#entry: first task

The Three Broomsticks is surprisingly crowded given that there’s school in the morning, but Katya doesn’t know what she was expecting the night after the first task. She orders a firewhiskey at the bar and manages to find an empty table in the back corner that’s partially obscured from the rest of the room by a large column. Shutting her eyes, she lays her head down on the table, taking her first moments alone since the task to breathe.

She isn’t sure where her teammates are. Natalia and Valya were both hurt by the Occamy, and Katya knows she should make sure they’re alright, but she can’t stomach the thought of talking to anyone right now. All she wants is a good, strong drink. Which, granted, she isn’t likely to find in Hogsmeade, but she downs the liquid without complaint or ceremony and waits for whatever buzz it might bring.

By the time her glass is empty, there’s a new presence at the table. Katya barely has a moment to glance over the woman before she is assaulted by a shrill voice and blindingly white teeth.

“I’m Priya Sharp,” the woman announces, dark curls bouncing for emphasis. She reaches out a manicured hand to Katya, who shakes it begrudgingly, making a note of her own ragged fingernails with as much shame as she can muster–that is to say, none at all.

Katya opens her mouth to introduce herself, but Priya cuts her off with a, “You’re Ekaterina Razumova.” Katya winces at the woman’s butchered pronunciation, but doesn’t bother to make the correction. The less she has to interact with anyone, the better. Still, Priya seems persistent.

“I work for the Daily Prophet,” Priya explains. “I’ve been doing the interviews of the Triwizard Champions for ages. Do you mind if I interview you?” Before Katya can give a dissenting answer, Priya draws a quill from her bag, and Katya sighs. She knows exactly what it is, and it means that no matter what she says or does, Priya will have an interview to publish.

Priya snaps her fingers and the quill begins its task, scribbling down paragraphs of praise for its owner. Katya follows the words as best she can from across the table, feeling resigned dread pool in her stomach. She fiddles with her empty glass and braces herself for a painful night.

“So, Katya,” Priya says conspiratorially, leaning in as if the two women are friends sharing gossip and secrets at a sleepover, “tell me about yourself. Why did you decide to put your name in the Goblet of Fire?”

“I fancied a bit of warmth,” Katya says dryly. On the parchment, the quill continues to scrawl: the Ice Queen bites. Katya laughs shortly. “I see my reputation proceeds me,” she says, nodding at the words.

Priya smiles, though Katya wouldn’t quite describe it that way. The woman’s lips curl up and shrink away from her teeth, creating a sinister smirk that reminds Katya of a crocodile. “Don’t worry about the quill, dear,” she says in a tone that is supposed to be reassuring. “All jokes aside, what spurred you to put your life at risk for this competition? Was it a bet amongst friends? Are you seeking glory? Looking to impress a certain someone? Make your family proud?”

Katya bristles at the mention of family, but she slaps a polite smile on her face and spits out a bullshit version of the truth. “I see the Triwizard Tournament as a way to jumpstart my future,” she says carefully. “Participating in an event so renowned will help put my name out there.”

“And what makes you so sure you deserve to have such recognition?” Priya shoots back. Katya glances down again to see the quill continuing its slander and internally chuckles at the irony in her statement–she certainly won’t be jumpstarting her future talking to Priya Sharp.

“I’m talented,” Katya says. She knows full well that any perceived arrogance will provide enough fuel for a page and a half at least, but she isn’t worried about impressing the readers of some British wizarding magazine. She is worried about impressing the judges of the tournament and her fellow champions, and to avoid failure that she needs to get this Priya woman out of her hair so she can figure out how to be more useful to her team in the second task.

Unfortunately, her answer is a wrong one. Priya pounces on it like a predator–claws and teeth out. “Really?” she asks with a grin. “Perhaps you could give me an example of your talent. Say, from the first task?”

Katya freezes. She thinks about her performance yesterday, running through the task frame by frame, looking for something to spin into proof of her self-proclaimed ‘talent’. There’s hardly anything she can use; her teammates handled almost every situation while she flailed around like an idiot having a prolonged stroke.

