Tensei Skill Shop

Tensei Skill Shop

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 46:

I heard Matsu hum as I ate my breakfast, making me look at her curiously. She was reading the newspaper. The headline was discussing Crouch’s case, with the man recently sentenced to receive the Dementor’s Kiss after a lengthy trial, for doing things like escaping Azkaban, use of the Imperius Curse, kidnapping and impersonation, interfering with a multinational event… the list went on.

So in the end, he ended up meeting the same fate as he did in canon, except this time he didn’t do so without spilling his secrets. Serves him right, really.

“Anything interesting?” I asked her.

“Nothing much.” She answered shortly, but telepathically saying more than that, <Originally, Rita Skeeter would have written another article about Harry Potter today, but obviously there’s more interesting stuff to report on compared to just that.>

<She’s still hanging around hoping for some juicy scoop, isn’t she?>

<Yes, you have to admit that she’s persistent.> I took another gulp of my morning drink. <So what effect does this change have?>

Matsu quickly explained it to me; the original article would give away that Rita somehow found out about an event that occurred in the Divination classroom at the top of North Tower, allowing Hermione to put the pieces together and realize just how the woman was getting her scoops. Without that… well, she probably would figure it out eventually, just not right now.

With our status as exchange students, combined with our role of assistants for the Triwizard Tournament, the four of us received the same exemption from exams the champions did, which we spent preparing the challenges for the third task. Now that we were done, we had the entire day to ourselves until the task began in the evening, so we took our time eating as the students filed out of the Great Hall to take their final exams. Professor McGonagall nodded to us as she walked around the hall, pausing to inform the champions about their families showing up to watch the final task. Cedric, Krum and Fleur went off to the side chamber, while Harry stayed seated, until Cedric called for him to join them.

The older Hufflepuff looked around the hall until his eyes fell on us. “Rick, you all come too! I want to introduce my parents to you!”

I exchanged glances with my girls, before Uzume shrugged and stood with a smile. The rest of us followed suit, and we entered the chamber after Harry did. 

Yep, the Weasleys are there as Harry’s family. I had met Bill and his mother before, the former during the World Cup, and the latter during a house visit before coming to Hogwarts. Looks like Molly is concerned over how recent events have been affecting him.

I focused back on Cedric’s parents, a ruddy-faced man with a brown beard, and a demure smiling woman, both with brown hair.

“Rick, this is my dad, Amos Diggory,” Cedric introduced me, then the girls to his parents.

“Nice to meet you!” The man greeted us boisterously. “Cedric’s told me a lot about you four! You’ve done him quite a number of favors, I hear!”

We ended up making some small talk, with me taking advantage of the lulls to observe the other people present in the chamber. Krum’s parents shared quite a close family resemblance, and the same could be said for Fleur’s mother, who was holding onto the hand of her little sister. The French champion’s father didn’t seem to be present, but she didn’t appear to be bothered by that. 

Though it looks like she’s already crushing on Bill Weasley. I could see the appreciative gaze she was giving the ponytailed redhead, even while talking to her mother.

“There you are, are you?” Amos said to Harry, who was passing nearby with the two Weasleys. “You’ve been doing good for yourself, but my Ced’s still beating you.”

“Dad, come on, you know he didn’t enter his name on purpose,” Cedric said with some embarrassment, “They caught the person who did it.”

Harry just shrugged. “Cedric’s the Hogwarts champion, not me.”

“That’s right!” Amos agreed, but the younger teen walked off before he could say any more than that.

At the ‘done giving a shit’ stage of puberty already, I see, I thought with some amusement.

The rest of the day passed by quickly. Cedric decided to take his parents around Hogwarts to relive their memories of their time there, leaving the four of us to just kill time until Mr Meddle and the rest of the Ministry delegation arrived, which included a stern-looking Cornelius Fudge. There was a brief exchange of greetings before they sat down for dinner with the rest of the staff. Combined with the severe mood of that table, it made for an odd contrast to the students celebrating the end of their exams while anticipating the third task. 

Mr Meddle got up first and approached us, just as we were finishing up our dinner ahead of the rest of the crowd. Apparently he had been waiting for us to do so.

