"Hey, Cassie," Adrian called. "Professor McGonagall wants to see you."
"Me?" asked Cassie. "Why?"
Adrian shrugged. "Professor Snape wanted me to escort you to her office."
Adrian left Cassie outside McGonagall's office. She knocked, then entered. Inside was a small girl who resembled Fleur Delacour, but younger. Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley also happened to be there.
"Not in trouble, am I?" asked Cassie. "Is this detention? If so, I don't know why Granger would be here... and this little girl."
"Well, you are in luck, Miss Malfoy," she said. "You are not in trouble. You four have been picked for the upcoming task."
"The champions are supposed to take something from the lake," said Hermione. "You don't really mean us, do you?"
"You four are what the champions must receive," she explained. "Mr. Weasley — Harry Potter; Miss Granger — Viktor Krum; Miss Delacour to your older sister; and Miss Malfoy to Cedric Diggory."
Ron chortled.
"There has to be a mistake," said Cassie. "He should be retrieving Cho Chang for this, you know? His girlfriend?"
"I am very certain this is right," said Professor McGonagall. "Now, you four will not be in any harm. You'll be asleep, won't feel any pain as you are underwater."
"What if the hour's up?" Ron asked. "What if they don't retrieve us?"
"We stay down there forever," Cassie stated. Ron turned pale and Cassie smirked.
"I assure you, you will not stay there," McGonagall told them. "At the end, those of you who aren't brought up will be retrieved."
"We don't really have a choice, do we?" asked Cassie.
"No, I'm afraid not," she said.
"Well then, let's get this over with," Cassie said. "Hopefully I get out of there fast."
:::
"Where's Cassie?" Addy asked once she noticed she wasn't in the common room. No one had seen her since she went to see Professor McGonagall.
"She didn't come back last night?" Adrian asked.
Viola shook her head. "She might have, but none of us heard her."
"She might already be in the Great Hall," Adrian told them. "Let's go."
They entered the Great Hall and sat down at the table. Cassie wasn't there either. Addy, Viola, and Adrian weren't the only ones who worried. Once Draco had gotten to the Great Hall, he had noticed Cassie was absent. Fred Weasley had noticed it too and began to worry, knowing she wouldn't have missed the second task.
"Hey."
Adrian turned around, staring up at Cedric Diggory. "Can I help you?"
"Where's Cassie?" he asked.
"Why do you want to know?" asked Viola.
"She, uh, was going over an essay of mine," Cedric lied.
"We haven't seen her since last night," Addy told him. "Good luck, by the way."
"Yeah, thanks," said Cedric slowly as he turned away.
Ever since the Yule Ball, Cassie and Cedric never spoke. He never got to thank Cassie for telling him to go with Cho. He always admired her and now that he went to the ball with her, they had begun to date. He missed Cassie though and tried to speak to her, but she always seemed too busy.
"Are you all right, Ced?" asked Cho. "I know you'll be fine down there."
"Yeah, I'm good," said Cedric. "Looks like it's time for me to leave. Thanks, Cho."
After breakfast, all the students exited the Great Hall towards the Great Lake for the second task. They got into boats on a dock that rowed them towards three platforms in the middle of the lake.
"Bloody hell... Cassie should be here," Viola muttered. "Why isn't she here?"
"Sonorus!" Dumbledore's voice boomed out. "Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One... two... three!"
The whistle echoed in the cold air and the stands erupted with cheers and applause. Three used their wands and cast a spell whilst Harry gulped something down. Then, one by one, they dived into the water.
Above, the audience stood there anxiously, waiting for a head to pop out of the water. Below, the champions swam through the water, passing fish, battling grindylows, and other creatures that lived in the lake.
Harry had gotten to the hostages first. Soon after he had gotten to them, Cedric was swimming towards him. There was an enormous bubble around his head. He swam up beside Cassie then looked at Harry.
"Got lost!" he mouthed, looking panic-stricken. "Fleur and Krum are coming now!"
Cedric pull a knife out of his pocket and cut Cassie free from the binds. He pulled her upward and out of sight. They reached the surface of the water and the cheers that were once muffled grew louder once they came above the water.
Cassie awoke from her sleep. She could feel the cold in her lungs now. She brushed the hair out of her face and she began panicking for a moment until Cedric had grabbed her waist to assist her. Cassie had calmed down and swam towards the platform where the teachers had been waiting.
Cassie climbed the ladder and landed on her back, breathing heavily. Then Cedric had climbed onto the platform, Cho and a few of his friends there to greet him.
"Why... " Cassie began. "Why am I your hostage? It should have been Cho."
"It t-took what I-I sorely miss," said Cedric. "A very valuable friend of mine."
"Here you go, dear," said Madam Pomfrey. Cassie was wrapped into a warm blanket, then was passed some Pepperup Potion.
"I'm fine— "
"Fine? The water is freezing— "
"I know," said Cassie. "But I'm... fine."
Madam Pomfrey stared at her, bewildered. "How could she not be cold? The water's freezing cold, yet she looks like... I pray Albus must know," she thought.
Distant calls of her name distracted Cassie from her thoughts of Cedric.
"Cassie! Are you okay?"
"So this is why you've been gone."
"I'm okay," Cassie assured them. "I was never in real harm."
Loud cheers erupted from the Durmstrang students. Krum had come up with Hermione Granger. Fleur, who had failed to retrieve her hostage, passed Cassie and inched closer to the water, waiting.
Then a redhead and a blonde came up to the surface. Ron Weasley helped Fleur's sister to the platform and he followed.
"Harry, where's Harry?" Cassie heard Granger say.
A body shot out from the water. He landed on the platform and Dumbledore had rushed towards him. Granger had wrapped a blanket around him and he drank the potion given to him by Madam Pomfrey.
"Lucky thing that girl was saved," said Addy.
"A conference before we give the marks, I think," said Dumbledore.
The judges went into a huddle. Madam Pomfrey had gone to rescue Ron from his brother's clutches. Fleur had cuts on her face and arms and her robes were torn, but she didn't seem to care, nor would she allow Madam Pomfrey to clean them, focused on the health of her sister.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows...
"Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."
"I deserved zero," said Fleur throatily, shaking her head.
"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour." Enormous cheers sounded from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd. "We therefore award him forty-seven points.
"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."
Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, looking superior.
"Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect," Bagman continued. "He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr. Potter was first to reach the hostages and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own.
"Most of the judges feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However... Mr. Potter's score is forty-five points."
"He was last but 'moral fiber' got him second place?" said Viola, glaring at Potter.
"Would you have let that girl drown?" asked Addy.
"Cassie said they were fine, weren't in any harm," Viola replied.
Addy shook her head.
"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June," Bagman informed. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."
"Come on," said Viola. "Let's get you by the fireplace in our common room."