Entering June, the mood in the castle became excited and tense. Everyone was looking forward to the third task, which would take place a week before the end of term.
The term had gone fast for Marina. She had spent much time reading and learning for the third task. To her surprise, Potter had ignored her for months. After Junior's stunt earlier that year, Harry had grown more distant to her. Junior had told not to worry about it, as her father was growing stronger, and as long as the boy trusted her during the third task, everything would be okay. So, she spent her days in classes and reading in the library.
The morning of the Third Task was intense. Marina felt her nerves grow stronger for each minute that passed, and she hoped and prayed that her father was going to handle the dirty work, as long as she led the boy to him.
Draco was clutching a copy of the Daily Prophet as they sat down by the breakfast table.
"Look," he said, and found the third page, revealing an article written by Rita Skeeter. "I think Potter's going to go berserk on us."
HARRY POTTER - DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS
The boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is unstable and possibly dangerous, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Alarming evidence has recently come to light about Harry Potter's strange behavior, which casts doubts upon his suitability to compete in a demanding competition like the Triwizard Tournament, or even to attend Hogwarts School.
Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal, regularly collapses at school, and is often heard to complain of pain in the scar on his forehead (relic of the curse with which You-Know-Who attempted to kill him). On Monday last, midway through a Divination lesson, your Daily Prophet reporter witnessed Potter storming from the class, claiming that his scar was hurting too badly to continue studying.
Albus Dumbledore should surely consider whether a boy such as this should be allowed to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Some fear that Potter might resort to the Dark Arts in his desperation to win the tournament, the third task of which takes place this evening.
Professor McGonagall came walking alongside the Slytherin table toward Marina. Pansy shushed Draco's laughter.
"Miss Black, the champions are congregating after breakfast," the professor said calmly. "The champions' families are invited to watch the final task. If any members of your family are here, this will be your chance to greet them."
Marina faked a smile, well aware that no one was waiting for her. You couldn't expect much when your mother was in Azkaban, and your father was preparing to kill the Boy Who Lived, could you?
She carefully climbed over the bench she was sitting on, and ran happily over to Durmstrang's end of the Slytherin table. She wrapped her hands around Krum's arm and told him what was about to happen. He only smiled in response. Then, she skipped over to the Gryffindor table.
"Harry, come on, they're waiting for you!"
"No, it's okay, Marina-"
"No, come!" she smiled wide and took a grip around his arm. The pair walked across the hall, and followed McGonagall into a new room.
The tall Viktor Krum was over in a corner of the warm room, conversing with his mother and father in rapid Bulgarian. On the other side of the room, Fleur was jabbering away in French to her mother. Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle, who Harry had saved during the second task, was holding her mother's hand. She waved at him, and he waved back awkwardly and grinned.
"Surprise! Thought we'd come and watch you, Harry!"
Harry practically glowed at the sight of the woman who was screaming. He ran into her arms, and she kissed his cheek. Marina smiled slightly, for though she did not like the Weasleys for being blood traitors, she could tell that Mrs. Weasley had a kind heart, just like Narcissa.
Mrs. Weasley had brought one of her sons with her. Marina watched as Harry shook his hand. He had long, red hair, earrings, and the famous Fleur Delacour was eyeing him over her mother's shoulder.
"And how are you doing?" Marina heard a light, gentle voice ask from behind her - it immediately brought goosebumps to her arms.
"Better now," Marina said while throwing herself into Narcissa's arms. She had missed her aunt more than she had expected. "I almost thought I had to stand here alone for a moment..."
Narcissa was wearing her classic black dress with pearls around her long neck. Marina smiled. Did Draco know she was here?
"It's great being back here," Marina overheard the boy Mrs. Weasley had brought with her say. "Fancy giving us a tour, Harry?"
"Yeah, okay," nodded Harry, and they made their way back toward the door into the Great Hall. However, they didn't make it far before the door opened by itself, revealing Lucius Malfoy on the other side.
