𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐃 | draco malfoy [4]

𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐈𝐈. THE MAZE

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
THE MAZE

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Harry and I began making our way through the maze, walking in silence for majority of the time. I would yell out a curse word if something made me jump, earn a glare form my brother, and fall back into silence.

For a while we didn't run into any of the other champions. It was just us, the bush walls, the eerie fog, and the dimming sky. I shivered a few times, my champion jacket the only thing covering my bare arms.

I let out a sigh of, well, boredom. The second it finished, a scream ripped through the air, making Harry and I quickly raise our wands and tense up. It didn't sound manly, meaning it must be Fleur.

"What do we do?" I asked quietly.

"We go find her." He said firmly, and took off. I was forced to follow him as we raced through the maze towards where the scream came from.

We sensed movement and stopped, hiding behind the branches of the bushes, waiting to see who showed themselves. The person who was revealed was Krum. I frowned, leaning to the side, a branch snapping under my foot.

Instantly, Krum turned, aiming his wand at Harry and I's faces, a light on the end of it clearly cast by lumos. His eyes were blank and misted over, his irises no longer visible. I held my breath, waiting for him to do something.

But he didn't.

He simply lowered his wand and stalked past us in the opposite direction without a word. I turned to Harry, who raised an eyebrow. I shrugged and walked past him to look for Fleur once more.

We rounded another corner and found her lying on the floor, vines from under the wall of bushes wrapped around her. They were slowly pulling her under the wall and soon she would be out of sight. Harry raised his wand, but I grabbed his arm.

"We can't do anything. We can't cast a spell on the vines without hitting Fleur, too. Just send up red sparks." I told him.

He nodded, and raised his wand to the sky, yelling, "Periculum!" Red sparks flew up and fanned out in the sky like fireworks above where Fleur was. 

"Okay, now, let's continue on." I grabbed his arm again, and pulled him deeper into the maze.

At once, a quick and strong wind began to pick up, shaking the bushes and sending the leaves on the ground flying up into the air. The walls began to close, the branches of the bushes combining, sure to trap us if we stayed put. So Harry and I broke into a run, trying not to get suffocated by bushes.

Harry dove into a different path and I followed, landing on the floor and knocking him over with me. The branches closed in the spot we just were, and I let out a breath, climbing off my twin brother.

We both stood, and a low ringing noise drew my attention. I looked down the path we had just arrived at and saw a dim blue light. I squinted, and realizing it was the Triwizard Cup. "Harry..." I breathed, making him look over at it.

All of a sudden, the branches in front of the cup began to close, blocking us from getting to it. "Oh hell no." I scowled.

Harry and I ran again, but stopped when the path opened up the the left and right by a voice on our left. It was Krum, shouting another spell.

"Get down!"

We looked to our right and saw Cedric fire back at Krum, and we ducked out of the way. The two began firing spells at one another. 

"Expelliarmus!" Cedric called, hitting Krum. The Durmstrang boy flew back and landed on the ground, knocked out. I quickly stood, pulling Harry up with me. Cedric ran to Krum and kicked his wand away from his limp hand. Cedric aimed his wand at Krum again, but I ran forward.

"No, Cedric, don't!" I called, tugging on his arm. "He's not himself!" I exclaimed, remembering Krum's eyes.

"He's bewitched!" Harry added as he came over to us. Cedric shoved my arm off him and instantly started running towards the direction of the Cup.

"Oh, come on!" I yelled, running after him, Harry following in tow. I truly didn't care much about this competition, but that didn't mean I wouldn't put up a fight for the trophy.

Harry and I caught up to the older Hufflepuff, and the three of instantly began to participate in a battle of pushing each other out of the way to be in the front. As we ran, spelled branches from the walls lashed out at us, making us dodge them and swat them away.

Vine attacked at our feet, and I made sure not to linger too long as I ran. Cedric didn't get the memo. A vine wrapped around his ankle and made him fall onto the ground. We kept running but Harry stopped me when we looked back. The vines were wrapping around Cedric at an alarming rate and pulling him back.

"Harry, let's go! The maze won't kill him, Dumbledore will've made sure of it. Can we go grab the damn Cup and end all this?" I asked impatiently.

"Harry!" Cedric struggled against the vines. "Giovanna!" His voice was terrified. I frowned at Harry.

Harry raised his wand and pointed it to one side of Cedric. "Reducto!" He yelled, and the vines broke.

I sighed and pointed my wand at the other side. "Reducto!"

We rushed over and grabbed Cedric, pulling him up during the time the vines had broken and helped him to his feet.

"Thanks," Cedric breathed. 

"No problem." Harry replied while I shrugged.

"You know, for a moment there, I thought you guys were gonna let it get me." Cedric took a deep breath, looking at us.

"For a moment, so did I." Harry frowned.

"It's 'cause we were." I answered truthfully, making Cedric smirk.

"Some game, huh?" The Hufflepuff asked.

"Some game." Harry and I sighed at the same time.

The branches behind us began to close again, and the wind picked up once more. With a yell of "Go!" from Cedric, we all started running towards the Cup, no longer pushing each other. We arrived into the clearing, all of us hesitant to grab it.

"Go on, you two grab it!" Cedric exclaimed.

"No, you take it!" Harry retorted.

"Guys, we're all representing the same school it doesn't matter who grabs it." I roll my eyes.

"Together." Harry looks at Cedric and I, and we nod.

On Harry's count of three, we all ran up and grabbed the handles of the Triwizard Cup. I was confused when a moving sensation hit me, and the maze began to spin away as the Cup transported us elsewhere.

Realization hit me, and I muttered, "The Cup's a damned portkey."