A banshee.
Then he spotted another woman nestled on another rocky ledge several feet higher than the first and twenty feet over to his right. This was a small woman wearing a white cap and wearing a faded, decayed-looking green shawl wrapped around her. She seemed to spot Al at the same time and let out another keening wail different from the banshee.
The wall of sound from the two female creatures hit Al with an almost physical force. A wave of fear swept over Al as he fumbled for his wand tucked into his belt. His shaking hand fumbled as he pulled his wand out. The world seemed to be spinning as he grasped towards the wand only to see it fall down towards the forest floor below. Al whipped his head around in panic now. Without a wand how could he compete? He would have to go back down for it! But these creatures….!
Al seemed to see another woman appear of a nearby ledge. But he blinked and it seemed as though he'd just seen an afterimage- like after looking into a muggle flash-bulb. But then another wail joined the unholy chorus of sound. In desperation, Al reached up to cover his ears to protect them from the hideous wails.
And let go of the rope.
"God damn you, Potter!" Al screamed as he fell headlong towards the ground.
The port-key activated just two feet from the ground.
Sitting in the stands, Ron blurted out the question almost everyone sitting around him was wondering.
"What the bloody hell were those things?!"
"Well, the first thing was a banshee," Seamus answered in a shaken tone. The creatures were a particular fear of the Irish wizard.
Morag McDougal supplied the next answer in her Scottish brogue. "The second was a Caointeach. Similar to a banshee, but they live in the Western Highlands of Argyle. Don't know what the last thing was. Never really saw it."
Hermione answered as she returned to the stands with Ernie in tow.
"Based on what the first two were, I'd guess they found a Cyhyraeth. According to the Monster Book of Monsters, Banshee, Caointeach, and Cyhyraeth are believed to all be formed by the spirits of witches that have faced some type of tragic event just prior to their death. Obviously there must be something else to it or many more would have been formed after the war. No one has ever managed to communicate with one or observe them in the wild for long. I honestly have no idea how they managed to get them to come here."
"Where are Cyhyraeth from?" Daphne asked. She'd never heard of the creature before.
"Wales -South Wales actually," Hermione answered.
Further discussion was forgotten as Fleur arrived at the base of the cliff. To the amazement of the crowd, the French witch ignored the ropes and used her broom to zoom to the cliff top where Cedric and Viktor had just finished their climbs.
....
"I professional Quidditch player and I never think of using broom," Viktor commented in disgust as the beautiful French Champion landed gracefully nearby.
Cedric snorted a laugh. "Me neither."
"They never said we must take one of their little boats to cross the lake, no?" Fleur responded with a superior little smirk. Her male competitors laughed in agreement.
"Clever," Cedric acknowledged. "Plus since you started behind us and caught up that means you are in the lead." Fleur waved that off.
"I just want to get this thing done. Harry must pay for this. One of his little fire traps managed to catch me at a too-conveniently timed burst." She turned to show the other two Champions burn marks on her robes just where her bum was. "I was jumping about trying to put out the flames on my rear while one his damned elves hovered nearby waving at me. I am sure the spectators enjoyed that!" The wizards were laughing again as they listened to Fleur describe her encounter in her French accent.
"Not sure you can blame Harry," Cedric pointed out. "Mr Black and his wife may have done it too. And there is always the Weasley twins." Fleur looked a bit surprised by the idea and then her eyes narrowed in thought. Cedric was seriously glad the French witch wasn't annoyed with him .
The entrance to the Pit of Despair looked like a natural cave ripped open at the top of the cliff. A set of rickety-looking stairs led down twisting in a giant spiral leading down into the darkness.
"I will go first," Viktor announced as he stepped to the top of the stair.
The Bulgarian wizard led off down the stairs. Cedric motioned for Fleur to go next. The Hufflepuff planned on bringing up the rear. He doubted Harry and his friends really had anything truly dangerous in the Task, but he reckoned on making sure nothing came up behind them.
The trio had descended forty feet down. The stairs felt fragile and trembled as the teenagers moved down. Streams of dust soon filled the air as the stairs pulled at their supports. All too soon, the spiralling stairs and a slight angle of the cave's shaft soon blocked out the sunlight. The three Champions made their way down the stairs now with their wands out and holding a Lumos spell.
Fleur felt a chill descend into her bones as she followed Viktor down the stairs. It felt like they had already descended further than the cliff face they'd risen over. She idly wondered how deep the cave went.
Then she noticed that the light coming from behind her from Cedric's wand was gone. In shock, she turned around to check on the English wizard, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Cedric?" she called out. There was no response. "Viktor! Cedric is…" Fleur turned to face the Bulgarian wizard only to see only the inky blackness at the limit of her spell's light.