"I thought it would give us a few extra minutes to eat breakfast. It takes more than ten minutes to walk down to the stadium, but I can fly us down there in one."
"Yes! That means we can still have a decent breakfast!" Hermione cheered. Down in the Great Hall, Hermione insisted he eat nothing greasy- shoving plenty of fruits, yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, and oatmeal at him. Harry stared longingly at the dishes of bacon and sausage links in front of him.
"Is this what you call a decent breakfast? I was hoping for something more... meaty." Harry frowned.
"You need to eat something healthy and easy to digest. All that oil will just give you a stomachache once you start jumping around in your first duel. I should have started you on this diet weeks ago! Here, have another egg. You'll need the protein."
Harry was finishing off another apple as they flew towards the Quidditch pitch. The stadium's colours had been changed- instead of representing the houses of Hogwarts, it was decorated with the crests and colours of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Harry realized how rarely he actually saw the full Hogwarts crest, as he was so used to competing against the other houses. Inside the pitch, there were two large, raised, oval platforms made of solid stone- he presumed these would be the duelling platforms. Each one was about twenty meters long, but less than ten wide at the middle. Additional seating had been added on to the field, and the closest spectators would be sitting about ten meters from the duelling platforms. The judges' table lay in between the two platforms, and a small walkway connected all of them to several tents at the end of the pitch. Harry landed by one of the tents, and was instantly waved inside, while Hermione was escorted away to one of the box seats up above. For now, the stadium lay empty, but Harry knew it would be packed when the doors were opened.
Inside, he once again found the other champions waiting for him with Ludo Bagman. "I'm glad everyone's finally here," Bagman said. "You've all familiarized yourselves with the EDL rules, correct? Then let's cut to the chase. There will only be one duel per matchup, no seconds, no rematches. Your score is based on your total number of wins, and any draws will result in less points for both champions. Do you all understand?"
When they all nodded, Bagman pulled out a small, circular device with four pieces of string sticking out. He spun it around, and said, "Everyone grab one piece of string. This will determine the initial starting order." When all four of them held one of the strings, the device cracked open, revealing how each one was connected. Harry was matched with Fleur, and Cedric with Krum. A piece of parchment Bagman was holding flared up for a second and writing appeared. "So, obviously, the first two matches will be Mr. Potter against Miss Delacour, and Mr. Diggory against Mr. Krum. The second round will be Mr. Potter against Mr. Diggory and Miss. Delacour against Mr. Krum. The final round will be Miss Delacour against Mr. Diggory and Mr. Potter against Mr. Krum."
Harry looked over at Fleur, who glanced back at him but betrayed no emotion. He then took notice of Krum, who was looking back at him like an animal waiting patiently for its kill. Deep breaths, he thought. You won't face Krum until the end. Krum appeared to be looking at all the other champions with the same animalistic hunger, Harry noticed. I wish I had that kind of confidence.
Cedric appeared to be handling himself well. He wasn't acting predatory the way Krum was, but he seemed to be fairly sure of himself. He was pacing around the room slowly, but held his head up and looked the other champions in the eyes.
Fleur was giving her "Ice Queen" look again, not letting anyone tell what she was thinking. Last time, she warmed up to the other champions and was willing to chat, but that was after the first Trial was over. She definitely didn't want to give anything away before the competition.
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