───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

"Dumbledore reckons You-Know-Who's getting stronger again as well?" Ron whispered.

Everything Blair and Harry had seen in the Pensieve, nearly everything Dumbledore had told and shown them afterward, they had now shared with Ron and Hermione — and, of course, with Sirius, to whom Blair and Harry had sent an owl the moment they had left Dumbledore's office.

Blair, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat up late in the common room once again that night, talking it all over until Blair felt that her head was about to explode from all the thoughts that filled her mind. Ron stared into the common room fire.

"And he trusts Snape?" Ron said. "He really trusts Snape, even though he knows he was a Death Eater?"

"Yes," said Harry.

Hermione had not spoken for ten minutes. She was sitting with her forehead in her hands, staring at her knees. Blair looked at her worriedly.

"Rita Skeeter," Hermione muttered finally.

"How can you be worrying about her now?" said Ron, in utter disbelief.

"I'm not worrying about her," Hermione said to her knees. "I'm just thinking... remember what she said to me in the Three Broomsticks? 'I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl.' This is what she meant, isn't it? She reported his trial, she knew he'd passed information to the Death Eaters. And Winky too, remember... 'Ludo Bagman's a bad wizard.' Mr. Crouch would have been furious he got off, he would have talked about it at home."

"Yeah, but Bagman said he didn't know that Rookwood was a spy." Blair said. Hermione simply shrugged.

"And Fudge reckons Madame Maxime attacked Crouch?" Ron said, turning back to Harry and Blair.

"Yeah," said Harry, "but he's only saying that because Crouch disappeared near the Beauxbatons carriage."

"We never thought of her, did we?" said Ron slowly. "Mind you, she's definitely got giant blood, and she doesn't want to admit it —"

"It's hard for them to admit, Ron. You saw how they treated Hagrid, and Fudge jumped to conclusions, just because she's part giant. Who needs that sort of prejudice?" Blair said quietly.

Hermione looked at her watch. "We haven't done any practicing!" she said, looking shocked. "We were going to do the Impediment Curse! We'll have to really get down to it tomorrow! Come on, Harry, Blair, you need to get some sleep."

Blair, Harry and Ron went slowly upstairs to their dormitory. Blair glanced at Neville's bed and smiled sadly. Then, she sent Harry a grateful smile before she walked to her camp bed. She was extremely thankful that Harry didn't say a word to Ron and Hermione.

Blair stared at the ceiling, listening to Neville's snores. Neville definitely did not deserve the tragic fate that fell on his family. Blair gripped her blanket tight and thought of them again. The Lestranges.

Blair thought they deserved to be in Azkaban. They robbed a boy of his family and a couple of a chance to be parents, and how proud they were as they walked out of the room. Blair shivered at the memory of the menacing glints in their eyes, and the vicious grin on their faces. She wished she would never meet them.

Then, Blair frowned. Not even Dumbledore knew if Barty Crouch Jr. was part of the Death Eaters who tortured Neville's parents. Blair started thinking. Maybe... maybe, he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe, that's why he had been crying and screaming. Blair shook off her thoughts and closed her eyes. She needed all the rest she can get because it was time to prepare for the third task once more.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Ron and Hermione were supposed to be studying for their exams, which would finish on the day of the third task, but they were putting most of their efforts into helping Harry and Blair prepare. Even the Prancers often came to visit Blair and Harry and bring them some food.

"Don't worry about it," Hermione said shortly when the two champions pointed this out to them and said they didn't mind practicing on their own for a while, "at least we'll get top marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts. We'd never have found out about all these hexes in class."

"Good training for when we're all Aurors," said Ron excitedly, attempting the Impediment Curse on a wasp that had buzzed into the room and making it stop dead in midair.

The mood in the castle as they entered June became excited and tense again. Everyone was looking forward to the third task, which would take place a week before the end of term. Harry and Blair were practicing hexes at every available moment. Blair felt more confident about this task than either of the others.

Difficult and dangerous though it would undoubtedly be, Moody was right: she and Harry had managed to find their way past monstrous creatures and enchanted barriers before now, and this time they had some notice, some chance to prepare themselves for what lay ahead.

