AN: Quick disclaimer: I own nothing but the basics of the plot.

As well, the story was changed slightly since it was originally uploaded. After reading the reviews, I decided to remove the egg from this chapter. It will make an appearance sometime later, however.

Anyways, enjoy reading!

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Harry sighed and stared at the glassy surface, as he drew his knees to his chest. He couldn't help but wonder what lived beneath it. He fumbled with his bag and drew out one of the book's he'd snagged from Dudley's pile of discarded birthday presents last year.

The Mysterious Monsters of the Water: A Brief Encyclopedia of Water Dwelling Animals, it read in big blue letters across the cover. He'd skimmed it pretty thoroughly in his room before coming back to Hogwarts, but he'd kept it around anyways. Something about it just intrigued him.

He looked over at Hagrid's hut, frowning as he noticed a lack of smoke puffing up from the chimney. That typically meant the half giant was off running an errand for Dumbledore. Harry'd seen him at the opening feast, but their first class of Magical Creatures had been canceled. It was odd, and rather disappointing, considering Harry had wanted to ask him about what exactly lived in the lake.

He'd heard rumors that there were mermaids down there, and of course, there was the giant squid, but what else was down there? He chewed on his lip and opened the book.

"The mayfly is a delicate looking insect with nearly transparent wings. They are most often seen when they swarm for mating or come to lights at night. The adults live only for a few days for the purpose of mating and usually do not eat." Harry read the passage aloud. The creatures that lived on top of the water didn't intrigue him as much as those that lived in it.

He'd always wished he had gills. Once, when he was six, he'd gotten the chance to go to the public pool with Dudley and Aunt Petunia a few times. Vernon had put an end to it before long, but he'd briefly been able to enjoy the water, and during that time, he'd fallen in love with it. I

Everything just faded away when he was underwater. It was like a whole different world, one where things were different, where they were better. Where he was happy. He flipped to a different page and read the passage he'd landed on.

"Leeches are often found in vegetation and the bottom areas of warm shallow water. They are nocturnal, which causes them to seek dark areas during the day."

Harry pursed his lips and looked back at the lake. Hopefully there were no leeches in there. Then again, from what he'd heard, it wasn't shallow nor warm. Of course, he'd never dared to put so much as a toe in it. He shivered. There were consequences for swimming. He didn't want to get in trouble for it here at Hogwarts. Things were good here. He didn't want to ruin them.

He looked around. There was no one else around. Everyone was inside, talking about the cup. No one would see him if he just felt the water. He stood up and shook the dirt off his robes, laying the book on top of his bag. He looked back towards the castle doors once more before walking to the edge of the water. He watched the water lap at his shoes for a moment before leaning down. He let the water slide over his fingers and smiled.

"Definitely too cold for leeches." He said to himself.

"There are much worse things in here than leeches, young one." Harry started and jumped back from the water, wildly looking around. A light feminine laugh filled the air.

"I didn't mean to scare you, young one. I just thought to warn you before you came in." Harry looked around, but the grounds were empty. He was the only one here. He bit his lip.

"Down here, youngling." The voice called to him. He looked at the surface of the water and gasped. A reptilian creature rested in the water a little ways away from the shore, its snout just peaking out of the water.

"Um." Harry paused. "Are you talking to um me?" The laugh from before filled his ears again.

"Yes. Whom else would I be talking to?" The creature blinked at Harry. He ran his hand through his hair, trying to push it out of his eyes.

"But why are you-" Harry stopped, unsure of what to say. He took another step away from the water's edge.

"Because you are different from the others, I've seen." The thing faced Harry and ducked under the water. He watched the water's surface, unable to see where the creature had gone due to the murkiness. He chewed on his lip, ignoring the taste of blood.

"Hello?" He called out nervously. He rolled his eyes at himself. What was he doing? A talking reptile? He was going insane. He went back to his bag and sat down with his book.

"What is that?" The voice asked Harry. He peered over the edge of the book and saw the creature had emerged from the water. It looked remarkably like a crocodile he'd seen at the zoo one time, but crocodiles didn't talk.

"A book." He said. He flipped to the section about crocodiles and alligators. He glanced at the creature and then back at the picture of the crocodile in the book. They looked exactly the same.

"And what exactly is a book?" The crocodile thing asked him, waddling closer. Harry tilted his head to the side, trying to figure out how to explain what a book was.

"Well, it's a collection of information or ideas." He paused, chewing on his lip again, "We write them down in books so that we can share them with others."

"Why not just tell others what you want to say?" The creature asked sounding confused.

