𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐂𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 - the wizarding world

III. THE GOLDEN EGG

III. THE GOLDEN EGG
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The days grew even colder as November turned into December. Each day seemed all the more magical as Hogwarts was getting ready to enter the holiday spirits. Snow fell in vast layers, spraying the grounds in heaps of perfect snow, the branches of trees catching some before it met the ground, making the trees look heaven-sent, decorated with flawless ice curtains.

The Black Lake was frozen over and some students had immediately taken advantage and took their ice-skates for a ride. Others made sure to stay inside, where it was warm and cosy, cuddled up with steaming tea by the fire.

Ivy was one of those kinds of people. The cold did not suit her. The snow was pretty, but it was also cold and wet and all the flowers and animals would disappear. Ivy would rather stay inside, where she did not freeze her arse off.

Then again, something was still in the way. The golden egg. The second task was fast approaching and whatever was in that egg would be the key to getting first place, but whatever Ivy tried only resulted in deafening screeching.

The snow crunched under Ivy's boots, leaving pristine footprints behind her. With the Hufflepuff scarf she had no intention of ever giving back to Cedric wrapped thickly around her neck, her head turtling into it, Ivy begrudgingly made her way across castle grounds towards the Beauxbatons delegation. Henri lounged against it, a fag between his lips, and waved Ivy over when he saw her approaching.

"Brilliant, you're here. Come on," he beckoned her to the back of the giant house.
          
"Henri, please t-t-tell me why y-you've summoned me?" Ivy asked, her teeth chattering loudly.

Henri looked up one more time to scan the surroundings before looking back to Ivy, a smirk growing on his face. "I cracked it."
          
"C-cracked what?" Ivy questioned, her breath made visible by the cold. When Henri's grin only widened, she put it together. "The egg?" she exclaimed incredulously. "The egg!"
          
"Fuck yeah, I did. Totally on purpose too," he said, a little too casually.
         
"Wow..." Ivy sighed. "I mean, how in the world?"

"So I was taking a swim in the pool, right?" he began. "And I brought this bloody egg with me, because I'm not taking any chances with that blooming thing. When I finally went in the water, my bag moved and this egg begins rolling out," he continued, animating his story with his hands. "And I'm head under water at this point, so I don't notice it until it's too late. The egg goes splash and I try to rescue it, of course. But I accidentally pull the pin at top, the one that opens it—"

"And makes it go screechy? Yeah, I'm familiar," Ivy interjected.

Henri pointed at her, excitement coursing through his body. "That's what I was expecting. But it never comes. Instead, the most brilliant voice I've ever heard starts singing some bloody poem at me!" he finished, slightly out of breath.

"Mate..." Ivy started. "That's wicked! I've just gotta hold the egg underwater? Why didn't I think of that?"
          
"Right?" Henri said. "Just don't tell anyone I told you, us champions aren't actually supposed to help each other."
          
"Got it... I can tell Harry, right?"
          
"Just don't tell him you got it from me."
          
"Brilliant," Ivy said and sent a quick goodbye Henri's way before she left to get to her first lesson.

Water, she thought as she, again, miserably trudged through the snow towards the Care of Magical Creatures classroom. Where do I find a body of water big enough to fit me and the egg, but not have it give me hypothermia and subsequentially kill me? The question roamed her mind as she arrived at her destination.