Chapter 145 - Ch. 145 Third Task

The announcement of what the third task would entail was straight forward as can be. They asked the four champions to meet near the quidditch pitch and showed us the growing maze they were setting up within it.

The sight of something defacing the pitch caused Viktor to twitch, but he held in any comments. Harry was just trying to figure out how he would be able to get past this task and maybe win since he was in second place. Fleur had a very serious expression on, thinking about what they could meet when running around the growing labyrinth and how to deal with the living greenery itself.

It was as simple as whoever reaches the cup at the center gets full fifty automatically and everyone else will get scored like the previous task. The scoring will generally be harsher on those who haven't reached the cup obviously, but everyone still has a chance to win.

To prepare, Fleur, Viktor and Harry began training both magically and physically.

This was a task fairly well suited for Viktor due to his athletic abilities and combat training. His challenge may come if he encounters a being like a sphinx, testing his intellectual abilities. He was a pretty good guy and a solid soldier type, but he was more of an action man than a thinker. He was throwing himself into combat training with Christian and upping his own exercise routine in the hopes of being able to either beat or bypass any obstacle in his way.

Fleur decided to train up her physical abilities under James' and my advice, trying to train her stamina and speed. She was also theorizing hundreds of possible traps and obstacles which could be found during the task. Her Veela training alongside Gabrielle was coming along swimmingly as well, both girls becoming more and more synchronized with their bloodline. Fleur now radiated a natural charm and grace far beyond anything she was able ro accomplish before coming, gaining the ability to restrict her aura completely or let it engulf those in her presence like a fog. Her charms have gotten a great boost in strength and fluidity, with her illusions and fire becoming deadly weapons after her training. Little Gabrielle just appeared infinitely cuter, leaving pretty much everyone wanting to pamper or protect her, and started learning how to use her natural gifts even if we couldn't really teach her much magic due to her age.

Harry was the one who needed the most help. I've made sure he was successful academically even if he's somewhere in the top five for his year, so he does now a nice enough repertoire of spells. I've also taught him useful spells from outside the standard curriculum and schooled him various uses of spells he already knew in addition to making him learn modded spells for when he was in real battle. I've made sure he was very fit and his quidditch training helped in that endeavor, and even Ron helped him keep in shape as he started working out in the morning as well. The last month was making sure he was in good shape for the trial and helping him come up with solutions using his known spells for pretty much anything he could encounter. Academically I would place him at about OWL level, meaning he should be able to take his exams and get good scores In them, but I would put his combat abilities around a new 7th year level so far. He is very determined to learn and having me and Sirius actively teaching him how to fight properly has helped him a lot in that department.

If I looked at it objectively and removed myself from the equation, I believe Fleur would be the favorite for this task. She has shown tremendous growth in physical, magical and mental capabilities, allowing her to be the best suited for the various traps and obstacles we are likely to find in the maze. She is quick, flexible and skilled, allowing her to not be shackled down by only one train of thoughts.

And a little birdie told me that a certain enchanting enthusiast was seen snogging a certain French champion a few times during the last two months. That was something that gave me a good laugh and let me give my friend a congratulatory pat on the back. Happy to hear my friend getting such a girl.

With everyone doing their best to prepare and hoping to win this prestigious tournament, the day came and now we all stood in the waiting area.

The four of us could hear the crowd cheering and Bagman going through his announcements of the rules, current scores, what the task entails and the glory the final winner will acquire.

"May the best champion win. It's been fun getting to know everyone and I'm glad we can all be friends even if we are competitors." I say as I look at the nervous trio.

"It 'as certainly been a very good year for me as well. I cannot thank you enough for all your 'elp and for introducing me to such wonderful people." Fleur happily replied as some tension leaves her body.

"You are all honorable. I look forvard to finishing this vith you all." Viktor added with a stoic expression.

"I may not have wanted to be in the tournament, but I'm glad I met you two and that you didn't look down on me for my age. I wish everyone the best of luck." Harry said with a bright smile while a thinking of how the year went so far.

"Aedan Bones. It's time for you head out. Harry Potter will be called afterward, following with Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour." A ministry official announced as I confidently walked toward the exit of the waiting area.

"Bonne chance."

"късмет"

"Good luck"

I simply smiled and nodded to their well wishes as I walked to the thunderous cheers and applause.

"As Champion Bones demonstrated his skills and abilities, he is the first in the rankings and will have the advantage of entering the maze first. Now on your mark. Get set. Go!" Declared Bagman.

I decided to show off a little, so with a sprint which left grooves into the grass under my feet, I bolted towards the entrance of the maze. But before I could reach it, I jumped high into the air and transformed mid jump into my mountain lion form, causing the entire audience to gasp at the display. And with a graceful landing, I ran much faster than before and disappeared from sight as I heard Ludo snap out of his stupor.

"Absolutely incredible! It would seem the oldest Hogwarts champion is a full fledged animagus! And I have just been told by Headmaster Dumbledore that he is fully registered in the ministry and only requested such information wasn't announced! This means he holds an enormous advantage in speed and agility with his large feline form!"

That really made the Hogwarts and British witches and wizards present cheer loudly for their first champions performance.

But yeah, there is a reason why the emergence of four young animagi hasn't been reported on or appeared anywhere yet. It's because no one knows due to a few laws which can guarantee the privacy of Purebloods and their vassals. Tory and I are firmly into the first, with James and Christian easily being said to be the second on paper as trusted friends of a 'lower' class. Add a little money here and there, mother making sure the people who needed to know about us in case a crime happens with an animagus keeping their mouths shut for a few months and me convincing the papers I owned that the dramatic reveal at the final task would make a much better article, and you've got a temporary secret for wow factor and no floods of students asking the four of us to transform all the time. I saw only positive results in keeping it a secret.

