Chapter 97 - 97. a maze ing (2/2)
”Stupefy!”
The spell hit the skrewt's armor and rebounded; Harry ducked just in time, but could smell burning hair; it had singed the top of his head. The skrewt issued a blast of fire from its end and flew forward toward him.
”Impedimenta!” Harry yelled. The spell hit the skrewt's armor again and ricocheted off; Harry staggered back a few paces and fell over. ”IMPEDIMENTA!”
The skrewt was inches from him when it froze – he had managed to hit it on its fleshy, shell-less underside. Panting, Harry pushed himself away from it and ran, hard, in the opposite direction – the Impediment Curse was not permanent; the skrewt would be regaining the use of its legs at any moment.
He took a left path and hit a dead end, a right, and hit another; forcing himself to stop, heart hammering, he performed the Four-Point Spell again, backtracked, and chose a path that would take him northwest.
He had been hurrying along the new path for a few minutes.Every so often he hit more dead ends, but the increasing darkness made him feel sure he was getting near the heart of the maze. Then, as he strode down a long, straight path, he saw movement once again, and his beam of wandlight hit an extraordinary creature, one which he had only seen in picture form, in his Monster Book of Monsters.
It was a sphinx. It had the body of an over-large lion: great clawed paws and a long yellowish tail ending in a brown tuft. Its head, however, was that of a woman. She turned her long, almond-shaped eyes upon Harry as he approached. He raised his wand, hesitating. She was not crouching as if to spring, but pacing from side to side of the path, blocking his progress. Then she spoke, in a deep, hoarse voice.
”You are very near your goal. The quickest way is past me. ”
”So. . . so will you move, please?” said Harry, knowing what the answer was going to be.
”No,” she said, continuing to pace. ”Not unless you can answer my riddle. Answer on your first guess – I let you pass. Answer wrongly – I attack. Remain silent – I will let you walk away from me unscathed. ”
Harry's stomach slipped several notches. It was Hermione who was good at this sort of thing, not him. He weighed his chances. If the riddle was too hard, he could keep silent, get away from the sphinx unharmed, and try and find an alternative route to the center.
”Okay,” he said. ”Can I hear the riddle?”
The sphinx sat down upon her hind legs, in the very middle of the path, and recited:
”First think of the person who lives in disguise,
Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.
Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend,
The middle of middle and end of the end?
And finally give me the sound often heard
During the search for a hard-to-find word.
Now string them together, and answer me this,
Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?”
Harry gaped at her.
”Could I have it again. . . more slowly?” he asked tentatively. She blinked at him, smiled, and repeated the poem. ”All the clues add up to a creature I wouldn't want to kiss?” Harry asked.
She merely smiled her mysterious smile. Harry took that for a ”yes. ” Harry cast his mind around. There were plenty of animals he wouldn't want to kiss; his immediate thought was a Blast-Ended Skrewt, but something told him that wasn't the answer. He'd have to try and work out the clues. . . .
”A person in disguise,” Harry muttered, staring at her, ”who lies. . . er. . . that'd be a – an impostor. No, that's not my guess! A – a spy? I'll come back to that. . . could you give me the next clue again, please?”
She repeated the next lines of the poem.
”'The last thing to mend,'” Harry repeated. ”Er. . . no idea. . . 'middle of middle'. . . could I have the last bit again?”
She gave him the last four lines.
”'The sound often heard during the search for a hard-to-find word,'” said Harry. ”Er. . . that'd be. . . er. . . hang on – 'er'! Er's a sound!”
The sphinx smiled at him.
”Spy. . . er. . . spy. . . er. . . ” said Harry, pacing up and down. ”A creature I wouldn't want to kiss. . . a spider!”
The sphinx smiled more broadly. She got up, stretched her front legs, and then moved aside for him to pass.
”Thanks!” said Harry, and, amazed at his own brilliance, he dashed forward. (Ryan had snuck up and stored the Sphinx he would chat more with it later.)Harry broke into a run. He had a choice of paths up ahead. ”Point Me!” he whispered again to his wand, and it spun around and pointed him to the right-hand one. He dashed up this one and saw light ahead.
The Triwizard Cup was gleaming on a plinth a hundred yards away. Harry sprinted towards it and right as he was about to grab it Ryan grabbed it aswell then they were ripped off their feet by the portkey Ryan still invisible.