Left, right, left, right I panted to myself as I ran through an endless maze of bushes. Running really izn't my thing, we don't do thiz kind of stuff at Beauxbatons. I thought to myself, but I couldn't stop, I was the last to go in, and I need to catch up to the others. In a way, I had to prove that, as the only girl, that I was just as good as the guys. You were asking for it anyway, putting your name into zat goblet, the little voice inside my head made a lot of sense sometimes...
A few spells and a lot of monsters later, I started slowing down. It was getting darker now, and the maze was getting a little unnerving. I had gotten through the first few challenges without even thinking about it, but the darkness alone was scaring me more than they had. It is just nerves. I decided you are getting yourself all worked up over nothzing. But, still afraid, I summoned the supplies and made myself some tea. That calmed me down a lot. After vanishing the cup and things, I took a deep breath and, ready for anything, I rounded the next corner. And screamed, as loud and piercing as though I was facing my worst nightmare, which I was. I guess I wasn't quite ready for anything.
Maybe ten paces in front of me stood a hag, hunchbacked and old. She was wearing an old pink dress and had a ragged red shawl on. Even tough I couldn't see her face in the shadows, I knew what it would look like. I had met this hag before, back in France..
I walked down the dirt road that ran through my little village near the ocean in France. I had a picnic basket dangling loosely from my arm as I walked towards the cliff where I was going to meet my friends. It was our favorite picnic spot, with a large, shady tree and a magnificent view of the ocean. I was bringing with me some pastries, as today was my 11th birthday. I was at the outskirts of my village when I saw an older woman walking towards me. She wore an old pink dress, and a ragged red shawl covered her face. As I got closer to her I greeted her "Bonjour, Madame!" The woman looked up at me , and I saw her face. She had thick, ragged gray eyebrows above shifty green eyes, a crooked nose, and a sly smile, minus several teeth. Wrinkles covered her face, and there was a giant hairy mole on her left cheek. I was paralyzed. She was the most ugly thing that I had ever seen, and I was afraid.
"Why, hello there, little one," she said to me in a scratchy voice, "Aren't you a pretty one. I used to be pretty like that too, you know. But beauty never lasts.." She suddenly looked mad, as though being pretty was a crime. She was getting closer to me now, with a sinister look on her face. Not knowing who, or what she was, I tried to distract her.
"So, what brings you here?" I asked, hoping to remind her that she had better things to do. She looked at me and smiled.
I've been looking for an apprentice, but I think I may have found one." the woman, who I now realized was a hag, took a step closer. "Yes, I can fix you up quite nicely" I remembered my mama's stories about hag, and how, if they bit you, you became one too. I suddenly felt my legs again, and I dropped my picnic basket and ran back into the village as fast as I could, the hag struggling to kepp up with me. I was almost home when I looked back. The hag was catching up. Suddenly a flash of red light came from in front of me. The hag collapsed, and I ran into someone. I fell to the ground and started crying, terrified by my experience. The person I had run into, my father, looked at the hag with distaste, and tied it up with his wand before kneeling down in front of me. He hugged my tight and said
"It's okay baby, it's gone now"
I was brought back to reality as a twig snapped. The hag was walking towards me now. My throat constricted, and I gripped my wand. I broke out in a cold sweat, in an instant, I forgot about my magic; I was again a terrified eleven year-old girl. The hag kept getting closer, and I backed away. My back hit a hedge. I looked around. I had somehow backed myself into a dead end, the only way out was past the hag. I was gasping now, on the point of hysterics when a figure stepped out from the path to the side, getting in between me and the hag. I couldn't see much from behind the bulky figure of the person I front of me, but over his shoulder, I caught a glimpse of the hag's face, morphing..
"Riddikulus!" The figure shouted, and the hag/ boggart disappeared. I fell to my knees, sobbing, and through my tears, I saw the person turn around. It was Victor Krum. "Thank you!" I said between sobs. "I don't know.." I stopped. There was a weird look on Victor's face. He smiled, then pointed his wand at me. "What are you doing?" I asked, thoroughly confused.
"Stupefy!" he shouted in an oddly blank voice. A flash of red light flew from his wand, and everything went black.