Note: Parseltongue is marked by $ at the start and end of the quote.

25. Dragons

Sirius was pleasantly surprised to find out that Harry and Hermione were training each morning, along with some friends. Neville was the most persistent, never missing training. Lavender had also joined them the previous spring, after noticing how training had improved Neville's appearance. Harry wasn't sure if it was in order to improve her own figure or just to stay near Neville. Some members of the Quidditch team used to join twice a week, just to keep in shape. Most surprising was Luna Lovegood. They found her half frozen one morning, while jogging. She was reluctant to tell why she was outside, wearing only a sheer nightgown in the freezing weather, but with Hermione's help, Harry managed to get the whole story out of the girl. They took her to the hospital wing to make sure she was well and then made sure that Professor Flitwick took care of the bullying and harassing taking place in his house. Luna joined them almost every morning since, proving to be quite fit, despite her slight build.

Sirius helped the youngsters upgrade their morning training for the benefit of all, yet he also set some special times for training Harry in preparation for the tournament.

They were given the date for the first task that day, and Harry was once again in a bad mood. "Why don't you fly a bit?" Hermione suggested, knowing how much he liked flying and how it usually calmed him down. Harry agreed. He took his broom and zoomed over the school, circling the towers first and then going farther and farther, over the black lake and over the forbidden forest.

Something caught his eyes in the forest. A large clearing, not far from Hagrid's cabin, now sported a few tents and four cages which contained... Dragons!? He was sure it wasn't a coincidence, having four dragons when there were four competitors. Using a wandless disillusion charm, one that they had found in the Chamber, he glided closer to the clearing. He could now see several dragon handlers taking care of the four enormous creatures which looked extremely vicious. One of the handlers had the fiery hair he couldn't mistake – that was surely a Weasley, probably Charley.

He hurried back to Hermione. She had already seen it all through his eyes, but she had no advice yet. They only decided to investigate it further and maybe visit the dragons, keeping a safe distance from them, later that night.

Sirius met them at dinner. "I'd like you to come with me once you finish eating. There's something I want you to see."

"What is it?" Harry asked, already guessing the answer.

"Just wait and see," Sirius smirked.

Harry ate at a speed to challenge Ron's, yet Hermione beat him, eating much less than him; much less than usual even for her. Sirius took his time, though, before joining them and walking towards Hagrid's hut.

"Hey, Hagrid, care to join us?" Sirius called at the open door of the hut.

"Where to?" Hagrid asked, appearing in the door-frame.

"To the clearing!" Sirius answered, making it sound as if he was referring to a ball.

Hagrid frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Of course. Harry's his own champion, you know..."

"Well..." Hagrid joined them reluctantly.

It didn't take long to reach the clearing which was dominated by four huge cages, each housing a dragon. Several dragon handlers were busy trying to feed the dragons without being harmed.

"Hey, Charley!" Sirius called, as the redhead handler came out of one of the cages.

"Sirius! It's good seeing you!" He then stopped as he saw Harry. "Why have you brought young children here? It's quite dangerous, you know."

Sirius patted Harry's shoulder as he shoved him forward. "He's one of the competitors."

Charley looked furious. "That's insane! Dragons are dangerous even to fully trained wizards. He's too young to face them!"

Harry noticed that Hagrid was inching closer to the big animals. He let Sirius and Charley talk and went closer to Hagrid.

"Isn't it a beauty?" he heard Hagrid say, looking at the Chinese Firebolt Dragon. Hermione rolled her eyes and followed Harry to the next cage, where a Hungarian Horntail Dragon was caged. It looked menacing and dangerous. Besides the scales and the fire, this dragon also had large spikes coming out of its spine all along its body and its tail. Each such spike was as big as an elephant's tusk and much sharper. This dragon could kill just by flicking its tail.

"Aren't Dragons a kind of reptiles?" Harry asked.

"They are. Why?"

He didn't answer. He walked as close to the cage as he dared and started hissing. "$Hello, big fire-breather. I'd like to be your friend.$"

The dragon stopped munching on the remains of a lamb and turned its head to Harry.

"$A speaker?$" it wondered. "$Why should I be interested?$" it added a bit later.

"$Maybe I can help you and we can both learn from each other,$" Harry replied, trying to sound more confident than he really was.

"$How can you help me?$" The dragon seemed to consider Harry's size and wasn't impressed by it.

"$I may be able to set you free, or at least make your conditions much better.$"

"$That would be appreciated. What do you want me to do?$"

"$I'm not sure yet. I've been entered into the tournament against my will, just as you have, and the first task is something concerning you and the other dragons here. Once I find out what it entails I'll be able to tell you and plan what to do.$"

"$I'll expect you in a few days,$" the Dragon said, sounding much friendlier.

"$It would help a lot if you pass this information to the others. I'll try to help you all.$"

"$I'll pass the information.$"

Sirius was already looking alarmed after seeing them so close to the dragons. He called them back and presented the four dragons from a safe distance, going over each species specific strong and weak points.