“I invented a spell,” Katya says finally, hoping her confident act will stop Priya from asking, “Did it work?”

Deep breaths, Katya tells herself. “No.”

Priya lets out a little “ha” and looks down at what her quill is writing with pride. There’s a fracture in the ice, dear readers. It seems this Koldovstoretz champion can’t put her money where her mouth is. Katya shuts her eyes briefly and reopens them with a new purpose. She stares down the reporter, determined not to let this interview get the best of her.

“I don’t think my small failures should be your main focus, Ms. Sharp,” Katya chirps, smiling her most innocent smile despite the bitter taste the word ‘failure’ leaves in her mouth. Before Priya gets the chance to question her, Katya continues. “We should be looking at the overall triumph of the Koldovstoretz team. Together, our weaknesses don’t matter. We are a well-rounded group and we completed the task with time to spare.” She doesn’t mention that the spare time was 49 seconds, and that without the help of a mermaid they wouldn’t even have made it to the surface in time.

“Well then,” Priya says, seemingly surprised that Katya has the ability to acknowledge the skills of others, “why don’t you enlighten me? For those of us who didn’t get to watch the first task, please tell us what happened.”

Katya nods, refusing to be shaken by anything that comes out of Priya’s mouth. She isn’t sure what she’s allowed to share about the task, but she pushes on nonetheless. Anything to bury her mistakes. “I’m sure your dear readers know what the task entailed,” she remarks. “We were required to take a swim in the lake for an hour and to figure out our own way not to drown.” Priya and her quill follow along, bobbing in affirmation. Katya smiles. “One of my teammates, Valya, is very skilled with potions,” she brags lightly, feeling her chest swell merely by mentioning their name. “They created a gillyweed draught that allowed the effects of the plant to last as long as was necessary.”

She remembers the taste all too well, the burning sensation it left underneath her tongue and down her throat. But mostly she remembers herself giving a shaky toast of “Cheers” before the team plunged into the water. Not her most witty remark, but given the state she had been in before the task, Katya thinks it was a miracle she’d managed to get anything out at all.

Priya sneers her crocodile sneer and snaps her fingers in the direction of a waiter. “A round of drinks,” she orders, staring Katya down. “I think we’ll be here a while.” She waits until the drinks arrive to resume her questioning, but Katya smiles when her empty glass is replaced with one full of vodka.

“If you want to get me drunk, you’re going to have to try harder than that,” Katya quips. She feels like she’s somehow outsmarted the reporter. That is, until Priya’s smirk grows wider, as if it’s trying to stretch its way off of the woman’s face.

“Drink up, Katya,” is all she says. Katya pushes the glass away. Priya shakes her head but soldiers on, seemingly undeterred by anything Katya does. “Once you entered the water, what did you see? What did you do? Don’t skimp on description! I want every last detail.”

Every last detail, Katya muses, her mind already back at the lake. Everything was slimier, she thinks. Valya’s Gillyweed did its job. She remembers having only a moment to get used to her new flippers and gills before she and her teammates began their journey.

“Which direction should we go?”

“I’d say down is a safe bet.”

That was the only thing she’d said that day that actually sounded like her. Everything else had been slightly off, like someone other than Katya was in control of her words. Her anxiety should be counted as another being. It practically turned her into a completely different person.

Katya reaches for the glass of vodka in spite of herself, recognizing her use of alcohol as a way to ignore her mental problems and promptly choosing to ignore that fact as well. She takes a sip, appreciating the instant effect it has on her. “It was difficult to see in the lake,” she tells Priya truthfully. “Natalia compared it to a forest–an obstructed view. Of course, it’s rather more murky than a forest down there.”

The narrative she’s weaving for Priya is fast approaching the first of her many shortsighted actions, and dread bubbles up in her stomach like a potion in a cauldron. Still, she continues, picking her words carefully. Technically what she’s saying is true. It’s just not the whole truth.