Tired of walking in on Blair, Harry, Hermione, and Ron all over the school (and after some persuasion from Blair), Professor McGonagall had given them permission to use the empty Transfiguration classroom at lunchtimes.

Harry and Blair had soon mastered the Impediment Curse, the Reductor Curse, and the Four-Point Spell, a useful discovery of Hermione's that would make their wands point due north, therefore enabling them to check whether they were going in the right direction within the maze.

Blair helped Harry with the Shield Charm as he was having trouble with it. Hermione managed to shatter it with a well-placed Jelly-Legs Jinx, and Harry wobbled around the room for ten minutes afterward before she had looked up the counter-jinx. Blair smiled cheekily at Hermione's amazed expression when she was not even pushed back and her barrier stood strong.

"You're still doing really well, though," Hermione said encouragingly, looking down her list and crossing off those spells they had already learned. "Some of these are bound to come in handy."

"Come and look at this," said Ron, who was standing by the window. He was staring down onto the grounds. "What's Malfoy doing?"

Blair, Harry and Hermione went to see. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in the shadow of a tree below. Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be keeping a lookout; both were smirking. Malfoy was holding his hand up to his mouth and speaking into it.

"He looks like he's using a walkie-talkie," said Harry curiously.

Blair snickered. "Or maybe a bug. I wouldn't put it past that bloody git."

"He can't be," said Hermione, "I've told you, those sorts of things don't work around Hogwarts. Come on, Harry, Blair," she added briskly, turning away from the window and moving back into the middle of the room, "let's try that Shield Charm again."

Sirius was sending daily owls now. Like Hermione, he seemed to want to concentrate on getting Harry and Blair through the last task before they concerned themselves with anything else. He reminded Harry and Blair in every letter that whatever might be going on outside the walls of Hogwarts was not their responsibility, nor was it within their power to influence it.

If Voldemort is really getting stronger again, he wrote, my priority is to ensure your safety. He cannot hope to lay hands on you while you are under Dumbledore's protection, but all the same, take no risks: Concentrate on getting through that maze safely, and then we can turn our attention to other matters.

Blair's nerves mounted as June the twenty-fourth drew closer, but they were not as bad as how she had felt before the first and second tasks. For one thing, she was confident that, this time, she had done everything in her power to prepare for the task. For another, this was the final hurdle, and however well or badly she did, the tournament would at last be over, which would be an enormous relief.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Breakfast was a very noisy affair at the Gryffindor table on the morning of the third task. The post owls appeared, bringing Harry and Blair a good-luck card from Sirius. It was only a piece of parchment, folded over and bearing a muddy paw print on its front, but Blair appreciated it all the same.

A screech owl arrived for Hermione, carrying her morning copy of the Daily Prophet as usual. She unfolded the paper, glanced at the front page, and spat out a mouthful of pumpkin juice all over it.

"What?" said Blair, Harry and Ron together, staring at her.

"Nothing," said Hermione quickly, trying to shove the paper out of sight.

Ron grabbed it. He stared at the headline and said, "No way. Not today. That old cow."

"What?" said Blair. "Rita Skeeter again?"

"No," said Ron, and just like Hermione, he attempted to push the paper out of sight.

"It's about me and Blair, isn't it?" said Harry.

"No," said Ron, in an entirely unconvincing tone. But before Blair or Harry could demand to see the paper, Draco Malfoy shouted across the Great Hall from the Slytherin table.

"Hey, Potter! Potter! How's your head? You feeling all right? Sure you're not going to go berserk on us? And you, Wood? Who're you going to attack this time? Oh wait. I forgot that you're the damaged one." Malfoy was holding a copy of the Daily Prophet too. Slytherins up and down the table were sniggering, twisting in their seats to see Harry and Blair's reaction.

"Let me see it," Blair said to Ron as she sent Malfoy a glare. "Give it here."

Very reluctantly, Ron handed over the newspaper. Harry leaned closer to read it. Blair turned it over and found herself staring at a picture of her and Harry.

HARRY POTTER

"DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS"

BLAIR WOOD

"DEADLY AND DAMAGED"

The boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his best friend are unstable and possibly dangerous, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Alarming evidence has recently come to light about Harry Potter and Blair Wood's strange behaviors, which casts doubts upon their 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) while Blair Wood herself had been visiting the hospital wing often since her first year for her wounds from picking fights with her fellow students for no reason at all.

