Chapter 34.6- Doom Days

I went back and forth at least three times before I stepped back trying to think of another way to approach the problem. That was when I heard the sound of people coming down the stairs I had just used. Someone else had made it through this way, I thought. Faced with no progress on the door, I made my decision quickly, snapping a disillusionment charm over my body and taking a step to the side.

XXXXXXXX- DAPHNE GREENGRASS

She tried not to look to her side, to the empty spot beside her. Tracy’s spot. People had enough respect to keep the seat empty as everyone had lost someone in that mess of a ball, but she knew this was not the time to break down in tears. Malfoy was bing surprisingly tolerable and respectful about the grief almost everyone felt. He’d lost Parkinson as well even if Daphne doubted he had cared much about her either way. Turning her mind away from the past, she focused on the giant screens showing the second task in full swing.

Potter had been in the lead for the longest time, but he’d lost his lead when he spent half an hour just standing still with that creature wrapped around him. Krum and his partner had made it ahead of him, taking a turn in the opposite direction. When the same creature that had caught Potter caught Krum, his partner wrenched it from his body in seconds before they both destroyed it. When Potter had started moving again, he was only a few minutes ahead of Delacour at best.

Just like Krum, her partner had rescued her from the magical creature even if it had taken the other girl the better part of a minute to overcome her shaking hand and panic to help her friend. Delacour was clearly disadvantaged by the partner she had been saddled with. Diggory had followed soon after, following in Potter’s footsteps as he and Chang worked their magic to defeat obstacle after obstacle. Krum and his partner went down wands blazing into the room with the animated warriors and fought their way to the centre. At his heels, Delacour and her partner managed to figure out the enchantment in a matter of minutes and were able to make it across by standing back to back and walking to the centre.

It was much the same for Diggory who had to destroy a few of the statues he and Chang failed to take into account. When he finally made it to the door for the final stage, Potter heard their arrival and disillusioned himself. It might have just been the camera, but everything she could see told her the spell was perfect, and that was impressive in a way few things were. Diggory and Chang faced the puzzle. The fastest time across belonged to the French witches, but if there was any duo going to beat that, it was this one.

Diggory and Chang debated for a few minutes before they went their separate ways, each going to one of the tablets. They completed the puzzle in unison and just like the other pair of doors had done for the two earlier champions, this pair swung open. Thy were about to step in when they fell to the floor, stunned. A blast of red had hit Diggory right as another hit Chang. Potter removed his disillusionment to step over their bodies and walk to the next challenge, not able to hear the boos his action drew from the home crowd.

Booos that were supplanted by cheers from the Durmstrang coalition as Krum swung to the top of the platform, clinching first place just as Potter walked in.

A/N: Yes, Harry gets handed his first L here. A real L? Well, that’s up to you. So the inside baseball here is that Dumbledore stewarded over a task designed to only work if the Champion and hostage work together. If Ron had saved Harry’s arsenal from the dream eater, and then been pivotal to crossing the animation room before helping get access to the third task, then Dumbledore would expect a rekindled friendship. Sadly, Harry’s decision to just transfigure Ron to a rat and move on without him tossed a wrench into that one.