so all he wanted as he took the cup was to experience Madam Pomfrey's healing and have a rest.