The Maze (Harry Potter 4 and the maze runner)

The Portkey

There was a shriek that tore the silence from behind me. I spun in the darkness and held my wand aloft, catching Cedric tangled in violent mandrake roots. He fumbled for his wand and swore a lose string of profanities as he became more and more tangled, more and more panicked.

Without thinking, I sprinted past him, and reached for my wand.

"Relashio!" The roots darted away from his body as he scrambled to his feet. From behind us both the sickly siren call of the Triwizard cup swirled in the darkness. I felt a stab of pain erupt from my forehead as he reached my side. 

" You saved my life...Go on, take it" I snapped out of my reverie and turned to Cedric. A thin line of crimson dotted his cheek, his hair a untamed mess.

"No, we'll do it together, for Hogwarts" I said watching a wry smile finally light up his features. Something dark scuttled past my peripheral vision, and we both spun searing the hedges with our wand light.

"Harry...your hurt" Cedric lowered his wand and illuminated a dribble of blood that had stained my trouser. I pressed a hand to my side and found it covered in crimson.

"It's nothing, just a scratch, we have to do it now" I said,  the thought of Krum's wand pointed at Fleur, followed by her screams flashing through my mind.

We walked in sync towards the Cup, drawn to its potent glare. It was humming with light.

"On three ok?" Cedric met my gaze. I nodded with another backwards glance.

"Three...two...o-"

I felt a grip on my navel, my feet left the ground. There was a swirl of screams, and Cedric's face mouthing words that I couldn't comprehend and then-

I was breathing in the dank musty smell of rain, my palms pressed against wet concrete. I felt cool air brush the back of my head, like there'd been a change in the wind. 

"Knew it couldn't have been that simple. Find the cup, just take it and eternal glory is yours..." I looked up and found Cedric on his feet. He had his wand out lighting up hedges that seemed even taller than Hagrid's.

"What happened?" I asked, groggily pulling myself to my feet. Miraculously, my wand had survived the fall. My leg on the other hand ached a dull pain, matched by the throbbing in my scar.

"We're still in the maze...the cup was a portkey..." Cedric paused " Did you know?"

I shook my head, slightly perplexed as I looked around. I fumbled for my wand, listening to the silence.

"These hedges don't match the ones Hagrid made...I think we might be somewhere else" I said. Cedric turned and inspected the groves.

"It must be part of the third challenge..."

His words were punctuated by a distant roar that permeated the air. My hand tightened around my wand. 

"What was that?" Cedric scanned the sky, "more dragons?"

"I don't think that was a dragon..." I replied. I started walking ahead.

"Where are you going? Shouldn't we stay here while we figure out where we are? I don't want to be walking through this maze for hours" He said.

"I think we should keep moving" I hoped he couldn't hear the concern in my voice. 

He puffed out a long sigh "Of course you do" 

"This way then" I mumbled lumos and started walking straight ahead, really wanting Hermione's brains right now.

***

"This doesn't seem right" I said, trying and failing to banish the feeling of dread squirming in my stomach. I raised my wand and tried the four pointer spell again to no avail. I turned to Cedric to find him nowhere to be seen.

"Harry! Over here!" his frenzied tone came from somewhere up ahead.

He was only around the corner of a hedge, his wand held aloft to read thick words inscribed into the wall: 'WICKED IS GOOD'. 

"What do you think that means?" he murmured stealing a glance around us.

"Sounds like something out of one of Snape's lessons" I snorted "We should keep moving. Maybe we'll come across something that'll help us".

From the distance, although it sounded closer this time, the same roar from before shattered the silence. I turned to Cedric, grimacing as my scar began to throb rhythmically again.

Just as I was about to confess the hopelessness of our situation, a boy shot out of a corner of the maze. I reached for my wand instinctively, but he ran right past us, shouting something indiscernible. He turned again and this time I heard the words: "run! Grievers coming".

Before I had a chance to question his battle cry I heard an bestial roar of clanging metal and flesh. The creature making the noise emerged from the same corner and was like anything I'd ever seen or heard before. 

Thick spidery legs held up a metal head with a pincer that seeped acid. 

Cedric darted past me grabbing my sleeve and dragging me with him, snapping me out of my reverie. There was a cry of fear up above as a dark haired boy turned the corner and beckoned us into an alcove, the beast scuttling behind. I fumbled with my wand and shouted "protego" just as it lunged at us, sending it scrambling over the edge of a concrete cliff. 

There were a few moments of cumbersome silence.

"What...was that?" Cedric panted. I held up a hand, listening to the sound of metal  contorting far below. I spared a glance at the two boys who had appeared from thin air, both panting as if they'd been running for days.

"I told you what it was...it was a Griever..." The second boy panted. His eyes were glued to my wand, as if  he'd never seen something quite so extraordinary in his life.

"What's a Griever? Did Hagrid ever mention any Grievers to you?" Cedric turned to me. I shook my head.

"Who's Hagrid?" At this declaration, Cedric and I exchanged perplexed looks.

"Where did you say you were from?" I asked.

"We're not answering any questions till you shanks explain just who you are and where you came from" the other boy with meticulously spiked hair spoke up for the first time.

"Can we do it before any more of those beasts come looking for us?" Cedric piped up. I gripped my wand, as the boy reached for a sword attached to his back. His eyes wandered to my hand, and eventually he lowered his.

"This way".