"Cho, it's great to see you again." Harry answered, smiling. "Although I do wonder why you still waste your time with this berk."
"Oh, he's good for the occasional laugh." Cho answered, trying not to giggle while making fun of her boyfriend. "Probably the same reason Daphne keeps you around."
"Exactly." Daphne answered before Harry could say anything.
"Harry, do you see what you've done?" Cedric replied. "You've turned them both against us. Next thing you know they'll be picking on Neville too."
"Leave me out of this." Neville wisely commented, resulting in laughs from everyone else.
'You ready for this, Harry?" Cedric asked seriously.
"I think so." Harry answered with a nod. "What about you?"
"As ready as I'll ever be. I just wanted to say that you've really impressed me, Harry." Cedric said. "When your name came out of the Goblet of Fire I thought you would be lucky to survive the tournament, but here were are nearly at the end and you're beating all of us. Whatever happens, you should be proud of yourself."
"Thanks, Cedric. That means a lot to me." Harry replied sincerely. "I really shouldn't be in this tournament to begin with, and you would be winning right now if I wasn't."
"That's not your fault, Harry." Cedric answered. He knew better than to think that Harry had put his name in the Goblet of Fire and had never really believed it. "Still, I hope your ready to get your ass kicked by me today."
"I look forward to seeing you try." Harry said with a laugh. A moment later a loud voice was heard calling for the champions to assemble at the entrance of the maze for final instructions. Harry looked around and noticed that in the time they had been talking the stands had completely filled up with eager spectators. "Sounds like it's time to go…"
Before he could leave or say anything else Daphne wrapped him up in a tight hug and softly said "Be careful, good luck." to him. Harry nodded and hugged her back before letting go of the embrace and turning towards the maze. He glanced sideways to see Cho had Cedric in a similar hug, except she appeared to be crying as Cedric assured her he would be alright. Nodding, she finally let go and the two Hogwarts champions approached the third and final task of the Triwizard tournament side by side. Ludo Bagman was at the entrance to maze motioning them over, and when all four champions were there he began to go over what was expected.
"Very good, you're all here. Congratulations on making it this far." Bagman said. "But this will be the most dangerous task yet. If, at any time, you can no longer continue in the maze all you must do is fire sparks into the air and someone will come get you. The first person to grab the Triwizard Cup will be declared the winner. Now, are there any questions?" Bagman looked from person to person, giving them the chance to say something but none of the champions seemed to have anything they needed to ask. When his eyes landed on Harry Bagman's mouth opened as if he had something to say, but quickly closed his mouth and once again got a confused expression on his face which he tried to shake off so that he could continue.
"Well then… you'll be up first Harry. The cannon firing will be your signal to proceed. Good luck to all of you." Bagman said as he walked off. Harry took his place at the entrance to the maze and tried to calm himself before he began. In the background Bagman was speaking to the audience and informing them all of the rules for the third task, although Harry wasn't really paying attention. Suddenly the crowd began to quiet down as they all waited for the cannon to fire. Harry pulled out his wand and wrapped his fingers tightly around it as the excitement in the crowd began to rise. Moments that felt like hours passed as Harry eagerly waited to begin.
BOOM!
Finally, the cannon fired and Harry happily ran into the maze. Seconds later he ran into a wall and was forced to make his first decision of the day: whether to turn left or right. Neither option appeared any more attractive than they other, so Harry picked one at random and turned left, heading deeper into the maze. He had walked about twenty paces in that direction when he met his first obstacle of the day, although this one made him laugh instead of shiver in fear. A group of about a dozen cornish pixies was flying straight towards him and they appeared to be quite angry. This was something that even an average wizard should have no problem with, although he did remember it being too much for Gilderoy Lockhart to handle in second year.
"Stupefy!" Harry called out, altering the wand movement slightly so that the stunner was a bit weaker but covered a larger area. As the bright red light hit the pixies they immediately dropped to the ground unconscious. Harry looked at the tiny blue creatures with and laughed, wondering what else he would find in the maze. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud roar that came from somewhere deeper into the maze. The roar was easily as loud as a dragon's, although it sounded different and must have come from something else. It seemed that the more dangerous obstacles would be found farther in to the maze.
The sound of the cannon firing forced Harry to start moving again. He knew that it was the signal for Cedric to enter the maze and he wasn't that far ahead of the other Hogwart's champion. He looked back to see if it was possible to see Cedric from this point in the maze, but at that moment the huge bushes making up the wall of the maze grew together and blocked his view and his way back. The new wall looked just like all the others, meaning it would be impossible for him to tell if the maze had changed unless he remembered what it looked like previously. His thought that attempting to map out the maze would be useless proved to be absolutely correct.
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