After the girls had a fun day at Hogsmeade, they returned to their dorm both with different tasks in mind. Nicole was set on preparing herself for the next task all the while Magnolia was focused on last-minute studying for the end-of-term exams. The girls were set to take the tests with Hogwart's fourth-years, but Nicole was excused from the exams along with the rest of the Triwizard Champions.
The week of exams trudged on by and once the last test was taken up the air in Hogwarts shifted to one of excitement as the final task of the tournament would be held that Saturday.
**The Day of the Last Task**
"Ouch! Don't pull so hard!" Nicole squawked as she held her head.
"Hold still! I'm almost done with this braid!" Magnolia shouted, swatting Nicole's hand away, "You asked me to fix your hair and that's what I'm doing."
As the girls squabbled over Nicole's hair, a scratch was heard on the balcony door.
"Don't you dare move," Magnolia scolded, handing Nicole a piece of hair, "Hold that and I'll see what it is."
Magnolia made her way to the door and saw a large black owl perched by the glass. She leaned down to take the piece of paper tied around the bird's leg, and as she did so the bird immediately took flight. Confused, Magnolia headed back inside the dorm room with the paper in hand.
"Here I'll read it while you finish ripping out my hair," Nicole laughed.
"Okay, but read it out loud," Magnolia said, handing her the rolled-up parchment and returning to her spot on the bed.
"Hi, my girls!" Nicole read, "I just wanted to let you know that the Illvermorny student body will be using a portkey to come watch the last task. Ow Mags! We have all heard about how you have done on the other tasks and we are so proud of you! See you later! Love Fredrick."
"Yay everyone is gonna see you kick ass today!" Magnolia cheered, finally finishing the two plats in Nicole's hair.
"Hell yeah, and we get to see Dad!"
"Yeah I've missed your dad's nagging," Magnolia laughed, "You ready to go down there."
"Ready as I'll ever be!"
The girls made their way out of the castle and down to where the quidditch pitch used to be. In front of the witches stood 5 large wooden stands all pointing towards a sprawling hedge maze. Before Nicole could make a sarcastic remark Fredrick called them over to one of the stands. The girls happily ran over taking in the sight of all the Ilvermorny students filling up the seats. Students were all covered in the Ilvermorny colors, cranberry and blue, some holding signs with Nicole's name on them others holding streamers and noise makers. Even the school cheerleaders were dancing in the front row of the stands, but instead of wearing their usual individual house colors, their uniforms were charmed to be the Ilvermorny colors.
"Dad! I missed you!" Nicole cried running into her father's open arms.
"Oh, my beautiful girls! How've you been? Is Hogwarts treating you well?" Fredrick laughed, grabbing Magnolia up into the embrace.
"Fred, it is amazing here! I'm kinda bummed out we have to leave," Magnolia answered.
"Well if all goes well at the task we might get to stick around," Fredrick reassured the girls.
"Really? Why's that." Nicole questioned.
"Don't worry about it for now. Just focus on the task, and don't worry I'll keep Magnolia entertained in your absence."
"Thanks, Dad. I guess I should head down with the rest of the champions."
"Good luck Niki. You'll do great!" Magnolia said, wrapping her friend in a tight hug before letting her leave.
Nicole left towards the other champions before feeling a tap on her back. She whipped around to see her least favorite cheerleader standing in front of her.
"What is it, Jessabel?" Nicole spat.
"Listen, I just wanted to say good luck," Jessabel began, "We've all heard about how you performed in the other challenges and I wanted you to know I think Ilvermorny picked the right champion."
"Oh um, Nicole stammered, clearly surprised by Jessabel's sudden change of attitude, "Thanks I guess. It means a lot coming from you."
"Don't get sappy on me Reynolds just go be the ruthless bitch I know and hate." Jessabel joked.
"Ahh, now there's the girl I know." Nicole laughed, turning back to the center of the arena.
The witch joined her competitors in a semi-circle looking towards the grandstands. She took to Harry's side and squeezed his shoulder.
"Hey buck up. We've got this." Nicole reassured her friend.
"I just can't believe it all comes down to this," Harry said wearily.
"Come on, you are the chosen one. A little maze can't be that scary."
"Ha! Little is not exactly how I would describe that maze."Harry laughed.
"Yeah, you've got a point there." Nicole chuckled.
Before they could continue their short conversation Dumbledore called everyone's attention and asked that all the headmasters stand beside their school's champion. Nicole noticed there was a frail hand placed on her shoulder and looked up to see Headmistress Lambkins smiling down at her. Dumbledore then continued with his speech.
"Earlier today, Professor Moody placed the Triwizard Cup deep within the maze. Only he knows its exact position. Now as Mr. Diggory, and Mr. Potter, are tied for first position, they will be the first to enter the maze, followed by Miss Reynolds and Mr. Krum, and lastly Miss Delacour. The first person to touch the cup will be the winner. I've instructed the staff to patrol the perimeter. Should at any point a contestant wish to withdraw from the task, he or she need only send up red sparks with their wand. Contestants gather round."
