Chapter 20: The Second Task, part 1
Thursday, February 23rd, 1995
Black Lake, sunset
Harry stared at the dark water of the lake, standing on the dock, wearing his winter robes, socks, trousers and shoes. He'd thought about putting on swimming trunks or a wet suit, but figured he'd try his hand at transfiguration instead. He shivered as he watched his breath condense into mist in the frigid evening air. The sun was just about to set, and it was cold out.
Cedric, Viktor and Fleur were standing with him, each wearing their robes, and none of them looked comfortable or thrilled about going for a swim at night.
He looked back at the stands packed with spectators; in front of them were four large whiteboards, each he reckoned was about 15 feet high and 20 feet wide, each mounted on stands that held them nearly 10 feet off the ground. The stands were by the lakeside, but close enough to the spectators that even those sitting in the back would have a clear view of them.
Bagman then strolled up to them, grinning, holding four goggles.
"Alright, Champions! Your next task awaits. Here." He then held out his hand for them to take the goggles. Cautiously, Harry took one pair, wondering how they would fit over his glasses and how he would keep those on while swimming through the lake.
As soon as his goggles were in place over his glasses, he saw one of the screens suddenly come to life with an image of the screens themselves, with his name in bold capital letters across the top. The other three soon activated, showing the stands, Bagman, and themselves.
"Huh, nice," Cedric said. Harry nodded. Despite himself, he was impressed.
"They are, aren't they? These goggles will allow the spectators to see what each of you is looking at as long as you wear them. But they don't transmit sound." Bagman replied, grinning. He tried to make a flirtatious gesture at Fleur, but it just made him look utterly ridiculous, and the Veela rolled her eyes in disgust.
Bagman then turned to face the stands and cast a Sonorous on himself.
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen! The Second Task is about to begin! Our Champions each have until sunset tomorrow to find their way back here to the lake, collect their prize, and then return here. These screens are tied to the goggles each Champion will be wearing, allowing us to see what each of them sees."
"Wait, what?!" Harry said, looking up at Bagman, who turned to him. "24 hours!? What are we supposed to do for food? We didn't bring any supplies!"
"The lake is the second part; for the first part, you will be transported to separate locations, each an equal distance from your chosen objective at the bottom of the lake. You have until—" Bagman checked his watch "— tomorrow sunset to bring them back, which, if I'm right, should be about 5:45 pm. And as for not having any supplies ready, that's the point. The first Task tested ingenuity and how quickly you could adapt to a changing situation. This Task is a test of your endurance and survival skills. You want food, you'll have to forage or hunt for it."
Harry blinked, checking his watch. 5:40 p.m. meant he had roughly 24 hours to reach the bottom of the lake, find all his hostages, and return them all to the dock.
"But…I am not dressed for zis!" Fleur protested, wrapping her arms around herself in her blue school robes. "All I am wearing under zese robes ez a bathing suit! I am not dressed for traipsing zrough a forest at night!" Fleur protested harshly, glaring at Bagman, then the Judges.
"What about Harry's, uh—" Cedric asked, momentarily flashing Harry an apologetic look "…condition?"
"I'm sure he'll be fine," Bagman said, waving him off. "Now then, in case you guys haven't figured out the clues in your eggs yet, here it is."
He placed a small crystal ball in a cradle on the table before them and tapped it with his wand. A ghostly female form rose from it. Not quite human, its eyes looked far too big for its head, its face a little too round, and if Harry wasn't mistaken, he saw gills on its neck.
Next to him, Fleur let out a low hissing growl. He looked at her, briefly caught off guard by the look of hatred and loathing that marred her beautiful features. He decided then and there that he never wanted to be on the receiving end of that look.
Then the apparition started to speak.
"Champions of heart and skill
Visit our realm if dare you will
Hear yee the cadence of our song
But time passes, tarry not long
Trusted with a treasure are we
Whose loss to you would painful be
Lament you would, and cry and pine
For what was yours is now all mine
Sunset is the appointed hour
To return to the castle tower
For what we have we always hold
Ends now this does our story told"
The four Champions exchanged looks. Fleur let out a snarling hiss as she mumbled to herself, then her face twisted into an expression of worry, then horror, then fury. She turned and glared at Madame Maxime and the judges, who stared back at her with neutral expressions.
"Quelque chose qui me manquerait sûrement… non…NON! Tu ne l'as pas fiat! Dis-moi que tu ne l'as pas fait! Tu n'oserais pas!"
Harry and Cedric were caught off guard by the heated glare Fleur was still giving the now dim crystal ball.
Next to him, Viktor scowled, "Kakvó? Kópele!" he snarled.
Harry had no idea what either had said, but judging by the Durmstrang Champion's expression, it hadn't been pleasant. Fleur looked positively hostile. He wondered if she'd figured out the clue already. Or maybe she wondered how she'd manage a full 24 hours roughing it.
"As Ludovic said, this Task is a test of your endurance and survival skills, Mister Diggory. Roughing it for a change, you'll have to hunt or forage for food." Crouch rasped, "And let me take this opportunity to remind you all, brooms are not permitted, and Apparition is, of course, not possible within the perimeter of the school grounds, which includes the lake. While the Castle's Anti-Apparition wards don't extend over the forest, short-range Anti-Apparition charms have been added to the goggles you're now wearing, with a range of about six feet. If you take them off, and we see you Disapparate at the edge of the lake, or approach the lake without them, you will be penalised heavily in points."
Karkaroff stepped forward, his stern gaze fixing on Viktor, who matched his hard look. "Your broom, Viktor."
Viktor cursed again, muttered something in Bulgarian, then reached up and pulled a small pendant out of his pocket that Harry realised was a shrunken Firebolt. For a moment, Harry felt a pang of loss as he still hadn't been able to replace his own broom, not that it mattered with Quidditch being suspended for the whole year.
"Now, these Portkeys will transport you to your starting locations. Get ready!" Bagman said, a table upon which was an old shoe for each of them.
As soon as Harry touched the shoe, he felt the tug behind his navel, a sensation he remembered from the World Cup, and let out a yelp as he was whisked away.
-=-=-=-
Harry landed in a heap with a grunt, the air knocked out of him. Pain shot through him. His ribs ached as he took a few painful breaths, tears briefly filling his eyes.
"Ugh…" he groaned. "I hate Portkey travel…" he whined to no one.
After a few minutes, he unsteadily got to his feet, taking a moment to survey his surroundings. He was in a round room that looked like it had been lived in once, long ago. There were still a couple of brooms sweeping the floor, but their bristles were so aged that they looked like they'd break with the first gust of wind to hit them. The stairs to the upper levels looked rickety and unstable; he didn't fancy trying his luck. The last thing he wanted was to break a leg out here. Wherever 'here' was.
In the center of the room was a large ornate statue of a wizard he did not recognise.
He turned and regarded the large door. Walking towards it, he pressed against it, but it didn't move. Raising his wand, he focused. The pain in his ribs was now a dull ache; they seemed to have been spared from being broken.
"Alohamora!"
The door shook, but besides that, nothing happened. 'Must be sealed from the other side, not getting out that way.' He knew he could always try Bombarda and blow the door out of its frame, but the building looked ready to collapse. He didn't want to bring it down on his head without knowing if this door led to the outside.
"Revelio!" Harry closed his eyes as his awareness was filled with the tower's interior. At the top of the stairs was a landing and a large magical portrait, though it didn't seem occupied. The roof was breached; he probably could have just flown out if he'd had his broom. The spell also told him the building's structural integrity wasn't great.
