Breakfast was a noisy affair in the Great Hall on the morning of June twenty fourth.
"If you don't eat more than that then I will kill you," Hermione hissed, surprising both Harry and Susan at her tone.
"Yes ma'am," Harry said cheekily before taking an overly large bite of oatmeal.
"Mione's the real next Dark Lord," he murmured to Susan after swallowing.
"Dark Lady," Susan corrected him.
"I'd be good at it," Hermione said sniffily. "I'd be an excellent Dark Lady. Strict, but fair."
"You let her join a gang and look at her now, dreams of ruling the world," Theo said teasingly.
"She'd have to fight us for it," Susan told Theo, throwing her arm over Harry's shoulder. "The United Kingdom is only big enough for one ruler, and Harry called dibs."
"Maybe we'll take France," Hermione told Theo thoughtfully. "I do enjoy their culture."
"What's the plan for today?" Ron asked, interrupting the building argument over which duo could take over a country quicker. Harry was certain it would be him and Susan, Hermione just lacked the not-caring that they both had when it came to laws and ethics. "Just gonna read in our Charms exams?"
"Nah, I'm skipping and taking a nap," Harry said. "No real point in showing up to an exam I don't have to take, is there?"
Hermione looked scandalized at that, but even she had to admit that Harry was just wasting his time showing up for the finals that he was exempt from.
Plus, Harry was tired. He had to be up extra early this morning to make sure Barty followed orders and made the trophy a portkey.
"Make sure you get plenty of rest," Susan lectured him; but, just then, Snape came walking up to their group.
"Harry, the champions are meeting in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast," he said.
"But the task isn't until tonight!" Draco cried. "You can't take Harry away yet!"
"Nobody is stealing Harry," Snape rolled his eyes, missing the edgy looks a few of Harry's friends exchanged at that. "The champions families have came to spend the day with their champion before staying to watch the task this afternoon."
"But..." Harry blinked up at Snape in confusion, "I don't have any family?"
Snape sighed heavily at him.
"I think you will find that family is more than those that share bloodlines," he said, not unkindly. "Come along, it would be rude to keep them waiting for you."
Harry shared a bewildered look with Theo, but obediently got to his feet.
"It would be really messed up if you took me in the room and everyone laughed at me because I don't have any family," Harry murmured to Snape as they followed behind Fleur to the same room they'd went in the night they were chosen as champions.
"I am offended you believe me capable of such cruelty," Snape said. "I assure you- you have a family waiting for you."
"If it's the Dursley's then I'll kill them in front of everyone," Harry hissed when Snape opened the door for him.
"And I would assist you," Snape told him. "Go. I regret that I will be unable to join you, as I will be busy failing your misfits on their exams, but I will see you this evening."
Harry nodded absently as he took a few steps in and saw Fleur with her sister and the people he was confident were her parents... Viktor and his father both speaking in low tones in one corner of the room... Diggory and the people Harry assumed were his parents, and...
"Surprise!"
And Molly Weasley, Bill Weasley, Sirius, Lupin, Amelia Bones, the Contessa, and a woman with dark, straight, black hair and heavy hooded eyes that Harry didn't know.
"What?" Harry blinked very rapidly at them all. "What... what are you guys doing here?"
"You believe I would miss the chance to spend the day with my Meraviglia?" the Contessa cried before swooping on Harry and kissing both of his cheeks. "My dearest, never!"
"Darling," the woman Harry didn't know also swept Harry in a hug and kissed his cheek. "Cissa darling, but call my Aunt Andy for today," she whispered.
"And we might be family one day, eh?" Bill grinned at him after Cissa released him, thankfully not hugging him despite his curious remark.
A restraint against hugging that his mom didn't have.
"You poor dear," she hugged him tightly, too tightly. "You must be so worried about tonight!"
"Er, no," Harry admitted truthfully. "Just... just a bit surprised to see you all I suppose."
"As if I'd miss the day to terrorize Hogwarts again!" Sirius cried, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "C'mon Pup! Introduce us to your friends."
