Night of the Maze

Here's a short Harry Potter story I did for a contest on quizilla, but has found one on elftown too, I thought you might like to read it. Lucy is Estantia, you should recognise the descrip by now...

Warning, for any of you who haven't read the Goblet of Fire, this will contain MAJOR spoilers, so go read something else in my collection :)

Estantia's Stories



Night of the maze.

“Harry, are you sure you have got the hang on everything on this list?” Hermione shook the long parchment with various spells written on it. Ron nodded as Lucy revived him from being stupified, “Yes, he has!”

“I’m still not sure...” Hermione started until Lucy made a comment,

“Unless you want to take Ron’s place for a while?” Lucy grinned at Hermione as she said this. In many ways she did look like Hermione, similar bushy brown hair and interest in books as well as vying with Hermione for top of class. However Lucy’s eyes were a light shade of green/brown/grey that shifted at times, the only thing that didn’t change was the faint gold ring around the pupil.

“Actually I do think you’ve got the hang of them Harry!” Hermione said quickly, the others grinned, Lucy could manipulate her so easily at times.

“Come on let’s go and make Harry eat something before he faints from nerves,” Ron said with a grin, gaining a reproving look from Hermione,

"Do you ever think about anything other than food Ron?”

“Oh yes,” Lucy said mildly, “he thinks about quidditch too, and punching Malfoy’s head in, and....” she trailed off, “I’ll shut up now...”

“Good plan.” Harry led off with Ron close behind him when a tawny owl flew up to the window and landed with a gentle ruffle of feathers.

“Looks like someone has other plans,” said Hermione, who got to the letter first, “Dumbledore wants you and Harry to go his office Lucy, and that the password is feathery.”

The two in question glanced at each other, “Why does he want me to go up?” Lucy asked, “I haven’t broken any rules for ages!”

“Apart from going with Harry to watch dragons?”

“Well... that was excusable.” She hurriedly took Harry’s arm and said, “Let’s go Harry, before they accuse me of anything else...” This made the group laugh as Ron shouted they’d find them in the great hall or library.

“Ten to one she’s looking up new hexes for me to learn,” Harry said in an undertone when they were out of earshot, Lucy snorted at this and said, “or spending some quality time together.” Harry stared at her and Lucy realised she probably shouldn’t have said that.

“Hermione and Ron?”

“Why not, they bicker enough, and they do go well together,” Lucy shrugged it off as they came to the gargoyle, “What’s the password?”

“Feathery?” Harry shrugged as Lucy rolled her eyes,

“A sweet that’s feathery,”

“Canary Creams?”

The gargoyle sprung aside to reveal the staircase behind it and they both stepped on, both wondering how on earth Dumbledore knew about the Canary creams. When they reached the top Lucy looked at Harry, “You first.” Harry sighed and knocked as the door swung open.

“So nice to see you here, do come in...” Dumbledore was smiling as he watched the two Gryffindors walk into the room. With a spin of his wand there were two chairs for them to sit in, plush as ever. As soon as they sat Fawkes glided over to see them, nuzzling fingers as they both stroked his lovely red-gold feathers, “I’m glad to see he still remembers me,”

“Who wouldn’t? Not many people here get basilisk fangs in their arms,” quipped Lucy as she turned to Dumbledore, Fawkes still on her shoulder, “Why am I here Professor? Harry I can understand but why me?”

“Because I wished to talk to you as well,” was the mild reply she received from the old wizard, “Now, this is really to make sure you know what you can and can’t do in the third task, you are only allowed your wand, your memory and of course your magic. The actual task will take place on the quidditch pitch in exactly 6 hours time. Is that clear? If you are late then you may be disqualified, so try to turn up at 10 minutes to if you please.”

“Of course Professor,” Harry replied, as the question was obviously aimed at him.

“Also I will need to borrow Miss Silvers for the rest of the afternoon to try and sort out a few difficulties with lodging and the subjects that she is taking next year.”

“You’re dropping some?” Harry said incredulously, Lucy shook her head with a grin,

“Gaining some, and I’m going to be moving abroad so I need apparating lessons to get here.” Harry whistled at this, 

“Apparating test early? Whoa, you really are challenging Hermione aren’t you?”

