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Chapter Three
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The days until the first task seemed to slip by as though someone had fixed the clocks to work at double speed. On the Saturday before the first task, all students in the third year and above were permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade. Zexion followed the students regardless if he had a permission slip or not. Walking through the streets, he noted that it was very quaint. Almost like some of the worlds he had to do recon to. He followed a few students into "The Three Broomsticks".
"The Three Broomsticks" itself was packed, mainly with Hogwarts students enjoying their free afternoon, away from the bustle of teachers and homework, but also with a variety of Magical people, finding an empty table in a dark corner Zexion ordered whatever everyone was drinking, the famous; "Butterbeer". After receiving said drink, Zexion eyed it before sniffing at it to make sure there was nothing in it before taking a tentative sip. It surprisingly tastes liked butterscotch. Taking another sip he watched the people chatted, about school, holidays, and many other things as he sat his tome "The Book of Retribution" of down on the table.
Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley made their way into "The Three Broomsticks" only to find all the tables to be packed with students except the one with the stranger, who everyone is still calling "Harry Potter" who came out of the "Goblet of Fire", making their way to the table and Hermione asks, "Is it alright Ron and I sit here everywhere is packed."
Ron watched the steel blue haired boy at the table before the said boy nodded ever so slightly without saying a word. And both he and Hermione sat down and ordered their own "Butterbeers".
Dead bright aqua blue eyes eyed the pair before returning to the book he had been looking over. Of course Hermione tried to ask what book he was reading but glancing at the pages she found she couldn't read what was written. What she saw was a bunch of gibberish. The silence was awkward, as Ron and Hermione sat with Zexion as he sipped the "Butterbeer" while reading and plotting, not saying a word to the pair. Not that he was social. The only two he knew that was social was Axel and Demyx.
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Sunday morning, Zexion got dressed and walked out of the room he had been staying in and walked down the marble stairs, standing down at the bottom of said stairs was no other then "Mad-Eye Moody" staring at the stoic Nobody, "Come with me, "Potter"," he growled. Zexion sneered at the name being said, but complied as he followed Moody to his office.
Once inside said office Zexion said nothing until Moody closed the door and sat down heavily on his chair and stared at Zexion with both his magical eye and his normal eye.
"Sit down," said Moody, but Zexion just stood there staring at Moody with the same stoic look as before while on his desk stood what looked hike a large, cracked, glass spinning top; in the corner on a small table stood an object that looked something like an extra-squiggly, golden television aerial. It was humming slightly. What appeared to be a mirror hung opposite Zexion on the wall, but it was not reflecting the room.
Shadowy figures were moving around inside it, none of them clearly in focus.
Not even looking around the room, though Moody decided to say while watching Zexion closely, "Like my Dark Detectors, do you?"
Zexion didn't even raise to the bait and said nothing and just gave Moody the blank look.
But Moody just kept talking as if Zexion had asked what it was.
"Secrecy Sensor. Vibrates when it detects concealment and lies... no use here, of course, too much interference – students in every direction lying about why they haven't done their homework Been humming ever since I got here. I had to disable my Sneakoscope because it wouldn't stop whistling. It's extra-sensitive, picks up stuff about a mile around. Of course, it could be picking up more than kid stuff,"
All the while Zexion paid the man little.
"So... found out about the dragons, have you?"
Zexion raised an eyebrow to the statement but didn't say anything.
"It's all right," said Moody, sitting down and stretching out his wooden leg with a groan. "Cheating's a traditional part of the Tri-Wizard Tournament and always has been."
"So it seems…" Zexion stated flatly, he knew all about cheating and he has done it a few times himself.
Moody grinned. "I wasn't accusing you, laddie. I've been telling Dumbledore from the start, he can be as high-minded as he likes, but you can bet old Karkaroff and Maxime won't be. They'll have told their champions everything they can. They want to win. They want to beat Dumbledore. They'd like to prove he's only human." Moody gave another harsh laugh, as his magical eye swiveled around so fast it made Zexion feel sick to watch it.
"So... got any ideas how you're going to get past your dragon yet?" Moody asked nonchalantly.
"No..." Zexion's eye gave a microscopic twitch at the question.
