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xx.surface wounds & trauma
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Matilda was supposed to be revising for her exams, which would finish on the day of the third task, but she was putting most of her efforts into helping Harry prepare.
"Stop worrying about it," Matilda said shortly when Harry pointed this out to her. "I've been prepared for these exams since the start of the year. And, you're likely to get top marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts with all this training."
"Ron thinks this is good training for when we're all Aurors," said Harry, attempting the Impediment Jinx on a wasp that had buzzed into the room, and making it stop dead in mid-air.
The mood in the castle as they entered June became excited and tense again. Everyone was looking forward to the third task, which would take place a week before the end of the term. Matilda had Harry practicing hexes at every available moment. He was better prepared for this task than either of the others. Difficult and dangerous it would undoubtedly be. But Harry had managed to find his way past monstrous creatures and enchanted barriers before now, and this time he had some notice, some chance for Matilda to prepare him for what lay ahead.
Tired of walking in on them all over the school, Professor McGonagall had given Matilda, Harry, and often times Ron and Hermione permission to use the empty Transfiguration classroom at lunchtimes. Harry had soon mastered the Impediment Jinx, a spell to slow down and obstruct attackers, the Reductor curse, which would enable him to blast solid objects out of his way, and the Four-Point Spell, a useful discovery of Matilda's which would make his wand point due north, therefore enabling him to check whether he was going in the right direction within the maze. He was still having trouble with the Shield Charm, though. This was supposed to cast a temporary, invisible wall around himself that deflected minor curses; Matilda managed to shatter it with a well-placed Jelly-Legs Jinx. Harry wobbled around the room for ten minutes afterward before she had looked up the counter-jinx.
"You're still doing really well, though," Hermione said encouragingly, looking down her list, and crossing off those spells they had already learned. "Some of these are bound to come in handy."
"Come and look at this," said Ron, who was standing by the window. He was staring down into the grounds. "What's Malfoy doing?"
Matilda scrunched her nose, "Why do we care what Draco's doing?"
But she followed Harry and Hermione to see. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in the shadow of a tree below. Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be keeping a lookout; both were smirking. Malfoy was holding his hand up to his mouth, and speaking into it.
