Chapter Fourteen
"How are you doing Harry?" Cedric asked as he sat down next to Harry inside the champions tent.
"Aside from the fact that I feel like I might vomit, piss, and shit myself all at the same time, splendid," Harry said with a weak grin.
"I know the feeling," said Cedric. "Hannah told me she told you what we're up against."
"Yeah," said Harry. "But I already knew."
"She told me that as well," said Cedric. "Did you see the looks on Fleur's and Viktor's faces when they pulled out their dragons?"
"Like they knew as well," said Harry.
"Big time," said Cedric. "Look, I know we're supposed to be competing against each other in this. But still, are you sure you're ready for this? Do you have some kind of plan?"
"I do," said Harry. "You?"
"Yeah," said Cedric. "Not sure how good it is though."
"Me either," said Harry. "But if mine does work… Everyone will remember this day for years to come."
"Well then, I look forward to seeing what you have in store," Cedric said.
Just then, Ludo Bagman's voice boomed out, welcoming everyone to the first task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. After explaining that the first task was traditionally one that tested the champions' bravery in the face of the unknown, he introduced said unknown.
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"Bloody fucking hell, look at the size of that thing," Neville said as he watched the team of dragon handlers levitate a sleeping dragon into the arena and gently set it down next to a nest full of fake stone carved eggs along with one that looked to be made of gold.
Once the dragon handlers cleared back towards where they entered from, they all hit the dragon with an enervate spell, waking it up.
Everyone gathered to watch the first task gasped as the dragon slowly woke up and yawned, exposing a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. As the dragon looked around, seeing it was surrounded by hundreds of humans, it let out a loud roar, causing many to cover their ears, before it then shot out a jet of flame from its mouth, which hit an invisible barrier that had been cast to protect the spectators.
"Oh, I hope Harry's plan works," Lily said, as she paled at the thought of her son facing something like that.
"It will," said James. Or at least he hoped it did. If not, rules be damned. The Marauders were ready to jump in and save his son if need be.
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One by one, each of the champions were called out, until Harry was sitting by himself. He had no idea what each of the other champions were doing, as Bagman didn't describe a single thing. Just commented on if something worked or not, and if not, how painful it had to be. He hadn't even listed off what the scores were, so Harry had no idea who was in what place.
Finally, Harry knew his time was up when Bagman called his name.
"Right," Harry said as he stood up, feeling that nervous energy that he usually felt build up inside him right before a Quidditch match. "Let's do this."
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The gathered crowd watched as the dragon handlers stunned Krum's dragon and levitated it out of the arena, only to return a few minutes later with Harry's dragon while the arena crew repaired the damage doing to the nest of stone eggs.
Everyone went deathly silent as they looked at the massive beast. Students, mostly Ravenclaws, who had brought their copies of Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them, consulted the book and gasped when they saw what breed of dragon it was, and then shared that news with everyone around them.
"Are they insane?" Hermione asked as she looked up from her copy of the book.
"What?" asked Neville.
"That," Hermione said, pointing at the dragon. "That's a Hungarian Horntail. It's one of the most vicious dragons known to wizarding kind."
"What does the book say about dealing with it?" Lily asked. It had been a while since she had read the book, and didn't remember much of any of the entries about dragons.
"Only one thing," Hermione said. "Run."
"Alright," Bagman's magically enchanted voice rang out. "It looks like we are all set and ready for our forth and final champion. So, without further ado, also representing Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the Boy-Who-Lived… HARRY POTTER!"
Everyone cheered as Harry made his way out into the arena, only to stop dead in his tracks when he saw the full sized version of the dragon he had to face.
Unlike the other dragons, who waited for the champions to make the first move on what they believed to be their nest of eggs, the Horntail attacked first, swinging its large, spiked tail at Harry, who dove behind a large boulder for cover.
"Oh, it looks like this dragon knows what is going on," Bagman said. "And she is not going to idly sit by and let it happen."
"I am really, really, really going to kill Albus," Lily said.
Just then, someone started to call out, "Samples! Get your samples here! Free samples of our latest creation!"
James looked over and smiled as he watched the Weasley twins move about the crowd.
