With a loud groan, Harry woke up from a long night of sleep. He had opted for a few extra hours of rest rather than cramming a few more hours of spell work. He hoped that wouldn't come back to bite him, or cause a dragon to bite him.
Even so, he rolled around on his bed, gathering the blankets onto himself, forming a cocoon of warmth. He stayed like that for ten minutes, before deciding it was probably a smart decision to get up and get ready for the day. After all, he was going to battle a dragon.
After he was washed and dressed for the day, Harry made his way down to the common room. Unsurprisingly, it was packed full. There were no classes that day, on account that no one would be able to pay attention with the excitement of the First Task to look forward to.
"Here he is, the Champion!" Fred and/or George announced as soon as Harry stepped foot into the room. Harry laughed at their antics, especially when they slung their arms around his shoulders.
"You seem to be in a happy mood," Harry observed. "Did you get paid back by Bagman?"
"Not yet," Fred said, his grin slowly turning into a grimace.
"But, we have high hopes for today!"
"Oh? What's the line?" Harry asked.
"One-point-eight for Krum to win, two-point-two for Delacour, two-point-four for you."
"Really? That's pretty good for me," Harry observed. Of course, Harry was able to do the math in his head, and realized that there was an extra couple of percent in the odds. It was a bit blatant, but perhaps it accounted for ties and other fringe possibilities. Probably not.
"Don't think we haven't seen how often you and your friends sneak out to go train. I reckon three months of that has given you a fair shot of not coming dead last."
"And what if I were to tell you I knew what the task was today?"
"Then I would tell you that you'd be smart to bet on yourself," George replied with a wink. "We've got a ten Galleon max this time."
"That's a fair bit of coin," observed Harry.
"It takes money to win money, and what's life without a little bit of risk?"
"Yes, those were my thoughts exactly when I realized just exactly what I had gotten myself into."
Harry briefly thought of how funny it would be to bet on Krum instead of himself. It would have been interesting to see how the Weasley twins would interpret that action, as if he wasn't confident in himself.
The other Gryffindors made the rounds, wishing him luck, while some of the other made not-so-discrete wagers with Fred while George recorded them. They were posed to make a killing.
"Say, what kind of odds would you give if I predicted that Krum and I would draw?"
George shook his head. "Too many variables. Are you talking about a draw and winning, or a draw and losing? There's a potential of fifty points each, and if we assume that five is the lowest score a champion can get…"
"Don't forget that Karkaroff and Maxime are more likely to rate their own Champion higher and the others lower, while Dumbledore will likely play it by the books -"
"Right, too many variables. The real odds are likely a hundred to one, but we'd let you bet at ten to one."
"I was just curious," Harry said with a shrug. "It seems like you're going out of the way to make as much money as possible. I'm sort of scared to know how many of your inventions you've had to sell to fund this."
"You're right, you don't want to know," Fred said, smirking.
"But we can tell you that it's not enough," George finished, nodding.
"What are saving up for?"
Fred and George leaned in close so only Harry could hear them. "We want to buy Zonko's out. He's old, and his products are stale and out of date."
"We think we could revitalize the place and rejuvenate the pranking scene."
"That's pretty ambitious," Harry commented, letting out a low whistle. "I suspect your mother wouldn't like it though."
"Our mother doesn't like many things," they replied together.
"She's crazy if she thinks we're going to settle into a Ministry job after we've finished here," George said, shaking his head.
"Not after we've spent so much time developing our product line."
"I'm guessing that sheet your mother found this summer is something big?" Harry asked. "Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes as I recall."
"You recall correctly," said Fred. "Best to keep it on the downlow though, if you catch my drift."
"Got it," Harry replied. They broke apart, with the the twins looking for their friend Lee Jordan. Harry found Ron and Hermione waiting near the common room entrance. Ron was grinning excitedly, while Hermione was wringing her hands and twitching nervously.
"Come on guys, it's not going to be that bad," Harry said. "It's time for some lunch though. Can't do this on an empty stomach."
"That's a plan I can get behind," Ron agreed wholeheartedly.
The Great Hall was more animated than any other time Harry could ever remember. The Hall was bustling with students, and more were arriving every second. The upcoming Task was all anyone could talk about.
