The Third Task (Part One)

Harry fidgeted in place as he and the rest of the Champions waited for Bagman to finally get around to explaining what their goal for this Task was going to be. He couldn't help flinching at the constant buzzing sound coming from over their heads outside the tent.

"Mate, you gotta relax a bit," Fred said raising his eyebrows at his fellow student.

"I'll relax when I know what that sound is," Harry said shaking his head.

Fleur and Viktor nodded along also glancing uneasily at the ceiling above them. Fred just shrugged. "No point worrying about it since we're going to be facing off against it in a minute anyway."

Bagman chose that moment to walk into the tent with his characteristic bright smile firmly in place. "Good morning, Champions! Exciting Task on the schedule for today!"

"Will zis one try to set the entire audience against me again?" Fleur asked scowling.

"Ah, no," Bagman said deflating slightly. "We did apologize for that. Unfortunate incident there. Won't happen again. We've learned our lesson. This Task has been appropriately toned down you should know. We were originally going to get some far more unusual critters in. There was talk of a Lamassu at first…" Bagman said trailing off.

"You mean the vinged ox that lives to protect its chosen location? Didn't one of those slaughter two dozen vizards in Iraq a few years ago?" Viktor asked narrowing his eyes.

"Yes, that's right," Bagman said smiling, glad that someone knew about the creature. He obviously missed the death glares he was receiving. "With the complaints about the previous two Tasks though we felt it better to tone this one down a bit." Four collective sighs were heard at that. "All you have to do is solve the puzzle box floating in the air! Each of you has your own box and you'll all be given your brooms to fly with once you step outside. Inside the box is another key which will unlock your…unlock something over the course of the next Task. I advise you not to get too distracted during this one though! If you don't retrieve the key in time – a half hour time limit – the box will collapse and the key will be destroyed.

"The distractions to keep you multitasking a bit include some varieties of flying magical creatures. There are a few hippogriffs, several coatls, a roving swarm of Cornish pixies and a thunderbird!" Bagman smiled widely still oblivious to the growing looks of worry on the Champions' faces. "Well I think that's it. Good luck to everyone! Scores will be out of the time it takes to complete the Task as well as the measures used to ensure your safety from the flying critters. Have fun!"

As he strode out, Harry turned to give Fred a look. "So should I relax now, mate?"

"Well, at least you know what the buzzing is now!" Fred said attempting to crack a smile, though it fell somewhat flat. "Merlin," he muttered, "swarms of pixies are bad enough but they brought in a bloody thunderbird?"

Viktor sighed. "If I get done quickly enough I vill try to keep it distracted. I encountered one during a game in the United States last year. Their shocks are quite strong, but they are slow to fire their bolts and rarely leave vhatever perch they are using."

"Zank you, Viktor. Zat is most generous of you," Fleur murmured.

The Durmstrang student shrugged. "Might as vell make use of my Quidditch skill."

The gong rang before anyone could respond properly to that and the Champions trooped out onto the field. In front of them were four brooms lined up side by side with four identical small boxes about 30cm to a side floating in the air nearly 100 meters up. Harry spied a beautiful, majestic yellow bird sitting on the edge of one of the boxes in the center. Its plumage seemed to crackle with static electricity and it gazed lazily around the arena. There were a half-dozen hippogriffs flying around the boxes clacking their beaks at anything that came too close. One or two managed to grab a Cornish pixie that left the swarm. The swarm of pixies mostly moved as one, weaving between the different boxes and blacking out the sky to a significant degree as they changed locations. Those had been the source of the buzzing that had so unnerved him earlier. Finally, Harry counted over a dozen flying, multicolored snakes all seemingly clustered around the box to the left of the thunderbird. Those had to be the coatls. They were strangely captivating with their shimmering rainbow of colors.

Harry considered the situation for only a moment before moving to take the spot next to Viktor. "I'll take the serpents," he said quietly as the older man nodded staring at the large yellow bird above.

