𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐃𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐓 𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐀 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍. It was one of the reasons she dreaded Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Before the bell rang, while everyone was settling in, his mechanical eye would focus on Raya, almost as if he was searching for something. Maybe he suspected her true heritage, and was hoping she would slip up.

If anything, him watching her only made her more wary.

"You've got O.W.L.s at the end of the year, and not one of you — except Miss Newbrooke here — can throw off the Imperius curse," he growled. "That's not good. But, we've got to move along with this now. Can't keep teaching you what you all refuse to learn."

The class let out a soft sigh of relief.

Over the past months, he'd tried out the Imperius Curse on everyone. Raya had sent out little tendrils of her Magic to try and stop it, but Moody had always been ready. In fact, he only seemed to grow stronger every time she tried it.

"Let's get started with Voldemort's reign," he looked around the class.

Almost everyone flinched at the Dark Lord's name. It sounded even more sinister hearing Moody say it.

"Who was Voldemort's greatest enemy?" he asked.

Thomas raised his hand after a second of hesitation.

"Pegas!" Moody called on him.

"Well, most people say it's Harry Potter," Thomas answered. "He was the one who survived the Killing Curse, it backfired and killed Voldemort himself."

"Keep going," Moody barked. "There's a 'but' coming up. I can feel it."

Elias snickered, covering it up with a cough.

"But I think he doesn't really have a greatest enemy," Thomas answered. "He's got allies, followers — some who still believe in him. And he's got people who oppose him. Harry's not his greatest enemy because the two never actually fought. You-Know-Who just slapped a Killing Curse on a baby, and it happened to misfire. That's not called being mortal enemies. If he was alive now... that'd be a different story."

Raya shivered, rubbing her hands at the sudden coldness in the classroom. She was pretty sure she was imagining it, but she didn't like the feeling.

"Very good," Moody muttered, more so to himself. "You've got an interesting perspective. Newbrooke!"

Raya snapped her head towards Moody.

"Name any supporters of Voldemort."

She blinked, "Uh... the Malfoys, the Rosier family, the—"

"Did I say families or names?" he barked. "I want names. Those who might be in Azkaban, those who might be free, and definitely those who're dead."

"Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, um... Evan Rosier, Bartemius Crouch — Junior — Mulciber, Wilkes, Regulus Black—"

"—And where are they all now?" he asked.

"Quite a few are dead," Raya answered. "Some are alive, in Azkaban. And some have gotten free under the claim that they were being Imperiused."

"What are your thoughts on this?"

"Excuse me?"

"Thoughts, Newbrooke!" he snapped. "Why are so many dead, or in Azkaban? Why are so few free compared to what they had before?"

Raya hesitated, "Partially because of you."

"Me?!" he sounded outraged.

"I mean, you did put a shit ton of them in Azkaban," she raised her hands, sitting back in her chair. "And killed quite a few. Rosier managed to be the only one who caught a piece of you, if I remember correctly."

Moody nodded to himself, almost as if he was remembering the memory of it.

"For homework, I want you all to research about one former Death Eater," he said, walking around. "Because we don't want Dumbledore to have to search for a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in the middle of the year, you guys all have to choose someone who's already dead. Or imprisoned. Get it done by the end of the week!"

The class emptied impossibly fast at the sound of the bell, no one wanting to stay behind for a secret lesson on curses.

Raya made her way to Care of Magical Creatures — the only class she had with all of her friends.

She said hi to Professor Grubbly-Plank, although a little disappointed Hagrid wasn't back. Considering Rita Skeeter had published one of her dirtiest ever articles a week ago, with Hagrid being the center point, Raya had no idea when — or if — they could expect him back.

After about a minute, Raya got over the fact that Hagrid was half-giant. Honestly, she expected something of that sort. There was no way a regular human was that large.

"Settle down," Grubbly-Plank said to the kids. "Come on around to the back now. We'll be researching the fairies for today's class."

The class followed her eagerly, excited to see the little fairies.

Barely twenty minutes into the lesson, everyone's minds had changed.

The fairies Grubbly-Plank got for the lesson were quite vicious, especially after one of the Gryffindors swatted one. Almost everyone was covered in nicks and scratches, and Cierra had even got into an argument with one. It took Cedric and Cho to pull her away and calm her down.

"You've got to be nice," Professor Grubbly-Plank was saying, approaching one of the fairies. "Fairies are more sentient than the others that we study. You've got to be respectful and calm." She spoke to a fairy, holding her finger out, "Hi there."

