They walk onto the Quidditch field, which is now completely unrecognizable. A twenty-foot-high hedge runs all the way around the edge of it. There is a gap right in front of them: the entrance to the vast maze. The passage beyond it looks dark.
Five minutes later, the stands begin to fill; the air is full of excited voices and the rumbling of feet as the hundreds of students file into their seats. The sky is a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars are starting to appear. Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick come walking into the stadium and approach Bagman and the champions. They are wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid, who has his on the back of his moleskin vest.
"We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze," says Professor McGonagall 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 nod.
"Off you go, then!" says Bagman brightly to the four patrollers. The four walk away to their positions, but Hagrid not without wishing Harry good luck. Harry smiles softly and then looks into stormy grey eyes that send jitters down to the pits of his stomach. That man is the best thing that ever happened to him and the one that made it with it to go through all that humiliation again.
Cedric smiles back at him, feeling similarly, the brunette takes a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each - Mr Cedric Diggory and Mr Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!" The cheers and applause send birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky. "In second place, with 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 Cedric!" says Bagman. "Three - two - one -"
He gives a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and Cedric hurry forward into the maze.
The towering hedges cast black shadows across the path, and, whether because they are so tall and thick or because they have been enchanted, the sound of the surrounding crowd is silenced the moment they enter the maze. Cedric feels almost as though he was underwater again. He pulls out his wand, mutters, "Lumos," and hears Harry do the same just in front of him.
After about 45 metres, they reach a fork. They look at each other.
"See you and stay safe," Harry says with a small smile, that hides a lot of sadness. Cedric swiftly hugs Harry and tilts his head up and captures his plump lips in his. "Don't worry, this day won't end the same as before, I have this now." He holds up the invisibility cloak and Harry nods with a tiny smile.
He takes the right one, while Harry took the left.
Cedric hears Bagman's whistle for the second time. Viktor has entered the maze. Cedric speeds up. His chosen path seems completely deserted. He turns left, and hurries on, holding his wand high over his head, trying to see as far ahead as possible. There must be something wrong...
...of course!! He just has to jinx himself! Cedric dives out of the way of a Blast-Ended Skrewt. That thing is massive! The creature is trying to catch him with its stinger. Startled, Cedric rolls out of the way and scrambles to his feet. Running to the nearest path to try and get away from the Skrewt.
A blast behind him has him turning around again and in quick succession, he starts feeling a tidal wave of emotions, fear from Fleur, and Harry's apparently unnerved, Viktor uneasy and the crowd excited. Mixing into a cacophony of noise and uncertainty, he presses his eyes close in an attempt to still his senses but to no avail. He can't shake the noise out the waves of the different discordant emotions. It's as though someone pulled out a plug that was clogging his Empathy. Cedric has the worst luck anyone could have... He hates it and to his surprise, there aren't any blows coming his way.
He carefully opens his eyes and stares in shock at the cowering Skrewt. "You...you can feel what I'm feeling?!"
"Of course, everyone is! You're losing control over your Empathy! You're forcing all of that confusion and disorientation towards your surroundings, you almost gave me a heart attack!"
Cedric chuckles at his pendant, seems as though Harry decided to alarm him even further. "You're not helping! I'm trying to calm down but you try dealing with suddenly being able to feel everyone's feelings!
Then there is silence in their connection, Cedric feels mildly disappointed but tries to get his thoughts in order. There's still so much noise! He tries to focus, to tune out...but to no avail and as such Cedric attempts a silencing charm. But when even that fails he groans in agony. He can't think straight like this and then there's the Skrewt attacking him again. This time, unfortunately, Cedric isn't as lucky as the previous times and the creature gets him in the arm. Searing pain clouds his perception of his surroundings, the pain in his head and physical body fuses and diffuses, throwing him in for a confusing ride of emotions and a rollercoaster. He faintly recalls casting a stunning spell before hitching the opportunity to run away.
