Before going to the medical tent to be patched up by Madame Pomfrey, Dudley waited at the sidelines for his score to be given.

"It is marks out of ten for each contestant," Bagman announced. "Dudley Dursley failed to retrieve the egg but demonstrated excellent use of the memory charm to get the dragon to leave the nest. An interesting gambit that didn't pay off," Bagman said.

There was polite applause and cheers from the gathered students.

The first judge, Madame Maxime raised her wand in the air. What looked like a long ribbon shot into the air and twisted itself into the number 4.

"Your memory charm was fine," Charlie said. "And an excellent idea—you came so close to it paying off, so I expect you will get some scores for the use of magic."

Mr. Crouch came next. He raised his wand and shot a number 5 into the air.

"Not bad," Charlie said. "I think your tactics impressed him. It was only rotten luck that it caught you with its tail."

Next was Dumbledore. He too awarded Dudley a 5.

Then it was Bagman's turn—a 4.

Now, Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, then a number shot out of this wand—a zero!

The crowd booed.

Beside him, Charlie was furious. "A zero!" he shouted. "You biased scum! Dudley deserved points for the use of a memory charm alone, let alone the tactics shown in getting the dragon away from the eggs!"

"And there you have it folks—18 points for Dudley Dursley. He may not have obtained the egg, but it was a brave showing with some excellent magic demonstrated. Now, we will wait for the next Champion."

"Come on, Dudley," Charlie said, leading him into the tent.

Caught up in the excitement of seeing his score, it was only now that Dudley realized how much his body hurt. He sat down on the bed and Madame Pomfrey bustled over.

"Broken ribs," she muttered, waving her wand. "Severe bruising to the spine, a cut on the forehead …"

Dudley hadn't even noticed he was cut, but when he touched his forehead, his fingers came away sticky with blood. He supposed he must have bumped his head when he hit the ground.

"…a broken finger …

Dudley glanced down, sure enough, one of his fingers was bent at a funny angle.

"… grazes on the arms and knees …. Not to worry, Dursley, we'll get you patched up."

Dudley leant back and let Madame Pomfrey do her stuff.

"I've got to get back in position, Dudley, take care," said Charlie.

"Cheers, Charlie," Dudley said, wincing as Madame Pomfrey gave his ribs a poke with her wand.

There must have been a silencing charm cast on the tent, for Dudley couldn't hear a thing outside. After a few minutes however, it opened and an anxious lookin Lockhart came hurrying.

"Dudley, Dudley—I saw it all, great work with the memory charm, by the way. How are you? You sure took a big whack!"

"I'm fine," Dudley said, and already he was feeling much better. Madam Pomfrey was amazing at healing injuries.

"Lovely use of the memory charm—I told you that was the way to go, eh! Obliviate and then sneak past, and you oh so very nearly pulled it off! I would have cast a cushioning charm on my feet so the dragon didn't hear my footsteps, and perhaps a nifty bit of transifiguration to keep the dragon occupied. But still, it was a fine effort! Don't worry about the points, we'll make it up in the next round!"

"Right …" Dudley said, suddenly feeling tired. Even though Lockhart's suggestion to obliviate the dragon had paid off, he was till annoyed with him for messing up so badly in the first place.

Luckily, he was spared any more time with Lockhart for Madame Pomfrey came bustling in again.

"Out, Gilderoy! This is a hospital, not a meeting hall! You can chat with Dudley once he's been dismissed!"

Fifteen minutes later, Fleur Delacour was led into the tent by Charlie. She wasn't as beat up as Dudley was, but her robes were burnt and Madame Pomfrey had to coat her arm in some sort of orange gauze.

Dudley rested as he healed. Neither Krum nor Neville entered the tent. Dudley could only suppose that was because they had succeeded without injury.

After a while, Charlie entered. "How's it going, Dudley? Bagman wants a word with the Champions, come on."

He led Dudley and Fleur back to the original tent. Bagman, Krum and Neville were all inside. Krum and Neville looked entirely unscathed. Dudley didn't know what Hermione had suggested Neville do, but it seems to have paid off.

Dudley nodded to Neville who nodded back.

"Well done, all of you!" said Ludo Bagman, looking as pleased as though he personally had just got past a dragon."Dudley, here's your egg. You'll need it!"