Fleur took up the spot on the other side of Viktor and narrowed her eyes at the swarm coalescing into rude shapes in the air above her box. "We will see how many shapes you take after I send some passionfyre your way little monsters," Harry heard her growl.

The gong rang again and Viktor and Fleur took off while Harry and Fred summoned their items from the crowd. Harry strapped on his harness ensuring it was extra snug and the additional Superman frame had been put into the correct positioning before summoning the broom to his hand. The Superman wouldn't let him actually fly, but it would be a nice emergency save if he had to abandon the broom. It was a runic array combining Feather-Light charms, cushioning charms and a wind generating charm which should hopefully let him drift gently to the ground. It was something he had worked on at Hermione's insistence to provide some protection during a Quidditch match. Her insistence about having no interest in acting as a Lois Lane to his Clark Kent had been both strenuous and curiously specific…

Fred beside him gave a thumbs up and hopped on his broom heading into the air with a potion in hand. Harry did a few quick maneuvers on the broom to get the feel of the thing and how it differed from the Firebolt Sirius had gotten him. This broom wasn't necessarily awful, but it definitely didn't seem to have anything close to the maneuverability, acceleration or top speed that he was used to. Frowning slightly Harry turned towards the coatls and hoped his half thought out idea would work.

Harry reached his box as he heard a shout from Fred's direction echo out. "All eligible hippogriffs look alive! Lusty Liquid for Lucky Lad coming up!" A shattering sound rang through the air and Harry's eyes widened as he saw one particular pixie that had ventured into the area near Fred get coated with a pinkish substance. Every hippogriff in the vicinity turned their heads and sighted onto the pixie which chattered and immediately began to fly evasive patterns as quickly as its wings would allow. The hippogriffs began following it around leaving Fred clear to approach his puzzle box.

To Harry's far right, Fleur was tangling with a great many more pixies. The entire swarm alternately closed on her and flew away shrieking in fear as she lobbed more fireballs into their midst. She was working on the puzzle box in the lulls while the creatures tried to regroup after they were scattered. Her angry scowl clearly indicated what she thought of the beasts' attempts.

Harry drifted close enough to the coatls that he could hear their hissing. He stopped held up his hands to show he was unarmed – as far as the creatures knew at least – and started to hiss in parseltongue. ~Peace, magnificent sky serpents. I only wish to get at the box behind you.~

One coatl fluttered to the front of the group and regarded Harry critically. ~We are not supposed to let you at it. We are supposed to try to injure or kill you. We did not know you would be a Speaker…The last speaker passed many generations ago…~

~I don't want to fight you,~ Harry said gently but with steel still present in his tone. ~I will if I have to, but I don't want to.~

~Speakers are precious and few.~ The coatl continued to regard Harry for several more moments before it turned to its fellows and hissed too quickly for Harry to follow. Eventually, all the snakes' heads nodded in agreement and they beat their wings as one. The lead coatl turned back to Harry. ~We will not harm you Speaker. You have free access. Be warned. We have no wish to serve and we will not obey any order you give. Should another human approach we will attack them. Free access is yours and yours alone.~

Harry nodded restraining his grin. ~My thanks to you and yours.~ The coatls flew aside opening up a corridor for him to access the puzzle box. As Harry pulled out his wand to start moving the shapes and etchings, he couldn't help the little chuckle that escaped.

Diplomacy actually managed to work for once!

Viktor had completed 5 out of the six sides on the puzzle box with almost no difficulty even if he had moved slowly. As long as he didn't startle it, the thunderbird had barely even spared him a glance. It idly tossed a lightning bolt at one of the hippogriffs that got tired with chasing the perfumed pixie around, but even that display had appeared to simply be one of boredom and apathy.

Now though…now Viktor was afraid. The creature was perched right on top of the last segment he needed to shift. He'd have to disturb it in order to finish. Flying right next to the bird left very little room for dodging. He'd have to exercise every reflex he'd honed in the next minute in order to get out of this with minimal injuries. Taking a deep breath, Viktor started to slowly shift the remaining panel into the open position.