"Especially your lady friends," Bill winked at him with a pointed glance towards Fleur...
... who was staring at Bill with a blatant curiosity that Harry had never seen the girl display before.
"If you say one nasty word to Fleur then I'll remove your vocal chords," Harry whispered to Bill as the odd group followed Harry towards Fleur's family.
"I am a gentleman Harry Potter," Bill said indignantly. "And you are a scrawny fourteen year old, I could take you."
Harry gave Bill an incredulous look at that, but said no more about it as Fleur ran up to them.
"'Arry!" Fleur cried, kissing his cheek. "I would like you to meet my family. Gabrielle you know," Gabrielle gave Harry a shy smile and a surprisingly tight hug.
Was everyone going to fuckin' hug him today?!
"And my papa, Monsieur Delacour," Fleur's father, a short but jolly looking man, shook Harry's hand.
"Pleasure to meet you," he said smoothly. "I have heard zat we are allies, ze House of Potter and Delacour."
Harry ignored the shocked faces of his group as he begrudgingly shook the man's hand.
"Suppose so," he smiled, 'charmingly'.
"And my mama, Apolline Delacour."
Fleur's mother, a tall and stunningly beautiful woman, kissed both of Harry's cheeks and beamed at him.
"You are a 'ero 'Arry Potter," she whispered throatily. "I am grateful."
Harry felt his face heat up but was saved responding to that uncomfortable comment by Fleur's father.
"Introduce us to your family, Harry!" he said cheerfully.
"Er..." Harry glanced at the group surround him. "This is the Contessa of Italy, Juliana Zabini-"
"Charmed," the Contessa smiled brightly.
"My godfather, Sirius Black-"
"Aah, we have heard of you," Monsieur Delacour say merrily.
"-his partner, Remus Lupin. My... aunt Andy," Harry said slowly, not entirely sure who Cissa was imitating.
"Sirius' cousin," Cissa smiled, clueing Harry in to her identity as her own sister apparently.
"And this is Molly and Bill Weasley, uh..."
"Harry's future brother in law," Bill grinned before stooping his head low to kiss Fleur's hand. "Delightful to meet you," he winked, causing Fleur to giggle.
Which was weird.
"Harry's boyfriend is my son," Molly said with a warm smile. "It's lovely to meet you all."
"And you all came to support 'Arry?" Fleur's mom asked. "'Ow wonderful! I told Fleur we would cheer for 'er ze loudest and our 'Arry ze second loudest."
Harry honestly was starting to wonder if he was still asleep and this was some weird potion induced dream. He had no bloody idea what was even going on.
... but apparently they were all going on a tour together of Hogwarts.
"Ve vill meet you at lunch?" Viktor asked after introducing his father. "My father vants to speak vith Karkaroff."
"'Kay," Harry shrugged.
Harry's now, even larger, group made their way back toward the door into the Great Hall. As they passed Diggory, his father looked around.
"There you are, are you?" he said, looking Harry up and down. "Bet you're not feeling quite as full of yourself now Cedric's caught you up on points, are you?"
"What the fuck?" Harry laughed, ignoring Molly and the Contessa's quiet clucks of disapproval at his language. "I'm in first?"
"Ignore him," said Diggory in a low voice to Harry, frowning after his father. "He's been angry ever since Rita Skeeter's article about the Triwizard Tournament — you know, when she made out you were the only Hogwarts champion."
"Didn't bother to correct her, though, did he?" said Diggory's father, loudly enough for Harry to hear as he started to walk out of the door with the Contessa and 'Aunt Andy'. "Still... you'll show him, Ced. Beaten him once before, haven't you?"
"Did you correct her?" Sirius demanded, fixing a dark look on Diggory's father. "You could have. Why's it Harry's problem? Huh?"
"Come along my darling," the Contessa wrapped her arm around Harry's shoulder. "Ignore the opinions of those who do not shine as brightly as you."
Sirius chuckled and eyed the Contessa appreciatively.
"Harry does shine brightly, doesn't he? I tried to get his father to name him Aries, but he wouldn't do it. He said star names are a lame tradition."