It had been a while since I really sprinted in this form though. The feeling of my powerful limbs beating the ground, my claws digging into the earth, the wind in my fur, my heartbeat drumming at an accelerated rate and the flexibility I demonstrate on sharp turns, it's just addicting.

I ran through the labyrinth with ease, jumping over pits and traps, dodge the maze itself attempting to entangle me, or hidden creatures too slow to stop me. It's not surprising really, a normal mountain lion can run at about 80 km/h, then you have a magically empowered one, with the ability to use magic to create small air platforms under his paws for sharp turns off of walls and voila, you have one of the fastest animals on the planet capable of running on walls and bolting past anything in his way with the aide of his enhanced body and sped up brain to keep up.

Making my way through the maze wasn't very hard since I knew where I had to go in general. I could feel the magic of the cup through the ambient restrictions of the hedges. A portkey has a very distinctive signature in its magic, the ability to move through space isn't something easily hidden against those who are masters in the field.

But I wasn't here to win this tournament in all honesty. My goals were numerous when it came to the triwizard tournament, but winning never mattered to me. I wanted to establish my strength first and capabilities as a Lord. A man capable of subduing a dragon and skilled enough to manipulate flames and water alike with great ease. A man a elegance and poise on the dance floor or battlefield. Someone capable of forming connections with people from around the world and unbiased when it comes to helping others. These qualities are far more important to me than being called the winner of badly organized and mostly rigged competition.

So when I reached the cup at the center of the maze, I did not reach for it. I hid.

I wanted to make sure Voldemort came back properly.

This wasn't about keeping the canon anymore. Everything I did lead up to him finally coming back. And I need him to come back and claim his allies. I need him to make all those twisted and entitled bigots and inbreed assholes come out of their holes. I wanted him to make the cancers of the wizarding world expose themselves an mass and of their own will.

Only then will I be able to cut everything out properly.

I can't continue to quietly eliminate people. The method isn't sustainable in the long run and too many things could go wrong. I was able to get away with manipulating the underworld and reducing their numbers, but their are too many and it would eventually led back to me. I couldn't assassinate more death munchkin's or their supporters because someone would eventually try to investigate everything.

I needed a proper war to eradicate the other side. Britain needed a clean slate in general. The blood mania present in everything from laws to jobs is ridiculous. Our development is almost in reverse compared to most of the world. Officials are bribed, blackmailed and threatened without any backlash on any side. Our means of electing a Minister are pathetic. The Wizengamot is a hole filled with senile fools stuck in the past. The people don't decide shit and are instead simply guided to believe whatever people tell them. Things need to change.

I will obviously do everything I can to save as many people as I could obviously.

It's going to be a heavily fortified fortified location for any muggleborn and their families in the UK to relocate to when/if things really go bad. The place is to be located within a carved out section of the island, reinforced by very skilled goblin mining and construction experts, having chosen them because of the goblin nation being subterranean for millennia and their expertise in building underground spaces is unmatched. We have artificial lights, water sources, food production, places to work, a school and hospital, plenty of houses and expanded living spaces for entire families. Everything will be accounted for and the people manning it have already been chosen, trained and vetted. Fully self sustaining environment for anyone who's I the know about the magical world.

We even have extreme security measures already in place. We don't bring anyone directly to the island, only through a series of guarded portkeys can you reach it. We have Thief's downfall prepared to remove any disguises and spells on a person to make sure no one sneaks in. The place will be under fidelius and unplottable. A security force will be present at all times. And the place will be as warded as Hogwarts after I've linked it to the lay line running under it.

Anyone who wants to fight will be welcomed to obviously, after training anyway, but I doubt many will be willing to do so saddely.

The only thing left is to have everything properly built and the estimate after getting everyone to sign a contract of secrecy is a year and a half. I've already hired people to enchant and Ward the buildings as they are built, giving them a strict set of orders for what they have to do even if they are confused as to why such a place is being built. But everyone's getting payed properly so they don't really care that much.

The place will be a proper wizard settlement after everything is done too, so I think it's not too crazy. I mean, how can the government think building a place like this is not easier to keep secret than making all those idiots live in muggle society? This is so much easier. I can even take a page from Hogwarts and bewitch the underground ceiling to look like the sky outside and it wouldn't even be that hard. We can even make it rain or snow with ease, so why not?

But as I was thinking about my plans for the future, my three fellow champions were now fighting to reach the cup.

Unfortunately it seemed that Crouch Jr. was still strong enough to overpower Krum using the Imperius curse and managed to take Fleur out by surprise. That's the only way I could see him beating her so quickly, she already had high chances of beating him in his peak condition at this point and a man under Imperius would be much easier to fight in general.

I then saw a red spark being shot through the sky to announce someone in need of assistance, which sucks for Fleur since she's been trying really hard you know.

'I'll have to tell her everything was pretty much rigged since the word go. Or better yet I'll have James explain things to her as he comforts her. Oh yes, I think I know which one I prefer.' I thought with a smile as I waited for Harry to come for the cup.

I also checked on the two-way mirror I had some of my men place in the cemetery of Little Hangleton, making sure everything was happening properly and I wouldn't portkey myself in the wrong place.

I am very prepared for what is to come and I make sure to check when it comes to canon knowledge. Things can always change.

It was good to see the boiling cauldron, the three shadows and what seemed to be a bundled up infant. Everything being on track.

But finally I see a slightly ragged Harry arrive at the center of the maze, looking very relieved that the cup was still there and happy he could actually win the tournament.

He was of course oblivious to my concealed presence near the walls of the maze, happily reaching for the cup and disappearing as soon as he had a firm grasp on the thing.

"Now all that's left is to wait for that monochromatic reject to gain his body back and I can go have fun." I said as I removed my concealment and observed the mirror in my hand.