The lovable Death-Eater

Chapter 13

Barty breezed through the First Task which involved fighting off a Swedish Short-Snout to retrieve an enormous golden egg. An' by breezed through, I mean, he bravely persevered through all the fire-breathing an' blows to the head, with the singed hair to show for it! However, he seemed to be struggling  with opening said egg to retrieve the clue to the Second Task. The young wizard tried using every possible spell to crack it, but to no avail! Finally, he emerged victorious...with a lil help from Minnie, of course!
We met im while he was doin a victorious jig outside the Prefects Bathroom. "What're you doin here? Isn't this bathroom only for prefects?" I asked. "Well...what's the harm in floutin a few rules, eh? Besides, I cracked the clue! " he announced,excitedly. David an' I exchanged impressed looks, when Minnie popped her head from the doorway. I noticed her wet hair an' a blush on Barty's face. "Were you 2....? " I began, but was interrupted by Minnie who corrected im, "You mean, we cracked the clue! " "You won't believe this, but we were in the bathtub together..." Barty began to explain. "Ugh! Spare us the details, Romeo! " I exclaimed in disgust. "Stop bein such a baby! Besides, you didn't lemme finish! " he scolded, rolling his eyes. "So, we saw some prefects headin our way, so we hid underwater an' I accidentally opened the egg..." he continued, leaving us in suspense for a while ,before Minnie continued the rest. "...And we heard these melodious voices coming from it! Mélodieux! " she exclaimed, thrilled by their discovery. "An' usually, all we heard whenever we opened it in the open was god-awful shriekin! " an amazed Barty revealed.
"So, you carry this thing everywhere?! " an absent-minded David asked. "So, what's the next Task?" I asked anxiously,ignoring David. A long silence followed. "Well, we haven't figured that one out yet! " Barty replied with a shrug. "Well, maybe you 2 should spend some more time in the bathtub together till you figure it out! " I muttered, turning to leave. "Paulie, what's wrong? You seemed a bit jealous back there." a suspicious Minnie enquired, as she caught up with me. "Jealous? Of whom? You an' Barty? " I asked, widening my eyes at her suspicious tone. She nodded, indicating yes, or in her case,oui. "Pfft! Me...jealous....o' you 2?! I mean, maybe I had a mega-crush on im before, but now, he's all yours! Besides, he's like a totally different person now...An' it scares me! " I confessed, putting her suspicions to rest. "Scares you? " a confused Minnie demanded an explanation. "I've known im longer than you have an' I know when Bartemius is hidin somethin! " I revealed, feeling responsible towards my friend. "What could he be hiding? " she scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I dunno. But, somethin's fishy. Maybe, you can't see it 'coz yer so blinded by love! " I stood by my remarks, even though I appeared rude in front o' her. I just wanted to protect her from this new, terrifying Barty. She nodded her head in disbelief at my remarks, opening her mouth to defend Barty. "Merpeople!"an overjoyed Barty interrupted loudly, appearing behind us with an equally overjoyed David. "What? " I asked, confused by his sudden proclamation. "That's the Task! It involves merpeople an' it involves the Black Lake, where merpeople are found! " he explained, gettin all jumpy as he spoke. "An' you know this how? " Minnie enquired further. "Well, according to David, who fell into the lake once, the Black Lake's full o' merpeople who saved im from drownin. An' he says they can only be understood underwater. So, those voices from the egg definitely belonged to merpeople! " Barty continued, waving his hands about as he spoke quickly an' excitedly. "Yup! Whatever he said." David agreed with Barty's ecstatic explanation. "I bet it involves diving....or swimming. Perhaps, a swimming contest between you an' a merman, no? " Minnie guessed. "It can't be that easy, Min. But, I'll work on my Scuba-spell an' Bubble-head charm, just in case." the smart young wizard decided, before retiring to his dorm for the rest o' the day.