The Girl Who Lived

Gryffindor Party

Ten?
"Ten... I got a ten?" I ask in disbelief.
"Heather, don't complain!" Room yelled. He was obviously as ecstatic as I felt.
And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too — four.
"What?" Ron bellowed furiously. "Four? You lousy, biased scumbag, you gave Krum ten!"
Four? Really? I got 8, 9, 10, and 4?
I guess Karkaroff justed wanted Krum to win. Can't say I blame him but- wait- nevermind. I do.
"You're tied in first place, Heather! You and Krum!" said Charlie Weasley, hurrying to meet them as they set off back toward the school. "Listen, I've got to run, I've got to go and send Mum an owl, I swore I'd tell her what happened — but that was unbelievable! Oh yeah — and they told me to tell you you've got to hang around for a few more minutes. . . . Bagman wants a word, back in the champions' tent."
Ron said he would wait, so I reentered the tent, which somehow looked quite different now: friendly and welcoming. I thought back to how I'd felt while dodging the Horntail, and compared it to the long wait before I'd walked out to face it. . . . There was no comparison; the wait had been immeasurably worse.
Fleur, Cedric, and Krum all came in together. One side of Cedric's face was covered in a thick orange paste, which was presumably mending his burn. He grinned at me when he saw me.
"Good one, Heather."
"And you," I grinned back.
"Well done, all of you!" said Ludo Bagman, bouncing into the tent and looking as pleased as though he personally had just got past a dragon. "Now, just a quick few words. You've got a nice long break before the second task, which will take place at half past nine on the morning of February the twenty-fourth — but we're giving you something to think about in the meantime! If you look down at those golden eggs you're all holding, you will see that they open . . . see the hinges there? You need to solve the clue inside the egg — because it will tell you what the second task is, and enable you to prepare for it! All clear? Sure? Well, off you go, then!"
I left the tent, rejoined Ron, and we started to walk back around the edge of the forest, talking hard; I wanted to hear what the other champions had done in more detail. Then, as we rounded the clump of trees behind which I had first heard the dragons roar, a witch leapt out from behind us.
It was Rita Skeeter. She was wearing acid-green robes today; the Quick-Quotes Quill in her hand blended perfectly against them.
I hated the old hag. She can go jump off a cliff and die.
"Congratulations, Heather!" she said, beaming at me. "I wonder if you could give me a quick word? How you felt facing that dragon? How you feel now, about the fairness of the scoring?"
"Yeah, you can have a word,"  I smiled sweetly. "Good-bye." And I set off back to the castle with Ron.
~*~*~
Back in the Gryffindor common room, there was a party going on.
There were mountains of cakes and flagons of pumpkin juice and butterbeer on every surface; Lee had let off some Filibuster's Fireworks, so that the air was thick with stars and sparks; and Dean Thomas, who was very good at drawing, had put up some impressive new banners, most of which depicted me throwing fireworks at the Horntail's head, though a couple showed Cedric with his head on fire.
I helped myself to food; I had almost forgotten what it was like to feel properly hungry, and sat down with Ron, Harry, and Mione. I couldn't believe how happy I felt; Ron talked to me again, I'd gotten through the first task, and I wouldn't have to face the second one for three months.
"Blimey, this is heavy," said Lee, picking up the golden egg, which I had left on a table, and weighing it in his hands. "Open it, Heather, go on! Let's just see what's inside it!"
"She's supposed to work out the clue on his own," Mione said swiftly. "It's in the tournament rules. . . ."
"I was supposed to work out how to get past the dragon on my own too," I muttered, so only Mione could hear me, and she grinned rather guiltily.
"Yeah, go on, Heather, open it!" several people echoed.
Lee passed me the egg, and I dug my fingernails into the groove that ran all the way around it and prised it open.
It was hollow and completely empty — but the moment I opened it, the most horrible noise, a loud and screechy wailing, filled the room.
"Shut it!" Fred bellowed, his hands over his ears.
"What was that?" said Seamus Finnigan, staring at the egg as I slammed it shut again. "Sounded like a banshee. . . . Maybe you've got to get past one of those next, Heather!"
"It was someone being tortured!" said Neville, who had gone very white and spilled sausage rolls all over the floor. "You're going to have to fight the Cruciatus Curse!"
"Don't be a prat, Neville, that's illegal," said George. "They wouldn't use the Cruciatus Curse on the champions. I thought it sounded a bit like Percy singing . . . maybe you've got to attack him while he's in the shower, Heather."
I laughed. "George! Don't be a git! Wait, have you ever heard Percy actually singing?"
George nodded excitedly. "He sounds like, well, that egg!"
We all laughed.
~*~*~
"Blimey, Heather! I don't think I could've done that better myself!" Fred exclaimed.
The twins and I were sitting in the Gryffindor common room, long after everyone else had time to bed.
"Well, I wonder why, Freddiekinz," George teased him. "Me, on the other hand-"
"Would also not do nearly as well as me," I grinned, then said dramatically, "Because I am Heather Potter, the girl that lived!"