Chapter 41: The third task
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER. IT BELONGS TO JK ROWLING.
A/N: Read, enjoy, and remember not to take either life or my writing too seriously.
Right after dinner, Harry and Hermione, along with the rest of the school, made their way down to the Quidditch pitch. Twenty-foot hedges were crisscrossing the field. As they started for the stands, Mad-Eye Moody came up and put his hand on Harry's shoulder, causing Harry to flinch.
"Well, Mister Potter," the DADA teacher started. "Ready to watch your friend?"
"Yeah I guess," Harry replied as tried to get away from the ex-Auror. The smell of Firewhisky had been permeating the classroom lately and it was lingering around Moody now.
"He's not as good as you," Moody continued. "Better stay close. You might have to go save him."
"He'll be fine," Harry replied and finally managed to pull free before hurrying on with Hermione. If the two of them had looked back, they would have seen Professor Moody carefully holding a single black hair between his fingers.
'In case I need plan B,' the polyjuiced impostor thought as he took out a small glass vial and put the hair into it.
As Harry and Hermione found the best seats they could, they realized the stadium seats were only twenty feet high as well. So, standing they could actually see over the hedges but couldn't see anything going on in the maze.
Hermione quickly grasp the meaning of the hedges. "It's going to be a maze!" She exclaimed. "So if all they have to do is run through the hedges, then maybe Ron will be alright," At that moment, a sound they both recognized as a blast-ended skrewt propelling itself came from inside the maze, followed by a roar from some other unidentified creature. Hermione looked nervously at Harry. "Or maybe not."
"Is there anything we can do to help him?" Harry asked.
Hermione's bottom lip disappeared into her mouth and it was all Harry could do not to entice the lip back out with a few nibbles and kisses. A look of inspiration passed over her face and she dug into her bag. "I think I still have it with me," she muttered and, after a few seconds, she pulled out the ragged parchment Ron had signed all those months ago. She looked around to make sure no one was looking and, after canceling the previous overlapping jinx, she mutter a few words and waved her wand over the parchment.
"What did you do?" Harry asked.
"I set the spell up to switch the air to a place about twenty feet in front of him. It'll last the next two hours," Hermione explained. "I thought that if he comes across something that threatens him, he might be jealous of us being safe and, well…" She shrugged. "I can't think of anything else that might help him."
Harry wondered what would happen to a dementor if it had to cross into such a barrier. 'It might be an interesting experiment at some point in time,' Harry thought. With his school grades almost equaling his girlfriend's now, he found himself thinking theoretically on occasion, willing to explore new ideas. That willingness had caused many great hours between Harry and Hermione in the Room of Requirements.
"I hope this doesn't take long," Hermione said.
Harry agreed. His mind was quickly leaving the Triwizard Tournament and returning to the Room of Requirements. Hermione had earlier shown him page eighty-seven of the book and he still wasn't quite sure how that particular position was possible, but he was really interested in finding out.
Hermione was still looking out over the maze. "So once again, we wait for who knows how long and still not be able to see anything? Who in Merlin's name came up with these events?"
"Ministry, I do believe."
Hermione put her hand to her head. "I was thinking of going to work there when I graduated," She said with a sigh. "But if people like Percy Weasley and whoever the idiot was who thought up these events work there, I'll find employment elsewhere. I'd probably end up killing too many stupid people."
"Something similar for me. Moody thought I'd be a good Auror," Harry said, looking at his beautiful girlfriend. "But if he's supposed to be one of the better ones, then I don't think that's for me. I mean, I don't want to end up looking like him in thirty or forty years. Not something to put on a job recruitment poster, is it?"
Hermione laughed. "I agree."
The four champions followed Ludo Bagman down from the Great Hall. Fleur, Cedric and Krum were all walking together and, several paces behind, was Ron Weasley.