“All ready?” He asked us.

Irene nodded. “Yes. We’ll head down first then.”

“Alright. I’ll join you all shortly after I lead the champions there.”

With that, he returned to the staff table, while we left the hall with the eyes of many on us. Outside, the blue sky was starting to take a purplish tinge, and we could feel a cool breeze blow past us. It was warm enough that we didn’t need cloaks.

“So who do you think will be able to get through the challenges we made?” I asked.

“You mean, who has the highest chance?” Uzume asked in response.

“Yeah.”

“Statistically speaking… it would be Cedric,” Matsu decided, “He might have been engrossed with that girlfriend of his, but he does pay close attention, so he might know how we think.”

“What about Harry though?” The brunette suggested, “He’s pretty lucky.”

“There’s always a possibility,” Irene agreed, “But I think it’ll be Cedric too.”

“By the way, when we get back, are there any things you plan on catching up on?”

“I kind of forgot where my drama shows left off, so I probably need to do a rewatch.”

“Oh, I know what you mean…”

We arrived at the Quidditch pitch, where a single tower stretched upwards in the middle of it. It was made out of stone, and its surface bore several openings that connected either to staircases circling around the outside, or cage-elevators that led straight back down to the ground. The top was an open platform with several torches around an empty pedestal within a glass cube structure, making the entire structure look like an odd lighthouse.

Irene raised her wand and performed a grandiose wave, igniting all the torches around the stadium itself. It would have been quite impressive to anyone watching. 

“Alright,” Matsu clapped, “One final check!”

“Aye, ma’am!”

She shivered, giving me an intense look. “Call me that again… later.”

I smirked at her.

Every part of the tower was working fine; the mechanisms for the active challenges, the area-affecting spells and enchantments that served as obstacles, even the living creatures that had been inhabiting some of the rooms since last night, all of them were in proper working condition. 

The champions approached as the sky was turning a dark purple, led by Mr Meddle. The rest of the school came following shortly after, filling the stands as we fitted the four champions with the same observation bracelets we used during the second task. Nearby, several professors were wearing red luminous stars on their hats. That was to indicate their role as helpers, who would retrieve the champions should they signal for help, according to Mr Meddle’s explanation. When the signal was given, they would take one of the elevators up to the floor the withdrawing champion was on, and extract them from wherever they were stuck. 

With no further questions, the four champions walked off. There were several doors around the base of the tower, and the four champions each picked a different one to enter through when the signal was given. In the air above the Quidditch pitch, multiple screens appeared, displaying the third person view of each champion. 

Mr Meddle used the Sonorus Charm, and began commentating.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin!” He quickly presented the current ranking, and informed the crowd that the champions would enter the tower accordingly in that sequence, as signaled by his whistle. “And so… on my whistle! Three, two, one…!”

The moment the whistle blew, Cedric quickly dashed forward, pushing open the door and entering the tower as the audience cheered. The screen focused on him showed that he was now in a large chamber with several more doors. He took a moment to glance around the room, then picked one at the top of a flight of stairs, following the assumption that going up was the right method. It led him into another chamber with multiple doors, but this one had a large pool of goop at the bottom, with several swinging pendulums making the task of traversing the walkways to those doors a risky one.

Mr Meddle’s whistle blew a second time, and Harry entered his door next. Unlike Cedric, he found himself in a room that resembled a normal living room, except with magical things going on, like a cup of tea stirring itself, a levitating book, and several others. A sign on the wall explained what the challenge was; Harry had to hide any sign of magic from the arriving ‘Muggle’, and successfully doing so would earn him a prize that would help in his ascent. An hourglass on the table flipped itself, signaling the start of a timer.

“That’s a lucky choice for him.” I commented, and even though my Sekireis didn’t respond, I could tell they agreed.

The whistle blew again, and Krum entered. His one led to a corridor, one that led to a fork. The right one went up a staircase, while the left led to a blue door. Krum paused to consider his options, then chose the left one. The blue door opened into a dark room, which Krum didn’t hesitate to enter. He quickly hesitated as he found his attempts to cast a spell for light failing, forcing him to navigate blindly in the dark. For us outside, the screen appropriately adjusted to allow the viewers to see properly, revealing several blocky structures littering the room, and a few more doors around its perimeter.