The fairy fluttered her wings nervously, before slowly resting on Grubbly-Plank's finger.

The class clapped, amazed by what had happened.

"You're nice, aren't you?" she said softly to the fairy, smiling at the class as the fairy nuzzled her finger. "See? You've just got to be nice and gentle. Fairies understand you, and they're affected by what you say and do to them. Remember that."

She continued talking softly to the fairy, and the class tried again, with a new energy.

"Ced, look!" Raya held her hand out, with a fairy resting in it.

"Hi," Cedric said to the fairy, grinning when it waved at him.

"Hey, did you figure out the clue yet?" Raya asked him, lowering her voice.

Cedric nodded, pretending like he was talking about the fairies, "Yeah. I don't quite get it, but I've got the clue."

"Want me to help?" she asked, rubbing the fairy.

"Give me a week," he said. "I've almost got it, but if not, we'll go over it in the library."

"Coolio," Raya grinned.

Raya stood on her tiptoes, watching as Harry ran towards the other Champions. The second task was beginning in less than ten minutes, and Harry had decided to show up at the absolute last moment possible.

"Damn," Cierra muttered. "I kind of thought he wasn't going to show up."

Raya nodded, half-listening. 

Her brain ran through their last conversation, yesterday morning. Apparently, Sirius was asking about the next Hogsmeade weekend. It was a few weeks from now, but Sirius asking about it while being in the country — Raya didn't have to be a Ravenclaw to figure out what he was planning.

She sent him a strongly worded letter about why he shouldn't do what he's planning to, but she didn't really think it was going to make a difference.

 While Sirius may be an adult, she was quickly learning that he seldom thought like one.

"Cho still isn't here," Elias commented, craning his neck to cast a glance towards the castle. "I can't believe she's going to be missing the second task."

Raya's brows furrowed, "Has anyone seen her since last night?"

The others exchanged glances, slowly shaking their heads.

"The Weasleys came to get her while we were studying for the Potions test," Meredith told her. "Apparently, Dumbledore was asking for her. But I'm not sure why."

Raya looked back towards the Champions, wracking her brain as she watched Bagman separate them by ten feet.

Cedric had managed to code the riddle without much of her help: Something special to him — the most special thing to him — was going to be taken and held by the merpeople. He would have one hour to retrieve it safely.

Cho was dating Cedric. The teachers knew that because they walked the halls together, holding hands, laughing with one another... and they went to the Yule Ball together.

Raya stood on her tip-toes, barely hearing Bagman as he introduced the second task, his voice booming over the crowd. 

Krum went with Hermione... Raya couldn't find her. Harry went with Ron... she couldn't see him either. Fleur — she went with... Raya tried to remember who she went with. Was it an older Ravenclaw? She couldn't see anyone missing from her house.

A whistle echoed shrilly, causing Raya to jump.

"Woah, you good?" Thomas asked, steadying her.

"Cho's not here," she muttered, her brain jumping to the worst conclusions.

She watched Dumbledore, the glint in his eye looking slightly malicious. She remembered how she'd always had an aversion to him. This was why.

"Yeah, she's probably running late," Thomas shrugged.

"No, she's not," Raya shook her head adamantly.

The Champions jumped into the water — Krum half-transfiguring himself into a shark, Fleur and Cedric placing Bubble-Head Charms, and Harry... Harry stepping into the water, chewing something.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, bringing Raya's attention back to him.

"The thing that's most precious to you will be taken," she recounted. "That's the clue. The Yule Ball — Cedric took Cho, and she's not here. Harry and Krum took Ron and Hermione, and they're not here. They're what's been taken by the merpeople."

Thomas' eyes widened as he looked back at the inky water. "Shit."

"If they don't make it back in time..."

"They're not gonna let them die," Thomas shook his head, as if he was refusing to believe it. "They can't do that."

"The Triwizard Tournament has had deaths that don't involve the Champions," Raya reminded him. "It could be in tasks like this one."

Thomas didn't answer.

"It doesn't matter," she said. "It's still unsafe, no matter how many precautions they took."

She took a step down, but Thomas pulled her back.

"What are you gonna do?" he asked. "We don't have any magical ability compared to the teachers. We're just gonna have to trust Dumbledore on this."

Raya shrugged Thomas off, but didn't argue with him.

While she didn't exactly trust Dumbledore, she couldn't disagree with Thomas. Even if she had more magical ability than the teachers, she didn't how to use it very well. And Moody seemed to be even more jumpy around, ever since she handed in her report on Evan Rosier.

