For the remaining thirteen minutes, Jane and the other champions cleaned up their cauldrons and workspaces and put all the ingredients back on the shelves that wallpapered the room. Jane was so relieved that Marcelle and Pyotr had both survived. She had to admit, she had identified the poison the second that the Headmaster had told them that they were the ones infected. The poison was indeed deadly; it was called carotinigo and symptoms could be different for each person, but one thing the same was the stomach pain. It started out with a feeling of it being tied in knots and eventually accelerated in to incredible cramps. She was glad that the first task actually demanded intellectual prowess, not just brute strength or dueling ability. Jane loved brewing potions and had learnt the exact antidote for this particular potion last year for extra credit. She had known she would live, at least; if not win. It was a good feeling, to finally have certainty that she could survive.
Now, as the challenge ended, the champions stood shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the judges' table. Professor Gagwilde was surveying his watch eagerly and they were all waiting anxiously.
"And three, two, one… That's the end! It's been an hour and fifteen minutes since you drunk the water!" He announced gladly.
"Congratulations!" Madame Maxime said warmly to them all in her regal French accent.
"Yes," Headmaster Aleksandrov said carefully, sounding almost disappointed. "Good job. You have all survived." He heaved a sigh.
"Now, we will all give you a mark out of 100. This will be based on your success, your abiding by the rules, and the effort you put in to the challenge. We will announce your scores in reverse order of placement.
"In third place is Marcelle Alix," Everyone politely clapped for Marcelle. "Marcelle displayed extremely painful and worrying symptoms of the poison, and for over half an hour seemed to be very unsure of what to do. At around twenty minutes remaining she found a bezoar, under extremely suspicious circumstances in which another champion is suspected to have interacted, which cured her malady successfully. Well done Marcelle, we award you a score of 45." Jane gave Marcelle an encouraging smile, while trying to contain her excitement. I didn't lose, I didn't lose! I got more than 45 points!
"In second place is Pyotr Poliakoff," Jane clapped hard and grinned madly. This means I won! I can't believe it, I won! "Pyotr did not appear to identify the poison but searched for most of the given time for bezoars, a cure to most venoms. It was a risk many would not be comfortable taking, which shows extreme bravery on his part. However, there was suspicious activity involving an entire box of bezoars which were seemingly knocked over on purpose and not cleaned up thoroughly enough," He gave Pyotr a stern glance. "However, his method was successful and for this we award him 50 points."
The Headmaster cleared his throat.
"And in first place, with 56 points, is Jane Haversham-Smythe," Everyone clapped, and Headmaster Gagwilde mouthed 'well done!'. "Jane identified the poison seemingly immediately and proceeded to create a very efficient and extremely high-standard antidote using a variety of ingredients. Her potion was completed well inside the time limit and even while she showed extreme symptoms of shakiness and altered skin color. Congratulations Jane, this puts Hogwarts on top." He said all this with a very bored sounding tone, like he was trying to hold back rage by concealing it with unbelievable dullness. Jane couldn't help grinning.
As the champions moved to leave the room, Professor Gagwilde called after them.
"Wait! What about the other announcement?" He said, staring meaningfully at Headmaster Aleksandrov.
"Oh, yes!" He said, smiling maliciously. "As is tradition at the time of the Triwizard Tournament, on Christmas Eve we will host the Yule Ball," Pyotr and Jane both groaned, but Marcelle squeaked with excitement.
"The champions must all have a partner, as they will open the dance. Good luck, and goodnight." He said, dismissing them from the room.
Jane and Pyotr both dragged out as if being led to their doom, but Marcelle practically bounced, babbling in indistinguishable French as they went down to the Dining Hall for the celebratory feast. She merrily waved goodbye to them as she took a seat. Jane saw that the results had been written on a large board suspended above the head table. A lot of other Hogwarts students smiled and waved at Jane, clearly having a lot more sympathy towards her after her victory. One group of girls in her year even waved her over to sit with them. She turned to say goodbye to Pyotr, but he had disappeared. She frowned and went over to sit with the others. I could've sworn he was right there.
After a slightly awkward meal (thanks to Jane's nonexistent social skills) made more delicious for the fact the last thing Jane ingested was a disgustingly bitter antidote, she boldly approached the table she had seen Pyotr sitting alone at the night before. Now it was filled with a rowdy looking group of boys, one of which she recognized.
"Hey," He said to her as she approached. "Jane, right? I'm Radko." He nodded.
"Hello. I was just wondering if you knew where Pyotr went? I swear he was next to me when I came in, but he seems to have disappeared," she asked awkwardly. The boys laughed.
"Want to ask him to the Yule Ball, huh? Well, he usually hides up on the roof, the narrowest staircase off the lobby leads straight there. But don't expect to get much of an answer out of him, sweetie," He taunted.
"No…I wasn't…Whatever," She stuttered. She thanked him feebly and walked away, followed by their mean laughter.
Jane made her way through the entrance hall at the base of the turret and up the narrow, twisting staircase to the roof entrance. It consisted of a rough wooden trapdoor with a large silver handle, the kind you'd find on a pirate ship. Taking a deep breath, Jane pushed it open and climbed on to the roof.
The view was incredible. She could see a huge, beautiful orange moon, floating in an inky sea of black, framed by incredible mountains that scraped the top of the sky. She spotted Pyotr what she guessed was about a second after he spotted her, judging by his mildly surprised expression. Picking her way through piles of crumbling stone, she went over to Pyotr and sat down in front of him. He was huddled in a hole in the wall of the turret, shivering from the cold breeze.
They stared at each other a moment before she talked.
"I just wanted to say that I thought it was really kind that you helped Marcelle live instead of letting her die. I wanted to do the same thing, but I didn't know how, and I think that…" she sighed. "…If I was in your situation I most likely wouldn't have helped her. So I just wanted to tell you that it was really nice of you,"
Pyotr nodded appreciatively. "Thanks,"
Jane smiled weakly, stood up and made to walk away.
"Jane?" He called after her. She turned.
"Yes?" Pyotr stood up and met her eyes.
"Would you like to go to the Ball with me? Like just as friends?" He said nervously. At first Jane was so taken aback at this question that she couldn't speak, her mouth hanging open. Pyotr stared at the ground, disappointed, clearly regretting even asking.
"Of course," she replied. Pyotr looked up and smiled, the first true smile she had seen from him.
"Okay," He said, Jane still gaping, shocked. "I'll meet you…outside, at…I don't know, 7 O'clock?"
"Yes…sure," She said, stunned. Pyotr smiled, seeming to find her nervousness amusing.
"I'll see you there," He nodded goodbye and left the roof. Jane sat down in the same place Pyotr had been when she had first come on to the roof and stared at the orblike, golden moon. She still couldn't believe what had just happened.
He asked me to the ball. What supreme force on this Earth could compel him to ask me to the ball?
She stayed sitting on the roof in the cool night air for a long time before deciding to go down to bed. There's no point staying up here, I may as well go down to sleep.
Caroline was still awake when Jane arrived at the carriage. Reading, she discovered, from one of the books that had been in Jane's suitcase. She said nothing but just nodded, which Jane took as a temporary peace offering. Jane chose not to mention anything about the book but instead mindlessly changed and fell in to bed, exhausted.
She wasn't sure if this was the best or worst day of her life.