"Welcome everyone!" greeted the former Beater, smiling widely at the crowd before him. "In a few minutes, the Second Task will begin and I'm sure all of you are wondering what it is they're going to do this time!" The crowd cheered loudly in response, causing an already energetic atmosphere to grow bigger.
"Our chosen champions -" He gestured to the three students standing on the wooden platform, "will go down the Black Lake to retrieve the person very important to them within the time limit." Ron noticed that the Beauxbatons champion, Fleur Delacour, paled considerably upon hearing this.
"The one who managed to accomplish this first will have an advantage for the Third Task!" The cheers increased and Bagman grinned wider at the spectacle.
"The Second Task will begin in three - two - one - NOW!"
Both Cedric Diggory and Fleur Delacour pulled out their wands, pointed it at themselves until a bubble formed around their head. "That's the Bubble-Head Charm," said a sixth year Ravenclaw who sat not far from Ron.
As for Viktor Krum, he did something others didn't expect: he transfigured his head to a shark. The general female student population were shocked to say the least, but the male students were in awe.
"That's bloody brilliant!" shouted a second year, those who heard him seemed to agree.
All three of them jumped in the Black Lake, and the audience rooted for their champion loudly. "And now they're swimming down under…and we have no idea what they're doing." said Ron sarcastically. "Did any of them ever bothered to ask where Potter is?" Since no one answered, he scowled. "I guess minus points for him."
Ten minutes later, Theodore drawled to him, "There's your answer."
Running toward the Black Lake was no other than Harry Potter and there was no doubt that he didn't get much sleep judging with the clothes he was currently wearing which he remembered were the clothes he wore yesterday. "And here's our last champion, Mr. Potter!" roared Bagman in delight, catching everyone's attention. "Time is running out -"
"No need to remind me that!" snapped the Boy-Who-Lived and began to undress, much to everyone's amusement.
"I can't believe he's doing that in public," said Daphne while shaking her head.
"I have no doubt it'll be on the first page of the Daily Prophet," said Ron bemusedly. Only in his shorts, Harry took out a slimy ball which seemed to be a made out up green worms.
What the bloody hell is -? Much to Ron's shock, he and the rest of the crowd saw Harry eat it and dive in the Black Lake, leaving everyone with a lot of questions and a lot of talk about.
"What did he just eat?" asked Ginny in confusion.
"It's Gillyweed," answered Luna dreamily. "Once consumed, it can give you gills and webbed hands and feet. But it can only last for an hour."
"That's good to know but I'd like to remind myself this: They're all under the lake and we can't see them doing anything. This task is stupid."
"Don't complain too much, Ronald," admonished Daphne. "There's the time limit. So the best part is to see who gets to finish the task first. Also, we get to know who their most important person is. It's worth talking about."
"I still think it's stupid," said the redhead Slytherin flatly, crossing his arms.
After fifteen to twenty minutes, one of the champions resurfaced and the crowd began making noise. Ron squinted his eyes and was surprised to see Fleur Delacour but it seemed she was with no one. "Miss Delacour is the first to get back but without the hostage she's supposed to retrieve from the bottom of the lake!" announced Bagman. "That will affect her standing, unfortunately…"
"I need to get back!" panted the Beauxbatons champion as she struggled to dive in the Black Lake; However, the staff were holding her back.
"Champions who got back to the surface without their appointed hostage will not be allowed to continue the task!" informed Bagman to everyone.
"But my sister -" stammered Fleur. Ron, sitting in the stands felt rather sorry for her.
"Please calm yourself down, Miss Delacour," said Madam Pomfrey calmly to her as she wrapped a dry towel around her body. "You will get yourself a cold if you stay longer in the lake -"
"I don't care! Gabrielle -"
"You know, she seemed to care a deal lot for her sister," said Ginny slowly, watching the Beauxbatons champion from afar.
"Yeah, maybe," replied Ron, his focus began to waver as he stared at Fleur and began to admire her wet blonde locks as well as her distraught expression, which for him was amazing nonetheless.
Daphne noticed his behaviour and pinched him on the arm, earning a yelp from him. "You really can't help yourself, Ronald," she huffed.
He scowled at her, rubbing the part of the arm where she pinched him tenderly.
"So, have you had anything lately?" questioned Theodore suddenly as he kept his tone low.
Ron knew he was asking whether or not he got any vision. He glanced around discreetly before shaking his head slightly. "Nothing, but there was something I overheard -" he stopped as soon as he saw Moody stationed at the foot of the stands, looking at menacing as ever. He saw the Defense professor moved his head up to face him, his magical eye momentarily fixated at his direction before whizzing around.
