"Potter, the champions are all going down to the arena now... You must be ready to complete the first task."
Professor McGonagall looked extremely anxious, her glasses slipping down her nose.
"Alright." Harry stood up, suddenly realizing he hadn't had enough to eat. Bowing to Cassandra, he said, "Could you make me a sandwich? I didn't eat well at lunch, you know, too many people came to wish me luck."
"Sure."
Cassandra picked up some bread from the table and added a few things inside, all of which were high-calorie and very filling.
"Not bad." Harry didn't thank her but complimented Cassandra as he took the sandwich.
Cassandra hummed softly.
"Good luck, Harry," Hermione whispered, "You'll do great!"
"Thanks." Harry took a bite of the sandwich, and it tasted very good.
"Three, two, one... Go!" Gryffindor students, led by Ron, shouted.
Harry, like a hero going to war, waved at the students in the Great Hall as he followed Professor McGonagall outside.
The Great Hall erupted in applause, cheering for Harry.
"You can do it, Harry!" "Stay spirited!" "Don't embarrass us!"
Professor McGonagall looked somewhat flustered. She led Harry down the stone steps, outside into a cold November afternoon, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"Alright, don't be nervous," she said, "Keep a cool head... We've arranged for some wizards nearby, if anything goes wrong, they will step in and control the situation... The most important thing is to give it your all; no one thinks any less of you... Are you okay?"
Harry thought, please don't make me nervous, I feel like I'm only a tenth as nervous as you are.
"I'm fine," Harry reassured Professor McGonagall, "I'm fine, really."
Professor McGonagall led him around the edge of the Forbidden Forest towards where the fire dragons were kept.
As they got closer to the area where they could see the field, Harry noticed a tent had been set up, shielding the dragons from view, with the entrance facing them.
"You must go in with the other champions," Professor McGonagall said, her voice trembling slightly, "Wait for your turn, Potter, Mr. Bagman is also in there... he'll explain the steps to you... good luck."
"Thank you." Harry replied with a polite smile.
Professor McGonagall led him to the entrance of the tent. Harry went inside.
Fleur Delacour was sitting on a low wooden stool in the corner. She looked nothing like her usual composed self, her face very pale and sickly.
Victor Krum looked even more sullen than usual, which Harry guessed was his way of showing he was nervous inside.
As Harry entered, Fleur lifted her head and gave him a forced smile, and Harry returned it.
"Harry! Great!" Bagman turned and looked at him, cheerfully saying, "Come in, come in, relax, make yourself at home!"
Bagman stood among the pale-faced champions, like a big cartoon character.
He was wearing his outdated Wasp Team robes again, looking older than Dumbledore's beehive.
"Alright, now that everyone is here — it's time to introduce you to the situation!" Bagman announced excitedly, "Once the audience is gathered, I will pass this bag around to each of you," — he lifted a purple silk bag and shook it towards them — "From it, you'll pick the miniature model of what you will face! They come in different — uh — varieties. There's one more thing I need to tell you… ah, yes… your task is to retrieve the Golden Egg!"
Harry looked around.
Victor Krum nodded, showing he understood Bagman's words, and then started pacing in the tent, his face slightly green; Fleur Delacour remained unresponsive, perhaps she was afraid she'd vomit if she spoke.
"Don't be nervous." Harry said to them, "Just like Mr. Bagman said, no need to be nervous, just feel at home."
Upon hearing Harry's words, Victor and Fleur both looked up at him.
Don't you know what the task is?!
Don't you damn well know what we're about to face?!
"You can still back out now." Fleur placed a hand a little below her collarbone, trying to steady her breathing, "What you're about to face is not something a fourth-year can handle. Dropping out now might be embarrassing, but at least you won't lose a limb — or your life."
"Sorry, but I'm a Gryffindor." Harry replied.
Fleur tugged the corner of her mouth, saying nothing.
In an instant, the sound of hundreds of footsteps passed by the tent, with their owners chatting and joking excitedly...
Before long, Mr. Bagman opened the small purple silk bag.
"Ladies first," he said, holding the bag out to Fleur Delacour.
She reached in with a trembling hand and pulled out a small, exquisite model of a dragon — a Welsh Green Dragon, with a number around its neck: number two. Harry saw Fleur showed no sign of surprise, having a resigned expression, he knew their guess was correct: Mrs. Maxim told Fleur what the challenge would be.