𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐞 | 𝐇.𝐏

act i : scene xviii

harry potter's pov

after i meet mrs.weasley and bill as a family surprises in the chamber, i go to the champions' tent, waiting for an announcement.

"harry!" a voice bewilder me, y/n. she gets into the tent and yanks me to the corner.

"y-y/n" i stutter confusedly, "what are you doing here?"

"listen, if anything happens to cedric in the maze, i beg you to leave him please and take the cup yourself!" she demands breathlessly, her hair tousled just like she's running miles away without a break.

"wha- why?" i furrow my eyebrows.

"please... just do it, if you trust me" her eyes a bit watery, i don't know why.

"of course i trust you, but i-" i was cut by dumbledore's announcement for champions to gather round.

"please..." y/n cups my cheek and kiss it gently, "good luck" and she goes back to the stands.

i totally have no idea what is she talking about. i mean i trust her of course but if he nearly dies, i won't leave him.

after gather around and before i get into the maze, i look at the stands, finding mrs.weasley, bill, ron, hermione, fred, george, dean, seamus and many more cheering for me. i gave a shaky wave before i divert my gaze to where y/n stood, she catches my gaze and gives me pleading look about what she said in the tent, malfoy who is beside her giving me a nod. wait what—

a sound of canon and instruments played as the background, i nod to cedric and we get into the maze at the same time.

the maze was growing darker with
every passing minute as the sky overhead deepened to navy. i reached a second fork. "point me" i whispered to my wand, holding it flat in my palm, just like what y/n and hermione teach me. my wand spun around once and pointed toward my right, into solid hedge. that way was north, and i knew that i needed to go northwest for the centre of the maze. the best i could do was to take the left fork and go right again as soon as possible. the path ahead was empty too, and when i reached a right turn and took it, i again found my way unblocked. i didn’t know why, but the lack of obstacles was unnerving me. surely i should have met something by now? it felt as though the maze were luring me into a false sense of security. then i heard movement right behind me. i held out my wand, ready to attack, but its beam fell only upon cedric, who had just hurried out of a path on the right-hand side.

cedric looked severely shaken. the sleeve of his robe was smoking. "hagrid's blast-ended skrewts" he hissed. "they're enormous —i only just got away!" he shook his head and dived out of sight, along another path. keen to put plenty of distance between himself and the skrewts, i hurried off again.

then, as i turned a corner, i saw . . . a dementor gliding toward me. twelve feet tall, its face hidden by its hood, its rotting, scabbed hands outstretched, it advanced, sensing its way blindly toward him. i could hear its rattling breath; i felt clammy coldness stealing over me, but knew what i had to do. . . . i summoned the happiest thought i could, concentrated with all my might on the thought of getting out of the maze and celebrating with ron, hermione and y/n, the way y/n's smile at my success, i raised my wand, and cried, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" a silver stag erupted from the end of my wand and galloped toward the dementor, which fell back and tripped over the hem of its robes. . . . i had never seen a dementor stumble. "hang on!" i shouted, advancing in the wake of my silver patronus. "you're a boggart! RIDDIKULUS!" there was a loud crack, and the shape-shifter exploded in a wisp of smoke. the silver stag faded from sight. i wished it could have stayed, i could have used some company . . . but i moved on, quickly and quietly as possible, listening hard, my wand held high once more. left . . . right . . . left again . . . twice i found myself facing dead ends. i did the four-point spell again and found that i was going too far east. i turned back, took a right turn, and saw an odd golden mist floating ahead of me. i approached it cautiously, pointing the wand's beam at it. this looked like some kind of enchantment. i wondered whether i might be able to blast it out of the way. "reducto!" i yelled. the spell shot straight through the mist, leaving it intact. i supposed i should have known better; the reductor curse was for solid objects.