I am now posting on AO3! Most of my stories are completely cross-posted, including this one, but don't worry, I'll still be updating here. Just wanted to let you all know in case you prefer AO3 to FFN and would prefer to read this over there.
Also, while this chapter is mostly based on the book, I did include the personalized outfits from the movie because why not?
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As if the closing in of the first task wasn't enough, Rita Skeeter's article went out. It was less about the tournament and more about Harry. Carina could barely read it; it was so terrible. And the rest of the champions' names were crammed into the last line. Fleur and Krum's names were misspelled, and Carina's was followed by, "the daughter of convicted Death Eater Rabastan Lestrange." The students of Hogwarts hadn't needed that reminder.
Needless to say, Carina set that issue on fire.
And poor Harry had been getting harassed by Hogwarts students everywhere he went. Many of whom were sporting Draco's 'Potter Stinks' badges. Even a few Gryffindors, the select few who were peeved with Harry, not the ones who were supporting him, had joined in vocally supporting Carina as the Hogwarts champion, while other Gryffindors loudly commented on her parentage. She wished she could take points away for them pissing her off.
Carina sat in the library with Cedric and Sylvia, both of whom were helping her research past Triwizard Tournament tasks, when they spotted Krum walk down an aisle they had just been in. He looked just as moody as usual and only grew grumpier when he couldn't find the book he was looking for.
Carina sat up and waved her hand, getting his attention. He walked over, and Carina held up the book she was currently combing through. "Looks like we had the same idea," she said quietly to not draw the attention of Madam Pince. She gestured to the empty seat next to Cedric. "You're welcome to join us. We've kind of commandeered most of the books about the tournament, sorry."
"It's alright," Krum said in his gruff Bulgarian accent. "Thank you." He sat down at the table with them.
"You'd think there'd be more about each individual task," Sylvia said, flipping a page in the book she was going through. "You know, since that's what makes up most of the tournament, not just the nuances of each rule, how the tournament began, and the symbolism of the tasks."
Cedric closed his book and set it aside. "Don't bother with that one," he said. "It lists each past winner and how many points they received for each task."
"And nothing about what they did to earn those points?" Carina asked. Cedric shook his head, grabbing a book from the stack in the middle of the table. She turned back to her own book. "Merlin's beard, this one is on the last tournament held in 1792. Apparently, the tournament was canceled because the champions were supposed to catch a cockatrice, but it went on a rampage and injured the three Heads of the schools."
"I'll add that to our list of potential tasks," Sylvia said. She picked up the parchment and quill that had been readied for their joint research. It had sat empty since they arrived in the library half an hour prior. On it, she wrote Catching a Dangerous Beast.
"Vizarding Duel," Krum muttered.
"Huh?" Carina said. She hadn't quite heard him.
He moved the book he was looking through to show Carina. "Vizarding Duel." Carina read the passage he was pointing to.
"The champions were put in a Colosseum-type area and had to duel one another until only one remained. If a champion fell off the raised platform into the water below, they were out. If they were stunned, they were out. Points were given for time lasted, creativity, difficulty of spells performed, and number of spells performed."
"Oh, wicked," Carina whispered. "That'd be fun." She took the quill and parchment from Sylvia and wrote Wizarding Duel.
"Ooh, I've got one," Cedric said. He read off from the text. "'Champions competed in an open-air obstacle course with various flying animals and suspended physical obstacles. They had to maneuver through with a broom and their wand.'"
That sounded like a nightmare to Carina but quite easy to Krum. Carina wrote Obstacle Course on the parchment.
As time passed, they added more to the list. Giant Chess Board, Magical Plant Maze, Fighting a Mountain Troll, Getting Passed a Dementor, Taming a Magical Beast, Spending the Night in the Forbidden Forest, Fighting a Hag, Figuring Out a Puzzle, Traversing a Snow-covered Mountain, etc.
"Alright, I think I've got some ideas one what the categories are for the tasks," Carina said, studying the parchment. "I'm not sure about the specific order if it has one, but it seems as though the tasks tend to be creature-based, terrain-based, enchantment-based, and contestant-based. So, fighting or being first, going through some sort of rough terrain, facing a creature, or defeating some sort of enchantment or series of enchantments." She set down the list. "The only question is, which one is the first task?"
Once the four began packing up their things and putting books away, Krum pulled Carina off to the side and quietly asked, "Do you know who she is?" He gestured to a table nearby where Hermione Granger sat.