"So guys, party tonight?" Ron asked. "Veela, I had a house elf put some butterbeer on ice for us. Krum…" the rest ended as a silencing hex came from Fleur's wand. It didn't seem like Ron noticed as he continued to talk but said nothing. Cedric and Krum smiled at the Beauxbatons champion and mouthed a quick "Thanks!" Shortly, they were standing on the Quidditch field and in front of them was a large gap in the hedges. Obviously, they were at the entry to the maze. As the day gave way to dusk, the first stars started to appear in the sky. The sounds of hundreds of feet filled the air as the students walked to the stands. Hagrid, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium with Professor Moody limping quickly to catch up. They all approached Bagman and the champions. Each of them was 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?"
Cedric, Krum and Fleur nodded while Ron thought, 'Of course they need to know that.'
"Off you go, then!" Said Bagman jovially to the four patrollers. McGonagall looked at Ron and wondered if this would be the last time she would see him alive.
She was unnerved by herself when she realized that she really didn't care. Then the four of them walked away in different directions to station themselves around the maze. One the professors were out of range, Bagman pointed his wand at his throat and muttered, "Sonorus." His magically magnified voice echoed into the stands as he started the commentary.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the third, er… well second… anyway, the final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you of the current standings! In first place is the Beauxbatons champion, Fleur Delacour after her - uh – impressive display against her dragon," The contingent of blue-robed Beauxbatons erupted in cheering, something that hadn't happened in the first event. Fleur turned and gave a warm smile and a wave to her schoolmates. 'It's nice to have friends,' she thought.
In his private seat, Cornelius Fudge thought of that first event and how much the Ministry had to pay for the death of the dragon. He thought about the bill for the decontamination of Black Lake, as well. The whole tournament was well over the budget allocated.
Ludo continued through the cheering. "In second place from here at Hogwarts, is Cedric D..."
"THAT'S MY SON!" Rang out from the stands and Cedric rolled his eyes at his father's comments.
"Er… in second place is Cedric Diggory," Bagman said quickly so as not to be interrupted again. All of the stands erupted in cheering with the yellow and black-robed students especially loud.
Ludo smiled as he gave a glance at the young man before continuing. "Followed closely behind Mister Diggory is the Durmstrang champion, Victor Krum!" The Durmstrang contingent erupted in cheering and stomping of their feet, but piercing every other noise was a load roar from a strange looking animal on a hat being worn by a blonde-haired girl with dreamy eyes.
The roar was so loud, birds scattered from the Forbidden Forest. Krum knew his Luna was under that hat and he turned and smiled at his girlfriend.
Luna wasn't afraid for her boyfriend, nor was Cho for Cedric. They knew what the three older champions had planned.
After the roar reverberations had quieted down, Ludo was able to continue the introductions. "Currently in last place, but not out of the... er... well, he still has a chance is…" Ludo Bagman started patting down his pockets until he found a parchment which he read from, "Ronald Weasley, also from here at Hogwarts."
"THAT'S MY RONNIKINS!" The shrill voice of Molly Weasley pierced the air, but outside of a couple of cheers from the Creevey brothers and Bill, no other sounds were heard. Harry was very busy at the moment keeping Hermione's lips warmed, even if it was almost the end of June.
"Yes, well, let's get this started," Ludo said. "So... on my whistle, Miss Delacour. Three - two - one!" He gave a short blast on his whistle.
Fleur looked over at Cedric and Krum and winked. She walked to the edge of the entry and, with a wave of her wand; she conjured a chair and sat down and cross her legs.
Ludo Bagman looked confused. This wasn't how it was supposed to work. "Uh… young lady, you're supposed to go into the maze and, you know…er... find the cup."
"Oui, I know," Fleur said and looked away.
'She's scared! She's too scared to go in. I'll have to comfort her later after I win,' Ron thought. 'Just shows a girl should never have been selected as a champion.'
A minute passed with everyone in the stands and judges table staring at Fleur and she still had not left her chair. Bagman finally said, "Mister Diggory… it's your turn. Three-two-one!" And he gave another short blast on his whistle.
Repeating exactly what Fleur did, Cedric walked over to the entry of the maze and conjured a chair and sat down beside the Beauxbatons champion, who turned and smiled at him.
Crickets could be heard in the silence that surrounded the maze. An occasional noise came from the maze, but not a single student, judge or guest made a sound. Ludo was ready to pull his hair out of his head. He had a considerable bet on Cedric to get to the cup first.