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 while Wood had followed after him after shouting at their Professor Trawney, who had burst into tears at Wood's hurtful words.

It is possible, say top experts at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, that Potter's brain was affected by the attack inflicted upon him by You-Know-Who, and that his insistence that the scar is still hurting is an expression of his deep-seated confusion. "He might even be pretending," said one specialist. "This could be a plea for attention." And it had been established in a previous article that Blair Wood had indeed entered the competition for its deadly and daring tasks.

The Daily Prophet, however, has unearthed worrying facts about Harry Potter that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, has carefully concealed from the wizarding public. "Potter can speak Parseltongue," reveals Draco Malfoy, a Hogwarts fourth year. "There were a lot of attacks on students a couple of years ago, and most people thought Potter was behind them after they saw him lose his temper at a dueling club and set a snake on another boy. It was all hushed up, though. But he and Wood've made friends with werewolves and giants too. We think they'd do anything for a bit of power."

Parseltongue, the ability to converse with snakes, has long been considered a Dark Art. Indeed, the most famous Parselmouth of our times is none other than You-Know-Who himself. A member of the Dark Force Defense League, who wished to remain unnamed, stated that he would regard any wizard who could speak Parseltongue "as worthy of investigation. Personally, I would be highly suspicious of anybody who could converse with snakes, as serpents are often used in the worst kinds of Dark Magic, and are historically associated with evildoers."

Also, exclusive reports from her fellow students show how Blair Wood is a damaged student that must not be allowed to continue in the Triwizard Tournament. Having faced many death situations herself, it would not be a surprise if it was a fellow student she might hurt in her quest. "A few months ago, she just attacked Draco out of nowhere. Probably thinking that Granger was starting to like Draco," reveals Pansy Parkinson, a student in Wood's year.

Similarly, "anyone who seeks out the company of such vicious creatures as werewolves and giants would appear to have a fondness for violence." Albus Dumbledore should surely consider whether a boy and a girl such as them should be allowed to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Some fear that Potter and Wood might resort to the Dark Arts in their desperation to win the tournament, the third task of which takes place this evening.

"Gone off us a bit, hasn't she?" said Harry lightly, folding up the paper.

Blair simply snorted and kept on eating her food. "Godric, she keeps on using the same story for me, doesn't she? She could've at least made me seem more dangerous or something."

Hermione looked at her, unamused. Blair winked at her. "Sorry, Granger. I think I got damaged because I fell for you again."

"Dream on, Wood." Hermione said and drank her pumpkin juice, hiding the smile on her face.

Over at the Slytherin table, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were laughing at them, tapping their heads with their fingers, pulling grotesquely mad faces, and waggling their tongues like snakes.

"How did she know your scar hurt in Divination?" Ron said. "There's no way she was there, there's no way she could've heard —"

"The window was open," said Harry. "I opened it to breathe."

"You were at the top of North Tower!" Hermione said. "Your voice couldn't have carried all the way down to the grounds!"

"Have you found anything about the buggers or bugging?" said Blair.

"I've been trying!" said Hermione. "But I... but..." An odd, dreamy expression suddenly came over Hermione's face when her eyes found Blair's. She slowly raised a hand and ran her fingers through her hair.

Blair blushed slightly. "M-Mione? Are you all right?"

"Yes, you're brilliant, Blair," said Hermione breathlessly. She ran her fingers through her hair again, and then held her hand up to her mouth, as though speaking into an invisible walkie-talkie. Blair blushed a deeper shade of red while Harry and Ron stared at each other before snorting.

"I've had an idea," Hermione said, gazing into Blair's eyes. "I think I know... because then no one would be able to see... even Moody... and she'd have been able to get onto the window ledge... but she's not allowed... she's definitely not allowed... I think we've got her! Just give me two seconds in the library — just to make sure!"

With that, Hermione seized her school bag and dashed out of the Great Hall.

"Oi!" Ron called after her. "We've got our History of Magic exam in ten minutes! Blimey," he said, turning back to Harry and Blair, "she must really hate that Skeeter woman to risk missing the start of an exam. What're you going to do in Binns's class — read again?"