“Once we were sure there was nothing to see, a bright light appeared,” Katya says. “Of course, my teammates knew not to approach it without caution.”

Katya herself, however, was another story. She swam forward eagerly without a second thought, even managing to ignore the presence of her wand in her easily-accessible pocket. As Valya, Natalia, and Valeriya discussed the possibility of a Grindylow, Katya drew closer and closer to the light, only pulling back when Natalia, luckily, grew fed up with her stupidity.

“The light turned out to be a mermaid,” Katya continues, brushing past her own mistake. Fortunately, Katya is a decent liar–though only a liar by omission–and Priya seems much more interested in the mermaid than any missing parts of Katya’s story.

Priya leans forward, clasping her hands together. There’s a menacing twinkle in her eye that only adds to Katya’s sense of unease. “What was this mermaid like?” Priya questions, glancing at her quill to make sure it’s capturing whatever description Katya comes up with.

Katya takes another sip of her drink, tapping on the glass. She isn’t too eager to say something that will bring her sexuality into question; Koldovstoretz may be a safe haven, but the rest of the wizarding world has some catching up to do, and Katya won’t let anything stand in the way of her success. Still, something compels her to speak her mind. A thought flits by–it could be the alcohol Priya’s given her–but it passes before Katya can really grab hold of it, so she shoves her doubts to the back of her head.

“She was the most gorgeous creature I’ve ever seen,” Katya says. There, she thinks, that’s not so incriminating. But her mouth keeps going. “Truly stunning,” she continues. “Breath-taking, captivating… I almost wish I could take her to the Yule Ball.” She laughs like it’s a joke, but her heart beats just a little faster as she remembers how beautiful the mermaid was.

“What’s the catch?”

“Hmm?” Katya mumbles, distracted.

“The catch,” Priya says pointedly. “The thing that makes this all interesting. An attractive mermaid is all well and good, but where’s the story?”

Katya breathes out. “Oh. Right. Well, it wasn’t actually a mermaid.”

“What was it?” Priya’s eyebrow jumps up sharply. Her quill hovers above the page in anticipation, waiting for Katya to share the exciting truth. Instead, all Priya gets is a shrug.

“It was a fish.”

“Oh.”

“Or a jellyfish.”

Priya laughs breathily. “That school of yours must not be very good if you can’t tell the difference.” Already, words are being written about Koldovstoretz’s faults.

Katya gives an obliging smile, her lips stretched thin in poorly veiled disgust. “Koldovstoretz is a fine institution that has taught me a great many things. I simply stated my confusion because the creature was a shapeshifter of some sort. Either way, it isn’t of much importance, it swam away and that was that.”

Priya looks disappointed. Even her quill droops a little in solidarity, but Katya couldn’t feel more pleased. Every second she bores Priya Sharp, she brings herself closer to escaping this horrid interview. In celebration of this small victory, she brings her glass up to her lips again.

It’s this action that triggers a realization: Priya has slipped Veritaserum into Katya’s drink. It explains the strange way she’s been telling the truth. Katya pretends to have a sip and carefully puts the glass back on the table, sliding it as far away as possible without being noticed. In an attempt to distract Priya from her sudden discovery, Katya plasters a wide smile on her face. “Of course, that’s not where the task ended. That would be dreadfully boring, wouldn’t it?”

This seems to reenergize Priya, who grins back, the tip of her tongue showing through her teeth. “Of course.” She laces her fingers together and shifts her weight towards Katya. “Why don’t you tell us what happened next?”

What happened next was the real mermaid, a hideous creature who slunk from out of the depths screeching about being returned to her former glory. Her teammates stuck to the plan, letting Natalia take the lead. Except that the mermaid couldn’t have cared less about the locket Natalia had charmed specifically as a gift, which had led to an impromptu ballet class instructed by Natalia.

