Harry sat on his bed with the golden egg resting in his lap. Ever since the First Task, it had done nothing except mock him.
Everyone kept saying the clue for the Second Task was inside it, but whenever he opened the egg, all it produced was an earsplitting screech that made him want to throw it out of the window.
He sighed and undid the clasp once more. The moment the egg opened, the dormitory filled with the same dreadful wailing.
The sound echoed off the stone walls, making Harry's ears ring before he snapped it shut again.
Silence returned.
At that exact moment, the dormitory door opened. Ron stepped inside, took one look at the egg in Harry's hands, and immediately grimaced.
"Harry, if you're going to open that thing again, wait until I've gone. My ears have only just stopped ringing from the last time."
Harry gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I thought maybe it'd be different this time."
Ron dropped onto his bed and snorted. "And was it?"
Harry looked down at the egg. "No."
"I still don't understand how that's supposed to be a clue. It sounds like someone's murdering a banshee."
Harry couldn't help laughing. "I've tried staring inside it, tapping it with my wand, even saying 'Alohomora' at it."
"And?"
"It screamed."
"Brilliant bit of magic, that."
Harry ran a hand through his hair. "I don't even know where to start."
Ron shrugged. "Ask Hermione."
Harry gave him a look. "She'll tell me to read every book in the library."
"Exactly."
Harry smiled despite himself. "She probably will."
"And she'll probably be right," Ron admitted reluctantly. "She usually is."
Harry let out a long sigh and set the egg on his bedside table. "I just wish this clue would stop screaming long enough to tell me what it actually wants."
Ron watched Harry staring at the egg before getting to his feet. "Come on. Sitting here glowering at it isn't going to help. Let's go down and get something to eat. Food usually improves things."
Harry looked from the egg to Ron and shrugged. "I suppose it can't make things any worse."
The two of them left Gryffindor dorm and headed for the Great Hall.
Lunch was already underway, the hall filled with the usual chatter as students from all four Houses ate and talked.
Harry had barely sat down when someone called his name.
He looked up to see Cedric Diggory walking over from the Hufflepuff table. "Mind if I have a word?"
Harry stood and followed Cedric a short distance from the tables.
"So," Cedric said quietly, "have you worked out the clue in the egg yet?"
Harry let out a tired sigh. "No. Every time I open it, it just screams at me."
Cedric smiled knowingly. "Yeah, it does that."
"You've figured it out, then?"
Cedric hesitated before nodding. "I'll give you a hint. I reckon I owe you one after the dragon."
"What kind of hint?"
Cedric leaned in slightly. "Take a bath."
Harry blinked. "A bath?"
"Take the egg into the prefects' bathroom and open it under the water. That's all I'm saying." He gave Harry a friendly smile. "Good luck."
Harry watched Cedric head back toward the Hufflepuff table, still trying to make sense of the advice.
Ron, who had been watching from the Gryffindor table, raised an eyebrow as Harry returned.
"Well?"
Harry picked up a bread roll. "He told me to take the egg into the bath."
Ron frowned. "What?"
"And open it underwater."
"I'll admit," Ron said after a moment, "I wasn't expecting that."
***
That evening, after finishing his homework, Harry took the golden egg and made his way to the fifth floor.
Cedric had been right about one thing — the prefects' bathroom was nothing like the ordinary ones.
Harry gave the password, "Pine fresh," and the door swung open.
Inside was a vast marble bathroom with a swimming-pool-sized bath sunk into the floor.
Harry set the golden egg on the edge of the bath and turned several taps. Crystal-clear water poured into the pool, accompanied by clouds of fragrant steam.
He had barely stepped into the water when a familiar voice echoed through the room. "Ooooh... it's Harry Potter."
Harry groaned. "Hello, Myrtle."
Moaning Myrtle floated out of one of the taps, smiling broadly. "I was wondering when you'd come back."
Harry sank a little deeper into the water. "I'm trying to work something out."
"I can help," Myrtle said eagerly, drifting closer.
"I'm fine, thanks."
She ignored the hint and continued hovering nearby while Harry kept his attention on the golden egg. Once the bath was deep enough, he picked it up.
"Here goes."
Remembering Cedric's advice, Harry lowered the egg beneath the surface and unclasped it. The horrible screech never came. Instead, the egg opened silently.
A strange chorus of eerie, haunting voices drifted through the water, beautiful rather than painful.
Harry couldn't make out every word, but by keeping his head beneath the surface, he heard the song clearly.
"Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground.
And while you're searching, ponder this:
We've taken what you'll surely miss.
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took.
But past an hour—the prospect's black"
*****
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