"Why are you telling me this?" Harry asked.

"Well, the first task is facing a dragon and retrieving a golden egg without harming the dragon or its eggs."

"How can one do it at all?"

"There are a few possibilities. You may make the dragon sleep or confuse it or just outrun it, to name some possibilities. It's not a walk in the park, but it can be done."

"Do the other champions know?" Harry asked.

"Nobody's supposed to tell them, but I'm sure both Karakoff and Madam Maxime will tell their champions, if they haven't done it already."

"That's practically cheating!" Hermione complained.

"Welcome to the real world!" Sirius bowed to her. "They all want to win and damn honesty. Only Dumbledore is still adhering to the rules, leaving his champion with a great disadvantage."

"We shall correct it!" both teens said.

The next day, Harry saw Cedric Diggory complaining to his girlfriend that it was impossible for him to prepare for a task he knew nothing about. Harry had an idea. He grabbed a parchment and drew on it a dragon and an egg. He then folded it and walked past Cedric, putting the folded parchment in his hand as he passed. Cedric looked surprised at the parchment, but then unfolded it and smiled. He looked around for Harry and mouthed silently "Thanks".

They visited the dragons that evening. Hermione first cast a privacy shield between the cages and the tents, so that nobody would notice them. They then removed the disillusionment charm and approached the dragons. Harry first introduced himself to the dragons. He then told them about the task and the champions. "$The instructions are clear: Don't harm the dragons or the eggs, yet these can't be enforced. Anybody who feels in danger may act inappropriately and harm you in haste or destroy one or more eggs.$"

"$What should we do then?$"

"$Check your nest once you are in the arena. Remove any egg you don't recognize, especially any golden ones. Only guard your own eggs, leaving the golden egg exposed and unprotected. You may even toss it at he champions, if you like.$"

A small fire escaped the dragon's snout. It was its way to lough. "$It would make it too easy for the champions. Shouldn't we try to show some fight, at least?$"

Harry scratched his head. Hermione answered instead. "$You can put the golden egg far from the champion and send a bit of fire seemingly in his direction, making sure to miss him. The champions would still need to dodge and seemingly fight to reach the eggs, but will stay away from your real eggs and not need to really fight you.$"

"$We shall play along as long as they keep to their part of the deal,$" the dragon promised.

The time had come. The champions were already in the tent, each already assigned a dragon. They were just waiting to be called out. Harry decided to update them. "Make sure not to harm the dragons or their eggs and they will just pretend to fight you, giving you the golden egg to fetch. Try to really fight them and you may not finish the task."

"How can you be so sure?" Krum asked him.

"I talked with them. Just pretend to hex them, missing them widely, and you'll get your egg in no time."

Krum wasn't convince. "They can burn us!"

"Not if you do as I say. They'll blow some fire, but not very close to you. Just be cautious, as I'm not sure they really know how fragile we may be."

It went fast enough, and before he had time to get bored, Harry was called to perform the task.

The Hungarian Horntail recognized him. "$Welcome, little one. The golden egg is at the opposite corner. What would you like me to do?$"

"$How about... I'll wave my wand and you'll pretend falling asleep, so I can run to the golden egg and take it. I'll make a sound when I'm back here so you'll get awake and blow fire at me, only I'll be out of range already.$"

"$Sounds good to me.$"

Harry started waving his wand, as if chanting a complex spell. The noise was too high for anybody to really hear him. The Dragon put its head sown and turned its snout away, winking at Harry as it did so. Harry rushed to the egg, put it in his robes and ran back. As he was moving behind the protecting rocks he seemed to stumble and squeak in fright. "$Now!$" he hissed at the dragon, who lifted its head and blew a fire at the place Harry had stood a few seconds earlier.

Only Krum was a bit singed, as he wasn't sure about the dragon and didn't move swiftly enough after taking his egg.

Harry and Hermione flew his broom and visited the dragons soon after dinner. "$Are these your real eggs?$" he asked the dragons.

Each checked and found they were just empty shells. They were starting to get furious, but Harry said quickly, "$I believe your real eggs are still at the reserve. They didn't want to chance anything happening to them. Now, if I set you free, you'll not be able to reach your eggs. Would that be acceptable?$"

There was a unanimous "$NO!$" response.

"$Well, I think I should talk with the keepers, then. I'll ask them not to bother you anymore and to make sure you get all the food that you and your young will need. Would that be acceptable?$"

The four dragons seemed a bit reluctant. "$We also need more space to stretch our wings and fly. Can you get this for us?$"

"$I'll try,$" he promised, before going to talk with Charley. The young man was surprised to see his visitors.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I've just had a conversation with the dragons." Harry told him then about the dragons' needs and worries and Charley promised he would do all that he could to give the dragons what they wanted. "I'll make sure to mark the boundaries of the reserve so that they can fly freely within it. They would be much easier to handle if they are satisfied."

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