Sarah Dimitriova was the next contestant to fall out of the task. The Durmstrang witch dove to avoid a fireball and landed flat in the centre of a quicksand trap. The panicked witch thrashed about helplessly as she was pulled down into the muck. When she appeared on the platform two seconds after disappearing into the sand, the poor witch was almost out of her mind in fear and could barely grasp that she was safe.
Madam Pomfrey arrived almost immediately with a Calming Potion in hand. She coaxed the terrified girl into drinking it and a short time later led the girl off the stage to the applause of the crowd. However, the glare the Healer gave Sirius was not very friendly.
"Wow, Padfoot, you're gonna be in detention all summer at this rate," Harry commented with a cheeky grin at his godfather.
"You can always join him, Mr Potter," Professor McGonagall announced from behind the Fourth year wizard.
"Yes, professor," Harry acknowledged while glaring at Sirius for not warning him of the witch's approach.
Screams broke out in the stadium distracting the pair of wizards. One the giant screen they say the image of Draco Malfoy being chased by a pair of Acromantulas. The giant spiders were flinging large balls of webbing the size of softballs at the fleeing wizard. Draco had apparently lost his wand in the forest at some point.
"I see Malfoy found the AOUS's," Sirius casually commented.
Fred disagreed. "Looks more like they found him." Fred and George had just joined them as they watched Draco's attempts to get away from the Arachnids Of Unusual Size.
"They don't seem to like him too much," George observed. The spiders now had Draco stuck between two web lines and swinging the boy from tree to tree.
The spiders were so distracted they failed to notice Fleur run past them but the crowd did. Some boo' d the French witch feeling she should have stopped to help her fellow Champion but most cheered her for taking advantage of her opportunity.
In any case, shortly after Fleur disappeared from view, Draco passed out and a portkey hidden on his body activated. Narcissa was already moving when her son's limp form appeared on the stage. Those on the stage were immediately assaulted by certain smells coming from the unconscious Slytherin. The cause of the smell was obvious a moment later when Madam Pomfrey floated the wizard off the stage.
"Dobby not cleaning that up," Dobby announced as he popped in. "Bad Old Master used to make Dobby clean up after Bad Old Master's Son all the time. Bad Old Master's Son took a long time to learn to use the loo like a proper wizard. But Dobby is a free elf now and Dobby say 'No!'" Then he popped away again. The crowd broke into shocked laughter to hear such a thing from an elf.
When they finished laughing, Sirius commented, "Freeing that elf was the best thing you've done, Harry." Harry could only nod his agreement as he tried to get his breath back.
....
Al DiGiamotto burst from the Forbidden Forest to find himself standing in a small clearing looking up. The Cliffs of Insanity turned out to be a steep, craggy-faced cliff with a thick rope hanging down- one for each Champion. Nine ropes hung down the entire height of the cliff. Each was spaced thirty feet apart. He could see Cedric scrambling up one of the ropes in the centre of the cliff. The Hogwart's wizard seemed to be making impressive progress up his rope. All the way over to the far left of the cliff Al spotted Viktor Krum working his way up. The Bulgarian was solid muscle but seemed to be having problems as he clung to his rope and was pointing his wand off at something Al couldn't see.
Al started up the cliff while cursing Harry under his breath but loud enough for the magical microphones to pick up to the amusement of the spectators. Unlike the others, Al recognized the source of the challenges and while he loved the film, facing the eels, the "fire forest" and the giant spiders was a bit much. What the Marauders and the Weasley twins had planned for the cliff and the pit made the wizard nervous.
The French-Italian wizard had progressed a third of the way up the Cliff when the first strains of screams reached him. Al's eyes darted franticly above him looking for the source of the eerie wailing. That is when he saw the woman with the long, flowing black hair and a gaunt, green-tinged face.
A banshee.