PRANKSTER [1] ↝ C. DIGGORY

forty-two

"Two rolls of parchment on the history of human transfigurations on my desk by Tuesday!" Professor McGonagall called after the sixth year students as they filed out of her classroom, eager to get on with their weekend plans and as far from academia as possible.

As for Clary, she followed Cedric up the flight of stairs nearest to the classroom, trying to get to the library as quickly as their legs could carry them to secure their normal table in the back, away from the majority of students that usually camped out in clusters near the middle of the room, though they were also careful not to be caught running in the corridors by any teachers patrolling the hallways that afternoon. The last thing either of them needed was to lose house points on their journey to Cedric's eternal glory.

They reached the library in record time, staking out their spot as Clary began to pull their usual Charms and Care of Magical Creatures books from the shelves, piling them up onto their table. As she stacked the books, Cedric began to flip through them, to their bookmarked pages after the weeks they'd spent poring over them, in the hopes that any further piece of information they could learn about how Cedric was to breathe underwater for an hour and fight off any potential threats that would come his way might be lurking in the pages they'd already spent so many hours reading.

"So I think we'll stick with the Bubble-Head Charm." Cedric said as Clary flipped through a book about magical creatures of the deep, jotting down notes about merpeople and their customs. Anything Cedric could do to piss them off the least while searching for a treasure in their home territory, the better. "Annoying as hell to have around your head for an hour, sure, but it's a trusty choice, and it's worked every time we've tried it."

"Good choice," Clary agreed, still flipping through the worn pages of the book in her hands. "Any idea yet on what the treasure could be?"

"Nothing," Cedric said regretfully. "I've searched through my room time and time again, and there's nothing out of place. Except my Quidditch jumper, that is, but that's just been missing since the day after Christmas." he said, shooting her a look.

"My guess is whoever might've taken that definitely doesn't intend on giving it back." she said nonchalantly, smirking softly to herself and keeping her eyes glued on the book.

"Maybe it's a clue for the Third Task." Cedric suggested, his voice low so as not to be shushed by Madame Pince, even from all the way across the library at her desk near the entrance. "They've taken something I'll sorely miss, and I'll sorely miss not having any sort of indication of what I'm getting myself into in the next task if I don't retrieve the clue."

"That could be," Clary said, finally looking up at him. "Okay, so you know how you're going to breathe underwater. Do you know yet how you're going to get there? Any defensive spells needed, things you might encounter?"

"Well, as long as I don't run into the giant squid, I'm hoping I'll be alright." he mused optimistically. "I'm thinking quick hexes and defensive spells should do the trick. I don't want to waste time attacking something unless it comes for me first. I want as much time as I can looking for whatever this bloody treasure is."

"Smart." Clary agreed. "You've got this, Cedric. You did great in the First Task, and you've got this one too. Just think, after tomorrow you'll be one task closer to winning the Triwizard Tournament."

Cedric couldn't help but smile at her words, and Clary could tell he was imagining himself being crowned the winner, and hoisting the Triwizard Cup up for all the school to see. The Goblet of Fire certainly thought he was capable of doing so, or it would've chosen someone else, so why wouldn't he have a good chance of winning?

It was only after they'd been poring over the pile of books for hours, taking meticulous note of any creature known to inhabit a lake and claiming just twenty more minutes before they'd call it a night when the sounds of a cane thumping against the hardwood floor startled them out of their focus, eyes looking up to see Professor Moody standing over them.