FINITE | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire [4]

𝘅𝘅𝘅𝗶𝗶𝗶 | 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝘀𝗸

They still had lessons on Tuesday, but only until midday. That would give the students time to get down to the dragons' enclosure, though of course, none of them yet knew what they would be seeing.

  The atmosphere in the school was one of great tension and excitement. All day, students were whispering good luck at the champions, except for Harry who also got a lot of hisses as he passed. They had History of Magic first, and Gwen felt that time was moving in a very peculiar fashion; it was speeding past; one moment she was sitting down in class, and then she was having lunch. Harry was whisked away by Professor McGongall before they had even sat down for food.

  'Potter, the champions have to come down to the grounds now... You have to get ready for your first task.'

  'OK,' said Harry, and he began to follow her from the Hall, surrounded by many curious faces.

  'Good luck!' Gwen whispered. 'You've got this.'

  He turned back to her, his face almost glazed. 'Yeah,' he muttered in a faraway voice, and followed McGonagall out of the Hall.

  'He has got this, right?' Gwen said to Hermione when Harry was gone.

  Hermione nodded. 'Yeah. He does.' Her voice was an octave higher than usual.

  Gwen and Hermione ate their lunch, or rather pushed it around their plates, too nervous to eat it in full. Eventually, people began to rise from the Hall, and a large sign in the entrance hall was erected directing them where to go. Ginny joined Gwen and Hermione, and the three of them began to follow the crowds of students down the grounds and around the length of the Forbidden Forest, where a tent had been placed and, behind, a giant arena which students were now filing into.

  The arena was like a smaller one that had held the Quidditch World Cup, though not as glorious. It was hundreds of feet high, towering high above the trees. Gwen cast a look at the tent, guessing the champions would be in there, and she made a decision in a split second.

  'I'll meet you up there,' she said to Ginny and Hermione, veering off the path that had been drawn out and to the tent.

  She peered through in the opening of the tent, and inside, she spotted Harry instantly. He was looking rather green.

  She didn't care that she was mostly likely trespassing. She burst into the tent and marched up to Harry, beaming in a way that most likely looked forced, because she imagined her own face was a similar colour to his.

  'Gwen--' he began, but was cut off by her throwing her arms around him and pulling him into a tight embrace.

  He hugged her back. Gwen hadn't realised, until this moment, how utterly scared she was. She knew she could never take on a dragon, and yet here Harry was having to get past one on mostly pure nerve.

  'You've got this,' she repeated, pulling back slightly. 'Please, just stay alive.'

  Harry didn't respond. It was only when there was a loud pop and a flash that they sprung backwards.