Carina raised an eyebrow and noted how Krum's eyes hadn't left the girl. She wanted to smirk but kept a straight face. "That's Hermione Granger, fourth year Gryffindor. She's in here a lot. Best friends with Harry."
"Oh."
She could hear the mild disappointment in his one-word answer. "But they're just friends." With the slightest raise of his thick eyebrows, Krum nodded in understanding. Carina patted him on the shoulder. "Good luck." She then hurried off, following Cedric and Sylvia out of the library.
The moment Carina sat down with Sylvia at breakfast on the Sunday before the task, none other than Harry Potter sat next to her. She glared at him, looking around, but there weren't many people in the Great Hall, and the ones who were, weren't paying attention.
"Sorry, I know, I know," Harry said quickly. He leaned closer, lowering his voice. "But you'll want to hear this. The first task is dragons."
"What?" Carina said, her face contorting into confusion and worry. "Dragons? Are you serious?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah, Hagrid showed me last night. He showed Madame Maxime, too. And Karkaroff was sneaking about, so he saw them. You would've been the only one who didn't know. Charlie Weasley brought them over from Romania. They've got four, one for each of us. We've got to get passed them."
Carina took in a deep breath and sighed. "Thanks, Harry. Do know what kinds?"
"Charlie said they were a Hungarian Horntail, Common Welsh Green, Swedish Short-Snout, and Chinese Fireball. Apparently, they're nesting mothers, whatever that means." He glanced around. "Look, I've gotta go before people start watching us. Good luck."
"Bye." Carina turned back to the food on the table, looking wide-eyed at Sylvia across from her. "Dragons. Of all the things, it had to be dragons. I'd rather it be a cockatrice again."
"Library?" Sylvia suggested, picking up a piece of toast and spreading jam on it.
Carina nodded in agreement. "Library."
The moment the two girls finished eating breakfast, they took off towards the library, dragging Adrian with them just as he grabbed some bacon and toast. He wasn't happy at being pulled away from breakfast, but his disgruntled attitude left him the moment they said Carina would be facing a dragon.
They pulled book after book off the shelves, skimming through them to find information that would help them with taking down a dragon.
Finally, Carina slumped over the table, pushing a book aside. "This is useless," she muttered. "Dragon hide is too tough to hit with a spell or two. And I'm not betting my aim on hitting it in the eyes. I'm good, not bloody fucking perfect."
Adrian was still flipping through pages. "Can you maybe distract it?" he suggested. "Potter said you only have to get passed it, right? While I'm not sure what Potter will get from telling you about the dragons, I don't doubt his sincerity."
"But how do I distract it?" Carina asked. "It's a dragon. They breathe fire. Not just any distraction will do."
Sylvia was staring off to the side, lost in thought, when her eye caught sight of a book by Miranda Goshawk. She sat up abruptly, drawing the attention of her friends. "I've got an idea. Remember the book you checked out from the Restricted Section last year?"
On Tuesday, November 24th, Carina found herself not hungry at lunch time, only nervous, and went to change into clothing she could face a dragon in. Tight, black leggings, black shoes, a three-quarter-sleeve green shirt, and a pair of fingerless black gloves. She pulled her hair back into a high-pony and put her wand in a pocket on the side of her leggings.
Professor Snape escorted Carina down to the forest to a large tent that had been erected. Snape gestured to the tent once they were outside the entrance. "You'll join the other champions in there," he said. "Mr. Bagman will explain the rules. Good luck, Miss Lestrange." He gave her a stern look which made her think he might've actually been worried.
The teachers knew about the dragons.
"Thank you, sir," Carina responded then left his side, making her way to the tent. She took in a deep breath then entered the tent.
When she entered, Krum gave her a sharp nod to acknowledge her presence, but that's as far as his interaction went. Fleur and Harry hadn't arrived yet. The only other person in the tent was Bagman who handed her a black cloak with green and silver trim. On the back read LESTRANGE in green letters.
Krum wore his own, blood-red cloak which said KRUM on the back in black letters. His didn't lace up in the front chest area though, hanging open.
Carina pulled hers on, tightening the lacing across her chest so it would be distracting. The sleeves were wide and the robe flowy, so she'd be able to move freely.
