Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Major Events/Third Task
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| Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter - Major Event | |
| Triwizard Tournament - The Third Task | |
|---|---|
| Location | Hogwarts - the Quidditch pitch |
| Time Period | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, June 24 |
| Important Characters | Harry Potter, Cedric Diggory, Viktor Krum, Fleur Delacour |
Contents |
[edit] Overview
The Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament is to negotiate a maze that has been grown in the Quidditch Pitch at Hogwarts. At the center of the maze is the Triwizard Cup, and whoever touches the Cup first is the outright winner of the Tournament
[edit] Event Details
Exactly one month before the Third Task, the four Champions are brought to the Quidditch pitch, where they received a briefing on what the task was to be. Cedric and Harry were dismayed to discover that the pitch had been planted with hedges, but Ludo Bagman was quick to reassure them that it would be restored to pristine condition once the Task was finished. The Champions were informed that the object of the Task was to navigate the labyrinth, which would be seeded with various spells and creatures, and reach the Triwizard Cup, located in the center of the maze. The first Champion to touch the Cup would be the outright winner.
That same evening, Harry and Viktor Krum are having a private conversation when they find Mr. Crouch wandering around the Forbidden Forest. Before Harry can fetch Professor Dumbledore to help him, he disappears. Presumably, at this point the Ministry checks Mr. Crouch's house and finds it empty. Percy Weasley, who had been filling in for Mr. Crouch, is chastised for not being aware that his boss was in such dire shape, and so is replaced as a judge for the Third Task by Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic.
The Third Task took place "at dusk on the 24th of June." It was held on Hogwarts' Quidditch pitch, which was transformed into a huge labyrinth, walled with tall hedges, and stocked with dangerous creatures by Hagrid. The champion entered the maze and had to navigate their way to the center where the Triwizard Cup was located. The maze was unique, filled with dangerous creatures, hazards, and obstructions. Creatures included Blast-Ended Skrewts and giant spiders. There was also an anti-gravity mist.
The maze's center was protected by a Sphinx with a riddle to answer. The champion, encountering the Sphinx, could choose to try and solve the riddle; if they chose not to attempt it, they could continue to proceed towards the center via an alternate route, if there was one. If they attempted the riddle, and answered wrong, they would be killed—or at least eliminated from the competition.
The order in which the champions were sent into the maze depended on their previous standings in the tournament, with the highest-scoring Champion entering first. Harry and Cedric were tied after the second task and entered the maze at the same time. Viktor Krum, with the next-highest score, entered five minutes after them, and Fleur Delacour entered last.
While within the maze, Harry heard Fleur scream, but did not encounter her, so we do not know if she was incapacitated at that point. He also heard someone performing the Cruciatus curse; burning a hole through the hedge, he was able to get into the next pathway, where he discovered Krum jinxing Cedric. Harry Stunned Krum, and sent up red sparks to indicate that he was out of the contest, before he and Cedric went their separate ways. In the end, Harry and Cedric were both within sight of the Cup, with Cedric in the lead; Harry called his attention to a giant spider coming up behind him, and the two of them joined forces to disable it. Cedric then decided that the only thing to do was to let Harry take the Cup; Harry counter-offered that they should both take it at the same time, and Cedric accepted.
[edit] Notable Consequences
As the Triwizard Cup had been made into a Portkey, it carried Cedric and Harry to the graveyard in Little Hangleton, where Voldemort was waiting with Wormtail. The major consequences, then, were the death of Cedric and the return of Voldemort.
Ludo Bagman, despite being a Judge in the Tournament, has been taking bets on Harry's winning, in order to recover from a series of bad bets he had made with a group of goblins. His finances would have been completely resolved if Harry had won the Tournament outright. The goblins, however, held that as Harry and Cedric had both touched the Cup at the same instant, it was not an outright win for Harry but a draw. Bagman, being unable to pay his gambling debts, flees. Later negotiations with the Goblins are hindered by this; they feel that the Ministry of Magic should repay Bagman's debts, and are less willing to deal with Ministry wizards having been so badly short-changed by a senior Ministry official.
As joint winner of the Tournament, Harry is entitled to half of the Tournament prize of a thousand Galleons; as Cedric has died, however, the entire prize has been deemed his. He doesn't feel he has any right to this, because it was his efforts to win the Tournament that resulted in Cedric's death. He tries to give the entire prize to Cedric's father, but is rebuffed. In the end, he gives it to Fred and George, for use in setting up their joke shop, with the sole condition that they use some of the money to buy Ron some proper dress robes.
[edit] Analysis
Looking at this Task, we feel, as Harry does at the time, that things are far too easy for him. With his use of the Four-Point-Spell, he is able to navigate the maze easily enough; the only obstacles he encounters are the anti-gravity spell, one of Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts, a Boggart, the Sphinx, a giant spider, and Viktor Krum who he surprises in the act of using the Cruciatus curse on Cedric. It turns out later that Barty Crouch Jr. has been clearing obstacles away for him from outside the maze. Barty knows about the Triwizard Cup being a Portkey, as it was he who created it, and is attempting to ensure that Harry reaches it first.