Exempt from the end-of-term tests as Triwizard champions, Harry and Blair had been sitting in the back of every exam class so far, looking up fresh hexes for the third task and practicing silently.

"S'pose so," Blair said to Ron.

But just then, Professor McGonagall came walking alongside the Gryffindor table toward them. "Potter, Wood, the champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast," she said.

"But the task's not till tonight!" said Harry, accidentally spilling scrambled eggs down his front.

"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 greet them." She moved away.

Harry gaped after her. "She doesn't expect the Dursleys to turn up, does she?" he asked Blair and Ron blankly.

Blair patted him on the shoulder. "Maybe, my parents came here for you too. Or Oliver could be your father. He's old enough." Harry managed to muster up a weak smile.

"Harry, Blair, I'd better hurry, I'm going to be late for Binns. See you later." Ron said and left the Hall.

Harry and Blair finished their breakfast in the emptying Great Hall. She saw Fleur get up from the Ravenclaw table and cross to the side chamber and enter. Krum slouched off to join her shortly afterward. Blair nudged Harry, and the two of them got up. Blair opened the door into the chamber.

Viktor Krum 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. She waved at Blair, who waved back, grinning.

Then she saw Mrs. Weasley and Bill with her mother and father, standing in front of the fireplace, beaming at them.

"Surprise!" Mrs. Weasley said excitedly as they smiled broadly and walked over to them. "Thought we'd come and watch you, Harry, Blair!" She bent down and kissed them on the cheeks.

Blair waved to Bill before she hugged her mother and father tight. "Mum! Dad! I missed you so much. Probably don't have any more Howlers at the house, eh?"

Olivia slapped her on the back of the head lightly. "Oh, you. You've caused me to grow so much grey hair."

Blake chuckled and wrapped an arm around his daughter. "We're all proud of you, Little B."

Fleur, Blair noticed, was eyeing Bill with great interest over her mother's shoulder. She grinned and mouthed to Fleur. "I'll introduce you." Fleur grinned back and mouthed her own thanks.

"This is really nice of you," Blair said to Mrs. Weasley and Bill.

Harry muttered. "I thought for a moment — the Dursleys —"

"Hmm," said Mrs. Weasley, pursing her lips. "Oh, you know we'll be here for you two."

"It's great being back here," said Bill, looking around the chamber. "Haven't seen this place for five years. Is that picture of the mad knight still around? Sir Cadogan?"

"Oh yeah," said Blair, who had met Sir Cadogan the previous year.

"And the Fat Lady?" said Bill.

"She was here in my time," said Mrs. Weasley. "She gave me such a telling off one night when I got back to the dormitory at four in the morning —"

"Oh Mrs. Weasley. Quite the troublemaker, weren't you?" Blair said in the same motherly tone that Mrs. Weasley had.

Laughter rose among the group.

Olivia shook her head. "Blake and I got caught too by Apollyon Pringle, the caretaker. Though I must say, you're lucky that Filch is the caretaker now."

Mrs. Weasley's eyes twinkled. "Arthur's still got the marks."

"Fancy giving us a tour, Harry, Blair?" said Blake.

"Yeah, okay," said Harry, and they made their way back toward the door into the Great Hall.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Blair had a very enjoyable morning walking over the sunny grounds with Harry, her mum and dad, Bill and Mrs. Weasley, showing them the Beauxbatons carriage and the Durmstrang ship. Mrs. Weasley was intrigued by the Whomping Willow, which had been planted after she had left school. Olivia and Blake shared mischievous smiles. They knew the story of that tree.

"How's Percy?" Blair asked while they walked around the greenhouses.

"Not good," said Bill.

"He's very upset," said Mrs. Weasley, lowering her voice and glancing around. "The Ministry wants to keep Mr. Crouch's disappearance quiet, but Percy's been hauled in for questioning about the instructions Mr. Crouch has been sending in. They seem to think there's a chance they weren't genuinely written by him. Percy's been under a lot of strain. They're not letting him fill in for Mr. Crouch as the fifth judge tonight. Cornelius Fudge is going to be doing it."

They returned to the castle for lunch, but on the way, an owl suddenly came to Blake. They stopped walking.

Blake took the letter, read it and sighed. "Oh no. We're sorry, Little B. Duty calls. The Ministry just called back me and your Mum."