"Well, I'm not going to tell you," said Moody gruffly with a snort. "I don't show favoritism, much. I'm just going to give you some good, general advice. And the first bit is – play to your strengths."
"Is that so..." Zexion stated coldly.
"Excuse me," growled Moody, "you've got strengths if I say you've got them. Think now. What are you best at?"
"That would be telling..." Zexion said with a sneer. Why should he tell anyone what he is good at. For all he knew Moody could use it against him to get him to loose his guard.
"Humph then." said Moody, staring at him very hard, his magical eye barely moving at all. "Fine have it your way then."
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Tuesday morning the day of the first task; Zexion dressed so inattentively. After dressing in his normal Organization outfit he went down to the "Great Hall" to "eat" or the lack of eating. He wasn't too worried on how to handle what is coming for the first task. For the rest of the morning Zexion plotted without a care, and by the time lunch rolled in, Professor McGonagall hurried over to him in the Great Hall. Lots of people were watching. And whispering.
"Mr. Zexion, the champions have to come down onto the grounds now...You have to get ready for your first task."
"Alright," Zexion stated flatly, standing up, as he gently set the fork onto his plate. Ignoring the chatter that is going on around him.
"Good luck, Zexion," Hermione whispered. "You'll be fine!"
Zexion gave a faint nod, not that he would need the luck as he left the Great Hall with Professor McGonagall. She didn't seem herself; in fact, she looked nearly as anxious as Hermione and Ron had been. But he paid it little mind. What humans do is their thing.
As she walked him down the stone steps and out into the cold November afternoon, she put her hand on his shoulder. He fought the urge to throw her hand off.
"Now, don't panic," she said, "just keep a cool head...We've got wizards and witches standing by to control the situation if it gets out of hand...The main thing is just to do your best, and nobody will think any the worse of you...Are you all right?"
"Yes, yes, I'm fine." He stated flatly shrugging her hand off his shoulder finally.
She was leading him toward the place where the dragons were, around the edge of the forest, but when they approached the clump of trees behind which the enclosure would be clearly visible, Zexion saw that a tent had been erected, its entrance facing them, screening the dragons from view.
"You're to go in here with the other champions," said Professor McGonagall, in a rather shaky sort of voice, "and wait for your turn, Zexion. Mr. Bagman is in there...he'll be telling you the – the procedure...Good luck."
"Thank you..." said Zexion, in a flat, distant voice. She left him at the entrance of the tent and Zexion went inside and saw...
Fleur Delacour was sitting in a corner on a how wooden stool. She didn't look nearly as composed as usual, but rather pale and clammy. Viktor Krum looked even surlier than usual, which supposed was his way of showing nerves.
Cedric was pacing up and down. When Zexion entered, Cedric gave him a small smile, which Zexion didn't returned.
"Harry! Good-o!" said Bagman happily, looking around at Zexion who glared at him for the name. "Come in, come in, make yourself at home!" Bagman was wearing his old Wasp robes. Not that Zexion knew cared.
"Well, now we're all here – time to fill you in!" said Bagman brightly. "When the audience has assembled, I'm going to be offering each of you this bag" - he held up a small sack of purple silk and shook it at them gently - "from which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face! There are different – er - varieties, you see. And I have to tell you something else too... ah, yes... your task is to collect the golden egg!"
Zexion glanced around with his eyes seeing that Cedric had nodded once, to show that he understood Bagman's words, and then started pacing around the tent again; he looked slightly green. Fleur Delacour and Krum hadn't reacted at all. Perhaps they thought they might be sick if they opened their mouths. But they, at least, had volunteered for this.
And in no time at all, hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of feet could be heard passing the tent, their owners talking excitedly, laughing, joking. Bagman opened the neck of the purple silk sack with a wide grin that would put anyone to shame.
"Ladies first," he said, offering it to Fleur Delacour.
Fleur put a shaking hand inside the bag and drew out a tiny, perfect model of a dragon – a Welsh Green. It had the number two around its neck, Fleur showed no sign of surprise, but rather a determined resignation, that Madame Maxime had told her what was coming.
The same held true for Krum. He pulled out the scarlet Chinese Fireball. It had a number three around its neck. He didn't even blink, just sat back down and stared at the ground.
