10 Final Task

Madam Bones had not told this to her superiors. When taking Barty Crouch Junior from Hogwarts, she had interrogated him some more under Veritaserum. This gave her a list of all Death Eaters known to that man, along with the specific knowledge of what one needed to do to get the Dark Mark. She dearly wished she could safely wipe that knowledge from her mind.

Still, with the list ready, she thought it would be just right to finish off the master and his servants all at once. She first had to clean her own stable – get rid of some aurors who had been Death Eaters, yet she planned to do it close to the target date, not to attract premature attention. Until then, aside from doing her regular job and completing her plan, she also needed to find some trustworthy aids, to help her with it.

\/\/\/

Since getting his new wand, Neville was changing dramatically. The more spells he cast successfully, the more confident he became. Surprisingly, his newfound confidence helped him overcome his forgetfulness as well, although some would say that being so close with that Granger girl was the main cause. Whatever the reason, Neville was becoming much more prominent in classes. Even his Potions were becoming better, although he had yet to overcome his fears of Snape.

Harry was glad to see these changes. Neville was quickly becoming his best male friend, a much closer and much better friend than Ron had ever been. They soon created a small group, just the two boys and their fiancées, that studied together each day in the library and enjoyed the weekends together as well.

Ron was unhappy about this change. He confronted Harry one evening, as soon as he returned to his dorm. "What kind of a friend are you if you find no time to spend with me?"

Harry didn't need to think about his answer. "I'd say you just don't like to be with me. I always ask you to join us at studying or at doing homework, and you always decline. What kind of a friend are you, then?"

Ron grimaced. "You know I hate studies and homework."

Harry chuckled humorlessly. "Too bad for you. You know that school is mainly about studies and homework, don't you? Would you like to fail and be expelled?"

Ron looked extremely unhappy. "No, but..."

"Well, you must make up your mind. If you want to get your OWLs, at least, you must start studying more seriously and you're welcome to join us," Harry said, trying not to think of how much Ron would hold them back.

"But you're still with that snake!" Ron blurted.

This infuriated Harry. "Daphne is not a snake. She's a beautiful, kind, smart, and funny girl who's going to be my wife. Either you accept her as such or give up your friendship with me."

"So, you prefer that snake over me?" Ron asked, seemingly unable to believe what he heard.

"I already said so. Unless you change your attitude, we can't keep being friends." It was becoming hard to forget the way Ron had acted during the year, before the first task. Harry was no longer sure that Ron was a real friend at all.

Ron didn't answer. He just sat grumpily on his bed, probably trying to come to terms with what he'd been told. Harry didn't bother. Whatever Ron would decide was fine with him. Being with his three other friends, he didn't miss Ron at all. His new group was much more helpful with his studies and more fun to be with.

\/\/\/

On the last week of May, the champions were shown the maze that would serve for the last task. Harry didn't mind the maze too much. It wasn't too dangerous in itself, really. He was concerned about the other dangers, the different obstacles to be set inside it. He had a bad feeling that some of Hagrid's "pets" would be placed there, and most could become deadly.

"You may use your Lordship to assure that no deadly danger would be present in the maze," Daphne told him. Neville nodded in agreement.

"I don't like to use that privilege," Harry answered reluctantly.

"Would you rather face a Cerberus, a dragon or an acrumantula?" Hermione asked him. "Besides, if no dangerous creature is put in the maze, it will be much safer for the other champions as well," Hermione told him.

"Well, in that case..."

Once again, Harry spoke with Dumbledore. The headmaster was not surprised at the request, despite it being fully legitimate when coming from a Lord. Still, he had no alternative. "Nothing that could maim or kill would be placed in the maze," he promised. "Nor any creatures or plants that can hurt worse than a mosquito or a bee," he added on second thought.

"There must also be a simple way for taking the champions out of the maze, either when they encounter danger, as improbable as it may be, or when one reaches the center. No need to let the other waste their time and their powers for nothing."

Dumbledore nodded. "I'll have some portkeys made for the purpose."

"And I expect you to personally place the trophy at the center, making sure that it has not been compromised."

"Of course, Lord Potter," the old man said.

\/\/\/

Once again, the champions agreed to work together, once out of sight. Harry went first into the maze and then waited for the others. The rest was easy enough, as four wands could easily take care of any physical obstacle, and four minds were much better than one when the obstacles were of magical nature. The champions all touched the goblet placed on the pedestal in the center at once and were whisked in front of the judges' table.

While Dumbledore seemed delighted to see all four cooperating, Karakof looked furious and Madam Maxime seemed just confused. The Minister, who was there for the honor of presenting the prize to the winner seemed baffled by the fact that there was no winner. He was wondering why he always had to take the difficult tasks upon himself.

