Year 4 Chapter 28

The billowing flames left the tip of Krum's wand, and as they poured with a violet hue, I rolled away from the ethereal-like flames that made the hedge catch fire. I stared at Krum's expression, and while I would have loved to be able to look him in the eyes to see if he was absent-minded and vacant, I couldn't. It was night, the maze was poorly lit, and Krum had just tried to kill me with what I believed to be the Flagrante curse.

Which, ironically enough, would kill me if it hit. It went straight through clothes, after all, when aimed at living people and burned their innards into unrecognizable charred husks.

"Hey Krum, you can't have my autograph if you kill me," I said, trying to sound jovial. When Krum didn't answer, but instead muttered some kind of Bulgarian curse, I realized that he was either really concentrating on the task at hand, or he was being mind-controlled. The latter seemed likely, even as I quickly pulled up a wall of loose dirt between us. The dirt detonated. It detonated in shards of ice so cold, the air itself began to chill and make my breath hazy.

Was that a Permafrost curse of some kind? Though knowing my luck, I'd be killed by an ice-making spell if this kept up.

"Expelliarmus!" I blurted the spell out, twisting the wand and jabbing it forth. The spell departed, but unfortunately missed as Krum moved away from the area. Why couldn't spells be self-seeking blobs of floating death? Because then I'd be dead already, I reckoned.

This time, a thin stream of transparent water gushed from Krum's wand, like a whip of sorts. I swung my own wand, flames burning through as both streams met and merged mid-air. The sizzling contact made them both explode, my left hand flinging forward the rocky shards that stood on the ground. I wasn't going to kill the kid. I was going to probably wound the kid, maim the kid, or otherwise hurt the kid really badly, but I wasn't going to kill him.

As long as he didn't die, I was reasonably sure they could patch him up.

The mist-like substance shifted abruptly in front of me, a jet of bright orange aimed in my general direction. I avoided that, rushing to the side as I twisted and twirled the wand through the pattern of my next spell. My wand fizzled instead, sparks of lightning crawling across the air. No, bad wand. We will not kill Viktor Krum.

The blast from my spell's departure was a mixture of a dying wheezing noise and a fan at maximum speed. A spherical emission of air that should have cleared the air, and instead ionized it. I had merely wished to remove the mist, not electrify it.

Yet, as I heard a sudden scream from the mist's insides, I was reasonably sure I had achieved the same result.

"Fine," I said, conceding to my wand. "You were right."

The wand didn't do something as unglorified as sparkle to give me an answer, but she had to be distinctively pleased of the result. The mist did indeed clear, revealing the figure of one Viktor Krum, lightly singed and knocked out. He was still breathing, so he'd live.

This now led me to the final conundrum of the maze.

Was I going to take the cup, or not?

I hummed, thoughtfully, and then went with the safest option available to the likes of me.

Mister Manta-Shield left my back, slid and flopped on the floor uselessly for a bit, and then coiled its tail around the cup's edge, pulling it on its back. At least, that would have been its command. It instead disappeared, and as the Hogwarts musical choir began to play, I couldn't help but cheer for Mister Manta-Shield. He was the true winner of the Triwizard Cup Tournament, though I suspected they'd give me the second prize.

I patiently waited at the center of the tournament ring, humming ever so often, until someone came to check. Professor McGonagall was the first to arrive, literally prying open the hedges with a spell. I beamed her a smile, "Professor," I said with a charming smile, "someone Imperiused poor Krum here," I continued, nonchalantly. "I felt it prudent to ensure there wouldn't be a curse set on the cup."

The stern elderly woman looked at the unconscious Krum, and then straight at me. "Well, Mister Umbrus," she said in the end, "Guess that with you, properly winning or losing is always out of the question, isn't it?"

I chuckled, "You know me, Professor. I don't do obvious."

"You will be happy to know, Minerva, that neither the Manticore nor the Sphinx survived Mister Umbrus' passage," Professor Flitwick said as he arrived a couple of seconds later, from his assigned direction. "The Fire Crabs didn't outlast Mister Krum either."

"He got Fire Crabs?" I grumbled. "Why did he get Fire Crabs and I got those two?"

Professor Flitwick chuckled at that. "The maze's disposition was random, just as the creatures within were free to roam. The Sphinx was the only one stationary," he sighed. "I suppose failing her riddle meant it was either your life or hers, Mister Umbrus."