A few minutes later, Fleur walked in and Bagman handed her a blue and silver jacket with DELACOUR in silver letters on the back. She also wore a skirt over leggings and a silver vest.
The signifying clothing must've been provided by each individual school for their champion, or in Hogwarts's case, champions.
Harry was the last to arrive, as usual, it seemed. When he did arrive, Bagman handed him a cloak similar to Carina's, except it was black, gold, and red instead of black, silver, and green.
"Well, now we're all here, time to fill you in!" Bagman exclaimed. He seemed more excited than the champions as they knew what was waiting for them on the outside of the tent. "When the audience has assembled, I'm going to be offering each of you this bag - " he held up a purple silk bag - "from which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face! There are different, er, varieties, you see. And I have to tell you something else, too. . . ah, yes. . . your task is to collect the golden egg!"
Nesting mothers made sense to Carina more than it had before. Mother dragons were incredibly protective of their eggs. Carina hoped her plan worked.
Patting her wand on her thigh nervously, Carina began pacing, antsy with anticipation. Harry looked far more nervous though. Krum and Fleur were resolved. Carina wondered if their Heads of school told them what types of dragons they had available. Carina did not want to be the one facing a Horntail.
Soon after, students were heard walking, talking, and laughing nearby, passing the tent.
Bagman opened the neck of the purple bag and held it out in front of Fleur. "Ladies first," he said.
Fleur reached her hand in and pulled out a tiny model of a Common Welsh Green dragon with a number two hanging from its neck. It left Carina with even greater chances of getting a Horntail.
As Bagman went to Carina next, she breathed deeply then stuck her hand in. She grabbed a dragon, not wasting time feeling around, and pulled out a small blueish-gray dragon. The Swedish Short-Snout. The number one hung from its neck. Her stomach knotted up. Give me the bloody Horntail over going first, she thought.
When Krum pulled out the Chinese Fireball with the number three, Carina seriously wished she could trade places with Harry. The poor boy had the Hungarian Horntail.
"Well, there you are!" Bagman said. "You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see? Now, I'm going to have to leave you in a moment because I'm commentating. Miss Lestrange, you're first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right? Now. . . Harry. . . could I have a quick word? Outside?"
Harry left with Bagman, looking uncomfortable.
Carina went to the entrance of the tent and stood there tapping her leg as she waited for the whistle to blow. Once she heard the sharp sound reverberating through the air, Carina took in a slow breath and exited the tent. On her walk to the enclosure, she pulled out her wand.
When she walked through the gap in the enclosure fence, hundreds of faces turned to stare at her and roared. At the other end of the enclosure, the Swedish Short-Snout rested near her eggs. She'd never seen a dragon before. It was as beautiful as it was terrifying.
She paused almost forgetting her plan until it hit her. Waving her wand around her body, she casted the Disillusionment Charm on herself. While it wouldn't make her completely invisible, it helped her blend in to the rocky terrain of the enclosure. Then she started towards the dragon.
Hopping onto a few rocks about halfway to the dragon, the Short-Snout picked up its head towards the sound of shifting rocks and sniffed the air.
Carina held her wand up high and shouted, "Expecto Patronum!" Silvery mist burst from her wand and formed into a raven, soaring through the air.
The crowd cheered as it flew towards the dragon then dived to the left. Come on, follow it, she thought. The only reason she had settled on using her bird Patronus instead of conjuring actual birds was because she could control where her Patronus went, so if the damn dragon didn't get up, she'd be incredibly annoyed.
Finally, the dragon stood and flapped its wings as it roared and flew after the distracting bird Patronus. She had her raven fly around the enclosure, the silvery blue dragon chasing after it as best it could while chained.
Carina then made a dash for the golden egg that sat in the middle of the nest. She stumbled across a few rocks as she hurried, trying to keep her concentration on the spell while making her way towards the egg before the Disillusionment Charm wore off.
As she was about to reach the nest, her concentration broke on the Patronus Charm due to her budding excitement at almost being finished.
The Short-Snout screeched and landed near the entrance of the enclosure, facing her nest. Carina faced it, her back to the eggs. It was so close. The Disillusionment Charm completely wore off, revealing Carina to the dragon and the audience. The dragon reared its head back and Carina raised her wand.
"Protego Maxima!"
