435 Third Task

After the appearance of Reginald Prince in the Great Hall, Professor Slughorn cleverly hid away from Reginald Prince. Alas, Reginald was not to be deterred, he purposefully with a cold smirk scoured the castle in search of his dear old acquaintance, Sluggy. It would be good to catch up after all these years.

Seeing her grandfather's predatory prowl, Rowan truly felt pity for Professor Slughorn. If her grandfather was like this at his age, he must have truly been hateful in his youth. She would have probably beaten the living sh*t out of him had they attended Hogwarts during the same time period.

The day passed quickly until it was time for dinner. During the meal, there are more than the usual number of dinner courses. Sadly, Rowan didn't eat much. It was not so much from nerves but rather from being practical. She would need to be quick on her feet and would likely need to run at one point. She would rather not throw up from physical exertion.

On the other hand, Hagrid and Madam Maxime kept glancing at each other during the entire duration of dinner. At this rate, Hagrid was sure to marry Madam Maxime in the next few years. It would be nice to see Hagrid happy even if he left for Beauxbatons in the end. Rowan would rather see Hagrid end up happy than a lonely bachelor with too much time on his hands with said result being the abomination of a magical creation, a Blast-Ended Skrewt!

The enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall hanging overhead finally began to fade from a sunny blue to a dusky purple. With the time of the third task approaching, Dumbledore rose to his feet at the staff table, and silence fell upon the Great Hall.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Amundsen down to the stadium now," Dumbledore said glancing at the three champions in the Great Hall and gesturing for them to fall him.

Rowan got up as instructed as everyone at the Slytherin table wished her good luck (or at least pretended to). Reginald shows a rare smile in public and says, "Be safe, that's all that truly matters." Aunt Georgine fiercely nods her head in full agreement with her brother's words.

"Yes, grandfather," Rowan replied one hundred percent in agreement, before leaving to applause from all the house tables. Waving goodbye to them, she headed out of the Great Hall along with Igor Karkaroff and Jean Delacour.

The three champions walked out onto the Quidditch field, which is now completely unrecognizable. A twenty-foot-high hedge ran all the way around the edge of the Quidditch field. There was a large gap right in front of them, the entrance to the vast maze. The passage that lay beyond the entrance looked dark and creepy.

Five minutes later, the stands had begun to fill. The air was full of excited voices and the rumbling of feet as hundreds of students took their seats. The sky darkens to purple while orange and pink shades of color linger where the sun is setting. On the other side of the horizon, dim stars begin to appear. From behind the stands appeared Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Lye, all of which were wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats.

"We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze," said Professor McGonagall to the champions. "If you get into any difficulties, and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?"

All three champions nodded their heads in understanding as Dano Amundsen happily jogged over. "We ready then?" Amundsen asked with a twinkle in his eye. Seeing their faces, he points his wand at his throat and says, "Sonorus!" Suddenly his voice is magically magnified and echoes all over the stands.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand. Tied in the first place, with eighty-nine points each – Miss Rowan Prince, from Hogwarts School, and Mr. Jean Delacour from Beauxbatons Academy!" The crowd roars sending birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky.

"And in third place – Mr. Igor Karkaroff, of Durmstrang Institute." There is more applause than cheers which is nowhere near as loud as that of Rowan or Jean.

"So…. on my whistle, Miss Prince and Mr. Delacour!" Amundsen said. "Three – two – one –!" He gave a short blast on his whistle as Delacour dashed into the hedge, while Rowan leisurely followed afterward.

The towering hedges cast black shadows across the path, and whether because they were so tall and thick or because they had been enchanted the sound of the surrounding crowd was silenced the moment, they entered the maze. Rowan raised her wand and said, "Lumos," as Delacour much further ahead did the same.

A fork appeared in the distance causing Rowan to stop and close her eyes as her mapscape appeared before her. She saw Delacour take the right, but instead, she traced the quickest path to the center in her mind. The left it was.

Rowan walked forward and took the left path as in the distance she heard the whistle blow. Not in a hurry, she continued at her calm strolling pace. She might as well take her time and enjoy the maze. Whistling as she walked, she took the next fork and went north.

Right away, Rowan came across a scorching fire that stood between her and the path forward. Pointing her wand at the fiery blaze she says, "Augamenti!" A jet stream of water appeared putting the flames out until nothing, but muddy ashes remained. With a wave of her wand, the water turned off and not even a drop of water emerged from the tip of her wand.

Moving forward Rowan went on and turned at the next two forks, before coming across the adult bleeding figure of Severus. Severus sadly looks at her and whispers, "How could you fail me, Rowan? You promised to change everything, but you haven't changed anything at all."

Clenching her wand, Rowan shouts, "Riddikulus!" With a loud crack, the shapeshifter exploded in a wisp of smoke. Frowning, she went forward again and came across a golden-like mist. Sighing, she stepped into the mist as the world turned topsy-turvy. Walking through the illusion she emerged unscathed on the other side. The golden mist in the moonlight twinkled at her as she soon left it behind.

Pausing at the next junction, Rowan turns left to see a hairy-clicking giant spider. The acromantula and her stare at each other for what seemed like minutes as its pincers clatter in annoyance. Finally, it takes a step back for her to pass through. Nodding her thanks at it she went forward and left the acromantula behind.

After two more junctures, Rowan merely stares at the magical creature before her. It was a gorgeous unicorn that merely stared at her, before backing away. Smiling, she slowly walked forward and held out her hand to it as it cautiously sniffed her hand, before allowing her to pet it. "You're a good boy, aren't you?" Rowan cooed to the happy unicorn. She spends a few minutes petting the happy unicorn before leaving a happily preening unicorn behind.

Well, so far, her luck had been holding out, which is rather worrisome, actually when she thought about it. She had never been very lucky before, and when she was the bill always came due. ALWAYS.

Suddenly red sparks go up in the distance causing Rowan to glance up. Whoever it was, they were out. She hoped it was Igor Karkaroff rather than Jean. But she again was just biased to be truthfully honest. It wasn't as go Igor was likable, and besides Jean was a friend.