Excited chatter filled the air all around them as the Champions waited for the Task to officially begin. The stands surrounding the Quidditch Pitch were packed full of people, including many dignitaries. Fleur could spot the British, French, and Bulgarian Ministers of Magic right off, and there were many other notables besides.
It looked like half or more of the British Wizengamot had also turned up to see the spectacle.
She could only shake her head at the sheer insanity of it all. A Tournament with only four contestants, all of whom were only just into adulthood (or flat out underage in the case of her new husband), competing in an event that they as spectators would barely even be able to watch. That was what they were here for.
To be fair, she doubted that most of them knew the latter fact and indeed would be very disappointed by it, but the first two facts remained.
Why children competing in deadly tasks was such a draw to them mystified her. If anything, it should have horrified them! But here they were, waiting to see a spectacle that they knew could rapidly turn deadly. It had already had life changing consequences in her and Harry's case, and they were all too aware of that fact.
It did not speak well of magical society.
"Did the Weasley twins come up with anything?" wondered Cedric from his position next to Harry.
"Not that we know of," Harry replied. "They were looking into it, but they don't want to get caught interfering with an international event."
"Which was probably smart of zem," nodded Fleur. "Especially given what we 'ave planned."
Krum, on her side of the gaggle they formed, smirked. "It vill be amusing," he grinned.
Fleur couldn't help but grin back. At least their fellow Champions weren't sticks in the mud. The spectators were going to be disappointed to learn that they travelled all this way for a task that only took two minutes to complete…
"Still nothing to stop us," noted Harry, having finished examining the pitch. "So we're clear to go with it."
Cedric opened his mouth again — probably to ask if they were all still in — but Bagman arrived before he could say anything. The man made Fleur's skin crawl; he was a disgusting pig in her view.
And before he started announcing, he cast a charm that would allow the audience to hear everything that both he and the Champions said. It was a two-part charm that Fleur was only vaguely familiar with. Someone competent had clearly cast the complicated part earlier, and Bagman's spell merely activated it.
Fleur rather thought it was likely going to backfire on him.
===[~]===
In the stands behind the entrance to the maze, Sirius Black sat with the Delacour family and watched the Champions while keeping a weather eye on everything else around him. He found it a novel experience being out in public like this. It had been far, far too long since he was able to live his life.
No thanks to Dumbledore, but that was neither here nor there at the moment.
Watching Harry with Fleur was a balm to his tortured soul. He had no idea if he would ever find love himself — he was damaged goods to be certain — but that his Godson had managed it, no matter in what fashion, warmed his tarnished heart. Fleur and Harry, to his eyes, were simply meant to be.
Remus would likely have been reminded of James and Lily, but not Sirius. Harry was a very different person from James Potter, and Fleur was nothing at all like Lily. On top of that — and as much as he hated to say it — their love was far deeper than he had ever observed between the late elder Potters.
Not that James and Lily weren't very much in love — they were — but Harry and Fleur took it to a whole new level.
Those who had known playboy Sirius Black in school would have been shocked to learn that he was a closet romantic, and that he truly did know what love was. Then and now, he simply didn't think he would ever find the sort of love he craved for himself. He enjoyed very much seeing it in others, though.
And Harry and Fleur were sterling examples in his book.
He continued to watch as they stood and chatted with the other Champions. Even the manner in which they stood spoke of their love for one another. It was subtle, but it was there. He had to admit that he was jealous, and not because she was Veela.
"They look so good together," he sighed to himself.
"Don't they?" asked Sebastian from his left. "I never would 'ave thought of this match for 'er, but 'e really does complete 'er in a way I could never 'ave predicted."
"And she him," nodded Sirius. "I don't know him as well as I'd like for obvious reasons, but I know he's not a very social sort. She seems totally immune to that, though. He's completely comfortable with her."
"You're not wrong," came Hermione Granger's voice from his other side. She had followed them out and joined them in the stands. "I know him better than anyone, except maybe for Fleur now of course, and I can tell you that the way he is with her is totally unlike the way he is with anyone else."
"Even you?" asked Arienne softly from Sebastian's other side.
It was clear to Sirius that she was fishing to see if the magically-forced marriage had disrupted something else, but Hermione rose to the occasion. "Even me," she nodded decisively, with a wry smile lingering on her lips. "Besides, I've always thought of him more like a brother. I don't know that I could ever give him the kind of comfort she does."
