Hermione had barely slept since discovering what the first task was. She would stay up studying or worrying. Whispers still followed her everywhere, but Hermione had learned to tune them out. She now spent her time studying the Dark Arts, trying to come up with a good plan; she also hoped a good offense was the key to winning the first task.
Hermione had thought about not trying, she thought if she gave up that maybe she would not have to compete, but of course the rules would not allow that, that would be too easy. Even if she did not participate, if Hermione did not manage to take or find what she needed, she would still move forward except that she would now be crippled. Hermione realized that was not to her advantage, and therefore decided she would try her best, hoping that her best would be enough.
On the bright side, teachers had resumed treating Hermione as a mostly normal student; they would now call on her every now and then which was a relief to Hermione. After being snubbed by not only every student but also every teacher, Hermione tried to talk to her Head of House and Professor McGonagall and even Dumbledore and somehow the message got through. This was a load of Hermione's chest, she could manage students gossiping about her but she could not cope with the teachers ignoring her for something she did not purposely do.
The only student that was kind to her, apart from Harry and Ron, was Cedric. He would smile at her when he saw her, and would sometimes even walk with her if his class was the same way. Hermione had soon realized she should tell him what Hagrid showed her in the woods, but was scared that he would be mad that she had waited a week to tell him. While she was walking toward her potions class, she saw him at the end of the corridor and decided this was the time to tell him.
"Cedric!" Yelled Hermione.
"I will be right back guys," said Cedric to his group of friends, "Hermione, how's it going?"
"Fine," said Hermione, "I need to tell you something about the first task."
"Okay…" replies Cedric hesitantly.
"For this first task, we are going to have to confront dragons. I found out about a week ago when Hagrid showed me a spot in the woods," Hermione says hurriedly, "I know I should have told you right when I found out, but I panicked and then I thought you would be mad that I didn't tell you right away and…"
"Hey," interrupts Cedric, "Calm down, it's okay. I am still just shocked that we will have to face dragons. I mean, it's a dragon! But um…thank you…for telling me. I promise you, I am not mad at you, I am just happy you told me. I have to go back but you take care okay?"
"I will. I'll see you later then."
As Hermione walked away, she had a glimmer of hope that she might get through this. Life was slowly going back to normal, teachers were calling on her again, she still had a couple of friends, and the side conversations were manageable. Hermione was never the most popular girl therefore, she was used to a little gossiping. Apart from the lack of sleep, Hermione's life now seemed less chaotic. Maybe people started to believe her, maybe they realized there was no way Hermione could have put her name in that cup. Maybe, just maybe, life was going back to the way it was.
Hermione was hopeful now, but after Thursday's interview, she would become frustrated and angry; she would realize that her world would not return to normal any time soon.