Adventures at Hogwarts

Chapter 19: The First Task

The next day, Meg walked down to the Great Hall to meet up with her friends for breakfast. As she made her way towards the table where they sat, she looked at the Slytherin table to find Draco. They both made eye contact, but Draco winked at her. Meg smiled and winked back him; she kept walking to the Gryffindor table. Once she sat down with her friends, Harry began to vent about his meet with Rita Skeeter. "This woman is nothing but a crook! Listen to this," He held up a copy of the Daily Prophet and began to read an article. "Harry Potter, a treacherous wizard at the bright age of twelve, has been chosen as the second Hogwarts champion for the Triwizard Tournament. Rumor has it that he lies in his bed at night and cries about his dead parents and feels bad for himself. Word has gone around Hogwarts school that he is in love with fellow student, Megara McCown. More details about these claims are to come soon." As soon as Harry read that he was 'in love with Meg", Meg spewed her pumpkin juice all over Ron. Hermione had mentioned that Harry was somewhat jealous of Draco's feelings for her, and the fact that she has the same feelings for Draco, but Meg didn't think those things were completely true. After Harry finished reading the article, he felt completely embarrassed and annoyed. He began to wonder how Rita Skeeter had gotten the assumption that he had feelings for Meg. The only people who for sure knew about his feelings were Ron and Hermione.

The morning of the first task arose and everyone was buzzing with excitement, everyone except the Fantastic Four of course. Harry and Meg were anxious, Hermione was nervous, and Ron was as resentful as ever. As everyone was filing into the Quidditch Pitch to take their seats, and the twins were taking bets as to who will survive, the four champions met in a tent outside the pitch to prepare for the first task. As the champions waited anxiously, Meg went to the tent to talk to Harry. Once she walked to the entrance to the tent, Harry also met her, but he met her on the other side of the entrance. Nervously, Meg began to talk to Harry. "Harry, how are you feeling?" He answered her, "Never better." Meg could tell he was nervous. "The key is to concentrate, then after that you just have to..." Harry finished her sentence, "Battle a dragon." With that last word, Meg burst through the entrance and engulfed Harry in one of the biggest hugs she's ever given him. However, this precious moment didn't last long as Rita Skeeter felt the need to document this moment for her readers. She burst through the tent and began to proclaim, "Young love! How, stirring. If things were to end traumatically, you two may even make the front page." Meg and Harry gave her similar looks of disgust; however, Krum stepped up to defend Meg and Harry. "You have business being here! This tent is for champions and friends." Rita wasn't too thrilled with this statement, so she backed away from the group into the corner. A few seconds later, Dumbledore, Barty Crouch, Ludo Bagman, Madame Maxime, and Igor Karkoroff entered the tent and gathered around the champions. Dumbledore began to speak, "Champions, gather 'round. As you well know, today is the big day and..." As he looked at the champions he noticed Meg and said to her, "What are you here, Ms. McCown?" Meg felt completely embarrassed, "Oh sorry, I'll just go." As she walked to the exit, she whispered "Good luck" in Harry's ear. As soon as she left the tent, she met up with the other trainers for the Quidditch matches. "Hey, guys! You know what to do. Hannah, you'll cover Cedric, Luna, you'll cover Fleur, and Parkinson, you'll cover Krum, I'll get Harry. Don't forget, you only act if and when Dumbledore gives you the signal. As always, be careful." The girls broke the circle and headed towards their places in the pitch with their brooms in hand. As Meg came closer to her friends, Hermione and Ron gave her puzzled looks. Meg immediately began to protest, "Ok, look, you both are worried about Harry as much as I am. Besides, I can only go after him at the acknowledgement of Dumbledore." Hermione and Ron believed her, but they were still nervous.

Once the other three champions had defeated their dragons, it was soon Harry's turn. Everyone was anxious. Once Harry set foot in the arena, the dragon began attacking almost immediately. After several minutes of getting thrown around and beaten, Meg shouted at Harry about using his wand. He heeded her words and shouted, "ACCIO FIREBOLT!" A few seconds later, Harry's broom came swooping into the arena. He mounted it and began to draw the dragon away. Once the two had left the arena, Dumbledore looked straight at Meg and nodded. Meg knew that was the signal, so she took action and flew after Harry. Meg was in hot pursuit of both Harry and the dragon, however, they were both moving at a high rate of speed.

After several long minutes and many close-calls, Harry had defeated the dragon and was headed back to the arena with Meg flying by his side. Everyone screamed and cheered with excitement. Harry swooped in and grabbed the Golden Egg and that signified the end of the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament. Everyone headed back to their dormitories to celebrate. Meg went with her friends to the Gryffindor dorms to celebrate with Harry. In the middle of the celebration, everyone was coaxing him to open the egg to see what the next clue was for the second task. Once Harry opened it, the entire room was greeted with a loud screeching that was burning to the ears. It was almost as deadly as a Mandrake's cry. Harry, Meg, and Hermione were very confused about this phenomenon. Due to the loud screeching, Ron came downstairs to see what the commotion was. The twins broke the awkwardness by telling everyone to leave so Harry and Ron could talk.  The two boys made up, and everything between the Fantastic Four went back to normal. For a little while at least.