He doesn't know where he's going, just far away. Somewhere away from anything and everything. Cheering, anticipation, fear, apprehension, annoyance, worry and confusion all mixing together. He takes a right turn and hurries on ahead, with the run slightly clearing his head. In front of him, he can make out a figure holding out their wand, ready to attack. The beam of light from the other person's wand illuminates his face blindingly. Cedric sighs in relief at seeing Harry standing before him, yet he still feels severely shaken from that sudden spark in his developing Empathy. The sleeve of his robe is smoking and the skin beneath that blistered with the burn and also the scratch of the sting.
"Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts!" he hisses. "They're enormous - I only just got away!"
"You look terrible! Get over here so that I can examine your wounds!"
Cedric pants as he slowly makes his way toward Harry, worried green eyes staring at the wound on his arm. And as soon as their skin makes contact, the Hufflepuff is enveloped in an all-encompassing silence. He blinks and tentatively shakes Harry off himself, who grumbles in return. Just as soon as Cedric is out of his mate's hold the emotions return crashing into him in a steady murmur of noise. And just to make sure he takes Harry's hand in his.
"You make my Empathy go away... I don't hear the emotions around me when we are in contact. But they come rushing back as soon as I let go of you..."
Harry merely nods and kisses Cedric on the cheek before wordlessly ripping his shirt and bandaging Cedric's bleeding arm tightly.
"This should hold off the bleeding for a while. Just be careful, we'll talk about this later. Just promise me to try and ignore the emotions for now, if anybody else knows of Empaths, they'll know that one of the champions is one. That was a strong wave of disorientation you send crashing over us."
"Sorry..."
Harry shakes his head and gives Cedric a firm squeeze on the hand. "Don't be. Stay safe, we'll see each other later on and remember that Viktor is under the imperius curse, I'll try and get to Fleur before he can, you just stay out of his way or snap him out of it."
Cedric nods and runs off again, ignoring to the best of his capabilities the sounds around him and the crowd on the stands. Then, as he turns a corner, he saw...a...a weird yet terrifying monster... Cedric can't exactly describe it but he's terrified as though he has seen this creature before, this creature made of seemingly white smoke shaped like a skeleton head. He's rooted to the ground, staring. Then suddenly screams come from the skeletal head, screams like death or like dying people. Cedric shivers his eyes dilated with all-encompassing fear. Too...too much...
The thing shifts steadily closer... And closer...and closer. There's another scream and Cedric hides his head in his arms.
The veil can only be healed with a second sacrifice... I'll do it!
But Kagura, what about your son?!
You can take care of him, can't you? Lance, I trust that you'll keep him safe...
Everything shifts and suddenly Cedric finds himself in his old home in England, he remembers this place, his room. He walks around cautiously, why is he here...and what about the third task.
"Don't worry about that for the moment, this is a memory you were forced to forget but still remained dormant. You've always wondered what your Boggart was, haven't you?" Annabel whispers into his ear and places her translucent hands on his shoulder. Cedric slowly nods. Yes, that is true, for as long as he can remember...for as long as he can remember he has never known what his Boggart was. Last year when professor Lupin was doing his lessons on Boggarts, Cedric's never materialised. He wondered if there was something wrong with him...
He can see his younger self playing with a toy wand and casting, what he back then thought to be, spells. He smiles softly as he remembers that his parents were invited to some celebration at the ministry and they left him with a babysitter. But he can't recall what happened to her.
Just then the blond witch enters the room, covered from head to toe in blood.
"What is that? Are you painting? Can I paint?" His younger self innocently asks with glee. But there's a certain manic look in the woman's gaze and Cedric shivers, that is blood and he knows that now.
"Of course, you can, just follow me downstairs and we'll have a lot of fun together."
Annabel holds onto him tighter and whispers calming nothings into his ears. The room shifts and there's a room... The basement Cedric recalls. But the woman, his former babysitter, looks at his younger self with glee and something aching to lust...maybe...maybe it was just I'll intent.
"What is this? What happened here?" The young six year old looks around and starts walking backwards. "I don't like this! Please, can we play something else? I don't want to stay here..." And then there's a scream, so loud and full of fear that Cedric feels himself crumpling in his ancestor's hold. He, later on, realizes that his six-year-old self screamed.
