A/N: *Bows to whitesaber* Thank you Whitesaber for your review. Don't worry about Fawkes. I have some big plans for him. Jemjo, I can assure you that Dumbledore and Snape are the only bad guys on the staff and I know Mcgonogall will begin to show her loyalty to her cubs in the future. Hermione will have an animal form, hence the title 'Love of a Lycan' ;) though granted it won't be a fox or anything like that. Now I must warn everyone that this story will have some very dark parts, to help balance out all the fluff. Now on to the first task!
Chapter 11
The morning of the first task was dreary at best. A fine mist filled the air and the cold seemed to be extra harsh. Classes were cancelled for the day so that everyone could watch the event. The champions were summoned immediately after breakfast to the quidditch pitch for their debriefing. Each of the champions stood in a large tent, dressed in protective gear displaying their school colors and logo. Harry wore red and black with a griffin. Cedric wore yellow and black with a badger. Fleur was a beautiful silver and blue proudly displaying a pegasus. Victor Krum wore all red with the symbol of a hydra. Takashi Yusho wore solid gold with the japanese style dragon, while Kari wore black and silver with a howling wolf. Ludo Bagman gathered the champions around him and excitedly explained that each champion was to collect the golden egg. The egg itself was the only clue they would get for the next task, so it was vital to retrieve. After Bagman lead Harry off to a corner to 'talk for a moment' Kari and Fleur sat down next to each other. They held hands as they waited for Crouch to bring in the bag of miniature dragons for selection. Harry came to sit by them looking upset. "What's wrong 'Arry?" Fleur looked at him a little worried. "Bagman is trying to help me cheat. He just asked if I needed a potion or charm to help me with my dragon," he grumbled. As if it wasn't bad enough people believed he was a cheat. To have one of the tournament officials trying to talk him in to actually cheating was just wrong.
Kari snickered at that. "You know why he's trying to help you win right?" Harry shook his head in confusion. "He made a bet that you would win the tournament. If he looses then he has to pay a lot of money. Most likely more than he can afford." Harry sighed and laid back on the cot provided for them to rest on. Crouch came in calling for the champions to gather around him. He held a small velvet bag in his hand that was puffing out smoke on occasion. "Champions it is now time to decide which dragon you shall face. Each dragon replica will have a number around its neck to determine the order you will go in. Now ladies first of course." Fleur shakily reached in the back to pull out a small green dragon the hissed up at her. "The Swedish Shortsnout." Crouch said before holding the bag out to Kari. She reached in and pulled out a shining dragon that reflected the light around it. "The Mayan Diamondback." Everyone, but Kari, gulped as the miniature dragon let out a tiny roar. Kari nodded as Crouch continued on. Krum got an Norwegian Ridgeback, Yusho the Chinese Fireball, and Cedric plucked out the Italian Water dragon. Harry looked to Kari and Fleur nervously. They nodded in encouragement as he reached into the bag for the final dragon. The Hungarian Horntail crawled along his hand hissing and belching fire in anger when he pulled it out.
Yusho was the first to face his dragon, followed by Krum and Cedric. Fleur and Harry paced nervously around the tent while Kari relaxed in a nearby chair. "Psst." Kari looked towards the back flap of the tent as Hermione slipped inside, causing Harry and Fleur to cease. "How are you holding up Harry." Harry nodded slightly with a shrug. "The key is to concentrate, after that you just..." "Have to battle a dragon," Harry finished lamely. Hermione whimpered before pulling Harry into a tight hug. Fleur and Kari smiled at the scene. "Hey where's our hug huh? I'm startin' to feel jealous over here." Kari laughed as Hermione lunged at her with a crushing hug before turning to Fleur to do the same. "You be careful out there. All of you. Kari and Fleur I swear to Merlin if you don't come back to me whole I will hex you both to hell and back!" Kari's eyes grew wide at that statement. Note to self, DON'T piss off Hermione. Fleur let out a musical laugh. "Ok ok 'Ermione, we promise to come back in one piece." Hermione nodded towards Fleur before turning back to Harry. "Ashley has the same threat for you mister. Though I refuse to give you a 'big wet kiss' for her. That you will have to get afterwards." Everyone paused as Bagman announced that Cedric had finished his task. Now it was Fleur's turn. Hermione and Kari gave her a kiss for luck before she headed out into the arena. Hermione bit her lip in fear for her lover.
Fleur stepped out into the silenced arena, immediately scanning for her dragon. She saw the next with the gleaming egg. The nesting mother was perched just behind it staring at the intruder. It let out a warning growl as Fleur took a few steps forward. Fleur froze for a moment, before stepping sideways towards a crop of trees and rocks slowly. She quickly transfigured several rocks and trees into deer to distract the dragon while disillusioning herself. She muffled the sounds of her breathing and footsteps as well as casting a charm to mask her scent. Once she sent the deer off in the opposite direction Fleur began making her way towards the nest. The dragon chased after the deer almost instantly. Once the dragon was away from the nest Fleur sprang into action. Running as fast as she could to grab the egg. She was extremely grateful for Kari's training at the moment as she reached the nest in only 3 minutes. Making sure the dragon was still occupied with the deer, Fleur grabbed the egg and ran back to the exit. The crowd cheered as she made it to safety and the dragon handlers began preparing for the next champion.