The Short-Snout shot a powerful blue flame from her mouth towards the witch. The crowd released a collective gasp. The extremely hot fire hit the shield, billowing around the sides, but Carina held firm, dropping the shield the moment the stream of fire stopped. She then grabbed the golden egg, obscured by the smoke the flames had produced, and jumped down from the area the nest sat on.
When the smoke cleared, she was out of the dragon's line of sight and held up the golden egg.
"And Lestrange has got the egg!" Bagman announced. The crowd stood and cheered louder than the dragon. Dragonologists entered the enclosure to take care of the dragon and Carina made sure to get out of their way. "Very good indeed! And now the marks from the judges!"
Madame Maxime went first, raising her wand into the air. A long silver ribbon shot out of it and formed an eight. Carina assumed the only ten she would give would be to Fleur, so Carina didn't mind. Next was Dumbledore who also sent up a nine. Then Crouch sent up an eight. Bagman also sent up an eight. Lastly, Karkaroff sent up a six. She had expected lower from Karkaroff but then had remembered he was friends with Lucius, so he couldn't judge her as harshly as he would Fleur and Harry but definitely harsher than Krum.
Her points totaled up to thirty-nine.
Dumbledore motioned for her to join the stands, and she went to sit near the judges. Then another whistle sounded.
Fleur was up next. She lured her Welsh Green to sleep, but her skirt was set on fire when it snored. She earned thirty-eight points.
After Fleur went Krum. He hit the Chinese Fireball in the eyes with the Conjunctivitis curse, and she trampled half her eggs. Even then, he was faster than Fleur and Carina had been, and true to Karkaroff's favoritism, he earned forty points.
Lastly, Harry entered the enclosure to face off against the Hungarian Horntail. He summoned his broom and demonstrated excellent flying skills. While he got hurt, he was the fastest to collect his egg, also receiving forty points. Karkaroff had only given him a four, probably because he didn't want Harry to have more points than Krum even if Harry did deserve at least an extra point or two.
The champions then met in the champions' tent. "Well done, all of you!" Bagman bellowed, bouncing into the tent. "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!"
When Carina walked into the Slytherin common room, having taken the long way in order to relax and clear her head after the exhausting first task, the Slytherins in the room burst into cheers. A good portion hadn't returned yet, but those that had were ecstatic. Carina could barely make it through the crowd to go up to her dorm.
She collapsed on her bed, holding the golden egg above her and studying it. Carina had a feeling her housemates would want to know the clue as well, so Carina didn't open the egg yet, saving it for later. Instead, she sat up and pulled out a quill, inkwell, and parchment, deciding to send a letter to Narcissa and Lucius, knowing they'd want to hear about her performance for the first task directly from her.
Sylvia burst through the door as Carina was finishing up the letter, a shit-eating grin on her face. Gertrude and Mildred entered behind her.
"You were fantastic!" Sylvia shouted, lunging forward and wrapping her arms around Carina. Momentarily stunned, Carina hugged Sylvia back. When Sylvia pulled away, she was still grinning. "That was amazing! When you blocked the fire, it was - " She shook her head. "Merlin's beard."
"When you cast the Patronus Charm, it was stunning," Gertrude continued. "Brilliant spell work. You deserved a higher score."
"You only scored as low as you did because of the Disillusionment Charm," Mildred explained. "So, for a bit we had no idea where you were. But otherwise, you were amazing!"
"Thanks, girls," Carina said. She folded the parchment in half, slipped it into an envelope, and sealed it with emerald green wax and her raven wax seal. "If you don't mind, I'm going to shower. I smell like sweat and smoke." She grabbed a set of clothes and was about to go to the bathroom when her eyes landed on the egg. "And to make sure none of you are curious, I'm taking the egg with me." Carina picked up the egg. Hearing Sylvia curse quietly, Carina chuckled then went to the bathroom.
After a quick shower and getting dressed, Carina used a spell to dry her hair. Walking back into the dorm room, Sylvia sat with her sketch pad in front of her, drawing what looked like the Swedish Short-Snout spouting fire. Their other two roommates were missing. When Carina walked closer to Sylvia's bed, she noticed the dragon drawing was spouting fire at Carina, as she had done in the enclosure.
"Are you sure you don't want to go into art?" Carina asked. "Becoming a wizarding historian sounds utterly boring compared to drawing for the rest of your life."
"Oh, shut up," Sylvia said, closing her sketch pad.
"I'm going to run to the Owlery, wanna come with?"
"Sure." Sylvia hopped off her bed.
