stardust ⋮ george weasley

forty :

F O R T Y

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When Adeline woke up the morning of January 24th, the Triwizard Tournament probably should've been on the forefront of her mind.

But Adeline was much worried about something – well, someone – else. Estelle had seemingly disappeared off the face of the Earth the previous night, not showing up for dinner or even for bed that night. Adeline was a little concerned, but she remembered many days where Estelle would stay so late at the library that Madam Pince would have to physically force her out. Plus, Adeline had fallen asleep extremely early the night before, so exhausted from studying up on underwater creatures that she practically crashed when her head hit the pillow.

However, when Adeline woke up that morning, Estelle's bed appeared untouched and none of the Ravenclaw girls had seen her anywhere. She wasn't at breakfast either, which confused Melanie and Ophelia as well. Neither of them had seen her anywhere, and when Adeline got so worried that she went to ask Professor Flitwick, he just stammered out a nonsense reply and couldn't seem to look her in the eye.

The Black Lake seemed to be living up to its name that morning. When Adeline took the boat out to the center of the lake, despite Ophelia and Melanie both trying their best to distract her, all she could do was stare down at the water and think about how she was going to be swimming under it in just a few short minutes.

Just before she met up with the other champions, George met up with her and leaned down to press a kiss to her cheek. "You're going to do amazing, Addie."

Adeline smiled softly up at him and squeezed his hand before taking off her jacket and standing on the edge of the platform. The cool winter wind whipped around her, and Adeline wrapped her arms tightly around her in an attempt to stay somewhat warm in her thin swimsuit.

"Welcome to the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament!" Ludo Bagman loudly announced, causing the stands of attendees to quiet down. "Last night, something was stolen from each our Champions. Treasures. These four treasures – one for each champion – now lie at the bottom of the Black Lake."

A sickening idea appeared in Adeline's mind, but the mere thought of it was so awful that Adeline  tried to push it back down again. She glanced up to see Melanie, Cedric, Ophelia, Fred, and George all standing on the edge of one of the barriers, grinning excitedly down at her, and while Adeline was happy to see them, it didn't make her feel any better when she realized that Estelle wasn't with them.

"In order to win," Ludo continued. "Each champion need only find their treasure and return to the surface. Simple enough. Except for this. They will only have one hour to do so, and one hour only. After that, they'll be on their own. No magic will save them. You may begin at the sound of the cannon!"

When the cannon suddenly went off, Adeline dove into the water and quickly cast the Bubblehead Charm. Once she was sure that she could breath properly, Adeline swam deep into the lake and was suddenly thankful for the swimming lessons her parents had forced her into when she was a child and the hours she had practiced swimming in the bath in the Prefect's bathroom.

As she swam deep into the murky lake, Adeline couldn't help but notice just how quiet it was. Normally, Adeline didn't mind and even thrived in quiet environments. But there was something about the dark, murky water and the fact she couldn't seem to hear anyone or anything that made the lake so eerie.

Up ahead, Adeline saw something move through the seaweed and she swam towards it to get a closer look. But when she saw the fanged teeth and bristled head of a Grindylow, Adeline flinched back and swam farther away from the small creature.