The Quidditch field was almost unrecognizable. The hedges, which were about two feet high when they first saw them, was now twenty feet high. He couldn't see how far they went in, but it certainly seemed a lot deeper than just the quidditch field. Nico glacnced at Harry, who could not look more horrified about the fate of his precious Quidditch field. Nico was okay with it. He never liked Quidditch. Or flying, for that matter. Zeus didn't have as big a rivalry with Hades as he did Poseidon, the sea was a lot closer to the air than the Underworld was.

The sky was a deep, clear blue, almost a calming vibe. Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking towards the stadium and to the champions with the rest of the school as they filled in.

"We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze," McGonagall explained to the champions. "If you get into difficulty and wish to be rescued, send red sparks in the air and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?" She turned and faced Nico. "You are allowed to use your wand for that and that only."

Nico nodded convincingly. There was no way he was making it through there without bending the Mist. He might not've been as good as Hazel or Thalia, but he had a vague grasp of it.

"Off you go, then," McGonagall shooed them off to the entrance of the maze.

Harry looked at Nico grimly. "It's almost over," he said. Nico smiled grimly back, turning to face the judges table. He could see Chiron standing behind Dumbledore, his face drawn. As usual.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! In first place, Mister Harry Potter!" There was a round of whooping and cheering along with the applause. Harry grinned less grimly. "In second place, Mr. Viktor Krum of Durmstrang Institute!" More applause. "In third place, Mister Nico Di Angelo!" 

"I still don't understand why they took off points for the dragon task because I supposedly used 'Dark Magic'," Nico grumbled to Harry.

"Hermione thinks it's because Karkaroff was a former Dark Wizard, but he turned in a bunch of his other death eater friends," Harry explained as Fleur was announced for fourth place. "And he thinks that if people are using dark magic again, then Voldemort's going to rise and he's going to be turned in for betraying them. And the others are also worried about Voldemort rising, so they tried to discourage you using dark magic."

"Hermione certainly did seem to think about this," Nico said.

"Because Harry is in first place, he gets a head start. On my whistle, Harry!" Bagman said excitedly. "One-- two-- three!"

Harry walked forward into the maze and vanished into the mist. Then Krum went. Then it was Nico's turn, and he strode forward, his sword ready. His eyes were fixed solidly in front of him and on the hedge walls-- he didn't want to take any chances of the maze being mixed in with the Labyrinth.

Mist swirled around from the hedges and on the ground. Not the magic kind, the actual Mist. Although Nico would've bet his sword that there was some actual Mist too. He reached a fork in the road. Then he stopped.

Memories of the Labyrinth flooded him. Often times, either forks would lead to certain death and Nico only just got away. Both passages looked exactly the same. He lifted his wand and focused.

The Mist (and mist) parted, and Nico could sense something moving in the left passage, that felt awfully familiar. Blast-Ended Skrewts. He turned to the right when suddenly a massive object launched at him from the darkness, tackling him with the force of a garbage truck.

Hellhound.

Nico's main grip was on his wand to help part the Mist from before, and his sword clattered from his grip. Nico reached for it, trying to avoid the snarling, panting, drooling breath of the hellhound. Nico paused, then shadow travelled out of it's reach, snatched up his sword, and struck it down.

"Eulgh." Nico wiped hellhound drool from his robes and continued on. Then a scream split the air. A very, very female scream.

Nico froze then started sprinting down the path. Fleur. Nico made a left turn, stepping on a stick along the way--

And fell twenty feet down into a hole.

"Ow!" Nico landed hard on his backside. He looked up, and saw the top closing in. He knew there would be obstacles. But this was no obstacle.

Blinking innocently with blue light, shining in contrast to the dirt that had covered the mouth of the hole, was a miniscule blue triangle.

The mark of Daedalus.

Nico's heart stopped for a brief moment as memories washed over him. Images flashed in and out of his head before he finally got sense to do something. Gripping his sword in one hand and wand in the other, he shadow travelled to the surface. Fleur's screaming had stopped. Nico didn't know if that was for the better or the worse.

"Crucio!"

The sound of the curse split the air, and Nico dropped to the ground on instinct, watching as the bright magenta light zipped past him, hitting the hedge. Nico stood up and turned around, his wand ready. Krum stood in front of him, his eyes milky and blank with the intent to kill.

"Crucio!" he yelled again.

"Protego!" Nico shouted at the same time. The curse bounced off wildly again, and Nico searched his memory desperately for another counterspell. But his mind was blank.

"Supefy!"

"Protego!" But the scarlet spell wasn't aimed at Nico. Krum's expression didn't change as he fell, face first into the dirt.

"You okay?" It was Harry. Nico must've shadowtravelled to the surface closer to the middle than he had thought. And it seemed like he was only down there for a few seconds, but Nico guessed it was a lot closer to twenty minutes.

"Yeah." he stared at Krum. "What's up with him?"

Harry shrugged. "Did you hear Fleur earlier?" 

Nico snorted. "How could I not?"

"D'you think Krum got to her too?"

Nico didn't want to think about it. "C'mon." Lifting his wand, he sent a series of red sparks in the air. "Let's finish this."

They set off together.

"How long has it been?" Nico asked Harry.

"Feels like ages."

They met another crossroad. "Point me!" Harry whispered to his wand, which spun around and pointed to the right. Harry began to set off that way, but then Nico stopped him. "Wait." He lifted his own wand, parting the Mist. The silhouette of a lion showed through, sitting crouched. "Monster. Go left."

Harry hesitated, then followed Nico.

The rounded another corner, when suddenly, a dim light shone up ahead. Harry and Nico looked at each other. Then they both broke out into a run.

The Triwizard Cup was gleaming in front of them.

Then Nico sensed something, a disturbance in the darkness of the maze... He whirled around and struck with his sword at a massive, hairy black spider that was launching itself at them.

The sword passed through easily, and the monster disintegrated.

Harry turned around. "What was that?"

"A spider." Nico sheathed his sword. "Go on, take the cup."

Harry hesitated, his hand hovering over the handle of the gleaming blue trophy.

Then he dropped his hand. "No."

Nico raised an eyebrow. "No?"

"We take it together." Harry smiled. "It's a tie."

Nico shrugged. "Alright then."

Harry's smile dropped into a bewildered expression. "Really? That was easy. I figured you'd be all noble and stuff and say, 'no, Harry, you take it, you deserve it,' then we'd go back and forth on who would take it."

Nico shrugged again. "I mean if that's what you want, then, no, Harry, you take it. You deserve it."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Come on."

"On three." Nico let his hand hover over the cup. There was something wrong with it... the smallest nagging in his mind, but he had felt that way every single day in Hogwarts that year. Probably because of Moody's weird eye.

"One."

"Two."

"Three."