Thank you for the review! Time got away from me again a bit, but here's the next chapter!
CHAPTER EIGHT: First Test
Nymphadora paced back and forth nervously in a tent, getting ready for the first task. She'd been given an outfit to wear that seemed to be halfway between a Quidditch uniform and a suit of armour, neither of which she really considered encouraging. She had no-one else to blame of course, she knew what she'd signed up for. Maybe everyone else's paranoia was finally getting to her.
The tent flap was pulled back and she only just managed to avoid drawing a wand before she saw that it was Bradley. "How are you?"he asked.
She let out a deep sigh. "Jumping at shadows."
"Where are Emmanuel and Milos?"
"Got their own tents. I guess the Ministry wants to cut down on fraternising between the contestants. Either that or they just like the idea of leaving us on our own to imagine the worst."
Bradley gave her a hug and a quick kiss. "Come on, you're Nymphadora Potter. You can beat anything."
The flap was pulled back again and Lily and Martin entered. "You distracting our champion?"Lily asked Bradley teasingly.
"Actually, he's being a lot of help,"Nymphadora insisted.
Martin grinned at Bradley. "The perfect boyfriend, eh? Your Aunt Susannah would say you should give me lessons."
Lily gave Nymphadora a hug. "Well, whatever he's said to you, that goes for me as well. You can deal with whatever gets thrown at you."
Harry and Hermione sat in the stands of the stadium. "Are you sure there's no dragons this time?"Harry asked.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Harry, I've told you everything I know. I spoke to Scorpius, and to Neville, and both of them assured me that the first test isn't dragons."
"What is it then?"Harry persisted.
Hermione grimaced. "I don't know, Harry. Maybe it's a basilisk."
Harry seemed to seriously consider this. "No. No, they wouldn't, would they?"
James came to sit with them. "Don't mind the company, do you? I tried to sit with Tracey and Joshua but apparently it's not cool to sit with a teacher, not even one that's your dad. Maybe even especially one that's your dad."
"You're always welcome,"Harry promised him. "But you should probably be grateful I wasn't a teacher here when you were a pupil."
"Yeah, maybe." James gestured towards the arena, where Ernie had taken on the role of masters of ceremonies. "They're starting."
Ernie cast a sonorous charm and addressed the crowd. "First up is the Beauxbatons champion, Emmanuel Petit."
Nymphadora had been left alone to pace back and forth in the tent again, listening to the noises of the other two champions taking part outside and hearing…crashes? Then, finally, Ernie spoke. "And last but not least, the Hogwarts champion, Nymphadora Potter!"
Nymphadora gripped tightly onto her wand and stepped out of the tent. There were cheers from the Hogwarts crowd as she stepped into some sort of arena. Facing her was…a knight in armour? Nymphadora looked closely and realised it was just the armour, a moving empty suit that had been animated by magic somehow.
Ernie spoke quietly to her. "Rules are the same as for the other champions. You'll have to survive five minutes in combat with our knight. Extra points if you manage to defeat it."
He moved away and Nymphadora moved in against her opponent, who was wielding a sword in one hand and some sort of ball and chain in the other. Her instinct was to just stay out of its way for five minutes but she knew that wouldn't give her much of a score. So she circled it, wand at the ready. "Bombarda!"she snapped. The spell exploded off the knight's armour but didn't cause any obvious damage. Looked like it wasn't going to be that easy.
The knight lunged at her with the sword. Nymphadora leapt backwards and rolled. "Accio sword!"she shouted. The sword flew out of the knight's hand and Nymphadora caught it. She lunged with the sword and struck the knight's armour but the sword just glanced off. That was what armour was for, she supposed. The knight lashed out with the chain, which wrapped around the sword. The two of them pulled the sword in different directions. Nymphadora had her wand in her other hand and another idea occurred to her. She let go of the sword, which remained tangled in the knight's chain for a moment before being thrown aside, and leapt back. "Incendio!"she snapped.
Fire sprung up all around the knight, who struggled to get out of the flames. Eventually, it succeeded, advancing on Nymphadora once more. Its armour was still red hot, so much that she could feel the heat from over a metre away. Which was exactly what she'd planned.
"Glacius!"
The suit of armour froze. Nymphadora grabbed the fallen sword and swung at the now brittle armour, which shattered.
Nymphadora was breathing heavily when she made it back to the tent. She only managed one deep breath before Bradley ran in after her and pulled her into an enveloping hug. Gemini and Beverley were with him, followed by Harry, Hermione, James, Lily and Martin. "Well done, Dora,"Harry congratulated her.
"That was an incredible use of logic!"Hermione agreed.
Nymphadora smiled at the compliment. "Did you see Nave?"
"He was there,"James confirmed. "Someone was watching him throughout the contest but he didn't seem to try and intervene."
"Let's hope it stays that way,"Gemini remarked.
Ernie's voice carried through from the arena. "The judges have cast their marks out of forty. Emmanuel Petit, thirty-five. Milos Varga, thirty-two. And Nymphadora Potter…thirty-six."
There was another round of congratulatory hugs.