Fred and George were working quickly, and Lee Jordan was playing lookout for them. As they had done previously, one of them was collecting coins and the other was writing receipts.
Somehow, despite all the adults present in the room, they managed to take hundreds of bets without getting caught at all. It was quite a feat, in Harry's opinion.
Harry didn't eat as much as he would have liked. He had too much on his mind, and he had lost his appetite. He was worried about the upcoming task, worried that perhaps the dragons were for the second task and not the first, or perhaps he should have practiced harder and learned more spells. And he was still annoyed at the whole situation with Lavender, even if he really didn't show it outwardly. She didn't want to be a distraction… but it still sort of was.
Doubt clawed his mind, no matter how much he tried to push it back. Students from every house came by to wish him luck, but he barely payed attention to any of them, not even when Cho Chang came by.
Soon enough, it was time. Dumbledore stood up from the staff table to address the hall. "In fifteen minutes time, you will gather outside and await the school carriages, which will take you to the staging ground where the First Task will take place. Champions, if you would please meet me in the side hall now. You will be taking alternate transportation."
Harry stood up and followed the Headmaster into the same side room as the last time. Krum and Delacour followed shortly after. They looked as nervous as he felt, and a bit uncomposed, but it wasn't out of fear of the unknown, but rather of anticipation. They both held themselves with confidence, despite looking slightly pale and clammy.
The other judges were waiting in the room, and as Dumbledore closed the door, Ludo Bagman spoke to them. "You three will each be taking a portkey that will transport you to a tent where you will receive further instructions. The rest of the students will be travelling by carriage and should take about an hour to arrive. This will give the three of you time to think about the strategies you will employ for the task."
Dumbledore fished in his pocket for a second before pulling out a piece of golden rope. "Once you three have arrived, we will follow shortly after," Dumbledore added. "Now, if you would, please place one hand on the rope and I will activate the portkey."
Harry grabbed hold of the golden rope, and Krum and Delacour quickly followed suit. It had been the closest Harry had ever been to either of them, practically bumping elbows, and Harry couldn't help but notice that the French witch smelled remarkably of freshly picked flowers, and perhaps with a slight hint of grapes. Wine, perhaps? It was odd.
Dumbledore quickly dropped the portkey rope and activated it silently. Harry was expecting a chaotic and humbled ride, and was completely surprised when it was smooth as butter, and the three of them arrived without so much as a stumble. Fifteen or so seconds later, Dumbledore and the other judges arrived, looking as if they had merely took one step and suddenly arrived five miles away.
Harry took a second to think about the portkey, and realized that Dumbledore had made it, so of course it would be smooth. He was the most powerful wizard alive, whereas the portkeys for the World Cup numbered in the hundreds and were made quickly by underpaid Ministry workers. It made sense, once he thought about it.
"Mr. Bagman will have the honors of explaining the task to you in a few minutes," Dumbledore said. "The rest of us will be preparing the judging booth and going over last minute preparations."
Crouch and Dumbledore walked off to a side, heading for the temporary stadium that had been built. Karkaroff took a second to share a few words with Krum, in German. It sounded as if he was giving the Quidditch prodigy words of encouragement, but as Harry didn't speak the language, it could have been anything.
Just as Harry noticed the Maxime was doing the same thing with Delacour, Ludo Bagman wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulder and leaned in.
"You're the underdog here, Harry," Ludo confided to him. "If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know, alright? Once you find out what the task is, I'll step outside for a few minutes and if you want, I can share a few pointers. Only if you ask, though."
"Is that what the other two are doing?" Harry asked, discretely nodding at Karkaroff and Maxime.
"I'm afraid I don't speak a lick of French or German," Ludo said with a smile. "I wouldn't worry about them though - worry about yourself. Alright, into the tent we go now."
Harry walked into the tent, and true to wizarding tradition, the inside was much larger than the outside. It didn't really matter though, since it was mostly empty save a few chairs and a pitcher of water. There was also a burlap sack sitting on the ground.
Ignoring the water and taking a seat, Harry focused on Bagman. The man had all but offered to tell him how to beat the task, and Harry had a hunch that the other two already knew what the task was as well. Delacour and Krum entered and took seats as well, Karkaroff and Maxime having left them to join the other judges.
