A.N. Welcome to Double Update Friday! Don't get too excited, this won't be a regular occurrence, but today's two chapters go together and I didn't want to leave you hanging.
Enjoy :)
22-22-22
When Harry woke on the morning of the First Task, his first thought was about the fact that he still had no idea what the task would contain. He knew that not knowing was actually part of task, after all Bagman had described the purpose of the task as being to test their daring and their improvisation, but that didn't mean he had to like it.
The only good thing was that he was relatively certain that the other students didn't know either. Sirius had made a comment a few days before that someone had been concerned that he might try and help Harry and so all the judges, including Dumbledore and the Headmistresses, had been sworn to secrecy about the contents of the tasks
Still, knowing that the five other Champions also had no idea what was happening wasn't a huge encouragement. The other five Champions were all over three years older than him, Harry needed every little advantage that he could get.
The First Task had been scheduled for after lunch, which meant that Harry had the entire morning to worry himself into a frenzy – not that he let anyone else see how anxious he was. Unbelievably, he was actually expected to attend his morning classes and, as Harry sat in History of Magic and tried to concentrate on what Remus was teaching them, he realised it was the first time in his life he had been frustrated about having to be in class.
The tense atmosphere of the school wasn't helping Harry's nerves either. It seemed as though every person he came across wanted to wish him luck or, in the case of Ron Weasley, taunt him regarding his likely death. Which, even in his panic filled state, Harry though was a bit of an over exaggeration of the situation. He would describe it more as his possible death, but then he didn't really know enough about the task to make a reasoned prediction.
After lunch, Professor Flitwick led him out of the castle and onto the grounds.
"How are you feeling, Mr. Potter?" Flitwick asked gently.
"Nervous." Harry admitted with a shaky laugh. "We Ravenclaws don't do very well with the unknown, do we, Professor?"
Flitwick chuckled wryly. "No, we don't. Though I'm sure you've done as much research as you could."
"It's hard to research when you don't know what you're researching." Harry pointed out, wincing at the slightly hysterical edge to his voice.
Flitwick stopped and, when Harry turned to see what was holding his professor up, he stared up at Harry seriously. "You'll be fine, Mr. Potter. I have complete confidence in you."
Harry inclined his head gratefully. "Thank you, Professor."
They walked the rest of the way in silence, stopping only when they reached the opening of a large tent. Harry presumed that the tent was probably blocking whatever their task would be and was tempted to run around it to try and get a peek of what was to come.
Instead, he rubbed his clammy hands against his robes and ducked under the tent opening. The other Champions were already there and each of them greeted him with polite bow – even Aceline, though her curtsy was accompanied with a sneer.
The others all looked about as nervous as he felt, though they all exhibited it differently. Viktor was glaring darkly at the second door of the tent that Harry presumed would lead them to the task, Nina's shoulders were hunched and her hands were clenched in her robes, Fleur was sitting on a stool looking pale, Aceline was standing as far away from Fleur as she could get in a tent and staring at the second door blankly, and Cedric was pacing across the tent floor.
Ludo Bagman was there too and his excited grin looked very out of place surrounded by the pale faces around him. Not to mention that he was wearing black and yellow stripped Quidditch robes.
"Harry!" Bagman greeted him, striding forward to pump his hand up and down.
Harry hoped that the man wouldn't notice how clammy his hands were.
"Since we're all here, I can fill you in!" Bagman announced, immediately drawing the attention of everyone in the room. "Now, before the audience assembles, we'll just take a quick look out that door so you can see what your challenge is. We don't want to send you in completely unprepared after all."
Harry's lip curled in disdain as Bagman laughed at his own joke. Now was definitely not the time for humour.
Bagman marched self-importantly over to the tent's second door and, with a wave of his wand, the door rolled up.
Harry joined the other five Champions in all but running to the door, before frowning in confusion when he took in the view.
There were bleachers surrounding a large, flat area of dirt with a large chasm in the ground and about twenty feet past it a stone wall. There was obviously something past the stone wall as well, as the bleachers continued past it, but whatever was there was blocked from view by the wall.
Harry looked around and saw that his fellow Champions looked just as confused as he did. What exactly was their task?
"Back inside!" Bagman instructed suddenly, barely waiting for them to return to the tent before lowering down the tent door. "Now, you're probably wondering what all that means."
Harry could feel his lip curling again at Bagman's inappropriate excitement. How had he gotten this part of the job anyway? Harry would have much rather had Sirius giving the instructions.
