Chapter 8.3- Doom Days

Another roar and it tore apart the shadowy mass that seemed to have held it in place for a moment, no longer keen to be so constrained. It was on the move again,, and this time there was little to be done to distract it. The creature was smart, very smart. Krum’s spells had been the ones to hurt it so it was Krum it chased.

Even if it moved slower than earlier- a product of Delacour’s magic, no doubt-, it did not matter because it was not to be stopped. Diggory’s creatures did little but burn and it seemed like the second harry had realised he was not the intended target, he had used the seize and pull charm to essentially sail out of the creature’s path and give it unobstructed access to its target.

To his credit, Krum did not take much time to realize that there was no chance of him escaping the creature’s chase. He turned to it and began to fire spell after spell. The creature dodged exactly none of them, But they did little more than force it to stop every few seconds. Even that grew too annoying for the hellhound to contend with and it took another breath in. Krum’s shield charm snapped into existence with a crackle and then in the next second it was covered in blood red flames that reeked of the hellhound’s rage. The beast was able to keep the flames running for ten seconds, but no longer and then it stopped. Krum’s side of the arena was covered in soot, and the man himself did not look much better.

This time, when the hellhound jumped at him, it was faster even than before. It was then that Hermione realised it. Delacour had stopped singing. Cedric’s creatures had stopped attacking. Harry was perched on one corner of the arena watching the whole thing. It was a betrayal, she realised. Not the kind of thing that she would have expected him to do but it did make sense. Krum’s spell use marked him as a powerful wizard so it made sense to allow him go down first. Of course, that was only true if the remaining three could take down the hellhound on their own. If they couldn’t, then allowing Krum to go down first could be a mistake that would get them marked down.

Krum’s wand snapped into position at the last possible instance and he fired a bright yellow spell that the hellhound just shrugged off. It washed over the creature’s entire form and did nothing as it crashed into the man. She cringed inwards at the scream he released as the creature carved down on him with its claws. He tried to lift his wand to do something but the beast’s claws were there again. The wand flew off into the air in two distinct pieces. In a whoosh of motion that marked a portkey, Krum was gone.

When she turned her attention back to the other three champions, she was startled to see Harry standing next to Delacour exchanging words. When had that happened?