Chapter 597: The noisy golden egg

When they entered the Gryffindor Common Room, it erupted again in cheers and shouts.

There were mountains of cakes and jugs of pumpkin juice and butterbeer on the tables and chairs.

Lee Jordan had set off some fireworks, so that the air was full of stars and sparks.

Dean Thomas, who was very good at drawing, had put up some impressive new banners, depicting Ron zooming around the Chinese Fireball on the Fire Arrow, and Ivan's use of the magical barrier to resist the flames and defeat the dragon.

The huge banner in the center was constantly changing. Above, Ivan stood alone in the crowd and held his wand aloft. In front of him was the terrible dragon, baring its fangs and spewing fire from its mouth.

The next second, the image changed, and the dragon flew backwards like a bug.

Under the banners, all the Gryffindors were celebrating, laughing and eating delicious food.

Everyone came up to talk to Ivan and Ron, asking for more details, and many thanked Ivan.

They had been in the stands, too. If Ivan hadn't saved them, they might have been hit by the fireball.

Ron wasn't so nervous anymore. He had passed the first task and wouldn't have to face the second for another three months.

"Gee, this is heavy!" said Lee Jordan, picking up the golden egg lying on a table, and weighing it in his hands.

"Sure, I daresay this must be pure gold!"

"Open it, Ron, come on! Let's see what's inside!"

"Come on, open it!" several people echoed.

"Okay!" muttered Ron, also very curious.

He took the golden egg from Lee's hands and dug his fingernails into the groove around it and opened it.

It was hollow and completely empty. But the moment Ron opened it, the most horrible noise, a loud, shrill wail, filled the room.

The closest thing they had heard was the ghost orchestra at Nick Nearly Decapitated's death day party, who had all played the musical saw.

"Shut it!" shouted Fred, hands over his ears.

Ron slammed the golden egg shut and gasped.

"What was that?"

"That's a terrible noise, it's perhaps what you have to deal with in the next task."

"It sounded like a banshee. You might have to get over one of those next, Ron," Seamus Finnigan said.

"No, it was someone being tortured!" said Neville, who had turned very white and spilled sausage rolls all over the floor. He looked at Ron uneasily. "You... You're going to have to fight the Cruciatus Curse!"

"Don't be an ass, Neville, that's illegal!" said George. "They wouldn't use the Cruciatus Curse on champions. I thought it sounded a bit like Percy singing... you might have to attack him while he's in the shower."

"Haha, in a sense, Percy is even more terrible than a dragon."

This noise was the song of a siren. The golden egg was supposed to be kept underwater for easy use, but Ivan didn't say so.

After all these wild guesses, Ron put the golden egg away.

He was ready to solve this puzzle alone, like a champion, without any help, relying on his own abilities.

After overcoming the dragon's task, Ron grew up a lot.

Whether he succeeded in the end or not, this tournament was turning out to be good for him.

"Let's talk about something else, don't just sit there, do you want a jam tart, Hermione?" Hermione looked dubiously at the plate he was offering her. Fred smiled mischievously.

"It's all right," he said. "I haven't done anything to them. It's the custard creams you have to watch out for..."

Neville, who had just bitten into a pastry cream, choked and spat it out. Fred and George laughed and looked at him.

"Just my little joke, Neville..."

"Speaking of which," Hermione picked up a jam tart. "Did you get all this stuff out of the kitchens, Fred?!"

"Yes," Fred said, grinning at her. He put up a high-pitched squeak and imitated a house elf. "'Anything we can get you, sir, anything!' They're very obliging--they'll bring me a roast ox if I say I'm hungry."

"How do you get in there?" said Hermione in an innocently casual voice.

"It's easy," said Fred. "There's a hidden door behind a picture of a bowl of fruit. All you have to do is tickle the pear, and it giggles and..." He stopped and looked at her suspiciously.

"Why, why do you ask?"

"No reason," Hermione said quickly.

"Now you're going to try to take the house elves on strike; aren't you?" said George. "You're going to drop the whole pamphlet thing and try to incite them to a rebellion?"

Several people laughed. Hermione didn't answer.

Ivan knew her too well; it was obvious that Hermione intended to do so.

"Don't go bothering them and telling them they have to wear clothes and wages!" said Fred warningly, giving Ivan a gentle kick under the table. "You'll make them stop cooking!"

As for the fight for house elf rights, Ivan couldn't convince Hermione to give up either. Besides, he had made it clear that he would support her, even though he hadn't actually done anything.

Just then, Neville caused a minor distraction by turning into a large canary.

"Oh... sorry, Neville!" Fred, ignoring Hermione, was quick to jump up and shout above all the laughter. "I forgot... it was the custard creams we hexed!".

Within a minute, however, Neville had molted and, once his feathers fell out, he was back to looking completely normal.

He even joined in the laughter and thought that bewitched pastry cream was very interesting.

George explained to Ivan that he and Fred had been experimenting since the summer vacations and had made continual improvements. The finished products they had come out with now were even more interesting than the deforming candy that made Dudley grow a pig's tail.

"Come on, canary creams!" shouted Fred to the excited crowd. "Our latest product, George and I invented them...seven Sickles each, a bargain. We start booking now!"

Interested young wizards were placing orders with him; Weasley pranks were now very popular.

When new products appeared, they tended to be in short supply. Many people even bought them to resell to students from other Houses.

Some time ago, Fred and George went so far as to discuss with Ivan the possibility of promoting them to Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students, to open up foreign markets, and they didn't know if it would work or what was the best way to do it.