chapter twenty-nine : the third task
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With the third task approaching, June was busy revising every spell she had ever learned. The black haired was often found in an empty classroom, practicing spells until she was sure she mastered them all. She had never been so prepared for anything.
At least, that's what she thought.
She wasn't prepared to hear Harry talk about his dream.
"Pettigrew was with him, June," Harry whispered. He had pulled her away from her friends towards an empty corridor. "They were talking about something that Pettigrew had or hadn't done and there was a snake — and they mentioned my name."
"Did you tell Dumbledore?" June asked immediately, knowing it would be smart to tell him.
Harry nodded. "Yeah, and apparently Crouch send his own son to Azkaban!"
Juniper frowned in confusion. "Crouch has a son? But why?"
"He was a Death Eater," Harry said. "That's probably enough reason to send someone to Azkaban."
"Yeah, but your own son . . . That's hard."
"It doesn't surprise me," Harry said. "Mr Crouch had always something with rules."
The two of them entered the Great Hall for dinner and said their goodbyes before June made her way to sit next to Timothée.
"Hello, stranger," she said, giving him a smile. "Long time no see."
"Yeah, that's because you were kind of busy with the Tournamemt and Quidditch," Timothée replied. "So it's not my fault."
"Sorry," June apologized, but Timothée waved it off, smiling.
"Don't worry about it," he said. "I understand that you have other responsibilities than just entertaining me."
Juniper rolled her eyes. "Poor you," she said. "So alone."
Timothée played along. "Yeah, and I had no one to talk to."
"You must have been so lonely."
"I was."
They looked at each other and laughed. June shook her head, thankful that he was here at Hogwarts with her.
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"Potter, Black, the champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast," Professor McGonagall told Harry and June on the morning of the third task.
"But the task's not 'til tonight!" Harry exclaimed.
"I'm aware of that, Potter," she said. "The champions' families are invited to watch the final task, you know. This is simply a chance for you to meet them."
She moved away and Harry gaped after her.
"Don't worry, Harry, I'm sure the Dursleys aren't here," June said in an amused voice.
They finished their breakfast and stood up. When June saw Harry hesitate, she grabbed his arm.
"Come on, Harry!"
They walked across the Hall and opened the door into the chamber.
Viktor was over in a corner, conversing with his dark-haired mother and father in rapid Bulgarian. He had inherited his father's hooked nose. On the other side of the room, Fleur was jabbering away in French to her mother. Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle, was holding her mother's hand. June smiled as she saw Timothée, Aubrey and Camille standing with them. The latter waved enthusiastically at June and she waved back.
When June turned around to see who had come for them, her eyes widened.
Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Andromeda, Ted, Molly, Bill and Charlie were all standing in front of the fire place, beaming at them.
"Surprise!" Molly said excitedly, making both June and Harry grin broadly.
"Wow," June breathed. "You're all here."
"Of course we are," Andromeda said. "We couldn't leave you here alone."
"We're your number one fans, kid," Ted added, smiling down at her.
"Thanks," June said, getting a bit emotional.
She then walked into Charlie's open arms and hugged him tightly.
"I've missed you," he quietly said, so that only she could hear it.
June smiled into his chest. "I've missed you, too."
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They spend the rest of the day touring their visitors around Hogwarts while exchanging stories about what they had done at Hogwarts.
When dinner came, June couldn't eat a thing, her nerves were killing her from inside.
"You'll be fine," Charlie assured her, going with his hand up and down her back to calm her. "You're going to win this thing, mark my words."
Juniper nodded absently and was relieved to see Dumbledore standing up to address them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down the grounds for the third and last task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr Bagman down to the stadium now."
Harry and June got up. Every Hogwarts student was applauding them as they headed off out of the Great Hall with Fleur and Viktor.
"Feeling all right, Harry?" Bagman asked, as they went down the stone steps into the grounds. "Confident?"
"I'm OK," Harry said, but June could tell he was nervous.
They walked onto the grounds, which was now completely unrecognizable. A twenty-foot-high hedge ran all the way around the edge of it. There was a gap right in front of them; the entrance to the vast maze. The passage beyond it looked dark and creepy.
Five minutes later, the stands had begun to fill; the air was fill of excited voiced and the rumbling of feet as the hundreds of students filed into their seats. The sky was a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars were starting to appear. Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and approached Bagman and the students. They were wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid, who had his on the back of his moleskin waistcoat.
"We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze," Professor McGonagall said to the champions. "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?"
The champions nodded.
