MORALITY ⟶ Angelina Johnson [1]

Chapter Fifty-Eight

[Chapter Fifty-Eight]

As Ludo Bagman escorted the champions down to the maze, Saros found himself blocking out all the noise around him. The only thing he could hear was the steady beat of his heart that was only growing faster the closer they neared the large hedges. The last time he had witnessed the hedges, he had been able to climb over them, the ones he was viewing now, he wouldn't be able to do so. They towered over the group as they grew closer and found themselves approached by Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick. Everything suddenly seemed to be moving so fast as if the day had just been wasted away. And suddenly, Saros was scolding himself for wasting it by being angry at the people that weren't even there for him.

He had been surrounded by people that had shown time after time that they cared, and one stupid letter had managed to ruin his whole day. With a shake of his head, he realised it was no time for him to dwell on such things. He had made a promise to Angelina, to his family and friends, that he was going to come out on the other side of the maze. Whether he did so as a winner or not was to be decided but nevertheless, he needed to make it to the end.

The stands were filling up behind them with staff, students, and the families of the champions that had come to stay and watch. As much as Saros wanted to look over in the direction of the stands to find where Angelina was, he stopped himself from doing so. He was only going to get himself more worked up if he looked over and saw the nerves on her face. Instead, he gave his attention to the professors as they started to speak.

"We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze," Professor McGonagall informed them, "If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?"

Saros couldn't help but steal a glance over in Fleur's direction to see the witch biting at her thumbnail. It was clear that she was recalling the Grindylow incident that had caused her to fail to finish the last task. However, seconds later, Fleur pulled her thumb away from her mouth, a hardened look developing on her face as she looked more than determined to complete the task this time around. 

Meanwhile, Ludo abandoned the group to face the crowd as the Third Task was preparing to start, Saros was finding it hard to breathe. Of course, the points given with the last two tasks hadn't been for just anything, as the number of points determined who would be entering the maze first. And it turned out that Saros was lucky number one with Harry and Viktor trailing behind him and Fleur entering in last.

As promised as his name was announced, Saros was certain that he could hear Ted and Tonks screaming and shouting from the stands. It brought a small smile to his face as he kept his back turned towards the crowd. Facing the hedges, Saros' eyes darted about but there was nothing on the outside that gave him a clear indicator as to what he was going to find inside the maze.

On the sound of Ludo's whistle, Saros was to enter first and as soon as it rang out in his ear, he started moving forward. It was almost as if he wasn't in control of his body because if it were up to him, he just would have called it quits by then. However, as he grew closer, the hedges opened up and he found himself on a path of darkness as nothing inside the maze was lit up. Holding out his wand, he cast the wand-lighting charm of "Lumos" to observe his surroundings.