Marauders' Godson Book 4: The Goblet of Fire

Chapter Twenty-Three

Edward, Harry, and their friends went up to the Owlery ten minutes after the task ended to send letters to Remus and Sirius about the first task. Edward and his brother couldn't help but write blow-by-blow accounts of what happened with their dragons; since Edward's had lasted about twenty seconds, his was much smaller than Harry's.

Edward also added a hasty postscript to his: Harry's fine. He flew around on his Firebolt and distracted the dragon long enough to get the egg.

They were discussing what they'd discovered by talking with Sirius, even thought Dumbledore had asked them to let him worry about it.

"Where do you reckon Crouch Junior is now?" Ron asked.

"He couldn't be anywhere near here," said Onyx, "he'd have a job hiding."

"There is such a thing called disguises, Onyx," Topaz said amusedly. "He might be using Polyjuice Potion."

"Shh," said Edward quietly, hearing footsteps on the stairs. As Hannah's and Ernie's excited voices floated up to them, he said at normal volume, "I think Fred and George have gotten enough food from the kitchens by now. Let's get back to the Gryffindor common room."

When they entered the common room there was an explosion of cheers and yells. Someone had let off some Fillibuster Fireworks, making the air thick with stars and sparks. Someone else, Dean Thomas probably, had put up banners of Harry zooming around the Horntail and Edward talking to the Acid-Green. They were very lifelike.

Edward went to the food table with Topaz, who didn't like parties that much either, and made it very clear he didn't want cheers and conversation with anyone but the Ravenclaw boy.

After a while, Lee Jordan picked up Harry's egg from the table. "Blimey, this is heavy."

"No, really," said Ruby sarcastically, making everyone laugh.

"Open it, Harry!" said Onyx excitedly. "Let's just see what's inside it."

"He's supposed to work out the clue on his own," said Topaz severely.

"He was supposed to work out how to get past the dragons on his own, too," Edward murmured to  him amusedly, and Topaz flushed.

"Yeah, go on, Harry, open it!" said several voices.

"Edward's here too," said Draco, but everyone ignored him. That was fine with Edward.

Harry took the egg from Lee, dug his fingers into it, and yanked it open.

Instantly, a loud shrieking noise echoed around the room and Edward clapped his hands to his ears with several others. He knew exactly what that noise was, but he decided not to say anything about it. He saw Ruby's excited look and shook his head slightly, mouthing, "Later."

"Shut it!" yelled Fred. Harry slammed the egg shut again.

"What was that?" Seamus Finnigan asked. "Sounded like a banshee-"

"No, banshees have higher-pitched voices," said Ruby. No one questioned her; she was very knowledgeable about animals and monsters.

"It was someone being tortured!" Neville said, looking very pale. "You're going to have to fight the Cruciatus Curse!"

"That's illegal, Neville," said Edward gently, and everyone turned to him. "It's not that." Neville relaxed.

"Do you know what it is, then?" asked Colin eagerly.

"Yes, but I'm not going to say anything until the next task," Edward answered.

Many people tried to get him to say what he thought it was, but he ignored them. Finally they went back to discussing it themselves.