*I'm here crying cause of this massive stomach ache I have. Maybe its because of the upcoming election... Anyhoo, enjoy this chapter!"
The bell rang at midday on the day of the first task. Clara giddily got up from the lunch table. She flashed a smile at Luna and Ginny.
"And the time has finally arrived!" Clara squealed.
Luna smiled airily. "Ah, yes."
"We'd better get moving," Ginny said. "We need head out to the stadium. Oh, I hope Harry–" she faltered, "I hope Harry or Cedric wins," she said quickly. Her face was almost as red as her hair.
"Hm, I would quite like either Harry or Cedric to win as well," Luna said in her sing-sing voice.
"Anyone from Hogwarts," Clara injected.
"Yeah," the three girls agreed.
As they walked out into the packed hallway– they noticed Ron and Hermione pushing their way through the crowd.
Clara forced herself through to Hermione's side.
"Oh, hello," Hermione said shakily.
"Hi. So, how's Harry. I heard that he and John, er and you of course, worked on the Summoning Spell–"
"Sh!" Hermione said sharply. Clara raised an eyebrow. Hermione looked at Ron for a second, who had rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry, it's just that… Well, I haven't told anyone. John just can't keep his mouth shut, now can he?" Her eyes flickered in Ron's direction, who luckily did not catch on.
Oh. So Hermione was worried that Ron, because of his feud with Harry, would somehow cause Harry to lose. Probably why she didn't tell Ron of her plan.
"Come on," Ron said gruffly, grabbing hold of Hermione's arm. "Let's go–"
Hermione forced her arm out sharply. "Don't grab me, Ronald. Honestly, have you no manners?" She however, did oblige, and walked off with Ron out of the school, throwing her head back to give Clara an apologetic grimace.
Clara, left to stand in the middle of a mob sighed. Ginny and Luna appeared by her side.
"Thought we lost you," they breathed.
"No matter how hard you try, you can't lose me," Clara said.
They walked out to the cool, brisk air. There was an immense amount of cheering coming from all the three schools. Perhaps moreso from Hogwarts and Durmstrang than Beauxbatons. Nevertheless, the air was filled with crackling sounds– no doubt a Weasley Twin's gimmick. There were a lot of black and yellow flashes, which faintly resembled a bee. Almost all the Gryffindors were cheering for Harry in red and gold, but the other ¾ of the school supported Cedric Diggory.
Clara had decided to be bipartisan and wear a red and gold plaid skirt, and a yellow sweater with black cuffs. Ginny had laughed at her outfit, but Clara quite liked the odd look.
Teachers led the students to the stadium. Clara, Ginny and Luna sat down near Hermione and Ron. Someone pushed Clara's back.
"Oi! Watch it!" She said, as she turned around. John was seated behind her, his eyes looking a bit redder than usual.
"Oh," said Clara. "We missed you today. Professors are not going to be happy with you skipping class this morning–"
"Yep, whatever," John yawned.
Clara knit her eyebrows together. "Are you okay?"
"Fine, just need a coffee…"
"Did the John Smith just grow up?" Clara mocked.
John gave a confused look. "What? No. I don't understand how me wanting coffee all of a sudden makes me an adult, or for that matter, mature. I simply was craving the bitter heaven of coffee, to heighten my senses and keep me alert! Today is the day Clara. Today we find out whether or not the Harry Potter is as tough as he is said to be."
Pursing her lips for a second, Clara said, "We were there when Harry defeated the Basilisk, and uh– Tom Riddle, AKA Voldemort, when he fought off Peter Pettigrew and we travelled in time."
John scoffed, "Do you really think Harry Potter would've made it without my help?"
"I certainly think so," Clara said, half-smiling. Though, she was wondering the same thing… She straightened. "Sorry, just had a thought–"
"Something new, I take it," John said.
Clara ignored him and continued, "Do Scottish people like coffee? Or do they prefer tea? I always thought of coffee as being an American thing, and tea being English. Though, donuts could be referred to as American…"
"Is that seriously what you were thinking of," John asked clearly unimpressed.