Blair just grinned at them. "Don't worry, Dad. I got Mrs. Weasley and Bill with me, and maybe Professor Dumbledore too or Minnie! They'd make a great second mum and dad." They just chuckled at Blair's suggestions.

Blake and Olivia hugged her tight. "We'll catch up if we can alright. No matter what happens, we're so proud of you. Take care, Blair. I love you." Olivia gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Blair let out a groan before smiling. "Thanks Mum. You too. Love you too."

Blake and Olivia went a different way as Blair, Harry, Mrs. Weasley and Bill continued on their way to the castle.

"Mum — Bill!" said Ron, looking stunned, as he joined the Gryffindor table. "What're you doing here? Where's Mr. and Mrs. Wood?"

"Come to watch Harry and Blair in the last task!" said Mrs. Weasley brightly. "And they had an emergency. I must say, it makes a lovely change, not having to cook. How was your exam?"

"Oh... okay," said Ron. "Couldn't remember all the goblin rebels' names, so I invented a few. It's all right," he said, helping himself to a Cornish pasty, while Mrs. Weasley looked stern, "they're all called stuff like Bodrod the Bearded and Urg the Unclean; it wasn't hard."

Fred, George, and Ginny came to sit next to them too, and Blair was having such a good time that the final task slipped her mind.

Then Hermione turned up, halfway through the lunch. Blair smiled at her. "Did you find-" Hermione shook her head warningly and glanced at Mrs. Weasley.

"Hello, Hermione," said Mrs. Weasley, much more stiffly than usual.

"Hello," said Hermione, her smile faltering at the cold expression on Mrs. Weasley's face.

Blair looked between them, then said, "Mrs. Weasley, you didn't believe that rubbish Rita Skeeter wrote in Witch Weekly, did you? Because Hermione's not Harry's girlfriend, and she's not mine. Yet."

The whole group but Hermione erupted into laughter. Hermione blushed and slapped Blair on the shoulder.

"Oh!" said Mrs. Weasley, calming down. "No — of course I didn't!" But she became considerably warmer toward Hermione after that.

Blair, Harry, Bill, and Mrs. Weasley whiled away the afternoon with a long walk around the castle, and then returned to the Great Hall for the evening feast.

Ludo Bagman and Cornelius Fudge had joined the staff table now. Bagman looked quite cheerful, but Cornelius Fudge, who was sitting next to Madame Maxime, looked stern and was not talking. Madame Maxime was concentrating on her plate, and Blair thought her eyes looked red. Hagrid kept glancing along the table at her.

There were more courses than usual, but Blair, who was starting to feel really nervous now, didn't eat much. As the enchanted ceiling overhead began to fade from blue to a dusky purple, Dumbledore rose to his feet at the staff table, and silence fell. "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 follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now?"

Blair and Harry got up. The Gryffindors all along the table were applauding them; the Weasleys and Hermione all wished them good luck, and Blair was about to head off when Hermione grabbed her wrist and pulled her down before whispering. "I have something to tell you after the task. So, you better be alive, Wood."

Blair's eyes widened in excitement before she grinned at Hermione. "Of course, Granger. You're my reason for living after all." Hermione rolled her eyes and pushed her.

Hermione's eyes followed Blair as she and Harry headed off out of the Great Hall with Fleur and Viktor.

Ginny, who was beside Hermione, nudged her. "What was that all about, Mione? Falling for Blair Wood, now, are you?"

To Ginny's surprise, Hermione smiled widely and blushed, but she didn't answer. Ginny let out a gasp. "S-Seriously? Y-You really did fall for her?"

Hermione blushed even more, but smiled softly. "I think- no. I know, Gin. I know I've fallen for Blair Wood, and I think tonight's the right time to say it."

Ginny squealed and squeezed Hermione's hand. "It's about time. She truly loves you, you know that right, Mione? She looks at you like you're everything she's been needing all her life."

Hermione smiled softly at the thought. "I know, Gin. Because that's how I look at her too. I don't know if it's love, but I'm sure I've fallen in deep. And I can't wait to tell her how I feel for her. I-I want to make her happy like how she made me happy countless times. After this task, everything will be over and I'll finally give my yes to Blair Wood."