“Of course!” she grinned, “See you later Harry, tell the others where I am if they ask.”

Harry left the room and went down the moving staircase before joining Ron and Hermione at lunch. “Where’s Lucy?” asked Ron immediately when he sat down.

“Ron, not with your mouth full.” Ron swallowed with a glare and said in a posh voice, “Mr. Potter, do you have any idea of the whereabouts of Miss Lucy Silvers of Gryffindor house? Oomph!” Hermione had elbowed him, “Yeah, so erm, where is she anyway?” he asked normally.

"Lucy was right, you DO act like an old married couple!” Harry said, only properly noticing for the first time. The instant flush of his friends made him snort with laughter, “ok, ok, so Dumbledore wants her so she can have advance apparating lessons.”

“WHAT???” Hermione looked outraged.

The boys looked at each other and dissolved into laughter again.

---                
                
As soon as Harry left Lucy turned to Dumbledore, “Now what do you really want me for Albus?”

“You don’t believe me that you need apparating lessons?”

“No, just like I’m not taking any more subjects OR moving abroad.” Lucy raised her eyebrows as she shifted into her normal 16-year-old self, “Explain please Albus.”

“Very well then, would you like a cup of tea?”

“Albus...”

Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled merrily as he smiled, “I do so enjoy our little games. Anyhow, you are going to help set up and patrol the maze.” Lucy shook her head, hair bouncing.

“No can do, I’ll see myself from the stand and then I will be suspicious.”

Dumbledore blinked, “This isn’t your normal self?”

“Well, I’m not the me that’s normally walking round if that’s what you mean, she’s off somewhere else I think... But she can’t realise I have a hand in the third task Dumbledore, you’ll see why."

“But I’d covered for that one anyway Lucy, you are going to be helping inside the maze.”

Now Lucy stared, “You have got to be....”

“No, no I think not, I couldn’t have Ron and Hermione see you walking round the outside could I? But I would like you to be as you are now for it just in case, and wearing something other than your normal robes for the other helpers.”

“Invisible?”

“If at all possible.”

“I can do better,”

“Excellent.” Dumbledore clapped his hands, “Let us go set the third task up.”

Lucy now officially hated the blast ended scrwts or whatever the things were called, she usually just yelled at them to get the heck over there, accompanied with loud blasts from
her wand. This technique had been adopted by the other wizards and witches assisting her and together they shepherded all two of them in and officially lost. However the witches and wizards soon made their way out with the magical maps they had been given.

They were the worst things to take in, not even the 6 giant spiders were that bad, at least they listened to Hagrid. At some point in the afternoon Lucy was in the heart of the maze, having just taken the sphinx in, she was pleasant after Lucy had answered the riddle of the sphinx, unlike the other three things that guarded the passages, if she remembered correctly there was a kappa’s pond in one and a passage of enchanted redcaps somewhere around here. With a sigh she closed her eyes and went into her own magic, letting it spiral out of her into a golden glittering cloud, the gold was a hallmark of her magic, anyone who knew what it looked like would know the caster. Deftly she wove in a fear part into the ground reversal for the fun of it, adding the normal effects of being upside down to it.

She opened her eyes to see a dark shadow running along the ground straight towards her and froze, -No, not that, please not that....- she thought desperately as the
Lethifold advanced with a ripple.

Then she tilted her head and thought, “Wait a minute,” she said aloud, “There was no Lethifold on the list...” She brought out her wand and said muttered quietly, whereupon the cape was painted in a glitzy design and she lifted it and threw it into another part of the maze, “We did have a boggart though.”

It was around this time that the giant spider found her and tackled her from behind. The wand was knocked from her hand as she landed and snarled, spinning over to see slimy jaws descending, there was a mild explosion and the spider flew upwards and landed in the golden mist. It froze for a moment as Lucy stood up in a whirl of clothes, picked her wand up and put it away. That spell should keep it busy.

Apart from the fact that spiders are USED to being upside down on ceilings.

Lucy ran and sped round countless corners, judging she’d got rid of it by now, only to be confronted by hedge. She tried to stop but found herself unable to and shot straight through the hedge into a pool. “What the heck?” she spluttered as she surfaced, “No-one mentioned enchanted hedge walls!”