"What? I'm nervous! Harry's gonna be facing certain death!"
"No, because with my help Harry's gonna be prepared for the dragon–"
"Dragon? You didn't tell me about a dragon! You said he was just learning a Summoning Charm! Why didn't you mention the dragon?"
"I didn't think it was important," John replied simply.
Ginny and Luna turned around as well. "Wait, so Harry's gonna fight a dragon?" Ginny asked, seemingly panicked. "Isn't that super deadly?"
"Not if you live," John pointed.
"Oh, don't worry about the negatives!" Luna advised, though she too looked a little worried.
John spread his arms in Luna's direction. "Thank you! Everybody just thinks of the negatives!"
"John, all you are is a negative," Clara said.
"Ah, but a negative times a negative is a positive!" John retorted.
"Where are your other negatives then?" Ginny snorted.
"I don't know. Somewhere in Shakespearean England, perhaps," John answered matter-of-factly. "Maybe Bristol? You can definitely find me in Glasgow."
"Oh my God," Clara said, exasperated. Clara opened her mouth, but there was the sound of trumpets that filled the air, and Clara could see that a golden egg had been set on a stone in the arena.
Bagaman walked out and waved to the crowds, which erupted into cheer. Ginny and Luna clapped, while Clara gave an annoyed glance at John.
"Welcome, welcome!" Bagman said loudly, his voice amplified by a charm. "Today, we are witnessing history, in the renewed Triwizard Tournament!" More cheers. "Our contestants, Cedric Diggory, Fleur Delacour, Viktor Krum, and Harry Potter," there were fewer cheers for Harry, "will fight an epic battle today. Matched by no other. They have all selected four different dragons, that they will try to get past in order to collect the Golden Egg!" Bagaman continued to ramble on about rules and such, but Clara couldn't help but have a sinking feeling in her stomach.
The sound of blaring trumpets went off again, and Cedric Diggory walked out of the tent the champions were situated in. The crowd went wild, to say the least.
Clara clapped, but her smile faded when she saw the blueish-grey dragon emerge. It sniffed, and made an odd roaring noise, and the stands went silent for an odd second.
Then, Cedric bound into life. He ran across the rough terrain of rocks, attempting to get to the egg. The dragon lifted its tail, and planted it right down in front of Cedric's path. He cast a spell, however it simply sparked purple against the dragon's hide. Bagman continued with his commentary, but Clara couldn't pay attention to him. This seemed quite rough, and Clara was briefly reminded of when she read somewhere about the Roman gladiators who fought in the Coliseum. Sometimes, they fought against lions.
Wrinkling her nose, Clara put the thought aside.
Cedric jumped around for a good fifteen minutes, and at that halfway mark Clara was gripping her seat in panic. There was a screech from the dragon, and Cedric fell on bloodied up his face. However, Cedric was finally able to climb the large rock in which the golden egg was perched upon, and claim the egg.
Clara clapped and cheered, mainly in relief. Though, she had to admit that it was fun to watch.
Nect, Fleur Delacour came out. She had lost her composed, elegant air, and it was replaced with the unmistakable stench of fear. Clara wondered if the green dragon Fleur would face could sense the same.
Whatever this dragon was, it didn't seem to be as harsh as Cedric's. Sure, Fleur did fumble (her skirt caught fire) here and there, but she had managed to get the egg in ten minutes.
More band music, and Viktor Krum marched out, all surly and bold. Clara could see how he was handsome, though he seemed much too scary for Clara's taste.
Krum's dragon was red and fire-breathing. Clara winced, as at one point she was sure that Krum was literally toast, but he had cast a spell just in time. Krum rolled around, did some fantastic moves, and got the egg fabulously. If by fabulously you meant sooty, red-skinned and sweaty, then yes: fabulously.
And finally, Harry walked out shakily. Clara heard Ginny suck in a breath, and John murmured something unintelligible.