"They are," Cissa said. "A terribly tacky tradition."
"Not as bad as Sirius' tacky jacket," Bill laughed.
"Sirius' jacket is brill," Harry scowled.
"Bill's just jealous Pup," Sirius winked. "C'mon, show us those Skrewts you're obsessed with."
Harry had a pleasant afternoon with his odd group. He and Fleur took them on a tour of the grounds, before splitting off. Fleur took her family to the Beauxbatons Carriage, while Harry's group went to the castle for a 'walk down memory lane', as Molly called it.
They all went to the Great Hall for an early feast once the other students were all dismissed from their exams.
"Mum?" Ron cried, hugging his mother tightly. "What are you doing here?"
"Cheering on Harry of course," Molly smiled. "Fred, sweetheart, how are you?"
Harry was impressed by Molly's mother-like warmth. Fred had looked wary when he first saw his mother and older brother, but after just one sentence from his mum, he was hugging her just as tightly as Ron had.
"Thanks for coming," Fred mumbled, "didn't know if you would."
"We will always come support Harry," Molly said seriously. Harry got the uncomfortable feeling that she had meant something different though, so he threw himself in to a conversation with the Contessa and Blaise to give them some privacy.
Halfway through the feast, Ludo Bagman and Cornelius Fudge had joined the staff table. Bagman looked quiet and fidgety, but Minister Fudge, who was sitting next to Professor Snape, looked cheerful as he talked enthusiastically with Snape, who looked much less enthusiastic. When the Minister caught Harry's eye, he waved merrily down to him.
There were more courses than usual, but Harry, who was starting to feel really excited now, didn't eat much, much to the chagrin of pretty much every female, and Sirius, sitting with him. As the enchanted ceiling overhead began to fade from blue to a dusky purple, Dumbledore rose to his feet at the staff table, and silence fell.
"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now."
Harry got up. The entire Slytherin table applauding him; his large group all wished him good luck, Fred embraced him tightly and kissed him with much more restraint than he usually showed. Harry suspected it was because of his mother's presence. Susan and Luna both hugged him, both hanging on for much too long, and Susan whispered last minute threats to 'not do anything stupid' while Luna whispered assurances of his success. Finally, he headed off out of the Great Hall with Diggory, Fleur, and Viktor.
"I will walk you," Snape said, sliding up to Harry's side silently.
They walked onto the Quidditch field, which was now completely unrecognizable. A twenty-foot-high hedge ran all the way around the edge of it. There was a gap right in front of them: the entrance to the vast maze. The passage beyond it looked dark and inviting.
Snape and Harry stood together, side by side, as they waited. Bagman looked at Harry, but Harry shook his head slightly and nodded towards where he saw Fred approaching in a crowd of red heads. Harry narrowed his eyes distrustfully, keeping a close eye on the conniving thief, until he saw him hand Fred a bag and quickly take his place back beside the champions.
Five minutes later, the stands were completely full; the air was full of excited voices and the rumbling of feet as the hundreds of students filed into their seats. The sky was a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars were starting to appear. Professor 'Moody', Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and approached Bagman and the champions. They were wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, which, Harry just noticed, Snape had on his as well.
"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?"
The champions nodded. Harry smirked inwardly; if someone sent up red sparks tonight, it would not be him.
"Off you go, then!" said Bagman to the four patrollers.
"Harry."
Harry looked up through his messy fringe to Snape's calm and dark eyes after the man put his hand on Harry's shoulder. Snape waited until the other professors, and Bagman, walked off before he spoke again.
"I am incredibly proud of you," he said quietly. "You have shown resourcefulness and determination beyond all expectations. And you have done this on top of the myriad of other difficulties you have had this year. I-" Snape cleared his throat and nodded his head, "I am quite pleased to be your guardian. Be safe brat."
Harry felt his throat close up at that, so he just nodded. But he figured Snape saw what he was thinking through his eyes anyway because he squeezed his shoulder tightly, just once, and smiled softly down at him before he left to join the others.