Then something pinged behind him, and he turned. His gaze fell on the stone wall. It didn't seem out of place. He cast the revealing charm a second time, and his senses told him that there was a hidden door in front of him, but there was a ward keeping it locked, though the focus of the ward seemed to be on the floor. Cautiously, as Mad-Eye had drilled into him over the past three months, particularly January, Harry approached the spot.
As he got closer, his senses flared, and the floor suddenly seemed to ripple around him. He could sense and see strange magic trails flowing up from the floor at his feet, swirling around him like a whirlwind. It flowed out of the ground like billowing smoke, and his senses alighted with awareness as currents of magic surged through him, causing a tingling sensation to spread through his skin, muscles, and bones. It felt…weird, but not dangerous.
Harry reached down, almost without thinking, and pressed the tip of his wand into the centre of the swirling strands of energy pulsing at his feet. He suddenly felt a pull on his wand, as if whatever he was standing in was trying to pull his wand out of his hand. Gripping it tightly, he pulled his arm up and out, standing up, feeling the pull on his wand snap with a rush of air and magic as he stood tall. The strange anomaly vanished. He looked around, spying the now-open doorway that had been a solid wall a few seconds earlier.
"No other way out. Once more unto the breach." He muttered.
After he stepped through the door, it closed behind him.
Above, in the large wall painting, a figure with a long beard, an old but kind face, a tri-corner hat, and black robes stepped into the canvas.
"Hello? Is someone here? I thought I heard something."
Percival Rackham, former Hogwarts Professor and Seer, paused as he tapped into the wards in his friend's former home. His eyes then snapped open wide with alarm. "No…"
The doorway had been unlocked, someone had just gone through, but they hadn't come in through the door. Had they Apparated in? Portkeyed? He couldn't tell who it was, but the fact that they had even accessed the hidden section under the tower concerned him greatly.
The others had to be informed.
-=-=-
Harry stared in wide-eyed wonder at the huge chamber the ornate doors revealed. He wondered about the strange sigil embossed on the door for a moment. It had looked like an egg surrounded by a stylised flame. As he looked around the large chamber he was entering, he could see that symbol replicated in the hanging torches and various fixtures.
Clearly, the symbol held significance, but he had no idea what it meant. It was everywhere, in various motifs, sculpted as lanterns that burned with blue magical fire.
Noting the two flights of curved stairs before him, he headed down one. Ahead was a corridor, at the end of which he could see another doorway, and as he ran towards it, he noticed there was another in the distance, as well as what appeared to be part of a bridge, like the one he stood on, but there seemed to be no way to reach it from where he stood.
"Okay, how to get across…" he muttered.
The cavern was huge. Moving to the railing, he looked over the edge and tried to look down to the floor, but couldn't see anything. He thought that if he fell down there, that would be it, unless Dobby somehow heard him calling, but he doubted it. If this was part of the Task, and he assumed it was, then the elves were likely ordered to ignore any calls they heard.
He turned, noticing the stairs on either side of a column. Heading down them, he quickly stopped when he saw the air swirl just above a patch of floor in front of him, just like the anomaly he'd used to open the doorway.
Cautiously, he stepped into it, and once again, he was surrounded by swirling strands of magic as the floor rippled at his feet.
'Gonna have to talk to Hermione about these.' Not for the first time, he found himself wishing that unconsciousness didn't 'mute' the connection of their Bond.
Reaching down, he touched it with his wand, shuddering as the magic once again washed over him. He pulled his wand up and out, triggering the anomaly. Harry blinked to clear his vision and turned, stopping when he noticed the bridge that now connected the arch at the top of the stairs to the one he'd seen in the wall.
"Huh, that's…interesting. If this is part of the Second Task, I don't want to know what the third involves." He said to no one. Turning, he headed back up the stairs and crossed the bridge.
When he reached the other side, he noticed the long, segmented path in front of him. As he approached its end, it lowered itself on a gentle gradient. It stopped when it reached a new level, and he entered another large room with several more carved symbols, stairs, and something else.
Armed statues. Three of them.
"Got a bad feeling about this." He muttered, his seeker instincts warning him of danger.
'Constant Vigilance, as Mad-Eye says,' he thought.
Something piqued his senses, and as he approached the stairs leading up to where the armed and very dangerous-looking statues were located, that strange anomaly appeared again, but this time, he didn't hesitate. He jabbed it with his wand, then pulled up, seemingly 'activating' it. Then he looked around to see what had changed.
Unsure what had changed, Harry noticed the glowing arch he'd come through. Curiously, he walked back to it and stepped through, surprised to see that the bridge he'd just come across was gone, and the doorway now opened into a passageway that led off to his right. Turning, he cautiously started to explore.
He quickly spied a doorway that opened into a large chamber that contained a bridge, and on the far end was a large statue standing in front of some sort of carved relief. Harry's eyes narrowed as he slowly crossed the bridge. As soon as his feet touched the platform, the statue started to move. It stood from the pose it had held, raised its rather nasty-looking mace, and slowly started to march towards him. Then he noticed the other two, smaller statues to either side, also closing in.
The hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end, and he threw himself to the right just as a very sharp and deadly-looking weapon swung through where his head had just been. He looked up from kneeling on the floor, noticing the animated statue that was even then pulling back, readying for another swing, the other two were also now moving.
'So that's how it's gonna be, huh? Ambush? Fine!'
"DIPULSO!" he yelled, jabbing his wand at the statue. With a bang, it was thrown back off its feet, weapon sent flying. With a crash, it collided with the wall it had previously stood before, but he was already changing his focus to the other two.
"Protego!"
A swing from one of the other two statues was blocked, and a quick Bombarda blew it to pieces. Harry was somewhat amazed that his spells were so strong, then he remembered he'd been performing a power-boosting ritual every time he ate out one of the girls. Though the effects of that were not cumulative, they didn't 'stack', so he couldn't continually increase the strength of his magic with each performance.
They hadn't yet worked out how much stronger his magic was, but Hermione had estimated that, on average, his offensive spells were now at least 50% stronger than what would be normal for Harry, at most, 100% more than what would be 'normal'. Since that day he'd accidentally almost hit Flitwick with his own desk with an overpowered Dipulso, he'd always held back some of his magic when casting. Now, he wasn't.
Assuming, of course, he made it out of this mess and back to the lake to rescue his partners.
He then turned to the third statue, the now closest, and hit it with an Arresto Momentum, slowing its movement considerably, but not stopping it. Another movement caught his eye, and he turned to see the larger of the two remaining constructs getting to its feet. A few quick Bombarda spells shattered its weapon, then one of its legs, the final one struck its torso, causing it to fall and shatter into fragments.
That left the last one, which was still moving relatively slowly but speeding up.
Then an idea occurred to him, and he grinned.
"Sectumsempra!"
The weapon the suit held, a mace if he was right, was suddenly sliced in half by the white curse. The statue paused, as if unsure of what to do. For a moment, Harry wondered what would have happened had he disarmed either of the other two, would they have stopped, or would they have retrieved their weapons? Then he remembered, with a mental eye-roll, the one he'd knocked back against the wall had been disarmed, and yet, when he'd seen it the next time he looked at it, its weapon was held securely in its hands.
'So, they're charmed to summon their weapons if they're disarmed magically. Noted.'
And yet, the cutting curse he'd found in that potions book, the same one he and the girls had agreed not to use on living people unless absolutely necessary, seemed to override that charm. Still, he wasn't going to leave this thing standing. These things had just tried to kill him, and things trying to kill him tended to piss him off.
"Bombarda!"
A shower of energy, sparks and charred debris was soon all that remained of the last statue.
With the last armour now reduced to rubble, he was about to turn away when he noticed something odd. All the piles of rubble were glowing with a strange bluish-white light. As he approached, he reached down and poked the first pile with his wand, and suddenly the glow vanished. He felt something enter his wand, his hand, then his arm and finally his spine.
