Disclaimer: Like I've normally brought up, I just own this fanfic. J.K. Rowling owns the rest, no copyright intended!
Chapter 10: Cold Tactics
It was the evening before the first task and Harry was just finishing up another training session with Neville, Tracey and Tori. Anytime Harry would make progress with a blizzard spell, he'd get praised for it (especially from Tracey). Since the training session had cut into a few minutes of dinnertime, the four students opted to stay in Harry's private quarters (with Harry's house elves getting the meals ready). Once the house elves came back with food, Harry, Neville, Tracey and Tori gathered around the dining table and sat down to eat.
"Shall we wear warm clothing at the first task tomorrow?" asked Tori jokingly.
"We will need to do that anyway." said Neville, playing along with it.
"At least I have some backup plans if the blizzard spell doesn't do much to immobilize the dragon I'm bound to face." stated Harry.
"I can already imagine many people tomorrow dropping their jaws open in shock to see the blizzard spell!" Tracey responded while trying to suppress her giggles. "It'll be their loss though, since they all believed Harry to be a glory hound."
Harry, Neville and Tori began laughing with Tracey when they, too imagined it. It made eating harder because they didn't want to risk choking on their food. By that time, dinner time in the Great Hall was over and everybody started heading back to their respective common rooms while the foreign guests returned to either the Beauxbatons carriage or the Durmstrang ship. Back in Gryffindor Tower, Ron, Dean and Seamus were looking dumbstruck not just because Harry wasn't there, but Neville was also absent. Ron climbed back downstairs into the common room and spotted Hermione on a nearby armchair, waiting for him.
"It's not just Harry, but Neville hasn't returned, either." Ron told Hermione.
"I don't really blame him, after what Ginny did to him the other day." said Hermione, unaware that Ginny was close by and listening to the conversation. "Maybe he's over where Harry may have been sleeping since shortly after Halloween."
"Yeah, Neville must be scared to be near her presence again." Ron deduced. "I remember seeing him trying to keep his distance from her and sit with Fred, George and Lee. I'm actually impressed with Astoria coming to Neville's defence."
"Me, too!" said Hermione. "I've even heard about Ginny confronting her over the black eye."
"That's because that snake has such a hot temper!" snapped Ginny as she made her way over to Ron and Hermione. "If Neville wouldn't have been making up those stupid lies and trying to ruin my dreams, I wouldn't have needed to smack him in the face."
"Your point?" asked Ron, choosing to ignore the rant.
"My point is, Neville knows that Harry is mine, but he still lied to me anyway by claiming that Harry would never be interested in me!" Ginny whined. "It ain't my fault that Neville's all scared of me!"
"Then who's fault is it?" asked Hermione in an irritable voice.
"His!" Ginny claimed.
"Actually, it was your fault, Ginny," stated Ron. "Neville was telling the truth. The reason Harry doesn't notice you is because he was unwilling to risk betraying his friendship with Fred and George. He didn't want to do the same to me, but I let my jealousy get to me and now I'm paying the price for turning my back on him."
"Like I've told you for the umpteenth time, Harry will never be interested in you, Ginny." Hermione tried reminding the Weasley girl. "It's time for you to move on!"
"LIES! ALL LIES!" yelled Ginny in a shrilly voice. "Mum and dad said that Harry and I were meant to be!"
"Those were stories mum and dad would tell you, Ginny." Ron reminded his sister.
With tears stinging the edge of her eyes, Ginny walked up to Ron and smacked him across the face for 'making up lies' before stomping her way upstairs to the girls' dormitories. Ron winced because of the stinging pain coming from his cheek while Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation.
'When will she ever accept that Harry will never be interested in her?' thought Hermione.
/Scene break\
The next day after lunch was over, everybody began heading for the stadium where the first task was going to take place. Neville, Tracey and Tori accompanied Harry over to the tent where the champions were supposed to wait. Before Harry walked in, he and Neville gave each other bro hugs. Then Harry got a hug from Tori and Tracey (who gave Harry a big one).
"Good luck, Harry!" chorused Neville, Tracey and Tori simultaneously.
"Thank you!" Harry responded in a grateful tone.
Then Neville, Tracey and Tori went to join the rest in the spectator stands while Harry walked inside the champions' tent. Cedric, Viktor and Fleur looked over at Harry with indifference, but otherwise, they didn't say or do anything to Harry (not wanting to risk getting pranked, which would be a second time in Fleur's case). It was another ten to fifteen minutes later when the judges and other heads of schools came inside to give the champions the heads up of the first task.
