Hermione barely slept the night before the First Task. She lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling; she kept replaying her strategy and what she would do over and over again. She was completely numb and shivering by three in the morning, and decided to get out of bed and enjoy the warmth of the fire before everyone was up.
Hermione padded down the steps and curled up in front of the fire with her favorite blanket wrapped around her. She stared at the flames, fascinated. She forgot about time and the butterflies in her stomach decreased a little bit as she kept on staring. She was so fascinated and sleep deprived that she did not hear Harry coming down the stairs.
"Blimey, Hermione, I thought I was up early but you seem to have beaten me to it. Did you sleep at all?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Listen, I am not the best at giving empowering speeches, but I believe you will get through today. You are a fighter, you will survive," stated Harry.
"Thank you, Harry."
No matter what anyone said, Hermione still did not believe she would manage this task. She had even thought of running away, but then she would not dare to ever come back. She kept pondering in her mind what would happen if she died. She had tried to avoid thinking of the worst-case scenario, but she was tired of fighting her mind; she now embraced the fact that death was a big part of the Triwizard Tournament.
Nothing in the world seemed important anymore. Hermione did not plan or even think past this afternoon. She had a plan, of course, she had a plan, but she did not think it would be successful. She wish she could apparate to a remote island, far away from the wizarding world, from the Goblet of Fire, from the constant pureblood vs. others fight.
"Hermione? Let's get dressed and get some breakfast. I will wake Ron and we will have a meal all together, like we do every day."
Hermione nodded, stood up and went upstairs. She got dressed, not really paying attention to what she put on. She put her hair up; deciding today was not the day to handle her crazy mane. When she went back downstairs, Harry and Ron were waiting for her.
"Good morning, 'Mione," said Ron. "I know it's hard but don't focus on the task okay, focus on us eating breakfast together. You have a great plan, that will work, but obsessing won't help you. C'mon, let's go eat, I am starving."
Breakfast was a blur for Hermione. Harry and Ron tried to get her to talk or laugh, but it did not work. Hermione did not utter a word during all of breakfast. The morning seemed to go by quickly; the one day that Hermione wished would slow down did not. Soon, she was in the Champion's tent, students outside were settling in around the arena and Rita Skeeter lurked in the corner, hoping to hear something interesting.
Cedric seemed nervous, he even tried to approach Hermione, but he too, seemed paralyzed by anxiety, and could only muster a smile and "good luck". Fleur seemed much less confident now that this was a reality. Viktor was unreadable; he looked focused and perhaps determined. Hermione could have sworn he whispered "good luck" to her when he walked by her.
"Champions, gather around me if you please," said Bagman." It is time for you to find out which dragon you will be facing. Getting past a dragon is the first task. You must retrieve the golden egg that it preciously guards. Miss Delacour, you will be going first. Pick your dragon."
Fleur put her hand into the small pouch Bagman was holding and pulled out a Welsh Green. Her hand began to shake as she realized she would have to face this dragon.
Krum was next; he did not hesitate as he stuck his hand into the small pouch and pulled out the Chinese Fireball. He did not even blink in surprise, he just seemed more determined.
Next up was Cedric; he looked at the two first dragons and stared into the small pouch before putting his hand in. He pulled out a blueish-grey Swedish Short-Snout. Cedric sighed as he looked at his dragon.
Lastly, it was Hermione's turn. She put her hand into the pouch and pulled out the Hungarian Horntail. Even as a tiny model dragon that fit in her palm, the Horntail still looked scary. Hermione's breath hitched as she realized she would have to outsmart this creature.
"Well, there you are!' Said Bagman. 'These are the dragons you will be facing. Miss Delacour, you are first. Just go out into the arena when you hear the high pitched whistle, all right?"
With that said, he walked out of the tent and it was all too soon time for Fleur to face her dragon. Hermione barely listened as Bagman made comments about her performance and the crowd`s reaction.. She barely noticed when it was Krum's turn. Krum seemed to get to his egg as the speed of light because before Hermione knew, it was Cedric's turn.
"Good luck!" She managed to yell before he exited the tent
He turned around and gave her a faint smile before proceeding forward.
