That Durmstrang girl (Harry Potter)

Chapter 16

A/N Hi.... I know I don't update for a few months but I'm working on something you might like. This is a rough draft and I'll edit it later, I just want to get it up for you guys :))).

I sighed as I looked at my reflection.

"You've really outdone yourself this time, Sophie." I thought. My hair was a tangled mop, my face pale with dark circles under my eyes from the lack of sleep. 

I had been up all night trying to figure the clue the egg held. But every time I opened the damn thing it would let out a terrifying screech. I did everything I could to find out the clue from reading books to trying spells but I had yet to figure it out. It was the early hours of the morning, still dark when I heard footsteps from the dormitories.

"Sophie? What are you doing here? You look like a mess." A voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked over my shoulder to find Harry walking down the stair into the common room.

"I'm trying to figure out this egg, not wanting to wake everyone else up back at the ship. Have you found out what the clue is?" I asked in hopes of the response I need.

"No, but Cedric gave me a clue yesterday." He hummed, looking into the fire. "Something about taking my egg to the Prefects' bathroom on the fifth floor, saying that its not a bad place to take a bath..." 

He trailed off, unconvinced that Cedric was telling the truth. I stared at Harry for a moment before grinning.

"Of course, Cedric and his stupid, complex hints. Let's go for a walk shall we?" I told him, hopping up and heading to my dormitory.

"And don't forget to bring your egg.

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No one was awake at this unholy hour, so it was quite easy to sneak into the Prefects' bathroom. I went straight to the gigantic bath and turned it on to a warm temperature whilst Harry kept watch.

"What are you two up too?" A shrilly voice I wasn't familiar with expressed.

I spun around to see another one of those ghosts that travel around the castle. The ghost was a young looking girl, with big glasses and long dark hair. Her eyes were rimmed with rings, showing she had cried previously. She had a smile that made me shiver, suddnely uncomfortable with the situation.

"Oh Myrtle. What are you doing here?" Harry said, coming back towards the bath. "Don't you live in the girl's bathroom on the third floor?"

"Oh yes." She claimed with a dramatic sigh, "I unfortunately do, but I decided to venture out. Lucky I did, I've caught that Diggory boy in here and now you."

I had to choke a gag as I watched Myrtle giggle like a love-sick puppy. Harry looked over to me in desperation and I took it as my chance to step in.

"It was lovely meeting you Myrtle, but Harry and I need to be alone for this. I hope you don't mind." I said, trying to sound as genuine as possible.

"Oh if you insist." She whined before floating through the wall, most likely heading back to her bathroom.

"Thanks, that was weird." Harry said with a sigh of relief.

"No worries, but we need to get this done. The second task is soon." I told him and he nodded.

Because we were doing this together, we had agreed to wear swimmers. Harry is more of a brother to me, plus I don't think we'd like to bath under clothed in each other's presence. The huge bath was filled with slightly hot water, steam coming off the top of the water. We both slide into the bath and I couldn't help but relax in the water. It had been a while since I last felt this relaxed.

"Do you have your egg?" I asked Harry. He pointed to the ledge of the bath and saw the two eggs sitting there.

We picked up our eggs and on the count of three, we ducked underwater and opened our eggs. They seemed to glow and open without a screech, but with a melodic voice that was soothing;

"Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this;
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And recover what we took,
But past an hour — the prospect's black,"

Once the voice had finished, the egg closed up and I surfaced for air. I pondered over the words for a moment whilst I waited for Harry to resurface.

"What do you think it meant?" He asked once he had come back up.

"I have a slight idea, but I know someone who would explain it better." I smiled mischievously.

After getting dressed, we left the Prefects' bathroom and headed back to the dormitory. By now the sun had come up and there were a few students here and there, loitering about. The riddle kept entering my thoughts, and the more I seemed to think about it, the harder and more confusing it became.

We reached the common room, finding Ron and Hermione sitting by the fire, talking in heated whispers. I gave out an annoyed sigh, they were no doubt arguing about last night. They were pretty close, so I did the first thing that came to mind,

"Would you two stop with the PDA, there are children in the room." I yelled across the common room, causing all heads to turn in the direction of Ron and Hermione, who had sprung away from each other like they were a disease. Their faces were flaming, eyes wide giving the affect that what I had yelled had been true.

"Shut up Sophie!" Hermione cried, but scolded when I bursted into laughter. "Stop, it's not funny."

"It really is." Harry agreed, doing a better job at containing his laughter than me. I suddenly realised why we had come back and I took a seat on the floor near the fire.

"Harry and I opened our eggs without them screeching." I piped up, causing the two to snap their heads towards me, gaping at my statement.

"How?!" Ron asked, completely dumbfounded.

"Water, long story." Harry began, "Hermione, I think you'd be able to help. We can't seem to figure out what the message means."

"What did it say?" Hermione asked, curiosity beaming in her eyes. I loved that no matter what it was, Hermione was interested and listening intently as I repeated the message. She nodded her head and went into deep thought.

"Well, you have one hour to do something, assuming it was underwater due to the clue. I'm guessing they'll take something you hold close to you, hence they missing it. And you'll have an hour to do it." Hermione said more to herself, whilst the three of us stared at her muttering.

"I've got it! You need to retrieve something underwater within an hour. That's the second task."