"Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering."― Nicole Krauss, "The History of Love"
| George Weasley |
| Prisoner of Azkaban -Deathly Hallows part 2 |
| Sequel to 'S...
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PREPARING FOR THE FIRST TASK was a lot harder than Hazel had ever expected.
She didn't really know much about Dragons, and therefore, didn't really know what she was going to be able to do.
Two friends were certainly no help; Fred and Lee made their own little betting shop. Where as George, well, he followed the brunette like a shadow, constantly telling her encouraging things whilst trying to build up his own courage to ask her out on a date.
The kind words from one of the Weasley's certainly helped lift Hazel's mood. She couldn't deny that whenever she was feeling down and George suddenly popped up in her peripheral vision, she suddenly felt a hell of a lot calmer.
That's why George sneaked into the Champion's Tent when the first Task was beginning. He practically squeezed the life out of Hazel when he engulfed her in a tight hug; a hug which comforted the pair immensely, but was broken up due to a bright flash from Rita Skeeter's camera.
Hazel groaned in annoyance when her eyes landed on the blonde journalist. The woman was constantly in their faces since the announcement of not three but four Champions and Hazel finally realised why everyone seemed to hate the woman.
The blonde woman sent a smirk Hazel's way before she practically skipped off to Harry and Hermione; trying to get some juicy gossip.
The nerves suddenly settled in Hazel's stomach when she spotted Dumbledore arriving, joined by Barty Crouch, Madam Maxime and Igor Karkaroff.
"Good day, Champions," The bearded man greeted cheerfully, "Gather round please. Now, you've waited, you've wondered and at last, the moment has arrived. The moment only four of you can fully appreciate."
The four Champions gathered around in the circle; they, however, were joined by two more students; Hermione Granger and George Weasley. Of course, when Dumbledore spotted the confusingly large circle, he couldn't help but look confused between the two, "What are you two doing here, Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley?"
"Oh, um...Sorry," Hermione apologised, smiling sheepishly, "I'll just go."
"Yeah, me too," George added, sending Hazel one last smile before he and Hermione bolted out of the tent.
When the pair left, Hazel suddenly felt sick to her stomach. The nerves appearing once again. Harry must've noticed as he moved slightly closer to the brunette girl, his hand found hers before he squeezed it reassuringly.
"Barty. The bag," Dumbledore said, his eyes landing on the Minister of Magic.
Crouch nodded before he pulled out a small velvet bag out of his coat pocket, "Champions. If you will..." He opened the bag up before lifting it towards Fleur.
The blonde girl glanced nervously at her Headmistress before she gently placed her hand inside the bag. Fleur let out a quiet hiss before she pulled out a miniature green dragon; one that Hazel couldn't deny, was actually pretty cute.
"The Welsh Green," Crouch stated before he moved to stand in front of Krum, "Mr. Krum..."
Hazel watched carefully as the Durmstrang student placed his large hand into the bag, he pulled his dragon a lot quicker than Fleur pulled hers out.
"The Chinese Fireball. Oooooh."
Crouch then turned his attention to the brunette girl. Hazel took a large gulp of air as she reached her hand into the velvet bag. She could feel two miniature dragons walking around at the bottom of it. She didn't have much time to think which dragon to grab when one of them jumped into her palm before she lifted it out of the bag, her eyes widening at the sight of the small dragon breathing fire.
"The Hungarian Horntail," Crouch stated, looking slightly worried at Hazel before he turned his attention to Harry.
Hazel couldn't concentrate on what Harry muttered under his breath. Her eyes were purely focused on the Hungarian Horntail in her palm. She could feel her heart picking up its speed as a sudden feeling of fear overcame her. The miniature dragon let out a fiery breath before it curled up on the girl's palm. She carefully examined the spiked it had running up and down his back and all the way down to the tip of his tail.
"The Swedish Short-Snout."
Hazel finally tore her eyes away from her dragon, they landed on the small yellow one in Harry's palm and she couldn't help but wish she picked that one instead. Even Krum's Chinese Fireball didn't look as bad as the Hungarian Horntail.
"These represent very real dragons," Crouch explained after he pocketed the bag, "Each of which has been given a Golden Egg to protect. Your objective is simple, collect the egg. This you must do, for each egg contains a clue without which you cannot hope to proceed to the next task. Any questions?"
Hazel sheepishly lifted her hand.
Crouch nodded when he spotted it.
"What if we die?"
The Minister of Magic looked slightly taken back by the question, "Er..You won't," He quickly said, "We have trained professionals nearby. Anymore questions?"
Silence.
"Very well. Good luck Champions," Dumbledore said, clapping his hands together once, "Miss Lupin, on the sound of the cannon--"
He couldn't even finish his sentence as the cannon suddenly went off.