For the fourth time, the whistle blew, and Fleur entered the tower. The room awaiting her was a small simple one, with a door directly across from where she entered, and a ladder leading to a hatch in the ceiling. She quickly climbed up, but found the hatch locked. An attempt to try and unlock it with a spell failed, causing her to descend and look around once more, finally focusing on the strange painting on the wall.

“And that’s all four of our champions in the tower!” Mr Meddle announced. “As you can see, this tower is filled with all sorts of puzzles and challenges, planned and arranged by our helpful friends from Mahoutokoro! Let’s give them all a round of applause for their work!”

The clapping was muted, as the audience was more focused on what the screens were showing. Mr Meddle continued to speak, explaining the main objective of obtaining the Triwizard Cup at the top of the tower, as well as sharing some of the information about the tower’s challenges. 

“As you can see, the cup isn’t actually there. It is actually hidden, and will only show itself when certain conditions have been fulfilled! As for what those conditions are… well, we will soon find out!”

The first two floors were generally easy, with simple problems and puzzles. Some could be handled without magic, like a simple multiple choice quiz asking questions on subjects like Astronomy or Potions, while others required just a single spell to solve. Cedric simply ran past the pendulums without getting hit by them. At the same time, there were a few bonuses hidden in some of the rooms, and some obvious clues mounted on signs around the place.

“Mr Krum appears to have found something! Oh, it looks like just what he needed!” 

On the screen, Krum picked up the small box he had stumbled over in the darkness, opening it up and squinting as the lantern within helped to dispel the cloying darkness. With his vision returned, the Bulgarian wizard was able to navigate his way out of the room. Once he stepped past the boundary, the lantern fizzled, before shooting out a small item. Krum picked it up and examined it, before continuing on.

In a similar manner, Fleur solved the riddle on the painting, pressing the shield with the symbol of a key on it, causing the hatch to unlock itself and swing open. She also pressed another trigger button, earning herself a black key that had no apparent immediate use. The French champion tucked it away into a pocket, and climbed the ladder to exit the room.

Meanwhile, Harry had dealt with most of the obvious magic signs, and only had one last one to handle.

“Impedimenta!” Harry froze the moving picture, just as the sand in the hourglass ran out.

One of the doors opened, and a Ministry wizard entered the room. He looked around the place, peering at some of the spots where the signs of magic at work initially were. From the viewers’ perspective, we could see Harry fidget as a moving ornament twitched beneath the heavy weight he pinned it down with, out of the older man’s sight. Harry’s efforts were enough to pass inspection, and the man unlocked the exit door before handing something over to the teenage wizard.

“And Mr Potter has passed his challenge! His prize is… a piece of paper? Perhaps it contains a crucial clue?” Mr Meddle suggested.

Harry unfurled the paper, revealing the words printed on it.

‘Find clues with blue, and advance with green.’

It soon became obvious to the audience what the text meant, as they watched the other champions encounter different rooms; the color of the doors denoted the reward the rooms contained, with the green ones enabling the champions to ascend to the next floor. Fleur’s choice was lucky in that sense, but she was now struggling to try and get a key stuck inside a wall of flowing water. 

Meanwhile, Cedric entered one of my target shooting challenge rooms, which didn’t have any other exit doors, but granted a colored key for clearing it. He then backtracked to take a green door, which opened out to the exterior of the tower, and a curving staircase to the outside. The Hufflepuff paused at the sight of the cheering audience, and waved at his supportive fans before going up the steps and re-entering the tower at the next level.

The other champions also started to find more clues about how to navigate the tower, as well as understanding the use of some of the bonus items. Krum found a key that vibrated the closer it was to its lock, and discovered that it unlocked a secret passageway upwards. Fleur managed to get her key, which unlocked a box in the next room that contained another message. The message described the appearance of the key that would unlock the final door, giving her a crucial hint needed to win. 

