Rose Dursley: The Girl Who Lived

13. The First Task

A few weeks later, it was time for the first task of the Triwizard Tournament.

Everyone in school made their way down to a special arena that had been built specially for the task. It was a large ring of seats surrounding an large rocky area.

All the children were excited to find out what the first task was going to be. There had been a few rumours going around that there were going to be dragons, but most people didn't believe it.

That was until Dumbledore came out to announce the task. "Now the moment has arrived for the first task of this year's Triwizard Tournament," he said. "Our champions must go up against a dragon to retrieve a golden egg that the dragon is guarding."

The arena was filled with gasps of fear.

"First to face their dragon is... Cedric Diggory," said Dumbledore.

Cedric slowly emerged from a tent at the side of the arena. He looked nervous as he cautiously stepped into the arena. He looked around to see where the dragon was, but it was nowhere to be seen. All there was in the arena was a nest in the middle that held a golden egg. Cedric pulled out his wand and walked forward.

Then, with a loud roar, a dragon swooped down to land on the eggs.

Cedric quickly dived to the side and hid behind a large rock. The dragon kept roaring as Cedric moved to the edge of the rock and peered round it.

Cedric used a transfiguration spell to turn a rock into a dog. The dog barked, then ran away from the dragon. The dragon leapt up and chased the dog across the arena.

Cedric took his chance and sneaked out from behind his rock. He made it most of the way to the nest, when the dragon spotted him. It shot out a jet of fire towards Cedric. The flames caught him and burnt his face and arm, but he carried on running through the pain and grabbed the golden egg.

All the Hogwarts children cheered when they saw Cedric holding the egg above his head.

Next it was the turn of Fleur Delacour. When she came out of the tent, Rose sat forward in her seat. Rose was worried, but also excited to see Fleur in action.

Fleur acted quickly, casting her spell as soon as she came into the arena. Her dragon was hit by a bolt from Fleur's wand, and it instantly fell asleep.

Rose clapped and cheered, as Fleur walked slowly over to the nest. But as Fleur got close, the dragon started to snore. As it did, flames shot out from its nostrils. Fleur jumped to the side, but the flames caught the back of her skirt and set it on fire. She quickly put the flames out, then walked over and picked up her golden egg.

There was loud applause from all the boys as Fleur waved to the audience.

The last one to face the task was Viktor Krum. He cast a spell to make the dragon blind. Then he quietly sneaked towards the nest. As he got closer, the dragon could smell him. It started to thrash about with its tail. Krum managed to dodge around and grabbed the last golden egg.

Once the task was all over, and the excitement had died down, everyone started to make their way back to the castle.

"Well that was fun," said Ron. Though I hope Cedric wasn't hurt too badly."

"Yeah, it looked painful," said Hermione. "But I'm sure Madam Pomfrey will be able to help him."

When they arrived back at the castle, it was time for lunch. Then once they had eaten, it was back to their normal routine. That meant a double lesson of potions in the dungeon with Snape.

Once they reached the classroom, Hermione took her usual place at a table near the front. Ron and Rose sat at a table nearer the back.

Snape swept into the room with his normal bad mood. "Quiet down," he said. "In today's lesson, you will be brewing a wit-sharpening potion. This is a potion that makes you think more clearly."

Snape looked around at some of the children in his class, until his eyes rested on Ron and then Neville. "Perhaps some of you would benefit from taking it immediately," he said.

When Snape turned and walked to his desk, Rose leaned over to whisper to Ron. "I think he means you," she said.

Ron playfully punched her on the arm. "Shut up," he said.

"I saw that, Weasley," said Snape. "Five points from Gryffindor."

Rose stifled a giggle, while Ron groaned.

Snape walked over to where Rose was sitting. "Are you okay, Miss Dursley?" he asked. "Did he hurt you?"

Rose squirmed uncomfortably. "No, I'm fine, Sir," she said.

Snape nodded, then scowled at Ron before he walked back to the front of the class.

"I can tell who is Snape's favourite," whispered Ron. "Such a teacher's pet."

Rose playfully punched Ron on the arm. "I'm not," she said.

"Five points from Gryffindor," said Snape, from the front of the class. "Any more of that and you will both be in detention."

Hermione turned around and glared at them both. Ron and Rose looked down sheepishly and started to brew their potion.

Towards the end of the lesson, Snape walked around and inspected what everyone had brewed. "They all look adequate. But to be sure, we should test one of them," said Snape. "Weasley, take a sip of yours and see if your wit is sharpened."

Ron gulped nervously, then took a sip of his potion.

Snape watched him with a patient scowl. "Shall we see if it has worked?" he said. "Say something, Weasley."

Ron tried to think of something using wit. Witty means funny, Ron thought to himself, so that means like some funny joke.

"Okay, umm. Oh wait, I've got one," said Ron. "Your mum's so fat, that her patronus is a cake."

Rose burst out laughing.

Snape glared down at Ron with a calm fury. "I don't think your potion worked," he said, with gritted teeth. "Detention, both of you."

Snape then turned around angrily and stomped back towards his desk.

"I can't believe you said that," whispered Rose.

"Yeah, I think that potion was definitely wrong," said Ron.

Everyone started to pack away their things at the end of the lesson, and then leave the dungeon. As Hermione walked past Ron and Rose, she stopped and rolled her eyes at them. "You're a pair of idiots," she said.

Rose looked at Ron and grinned. "You're an idiot," she said.

"No, you're an idiot," said Ron.

Hermione sighed with frustration. "Urgh, I give up," she said.

And with that, they walked off to the Great Hall for their dinner.