The crowd stood, unsure of what to do. No one could see into the maze, and it didn't seem as though Bagman intended to provide any commentary about how the task was progressing.
It appeared as though they would just have to wait until the Triwizard Champion emerged.
"Well, this is anti-climatic," Ron remarked.
"Same as the second task," Fred said.
"We just stared at water for an hour," George added.
"But we had one hell of a wave going 'round," Fred said.
"Don't worry," George said, dropping his voice. "We have a few tricks up our sleeves. We've prepared." He and Fred flashed open their robes to reveal a plethora of what looked to be fireworks strapped to the inside lining.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Do you know how many Ministry officials are here?" she asked. "You'll be caught within minutes."
"Well, what else do you propose doing for an hour?" Fred said.
"Sitting here and waiting patiently on the Champions?" George added.
"Precisely that."
"Boring!" Fred and George said together.
"Besides," George continued, "we're all going to need something to get our minds off Harry's probable death."
"Exactly. And what's better than fireworks to make you forget about death?"
Hermione shook her head and turned away. She was much too nervous to deal with the immaturity of the twins. Her eyes searched the maze for any clue as to what was happening within. She could feel the panic starting to rise in her chest. She would have to focus on something else, anything else, to stay grounded.
Movement to the left of the maze caught her attention. Professor Moody was hobbling back and forth on the outer edge of the wall. Hermione was sure he could see what was going on within the hedges and wondered if he was pacing because he was as nervous as they were. She could have sworn she saw him brandish his wand, but when he turned back around, she couldn't see anything.
"Let's talk about something. Anything," Ginny said. She had switched seats with Bill, so she was next to Hermione. Ginny looked pale with worry. As much as she knew Ginny wouldn't admit it, she still had a thing for Harry.
"Fine with me," Hermione said. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Tell me about Arithmancy or something."
Hermione chuckled in spite of her anxiety. "I don't think you'd enjoy that," she said.
"I'd enjoy it more than I am enjoying this right now," Ginny said. "This is bloody torture."
"It really is," Hermione agreed. "You'd think they'd at least use a projection charm or something so we could watch."
"Fred and George were right, though. During the second task, we all just sat there, just like this. Though, that time, I got to worry about you and Ron in addition to Harry."
"Did I just hear you were worried about me?" Ron butted in, grinning.
"Only because I didn't want to inherit your ghastly dress robes," Ginny said.
"Shut it," Ron said, turning red.
"They really were quite… not good," Hermione said. She had never gotten the chance to tease him about his dress robes since they were not on the best of terms the night of the Yule Ball.
"Not good? They were bloody awful," he said, raising his voice so Mrs Weasley would hear him.
"You're being too kind," Ginny said. "I hope you burned them. Or, better yet, let Padma Patil burn it. You owe her that much and more for agreeing to be your date and having to stand next to you in that hideous thing."
"She said it was interesting," Ron whined.
"Because she didn't want to hurt your feelings," Ginny said.
"What are you talking about?" Bill leaned in.
"Ron's ghastly dress robes at the Yule Ball," Ginny giggled. "They looked like Aunt Muriel's."
"Wait, the same ones you had this summer before school?" Bill asked.
"The very same," Hermione said.
"Why didn't you burn them?" laughed Bill.
"Would you all bugger off!" Ron yelled.
"What are you going on about over there?" Mrs Weasley.
"Oh, bloody hell," said Ron.
"Just talking about how handsome Ron looked in his dress robes at the Yule Ball," Ginny said.
"Oh really?" Mrs Weasley asked innocently. "I'm so glad you liked them!"
"Mum, they were God awful," Fred said.
"Well, you try buying dress robes for four children," she said shrilly.
"We're not knocking you, mum. Just Ron," George said. "He would have looked fine if he hadn't tried to alter them himself…"
"Alter them?"
"Yes, Ron fancies himself a tailor, don't you know," Ginny said. "Tried to cut off the lace and botched the whole thing."
"Why would you do such a thing, Ronald?" Mrs Weasley said.
"Because there was bloody lace on my bloody robes, and I looked like bloody Aunt Muriel!" Ron roared.
As if punctuating Ron's anger, a shower of red sparks shot up in the air from inside the maze. At first, Hermione thought Fred and George had shot off one of their fireworks, but the shock on their faces proved otherwise. Everyone in the stands gasped. Professor McGonagall, stationed in front of the maze wall closest to the stands (and closest to where the sparks were fired), flew into action. She grabbed a broom near where the entrance had been and flew into the air toward the area of the maze where the red sparks had appeared.
Hermione realised she had never seen Professor McGonagall fly before and was quite impressed with the ease with which the older woman flew. Suddenly, she dove, not unlike Viktor in the Quidditch World Cup and Harry during the first task. Hermione held her breath. Her heart had fallen to her toes. Something was wrong.
Everyone seemed to realise the same thing Hermione did because a hush fell over the stands. Both Ron and Ginny grabbed Hermione's hands in fear. You could hear a pin drop in the Quidditch Pitch.