Katya smiles at the memory of Valya attempting an elegant twirl in the water. She doubts even the talented Natalia could have looked graceful doing that move with flippers instead of feet. Though Katya’s own performance was pitiful at best, and Valeriya’s was only marginally better, Natalia’s quick thinking had been undeniably beneficial for the team. Despite the rather large amount of time spent praising a mermaid whose skills could hardly rival Valya’s, Katya is grateful they didn’t have to resort to violence.

She relays the gist of the memory to Priya, praising Natalia more than she ever would to her teammate’s face because she knows her team needs to appear supportive and together. She glosses over the difficulties of herself and Valya, choosing instead to ‘offhandedly’ mention Valeriya’s impressive beginner’s talent. She keeps the memory of the mermaid’s prior attempt at tap-dancing to herself. Priya’s readers don’t deserve that laugh.

“Once we got past the mermaid, all we had to do was face the Occamy,” Katya continues. She desperately wants to speed this process along, and hopefully if she does her job well, Priya won’t ask questions about her part in the last stage of the task. She mentions her use of ‘Spongify’ to transform the jagged rocks guarding the Occamy’s cave into a safe passage, flushing with pride despite herself. As she and Priya trade meaningless comments, Katya’s mind races for a way to put a positive spin on her performance throughout the rest of the story. She comes up blank.

As the Koldovstoretz team neared the nest of the Occamy, Valeriya began to cast various defense spells, creating a shield that, in theory, would work well as long as everyone stayed close. Valya, however, didn’t appear to get the message, as they wandered ahead of the group. With Valeriya and Katya’s attention on getting Valya to return, no one noticed the new mermaid approaching Natalia.

“Hey, do you need some help?”

Natalia and the mermaid, Alessia, began to converse. As Valya, Katya, and Valeriya watched from a short distance, Natalia offered Alessia the locket that had failed to appease the first mermaid. Katya could feel the unease pass between herself and her two teammates, but Natalia seemed to be trusting this new mermaid. Despite a warning from Katya to stick to the plan, Alessia led the way into the cavern, promising that her half-siren abilities would allow her to lull the Occamy to sleep.

It seemed too good to be true, and everyone could sense it. Valeriya, in a whisper, reminded the team about the sirens of ancient mythology. “Will she lull us to sleep as well?” A quick ‘muffliato’ took care of those concerns, but unfortunately, getting a nice nap was the opposite of what Alessia had in mind.

A loud shriek pierced the air before anyone could even begin to implement their plan. As the Occamy awoke in distress, Alessia caused the rocks at the entrance of the cave to tumble down, blocking their only hope at an exit. At the same time, Valya and Katya blurted out an eloquent “Shit!” that, while providing an emotional release of sorts, did absolutely nothing to help the situation at hand.

Valeriya somehow managed to remain calm, going through her spells with determination. Though the girl’s cheerfulness was usually somewhat grating to Katya, she had to admire her defensive talents. Once Valeriya cast a disillusionment charm on her, Katya regained some composure and attempted to follow the one part of the plan that still had the potential to work.

She crept closer to the nest, barely registering the Occamy’s attacks–first slicing Natalia’s cheek, then growling at Katya herself. As Valya went on the offensive and Valeriya continued her work, Natalia and Katya tried to reach the eggs. Natalia was undeniably closer, but Katya gripped her wand and hoped what she’d prepared would do its job.

“Transparo,” Katya hissed, pointing her wand at the first egg within her sight. The x-ray spell she’d created didn’t work, causing a brief flutter of disappointment until she realized she was distracted by Alessia’s incessant screeching. “Someone shut up the mermaid!”

Valya, thankfully, heard her and managed to stun Alessia for the moment. Katya breathed for a second, appreciating the absence of the painful ringing in her ears the mermaid had caused. Unfortunately, she didn’t breathe easily for long.

As Valeriya began to cast the disillusionment charm on Valya, the Occamy caught them in the shoulder, forcing them to reel back. A reflex deep within Katya was triggered and she shouted their name, hoping to stop them as they began to pelt the Occamy with stones from the floor of the cave.

