Chapter 48
The Final Task
Note from the Authors: Once again, Sorry for the delay everyone, just been one of those weeks. So, the third task is here, and you'll notice a major change from canon, but what will happen next?
As evening arrived, Lily was standing in a tent near the Quidditch Pitch with Cedric, Fleur, and Krum. The maze had grown massively, and it looked imposing and terrifying. Lily was almost afraid of it. She was taking deep breaths as she ran through the curses and jinxes she had been taught.
"Lily, you got this," Cedric said, smiling. Lily was concerned; was her apprehension for the task showing?
"Definitely," Fleur agreed, as they stood together for a photo that Rita's photographer was taking.
"Good luck, all of you. This is going to be exciting," Rita said, as Bagman entered, glaring at Rita as he did.
"Now, Champions, the time has come for the final task. I hope you're all prepared for this. Inside the maze is the Tri-Wizard cup. The first person to touch it wins the tournament. Of course, it's not going to be simple. There are many creatures, enchantments and puzzles to get past," Bagman explained. "Mr Diggory, you'll be entering the maze five minutes after everyone else, but the maze should take a while. Some paths will be challenging, others will return you to near the beginning, so keep your wits about you."
The champions went to the front of the maze, and when the first whistle blew, Fleur, Lily, and Krum entered the maze, using different entry points as dictated by Bagman.
Lily quickly left sight of the entrance, looking around carefully. There was a light mist throughout the maze, no doubt for effect, and as she turned a corner, she felt a cold chill run down her back.
It was like something from a nightmare; she felt lost, despite only having just started, and as she took each step, she heard the crunching of leaves beneath her feet, the air filled with the smell of some of the dark plants she had seen in Herbology.
What would she be facing in the maze? What kind of creatures? She did have an inkling of some of the creatures. Back at the start of January, Hagrid had introduced them to unicorns. Lily smiled at the memory…
"Alright, boys, stay back," Hagrid called out, looking at the students. "When they're this age, they prefer t' presence of girls, boys make 'em jumpy," he explained. Lily watched as even Pansy Parkinson couldn't contain her delight at the beauty of unicorns.
She had heard muggle legends, of course, and here she was, seeing actual unicorns! A part of her felt afraid; what if they rejected her? Would they still see her as a boy?
"Come on, Lily, your turn," Hagrid said, gently pushing Lily forward. She reached out a hand, shaking slightly.
"They only like girls, freak," Malfoy hissed from nearby. Lily, now more determined, stepped forward, and smiled as the unicorn nuzzled up against her, letting out what Lily guessed was a snort of happiness, whilst looking coldly at Malfoy.
'Hah, these beautiful creatures hate Malfoy! I love them' Lily thought, smiling as she petted the unicorn, stroking its soft mane gently, as the unicorn, to Malfoy's clear displeasure, cuddled up to Lily.
In that moment, she felt a wave of euphoria. The unicorn had recognised her as a girl! She felt so happy as she gave the unicorn a cuddle, which licked Lily's face happily. She didn't think anything would make her feel low after that.
As Lily turned another corner, she saw a series of vines ahead of her. She didn't even need to think; she recognised them immediately as Devil's Snare, especially since it had tried to kill her, Hermione, and Ron in their first year.
Thoughts of her friends ran through her head; would they be disappointed or ashamed if she didn't win? Would they hate her? She felt her emotions building up, but stopped as she wondered why she was feeling that way? It was then she noticed that she was standing in a black mist.
'The mist! It's doing something to my mind!" Lily realised, rushing forward to get out of it. The second she cleared it, she took deep breaths of fresh air, feeling the depressive thoughts leaving her mind.
'Wow, what was that?' Lily wondered, making a note to ask Moody later. Of course, she knew he'd know, and a part of her wondered if he'd put that in place. As she found herself at a four-way junction, she placed her wand on the palm of her hand and used a spell to guide her to the middle.
Following the path, Lily kept an eye on the area, wondering how long she had been going for. Had it been a few minutes, or longer? Time didn't seem to matter as she made her way through the path.