"What?" inquired Daphne.
"N-nothing, it's not worth it I guess." he said hastily, folding his arms and looking away. I can't seem to do anything with that bloody eye focusing on me like that.
Since Fleur came back, none of the other champions returned for the next thirty minutes until everyone realized that none of the champions made it back within the allotted time limit. "Time is up, ladies and gentlemen! It seems that the champions themselves were having a hard time retrieving their hostages," said Bagman, his wand pointed to his neck. "Of course this will affect their scores -"
Then one of the students shouted and pointed at the lake. "One of them's got back!" The rest of the audience cheered, regardless if from Hogwarts or from Durmstrang.
"The next one to return is no other than - Cedric Diggory!" The noise intensified, and Ron was sure he wasn't the only one who would be having hearing problems for the next few days. "And he's the first one who complete the task!" The students who seemed to be from the Badger House stood up and cheered even more, some stomping their feet while the rest tried to come down from the stands to approach Cedric and congratulate him personally. Hufflepuff head Pomono Sprout ushered them to behave, and they didn't leave the stands, but still let out cheers.
"Who's the one he …oh, of course it had to be her," said Daphne, rolling her eyes.
A portion of the female population began gossiping each other the moment the staff pulled Cho Chang out from the lake. Some of them were shooting glares at the Asian Ravenclaw. "Females are scary," Ron commented.
"You should've known that from the very beginning, Ronniekins," piped up Fred, patting Ron on the head since he was seated just behind him. "We have Mum and she's scary enough."
After Cedric, neither Viktor Krum nor Harry Potter followed until twelve minutes after, Viktor emerged with his transfigured head along with his hostage, "The second to finish the task is Viktor Krum!" said Bagman.
Ron squinted his eyes to see who the Bulgarian Seeker had rescued and was shocked just like the rest of the audience (particularly the admirers of Viktor Krum, and the pure-blooded bigots from the Slytherin House such as Draco Malfoy) that it was Hermione Granger. "I guess there's a lot going on between those two," mused Daphne while eyeing on the two from her seat. "What do you think?" she asked, her question directed at Ron.
"…probably," he answered absentmindedly, his attention laid on the two. Recently, he barely had any time to talk to Hermione due to a number of things he had to focus on, and for some reason he felt rather disappointed in himself for allowing this to happen. Wait, what? Why am I disappointed? I'm probably upset that I wasn't spending much time with her, just like with Luna and the others. He had other things to worry about, and he was sure it wouldn't be long until everything he foresaw would happen as he had seen it.
"It's been nearly twenty minutes," spoke Theodore.
"D'you think something happened to him?" asked Ginny in worry to Fred and George. It was obvious she was referring to Harry Potter.
"Possibly but who knows?" mused Fred, then glanced elsewhere.
"We're pretty sure Potter's not in trouble, he could get out of it," added George with a faint steely tone, tilting his head to another direction where Fred was looking at.
Ron found it odd just now that both the twins were a lot more secretive. He had also seen the same expression they wore, even on the Yule Ball now that he thought about it. He looked around his surroundings, trying to find out where their glares seemed to be thrown at and was surprised (and even confused) that it was Bagman who they were focusing on.
Before he could ask, crowds cheered once more as Harry resurfaced along with Neville and a young yet cute blonde girl. "Mr. Potter finally returned to the surface but unfortunately he didn't accomplish the task within the time limit!" announced Bagman loudly to the audience. "And he not only rescued his hostage, he also rescued Ms. Delacour's! That must be the reason why he took his time down under! And now we shall wait for the scores!"
"No wonder he was late," said Daphne amusedly. "I'm surprised why he even bothered taking the other hostage."
"Knowing Potter, he thought it was actually life-threatening and saved the other one thinking she'd die or something," muttered Ron to himself as he remembered his Second Year wherein the Boy-Who-Lived saved Ginny from the so-called Chamber of Secrets even if they were not friends.
Dumbledore strode to the Black Lake as the surface began to disrupt. An ugly-looking man with long greying hair and moustache similar to Dumbledore's stood tall with a spear held in his right hand. The two began to let out screeches and awful tones that irked the others while some were astounded. "He's a mermaid," said Luna dreamily. "They're speaking in Mermish."
"Do you understand what they're saying, Luna?" asked Ginny.
"No," replied Luna. "But I'm about to learn it this coming summer. It would be nice to speak a new language, especially when searching for new creatures underwater."
The Hogwarts headmaster approached the rest of the judges and said cordially, "A conference before we give the marks, I think." Then they all began to huddle in hushed whispers.
"So who do you think would be first place in this task?" asked Ginny to her friends.
