Echo | Harry Potter - George Weasley

Chapter 49: The First Task

It was pandemonium in its truest form.

The stadium that had been built in the mountains on the outskirts of school property was jam-packed full of students. It would most definitely not have been an over-exaggeration to say that every single student was present.

Standing in the champions' tent with Harry and the three other competitors, Shaye tried her best to drown out the chanting and cheering and focus on the strategy that she and Mad-Eye had discussed. While Mad-Eye had complete and utter faith in the plan, Shaye still felt as though it was going to require an almost perfect execution and immense amounts of luck to work; there were just too many things that could go wrong.

Walking over to the edge of the tent, Shaye pulled back the entrance flap and watched as students flooded into the stadium. Among the crowd was Fred and George, who had decided to set up a betting ring on who would survive the fiery danger awaiting the five champions. 

"Smart money's on Krum to survive!" the twins shouted. "Place your bets here!"

Letting the flap fall shut, Shaye stepped back, closed her eyes, and drew in a long, deep breath. "I think I'm going to be sick," she said. Harry nodded in agreement; his face was pale with a hue of green that matched Shaye.

Flattening out the non-existent wrinkles on her red, gold, and black hoodie that matched Harry's—the only difference being that her's had Frazier written on the back and Harry's had Potter—Shaye ran through the plan over and over again in her head. Harry, who was doing the same, wrung his hands nervously.

The tent had five separate rooms in it, each providing a bed and privacy to the champions, but no one was nearly calm enough to sit or even, Merlin forbid, sleep. Cedric, Krum, and Fleur paced back and forth as well, and while they seemed to hide their terror a little better than Shaye and Harry, it was comforting to know that they were also frightened of what was to come.

All five of them knew about the dragons and by the end of the day, all five of them would have fought one. Whether they survived or not ... well, that was to be determined.

"Your attention, please." Shaye heard Dumbledore's voice booming throughout the stadium. The rowdy crowd quieted down. One of the dragons let out a spine-chilling growl. "This is a great day for all of us. Each of the three tasks involves very considerable danger. Please keep your seats at all times. This will minimize any risks you may be exposed to. I'm sure we all wish our champions the greatest of luck."

"We're going to die out there." A stark realization washed over Shaye like a tidal wave. "A ball of flame is going to be the last thing I ever see on this earth and then my scorched remains will be sprawled out for the entire school to see."

Harry's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. "You need to stop thinking of worst-case scenarios. It's only going to make things worse."

"I don't think that anything could possibly make this worse."

"We're going to be okay." Harry wrapped his arms around Shaye and squeezed her tight. "We've survived danger greater than this before. We can do this."

For the first time that day, Shaye felt like she was able to breathe easily. She was forever grateful that she had Harry by her side for all of this because she knew that if she had to do it alone, she would get lost in her own fear and lose herself in the tournament.

Shaye rested her head on Harry's shoulder and sighed. "Thank you," she told him.

Just then, there was a bright flash of light followed by a plume of smoke. Pulling away from one another, Shaye and Harry looked over to see Rita Skeeter and her cameraman standing in the tent's entrance.