The days seemed to go by agonizingly slowly; yet, they still went by. Harry fought himself through every day. Every day he had to sit at the Slytherin table. Every day people whispered behind his back. Every day his old friends ignored him. Every day. And it was now mid-November. The champions had been chosen: Fleur Delacour, Victor Krum and Cedric Diggory. The first task would be held today.
``This way please! `` Professor McGonagall was leading them into the Forbidden Forest. Professor McGonagall was now attempting to guide them to the nearest stalls of the large, wooden arena that was appearing in front of them ``Now, it doesn't matter wh- WEALSEY! Put that down at once! `` The Weasley twins had attempted to lift the Champion's tent up using Wingardium Leviosa. Harry smiled. They were the only ones who hadn't changed their attitude towards Harry.
Harry sat down. The middle of the arena appeared to be just a large space filled with differently sized rocks. The judging panel was on Harry's left. Of the five chairs, only one was taken. Barty Crouch was sat in his and was staring at a pile of eggs in the middle of the arena that Harry hadn't noticed. The eggs were large, about half a meter tall. Amongst the 5 or 6 eggs, there lay a golden egg. The golden egg was roughly the same size as the normal eggs and there seemed to be something scratched in, but Harry couldn't tell what because he was too far away.
``May I have your attention please? `` Ludo Bagman was stood at the judge's panel and was magnifying his voice with his wand ``Welcome to the first task! In today's task, the champions will have to get the golden egg, which holds a clue to the next task. The egg, as you can see, is also amongst other eggs. These eggs will be guarded by a dragon. The champions will receive marks for how they reach the egg. They will also gain marks for what condition the other eggs are in. The task is complete when the champion is in possession of his or her egg. First up, we have Cedric Diggory, and the Swedish Short-Snout! ``
First, they let the dragon into the arena. It was huge and had silvery, blue skin. A cannon fired. Cedric entered the arena. The dragon noticed him instantly. Cautiously, he crept towards the eggs. The dragon opened its mouth and breathed red, hot fire at Cedric. He dived behind a rock. This turned into a pattern: Cedric creeps up, dragon breathes fire, and Cedric hides. He seemed to notice that this wasn't getting him any ware, so Cedric transfigured a rock into a small cocker spaniel. The distraction worked. Cedric was just about to reach for the egg when the dragon turned its attention back to him and sent a huge stream of fire at him. This time, Cedric didn't have a rock to hide behind. The crowd gasped as Cedric took the blast in the face. The entire left side was burnt. Then the cannon sounded again. Cedric had the egg in his left hand. Healers rushed into the arena to help Cedric. Dragonologists started tugging at the chains of the dragon, whilst trying to avoid its fiery breath.
``Next up ladies and gentlemen, we have Fleur Delacour and the Welsh Common Green. ``
The arena was now empty, except for the pile of dragon eggs, which now had a golden egg again. The dragon, was well, green. Fleur entered. She instantly jumped behind a rock. Then she sent a spell at it. It must have been a powerful sleeping charm, as the dragon slumped to the ground. She picked her way through the rocks. When she was about 2 meters away from the nest, the dragon let out a loud snore. And with it, a jet of fire. This caught Fleur's skirt. With a screech, she extinguished it. Then, she continued to the nest. She picked up the egg and the cannon sounded.
``Now, last but not least, Victor Krum and the Chinese Fireball! ``
The dragon was scarlet and had a fringe of golden spikes around its face. Victor sent a spell straight at his eye. Harry was about to ask Neville next to him if he had misaimed his spell when he realised that that seemed to be just what Victor wanted. The dragon's eyes were swollen and closed and it was stumbling around.
``Krum used the conjunctivitis curse. `` He murmured to Neville. Just as Victor was about to jump into the middle of the arena and make a grab for the egg, the dragon stripped and, to keep its balance, put its foot down. It just happened to put it down on half of the eggs. When the Chinese Fireball lifted its foot, all that was left of those eggs was a yolky mess with bits of shell. Victor leaped over rocks towards the remaining eggs. The cannon sounded. All the champions had successfully completed their first task. The next task would take place in February.