Harry Potter and the Spirit of Njordr Chapter 3: Flames
Harry propped the book up in front of him and tried to make the words stay in one place rather than fading out and becoming one long boring blur.
"This, this is interesting Harry." Hermione yawned and pushed another book over too him. "It makes your skin all stiff so things can't hurt you." She yawned again and put her hand up to her mouth.
"Go to bed." Harry told her, sighing. "You don't have stay up with me, I'm the bloody champion."
"No Harry I like looking up… stuff…" Hermione yawned again, breaking up whatever she was going to say.
"Without knowing what the first task is it's pretty useless." Harry closed his book wearily and rested his chin on it. "And I know you consider breaking into the library tantamount to sacrilege."
"It's alright if it's for the tournament" Hermione rationalized. "Do you want me to get more books?"
"No, I want to give up." Harry shook his head. "Lets go back to the tower."
They packed their stuff and Harry spelled the lock on the library back closed. He was about to turn down the corridor when a light appeared near the other end and Harry pushed Hermione back into the library.
"Who is it?"
"No clue." Harry shrugged and closed the door quietly. He put his ear to it as the voices got closer. "Beaxbattons students I think."
"How do you know?"
"They're speaking French." Harry whispered as the light passed outside the door. "Talking about the first task."
"Ho… Wait you speak French?" Hermione whispered hoarsely.
"You gave me the phrase books for my birthday."
"But I didn't think you'd actually use them!"
"You learn languages a lot quicker with wit sharpening potion. Had the basics down in under a week."
"That's cheating!" Hermione said, sounding scandalized.
"Did someone invent new rules while I was away?" Harry suddenly frowned. "That didn't sound like a student." Harry cracked the door and slinked out after the retreating voices.
"Ce n'est pas juste." Harry silenced his feet so he could move faster after the retreating voices and heard Hermione do the same behind him. "Nous devrions dire les autres concurrents!"
"That's Delacour." Hermione hissed into Harry's ear. She sounded oddly spiteful. "What's she saying?" But Harry waved her into silence as a huskier voice began speaking.
"La fraude fait partie des règles. Il toujours a été."
"Madam Maxim?" Harry guessed, Hermione nodded. "She's saying that cheating's part of the rules."
"I bet Fleur's going along with-"
"Fleur's arguing, but it sound like whatever it is it's already been done." Harry leant around a corner and jerked back as he saw the two French women stopped in the corridor beyond.
"Non!" Fleur was saying angrily. "Vous me forcez à choisir entre mes morales et mon école."
"She's not happy." Harry shook his head. "She thinks Maxim's forcing her to cheat."
"Puits que tu connais maintenant." The headmistress said matter-of-factly. "Ne tu inquiéteras pas à son sujet. Tu dois penser au dragon."
"Dragon?" Harry broke into a grin. He turned to Hermione. "See this is why I eavesdrop."
"Cheater." She smiled though.
"Tu as une stratégie?" Madam Maxim asked. "Tu pouvais le distraire. Tu-"
"Non!" Fleur drew herself up. "Je ferai le repos moi-même."
"Comme tu souhaites." Madam Maxim said and they began to walk back towards where the two marauders were hiding. Harry moved to walk into the corridor but Hermione grabbed him.
"Harry what are you doing?" She hissed angrily.
"Headgames!" Harry grinned evilly and stepped out in front of the two women. "So… dragons eh?"
Their jaws dropped.
"Thanks for the tip!" Harry grinned and winked at his fellow champion then turned to the French headmistress and with a grimace said, "Tu es un idiot et tu es un hypocrite. Tu accuses des Hogwarts de la fraude mais tu triches la toute première chance que tu obtiens."
"You little…!" Madam Maxime spluttered incoherently but Harry cut her off and switched to English.
"Well cheat all you want, doesn't matter. As you know now I am everywhere in this school. I will know if you cheat, I will know everything you do. So it all works out the same in the end." Harry turned back to the startled Miss Delacour. "Good luck with the dragon." And with that he turned and walked away.