"We do, but books can be used to pass information and such through generations and across the world." A throaty murmur came from the creature as it contemplated Harry's words.

"I've seen you before, youngling." It said to Harry. "I've seen you down here reading these books, as you call them." It waddled closer to the boy. Its belly dragged along the ground as it walked, leaving a rivet in the mud.

"Why do you read so many of them?" It asked, pausing in front of him.

"I find them interesting." He said, looking down at the book in his hands. Lately he found them more interesting than people. Less annoying as well.

"But where is your family, young one? Why do they not read with you?" Harry looked up at the crocodile like creature. Now that it was closer to him, he could see a few differences between it and the picture of the crocodile. It's scales looked soft, almost like those of a snake. It was a greyish white, except for around the eyes. It had delicate swirling patterns of black scales around its eyes and down the front of its snout.

It blinked at him, waiting for him to answer.

"I don't really have one." He admitted. He toyed with the pages of the book, bending the corners and unbending them. A tutting sound came from the creature and he looked up at it.

"Why not? All younglings need a family."

"My parents died when I was just a baby." He rubbed at his scar. He was so tired of people's pity, and now this magical crocodile thing was going to pity him. He was the Boy-Who-Lived with the tragic past. He couldn't escape it. He bit his lip.

The creature walked closer to him. He raised his eyebrows and tried to scoot away.

"I'm not going to hurt you young one. I just want to smell you." The creature pressed the end of its snout against his calf and breathed in loudly. Harry stayed still, afraid to move. He could just barely see some of the thing's bottom teeth sticking out. They looked sharp. The creature could snap him in half if it wanted, he was sure of it.

"You do smell lonely, young one. What is your name?" It asked him, pulling back so that it could look at his eyes. It had black eyes, purley black, except for a sliver of a blue iris.

"Harry." He whispered. He dug his fingers into the ground and tried to breathe.

"Harry. A beautiful name, young one. I am Lilith, mother and the last of the Jiaolong of the Black Lake." Lilith said. Her eyes roved across Harry's face and narrowed.

"It's nice to meet you, Lilith. " Harry said nervously, attempting to smile.

"You are the first one who has been able to hear my voice in many, many years, little Harry." She mused to herself, turning towards the water.

"How come I can hear it then?" He asked. Lucky him, something else only he could hear.

"I do not know." Lilith said, "Others are coming. They are much too loud for me, so I think I shall bid you goodbye, youngling." She paused as reached the edge of the water

"If you'd like, you should back and visit me. I would very much like to talk with you again. It gets lonely here sometimes." She said, before diving into the water. Harry watched the crocodile creature's body disappear under the murky water. Once she'd fully submerged, he turned around and looked at the school's entrance. A short redhead was waving at him.

"Oi! Harry!" Ron shouted. Harry rolled his eyes and turned around to wave at the redhead. He walked towards Ron. He'd really hoped that his moment of peace and quiet would've lasted longer. Then again, it had been cut short by a strange crocodile thing, so he supposed he really couldn't blame Ron.

"You've got to come see this mate, Fred and George are going to try and get past the age circle. They've got aging potions and everything." The redhead said excitedly, turning back towards the door before Harry had even reached him. Harry jogged over to him and the two walked into the castle.

"Why were you out there anyways, Harry? It's bloody gloomy. Not to mention cold." Ron asked as they walked.

"I was just reading." Harry said. Ron shrugged. He wasn't sure if he should tell his friend about what had happened. Something made him feel like he shouldn't. He didn't want people thinking he was insane like they had when he started hearing the basilisk. He could still vividly remember Hermione telling him that hearing things, even in the wizarding world, wasn't good.

"Hurry up, we're gunna miss it." He said, walking faster. Harry rolled his eyes. He really had no desire to see the twins try and trick Dumbledore's age circle. It wasn't going to work anyways. But he figured he might as well indulge his friend. The two hadn't been spending much time together this year, and oddly enough, he found that he missed the redhead.

They arrived in the hall that held the cup, and Harry had to fight the urge to roll his eyes again. The twins were standing just to the side of the aging circle and had managed to captured the attention of almost everyone in the room like two jesters holding court.

"Alright my friends prepare to witness a miracle." Fred said with a grin and a bow.

"We brewed these last night, it's fresh from the cauldron." George said, holding up two small, green vials. He wiggled them at the audience before handing one to his Fred. The two smirk at each other as they open the potions. Both stick their tongues out and let a single drop of the potion fall on them, before recorking the vials.

