Harry Potter's Coolest Aunt

Dobby is Back

Send comments to make my day

Harry, Ron, and Hermione went up to the Owlery that evening to find Hedwig so that Harry could send Sirius and Remus a letter telling them that Aishi had managed to get past her dragon unscathed with a cool new power. By the time they entered the Owlery, Ron was saying that they ought to have suspected it all along. "Fits, doesn't it?" he said. "Remember what pucey said on the train about his dad being friends with Karkaroff? Now we know where they knew each other. They were probably running around in masks together at the World Cup. . . . I'll tell you one thing, though, Aishi. If it was Karkaroff who put your name in the goblet, he's going to be feeling stupid now, isn't he? Didn't work, did it? You only got a new power!"

Pigwidgeon was so overexcited that he was flying around and around Harry's head, hooting incessantly as Harry tied to letter to Hedwig. Ron snatched Pigwidgeon out of the air and held him still while Harry attached the letter to Hedwig's leg. "There's no way any of the other tasks are going to be that dangerous. How could they be?" Draco asked as Ron went on as he carried Pigwidgeon to the window. "You know what? I reckon you could win this tournament, Aishi, I'm serious." Sanjiv said

Hermione leaned against the Owlery wall, folded her arms, and frowned at Sanjiv. "Aishi's got a long way to go before she finishes this tournament," she said seriously. "If that was the first task, I hate to think what's coming next." "Right little ray of sunshine, aren't you?" said Ron. He threw Pigwidgeon out of the window. Pigwidgeon plummeted twelve feet before managing to pull himself back up again before flying back to the owlery.

Hedwig took off with the letter; the letter attached to his leg was much longer and a bit heavier than usual - Harry hadn't been able to resist giving his godfathers a blow-by-blow account of exactly how Aishi had calmed, talked to, and gained the dragon powers to speak to the Horntail. He plans to call his family in America, but pretty sure Uncle Samuel or His mom did it. Still, he wants to tell them.

They watched Hedwig disappear into the darkness, and then Ron said, "Well, we'd better get downstairs for your and Cedric's surprise party, Aishi - Fred and George should have nicked enough food from the kitchens by now to feed the whole school at the hangout room." Sure enough, when they entered the school's hangout room, it exploded with cheers and yells again. There were mountains of cakes and flagons of pumpkin juice and butterbeer on every surface; Lee Jordan had let off some Filibuster's Fireworks so that the air was thick with stars and sparks; and Dean Thomas, Erine, and A Ravenclaw named Jack, who was very good at drawing, had put up some impressive new banners, most of which depicted Aishi commanding the dragons or playing the flute, though a couple showed Cedric holding the egg in victory. She and Cedric were both tossed in the air with cheers.

Aishi helped herself to food; she had almost forgotten what it was like to feel properly hungry and sat down with the gang. She couldn't believe how happy she felt; she'd gotten through the first task, and she wouldn't have to face the second one for three months. "Blimey, this is heavy," said Lee Jordan, picking up the golden egg, which Aishi had left on a table, and weighing it in his hands. "Open it, Aishi...Cedric, go on! Let's just see what's inside it!" "They are supposed to work out the clue on his own," Hermione said swiftly. "It's in the tournament rules. . . ."

"I was supposed to work out how to get past the dragon on my own too," Aishi muttered, so only the gang could hear her, and they grinned rather guiltily. "Yeah, go on, guys, open it!" several people echoed. Lee passed Aishi the egg, and as Cedric came with his, they both dug their fingernails into the groove that ran all the way around it and prised it open.

It was hollow and completely empty - but the moment they opened it, the most horrible noise, a loud and screechy wailing, filled the room. The nearest thing to it Harry had ever heard was
the ghost orchestra at Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party, who had all been playing the musical saw. "Shut it!" Fred bellowed, his hands over his ears."What was that?" said Erine Macmillan, staring at the eggs as both Aishi and Cedric slammed the eggs shut again. "Sounded like a banshee. . . . Maybe you've got to get past one of those next!"