"Diggory would be first, of course. He got back one minute after the time limit," said George without much thought.
"Then it might be Krum who'll be in second place," said Ron slowly. "Next would be Potter since he got his hostage -"
"And of course, the beautiful part-Veela Fleur Delacour is in last place because she got back without her hostage which is her younger sister," finished Fred.
Before they could even continue the conversation, Bagman's magnified voice boomed across the grounds, causing everyone to go silent. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows..." nearly everyone from the stands seemingly had held their breaths, waiting for the scores of the champions to be revealed. "Ms. Fleur Delacour, although she displayed excellent use of the Bubble-head Charm, was attacked by Grindylows and failed to retrieve her hostage. She received a total number of twenty-five points!" Everyone clapped their hands to the only female champion, while she looked as if she didn't deserve such a high score.
"To Cedric Diggory, as he was the first one to return with his hostage and showed great use of the Bubble-head Charm as well, we therefore award him forty-seven points!" the Hogwarts students (minus the Slytherins) cheered louder this time and the Hufflepuffs were delighted that Cedric Diggory was given the highest score.
"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration which was still effective and he was the second champion to get back with his hostage. Because of this, he earned a total of forty points.!" The famous Bulgarian Seeker earned loud cheers, especially coming from his fans and his schoolmates. "And to Harry Potter," paused Bagman, providing more dramatic effect. "He used Gillyweed quite effectively. He was the last champion to return one hour outside the time limit. However," he added, earning more curious looks from the crowd, "Merchieftainess Murcus informed us that he was the first one to arrive at the bottom of the lake, and his cause for delay was due to making sure that all hostages were taken back safety and not of his own."
Ron couldn't help but snort at this. "I knew it," he muttered under breath. From above, Neville and Hermione were seen giving half-exasperated looks from the Boy-Who-Lived who avoided their gaze.
"Most of the judges -" Bagman threw a ugly look at Karkaroff's direction, "felt that he should be given full marks because Mr. Potter showed moral fibre. However, he will be given forty-five points!" On the platform, Neville punched Harry lightly on the side while the other flushed in embarrassment. Harry, on the other hand, looked as if he couldn't believe what he just heard.
"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June!" informed Bagman in delight to everyone. "The champions will be notified of what is coming for them one month beforehand. Thank you for all of your support of the champions."
"Thank Merlin this is over," yawned Ron while stretching his arms. "It's boring compared to the First Task."
"I guess, it would've been better if we were able to see what was happening down there." said Ginny thoughtfully. She stood up, followed by Luna and the twins. "We should go back. It's almost lunchtime. I'm feeling rather hungry to be honest."
All of the Hogwarts students returned to the castle, with the Durmstrang students going inside the ship, and the Beauxbatons to their cabin. The champions were surrounded with reporters, badgering them with questions that were either related to the Second Task or not. Ron came to notice that Fred and George were no longer with him and began to look around. It didn't take long for him to find them due to the trademark Weasley hair and saw them making their way to where Bagman was standing.
What the bloody hell are they doing?
"Ronald, what are you looking over?" questioned Daphne, stopping for a moment as she grabbed Theodore by the arm. "It's almost lunchtime."
"Fred and George."
Theodore looked over his shoulder and saw the two, with Bagman trying to get away from the Weasley twins. "Tough luck on them." he said offhandedly.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I've heard from Father that it's wise not to make bets with someone like Ludo Bagman." he said smoothly.
"Why so? He seems to be a jolly one that anyone would like to talk with," thought Daphne. "Except for me, obviously."
"Unless it's about money," said the weedy teen abruptly, staring at the two unblinkingly.
It took a couple of seconds until Ron figured out what Theodore just insinuated. "Bloody hell!" he cursed. He grabbed Theodore by the collar and growled, "Are you telling me -?!"
"He fools everyone who bets by paying them with Leprechaun gold and once the victim finds out, they are unable to get their money back due to a number of 'official' documents provided but is most likely forged, not that everyone knows that," explained Theodore as he managed to make Ron let go and brushed his robes.
"Don't tell me that they betted all of their savings on the World Cup Final?" said Daphne with an eyebrow raised.
"Nah, they bet on a third of their savings but still, they could've used the earnings for expanding their business," shook Ron's head in response.
"What business?"
"Jokeshop," he answered curtly, still irritated. "They planned on making a business that will be more famous than Zonko's or something like that."
"That's ambitious. But considering their calibre," Daphne glanced over the pair, "I suppose they have what it takes to make it into that business." Then she looked as if something came over her: Her eyes gleamed and a smile appeared on her lips. "Say, if they're unable to get their earnings from Bagman, do you think they'd mind if I sponsor them to make their goals realized?" she asked sweetly.