Cedric put his hand into the bag, and out came the blueish-gray Swedish Short- Snout, the number one tied around its neck. With a silent sneer Zexion put his hand into the silk bag and pulled out the Hungarian Horntail, and the number four.
It stretched its wings as he looked down at it, and bared its minuscule fangs. Which Zexion returned with flat look.
"Well, there you are!" said Bagman. "You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see? Now, I'm going to have to leave you in a moment, because I'm commentating. Mr. Diggory, you're first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right? Now... Harry… could I have a quick word? Outside?"
"Whatever..." said Zexion blankly, and he got up and went out of the tent with Bagman, who walked him a short distance away, into the trees, and then turned to
him with a fatherly expression on his face.
"Feeling all right, Harry? Anything I can get you?"
"For once stop calling me "Harry" My name is Zexion?" said Zexion with the flat look of not being amused at all.
"Got a plan?" Bagman said ignoring what Zexion had just stated, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "Because I don't mind sharing a few pointers, if you'd like them, you know. I mean," Bagman continued, lowering his voice still further, "you're the underdog here, Harry...Anything I can do to help…"
"No," Zexion said knowing he had sounded rude not that he cared.
"Nobody would know, Harry," said Bagman, winking at him.
"No." Zexion stated again.
A whistle had blown somewhere.
"Good lord, I've got to run!" said Bagman in alarm, and he hurried off.
Zexion walked back to the tent and saw Cedric emerging from it, greener than ever.
Zexion went back inside to Fleur and Krum. Seconds later, they heard the roar of the crowd, which meant Cedric had entered the enclosure and was now face-to-face with the living counterpart of his model.
The crowd screamed...yelled...gasped like a single many-headed entity, as Cedric did whatever he was doing to get past the Swedish Short-Snout. Krum was still staring at the ground. Fleur had now taken to retracing Cedric's steps, around and around the tent. And Bagman's commentary made everything much, much worse.
"Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow!"
"He's taking risks, this one!"
"Clever move – pity it didn't work!"
And then, after about fifteen minutes, Zexion heard the deafening roar that could mean only one thing: Cedric had gotten past his dragon and captured the golden egg.
"Very good indeed!" Bagman was shouting. "And now the marks from the judges!" But he didn't shout out the marks.
"One down, three to go!" Bagman yelled as the whistle blew again. "Miss. Delacour, if you please!"
Fleur was trembling from head to foot; she left the tent with her head held high and her hand clutching her wand. He and Krum were left alone, at opposite sides of the tent, avoiding each other's gaze.
The same process started again.
"Oh I'm not sure that was wise!" they could
hear Bagman shouting gleefully. "Oh…nearly! Careful now...good lord, I thought she'd had it then!"
Ten minutes later, Zexion heard the crowd erupt into applause once more. Fleur must have been successful too. A pause, while Fleur's marks were being shown...more clapping...then, for the third time, the whistle.
"And here comes Mr. Krum!" cried Bagman with a giant smile, and Krum slouched out, leaving Zexion alone. Which he was grateful for.
"Very daring!" Bagman was yelling, and Zexion heard the Chinese Fireball emit a horrible, roaring shriek, while the crowd drew its collective breath. "That's some nerve he's showing – and – YES! He's got the egg!"
Applause shattered the wintery air like breaking glass; Krum had finished – it would be Zexion's turn any moment.
Zexion stood up, and waited. And then he heard the whistle blow. He walked out through the entrance of the tent, the ever calm. And now he was walking past the trees, through a gap in the enclosure fence.
He saw everything in front of him, there were hundreds and hundreds of faces staring down at him from stands that had been magicked there. And there was the Horntail, at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half-furled, her evil, yellow eyes upon him, a monstrous, scaly, black lizard, thrashing her spiked tail, heaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground. The crowd was making a great deal of noise, but whether friendly or not, Zexion didn't know or care. It was time to do what he had to do. To get this over and done with.
Zexion waited, calculating different things all at once, without even raising a wand (not that he even bothered getting one) as Bagman was shouting something but Zexion's ears were listening; wasn't important...At least to what Bagman was yapping about.
Zexion looked at the clutch of eggs and spotted the gold one, gleaming against its cement-colored fellows, residing safely between the dragon's front legs.