From our position outside the tower, we continued to monitor the status of the champions and the rooms, adjusting the viewing angles as needed to keep the audience aware and entertained. Irene was handling the Switching Spells, ensuring that each champion wouldn’t receive a previously-obtained clue for clearing the challenges. Meanwhile, Mr Meddle continued to commentate on each of the champions’ progress in turn, explaining the challenges they were facing and the types of benefits they were gaining from clearing each challenge.

One of the screens displayed the relative positions of the champions, showing that Cedric and Fleur were currently the highest, with another two floors to go. But as they ascended higher, the challenges became more difficult. Harry turned back at a Transfiguration-focused challenge, having focused more on hexes and jinxes in his training, and started looking for another way. Krum couldn’t figure out a riddle and tried to blast his way through the barrier holding the clue, but it took several curses before it finally broke, allowing the other champions to proceed further ahead. Fleur encountered Leafeon, who inflicted a great deal of clothing damage with Razor Leaf before the quarter-Veela managed to chase her off with some fire spells..

And the boys sure appreciate the view, I thought to myself as my hearing picked up the wolf whistles from some of the males in the audience. 

“And now, Mr Diggory has chosen to enter a red door!” Mr Meddle said excitedly, “As we know, red doors are tough challenges with great benefits, and this challenge is…!”

The crowd gasped at the sight of one of Hagrid’s Blast-Ended Skrewts, fully grown at nearly ten feet long and looking like a giant scorpion, with its stinger poised wickedly over its back. Behind it was a yellow door, one that would give another crucial clue to opening the final door at the top.

Cedric slowly backed up, and began circling around the room, not taking his eyes off the Skrewt. It didn’t appear to have noticed him, having been focused on eating some of the minced meat left for it. He was able to make it all the way to the door, only to discover to his dismay that it was locked. As he looked around again, Uzume adjusted the viewing angle to reveal the bronze key clenched in the grasp of a metal hand sticking out from the ceiling.

The Skrewt suddenly shot a burst of fire from its end, causing Cedric to flinch and some of the crowd to scream. The rocket propulsion sent it slamming into the wall, where a large panel with a number on it was. One of the fingers on the hand uncurled, catching Cedric’s attention. He quickly put the pieces together, and realized that there were five other panels on the walls around the room. 

And one of them will cause the rest to reset… I thought with sadistic amusement. 

He quickly cast a spell at one, but it failed to exert enough force at first. The second time worked, causing another finger to straighten. However, it attracted the attention of the Skrewt, and it began to turn towards him. A quick adjustment on Matsu’s part got a good sight of Cedric gulping in nervousness.

“And what’s this? Mr Potter’s path has crossed with Miss Delacour’s! And it looks like their challenge is one that requires cooperation!”

The instructions on the sign in the room stated as such, and we saw the two of them exchange a few words before agreeing to work together. There was a large tube in the center of the room, with two keys floating within the fluid at the bottom of the room. However, the opening to the tube was all the way at the top, only accessible via walkways and ladders controlled from a panel on the ground floor. Said panel also had wheels and knobs that could raise the fluid level.

The two champions quickly figured out how to work the controls, and Fleur allowed Harry to go first. He was only able to grab one of the keys, before the entire thing reset, returning him back down to the ground. 

“Did you get that idea from Mirage Tower?” I murmured to Uzume, referring to one of the locations in Pokemon that offered a choice between two fossils.

“Yep.”

“Mr Potter has obtained a key, but what’s this?” Mr Meddle had a pleased smile as he continued to describe what was happening. “He’s not leaving on his own, but is helping Miss Delacour get her key as well!”

The opening door was an invitation to betray the cooperator and keep the benefit for themself, but Harry didn’t do that. Of course, it was possible that the cooperator could likewise betray the first one by robbing them of the key, but it appeared that both of them had no intentions of betraying the other. Fleur got her key, and they split up at the next fork.

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for Krum and Cedric, who engaged in a running spellcasting fight when they met in another room. Uzume was quick to react, carefully adjusting the positions of the viewing orbs to avoid getting them hit by the spells being used.

“They’re totally ignoring the puzzle I set up for them!” Matsu humphed. 

“The audience is loving it though,” I pointed out.

“I know, but still-!”

