The Conception of Magic

Author's Note

Hello, lovelies! It's been so long since I've updated with anything Harry Potter (I've been working on a Naruto fanfiction) and I've been a bit off-kilter these last few weeks. Sick. A sore throat. Fatigue. However, I did find part of this story hidden away in one of my old Gorilla Drives. It was so good, and the concept was so interesting, I knew I had to do something about it. I'm having a major block with the others because it's been so long since I worked on them. I'll probably have to rewrite a few of them to get them going again. One of my goals is to keep the characters as in character as I can, with a few minor changes here and there.

You'll see what I mean as the story develops.

I've been wanting to write a story like this for a long time, but I never knew how to start it. Now we have one full chapter. I'm super excited to jump into this and I'm also eager to see if any of you can guess where this will go. Though the main event the story revolves around won't happen until the next chapter, I feel this is a good setup for the shitstorm that's coming. I hope you all enjoy the madness of my mind!

Read, Follow, Review!

Chapter One

The sky was darkening, a promise of rain on the horizon.

Hadrian "Harry" Potter eyed the rolling clouds with a sense of disbelief, green irises flashing as his lips pressed into a tight, white line. Behind him, silence. The stands were quiet, a thousand eyes watching as the four champions eyed the massive, sprawling maze of green. Cedric stood miles away, but Harry could see him regardless of where he stood. The older boy shot him a thumbs-up, grinning despite the tension boiling across the grounds.

The Triwizard Tournament would soon come to an end, but only one of them would be named the victor. It didn't really matter, Harry mused to himself. It was going to rain. His gaze flickered back to the sky, and then to his right past Cedric to the other two champions who were nothing more than a few distant, tall blots that seemed to dance like a mirage over the desert sand.

Overhead, thunder rumbled. Harry waited patiently, eagerly anticipating the start of the Final Task. He could see the start of his own task, the dark, gaping mall in the maze below beckoning him forward. As he shifted from one foot to another, Harry tried to control his breathing.

'Calm down,' he stretched his arms over his head, fingers locked together as joints popped. He grinned, finding relief in the sudden weightlessness that seemingly settled over his once-stiff shoulders. He settled his attention on the glowing beacon in the air, red still, as he told himself, 'Once released, I'll be able to run. I'm faster, smaller. I can do this…maybe.'

It wasn't long before a small, floating sphere found its way to his side. Harry didn't spare it a glance, the device a means to 'observe' him while he did his last task. It was reality television, he mused. Only in this, he really could die. An uncomfortable thought, but an honest one.

Overhead, the beacon began to change. It started to pulse, a deep throbbing orb of red ready to begin its long-awaited countdown. Harry watched it, gaze unwavering. Off to his left, a pale blur vanished down the slope. The part-veela girl had her head start, and already she was putting considerable distance between herself and them. Harry grinned, watching as she closed the distance between herself and the maze within minutes. Things just got a bit more exciting.

He watched as the sphere overhead shifted to orange. His skin crawled, sparks of energy surging underneath his skin. Harry's hair stood on end, green irises becoming all the brighter as he watched that bobbing orange beacon get the faintest, green blush. Harry hopped from one foot to the other, hands swinging at his side as he drew in an eager breath.

'Almost time!'

When the sphere turned green, Harry shot forward. He knew the other two did, knew they would be quick to close the gap between themselves and the looming, dark entrance to the maze. Four of them, one for each Champion. Harry didn't care. He was at the bottom of the hill in record time, lithe body darting through the entrance as he slid to a stop. One hand shot outward, palm smacking the maze's wall.

Grinning, the young Gryffindor turned.

The pathway seemed to stretch forever in both directions. An endless corridor, tall hedges dark and unyielding, reminded him of a movie Harry had once watched some years back. As he ambled his way down the path, he tried to recall the name of the movie. Nothing was forthcoming; the only thing he could remember, aside from godless maze, was a white-haired man wearing eyeshadow. Odd, really.

Shaking his head, Harry picked up his pace. His Champion Robe fluttered around him, the cloth a startling red trimmed in black with gold stitching. The storm was picking up, a cold gust of wind ruffling his hair as he made his way around a bend and down another twisting pathway within the maze. His gaze kept darting to the sky, watching as the clear weather of dawn was drowning under a dark, black sky.

Despite the distant rumble of thunder, everything was quiet. He could hear his own heartbeat as easily as he could feel the adrenaline rushing through his veins. Harry pushed his glasses up his nose, slowing as he rounded another bend. When thunder roared, his gaze darted back to the heavens to see violet-red slash through the dark clouds, crackling and branching out like a disease infecting the distressed skies.