He stumbled back, gasping at the tingling sensation going through him. It was like Pepperup potion, but more intense. He felt magically rejuvenated, and yet, somehow, he got the feeling that what he'd just touched, or absorbed, was something he was meant to use sparingly. "Huh, what are you then? Some form of magic, but none I've seen before." Turning to the other two piles of rubble, noticed the same strange energy, which he quickly absorbed with a poke of either his wand or hand.
Then, once he was done, he turned away from the three piles of inert rubble and headed around the carved relief, noting the oddly carved columns which seemed to resemble the strange symbol he'd seen here. He kept moving, hoping he wouldn't run into any more of those statues, but knowing his luck, he'd have to fight an army of them to get out.
In the next large room, he noticed it had two levels and a floating platform.
There was a large column in the middle of the room, and several panels in the walls with rings embedded in small plates. It didn't take Harry long to figure out what he needed to do.
Summoning the platform with an Accio, he climbed onto it and looked around. Quickly casting a second Accio on one of the other rings, he braced himself as he felt the platform beneath his feet move slightly, and then the world around him started to move.
"Huh, okay, that's impressive," he muttered. It reminded him of Hogwarts's moving stairs; except he had complete control.
There also seemed to be several chests dotted around the room. Harry carefully checked each one. Most of the pieces of clothing that didn't fit him, and he felt he didn't need them. There were a few potion vials in them as well.
Wiggenweld potion. Healing potions.
Deciding to explore the chamber a bit more, he found several potion vials, containing a gold liquid he recognised as Edurus potion from Sharp's first lesson at the start of the new year.
"I hope these vials are unbreakable and have been under a stasis charm." Unfortunately, he could not know if the potions had expired or how long they'd even been in these chests. After more exploration on the other side of the room, Harry came across another of the strange anomalies. When he 'activated' it, he noticed the room had changed. Gone was the floor-to-ceiling column; in its place was a rectangular tower that was level with the floating platform. At the centre of which was a large chest.
His curiosity piqued, Harry manoeuvred the platform to the new rectangular pillar and approached the crate cautiously, again finding it unlocked. Opening it with a flick of his wand, he looked in and whistled.
Inside was an ornate sword, a little bigger than the sword of Gryffindor, the blade a little thicker. There was also a satchel, which he discovered had a magically expanded interior. He quickly slipped it on and gently lifted the sword, grunting slightly at its weight. The handle was so long that he needed both hands to lift it fully. It almost looked like one of the swords those damn statues had used.
"Might be worth keeping; if nothing else, I can claim it as a spoil of the task." He muttered before looking at the box and noticing a smaller wooden box. Lifting it out, he gently opened it, revealing more potions. These were purple in colour. He could faintly make out what was written on them. Thunderbrew.
"What the bloody hell is Thunderbrew? We haven't covered that yet. Knowing my luck, it's a NEWT level potion."
Stashing all his finds in the satchel, he returned to the hovering platform. "Alright, Potter, time to leave."
Manoeuvring the platform back to the level where he'd activated the anomaly, he paused, turned and eyed the mysterious archway. Curiously, he walked through it, feeling his ears pop as he felt the air pressure change, and that same strange tingling feeling he'd felt from touching both the anomalies and the remains of the statues now caused over his whole body, as if he'd just stepped through a waterfall of the stuff.
Taking a second to adjust, he looked around. He was in a small enclosed room, with a couple of chests containing more potions, but he could have sworn the path behind the arch led down some stairs to another section.
He quickly exited the small chamber and stepped back out into the larger one, then hopped back onto the platform and looked behind the arch. The path continued down a flight of stairs into another large area. Moving the platform, he stepped off and looked through the arch from the other side, but saw only the pathway leading up to it. No hint of the smaller room he'd just been in.
"Huh, some sort of pocket dimension?" he mused, before deciding to continue.
Eventually, he found his way into another room down some stairs, where he spotted more armour constructs.
Thankfully, he made quick work of them. If this were the worst this place had to throw at him, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad. He was getting the distinct impression that this task, or at least this section, wasn't meant for someone who either knew Sectumsempra or had his sort of power-boost, if it was even part of the task.
Making his way across the room, Harry ran up the stairs and along the catwalk until he noticed another floating platform, with something shimmering above it, which was starting to look familiar.
Summoning the platform, he stepped onto it, activated the anomaly, and looked around, doing a double-take as he saw the bridge now spanning the room.
'Okay, this anomaly stuff is getting weird. Some seriously impressive magic going on here.'
Heading down to ground level, he noticed another shimmering archway and cautiously stepped through it. Much to his surprise, he looked back and saw that the bridge was now gone. There was only one way out of the room that he could see, and after some experimentation and what felt like nearly an hour of trial and error, he eventually figured it out.
With an exhausted sigh, he stepped off the floating platform onto the level he assumed would take him to the next stage. He descended a flight of stairs, noticing another chest in an alcove to his right. He opened it and found another Edurus potion. Then he looked to his left and saw another flight of stairs that seemed to flow up and down as he approached.
At the bottom of the stairs, he found another room, with several hanging carved light fixtures and a carved statue, all resembling the anomaly he'd seen. Seven more statues came to life as soon as he stepped off the stairs. Two were larger than the other five and slower-moving. One clutched a sword like the one he'd found; another held a long axe-looking weapon. The other five human-sized statues held an assortment of melee weapons.
Reacting quickly, he fired off a Sectumsempra but was surprised when the sword-wielder he aimed at angled its blade and deflected the shot into the distance. He fired a second at the axe wielder, but it side-stepped.
"What the hell?" he muttered as he moved away from them, putting distance between him and his opponents, just as one of the statues seemed to leap forward and thrust its weapon out, barely missing him as he dived to avoid what would have been a head-smashing strike.
Another crouched, then jumped.
Harry's eyes went wide as he tracked its ascent, almost 30 feet up, before it descended right towards him.
"Shite!" he yelled as he rolled, the impact of the statue hitting the ground, weapon first, rattling his bones.
'These things can bloody JUMP?!'
Suddenly realising just how much danger he was actually in, Harry quickly stood and levelled his wand at the construct that had just tried to impale him with its weapon, which was already starting to stand. Focusing through his rising fear, he channelled as much energy into his spell as possible, and a quick Bombarda reduced the statue to fragments.
Either these were charmed to be tougher than the ones he'd already faced or…
…or they were somehow adapting.
That thought did not fill him with confidence, although, it did make some degree of sense. Wouldn't be much of a challenge for the Champions if these things didn't adapt to fighting style. He just hoped they also didn't get more resistant to spell-fire. Last thing he needed now was a group of these things becoming resistant to a Bombarda or Confringo.
A flash of movement in his periphery snapped his gaze to his right and he threw up a quick shield just in time to stop a mace from caving in his skull.
"Levisio! Dipulso! Descendo!"
His quick wand movement sent his would-be executioner flying into the air and back, spinning until it was upside down. Then, with all his magical strength, he slammed the thing head-first to the ground, shattering it. He was done playing around now.
Reaching into the satchel slung over his shoulder, he pulled out one of the gold potion vials, uncapped it and gulped it down. He didn't care about the taste, but what he did notice was his skin starting to tingle. Looking down at his arm, he noticed his skin taking on a rock-like texture. He was so distracted by it that he didn't even notice the other statues until he felt something jab him in the back, then something connected with his neck. Turning, he was surprised to see the two larger statues behind him, both of whom had just apparently made what would have been killing strikes had he not just drunk that weird potion.