"Alright," Ludo Bagman began explaining. "This task will be testing your courage, in the form of facing a dragon, one for each champion." Harry saw that none of the other champions reacted with fear, implying that they found out ahead of time themselves.
"You will also reach into this bag and pull out a miniature version of the dragon you will face, with the number on it to determine which champion will go first." stated Barty Crouch Sr, holding a bag up. Then he held the bag out in front of Fleur. "Ladies first!"
"The dragons will be guarding a golden egg that you must retrieve," Ludo informed the champions. "Without it, you won't be able to figure out the clue for the second task."
Fleur reached in and pulled out the Common Welsh Green (with the number 2 on it). The bag was passed to Viktor, who pulled out the Chinese Fireball (with the number 3 on it). Cedric pulled out the Swedish Short-Snout (which had number 1 on it) while Harry (rolling his eyes in anticipation) pulled out the Hungarian Horntail (with number 4 on it). Argus fired a cannon to signal the start of the task, with Cedric walking out into the stadium while the other champions waited inside the tent.
'I wonder why that Skeeter woman hasn't published any of those lies for a while?' wondered Harry.
It took Cedric five to ten minutes to retrieve his golden egg. He managed to accomplish it by tranfiguring a rock into a dog to distract it. Fleur was the second champion to go and she retrieved her egg by enchanting her dragon to sleep (but during it's sleep, it shot a jet of flames that set Fleur's skirt on fire, forcing her to extinguish it). Viktor was the next one up and he managed to use a conjunctivitis charm to blind his dragon and successfully retrieved his golden egg (though, the dragon smashed some of her eggs, which resulted in Viktor losing some points). The cannon was fired for the fourth time to signal the start of Harry's turn to retrieve his golden egg. Harry stepped out into the stadium and started walking toward the golden egg, only for the Hungarian Horntail to lunge toward him (forcing him to stop in his tracks). The dragon started roaring ferociously at Harry, then he pointed his wand and started waving it back and forth a few times.
"Blizzio Fichina!" Harry chanted, once he aimed his wand towards the dragon.
Then a blizzard spell started shooting out of his wand, much to the crowd's surprise. The Hungarian Horntail was quickly engulfed in the blizzard, the cold making it shiver. After about five minutes, the dragon fell into a deep sleep because of the cold overtaking it's body. Harry remembered reading about reptiles in primary and that they were cold-blooded creatures (which meant that their body temperature depends on the outside temperature). Once the hungarian horntail in it's deep sleep, Harry quickly made a beeline toward the eggs and grabbed the golden egg and quickly made his way back to the champions' tent. The majority of the spectators (especially the adults) were left dumbstruck by Harry's choice in the spell he used against the Hungarian Horntail.
'Where did Harry learn that spell?' thought Dumbledore in utter shock.
After making it back inside the tent, Madam Pomfrey checked over Harry for any injuries (even though he didn't sustain any). There was quite a bit of commotion in the spectator stands, the discussion about the blizzard spell used was quickly becoming the top discussion. Before Harry could leave the tent to meet up with Neville, Tracey and Tori, Ron and Hermione entered the tent and gave Harry remorseful looks.
"Yes?" asked Harry neutrally (unaware that Ginny was waiting outside).
"Well, we just came to admit that you were right all along, Harry!" said Hermione in an apologetic tone. "I was being ungrateful when you tried defending my honour. I really should've paid attention to you and stay by your side."
"Same here, Harry," said Ron, equally apologetic. "I know I let my jealousy get to me, and it made me realize what all I lost. I should've been by your side."
"Well," said Harry, thinking it over. "I'm impressed that you both admitted your mistakes. It's too late to repair our friendship, but we can still be civil."
"We understand." assured Ron and Hermione in unison, nodding their heads to confirm it.
"And if Ginny thinks that I'll be interested in her," Harry reminded Ron and Hermione. "That answer will always be no. She needs to understand that her fangirl behaviour will always be a turn-off for me. Not only that, but she also must understand that I'm not willing to put my friendships with Fred, George, Bill and Charlie in jeopardy."
"We actually did try telling her, but she always ignores that." said Ron. "Ginny even claims that you just need to understand that she'll be the best one for you."
"Not a chance." said Harry firmly (but politely). "She'll never get that chance."