"We'll make a fun ritual come to be." She laughs and the room becomes a sight of death and a mangled body... Cedric bites back the urge to throw up. A mangled body of a wizard is haphazardly thrown into the middle of the runic circle on the stone floor and then young Cedric is tied up to a chair as the blond woman harshly takes his arm and takes a knife.
A glinting sharp knife. He screams again and tries to wriggle free of the hold to no avail. "Daddy! Mommy!" He screams at the top of his lungs before it turns into a pained scream. Blood gushes out of his wound and onto the circle in the middle, the room starts glowing and the woman cackling.
"Please no more! I can't take this!"
"Shh, I know my darling. But if you want to know why your father looks at you like that now, why your family is the way it is now...then this is the only way."
Cedric blanches but he desperately needs to know why his father hates him, why he's never enough for his father. Maybe then they can be like they used to...before Cedric suddenly lost all memories of the time he was six and seven. He's never thought about that gap in his memories before and now it seems even more prominent. He has to know...has to know who this woman is.
Then! There! That very same creature from the maze appears and seemingly devours the mangled corpse before setting its hollowed-out eyes on a still screaming six-year-old.
"I have brought you this exemplary sacrifice to gain your aid in subjugating the magical world. Our organisation needs all the help we can get!" The witch bows before the being, then she looks with a crazed look at Cedric, who is cowering in fear. So much for having a normal day! So much for having fun! He wants his mommy and daddy!
"I was crying out for my parents...I was terrified."
"And with good reason, my dear. I am so sorry you had to live through that. Your mother thought it was best if you just forgot about that day altogether and the following two years."
"But why does my father hate me?"
Annabel motions for the creature, "This day marks the first time your Empathy was triggered but it went back to sleep because your body wasn't ready for the strain yet. Your own magic locked away that ability until I was able to unlock it on Samhain last year. I hope you aren't mad at me." She looks earnestly into his eyes.
Cedric shakes his head. "No... I'm not mad, merely confused because I don't know what to do about it or with it, for that matter-"
Cedric suddenly stops talking and buckles over that... That thing...
Then he wakes up, green in the face. His knees are wobbly and then he retches and sinks to his knees. That was... He shakes his head but that seems to have been the wrong move as he empties the contents of his stomach on the floor. His body shaking all over and his breathing incredibly harsh and laboured. He looks at the thing with fear and disgust, tears stinging at the corners of his eyes.
Riddikulus!"
There is a loud crack, and the shape-shifter explodes in a wisp of smoke. Still shaking Cedric gets onto his feet, he feels absolutely horrible, disgusting even. Then he moves his yellow and black shirt out of the way and looks at the scar. He always wondered where he got that one and no one ever wanted to tell him...he knows now. And he wishes he could forget again. What happened afterwards?
Still, with a sickening feeling in his stomach, he moves on, quickly and quietly as possible, listening hard, holding his wand high once more.
Left...right...left again...Three times he finds himself facing dead ends. He casts the Four-Point Spell and finds that he is going too far west. He turns back, takes a right turn, and sees an odd golden mist floating ahead of him.
Harry approaches it cautiously, pointing the wand's beam at it. This looks like some kind of enchantment. He wonders what type of enchantment it is and if it could be life-threatening if triggered.
What would happen if he walks through the mist? Is it worth chancing it, or should he double back? Or could he potentially float himself over? Cedric doubts that with his current state of mind he can cast any coherent spell without risking his safety. Remember to keep calm, this isn't that day... You can do this.
"Viktor!" A yell fills the air and Cedric momentarily stiffens and whirls around, that was clearly Harry's voice yet Cedric still feels apprehensive at any major sound. And with another steadying breath, "Wingardium Leviosa!" he lifts off the ground and over the innocently twinkling mist. He starts running towards Harry's voice that came from further ahead.
And then there's a shriek, most likely Fleur, never mind most definitely Fleur. Cedric picks up his pace. "Harry, did you find Fleur?"
Silence and then Harry coughs, "No, but Viktor. Barely got away and currently, I'm running from the Skrewt. I forgot just how massive they were!"