"Now that we are all here, it's time to tell you what your task for today is!" Bagman exclaimed. "As we wait here, the students are riding down from the school. That will give you just enough time to figure out what you need to do. As for what that is… inside this bag there is a miniature model of what you are about to face. They are numbered in the order that you will be going, and there's different types. Oh, and your task is to collect the golden egg and return here! It contains a clue for the Second Task, which you will need! Simple, eh?"
The three Champions all nodded in understanding, but none of them looked like they wanted to speak at all. Perhaps having foreknowledge of what was to come wasn't such a huge advantage after all. Knowing that they would actually be facing down a dragon…. it was hard to keep a calm facade in the face of that. It was worse knowing that they had all volunteered for this.
"Now then, ladies first," Bagman said. He opened the bag but held it close to his chest, so they couldn't get a peek.
Fleur, with a shaky hand, reached into the bag. When she withdrew it, there was a model of a dragon in her hand, blue and white in color, breathing small wisps of fire and moving its tail. There was a number two written on a tag that was around its neck.
"Ah, the Swedish Shortsnout!" Bagman exclaimed. "A real beauty - and you will be going second!"
Fleur hadn't shown any surprise at it, confirming what Harry had already believed to be true, that Maxine had indeed told her about the dragons. It slightly upset Harry that Hagrid would tell Maxime, who would of course tell Fleur, yet no one had offered to tell him at all, except for Bagman. But what good would Bagman's help be mere minutes before a task, when Harry and his friends had spent dozens of hours doing research?
Bagman offered the bag to Krum next. He pulled out the Chinese Fireball with a one around its neck, and again, Harry noted that Krum did not look surprised by the outcome. Karkaroff had told Krum, that was clear. Harry wasn't surprised that the other schools would play dirty like that. It seemed like it was sort of an open secret, but somehow Harry wasn't in on it.
Except, he sort of was, but he had gotten an inside tip. If Ron hadn't been his friend, and Charlie hadn't been a dragonkeeper, he would have been totally in the dark. It was quite an extraordinary sequence of luck.
"The Chinese Fireball," Bagman said. "A feisty one, that. You'll be going first. That leaves us with Harry."
Harry reached in, and predictably, pulled out the Hungarian Horntail with a three around its neck. Harry let out a sigh, having fully expected that he would be facing down the most dangerous of the three dragons.
"The Hungarian Horntail. Perhaps the most dangerous of the three. You'll be going last, so that will give you extra time to get your nerves ready! Now you all know what you will be facing. Mr. Krum, since you are going first, you will go out when you hear the whistle in about thirty minutes I suggest you take this time to work on your strategy."
Ludo Bagman left, leaving the three of them to brood on their thoughts.
"I'm guessing by your reactions," Harry said, once he was sure Bagman was out of earshot. "That both of you already knew about the dragons."
Krum nodded his head after a few seconds of contemplation, while Fleur spoke up. "Madame Maxime told me three days ago. What about you?"
"Found them when I was flying over the forest," admitted Harry
"Knowing is only half ze battle, non?" Fleur said.
"It doesn't make it any easier," Krum replied. "When Headmaster Karkaroff told me, I thought he was joking."
"I'll freely admit that I did not get much sleep the last week, knowing that there was a dragon waiting for me."
"You should try our French wine," said Fleur. "Soothes ze nerves and helps you sleep."
"Good to know," said Harry. "I guess the only thing we can do now is to give them a good show."
"Putting on a good show is vhat I do best," Viktor replied.
Krum wasn't very talkative after making that statement, instead he focused on mentally preparing himself. Fleur was getting more nervous as each minute passed, tapping her foot on the ground faster and faster.
Eventually, the sound of foot traffic and voices were heard, and the stadium began to fill up with students. Harry mentally went over his plan, but he knew the value of a plan, in that they rarely lasted more than a few minutes in a confrontation. Mad-eye Moody had told him that, and personal experience had confirmed it for him in the past..
Before long, a whistle was sounded. Krum took that as his cue and left the tent, giving each of them a nod in turn. The crowd roared as his name was announced, but once the tent flap closed again, all the sound was muted. Harry could vaguely hear Bagman's amplified voice explaining the task.
"I guess this is it," said Harry.