"Off you go, then!" Bagman said brightly to the four patrollers before pointing his wand at his throat, muttering, "Sonorus," and his magically magnified voice echoed the stands.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points current stand! Tied in first place, on eighty-five points each — Miss Juniper Black and Mr Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!"
The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky.
"In second place, on eighty points — Mr Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!"
More applause.
"And in third place — Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"
"So . . . on my whistle, Harry and Juniper!" Bagman said. "Three — two — one —"
He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and June hurried forwards into the maze.
The towering hedges cast black shadows across the path, and whether because they were so tall and thick, or because they had been enchanted, the sound of the surrounding crowd was silenced the moment they entered the maze. Juniper took out her wand and muttered, "Lumos." Next to her, Harry did the same.
After about fifty yards, they reached a fork. They looked at each other.
"Good luck," Harry said, and he took the left one, while June took the right.
Juniper heard Bagman's whistle for the second time. Viktor had entered the maze. June sped up. Her chosen path seemed completely deserted. She turned right, and hurried on, holding her wand high over her head, trying to see as far ahead as possible. Still, there was nothing in sight.
Bagman's whistle blew in the distance for the third time. All of the champions were now inside the maze.
Juniper kept looking behind her. The old feeling that she was being watched was upon her. The maze was growing darker with every passing minute as the sky overhead deepened to navy. She reached a second fork.
"Point me," she whispered to her wand, holding it flat into her palm.
The wand spun around once, and pointed towards her right, into solid hedge. That way was north, and she knew that she needed to go north-west for the center of the maze. The best she could do was to take the left fork, and go right again as soon as possible.
The path ahead was empty, too, and when June reached a right turn and took it, she again found her way unblocked. June didn't know why, but the lack of obstacles was unnerving her.
And then a bunch of Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts appeared from behind her, making her spin around, wand raised.
"Stupify!" she exclaimed, but the spell just bounced off the Skrewt's armor and back towards her. June dove just in time as she felt the spell pass her.
"Impedimenta!" June yelled. The spell hit the Skrewt's again and ricocheted off; June staggered back a few paces and fell over. "IMPEDIMENTA!"
The Skrewt was inches from her when it froze — she had managed to hit it on its fleshy, shell-less underside. Panting, June pushed herself away from it and ran, hard in the opposite direction — the Impediment Jinx was not permanent, the Skrewt would be regaining the use of its legs at any moment.
June took a left path and collided with Harry.
"Ouch!" she exclaimed, as they both fell on the ground.
"June?" Harry asked, pulling her up. "Are you all right?"
"Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts!" June exclaimed. "They're enormous — I only just got away! Anyway, see you later!" She gave him a wave before diving out of sight, along another path.
Juniper slowed her pace as she took in the sight in front of her. Two bodies laid on the ground; Harry and Draco.
"Hang on," she said, frowning. "You're a Boggart! Riddikulus!"
There was a loud crack, and the shape-shifter exploded in a wisp of smoke.
Juniper was on the move again. Left . . . right . . . left again . . . twice she found herself facing dead ends. She did the Four-Point Spell again, and found that she was going to far east. She turned back and took a right turn, when a scream shattered the silence.
"Fleur?" June yelled.
There was a silence. She stared all around her. What had happened to her? Her scream seemed to have come from somewhere ahead.
June paused at a junction of two paths and looked around for some sign of Fleur. She was sure it had been she who had screamed. What had she met? Was she all right? There was no sign of red sparks — did that mean she had got herself out of trouble, or was she in such trouble she couldn't reach her wand? June took the right fork with a feeling of increasing unease . . . but at the same time, she couldn't help thinking, one champion down . . .
The Cup was somewhere close by, and it sounded as though Fleur was no longer in the running. She'd got this far, hadn't she? What if she actually managed to win?
Juniper met nothing for ten minutes, except dead ends. Twice she took the same wrong turning. Finally she found a new route, and started to jog along it, her wand-light waving, making her shadow flicker and distort on the hedge walls. Then she rounded another corner, and found herself facing Viktor, who had his wand pointed at her.
"What are you doing?" June yelled. "What the hell d'you think you're doing?"
"Crucio!"
Before June could move, she had been hit by the Cruciatus Curse. The pain was so intense, so all-consuming, that she no longer knew where she was . . . white-hot knives were piercing every inch of her skin, her head was surely going to burst with pain; she was screaming more loudly than she'd ever screamed in her life —
And then it was over.