She didn't know much about him, except Moody had fought him. Turns out, Rosier was an avid supporter of He Who Must Not Be Named, and so was his father. Evan Rosier was also good at dueling, considering he was the only one who ever got Moody.

Raya leaned away from the railing, muttering a quick prayer to her dad, hoping he'd try to keep everyone safe. He usually listened to her.

The crowd waited, cheering on the competitors who'd disappeared underwater, making bets, passing along snacks, and a few kids playing games to pass the time.

"Look, the fish has legs!" Elias pointed to the lake.

"Fish don't have legs, you idiot," Cierra slapped him upside the head.

"No, I think he's right about this," Nathaniel muttered, leaning forward. 

Raya followed their gaze, to where a figure was rushing out of the water, throwing sparks behind her. It took her a moment to realize those weren't random sparks — they were spells.

And fish don't cast spells.

"It's Fleur!" she yelled.

Her friends leaned forwards, others from the crowd pointing and muttering as they noticed the girl run out of the water. She was soaked, her robes torn, and even her hair was sliced unevenly.

She wasn't holding anyone with her.

"Has it been an hour already?" Elias asked.

"I don't think so," Thomas answered. "She hasn't gotten what 'is most precious to her'. I think she was attacked."

"She's not gonna finish the task," Raya muttered, checking the time. "There's barely five minutes left."

Madame Maxime rushed forward, asking Fleur way too many questions.

Cold and wet, Fleur barely managed a response.

The students watched as Dumbledore called for a blanket to be placed on Fleur, along with a Heating Charm. She'd barely settled in when the hour timer went off.

No one else had returned.

"Oh Gods," Raya muttered, already fearing the worst.

"They're okay," Thomas said tightly, staring out at the lake. "They'll be okay."

As if he was speaking it into existence, two heads popped out of the water. Raya was so relieved, she nearly collapsed.

The teachers pulled Cedric and Cho out of the water, drying them off and casting Heating Charms over them. Another few minutes passed, and Krum — who was no longer half-shark — returned with Hermione.

Raya waited, practically holding her breath, until finally, three more heads popped out of the water.

The students cheered as Harry, Ron, and a little girl with Fleur's blonde hair swam to the shore. Percy — who was covering for Mr. Crouch — splashed out to meet them. Raya smiled lightly as he hugged Ron, who seemed to be a little embarrassed by it.

"I wish they had a jumbotron or something so that we could watch the Task as it happened underwater," Elias muttered.

"That would be so cool!" Nathaniel agreed.

"What the hell's a jumbotron?" Meredith asked.

"It's like this giant screen that displays sports and other stuff," he explained quickly. "More of a Muggle thing, I suppose."

Before anyone could ask any more questions, Ludo Bagman's voice echoed through the stands, causing half the kids to jump.

"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."

Applause from the stands.

Fleur shook her head sadly, as if she were ashamed that they gave her any points.

"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 from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd. Raya and her friends joined in, cheering and whistling.

"We therefore award him forty-seven points."

Raya cheered louder, grinning at the fact that he was now in first place. 

"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 very 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."

Some of the students seemed impressed by this, while others thought he was showing off.

"Most of the judges," and here, Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look, "feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However... Mr. Potter's score is forty-five points."

Raya's stomach leapt — Harry was now tied for first place with Cedric. 

"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty fourth of June," continued Bagman. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."

One more task, Raya thought grimly, trying to settle her nerves. One more task, and it would all be over.

Raya was standing at the Astronomy Tower. Which was weird because she was pretty sure she fell asleep right after watching the hockey game.

She tried to move, a little frightened when she realized she couldn't. Her feet were stuck to one spot, and she was watching the sky.

It took a moment for her to realize this was only a dream.

She was in someone else's body, standing atop the Astronomy Tower, watching the sky. 

Raya searched the stars, spotting Sirius quite easily. It's brightness and position revealed that it must be late January or February at this point.

The person who's body Raya was in sighed heavily, shaking their head as they hoisted themselves up over the railing. They swung their legs, watching the ground below them.

Taking a small Snitch out of their pocket, Raya watched as they absentmindedly passed it back and forth, almost like Raya does.

It was becoming a really weird dream, but for some reason, it was almost calming. After everything, she needed a moment to look at the sky and breathe. And whoever she was seeing the sky through, Raya had a feeling she knew them.

She could only hope it was someone who was on her side.

REY WRITES!

thanks for reading!!

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