Chapter Twenty-Eight
Tasko Numero Tres
"Well, that was crap."
"It was not."
"Just 'cause you're amazing at History of Magic doesn't mean it's a walk in the park for everyone else."
"I thought it was pretty easy, too."
"The whole world's against me!"
The rest of the Funny Farm rolled their eyes. "The whole world is not against you, poor melodramatic Seamus," Hannah said.
"Just us," chimed in Dean.
"Well, look on the bright side," Tanya said cheerfully. "The term is over! Summer holiday technically starts now! I mean, we still have a week to go before exam results, but we've just finished our studies, it's a lovely June evening, our stomachs are full of simply amazing food, we get to laze around and watch free entertainment—"
"We get it, we get it, life's beautiful, sunshine and daisies, la dee da dee da."
Rachel elbowed Seamus. "Tanya's right. Plus, I brought a deck of cards—Muggle cards, mind you, so no funny business."
"And I have today's issue of the Daily Prophet," Katelyn announced, waving the paper around in the air. "I haven't gotten a chance to read it yet, but I saw Harry in it."
"What now?" Hannah sighed.
Katelyn unfolded the paper and the five others gathered around her, still trekking towards the ex-Quidditch pitch. "'Harry Potter: Disturbed and Dangerous'," Dean read aloud.
Everyone shared glances.
Katelyn read the brief article out loud, and after she finished, no one spoke for a long time. "He does speak Parseltongue," Hannah haltingly admitted after the lengthy silence. "I mean, remember the Dueling Club second year?"
"And he did collapse in Divination a few weeks ago," Seamus added. "Mighty fishy, if you ask me, the way he hushed it up."
"But he can't be a Dark Wizard," Rachel cried. "He's Harry Potter—the Boy Who Lived! He defeated You-Know-Who when he was a baby. Why would he be in cohorts with the person who orphaned him?"
"You've got to admit, though," Seamus countered, "he's not exactly been the most normal classmate. Trust me—you don't share a dorm with him. Weird stuff's been happening, ever since first year."
"Seamus' got a point," said Dean with a shrug. "But I still don't think he's…'disturbed and dangerous.'"
Seamus didn't reply, and the girls shared identically furrowed brows.
As the very first stars began to twinkle in the summer sky, the Funny Farm ascended the stairs to their seats near the top of the stands. "I'm so excited!" Tanya squeaked.
Dean gazed out at the maze. "I doubt we'll be able to see anything. We can't even see the champions from up here."
At that moment, a familiar voice boomed out over the stands, echoing against the faraway hilltops and reverberating over the Lake.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin!"
The stands erupted in cheers.
"Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each—Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School."
The Funny Farm and the rest of their schoolmates, united for once in school spirit, raised thunderous applause.
"In second place, with eighty points—Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute! And in third place—Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"
Hogwarts applauded politely.
"So…on my whistle, Harry and Cedric," said the announcer. 'Three—two—one—"
The whistle blew, the stands erupted in cheers. A minute later, Krum was sent in, and then Fleur.
After awhile of cheering pointlessly, the Funny Farm sat down, throats raw.
"So—how do American Muggles play cards?" Seamus asked Rachel.
"Well…have you guys ever heard of Rat Slap?" she replied.
Dean and Seamus shook their heads, but Hannah, Tanya, and Katelyn groaned. "Not with you!" Hannah cried.
"Why not with Su?" Seamus asked curiously.
Hannah was about to open her mouth, but then looked rather pleased with herself. "Oh, we girls have just played it so much…you and Dean ought to have a go!"
"Okay," said Dean, and he and Seamus turned to Rachel for instruction. Hannah, Tanya, and Katelyn, on the other end, scooted a few feet away and busied themselves with the Prophet, waiting for the inevitable.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, they heard—
SLAP!
"OW!"
"Oh, for goodness' sake, you got the cards."
"Yeah, but you also took the skin off the back of my hand!"
"New round?"
"Hell, yeah, and I'll beat you at it."
The next cry of pain was Dean's. "For crying out loud, Hekman, ease off!"
"You wanted to play."
"No one told us we'd get abused, though!"
"Yeah…I think I'm done playing Rat Slap with Rachel Hekman—forever."
"Oh, you'll be back," Rachel said with an evil glint in her eye as she gathered up the cards. "They always come back."
"Yeah, but we kinda learned our lesson," Hannah replied. "We know better now…"
"You mean you knew what she was going to do to us?" Dean cried.
"And you didn't stop her?" Seamus added, a bit angrily.
"It wasn't that bad," Rachel protested.
"Oh, it was," Seamus replied.
Rachel looked hurt. "I had fun."
"You weren't getting hit!"
"Well, maybe you're just bad at Rat Slap!"
"Maybe you're abusive!"
"Maybe you need to—"
"All right, all right, time outs for Rachel and the Irishman," Katelyn sighed, intervening right when both arguers reached for their wands. "Go on, move."
Scowling something awful, Rachel and Seamus scooted a good distance away from each other. Dean, Hannah, Katelyn, and Tanya moved to sit between them. Rachel took out a Civil War book to read by wandlight, Seamus stretched out on his back and gazed up at the stars, and the rest of the Funny Farm talked about nothingness for a good three hours. A few first years in the rows ahead of them began to nod off.
Around a quarter after ten, however, Seamus sat up and Rachel glanced up from her book. A tingle was building in the air—could Harry or Cedric be returning triumphant? Both Fleur and Krum had dropped out…the stands began to liven up—everyone felt the expectancy, and people began to clot up as closely as they were able to to the maze's entrance, holding their breaths, hoping for their chosen champion to emerge with the glittering Cup, and for the other to come out empty-handed.
Suddenly, there was a sound like the crack of a gun, and the stands erupted in cheers. It took a long moment for the news to reach the Funny Farm, but they cheered as loud as everyone else the moment they head Harry'd returned with the Triwizard Cup.
"He's won! He's won! He's won!" Katelyn and Tanya sang gleefully, dancing about in circles.
Then, their ears began to pick up something that wasn't cheering—screams. The screeches of horror began down at the foot of the stands, but they spread like wildfire.
"He's dead! Cedric Diggory is dead!"
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A/N: We weren't kidding when we said Funny Farm overload! XD Anyhow, we just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas! :D