Juniper breathed heavily as she laid on the ground. Sweat was dripping off her face and she saw Harry bowing over her, his emeral green eyes looking at her in worry.
"Are you all right?" Harry asked, pulling her up.
"Yeah," June panting. "Yeah . . . I don't believe it . . . he stood there as if he knew I'd be there . . ."
June was still shaking as they looked down at Viktor who had been stunned by Harry.
"I can't believe this . . . I thought he was all right," Harry said, staring at Viktor.
"So did I," Juniper said.
"Did you hear Fleur scream earlier?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," June said. "You don't think Viktor got her, too?"
"I don't know," Harry said slowly.
"We can't leave him here, right?" Juniper muttered.
"No," Harry said. "I reckon we should send up red sparks. Someone'll come and collect him . . . otherwise he'll probably get eaten by a Skrewt."
June raised her arm and shot a shower of red sparks into the air, which hovered high above Viktor, marking the spot where he lay.
Harry and June stood there in the darkness for a moment, looking around them. Then Juniper said, "Well . . . I s'pose we'd better go on . . ."
"What?" Harry said. "Oh . . . yeah . . . right . . ."
They proceeded up the dark path without speaking, then Harry turned left, and June right. Harry's footsteps soon died away.
Juniper moved on, continuing to use the Four-Point Spell, making sure she was moving in the right direction, still wondering why on earth Viktor would use an Unforgivable Curse on her. It didn't make any sense.
Every so often, she hit more dead ends, but the increasing darkness made him feel sure she was getting near the heart of the maze. Then, as she strode down a long, straight path, she saw movement once again, and her beam of wand-light hit an extraordinary creature.
It was a sphinx. It had the body of an overlarge lion; great clawed paws, and a long yellowish tail ending in a brown tuft. Its head, however, was that of a woman. She turned her long, almond-shapes eyes upon Juniper as she approached. She raised her wand, hesitating. The sphinx was not crouching as if to spring, but pacing from side to side of the path, blocking June's progress.
The she spoke, in a deep, hoarse voice. "You are very near your goal. The quickest way is past me."
"So . . . so will you move, please?" June asked, knowing what the answer was going to be.
"No," she said, continuing to pace. "Not unless you can answer my riddle. Answer on your first guess — I let you pass. Answer wrongly — I attack. Remain silent — I will let you walk away from me, unscathed."
Juniper nodded. "OK," she said. "Can I hear the riddle?"
The sphinx sat down upon her hind legs, in the very center of the path and recited:
"First think of the person who lives in disguise,
Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.
Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend,
The middle of middle and end of the end?
And finally give me the sound often heard
During the search for a hard-to-find word.
Now strong them together, and answer me this,
Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?"
Juniper gaped at her.
"Could I have it again . . . more slowly?" she asked tentatively.
The sphinx blinked at her, smiled, and repeated the poem.
"All the clues add up to a creature I wouldn't want to kiss?" June asked.
She merely smiled her mysterious smile. June took that for a yes. Juniper cast her mind around. There were plenty of animals she wouldn't want to kiss; her immediate thought was a Blast-Ended Skrewt, but something told her that wasn't the answer. She'd have to try and work out the clues.
"A person in disguise," June muttered, staring at the sphinx, "who lies . . . er . . . that'd be a — an imposter. No, that's not my guess! A — a spy? I'll come back to that . . . could you give me the next clue again, please?"
She repeated the next lines of the poem.
"The last thing to mend," June repeated. "Er . . . no idea . . . middle of middle . . . could I have the last bit again?"
She gave her the last four lines.
"A sound often heard in search for a hard-to-find word," June said. "Er . . . that'd be . . . er . . . hang on — 'er'! 'Er''s a sound!"
The sphinx smiled at her.
"Spy . . . er . . . spy . . . er . . ." June said, pacing up and down herself. "A creature I wouldn't want to kiss . . . a spider!"
The sphinx smiled more broadly. She got up, stretched her front legs, and then moved aside for her to pass.
"Thanks!" June said, and, amazed that she had actually managed to find it on her own, she dashed forwards.
She had to be close now, she had to be . . . her wand was telling her she was bang on course; as long as she didn't meet anything too horrible, she might be in with a chance . . .
Juniper had a choice of paths up ahead. "Point me!" she whispered again to her wand, and it spun around and pointed her to the right-hand one. She dashed up this one, and saw a light ahead.
The Triwizard Cup was gleaming on a plinth a hundred yards away. June broke into a run, her hazel eyes focused on the Cup ahead.
