| Inked | (George Weasley)

Chapter Fifty-Eight

So far the First Task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament made two things clear, for Olive and most likely for everyone else.

That dragons get extremely angry when they think someone is stealing their eggs.

Also that someone thought watching a bunch of teenagers recovering said egg would be good entertainment.

Olive honestly felt both sick and on edge. So far, Fleur and Viktor were successful in obtaining their golden eggs, scarcely missing being swallowed by the furious flames aimed at them by the dragon.

Krum had managed to stun his dragon, which only caused the poor creature to smash nearly all of its eggs. Fleur had managed to get her skirt set on fire. Olive could only imagine what might happen to her cousin, Cedric, and Harry, who wasn't even old enough to be allowed into the Tournament.

"Cedric's next." Cho whispered, her mouth hidden by her hands, nail polish chipped on her fingers from being nervously picked at the entire First Task.

"He'll be fine." Olive reassured her friend, "He's Cedric. He's one of the first in Nat and I's year."

Natalie nodded, wrapping an arm around Cho as an act of comfort. However, her eyes were squinting into the Champion's Tent as well, trying to get any glimpse of their friend.

"Ollie's right. If anyone could do it, it's him."

Before Cho could voice her nerves once more, an energetic Ludo Bagman interrupted with the Hufflepuff's introduction.

"Up next, we have our first Hogwarts' champion, Cedric Diggory!"

The entire Hogwarts side of the stands erupted in thunderous applause. Over the course of the fall term, Cedric had become quite popular among the Hogwarts students and teachers. While it shed a positive light on his hard work as a student and the sometimes overlooked House of Hufflepuff, it also was a reminder that the other Hogwarts Champion, Harry, had not been so well-liked since Halloween.

Olive clapped, regardless, and grit her teeth with nerves as Cedric stepped out into the pitch. From where she was sitting, he looked somewhat composed. He assessed the area quickly, walking cautiously out into the open. The dragon, a Swedish Short-Snout, was hidden somewhere within the boulders and foliage placed around the former Quidditch pitch.

He spotted the eggs, the golden one laying almost perfectly in the center, the sunlight hitting the golden exterior just right.

Cho's hands found themselves gripping onto Nat and Olive's wrists tightly, her knuckles practically white. After a few moments, the blonde had to lean over and remind the younger of the trio to breathe.

Breaking the tense silence, the dragon busted through a pair of tall shrubbery and spewed a vat of fire in Cedric's direction. His eyes widened in a sudden terror, leaping behind the cover of a large boulder in order to barely miss the flames. Despite taking cover, the sleeves of his robes were singed and smoking.

"Bloody hell." Nat closed her eyes, "That was close."

Olive didn't move, staring transfixed at her cousin as he quickly devised a plan.

He peered at the dragon from his sheltered position, scanning the area around its feet. Then, with a practiced hand, transfigured one of the nearby rocks into a rather large and barking dog.

The dragon turned, puzzled, suddenly forgetting about Cedric and focusing its attention on the transfigured dog.

The Ravenclaw suddenly found herself smiling to herself at the realization of her cousin's plan. He was always resourceful, not to mention a genius at Transfiguration.