I should have broken out in the most innocent of whistles, but that by itself would have been a sign of guilt. I remained positively chagrined, rubbing the back of my neck. "My riddle-solving skills aren't that great, even with the door and all."

"Ah, yes, Sphinxes do enjoy making long riddles with little to string them along," Filius nodded as he patted on Krum's clothes, lifting the poor boy up to float ahead of us.

"There won't be traces of the Imperius on the boy," Professor McGonagall remarked, "But his wand might tell us a different story."

"An Unforgivable on a contestant?" Filius muttered, shaking his head. "We'll get to the bottom of this."

We left the maze behind, and finally the cheers and the clapping began in earnest once more. At the center of the ring, my poor Manta Construct remained steadfastly guarding the cup, and since I had no intentions of touching it just in case of contact poisons, I merely walked by its side and cheerfully waved.

"Congratulations, Mister Umbrus," Crouch Senior grunted, as if trying his best to make the congratulations sound like an insult. "You have proven the greatness of Hogwarts above the other schools."

I smiled. "I only did my very best-"

"Dumbledore! This cannot stand!" Karkaroff grumbled, "Your student attacked mine!"

"Mine too, Dumblydor," Maxime said. Perhaps I had hit Fleur too hard, since she hadn't yet woken up to refer how she had been the one to start.

"Hey, they attacked me first," I spoke right back at them, my voice calm and tranquil, never rising of even a single octave. "But if you prefer, we can wake them both right up, all three of us can take a taste of Veritaserum, and then see what story everyone has to say about it," I crossed my arms in front of my chest, huffing, "While Krum was under Imperius, at least, I hope he was since he used quite the Lethal Curses, Fleur's saving grace is that I think she tried to stun me in the back, but missed."

I drummed my fingers against my arms, "But if you want to make a public scene, be my guests," I narrowed my eyes. "I'll take you both on."

If an alien were to appear with its green skin, it wouldn't beat the puce-colored livid appearance of the two Headmasters. "Your apprentice has more bite than you had in your prime, Dumbledore," Crouch Senior nearly growled that out, even as he sounded as stern as he could ever possibly be.

"I'm afraid it's all bark," I said with a small sigh, "I doubt the Headmaster would want someone as headache inducing as me as his apprentice, all things considered."

"I have found that the best students are indeed those who give the greatest of headaches," the Headmaster answered in turn, staring quite serenely at the last member of the judgment committee. Mister Bagman had remained quiet until then, as if lost in thoughts. "Mister Bagman? Do you not have anything to say?"

"Congratulations," he said, looking quite nervous. Both of my eyebrows rose at the same time as his nervousness did. "Now, I'd love to stay and chat, but I apparently need to leave quite quickly."

"And why would you?" Crouch growled, "We're just getting started with the awarding ceremony."

In answer to that, a group of Goblins with axes to grind made their way through the crowd. And by axes to grind, I meant it literally. They literally had axes in their hands, and didn't look all too pleased. "Bagman!" one barked, "You owe us the money!"

"Seriously, Ludo?" Crouch grumbled. "This is an important moment, and you ruin it like this?"

As Dumbledore moved towards the Goblins, trying to reason with them and Ludo, I watched the other two Headmasters return by the sides of their knocked down students. By the judges' table, only I and Crouch Senior remained.

He looked down at me, with nothing but disdain, and I looked up at him, puzzled.

"Because of your stint with Mister Black," Crouch Senior growled, "All of my previous cases are subject to inquiry. The very same Ministry that approved of them now claims ignorance."

"You should have picked a higher ground to die for," I replied in a quiet whisper. "Those who do no evil have nothing to fear from scrutiny."

"Is that so?" Crouch Senior hissed. "Then what would the ministry see if it looked at you, Mister Umbrus?"

I chuckled. "Nothing but a witty Ravenclaw, Mister Crouch."

"You always seem to want to have the last word," Crouch retorted. "Quite arrogant of you."

"I'm sorry," I answered in turn, and said nothing else.

I just smiled.

It annoyed the wizard. It annoyed him greatly.

It annoyed him so much, he left without a second word.

Well, if I wanted my award winning ceremony, I reckoned I would have to make it myself.

I would have blackjack and whiskey...

...coffee and Veelas would come later.