𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕷𝖎𝖋𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕷𝖎𝖊𝖘 𝖔𝖋 𝖁𝖊𝖓𝖚𝖘 𝕻𝖔𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱᴇᴠᴇɴ - ᴛʜᴇ ᴇᴠɪʟ ʙᴀᴛʜʙᴏᴍʙ

The stands erupted into loud cheers, She had done it! Since Venus was the last champion to fight for the egg, it was now time for her to be judged. Before this could take place however Venus had to go through 2 check ups, one from Madame Pomfrey to check for any wounds and one from her concerned girlfriend who would "go and show that dragon a piece of my mind if it dared hurt my honey bun." Thankfully for the dragon, Venus didn't even receive a scratch. The other champions had already received their scores after they had gotten their egg.

Mel drew breath as she and Venus reached the edge of the enclosure. Now that the Horntail had been taken away, Venus could see where the five judges were sitting - right at the other end, in raised seats draped in gold.

"It's marks out of ten from each one," Mel said, and Venus squinting up the field, saw the first judge - Madame Maxime - raise her wand in the air. What hooked like a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a large figure eight.

"Not bad!" said Cedric as the crowd applauded. Mr. Crouch came next. He shot a number nine into the air.

"Looking good!" Fred yelled, thumping Venus on the back. Next, Dumblewhore. He put up a five? The crowd became silent, their own headmaster had given Venus the lowest score?.
Ludo Bagman - ten. "Ten?" said Venus in disbelief. "But... That's the highest rank... No one else got a ten...What's he playing at?"

"Venus, don't complain!" George yelled excitedly. And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too - six.

"You're tied in first place, Venus! You and Krum!" said Charlie Weasley, hurrying to meet them as they set off back toward the school. "Listen, I've got to go, me and Mel were planning on hanging out for a couple hours before I have to head back to the Burrow. Oh yeah - and they told me to tell you you've got to hang around for a few more minutes... Bagman wants a word, back in the champions' tent." With that Charlie ran off again, dragging a giggling and blushing Mel after him as they headed back up towards Hogwarts.

***

It was awkward moving under the cloak tonight, because Venus had the heavy egg under one arm and the map held in front of her nose with the other. However, the moonlit corridors were empty and silent, and by checking the map at strategic intervals, Venus was able to ensure that she wouldn't run into anyone she wanted to avoid. When she reached the statue of Boris the Bewildered, a lost-looking wizard with his gloves on the wrong hands, she located the right door, leaned close to it, and muttered the password, "Pine fresh," just as Minnie had told her. The door creaked open. Venus slipped inside, bolted the door behind her, and pulled off the Invisibility Cloak, looking around.

The bathroom was softly lit by a splendid candle-filled chandelier, and everything was made of white marble, including what looked like an empty, rectangular swimming pool sunk into the middle of the floor. About a hundred golden taps stood all around the pool's edges, each with a differently colored jewel set into its handle. There was also a diving board?!? Long white linen curtains hung at the windows; a large pile of fluffy white towels sat in a corner, and there was a single golden-framed painting on the wall. It featured a blonde mermaid who was fast asleep on a rock, her long hair over her face. It fluttered every time she snored.

Venus moved forward, looking around, her footsteps echoing off the walls. Magnificent though the bathroom was - and quite keen though she was to try out a few of those taps - now she was here she couldn't quite suppress the feeling that Cedric might have been having her on. How on earth was this supposed to help solve the mystery of the egg? Nevertheless, she put one of the fluffy towels, the cloak, the map, and the egg at the side of the swimming-pool-sized bath, then knelt down and turned on a few of the taps. She could tell at once that they carried different sorts of bubble bath mixed with the water, though it wasn't bubble bath as Venus had ever experienced it.