𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 | f. weasley

sixty-six

SOMETIMES, HARRY COULD BE REALLY SMART. For example, taking Moody's hint and thinking of summoning the Firebolt to defeat the dragon. Cassie and Hermoine spent all of Monday following Harry around from room to room, tossing objects for him to summon towards him. By the last hour of the day, he'd finally gotten a good hang of it. Needless to say, Cassie was proud.

The next morning, the atmosphere in the school was one of great tension and excitement. Lessons were to stop at midday, giving all the students time to get down to the dragons' enclosure - though, of course, they didn't yet know what they would find there.

Time was behaving more peculiarly than ever, rushing past in great dollops so that one moment they'd seemed to be sitting down in their first lesson and the next, walking into lunch...and then Professor McGonagall was hurrying over to Harry in the Great Hall.

"Potter, the champions have to come down onto the grounds now. You have to get ready for your first task."

"Okay," said Harry, standing up, his fork falling onto his plate with a clatter.

"Good luck, Harry," Hermione whispered. "You'll be fine!"

"I believe in you," Cassie grinned back, showing her most supportive face to her brother. Inside, she was shaken with nerves, madly worried about his safety but she wasn't lying when she said she believed in him. She knew Harry would come out alive. He could take care of himself. He'd proven it time and again.

"Yeah, thanks," said Harry in a voice that was most unlike his own.

Cassie sighed as she watched him disappear only then remembering Cedric was a champion too. Cursing herself for her distracted memory, she dashed towards Harry and Minerva, following them secretly.

They stopped in front of a tent that had been erected near the area Harry had explained the dragons to be kept, its entrance facing them, screening the dragons from view.

Professor McGonagall stopped at the entrance, said a few words to Harry and bristled away, leaving the boy to enter the tent himself.

The moment the teacher was out of sight, Cassie sneaked inside from the back of the tent, crawling from under the cloth.

Fleur Delacour was sitting in a corner on a low wooden stool. She didn't look nearly as composed as usual, but rather pale and clammy. Viktor looked even surlier than usual making Cassie frown. Cedric was pacing up and down. When Harry entered, Cedric gave him a small smile, which Harry returned awkwardly as though he had forgotten how to do it.

"Stressed?" Cassie whispered when Cedric stopped near the pillar Cassie was standing beside.

"CASSIE!" Cedric yelled out loud, scared out of his wits on seeing the girl randomly appear in the tent out of nowhere.

"Cassie," Viktor remarked too, now that Cedric had drawn all the attention to the girl, blinking a few times, trying to make sure he wasn't imagining her.

"Hi," Cassie laughed awkwardly, "Wow, okay too many eyes,"

"What are you doing here?" Fleur Delacour asked, sounding so polite yet assertive, the silkiness in her voice not getting on Cassie's nerves at all. It had a rather soothing effect.

"I came to wish you all luck," Cassie sighed, "Break a leg and all. Actually, don't break a leg. Forget I said that. Merlin, why are pleasantries so dark sometimes? Anyway, good luck. To all of you. May the most deserving candidate win. Remember, you all were chosen as champions for a reason. You are the best of the best. Okay, bye!"

And with that, Cassie ducked out of the tent right when Ludo Bagman rushed in and ran back to the castle to join her friends, leaving the group of four in quite a shock before they returned their minds and attention to Bagman.