November 24th, 1994. Tuesday.
Selena sipped some of her pumpkin juice as she read Blood Brothers: My Life Amongst the Vampires by Eldred Worple, a book recommended by Elizabeth, which was propped up against golden, tiered platters of frosted cookies. Her blue eyes shifted over to the spot Wendy sat in, diagonal from her.
The blonde let the spoon in her hand drop into her bowl of cinnamon oatmeal as she watched Avery giggle at something Danny had just said.
Alisson nudged her. "Ooh - you're jealous..." she cooed.
"Ugh!" cried Wendy indignantly, looking away from the two. "Me? Jealous? Of - of Avery?"
Alisson scoffed. "Don't give me that rubbish. We know you like Danny."
"We?" Wendy said, arching an eyebrow to the point where it floated under her fringe.
"Me, Selena, Alisson, Hazel, Rolf, Tess, Elizabeth, even Annabeth Black," Renee listed the people on her fingers, gold bracelet jingling.
"I will have you know," Wendy said hotly, "I don't even get where you got that idea."
"From the way you glare at her in the corridors now? Or how you just glower whenever someone mentions Danny's name? See, see, like that!" Selena said, leaning forward over the edge of the Gryffindor table.
Wendy put a hand over her mouth and stood up. "Fine then," she said shortly. "I will see you at the First Task later. Right now, I'm going down to the Quidditch Pitch with other friends."
"Ok-ay," Alisson sang, following Wendy with her eyes. "Say bye to Danny on the way out, will you?"
Wendy shot her a venomous look as she hurried out of the Great Hall. Alisson laughed when Wendy dissipated around the corner.
"Chaos is so fun to make."
Selena sighed, shaking her head. "Wendy isn't fooling anyone anymore." She turned a page in her book, skimming the top of a paragraph. Just as she went to take another sip of spiced pumpkin juice, someone plopped down beside her in a start.
Tess grabbed a fork from the tabletop, scooping fluffy eggs on a plate before she began to eat voraciously. "Alright, am I the only one worried about Potter?" She asked through a mouthful of food. "What if the task is something where you have to know class material that only Seventh Years know?"
"Well hello to you too," Alisson greeted, eyeing Tess with slight disgust.
Glancing at her, Tess gave an apologetic look before she gulped down her food loudly. "Sorry. Hullo, everyone! Good morning! You all seem quite calm considering the first portion of the known to be deadly Triwizard Tournament is about to begin. Harry is fourteen, he isn't even supposed to be in the competition! How can I be the only person thinking about this? What if the competition is too difficult or advanced for him?"
"Could be," Anne said, sliding into Wendy's seat. She looked slightly pale - even more so than usual - herself. "Who knows what Mr. Crouch planned for this. I'm just worried over something else..."
"What?" Selena asked, abandoning her book once again. She watched her cousin, fiery locks slightly frizzy, eyes downcast. Anne picked at her maroon jumper sleeve.
"It's not much..." she said, and then murmured something to herself that sounded like "they could've been going to find unicorns again."
Selena didn't question this and, instead, smiled. She didn't want to see Anne so nervous. "Well, I am very excited for this! I think there's enough teachers around to keep things safe, they wouldn't let something serious happen to any of the Champions. Especially Dumbledore. You know, it's the first time that the Triwizard Tournament has happened in about... a long time." She gave a sheepish smile, blanking on the amount of decades since the last competition.
"That is a long time, Sel," Alisson replied sarcastically.
"Seriously!" Selena chirped happily. "I mean... just think. The First Task could really be anything! Maybe they'll have to ride a griffin through an aerial course, or duel a troll, or go hiking in the mountains to retrieve something... isn't it exciting?"
"Yep," Tess said, "it is; but on the other hand, it's extremely dangerous too. People have died in this competition! Died, Selena!"
Selena pouted and uselessly flipped the next page in front of her.
Suddenly, Seamus Finnigan ran up to the table, sandy hair as messy as ever. "I just put 10 sickles on Krum winning. Anyone else wanting to bet?"
Anne laughed. "I'll wager you fifteen sickles on Harry."
Seamus grinned impishly. "Done!"
Tess scowled. "You shouldn't bet."