"Well, well, look who we have here," the older man said cheekily, looking Harry up and down. Marina and Narcissa pulled apart to watch the scene. "I bet you're not feeling quite as full of yourself now that Marina has caught you up on your points, are you?"
Marina found herself smirking from the other side of the room.
"Excuse you," Harry responded, suddenly shoving Malfoy away, lifting an eyebrow.
Marina had an enjoyable morning with Lucius and Narcissa. They gave her enough encouragement for her to dare to walk into the arena later that day, and explained to her everything that would happen. As the students were eating lunch later that day, Dumbledore rose to his feet at the staff table. The Malfoys had walked down to the Quidditch field to get good seats for the Tournament's final challenge, and Marina felt herself growing excited.
"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please find their way down to the stadium now?"
Marina got up. The Slytherins chanted her name. She kissed both Blaise and Draco on their cheeks.
Harry got up. The Gryffindors applauded him. He let the Weasleys and Hermione wish him luck.
As the champions made their way to the Quidditch pit, Marina noticed that Harry was looking more nervous than any other.
"Feeling all right, Harry?"
"I'm okay," said Harry, and smiled (she could tell that it was a fake smile). "You?"
"I'm thinking..." Marina looked at him for a moment before smiling wide. "Let's win this for Hogwarts."
They walked onto the Quidditch field, 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 full of excited voices 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, Junior, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and approached the champions. They were wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid, who had his on the back of his moleskin vest.
"We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze," said 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 nodded. Dumbledore now pointed his wand at his throat, muttered, "Sonorus," and his magically magnified voice echoed into 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 currently stand... In first place, we have Mr. Viktor Krum of Durmstrang Institute! Miss Marina Black and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School in a tied second!" The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky. "And in third place – Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"
Marina's nails dug into the palm of her hands. She bit down on her lip and checked if her wand was in the right pocket of her black trousers; it was.
"On my whistle, Krum first!" said the headmaster. "Three – two – one -"
He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Krum hurried forward into the maze.
"Harry Potter and Marina Black, now!"
Marina waved to the audience before walking inside, hopeful that Narcissa watched it from the stands. She nodded at Junior, and pointed at the inside of his jacket as an reminder to take his Polyjuice Potion. He stuck out his tongue in response.
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.
"Lumos," Marina and Harry said at the same time, holding their wands up in front of their faces.
After about fifty yards, they reached a fork. They looked at each other.
"See you," Harry gulped.
"Good luck, Potter."
He took the left path, and she took the right, and as they did, they heard Dumbledore's whistle for the third time, signalizing that Fleur was to enter the giant maze. Marina narrowed her eyes and began speeding up, determined to find the prize before the others.
"Show Me," she whispered to her locket, which she had received from her father before going to Hogwarts, holding it tight between her fingers. The locket started shaking, and a gush of wind hurled and pushed her to her left.
The path ahead was empty, and the lack of obstacles was unnerving her. Surely she should have met something by now? She jumped and drew her wand as something moved behind her. Delacour came running out of a bush with wide eyes. The sleeve of her jumper was burnt.
"I 'on't know what zhat was, I only juzt got away!"
Marina shook her head and continued to walk down the path. She couldn't hear Fleur anymore, so she just assumed that she had gone the wrong path.
Left... right... left again...
Suddenly, she heard a loud, high-pitched scream. She couldn't see a red light, which meant that no one had given up, but she couldn't help but think Fleur down, two to go.
The cup was somewhere close by - Marina could feel it. She met nothing for ten minutes, but kept running into dead ends. Then, she rounded a corner and found herself facing a gigantic Blast-Ended Skrewt.
"Impedimenta!" she yelled. The spell hit its armor again and ricocheted off; it took a sudden jump, and before she knew it, it was inches from her.
She cursed, and closed her eyes, praying that her father would appear and take it out. A grunt was heard. She opened her eyes again, and the Skrewt was gone. But it was not her father who had done it - it was Krum, who was standing some feet away, clutching his wand.
"Thank you," she said. "Are you alright?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he pointed his wand at her, and stepped forward.
"Crucio!"