"Well, I can't tell you much." Bagman told them brightly. "But I can give you three words, or rather, three elements that you will have to conquer. Not water, that will come later, the elements are air, stone, and fire."
Harry's forehead furrowed in thought. Stone was obviously the brick wall, which meant the chasm was either air or fire. He was going to guess air, which meant that fire was over the wall.
"It's an obstacle course!" Bagman announced with a beaming smile. "You must get past each of the challenges to collect the golden egg! The judges, myself included of course, will then score you points out of ten for your performance."
Harry turned away from the man, desperately trying to think through all the spells that he knew. One of the shields that Sirius had taught him before his name had come out of the Goblet could withstand fiendfire – though not for very long – but of course it's appropriateness for the task would depend on what form the fire had. He could use a blasting curse on the stone wall, unless it had been spelled to be unbreakable.
As Harry was thinking he could hear the sound of hundreds of people making their way past the tent – presumably towards the spectator stands. They were all talking excitedly and Harry found himself unreasonably angry at them. Didn't they know that he and the other Champions were terrified?
"Now," Bagman said, pulling a small bag made of purple silk out of his robes pocket. "We need to find out what order you will all be going in. Ladies first, I think."
Aceline stepped forward haughtily, actually elbowing Nina out of her way. "I weell go first!"
"Righty-ho." Bagman grinned, holding the bag out to her.
Aceline put her hand in the bag and pulled out a small token.
"Ah, second." Bagman was smiling so widely you could see all his teeth.
Aceline didn't look pleased by the number and Harry wondered whether she had been hoping to be sooner or later.
Fleur went next, pulling out a token with the number three. She looked shaken by the number and Aceline's malicious smirk couldn't have helped.
Nina pulled out the number four, then Viktor pulled out a token with the number one on it.
Harry and Cedric exchanged nervous glances, trying to decide who ought to go first. Harry wasn't sure which option sounded worse, being fifth or sixth.
Cedric stepped forward and pulled out a token with the number five on it.
Harry's stomach dropped as he decided that being last was definitely the worst option.
"Come on, Harry!" Bagman encouraged his jovially.
Harry glared coldly at the man, causing Bagman's smile to fall, but he stepped forward and pulled the sixth token out of the bag.
"Excellent!" Bagman declared, his smile returning to his face. "Now I have to be off, I'm commentating you know. Mr. Krum, you're up first so just step out those doors when you hear a whistle."
Krum nodded stiffly.
"Harry!" Bagman said suddenly, drawing Harry out of his thoughts. "Mind if I have a word? Outside?"
Harry stared at him in confusion. "Pardon?"
"Just a quick word." Bagman said, tugging on Harry's arm.
Harry shook his arm free. "I'd rather not, sir. I need as much time as I can to plan."
Bagman's face fell. "Are you sure?"
Harry narrowed his eyes suspiciously, what could Bagman possibly want. "Yes."
"Right then," Bagman looked glum. "I'll be off then."
Once Bagman was gone, Harry turned his attention to his thoughts. What could he use for air? Presuming that air referred to the chasm, then they were probably supposed to get over it somehow – but it had been at least ten feet wide. Were they expected to fly over it somehow? He could always summon a broom he supposed, but that would take too long. Besides, he kept his broom shrunken in his locked trunk.
A whistle blew in the distance and Harry looked towards Krum. "Good luck!" He wished him in Bulgarian.
Krum nodded stiffly, before exiting the tent. A few seconds later they heard the roar of the crowd and Bagman's voice introducing him.
"…Viktor Krum! Last time I called his name like this it was at the Quidditch World Cup Final. Krum caught the snitch then of course, but he faces a very different challenge today."
Harry turned his attention back to his thoughts, so he could probably use the shield against fire. The only problem was the shield was the most draining spell he had ever cast and he had never been able to hold it for any longer than three minutes. Sirius had been impressed by that, explaining that most wizards couldn't hold it for longer than a minute, but three minutes still wasn't very long.
"Ooo, interesting strategy!" Bagman commented. "It will be impressive if he can pull it off…so far so good…oooh, that doesn't look good…"
It was horrible listening to Bagman's vague commentary. Harry wished that they had thought to block the sound from the tent. He would have blocked out the sound himself, except he didn't want to miss any hints that Bagman might accidently give.
"How are you feeling?" Cedric asked quietly, moving to stand beside Harry.
"Alright," Harry lied with a smile that he thought probably looked more like a grimace. "You?"
