Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 338: Lyra's Great Secret is Revealed
When Neville sneaked back into the tent, Mister Crouch was still going on with his explanation about the first test. That was until he realized it was time to begin.
"Right! So… why don't we let the lady go first?" Crouch suggested.
"That's fine by me." Fleur glared at the other champions.
"I'll show them how it's done." She said with a confident smile on her face.
"Oh!" Krum raised an eyebrow and then bumped Cedric's shoulder. "You think all French girls are this fiery?"
"I… don't know…" Cedric was too nervous to think about girls or anything else right now. He still hadn't come up with a way to get the golden egg that Mister Crouch just mentioned they had to retrieve. Meanwhile, he was sure that all his opponents already had a clear strategy, after all, they had weeks to think about it.
"Can we see the other champions' performances?" Cedric finally asked.
Krum seemed to find his nervousness amusing.
"I'm afraid not, Mister Diggory. That would give an advantage to whoever goes last, as that person would have more information to work with," Crouch explained.
"Right…" Cedric lowered his head. He couldn't argue with that.
"Now, if you are ready, Miss Delacour?" Crouch made a gesture to proceed.
Fleur nodded. She was also feeling nervous but would never allow herself to show it.
With a confident expression, the French girl waltzed out of the tent through the front door, and soon they began to hear the cheers from the audience.
"Okay… I will also have to go outside," Mister Crouch said.
"The order will be as follows. after Miss Delacour has completed her task, the next one to come out will be Mister Krum, then Mister Diggory, and finally, our fourth champion…" His eyes moved to Neville.
"Put on a good show, my boy. Some people are expecting a lot from you...oh, but no pressure." He smiled.
He then approached Percy Weasley and patted him on the shoulder.
"Wetherly here will be in charge. If you need anything, just ask him. And remember the rules I told you… good luck!" With those last words of encouragement, the man left the tent.
Krum glanced at the other two boys.
"So, you two have a plan already?"
"I was thinking of creating some sort of… distraction," Cedric commented. It was the only idea he had come up with so far.
"You probably have something better. You had plenty of time after all…"
Cedric couldn't help but sound bitter as he glanced at Krum.
Krum had a satisfied smile on his face.
"I suppose I did…" His eyes moved to Neville.
"What about you, fourth champion? You look very confident today. You must have a foolproof plan, then."
Neville shrugged.
"Not really… I'll just go in there and grab the egg." He hadn't really put much thought into how to complete the task. After all, he had been wondering if Voldemort had something planned for him. Perhaps he had prepared some interference that could get him killed. Or maybe he thought the dragon would be enough.
"Just go in there and grab the egg?…" Cedric had a look of disbelief.
"Oh… I would love to see that," Krum added.
<><><><><><><>
Outside, in the stands, Daphne was receiving some curious looks from her sister and Luna.
They all thought she would be sitting on the other side of the stadium with the rest of the Slytherin students.
But now she was here, sitting next to Astoria.
Ginny and 'Harry' were in front of her.
'There is no way I'm not keeping my eye on him…' Daphne told herself while glancing at the boy in front.
Harry looked back at her for just a second before he became too nervous and went back to looking at the floor.
"Harry… are you feeling alright?" Ginny asked with great concern. She had never seen Harry act this way. He even looked to be trembling.
'He must be very sick… and he still came to see Neville… how brave!' Ginny concluded.
"I'm fi… fi… I'm f-ouch! I'm okay!" Harry scratched his head after Daphne gave him a subtle smack.
"Eh?....ok." Ginny continued to look a him with worry.
'What was Harry thinking?... No one is going to believe this is his doing!' Daphne thought.
"Sorry I'm late!" Lyra had just arrived at their seats, looking very cheerful.
"Where were you?" Ginny asked. They had come here together, but before the tournament began, Lyra made some excuse and took off.
"Did you have to poo?" Luna asked casually.
"Oh… so that's why." Astoria nodded in understanding.
"No! That's not it!" Lyra's face became flustered.
"I just…" She sat down and became quiet.
"Lyra?... What is it? Did something happen?" Ginny knew her friend very well. When she got like this, it was because she had something big she shouldn't tell but always ended up spilling in the end.
"A secret…" Astoria said.
"Another one? What is it?" Luna asked.
"Oh, come on, Lyra. Just save us the waiting," Ginny said. "You know you always end up spilling the beans."
"Yes, there was even that time when you actually spilled some beans while spilling the beans… remember?" Luna earned an angry glare from Lyra.
"Fine! I can't keep this any longer!" Lyra exclaimed.
"You just sat down," Astoria pointed out.
"Is it about the Crumpled Snorlax following you around? Because we all know about that one," Luna stated.
"No!" Lyra shouted. "And I don't wanna know what that is..."
"Did you actually go to poo?" Ginny asked.
"No! And shut up about that!" Lyra took a moment to catch her breath.
"I kissed Neville!"
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