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

"Feeling all right, Harry, Blair?" Bagman asked as they went down the stone steps onto the grounds. "Confident?"

"I'm okay," said Harry.

Blair smiled weakly at Bagman. "Just peachy, sir." She was nervous, but she started running over all the spells she had been practicing in her mind. She walked and smiled as she found that she could remember them all.

They walked onto the Quidditch field, which was now completely unrecognizable. Blair felt her heart hurt at what it had become. 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, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and approached Bagman and 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.

"Off you go, then!" said Bagman brightly to the four patrollers.

"Good luck, Harry, Blair," Hagrid whispered, and the four of them walked away in different directions, to station themselves around the maze.

Bagman 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! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each — Ms. Blair Wood 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, with eighty points — Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!" More applause.

"And in third place — Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!" Blair could just make out Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ron, and Hermione applauding Fleur politely, halfway up the stands. She waved up at them, and they waved back, beaming at her.

"So... on my whistle, Harry and Blair!" said Bagman.

"Three — two — one —" He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and Blair hurried forward 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.

Blair pulled out her wand and muttered, "Lumos."

Blair grinned nervously at Harry, who had just done the same. "See you on the other side, Harry."

Harry grinned back, just as nervous. "See you there, Blair."

Blair took the left one while Harry took the right. Blair heard Bagman's whistle for the second time. Krum had entered the maze. Blair 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 was growing darker with every passing minute as the sky overhead deepened to navy. Blair reached a second fork.

"Point Me," she whispered to her wand, holding it flat in her palm. The wand spun around once and pointed toward her right, into solid hedge.

That way was north, and she knew that she needed to go northwest 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 Blair reached a right turn and took it, she again found her way unblocked. Blair felt her nerves rise again because the lack of obstacles was unnerving her.

Then she heard movement right behind her. She held out her wand, ready to attack, but its beam fell only upon Harry, who had just hurried out of a path on the right-hand side.

Harry looked severely shaken. The sleeve of his robe was smoking. "Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts!" he hissed. "They're enormous — I only just got away!" He shook his head and dived out of sight, along another path after smiling at Blair.

Blair hurried off again. Then, as she turned a corner, she saw... Hermione's bloody body, unmoving on the floor. Blair took a deep breath and closed her eyes. It was her boggart. Losing the people she loved the most.

She raised her wand. "Riddikulus!" There was a loud crack, and the shape-shifter exploded in a wisp of smoke. Blair moved on, quickly and quietly as possible, listening hard, her wand held high once more.

Left... right... left again... Twice she found herself facing dead ends. She did the Four-Point Spell again and found that she was going too far east. She turned back, took a right turn, and saw an odd golden mist floating ahead of her. Blair approached it cautiously, pointing the wand's beam at it.

This looked like some kind of enchantment. She wondered whether she might be able to blast it out of the way. "Reducto!" she said. The spell shot straight through the mist, leaving it intact. She was still hesitating when a scream shattered the silence.

"Fleur?" Blair yelled.

There was silence. She stared all around her. What had happened to her? Her scream seemed to have come from somewhere ahead, she had to help her. She took a deep breath and ran through the enchanted mist. The world turned upside down. Blair was hanging from the ground, with her hair on end.

It felt as though her feet were glued to the grass, which had now become the ceiling. Below her the dark, star-spangled heavens stretched endlessly. She felt as though if she tried to move one of her feet, she would fall away from the earth completely. Think, she told herself, as all the blood rushed to her head, think...

Blair remembered it and pointed to herself. "Levicorpus!"

She felt her feet slip off the grass and immediately, the world righted itself. Blair fell forward onto her knees onto the wonderfully solid ground. She felt temporarily limp with shock. She took a deep, steadying breath, then got up again and hurried forward, looking back over her shoulder as she ran away from the golden mist, which twinkled innocently at her in the moonlight.

She 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 that she couldn't reach her wand?

Blair 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 hoped she was fine. Blair let out a sigh when she kept running into dead ends.

Twice she took the same wrong turning. Finally, she found a new route and started to jog along it, her wandlight waving, making her shadow flicker and distort on the hedge walls. Then she rounded another corner and found herself facing a Blast-Ended Skrewt. Harry was right — it was enormous.