Harry felt a fissure of guilt in his stomach, a rarity to him, as he thought of his plan for tonight that Snape wasn't aware of. Before he could even consider telling him though, it was too late.
"Students, staff, friends, and families- welcome to the FINAL TASK OF THE TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT!"
Bagman's voice boomed across the field, causing all those in attendance to cheer wildly. Harry stuck his hands in his pockets and grinned at his friends who were all yelling like mad in the front section that had been marked off for 'Potter Family'.
For the only orphan champion, his was somehow the fullest section.
"Good luck 'Arry," Fleur whispered. "Do not win, but do not die eizzer, oui?"
"Non," Harry winked. "Sorry guys," he said, nodding towards Viktor as well, "but I'm winning."
Diggory chuckled and Viktor shook his head at him, but Fleur eyed him speculatively.
"I believe you will try," she finally said diplomatically.
Harry just shrugged as Bagman began talking again.
He wasn't going to try.
He was going to win.
Then he was going to kill Timmy.
Then he was going to come back and smile as Dumbledore had to announce him the champion.
"The current standings are as follows- in fourth place, from Beauxbatons School of Magic, MISS FLEUR DELACOUR!" Harry watched Fleur beam and perform a low curtesy towards the crowds.
"In third, from the Durmstrang Academy for Wizards, MISTER VIKTOR KRUM!"
Harry nearly laughed when he saw Viktor's scowl. He doubted if the bloke didn't love quidditch so much if he'd ever be in front of crowds again.
"In second place, from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, MISTER CEDRIC DIGGORY!!"
Diggory got a loud cheer as many of the students stomped and screamed for him. Diggory was a good sport about being so well-liked too, he just smiled and waved.
"And, currently in first place, with a thirteen point lead, also from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, our youngest champion, MISTER HARRY POTTER!"
Harry nearly stumbled at the explosion of noise that came from the stands. Someone, Fred probably, even shot off a firework. Harry smirked out at the crowd and nodded his head towards the people sitting in his section.
He was ready to go.
Once the crowd was done cheering for Harry, for his had surprisingly went on the longest, Bagman spoke again.
"Our champions have had one month to prepare for the horrors within the maze! On my whistle, Mister Potter will enter the maze with nothing more than his wand-"
"DO YOU EVEN HAVE YOUR WAND?" Someone shouted, it sounded like Susan and a lot of people laughed at it, so Harry grinned and shook his head.
"-after ten minutes, Mister Diggory will enter, and so on until all four champions have entered the maze. The first champion to reach the Triwizard Cup will be THE TRIWIZARD CHAMPION!"
Harry kept up his bored mask as everyone cheered.
Tonight was the night.
"On my whistle then Mister Potter- three, two, one, GO!"
Harry sent one last cocky salute towards his friends before he walked into the maze. Once he was hidden by the hedges, he started running.
"Sword, cloak, penknife, dagger, wand," he hissed once he was far enough in the maze to have his summoning be hidden.
They didn't say he couldn't summon stuff, so he assumed he could, just like in the first task.
Harry waited until his items came whizzing straight through the side of the maze, creating a large hole in the hedges...
Which wasn't really his problem.
He put his wand and cloak in one pocket, his penknife in the other, his dagger in the holster, and held his sword at his side.
Now he was ready.
Harry was already three turns deeper in to the maze by the time Diggory entered.
By the time Krum entered, Harry had already gotten past an Ashwinder with nothing more than a few polite hisses in Parsletongue.
But shortly after Fleur entered, and all four champions were within the maze, Harry hit a snag he hadn't expected.
"You are a disappointment," Snape sneered at him. "I regret ever agreeing to be your guardian. You are nothing more than-"
Harry scrambled backwards, unsure why Snape was in the maze, or why he was mad at him this time... It wasn't until Snape moved towards him and Harry noticed his awkward gait that it dawned on him.
Boggart... Just burn it, Harry ordered his magic desperately, his face pale and his eyes wide.
He should have guessed that they'd put a fuckin' Boggart in here. They couldn't just make it fun, could they?
