Pre-Chapter A/N: More chapters on my patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)— same username as here and link in bio. Also a cheeky little discount– more information on that at the bottom AN.
"How are you feeling?" Sirius asked by my side as we watched the proceedings for the third task begin.
"I don't actually care about this all that much," I said with a sigh. And it was true. I wish I could say that the Triwizard Tournament was this massive thing that had taken so much time and effort on my part, but it was far from that. For one, all my training had been to get stronger in general, rather than any particular preparation for any of the tasks. Even the second task hadn't made me learn anything new. Put the me that had competed in the first task against any of the others, and I would probably have performed similarly.
So I didn't care. It was a challenge that I'd probably conclusively outgrown by Yule. Now it was just something tedious that I happened to find myself stuck in.
"Yeah, I can tell. But think about it. Eternal glory, one thousand galleons, and bragging rights," Sirius posed.
"Exactly none of those matter all that much to me and you know it," I said to him. Yeah, I cared about money to some extent, but the money from Sirius' settlement with the Ministry had come in, and so I had more than enough money to afford clothes at the rate I ran through them— at this point I was buying new robes every other month.
"Because you're a crazy little munchkin. But my initial question wasn't even about this," he said, and I just tossed him a doubtful look.
"Okay, fine. It was. But now I want to ask about tomorrow and how you're feeling about that."
"The results? I passed. I know that," I said easily. I knew I passed.
"Yes, but you don't know how well, do you?" he asked.
"Did you see something, Sirius?" I asked, now giving him all my attention. Of course, the troll took that as a cue to withdraw from the conversation, zipping his lips shut and walking over to talk to Slughorn.
I watched him walk off before I turned back to the track that marked the beginning of the third task. It was going to be the biggest one yet, and the chosen stage? All of Hogwarts. It was a task designed to show off the best of what Hogwarts had to offer, made up of four distinct stages. The first one was a hike through the Forbidden Forest itself to find a coin. We needed three coins to complete the task and each champion could only take one coin from each stage.
So the first was the coin in the Forbidden Forest. The second coin was hidden within the school itself and the third was hidden somewhere in the final stage. A sky maze. Yup. A fucking sky maze. I had no idea how they'd managed to do that without everyone noticing, but somehow above the castle was a floating structure. It was about half the castle's diameter, meaning that it was still big but not so big that it would take hours to traverse. Still, it was an impressive bit of magic, at the very least.
I prepared myself for the task that was about to start and waited for the announcer to finish the recap of what had gotten us here. Thanks to the Staff Duels, I was now solidly in third place, behind both Fleur and Krum. Cedric was last by some margin, and so that meant he would be the last to begin.
"As earlier announced, Champions will be given clues to find the coins based on their place in the standings. First Place Fleur Delacour will receive two clues, one to find the coin in the forest, and another to find the coin in the castle, as well as a headstart to get things going. Second Place Viktor Krum will also receive two clues, but no headstart and will begin at the same time as third place Harry Potter, who will receive a single clue, and Cedric Diggory in last place, who shall receive no clues to aid his participation in this contest. Never worry, folks, as the task is challenging enough that even with clues, the identity of the winner is far from set in stone. Now, let us welcome the champions." I tuned him out at that as I thought back to the clue I'd received.
'Your treasure lies in the spun sea,' the note had read. It would have been a mystery worth solving if I hadn't spent so much time in the Forbidden Forest in the first place. After all, how else would I have known of the massive Acromantula nest in the forest with webs so thick and varied that they looked like a sea? A sea of spun webs.
With how vague my clue was, I was far from worried about the lead that Fleur and Krum would have thanks to their clues. The clues seemed to require some knowledge of the area being scouted to prove useful, so I just had to hope that they hadn't done a lot of exploring in Hogwarts. When my name was called, I made my way to the starting platform with a casual stride that expressed just what I felt about this whole thing. This thing was over and done with. I'd won. The world just didn't know it yet.
Diggory was last, and it seemed like the stands were going to collapse with how the whole school stood in unison to cheer him on. The attack at Yule had had many effects in many ways, but one that I hadn't really noticed until it had already crystallized into a much different culture than the Hogwarts I was familiar with was that of unity. All the houses seemed to have come together around their losses, and while that was expected, it was the fact that they had done so as houses first, and then crossed those house lines later on that was the true surprise.