"Uh... Mister Diggory?" Ludo nodded toward the opening. "The objective is to be the first to the cup."
"I know," Cedric replied, and then he turned and smiled at Fleur again and relaxed in his chair.
'Him, too? Well, he is a Hufflepuff, so what do you expect? Bunch of losers, they are,' Ron thought. 'He better keep his hands off my Veela while I'm in there!"
A couple of minutes later, Krum repeated the same thing. Soon, all three older participants were relaxing in front of the maze.
"Clitter Clitter!" The Crickets were getting to be exceptionally loud. Even Rita Skeeter's Quick-Quote Quill was confused and had started quoting the crickets.
'VICTOR KRUM is a coward? Never would have seen that coming,' Ron thought, but then he smiled. He could already feel the weight of a thousand galleons in his money pouch. Then a worried thought passed his mind.
'Will a thousand galleons even fit in my bag? If not, I guess I'll have to buy a new bag.' He thought of the looks of awe that Harry and Hermione, not to mention the whole school, would have on their faces when he emerged from the maze holding the Triwizard cup.
He thought how jealous they would be of him as he hoisted the cup over his head right after shaking the Minister of Magic's hand. He started mentally going through all the things he would be buying starting the next day. 'A Firebolt, new clothes, season tickets to the Cannons…'
Ron was shaken from his thoughts by the magically enhanced voice of Ludo Bagman. "Well, it's time for our… uh… fourth champion to enter the maze!" He pulled out his parchment again and read it quickly. "Uh… Mister Weasley, if you will, please? Three-two-one!" He again blew on his whistle and waited to see if this champion was going to enter the maze.
Ron took off immediately. Passing the other three champions who smiled at him as he went by, he quickly disappeared into the maze. Fleur, Krum and Cedric looked at each other and continued to wait. The one thing Ron and the other champions had forgotten about was the silencing hex that Fleur had cast on him.
Ron ran down between the hedges for about fifty yards until there was a fork. 'I'll go right, because I'm always right,' Ron thought simply. He ran another thirty yards and turned a corner and stopped dead in his tracks. Silent screams erupted from his throat as he tried to cast hex after hex. Jabbing his wand at the horrible sight in front of him, he backed into a corner in terror.
The small garden spider that was a few feet in front of him was just standing in the path, minding its own business. It had no clue that the big thing that had just appeared was even alive, much less trying to kill it.
The other three champions finally stood from their chairs.
FLASHBACK!
Fleur, Michelle, Cedric, Cho, Krum and Luna were all sitting around the large oak tree near Black Lake discussing the third task.
"Anyone know what kind of animals zis 'Argrid might put in ze maze?" Fleur asked.
"He has something called a blast-ended skrewt, which is a poisonous, stingered creature that propels itself by explosions from its backside," Cedric explained. "There are also rumors of acromantula."
"Madam Maxime zinks zere might be boggarts as well. She also 'eard about some dangerous plants inside ze 'edges."
"What about you, Victor?" Cedric asked. "Have you heard anything?"
Krum was deep in thought, but Luna's hand on his leg brought him around. He turned to the group and said, "This is going to be on a Quidditch pitch, yes?"
"Yes."
"Then vy fight these creatures? There is much simpler vay."
"What do you mean?"
"Vell, on a Quidditch pitch, vat do you normally do?"
"Fl…" Cedric started, and then his and Fleur's eyes widened.
"So we don't need to go through the maze, we just need to go over it," Cedric said. "Is there a rule against doing that?"
"Zat Ludo didn't mention any such rule. 'E basically said ze first person to touch ze cup, wins."
Cedric looked at Krum. "I'm sure you're going to get there the fastest. You're the best seeker in the world."
"Fleur vill. She vill have a head start by a couple of minutes," Krum answered.
Fleur looked at him. "Zen why mention eet? Ze cup could 'ave been yours. I wouldn't 'ave zought to use a broom?"
Victor looked at Luna and smiled. "I've learned this year that some things are more important than vinning."
Fleur thought about that answer and looked around at what she now called her friends and made the suggestion they were all beginning to consider. "Togezer. We all go togezer and touch ze trophy at ze same time."