Professor McGonagall bobbed up out of the hedges and flew to the far right side of the maze out of view. A few moments later, she reappeared with Professor Flitwick on a second broom. Together, they flew back to the portion of the maze where the red sparks had appeared and dove back down out of view.
"What are they doing?" Ron muttered. "Won't anyone give us a bloody update?"
Hermione couldn't even form words. She had the most horrible feeling pulsating through her that she was sure she would be sick over the side of the stands, but she could barely move. The sensation was similar to when she had been petrified two years before. Her whole body felt as heavy as lead.
Five minutes went by. Then ten. Hermione managed to move enough to look up in the judges' box. She could see Dumbledore, Fudge, Bagman, and the headmasters from the other two schools standing, trying to figure out what was going on as well.
Finally, there was movement from within the maze. Hermione watched in horror as Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick rose on their brooms with two limp bodies floating between them.
"Who is that?" Ginny gasped. "I can't see! Who is that?"
Hermione squinted, willing herself to develop long-distance vision. What she wouldn't give for her set of Omnioculars right then.
In what seemed like slow motion, the professors and the limp bodies floated towards the stands and then towards the grounds in front. Finally, they were close enough to see.
Viktor.
It was Viktor.
The other limp body was Fleur, but Hermione could only focus on him. On Viktor. Her Viktor.
Hermione let out a strangled sob as the Judges in the top box rushed down to the ground to assess the situation.
"Please let him be alive, please let him be alive, please let him be alive," Hermione sobbed. She was shaking uncontrollably. The prediction from Arithmancy was coming true in front of her eyes. Both Ron and Ginny enveloped her in a fierce hug from both sides. Madame Pomfrey joined the fray as the audience fell into a deafening silence.
Seconds passed by as hours. Every possible horrific scenario played out in Hermione's mind in excruciating detail until she couldn't breathe. Her chest was too tight. Images of Viktor's lifeless body were squeezing it.
"Attention, ladies and gentlemen!" Ludo Bagman's voice boomed through the Quidditch Pitch. In her horror, Hermione hadn't noticed him stepping away and raising his wand to his throat. She was so startled by it she nearly fainted. "It appears Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum have been stunned and, therefore, eliminated from the competition. Let's give them a round of applause as they are revived and receive any necessary medical help."
The pitch erupted in relieved applause, but Hermione could only sob. The tension and anxiety burst out of her as though a dam had collapsed. With a wave of Dumbledore's wand, Viktor and Fleur started to stir and were helped into a sitting position by their respective headmasters.
"They're ok, Hermione. See?" Ron whispered calmly in her ear. "They're going to get checked out, and then they'll be ok. No one died. It's ok."
Ron kept trying to calm Hermione, but it would never work: as glad as she was Viktor and Fleur were ok, that left either Harry or Cedric as one of the champions to fulfil the Arithmantic probability of someone dying during the third task.
On the outside, Hermione seemed much calmer after a few minutes had passed. On the inside, however, she felt like she was dying from fear and anguish. Her body seemed to have shut down to preserve itself from further harm. She felt numb all over. Everything seemed to be in a slow-motion distorted haze.
There was a high probability that a Hogwarts student was about to die. How could she wish death on one and not the other? Could she morally hope Harry would survive potentially at Cedric's expense? Were the training sessions that she, Ron, and Harry had done enough to change the outcome? The dichotomy and complexity of the feelings waging war within her were almost too much to bear.
Without any warning, a brilliant blue flash of light momentarily blinded the entire audience. As everyone's eyes recovered from the incandescent flair, a second pair of bodies appeared on the ground in front of the maze. They were huddled together as one single mass.
Then time seemed to speed up.
It was chaos.
There was a scream.
"Dumbledore!" Professor McGonagall was screaming.
Professor Dumbledore ran over.
"Harry! Harry!" Dumbledore was screaming.
Harry was the body on top. He was turned onto his back.
Cornelius Fudge ran over.
Moody ran over.
Bagman ran over.
"He's dead! He's dead!" Bagman was screaming.
Hermione was screaming.
Ginny was screaming.
Everyone was screaming.
"Cedric Diggory! Dead!"
The screaming stopped for a moment.
The words, "Cedric Diggory is dead," were repeated in a whispered wave throughout the stands.
Then there were more screams.
"My boy! That's my boy!" Amos Diggory was screaming.
"Harry, let go of him!" Fudge was screaming.
They were trying to pull Harry off Cedric's body.
They were trying to let Amos Diggory through the crowd.
"Cedric!" Cho Chang was screaming.
Dumbledore lifted Harry off Cedric's body.
Harry was swaying, but he was alive.
"What's happened?" Mrs Weasley was screaming.
"What's wrong with him?" Neville was screaming.
"Diggory's dead!" Ron was screaming.
"Diggory's dead!" was repeated in a frantic scream throughout the stands.
The crowd started pushing forward.
"He'll need to go to the hospital wing!" Fudge was screaming.
The crowd was screaming, sobbing hysterically, and streaming their way onto the pitch.
Moody grabbed Harry before he fell, and they limped into the crowd.
The crowd overtook the pitch and surrounded the body of Cedric Digory as he stared up, unseeing, at the starry night sky.