"And now to put our names in the Goblet." Fred said as he and George linked arms and hopped over the line Dumbeldore had drawn around the Goblet. A moment passed and nothing happened. The twins broke into identical grins, and they each pulled out a sheet of paper from their pockets. They leaned forward to drop their names in, but a loud sizzling sound distracted them. Harry blinked as a large flash of light obscured his view of the Weaselys.

The two were launched out of the circle and landed on their backs, staring at the ceiling.

"Oh Merlin." Their friend Lee Jordan whispered, as he walked over to them. He stared at them, and then began to laugh. Harry looked over and sniggered. They'd each grown long white beards, which were quite similar to that of their headmaster. As the two sat up, the hall burst into laughter.

"I told you it wouldn't work." Hermione said, walking across the room to join the Harry and Ron. George glared at her and looked at his twin.

"I do believe this young whippersnapper is trying to tell us she knows more than us. Can you believe that, mu brother? A young child such as this thinking she knows more than us two old wise men. What has this world come to?" George said, throwing his arm across Fred's shoulders.

"When I was her age, I never would've talked to one of my elder's like that." Fred said, pretending to be affronted. He turned his nose up in the air and sighed.

"Keep this up, and I won't brew you the antidote." Hermione said with a roll of her eyes. The twins' eyes grew wide.

"But, Hermione, you promised." Fred said as his lower lip pushed itself into a pout.

"But, you're my elders, so you can obviously brew the potion better than me, so why should I do it?" Hermione asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Our old hand shake too much to brew, young miss." George said with a cheeky smile. Hermione shook her head and rummaged in her bag, pulling out two small vials filled with blue, bubbling liquid.

"You're lucky. I already brewed it. Drink up before one of the professors come in. I'm sure if one of them sees you like this, we'll all get in trouble." The twins each drank their antidote. The beards seemed to grow backwards, shrinking back into their faces. Lee and Ron laughed at the redheads' expressions of pain, while Hermione ignored them.

She turned to Harry and frowned.

"Are you alright, Harry? You look a little pale." She said, placing the back of her hand on his forehead.

"I'm fine, 'Mione. Just a little tired." He said with a slight smile. She pursed her lips and stared at him.

"Hey, do we have Divination tonight?" Harry asked, trying to change the subject. Hermione's eyes narrowed. She drew her hand back but continued looking over him.

"I dunno, mate." Ron said, before turning to Hermione. "Do we?"

"If you two don't know, how would I?" She asked, rolling her eyes.

"Well, you always know everything…"Ron trailed off, scratching the back of his head. Hermione clucked her tongue against her front teeth. Harry sighed. He didn't want to listen to this fight again.

"It's okay, I'll just check my schedule. I think I left it in my room though, so I'll go grab it and meet you guys at dinner afterwards." Harry said, turning towards Gryffindor tower.

"Okay, Harry." Ron said, casting a thankful look at his friend. Harry shrugged in response and started back to his room. He knew that they didn't have Divination tonight. They had it on Wednesdays just before Astrology, but he needed a moment to think about what had happened down at the lake. A moment without Hermione pestering him with questions and without Ron blabbering about the Tournament. Maybe he should go to the library instead. There was sure to be a book on the jiaolong thing there. He looked behind him to make sure none of his friends had followed him before ducking into the library.

He nodded at Madame Pince. The older woman raised her thin grey eyebrows at him.

"Mr. Potter. Shouldn't you be at dinner?" She asked, tapping her fingers against her desk. Harry looked around, noticing the distinct lack of students. He shrugged.

"I just wanted to look something up really quick." She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. Harry held back a snicker. Madam Pince and Hermione were much more alike than his friend would admit.

"What is it you wanted to look up, Mister Potter?" She asked. He stepped closer to her desk.

"Um. I need to look up the um jiaolong for a project for Magical Creatures." He muttered, trying to think of an excuse that the grey haired woman would buy.

"The term's hardly started, Mister Potter. Surely Professor Hagrid has not already assigned you a project?" She asked, picking up her quill and scribbling something on one of the papers covering her desk.

"It's a term long project. I just want to get a head start, you know?" He fumbled, tugging on the strap of his bag nervously. The woman smiled slightly and murmured an accio quietly. Two thick, aging books sped towards her from the maze of shelves behind her.

"These are the only two books that we have on the jiaolong. Why Professor Hagrid assigned you a project on such a rare creature, I know not." She muttered, her brows furrowing, "Regardless, I will let you check these out for your project, as I am afraid I must close the library for the evening. All students and professors are required to be at dinner tonight for the announcement of the champions."