By Merlin, she'd actually win this thing.
"June!" a voice bellowed. "On your left!"
Juniper looked around just in time to hurl herself past the thing and avoid colliding with it but, in her haste, she tripped. June's wand flew out of her hand, as a gigantic spider stepped into the path and began to bear down upon June.
"Stupify!" Harry yelled; the spell hit the spider's gigantic, hairy body but, for all the good it did, he might as well have thrown a stone at it; the spider jerked, scuttled around, and ran at Harry instead.
Juniper leaped forwards towards her wand and grabbed it from the ground before scrambling up. She spun around and saw that the spider had taken Harry's leg.
"Stupify!" she yelled, but her spell had no more effect than Harry's.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry screamed, as he pointed into his wand into the open pincers of the spider. This cause the spider to let go of him, revealing its underbelly.
"Stupify!" both Harry and June said at the same time, pointing their wands at the underbelly.
The two spells combined did what one alone had not — the spider keeled over sideways, flattening a nearby hedge, and strewing the path with a tangle of hairy legs.
"Harry!" June shouted, dashing over to him. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah," Harry said, panting, and June could tell he had hurt his leg. "Take it, then," he added, nodding at the Cup.
"You take it," June said, sighing. "You should win. That's twice you saved my neck in here."
"That's not how it's supposed to work," Harry said. "The one who reaches the Cup first gets the points. That's you. I'm telling you, I'm not going to win any races on this leg."
"No," she said, shaking her head.
"Stop being noble," Harry said irritably. "Just take it, then we can get out of here."
"You told me about the dragons," June said, knowing he deserved to win. "I would've gone down in the first task if you hadn't told me what was coming."
Harry shrugged. "You're my cousin, what was I supposed to do? Besides, you helped me with the egg — we're square."
"Just take the bloody Cup, Harry," June breathed. "Just take it."
"No, you take it," Harry said stubbornly.
"Together?" June proposed, knowing he wouldn't change her mind. "We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory. We'll tie for it."
Harry smiled. "Yeah, I'd like that."
"Come here," June said, grabbing Harry's arm below the shoulder, helping him towards the plinth where the Cup stood. When they had reached it, they both held out a hand over one of the Cup's gleaming handles.
"On three, right?" Harry said. "One — two — three —"
Harry and June both grasped a handle.
Instantly, June felt a jerk somewhere behind her navel. Her feet had left the ground. She could not unclench the hand holding the Triwizard Cup; it was pulling her onwards, in a howl of wind and swirling color, Harry at her side.
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Juniper's felt her feet slam into the ground and she let go of the Cup.
"Where are we?" Harry asked, who had fallen onto the ground next to her.
June shook her head, got up and pulled Harry up. "I don't know."
They looked around. They had left the Hogwarts grounds completely; they had obviously traveled miles — perhaps hundreds of miles — for even the mountains surrounding the castle were gone. They were standing in a dark and overgrown graveyard; the black outline of a small church was visible beyond a large yew tree to their right. A hill rose above them to their left. June could just make out the outline of a fine old house on the hillside.
She looked down at the Triwizard Cup and then up to Harry.
"Did anyone tell you the Cup was a Portkey?" she asked.
"Nope," Harry said, looking around. "Is this supposed to be part of the task?"
"I dunno," June replied. "But I suggest we take our wands out."
They took out their wands and June had the feeling they were being watched.
"Someone's coming," Harry told her.
Squinting tensely through the darkness, they watched the figure drawing nearer, walking steadily towards them between the graves. June couldn't make out a face, but from the way it was walking, and holding its arms, she could tell that it was carrying something. Whoever they were, they were short, and wearing a hooded cloak pulled up over their head to obscure their face. And — several paces nearer, the space between them closing all the time — she saw that the thing in the person's arm looked like a baby . . . or was it merely a bundle of robes.
Juniper didn't lower her wand, but shot Harry a quizzical look.
It stopped beside a towering marble headstone, only six feet from them. For a second, Harry and Juniper and the short figure simply looked at each other.
And then, without warning, Harry fell onto the ground, his hands covering his face.
"Harry!" June exclaimed, kneeling beside him. "Are you all right?"
"Kill the spare," a high, cold voice said.
Juniper spun around, wand ready, but was met with the words, "Avada Kedavra!" and a bright green light.
It hit her right in the chest and the last thing June saw, was the look of pure horror in Harry's eyes.
And then, life disappeared from Juniper Black's body.
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Published 14.02.2021
THE END.
or not?