Cedric successfully made it past his dragon and now, it was Hermione's turn to face hers. Her legs felt weak and her heart was pounding. She faintly heard Bagman announcing her and people cheering her on. She stepped out of the tent and walked down a dark corridor made of rock. The end of this tunnel brought her to the arena. She immediately spotted the golden egg, but did not see the dragon. She looked around at her surroundings, all she saw were rocks, many rocks, some big enough to hide behind. Hermione tucked that mental note away and started to move toward the golden egg which was on the far side of the arena.
Hermione had barely walked ten steps before she heard a loud roar and felt herself go flying backwards. She grunted as she landed hard against the rock and slide down. She quickly hid behind the closest rock as the dragon began blowing fire. The rock became hot due to the flames and Hermione squeezed her eyes shut, hoping the rock would withstand the heat.
Once the head had stopped, Hermione quickly slipped her hand out from behind the rock and shouted "Reflecto!" Her spell worked, a perfect reflection of herself appeared on the other side of the arena and started taunting the dragon. Fortunately for Hermione, the dragon fell for her trick and walked toward her reflection, Hermione took this opportunity to swiftly slip by the dragon and run toward the egg.
Hermione ran as fast as she could. All that was on her mind was getting away from the dragon and getting to the egg. She knew that once the dragon tried to touch her reflection, it would disappear, which meant she had a limited amount of time and the terrain in front of her was not a flat one.
She started to climb up a slope of rocks when the sharp tail of the dragon sent her flying into the air. She landed on her side and heard a sickening crunch. Pain traveled through her body, which was quickly replaced by adrenaline.
Hermione realized it was only the tail of the dragon that had hit her, which meant she still had time to distract him. She immediately cast a spell that turned a rock into a golden Labrador. The lab barked playfully and took off running. Hermione jumped to her feet and resumed her race toward the golden egg.
She was so close, one last sprint and Hermione would be able to grab it. Just as she approached the egg, the dragon saw her out of the corner of her eye and turned toward her. Hermione jumped toward the golden egg and used it as a small shield to protect her head and stomach from the fiery breath of the dragon. Her hands, however, were scorched.
The dragon was unable to blow fire for very long because as soon as Hermione had grabbed the egg, wizards had stepped forward to subdue the dragon.
As soon as Hermione was able to stand up, her hearing came back as well. She could hear Bagman's comment clearly and the crowd applauding and screaming with excitement. As the crowd cheered her on and yelled her name, Hermione broke into a grin. She had just done something that she had thought would be impossible. The excitement from the crowd made her blush, they were shouting her name and they were happy for her. Hermione's smile grew and she laughed. Gosh, that felt good, she had not smiled in weeks, much less laughed. Hermione was so happy and thrilled to be done with the first task that she did not notice Professor McGonagall apparate next to her.
"Congratulations, Miss Granger. You have succeeded the First Task. The judges will announce your scores soon, but let's bring you to the infirmary in the meantime. You look like you could use a little patching up.
When they arrived to the infirmary tent, Harry and Ron were waiting for Hermione. When they saw her, they both rushed to hug her.
"We knew you could do it!" Said Ron.
"We are so proud of you! Your plan worked perfectly," said Harry.
"Guys, would you mind letting go of me…your kind of hurting," whispered Hermione.
"Oh, sorry," said Ron.
"Out of my way," yelled Madame Pomfrey, "I cannot believe you lot had to face dragons today. Now sit come sit, Miss Granger, let me take a look at your wounds."
Hermione slowly walked over to the bed next to Madame Promfrey; she was starting to feel the pain as the adrenaline left her body. She couldn't see her face, but she knew there were at least a couple of cuts and bruises on her cheeks.
"From the looks of it, you have one broken rib, severely burned hands, a large cut on you left cheek, and many bruises on your back," Madame Pomfrey announced after looking her over. "Drink this pumpkin juice and let me bandage up your rib and disinfect your hands. Boys, would you mind giving us a minute?"
"No problem. Harry, let's go check out Hermione's scores."
When Hermione`s was properly bandaged up, the boys came running back into the tent.
"Hermione, you got mostly top scores!" Yelled Ron.
"You and Viktor were fastest ones to get to your eggs," said Harry. "But due to your injuries, you are second. That is still amazing!"
Hermione couldn't stop smiling. She had finished second! She couldn't help but blush, the boys looked so proud of her; she had never seen expressions on their face like the one they were both wearing right now.
As the trio walked up the hill back to Hogwarts, Hermione felt pure joy. More hardship was ahead, but she had survived today.