"Alright." Cedric agreed, his face pale.
Harry cast his thoughts back to the fire. He remembered having learnt in history about how during the witch trials, witches had used a spell to protect themselves from fire. The spell had made the fire feel more like a tickling sensation than anything. Harry wished he had looked up that spell.
"…not surprising really," Bagman was saying. "Brawn over brains…it's taking a while though...just another few spells I think, and he'll be through…"
"It's bloody insane!" Cedric commented suddenly.
Harry looked across at him in surprise. "What is?"
"This whole tournament!" Cedric answered passionately. "I don't know what I was thinking."
"I don't know what Dumbledore was thinking." Harry added.
Cedric nodded. "It makes me feel sorry for you though. I'm here because I was apparently insane enough to think this was a good idea, you didn't get a choice."
"It is what it is." Harry said neutrally.
"…well, that's an interesting strategy…" Bagman continued. "…ouch! That's got to have hurt…"
"What's her problem?" Cedric asked quietly, subtly gesturing towards Aceline who was sneering at them.
"She's as prejudiced as an anti-traditionalist." Harry answered, just as quietly. "She tried to tell me before the Wand Weighing Ceremony that Fleur was a half-breed and a stain on their proud school."
Cedric drew himself up in offence. "What?"
"I reprimanded her for it." Harry assured him. "She didn't seem to appreciate it."
"Fleur's not a half-breed!" Cedric hissed indignantly.
"Well, obviously you wouldn't think so." Harry told him with a half grin. "I've seen you flirting with her."
Cedric's pale cheeks suddenly filled with colour.
"…he wasn't expecting that, now was he!" Bagman announced, his tone amused.
"That doesn't sound good." Harry commented worriedly.
"…nice bit of spellwork there though…" Bagman added. "…very impressive…almost there…he's got it!"
The sound of the spectators roaring in approval was almost deafening and blocked out anything more that Bagman might have been saying. Then came the judges marks for Viktor, but Bagman didn't announce them aloud.
A few more minutes passed and then the whistle blew again, and a pale looking Aceline exited the tent.
The crowd roared in excitement again and Bagman began his commentary.
"Our second champion is Aceline Moreau!"
Harry went back to his thoughts. He could blast through the wall, but what if it had an unbreakable charm? What would he do then? Could he blast a tunnel underneath it? That would only work if the stone stopped at the surface of the ground. If he couldn't go through it, and he couldn't go under it, then the only other option was to go over it. The problem was that he had no practise in climbing stone walls and he couldn't think of any spells that would help.
"…well, that's an interesting idea…" Bagman sounded confused. "…not sure it will work though…ouch, that looks like it's going to sting…"
Harry frowned in confusion. Presumably Aceline was still on the first obstacle, which had looked to be the chasm. But he couldn't see how an air challenge would make you sting? Unless it was actually the fire challenge…
"…it still looks very painful, but she's making her way to the next obstacle." Bagman continued. "…interesting use of that spell…let's see if it works…well she's certainly making progress, but if she doesn't watch out…ouch…well, she got passed it at least…"
Harry shared a worried glance with Nina who was standing several feet away from him.
"That did not sound good." Nina commented, moving closer.
"No." Harry and Cedric both agreed.
Fleur was still sitting on the other side of the tent, looking deep in thought.
"…a very ambitious strategy…" Bagman was saying. "…I wouldn't want to have to hold it for that long…oooo, that's the last place you want your spell to fail…"
Harry watched a small smile tug at the corners of Fleur's mouth and couldn't find it himself to blame her. Aceline had been really horrible to her and he could only imagine how much worse she was when they were alone.
"…uh, oh…" Bagman commented a few minutes later. "…she's panicking…that's not going to impress the judges..."
Eventually though, Bagman announced that Aceline had gotten her hands on the Golden Egg and the crowd roared in approval. Then came the judges scores, not that Bagman announced them, and eventually the whistle blew again and a nervous looking Fleur stood up from her stool and exited the tent.
"…Fleur Delacour!" Bagman announced. "Let's hope she can do better than her fellow champion."
Harry frowned in thought, they were almost halfway through the Champions and he still hadn't figured out what he could for air – or the mysterious danger at the end of the Obstacle Course that had surprised Viktor. The problem was that there wasn't much he could do with the information he had.
"…Merlin!" Bagman exclaimed suddenly. "Is she allowed to do that?"
Harry shared confused glances with Cedric and Nina, what was Fleur doing?
