A Glimpse into the First Task
Disclaimer: None of this, save Kitty, belongs to me.
On the Saturday before the fast task, Kitty having got permission from Professor Flitwick, set off with Harry and Hermione to visit the village of Hogsmeade. As it was her first time to Hogsmeade, Harry decided to give her a tour of the shops. Hermione wanted to meet up with Ron, but Harry and Kitty were determined not to talk with him so they decided to join her later in the Three Broomsticks, under Harry's Invisibility Cloak.
Hogsmeade was packed with students more than usual, because this time the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were also there. Harry took Kitty first of all to Honeydukes Sweetshop; Kitty was delighted with the assortments of goodies there. Creamy chunks of nougat, shimmering pink squares of coconut ice, fat, honey-colored toffees; hundreds of different kinds of chocolate in neat rows; there was a large barrel of Every Flavor Beans, and another of Fizzing Whizbees, the levitating sherbet balls that Ron had mentioned; along yet another wall were 'Special Effects' - sweets: Droobles Best Blowing Gum (which filled a room with bluebell-colored bubbles that refused to pop for days), the strange, splintery Toothflossing Stringmints, tiny black Pepper Imps ('breathe fire for your friends!'), Ice Mice ('hear your teeth chatter and squeak!'), peppermint creams shaped like toads ('hop realistically in the stomach!'), fragile sugar-spun quills, and exploding bonbons. and they left the shop half an hour later, carrying brown packages, full of Sugar Quills, Jelly slugs and Pepper Imps.
They did not spend much time at Dervish and Bangs, for Kitty was not interested in wizarding equipment much. However, they did enjoy themselves at Zonko's, where Harry and Kitty spend an hour, laughing over the new range of fake wands and portable marshes. There was no point in going into Hog's Head Pub, as they were going to the Three Broomsticks later.
They visited Dominic Maestro's Music Shop, where Kitty bought pebble-sized paperweights, which played newest albums of the The Weird Sisters. Harry wanted to buy Quidditch gloves, for his old ones had worn out, so they went to Spintwitches Sporting Goods Shop, where Harry got a pair of sturdy, waterproof, leather gloves at a reasonable price. Kitty bought a few books, including Hogwarts, a History, and Moste Potente Potions at the Tomes and Scrolls Bookshop. Harry went to Scrivenshaft's Quill shop, to buy a few quills, while Kitty went to Madam Crimpfing's Hairdressing Salon, where she emerged from five minutes later, with perfectly straightened brown hair, with green highlights and clutching a bottle of Crimping Sham-potion, which she claimed that Luna had asked for. She was practically hopping as she came out and said brightly to Harry, "Vandyll will be pleased. He always wanted to see me in green highlights!"
"Come on, we've seen enough, now let's go join Hermione," said Harry pulling her along, for she showed signs of wanting to go see Dogweed and Deathcap. They turned into a dark alley, and disappeared under Harry's Invisibility Cloak. A few minutes later, they were sitting in at a spare table in the pub, while Hermione went to buy drinks.
"Here," she said when she returned and slipped them two butterbeers under the cloak. Kitty's eyes narrowed as she saw almost everyone in the pub, wearing 'POTTER STINKS!' badges. Harry slopped some Butterbeer down his front suddenly, making Kitty disgusted. She looked where he was looking and saw a pretty fifth year Ravenclaw girl, whom she did not know by name, but had seen in her common room. She exchanged a significant glance with Harry, who immediately took an unusually large swig of butterbeer.
"Look, there's Hagrid," said Hermione. Harry waved to him, and then remembered that Hagrid could not see him. Moody, however, who was sitting with Hagrid, looked in the direction where Harry and Kitty were sitting, huddled up under the cloak. He nudged Hagrid, and the pair of them walked towards their table. "All right, Hermione?" Hagrid said loudly.
Moody bent down, and said quietly, "Nice cloak, Potter." Kitty was so surprised, that she almost fell off her stool. Harry steadied her and then said, "Can your eye—I mean can you—"Moody nodded. Hagrid said to Harry, "Meet me at mi'night by me cabin. Bring yeh sister. Wear that cloak." Then he turned and left with Moody. "Harry, don't be late for Sirius," said Hermione.
At half past eleven, Harry who had pretended to go to bed early, put on his Invisibility Cloak, and crept past the portrait hole, behind which Kitty was waiting impatiently, looking at her watch repeatedly. Harry grabbed her and pulled her under the cloak, scaring her half to death, and both of them, once securely hidden, dashed towards the grounds.
"What?" said Harry and Kitty together, taking off the cloak and reappearing in Hagrid's hut. "Got summat ter show yeh," said Hagrid darkly, "Follow me." There was a knock at the door, and Harry quickly threw the cloak over Kitty and him. Hagrid opened the door to reveal a Madame Maxime. Both of them set off towards the forest, and Harry and Kitty, totally bewildered, ran to keep up with them. They stopped at a clearing and then Kitty saw something that made her gasp.
Four fully grown, enormous, vicious-looking dragons were rearing onto their hind legs inside an enclosure fenced with thick planks of wood, roaring and snorting - torrents of fire were shooting into the dark sky from their open, fanged mouths, fifty feet above the ground on their outstretched necks. There was a silvery-blue one with long, pointed horns, snapping and snarling at the wizards on the ground; a smooth-scaled green one, which was writhing and stamping with all its might; a red one with an odd fringe of fine gold spikes around its face, which was shooting mushroom-shaped fire clouds into the air; and a gigantic black one, more lizard-hike than the others, which was nearest to them. At least thirty wizards, seven or eight to each dragon, were attempting to control them, pulling on the chains connected to heavy leather straps around their necks and legs.
"Four..." said Hagrid, "so it's one fer each o' the champions, is it? What've they gotta do - fight 'em?"
"Just get past them, I think," said a redhaired boy, who looked like Ron. "We'll be on hand if it gets nasty, Extinguishing Spells at the ready. They wanted nesting mothers, I don't know why...but I tell you this, I don't envy the one who gets the Horntail. Vicious thing. Its back end's as dangerous as its front, look." He pointed toward the Horntail's tail, and Harry saw long, bronze-colored spikes protruding along it every few inches.
Five of his fellow keepers staggered up to the Horntail at that moment, carrying a clutch of huge granite-gray eggs between them in a blanket. They placed them carefully at the Horntail's side. Hagrid let out a moan of longing.
"Just hope he's still fine after he's faced this lot," said the boy grimly, looking out over the dragons' enclosure. "I didn't dare tell Mum what he's got to do for the first task; she's already having kittens about him..." he imitated his mother's anxious voice. "'How could they let him enter that tournament, he's much too young! I thought they were all safe, I thought there was going to be an age limit!' She was in floods after that Daily Prophet article about him. 'He still cries about his parents! Oh bless him, I never knew!'"
Harry had had enough. Trusting to the fact that Hagrid wouldn't miss him, with the attractions of four dragons and Madame Maxime to occupy him, he turned silently and began to walk away, back to the castle.
He didn't know whether he was glad he'd seen what was coming or not. Perhaps this way was better. The first shock was over now. Maybe if he'd seen the dragons for the first time on Tuesday, he would have passed out cold in front of the whole school...but maybe he would anyway...He was going to be armed with his wand - which, just now, felt like nothing more than a narrow strip of wood - against a fifty-foot-high, scaly, spike-ridden, fire-breathing dragon. And he had to get past it. With everyone watching. How? Beside him, Kitty was trembling violently whether from cold, or fear, Harry could not tell.