Harry darted quickly past the burning Boggart and shook off that nasty shock.
After traveling unimpeded for a while, he stopped and listened hard, and thought he could hear a bit more noise to his right, which meant to get to the middle he needed to take the next left.
As soon as he did though, he came face to face with...
"Fluffy?" he laughed, remembering the name Draco eventually discovered of the giant three headed dog they'd gotten past in their first year.
Harry backed away from the snarling and spitting giant black dog and started singing the only song that he really knew the words to...
"A, B, C, D, E, F, G," Harry sang in what he hoped like Hell was a musical tone. By the time he hit the letter T, Fluffy started dozing, and by X, all three heads were laid on the ground drooling with their eyes closed.
As soon as Harry got far enough away, he sent a stinging hex at Fluffy to wake him back up. He doubted if anyone else would know immediately that a Cerberus quit trying to eat you if you sang to it.
And if he was on the right path to the trophy? Then it was fine by him if someone else got their leg bit off.
Harry tried to guess at how long it had been since Fleur entered the maze, but the dark stillness that the hedges gave the entire maze made it difficult to guess at the time. He just had to keep moving and hope he was headed in the right direction.
Left... right... left again... Twice he found himself facing dead ends. After the second time that he had to turn back, took a right turn, and saw an odd golden mist floating ahead of him.
Harry approached it cautiously, sure that it had to be an enchantment or a trap of some kind.
"Finite Incantatum!"
Nothing happened.
Harry shot a few more spells at the mist, and watched as they all went through it.
Nothing else to do... he decided before slowly stepping in to the mist.
The world turned upside down. Harry was hanging from the ground, with his hair on end, his glasses dangling off his nose, threatening to fall into the bottomless sky. He clutched them to the end of his nose and hung there, furious at himself.
Excellent decision making skills, a voice that sounded like Snape whispered in his head. Keep walking in to traps, you'll be nothing but bait for Timmy.
It felt as though his feet were glued to the grass, which had now become the ceiling. Below him the dark, star-spangled heavens stretched endlessly. He felt as though if he tried to move one of his feet, he would fall away from the earth completely.
Did he dare move his foot? He could hear the blood pounding in his ears. He had two choices — try and move, or send up red sparks, and get rescued and disqualified from the task.
And the second option was no choice at all.
He shut his eyes, so he wouldn't be able to see the view of endless space below him, and pulled his right foot as hard as he could away from the grassy ceiling.
Immediately, the world righted itself. Harry fell forward onto his knees onto the wonderfully solid ground. He made himself get to his feet immediately and hurried forward, looking back over his shoulder as he ran away from the golden mist, which twinkled innocently at him in the moonlight.
Harry kept the pleasant image of himself holding the cup high in the air in the front of his mind as he kept moving along. He met nothing for ten minutes, but kept running into dead ends. Twice he took the same wrong turning. Finally, he found a new route and started to jog along it, his wandlight waving, making his shadow flicker and distort on the hedge walls. Then he rounded another corner and found himself facing a Blast-Ended Skrewt.
Ten feet long, it looked more like a giant scorpion than anything. Its long sting was curled over its back. Its thick armor glinted in the light hovering in front of Harry.
"Awe, hey buddy," Harry cooed. "Did they stick you out here? What arses."
Harry moved forward slowly, hoping that the Skrewt that seemed to like him so much in class didn't turn on him now.
"That's it," Harry murmured, reaching his empty hand out for the Skrewts mouth. "Good job buddy," he stroked its mouth a few times before patting it one last time.
"Kill anyone else though, alright?" he said. "I'll bring you some more meat before I leave for the summer if you at least take off Diggory's leg or something."
He didn't think the Skrewt understood him, but as he ran away he thought it would be nice if it had.
A tornado of inferi, and an army of Blast-Ended Skrewts, he thought wistfully. They'd cause more chaos than even fiendfyre could.
Every so often he hit more dead ends, but the increasing darkness made him feel sure he was getting near the heart of the maze. Then, as he strode down a long, straight path, he saw movement once again, and his beam of floating light hit an extraordinary creature, one which he had only seen in picture form, in his Monster Book of Monsters.