He had solved almost the entire segment before the thunderbird ruffled its feathers and turned to stare at him. Viktor froze and the bird extended its wingspan wide letting out a piercing caw. Viktor looked down at the last part. One more shift and he could have it done.

Well you didn't win a game without taking a risk. Narrowing his eyes at the magical bird, Viktor snapped the last puzzle box segment into position. The side panel flipped up as the electricity running between the feathers of the bird snapped into a coherent pattern and flew towards him. Viktor ducked, grabbed the revealed key and flew up. The thunderbird shrieked its annoyance and immediately took wing to follow him. He eyed the tent below but took a quick stock of the other three Champions instead of heading for safety.

Rolling to avoid a second lightning bolt, he saw Fleur and Fred nearly complete with their puzzles, Harry only a few moments behind. He dropped into a switch-back loop and smirked as the thunderbird overshot him and circled to glare at him before trying to hit him again. This Task was actually…almost fun.

That was, of course, was when a pained scream rang out below him.

Fleur snarled and felt feathery down sprout from both arms. One hand tightly gripped her wand and kept manipulating the box in front of her while the other tossed a new fireball into the maddening swarm. The frustrating menaces simply refused to learn!

She'd initially tried avoiding killing the creatures and aimed to simply frighten them. They had grown bolder and moved to start biting her while she was working on the puzzle. She had ramped up her attacks casting freezing charms and stunners in between throwing her fireballs. They had responded by trying to claw and bite her eyes.

Fleur had stopped being nice then. Tiny burnt bodies tumbled out of the air around her and still the swarm came back for more. She cast several larger area spells before deciding to instead hurry along with her box and maintain a fireball in her left hand occasionally tossing it into the swarm when they tried to mass. The deterrent strategy mostly ended up working and she received very few additional scratches or bites.

Finally, Fleur finished the last segment and the puzzle box popped open. Fleur had just grabbed her key as a pained scream sounded from behind.

Fred worked on his puzzle box in relative freedom. The pheromone potion had worked a lot better than he had ever expected. For a stock of something they were planning to destroy, it was a decent final usage indeed. It was based off a love potion that George and he – at the urgings of Alicia and Angelina – decided not to carry in stock. A quick scouting run to snag a feather as he got to the group of animals let him key the pheromones to hippogriffs and a careful toss hit an errant pixie.

The little creature had panicked and started to fly around in every which way. Fred couldn't have planned it better if he'd tried. Unfortunately he was a little slow with solving the actual puzzle configuration. He had never been the type to enjoy these little games as a kid and he didn't have the visualization ability to see how they all fit.

Thankfully, without distractions around it went a bit faster than it could have otherwise. After a few minutes Fred had moved onto the very last section. He just managed to finish it up and grab the key when a frenzied chattering sounded just behind him.

Fred whipped around and his eyes widened as the pixie he had tagged came barreling towards him with six annoyed hippogriffs trailing behind. The creature was too close and there wasn't time to dodge or twist away. All Fred could do was throw his hands up to try and protect his face from the manic flying devil.

The pixie slammed into his forehead at high speed and knocked Fred off balance. He tried to lock his thighs around the broom but he'd gotten too used to his normal broom's handling and response speeds. His knees missed their grab as the broom bucked too slowly to be trapped between his legs and it tipped up with his weight thrown back. Fred desperately reached forward to latch onto his broom but a hippogriff slammed into him just before he could get a handhold.

The broom bucked from the impact of the mass of the impact and Fred flew off it. The pixie latched onto his hair and rode him down through the sky while the hippogriffs twisted to follow his descent to the ground.

Fred tried to twist and cast a cushioning charm but drew in a sharp breath as he saw his wand above him falling just out of reach.

He couldn't help it. Fred screamed.

Harry got more and more annoyed as he worked on his puzzle box. The thing shouldn't be this complicated! The problem was the etching and designs made it look too much like runes. Every time he shifted a segment he tried to make it match up to the appropriate rune or cluster that it would be only to realize just before he started to move the piece that it wasn't supposed to be a rune. It was just more decorative etchings with only the barest hint of a pattern to help with placement.

