Emily Potter- Book 4 - Goblet Of Fire

The Third Task

"This actually bloody good training for when we're all Aurors," said Ron excitedly, attempting the Impediment Curse on a wasp that had buzzed into the room and making it stop dead in midair. Emily smiled at Ron’s remark, looking at the child-like excitement in his eyes at the mention of his future career, “Do you reckon we’d all make it?”

Hermione nodded, crossing off the Impediment Curse on the list of spells and hexes they needed to practice, “Oh, the three of us will make it. As for you, it won’t take long for you to wind up at Professor Moody’s path.” Harry and Ron laughed boisterously, the mere vision of Emily chasing after dark wizards made them feel sorry for the poor blokes to have her as their captor.

Emily shrugged, smiling as well at the idea, “It doesn’t sound as bad as you imagine it to be.”

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 term. Harry was practicing hexes at every available moment with the aid of Emily, Hermione, and Ron. He felt more confident about this task than either of the others seeing that he had Emily by his side during the task.

Tired of walking in on Emily, Harry, Hermione, and Ron all over the school, Professor McGonagall had given them permission to use the empty Transfiguration classroom at lunchtimes. Harry had soon mastered the Impediment Curse, a spell to slow down and obstruct attackers; the Reductor Curse, which Emily was so glad to teach him, would enable him to blast solid objects out of his way; and the Four-Point Spell, a useful discovery of Hermione’s that 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; Hermione managed to shatter it with a well-placed Jelly-Legs Jinx, and Harry wobbled around the room for ten minutes afterward before she had looked up the counter jinx.

Emily, instead of helping Harry to get on his feet, laughed until her face turned as red as Ron’s hair. They had to take a 10-minute break until she could pull herself together.

"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. Although, Emily needs a bit of polishing with her – “

“I don’t need to polish up anything,” Emily said haughtily, looking at Harry, “Right? I did the spells as well as you did.” Harry looked at Ron with a pleading look on his face, praying for a way out of what will soon become a duel just so Emily can mend her not-so-bruised ego.

"Come and look at this," said Ron, who was standing by the window, trying to avert the tension to the scene. He was staring down onto the grounds. "What's Malfoy doing?" Emily, Harry, and Hermione went 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.

"He looks like he's using a walkie-talkie," said Harry curiously. "He can't be," said Hermione, "I've told you those sorts of things don't work around Hogwarts. Come on, Harry," she added briskly, turning away from the window and moving back into the middle of the room, "let's try that Shield Charm again." They let go of the matter rather quickly, but Emily had the feeling Draco was as usual not up to something good. She made a note to look into the matter later.

Sirius was sending daily owls now. Like Hermione, he seemed to want to concentrate on getting Emily and Harry through the last task before they concerned themselves with anything else. He reminded the twins in every letter that whatever might be going on outside the walls of Hogwarts was not their responsibility, nor was it within their power to influence it.