Miranda stared into the fire, blue eyes unfocused

One day, I'll get better at this updating thing. Haha. ANYWAY! This is the long-awaited First Task. I've had this task and the other three planned out for over two years now. This is the next to last chapter in this installment, and I hope you readers out there will continue reading the second part, Destines Sealed. I'm hoping to NOT ignore that one for a year.

Thank you all for your continued support!

This chapter is dedicated to Dani, Billy, Trevor, and Cait, for being absolutely amazing. Although, they are the reason this chapter took me so long.


Miranda sighed and threw off her blankets, giving up on trying to sleep. She glanced at her alarm clock. 5:17. She'd been tossing and turning for almost six and a half hours. Giving a small growl of frustration, she walked silently down to the Ravenclaw common room. Empty, good. She wasn't much in the mood for pretending.

Ever since Anne's death, she'd been trying to pretend that everything was dandy so that Hogwarts had a solid champion to unite behind. But, in the four days leading up to the task, her carefully woven façade was growing thin. She'd avoided the Great Hall like the plague and, consequentially, was beginning to resemble a skeleton. She also had deep bags under her eyes from four straight sleepless nights. Overall, she was a wreck by Miranda standards.

There's a reason that goblet picked me, she kept telling herself. I have something it was looking for. That didn't help, though, knowing she possessed an unnamed quality. How was she supposed to display something in front of almost a thousand students if she didn't even know what it was?

Her stomach growled loudly, making her wince. "Hush!" she commanded, glaring down at it. "You'll get fed after I get through that Task!" It growled back, as though in protest, before falling silent.

"Randa?"

Miranda jumped about seven feet in the air. She snatched up her wand and whirled, aiming her wand straight in between the chocolate-brown eyes of Will Sanches.

"Shit!" she yelled as she knocked over a chair, thankfully not waking anyone in the process. "Will! What do you think you're doing?!"

Will hung his head, making Miranda's stomach squirm with guilt. "Sorry. I just… I heard something shifting around down here, and after what happened to Anne…" he trailed off, and Miranda's heart went out to him. She'd forgotten that he'd been friends with Anne, too.

"I'm sorry I yelled," she apologized. "I'm just freaked out about today's Task." Sudden realization dawned on Will's face. "What?"

"The Task's today?"

"Yeah." Miranda was slightly annoyed; the Task was all anyone had talked about for days.

Suddenly, a wide grin spread across Will's face. When she asked him what was so amusing, he simply pointed toward the window and told her to look. She impatiently grabbed a pair of binoculars left overnight by a Second-Year, stalked over to the window, and peered down. She gasped.

There, contrasting harshly against the meticulously manicured lawn, sat three wobbly, three-story shacks. Next to each of these dwellings, stamped with each of the three schools' crest, were three large crates, each labeled…

"Ashwinders," she breathed, almost laughing in relief. Ashwinders were just a nuisance, nothing dangerous. She felt a huge weight roll off of her chest.

"Not just Ashwinders, Rands," said Will gravely. "I watched the officials bring them in last night. They've all got eggs."

The grin slowly slid off of Miranda's face. Ashwinder eggs, however, were dangerous. If left alone for too long, Ashwinder eggs could incinerate even the sturdiest house, let alone those haphazard shacks. She began to hyperventilate. Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit.

"How good are you with water spells?" Will asked, making Miranda laugh.

"Yeah, right," she snorted. Her laughed slowed as she realized why his head was cocked. She sighed. "When I was eight, I went on holiday with my parents to Hawaii. They were arguing, of course, and I decided to go swimming to get away from it. I was out there for maybe fifteen minutes when a current carried me out to sea. I almost drowned. A woman in a boat rescued me. Turns out, that's my sister's mother. But I've been terrified of water ever since."

Will looked thoughtful. He pointed his wand at the fire in the grate and muttered, "Immobulous!"

The fire froze.

"Perfect," he whispered, smiling happily.

"Except that I can't do that spell," muttered Miranda dejectedly. Will perked up again nevertheless.


Three and a half hours later, Miranda and Will stood in Professor Flitwick's empty classroom surrounded by immobilized objects. Will smiled at her from across the room.