He wished he could just disillusion the stupid box and do it by touch instead of looking at it. He'd risked a quick glance at the others once he hit his final segment – finally – only to see Viktor already done, Fleur starting to grin in triumph and Fred just about to reach into his box.

Harry's eyes widened as he saw the hippogriffs barreling towards Fred full tilt and his friend none the wiser. Harry was about to call out a warning as Fred twisted then cried out in surprise and rocked back on his broom. Harry sucked in a breath and started to angle towards Fred. He shot through the coatls as the lead hippogriff hit the red-head. Harry watched Fred get thrown off the broom and start to plummet letting out a scream of pain and fear.

The broom Harry was on was too slow; he could barely outpace the hippogriff let alone catch Fred before he hit the ground. The large animals were also positioned such that he could get a clear enough shot to hit his friend with a charm. He'd try to leap to him if he could but the same distance problem was present preventing that from working as well. The Superman wouldn't work to support someone Fred's size as a passenger anyway.

Grimacing, Harry saw a single option to save the twin from an impact with the rapidly approaching ground. Angling correctly and pushing off, Harry changed to Midnight in midair and used the Windrunner against the broom for a quick push. It wasn't substantial but it was enough. He fell below the closest hippogriff and focused on the shadow that the line of creatures cast onto the back of the one directly above Fred.

Midnight wrapped his magic around him and fell into the shadow below him. He flew out the other side onto the top of the hippogriff above Fred. They were barely 10 meters above the ground now. Without taking time to do anything beyond angle himself correctly, Harry leapt off the hippogriff, again powering his jump with a burst from the Windrunner. He caught Fred's wand in his jaws and wrapped a paw around the boy's waist with the ground directly below them. Midnight desperately extended his magic to wrap around Fred while his eyes searched for a spot just in front of the medical tent. He focused on a shadowed area just as he and Fred fell into their own shadow on the ground.

Pain and cold beyond almost anything he had ever before experienced gripped Midnight as he flew through the world of darkness between shadows with Fred pulled tight against him. The cold and ice seemed to seep into his very soul and the gentle breeze that he had started to get used to became a raging hurricane buffeting him from all sides. The pain surging through his body approached similar levels as what he had felt latching onto Quirrellmort in his first year. It was all Midnight could do to remain conscious and keep his magic continually wrapped around Fred – protecting the other boy from the maelstrom surrounding them.

As suddenly as the torment began…it ended. Midnight and Fred burst from the shadow in front of the medical tent and landed on the ground. Midnight yowled in pain and agony and curled into a ball as he let Fred slip out from under him and the wand slid out from between his teeth.

Fred groaned and rolled into a sitting position running his arms. "Wow. That was bloody cold. Thanks, Harry. I seriously owe you one, mate."

Midnight could only yowl plaintively and curl around himself tighter. Dimly he heard shouts and cries for help as he shut his eyes and slipped into unconsciousness.

The rustle of a page turning nearby was quiet though it might as well have been the roar of a passing lorry. Harry groaned as he latched onto that sound and clawed his way back to consciousness. His body still ached and he could still feel some of the numbing cold deep in his bones, but it wasn't all-consuming as it had been when he'd passed out. It wasn't even really that bad at all compared with how he'd felt after some of the training sessions with Tonks and Flitwick. Harry's eyes fluttered open and he twisted to try to find his glasses on their usual table before they were slipped onto his face by themselves.

Blinking the world into focus Harry saw Shiva lean back into a sitting position on the chair next to his bed with a small smirk on her face. She put the parchment she had been going over to the side and shook her head at him. "One day, kid, we're going to see about getting you some contacts or something – or maybe that new Muggle surgery to fix those eyes."

Harry answered her smirk with a small grin of his own. "Eh, I like the glasses. They stop mind attacks and basilisks. They can stay for the moment." His joviality faded and he sighed. "So how bad was it? How long was I out?"