"Wow, Moody is gonna be really annoyed at me." He muttered.
-=-=-
Back at Hogwarts, by the lake, the entire stand sat silent, rooted to their seats, not even paying attention to the screens that showed three views of the forbidden forest. Instead, everyone's attention was fixed on the screen that was showing a rather impressive looking fight with animated statues in an underground tunnel network.
"Bloody hell!" Neville muttered, "Is this part of the task or something? 'cause if not, then Harry deserves double points! Why is it only him fighting his way through a maze of killer statues?" while his comment was a loud whisper, the majority of those around him heard him quite clearly. There were several murmurs of ascent from the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and even some Hufflepuffs, who felt that this was just a tad unfair, though whether for Harry or the other Champions, they couldn't seem to decide.
Though Neville did find the odd swirls of magic, and the glowing specs of magic that Harry seemed to keep jabbing his wand into rather fascinating.
At the Judges table, Dumbledore sat looking a might concerned. He had no idea where Harry was, or what he was doing in that overground maze. And Harry's actions at specific points were odd; he kept pausing and jabbing his wand at nothing, yet the terrain around him was reacting. Obviously, Harry was perceiving things the goggles were not detecting. But the strange carvings depicting a sphere surrounded by an elliptical spiral were rather intriguing, and somehow familiar. He could have sworn he'd seen a locked door in the castle that bore that symbol, a door that neither he nor anyone else he knew of could open.
Bagman had set the Portkeys, and he had thought that Bagman would pick a destination within the forest for all of them. It seemed he hadn't. Still, if Harry managed to make it out of this maze in time to reach the Lake, he stood a good chance of rescuing his four hostages. While he did feel it was a bit unfair for Harry to have three extra, it did solve the potential problem of him having an unfair advantage via his telepathic link with three of those four, two of whom would have otherwise been in the stands, providing information to him on the progress of his competitors. Not that he believed Hermione, Susan or Daphne would intentionally do that, Miss Bones especially, but still, it had been a potential risk that Dolores had pointed out to him, and subsequently 'suggested' the including of Miss Bones and Miss Greengrass along with Miss Granger and Miss Lovegood.
Privately, Albus lamented his aborted plan to try and further engender romantic advancements between Miss Granger and Viktor Krum, he believed this task had been his last chance, with Miss Granger as Krum's hostage, something might have come of it at least, but with the addition of Miss Bones and Greengrass, not only into the task but also young Harry's 'situation' then Miss Lovegood onto of that…well…he'd had no choice in the end but to abandon the plan entirely. There was no chance Harry would willingly sacrifice himself to Voldemort now, not if it meant also killing four others.
Albus found it slightly concerning that Harry was first resorting to offensive and highly destructive spells. And those potions…the Edurus potion was a Fifth Year brew, and the Thunderbrew was NEWT level, though Sharp had mentioned he'd started brewing more advanced potions in his fourth year classes.
Next to him, Alastor shook his head in disappointment. "What have I been sayin'? What the 'ell have I been sayin' teh these brats…? Gonna have teh 'ave a strong word with Potter when he gets outta tha' lake. That said, impressive spellwork. I'd love ta know where tha' place is." He growled.
Percy Weasley looked rather put out. "Is he using dark magic? He can't do that!" next to him, the Minister's Undersecretary puffed out her cheeks, looking every bit like the toad many often referred to her as behind her back. Crouch looked as deathly pale as ever, his breath coming through in rattles. Albus did not believe the man had long left. A shame, really, the stresses of condemning his own son and losing his wife after Voldemort's fall had taken a heavy toll on him.
Karkaroff looked mildly impressed, though begrudgingly, as he had been the most out-spoken against Harry's entry into the Tournament, his gaze kept flicking between Harry's screen and Viktor's, the latter still working his way through what appeared to be a spider nest, though they didn't appear to be Acromantula.
Maxime looked more worried for Fleur, who was picking her way through some Devil Snare.
Sharpe was paying particular attention to Harry's screen. He'd been an Auror for many years, and he knew dark magic when he saw it. He too would have to have a talk with Harry after the task was complete.
Cedric's screen suddenly caught their attention when they noticed him encounter a pair of Dugbogs.
-=-=-
Harry panted as the last statue collapsed, shattering as it hit the floor. He was doubled over, sweating and gasping with exhaustion. The effects of that strange potion hadn't lasted long, and his skin had reverted to normal after about a minute. But in that minute, he'd managed to punch the two statues that had tried to decapitate him with enough force to shatter the heads of both, and once that was done, the bodies lost all coordination and were easily dealt with. He'd also seen the same strange wisps of magic and absorbed them with a mere touch. It felt weird, nothing like the magic he was used to, and certainly nothing like the rush he got after drinking from one of his partners. He could feel it within him now, not mixed with his own, but he couldn't yet access it; every time he tried, it seemed out of reach.
Groaning as he stood, he turned and approached the steps leading down to another ledge and a floating platform. Just before the ledge, there was a diamond relief carved into the floor, and as he stepped on it, that now familiar burst of magic surrounded him, and he quickly dispersed it. Looking off into the distance, he saw the door on a ledge, likely the way out, but closer, just beyond the floating platform, he saw another arch, and a set of steps leading up from it at a right angle to another ledge, that he was pretty sure hadn't been there before he approached the diamond in the floor.
"I hope there isn't much more of this." He muttered as he jumped onto the floating platform, then Accio'd himself closer to the ledge leading down the arch. Jumping down to the ledge, he approached the railing, leaned over, and again, couldn't see any other way out. He looked to his left at the arch, but couldn't see anything behind it. He frowned.
"Just because I can't see anything, doesn't mean there's nothing there." He said to himself. Turning, he looked back at the floating platform he'd just jumped off, then at the ledge and door about 30 feet away, then back at the platform, and noticed the structure underneath was roughly just above the railing he was now next to.
"Hm, okay, let's see what's on the other side of this arch."
When he reached the lower ledge in front of the arch, he turned and noticed a sheer drop on the other side, but ahead, roughly 5 feet above him in elevation, was another floating platform. Raising his wand, Accio'd the second platform until it bumped into the arch. Then, he turned, headed back up the steps, and climbed onto the first. Turning, he spotted the ring panel embedded in a rock pillar to the left of the arch, and he then looked at the arch and nodded.
"Accio," He held the charm for a few seconds before releasing it, and the platform drifted to a stop just before the arch. Close, but not close enough for him to risk jumping. A second Accio, this time on the second platform beyond the arch, pulled him close enough, allowing him to jump across.
"Okay, now time to get out of here."
Another Accio later, he was stepping through the door leading out of the chamber into another, with two spiral staircases in front of him. Quickly hurrying up one of them, he spotted a door ahead. Approaching it, it opened, revealing another chamber, with another closed door ahead. Thankfully, there was nothing in this room besides an old chest, which again contained some potion vials, more purple potion, and more Wiggenweld.
As he opened the second door and stepped through it, he saw a large chamber, easily as big as the one with the bridge or the Great Hall at Hogwarts. Another long path led to a large circular floor with several stone pillars.
Everything about it screamed Duelling Arena to him.
Or, if this was one of Dudley's video games, a boss fight.
Almost as if in confirmation, four human-sized and two larger statues dropped down from the ceiling.
"Of course…" Harry sighed, immediately opening up with a Descendo aimed at one of the larger statues, forcing it down onto its front. The rest started a slow march towards him, so he started moving, firing off some disarming charms at the human-sized constructs, knocking their weapons free. Then, a quick Accio and Dipulso sent the fallen weapons back to their owners at considerable speed.
