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Chapter Thirty Seven: The Third Task

The day that everyone in Hogwarts had been waiting for had finally arrived. The third task of the Triwizard Tournament would take place that night. The entire school buzzed with excitement, talking about the potential of what could happen during the task, with differing opinions originating from every which direction. Still, most of the students in Hogwarts could agree on one thing and that was that the third task would be pretty exciting and one to be remembered for the history books.

Harry Potter sighed as he walked up from the Slytherin library. He had misplaced his Portus-Amulet and he hoped to hell someone hadn’t have stolen it again. Harry remembered what had happened during his second year when the sixteen year old form of Tom Marvolo Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort, stole the Portus-Amulet, and the damage he caused with it. Still, Harry searched through his dormitory and throughout the Slytherin library but Harry came up empty on his search.

Still, Harry did not leave the Slytherin library empty handed, as he picked up something extremely useful that had been collecting dust in the library since the end of his second year. Even through the Third Task was not until tonight; Harry had his secret weapon strapped on his back in a sword sheath. A double edged sword was decent but Harry felt a special occasion called for a different weapon, as Slytherin’s Blade. Slytherin’s Blade was twice the size of the average sword, with emeralds fused to the hilt of the sword, apparently the source of the blade’s magical and mystic properties. A couple of the emeralds appeared to have been removed from the sword somehow at one point or another but Harry was at a loss of how that might have happened as the emeralds seemed fused onto the sword pretty tight. The blade helped him defeat Riddle and his pet basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets allowing him to save Ginny from certain doom and Harry hoped the weapon would be useful in whatever stood in his way tonight in the maze.

Harry walked down to Breakfast. He figured he might as well have something to eat before he renewed his search for his Portus-Amulet later in the day.

Harry sat himself down right beside Ginny at the Slytherin table. Hermione, Daphne, and Theodore sat right across from them.

“You look tired Harry,” said Ginny in a concerned tone of voice.

“Yes Harry, you haven’t been practicing spells all night again, have you?” asked Hermione.

“No,” said Harry. “My Portus-Amulet is missing through.”

“Oh,” said Daphne looking a bit horrified. “Remember what happened the last time…”

“How could I forget?” asked Ginny in a dark rhetorical voice, referring to the fact that Riddle used her as a tool to steal Harry’s Portus Amulet during her first year and petrify more students than he would have been able to without the magical object.

“I hope it turns up soon,” said Harry quietly. “If it fell in the wrong hands it could be…”

“A disaster,” said Ginny grimly. “Just like last time it happened.”

“Ginny that really wasn’t your fault,” said Harry.

“I know, I just still feel guilty about what could have happened,” said Ginny quietly.

Harry continued to eat breakfast and prepared to look for the Portus-Amulet some more after he finished eating. He didn’t really listen to the conversations around the Slytherin table; he just focused on the third task and the article that had appeared in the Daily Prophet a couple of days ago about his family. If Harry didn’t already have so much on his plate with the third task, he would find out where the Daily Prophet headquarters were and go there to give them a piece of his mind for what they wrote. Still, Harry had more important things to worry about on this day.

Harry was brought out of his thoughts by Professor Snape walking up to him.

“Potter, you should know that the families of the Triwizard Champions will be arriving at the Great Hall this morning,” said Snape. “They will be arriving any moment now, so I suggest you get ready.”

“Oh boy,” muttered Harry in a low tone of voice. He hoped his brothers and Master Splinter didn’t come to Hogwarts, it would be all of their necks on the line

“Indeed,” said Snape quietly. “Even with the article, they decided to risk coming here to view the third task apparently. They best have enough sense not to get themselves caught or you, Mr. Potter, will have a bit of an uncomfortable situation to deal with.”

Harry nodded before pulling himself up and heading towards the Great Hall. He warned them about the article, he told them that it would be unwise to step anywhere where the Ministry of Magic could have an excuse to accidentally terminate them. The only good thing was that the Ministry didn’t know that it was the Turtles and Splinter who had tricked Fudge into letting Harry out of Azkaban during his brief trip there during his third year but there would be even more trouble if someone at the Ministry was smart enough to put two and two together. Harry found the possibility highly unlikely but he wasn’t discounting the possibility of anything happening, especially if it could end up having horrifying circumstances.