Killing Curse eyes widening as a second volt hurtled towards the ground.

It was a thing of beauty, a deep red that rapidly turned violet the closer it got to the ground. The nearer it came, moving almost as if in slow motion, the more Harry felt from it. Raw, crippling energy. The air was heavy, thick, and Harry's hair stood on end. When the volt hit the ground, Harry felt the impact even as the distance erupted in an ocean of violet-red fire.

Energy washed over the maze, the hedges bowing under its touch. A shimmering veil rushed like a wave upon the earth, visible as Harry backpedaled. Even as he turned, intent on getting out of the way, the force of it knocked him into the wall. Pain cut through him, body held aloft as wave after wave of raw, raging magic battered his body against the maze wall.

Harry had no way of knowing how long the howling wind held him prisoner a good ten feet off the ground, but, when it faded, he dropped hard. Pain lancedd through his leg and Harry shifted so he was sitting with his back to the wall as he stared incredulously at the violet-red lightning cutting across the sky. Magic weather, seriously? Harry scowled, a word or two for Professor Binns rising in his mind.

Magical weather would have been good to know about! Harry eased himself to his feet, gaze sweeping across the grounds in search for his Magical Reality TV Hovering Disk (MRTHD) but saw nothing of it. Was it destroyed? How were the others? Was Cedric okay? What about the Bulgarian and the veela-girl? He shook his head, tossing the thoughts away. He needed to worry about himself. He needed to finish the maze. The sooner the better.

"Why not postpone the Task until after the storm?" Harry started down the path once again, weaving from one green corridor to another without much thought. It wasn't like he could see over the top of the hedges, and he had no idea where he was going. "No, we have to do the Final Task under threat of a bloody storm with magical lightning. Seriously? Gods, what I'd do to have my broom."

He wasn't sure how long he wandered, only that the turning pathways seemed to go on forever. No matter how many turns he took, he never seemed to get any closer to his goal. Occasionally a spark of magic would roar in the distance, the dark and churning clouds disturbed by hellish lightning. He kept one eye on the storm above, listening to the thunder and eyeing the lightning. Each peal of thunder was followed by a flash of hellfire, each burst of light coming quicker than the last. It wouldn't be long before another storm was upon the maze, if this storm followed the same rules as normal weather.

Harry was relieved to see an opening in the maze, picking up his pace until he was jogging through an open archway. Before him was a massive, circular clearing – and the first sign of disturbance made itself known to him in the form of a spell blazing past his face. Harry threw himself to the side, against the curved wall of the circular space, emerald green eyes wide as his body struggled to draw in oxygen. Ahead, Krum was sending spell after spell at a creature Harry had never seen.

The creature was humanoid, tall and lanky and determined. Molted, grey skin that sagged and hung around its body. Harry rose to his feet, wand falling into his hand as he eyed the wizard and the creature he was circling. Krum was holding his own despite the deep red that was staining his bared arms pink, his lips curled back in a snarl as he snapped something in whatever language Bulgarian's spoke. There was a gash over his eye, bleeding heavily. Harry blinked when Krum's floating, magical camera turned away from its appointed Champion to turn its attention on him. Harry leveled an unamused look at it.

When the creature caught Krum around the middle, Harry reacted. He swung in, spell leaving his wand with a furious hiss. It caught the creature behind the shoulder, sending Krum crashing to the ground. The beast whirled, roaring, and then Harry was darting to the side as its claws lengthened and hurtled through the air. The surprised shriek that left Harry's mouth wasn't girly in the least.

A good fifteen feet of claws covered the open space, the tips embedded in the hedge wall next to Harry's head. As the claws retracted, a freak of nature in and of itself, Harry's eyes widened when the beast lunged for him. He squeaked, throwing himself out of the way and rolling across the ground. He was up on his knees when another spell tore through the creature from behind, an intense flare of heat making the air crackle and smoke. Harry watched as it crumbled to the ground, body broken and crumbling into dust.

Krum stood across from him, cheeks flushed and bloody. The older boy lowered his wand, huffing, his gaze intent on Harry as the younger shifted from one foot to another under that intense stare. A long moment passed in uncomfortable silence before Krum threw his head back, the silence broken by his boisterous laughter.

"I vos surprised ven you came running, Potter," Krum's wand vanished, the older boy closing the distance between them with a chuckle. A hand came down, hard, on Harry's shoulder. The massive Bulgarian didn't miss a beat as he continued, "I vos surprised, indeed! It voud be best if I say thanks, for helping me."

