Chapter 44.6- Doom Days

I continued down the maze, taking two lefts in a row until I came by my next task. A sphinx stood in the middle of the path, and while I brought my wand to bear, I knew this was not a fight that I particularly wanted. For one, the damn things were magical resistant even up to some od the darkest arts out there. For another, they weren’t dumb brutes. They knew how to leverage their advantages. The only reason they weren’t considered wizard-killers in the same breath as Nundus, and Chimeras, was the fact that they could be negotiated with, reasoned with, tempered. They weren’t brainless and so they rarely needed to be fought.

“Hail, great Sphinx” I said in greeting.

“Harry Potter. I expected you to be the first I came across. Are you ready for my riddle, or would you rather explore alternative means of passage?”It asked in a sultry voice that might have insinuated something else if not for the fact that it’s head was gazing right my wand as it said the second part of its sentence. It had noticed my indecision around fighting it. My grip on my wand tightened, but I did not attack.

“I’ll take the riddle first, and we can see what comes after” I said, and there was a chuckle from its mouth before it began to speak.

“I am the answer to a question that cannot be asked. A key to freedom that cannot be grasped. Though I exist in the mind, I never set you free. What am I?” It said, and I began to think. The answer to a question that can not be asked. A key to freedom that cannot be grasped. Cannot in both instances. Impossible for it to do either. Thought I exist in the mind, I never set you free. Exist in the mind. A thought? Does a though answer unasked questions though? Can a thought be grasped. No, it had to be something else. It just watched me rack my mind with a wide smile on its face. Or at least what passed for a face on it.

“A dream” I said the answer as it came to mind.

“A dream, indeed. Well reasoned, Mr Potter.” It said, and stepped to the side, allowing me to make my way through before I jolted as it suddenly leaned forward, head next to my shoulder.

“I look forward to tasting the doom you leave in your wake” From its human head, it licked my ear and I tried not to show my discomfort as I walked past. This was the second time I was hearing those words.

I walked straight ahead, and I watched as the maze shifted and changed. The hedges disappeared leading up to a set of stairs that I took two at a time. When I finally reached the top, the Cup was there, contained in a transparent shell of some sort. A final test?