Of Constellations → 𝘥. 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘧𝘰𝘺

xii. dangerous waters

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chapter twelve

dangerous waters

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On a grey February morning, the school marched in procession down the hill to the Black Lake.

I hadn't been that close to the lake since my first night at Hogwarts, and my chest got progressively tighter and tighter the closer we got to the water's surface. If we were just standing on the banks, I wouldn't have been as worried. A bit anxious, but not terrified.

But, we were not going to be spectating on the banks of the lake. We were going to be held aloft over the water, in enormous stands that had no railings and were ridiculously overlarge for the single round pylon holding up the structure. I knew they were reinforced by magic but...still!

On the boardwalk, there was only one set of stairs that led into the stands, so the line (if you could even call it a line) moved painfully slow and it was so crowded, it was making my nerves worse. I felt ill and wondered if I should have just skipped breakfast.

Luna and Ginny were chatting just in front of me, so I startled a bit when someone put their hand on my shoulder.

I turned around to see Rune there, a slightly anxious look on his face. I had hardly seen him since the Yule Ball.

He said something in Norwegian, but it was loud and he was speaking quickly, so I only just got the basic idea: my father and I had a bad reputation in Durmstrang, and he was sorry he had to tell Karkaroff and Esa who I was.

"Merikanto is a complete and utter pig," he said, switching to English, perhaps because I looked like I was struggling to understand. "He just wanted someone to snog. I should've done more to warn you, or just told him to back off myself, but I didn't want you to hate me if I told him who you are. I knew he'd react the way he did if he found out. I'm really sorry."

I understood now. He hadn't been embarrassed by me, he'd wanted to protect me—both from Esa and from Karkaroff. I was taken aback but managed to smile weakly. "It's not your fault, Rune. I should've listened to your advice in the first place."

With a final smile, he pressed his way into the crowd, hurrying over to his Durmstrang friends before they noticed who he was talking to.

Once we were finally in the stands, Ginny found Michael Corner (a Ravenclaw a year above us and her new friend since the Yule Ball) all the way to the end of one of the highest benches. I was certainly not comfortable, but I took deep breaths and managed to calm myself down.

The judge's table was right against the lake where the champions—sans Harry Potter—were waiting around for the task to begin.

"Wonder where Harry is," said Ginny. "The event is meant to start any second."

Harry showed up at literally the last minute. As he skidded to a stop on the shore, I could see him breathing heavily and clutching his side as though in pain. I could also tell that Krum and Delacour were a bit annoyed by his tardiness.

The event was quickly explained to the crowd. The champions had an important person to them taken away and placed somewhere in the lake. It was up to them to find a way to breathe underwater long enough to retrieve them.

I'd never been so glad I wasn't a champion.

Cedric Diggory and Fleur Delacour both used a Bubble-Head Charm, Viktor Krum attempted to transfigure himself but it didn't turn out so well. And I was pretty sure Harry used gillyweed.