A single person appeared at the cemetery at Little Hangelton. The portkey had deposited him not too far from the grave of one Mr. Riddle. The adolescent brought by the portkey had black unruly hair and green eyes. He also had a prominent scar on his forehead, easily seen even in the little light provided by the fire under a huge cauldron, placed only a few paces away.

"Stun him!" a nightmarish voice said, as a short, fat man came out of the shadows. He had no time to act, as the boy had his wand ready and used that same spell to stun that man, and then tied him in heavy chains and magic-suppressing cuffs. He then took a small object out of his pocket, slapped it on the chest of the stunned man and said the activation phrase. The bound man vanished.

Some hissing could be heard between the bushes, where that man had come from. The boy didn't hesitate. He cast a few high-powered cutting spells and then set the bushes on fire. A shrill scream was heard, followed by some dark smoke coming out and scattered by the wind. Some slithering sounds seemed to move closer to the boy. He apparated aside and then sent a few more cutting curses at the source of the noise.

Sounds of several apparitions were heard, as a group of aurors arrived at the scene. The boy pointed them at the remains of the bushes. "Scan carefully. There may be some dark traps there. Shack, come with me!"

It only took a moment to find the severed snake. Its head was cut in two and it had some cut marks along it charred body. "You did well," the black auror told the boy.

They were soon joined by the rest of the group. One auror was holding a large plastic bag with the charred remains of what looked like a very malformed baby. Two others collected the remains of the snake into a similar bag. The boy checked his watch. "Let's move! We still have quite a bit of arrests to do tonight."

"Of course, director," Shack smiled before they all apparated away.

\/\/\/

Harry was delighted when he saw the headlines the next morning. "Several upstanding wizards arrested as Death Eaters" was the headline. The tournament was only mentioned in small print inside the paper, only informing the readers that all champions finished together, dividing the prize money between them.

Daphne updated him later in the morning. "It looks like all the Death Eaters that escaped justice by the 'Imperius' excuse were arrested last night and interrogated under Veritaserum. While they can't be judged again for the same crimes they were previously acquitted, they all revealed quite a few additional crimes and they no longer have the Imperius excuse, as it was revealed that one had to willingly accept the dark mark and also kill some people in order to get the mark. You may also notice that our Head of House is missing. I suspect he was arrested as well."

"How do you know all this?" Harry wondered.

Daphne smiled. "You know Dad has many connections, don't you? Many family members of the arrested contacted him, hoping he could help. He asked Madam Bones about it and got the full information." Her smile widened. "You may also be interested to know that many of those arrested confessed of bribing our esteemed minister, so he's spending his time under the same accommodations as them."

It took another day before some of that information was published, when Madam Bones held a press conference. "We have lately found that the supposedly dead Bartimeus Crouch Junior is still alive. When interrogated under Veritaserum, he disclosed the information of what was needed to take the Dark Mark, making it clear that it had to be accepted willingly and paid for in advance by committing some murders. This made the Imperius clause irrelevant. One of the Death Eaters captured is Peter Petigrew, who was also believed to be dead. He confessed of betraying the Potters and of framing Lord Black, who, so we found out, had never been put to trial. Therefore, it is within my authority to cancel the 'kiss on sight' order given by the minister and to change the status of Lord Black from 'prison fugitive' to 'required for investigation'. I hereby ask Lord Black to present himself to an auror and promise him that he would be fairly treated. We intend to interrogate him under Veritaserum, and if found innocent, as indicated by the facts we've already accumulated, then he will be given his position back and will be compensated for his illegal incarceration."

Harry could read no further, as his eyes teared up at the thought that Sirius would finally get justice and be able to live as he should – as a free man.

\/\/\/

The ride back to London was very joyful. Harry spent most of it in the company of Daphne, Neville and Hermione, although many more came to visit, to congratulate Harry for finishing the tournament or just to say Hello. The demise of the Death Eaters, the most vocal members of the dark faction, seemed to make many seek his company, being the symbol of the light faction. Harry didn't mind it too much, With Daphne at his side and Neville as his closest friend and ally, he felt confident about the future. He was looking forward to spending his summer with Daphne and her family, as well as joining with Hermione and Neville for a part of the summer vacation. He felt quite confident that Sirius would be free in a matter of days, becoming able to join Harry and Daphne for most of the summer.

He hugged Daphne closer and smiled. He could finally look forward to life, and it was all because he accepted… well, he reluctantly asked Daphne to be his date for the ball.

The End

A.N. Some of the readers may not like this point as end of the story, but I find it to be the right one. While I like to try variations on some ideas, I don't like to just write repetitive, uninteresting stuff, as continuing this story may turn. Besides, I have quite a few other stories that need completion before being published.

As usual, Please Review!