Harry Potter and the Ritual of Love's Memory

Chapter 23

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to welcome you to the final task of the Triwizard Tournament!" Ludo Badman's magically magnified voice boomed out into the warm evening air over the excited murmuring of the crowd. Harry looked over at his three competitors, noting that each had a look of steely determination. In the leadup to the task, he felt rather queasy but was doing his best to put on a brave face.

"The four champions will be seeking the Triwizard Cup that rests in the center of the maze you see before you. Each of the four will start based on their results from the first two tasks. That means that we will begin with Mr. Harry Potter of Hogwarts!" A roar of a cheer erupted from the stands as Harry gave a hesitant wave. "Two minutes later, we will release Mr. Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts into the maze" Another loud cheer echoed into the approaching darkness. Cedric smiled broadly and pointed to a section filled with Hufflepuff students, including a second-year dressed in a badger costume.

"Two minutes after that, Miss Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons will enter!" The yells for Fleur were not quite as overwhelming as they had been for the two champions playing on their own home turf, but it was still quite loud. The slightly higher pitch of the screams in her corner made Harry think that some of the girls might be rooting for Fleur as a young woman up against three boys. She waved to the crowd and blew a kiss toward her sister, who was seated in the front row of one of the boxes. Harry rolled his eyes as a few students in the vicinity swooned.

"Finally, two minutes later, they will be joined by Mr. Viktor Krum of Durmstrang!" Viktor placed a fist over his heart and nodded toward his mother, sisters, and Hermione, who were cheering as loud as anyone. Radka and Nadejda each had a small flag they were waving with pictures of Viktor drawn on them.

"The task will begin at precisely seven, which is only two minutes away! Let's hear it for your four champions as they wait for the maze to open!" Bagman gave a shout of encouragement as the rest of the crowd followed suit. The deafening noise seemed to be shaking the ground Harry was standing upon and his insides felt tied up in knots.

Green eyes stared at the outer hedge of the maze where an entryway was soon to appear. He thought through the various spells that he'd been going over with his friends and professors, mentally checking off which would be most helpful in which situations. Without warning, Harry felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Good luck, 'Arry," said Fleur with a smile. Cedric walked forward to clap Harry's other shoulder and Viktor completed the circle. "And to you all. We will be competitors for only anuzzer 'our, but I hope we can all be friends beyond that."

"Hear, hear!" replied Cedric warmly. "Whoever comes out on top has to buy the first round of butterbeers, yeah?"

Viktor nodded and gave an affirmative grunt. Though his expression was serious, Harry saw warmth in his dark eyes. "Glad to get to call you friends, too. See you all afterward!"

Harry took a deep breath as the noise of the crowd built to a crescendo. Suddenly, the hedge opened in front of them as Bagman's magnified voice shouted, "And we're off!" He sprinted into the maze, looking back just in time to see the other three champions staring in at him as the hedge began to close.

~RLM~

Another dead end.

Harry skidded to a stop as his path was once again blocked. He rested one hand on his knee as he bent over, gasping for breath, while he glanced at the watch on his wand hand. It read 7:40. He'd been frantically traversing the maze for nearly three-fourths of an hour already and he was beginning to tire from running.

He had been surprised by how few obstacles he had encountered thus far. He'd had a run-in with a gigantic Blast-Ended Skrewt, but had been able to use a few well-placed impedimentas to immobilize the behemoth for long enough to make a sprint for a safer path.