Harry raised his wand. Nothing happened. Clara heard John grunt in disapproval, and saw Hermione clench Ron's arm, to which he awkwardly received.
Clara really wished she could relieve the feeling of dread rising in the pit of her stomach. And there it was, in a flash.
Harry mounted his Firebolt hastily, while Bagman yelled something to the crowd.
"Holy shit," Clara muttered.
Hermione stood up and cheered, as did many others. Harry swerved and dived expertly, which seriously impressed Bagman.
"Great Scott! This boy can fly! Hear that, Mr. Ktum?"
"Doc Brown's got it right!" Clara yelled. "Best Gryffindor Seeker!" She cheered and clapped some more. Clara could barely notice the pain in her throat from all the yelling. Or the watery nose she was developing from the cold. Or the fact that her fingers had gone numb.
The dragon spewed fire, and even struck Harry once with its back spines. Clara bit her lip in worry. Harry seemed to be taunting the dragon in a way. He circled it, keeping a far away distance that it wouldn't burn him to bits. Then, the dragon gave in. It raised it leathery, black wings, and left its egg unguarded for a mere second. Harry dived and retrieved the egg in a moment's notice.
The stands erupted into cheer once more, as Harry had done the task in the shortest amount of time. He was led away by a swarm of teachers to be checked out by a nurse.
"Let's go," John said to Clara. "I want to see how my work paid off."
Clara rolled her eyes knowing that John probably didn't help at all, and was just a nuisance– but agreed. She stumbled her way down the steps to the tents where she bumped into Ron and Hermione looking for Harry too.
They darted inside a tent, and Hermione quickly wrapped Harry in a large hug. "Oh, you were brilliant!"
"Thanks to my help," John interjected.
"Shut up," Clara commanded. She turned toward Harry. "That was a pretty amazing job." She was very quiet though, when she noticed Ron fiddling with his jacket and his face ghostly white.
"Er," he said seriously, "whoever put your name in the goblet must've wanted for you to–"
"Caught on, have you?" Harry said coldly. Clara slumped in disappointment. "Took you long enough."
The air was very still and cold, Ron opened his mouth but Harry cut him off. "It's fine, forget it."
"But–"
"Forget it!" Harry said, though his voice was lighter and he was giving a small smile. Ron grinned back, and Hermione finished the moment by bursting into tears.
"Holy Sisters of Khan," muttered John as rolled his eyes at Hermione's reaction.
"There's nothing to cry about!" Harry said, utterly confused.
"You were both so stupid!" Hermione cried. Though, she rushed forward and gave Harry and Ron a large hug.
"We should go…" Clara whispered to John.
"What? And miss my favourite TV show?" John asked, with mocked horror. Or, at least it seem like mockery. You could never know with John.
Hermione pulled back, and dabbed her eyes. She looked at John and Clara and an embarrassed flush stained her face.
"S-sorry," she said.
Clara smiled, "No problem. I am also very glad that you two are back to being mates. I mean, the angry testosterone levels in the air… I nearly passed out."
Ron raised an eyebrow, and Harry scratched his hair. Clara immediately felt embarrassed, and decided to say no more.
The five decided to check the scores for Harry, sure that he had won. Ron explained all the way through what had occurred.
"–and Cedric Transfigured a stone into a god, and it kind of worked–"
They watched as the four judges streamed their scores out of ten into the air.
… 8
… 9
… 9
… 10
… 4
Clara cheered for Harry, though Karkaroff's four seemed to be downplaying the actual situation. But, Harry was tied for first place with Krum.
Clara walked with John to meet up with Luna and Ginny, and Clara smiled faintly at the day. Afterall, today was the 24th of November, just the day after her birthday. A large event with magic and dragons was a great gift, in Clara's opinion.
And so, Clara Oswald laughed as she talked to her closest friends, whom had all yesterday given her happy 14th birthday wishes. Clara Oswald also forgot the nagging feeling that the number 14 just wasn't quite right, and that something big was headed her way.