Cedric breathes out in relief and then he staggers around a corner and his eyes widen at the sight. Fleur, crumpled on the ground, Viktor above her and the girl staring at him in fear.
Without thinking Cedric casts the first spell that comes to his mind, "Titillando!" Fleur looks at him like he's mad.
"Ze tickling 'ex? You know Viktor isn't ticklish!"
Cedric sweat drops. "It was the first thing that came to mind, you got anything else?"
She shakes her head slightly ashamed. Cedric shakes his head and tells the French champion to go behind him. She begrudgingly agrees and does as asked. Viktor looks at them with clouded eyes.
Cedric thinks of the many different ways to stop Viktor from hurting them or himself, what he doesn't realize is the dangerously advancing Bulgarian. His eyes snap back up and his arm starts shaking as images of the blond witch penetrate his thoughts. "No! Don't come any closer!" His breath hitches and picks up. Fleur behind him looks at him then at Viktor, something changed.
Cedric takes a few steps away. "What are you doing?" yells Cedric, fear in his voice.
And then Fleur and Cedric hear Viktor's voice come out in a monotonous drawl.
"Crucio!"
The air is suddenly full of Cedric's screams of agony. It's pain beyond anything Cedric had ever experienced since that day when he thought he would lose his parents, when he lost his house and almost his life; his very bones are on fire; his head's surely splitting along the middle; his eyes are rolling madly in his head; he wants it to end...to black out...to die...
And then it's gone. He is lying limply on the ground. Panting heavily, trying to get air into his burning lungs. He's so tired of this, everything about the goddamn tournament. He can hear Fleur sniffling but at the same time crawling over to Viktor. He looks through burning eyes up into the sky until a familiar face lands in his vision, obscuring the starry night sky.
"Are you all right? I'm sorry I didn't come earlier!" Harry says roughly, voice barely over a whisper and full of emotion, grabbing Cedric's arm. Cedric barely nods and suddenly crumples to the ground as the memory of that day resurfaces again and he throws up once more.
Viktor on the other hand looks sick and shaken to the core, he's being held by Fleur. The four of them stare at each other. Harry being the first to turn away and break the stunned silence.
"Sorry for not getting here earlier. We could've prevented this. Do you think you three can continue?"
They all nod. "See if you can fit all beneath my invisibility cloak, it worked for Granger, Weasley and me. But then again we are still smaller than you."
Cedric carefully nods and wipes at his mouth with the tattered piece of his sleeve. He folds out the cloak and drapes it around himself and then motions Fleur and Viktor closer.
Harry smirks as the three disappear with minor grumbles and yelps. "Yes, that should work for the time being. But please promise me that if you decide to go with Cedric and me, you'll be careful. I don't want to be responsible for another death at the Triwizard tournament."
A chorus of agreement runs around their little group. Then they return to that awkward silence, Cedric shakily leaning against Harry, who carefully steadies him with warm arms. Fleur and Viktor stay near the end, talking in hushed voices. Harry stares up at Cedric with calculating eyes but stays silent other than that.
The four of them proceed up the dark path without speaking, then Harry turns left and stares back at the others. "Come on, I know the way over here."
They move on, Cedric and Viktor continuing to use the Four-Point Spell, making sure they are actually moving in the right direction, not that they distrusted Harry, they just want to be certain.
Harry speeds up, the increasing darkness indicating that they are getting closer to the cup. Harry holds tighter onto Cedric's arm as if the brunette would disappear at any moment. Cedric hisses in light discomfort and pain, dirty from falling and dodging so often. He feels disgusting and grimy and then there are also the thoughts of that day and what the woman, meant to be taking care of him, meant with working for an organisation. Are there other children like him, who were supposed to be sacrifices? Or is he the only one so far? That scar on his chest has to mean something...
"Cedric!"
He startles and looks around in confusion. "Sorry, but you've been spaced out... I'm worried about you, we need to be on high alert! I have the prices with me and you should focus on keeping calm. Do you still feel emotions?"