As each opponent fell and shattered, he kept moving and casting, sticking mainly to the more destructive or disarming spells. He tried staying still long enough to cast a few of the cutting curses, but the statues quickly side-stepped them, and managed to get close enough to try and get hits in, which he blocked or evaded. A hastily cast Dipulso gained him some breathing room.
He also made sure to move close to or over the remains of each one after it fell, so he could absorb the strange magic he could now feel had built within him rather considerably, though he still couldn't access it. He pulled out another of the gold potions and drank it, and when only one armour, one of the human-sized ones, remained, he stowed his wand and pulled out the sword he'd recovered.
"Time to see what I can do with this." He said to himself as he ran up to the armour, which lined up its strike on him with its large spiked mace. He doubted the suits around Hogwarts were charmed to be this tough in a fight. Those were security or decoration; these were weapons, designed to fight and kill.
Clang!
Harry grunted with effort as his broadsword met the large club-like mace the statue was holding, the impact made his arms shudder, and if it hadn't been for the rock-skin he now had, he was pretty sure the force of that impact might have broken an arm, or both.
Taking a chance, he raised a foot and kicked the thing in the left knee. There was a crack, and it went down, almost losing its balance. Taking his chance, Harry stepped to the side and raised the sword with both hands, and with a yell of effort, exhaustion, and frustration, brought the thick blade down, decapitating the statue, which collapsed and shattered. He quickly kicked the rubble, absorbing the strange magic he could see.
"Okay, for a Boss Fight, that wasn't very—"
He was cut off by a ripple of magical energy at the centre of the floor as a giant 30—to 40-foot-tall suit of armour climbed out. This one looked even meaner than the statues he'd destroyed. Like the others, its body had intricate detailing and designs all over its form, with the addition of back-angled horns on the helmet. It even had a black cape, which rippled and swirled, as if being buffeted by a wind only it could feel.
"…impressive." Harry finished lamely.
He and the construct stared at each other for a split second before it knelt and ran its hands through the magical wisps of energy surrounding its feet. Meanwhile, Harry looked down at the sword in his hands. It wouldn't help him in this fight, so he stowed it back in the satchel and started throwing spells at it. The only spells that seemed to do any damage were Bombarda, Sectumsempra and Confringo, but even they didn't seem to be doing much. Then the armour stood, holding a glowing ball of magic in its right hand, which started to get bigger.
"PROTEGO!"
A red beam shot from the armour's raised hand and struck his shield. Even with his boost in power, he still grunted and dropped to one knee under the force of the blast. Then the shield failed, and the last of the beam's energy hit him, sending him flying.
-=-
Harry blinked, then let out a moan of pain, wondering where he was and why he hurt so much.
Oh yeah.
The giant metal construct that had just decked him with a single shot.
As quickly as he could, he reached into the satchel, pulled out one of the green potion vials, popped the cork and drank it. It fizzed in his mouth and throat as he drank, leaving a warm feeling, like he'd just drunk warm lemonade. The aches in his body faded to dull throbs, allowing him to move without experiencing paralysing agony. Luckily, that hit hadn't broken anything, but he was sure that was because of his shield.
He looked up and saw the armour; it was raising its left foot, getting ready to stomp the ground, and at the same time, it was raising its hands over its head, clenched into fists. It hadn't approached him, it hadn't made any move to leave the centre of the circular 'arena', which was fine with Harry. He doubted he could lift it and throw it over the platform's edge; it was too large, too heavy. He would have to find that recipe and ensure he brewed more.
Getting to his feet, he pulled out the last of the gold potions and drank them all, hoping the effects would stack up. He then pulled out one of the purple potions and drank that, not caring what it would do.
The armour slammed its foot and both clenched fists down, sending a wave of magic and debris careening towards him, forcing him to jump to the side.
It was then that he heard the rumble of thunder and saw the flashes of lightning. Looking up, he saw a swirling thundercloud had formed over the 'arena', and every few seconds, bolts of lightning were raining down on the armour, which unfortunately didn't seem to be taking much damage from it, but it was taking some. 'Huh, so that's what that does. Interesting.'
"Okay, had enough now," he panted, raising his wand, he fired off as many slicing, blasting and burning spells as he could at it, but still only seemed to be doing limited damage.
Then it raised its hand again, and another ball of energy formed.
"Glacius!"
When the freezing charm connected with the magic ball, it exploded, causing the statue to stumble, and glowing fragments of magic fell to the floor. Moving quickly, Harry passed over each of them, absorbing more of that magic. Then he felt it, the magic was starting to respond to his will. Backing away safely, he raised his wand to the ceiling and felt his magic shift.
With a clap of thunder, a bolt of energy shot down from the shadows above, slamming into the giant armour's left shoulder, causing it to stumble, knocking off several glowing fragments, which Harry quickly moved to intercept. The energy he'd felt building within him had diminished, and he got the impression he wouldn't be able to pull that trick very often.
Harry stopped after intercepting the last glowing fragment as the armour turned to face him. He had no idea if the people watching could see the fragments, and if they couldn't, then they were probably wondering why he'd just run circles around this thing and not fired at it. "I think I need some help…" he muttered. Turning, he fired at several of the pillars supporting the ceiling, then summoned the fragments, then, with a few more flicks of his wand, he summoned the remains of the smaller statues he'd already destroyed, then transfigured the pile into a golem, that sort of resembled Hagrid, and stood about 15 feet tall.
"Hope you don't mind, Hagrid."
With a wave of his wand, the transfigured statue charged the larger construct, swinging its fists, but in a rather uncoordinated impression of his cousin Dudley. The large armour turned to engage the new threat, swinging its own fists, the sound of the two constructs exchanging blows was almost deafening in the large chamber, but Harry ignored it, getting behind his target, he resumed firing, at its feet, its legs, its back, even the head, when he managed to get a clear shot at it.
After a few more minutes, he noticed the armour was starting to slow, as if the magic powering it was draining out. Every hit, be it from him or from the more miniature statue he'd made, left dents or gouges in it and knocked off more than a few glowing fragments of magic, which he was quick to collect. But he never stopped firing spells, and every so often, when he felt the magic within him build enough, he released it in another burst, though doing so sapped a lot of his strength.
The construct he'd made wasn't fairing much better than him. Its face, crude as it had been, was now an ugly, dented mess that barely resembled a face; one of its fists was crumpled, and its chest was heavily damaged from the pounding it had taken. But Harry could see the larger construct was beginning to falter; if he held out, he'd beat it, he just wasn't sure his construct would last long enough.
His fears were confirmed when the large armour suddenly grabbed the more miniature statue, picked it up, and ripped its right arm clean off, then dropped the statue, and proceeded to beat it with its severed arm, knocking it to the ground. It then raised its right hand again, and another ball of magic started to form, and no matter how many spells Harry fired into its back, it ignored him. With a resounding bang, the red beam from the armour's hand slammed into the chest of his construct, knocking it onto its back. Glowing cracks started to form on its chest.
Then it exploded.
"Bugger me…" Harry moaned in exhaustion and frustration as his one source of help was destroyed. This didn't seem fair. He hadn't seen or heard anything of the others, so they weren't alone with him. If they were, they'd already be here helping him. And if this was the second task, he didn't want to know the third.
The statue turned to face him, and Harry darted back around it, firing as he went. If he kept moving, it couldn't hit him. Panting heavily, his lungs, bones, and limbs burning with effort, he felt he was running out of strength and probably chances.
The statue stamped its feet several times, but he could dodge, and then it started to charge its ranged attack again.
"Bombarda!"
The magic sphere exploded, causing the statue to stumble and drop to one knee. More fragments, both magic and pieces of it, fell to the floor. He quickly intercepted the former, using levitation and banishing spells to throw the solid pieces back at the statue.