In front of her there was a bubbling as something grabbed her and pulled her downwards into the water. Lucy simply sat there and grinned as the Kelpie dragged her deeper and waited for her to suffocate. It was almost comical the way that it’s eyes widened when the thing realised she wasn’t drowning, and also that she now had a mermaid’s tail.

“Face it,” she said clearly, “you’re not going to win.” At which she punched the kelpie and shot upwards, tail propelling her enough to get her to shoot out of the water, and luckily through another fake hedge wall.

As she landed on her feet she muttered, “Jesus, it’s not meant to be ME doing the third task here!” Then pulled out her enchanted map, or she would have done had it not been soggy and disintegrating from the water. With a groan the woman started to trot along the passageways wondering whether she should just fly out or not when something screamed in her ear. With a blast of raw magic Lucy sent the banshee shooting backwards along it’s connecting passage and massaged her ears while continuing to walk, and Dumbledore said she had to stay in here while the maze took place? Not a chance!

She hit her forehead with her hand as she realised what she had been going to do at that time. She closed her eyes and let out her breath, feeling her physical self slip away to somewhere else. Now she was beyond invisible, she was insubstantial, a consciousness that could glide along at will and observe the world, pity she still couldn’t hear, that banshee had been loud!

Lucy spun as she heard something behind her, “God dammit where’d she go?” came the low mutter as someone stumped away and out of sight, so they’d been trying to kill her? That almost made sense if they’d seen the wandless magic.

Lucy thought this theory over as she instead headed towards where she thought the centre was, passing through several hedges and traps on the way. When she eventually reached the centre she waited for a bit to see if anyone was coming.

Good thing she had, Mad-eye Moody was stumping towards the pedestal with the cup and Lucy glanced at the sky, it was that time already? She watched from her corner as Moody took out his wand and started saying an incantation. Feeling sick Lucy turned away, wishing she could do something, anything! As he set the trap that would take Cedric to his death and retrieve Voldemort.

Lucy strained against something restraining her, she could not interfere, she could not, and was forced to watch this happen without being able to change it, save lives! Her unreal hands clenched as tears of pure helpless rage spread from her. -Let me go!- she screamed mentally as he neared the end of the spell, -Let me GO!-

As Moody’s fake walked away Lucy slumped, crying, she knew this had to happen, but wished she had not been forced to stand by, much as she hated it she had to stand back and give the bad guys a chance to get stronger, if she didn’t there would be no story, and she could not change what had already been written, only work around the edges.

As she cried non-existently she heard the blast of a whistle and a cheer. Suddenly her head jerked up, Harry and Cedric had entered!

    
She now floated high above the maze, watching as the second whistle went, and the third. Harry and Cedric had split and She floated, the only one getting a complete view of the task, even the spectators could only see parts, even when Lee’s commentary pointed out where to look next.

Minutes ticked by, as she watched Harry approach her mist and enter it, then freeze. “Now ladies and gentle men if you look 5 passages from the end you will see a golden mist correct? That is where Harry Potter is currently trying to work out what to do, all he needs is to walk out!”

Lucy smiled with satisfaction, Moody hadn't been able to blast away that trap, she wasn’t surprised, nothing could touch her type of magic here. There was a scream from the right hand side of the maze and the crowd swivelled to look. Lucy didn’t have time for that, she was already speeding downwards as Fleur collapsed under the black mass of a spider.

The woman grinned as she raced against time to reach the child, this was why she came. She regained her normal form as she dived into the cover of the hedges, her golden coat whipping out of sight as Lee’s voice was abruptly cut off.

Back in the twilight of the maze Lucy took out her wand and yelled, “Stupify!” The ray of red that left her wand hit the spider and caused it to turn instead of eat the woman.
She meant it only to distract and smiled a hunter’s smile when it worked. Venom dripped from it’s fangs as it reared onto four legs and leapt at her.

But Lucy wasn’t there, she was next to Fleur and was ready, “PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!” She yelled, this time an ice-blue shaft hitting the spider in the throat. It curled
up slowly as Lucy knelt next to the Beuxbatons student.