Blair raised her wand and aimed at the flesh under the armor. "I'm sorry. Stupefy!"

The skrewt flew back and lay on the ground, and Blair ran in the opposite direction. She took a left path and hit a dead end, a right, and hit another; forcing herself to stop, heart hammering, she performed the Four Point Spell again, backtracked, and chose a path that would take her northwest.

She had been hurrying along the new path for a few minutes, when she heard something in the path running parallel to her own that made her stop dead.

"What are you doing?" yelled Harry's voice. "What the hell d'you think you're doing?"

And then Blair heard Krum's voice. "Crucio!"

The air was suddenly full of Harry's yells. Horrified, Blair began sprinting up her path, trying to find a way into Harry's. When none appeared, she tried the Reductor Curse again.

Surprisingly, it burned a large hole in the hedge. Blair ran through it, her robes getting torn by the thick brambles and branches.

She looked to her right and saw Harry jerking and twitching on the ground, Krum standing over him. Blair pointed her wand at Krum just as Krum looked up. Krum turned and began to run.

"Stupefy!" Blair yelled. The spell hit Krum in the back; he stopped dead in his tracks, fell forward, and lay motionless, facedown in the grass.

Blair dashed over to Harry, who had stopped twitching and was lying there panting, his hands over his face.

"Harry, are you all right?" Blair said worriedly, looking over Harry.

"Yeah," panted Harry. "Yeah... I don't believe it... he crept up behind me... I heard him, I turned around, and he had his wand on me... Thanks for helping me, Blair." Blair helped Harry up because he was still shaking.

He and Blair looked down at Krum.

"I can't believe this... I thought he was all right," Blair said, staring at Krum.

"So did I," said Harry.

"Did you hear Fleur scream earlier?" said Blair.

"Yeah, you don't think Krum got her too?" Harry asked shakily.

"I don't know," said Blair slowly.

"Should we leave him here?" Harry muttered.

"No," said Blair. "I reckon we should send up red sparks. Someone'll come and collect him... otherwise he'll probably be eaten by a skrewt." 

"He'd deserve it," Harry muttered. "Periculum!"

Blair chuckled at him as he raised his wand and shot a shower of red sparks into the air, which hovered high above Krum, marking the spot where he lay.

Harry and Blair stood there in the darkness for a moment, looking around them.

Then Harry said, "Well... I s'pose we'd better go on ..."

"What?" said Blair. "Oh... yeah... right... See you later, Harold."

They waved at each other and separated paths again. Blair turned left and Harry right.

Blair moved on, continuing to use the Four-Point Spell, making sure she was moving in the right direction. It was between her and Harry now. She didn't really care who won now. At least, the winner would be a Hogwarts champion. She just wanted it all to be over.

Then, she shuddered at the thought of Krum using an Unforgiveable. Maybe, there was something wrong with him. She didn't take Krum as someone who would used those dark curses.

Blair sped up. Every so often she hit more dead ends, but the increasing darkness made her 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 wandlight hit an extraordinary creature, one which she had only seen in picture form, in her Monster Book of Monsters. It was 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 Blair as she approached. She raised her wand, hesitating. She was not crouching as if to spring, but pacing from side to side of the path, blocking his progress. Then 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?" said Blair, knowing what the answer was going to be.

"No," the sphinx 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."

Blair's stomach slipped several notches. She wished that Hermione was there with her. She thought she could retreat and find another route, but she thought she just wanted to finish everything. She wanted to hear what Hermione had to say.

"Okay," she said. "Can I hear the riddle?"

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?"

Blair gaped at her. "Could I have it again... more slowly?" she asked tentatively.

She blinked at her, smiled, and repeated the poem.

"All the clues add up to a creature I wouldn't want to kiss?" Blair asked incredulously. She merely smiled her mysterious smile. Blair took that for a "yes." Blair frowned. The only creature she wanted to kiss was Hermione Granger.

She thought of answering that but remembered she would be attacked if she answered wrong. "A person in disguise," Blair muttered, staring at her, "who lies... that'd be a — an impostor. 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,' " Blair repeated. "No idea... oh, Mione, I miss you so much, 'middle of middle'... could I have the last bit again, please?" She gave her the last four lines.

