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February 24, 1995:
The morning of the second task arrived and once again, excitement hung high in the atmosphere at Hogwarts. The Professors and students from Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons made their way down to the Black Lake; everyone else taking their seats in the stands, while Professor Dumbledore and Karkaroff, Madame Maxime and Ludo Bagman took their seats at their table - Percy Weasley joining them in place for Mr Crouch.
It was nearing 9:30 and the crowd was growing weary and impatient, and the teachers and judges were getting concerned. The three champions stood by the judges table, waiting for Harry to arrive and Cedric began to worry. He may have been competing against his fellow Hogwarts champion, but didn't want to see him get disqualified or leave the competition so early. He wanted to see Harry go all the way, just as much as he wanted himself to go all the way.
Just as the thought left his mind, he saw Harry running down the hill towards them.
"I'm...here..." He panted when he arrived.
"Where have you been?" Percy Weasley asked rudely. "The task's about to start!"
Harry looked up at him, slightly confused. Cedric sent Harry a quick nod as Mr Bagman moved among them, lining them up and spacing the champions evenly across the bank.
"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to retrieve what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then." He announced.
"One...two...three!"
The whistle echoed loudly through Ced's ears and he dived into the water. The ice cold water sent shivers all through his body but he ignored this. His mission was to retrieve what had been stolen from him. He swam through the dark, murky water, scanning his surroundings as best he could; every now and then checking his watch for the time. He only had an hour and so far, it felt like he'd been looking for two.
Cedric searched and searched, the coldness of the water stiffening his muscles, and he began to find it harder to move through the water. He'd almost given up until he spotted something a little further away from where he was. He squinted to get a better look, and saw that the merpeople were floating in front of what seemed to be their version of a village. Cedric used all his strength and swam towards them as fast as his arms and legs would take him.
As he got closer he could see the merpeople were cheering him on excitedly, with Harry in front of them, looking in his direction also.
Then he saw her.
Willa was beside Hermione, her head lolling around and he smiled at the sight of her.
"Got lost..." He mouthed to Harry. "Fleur and Krum are coming now!"