2 Hours Later
"What do you think they're doing in that tent?" Sasha asked, holding a pair of binoculars to her face. Selena figured she'd borrowed them from Professor Hagrid, judging by the oversize glass lenses. Peering over at the tent, Sasha was asking after the Champions who had vanished inside some time ago.
Selena shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe they're about to bring out their opponent?" She was guessing on her troll-duel theory.
"Yeah, well they should hurry up and start this First Task," Wendy grumbled, sitting down on a wooden bench, bundled up in a coat and pom-pom hat.
Selena shivered as the frigid wind whipped around her. The day was turning out to be colder than most Scottish November's, the grey sky bruised in purple clouds. All of Hogwarts (not to mention the two visiting schools) were in the Forbidden Forest. The teachers had built a circular stadium, wooden stands ringing a rocky arena for the event. Oddly, in the center, there were large ovals all grouped together with a single one glimmering gold in the dull sunshine. Selena shuddered again, snuggling her chin into her scarf. She'd wrapped herself in two sweaters and a wool cloak, but it didn't seem to be doing much.
The crowd of people chattered expectantly nonetheless, talking excitedly to one another. Well, nearly everyone. Being this high up in the stands made Hazel say things such as "I feel like we're going to die!"
Selena jumped as she heard a cannon sound and turned to find a silvery-blue dragon emerging into the arena, leathery wings unfurling. Selena's dark eyebrows rose in surprise. Dragons? The First Task involved dragons?
She stared in amazement as the creature shook its head, baring razor-sharp teeth. Selena knew that dragons lived in Britain, but she'd never seen one in person before. She didn't even mind that her theory was wrong - the large creature before them, talons scraping against the rock as it headed towards the ovals, was much better than a troll.
"Ooh!" Bronwen said. "I've heard of this dragon! It's called the Swedish Short-Sn-"
Alisson shushed her, rapt with attention, gripping the wooden railing.
Bronwen frowned.
Selena grinned, elbowing her Ravenclaw friend lightly. "Look! It's Cedric Diggory!"
Alisson looker over at them, blue eyes blazing with excitement. "I want to see Cedric get beaten by this dragon! He doesn't stand a chance!"
"He might," Wendy replied thoughtfully. "He can probably move quicker than Viktor Krum."
Selena shrugged. She watched as Cedric carefully stepped around some rocky outcroppings, yellow-and-black Hufflepuff vest standing out. The snarling dragon was now standing guard close to the ovals, which Selena realized were eggs.
Cedric waved his wand, casting a nonverbal spell. Suddenly, a charcoal-colored boulder near him swirled and smeared into several shades. A Labrador appeared, barking. It took off running across the arena, the dragon watching it. Dashing behind a rock, Cedric started to head in the direction the dragon faced away from. As the Labrador barked again, the dragon opened its jaws.
A jet of azure flames flew towards the dog, missing it by inches. The crowd screamed with surprise and thrill. Selena beamed at Bronwen, the heat from the dragon's fire warming the air for a few seconds.
"Hey, everyone!"
Selena looked over towards the direction of the familiar voice and found Danny heading towards the group of friends, Avery walking behind him.
"Hi," Elizabeth began, noticing the new face. "I'm Elizabeth Hearts. But you can call me Liz."
Avery nodded. "Lovely to meet you, Liz. I'm Avery."
Wendy didn't glance over once. "We know who you are," she snapped.
Avery's smile faltered. Danny frowned, staring at his best friend for a moment before he glanced back at Avery. "Anyway, this is Tess, and you've met Renee and Selena and Alisson. You know Sasha of course - hello, Sasha - and Bronwen and Hazel. Wait, where's Rolf?"
Wendy pointed to the person sitting in about five coats clutching a rabbit. "He's right there."
Rolf waved a bit and then returned to shivering.
Avery pointed down at the arena as the crowd cheered loudly. "He got the dragon's golden egg!"
Sure enough, when Selena looked, she saw Cedric triumphantly holding the golden egg, running back across the stadium. However, she noticed that half of his face was turning a cherry-red, Cedric grimacing in pain. Alisson caught her confused look.
"He got burned," she explained. "The dragon went after him, not the Lab, a few seconds ago."