With that, Dumbledore left his podium and Mrs. Lamkins ushered Nicole over to the headmaster. The champions gathered around Dumbledore in a tight huddle as he gave them a pep talk which felt more like a warning.
"In the maze, you'll find no dragons or creatures of the deep, instead you'll face something even more challenging. You see, people change in the maze. Oh, find the cup if you can but be very wary, you could just lose yourselves along the way." Dumbledore whispered to the group.
There were 5 entrances to the maze and Lamkins escorted Nicole over to hers. Giving her a reassuring nod paired with her signature soft smile.
"No matter the outcome of today," Mrs. Lambkins said, "Just know your school is very proud of you Miss Reynolds."
Nicole squeezed the hand still placed on her shoulder and thanked her. The students and teachers in the stand were cheering for their respective champions as they all waited for the cannon to sound. BOOM! The first cannon rang out over the crowd and Harry and Cedric cautiously walked into the darkness of the maze. A couple of minutes passed by as the champions stood anxiously waiting, BOOM! At the sound of the cannon Nicole and Krum both broke out into a sprint into the looming maze.
Inside the maze, Nicole kept a consistent pace not letting herself look back at the maze's entrance that twisted closed behind her. At every turn, she chose to stick left until finally, she let herself catch her breath.
"Jesus how large is this damn maze, " Nicole spat, out of breath, "If I just stick to the left I'll have to run into that cup eventually."
She was about to rise from the ground, but she was stuck. The greenery of the maze had started to twist around her ankles trying to pull her under.
"What the fuck!" Nicole yelled, grappling for her wand. "Deletrius"
At her words, the vines that were once tightly wrapped around her disintegrated in dust, and she lept up from the ground before the maze could try to ensnare her again. Nicole leaned down to see if her ankle was okay, but the walls of the maze started to close around her. She turned around the corner she was sitting behind and ran as the maze tried to catch her. She ran and ran until finally the maze snapped behind her and the air around her became silent once more.
Nicole finally got a chance to look down at her ankle to see it was bleeding. She raised her wand. "Episkey". She swiped the blood away to see the cuts were already healing over. Nicole then continued forward in the maze not slowing down even after she heard Fleur scream off in the distance. As she was about to turn the next corner she heard a sharp laugh. The cackle sounded sickeningly familiar, but she couldn't quite place where she had heard it.
Nicole took a deep breath and rounded the corner and in front of her stood a mirror. The same mirror from Defence Against the Dark Arts. Her reflection showed the same thing her standing alone in the maze covered in inky black scars. The cold hand was still draped over her shoulder in a similar manner it did before but it was different this time. Nicole could feel the warmth of the hand on her shoulder, but when she looked down there was nothing there. She sighed and raised her wand towards the mirror.
"Riddi-" Before she could finish the spell the hand wrapped itself around her neck. Nicole grabbed at her neck trying to free herself from its grasp, but she felt nothing under her own hands. Trying to not freak out, she closed her eyes and felt her throat open once more. She took a deep breath opened her eyes and found herself choking all over again.
"The reflection can't hurt me if I can't see it." Nicole thought before squeezing her eyes shut. Once again she felt the hand loosen its grasp and without hesitating she flicked her wand in front of her "Riddikulus". She cautiously opened her eyes and found the mirror had transformed into a carnival funhouse mirror.
She rolled her eyes, pushed the mirror to the ground, and continued to jog forward. Nicole found herself at another crossroads and continued left, but before she turned the corner she heard Cedric's voice. She stopped to hear what was happening.
"Krum! Please stop! ARGH!" Cedric shouted out in pain.
Nicole decided to round the corner she was hiding behind and saw Krum launching a curse at Cedric causing him to writhe in pain. She knew instantly what curse he was using as it was the same curse used on her all those years ago. The Cruciatus Curse. What was a school student doing using an unforgivable curse?
"Expelliarmus!" Nicole shouted pointing her wand at Krum.
Krum's wand flew out of his hand and landed behind him. Cedric relaxed into the ground. Krum dropped to the ground searching for his wand in the tall grass.
"Krum stop! This isn't okay!" Nicole yelled trying to pull Cedric off the ground.
"He won't respond. It's like he isn't himself." Cedric breathed out, heaving himself onto his feet.
Krum snatched up his wand and whipped back around to the two, but before he could fire off another curse Harry emerged from the opening in front of them. Krum looked at him for a second but trained his eyes back on Cedric. Nicole flicked her wand back at Krum sending his wand flying out of his hand once more.
"Crazy thought, but is he Imperio'd?" Nicole asked, holding Cedric up.
"Who would do such a thing?" Harry turned.
"The same person who would put your name in the Goblet, Harry," Cedric choked out.
** author's note- this chapter in full is 3750 words long so we split it into two parts. waiting for the next part always sucks, so we are posting it early on friday. hope you enjoy :) **