And then the conversation was interrupted by Ludo Bagman announcing the start of the Task. Sirius listened intently as the aging former Quidditch star explained how things were supposed to work, and then finally blew his whistle to send Harry and Cedric Diggory into the maze.
Neither boy moved, and Sirius blinked. Something was up. And fortunately the area around the Champions had been charmed to project what was said to the audience, which meant that they were about to find out exactly what that was.
"Well, go on!" Bagman urged, his voice echoing around the arena due to the charms work on the platform. "The clock is ticking!"
To Sirius' increasing amusement, Harry looked at the man like he was crazy. "But that wouldn't be sporting, Mr. Bagman," he said, his voice projected into the stands with perfect clarity. "We want to be fair about this, right?"
"I agree with Harry," added Diggory. "It wouldn't be sporting to go ahead of the others."
Sirius grinned and glanced over at Diggory the Elder Arse, but the man was just sitting there staring. He looked quite shocked by his son's behavior. Poor Cedric; he was likely to get a talking to when he got home.
In the mean time, he couldn't help but giggle aloud this time; he hadn't had this much fun since before Azkaban!
===[~]===
It was quite clear to Harry that Bagman had no idea what to make of his and Cedric's behavior, or what to do about it. That made him want to laugh, but he somehow managed to keep a straight face. Luckily for Bagman, though, Professor Moody soon made an appearance.
"Problem, Ludo?" he asked curiously.
Bagman just sputtered. "They're apparently going to wait and go with the others," he admitted, clearly forgetting that everyone could hear him. "Don't know why they'd want to give up such a big advantage."
Moody's eye spun for a moment before landing on Harry. "This true, Potter?" he asked.
"Wouldn't be sporting otherwise," Harry shrugged.
"Well, there you go," he said to Bagman. "Maybe you should just get on with it, Ludo."
Bagman appeared reluctant. "But—" he started.
"Moody's right," interrupted Cedric. "Might as well get on with it. We're not changing our minds. Right, Harry?"
"Right, Cedric."
===[~]===
While there was a fair bit of laughter at the Champions' antics and the flummoxed former Quidditch star, Sirius was finding it far too difficult to stay quiet. Next to him, Sebastian raised a curious eyebrow, clearly not understanding the reason for his mirth. Sirius chortled again before turning to speak to him, though he still kept one eye on the action — or lack thereof.
"Ten Galleons says they're going to prank the Tournament," he grinned at the man.
"No bet," smirked Sebastian. "My mother did not raise a fool, Sirius."
When he turned to Hermione, she rolled her eyes. "Before this year I might have actually taken you up on that," she admitted. "But now? No, thank you."
Sirius grinned and refocused on his Godson.
"Fine," grumbled Bagman, to the audience's rising amusement. "Then next up, we have Viktor Krum of Durmstrang!"
And with that, he blew his whistle again — only for Viktor to continue standing there lazily.
"Not you, too?" whined Bagman.
Laughter rang out, far more prevalent than before. Sirius was grinning like a loon. Whoever had planned this prank had done a bang-up job! They were, at the very least, making Bagman look like the idiot he was.
"Da!" retorted Viktor. "Am sportsman! Must be sporting!"
Sirius was already suppressing more giggles when Viktor's response came through, and Hermione's abrupt face-palm almost sent him into gales of laughter. It was only his need to hear whatever was next that kept him silent.
Hermione, for her part, was clearly horrified. She had gone to the Yule Ball with Krum, he recalled.
"Am Sportsman?" she repeated faintly. "Like Me Caveman? I know for a fact that Viktor's command of the English language is much better than that!"
Sirius kept silently giggling away.
"Fine!" groused Bagman uncharitably. "Fleur Delacour, Beauxbatons, last place! Go!"
And the final whistle was blown.
Predictably, Fleur simply stood there with the others. None of them made a move to enter the maze.
"And now my daughtair is involved!" grinned Arienne. "Oh, this ees so very amusing!"
"Definitely worth coming to watch," agreed Sebastian.
Sirius could see Moody down on the platform, also looking truly amused. "Have fun with this, Ludo," smirked the old Auror. And then he wandered off.
"Well, are you going in or not?!" Bagman finally burst, utterly exasperated with them, causing the audience to roar with laughter.
"Hmm," mused Harry. "Maybe we should get going. I mean, they did go to all the trouble of setting this up and all."
"Oui," nodded Fleur. "And ze sooner zis is over, ze bettair."