Both Theodore and Ron stared at her. "What?"
Daphne rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "You heard me."
"You want to sponsor their jokeshop? Are you mental?" questioned Ron in disbelief. "Why the bloody hell you want to, huh?"
"Easy," she said in emphasis, "Firstly, there is potential. Secondly, they are quite smart - sure I heard that they only had three OWLs but surely they did it only purpose so that they could have more time to invent prank merchandise. Third, they're popular here at Hogwarts. Even us Slytherins can't deny that bit. And lastly, they are capable of making their business grow and not just here, but I could see it expand beyond England's borders."
"You're really dead set on this?" said the redhead, giving her a strange look.
"Why not? I know my money's not going to be wasted," she shrugged. "Don't worry though, I'll ask someone to represent myself to make the offer. At least I won't have to reveal myself so you can breathe easily, Ronald."
Ron considered her offer. "Fine," he said. "If by the time the Third Task arrives and they haven't got what they need from that old tosser, I'll tell them."
"Great, that ends the conversation. Let's go back," said Theodore in veiled sarcasm. Ron smacked him on the arm in response to which the weedy teen snorted in response. Daphne, who was watching them, shook her head.
Two weeks later and it was already March. The weather had gone drier and windy and for some students, it wasn't a good time to lounge at the grounds as they would find themselves being whipped by the wind. Ron noticed nearly everyone had their hands on the latest Witch Weekly edition. What was even more noticeable was the coloured photograph of Harry with the title read: Harry Potter's Secret Heartache.
He didn't need to read the content of the piece as Daphne was more than willing to tell him as if it was the most important matter in the wizarding world. "That was fast," whistled Ron with a small frown as he glanced the front pages of the magazine while making his way to the Transfiguration classroom.
"What's with that look? Jealous?" mused Daphne as she twirled her hair with a finger without looking at him.
"No," said Ron immediately, glaring at her. "I was just...I don't have to tell you anything." he said stubbornly before slipping into the nearest seat once they got inside the classroom. "It's nothing."
"You need to loosen up," Daphne replied, setting her bag beside and taking out her Transfiguration book out. "Whatever it is you're thinking about with those two, you shouldn't thinking about it too much. They're old enough to know and decide what they wanted to do."
The redhead shot his head up and an ugly shade of red spread across his face. "W-what in Merlin's stinking ragged knickers are you talking about?"
Daphne looked at him and covered her mouth to resist herself from laughing. "Look at yourself, haven't you thought of that?"
"T-that's not something I think about!" said Ron heatedly. Daphne shook her head and sat down before she took out her quill and ink pot from her bag.
"And what is that supposed to mean, Mr. Weasley?"
"I don't have the time of day to think something like shagging or -!" he stopped after he realized who questioned him. His blushed became deeper as he came face to face with Professor McGonagall who didn't seem very pleased with his outburst. "Professor!"
"I'd rather prefer if you express that train of thought outside the classroom, Mr. Weasley," said the Transfiguration professor sternly. The other students, the Ravenclaws and his fellow Slytherin housemates, snickered at his misfortune. "Ten points will be deducted from Slytherin -" the Slytherin students scowled at this, "- now do sit and behave."
"Yes ma'am." mumbled Ron, his ears red as he avoided everyone's gaze.
After an hour of lecture, Ron was the first to flee from the scene, pushing the students who were in his way, and ran as much as his long legs would take him until he ran out of breath.
"Damn that Daphne." he panted while leaning against the wall. He was downright embarrassed with what happened earlier in class and he hoped it would be the last. Her words irked him and thinking about it made him blush even more. He remembered summer last year after he got Daphne's letter; he was forced to have a very embarrassing conversation between himself and his parents referred to as the 'The Talk'.
He shuddered and blamed Daphne for his misfortune. While muttering curses and thinking of ways to get back at his female Housemate, someone walked on him and called him out. "Ron?"
The Slytherin redhead looked up and stared. "Mione?"
Hermione gave him a curious look. "What are you doing out here?"
He continued to stare at her, Daphne's words still stuck in his head. "You're not going to do anything funny with him, right?" he said heatedly, earning a surprised reaction from her.
"What are you talking about?"
"Well come on, he invited you this coming summer but I'm sure you're not that kind of person who'd do it -" rambled Ron, not hearing her. "- but he's a famous Quidditch player so I guess I can't blame you, but then again it wouldn't be right -"
Hermione seemed to catch on what he was sprouting from his mouth and blushed. "Ronald Weasley! I'm not that kind of person who'd do such a thing at this age!" she scolded him. "What made you think of me that way?"