"So it would seem," Fleur replied. She barely seemed to pay him any mind, instead withdrawing inside herself.
Harry didn't know what else to say, so he opted to try and listen to what was going on. He could tell the general mood of the crowd as it oohed and ahhed and gasped in surprise. After about ten minutes, there was a change of pitch in the din, followed by cheering.
"Sounds like he did okay," Harry said. Fleur was so nervous now that she couldn't even reply, instead, she merely nodded. The whistle sounding a minute later would forestall any more possible conversation.
Fleur got up and left, not even sparing him a glance. Any deviation from her motions would likely have cracked her resolve. As she left, Harry couldn't help but admire her amazing backside. Lavender Brown was attractive, on a level above most of the other girls in their year even, but the French witch truly was something else.
Left by himself, Harry began to fidget. He was mixed between worrying, and just wanting it to be over already. The suspense was killing him… but what came after quite possibly could.
The crowd reacted in much the same way it had for Krum. They didn't really care who was battling, they just wanted to see people fight dragons. If it had been a gladiatorial arena, Harry'd have thought that they wanted blood. They probably did regardless.
Ten or fifteen minutes passed with the crowd going wild, or crying out in surprise. Whatever it was Fleur was doing, she was taking longer than Krum. That meant she was still fighting though, which was worth something. She hadn't just been killed in the first minute like some people might have thought, if they were assuming a pretty face meant she couldn't use a wand.
Harry had heard that comment several times over the last week. No one was really taking Fleur seriously, but Harry knew better than anyone to never underestimate someone. Sure enough, the crowd suddenly roared in immense applause, indicating that Fleur had retrieved her golden egg and completed the task.
That meant it was Harry's turn. He stood up, psyching himself up, just waiting for the whistle to blow. He jumped in place, trying to get the blood flowing and too afraid to stop moving. A minute passed, and then two, and Harry was getting impatient. A third minute passed and finally the whistle blew.
Harry let out a deep breath and walked out of the tent and into the clearing. Harry turned his head to observe the stands, noting just how many people were watching him… cheering for him. Well, except for Draco Malfoy. Harry spotted him sitting in the front row with his arms crossed. Harry smiled.
Then, Harry looked at the dragon. His first impression was just how damn large the thing was. Flying on a broomstick overhead in the dark did not prepare him for the sheer awe-inspiring height of the thing. It had to have been forty feet tall and black as the darkest night. Its back was laced with horns, going all the way down to tail, with the largest one at the very tip being the size of a longsword.
Harry gulped. How the hell were his spells supposed to have any effect against that? It was truly massive. No amount of preparation or foresight could had readied him for the sheer size of the beast.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, from Godric's Hollow, England, HARRY POTTER!"
The crowd went wild at hearing his name, and Harry was numbed by the sound. They were actually cheering for him!
"Fourteen year old Harry Potter will be facing down the fearsome Hungarian Horntail. His goal, like the others, is to collect the golden egg, but it won't be easy. This Horntail is a brooding mother… let's see what young Harry has planned…"
Harry took one step forward and immediately the Hungarian Horntail sprayed fire at him. At a hundred feet away, Harry was too far away to get hit, but he could still feel the intense heat washing over his skin. Getting hit by the flame would surely ruin his day.
Right. He'd have to put his plan into motion. With a quick gesture, Harry had his wand in hand. He had to keep a clear mind. If he ever began to panic, it would be all over.
With a calming breath, Harry began to cast his first spell. Transfiguration had never been his best subject, but he had always been pretty decent at it. Transfiguring large animals had been beyond his level to begin with, but Transfiguration was the sort of subject that you could only get better at with long practice.
The first small cow took a minute to transfigure properly. The sheep took a slightly longer, and the fat hog longer still. The difficulty was getting the small details correct. Their smell, the way they moved, and most importantly, the taste.
The distraction wouldn't fool the dragon for long. They were, after all, just rock. The magic was superficial, but his only goal was to distract the dragon in order to get close enough for an accurate shot at its eyes. At his current range, it would be an impossible shot.
But, before he could do that, he had to lay down the second distraction. Fred and George would be proud of him. Instead of opting to use a summoning charm and a crate of dungbombs, Harry settled for a toxic stench charm. Calling it a charm sounded disingenuous, since there was nothing charming about the smell of baby diapers mixed with rotting shark.