Looking out in the Great Hall, he already saw Cedric Diggory talking with his parents. Diggory didn’t seem to acknowledge Harry’s presence so looked around the Great Hall where he felt a pair of arms grabbing his shoulders. Harry spun around seeing Raph and Mikey standing there, with Don, Leo, and Master Splinter standing in the back. They were all wearing oversized baggy clothes to disguise their true forms, with hoods pulled up over their faces and sunglasses on, looking like something that might not be out of place on the rap scene.

“Harry, good to see you,” said Mikey. “You look tense through…”

“You shouldn’t even be here,” hissed Harry. “I thought I told you about that article and the dangers of…”

“C’mon Harry, it isn’t every day you see your brother compete in the Triwizard Tournament,” said Don waving off Harry’s threats.

“Besides, if we keep a low profile and stay out of trouble, there shouldn’t be any problem,” said Leo.

“Yes, my son, we took all the precautions in the world, even through the disguises aren’t the best,” said Master Splinter.

“Hey don’t rag on the disguises, Master Splinter,” said Mikey. “I picked them out, don’t you appreciate my contributions to our little game of hide and seek with the Ministry of Magic.”

“Some how it doesn’t surprise me that Mikey picked these particular disguises out,” said Harry quietly, while shaking his head. “Still how did you guys get here?”

“That would be my doing,” said Hailey who had just walked into the room, carrying Harry’s Portus Amulet.

“So that’s what happened to my Portus Amulet,” whispered Harry. “Do you have any idea how terrified I was this morning when I couldn’t find it?”

“Well the thought did cross my mind and it might have been kind of amusing,” said Hailey smirking.

“Just hang on it until after the third task so you can get everyone home and if you damage in anyway, you and I will be having a nice little talk,” said Harry.

“You heard him Hailey, don’t you damage your brother’s Portus-Amulet and we are going to have a little talk about you taking things without people’s permission when we get home,” said a quiet voice that appeared to come out of thin air.

“Mum is that you?” asked Harry.

“Yes, but I’m concealed for obvious reasons,” whispered Lily. “I might have to reveal myself after the third task to Dumbledore.”

“Why then?” asked Harry.

“Because I have a feeling he might try and get the Minister to order you back to my sister and her wretched husband after the third task,” said Lily. “That won’t happen on my watch, I can promise you that.”

“Just how are you hiding anyway?” asked Harry. “If it’s under an invisibility cloak, you should know that Mad Eye Moody can see through them.”

“Well it’s a good thing I’m not hiding underneath an invisibility cloak,” said Lily. “How I’m concealed is a little trick I learned when I worked at the Department of Mysteries. I might teach you some day but for right now you need to focus on the third task of the Triwizard Tournament.”

Lily stepped back, remaining quiet. It was best she talked as little as possible until it was time to reveal herself as hearing voices that came apparently from no where was a cause for panic any way it was looked at. Lily also needed to make sure to keep her concentration to keep invisible from view and the bit of magic she was using took up quite a bit of concentration. She could talk for brief periods of times but most of her energy needed to be kept with maintaining the field of anti-matter around her to keep herself invisible.

“So Harry, do you have a strategy to win this Tournament task dealy?” asked Raph.

“Oh yes, I definitely do,” said Harry. “I have a few new tricks up my sleeve, even a couple of which that I’m not willing to disclose for fear that someone might overhear them.”

“I just wished we knew who put your name in that cup,” said Don.

“Yeah, we can clean their clock,” remarked Raph excitedly.

“Bring them down,” added Mikey.

“Yes but we don’t know and we may never known,” said Leo in a defeated voice.

“Don’t be so sure my son,” said Master Splinter. “I sense that we may be finding out the person who put Harry’s name in the Goblet of Fire. Whoever it is, there is a good chance that they may be dealing their hand all too soon.”

“I have a feeling you’re right Master Splinter which is why I’m all full alert for anything that might be out of the ordinary,” said Harry but silently wondering if that would be enough to be prepared.

