Harry Potter And The Unexpected Friend

Harry was in Transfigurations class and had just finished turning a mouse into a kitten when a younger student came into the room carrying a note which he gave to Professor McGonagall. After thanking him and sending him on his way McGonagall read the note.

"Mr Potter." Professor McGonagall said when she was done. "After class your presence is required at the Quidditch fields." Harry nodded and looked back at his work, but his concentration had been broken. He wondered what it could be about although he suspected it had something to do with the Triwizard Tournament. Interrupting his day to break some kind of news to him seemed to be exactly their style. The rest of the class passed slowly but eventually it came to an end. When it did he told his friends good-bye with promised to tell them what was going on and headed out to the Quidditch field.

On the way Harry remembered what he had seen the last time he had been to the fields: they were completely torn up. At the time he didn't think it had anything to do with the Triwizard Tournament but now he was beginning to suspect it did. He had not been back since that day, the sight of the ruined fields was just too depressing for him. Now however a magical barrier had been constructed above the fields that prevented him from seeing what they now looked like.

Once outside Harry saw a group of people standing around talking. The group included all of the other Triwizard Champions, their headmasters (except Karkaroff of course), and Ludo Bagman. Viktor Krum was even there, a surprising fact considering he had returned to Durmstrang after Igor Karkaroff's disappearance. Harry was the last to arrive and apparently the others had been waiting on him.

"Harry! Great to see you again." Bagman said once he saw Harry approaching. Harry did not particularly feel like being nice to the annoying man and said nothing, though Bagman did not seem to notice anything out of the ordinary with Harry's response. "Looks like we're all here then doesn't it?"

"Get on with it, Bagman." Madam Maxine said in her heavy French accent. Harry couldn't help but chuckle at her attitude towards Bagman.

"Very well." Bagman replied with a small frown. "There will be no clues for the third task, instead I will show you." Bagman motioned to one of his assistants who banished the magical barrier with a wave of his wand. As it fell Harry saw that huge bushes had been planted on the Quidditch fields. They were at least twenty feet tall and so thick that it would be impossible to walk through them. It appeared that the bushs had been used to create an enormous wall, although there was a small gap where you could get past it.

"You are looking at the entrance to a great maze." Bagman informed them. "Inside you will face a number of challenges including moving walls, beasts of all kinds, puzzles that must be solved. It will take a combination of intelligence and strength to make it through the maze to the end. Your goal will be the Triwizard Cup and the winner will be the first one to grab it."

None of the champions spoke following Bagman's statement, though they all looked deep in thought. Harry doubted he could get close enough to the Triwizard Cup to cast the tracking spell, and the fact that walls would move made any map he might make irrelevant. It seemed like he was going to have to rely on his own strength rather than elaborate preparations to win the tournament, a fact that might have made him nervous earlier in the year but he was quite satisfied with now.

"When you enter the maze will depend on how you have done in the tournament so far." Bagman continued. "Meaning that you, Mr Potter, will enter first." Bagman smiled at him as Harry nodded. Bagman seemed to have some unexplainable interest in him and how he did in the tournament, but Harry didn't think he had any malicious intent. "Well then, I will see you all on June 24. Good luck to you." Bagman walked away from the champions and began talking to Dumbledore who was slightly more polite than Madam Maxine.

"Harry, vere is Hermione?" Krum asked. Harry was quite impressed that Krum had learned to correctly pronounce his friend's name. "I vould like to see her before I leave."

"She was going to lunch, so she should be in the Great Hall." Harry told him.

"Thank you." he replied and quickly walked away. Harry smiled at Krum's eagerness to see Hermione, although he wondered if Hermione was as eager to see Krum as he was to see her. He thought she liked the Bulgarian, but perhaps not as much as he liked her. The fact that he lived in another country probably didn't help. His thoughts on Hermione's love life were interrupted when his fellow Hogwarts champion came up to talk to him.

"Hey there Harry." Cedric said. "What do you think about the maze?"

"Sounds interesting." Harry answered as they began their walk back to Hogwarts. "I'm glad that the winner won't be picked by a bunch of judges scoring our performance though."

"That is probably for the best." Cedric agreed. "You know you're lucky you aren't a seventh year. Trying to study for my NEWTs and this is killing me."

"I haven't even taken the OWLs yet, don't try and make me worry about the NEWTs too." Harry said with a laugh. "So what are you going to do to get ready for the last task?"

"I can't think of anything that would really help." Cedric answered honestly. "But I might have a great idea on how to beat the maze and am just saying that to throw you off."

"Sure you do." Harry replied skeptically. "I feel the same way." Cedric laughed as they reached the main entrance to the castle.

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