B.Q. Book One: Princess of the Blacks

Chapter 33: And the Winner Is...

It was quite a surprise when nobody commented on the hint last chapter about Elsie's fate; I expected at least one question about that. Oh, well.

Disclaimer: Did the Tournament's organizers make it incredibly easy for champions to hunt each other down in the Third Task? If so, I don't own the Harry Potter franchise; it belongs to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Press, Warner Bros., and whoever else she sold the rights to.
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The evening air was balmy as the seven champions stood before Ludo Bagman, each of them tense and trying unsuccessfully to hide it. The former professional athlete clapped his hands, dragging them from their nervous musings. "So, last time we get to see each other together like this, eh? I truly, truly hope you all had as fun a time this year as I have, and just maybe you've gotten to know each other a little better. Don't think that just because you live far apart that those friendships have to end; strengthening relations between our schools, and from there our countries, was the main point of this Tournament."

"Still, there is one Task left to conquer before we have to say goodbye. The previous challenges were based on the qualities of Hogwarts's houses: Gryffindor tested your courage in the face of the unknown, Slytherin forced you to be cunning, Ravenclaw assessed your problem-solving, and Hufflepuff taught you to rely on your fellows. There is one more group that this school represents, however, that we can't leave out in the cold. I am talking, of course, about the staff."

The champions shared glances, and he had to keep from grinning at their surprise. He knew that they wouldn't work that part out, and his coin purse was soon going to be much happier for it. "Several professors have worked tirelessly to design this next Task, creating an obstacle course of sorts based on the courses they teach. I hope you've all been using your free time wisely. Since it was obvious that just about all of you snuck into the forest before the Task last time," he said with a mild glare, prompting a variety of expressions ranging from Danny's irritated scowl to Delacour's haughty sniff to Black's cocky smirk, "we chose to set this one up at another location, one none of you could possibly know about. Now, the actual layout is rather simple: each subject has its own room, and you have to clear that one in order to move on to the next. All of you will be on different paths, so you don't need to worry about any friendly fire or foul play. The Triwizard Cup is at the intersection of all your routes, and it won't bring anyone back here until there is both a junior and a senior champion holding it, so don't think that the game is over just because you reach the end first. It's possible – likely, even – that you'll have to defend your position until a member of the other group arrives as well."

"Now, I have one hint to help you out for the first room. Are you ready to hear it?" They nodded with eager faces, and he could not help but smile smugly. "The hint is... go north."

"Dat is de hint? Vhat good is dat?" Eberhardt snapped. The other teens looked equally mutinous.

"You'll see. Junior champions, come here a moment." He drew four simple necklaces, just a white stone dangling on a string, from his pocket and handed them out. "Your advantage for this Task. These are Portkeys that you can use to jump ahead to the next doorway if you're just absolutely stuck on how to beat the room you are in. Be careful, though; they're single use only, so you'll need to keep that in mind whenever you consider skipping to the next room. You never know if you are about to face an even harder challenge."

The juniors stepped back in line, looking greener than they had already, and he proceeded to pull seven leather straps out of a small pouch. "Your Portkeys to get to the Task," he explained as he read the names labelled on the bands and passed them to the appropriate champions. "The points you all have acquired up to this point determined the order and timing that you will enter the course. Diggory, Krum, you two will go in at six-thirty on the nose. Black, because you were only one point behind them, you'll join them ten seconds later." The girl nodded from her place between the young men. "Mr. Potter, you enter at six-thirty-three, and from there we will go at one-minute intervals, Delacour, then Leroux, then Eberhardt. Any questions?"