The Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament

The third task is a maze of 20 foot high hedges on the quidditch pitch, with the Triwizard cup placed in the center. The first to reach it will be the winner of the Triwizard tournament.

Hagrid and Professors McGonagall, Moody and Flitwick are dispatched as patrollers around the edge of the maze to rescue a champion who sends up red sparks requesting aid. Cedric and Harry are tied for first with 85 points, so they enter the maze first. Krum is in 2nd with 80 points, he enters next; and Fleur in last brings up the rear.

At first Harry’s path in the maze is devoid of anything to be concerned about . But he eventually runs into several obstacles: a Dementor, which is really a boggart; gold mist, when walked through, turns the world upside down; a blast ended skrewt, a sphinx with a riddle and an acromantula. Harry prepared most for this task, practicing spells in abandoned classrooms during breaks with Ron and Hermione. The spells that Harry put to use in the maze are: lumos, the ‘point me’ spell, expecto patronum, riddikulus, reducto, stupefy, impedimenta and expelliarmus. Most of the spells are successful. The only time these spells weren’t effective was when they bounced off the thick skin of the magical creatures.

Fleur is heard screaming somewhere in the maze ahead of Harry, but he never finds her or sees/hears her anywhere else in the maze. She is the first champion out of the maze and the race to win. A short while later Harry hears Cedric, and it sounds like he is being attacked. Harry finds his way to Cedric, only to find Krum using the Crucio curse on him. Harry is able to rescue Cedric by stupefying Krum, then they send red sparks up for someone to collect him. Harry and Cedric go their separate ways, but still end up at the center of the maze at roughly the same time. Cedric had a slight lead and would have reached the cup first, but an acromantula is in his path to the cup. Harry warns Cedric, and they defeat the acromantula together, but Harry injures his leg in the process, ensuring the victory to Cedric. Cedric, however, feels that Harry deserves to win and refuses to grab the cup. As a compromise Harry suggests they grab the cup at the same time, which would keep them tied for first place. Cedric agrees, helps Harry walk to the cup, and they count to three. On three Cedric and Harry touch the Triwizard cup which should have ended the task, but instead transports them to a small graveyard miles away from Hogwarts.

Timeline Notes

We are told at the end of the second task the exact date of the third task.