Harry Potter 04 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

revising for their exams, which would finish on the day of the third task, but they were putting most of their efforts into helping Harry prepare.
    ‘Don’t worry about it,’ Hermione said shortly, when Harry pointed this out to them, and said he didn’t mind practising on his own for a while. ‘At least we’ll get top marks in Defence Against the Dark Arts, we’d never have found out about all these hexes in class.’
    ‘Good training for when we’re all Aurors,’ said Ron excitedly, attempting the Impediment Jinx on a wasp that had buzzed into the room, and making it stop dead in mid-air.
    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 practising hexes in every available moment. He felt more confident about this task than either of the others. Difficult and dangerous though it would undoubtedly be, Moody was right: Harry had managed to find his way past monstrous creatures and enchanted barriers before now, and this time he had some notice, some chance to prepare himself for what lay ahead.
    Tired of walking in on them all over the school, Professor McGonagall had given Harry permission to use the empty Transfiguration classroom at lunchtimes. He had soon mastered the Impediment Jinx, a spell to slow down and obstruct attackers, the Reductor curse, which would enable him to blast solid objects out of his way, and the Four-Point Spell, a useful discovery of Hermione’s which 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. Harry wobbled around the room for ten minutes afterwards before she had looked up the counter-jinx.
    ‘You’re still doing really well, though,’ Hermione said encouragingly, looking down her list, and crossing off those spells they had already learnt. ‘Some of these are bound to come in handy.’
    ‘Come and look at this,’ said Ron, who was standing by the window. He was staring down into the grounds. ‘What’s Malfoy doing?’
    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 look out; 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 sort of things don’t work around Hogwarts. Come on, Harry,’ sheadded briskly, turning away from the window and moving back into the middle of the room, ‘let’s try that Shield Charm again.’
    *
    Sirius was sending daily owls now. Like Hermione, he seemed to want to concentrate on getting Harry through the last task, before they concerned themselves with anything else. He reminded Harry in every letter that whatever might be going on outside the walls of Hogwarts was not Harry’s responsibility, nor was it within his power to influence it.
     
    If Voldemort is really getting stronger again [he wrote] , my priority is to ensure your safety. He cannot hope to lay hands on you while you are under Dumbledore’s protection, but all the same, take no risks: concentrate on getting through that maze safely, and then we can turn our attention to other matters.
     
    Harry’s nerves mounted as June the twenty-fourth drew closer, but they were not as bad as those he had had before the first and second tasks. For one thing, he was confident that, this time, he had done everything in his power to prepare for the task. For another, this was the final hurdle, and however well or badly he did, the Tournament would at last be over, which would be an enormous relief.
    *
    Breakfast was a very noisy affair at the Gryffindor table on the morning of the third task. The post owls appeared, bringing Harry a good-luck card from Sirius. It was only a piece of parchment, folded over and bearing a muddy paw print on its front, but Harry appreciated it all the same. A screech owl arrived for Hermione, carrying her morning copy of the Daily Prophet as usual. She unfolded the paper, glanced at the front page, and spat out a mouthful of pumpkin juice all over