It ended with Cedric fleeing through a door and sealing it behind him, while Krum spent a few minutes sifting through the wreckage of the room to find another clue about the final door. Unfortunately, the damage had obscured the important part of the message.

‘The key that opens… final door is… in color’

“Oh, what a shame! Mr Krum could have gotten the most important clue of all, if not for that accidental spell damage!” Mr Meddle announced, to the dismay of the Durmstrang students.

The Bulgarian scowled and muttered a censored curse before exiting through the door he initially entered from. Unbeknownst to him, the same clue had been discovered by Cedric earlier in the Skrewt room, which stated the color of the required key was purple.

And there are only two of them in the tower. I paused at the sight of one of the screens. Seriously, luck’s definitely at play here.

In another room, Harry managed to get said purple key, after clearing another one of my target shooting rooms, one that required doing so in the appropriate color combinations while avoiding getting hit by return fire. His accuracy had improved quite a lot to match his reflexes.

However, the noise level picked up as one of the champions arrived at the finishing point.

“And Miss Delacour has made it through her challenge… and she’s arrived at the top floor!” Mr Meddle leaned forward, even as the Beauxbatons side cheered loudly. “Does she have the right keys for the door?”

Fleur paused as she straightened up, looking out around the open area at the cheering students. She quickly noticed the glass cube structure in the center, and rushed over to examine it. The stone arch door I had shown the champions a month ago was the only way to enter it without breaking the glass, which carried the strongest protection spells Irene could put on it.

The empty pedestal within was clearly visible, with no sign of the Triwizard Cup that was supposed to be on it. Fleur walked around the giant cube, murmuring spells under her breath as she examined the structure. She eventually came to a stop in front of the door, and looked up at the timer on the top of it.

With how much time had passed, there was only another fifteen minutes left. The witch quickly pulled out a red key, the only one she managed to get, and stuck it into the accordingly-marked keyhole and turned it. Instead of the main door opening, the keyhole’s panel clicked open, revealing a small lever switch. She flipped it, but it didn’t appear to do anything-

“What’s this? The timer has stopped!” Mr Meddle exclaimed, his words causing Fleur to look up at the object in question.

Sure enough, the timer was no longer shifting numbers, stuck at twenty minutes and ten seconds.

“It looks like Miss Delacour has bought herself and the other champions time to get the right key! But will she be able to find it and return to the door before the other champions do?”

Fleur’s expression showed that she was thinking about what it meant, before a determined look came over her face. She shut the panel and retrieved the key, then spun quickly on her feet and dashed back to one of the accessways leading back down. 

The other champions continued to clear their rooms, with the occasional failure forcing them to find a different route or to pass up an important clue or bonus. The audience continued to cheer, entertained by the champions’ efforts, while Mr Meddle continued to commentate and explain the full summary of the clues being revealed.

The champions already knew that the cup was set to appear when someone passed through the door at the appropriate time, so for them to win, they had to get the right key to open the door, wait until the right time to pass through it. So far, only Cedric found the clue that the required key was purple, and he was busy searching through several other rooms for the right one. 

“He’s nearly at the one we put the second key in,” Irene reported.

“Oh seriously, what’s with his luck?” Uzume remarked in response, her attention focused on another champion.

Two floors below the top, Harry was facing off against the sphinx, having been posed with her riddle challenge, just like in canon. In some strange coincidence, a few of his other rooms had him dealing with riddles as well, like a door whose answer was ‘silence’, but saying the answer wouldn’t work. Harry had quickly figured out that the trick was to silence the sources of sound in the room, like holding the metronome still and using the Silencing Charm on a croaking toad. 

After some hesitation, he finally asked to hear the riddle, with the sphinx telling him her rules. Answering it correctly would see him receive another important clue, while an incorrect answer would see him being attacked. He could retreat safely if he chose not to answer at all, but she explicitly told him that the green door behind him would let him skip the floor and head directly to the top.

The sphinx sat down on her hind legs and began to recite, casting an amused glance at the viewing orb as she did.

“Two frail bodies joined as one,
The longer I stand, the more I run,
All I hold, I’m sure to spill,
Young I tumble, old I spill.”

She smiled at Harry. “Now, what am I?”