As she reached a new corridor, she froze. Ahead of her was a dementor, the creature letting out the deep moan it usually made.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Lily thought of reuniting with Ginny, of spending time with her, and with Ron, and Hermione, as she cast her Patronus, seeing the Silver Doe charge at the Dementor, which seemed to stumble…
"Wait, Dementor's don't stumble," Lily realised aloud. She angrily chided herself for thinking that Dumbledore would ever let a Dementor back onto the grounds of Hogwarts, even for the tournament.
"RIDDIKULUS!" Lily cried out. The Dementor changed form, a clown face appearing on the creature, before it burst into smoke, disappearing. Lily let out a sigh of relief before continuing.
As she moved deeper into the maze, she heard out a cry of anger and pain, and went racing round the corner. She was surprised to see Cedric on the ground, injured, and Krum battling Fleur, a red light connecting them. Lily looked at Krum, whose eyes were a pale white, a sight she recognised from her lessons. Without thinking, she reacted.
"STUPEFY!" A red light shot from her wand and struck Krum. She watched as Krum crumpled to the ground. Fleur turned to Lily, a grateful smile on her face.
"Are you okay, Fleur?" Lily asked. Fleur nodded, panting as she caught her breath.
"I never expected… eet is… Viktor, he…" Fleur tried to put the words together.
"I don't think it was his fault. Did you see his eyes?" Lily asked. Fleur shook her head. "I did, I remember the look from class. Someone's got him under the Imperius Curse."
"Are you sure?" Fleur asked, as she checked Cedric. Lily nodded.
"Moody put all of us under the curse at the start of term. He always said to look at the eyes," Lily replied, checking Krum. "Crouch, this has to be the work of Barty Crouch Jr."
"Zat makes sense," Fleur agreed, sending up red sparks. "Cedric is out for ze count, as you say."
"Should we wait for help or keep going?" Lily asked. Fleur thought for a moment.
"We keep going, but together. If zis Barty Crouch Jr. is here, zen we should not be apart, and staying put would be a bad idea," Fleur replied. Lily nodded in agreement.
The two of them left the area together, looking around as they did. "Merde, zis maze is awful. I felt so… cold, earlier, as though Hermione would leave me if I failed."
"I felt the same thing about Ginny. I've never heard of a despair mist, but the name sounds about right," Lily mused.
"Zat is an awful zing to have," Fleur commented.
"I thought there was a Dementor here, but it was a boggart. Who designed this maze, Moody?" Lily asked.
"I don't know, but I do not trust zat Moody," Fleur said. "Especially with zat eye of his, eet is creepy."
"How so?" Lily asked, grateful for being able to talk to Fleur as they kept going.
"I am irresistible to most men, no? Many would like to see more of me zan I allow, and zat eye can see anything," Fleur pointed out. Lily shuddered.
"You think Moody's a peeping tom?" Lily asked, feeling a cold chill go down her back.
"I do not know, zat is ze problem. Ever since I met him, I have not trusted him. I get a bad feeling every time I see him," Fleur replied. "I do not know why."
"I never really thought of that," Lily replied, as they turned a corner, and froze. Ahead of them was one of Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts, and it was massive.
"What is zat?" Fleur's eyes widened as she looked at it.
"Blast-Ended Skrewt. Thanks Hagrid, this thing's a bloody monster," Lily replied, gritting her teeth. "They shoot fire, so be careful."
"Ignis Frigidus," Fleur cried out, just as the Skrewt sent out a blast of fire. The flames engulfed the two of them briefly, but neither felt a thing.
"Impedimenta!" Lily cried out as she tried to stun the creature, before leaping out of the way, whilst Fleur did the same thing. They had both noticed the tail preparing for an attack. As Lily rolled out of the way, she cast the Impediment jinx again, as did Fleur. It bounced off its armour, which annoyed Lily.
"Lily, we need to attack ze belly of ze beast," Fleur insisted.
"Good idea," Lily agreed, seeing that the belly had no armour. They both leapt out of the way of another attack, and launched their attacks at the same time, striking the soft belly of the creature. With a roar, the Skrewt collapsed to the ground.