Several more times, he felt that magic build within him, and each time it reached a certain point, he released it, and each time, the statue took more damage. But by far the most was inflicted when he shot those spheres of magic in its hand.
Finally, after what seemed like an hour of fighting, fate decided to take pity on him. With a final Diffindo sent into another red sphere, the statue finally stumbled and dropped to its knees. Harry, finally having had enough, unleashed another pulse of that strange magic, and the statue shuddered, then crumbled, before seemingly dissolving into the floor.
"Finally!" Harry moaned as he dropped to his knees, chest heaving, barely conscious and drenched in sweat. He was so tired, so drained, but he had to keep going. He had to find a way out. Then he heard a clicking sound and looked up to see another bridge unfolding, connecting the platform to a door that had appeared in the distance and another chamber.
Wearily, he staggered to his feet and stumbled forward, muscles aching, but wand raised, ready for anything.
Anything except the large carved stone bust of a bearded wizard's head positioned over a Pensieve. Why would the second task involve a Pensieve? He already had a pretty good idea where the girls were; he didn't need a Pensieve to know that.
He couldn't see any way out, but a quick Revelio allowed him to see a glowing part of the wall, a hidden door perhaps?
"Seriously? That thing was protecting a fucking Pensieve?!" He yelled, feeling utterly cheated as the realisation hit him.
This was NOT part of the Second Task. It just couldn't be. It meant that he'd almost died several times, fighting armed statues and something the size of a Giant, and it likely had all been for NOTHING!
A sense of all-consuming rage suddenly started to build within him at the utter unfairness of it all. He then turned and saw his reflection in a pool of water. Slowly, he raised his free hand in front of his face, raising his middle finger while glaring at what he knew were the people watching.
Then he turned back to the Pensieve and debated whether he should look. He then reached up and pulled the goggles up to his forehead. He wasn't sure what memories were in the Pensieve, or if the goggles would even work, but he still didn't think they deserved to see what was in that thing. He noticed something glowing drop into the Pensieve from the corner of his eye. He turned back just in time to see something resembling the strange motifs he'd seen throughout the maze. It looked like an egg, or an almond; it was surrounded by a curling strand of magic that almost looked like a flame, and it gave off a strange hissing sound as it rose out of the liquid.
Raising his wand, he tapped the anomaly, which vanished with a pop. He suddenly felt a solid lump drop into one of his pockets, just as the Philosopher's stone had in his first year in front of the Mirror. Pulling it out, he looked at it curiously. It was a ball, transparent like glass, and inside, there was a swirling spark of magic. Shrugging, he deposited it into the satchel slung over his shoulder, the sword and remaining potions, and dunked his head into the Pensieve.
-=-=-=-
Harry groaned as, with a sudden jolt, he was unceremoniously tossed out of whatever magical portal he'd entered after watching the memory in the Pensive that made absolutely no sense, and gave him the distinct impression that he was missing a lot of context.
He'd tried to leave the chamber through the glowing doorway hidden in the wall. Oddly, when he'd approached it, it had turned transparent, and he saw what looked like a large circular room with four large portrait frames on the far wall, and what looked like a glass floor surrounded by a railing and a small pedestal opposite the frames.
He had absolutely no idea where that room was, but he saw no other way out of the room he was currently in.
He pressed his hand against it, feeling the stone under his skin, then felt the air shift around him, almost like he was activating another Portkey, only to be abruptly thrown to one side and tossed into the cold night air, where he now found himself somewhere in the Forbidden Forest. He was where he should have been all along, but he didn't seem as close to the castle as that doorway indicated he should be. He looked up at the sky and noted the dark clouds obscuring the night sky, no stars, and only a faint trace of the moon.
"Lumos,"
He blinked, staring at the illuminated face of his watch. 9 pm.
It had taken him three hours to escape that weird underground maze full of animated statues that kept trying to kill him. Worse, it was now night, and he had no idea where he was in relation to Hogwarts, so he had no idea how far away he was from the lake. He was exhausted, starving, thirsty, and cold.
"Why does everything want me dead?" he sighed. "Like, seriously? Who did I piss off in a past life?"
It couldn't have taken him three hours to get through that, right? It couldn't have been that long a maze. He turned and looked around, trying to judge his location in the forest. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell where he was due to the gloom.
But judging by his surroundings and the sparsity of the trees, he was just inside the northern edge of the forest. He still had a long way to go.
And roughly 20 hours and 40 minutes to get the task done.
'I hope this was where the Portkey was supposed to drop me. Cause if it was, then somebody fucked up. They're gonna owe me double points at this rate.'
He turned away, silently hoping never to endure something like that again. He wondered for a moment where the others had ended up.
"Point me," he said, holding his wand up, palm open. It spun in his palm, doing a full circle, before it moved again, pointing off slightly to his left. Gripping his wand, he started walking, ignoring his tiredness, sore muscles, aching and rumbling stomach as best he could. He'd had breakfast then lunch during the day, but hadn't fed since the night before. After lunch, Lavender Brown had offered when she pointed out that she hadn't seen Hermione, Daphne, Susan, or Luna anywhere in the castle; no one in Gryffindor had, which had concerned him greatly. He was now almost certain all four of them were at the bottom of the lake, and judging by Fleur's reaction to hearing the clue just before they Portkeyed, likely her little sister was down there as well.
He had begrudgingly accepted Lavender's offer, taking her to the Room of Requirement and summoning a replica of the Gryffindor Common Room with a mattress in the middle of the floor. Lavender, face as red as a tomato, but wearing the most eager smile he'd ever seen on her, had torn her knickers in her effort to remove them, before pushing him down the mattress and mounting his face, almost violently grinding her wet lips against his face, her eager panting accompanied by a satisfied growl which turned into a moan, then a scream, as he immediately went to work on her.
As expected, however, he'd gotten nothing from her, other than the experience of her almost painfully trying to crush his skull between her smooth, warm thighs. He'd left the room feeling no different than when he went in. She had offered, face flushed and panting for breath, to return the favour, eyeing the bulge in his trousers with the look of a woman who was starving. He'd respectfully declined, inquiring if she was dating anyone. She'd replied no, but cheekily asked if Hermione and the girls would ever accept an extra on the side.
Dumbledore had later assured him that the girls were safe, and he would see them soon, but Dumbledore couldn't officially say where they were. The question was, was he? He knew from past experience that he could go at least two days without feeding, but the longer he went, the worse he got, and so would they. Hopefully, depending on how far away from Hogwarts he was, he would struggle to stay conscious by the time he reached them. All he knew was that it would be a long, cold night.
-=-=-=-
Harry stumbled through the trees, almost tripping over a few roots and falling face-first into some nettles.
He was getting even more tired than ever since he'd left that strange chamber. He rechecked his watch: 10:15 p.m. He'd been wandering through the forest in the general direction of Hogwarts for just over an hour, and now he was getting hungry and cold—not the best combination.
Worse still, the wind had picked up, chilling him even more, and on top of that, it had started to snow about half an hour into his wandering.
He'd cast several warming charms on himself and transfigured his clothes as best he could, but he hadn't dressed for a maze crawl followed by a nightlong walk through the forest in the middle of late winter. He had been meant to go swimming in an ice-cold lake.
He'd found and eaten a few ripe fruits that hadn't alleviated his hunger. He'd found a patch of Leaping Toadstools and considered trying to eat one, but they'd all jumped away when he'd approached. He didn't bother chasing them. He'd also seen some regular mushrooms dotted around, but wasn't sure if it was worth the risk of trying to eat them. The last thing he wanted to do was poison himself, especially since he didn't have a bezoar on him.