Dudley took the egg that Bagman passed him, suddenly feeling angry with himself and a little embarrassed that he had been the only one to fail in the task.

"Now, just a quick few words. You've got a nice long break before the second task, which will take place at half past nine on the morning of February the twenty-fourth - but we're giving you something to think about in the meantime! If you look down at those golden eggs you're all holding, you will see that they open...see the hinges there? You need to solve the clue inside the egg - because it will tell you what the second task is, and enable you to prepare for it! All clear? Sure? Well, off you go, then!"

Outside the tent, Ron, Dean, Hermione and Lockhart were waiting. Hermione looked as if she had been crying as her eyes were red.

"That was amazing!" Dean said. "Neville—that was so good!"

"What happened?" Dudley asked, quickly.

"Neville was amazing. By far the fastest. He just cast accio on the egg and ran for it!" Dean said, excitedly. "Nobody was expecting that! Full marks from everyone except Karkaroff!"

"Brilliant," Ron said, his voice was hoarse as if he had been shouting and cheering a lot. "Neville was the best, no question."

Neville looked pleased.

"How did you ever come up with that idea?" Dudley said, gazing at Hermione in wonder. "Using a summoning charm—so obvious, but brilliant."

"I didn't," Hermione said.

"I did," Neville said. The cheerful expression on his face had vanished replaced by a look of irritation. "What, surprised that I could think of something like that all by myself?" he demanded and stalked off to the castle alone, clutching his egg.

"Nev, I didn't mean it like that …" Dudley began, but Neville didn't listen.

"Listen, I'll catch up later," Hermione said. "I should go with Neville. Unlucky Dudley, it was an excellent memory charm."

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds which was broken by Lockhart.

"Well, I don't doubt you would have gotten full marks if the dragon hadn't got you," Lockhart said, rubbing his hands together. "Fleur Delacour performed a hypnotic charm, tried to put the dragon in a trance. No chance of it fully working I'm afraid. Everybody knows dragons are far too powerful for that to have worked. No, what I would have used is transfiguration together with Dudley's obliviate charm …"

"Krum used the conjunctivitis curse," Ron said, interrupting Lockhart. "Hit it right in the eyes, only the dragon trampled some of the real eggs, so he lost points for that."

"So, it's Neville first …" Dudley began.

"Ten from Dumbledore, ten from Crouch, ten from Bagman, ten from Maxime and six from Karkaroff," Ron said. "Six," he added in disgust.

"Karkaroff is definitely a war," Dean agreed. "He gave Krum ten."

"He's in second place. He got 40 in total," said Ron.

"Then Fleur in third. She lost points because she got injured. She got, was it 35?" Dean said.

"Thirty-three," said Ron.

"Then me with 18," Dudley said, glumly. "Last."

"But not for long, eh?" said Lockhart.

"Professor Lockhart is right," said Dean. "It's only the first task. You'll catch up. Now, how about opening that egg?"

"Yeah, go on, Dud," Ron urged.

Dudley dug his finger nails into a groove running along the side and prised it open. It was hollow and completely empty inside but as soon as Dudley opened it the most horrible noise, a loud and screechy wailing, burst out.

"Shut it!" Ron shouted, hands over his ears.

"That was definitely a banshee!" Lockhart announced. "I'd know that sound anywhere! No doubt about it. A quick silencing charm should do the trick. Not to fear, I'm an expert …"

"I don't think it's a banshee," said Dean. "Open it again?"

Dudley did so and once more, the wailing noise burst forth.

Dean, however, smiled, and motioned for Dudley close it.

"I thought so," he said. "Don't you recognize it?" he asked, noticing puzzled looks.

"Now, come on, Dean—I think I'd know a banshee's shriek when …"

"It's Mermish!" Dean exclaimed. "Remember, Hagrid shown us this year!"

"You're right!" Ron said, excitedly.

"Ah, I thought as much!" said Lockhart. "A very unusual language. You need to open it under water to hear it."

"Professor Lockhart is right," said Dean, sounding a bit surprised. "Remember—Hagrid showed us."

Dudley nodded. He did remember now. Mermish could only be heard under water.

"The lake?" he asked.

"It's pretty close," Ron said.

So, together, the group hurried over to the lake to listen to the egg.