Cassia's POV

The next day, almost the entire student body was sporting these 'Support Cedric Diggory' badges, but they were charmed so that when you pressed them, they changed to 'Potters Stink'. People started jeering and hurling insults at Harry and I as we walked through the corridors in search of Cedric. I'd done a little bit of extra research on the first task, and learned that there was more to it than just getting past a dragon. The dragon was supposed to guard a golden egg, which contained a clue for the next task. I had decided that we'd better tell Cedric about the task today so that, after dinner tonight, all three of us could meet together and discuss strategy.

"You stink, Potter!" some shouted at Harry.

"Cedric rules!" a younger boy cheered as he ran past us.

I rolled my eyes. The rumor that I'd somehow managed to submit Harry's name in for the tournament was bad enough, but those stupid badges were a hell of a lot worse.

"Thanks," Harry muttered through clenched teeth at the boy's retreating form.

I glanced outside. "Maybe Cedric's out there..."

We made our way to a doorway that led outside, but a couple of students were blocking it.

One of them flashed his badge at us. "Like the badge?" he asked.

"Excuse us," I said, giving them a cold glare. They moved out of the way, and we stepped outside. I spotted Cedric lying down on one of the benches, just hanging out with his friends. To our dismay, when we approached them, I saw that they were all sporting those stupid badges, all except for Cedric.

"Hey, Ced, you've got visitors," the guy standing closest to him said, getting his attention. Most of the others just hurled off insults at Harry. It took everything in me not to pull my wand out and turn all of them into toads.

Cedric sat up and greeted me with a peck on the lips. "Hey, love."

I gave him a quick hug. "Cedric, can Harry and I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure," Cedric agreed. We led him away from his friends until we were sure we were out of earshot.

"For the first task, the champions have to battle a dragon. They've got one for each of you," I informed him, ignoring my trembling hands.

"You're -- You're serious?" he questioned. "And Viktor and Fleur...do they...?"

I nodded. "Yeah. They know."

"Guys, listen...about the badges...I've asked them not to wear them," Cedric apologized, throwing a backward glance towards his friends.

Harry waved it off like it was nothing. "No, it's fine," he said.

"I'll see you after dinner, alright, Ceddy?" I kissed Cedric on the cheek.

He nodded. "Sure, love." He pecked my lips once more before returning to his friends.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ron walking through the corridors inside, with Seamus in tow. Before I could stop him, Harry stormed up to Ron. "You're a right foul git, you know that?" he remarked.

"You think so?" Ron challenged.

"I know so," Harry retorted.

"Anything else?" Ron inquired.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Stay away from us."

"Fine." Ron pushed past us and walked away. Seamus glared daggers at Harry before he, too, disappeared down the corridor.

"Listen, I'm just as mad at him for not believing us as you are, but he's your best friend. You can't stay mad at him forever," I said, only to receive a simple huff from him in response.

"Why so tense, Potters?" we heard Malfoy call out. It sounded like he was almost directly above us. I glanced upward to see him just casually sitting in the tree, his arms resting on two of the branches. Crabbe, Goyle, and a few other Slytherins stood surrounding the trunk.

"What do you want now, Malfoy?" I snapped, crossing my arms.

"My father and I have a bet, you see. I don't think your brother's gonna last ten minutes in this tournament," Malfoy answered, looking at Harry. He jumped to the ground. "He disagrees. He thinks he won't last five." His goons crowded around him, smirking at us. That guy REALLY knows how to get under our skin, and I absolutely hate it!

Together, Harry and I stormed up to our long-time rival, giving him the nastiest glares we could muster.

"We don't give a damn what your father thinks, Malfoy!" I snarled.

Harry pushed him. "He's vile and cruel. And you're pathetic."

I flipped my hair as we walked away, leaving a gobsmacked Malfoy behind us.

"Pathetic?!" Malfoy echoed angrily. We heard him pull out his wand, ready to curse at us.

"Oh, no you don't, sonny!" someone yelled. Both of us turned around just in time to see Malfoy turn into a white ferret.

"I'll teach you to curse someone when their back is turned," Professor Moody barked as he limped over to Malfoy. He whipped out his wand and used it to make Ferret Malfoy fly up and down repeatedly. "You stinking -- cowardly -- scummy --" It didn't take long for a crowd to appear.

McGonagall pushed her way through the crowd to see what was going on. "Professor Moody, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Teaching," Moody answered curtly.

She blinked, a look of surprise on her face at the sight of Malfoy as an animal. "Is that -- Is that a student?"

"Technically, it's a ferret," Moody corrected her. He stuffed Ferret Malfoy down Crabbe's pants, causing Crabbe to jump around like crazy.