Harry was getting ready to speak when the sky came apart, one loud clap of thunder following another in quick procession. Harry whipped about, gaze skyward in search for whatever could be causing such a change. The wind was already picking up, peals of lightning reaching for the ground. Harry had never encountered such weather in all the years he had been at Hogwarts, and whatever was happening, it wasn't natural. Krum was seemingly on the same page for he, too, was turning in tight circles with his wand drawn and ready.

Then Harry saw the sky. The encroaching storm was a rolling wave of darkness and neon, magical light.

Harry shielded his eyes, gaze heavenward as he stood next to the Bulgarian Champion. Krum's attention locked on the sky as volts of intense color tore through the churning clouds, each closer to reaching the ground and the wind howling. When a clap of thunder shook the ground, a heavy, large hand caught Harry as a gale of violent wind picked up without warning. His heels dug into the ground as his arms swung up to shield him from the harsh sting that followed in the wake of the wind's fury.

Harry turned into the older boy's torso, his ears ringing as a shrill, echoing note washed over them. The massive Bulgarian hunkered over him, a solid wall of muscle that was unyielding as the older steered Harry towards the green, trembling walls of the hedge. Harry kept one hand fisted in the other's robe, praying that alone would be enough to keep him from being swept away by the steadily worsening storm.

Tightening his grip, Harry yelled, "Krum, what the hell is going on?"

"A maelstroma," Krum wrapped an arm around him, an action that had Harry tense in a matter of seconds as his body was pressed flush against the older, Bulgarian student's. Krum was larger than him, several heads taller. Harry felt tiny in comparison, but he strained to hear Krum over the wind. "Magic embedded deep in unnatural veather, Hadrian Potter. Stay close, ve need to find cover!"

They kept close to the wall, the Bulgarian keeping a steady hand on harry as they made their way around the wall. As they were nearing the exit, a pale hand appeared and grabbed the stones of the archway before Cedric appeared, the front of his shirt torn and bloody. His eyes widened when he saw them, then he was grabbing Krum's wrist and helping pull him out of the vortex that the circular clearing had become.

The Hufflepuff was a sight Harry was happy to see, even as the yellow-wearing Champion yelled over the roaring gales of wind, "We need to get out of the open! The storm is closing in on us. We have to go!"

"Ve cannot," Krum yelled back as herded them down a corridor, their heads bowed to shield their faces from the storm. The large student kept them close the wall, sheltering them from the howling winds with his body alone. Krum tucked his chin into his chest, voice strained as he said, "This is a game ve play, bound by rules. The Contract vos clear when it said ve have to finish to get out."

"What about sending a distress signal?"

Harry remembered Dumbledore mentioning something about that, should the need arise. If they were injured, they could forfeit the Task and be whisked to safety. He was babbling as much, tucked between the two as his gaze scanned the corridors for a hint of a forth individual. His attention was drawn back to the Hufflepuff when Cedric shook his head, the older boy's voice low as he said, "The staff won't be able to get to us, not at this point. We need to find Delacour. I don't like the thought of her out here, alone, weathering the force of this on her own. It'd be best for us to stick together."

"Ve have to find her first," Krum reminded, expression grim. "This maze, it is as vide as it is massive. She could be anywhere."

Another volt of violet lightning split the skies, and Harry watched, eyes wide, as it came crashing down. It was instinct, that had him turning and throwing his arms up. He heard Krum's sharp inhale, as loud in Harry's ears as Cedric's curses, and then the three of them were hurtling through the air and hitting the ground. Harry felt a hand grab his wrist, anchoring him seconds before a wall of crackling energy sprung up from where the lightning had struck.

"Let go!" Harry yelled at the Bulgarian.

Krum was braced against the wall, Cedrick at his feet. Branches wrapped around the two, an unheard spell one of the two had uttered seconds before impact, but Harry knew they wouldn't be able to keep a grasp on him. He twisted, his hair whipping up and away from his face as the rolling wall of magic came closer. Harry grit his teeth, emerald gaze narrowing as he yelled, "The longer you hold on, the worse it'll be when it tears me free. Now let go, Krum!"

The Bulgarian grit his teeth, tightened his grip for a moment, then said, "Ve vill catch up, Potter."

Then he let go, seconds before the vale of energy was washing over him. Harry didn't resist, body loose and limbs fluid as he was propelled down the path. The storm shifted and roaring, a tunnel of power that whipped him from one corridor into the next like a leaf following the turns of a river. He barely noted how he was suddenly in a march larger clearing, only heard the howling scream of an enchanted cup that was glowing in the middle of the storm. Harry blinked, caught by surprise as he flipped, shoulder hitting stone stairs, and then he was smashing into the Triwizard Cup.

There was pain. Then there was darkness.