Vestiges of Normalcy

Chapter 8

The day of the First Task finally dawned upon the grounds of Hogwarts, and as the occupants inside the castle rose from their slumber, a wave of apprehensive excitement had spread through every room, nook and cranny. In the Great Hall, the general topic of conversation was what the champions would be facing for the First Task.

Although if one were to look carefully, they would notice that half of the champions were missing.

Indeed, Harry and Viktor were absent from the hall, along with Luna, though their disappearance didn't seem to completely register with the excited students.

The trio in question were in the Room of Requirement, eating their breakfast with Klaus, Uliana, Nicolae and Anastazja. With the first task less then two hours away, Harry had requested to avoid being around the other students. All the noise would have shattered his efforts to keep his nerves in check and stopping himself from losing his head.

The conversation tried to flow naturally, but the air was still tense. Everyone knew what Viktor and Harry were going to face very soon, and no amount of chatter could fully distract them from what was to come. Only Luna, it seemed, appeared to not be on edge whatsoever, humming to herself serenely as she applied butter and blueberry jam onto a scone.

"You're really calm about this, Luna," Anastazja remarked, "Aren't you nervous for Harry and Viktor?"

"Why would I be?" the blonde asked, taking a bite of her scone, "Harry and Viktor will do marvellously in the task, I know they will."

"Even facing dragons?" asked Nicolae.

"Mhm," Luna nodded, "Especially Harry, I got a feeling he's going to surprise us all later."

Whether Harry had a surprise up his sleeve or not, the time came for him and Viktor to head down to for the First Task.

As champions, they were supposed to head back to where they spotted the dragons for the first time. An arena in resemblance to the Coliseum in Rome had been built. They had to wait in a holding tent while the spectators filled up the seats around the enclosure, which had been made bigger for the task. What happened after that though, Harry had no idea, and he was sure Viktor was clueless as well.

The fact that they were the first ones in the tent meant nothing to the two seekers. They found a spot near one of the tent walls, and waited. Any minute, Fleur and Cedric would arrive, and so would all the spectators.

The silence...it felt heavy. Oppressive, suffocating...so many words and synonyms phased through Harry's mind as the minutes seem to crawl by. Not so far away, were four dragons waiting to be released into the arena, and they had to take them on, one for the each of them. Even if it sounds cliché, Harry really felt that he was a poorly-trained gladiator about to fight for his life against a lion.

Looking at Viktor, Harry for a split-second thought that his friend had his nerves under control. But he was mistaken immediately, Viktor's lips were trembling a little, and his eyes were closed, rather tightly as Harry noticed.

"Viktor...?"

"Hm?"

"Are you nervous?"

...

...

...

"Terrified is probably more appropriate."

Harry understood. He was terrified too. Those dragons, all of them towering and ferocious, could easily turn either of them into a pile of ashes or a bloody mess in seconds if they weren't careful. Harry remembered seeing all of those handlers barely restraining the dragons that night. If trained professionals had such a hard time, what could be said about them?