It was a sphinx. It had the body of an over-large lion: great clawed paws and a long yellowish tail ending in a brown tuft. Its head, however, was that of a woman. She turned her long, almond-shaped eyes upon Harry as he approached. He resisted brandishing the sword at her, hesitating. She was not crouching as if to spring, but pacing from side to side of the path, blocking his progress.
"Fuck," he breathed. "You're gorgeous."
And she was. She was magnificent. Her lions body muscular, the magical power practically radiating from her; she was gorgeous and deadly and strong.
She chuckled in a deep and low voice.
"You are very near your goal Dear One. The quickest way is past me."
"I don't suppose I could bat my eyelashes at you and you'd move, would you?" Harry grinned.
"I would not," she purred. "But if you answer my riddle, I will. Answer on your first guess — I let you pass. Answer wrongly — I attack. Remain silent — I will let you walk away from me unscathed."
Harry weighed his options quickly. If he guessed wrong, she'd attack and he'd drive his sword through where he thought her heart might be. If he guessed right, then he was on the quickest path to the cup.
"'Kay, let's hear it then."
The sphinx sat down upon her hind legs, in the very middle of the path, and recited:
"They come at night without being called and are lost in the day without being stolen."
Harry blinked at her.
"Was that it?" he asked incredulously.
"It is," she smiled lazily.
Harry nearly swore, but caught himself just in time. God forbid she thought 'what the fuck' was his answer and attack him.
Harry stayed carefully silent as he replayed her riddle in his head over and over.
What came at night time on its own and left in the morning on its own as well?
Owls?
The moon?
Harry glanced up at the barely visible quarter-moon and his eyes widened as he saw the twinkling stars alongside it.
'They' meant more than one, so not the moon.
Harry gripped his sword tightly by the handle.
"Stars," he said with as much faux-confidence as he could.
The sphinx smiled more broadly. She got up, stretched her front legs, and then moved aside for him to pass.
"Thanks!" said Harry, and, amazed at his own brilliance, he dashed forward. He'd be sure to tell Susan about this tonight, she was always going on about being good at riddles ever since she solved Snape's dumb riddle with the potions in their first year.
Harry ran down the current path, swiping his sword at a giant Mortis Bat that swooped down on him. He came up on a fork and, trusting the intuition that had never led him wrong before, Harry dashed down the right hand choice.
He dashed up this one and saw light ahead. The Triwizard Cup was gleaming on a plinth a hundred yards away. Suddenly a dark figure hurtled out onto the path in front of him.
Diggory was going to get there first. Diggory was sprinting as fast as he could toward the cup, and Harry knew he would never catch up, Diggory was much taller, had much longer legs... Harry wondered why he hadn't asked beforehand if he was allowed to curse his competitors.
He was about to slip under his cloak and do it anyway when, instead, Harry saw something immense over a hedge to his left, moving quickly along a path that intersected with his own; it was moving so fast Diggory was about to run into it, and Diggory, his eyes on the cup, had not seen it.
Harry skidded to a halt when a giant spider bore down on Diggory, its fangs as long as Harry's arm and as sharp as his sword.
"ARGH!" Diggory screamed as he dodged being pierced by the fang by a split second.
Harry darted behind him as he began sending spells to the giant spider, most of them bouncing off its thick skin. Harry moved quickly and quietly, keen not to be spotted by either the spider or wizard.
And then Harry was standing, mere feet from the cup, hand extended, ready to grab it-
Harry turned to Diggory and frowned just once.
Not my problem, he decided quickly.
This wasn't a team tournament, and Harry had a date with a Dark Lord to get to.
He turned to the cup and grabbed it with a broad smile.
See you soon Timmy.
Thirty minutes later, Severus Snape hissed harshly outside the tall hedge walls of the maze when he felt his left arm burn. He quickly pulled his sleeve back and stared in horror at what the fully darkened mark meant-
The Dark Lord had rose again.