"Samples!" called out Fred. "We've got samples of… Oops."
He looked down as one of the small pouches fell out of his hands and into the area. For a brief moment, there was a smile on his face before he continued to move about the crowd.
Harry heard the call and saw the pouch fall. Unfortunately, it was well beyond the range of any sort of cover from the dragon, which meant if he was going to do this, he would need to be quick.
Thankfully, he had had many years of training while living with the Dursley's when his cousin Dudley and his gang wanted to play a few rounds of Harry Hunting.
Harry closed his eyes and took a few deep, calming breaths before he opened his eyes and took off running as fast as he could.
The dragon roared when she saw Harry and tried to smash him with her tail, missing him by a few good feet. She then decided to burn the threat to her children to a crisp and eat him.
Harry reached the pouch and pulled out a soft, yellow, chewy looking bit of candy.
The dragon opened her mouth and pulled in a deep breath, filling her lungs with the oxygen she needed to combine with the natural chemical in her lungs that would turn into fire.
Turning, Harry saw that the dragon was getting ready to breath fire. He would only have one shot at this. After that, he was screwed. Holding the candy tightly, he pulled back his arm and then threw it at the dragons open mouth for all he was worth.
The dragon was just about to exhale when she felt something enter her mouth and slide down her throat.
"What is Harry doing?" Bagman asked, worried that the insane amount of gold he had bet on him winning was about to be burned away, much like the boy.
"TWEET!"
Everyone stared in stunned silence as the deadly Hungarian Horntail changed into a giant, bright yellow canary.
"TWEET!"
The sound was loud and high pitched, causing many to cover their ears.
"I… I… Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know what to say," said Bagman. "But somehow, Mr. Potter has turned his dragon into a canary."
The gathered crowd watched in total silence as Harry calmly strolled over to the nest, past the former dragon, which was pecking at the ground, looking for food, and into the nest, where he grabbed the golden egg.
Everyone burst into a roaring applause as Harry walked out of the nest, holding his golden egg above his head in triumph. Well, everyone except a few notable students from Slytherin who had been hoping to watch Harry get killed, and a group of three men who were laughing their assess off at one of the best pranks they had ever been witness to.
"And now for the scores," Bagman said, still in disbelief at what he had seen.
Dumbledore was first, giving Harry a nine. Madam Maxime reluctantly gave Harry a seven. Mr. Crouch gave Harry a seven as well. Bagman gave Harry a perfect ten, and then came Karkaroff. Pretty much everyone booed the man as he gave Harry a zero.
"What the…" asked Bagman. "Igor, why are you giving the boy a zero?"
"He cheated," Karkaroff said. "He used something other than his wand. The rules clearly state that the champion may only use their wand."
"Oh, come now," Bagman said. "Give a little leeway. The kid turned a freaking dragon into a bird. I didn't see your boy doing anything that impressive. Hell, Harry didn't even get hurt. Krum did, and you still gave him a ten."
"Perhaps this would be better discussed in private," Dumbledore suggested, not wanting an argument to break out where everyone could see. It would ruin the sprit of the tournament and the goal of creating ties within the international community.
"Right," Bagman said. He then turned back to the gathered crowd. "Well, there you have it folks. The first task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. The second task will be taking place on the twenty forth of February."
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"So, um… How do we handle this?" Charlie Weasley asked the rest of his team as they stood in the arena, staring at the giant canary as everyone left the stands.
"I guess the same way we handled the other dragons?" one of the dragon handlers suggested.
"Is it going to turn back?" another asked. "Because if not, Mr. Dagwood is not going to be happy to get back three dragons and a giant bird."
"In about…" Charlie checked his watch, "five more minutes and it will."
"And just how do you know that?" asked one of the handlers.
"Canary Creams," Charlie said. "Joke product my brothers came up with over the summer. Whoever eats one turns into a bright yellow canary for ten minutes. That was five minutes ago. So, we better stun Abigail and get her back into her cage before she turns back. Otherwise…"
"She's gonna be one mighty flipped off dragon," a handler said. "Got it."
"Alright," said Charlie. "Stunners on three."
