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The roar of the massive crowd was almost deafening. Percy looked around at the towering Quidditch stands and found so many people packed into them that he knew there had to be more than just the students and staff of the three competing schools up there.
He could see magical beings of all ages excited children, cheering adults, and smiling old people. It really looked like the entire magical population of Britain was here today, cheering them all on.
As his eyes roamed around the sea of faces in the stands, Percy noticed a particular group of blondes cheering his name at the top of their lungs.
Percy smiled as he recognized the veela cheerleaders from Beauxbatons. They had made a giant, brightly colored banner, which they were waving enthusiastically.
It read, in big, bold letters, 'PERCY THE PUDDING!'The rather odd nickname on the banner drew many curious and confused looks towards them from the surrounding crowd.
Percy also noticed that all the men sitting near the veela cheerleaders were not drooling over the girls or acting like complete idiots, as they usually did.
They were just taking cautious, respectful glances from time to time.
Percy figured that the women were all probably wearing the special allure-blocking rings he had made for them.
He was glad to see that. He understood that just blending in and being treated like a normal person was a very... difficult thing for a veela to achieve.
The four champions finally stopped at the entrance to the maze. The giant, dark, and looming structure stood before them, its shadowy entrance seeming to promise danger.
A familiar feeling of nervous anticipation, mixed with a thrill of impending battle, ran through Percy's veins. He felt his inner senses tingle with readiness.
It was like he was back in the war again, his inner warrior, the part of him that was a demigod, itching for a good fight.
"Perzy... be zafe," Fleur whispered from beside him, her voice filled with a genuine, trembling concern.
Percy turned to her and looked at her beautiful, worried face. He smiled gently and lowered his own face, kissing her softly on the lips.
The veela cupped his face with her hands, deepening the kiss, pouring all her love and worry into it.
Percy could hear some of the men in the crowd let out appreciative wolf whistles at the sight.
So many people were cheering them on, not just as champions, but as a couple.
Slowly, reluctantly, the demigod broke the kiss and looked deep into her brilliant blue eyes. "I will be fine, Tweety bird," he promised her softly. "I love you."
Fleur smiled, a single tear escaping her eye and rolling down her cheek. "I love you too, my zea prince."
BOOM!
Percy grumbled under his breath, 'Stupid, bloody canon!' He let go of her hand, feeling her fingers twitch as she did so, clearly not wanting to let go just yet.
But the task had begun. He walked towards the dark entrance of the maze, swiftly drawing his wand out as the shadows of the tall hedges slowly enveloped him.
He walked into the maze, and as soon as he crossed the threshold, the loud cheering of the massive crowd completely died out. It was like he had suddenly stepped into another world, a silent, eerie dimension.
'Powerful silencing charms,' Percy realized immediately. 'They do not want people in the crowd helping us out by shouting out warnings or directions.'
The demigod sighed, the silence pressing in on him. 'Alright then, time to work for a living.' He knew he could not win this task, or rather, that he should not win.
But what he could do was clear out the path for Harry as much as possible, and, more importantly, make absolutely sure that nothing dangerous in here managed to kill Fleur.
He started to run like a madman, not even bothering to use any direction-finding spells to guide his way. He took a left turn, then a right, then another left, then a right again.
Soon, he did not even register which direction he was going anymore, just moving forward, deeper into the maze, letting his legs and his instincts take him where they would.
And then, he came across his first real task. A giant, dark pit filled with writhing black vines suddenly opened up in the path before him.
The vines immediately shot out and grabbed his legs, their thorny tendrils digging into his skin.
"Fucking hell!" Percy cursed, flicking his wand quickly. He mentally went through his library of spells, settling on the most effective one for this situation. "Incendio!"
The vines were immediately ablaze in moments, screeching as the fire consumed them.
They instantly let go of Percy's legs.
Percy smiled grimly and sent another powerful fireball down into the pit for good measure before quickly running around the pit of still-smoldering black thorns.
That was a creepy thing, he thought.
He quickly then found himself facing a part of the maze that was covered in a thick, heavy, disorienting mist.
Percy did not even have to stop running.
With a simple, sharp snap of his fingers, a bit of his nature-spirit power flaring, the mist vanished into nothing.
As it cleared, he found several glowing, booby-trapped runes hidden on the ground. It was a good thing he had not just blindly run into the mist without thinking.
For another minute or so, Percy ran around in what felt like circles.
Then, suddenly, he came upon a section of the maze that was completely, unnaturally covered in absolute darkness. It was incredibly creepy.
There was not a single sound, not even the sound of his own heavy footsteps on the grassy ground could be heard.
It was like... it was like he was floating in the dead of space. Just pure, silent darkness before him.
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If you want to read ahead by 20+ chapters you could take a visit on my patreon Or check it out.
http://patreon.com/SageOf016