In the Great Hall, Dumbledore enjoyed his Breakfast. The third task was tonight and nothing could possibly go wrong. The Turtles and Splinter arrived at Hogwarts; Snape had stooged off their presence to Dumbledore due to the terms of their Unbreakable Vow. Tonight Dumbledore would send those meddlesome reptiles and the rat to the Ministry of Magic to be dissected and he would send young Harry Potter back to the Dursleys, where he should have never left. This time Dumbledore would be that fat fool Vernon under the Imperius Curse to make sure he doesn’t get cold feet and dispose of the boy. Petunia would be easier to manipulate due to spiting the dead memory of her sister by giving Potter a life of pure and utter living hell.

“You look awfully pleased about something Albus,” said Mad Eye Moody, surveying the Headmaster with a curious expression on his face.

“Just thinking about the third task Alastor and how interesting it will be,” lied Dumbledore. “If the first two tasks were any indication, then the third task will definitely be an event to remember and one of the most spectacular events in quite some time.”

Moody nodded. He agreed with Dumbledore that the third task would definitely be a night to remember but for different reasons than the old man could have ever possibly have ever imagined.

Harry talked with his friends outside of the maze just less than ten minutes before the third task was about to start. His family went up to the stands early to avoid detection from anyone at Hogwarts.

“So Harry, what’s the thing on your back any way?” asked Hermione indicating the sheath that contained Slytherin’s Blade.

“My secret weapon,” said Harry simply.

“And that is…” said Theodore.

“If Harry told you, it wouldn’t be that much of a secret weapon now would it,” said Daphne while rolling her eyes at Theodore.

“Well I know that but I thought Harry could give us a little clue,” said Theodore.

“Sorry but I really don’t want anyone to know all of what I have at hand to get through the third task in one piece,” said Harry.

“Please do get to the third task in one piece,” said Hermione anxiously.

“I’ll try Hermione,” said Harry. “Honestly, I’ll try. That’s all I can do, much like every Quidditch Match, I don’t know what kind of condition I’ll walk out of.”

“I suppose you’re right Harry,” said Hermione.

“We better be going, so we can get decent seats,” said Theodore walking towards the stands where Daphne and Hermione started to follow but Ginny remained standing there.

“Coming Ginny?” asked Daphne.

“Go on without me,” said Ginny, waving Daphne, Hermione, and Theodore off. “I’ll find you all later.”

Daphne, Theodore, and Hermione walked off towards the stands. When they were gone, Ginny turned to Harry.

“Harry, I’m scared, honestly,” whispered Ginny. “Something’s not right about this entire tournament. You might not come back this time.”

“Ginny, I’ll be fine,” said Harry. “I can handle whoever entered me in the tournament.”

“I hope you’re right Harry,” said Ginny, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend’s neck before kissing him. Harry forgot all about the third task for a couple of minutes, just enjoying the moment before Ginny slowly pulled away.

“I’d rather be doing that then competing in this pointless Tournament to be honest,” said Harry causing Ginny to laugh. “After all, I gain nothing by competing in the tournament but with you I gain a lot.”

“Yes, I would have to agree with you Harry,” said Ginny. “Still, good luck in the third task, I think you have the best chance of winning out of the four champions.”

“I just hope to survive,” muttered Harry quietly before kissing his girlfriend good bye one more time briefly. “I’ll see you later. I love you”

“I love you too Harry,” said Ginny before walking off to join the others, leaving Harry wishing she could have stayed a few more minutes to keep him company but unfortunately the third task was going to start in a few moments.

Sure enough Ludo Bagman walked out along with the other four judges. To Harry’s utter dismay, Cornelius Fudge appeared to be judging the third task tonight. Still Harry blocked all of the distractions out of his mind. It was time to compete in the third task of the Triwizard Tournament. Bagman pointed his wand to his throat before beginning to address the crowd in his magically magnified voice.

“Welcome Hogwarts students, faculty, and guests to the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament,” said Ludo Bagman in a booming, excited voice. “To win this task, one of the champions must grab the Triwizard Cup in the center of the maze. Whomever does that will get full marks and automatically be declared the winner of the third task of the Triwizard Tournament. Now, I must inform you that the champion with the most points will begin the tournament. That of course being the youngest of the four champions, Hogwarts’s own Harry Potter!”