Harry was next up to face the terrifying beast. He rehearsed the plan over and over in his head until the cannon sounded. Signaling the start of the task. Harry immediately ran to the side and ducked behind a large boulder just as a huge spiked tail smashed against the wall beside the entrance. He wasted no time in summoning his firebolt broom to him as he ran to the next boulder. Avoiding the cone-like spray of fire trailing after him. Harry continued to dodge and hide counting down the time it took for the broom to come. He spotted it flying towards him just as the dragon let out another burst of fire. Harry ran and jumped off the boulder just in time to land on his broom and shot off out of range of the dragon. He flew a couple of laps to find the right opening to swoop down. As the dragon grew annoyed of him flying around her, she leapt up into the air attempting to take flight after him. Harry saw his opening then, he shot down under the dragon, sweeping up the golden egg into his arms. The crowd went wild as he swiftly flew to the exit and out of harms way. He was proud of himself for not getting injured and succeeding where everyone hoped he'd fail. He left the tent to join Fleur and Hermione up in the stands to watch the final match. Kari's match. Hermione and Fleur were both pale as the dragon handlers brought out the most feared dragon in the world. The Mayan Diamondback was the most dangerous dragons known. Its entire back was nothing but diamond scales, its fire was white hot and could melt anything in mere milliseconds. No one could believe they would bring such a dangerous creature into a tournament.
Kari walked confidently into the arena at the sound of the cannon blast. The crowd fell silent as the gigantic reptile and Kari stared at one another. Neither of them moved, just assessing their opponent. Suddenly the dragon shot forward, its jaws opening to clamp down on its meal. Kari remained still, causing everyone to begin panicking. Before the dragon could close its razor sharp teeth on her, Kari jumped over the maw and landed gracefully on its head. The dragon did not even have a chance to notice that its prey was not in its mouth, when Kari ran down the length of the body. She slid down its tail yelling, "Yabba Dabba Dooooo," much to most of the crowds confusion, though the muggleborns laughed. When Kari reached the end of the tail she did a flip over to the nest landing in a pose like an olympic athlete. She picked up the egg for the next task just as the dragon turned around. Kari gave a two fingered salute to Dumbledore, which caused him to fume, and easily duck under the fire shot her way. She ran towards the dragon only to slide underneath it and back into the safety of the tent, thus ending the first task. The crowd sat in shocked silence at the fact that Kari did not use any magic to defeat the dragon. When the dragon was finally carted off and the pitch returned to normal, the ministry officials gathered to announce the scores of each champion. Harry was awarded first place for his use of the summoning charm and out flying his dragon. Fleur was second for her use of transfiguration and stealth charms. Next was Kari for her unique ability of besting the dragon without magic. Krum and Cedric were tied for fourth and Yusho was last.
Has Krum, Diggory, and Yusho were sent to the infirmary due to injuries during the task, Kari, Fleur and Harry followed their friends inside. Harry and Hermione broke off to go to Gryffindore Tower for the last few things of theirs. They were surprised to see a party waiting for Harry to arrive, as if everything was fine and none of their classmates had turned on them. Fred and George greeted them and praised Harry for a job well done. Everyone wanted to congratulate Harry, which was starting to grate on his nerves. Now that they new he had a chance to survive and even come out on top in this tournament he was their hero again. Hermione quickly went to grab their things and came back down into the common room while Harry had to suffer the masses. Everyone grew quiet when Ron showed up and looked at Harry sheepishly. "Hey mate. Look I figured you'd have to be barking to put your name in the goblet." Harry nodded stiffly, "kind of ya to notice, but I'm not your mate." Ron turned red at his statement before replying," look I didn't mean anythin' by trying to hex you, nor what I said to Hermione. I just got jealous is all. You know how I am." Hermione huffed as she came to stand by Harry. "Look Ron. What you did wasn't just out of line. No one attacks their supposed best mate from behind, and what you said to and called Hermione was unforgivable. If you think either of us are going to forgive you, think again. You can't even give a sincere apology for Merlin's sake. As for the rest of you? You can all bugger off as well. With the exception of a few, none of you believed me and now you want to pretend that none of you turned your back on me?" Harry was fuming.
A few of his fellow Gryffindores had the decency to look ashamed as he ranted. Ron was growing more and more furious though. Hermione glared at Ron, almost daring him to say something. Harry grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her out of the tower before one of them lost control. They headed down to the rooms they had been staying in with Kari and Ashley. When they walked in it was to another party but this time it was for all three of the champions staying within. Kari and Ashley pulled their respective partners off to an area to celebrate. Fleur noticed that Hermione was still upset, and after hearing what happened in Gryffindore she wasn't surprised. Kari and Fleur were proud of them both for standing up to the idiot and wannabes who only wanted the fame from Harry. The party lasted well into the night. Harry and Hermione forget about the confrontation with Ron, allowing themselves a well earned celebration. Kari decided to head outside and encouraged Hermione and Fleur to spend some quality time together, to which they had no problem agreeing.