Determined not to miss any more of the First Task, Selena watched closely as Fleur Delacour went up again an emerald dragon (which Bronwen called a Common Welsh Green.) The French girl had cast a charm to put the dragon to sleep. It seemed like this was going to work, until the dragon ended up snorting in its sleep. Then Fleur's powder-blue skirt was on fire. Still, she got the golden egg and left the arena victorious.
Viktor Krum's opponent was a Chinese Fireball, which Selena recognized from a poster back in her brother's room. The smaller dragon was red, with gold around its face, and a fireball shaped like a mushroom. Viktor nearly had the golden egg without any problems, but the dragon ended up destroying its own eggs before he could get the golden egg.
Finally, the last dragon emerged. A hush nearly fell over the stadium, teachers and students alike stunned. This massive dragon was different from the rest, more menacing and fearsome. It had black scales and yellow eyes, bronze spikes and horns covering it. The dragon snaked across the arena on its legs, screeching to the point where some kids covered their ears.
Selena traded a horrified look with her friends. This was what Harry Potter, the youngest Champion, was up against? Suddenly Tess' concerns seemed much more valid.
Harry appeared seconds later, glasses glinting. He was clad in scarlet-and-black, wand clutched in his hand as he surveyed the arena. As the shock wore off the crowd, the Gryffindors began to yell and cheer. Anticipation bubbled in Selena's stomach, the stadium getting louder as Harry stepped around the rocks. The dragon (Elizabeth called it a Hungarian Horntail) watched the boy, eyes narrowed.
Like most of the Gryffindors, Anne was cheering nearby. Selena quirked an eyebrow in her direction.
Anne shrugged. "What? We're broken up, but we're still friends. And no way do I want someone else to win this competition."
Selena laughed and found someone tapping on her shoulder.
She peered over to see Damon grinning, silver-and-emerald Slytherin scarf wrapped around his neck. "Hi."
"Hi," Selena said happily. She looked at Wendy, who was busy screaming with the rest of the crowd as the Hungarian Horntail breathed fire, Harry leaping behind a boulder.
Damon grinned, looking at the arena, then back. "Best. Game. Ever."
Selena laughed again and he smiled. "So," he said, "want to go over here?" He nodded to an empty bench, a little ways away from Tess, Alisson and Wendy, and closer to Hazel and Rolf.
"I bet Neil three galleons that the dragon would burn at least one of them." He held out his hand, revealing ten golden coins .
Selena shook her head. "I still feel bad for Cedric."
Damon smiled and looked at Selena, blue eyes bright.
Selena shivered and forced herself to look away. Just the wind... she thought. Only the wind...
Later That Night
Wendy cheered, jumping on the plush couch, celebrating with the rest of the Gryffindors. All of the students were crowded in the Common Room, laughing and pushing one another as Harry Potter grinned, sitting above everyone, lifted by the Weasley Twins.
Selena giggled, standing on her tip-toes to see. It had been close, but Harry had gotten the golden egg from the Hungarian Horntail. Harry had summoned his broom, getting the dragon to fly up some, away from the eggs. When it was distracted enough, he swooped in and took the golden treasure. Not only that, he tied with Viktor Krum at forty points.
He held the large shining egg in his palms. "You want me to open it?" he asked the crowd.
"Yes!" Selena yelled with everybody else, laughing beside Elizabeth.
Harry twisted the clasp at the top of the golden egg. A shrill scream worthy of a banshee pierced the air, cutting into Selena's ears. She pressed her palms against the sides of her head, barely noticing as Harry fell.
He shut the fake egg and everyone tentatively uncovered their ears, watching as Harry panted, staring at the golden egg.
"Alright..." one of the Weasley Twins said after a few moments of shocked silence. "return to your knitting..."
Woo-hoo! Done!
I would have updated earlier, but I kind of got... stuck? I'm not sure what it was. Anyways, it's up. And I was thinking of putting in 2 or 3 filler chapters until the next task.
I AM TAKING SUGGESTIONS! I will check my plans (my head) for anything, but I am open to a character or something you guys would like to see happen!
Well, I'll update soon!
Thanks for reading, and now that I think about it... this is a sort-of long chapter. =]
~Meghan
A/N update: Look up some quotes from the Saints, or Bible verses, or both! They are lovely to read! Remember how much Jesus loves you, okay?
I changed something because I'd taken a line's joke from something else.