Maybe it should not have been. Padma Patil from Ravenclaw had died, and her sister had not been the only one to grieve. Maybe it just made sense that things worked out that way. Still, it meant Hogwarts had changed while I spent my time in the dungeons training within the Chamber of Secrets or in the Room of Requirement, or even off in Greece training with Sirius to get as good at Apparition as I could, as well as adding whatever caught his fancy to our sessions. Those tended to be random and ranged from Pegasi hunting off the coast of Athens to Occlumency training from consuming psychoactives and then trying to duel under that influence. Altogether fun, but always random.
When the buzzer rang, Fleur blasted off, running across the field that separated us from the Forbidden Forest. We were about two kilometers away, so it was impressive how quickly she moved. She ran so well that by the time she was about to enter the treeline, the buzzer rang to show that her five-minute headstart was over. The three of us looked at each other on the platform, and I knew then that all three of us were having the same idea.
Whoever got off first would eat a spell to the back the second they dared to leave the platform. That left us at an impasse of sorts. The more time we wasted staring off, the bigger Fleur's lead got. However, just starting to run could mean falling victim to those left behind. I looked at Cedric, who shrugged in my direction before gesturing to Krum. Yeah, he would be the main barrier to accomplishing any sort of truce or ceasefire.
"Ve attack each other vhen ve reach forest and not before, da?" he said, startling me out of my thoughts. I thought for a second before nodding. He turned to Diggory, and Cedric nodded as well. We turned to the grass ahead and wondered who would take the first step to show trust in the others.
In the end, ever the Hufflepuff, it was Cedric that moved first. My hand never even twitched toward my wand, and Krum must have taken that as notice that I was not going to attack and break the deal because he set off next. I sighed. Even if I wanted to attack them, I couldn't. Not with so many people watching and having seen us make a deal just then. Getting an international reputation for being a person whose word could not be trusted was a bad idea, so I pushed off against the platform a few seconds after Krum left.
All three of us were extremely fit men who had magic coursing through our veins, so it was not like the distance was much of a challenge to cover. Still, it must have been like something out of a movie, as I raced and shot through the air, running with picture-perfect form and covering the distance as quickly as I could.
It took me fifteen steps to overtake Krum, and another two after that to overtake Cedric and find myself in first place. This also turned out to be the most dangerous place to be, I thought to myself. If either of them were going to betray me, then now would be the time to do it. And even as the part of me that was Doom screamed at me about how stupid it was to essentially deliver myself into their arms like this, the part of me that was Harry James Potter felt this was the wisest course of action.
We had to catch up to Fleur one way or another, and I just had to trust that they would not attack me for much the same reasons as I hadn't attacked them. Especially since I had visibly, in front of the whole world, turned down the chance to attack them when they were in a position for me to do so.
I focused on putting one foot in front of the other, and in what felt like closer to three minutes than four, I was being covered by the treeline. I had two choices. Disillusion myself here and ambush the others when they arrived, or continue on in hopes of catching Fleur and taking her position in front of this whole thing. In truth, Krum and Diggory were barely threats when all things were considered, and I would not have it be said that I worried so much about them that I tried to take them out of the task early. I knew that spin would come if I did it, so I continued into the forest, beginning to move left in a diagonal, straight-line direction. Considering the platform we'd begun on was right in front of the castle and I'd run in a straightforward line, then the Acromantula nest would be somewhere to the left. Their nest was quite a distance from the Castle. If they were any closer, then they would be in danger of running across the students who went into the forest every year or so for a lark, and that would not end well for anyone involved.
A student would die and the Acromantula colony would be culled down to the last insect, and that would be the end of Aragog's line.
It took close to thirty minutes of walking to begin seeing the first signs of the Acromantula nest. For one, there were loose webs around the trees, and the forest itself began to quiet down. Under my usual coterie of spells— Disillusionment, scent erasure, and silencing— I went about unmolested through the forest. The cameras were bound to our magical signatures themselves, so they did continue to follow me, and we had already been warned against casting magic on any of the magical tools or equipment used in the task on pain of disqualification. I wasn't particularly keen to test their conviction on that one, so I allowed the thing to float behind me regardless.
