Albus Severus Potter (A Harry Potter fanfic)

The Second Task (Part 1)

The whole school was wide awake by 8:30 am. Everyone had set outside to get good seats for the Task; no one was bothering with breakfast from the Great Hall, because if they did, they wouldn't get good seats, if not any. Everyone was buying breakfast from the stalls around the arena of the Second Task.

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The champions had stayed in a large (warm) tent outside, so that they wouldn't be able to see any of the signs directing the pupils towards the arena. The tent was a large circle, with three sections around the outside for each of the champions. At around 9:00, all of them were ready for the Task that faced them, and they could hear the noise of the school from outside the tent. Unfortunately, they had strict instructions to stay inside, that, as well as the fact that they couldn't actually touch the fabric of the outside of the tent.

The three champions were milling around the main area of the make-shift tent, when the fabric moved aside to reveal Lockheart, Professor McGonagall, and the Beauxbaton and Durmstrang heads. "Gather around, champions," he said, an unfortunately familiar grin spreading across his face. Albus stood very much choose to Professor McGonagall, the other champions avoiding her slightly. "As you know, the second task will be starting in a few minutes. In case you have not solved the egg clue, here is a half clue. Take it even if you have solved it, for it might prove useful," he continued, winking a Louis, who made an uncomfortable face and shuffled away slightly. Lockheart, ignoring Louis' discomfort, handed each of the champions a small piece of parchment. The champions quickly unfolded it and read it through, slight worry placed upon each of their faces.

The noise of the crowd was louder compared to before, but still didn't seem quite as though it was coming from directly outside. "You may go at the sound of the canon, and starry the start after the second one," he said, sounding finished. "Good luck," he added, shooting Louis one of his grins, making him even more uncomfortable than before. The teachers remained in the tent, as they wanted to walk out of the tent with their champion.

Merely a few minutes later, the canon sounded and everyone left the tent.

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The champions were standing on an uneven, grassy area. They could now pinpoint the location of the screaming schools, and the arena was in fact, floating 50 metres above their heads like a black circular cloud. It gave away some of what the champions had to do, because it was fairly obvious that the champions would have to somehow fly up so that they were actually in the arena.

The champions were standing in a triangle shape, so they could all see each other, and there were staff zooming around them, so that the champions knew where the boundaries and in case anything happened. The second canon sounded.

Instantly, Louis took out his wand and some green plant wrench itself out of the ground and flew towards him. Shruti was doing something similar, and various other plants were coming towards her. Albus, however, seemed to be lying for something on the ground. Louis and Shruti had both conjured up cauldrons and flames, so it was clear to anyone watching that they were making a potion.

Suddenly, one of the plants from Shruti's pile flew away and Louis caught it. Shruti looked sharply up, glaring at Louis. She took her wand, and must have used a non-verbal spell, because the plant seemed to be trying to escape Louis' hand and return to Shruti. Louis returned her glare and held the plant firmly in his hand, determined to not let it go, but he was struggling to keep his ground.

Albus looked up from the ground, an almost satisfied smile playing at his lips. He quickly ran over to Louisa and whispered something in his ear. Louis immediately released the plant which flew straight into Shruti's hand. Louis and Albus then half walked, half jogged towards her and spoke to her. She was nodding and clearly they were all coming up with some sort of plan, Albus at the head of it.

Together the three of them made a potion, and within 30 minutes, it was completed. Each of them conjured up a cauldron and drank the potion. Instantly, there were changes. Each of the champions sprouted a pair of cream white wings.

The champions flew up, up so that they were in the centre of the floating arena. The crowd went wild, there was screaming, whooping, cheering, and every kind of congratulatory noise possible, and for the champions in the middle it was a huge surprise. They responded with huge grins, and waves, which went on for a few minutes before the champions realised that they had a task to be getting on with.

It was Albus who first took off, flying high into the cold air, Louis left soon after, and Shruti followed their example. The crowd now understood why the arena had been so high above the ground, yet even when they looked up, the champions looked no bigger than coloured dots.

For a few moments, all the crowd could see were three moving dots, one black, one blue, and red. Then, out of the grey of the clouds a black figure moved across the sky. It moved with a dark grace, towards the dots. It was blacker than Louis' black Durmstrang robes and blacker than your worst fear. It wasn't hard for everyone in the crowd to guess what it was. It was a dementor.