Harry gaped, even as Hermione’s voice screamed the answer over the crowd, where he couldn’t hear it.

“AN HOURGLASS, HARRY!”

Meanwhile, Krum was the next to reach the top, but neither of his keys were able to unlock the door. One of them was red, the same as Fleur’s, while the other one was blue, and behind its corresponding panel was a knob. Krum played around with it for a bit, and quickly realized what it did.

“It allows a champion to adjust the timer!” Mr Meddle announced it at almost the exact same time, “So Mr Krum just has to adjust it to the right time, and the cup will appear! But he still lacks the key required to open the door!”

Krum looked around the cube, before trying to break it like he did with several of the previous challenges. He quickly regretted that choice, as the spell was absorbed and returned as a burst of force, one that sent him stumbling several steps back, nearly to the edge of the platform itself.

“Another brute force attempt by Mr Krum, but it didn’t work this time! But what’s this now, he’s not going back down to search for clues!”

Just as Mr Meddle said, Krum chose to wait on the top floor, using his red key to resume the timer’s progress. He was clearly planning to ambush the other champions at the finish line, and claim the victory for himself. His eyes darted back and forth around the place, taking note of the various points of access the other champions could use to arrive at the top floor.

“I’m adjusting the sound control now, so he won’t hear Mr Meddle sharing the clues when the others find them,” Matsu informed us.

“Alright.”

It happened just at the right time, because Fleur soon found a clue that indicated that the cup’s appearance was when the timer hit zero, which Mr Meddle announced for the audience to hear. Krum just continued to watch and wait, unaware of what his fans were trying to tell him. 

“Cedric’s got the purple key now,” Irene added, as the Hufflepuffs cheered for their champion, “And now he’s heading for the top floor.”

“So is Fleur,” Uzume said, “Looks like she’s given up on finding the right key.”

“Planning the same thing Viktor Krum is, then.”

As for Harry, he finally managed to figure out the riddle and give the right answer, causing the sphinx to smile.

“Well done,” The sphinx said, “Now, before I move, would you like a bonus riddle?”

“A bonus riddle?” He echoed.

“If you can answer it, you’ll get an important hint. Answer it wrong, I’ll attack, of course, same as before.”

Harry didn’t hesitate this time. “Tell me the riddle.”

The sphinx stood up from her sitting position, and began to pad off to the side as she spoke her second riddle.

“If I’m in front, I don’t matter.
If I’m in back, I make everything be more.
I am something, yet I am nothing.
What am I?”

Harry listened, slowly walking forward through the now open path. “Um, could you repeat that?”

The sphinx obliged, reciting the riddle again.

“I am nothing…” His eyes lit up. “Zero! The answer is zero!”

The sphinx smiled again, more broadly this time. “And that is your hint.”

“Zero?” Harry asked confusedly, but the sphinx said nothing more, just laying down and staring at the door.

“And it looks like Mr Potter has gained the same clue Miss Delacour did! He already has the purple key necessary to open the final door, as well as the blue one required to make use of the clue! The timer is quickly counting down! Will he make it in time!?”

Harry decided to continue onwards, and the green door led him outside to a ladder straight up to the top of the tower. Like the rest, he paused at the sight of the screaming crowd, looking around to try and spot his friends. He quickly realized that some of them were pointing up above him, where Krum was waiting. 

The older wizard couldn’t hear the noise the crowd was making, but he quickly picked up from their behavior that one of his competitors was approaching, and he readied himself, his wand prepared to cast the first spell.

“None of our champions have given up yet! And all four of them are about to clash!” Mr Meddle declared, “Not all of them have the clues or the keys, but it is likely that whoever comes out victorious will be the one to touch the cup and win the Triwizard Tournament!”

I exchanged looks with my three Sekireis, and got ready for anything.

“Someone’s going to use the cube against their opponents,” Matsu predicted.

“Safety spells are ready,” Irene said with a confident smirk, “In case anyone goes over the edge.”

“Alright,” Uzume warned, her eyes locked intently on the screens, “It’s happening!”