With a satisfied smirk he walked forward, what the crowd didn't know as he was standing there he switched places with an illusion of himself while he silently moved further into the arena.
The Horntail's head followed his illusion; he knew what it was going to do just as a jet of fire had been released exactly where his illusion was walking, but Zexion didn't care. The fire tore through the illusion.
"Great Scott, what just happened!" yelled Bagman as the crowd shrieked and gasped. Not knowing that wasn't really Zexion that just had been vaporized by the dragon's fire.
Just as the fire started it stopped confusing both the crowd and the dragon who was swiping the ground with her tail, but since the Illusion was broken the tail came whipping up to meet him instead, and as he swerved to the left, one of the long spikes grazed his shoulder, ripping his Organization coat.
He could feel it stinging, he could hear screaming and groans from the crowd, but the cut didn't seem to be deep, a cure did the trick as he continued to play with the Horntail.
The Horntail didn't seem to want to move, she was too protective of her eggs.
Though she writhed and twisted, furling and unfurling her wings and keeping those fearsome yellow eyes on Zexion, she was afraid to move too far from them. The trick was to do it carefully, gradually...
He began to walk, first this way, then the other, not near enough to make her breathe fire to stave him off, but still posing a sufficient threat to ensure she kept her eyes on him. Her head swayed this way and that, watching him out of those vertical pupils, her fangs bared.
He walked closer. The Horntail's head rose with him, her neck now stretched to its fullest extent, still swaying, hike a snake before its charmer.
Zexion came a few more feet, and she let out a roar of exasperation. He was like a fly to her, a fly she was longing to swat; her tail thrashed again. She shot fire into the air, which he dodged. Her jaws opened wide...
And then she reared, spreading her great, black, leathery wings at last, as wide as those of a small airplane - and Zexion waved a hand. Before the dragon knew what he had done, or where he had disappeared to, he had trapped her in an illusion, and he calmly walked toward the eggs now unprotected by her clawed front legs, he had seized the golden egg, with a satisfied smirk, he then walked away from the tormented dragon.
The heavy egg safely under his uninjured arm, and it was as though somebody had just turned the volume back up – for the first time, he became properly aware of the noise of the crowd, which was screaming and applauding.
"Well will you look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get his egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on "Mr. Potter"!"
Zexion saw the dragon keepers rushing forward to subdue the tormented Horntail, and, over at the entrance to the enclosure, Professor McGonagall, Professor Moody, and Hagrid hurrying to meet him, all of them waving him toward them, their smiles evident even from this distance. He calmly walked back over the stands, the noise of the crowd pounding his eardrums.
"That was excellent, Zexion!" cried Professor McGonagall as he got closer. He noticed that her hand shook as she pointed at his shoulder not knowing that it was fully healed. "You'll need to see Madam Pomfrey before the judges give out your score. Over there, she's had to mop up Diggory already."
"Is that so...I don't need it." Zexion stated flatly, he could hear Madam Pomfrey standing at the mouth of a second tent, looking worried.
"Dragons!" she said, in a disgusted tone, as she tried to pull Zexion inside who in turn side stepped out of the way and flatly stated that he was fine.
Before he could go back to his solitude of his room he was ambushed by both Hermione and Ron.
"Zexion, you were brilliant!" Hermione said squeakily. Zexion noted there were fingernail marks on her face where she had been clutching it in fear. "You were amazing! You really were!"
Ron, who was very white and staring at Zexion as though he were a ghost.
"Har-erm Zexion," he started to say, very seriously, "whoever put your name in that goblet – I – I reckon they're trying to do you in!"
Zexion snorted with distain, it wouldn't be the first time. Hell they had no idea what actually lead up to this point and he wasn't inclined to share. There were things they wouldn't understand. Not when they still have their hearts where he did not.
Hermione finally broke the awkward silence by saying, "Zexion, c'mon, they'll be putting up your scores"
If Zexion had heard he didn't show it as he walked back to where the judges were handing out the scores as Ron ran his mouth a mile a minute, almost as hyper as Demyx.
Ron drew breath as he and Zexion reached the edge of the enclosure. Now that the Horntail had been taken away, Zexion could see where the five judges were sitting, right at the other end, in raised seats draped in gold.