"Almost two days, kid. I finally convinced Dora and Hermione to get some sleep a few hours ago," she shrugged. "Both of them only left you to take a shower before that. Most of the others have been in and out too. Daphne and Luna both stayed almost as long as your girlfriends and only left after the combined efforts of Tracey and Neville convinced them it would be better for you to not have multiple people hanging overhead when you woke up. I saw Fleur once at the beginning but she didn't stay long. I think she might be blaming herself a bit even though it's stupid. You'll have to talk to her at some point soon and beat some sense into that bird-brain head of hers.

"Krum was also annoyed with himself actually. The guy was busy dodging a darn thunderbird to keep it busy and he still thinks he didn't do enough to help," Shiva said frowning and shaking her head. "Oh and Fred and George both say they are naming their firstborns after you. I think they want a boy and a girl between them so they can have a Harry and Harriet. Please, whatever the hell you do, kid, disabuse them of the notion that that is a remotely good idea!" Shiva looked rather torn between scowling and giggling. She calmed down after a few moments and reached out to squeeze his shoulder. "How are you, Harry?"

"A little sore and a little cold, but it's not that bad," Harry said shrugging. "What happened exactly?"

She turned away to stare out the window for before replying, "You almost died, kid. Pomfrey said that your magical core was bordering on empty when she got to you and that your body was still trying to use your last reserves to fight off the effects of exposure to…whatever that place you hop through is. We think that when you extended your magic to shield Fred, his own magic fought back and created a reinforcing feedback loop or something that completely drained you and left your own body exposed while in transit."

"That…sounds about right. I think," Harry commented thinking back. "It felt something like that at least. So I guess I can't take anyone else through shadow travel huh?"

Shiva shook her head still staring out the window. "Please don't. Luna talked with her father and both are convinced that this is why shadow panthers are mostly extinct now. It might be easier for you if you try to take someone whose magic accepts yours and doesn't fight back, but even then it'd be a big drain. So please don't try that again, kid."

"Fred would've died, Shiva," he said softly.

"I know. And that's why I'm not saying what you did was wrong, Harry. I'm just asking you not to experiment by trying to take Dora or Hermione through the shadows."

"Okay. Excepting emergencies, I can promise that." Harry nodded and Shiva let out a breath she had been holding.

"Thanks."

"So…I didn't get the key did I?" Harry said sighing heavily.

This time she wasn't able to hold back her scowl. "No, you didn't. The bloody box was fucking open too which should've counted, but you flew after Fred before physically touching the damned key. You passed out and the time limit expired before anyone noticed. The Goddess-be-damned box shrunk and destroyed it and the judges are refusing to make you another one saying you didn't technically complete the Task." She started muttering under breath and Harry caught a few choice words he'd have to try and remember later for truly curse-worthy situations. "Dumbledore and Umbridge argued that because you didn't touch the key, you didn't complete the event satisfactorily. Karkaroff abstained from judgment, Maxime argued for and Bagman hemmed and hawed long enough that his opinion didn't end up counting before the official determination period lapsed. Majority won." She turned back to him and peered calculatingly at him. "You want the score distribution, kid?"

Harry shrugged. "Sure. Why not? Krum was first I'm betting right?"

She nodded. "Yeah. He got 46 points. They took a few off because he didn't immediately leave after completing the Task. Fleur was after that with 40 points. They didn't like that she got so many tiny scratches and bites – completely ignoring that against an agitated swarm of Cornish pixies most are lucky to keep their eyes and their life. There's something to be said about mass numbers of agile, fast and tiny targets." Shiva snorted in annoyance but kept going. "Fred actually wasn't docked too much for losing focus at the very end. He got 35 points. You…well considering you didn't technically complete it, you did pretty well. 25 total. The Umbitch gave you 0 of course but Karkaroff and Maxime were actually somewhat fair with their assessments. The sum totals so far have Fleur in the lead with 121, Krum right behind her with 120, Fred and you following with 112 and 107 respectively."