Cedric shakes his head, "No, this has something to do with a thing I encountered in the maze. Something I wish I didn't remember." He looks away and sees from the corner of his eye Harry pursing his lips. They return to silence.
"I'm sorry...about everything that happened."
Harry and Cedric turn around simultaneously. "It wasn't your fault, it was Karkaroff. He wanted you to win under any circumstances and that was the only way he could do so. We should've been more prepared." Harry shakes his head with a grin.
Cedric feels his worries draining away at that light grin and he finds himself grinning back and pressing a soft kiss to the top of Harry's head.
"We had a month to practice and we did our best," Cedric reassures.
Then, as they stride down a long, straight path, Cedric sees movement, and his beam of wand light hits an extraordinary creature, the others' lights soon following his.
It's a sphinx. It has the body of an over-large lion: great clawed paws and a long yellowish tail ending in a brown tuft. Its head, however, is that of a woman. She turns her long, almond-shaped eyes upon the group of four as they approach. Harry raises his wand. The Sphinx isn't crouching as if to spring, but pacing from side to side of the path, blocking his progress. Then she speaks, in a deep, hoarse voice.
"You are very near your goal. The quickest way is past me."
"So, will you give us the riddle?" Harry asks with a tiny smirk.
"No," she says, continuing to pace. "Not unless one of you, and I mean only one, 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."
Cedric's stomach slips several notches. It's Samantha Jones who is good with riddles, not him. Cedric just hopes that his mate remembers the riddle. The four of them congregate in a circle and look at each other. "I believe it should be 'arry to answer ze questions. 'e 'as already been zrough ze task before."
"I agree, ve can get passed the Sphinx quicker this vay." Viktor agrees and Cedric just nods his consent. Then Harry steps forward and locks eyes with the Sphinx.
"Okay," he says. "May I hear the riddle?"
The sphinx sits down upon her hind legs, in the very middle of the path, and recites:
"First think of the person who lives in disguise,
Who deals in secrets and tells nought 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 string them together, and answer me this,
Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?"
Cedric gapes in the background and looks at Harry.
"All the clues add up to a creature I wouldn't want to kiss," Harry smirks.
"Well then let's start with the first clues and work from there, shall we?" Harry looks back at the other Champions with a mischievous grin. "A person in disguise," Harry tells them, "who lies, that'd be a spy, right?" Cedric carefully nods, not knowing what Harry's trying to lead up to.
He repeats the next lines of the poem.
""The last thing to mend,"" Harry repeats to the older students behind him. "And "middle of middle"."
Cedric blanches and looks helplessly at Viktor and Fleur, who look equally as lost as him. Harry sighs, ""the last thing to mend" is "d" the "middle of middle" is "d". So far we have "Spy" and "d"".
Cedric shrugs, feeling incredibly stupid. Harry laughs and then turns to the Sphinx.
""The sound often heard during the search for a hard-to-find word,"" Harry laughs. "Er, that'd be "er"! Er's a sound that is used. Now, to string them together you have "Spy" "d" and "er", what word does that make?" He asks the other Champions and it finally dawn's on Cedric. He facepalms at his own stupidity. "Spider, the answer is Spider!" Harry nods and repeats the word to the Sphinx
The sphinx smiles broadly at him. She gets up, stretches her front legs, and then moves aside for him to pass.
"Thanks!" says Harry and dashes forward. The other three close at his feet.
Suddenly Harry breaks into a run. "Slow down! We still have enough time!" Cedric yells after his mate. Harry spins around with a carefree smile, almost uncharacteristic, considering what this day means to Harry.
They come up with a choice of paths up ahead. Harry points them to the right-hand one. He dashes up this one, Cedric, Fleur and Viktor behind him, and sees light ahead.
The Triwizard Cup is gleaming on a plinth a 90 metres away. And suddenly Harry stops, Cedric, crashing into him and almost knocking them over. Fleur and Viktor come to a narrow halt.
"What is ze meaning of zis?!" She sounds indignant.
"Harry rolls his eyes, "The riddle was also a clue to the last obstacle before the cup. A giant spider. Proceed with caution."