The crowd gave off a polite amount of cheers, not as much as would have occurred a few days ago before the article about Harry’s family broke in the Daily Prophet but enough to be respectable. The other three champions applauded Harry politely; even through Cedric Diggory’s seemed a bit forced as if he was only doing it to make himself look good.

“Now Mr. Potter will be followed by Mr. Viktor Krum of Durmstrang Instituted, followed by Miss Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons Academy, and last but not least, Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts Witchcraft and Wizardry,” said Bagman. “The time duration in between each champion entering the maze will be ninety seconds. So champions and especially you, Mr. Potter, prepare yourself as the final task of the Triwizard Tournament shall begin in less than two minutes.”

Harry stood right by the maze, preparing himself for the task at hand. He mentally reviewed what might be useful for going through the third task. This was going to be the first major test of some of Harry’s newly acquired knowledge.

“The first champion prepare yourself to go into the maze,” boomed the voice of Bagman. “Position yourself for the maze. On the count of three. One, Two, Three!”

Harry bolted into the front entrance of the maze, running down the nearest path as fast as his legs could carry him. He had a ninety second head start and Harry could not waste a second in the battle. After about forty seconds of running through the maze Harry saw a group of three different paths in front him. He closed his eyes, concentrating on what would be the closest route to the Triwizard Cup in the center. He decided on the middle path, continuing his path through the maze, walking right through a thin ray of yellow light.

In an instant, a couple of pairs of shackles shot up from the hedges of the maze, latching onto Harry’s legs. Harry found himself unable to move forward as another pair of shackles latched onto his left arm but Harry managed to get in a sound enough presence of mind, pulling his wand out before his right arm could be shackled.

“Reducto!” yelled Harry, blasting the final pair of shackles as he burst out from the hedge before pointing his wand upwards. “Liquidus!”

White hot bolts of light erupted from Harry’s wand, melting down the shackles binding his legs and stopping his movement through the maze into a liquid form.

“Liquidus!” yelled Harry, melting the shackle holding his left arm into place before continuing his movement down through the maze. He heard the announcement of the second champion entering the maze but he blocked it out of his mind. Harry had only one goal in mind and that was moving through the maze.

Harry went on for sometime down his chosen path before coming across a fork. He took the right fork to continue his path towards the center of the maze and to the Triwizard Cup. Something had struck Harry very odd and that was that he had not run into many traps throughout his quest through the maze.

Of course, Harry had to jinx his chances as he stood face to face with a six foot tall, blast ended Skrewt. This creature looked like a giant scorpion with a jewel shell and rose up preparing to blast Harry with a red hot burst of fire.

“Aguamenti!” cried Harry, blasting the Blast Ended Skrewt’s fire with an ice cold blast of water. Harry only knew this would only quench the beast’s fire, as opposed to defeating it. The Blast Ended Skrewt would not be denied and it sent two more brutal blasts of fire towards Harry. “Aguamenti! Aguamenti!”

More water quenched the fire of the Blast Ended Skrewt. By now, Harry knew that all four champions were in play and he had to find a way to put this monster away. He noticed that before the Skrewt blasted off, it exposed its belly for a period of two seconds and it appeared to be the weakest part of the body. If Harry could get a clear hit on the underside, he could stop the Blast Ended Skrewt within its tracks at least long enough to move on through the third task.

Harry threw himself on the ground to avoid a blast of fire before throwing a rock at the Blast Ended Skrewt to enrage it into firing at Harry due to the fact the Boy-Who-Lived now had a perfect aim due to being on the ground. The Blast Ended Skrewt took the bait but Harry was prepared for battle.

“Stupefy!” yelled Harry, causing the Blast Ended Skrewt to flip over from the impact of the spell. The Skrewt only looked half stunned but it was enough to allow Harry to continue through the maze and to the Triwizard Cup.

Harry heard a piercing shriek as he moved through the tournament. It sounded as if Fleur had been struck down by something but Harry continued to focus on his path towards the Triwizard Cup. Once again, the lack of obstacles was causing Harry a great deal of concern. He waved his wand, stepping around the corner before he suddenly became cold.

A Dementor was hovering above the ground causing Harry to relieve a few of his worst memories but its effects seemed weaker than normal.

