Conall Wolf

21) The after match

Conall walks out of the room and he has a big smile on his face. He is so happy that he did this task so good, despite his hit with the club. However, he doesn't care about that wound, and he is glad that he is so close behind number one. This makes it really easy to become first in the next tasks, which is his goal.

He walks together with madame Baudelaire to the carriage, and she is talking about a lot of things. Conall ignores it a bit, he still has the cheering noise in his ears and he never thought that he could appreciate that noise so much. He hopes Beauxbatons will appreciate his result, he isn't first place but he is only 1 point behind it so he hopes they are still proud. He is now realising for the first time how much pressure it takes to be the champion. A whole school is relying on him and he can't screw it up, which is heavier then he thought.

They arrive by the carriage and Conall already hears some noise inside. Madame Baudelaire opens the door for him, and the soft noise he first heard is now exploding.

"Conall! Conall! Conall!" Everyone yells and Conall gets a wide smile on his face. He walks in and he already sees some people walking up to him, he already feels the pain with the idea of people touching his back so he takes some steps back.

"Hold up! No touching! I don't want to be out of the race because I am not caring for my wound." Conall says quick. The people that were walking to him stop walking immediately. Conall nods to them as a thanks and he walks further.

He sits down carefully in a chair and people are all gathering around him, curious of everything that happened and how he got a hippogriff. Conall explains everything in detail and eventually everyone could only think about the tubes.

"Well why won't we try and see what the tubes mean!" Someone asked enthusiastically in the crowd.

"Do you all want to know what is inside?" Conall asks teasingly.

"Yes!" Everyone says in choir.

Conall gets his tubes and he takes one of them, his friends are taking the others and Conall inspects them closely. He tries to open them with pulling at the sides, but there is no movement in them. Conall sighs and inspects it further. He looks at every corner but I can't find anything.

"I am sorry guys, it seems these tubes are sealed. I will see what I can find, but this is tougher then I thought." Conall says. Everyone backs of in disappointment and Conall sighs as well.

"Guys, it is not a surprise that it won't be easy to find out what is in the tubes. You didn't forget that it is the triwizard tournament right? We do not have to forget that Conall did it amazing and he is second with only one point ahead, if he kills the second task he can easily get a big head start." Thierry says excited, Conall gives a kind smile to him. His friends really know when something is bothering him, and how they can get him out of it.

"That's right! We didn't forget that moment when you dodged that troll! You were so fast!" A boy says.

"Yeah! Or that moment when he just flew over the troll." Someone else says.

And that is how everyone talked about the first task, making fun of the other champions and preaching up Conall. Conall sometimes filled them with what happened in the forest. They kept talking for a while and then Conall could feel his stomach rumbling. He told everyone that he will go back to the castle to eat something, and while he changed back into his normal clothes he walked to the castle.

When he enters he sees that it is still packed with people. He can see that there are missing a lot of people around the Ravenclaw table, and he supposes that they are feasting in their common room. This also explains why he still sees a lot of Durmstrang people, they are probably not caring a bit about their champion. He gets a sad feeling for Dean Crimson, but that was not the reason why he came here.

He automatically scans the Hall for one particular person. He goes over all the heads with the yellow crests. He smiles bright when he sees the familiar face of Katsumi and he walks happily to him. He is together with Nina, he sees that Katsumi is talking excitedly while moving his hands around, but Nina is sitting a bit bored next to him.

"Hello guys!" Conall says happily. He sits down in front of them and Katsumi gets a big smile on his face. Conalls stomach turns when he sees that smile, and definitely when he sees that Katsumi is wearing. Katsumi's who face is covered with the colours of Beauxbatons, which probably explains why people aren't sitting close to them.

"Conall! We were just talking about you. You did such a great job! I hope that hit of the troll doesn't hurt that much! Wow I still can't believe how good you handled this task." Katsumi says excited. Conall gets red when he is talking so positive about him, and he doesn't realise why that is happening now. He didn't blush the whole time when his school talked excited, and now only Katsumi talks and he just can't help it.

"T-thanks Kat... and my wound will be fine eventually, I hope." Conall says, he focusses his look to his hand, smiling small. He has no idea how to deal with this situation. His feeling are getting more and more and he just can't get over them.

"Can't you just wash af that ridicules schmink of you... the task is over alright?" Nina says a bit disgusting.

"I like it." Conall says. Katsumi's smile that faded with the comment of Nina now relives again.

"Thanks Conall." Katsumi says weak. Conall sees that Katsumi turned red as well and Conalls feeling got all over the place with seeing that.

"Ugh... Of course you do... But don't think you will win, you may be behind with only 1 point, you are still second. Rue will crush you." Nina says.

"Nina! Watch your language. Conall is my friend remember, and Rue isn't our friend at all. Aren't friends more important than a school?" Katsumi says in defend. Now it is time for Conall again to blush, and he backs of a bit of the conversation. He takes his food carefully, but listening closely to every word.

"Get that idea out of your head Sumi, we need to be here to support our school, not our enemy." Nina says determined.

"Since when do you call me Sumi?" Katsumi asks confused.

"Huh?" Nina says confused, as if she said nothing.

"Nevermind... Conall why shouldn't we go get some fresh air?" Katsumi says stern.

"O-okay." Conall says a bit in shock, confused of what just happened. Katsumi immediately stands up and Conall follows him.

The two of them are walking outside and it is silent for a moment.

"I am sorry for what happened... I don't know what is happening with Nina." Katsumi says ashamed.

"Don't worry, it is normal to be competitive." Conall says.

"Well that isn't a reason for Nina to just humiliate you... she had no right to do that, she knows that I care for you." Katsumi says. Conall gets red when he hears those words.

"Y-you care for... me?" Conall says.

"Of course I do! You are... my friend." Katsumi says with a bit hesitation. He gets red as well and Conall rubs his arm awkwardly. He has no idea how to act and he swallows.

"Just... don't worry to much about Nina okay? She is your best friend, it is probably not something big." Conall says quick, trying to end this conversation. Every time when things get awkward he wants to go away, even though he always gets a bad feeling when he leaves.

"You are right..." Katsumi says.

"Maybe you should had back and ask what is going on. You need to solve problems with your friends as quick as possible." Conall says, and he stands still. Katsumi stands down as well and Conall waits for his reaction.

"Maybe you are right... When will I see you again?" Katsumi says. Conalls stomach turns again and he grins.

"I will be there when you need me, if something is announced it is always less fun!" He says jokily. He always says that, because he is just to busy sometimes. He doesn't want to disappoint him, so he always says that. Katsumi smiles and then he walks away, back into the castle.