"Are you sure?" Cedric asked. He would have expected something like this if he was competing against Harry Potter maybe, but here were representatives from two other schools.
"Zis is all about friendship and cooperation ees eet not?" Fleur asked. "Let's show ze world what eet means to cooperate."
The three champions all nodded to each other and all said, "Together."
"Vat about the fourth?" Krum asked, looking especially at Cedric.
"If it was still Harry Potter, I'd have him join us. Actually, I think if it was him, he would have suggested it to start with," Cedric said with a fond smile. "You know he even warned me about the dragons?" He looked at his other co-champions. "But I can't bring myself to offer the same invitation to Weasley. I swear he's thicker than a stone."
"Now Cedric," Luna said dreamily, "I happen to have a lot of stones who are my friends. You don't have to insult them like that."
Fleur and Krum both agreed with Cedric and Luna while Michelle giggled at their littlest friend's antics.
Fleur laughed a small laugh at the thought of the redheaded champion. "If eet wasn't for 'im zough, I doubt I would 'ave done so well against my dragon. Ze only reason I was a Veela was because 'e slapped my derrière."
Krum looked over at Luna as something suddenly clicked. "Your weasel you were hiding from?"
Luna nodded.
"Vell, I guess if it wasn't for him, I vouldn't have met Luna then."
"It was something he said that gave me the clue to solving the egg," Cedric chimed in. "Though, I admit I'm still hoping to have that obliviated from my mind someday soon."
"So should we let 'im join us?"
"NO!" Everyone in the group yelled at once.
"But," Cedric said with gleam in his eye. "We should give him his chance to go in the maze. It's only right."
"What if 'e zinks to use a broom?" Fleur asked.
The laughter that question brought on lasted a long, long time. The possibility of Ronald Weasley thinking.
End Flashback
When the three other champions rose from their seats, the stands erupted in cheers. Deep in the maze, Ron Weasley couldn't hear anything.
"Accio broom," Fleur yelled.
"Accio broom," Krum yelled.
"Accio broom," Cedric yelled.
Each of the champions had positioned their brooms near the Beauxbatons carriage. It didn't take long for three brooms to come screaming onto pitch and stop at each of their sides.
Ten seconds later, the three champions were flying above the maze and could easily see the cup ahead of them. They also saw something that looked like a sphinx, an acromantula and several other very dangerous creatures. They quickly landed in the clearing next to the table with the cup. Each put their hand near the cup and Fleur and Krum nodded at Cedric.
"On three." Cedric said. "One… two… three!" All three hands touched the cup simultaneously and each felt the tug behind their navel as they were pulled away.
A second later, the three of them landed outside the maze next to a startled Bagman.
Ludo Bagman looked stunned. With his voice still magically magnified, he said, "We have our, uh... champion… I mean… champions! Uh… well… it looks we have a three-way tie."
Silence. Crickets could be heard again. The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, came storming over.
"WHO thought up this ridiculous event? I thought they were going to be fighting creatures and monsters! Do you know how much paperwork I did to get that sphinx in here? How much the Ministry paid for all of this?" He screeched, waving his arms around.
"And all they had to do was fly over the maze?" He looked at his watch, "Once they started, it took less than a minute."
"Well… you see…" Bagman started as he scratched his head, looking nervous. He was the one who had thought up the three events, but all the bludgers to his head had caused severe brain damage over the years. When he looked up, he saw the goblins he had placed the bet with start toward him. Bagman turned and ran.
Less than a month later, Ludo Bagman was working alongside Lucius Malfoy inside the tunnels below Greenland. His demise was much less pleasant than that of his coworker.
A year later, the goblins were positioning a dragon to guard the high security vaults. On that particular day, Bagman was on dragon dung duty. Unfortunately, he started cleaning before the dragon was done emptying its bowels. Bagman found himself buried in a ton of dragon dung and, when the other workers tried to dig him out, the goblins prevented it.
As they pointed out, the dragon dung was much more valuable than Bagman, and constant digging into it with the wrong equipment would reduce its value. It was a week later when his body was finally uncovered.
Lucius had been penalized an extra year of work for attempting the same fate for himself.
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