“A Boggart!” muttered Harry before raising his wand. “Riddikulus!”

The black cloak of the Dementor turned to a shocking pink, causing Harry a brief second of amusement before moving on further in the maze. Harry was getting close to the Triwizard Cup, he could sense it. Another fork in the maze and Harry took the left fork and regretted it immediately. He stepped into something sticky and looked down to realize what it was. Harry found himself standing in some kind of tar and he was sinking rather fast, becoming thigh deep in the stuff.

“Incarcerous!” cried Harry wrapping a bunch of thick ropes around one of the hedges before wrapping the other end around his hand. Harry then pointed his wand towards the tar below. “Reducto!”

The impact from the blast was enough to propel Harry out of his sticky situation. Harry flew up into the air and landed. A quick scouring charm took care of the tar on his robes before Harry moved into the maze. He was definitely close now but he heard a terrified voice.

“What are you doing?” asked Cedric Diggory, backing off from a crazed looking Viktor Krum in terror.

“Crucio,” said Krum coldly, causing Cedric to scream in terror.

Harry stepped forward; he figured he had to do something to help Cedric. After all it was the morally right thing to do even through the older Hufflepuff boy conducted himself as a jerk towards Harry recently.

“Stupefy,” said Harry, striking Krum in the back, causing him to fall face first onto the ground.

Cedric, far from being grateful, turned his back on Harry, before continuing through the maze.

“You’re welcome,” said Harry sarcastically before taking a different path than the one Cedric took. Harry definitely knew this path was the closest towards the Triwizard Cup. He could see the reflection of the gold Triwizard Cup within his sight; he only had a couple hundred more feet before he managed to grab the Triwizard Cup.

A large figure stepped into his path and Harry stepped back slightly. A giant spider, an Acromantula was standing straight in front of Harry’s path to the Triwizard Tournament. It clicked its pincers at Harry before advancing menacingly upon the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry raised his wand to strike but the spider raised one of his eight legs before knocking Harry’s wand out of his hand. Harry side stepped an attempt by the spider to grab a hold of him. Leaping up, Harry kicked the spider, causing the beast to back off slightly but Harry only managed to enrage the spider, causing the spider to rush Harry, pincers clicking madly.

Harry pretended to stumble backwards before reaching into his sleeve and pulling out a Kusari-Gama. He swung the chain, wrapping it around the front legs of the spider. The spider jerked forward, pulling Harry in but this proved to be a fatal mistake of the beast. Harry raised the sickle up, jabbing it right into the underside of the spider, digging the sharp metal right into it. A nasty gash caused blood to spurt out of the Acromantula as it staggered towards Harry. It seemed that a severe flesh wound would not deter the spider from grabbing a hold of its prey. Harry bent down, picking up his wand.

“Stupefy!” yelled Harry. A jet of red light blasted from the wand, striking the spider in the underside. The spider took a brief step forward before collapsing, completely stunned.

Harry stepped forward cautiously towards the Triwizard Cup. Victory was within Harry’s grasp, the Triwizard Cup was only an arm length away.

“Oh no you don’t Potter, you are not going to befoul the name of Hogwarts by winning this Tournament!” yelled the voice of Cedric Diggory raising his wand, preparing to attack Harry but Cedric quickly fell to the ground as if some mysterious force had struck him down.

Harry looked around to see the source of Cedric’s mysterious attacker but the attacker appeared to be long gone so Harry decided he better wrap this up before he got attacked himself. Walking towards the Triwizard Cup, Harry clasped onto the handle.

A jerking sensation coursed throughout Harry’s body and the Boy-Who-Lived cursed his luck. He should have seen this coming; he was being pulled to another location by the Triwizard Cup, which had been turned into a portkey.

Harry fell down to the ground, the impact caused the sheath containing Slytherin’s blade to slide from his back and land on the ground. Looking around, Harry saw that the Triwizard Cup had pulled him into a graveyard. Something did not feel right and Harry bent down to grab Slytherin’s Blade to defend himself against anything that could attack him in the Graveyard.

A jet of red light shot out of nowhere striking Harry from behind. The light faded from Harry’s word as he sank into unconsciousness.