Prologue

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The Triwizard Cup was gleaming on a plinth about a hundred yards away. Suddenly a dark figure was hurtled out onto the path in front of me. Cedric. I didn't care for winning. I just wanted to survive, to be honest. A fourteen-year-old, almost untrained witch competing against three seventeen-year-olds was ridiculous. It was a wonder that I got this far.

"Cedric," I shouted panicked when something moving along a path that intersected the one I was jogging along. It was moving so fast that Cedric was about to run into it "On your left."

The older Hufflepuff looked up just in time to hurl himself past the thing and barely avoided collision. His wand flew out of his hand as the gigantic spider stepped into the path and began to bear down on the seventeen-year-old.

"Stupefy," I yelled. My spell hit the Acromantula's big, hairy black body, but I might as well have thrown a stone at it instead. It would have been equally effective. The only thing I achieved was that the spider was running at me instead. Great! As if I hadn't had enough of those things when they were about to eat me in Second Year... "Stupefy! Impedimenta! Stupefy!"

It was of no use though. The Acromantula was either so large or so magical that the spells were doing no more than aggravating it. I barely knew what was happening until I was lifted into the air, struggling madly. I tried kicking it, but my leg only connected with the pincers and the next thing I knew was that my leg was on fire. I could hear Cedric yelling his own spells, which had no more of an effect than mine.

When the spider opened its mouth, I used the moment and murmured "Bombarda." The Acromantula exploded, making me drop twelve feet onto my already injured leg. I scrambled backwards as fast as I could. When I was just out of the way, the thing's body fell to the ground, dead.

"Angel," Cedric shouted "You alright? Did it fall on you?"

I pulled myself to my feet carefully. My leg was bleeding freely and some of the Acromantula venom was on my torn robes. The injured limb could barely support my weight, so I buried my hands in the hedge next to me, gasping for breath. Cedric was standing feet from the Triwizard Cup, which was gleaming brightly.

"Take it," I panted "Go on, take it." But the Hufflepuff didn't move. He merely stood there, looking at me and then at the Cup with longing. Cedric looked around at me again "Now is not the time for you to be a Hufflepuff, Cedric. Go on. I wasn't supposed to be in this stupid tournament anyway."

The older boy shook his head "You take it. You should win. That's twice you've saved my neck in here."

I groaned "That's not how it works and you know it." Bloody Badgers. Why couldn't he just do what everyone else would have done? I didn't want the money from the tournament nor the fame that would supposedly come from this. I had enough of that to last me fifty lifetimes "The one who reaches the Cup first gets the points. That's you. I'm telling you, I'm not going to win any races on this leg." I winced as waves of pain shot through my leg again.

"No," Cedric said, stepping away from the Cup towards me.

I leaned against the hedge tiredly "Cedric, please. I want to get out of here. Just take the damn Cup."

The Hufflepuff came closer again "You told me about the dragons. I would have gone down in the First Task if you hadn't told me what was coming."

"I had help on that too," I snapped, trying to stop the blood from gushing out of the cut "You helped me with the egg – we're square."

"I had help on the egg in the first place."

I was close to tears now. It was all too much. First the stupid dragons and then the Black Lake. I was afraid of water ever since Uncle Vernon almost drowned me when I was a toddler. They had never really cared about me. Maybe they would even be happy if I died "Please, Ced," I begged, my voice breaking.

Experience A New Life || Klaus Mikaelson [1]Where stories live. Discover now