"Stand still! Stand still!" Goyle said. He stuck his hand down Crabbe's pants, trying to pull Ferret Malfoy out, but pulled his hand out abruptly, shouting in pain. Looks like he got bit.

I was laughing so hard that I had to lean onto Harry for support so I wouldn't fall. He was laughing, too. Almost everyone in the crowd was laughing hysterically at Malfoy's plight. Sadly, it didn't last forever. McGonagall turned Malfoy back into a human with one simple swish of her wand. I was really bummed, because seeing that happen to him was the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life.

Malfoy leapt to his feet, a little disoriented, and looked around momentarily before his eyes landed on Professor Moody. "My father will hear about this!" he warned before running off.

"Is that a threat? Is that a threat?!" Moody asked. He left his walking stick behind and started to charge after him, despite McGonagall's protests. He stopped once he saw Malfoy was too fast. "I could tell you stories about your father that would curl even your greasy hair, boy!" he roared.

"Alastor!" McGonagall tried to get his attention.

"It doesn't end here, boy!" Moody shouted.

McGonagall moved so that she stood in front of him. "Alastor, we never use transfiguration as a punishment. Surely Dumbledore told you that," she scolded.

"He might have mentioned it," Moody muttered.

"And you will do well to remember it," McGonagall admonished. She left without another word.

Professor Moody stuck his tongue out at her as she left. Once she was gone, he looked over at Harry and I and beckoned us to follow him. I exchanged glances with Harry, but we followed him anyway.

<><><><><>

Moody took us up to his office and sat down, unhooking his wooden leg. As he did that, Harry and I looked around his office. Situated near us was a strange-looking glass. When I looked closer, I didn't just see my own reflection, but the reflection of several other people.

"That's my Foe-Glass," he spoke, startling me. "Helps me keep an eye on my enemies. When I see the whites of their eyes it means they're right behind me." A trunk near him started rattling and roaring, but he ignored it. "Won't bother telling you what's in there. You wouldn't believe me if I did," he said. He made eye contact with Harry."So, got any ideas how you're going to get past your dragon yet?"

"No. I mean, Cassia and I were talking about it last night, but we couldn't come up with anything," Harry admitted.

"We're planning on meeting with Cedric tonight to talk strategy," I jumped in.

"Well, I'm not going to give you any hints," Moody said gruffly. "I don't show favoritism, me. I'm just going to give you some good, general advice. Sit."

Harry did as told.

"Listen to me, sonny," Moody said. "Her beau, Diggory-" He threw a nod towards me. "-by your age, he could turn a whistle into a watch and have it sing you the time. Miss Delacour, she's as much a fairy princess as I am. As for Krum, his head may be filled with sawdust, but Karkaroff's is not. They'll have a strategy, and you can bet that it'll play to Krum'z strengths. Hmm? Come on, Potter. What are your strengths?"

"I dunno...I can fly. I mean, I'm a fair flyer," Harry replied.

"Better than fair, the way I've heard it," Moody remarked.

I nodded. "Harry's the Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I've seen him fly. He's much faster than me."

"But I'm not allowed a broom," Harry objected.

"You're allowed to use a wand," I pointed out.

Moody glanced at me, and then looked at Harry again. "Your sister is right. Best to think about that when you're brainstorming tonight." He let us go right afterward.

<><><><><>

I laid all the books out in front of me. Some were Harry's, some were mine, and some belonged to Cedric. Most of them contained different charms and spells, but quite a few of them were about dragons. Cedric had borrowed those few from the library. He'd been lucky enough to find one that mentioned the Hungarian Horntail.

The three of us sat on the couch in the Hufflepuff common room, pouring through books.

"Here's an idea," Cedric mused.

"What?" I asked, looking up at him.

He held up the book he had been reading. A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration. "I can either transfigure the dragon or transfigure something to distract it."

"Okay...I don't know if using Transfiguration on the dragon itself will work- they might be immune to magic, but I'm not sure," I pondered. "Maybe try transfiguring something to distract the dragon. While it's busy, you can just sneak past and grab the egg. If it breathes fire in your direction, either use 'Aguamenti' or some form of protection spell against the flames."

Cedric grinned. "Perfect."

Now all that was left was to help Harry come up with a way to evade his dragon. The wheels in my brain started to turn as an idea came to me. "Harry, how are you with the Summoning Charm?" I asked my brother.

"Pretty good. Why do you ask?" Harry questioned, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Well, if you're not allowed a broom, but you're allowed to use a wand, why not just try using the wand to summon your broom?" I suggested.

Harry looked a bit doubtful. "Isn't that cheating?"

"No, I don't think so," Cedric answered. "There's no rule against it."

"There you have it," I said. I high-fived both of them. On the inside, though, I was terrified. I didn't care if Harry and Cedric got their eggs or not, or even what their scores would be, I just prayed that both of them would come out of this task in one piece.