"I didn't know that we had to be at dinner, sorry m'am." Harry mumbled, watching her write the names of the books into the register. Aquatic Dragons for Beginners by Rufus Black and The Jiaolong: The Chinese Myth by Olaf Kristenion.

"Your head of house should have informed you this morning at breakfast." Madam Pince said with a raised eyebrow, as she handed the quill to Harry. Harry shrugged and tried to smile.

"I wasn't at breakfast." He said as he signed his name next to the titles.

"These are due back December first, Mister Potter. I recommend you start with Aquatic Dragons for Beginners. The other is a much harder read." She said, handing him the books. He smiled in thanks.

"Now, Mister Potter, please leave my library so that I may go to dinner." She said, turning away from him.

"Thanks you, Madam Pince." He called at her retreating form. He left the library and headed towards the Great Hall. He chewed on his lip.

So jiaolongs were dragons? He hummed thoughtfully. He'd been excepting them to be some sort of magical creature, but not a dragon. Perhaps he could write to Ron's brother Charlie, the dragon tamer. He was sure to know something about these odd crocodile looking dragons. If Harry did that though, people were sure to start asking questions. If something was mentioned to Ron, the redhead would know Harry was lying about the Magical Creatures project. He chewed on his lip. Maybe he could say he was working on an extra credit project?

He walked into the Great Hall and sighed. It was packed full. Students were crammed on the benches like sardines. The influx of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students coupled with all the first years had caused things to get a little crowded. Thankfully, the two schools had chosen to sit with Ravenclaw and Slytherin rather than Gryffindor, so his table wasn't too crowded.

He slipped into the open spot between Ron and Seamus. He set the Aquatic Dragons book on the table and slipped the other one into his bag. Rather than setting his bag on the floor like he'd normally do, he put it on his lap. He'd rather not have anyone kick it and send its contents flying across the floor again, especially not with that book in there. Madam Pince would skin him alive if he brought it back messed up.

He flipped the book open to the index and dragged his finger along the pages as he read each entry. Jiaolong, pages 324-325. Harry sighed. There was only a single page devoted to the dragon. He flipped to the page and began reading.

Jiaolong (also called Jiao)

Jiaolong or jiao is a polysemous aquatic dragon that was first mentioned in Chinese mythology. It was first seen in sometime around the birth of Merlin; however, none have been seen since the early 1500s. It is believed that they are now extinct.

They were hunted for their scales, which can be used in various potions and for their eyes, which were used by seers and necromancers to assist them with reaching into the veil.

While little information on these dragons exists to modern day, it is assumed that they were able to shape shift. The few notes that can be found on them describes them as having both the head of a tiger and that of a crocodile. It has been suggested that this means they were able to change the shape of their heads as needed. Many of the notes found also described the dragon as a fish with a snakes tail. However, no drawings or other images of the dragons exist today.

Harry sighed and reread the passage. How could this be what he'd seen? Jiaolongs had been extinct for a few hundred years. Plus, they were from China. How could there be one in Hogwarts' lake? He shoved the book in his bag and took out the other one.

It was much thinner than the other book, looking to only be a hundred or two pages long. It also appeared to be much older. Its spine was cracked and bits of the cover were flaking off. He gingerly opened it, afraid to cause the book any more damage. A black and white illustration of a large dragon turning into a woman with long, flowing hair adorned the page opposite the text.

Harry stared at it. The woman had black, swirling lines drawn around her eyes much like those of the creature he'd seen earlier. He turned to the text and began to read

The jiaolong is a mysterious creature. It has been connected with the mizuchi of Japenese culture, the mermaids of European, and other legends from all around the world. They've been connected with sharks, stingrays, and snakes, but few have ever seen a jiaolong.

It has been said that Merlin himself was one of the only men to ever see one with his own eyes. The drawing here is a copy of one of Merlin's own supposed drawings of the jiaolong.

A sharp elbow jabbed Harry in the side, rousing him from his reading.

"Harry, that's you." Seamus whispered.

"Huh?" He asked his classmate, confused. He looked around. Everyone was staring at him.

"Your name, it came out the goblet." Seamus said, nudging him with his elbow again, "you're the fourth champion, Harry."

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AN: Hey guys! I'm still working on Fortune Cookie, no worries, but this story has been playing around in my head for awhile, so I decided to give it a chance.

By the way, in answer to a few people's reviews, Harry is taking Astrology not just Astronomy here. Sorry for the confusion.

Review and let me know if you think I should continue it!

Have a great day, guys and thanks for reading! :)