Chapter 45
"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now." Dumbledore's voice broke through my haze.
I didn't realize I had tuned everything out.
Harry squeezed my hand under the table and then stood up.
"Good luck." I told him.
"Thank you."
I stood up and gave him a hug before he left.
I was starting to shake with realization, and anticipation.
I waved to Cassius as he left with Fleur and Viktor, Harry following behind them.
Crouch immediately threw his arm around Harry's shoulders and he tilted his head down to Harry's level as they walked out of the Great Hall.
"Cassie -" Hermione started.
"Now in five minutes time we will be following them down. I want to personally thank Headmaster Igor Karkaroff and Headmistress Madame Maxime for bringing their students and themselves to this wondrous event!" Dumbledore spoke over her.
The Great Hall broke into a polite applause.
"I believe we have given our Champion's plenty of time, now we will head out to the Quidditch Pitch." Dumbledore said after checking his watch.
The Great Hall was filled with noise as students and adults left the Great Hall to go to the Quidditch Pitch.
"Zwart." Someone grabbed my shoulder.
I turned my head and Astrid was standing behind me.
"What is it, Hexum?" I asked her.
"Warrington's parents are asking you to join them tonight." She said, trying to keep her voice low.
"Oh, I would love too." I smiled at her.
I turned to Hermione and Ginny and noticed Mrs. Weasley had pursed her lips.
"I will see you guys later!" I told them.
"Have fun!" Hermione teased me as Ginny waved.
I grabbed Astrid's elbow as she led me through the crowd to reach Cassius's parents.
"Ah! Miss Cassie!" Othello reached his arm out to me.
I grabbed his hand so that the crowd wouldn't come between us.
I turned around to thank Astrid for getting me through the crowd, but when I turned around she had already disappeared into it.
"Miss Hexum was most helpful." Alexandra said as she patted my shoulders.
"She was," I agreed.
"Shall we go down to the Pitch then?" Othello asked.
"We shall." I nodded.
Othello extended his elbow out to Alexandra, who happily took it.
I was pleasantly surprised when he extended his other elbow to me.
"Oh! Thank you!" I smiled up at him as I placed my hand around his elbow.
"No, thank you! It's not everyday I get to escort two lovely ladies!" Othello turned to his wife and smiled at her as we walked with the crowd.
I let out a giggle and waved when I saw Draco slow down to walk behind me.
'Are you okay?' Draco's face asked.
'Yeah, I'm fine.' I nodded to him.
I was relieved that he was staying close though. I wasn't completely comfortable around the Warrington's yet.
I sat next to Alexandra with Othello on her otherside, closer to the walkway so that they could reach Cassius first when he came out of the maze.
Draco sat right behind me and I was comforted to feel his presence.
Hagrid, Moody, McGonagall, and Flitwick walked into the stadium and approached Bagman and the champions.
Each wore a red star on their hats, except for Hagrid. He wore on the back of his vest.
They exchanged some words before the teachers walked in different directions around the maze.
Bagman pointed his wand at his throat and his voice was magically magnified.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each - Mr. Cassius Warrington and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!"
The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky.
"In second place, with eighty points - Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!"
More applause.
I was politely clapping but my stomach was starting to hurt and I couldn't tell if I was going to throw up or not.
"And in third place - Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"
Harry waved to the Gryffindor side of the stands and started moving his head like he was looking for someone.
I stood up, and changed my hair from blonde to Gryffindor red, to Slytherin green.
I caught both Harry's and Cassius's attention by doing that and was able to wave to both of them before they went into the maze.
"Handy little trick." Alexandra told me when I sat down.
"It really is when you're lost in the crowd." I agreed with her .
"So… on my whistle, Harry and Cassius! Three - two - one!"
Bagman gave a short blast on whistle and Harry and Cassius walked into the maze.
The pit in my stomach grew as it dropped lower.
The maze closed itself behind Harry and Cassius, as they took the same entrance inward.
Bagman waited a couple of minutes before waving his wand in front of the hedge, causing it to open up again.
He blew his whistle and Viktor walked in next.
Again the hedge closed behind him.
"This is quite boring." Alexandra said close to my ear.
I nodded in agreement.
"I was a part of the second task, being a hostage for Cassius, so the only task I really got to watch was the first task," I told her.
"Oh yes! He mentioned how he had to dive into the lake to rescue something precious to him. He never did say what it was…" Othello leaned forward to look at me.
"He didn't? Each of the champions had to dive for a person. The egg never specified what, or who, it was going to be." I told him.
"Well, he is a private person. Even though we're his parents, we've always respected his privacy and I guess he wasn't ready to tell us about you." Alexandra looked towards her husband and then back to me.
Bagman waved his wand once again and Fleur walked into the maze after Bagman blew his whistle.
"Now that all of our champions are in the maze, our staff is patrolling the area, and it's just us now. Looks like we're going to have to wait until they come out!" Bagman said with a bright smile.
"That's it?" I asked.
"How dreadfully boring." Alexandra nodded next to me.
"No trivia game, or little games for us to do?" I turned around to Draco.
He shook his head, "the same thing happened at the second task. We had to wait the hour to be over before anything else happened."
Alexandra turned around to see who I was talking to.
"Alexandra, this is Draco Malfoy, my cousin. Draco, this is Alexandra and Othello Warrington." I did a quick introduction.
"Lucius's and Narcissa's son." Othello shook Draco's hand.
"Yes sir." Draco nodded politely.
"How is Narcissa doing?" Alexandra asked.
It was so awkward.
An hour had passed and I had a need to go to the bathroom but I didn't want to leave Alexandra or Othello.
Or Draco since he was feeling awkward as well.
"If you will excuse me, I have to go to the restroom." I couldn't take it anymore.
"Of course darling!" Alexandra and Othello were quick to move out of my way as I headed down.
"Miss Zwart." Dumbledore said as I passed him.
"I have to use the restroom." I told him.
"Oh, of course, you may use magic to see your way." Dumbledore nodded.
"Thank you, sir." I nodded to him.
I pulled out my wand and said, "Lumos" to light my path.
I tried to be quick, but I didn't want to accidentally pee myself in my rush to get back down to the pitch.
"Why couldn't they have portable bathrooms?" I grumbled to myself.
"Probably because they're wizards who don't have the basic concept of literally anything and everything." I answered myself.
I ran to the closest bathroom and tried to hurry back down to the Quidditch Pitch.
But something stopped me.
My head broke out into a cotton tail.
"Oh son of a -!" I hissed to myself and ran towards the Hospital Wing.
Madam Pomfrey was down at the pitch, but I knew that if I wrote a quick note she would understand.
"Gotta move, gotta move, gotta move!" I hissed.
I managed to slide into the Hospital Wing, but my vision overtook me before I could make it to her little desk.
Oh boy!
1. I am so so sorry that it is so late in the day you're getting this update. I don't know how many more chapters there are in this book, but I knew we're getting really close to the end.
2. I am starting a job. I am babysitting some kids through out the day while they do distanced learning and in person learning as their parents work on their job sites. So I will be able to take my laptop and my books and I will be able to sit down and focus on the kids and my writing.
Shout out to Pamela Hutchins and Awritingbookworm for leaving a review!
Pamela Hutchins: It's the next one you have to be super nervous for!
Awritingbookworm: Thank you! And you're fine, life happens!
