A New Snake

Chapter 17

         

Darkness fell and Harry put on his uniform for the final task. He put his wand in the arm holster he was given and took a deep breath. His heart was racing in his chest and his stomach was tying itself in knots. He felt nauseous and a little dizzy as he made his way through the deserted halls towards the Quidditch Pitch. Everyone but the champions were already in the stands. He met Cedric at the door and he didn't look much better than Harry did. This only made Harry worry more because, if someone so much more magically advanced than him was as nervous as he was...

They walked together and joined the other two Champions in front of the maze. The stands were filled with Durmstrang's burgundy, Beauxbaton's pale blue, Hufflepuff yellow, and Slytherin green. The Gryffindor stands were a mix between yellow and green but Slytherin was all green. Ravenclaw was a mixture as well and though there were some people supporting Harry in Hufflepuff, the specks of green were washed out by the overwhelming yellow. Harry knew the crowd was cheering, they were on their feet and clapping and the like, but he could hear nothing. He wasn't sure if it was because he was nervous or if they were just that loud. He reached the area where he would enter the maze and found himself surrounded by people that had become important parts of his life in the past year: Lily, Professor Snape, Aunt Petunia, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

It had been decided that they would enter the maze based on their place amoung the other Champions. This meant that Cedric and Harry—who were tied for 1st—would enter the maze first, at the same time; Viktor would go next, and then Fleur last. Aunt Petunia hugged him after Mrs. Weasley did, and nearly as hard. They were all worried for him because with all that had happened, everyone was sure that someone was trying to hurt or kill Harry. Dumbledore made his usual speech before the beginning of the task, telling the crowd the rules that the Champions had already heard.

He took a deep breath.

Just before the canon—which would announce when Harry and Cedric were supposed to enter the maze—went off, Lily came and hugged I'm really hard, "Be careful, Harry. Don't do anything stupid." Harry nodded and just as he was about to say something back, the canon went off and Professor Moody pushed him into the maze.

He'd heard somewhere that as long as you follow the right hand wall of the maze, you'll eventually get where you're supposed to go. At this point, he didn't care if he won. He just wanted this to be over. He kept hitting dead ends, but didn't worry about it. He just had to keep moving. Five minutes after he and Cedric had entered, he heard Viktor's canon go off and five minutes after that, Fleur's.

Twenty minutes after every Champion had entered the maze, he heard a scream nearby that must have been Fleur's. He refused to let him Gryffindor tendencies take over and kept on his way. As he walked, he passed some aurors on brooms coming to retrieve the unconscious Fleur. He quickly kept on his way and out of theirs. He walked and walked and as he walked, he saw Cedric on the ground, stunned. No one seemed to know that he was there, so Harry shot red sparks into the air above him and continued on his way. He turned a corner and saw Krum stunned as well. He shot up more red sparks and, again continued. He wasn't sure if having all the other Champions out of the maze meant he won, so he just kept on his way.

A moment later he found what he was looking for. The hedges stopped and before him was a large clearing. In the middle of the clearing stood on a pedestal was the Tri-Wizard Cup. It glowed blue in the darkness and Harry hurried towards it. He'd won. The youngest champion who was never supposed to be there won.

His feeling of triumph vanish as soon as he touched the cup and found it was a portkey.

~ ~ ~ ~

The tournament officials decided to allow Harry to finish the maze, simply because he was so close, but they kept an eye on him as he went. The cheering crowd went silent, however, when he grabbed the cup and disappeared but didn't reappear at the front of the maze. Dumbledore stood, telling everyone to remain calm and that there must have been some technical difficulties with the portkey. That they would find Harry as quickly as they could.

Aurors, Professors and parents searched and searched the grounds and halls for the boy who lived, but with no luck. Harry Potter was gone from Hogwarts.

~ ~ ~ ~

Harry fell to his knees in the darkness, the only light coming off of the cup. There was soft dirt under his knees and silence deafened him. He pushed himself to his feet with shaking limbs and looked around himself. He seemed to be in a graveyard.

In the distance, on a hill, sat a manor that looked strangely familiar. He didn't have time to think about it, however, because suddenly there was a rustling behind him. Out of the shadows came a figure un robes, hunched over and carrying a baby-sized bundle. Harry was freaked and every single Gryffindor cell in his body died and Slytherin took over. Before the figure could so much as look at him, he ran and dove towards the Tri-Wizard cup, hoping it would act as a portkey back to Hogwarts.

In a flash of blue light, Harry disappeared from the dark graveyard. He heard a raspy scream of protest as he left. He landed on his knees in front of the maze, more than happy to be done with the Tournament. Mr. Bagman announced, "We have our Tri-Wizard Champion! Harry Potter of Slytherin from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" The crowd cheered and Lily raced from the stands and enveloped him in a bear hug stronger than Mrs. Weasley's. Harry wrapped his arms around her as well and was soon surrounded by the arms of the Weasleys, Hermione, and his Aunt. Severus stood to the side, looking relieved at seeing him back and unharmed, but almost like he knew something. But Harry didn't want to think about that now. He really just wanted to go to bed. So, when his loved ones released him, he made his excuses and went to his dorm, falling asleep without so much as changing from his dirty clothes.

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