Percy Jackson and the Triwizard Tournament

128) The End is Nigh

We spent the afternoon wandering around the grounds, and finally, it was dinner time. Ludo Bagman and Cornelius Fudge were there, the two of them looking very different. Bagman looked quite cheerful, while Fudge was stiff and wasn't talking. He was sitting by Madame Maxime, who was staring at her plate with red eyes. Hagrid kept glancing down the table at her.

There was more food than usual, but I didn't feel up to eating it all. I was starting to grow nervous, and my stomach was turning at the thought of going into that maze. I had a feeling that something terrible was going to happen, and I couldn't shake it, no matter how hard I tried.

After what seemed like forever, Dumbledore stood, and silence fell across the hall, "Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now."

I stood up, my heart racing. I could hear my pulse in my ears, and felt strangely unsteady on my feet. The feeling of uneasiness, of absolute horror, had grown. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and took a second to push the feeling away.

I wish I hadn't. I wish I'd run straight to Dumbledore and begged for him to change something. I wish I'd burned down the maze.

I wish I'd known. But I didn't.

I think it was this moment when my life started to take a turn for the worst. I didn't know it at the time, but my life at Hogwarts would never be the same. I'd never greet people happily in the hallways again, I'd never look at the walls of my common room in the same light, and I'd never share the same laughs with people like I had before. A chapter ended as I walked with Cedric towards the field, Harry having to walk with a Bagman. As I looked up at the hedges, dread filling my gut, a new chapter began.

A terrible, horrible chapter.

"I'm a little worried," Cedric laughed nervously, staring at the hedges with apprehension. "This is it, yeah? This is the end."

"Yeah," I whispered, forcing myself to breathe. "The end."

Cedric glanced at me, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm just... nervous, that's all," I said quietly. "The monsters are probably going to be harder to beat for this task, and I've got to help Harry on top of it. I've also got to find him, which I'm not sure how I'm going to do."

Cedric nodded slowly, as if he knew that I wasn't telling the truth, "Yeah, I get that. The - the jitters, and all."

I nodded, swallowing thickly. Cedric looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, "I'm a little scared."

"I'm a lot scared," I sighed.

"Harry's going to be all right," Cedric said, and my nervousness seemed to spike. "He's got you to help him, and he's no slouch himself."

"I know," I nodded. "I'm just — I don't know. I feel like the world's ending." I laughed sadly. "That's stupid. This is stupid."

"It's not stupid," Cedric said, fiddling with something on his wrist. I looked at my feet, trying not to frown too deeply. "Here. Have this. For good luck, you know?"

I looked up, and saw pooled in Cedric's hand, a simple yellow and black braided bracelet. My eyes widened when I saw it.

"Is that —?"

"Yup," Cedric grinned. "The Hufflepuff good luck charm. I got it passed down from a seventh year, and she from the seventh year before her, and he from the one before him, and so on. I'm leaving the school soon, and I've got to give it to someone. Who better than to give it to you?"

"You're supposed to give it to a first year, right?" I let out a breath. I'd never seen Cedric without the bracelet. It meant a lot to him. It represented all that Hufflepuff stood for.

"You've never been one to care for rules though, have you?" Cedric smirked, grabbing my wrist and fastening it. "It suits you, dude. And the gods know you're gonna need all the luck you can get, what with all that's going on."

I grinned toothily at Cedric, "You sure you want to give this to me? You're gonna need the luck in the task — You're going against me, after all."

Cedric laughed, and gave me this wobbly sort of smile, as if he knew what was coming next — as if he somehow knew that this was going to be the end. "I'm sure, Percy. There's no one I'd rather give it to."

I left the house today. Blessed be this glorious day. Being quarantined sucked. But today was the day. I left. I hung out at my sisters house. Then we went to my grandparents house and swam. I went swimming. The light was beautiful. The sky... amazing. As if I don't go outside to feed the cats every day. I keep telling my dad we need more cat food but he has not spoken of getting any. I may not be able to feed them tomorrow. Sad. I think it'll be okay though. I'm ready to go back to school on Tuesday. Tomorrow's Labor Day so no school. I want to check a book out but haven't been able to cause no leaving house. Sad. The next season of a show I like starts coming out this month. I'm ready for that. Really ready. I've been waiting for so long. So sad. And then House do Ashes, a cool and sexy horror game, comes out next month. That's also Halloween month. Candy. Love candy. It's gonna be a friend's bday soon too, and I've ordered her present so I'm awesome. I also think I know what I'll get another friend once his bday rolls around.

Anyway, I hope you guys have had a sexy Sunday, and I'll see you on Tuesday CT. Love ya!