Ron and Hermione nodded their heads to show that they understood. As she waited outside and listened to the conversation, Ginny felt tears stinging the edge of her eyes and her throat constricting with emotion (trying to hold it back). However, she still refused to believe Harry's words.
'Harry loves me, he knows it deep down!' thought Ginny. 'He just needs more time to figure it out! I'll just wait until he finally admits it!'
In spite of her refusal to believe that Harry would never be interested in her, tears were still stinging the edges of Ginny's eyes. She wandered away without waiting for Ron and Hermione to finish their talk with Harry.
"Harry loves me!" Ginny muttered to herself, determined to see to it that her dreams would eventually come true. "I know he'll come to realize it! Just a little more time and I can prove Ron and Hermione wrong! Everybody better marks my words!"
"Ginny, what's wrong?" asked a familiar voice. It turned out to be her brother, Charlie.
"Harry won't notice me, Charlie!" Ginny whined as she looked up and saw her brother, more tears beginning to form. "He even claimed to Ron and Hermione that he would never be interested in me!"
"Welcome to the world, Ginny." said Charlie in a matter-of-fact voice. "Harry even told Bill and myself the same thing he told Ron and Hermione. There are plenty of other boys out there. Mum and dad only told you those stories to get you to fall asleep. But it's time to quit living in a fantasy and start accepting reality."
"What?!" Ginny exclaimed, becoming more hysterical.
"Like I said, Ginny," Charlie explained. "It's time to live in the now and move on. The real Harry and the Boy-Who-Lived are completely two, different people. You know mum and dad would be upset with you for exhibiting this behaviour of yours."
"So you're starting in on me, too?!" Ginny shrieked as tears started flowing down her face. "Fred and George have been at it, and recently Ron and Hermione began joining in on it, too! Everybody knows that Harry is mine and mine only! They're all confunded to believe otherwise, I just know it! Harry has always been the only one for me, and always will be! Mark my words, Harry will eventually notice me, then it'll prove everyone wrong!" Ginny stomped away in tears while Charlie rolled his eyes in exasperation.
'She'll come around!' he thought to himself.
So he continued back over to the stadium to help the other dragonologists in caging the dragons and then take them back to Romania. Meanwhile, Ron and Hermione finished their talk with Harry and left the tent. Harry and the other champions still had to wait for the points to be announced. To his surprise, Harry was in the lead with 48 points (all the judges had given him ten, except for Igor Karkaroff, the Durmstrang champion. He had given Harry only eight), Cedric was in second with 45, Viktor in third with 42, while Fleur was in dead last with 36. Harry spotted Neville, Tracey and Tori running in. Neville patted Harry's shoulders while Tori gave him a hug. Tracey actually ran up to Harry and jumped up off her feet as she threw her arms around Harry (who also hugged her and started spinning around and making Tracey's feet swing around in circles).
"You did an excellent job, Harry!" said Tracey ecstatically. "That Durmstrang headmaster was being biased, giving you only eight when you should've gotten a perfect!"
"At least I'm in first and that I made it out alive." said Harry.
"Yeah, that's true," said Tracey. "Alot of the others continue to talk about it."
"We didn't let on to anybody that we were helping you, Harry." said Neville. "Tori and I even looked up where Malfoy's goons were and they were disappointed that you survived."
"The ferret even had some bet going on with his father," stated Tori. "Daph, Tracey and I heard him claiming that you wouldn't last five minutes while Lucius betted that you wouldn't last ten. It looks like they both lost the bet, since you survived the task, Harry."
"Malfoy and Parkinson were the only ones out of those Slytherins to be absent," Tracey told Harry. "Which was Malfoy's fault for using that derogatory word in front on you."
"Yeah, I may not be friends with Granger anymore," said Harry. "But that doesn't mean I'll continue to be mean to her. She and Ronald even admitted to me that they were wrong and I was right, before the points were announced. I even assured that I'll be civil towards them."
"At least they admitted their actions," said Neville. "And now they're coming to grips of the consequences they're suffering."
Harry, Tracey and Tori nodded their heads in agreement. The four teens left the tent and over to Neville and Tori's secret spot in the woods. Neither Professor Dumbledore nor Professor McGonagall had anything to say in regards to the blizzard spell Harry used against the dragon. As much as they wanted to find out where he'd learned the spell, they found themselves unable to approach Harry. They could only hope that Harry would forgive them (which was deemed unlikely to happen).
To be continued!
Author's note: I'd like to give a shout out to 'sparrowflyaway' for suggesting that Harry use a blizzard spell against the hungarian horntail.