Ron flustered under her hard gaze. "It's not like I'm the only one, the stupid magazine -" he muttered lowly while scratching the back of his head.
"Oh, you read it from Witch Weekly?" she frowned.
"I didn't read it! Daphne keeps on talking about it." he said defensively.
"So the both of you are calling on a first name basis now?"
"That's beside the point!" he said. "So, is it true?"
Hermione snorted at him. "You sounded like those gossipers. Do you really want to know?"
He shrugged but he couldn't deny he was curious. "If you want to."
She considered for a moment, looking at him shrewdly, and sighed. "Alright, I'll tell you but promise me you won't tell it to the others." Seeing Ron nod vigorously, she continued, "Yes, he did invite me to visit his home this coming summer. But…" she emphasized on the word, stopping him from interrupting, "I declined."
"Why? A lot of girls would kill to be on your shoes," he said.
"I'd prefer if my parents got to know him first before I visited his place," explained Hermione simply. "I don't think they'll be pleased if I accepted his invitation without their approval and also the fact that they don't know him personally."
Ron thought of her response and nodded slowly. "That makes sense. That's great to hear."
She rolled her eyes at him. "Thanks for worrying about me, but it's fine. I'm capable of taking care of myself."
"I don't doubt about that," he said quickly. "I'm just looking out for you as a friend."
"Uh-huh," she mused, crossing her arms and giving him a look to which he grinned sheepishly back in response. "We should get to our next class. Double Potions?"
"Yep, with Snape," he offered his arm to her which she accepted by linking hers and both walked together to the dungeons. "Sorry." he apologized, feeling somewhat ashamed. "I didn't mean to sound nosy or anything."
"It's all right, at least your reasoning was better than my roommates," she sighed.
"And Potter and Longbottom?" he inquired.
"They didn't say anything much," she answered. "I suppose they don't want to ask. To give me privacy."
Ron's ears turned red once more. "I guess I should've done that as well."
"Stop apologizing," said Hermione with a small smile. "And we're here."
The two lowered their arms but Hermione's hand brushed over Ron's, and this caused Ron to suddenly earn himself a vision.
"Where did you put the Horcrux?" questioned an older Harry to an older Hermione. Both were dishevelled and had bruises on parts of their body. They were inside a tent Ron was greatly reminded of Mr. Perkin's. Ron was particularly curious about the word 'Horcrux' that was uttered and hearing it made his skin crawl for some reason.
"In my bag. I think we should keep it off for a while," answered Hermione with a worried look on her face.
Harry lied on the bunk bed and turned to face her. "We shouldn't have gone to Godric's Hollow. It's my fault, it's all my fault, Hermione, I'm sorry." he apologized gravely.
She shook her head slightly. "Yeah, well...we got that wrong, didn't we?"
The vision faded and Ron blinked a couple of times to finally realize it was gone. "Ron?" inquired Hermione with a frown.
"Hey Weasley, you're blocking the way," Blaise's irritating voice was heard from behind.
"Shut it, Zabini." He pushed the door open to get inside the classroom. Wrong timing, I guess, he thought to himself as he went to the right back side of the classroom, with Theodore and Daphne already settled with their Potion kit. He sent a short nod to Hermione's direction who returned a small smile before turning away.
"Where did you run off, Ronald?" questioned Daphne. gaining his attention. "You were almost late. Snape wouldn't be pleased."
"I'm here, alright?" he scowled before facing Theodore. "I need to ask you about something."
"What?" Theodore asked without sparing a glance.
"I need to know what a Horcux is."
Here is another chapter!
I guess Ron is taking the lead in search of the truth instead of Harry. Actually, I didn't expect this would end up because I had another thing in mind. But of course, that can be arranged in the next chapter. I had to use a part of the chapter Bathilda's Secret of the Deathly Hallows (page 347) since there's no Ron in it. In three to four chapters, it'll be the Third Task so I think...fourth year will end in 7 to 8 chapters and then we can go to the more interesting parts of the series. Or fourth year will end in 6 chapters, who knows?
So, since we're nearing the climax what will be the fate of Cedric Diggory? Will he live or die? Both events will have good outcomes in my opinion. The problem is that I don't have that much attachment for the Hufflepuff, to be honest so I'm unsure.
By the way, I bought a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard and it was awesome! I love the reading the thoughts of Dumbledore from each story and I've learned some new facts haha. I just wished I have the other two books (Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) just so I could read them numerous times and expand my HP collection (it's hard to find HP collectible items from where I'm living. Online purchase is not an option, I'm afraid).
Reviews are definitely welcome.