"One more time, Randa, ready?" he asked, holding up a small toy broomstick. She nodded and held out her wand in front of her. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The broom rose out of his outstretched hand and began to zoom around the room. Miranda allowed it to do three complete circuits before shouting, "Immobulous!" The broomstick froze before clattering down on top of a rather shabby couch. Will clapped and cheered enthusiastically, making her smile and blush.

"Fantastic! You've got this, Miranda. You should probably head down there, it's fifteen til. Want me to walk you down?" he asked as he hugged her, jubilant. She nodded, wishing she could join in on his ecstatic mood.

Will might have faith in her, but she herself did not. Sure, she could do the spell in a controlled environment with Will encouraging her, but that bore almost no resemblance to what she was about to face. A toy broom was nothing like a raging fire. What if she waved her wand, said the spell, but nothing happened? What if she froze, forgetting what to do?

The walk to the front door and down to the champion's tent was a silent one, filled, for Miranda at least, with what-ifs and second thoughts. By the time she said goodbye to Will, which was really her nodding awkwardly to his call of "Good luck!" as he raced toward the stands, she was a shaking wreck on the verge of tears.

"Miss Martine!" Barty Crouch called, hurrying over. "Finally. Come in, come in. We're just going over the finer points of today's Task. Our third champion's here!" he called back into the tent as he steered her inside.

Miranda felt her knees begin to give, so she threw herself on a nearby chair. As great of a teacher as Will was, and despite how encouraging he'd been, she wished she could've spent at least ten minutes with Remus and her friends. They, especially Remus, were extremely good at calming her nerves.

"Welcome, champions!" boomed a rather squat man standing next to Crouch. "My name is Victor Bagman. Miranda, you might know my son, he graduated from here a year ago." She shook her head. "No? Oh well. Anyway, as you saw while you were coming in, we have three shacks built, one for each of you. Ol' Bart here will pass around a small bag. You'll pick out your order and we'll be off." He clapped his hands excitedly, causing some of the officials in the tent to wince. "Right-o, Bart, let's get to it."

Barty Crouch, who Miranda had always seen looking perfectly jovial, looked distinctly ruffled as he opened a small silk bag in front of Annalise Riele. Miranda smiled gently at her; she looked like Miranda felt: scared. Her delicate pale hand dipped in and pulled out a number: two.

"Next, Mr Fulke," Barty murmured, moving over to the Beauxbatons champion. Miranda couldn't help but smile as he stuffed his hand into the bag. Maybe it was her preconceived notion that all of the Beauxbatons boys were attractive, but he looked even better than she would've expected with the pale tinge to his face. His sandy blonde hair fell over his eyes as he pulled out a slip of paper and held it up: one.

"Which leaves Miss Martine." Miranda felt all of the air in the tent fly out in a whoosh! She knew which number was left. She pulled it out and held it up: three.

"Right-o!" he said again, clapping Crouch on the back. Miranda's hands began to shake wildly. "I believe this is very self-explanatory. Mr Fulke, you're up first! You are to go through the house, making sure you freeze every single egg. Only then will a special bronze egg appear. Collect that egg, and exit the house. On the gong, then…" and he hurried out. After a slightly harried glance at the three champions, Crouch hurried out after him. There was a brief moment of silence, in which Miranda and Annalise shared a terrified glance, before Victor Bagman's voice was piercing through the din of the thousand plus students gathered in the stands.

"Ladies and gentleman! Welcome to the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament!" He allowed the applause to roar for less than a minute before continuing. "Today, our three champions will be facing something terrifying and wit-strengthening! Up first, the Beauxbatons champion, Mr Tyson Fulke!" Somewhere, a gong sounded, and Tyson was off, leaving Annalise and Miranda alone.

Bagman's commentary left a lot to be imagined. Even though she knew he couldn't see exactly what was going on in the shack, Miranda still couldn't help but imagine that every single "ooh" and "what a snap!" was flames licking at Tyson, catching his clothes and hair on fire. What seemed like a lifetime later, Bagman was yelling out that Tyson had completed his Task.

Miranda glanced over at Annalise, watching the little color left in her face drain. She stood, shakily, and stood next to the mouth of the tent. Another gong, then: "Miss Annalise Riele!"