"Well, that's not too bad I guess," Harry said nodding. His face fell into a pained grimace after a moment though. "I'm a lot more worried that I'm not going to be able to unlock whatever or whoever is under the Lake during the next Task…Shiva what if…"

"Don't even start thinking like that, Harry," Shiva said forcefully. "Your Lockpick tattoo bypasses nearly every type of lock as long as it has some time to work. And even if that doesn't do shite you can just destroy whatever bindings are holding your girl down there. I'd like to see a chain that can stand up to a concentrated burst of one of your more destructive items, kid."

Harry nodded. He knew it wouldn't be that easy, but he wasn't going to say that out loud. Tempting fate was not a good idea and drawing the dice-rolling deity's attention by agreeing that he could actually have a decent go at something was certainly playing with fire. Playing with Fiendfyre.

"What were you working on, Shiva?" Harry asked trying to change the subject.

She held out her parchments for him to see and his eyes widened. With his mouth hanging open, Harry looked up at her, eyes wide. "You finished it?!"

"I did," she smiled. "What were you going to call this one again? The Dementor Anchor right?" He nodded enthusiastically and beamed at her. "Now, I had to modify a few things to make it do what you wanted, kid, but the cluster shouldn't have any issues and should still play nicely with your other tattoos."

"Modified it how?" Harry asked.

Shiva pointed out a few sections including the Soul rune in the center. "Well first and foremost this isn't a defense against an AK. I still have no idea what your mother did to make that work, but it wasn't this. The AK literally severs a soul's connection to the body; Dementors on the other hand partially merge with them through the mouth and then absorb the remainder through that tether. They're completely different principles. This section here prevents that initial partial merge so anyone with this design on themselves will be effectively immune to a Dementor Kiss since the process can't be completed if it can't be started."

Harry nodded along and examined the cluster closer. "And it looks like it will still let the soul pass on normally when the person dies. That's good."

"Yeah," Shiva snorted. "Possessing your own rotting corpse for eternity would not exactly be my version of a fun life after death."

"No kidding." Harry's eyes took on a manic gleam and he grinned wide. "Everyone is getting this tattoo."

Shiva raised her eyebrows. "Oh? And by 'everyone' you mean…"

"You, me, Nym, Mione, Nev, Susan, Hannah, Luna, Daph, Tracey, Fleur, Amelia, Sirius, Remus, the twins, we can ask Viktor, McGonagall and Flitwick if they want it, Bill, probably Ginny, Charlie if he's interested, Andi and Ted, Richard and Emma, any Auror who wants one unless Nym or Amelia say no – "

"Okay, okay I get it!" Shiva started laughing and held up her hands in surrender. "When you said 'everyone' you meant everyone! Jeez, Harry, you never think small!"

"Harry!" A loud voice screamed from the hospital wing's doors. Harry had just managed to turn to the doors when he was pinned to the bed by a brown haired missile. "You're awake! We were so worried! Are you alright?! Harry!" Hermione kept up a barrage until she descended into relieved sobs into his chest as she clung to him.

"Wotcher, Harry. Good to see you conscious," Tonks said smiling at him and claiming a chair next to the bed. "We couldn't really sleep so we came back down."

"Sorry to worry you guys," Harry said. He patted Hermione's head with one hand while rubbing her back with the other. "I was just telling Shiva I'm fine."

"Good. You know it took almost a day before we could get you to revert to human," Tonks frowned at the memory and glared at him. "That was bloody weird watching a panther lying on a hospital bed, Wonder Boy." Hermione gripped him a little tighter and nodded against his chest. Her sobs started to slow as he kept rubbing her back.

"I can imagine," Harry said grimacing a bit. "In my defense I didn't think I'd be that laid out. Good learning experience though! Something to never ever do!"

"Not funny!" Hermione growled pulling back to glare at him. "Seriously, Harry, are you alright?" she asked wiping her eyes.

"I am, Mione. I've had worse."

Shiva snorted and stood squeezing Harry's shoulder one more time before walking around the bed. "I'll let Pomfrey know you're up, kid. See you three later."