"…anyone else reminded of the Quidditch World Cup?" Bagman added jovially.
Harry rolled his eyes. It was as though the wizard had no idea what a sensitive subject the World Cup was. Did he not remember that some of the students in the crowd had lost family members and friends?
He supposed that air probably meant he had to fly, but how? His own broom was locked in his trunk, but he supposed he could try for one of the school brooms. He just wished he had finished his animagus transformation – then he could have transformed into the owl and flown across that way. Of course that would mean revealing that he was an animagus.
"…well, it worked for the last obstacle, so it makes sense to try it again…" Bagman was commented. "…ouch, didn't quite go high enough…"
So if Harry summoning a broom was plan Z, he needed a plan A. He supposed he could try and transfigure some kind of bridge, but he had never done anything like that before. Levitation was always an option, but you couldn't levitate yourself so he would have to levitate what he was standing on.
"…Merlin!" Bagman exclaimed. "I wasn't expecting that…I bet that comes in handy a lot…"
Harry supposed he could always jump. He snorted at his own silliness, before stilling suddenly. What if he did jump? If he jumped high enough and used a propelling spell on himself he could fling himself forward. The trick would be jumping high enough, propelling far enough, and landing without breaking his neck. There was a lot wrong with the plan, but it was the best option he had so far.
"…oh, dear…" Bagman commented. "…she doesn't look very happy does she? Almost there though…and she's done it!"
Harry clenched his hands nervously as the crowd roared in excitement. "Good luck, Nina."
"Thank you." Nina nodded, before biting her lip nervously.
They waited for the judges to give their scores and then the whistle blew again.
It was weird to be in the tent alone with Cedric and Harry didn't want to think too hard about what that meant. He was almost up, soon he would be the one that Bagman would be enthusiastically commentating on.
"Nina Viserova!" Bagman called. "…interesting, we've seen this tried before…let's see if it works faster this time…"
"You alright?" Cedric asked again.
"I'm looking forward to it being over." Harry admitted.
"Me too." Cedric agreed, letting out a deep breath.
"…we've seen this before too…" Bagman announced. "…similar strategy to her fellow Durmstrang champion, clearly brawn is something that they focus on at Durmstrang…"
Harry turned back to his thoughts. So blasting curse for the wall, shielding for the fire, propulsion spell for the air, he just needed to come up with a way to jump high enough.
"…impressive spell work there…" Bagman declared. "…very well done…"
There was only once spell that Harry could think of that would help him jump, but it was a Parselmagic spell. What if someone recognised it for what it was and told everyone that he was a Parselmouth?
"…oh, dear…she doesn't seem to know the right spell to use here either…" Bagman commented. "…well, at least she's dealing with the effects better than some of her opponents…almost there…and she's done it!"
Harry' stomach clenched nervously as he held out a clammy hand. "Good luck, Cedric."
Cedric grasped Harry's hand. "Thank you, you too."
They waited in silence for the judges to give their scores and then the whistle blew again and, before he knew it, Harry was alone in the tent.
"Cedric Diggory!" Bagman announced. "The first of Hogwarts' Champions!"
Harry's nerves were pumping like crazy and he began to pace back and forth across the tent.
"…we've seen this before…" Bagman commented. "…clearly our Champions are running out of new ideas…ouch, yes, that happened last time too…"
Harry winced on Cedric's behalf, he hoped the older boy was alright.
"…interesting…" Bagman commented. "…that's new…well, he's a bit grubby, but he's unhurt…"
Harry clenched his hands into fists and then unclenched them. Should he use the Parselmagic spell? Surely nobody would be close enough to notice and he could always ask Sirius for the name of the normal magic counterpart in case anyone asked him about it.
"…wonderful spellwork…" Bagman announced. "…well done, Diggory…"
Harry nodded firmly, yes, he would use the Parselmagic spell. The benefit was worth the risk.
"…and yet another student who doesn't know the correct spell…" Bagman sounded disappointed. "…but he does seem to be reacting to the affects rather well…"
That was the most worrying part now – the unknown final obstacle that, apparently, needed a specific spell. As many spells as Harry knew, he doubted he knew one that most of the other Champions didn't know.
"…and he's got it!" Bagman declared gleefully. "Five champions down, only one to go!"
Harry thought he was going to be sick. He paced the tent as the judges gave their marks and waited for the whistle. Finally, after what felt like forever, the whistle blew and turned towards the tent door.
Here he went…he just hoped he wasn't going to die.