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Harry sat in the champions tent, and impatient look on his face as Madam Pomfrey continued to check him for injuries he didn't have.
"I'm telling you, I'm fine," Harry said. "The dragon never touched me."
"I'll be the judge of that," Madam Pomfrey said as she continued to wave her wand around Harry.
"That was bloody brilliant," said James with a laugh and he and the rest of the group walked into the tent.
"Language, James," Lily admonished him. "But your father is right Harry. That was amazing to see. I'm glad it worked and I'm very proud of you."
Harry beamed at the praise from his mum.
"I'd like to give Karkaroff a what for though for that zero," said Sirius. "Bloody git."
"Language, Sirius," Lily said.
"Bah," he said, waving her off.
"It was an unfair score," Remus said. "But still, with the other scores you received, you're tied for first place with Viktor Krum."
"First?" said a surprised Harry.
"Yeah," said Neville. "Even the Headmistress from Beauxbatons gave you a favorable score."
"Wow," said a stunned Harry.
"There," said Madam Pomfrey. "All finished. And you will be glad to know that there is nothing wrong."
"That's what I told you," Harry said.
"Come on kid," James said as Harry stood up. "Let's get you back to the tower. I'm sure the rest of the Gryffindors have a party going on in your favor."
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Draco Malfoy was livid as he returned to his common room after the first task, sitting down heavily on one of the leather sofas with a huff.
"What's the matter Draco?" Pansy Parkinson asked as she sat down so close next to him, any closer and she would have been in his lap.
"Fucking Potter," said Draco with a touch of a growl in his voice. "I really was hoping he would get eaten by a fucking dragon. But nooooooo, he has to go and be a show off and turned his dragon into a flipping bird. Now I'm never going to hear the end of how the great Harry Potter has done what no wizard has ever done before."
"But we already hear about that," said Crabbe. "What with him surviving that killing curse and all."
"Shut up, Crabbe," snapped Draco.
"Yeah, shut up Crabbe," repeated Pansy.
Crabbe and Goyle both shared a look as they thought the same thing. If their fathers weren't paying them to watch over and protect the ponce, they would have ditched him back in their first year for someone more powerful. Someone like Nott. Now there was a pureblood wizard that exuded not only power, but charisma and charm as well. Not to mention that he also displayed more of the characteristics of what it meant to be a Slytherin. Unlike Draco, who was loud and boastful and cocky.
The two of them might not be the smartest in their house, but even they had to wonder how someone like Draco was sorted into their house. They figured it must have been a legacy thing since his father was a Slytherin. Much like the Weasley's being sorted into Gryffindor, since it was obvious to anyone with eyes that Ronald Weasley should have been sorted elsewhere.
"I'm telling you, Potter has been the bane of my existence since the day I met him in Diagon Alley," Draco said. "Father telling me off for running my mouth in front of him in Madam Malkin's when I should have been subtle with my views and lured him to our side. And the same on our first train ride here. Tell me, why the bloody hell should I pretend to make nice with some Weasley, just to placate Potter?"
"You shouldn't," said Pansy.
"Damn right I shouldn't," said Draco. "Their entire family is an embarrassment to purebloods everywhere… And in our second year, Potter goes and steals one of our house elves. And last year, I was so sure I had knocked him down a peg or two when I lied and said that Hippogriff hurt me. Father had it all set to have its stupid head lopped off. But no, once again, Potter did something to set it free. Plus, the uppity mudblood whore broke my nose."
Draco lapsed into silence as he stared into the flames of the fire, his mind whirling with ideas. As he did, an owl flew down through an opening in the ceiling and landed in front of him. Draco took the letter tied to the owl, unrolled it and started to read.
"Shoo, you nasty thing," Pansy said, swiping her hand at the owl, who barked at her before flying back up through the hole. "I don't know why we use such filthy creatures to deliver our mail. Hawks are much more dignified."
Draco's face went paler than normal as the letter slipped from his hand and fell to the floor.
"Draco?" Pansy asked. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"Father is missing," Draco said.
A/N: So... What did everyone think of my take on Harry's plan for the first task?
Next chapter… Harry needs a date.