The smell was awful, and within seconds the entire stadium was groaning in disgust. They weren't at ground zero though, not like the dragon, which got a full blast of it. At first, it merely wrinkled its snout, but quickly it was roaring flames, trying to burn the stench away.
It raged for a minute, spouting a draconic inferno in all directions and creating a hellfire the likes of which Harry had never seen before. It could have worked, for all Harry knew, since now all he could smell was ash and brimstone. The heat had been so intense as to make rocks shatter in pieces as water deposits superheated rapidly, sending dangerous jagged shards in all directions. A shield charm was enough to ensure he didn't get reamed by stray bits of mundane rock, but anything more than that, he'd have to hunker down.
As far as distractions though, that had been a good one, even if it hadn't exactly worked as Harry had intended. Next, he sent in the animals, who were all panicking from the sight of the dragon and the hellish flames it had created.. A few quick commands had them plodding towards their demise, ignoring their natural instincts.
Harry staggered their approach, having them weave in between the flames as to not get them all taken out in one go. It wasn't something he had planned, but in the moment, it seemed correct.
There was no time to waste, however, and Harry quickly moved himself in. Liberal use of an extinguishing charm helped him clear a path onwards, and liberally soaking himself using a relentless water charm was keeping him cool, if soaked and cumbersome. The charm was hovering over his head, essentially creating a heavy storm cloud that would pour water over him as he walked. This had the slight side effect of creating a large amount of steam, but there was no avoiding that.
Harry closed within fifty feet of the Hungarian Horntail without being noticed. It was chained to the ground with huge iron links, heavy enough to keep it from being able to fly more than a handful of feet off the ground. It did not seem happy to be restrained.
It wasn't for lack of trying. The transfigured animals were just out of reach, and the fire blasts weren't actually killing them, as they were still mostly stone constructs disguised as the real thing. The problem was the heat of the dragon's breath. Harry could feel the heat slowly unravelling the spells, and before long, the animation charms would fail completely.
That just meant he had to be quick. The dragon was still distracted by them, and the crowd's cheering was so loud that he could barely hear himself think. The pungent smell was almost overpowering as well, a mix of ash and hellfire, so that left only the Dragon's sight. However, affecting the dragon was all the smoke and fire all over the place, making it hard to see anything without bringing tears to the eyes..
Regardless, Harry took aim with his wand. The Conjunctivitis Curse was pretty difficult to cast, but child's play compared to the Patronus Charm. Three up-and-down swishes, followed by an underhand flick. It was a pretty quick cast with enough practice, though not the most intuitive to aim.
The first curse went wide, missing by about three feet, but the second one slammed into the dragon's eye, causing an immediate reaction. It roared, sending flames sixty feet into the air, and it strained against the chains, trying to lift itself off of the ground. It hovered in midair, bound by the heavy chains but beating its wings furiously, and Harry took aim again, this time hitting its left eye.
Completely blinded, it began to thrash. It swept its tail wide, trying to catch the assailant through raw speed, but Harry was just outside the instant death radius. There was a worry that the dragon would accidentally smash the eggs in its rage, so Harry had to speed up.
Harry had always been a quick runner, largely in thanks to his lean frame and having to outrun his fat cousin's gang, but even so, the sprint he put on to grab the golden egg was truly impressive, especially considering how wet his robes were. He would have shucked them off, but they were the last line of defense against the dragon, and he didn't want to chance it.
Grasping the golden egg under one arm, Harry was staggered by how heavy the thing was. It had to have been fifty pounds, maybe more, and Harry quick decision to put a featherweight charm on it seemed to fail, and subsequent attempts at other similar charms all slid right off it as well.
Realizing that he had no choice but to grab it and run as quickly as possible, Harry darted out from beneath the dragon's silhouette, rushing for the exit. He must have made too quick of a motion, or perhaps the dragon's eyesight wasn't as bad as he thought, for he felt the heat of the dragon's breath engulf his backside, causing him to stumble in shock.
Sticking with it, Harry rushed blindly through the billowing steam, only pausing briefly to extinguish a wall of flame which signified the remains of his transfigured animals. The rock below them was still molten, so he quickly had to detour and go around.