Cedric emerged through a hatch on the top floor, appearing on the other side of the cube from Krum. They spotted each other right away, but neither cast any spells, and they slowly circled around the structure, watching each other warily. As if sensing the tension, the crowd quieted, watching the slow development. Then, just as Krum was about to pass in front of the door, which was the only blind spot in the glass cube, he thrust his wand out and cast a powerful curse at the glass surface, darting in front of the door to avoid the resulting shockwave.

To Cedric’s credit, he reacted just as quickly, having faced force-type attacks while training with me. His defensive spell took the brunt of the impact, but he was still sent tumbling. He managed to catch himself inches before the edge of the platform, and scrambled to his feet.

Krum lunged out from behind the door, intending to take advantage of the opening. As luck would have it, Fleur started to emerge from a hatch between the two. She caught sight of Krum with his wand aimed in her direction, and quickly ducked back down with a yelp. That sudden intrusion took Krum by surprise, giving Cedric the opportunity he needed to cast his spell first, but not enough to land it. With that, they began dueling, a rematch from their previous encounter within the tower.

“We’re witnessing an intense duel right now!” Mr Meddle’s voice could barely be heard over the screaming of the audience. “And Miss Delacour has just joined in!”

The French witch had dove out of the hatch, making sure to defend herself as she did so, which was a wise decision as Krum sent a Stunner her way. After deflecting it, she joined the battle, making it a three-way free-for-all, with her and Cedric exchanging spells as the three of them fought for the best position. Colorful lights and small explosions rocked the area, with the occasional use of Transfiguration, along with the rare shockwave as a spell struck the cube. 

Krum’s got power and viciousness, but Cedric’s handling it well, other than moments when he’s surprised. As for Fleur… she’s good, but she can tell that she can’t handle either of them one on one. It’s a declining stalemate… but that’s going to change soon.

Harry’s progress up the ladder was slow, as he was using one hand to hold his wand. From the view his orb was showing of his face, he was aware that a furious fight was awaiting him at the top. He paused on the last rung, and took a careful peep at the situation. There was a nerve-wracking moment when a shockwave nearly knocked him off the ladder, if not for the white-knuckled grip he had on the rung.

None of the other three appeared to have noticed him, with the flashing lights and remaining smoke affecting the visibility. Perhaps that was the reason that Harry was able to land the first decisive spell.

“Stupefy!” He yelled, hitting Krum in the back with a jet of red light.

The older teenager fell forward onto his front, lying motionlessly on the stone floor. The crowd roared; some were protesting the shameful way of cursing his opponent in the back, while others cheered for Harry successfully defeating one of his competitors.

“And Mr Krum is out of the fight, Stunned by Mr Potter! But it’s not over yet! He’s still got- Miss Delacour is out too! It’s now down to Mr Potter and Mr Diggory!” Mr Meddle yelled over the screams and wails of the audience.

Fleur had been distracted by Krum’s sudden defeat, and Cedric managed to disarm her and tie her up with a Rope-Binding spell. Now it was just him and Harry staring at each other while aiming their wands. Cedric had taken a few spells during the earlier clash, and he was bleeding from some cuts over his body.

The screen showed a good view of Harry glancing off to the side, at where he knew his friends were watching. Then he lowered his wand.

“Go on, you take it. You deserve the win,” He said to Cedric.

Cedric stared at the younger teenager. “Are you sure?”

“I didn’t want to be in this tournament in the first place. And besides, the first task, the second task, you helped me. I wouldn’t have done as well as I had if it weren’t for you,” Harry admitted, his voice clearly transmitting to the audience. “You deserve the win, Cedric. You’re the Hogwarts champion.”

Cedric hesitated, then lowered his wand as well. He walked forward to the door, while Harry stepped out of his way.

“I got the purple key, it’s needed to open the door.” Harry explained.

Cedric grinned. “I got it too,” He said, taking out his key.

He put it into the keyhole and turned it, causing the metal doors to swing open, exposing the empty pedestal within the cube. The two of them stared at it, before looking at the timer at the top of the door.

“A sphinx I met told me the hint. The timer is supposed to be at zero,” Harry shared the clue he learned.

“Five minutes to go on the timer!” Mr Meddle announced helpfully.

