The Girl From Durmstrang

By the time I’d finally returned from my flight it was Wednesday, two days after the party. I was cold and wet from the rain that hadn’t subsided since my departure. I snuck in through the dorm window only to be pulled into someone’s dry embrace. It was Hermione, she had tear stains on her face and her hair was a mess, I guessed she hadn’t left the room since I left.

“Where in the hell have you been?!” she screeched at me, “I have been worried sick since you left!” she finally noticed my shivering pale figure and dropped her rant as she rushed me into dry clothes and to the Hospital Wing. I stayed there for a few days; I’d gotten not only the flu, but whooping cough as well. When I was well enough, my friends came and visited me. Ron and Harry brought me gifts and we played games and I got my homework. Hermione gave me an hour long lecture that I half listened to, but she still forgave me for running off again.

It was now early June, the sun shining through the windows as the warm breeze filled the air. Hermione and I had been avoiding Viktor since the day I fled, but I still told her to at least be civil and study with him no matter what. He still hadn’t given up on trying to talk to me, he sent me letters, tried to have others give me messages, and even send the gift to me. But through all of his persistence I still held strong against the fool hardy man. This was something he wouldn’t just get because he wanted it.

"Rae! Hey Rae! Wait for me” a voice yelled from behind me. I turned and saw Harry running towards my still figure.

“What is it Harry?” I asked when he finally caught up to me.

“I just got the Third Task” he said excitedly as we strolled towards the library.

“That’s great!” I said with excitement. The memory of the last task haunted my thoughts for a moment.

“Yeah, it’s an enchanted maze!” he said excitedly but there was a hint of nervousness in his voice.

“You’ll do amazingly” I assured him with a pat on the back, “I know you at least won’t die” I said with a chuckle.

“Oh ha ha thanks” he said sarcastically as he gave me a light shove. This quickly led to a shoving war as we walked to the library. We fell into each other laughing loudly as we turned a corner. We nearly ran into Viktor, the laughing immediately subsided and I pushed past him into the library, I could feel his eyes burning into the back of my body.

It’d been two weeks since the encounter and his messages had begun to slowly subside with only a few messages per week. The Final Task was in a few days, and Harry and I were discussing what he should look out for in the maze.

“Monsters, delusions, crazy plant life, hallucinations and other stuff we haven’t yet thought of.” I read the list out loud of possible path blockers.

“Oh for Merlin’s sake! I’m never going to survive this thing” he groaned loudly at the breakfast table.

“You will, just be on your guard” I said reassuringly with a smile, the bell rang and we gathered our things for class. In all honesty I didn’t know if Harry WOULD be okay or not, there was a reason for the age limit after all…

The day of trial had finally come; we were all silent throughout the day. We never spoke a word to each other, and the hours before the trial were spent together in case anything happened. Before Harry arrived at the trial sight, I pulled him aside from the others.

“Harry, you’ll be fine. But I have this feeling in the pit of my stomach something bad is going to happen, please be careful… I couldn’t bear to see you or anyone else get hurt, or worse.” I told him, he embraced me and I held on tight before I had to release him.

“I’ll be alright” he said with a soft smile, “Don’t worry, I’ll come back just fine” and with those final words he walked away. I stood for a moment until someone harshly bumped into me. I was about to make a crude remark when I saw it was Viktor. But something was wrong, his eyes had a glassy stare to them, no emotion or thoughts were open on his facial features.

I stood shocked, something wasn’t right. Thoughts overtook my head, and as soon as the champions ran into the maze, it dawned on me just what was wrong: someone had Viktor under the Imperius Curse. I sprinted to Highmaster.

“Highmaster! Something’s wrong” I yelled as I approached him.

“What is wrong?” he asked dismissively.

“It’s Viktor, someone’s got him under the Imperius curse” I yelled as I pointed towards an entrance. Highmaster faced me, his face full of shock and horror, we had to alert Dumbledore. But just as we reached him, Viktor was transported back to the safe point, his eyes still in the glassy stare. I pulled out my wand and pointed at him, my spell restraining him to the ground.

Highmaster took a hold of him and he rushed him away from the crowd, I looked to the entrance of the maze and hoped Harry was alright.