"Zat was close," Fleur said, taking a breath as the two of them carefully made their way around the Skrewt.
"No kidding," Lily agreed, looking back once before they kept going through the maze, keeping a close watch.
"You think we're not alone in here?" Fleur asked. Lily frowned.
"I'm definitely having a bad feeling," Lily replied. "I want to know how Crouch got to Krum."
"I suppose with all ze visitors, he could be disguised as anyone," Fleur suggested. Lily nodded.
"Makes sense, sadly," Lily agreed. "Soon as we get out of the maze, we'll warn everyone."
"Which way?" Fleur asked, as they reached a cross path. Lily held up her wand again, picking a path, with Fleur walking with her.
"I'll be glad when this is over," Lily said, with a small smile.
"As will I. I've already agreed to spend summer with Hermione, so I will try to get a job at Gringotts," Fleur said. Lily grinned.
"Speak to Bill, he works there, as a curse breaker," Lily suggested as they came to a crossway, but this time, there was a Sphynx sitting by the entrance.
"Er… hello?" Lily asked.
"Hello," the Sphynx replied. "I assume you wish to pass?"
"Yes please," Fleur confirmed. The Sphynx smiled at them.
"If you wish to pass, you must answer my puzzle. If you get it right, I shall allow you to pass. Get it wrong, and I shall attack. If you are unsure, you may walk away, unharmed," the Sphynx said.
"Okay, we'll hear the puzzle, please," Lily replied. The Sphynx, sitting on her hind legs, kept her smile on her face.
"First, think of the person who lives in disguise,
Who deals in secrets and tells naught by 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?"
Lily looked at the Sphynx, then at Fleur. "Okay, let's figure this out one piece at a time," she said. Fleur nodded.
"Someone who lives in disguise?" Fleur asked, frowning. "Dealing in secrets… I would say a spy, right?"
"Right, that makes sense," Lily agreed. "The last thing to mend… middle of middle… Wait, that's a word play pun, Uncle Sirius loves them, it's the letter D."
"And the sound often heard when thinking of a word, then string them together?" Fleur asked. They both looked at each other with a huge grin on their faces, and turned to the Sphynx, answering together at the same time.
"Spider!"
The Sphynx nodded, and stood up, stretching her front legs before moving aside.
"Brilliant Fleur, you were brilliant," Lily complimented.
"So were you Lily, don't think less of yourself," Fleur told her, as they kept going.
"Bit of an easy puzzle though, I'd have thought there'd be more of a challenge," Lily commented. Fleur nodded, but as they were about to go across another junction, Fleur pulled Lily back, just as a giant spider went racing past them/
"Right, silly me, open my mouth and get this," Lily said, as she and Fleur both struck the spider with the impediment curse. Both of their spells struck the same spot, with the spider falling down, unconscious. "
"Guess the answer then face one," Fleur muttered bitterly. "What next, a Banshee?"
"Oh, I hope not," Lily replied, smiling as they kept going. Lily grinned as she stopped, pointing ahead. In a clearing ahead of them was the Tri-Wizard cup!
As both girls approached the cup slowly, to ensure there were no traps, Lily let out a sigh of relief. "We made it," she said.
"We did indeed," Fleur agreed, hugging Lily. "Now, take ze cup. You deserve ze win."
"What? No, you take it. You saved Cedric, you saved me from that spider, and you've worked really hard throughout the tournament," Lily told her.
"Bah, no more zen you," Fleur replied, with a wave of her hand. "Lily, you have brought me friendship and happiness, and love. You have given me everything I thought I would have to wait years for. Please, take eet," Fleur insisted.
"Together," Lily replied. "It can be a joint victory."
Fleur looked at Lily and then at the cup, before facing Lily again. "Are you sure?"
"I never cared about winning, but I care about friendship. This way, we show everyone how united we are," Lily said. Fleur smiled at her.
"Okay, zat sounds good. Together, on three," Fleur said. Lily counted to three, and as she reached three, both girls grabbed the Tri-Wizard cup. The next thing Lily knew, she was being yanked upwards with Fleur, feeling sick as she did, leaving the maze behind them.