Panic once again reared its ugly head as thoughts of Valya getting seriously injured swirled around in Katya’s brain. She forced herself to take a breath and turned her attention back to the eggs. Valya could take care of themself. Every one of the Koldovstoretz champions was in the cave for a reason.

“Transparo,” she tried again. And again, “transparo!” It wasn’t working, and Katya was getting more frustrated by the second. She moved to try the spell again but was knocked off balance by the Occamy swinging at her. Her wand slipped from her grasp, carried away from her by the water. As she reached for it, she heard Valya cry out her name. Natalia, close enough to the nest to brush it with her fingertips, stopped in her tracks.

For a brief moment, the world felt as if it was standing still. Then, almost simultaneously, Valeriya yelled “impedimenta” and Valya cast “serpensortia”, shooting a snake at the Occamy, which it promptly ate with a burp. Natalia mentioned poison, posing it as a question to Katya, but Katya was still recovering from her fall and she focused instead on grabbing her wand.

“I’m fine,” she muttered. “Transparo!” Still, nothing happened.

Valya, still trying to distract the Occamy, instructed the group to shoot snakes to the opposite side of the room, and collectively they shouted “Serpensortia!” The Occamy trampled over to the snakes, but Katya didn’t bother to see the effects of the spell. Instead, she continued to try her own.

She was close to tears, but she pushed through it, hoping her frustration and anger would be channeled into making the spell stronger. One more time, she thought. “Transparo, damnit!” she cried, a last hurrah.

Natalia reached the nest, expecting Katya to succeed, but Katya had failed. “Just grab the eggs!” Valya yelled, their breathing heavy. Natalia followed the instructions as Valeriya shouted to the rest of the team to cast a stunning spell simultaneously.

The combined power of four stunning spells knocked out the Occamy, and Katya took the opportunity to grab Natalia and get to Valeriya and Valya at the mouth of the cave. Valya cast a spell in an attempt to move the rocks, but nothing happened.

“Singing…” Natalia muttered. “What if we sang?”

As if on cue, Alessia began to shriek again, and the entire cave began to rumble, pebbles falling. “She sang!” Natalia cried. “The cave likes her!”

“Now she decides to be helpful?” Katya mumbled.

Valya leapt into action. “The Koldovstoretz anthem?” they suggested. They began to sing, and Katya immediately joined them, her voice pitifully shaky. In a moment, all four champions were singing their school’s song.

The cave rumbled more, and they all took it as a sign to sing louder, more passionately. Feeling vaguely more confident, Katya’s voice ceased to shake. Valya moved to tear away the rocks, and as they did so, everything blocking the exit came crashing down.

With four minutes left, Katya wasted no time admiring their work. “Go, go, go!” she yelled to her teammates. “Natalia first!” She had to prioritize the eggs. If Natalia went first and took the eggs up to the surface, even if the other three champions didn’t make it in time, they would still have the keys.

As the Gillyweed began to wear off, everyone’s tensions rose. They only had three minutes to reach the surface, and without anything helping them, no one would make it at all. Frustrated and a bit panicked, Katya yelled, “ascendio!”

To almost no one’s surprise, nothing happened.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Valya cursed.

Natalia turned to Valeriya, asking if there was something defensive that could help. But before the other girl had the chance to answer, Katya noticed a familiar figure emerging from a clump of rocks.

“Natalia,” she cried, “the mermaid!”

Without any prompting, the mermaid grabbed each one of them and lifted them onto her tail. As she dragged them all as quickly as possible to the surface, Natalia promised to return for more dance lessons in exchange for her help. Valya mumbled under their breath, “please,” over and over. Katya, however, stayed still. She was starting to feel numb.

They broke the surface and Katya gasped for air, the fading gills flapping in protest. Next to her, Valya flailed gracelessly on the dock as Valeriya began to laugh hysterically. The two launched into a conversation about how unbelievable the past hour had been, but Natalia and Katya both stayed quiet.