Carina emptied her messenger bag haphazardly onto her bed, not caring as the contents spilled out and her quill landing on the floor, and she slipped the egg and the letter into it. She wasn't going to leave the egg lying around just anywhere for people to mess with, and it wouldn't fit in the bag with all her school supplies.
As she shouldered the bag, she looked at Sylvia. "Have you seen Corvin?"
Sylvia shook her head, and they walked out of the room. "Sorry, but no. Not all day. He's probably hiding because of the roaring dragons and excited students."
"Makes sense." Carina and Sylvia walked together in silence for a few moments until Carina had a random thought pop into her head. "Have you ever wanted to do something seemingly random?"
"Like curse out Dumbledore? Definitely," Sylvia snarked.
Carina chuckled and replied, "Not what I meant, bloody hell, but I understand the feeling. I meant something like dying your hair or getting a tattoo. Just something different for once."
"Can't say my parents would be too pleased if I didn't at least run it by them first, but yeah, I've thought about it," Sylvia answered. "I'm more privy to getting a piercing or going on an impromptu vacation, though." Sylvia looked at Carina thoughtfully. "So, a tattoo, huh?"
Carina shrugged. "It was just a thought."
"You'd look badass with a tattoo. I approve."
"And you'd look bloody fantastic with a nose or eyebrow piercing."
Once at the Owlery, Carina sent off the letter with one of the school owls, then they returned to their dorm room. Everyone they passed gave Carina some form of congratulations or similar, regardless of house rivalry. Nothing brought people together than near-death experiences.
Carina and Sylvia walked into the dorm room to see Gertrude standing in the middle holding a piece of parchment. Gertrude looked up at her dormmates who had just entered. "Is this one of yours?" she asked. "I found it on the floor by the stove." She gestured to the wood stove in the middle of the room.
Carina plucked it from Gertrude's hand and read it, immediately turning red once she read it.
"We may not be in Flitwick's class but you're still CHARMING."
It was accompanied with a drawing of a wand with cartoon hearts and flowers coming out of the end.
Carina had totally forgotten about Fred's last note that he had passed her in Transfiguration before the wand weighing ceremony. It must've been at the bottom of the bag and had fluttered to the floor when Carina had emptied it. The other notes were puns and drawings as well, but they were safely tucked away into her textbook.
Gertrude noticed her blush and smiled. "Aww, it is yours. It's adorable."
"It's nothing." Carina shoved the note in her trouser pocket.
"It's obviously not nothing, but okay." Gertrude left the room with a smirk after picking up her scarf from her bed, the reason she had gone back into the room in the first place.
Sylvia leaned against Carina's bedpost. "What was it?" she asked.
"Just a note," Carina replied, picking up her things and sorting them. She tucked the note into her textbook along with the others.
"Come on, Car, you can tell me. It's not like I'm going to go announce what it says in the common room. And we both know Gertrude's not exactly quiet. I can better help you with the rumors if I know the truth. I don't want to accidentally stir anything up."
Carina sighed, knowing Sylvia was right. "It was from Fred. Remember he was sending me notes with cute puns in class one day?"
Sylvia raked her eyes over her friend. "You like him," she realized. She then gasped. "That's why you broke up with Cedric. You like Fred!"
"So what if I do?" Carina didn't bother denying it. "It's not like we can actually be in a relationship. And if we did, he'd get bored and move on."
"I doubt it." Sylvia gestured to the door. "The party will be starting soon. I'll leave you alone with your totally-not-a-love-note." Sylvia spun around and hurried out the door before Carina could be tempted to jinx her.
Waiting a few seconds, Carina opened her Transfiguration textbook and pulled out the notes.
"You're a keeper" with the three Quidditch goal posts.
"I've been raven about you" with a raven in flight.
"You have the portkey to my heart" with stars around the words.
"You're the one I've been seeking" with a snitch beneath it.
"Can I Slytherin to your Chamber of Secrets?" with a snake as the question mark.
"You light up my life" with a wand and light beams and the Lumos wand movement.
She didn't care so much about completing the first task of the tournament as she read through the notes again, her heart fluttering. But she had to. Slamming the book shut, she put it away, pulled out the egg, stood tall, then left the room, pushing all thoughts of Fred Weasley from her mind. She didn't have time to think about boys.
Carina had a party to attend, a victory to celebrate, and a clue to figure out.