"'The sound often heard during the search for a hard-to-find word,' " said Blair.

"Er... Godric, am I turning to Harry? That'd be... er... hang on — 'er'! Er's a sound!" The sphinx smiled at her.

"Spy... er... spy... er..." said Blair, pacing up and down. "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!" said Blair, and, amazed at her own brilliance, she dashed forward. She had to tell Hermione about this later. 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 have a chance...

Blair broke into a run. She 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 light ahead. The Triwizard Cup was gleaming on a plinth a hundred yards away.

Suddenly a dark figure hurtled out onto the path in front of her. It was Harry. Blair smirked as she chased after the sprinting Harry. "Let's race, Harold!"

Blair and Harry grinned at each other as they raced. Then Blair saw something immense over a hedge to her left, moving quickly along a path that intersected with her own; it was moving so fast Harry was about to run into it, and Harry, his eyes on the cup, had not seen it —

"Harry!" Blair bellowed. "On your left!"

Harry looked around just in time to hurl himself past the thing and avoid colliding with it, but in his haste, he tripped. Blair saw Harry's wand fly out of his hand as a gigantic spider stepped into the path and began to bear down upon Harry.

"Stupefy!" Blair yelled; the spell hit the spider's gigantic, hairy black body, but for all the good it did, she might as well have thrown a stone at it; the spider jerked, scuttled around, and ran at Blair instead.

"Stupefy! Impedimenta! Stupefy!" But it was no use — the spider was either so large, or so magical, that the spells were doing no more than aggravating it.

Blair had one horrifying glimpse of eight shining black eyes and razor-sharp pincers before it was upon her. She was lifted into the air in its front legs; struggling madly, she tried to kick it; her leg connected with the pincers and next moment she was in excruciating pain. Blair bit the inside of her cheek to hold her yells in while she dropped her wand. She could hear Harry yelling "Stupefy!" too, but his spell had no more effect than Blair's —

Blair raised her hand as the spider opened its pincers once more and shouted "Expelliarmus!"

It worked — the Disarming Spell made the spider drop her, but that meant that Blair fell twelve feet onto her already injured leg, which crumpled beneath her, but she scrambled to take her wand. Without pausing to think, she aimed high at the spider's underbelly, as she had done with the skrewt, and shouted "Stupefy!" just as Harry yelled the same thing.

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.

"Blair!" she heard Harry shouting as he ran to her. "You all right? Did it fall on you?"

"No," Blair called back, panting. She looked down at her leg. It was bleeding freely. She could see some sort of thick, gluey secretion from the spider's pincers on her torn robes. She tried to get up, but her leg was shaking badly and did not want to support her weight.

Harry helped her as she leaned against the hedge, gasping for breath, and looked around. The Triwizard Cup, which was gleaming behind him was a few feet away from Harry.

"Take it," Blair panted to Harry. "Go on, take it. You're there."

But Harry didn't move. He merely stood there, looking at Blair. Then he turned to stare at the cup. Blair saw him look at it for a second before smiling at Blair. "You take it. You should win. That's twice you've saved my neck in here."

Blair rolled her eyes in amusement. "That's not how it's supposed to work. 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."

Harry scoffed at her. "Honestly, Blair. Take it."

"Both of us," Blair said.

"What?"

"We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory. We'll tie for it." Blair grinned at Harry, who shook his head and chuckled.

"You — you sure?"

"Yeah," said Blair. "Yeah... we've helped each other out, haven't we? We both got here. Let's just take it together."

Harry grinned back at her. "You're on," he said. "Come here."

He grabbed Blair's arm below the shoulder and helped Blair limp toward the plinth where the cup stood. When they had reached it, they both held a hand out over one of the cup's gleaming handles.

Harry smiled at her. "It's the two of us till the end, Aika. Are you up for it?"

Blair nodded and bumped his shoulder. "Always, James. And that will never change."

"On three, right?" said Harry. "One — two — three —" He and Blair both grasped a handle.

Instantly, Blair 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 onward in a howl of wind and swirling color, Harry at her side.

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Thank you all for your continuous support for Balter! I appreciate it all :) And next week, we're finally getting to the Duel at Little Hangleton. Any thoughts on what will happen next? Thank you for everything! Much love <3

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