Black spots danced before Katya’s eyes, but she knew she wasn’t hurt. Rage bubbled up within her, threatening to spew out of her mouth in a rather unpleasant manner. Then, everything cleared for a moment. The mermaid, lying on the dock like the rest of them, suddenly transformed into a vision of beauty.

Natalia, looking like she was in shock, managed to say a few words to the mermaid. Valya and Valeriya did the same, but Katya was too stunned to say anything. As the mermaid revealed her name–Aella–and dove back into the water, all Katya could do was wave.

Eventually, someone came to tend to Valya and Natalia’s wounds. Valeriya followed, but Katya remained lying on the dock with her thoughts. She bitterly remembered the hours she’d stayed up in the Ravenclaw tower, practicing and perfecting her x-ray spell, annoying the students by revealing the contents of their bags or dressers or pockets.

It should have worked, she thought. She was supposed to be impressive. She was Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Razumova, 19 year old spell inventor and champion for Koldovstoretz. Her spells worked. That was non-negotiable.

She forced her brain to pause, picturing her swirling thoughts as a large clump of black dust. After breathing in, she pushed all of the air out of her lungs, imagining the black dust dissipating into the wind. She focused on her body, the way the wooden dock felt beneath her fingers, the slight twinge in her ankle probably caused by her tumble, the stray hair that chose that moment to slide down her face and rejoin its companions.

She was alive. She would try harder next time.

“Katya?” Priya asks shrilly. “What were you saying about the Occamy?”

Katya presses her fists into her leg, bringing herself back into the present. She shuts her eyes briefly and smiles. “We worked together and got the eggs,” she tells Priya. “It was as simple as that.”

Priya pauses, glaring down at the parchment in front of her. Even she knows that Katya’s story didn’t have enough details to spin into a scoop. Taking only a moment to bounce back, she flips over the parchment and snaps her fingers at the quill again.

“Tell me about your family,” she smiles.

Katya laughs with a dry humor. “I don’t have one,” she says briefly.

Ever the reporter, Priya’s eyes flash with a new purpose. “What happened to them?” she asks, but Katya just shakes her head.

She slides her glass closer, picks it up, and finishes off the liquid within. Priya looks eager, knowing the effect the Veritaserum will have, but Katya knows she’s in for some disappointment. “We’re done here,” Katya tells her. “Thanks for the drink.”

“But–” Priya stutters, looking for the first time thrown off guard.

“We’re done,” Katya grins, raising her glass in a sort of toast. “You know I’m telling the truth.”

Priya scowls and snatches up her quill and parchment, shoving them into her purse with a huff. “You really are what they say,” she hisses at Katya. “Your heart is as cold as they come.”

“Funny,” Katya says. “I could have sworn I didn’t have one at all.”

Katya watches Priya storm off with a sense of pride. She feels like she’s begun to redeem herself for her failures in the first task simply by fending off Priya Sharp. In a much better mood than she was at the start of the evening, Katya leisurely makes her way to the bar.

“A round of drinks for everyone,” she whispers, sliding the bartender all of the money she has with her. Before anyone can notice what she’s done, she slips out of the Three Broomsticks and out into the cool air. A subtle smile warming up her face, Katya turns and makes her way back to Hogwarts.

The next day, she ‘borrows’ a copy of the Daily Prophet from an unsuspecting Ravenclaw, just to glance at the headlines. There are several ridiculous titles, but nothing about Koldovstoretz’s Ice Queen. Katya tosses the paper into the common room fire and chuckles to herself.

She grabs a chocolate croissant from the Great Hall and takes to the corridors, waving to her teammates on her way out. Just like her first night as a champion, she wanders the halls for a while, but she finds herself drawn to the same place: the astronomy tower.

Katya sits on the floor of the tower, leaning against the edge. She eats her croissant in silence, then pulls out her wand. “Transparo,” she says softly, pointing at a school bag left behind by some poor, forgetful student. The spell works, revealing a mess of ink and parchment.