Dragon's Arsenal

The evening of the third task was upon them. Harry had eaten a light meal in the Room of Requirement with Hermione, Dobby, and Winky before getting dressed in his new tournament robes.

Looking them over, Harry said with pride, "Winky, you did a fantastic job on these robes."

"You're welcome, Master Harry." Winky replied with a light blush visible on her cheeks. No matter how often her Master or Mistress complimented her, she still felt amazed, hence the blush.

The new dragon hide pants and boots were surprisingly light for such a thick material. Harry figured it must have something to do with their ability to fly. If they were too heavy, they wouldn't be able to get off the ground. He already knew that their bones weren't hollow like a bird so it made sense to him that their hide was light and durable.

"We need to start heading down to the Quidditch Stadium, Harry." Hermione said as she took his hand.

He gave her hand a soft squeeze and then knelt down in front of their two elves. "Thank you both for the hard work these last few weeks on the map and the clothing. I don't know what we would do without you."

After hugging the happy elves goodbye, Harry and Hermione left the Room of Requirement and headed down towards the Quidditch Pitch.

Hermione had the map of the maze in her hands, studying it. She and Harry had completed the charms work a few weeks ago with the help of Dobby and Winky.

Dobby had confirmed that every path was correct and Winky had focused on the areas where it looked like challenges or traps could be placed. The two elves had done a final walk through and updated the map that morning. It now showed the exact type and location of each creature, trap, challenge, and the cup itself. They had taken the updated version to Remus so that he could make a few copies for everyone.

The plan was to have her, Remus, Tonks, and Sirius each armed with a copy of the map to keep a watch over things in the maze and the immediate surroundings. The change to the maps that Hermione had suggested was to connect them. Remus had set them up so that they could highlight a dot on one map and it would change color and flash on the others. This way they could alert each other about possible dangers.

Remus was stationed nearest the cup in the stadium while Sirius was hiding beneath the stands in his Animagus form. Tonks had been assigned to the Minister's security detail; her job would be patrolling the perimeter of the maze. She had volunteered for the detail since the entire veteran Aurors Corps wanted to watch the tournament.

Remus had approached Nymphadora just after the second task. After about a month, Remus was able to gain enough of her trust to get her to agree to meet with Sirius and they convinced her of his innocence. Her position as an Auror trainee was a big advantage for them. She was able to pick up a lot of information into the workings of the ministry and pass it along.

Hermione was sitting with Neville and Ginny in the student section of the stands. They chose seats right in front instead of higher up in one of the towers. She wanted to be close in case she was needed.

Harry and the other Champions were milling around in the starting area. Each of them was a bit anxious about the task but Harry's anxiety was for an entirely different reason.

His scar had been prickling all day. It was as if he could feel the darkness closing in. He was glad that Remus, Sirius, and a woman named Tonks all had copies of the map and were looking for signs of trouble.

Harry wasn't actually bothered about the maze; he had a plan for that part. It was the hidden dangers that they hadn't found that worried him. He began going over his checklist as a way to help stay calm while he waited for the Third Task to start.

He was wearing the new dragon hide boots, vest, pants, and gauntlets that Winky had made for him and Hermione. His wand was in his forearm holster along and the dragon spike dagger in the other. The dragon tooth dagger and his silver potions knife were in the built in holsters in his boots. Winky had added them after seeing the completed daggers. Overall, Harry didn't think that he could be any more vigilant in his equipment needs. The psycho defense teacher would be proud, he was sure.

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