The two Hogwarts students exchanged looks, clearly wondering if they should just wait until the timer reached that point. Luckily, Harry remembered that he had the blue key as well, and held it up.

The look of hopeful surprise on Cedric’s face was quite camera worthy.

A few seconds later, the cup appeared on the plinth, and a pair of hands raised it up for everyone to see, with magical fireworks exploding in the sky.

Cedric Diggory had won the Triwizard Tournament.

…

“So, all’s well that ends well.”

“Agreed,” Irene murmured, with my head resting in her lap, “I’m sure some of the students are particularly pleased by that.”

“I’m just glad that it’s over,” Uzume moaned.

The four of us were in a compartment all to ourselves on the Hogwarts Express, a whole week after the end of the Triwizard Tournament. Things had ended on a high note with the conclusion of the event; there was a presentation ceremony where Minister Fudge awarded Cedric with the Triwizard Cup and his winnings of a thousand Galleons, with the other champions clapping for him. Amos Diggory had looked on the verge of bursting with how proud he was.

According to what I heard through the grapevine, the celebration feast in the Hufflepuff common room lasted all the way until dawn, though Cedric retired early to receive a private reward from his girlfriend. He showed up the next day looking quite exhausted next to his sparkling partner. Cho was quite the succubus, it seemed. I at least had my [Sex Maniac] job to compensate, despite going through a similar experience.

The dismantling and cleanup of the tower itself went by quite quickly, since Matsu designed it that way. All the collected data was currently stored securely within ourselves, awaiting delivery to Sano. Some of it went to Hogwarts itself, and I expected that the castle would start developing a few more rooms on its own in the future.

We had also made our farewells to the rest of the people we met while we were in this world, as did the various students with their foreign counterparts. With how far it was to travel to Japan from here, we at least had an excuse for falling out of contact. Plus, even with the changes we enacted, it was likely that they would be too engrossed to remember us when Voldemort eventually made his return. 

The train ride was relatively peaceful, with the occasional interruption from people we knew. Harry and his friends came by to discuss some of the challenges we prepared in the tower, as did Cedric’s group. The Weasley twins wanted to get some final feedback on their joke shop plans, and so on. Other people like curious Ravenclaws, we just rejected their questions in favor of protecting our peace.

I put our trunks in my [Inventory], and we quickly slipped out ahead of the rest of the disembarking students, passing through the barrier hiding Platform Nine-And-Three-Quarters from the mundane side. After a whole year of fantastical magic, the feeling of normality was almost alien, which made the sensation of the wind blowing past exceptionally sharp.

“So, where should we do this?” Matsu inquired, giving me a knowing look.

“Let’s see…” I used my [Search] skill, locating an empty location nearby. “There’s a secluded lot nearby.”

“Lead the way then!” Uzume said brightly.

Irene made an idle wave of her hand, cloaking us in a veil that would reduce our presence slightly, making it hard for people to recall our passing.

As we walked towards the location I had in mind, our appearances started to change slightly. After months of wielding a light wand of alder, the weight of Murasame felt almost strange in my hand, but the feeling of familiarity soon came rushing back. The shoes of Matsu and Uzume gained wheels, revealing their existences as ATs. Despite that, none of the people we passed by paid us any attention.

“It really does say a lot about how valuable our creations must be, if they’re planning to use force like this,” Uzume remarked.

“Greed is quite a strong motivator, yes,” I agreed.

The number of people passing by abruptly dropped as we passed by a certain point, but we weren’t alone for long. Several cracks sounded, and nearly a dozen wizards surrounded us, their expressions giving away their malicious intentions.

“Well then, shall we finish up quick so we can go back?”

Pushed by my thumb, Murasame clicked out of its sheath.

Afterword: And that’s the end of the Hogwarts arc! Ten whole chapters focused on one world, I definitely enjoyed writing it, but I think it might have locked me into a rut that I was struggling to get out of towards the end. I’m looking forward to writing more shorter visits to other worlds.

In terms of RL stuff, my new full-time job is definitely taking up a lot of my time. 5.5 day work week, with an hour of travel time one way. It’s gonna drain a lot of my urge to write, but I’ll keep on trying my best!

Thanks to all who continue to support me!