The air was filled with Marina's scream; she fell to the ground, banging her head against something hard. Every cell in her body was hurting.
"Stupefy!"
Krum shot up into the air, and the curse was lifted off her. Harry was standing behind him now, his robes torn up. He looked around for a moment, then, very quickly, dashed over to her.
"Marina? Marina, please listen to me," he said softly. Her body began twitching; Tears were running down her cheeks; she looked up at the sky. "Listen to my voice Marina - you're okay now."
Marina heard what Harry said, but memories of her father, as well as Isak, torturing her flashed through her mind. Potter wasn't aware that she had experienced such pain before.
He reached out his hand and put it in hers.
"Marina, it's dangerous here," he said and her eyes finally met his. Still shaking, she let go off his hand.
"I didn't even hear him," she answered with a thin voice.
"Did you hear Fleur scream earlier?" asked Harry, and helped her get to her feet.
"You don't think Krum got her too?"
"I don't know," said Harry slowly.
Marina slowly lifted her wand up in the air, and shot a red spark out of it. It hovered high above Krum, marking the spot where he lay.
"I'd honestly like to see a beast eat him, but I think this is the best," she said while drying her tears. "Harry... Do you think we could complete the task together?"
He nodded in response. They moved on, Harry showing Marina the Four-Point Spell, making sure they were moving in the right direction. Every-so-often they hit dead ends, but the increasing darkness made them feel sure they were getting near the heart of the maze.
Their theory was confirmed when the two met a sphinx. It had the body of an over-large 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-shaped eyes upon Marina as they approached her. Harry raised his wand, hesitating.
"You are very near your goal. The quickest way is past me."
"So... so will you move, please?" tried Harry.
"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. "
Harry's stomach slipped several notches. It was Hermione who was good at this sort of thing, not him. He weighed his chances. If the riddle was too hard, he could keep silent, get away from the sphinx unharmed, and try and find an alternative route to the center.
"Can I hear the riddle?" Marina asked.
The sphinx sat down upon her hind legs, in the very middle 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 string them together, and answer me this, which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?"
"Could I have it again, just more slowly?" Harry asked tentatively. The creature blinked at him, smiled, and repeated the poem.
"A spider," Marina guessed after the last line. Harry looked at her worried - if her answer was wrong, they would get hurt. But the sphinx smiled more broadly. She got up, stretched her front legs, and then moved aside for them to pass.
"Err... Thanks!" said Harry, and dashed forward.
That was when they saw it. The Triwizard Cup was gleaming on a plinth a hundred yards away. Marina and Harry both stopped, and looked at each other. Marina opened her mouth to speak, but just then-
"Harry! On your left!"
A gigantic spider jumped upon Harry. He fell on his back, unable to draw his wand. Marina gasped, and with her trembling hands she found her wand in her back pocket, and shouted: "Stupefy!"
Harry yelled; the spell hit the spider's gigantic, hairy black body, it jerked, scuttled around, and ran at Marina instead.
"Stupefy! Impedimenta! Stupefy!" she tried every spell she could remember, but it was no use – the spider was either so large, or so magical, that the spells were doing no more than aggravating it.
She was lifted into the air in its front legs; struggling madly, she tried to kick it. She could hear Harry approach the spider. He raised his wand as the spider opened its pincers, and shouted "Expelliarmus!"
It worked – the Disarming Spell made the spider drop Marina. With both Marina and Harry shouting "Stupefy," it fell to the ground.
"Take it, then," Marina screamed to Harry, while sitting on the ground, clutching her leg which was bleeding from the spider's attack. "Go on, take it. You're there!"
But Harry didn't move. He was staring at Marina, not the cup.
"You take it. You should win. You saved me."
"That's not how it's supposed to work," Marina cried. Her leg was hurting, and all she wanted to do was give up. She knew that once one of them touched the cup, they would get hurt, and she wasn't ready for more pain. "The one who reaches the cup first gets the points! That's you! You go!" Harry stood still, shaking his head. "Harry, stop being noble, just take the cup!"
"No," he said one final time. "Both of us."