As she checked Fleur’s health the hairs rose on the back of her neck. In a split second she grabbed Fleur and rolled as a jet of red hit where she had just knelt, and stood to face Mad-eye.

“You don’t kill me that easily Crouch,” she growled as her knees bent with her wand ready.

“What makes you think I can’t?” There was a blur of action as green and purple spells both shot and missed as Moody dived for Lucy and she stepped aside to let him fly by, giving him a kick to send him sprawling further, “That’s why.” Lucy dropped to a crouch with wand ready and vanished.

Now she knew Moody wanted her dead, pity she didn’t feel like dying today. She handed Fleur over to a blubbering Madam Maxime and vanished, jumping up to her former position to keep watch of the proceedings, now simply invisible and floating in her long golden coat that was natural to her.

Harry spun down below and saw Krum standing over Cedric. When Krum fell there was a hesitation as the other two talked then sent up red sparks. Lucy sent a golden spark out of her wand to say she had it in control and once more dived into the maze, landing next to Krum just as Moody appeared once more.

“You,” he spat, “who are you?” Lucy’s face remained impassive and her voice calm, “I am me.”

With a growl Moody once more lunged with a spell and Lucy simply held up a hand and caught it, “Crucio?” she asked, a cool feeling like rage spreading through her. “You try and perform Crucio on me?”

Moody simply stared at the angry 16-year old holding an unforgivable curse in her hand. “Answer me,” she said calmly,

“That’s not possible!” he gasped, Lucy met his gaze with an angry stare,

“Oh trust me, anything is possible when I’m angry enough.” The spell blurred as she threw it at the hedge and took out her wand, “Still think you can take me?” The imposter nodded slowly and then his wand flashed in the light.

Too late, the imperious spell hit, the froze only to feel Crouch make contact with her, bowling her over the prone body of Krum and rolling with her. Then suddenly he was straddling her and keeping her pinned to the ground as he reached for her wand. He took it and threw it away, not seeing the fire spark in her eyes. He then put his own down.

The dreamy state closed in, Just lie still, you’ll like this. “I like being on top,” he growled in what he thought was a seductive voice and his hands reached for her top as his head moved down to try and kiss her.

It was fair to say he never expected her head to be so hard.

The stunned man was rolled away as Lucy scrambled up and aimed a foot. He thought the Imperious curse would let him rape her? With an audible smack he let out a howl of pain -Never fought like a muggle in his life.- She thought with satisfaction as she left him there without a wand, found her own and took Krum out of the maze with cool efficiency.

“Albus?” she asked when she found him, voice clipped and cold, “When you find him accuse that man of casting the Imperious curse twice, Crucio once and one attempted rape, don’t try to heal him.” Lucy promptly vanished, leaving Dumbledore slightly bewildered for a moment before he started to give quiet orders.

Lucy was leaning casually against the wall of the Cup’s enclosure when Harry arrived back and fainted. She walked over to him, making sure she looked entirely different from normal and gently lifted him onto her shoulders and started to walk out of the maze.

As she walked out with him there was a loud cheer from the stands and she smiled at the teachers running towards her. Then gave Harry to them, he looked so fragile! She knew exactly what he’d been through.

“Can you elaborate on what you said earlier?” Lucy spun at Dumbledore’s quiet voice,

“Oh I’m so sorry, I was very angry then I didn’t explain, he tried to kill me when I was looking after Fleur Delacour in the maze, he’s the one that set a giant spider on her, before that he tried to kill me when setting up the maze, distracted me with a boggart while the spider came up. Oh, and he performed the Imperious curse on Krum and made him attack...”

“On Krum?”

“Yes, on....” Lucy hesitated, “you thought I was talking about Krum?”

“Who?” the headmaster asked in the silence.

“Mad-eye Moody, aka Bartimeus Crouch Junior.” Dumbledore walked over to McGonagall, “Excuse me, Where is Professor Moody?”

“Professor you should know, you were the one who sent him to look after Harry.” McGonagall paled as comprehension dawned.

“I think it’s time we went to his office, Minerva.” Dumbledore said calmly. He turned to talk to Lucy but found no-one there.

“Albus?”

“Coming Minerva.”


Lucy nodded once as she watched them walk away. Her job here was done, for now.