The satchel he'd found in that strange maze was still slung over his shoulder, but all that was in it was a few leftover potion vials and that sword, and the odd object that had come out of the Pensieve, none of which would do him much good out here. He'd retrieved the goggles before he'd left the maze, and now they were helping keep snow off his glasses.
He hadn't run into either Cedric, Viktor or Fleur yet. He wondered how they were doing, and how far ahead they were. The mental link with the girls was also quiet, indicating they were still unconscious, or just out of range, though he wasn't sure if the connection even had a range limit. He got a vague idea of where they were, but he wouldn't be able to find them quickly at this distance unless they were awake.
He was tempted to take off his goggles and throw them away so the spectators couldn't track his progress. He wondered how long they would keep those screens going. He reasoned that they wouldn't make people watch all night, surely?
He paused as the wind changed, and he shivered; the meagre warming charms were clearly not enough. Then he paused, sniffing the air now that the wind was blowing towards him. He could smell smoke and what smelled like meat cooking.
A campfire.
"Point Me Campfire." He muttered. His wand spun again, pointing to the right, and he turned, hurrying in that direction. Hopefully, he would meet up with one of the others, and hopefully, they'd be willing to share what food they had.
After another 10 or 15 minutes of stumbling through underbrush, tree roots, holes in the ground and deepening snow, he finally came to a clearing where someone had made camp.
He paused as he hid behind a tree, peering around to get a look.
There was a figure sitting on a log in front of the fire, with what looked like a pot sat on a cradle above the flames. The smell of cooking meat was coming from the pot. The figure was wearing a hooded robe and definitely didn't look like one of the others. What was a lone camper doing out here?
Sensing movement to his right, he turned and locked eyes with Viktor Krum, hiding behind a tree about 15 feet away, just barely close enough for the light from the fire to illuminate him.
The two Champions stared at each other in surprise. They had been drawn here by the same thing, but they had each expected one of the others to be here already, it seemed.
Harry pointed at the figure and gestured to Viktor, who shrugged.
"Okay, might as well get this over with." The figure, a woman, said to herself as she stood. "Hopefully, I can find and bag Potter and get back here before the stew burns. Can't believe I have to wait out here in this bloody forest freezing my boobs off! That damn payout better by good!"
Harry's breath caught, eyes widening.
She was here for him? Why? And what did she mean by 'payout'? He looked at Viktor, whose face had become dark and focused, the same look he'd had at the World Cup when he was focused on the Snitch. He was already spoiling for a fight. They locked eyes and nodded in unison. Harry turned to the woman and levelled his wand.
"Expelliarmus!" he whispered. Unfortunately, the woman's hearing was better than he thought, as she immediately spun out of the way, letting his shot miss, then raised her wand.
"Reducto!"
Harry rolled to the side as the tree he'd been hiding behind exploded.
"Well, lookie 'ere! The Mooncalf's come to the She-wolf!" the woman gloated as she readied herself. Her face was hidden behind a mask, but her eyes were sharp and cold. They quickly snapped to her left as she picked out Viktor, who was taking up position behind his own tree.
"Aah, found one of your friends, eh? It won't do you any good, I might ask extra for baggin' one of the Triwizard Champions too!" The woman ended her sentence by sending a shot in Viktor's direction, but he dodged it easily enough thanks to his years as a Seeker.
"So, you wanna kill me, huh? Get in line! Actually, don't bother! It didn't go so well for the last two who tried to kill me! And who the hell are you calling a Mooncalf?!" Harry snapped as he ducked back behind cover.
"What can I say? It's not every day someone gets to off the Boy-Who-Lived and a Professional Quidditch Seeker. Besides, there's gold involved. And there's a lot on your head, Potter!" The woman said, before throwing a curse at him, which he dodged.
"So, a bounty hunter, eh? Someone must really want me dead, I mean, besides Voldemort." He ignored the momentary flinch the woman made, and he tried to get her with a body bind, but she ducked and raised a shield to stop a stunner from Viktor, and answered with one of her own, but missed.
"Who is it then? Malfoy? Parkinson? Bulstrode? Nott, Crabbe or Goyle? Probably Malfoy, probably still pissed about his little rodent of a son getting twelve hundred years in Dementor Hotel!" Harry snarled. "How much is he offering?"
"I don't know who's payin', and I don' care! It's enough to retire on! Dead or alive, the reward is the same! Bombarda!" She cast another spell at Harry, then turned and Disapparated with a crack.
Harry locked eyes with Viktor, only to hear the crack of Apparition right behind him.
"Avada Kedavra!" their attacker yelled. Eyes going wide, Harry dived to the side, barely avoiding the green killing curse that struck the tree he'd been hiding behind. The sickly green tendrils of energy washed over the trunk, down into the roots, and up into the branches, killing it completely.
-=-=-=-
In the stands, those who were staying awake to watch the progress erupted in outrage and panic as they saw the killing curse fly from two perspectives.
It was clear to everyone watching that this wasn't part of the Task, that someone was legitimately out to kill one, if not two, of the Champions.
The Durmstrang, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students were especially mutinous; many started calling for the Task to be declared void due to outside interference. Surprisingly enough, the Beauxbatons students also agreed.
In his rattling voice, Crouch spoke with a sonorous over the rising voices of protest and condemnation.
"The Task will not be voided!" He rasped, to the sounds of jeers and boos from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.
"The Task is a test of the Champion's speed, endurance and survival skills. This is no different than Diggory facing those Dugbogs, or Krum finding himself in that Spider nest. They will be judged on how they handle this!"
"And if either of them dies?" A Seventh-year Hufflepuff asked.
"Then that is on them," Crouch replied before cancelling the charm on himself and sitting down.
"Fuck you old man!" Ginny yelled, to gasps from many of the students.
"I say! Ginevra Weasley! Apologise this instant!" Percy yelled.
"And an even bigger fuck you to YOU! Blood Traitor!"
There were even more gasps, this time from most of the remaining Hogwarts students. A look of shock, pain, and betrayal briefly crossed Percy's face before it became cold and expressionless as he glared at his baby sister, who glared right back at him, arms folded.
"Merlin…I always hoped someone would say it, I just never thought it'd be her…" Fred muttered, and George nodded. Their parents were not going to be happy with Ginny when they heard about this.
The Ministry contingent was stunned into silence; even the Hogwarts professors were speechless. Finally, Dumbledore rose, clearing his throat.
"I think that is enough of that, Miss Weasley, kindly refrain from making such outbursts in the future. Mister Weasley, I advise you to stay quiet for the evening. At dawn, I will provide all those still awake with a Time Turner, at which point, we will go back to the start of the evening and allow ourselves to get some much-needed rest so we can come back fresh-faced and not miss anything."
Then he paused, as if considering his following words, "The Task can not be cancelled as long as Champions remain in the field. I'm afraid Mr Potter and Mr Krum are on their own."
This last statement received several calls of protest from the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang, but curiously, not the Slytherins. However, it was clear to everyone that Dumbledore wasn't going to budge.
-=-=-=-
Taking a chance, Harry dived then rolled towards the tree Viktor was hiding behind, barely missing a binding spell sent at him. He answered with several levitated rocks that he threw at her, distracting her long enough for him to reach his ally.
"Please tell me you know an Anti-Disapparation Jinx or charm or something." He whispered, panting.
"I do," Viktor growled. "Keep her distracted."
'Gladly…' Harry thought. He leaned out from the tree and fired off his own Confringo which she dodged, giving him a few seconds to run back to his own tree. As soon as she reappeared, he hit her with a Levisio then a rather nasty Descendo, followed quickly by a stunner which she rolled out of the way of, before lining up a shot, sending a Petrifacus Totalus at him, which he dodged easily enough.