Harry made it out of the death zone in one piece, but it had not been without peril. His relentless water charm had failed at some point, leaving him nearly defenseless to the draconic monster.
The roar of the flames was slowly replaced with the roar of the crowd as they chanted his name louder than they had been before. A grin slowly appeared on Harry's face as he realized they were cheering for him. He had done it. He had gotten past the dragon without getting his face ripped off.
Making his way to the mediwitch's tent, Harry stopped only briefly to shoot a thumbs up over at Ron and Hermione. The inside of the tent was much quieter than the outside, and the only person there was Madam Pomfrey.
"I'm not surprised to see you here, Mr. Potter," she replied. "But, you're conscious, which is more than you can say last time."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Harry replied, his grin not fading at all. Adrenaline was still coursing through him, even as the dragon handlers entered the arena to subdue the Horntail.
Madam Pomfrey waved her wand up and down his body, silently casting various diagnostic spells as she did so. "Other than some lingering injuries, I see nothing new that you should be worried about. You've got minor heat burns, but those should heal naturally. But, if I were you, I'd take some time to properly rest and heal up. You've got several months before the next task."
"I'll take it under consideration," said Harry.
"I'm sure you will," Pomfrey said, rolling her eyes. "Now, go back out there and the judges will give you your scores. And do try and stay out of trouble, won't you?"
Harry grinned even more and made his way back out of the tent to the continued applause. Ron and Hermione were clapping louder than ever, and Fred and George were doling out high-fives to everyone.
"The scores of Harry Potter," Ludo Bagman announced, "who completed the task with a time of twelve minutes and seventeen seconds, are as follows -"
The judges one by one held up their wands and conjured floating numbers out of sparks. Crouch gave an eight, Maxime a seven, Bagman and Dumbledore a nine, and Karkaroff a six.
"With a score of thirty-nine, that puts Harry Potter in first place by two points! Let's give another round of applause for him!"
Harry fist pumped at the news. The students in the stands began filing down into the stadium, and amongst the first was Ron and Hermione. Hermione grabbed him in a bone shattering hug and Ron slapped his back before stepping away when he realized Harry was still soaked with water, sweat, and ash.
"Bloody amazing," Ron commented in awe.
"I really can't believe you had to face down a dragon!" Hermione exclaimed.
"I can't believe the plan worked. Well, sort of. The transfiguration fizzled out after about two seconds of dragon flame."
"It looked like the dragon did most of the work for you, roasting everything in sight and blocking its own vision with all the smoke."
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "Wasn't so bad on the ground though. How did the others do?"
"Krum was quicker than you, but some of the eggs got smashed so that was quite a few points off. He used the Conjunctivitis Curse as well. Delacour took longer but she put the dragon to sleep with some continuous charm that looked like a cloud. It woke up early though and singed her a bit. Looks like you made it out unscathed though."
"Minor burns," Harry commented with a nod, showing them the back of his hands which were quite shiny, and listening as Hermione spoke a million words a second. "That's to be expected though. It could have been a lot worse."
"You could be dead!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Or, at worse, expelled," Ron added. They both turned to look at him. "What? I thought it was funny."
Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron but still cracked a smile. "I'm glad you're alright."
"Yeah, me too. Looks like Ron's brothers are happy with the outcome as well."
"Yup. I don't think many people were actually expected you to beat Krum."
"I plan on doing it two more times," Harry said, patting the golden egg in his hands.
"So, that's the clue, huh?"
"Apparently." replied Harry. "There's hinges on it and it opens, but I haven't done it yet. I figure I'll take a few days off before worrying about it."
"That's a good plan," Hermione said approvingly. "You look absolutely knackered."
"I suspect I'll sleep well tonight."
"After the party, of course," Ron said.
"Right, the party. Your brothers will use any excuse for a party."
"Mate, you don't know the half of it."
The other students began to swarm them, wanting to be the first, or in this case, third, to wish him congratulations. Harry took it in good stride, realizing that he had finally done something worth celebrating. Even the older years and some of the Slytherins were congratulating him, and some of the girls were lingering slightly too long around him, and giving him suggestive expressions that left little to interpretation...
Yes, at that moment, it was pretty good to be Harry Potter.