When I reached the colony, it was to the sound of combat breaking through the foliage. I slashed my wand to animate the tree that was blocking my view into moving out of my way, and so from a distance, I could see Fleur dancing out of the way of several Acromantulas as they tried to surround her. Every one that got too close for comfort found itself sliced along the middle or forced into a dance that made it barrel into its colleague or something else. It was beautifully graceful, and wholly distracting. Especially for the Acromantula.
'Carpe Retractum,' I thought and pointed my wand at a branch about 15 feet from the ground. The Seize-and-Pull Charm, when used on a stationary object like a tree, could be modified to pull the caster to the object in question and not the other way around. The Acromantulas made their nest in a complex criss-cross of trees and their branches. A web of wood to match their spun web. I climbed across that web, going from branch to branch until I found myself close to the center of the nest. Still under my various cloaking spells and so high above the mayhem, none of the combatants were able to notice me.
The coins, I could see them now. Each one was just half again as big as a galleon. They looked to be made of some sort of black metal that glowed to itself even without anything prodding at them. All four of them sat at the center of a massive web that covered them from all angles, making a stealthy approach all but impossible. At least a stealthy approach without a distraction. With a silent Cutting Curse, I forced some of the webs out of my way, never noticing the way a single spider's eyes widened at my change to the trap. When I reached the next set of webs, I cut them out of my way again. This time continuing my descent more hesitantly as the number of tree branches this deep into their trap had reduced to the point that I was only able to rely on two for supporting my movements and keeping me aloft.
And then the branches began to sag and squeak. Fuck. I felt them vibrate as something else landed on them and I turned to the side to see a single Acromantula staring at exactly where I was. Fuck. I blinked, the Acromantula blinked in all eight eyes, and I used that chance to bury a quick piercing hex straight into the center of its head.
With a lurch, it began to tilt to the side and in what had to be a display of groundbreaking levels of self-destructive tendencies, I allowed the Acromantula to land on the floor. Or rather, to land on the webs right beneath it. Somehow that was enough for every creature in the nest to turn its attention my way. And then a second later, I felt my Disillusionment fail and heard a familiar voice whisper 'désolé, 'Arry' in my ears as the Fleur in the middle of the nest faded to mist.
I looked down to find one of the coins gone already. Well, she could sure haul arse when she wanted to. Nothing for it then, I thought, and waved my wand in a half circle, sending the Acromantula that came my way flying backwards. I jumped down next, using two Cutting Curses to cut through the web separating me from the center of their little dome. I landed among the webbing and felt myself instantly begin to stick. With a curse on my lips, I tore myself free and grabbed one of the coins before shoving it in my pocket. Next, there was fire. Fucking Acromantula. With a breath, I called a firestorm into being. Not something as powerful as Fiendfyre, of course, just a lighter elemental spell that was more show than anything else. It did enough to warn the Acromantula that had begun to surround me to take a few steps back, and that was all I needed.
A more concentrated fire spell burned my way to the ground and once I reached it, I tapped my wand on the ground, instantly creating a small earthquake that dislodged a few of the Acromantulas' footing and then I was off, covered by my cloaking spells even as an illusionary copy of me ran in the opposite direction. I didn't manage to keep the ruse for more than a few seconds with how bad I was with the spell, but that was more than enough time for me to retreat from their nest, wasting no time in beginning to head back to the school.
Even if Krum and Cedric had had no idea where to go, there was no chance in hell that all that noise and the accompanying light show had not drawn their attention or at the very least piqued their curiosity. And then there was Fleur. It was actually impressive that she'd managed to replace herself with an illusion, find me, dispel my spell, and then steal her coin all within a few seconds of each other. When we caught up, I'd love to find out just how she accomplished that one. But I had to catch up to her soon, considering there was no chance in hell I was going to go search the entire castle without some sort of clue.
With that in mind, I focused on the mental image of my broom and pulled a trick from Harry's playbook. 'Accio Firebolt.'
A/N: And so we've got the third task beginning. This thing will progress in interesting ways so here's my bet that none of you manage to guess how the task ends. Next two chapters up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)( same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early. Also, there's a cheeky 10% discount available for all monthly plans till the 14th.