She disappeared with another crack, and reappeared behind him, forcing him to swing round the tree to avoid a bludgeoning hex aimed at his head. Looking round the tree, he saw her taking aim at Viktor, who had his wand raised and was muttering something.
Another shot from Harry was blocked by a shield, and she answered with a Glacius which was dodged.
"Done!" Viktor said in triumph.
"Bombarda!" Harry shouted. The ground in front of their enemy exploded, knocking her off her feet and breaking her shield.
"Ossifrango!" Harry yelled as their opponent started to get to her feet.
Their assailant suddenly screamed as several loud cracks had Harry wincing a little, as she dropped her wand, and then dropped back to the ground as her legs went out from under her.
"What the fucking hell…did you do?!" the woman gasped as she lay prone on the ground, the two wizards approached her cautiously, wands raised.
"Just shattered your pelvis. Effectively dislocating both of your hips, and filling your lower abdominal region, particularly around your lower intestines, bladder and reproductive organs with some very sharp bone fragments. I wouldn't try to move much, if I were you. And I certainly wouldn't recommend trying to Disapparate or use a Portkey, you're probably already bleeding internally." Harry said. Viktor gave him a surprised look, but also one full of grudging respect.
Probably not the most honourable way to end a duel, but certainly effective.
"Who hired you?" Viktor growled as he stepped up, wand raised.
"Fuck…you…" their assailant gasped. Though there was a hood covering her head, and a mask covering the lower portion of her face, her eyes were visible, as were the tears of agony flowing from them. Along with the cold glare of hate she was sending at both of them. A look that promised death once she was able.
"Doesn't take a genius to work out Malfoy put a price on my head. Anyone else out here looking to collect? Or were you the only one desperate or dumb enough to try? Hm?" Harry glared at her. She glared back.
"Lick…My…Arse!" she snarled, her right hand inching towards her fallen wand.
"No thanks, only my girlfriends get that privilege."
Viktor snorted. "I vill not tell Herm-mio-ne you say that." He then turned to glare down at their enemy. "Vat is your name?"
She simply glared at him.
"Answer him or I'll break something else," Harry growled.
"Zhou. Gwendolyn Zhou," she ground out.
"Any more of you out here looking to cash in?" Harry asked. She glared up at him.
"Dunno…price on your head is big Potter…" she gasped, the pain of her injuries making it difficult for her to concentrate. "More than I think the Malfoys have…hunters from all over the continent will try for it, I'd wager…"
"So it's multiple families, or someone at the Ministry pitched in." Harry reasoned.
"But vy?" Viktor asked.
Harry shrugged. "We'll leave that to the Professors to figure out." With a wave of his wand, Gwendolyn gasped and sighed. Harry then reached into his robes and pulled out the emergency Portkey he'd been given.
"I just vanished the bone fragments. You'll need to take some Skele-Gro if you ever want to walk again, and I know from experience that regrowing bones a bitch." He reached down and picked up her wand just as she was about to close her hand around it, instead replacing it with the Portkey.
"Portus,"
With a swirl of air and magic, she was gone. Standing up, Harry examined her wand before casually snapping it and tossing it aside.
"You gave her Portkey?" Viktor asked.
"I might be more willing to play dirty, but I wasn't going to leave her here to die, and we need more answers, and neither of us can spare the time. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Hopefully, what she was cooking is good, and hopefully I can reach the girls soon."
Viktor gave him an odd look. Harry returned it and moved to the steaming pot of food, checking on it. Stew. Not his favourite, but he'd make do.
"Vat makes you think Prize is girls?" Viktor asked.
"You haven't figured it out yet? Someone, I suspect our respective Headmasters, put something personally valuable to each of us at the bottom of the Black Lake, where the Merpeople live. I can only speculate on Cedric and Fleur, but I haven't seen Hermione, Susan, Daphne or Luna all day, and that is unusual, considering our circumstances. I also haven't been able to speak with any of them, which means they're either all unconscious or out of range."
"Hmm…I do not think…hm…" Viktor pondered as he and Harry sat before the pot and started eating, after letting it cool a little off the fire.
Viktor went quiet as they started to eat.
"How did you find this campsite? I haven't been in the forest nearly as long as you guys."
"Got dropped into spider lair. Had to fight vay out, then got lost." Viktor said. Harry winced.
"Vat you mean? Not in the forest as long as us?"
Harry grunted, "I got dropped into some labyrinth full of animated statues that tried to kill me. At the end of it, there was this giant statue I had to fight, it almost killed me. After that, this Pensieve was under a giant stone head of someone I didn't recognise. And from what I could tell, that memory it showed me, I think, is part of a larger narrative I don't know, I'm missing a lot of pieces, none of it made sense. Took me 3 hours to get through it. I only found this pack, a few potion vials, and a sword." He finished, gesturing to the pack at his side, opening one of the two flaps and pulling out the sword.
"Impressive," Viktor replied.
As they ate in silence, Harry noticed Viktor giving him odd looks, he seemed to be worrying about something.
"What is it?"
"Harry…I must apologise."
"For what?"
"Before First Task, Herm-mio-ne and I…ve…in Library…" Viktor said, sounding very uncomfortable, and not meeting his eyes.
"Oh, that, yeah, Hermione told me about that a while ago. I don't hold it against you." Harry said.
"Vas fake."
"What?"
"The memory…something does not seem right. I learn mind magics at Durmstrang. I use lessons to meditate, which helps me focus. Something about that memory seems…not right."
"You mean you think the memory of meeting Hermione in the library is fake? Or what you two did is fake?" Harry asked. Viktor shrugged helplessly.
"I cannot be sure, but the newspaper says we were seen in the library, so likely we did go, but other thing…" he shook his head, scowling.
"To learn someone has tampered vith memories…it is…" he struggled, "…narushavane. A violation."
Harry scowled. No, this did not sound good. Something was up.
"Thanks for letting me know. Once this Task is over, I'll let Hermione know," Harry said, offering a hand to Viktor, who shook it solidly with a smile.
"Da,"
After a few moments of silence, a thought pricked the back of Harry's mind—a memory of a meeting between himself, the girls, and Dumbledore just after the school term started. Harry couldn't quite remember all the details, which he found odd, but he did remember there was mention of learning Occlumency and what it was, but that Dumbledore wouldn't teach them. The reason for that meeting, though, why the subject of Occlumency even came up, and what became of that meeting, he couldn't remember.
Why?
'He promised to talk to McGonagall or Flitwick, but neither talked to us…maybe he got distracted by the trials…but why can't I remember everything? I'm sure there are bits I'm missing…'
Had his mind been tampered with? The fact that he seemed to be missing several memories indicated that it had. And how had he not noticed anything until just now? Something was wrong…
"Could you teach me? And Hermione, Susan, Daphne and Luna?" he asked. Viktor paused his eating and looked at him.
"Perhaps, but I am not expert, it takes time to learn, is very…vat is word…lichen…intimate, personal. Private memories can easily be seen, I would see things you may not vant me to."
"At this point, I'd trust you to poke around in my head more than any of our staff," Harry replied, surprised by how sincere he was by that statement.
Krum snorted with a smile, "You are bonding vith your girls, da? Then that should give you protection already."
Harry thought for another moment…that was an interesting point. He wouldn't be surprised if Hermione, at the very least, wanted to complete the Bond with him after the Task. Hell, Daphne might even want to, despite her…hesitations.
A short while later, they prepared to leave after the two had finished eating.
"This vere ve must part vays, good luck, Harry."
The two boys shook hands, and then Viktor left. Harry decided to stick around and search the bounty hunter's campsite for anything useful.