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?"
Working between the four then the answer came rather quickly.
"Spider," Fleur answered confidently.
The Sphinx smiled. She got up and then moved aside. Fleur quickly moved down the path but as Harry attempted to pass the Sphinx moved in front of him. "One riddle per Champion. You may not pass," The creature start pacing again back and forth across the path.
"Fleur wait," Harry thought. "I have to answer my own riddle."
Fleur stopped and looked back to see the Sphinx once again pacing across the path with Harry not being allowed through.
"Okay, give me my riddle," Harry asked the Lion bodied creature. He again asked the bond mates to listen and help.
The Sphinx sat down again in the middle of the path and stared at Harry. "The same conditions apply. Answer my riddle correctly and you shall pass, Answer wrongly and I shall attack, remain silent and you may walk away unharmed."
"I understand," Harry replied as he looked past at Fleur. "If I can't answer this, go on and get the cup."
"Non 'Arry, we will answer it."
Harry looked at the Sphinx and nodded.
"Two parts to follow to make a whole.
First, what does a river do from beginning to end
next What gives Glory, Sorrow, Strife and Death
It starts with the beginning of Winter through the second of Fall
and finally ending with the last of Summer.
Answered correctly you'll find beauty defined."
The bonded immediately started throwing out ideas. "What does a river do?'
"Runs...erodes...flows..." The suggestions kept coming until..
"Let's try the second part and see if it gives us a clue to the first part," Hermione suggested. "What gives all of those things, but lasts for a year."
"I don't think it's a year. Ze seasons are all out of order," Fleur said.
"It's a letter clue like ze middle of your riddle was Fleur," Gabrielle said. "Beginning of Winter..'W'"
"Of course..War. War gives all of zose things, but what about ze river part?"
Harry was again looking past the Sphinx at Fleur and instantly he knew the answer.
"It's Flower. That's the answer," He said as his eyes continued to look at the young woman ahead of him. "And it is beauty defined," He turned his gaze to the Sphinx and said. "The answer is Flower."
Once again the Lion bodied creature moved aside.
Harry rushed passed her and found himself in Fleur's arms. A not so quick kiss later and they continued on the path. In a fork in the path they bore right at the next fork and there it was. The Triwizard Cup sitting on a plinth ten yards away.
"We did it," Harry said as he slowed to look at the cup. "Wait..." He then said to Fleur who had kept running.
Fleur stopped and turned back with a look of concern. "Arry?"
"I'm fine," Harry replied as he continued toward his bond mate. The out loud he continued. "I just paused to...FLEUR LOOK OUT!" A large black shape had materialized in the wandlight running along the top of the hedge. Before either of them could react further, the giant Acromantula was on top of Fleur.
Harry could see the Acromantula's pincers starting to close on Fleur and he reacted with only a single thought - he HAD to save Fleur. "LACERO!" He yelled as he slashed his wand as Fleur had shown him. A red arc raced from his wand and slammed into the spider knocking it away from his Bond mate. He ran forward with his wand pointed at the spider but it wasn't moving. As he got closer he could see why. The spider was missing a large piece of its body. The cutting charm had sliced through the body of the spider, removing a good third of it along with two of its legs.
Harry knelt beside Fleur who was covered in the guts and fluids of the Acromantula. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
Fleur was in mild shock at the suddenness of the attack and rescue. It was only when Harry's arms encircled her that she was able to regain her composure. "Thank you," She said as kissed him gently. "You saved my life again."
"And you would have saved mine if I'd been the one attacked," Harry replied as he looked over at the carcass of the spider. "I don't know what they were thinking. These things can kill you before you can even send up sparks much less be rescued."
Fleur looked over at the spider that had attacked her and seeing the damage she turned and looked at Harry. "How?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I just knew I had to save you."
....
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