The Dragon Whisperer

Barbie has a clone?

It was Boxing Day and I was sitting on a patch of grass by the lake and freaking out.

The second task was like 3 weeks away and I hadn't even figured out the clue yet. I spent the whole morning trying to work the egg, opening and closing it repeatedly, cleaning it to try and make it feel relaxed enough to tell me it's secrets and even singing to it with the idea that it would stand about a minute of the mental torture before giving in. Nothing worked.

I heard a loud cough and looked up from the egg to see Viktor Krum's face glaring down at me.

"Katerina" he said harshly. "Do you know how to make the egg work?"

"No" I replied. "Why, do you?"

"Ehh, no" he sighed. "I just thought that if I knew, I could use it to get Hermy-own to, ah, you know"

"Take off her clothes?" I guessed. "Not having much luck with that?"

"Uhh, not really" groaned Viktor. "She wants to hold hands and talk about books, not so much of the sex"

"Viktor" I said firmly. "She's 15 and a teacher's pet. You won't get any of 'the sex' from that one for another 3 years"

"So unfair" moaned Viktor. "She's an innocent girl who's never done anything crazy, how could I resist?"

"What makes you think the clue will get her to sleep with you?"

Viktor frowned. "Her friend, Harry Potter. She's obsessed with helping him win the tournament. If I gave him the clue she'd be so grateful she might..."

"She won't" I insisted. The girl deserved that at least.

"Fine, whatever" sighed Viktor. He stalked away, leaving me with a disgusted feeling in my stomach.

I had another hour or so of sitting on the patch of grass on the side of the lake, rattling a golden egg that squealed every time I tried to open it, before another distraction arrived in the form of Fleur Delacour.

She looked more like a barbie then ever in a pair of blue Christmas leggings and a white sweater. I think that was the "Barbie's Winter Wonderland" set I'd seen on muggle TV when we'd studied General NOn Magical Entertainment at school. But she seemed to have also purchased a cloning machine that created a smaller version of yourself at the store because the girl she was leading by the Cath-Kidston-patterned-gloved-hand looked exactly like her.

The child was maybe 9 years old, with silvery-blond hair down to her bum. She was also wearing snowflake Christmas leggings and a white sweater. Even their fur-trimmed ugg boots matched.In fact, the only real difference other then the height was that Fleur had gone for a red scarf with white patterns and mini Fleur was wearing a white scarf with red patterns.

"Fleur" I said with a forced smile. "Hey!"

"Look Gabrielle" Fleur sniffed. "Zis ees who zey vould 'ave me compete against"

Gabrielle laughed daintily. "Oh dear, sisteure. It vould seem zat zis unfurtunot boy is letting 'is 'air grow a leetle too long"

"Ah, that is vat I said" mocked Fleur. "And zey tell me 'e is a girl!"

Gabrielle snorted. "Zen why ees 'e wearing boy's clothing?"

"I don't know, Gabrielle" sighed Fleur. "I really don't"

"Excuse me?" I said sharply. "You realise I'm right here, don't you?"

"Yes" said Gabrielle. "Owever, how do you say eet, I don't care?"

For a little kid, that girl was already a female dog. I guess it ran in the family.

"Did anyone ever tell you you're a brat?" I asked. (A/N: Brats, Barbies, anyone else's childhood coming back to them in this chapter?)

"What did you say?" shrieked Fleur.

"Brat." I repeated. "I'm sorry, but it's true."

Fleur charged at me and I instinctively grabbed the egg to my chest. Her fists slammed against my shoulders as I toppled backwards into the black lake.

My brain began to freeze up as I free fell towards the water, still clutching the egg as though it might protect me. There was a massive *Splash!*as I hit the water and the cold hit my system. I was freezing, freezing, I needed to get out of here-

"Come seek us where our voices sound!" echoed the voice underwater.

I looked around for the source but I couldn't see anyone there.

"We cannot sing above the ground"

The egg was lying open on the bed of the lake. I guess it must have cracked open with the impact of hitting the water.

"While you're searching ponder this"

Ponder what? Why would I search?

"We've taken what you'll sorely miss"

Wait, was the noise coming from the egg?

"An hour long you'll have to look"

Wait, was this the clue? Was they task to look for something?

"To recover what we took"

What who took? Who are we? Cannot sing above the ground... so mermaids? What would I sorely miss?

"Past an hour the prospect's black"

I was liking the sound of this less and less.

"Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."