"It's marks out of ten from each one," Ron stated, and Zexion said nothing as he watched and "scent" everything that was there as the first judge – Madame Maxime – raise her wand in the air. What looked like a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a large figure eight.
"Not bad!" said Ron as the crowd applauded. "I suppose she took marks off for your shoulder."
Mr. Crouch came next. He shot a number nine into the air.
"Looking good!" Ron yelled, thumping Zexion on the back. Who didn't looked pleased at the gesture.
Next, Dumbledore. He too put up a nine. The crowd was cheering harder than ever.
Ludo Bagman – ten. Go figure on that one.
Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too – four.
"What?" Ron bellowed furiously. "Four? You lousy, biased scum-bag, you gave Krum ten!"
But Zexion didn't care, he wouldn't have cared if Karkaroff had given him zero. As he turned to leave enclosure. And it wasn't just Ron, those weren't only Gryffindors cheering in the crowd. When it had come to it, when they had seen what he was facing, most of the school had been on his side as well as Cedric's. Even though he wasn't a part of the school.
"You're tied in first place, "Harry"! You and Krum!" said Charlie Weasley not knowing that he wasn't called "Harry" but then again everyone just calls him by his old name regardless if they were there when he was brought here or not, hurrying to meet them as they set off back toward the school. "Listen, I've got to run, I've got to go and send Mum an owl, I swore I'd tell her what happened – but that was unbelievable! Oh yeah – and they told me to tell you you've got to hang around for a few more minutes. Bagman wants a word, back in the champions' tent."
Zexion reentered the tent, which somehow looked quite different now: friendly and welcoming. Not that he could feel it.
Fleur, Cedric, and Krum all came in together. One side of Cedric's face was covered in a thick orange paste, which was presumably mending his burn. He grinned at Zexion when he saw him.
"Good one, Zexion."
"And you," Zexion said boredly.
"Well done, all of you!" said Ludo Bagman, who was bouncing into the tent and looking as pleased as though he personally had just got past a dragon. "Now, just a quick few words. You've got a nice long break before the second task, which will take place at half past nine on the morning of February the twenty-fourth – but we're giving you something to think about in the meantime! If you look down at those golden eggs you're all holding, you will see that they open. See the hinges there? You need to solve the clue inside the egg - because it will tell you what the second task is, and enable you to prepare for it! All clear? Sure? Well, off you go, then!"
Zexion left the tent, having no say in as Ron, pulled him back to the castle.
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...TO BE CONTINUED...
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-Notes-
WELL I bet you all didn't think I would update this. I was bored and pissy cause one of my games kept d/cing me every time I tried to login.
So this is the results of being mad at my game and well now you have it.
So anyways. Back to the notes at hand. I know I should update more. BUT I still need to work out the kinks. And even then I don't know what will happen then.
Now onto things.
Pairings I still don't know. For Yule Ball which is going to happen still I think. I just don't know who I would want out lovable Zexion to go with, not that he could care about it. But he has to go cause it is mandatory.
As to be clear as some of you wanted Demyx, Larxene, Aqua, Namine and or Final Fantasy Girls as a pairing...
Japolo Rei Hellstinger: that isn't going to happen. Seeing that Demyx is not in this story seeing that he was never at Castle Oblivion when the things went down. Sorry to bust your bubble.
PyruxDeltax: again no it wouldn't work.
Nova: Wouldn't work seeing that Axel did somewhat betrayed him, and technically got him "killed"/ "sent" back to the HP world after he sent the Replica after him. And Roxas will always be paired with Axel. And like I said before it wouldn't work.
Guest: Aqua...Sadly no. Like I said it wouldn't work seeing that this was pretty much after Kingdom Hearts: Chains of Memories. Larxene I can't see, not that I hate her or anything it just wouldn't work with what I got planned so to speak. Namine...or anyone of the Final Fantasy world, to be honest how would they even get to the HP world? I mean it is all great ideas and all but some how it wouldn't explain on how they got there in the first place if you know what I mean.
But enough of that and thank you all for loving this and liking it. I am doing the best I can with it!
Also I had to go back and fix the format through the site seeing it was a bit funky.
