Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire [233]
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.
He had to be close now, he had to be. ... His wand was telling him he was bang on course; as long as he didn't meet anything too horrible, he might have a chance. . . .
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. Suddenly a dark figure hurtled out onto the path in front of him.
Cedric was going to get there first. Cedric was sprinting as fast as he could toward the cup, and Harry knew he would never catch up, Cedric was much taller, had much longer legs -Then Harry saw something immense over a hedge to his left, moving quickly along a path that