Then Cedric sees something immense over a hedge to his left, moving quickly along a path that intersected with his own; it's moving so fast! Is that a spider?!
...and of course, Cedric Diggory's Bad luck strikes again as the giant spider has only eyes for him. He just manages to hurl himself past the black hairy thing and avoid getting hit by it, but in his haste, he trips. His wand flies out of his hands and Cedric's breath catches in his throat, the gigantic spider steps closer to him and begins to bear down upon the Hufflepuff.
Harry glares and sends stinging hex after stinging hex at the spider, but with no apparent consequence. The only thing he manages to do is make the spider even more aggravated, the spider jerks, scuttles around, and runs at Harry instead.
Viktor and Fleur seemingly forgotten by the spider, Harry and Cedric. This must be the way it was before Harry went back in time. Cedric wonders before regaining his bearings and attempting to save Harry.
"Stupefy! Impedimenta! Stupefy!" Harry yells.
But it's no use - the spider is either so large or so magical, that the spells are doing no more than aggravating it even further. Cedric has one horrifying glimpse of Harry staring into the spider before razor-sharp pincers are upon him. Harry is lifted into the air in its front legs; struggling madly, he tries to kick it; his leg connects with the pincers.
Cedric gasps and then as if overcome by a sudden strength and the urge to protect, together with the pain he feels from Harry and the displeasure from Viktor and Fleur and the apparent anger of the spider, he can only see red. Cedric yells "Stupefy!" But his spell has no more effect than Harry's before him. Suddenly he has an idea that might just work. "Expelliarmus!" He yells as the spider opens its pincers at Harry once more.
It worked - the Disarming Spell makes the spider drop his mate, and before Cedric can even think about what he's doing he runs forward and launches himself to catch Harry before he can hit the ground, his wand back in his hand he yells another stupefy, just as Harry does the same in mid-air and the black-haired teen lands in his arms. They tumble to the ground and roll together to a stop.
"Are you hurt?! Please tell me you aren't! I tried to get as fast as I could to you, but I had to get my wand and then I thought I was going to lose you and I don't know what happened and I felt the extreme urge to protect you. And then I was feeling your pain and the spider's anger, it was so weird. Being an Empath is so weird! I mean just look-" his rambling turns into a groan as his lips smash into Harry's.
"Now's not the time, darling. We still have to get to the graveyard and put an end to this tournament!"
Cedric flushes and nods in embarrassment. Harry laughs and helps him up. They look around and find themselves alone... What happened to Viktor and Fleur?
"Where'd they go?!" Cedric turns around but to no avail, he's jerked back to Harry's side by his mate dragging him off.
"It doesn't matter right now, we best get going. You still have my invisibility cloak, right?"
Cedric scavengers through his pant pocket and soon takes out the glittering cloak. Harry nods and points at the cup in the distance.
"Let's go!"
Hand in Hand they run-up to the glowing blue cup. But suddenly Cedric stops and stares at Harry intently. "You are bleeding! You're hurt! Why didn't you tell me?"
"It was from just right now and I've had worse."
"That doesn't calm me in the slightest! And that doesn't make things better!"
Harry laughs and kisses his cheek, "You're adorable. But I'm fine, I'll tell you if I'm not. But I want you to do the same in return."
Cedric sighs and nods, leading Harry up to the cup, then he puts the cloak around himself.
"Promise me once we get to the graveyard you will hide immediately." Harry pleads, Cedric gulps down his protest and nods stiffly.
"I promise," Cedric says with a small smile and he can feel how Harry feels more at ease, thanks to his empathic abilities.
"On three," says Harry resolutely. "One – two – three –"
Cedric and Harry both grasp a handle.
Instantly, Cedric feels a jerk somewhere behind his navel. His feet leave the ground. He cannot unclench the hand holding the Triwizard Cup; it's pulling him onwards, in a howl of wind and swirling colour, Harry at his side.
Just then it becomes obvious to Cedric that this trip means his death to Harry and he won't let that happen. Cedric will make sure that this day will be a reason for celebration for his precious mate. He will prove that even a Hufflepuff can change history.