Annalise's Task passed in pretty much the same fashion. Miranda, about halfway through, stood and began to pace all around the tent. She went over the spell and all of her successes in her mind, very methodically, trying to boost her confidence. She knew there was no way she'd be able to perform the spell any other way. In what seemed like no time, Bagman was screaming, "Miss Riele has returned with the egg! That was remarkable! Now, for Miss Martine!"

The gong boomed. Miranda took a deep breath, steadied herself, and stepped out.

A wave of cheers greeted her as she walked over to her shack. She squinted up, trying to find her friends. It was futile. All of the faces blended into one as she sighed and gave up. She looked toward the official standing next to her building, and he nodded. She closed her eyes, steeled herself, and darted forward.

She stopped short when she got inside. The shack looked exactly like her rooms back in her father's mansion. She saw something orange flit under one of the violet couches, and immediately hurried over. Using her wand, she flipped over the couch and saw a glowing snake. I'm so glad Ashwinders glow. "Immobulous!" she yelled, grabbing a nearby umbrella and hacking it into pieces. It turned to dust the moment she pulled the umbrella away.

"There goes Mama," she whispered to herself, smiling as she quoted her sister. "Now for babies."

She quickly inspected the room she was in before heading into the small, cramped kitchen. She found an egg in the oven, and one in the trash can, covered up by paper. Thank god I found that one; that could've caught the entire house on fire in a flash. She dashed up the stairs, immobilizing one egg in the corner, before checking the two bedrooms and tiny bathroom.

That's when she smelled the smoke.

"Shit!" she whispered, throwing herself up the stairs. She opened the door to the attic and was blown backwards by a solid wall of fire. She scrambled up, taking a deep breath to center herself, and aimed her wand at the flames. "Immobulous!"

The first few feet of fire froze, giving Miranda's confidence a little boost. She waved her wand, making the frozen fire Vanish, before continuing this process with the next batch of flames. It was a slow process, for sure, but effective. She barely felt when her sleeve caught on fire, burning her. However, she didn't care. She just Froze and Vanished the pesky fire before moving on.

"Holy shit, she whispered, coming in sight of the cause of the fire: a nest of four eggs. She hurried along with the process, trying to rush to get the eggs under control. Eventually, all that separated her from the nest was a thin wall of fire.

"Immobulous!" she whispered, voice hoarse from shouting. She flicked her wand once more, Vanishing the flames. "Gotcha." She bent, scooping the eggs into her arms. Shifting all of the weight of the eggs to her left side, she pointed her wand at the floor and concentrated. Suddenly, an ice box popped up out of nowhere. She put the four eggs inside, glancing around for the bronze it.

There, glittering in the corner, it was.

She grabbed it, the ice box, and her wand, and bolted for the door. She made it outside in what she considered record time. It was a relief to finally hear Bagman's voice.

"Miss Martine's done it! Now our judges will deliberate…"


"Ladies and gentlemen!" Victor Bagman boomed above the crowd. It had been fifteen minutes since Miranda had been released from the Infirmary tent, and she was now settled safely in between Remus and Alyssa. "We have the results!

"In third place, having completed the Task in the slowest time, Mr Tyson Fulke!" The Beauxbatons students went wild. "In second place, Miss Miranda Martine!" Miranda glowed as her friends cheered louder than anyone. "And in first, Miss Annalise Riele! Our Second Task will take place on the twenty-fifth of February at eleven in the morning. Enjoy the rest of your day!"


So, the First Task.
How was it?

-irishphoenix615

Thanks to my reviewers:
Blue-Eyed Chica: Thank you for the continued support! Thanks for the review.
Brianna24: I tried to make this one a little longer. Thanks for the review.
Lilyevans-Luvs-Jamespotter: Yeah, Sirius acts a bit more like Sirius in the next part. I just was so sick of the "man-whore-bad-boyfriend" image. And the Peter thing is explained later on. Thanks for the review!
Purplepanties: Yes it would! Thanks for the review!
Vartan-LoVer: I wish I could kill him off. However, he is crucial. You really do ask all the right questions. The Maurader's Map gets explained in the next part. Thanks for the review!