7) Lasso
Harry Potter was not like the other Hogwarts students. Almost all of his fellow peers were born and raised in the UK and came from well to do families. Very few students knew the true definition of work. While they had chores of cleaning their room, doing the dishes, denoming the garden, and the likes, they didn't have to sacrifice their blood and sweat just to get food to survive. They were weak. The biggest worry of most students was to fail a course, or get on the bad side of a teacher. None of them had faced the hardships of the real world.
Harry, however, had. He didn't have a childhood. From what he's been told, his birth parents were killed when he was young. He was dropped off at his Aunt's doorstep. He was kidnapped by a prostitute who found him on said doorstep and take to an illegal slavery ring. He was transported all the way to the Mexico, where he was then kidnapped once again by a mexican couple.
They had been trying for children of their own for years without success. Even though they barely made enough to make ends meet with various not-so-legal side jobs, times were tough. When a kidnapped child came through one of these side jobs, the man decided to take the child from himself. No one would want to buy a kid that young. He would only cost money to raise at that point and couldn't generate a profit. It wasn't worth investing money into someone that young that may or may not be able to produce a profit later in life.
This couple however didn't want the kid to make money. They wanted him to have a family. They did have a family. At least, for 5 years. The got caught in an unfortunate position one afternoon between two rival gangs. There was heavy gunfire from both sides. Harry only survived due to his small stature. His 'parents' did not. From that day forward, Harry learned how to make a living for himself. He found places to scrap for food. He found people willing to give him small jobs. He didn't have a lot of strength, but he had a very innocent looking face and could easily slip into places to snatch papers and documents.
Harry knew that while he could survive in Mexico for now, sooner or later he could find himself in another situation like the one that ended his 'adopted' parents. He would have liked for them to make the adoption official, but with a corrupt government and Harry's unknown past, there was no way. The first chance Harry got, he hitched a ride on a truck headed for Texas. He was able to find a small spot underneath the car near the axle that let him avoid detection by any guards.
He ditched the truck at the first stop it made, and found himself on a small ranch. While he had trouble with the couple that owned the ranch at first, he was able to use his puppy-dog look and earn a spot in the barn. Over the years, Harry became quite the herder. With good food and a rigorous workout every morning, Harry had developed many muscles. Despite being only 11, he could ride a horse and lasso a cow as well as anyone else on the ranch.
Harry loved using a lasso. It made him feel powerful. Growing up small and having to always hide or be stealthy had made Harry feel useless. He had to constantly follow the wills of others. With a lasso however, Harry was the one in charge. He was in control. With just a movement of his hands, he could use the rope as an extension of his arm to move and grab things at great distances.
Harry found it strange in a manner to be a wizard. He had no idea how magic seemed to work overall. It could strange and wonderful things, but it could also cause unparalleled destruction. It could find one boy out in the middle of nowhere in Texas, and then force him to compete in a magical tournament.
While Harry had learned to like magic in the last 3 years of practice, he also knew it had limitations. Magical people tended to be very arrogant and believed magic was better than anything else. They would dismiss anything non magical as 'muggle trash'. Harry knew at some point he would have to use that to his advantage.
That time had come. He was deep in a pile of books in the library. Hagrid had shown him the dragons just the night before. Dragons. The epitome of hunters in the predator-prey food chain. Massive size. Giant Claws. Fire Breath. The ability to fly. A spiked tail reminiscent of dinosaurs. Skin tougher than most rocks. Hide resistant to magic. A very, very formidable opponent. Facing one solo was paramount to suicide. Dragon hunters would always travel in groups of 4 or more. It usually took immensely powerful magic to hold a dragon. Yet, even after over three dozen different books, there was no mention of physical means to capture a dragon. Either that meant they didn't work, or that no wizard has ever tried it.
One of the best uses for magic in Harry opinion, is when it was used to enchant other objects. His lasso was by far his most treasured item. Since attending Hogwarts, he was able to get older students to enchant it. A flexibility charm, Lengthening charms, a Fireproofing charm, an Unbreakable charm, and a few others had been added. Harry was going to take down his dragon in a manner never seen in Britain before.
He waited patiently in the tent. His competitors had already been called out to face their dragons. It was his turn. At the blast of the cannon, Harry stepped out. He slowly uncoiled the rope from his shoulder as he moved. Every animal would react different based on how you approached it. A dragon as the top of the food chain would attack anyone who approached in an aggressive manner. By moving slow, the dragon would view him as non threatening and let him size up his opponent easier.
Harry dropped one end of the lasso on the ground next to him and started to swing the other end in a circle. He watched as the dragon tilted her head to the side. It hadn't seen a lasso before. Interesting. It was about to find out. With a flick of his wrists, Harry flung the wrong at the dragon. As the Lasso's hole flew through the air, it expanded to many times its original size.
The dragon seeing something the rope, let loose a stream of fire that did nothing to the rope. It landed around the dragon and immediately constricted. The dragon attempted to spread her wings to break the rope to no avail. The charms were doing their duty. The dragon rose up on her hind legs and attempted to use her massive weight to pull the pesky wizard towards her jaw.
As soon as Harry felt the rope become taunt from the effort he pressed a special knot on the rope near his hand. It activated a series of invisible runes all over the rope. The rope immediately turned into a massive electrical whip. The magic-resistant skin of the dragon did nothing to stop the attack.
With a massive roar of agony, the dragon fell to the ground. With a flick of his wrists, the rope magically unwound itself from the dragon and returned to Harry's waiting hand. He spun it around a few times before lassoing the egg and pulled it into his arms. He coiled the wrong around one shoulder, turned to the judges, tilted his hat down in respect, and walked to the medical tent.
AN: As a Texan, I had to write this one. Although, I've never been to a cow ranch, nor have I ever used a lasso. I have been to a rodeo or two.
sweetpea .blue:Who ever said it was only females? I can't be the only one who thinks that Draco has guy issues. I mean, he always goes to his father for everything!
