Two Souls

Chapter Twenty Five

Most of my weekend is spent doing my Potions essay for Professor Snape and my Divination worksheets for Professor Trelawney. The workload I'm receiving this year is insane — mostly because the O.W.L.s are next year and we have to prepare.

Before I know it, it's Tuesday, and the first task of the Triwizard Tournament is commencing. Hermione briefly mentioned something about Dragons to me when we were in the library together on Sunday, but I have no idea what the task will be.

I sit with Hermione, Ron, Fred and George, Ginny, Neville, and some other Gryffindors. The Slytherins are all proudly wearing their Potter Stinks badges on their chest.

"I hope Harry remembers the spell I've taught him," Hermione whispers to herself. I have no idea what she's talking about, so I ignore her comment and instead focus on the area where the champions will emerge from.

The crowd roars, especially the Hogwarts section, once Cedric Diggory enters. Shortly after, a Swedish Short-Snout dragon follows, causing the crowd to gasp. Cedric's face is green with nervousness.

Cedric dawns his wand, mutters an inaudible spell, which turns a rock into a dog. The dragon, now enticed with the dog, doesn't even notice Cedric reaching to grab the Golden Egg behind him.

"Go Cedric!" I yell excitedly, standing up with the other Gryffindors. By now, the entire Hogwarts section has risen to their feet, except for a few select Slytherins.

The dragon turns around and notices Cedric, burning a part of his face. Alas, he has secured the egg and quickly darts into the tent.

Seconds later, Fleur, the champion from Beauxbatons, emerges from the tent area. My heart pangs for the girl, as she is trembling from head to toe in worry. The dragon she is facing, a Common Welsh Green, stands in the center of the arena.

Like Cedric, Fleur also dawns her wand and enacts a spell upon the dragon. The Common Welsh falls asleep under Fleur's magic and the crowd hushes.

Fleur sneakily retrieves the Golden Egg, only for the dragon to snore and release a jet of flames onto her skirt. Fleur sprints away, with the egg in hand, back to the safety of the tent.

Krum — the third champion — faces a Chinese Fireball. He uses a Conjunctivitis Curse to temporarily blind the dragon and steal an egg. The dragon stumbles and smashes the eggs, but Krum has exited safely.

"How daring!" Hermione whispers to me.

"Look, it's Harry!" I yell, pointing to our friend. He looks so fragile and tiny compared to the size of the arena. The dragon he's facing, a Hungarian Horntail, roars with anger as Harry approaches it.

"Accio Firebolt!" Harry calls, at least that's what I think he calls. The stadium is so loud that I can only read his lips.

"Did he — did he actually just do that?" George asks, his mouth hanging open in shock. Ginny quickly shushes him and we all lean over our seats to watch.

Harry maneuvers his broomstick around like a mad man, causing the Horntail's head to move in every which way. The dragon scathes his arm, but he manages to retrieve the egg quite quickly.

Harry is escorted inside by Madam Pomfrey, who tends to his injured arm. Ron eagerly grabs my wrist and pulls me down to the tent with him and Hermione, where Harry is there.

"Harry, you were brilliant!" Hermione squeaks, with fingerprint marks still imprinted on her face where she had been clutching it nervously.

"You were amazing, you really were!" I exclaim, throwing my arms around him in a gentle hug, careful as to not hurt his injured arm.

Ron looks whiter than a ghost. "Harry, whoever put your name in that goblet — I- I reckon they're trying to do you in!" He blubbers.

"Caught on, have you? Took you long enough," Harry retorts coldly. Hermione and I stand between the two of them awkwardly, exchanging a knowing look between each other.

Hermione and I dash out of the tent, allowing the two boys to reconcile their tensions. The two of us sit back down where we originally were, awaiting the scored results of the champions.

Fleur obtains the lowest score out of all of them. While her route was less physically demanding, I believe that it utilized the most mental skills. Cedric earns second place, much to my delight. Harry and Krum miraculously tie for first — which causes all of Durmstrang and Hogwarts to cheer.

The six of us — Hermione, Fred, George, Neville, Ginny and I — exit the stadium almost immediately. Even though I hadn't competed, my body feels tired from the events of today. I can't even imagine how the champions must be feeling.

I rejoin the Slytherins, who are scowling and angry about Harry's triumphs. Blair still has her nose in her book — my book — when I approach her.

"Can you believe what happened today?" I ask her, startling her slightly because she jumps up and loses her place in the book.

Blair hums in response, closing the book and clutching it against her chest. "It's wicked."

"Well I think it was rigged!" Draco says, forcing his way in between us with Crabbe and Goyle next to him. "Potter nearly got his arm bitten off and he somehow manages to win?" He questions.

Blair and I exchange a look, but remain wordless. The venture to the Great Hall is torturous — Draco seems to be bickering with nearly everyone he passes. His jealousy of Harry reeks.

At the Great Hall, the champions receive quite a lot of attention, particularly Krum and Harry.  They all stayed with their eggs closely, which apparently held a clue for the next task.

Draco turns to me, clenching an apple and looking bored. "We still never got the chance to talk about what happened," He reminds me in a hushed tone, taking a bite of the apple.

I furrow my eyebrows. "And what happened-?"

Draco rolls his eyes. "What happened in the closet. You know, with our wand," He whispers quieter.

"What about it?" I ask him.

"You realize that for some reason we can't perform magic on each other? What's that about?" He asks.

I shrug. "I don't know," I tell him truthfully.

Draco eyes the rest of the Slytherins, before turning to me. "Perhaps we should tell Snape, soon."

"Perhaps."

—-
Hi!! I'm writing this while in an online class for Gov👁👄👁

So unfortunately I can't write for the next 40-ish minutes or so because I have a strict teacher for online class, but I can probably get the next chapter up in 2 hours?

Why am I talking about this like someone's gonna read it -