"Da," agreed Viktor.
"Definitely," nodded Cedric.
Then all four of them moved into a line and raised their wands.
"ACCIO BROOM!"
Their entire area of the stands burst into cheers as the Champions' intentions became clear. Sirius had actually read the rules, and knew beyond doubt that this was a perfectly legal move. The entire Task was a joke, really, if you looked at all the various "cheats" that the rules failed to disallow.
Sneaking a peek at Dumbledore almost made him lose his composure once and for all. The man looked like he needed medical attention for a common bowel condition. He clearly did not approve of the Champions' antics.
"Magnifique!" gushed Arienne.
"A perfect solution," grinned Sebastian. "No real danger to the Champions, and they reduce the entire Task to little more than a broom race."
"Oh, I don't think it's a race," smirked Hermione.
"Oh?" asked Sebastian.
Hermione turned to Sirius with an evil grin. "Ten Galleons says they're going to tie it," she offered. "Deliberately."
There was a brief silence in their section of the stands before laughter suddenly erupted from almost everyone. Even Sirius had missed the obvious. She was right! He was chortling so much that he had to shake his head at her to decline her bet.
Then they watched as the Champions flew up over the hedges and out to the middle of the maze before losing altitude and disappearing from view. It would probably be only moments before the Task was over.
===[~]===
The laughter coming from the stands at their antics was long and loud, much to the Champions' pleasure. Making the organizers look foolish was a good thing in their opinion. Fleur could practically feel her husband's satisfaction as he flew along beside her.
He, more than any of them, had the right to make a mockery of the Tournament.
It took less than fifteen seconds to reach the cup in the center of the maze. The only potential obstacle was an acromantula of all things, but it was stuck behind another wall and would take some time to arrive if it had even seen them coming. The looks they exchanged made their opinions of this task utterly clear.
"Well, that was easy," grinned Cedric. "Shall we? Three… two… one…"
Cedric had reached his hand out as he spoke, as did the rest of them. They had discussed this ahead of time: they wanted it to be a tie with no way for the judges to say otherwise. If they grabbed the cup at exactly the same time, then there would be no contest. No loopholes.
And so they did.
And then all hell broke loose.
===[~]===
"Whoever designed this Task was a moron," Sirius noted. "At least from a spectator's point of view."
"Hear, hear!" was shouted back from various other spectators.
And then fireworks shot up into the sky from the four corners of the maze, and the hedges began to crumble away. It was clearly an effect designed to signal the end of the competition — a "self cleaning maze" he would have said in his youth — but something was wrong.
In the center of the maze, where should have stood four Champions with their brooms, was nothing more than a lone acromantula.
"What the…?" he breathed.
His mirth vanished instantly, like someone had flipped a switch. Suddenly he was deadly serious, his instincts screaming at him that something had just gone terribly wrong.
Turning quickly, he scanned the area in front of the judges, and saw nothing and nobody there either. Turning all the way around, he couldn't spot them anywhere. If the cup was a portkey or something, it hadn't taken them anywhere he could see.
"Where are my children?" asked Arienne as it became clear that something was decidedly wrong.
But that was all the time they had left to worry about their missing family members.
People throughout the stadium were starting to scream, and it wasn't because the Champions had gone missing. Whoever had designed and set up the maze and its disintegration had forgotten one key fact: that all of the various creatures would completely fail to disintegrate with the hedges. And with the Champions having bypassed all of them, none of them had been eliminated beforehand. With no hedges to pen them in, the creatures were free to roam.
Most of them were incredibly deadly, and all of them were unhappy!
One acromantula had already started toward the stands — and as luck would have it, was heading right at their section. Sirius quickly drew his wand and made his way down to the front; he was once an auror, and knew the drill. He was dimly aware of Sebastian and Hermione following him.
It wasn't long at all before he was forced to behead the giant sentient spider; it was not for being shifted from its chosen prey.
All around them, the place dissolved into utter chaos. Hagrid's skrewts were heading toward various points in the audience; a second acromantula was heading toward another part of the stands; and a manticore of all things had honed in on the judge's box. Toward the center of the maze a lonely, disgruntled Sphinx stood quietly and waited to see the upcoming carnage.
And those were just the obvious threats.
With a shake of his head, and working seamlessly with Sebastian and Hermione, Sirius focused in on the next threat and tried to ignore both the stampede of the spectators behind him and his worries over his missing godson and goddaughter-in-law.
It was going to be a long night.