Well, he walked until he reached the first corner, then he started to run.
"Potter?"
Sleepy.
"Potter!"
Ok, not sleepy anymore, just faking.
"Potter get up!" Harry jerked theatrically and raised his head off his desk to look at Professor McGonagall.
"Sleepy Professor," Harry grinned. "I stayed up late doing very important champion stuff."
It was actually true, he had indeed been spending every night researching ways to deal with large, enraged, fire breathing reptiles but he hadn't had much luck. Most of the books had the unhelpful assumption that you would be part of a team of wizards dealing with these creatures. If he could just find one that assumed you were a scared, short, fourteen year old who wasn't much good at defense against the dark arts or care of magical creatures he would be set.
"Well that doesn't get you out of concentrating on your lessons." She pointed at the crystal ball that he had transfigured part way from a tortoise. It still had legs and a tail and was blindly butting against Harry's transfiguration textbook. "Complete the transformation or at least turn it back into a tortoise, it is just cruel to leave it like this."
Harry shrugged and tried to finish the transfiguration. Two of the legs disappeared, and the poor thing balanced on the other two before toppling and almost rolled off the table before Ron caught it. McGonagall moved away muttering about 'champions' and 'idiots' using the same inflection for each.
"Well we can scratch transfig' off the dragon-taming possibilities." Harry accepted his tortoisphere back from his friend and tried idly to make the remaining limbs disappear.
"I could write to Charlie." Ron offered. He had managed to make a crystal tortoise that looked like it should be in some seaside gift shop.
"Don't, I'm cheating just by using you guys." Harry made the tail disappear and sighed. "I should just run in and start cursing it. Pain spear's worked before."
"You're not allowed to use dark magic Harry." Neville reminded him from his other side. "It's restricted by the rules of the tournament or something."
"And it probably wouldn't work." Ron cast the spell again and got a round ball of tortoise shell. "Dragon skin is-"
"Very, very thick. Also curse-proof." Harry interrupted. "I know." Harry slumped back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. He closed his eyes and massaged his temples, he had a stabbing headache from all the studying and late nights. If he propped his book up and fell asleep…
"Mr Potter!"
"I'm awake!" Harry shook his head. The class giggled.
"What I meant Mr Potter." McGonagall continued. "Is that you are needed in the third floor arithmancy classroom. Do you know where it is?"
Small slatted window that doesn't lock properly?
"I know it." Harry nodded. "What's this about?"
"Very important champion stuff." McGonagall narrowed her eyes. "Now."
Harry gathered his stuff and hurried out of the room. Since it was class time all the corridors were empty and Harry made it to the classroom without seeing anyone. Wondering what this could possibly be about he pushed the door open.
"Ah, Mr Potter. So good of you to join us." Mr Crouch had stood up when he entered. Dumbledore and the other Headmasters were also there, as was a witch in neon green robes he didn't recognize. She had a quill and paper out and looked like she was currently grilling Krum. The Bulgarian, for his part, seemed resigned to this and was answering her monosyllabically. Fleur and Malfoy were no where to be found.
"What an I joining you for?" Harry asked. "If it's a party then you'll need more nibbles. I skipped lunch."
"This is the weighing of the wands ceremony." Mr Crouch said calmly, ignoring Harry's flippancy. "Don't worry it's mostly a formality."
Wand weighing? Harry took out his wand, it looked alright. A bit scuffed here and there but then so was he. Harry heard the door open and turned,
"What is this?" Malfoy stood in the doorway with his bag. "Why was I called?"
"Just the wei-" Dumbledore began but was interrupted by the green robed witch.
"Mr Malfoy," She stood and held out a hand in one motion. "Rita Skeeter. Pleasure to meet you, if I could just-"
"My father has a several very good lawyers." Malfoy interrupted her suddenly. "So if you print anything libelous…"
"Mr Malfoy," Rita Skeeter held her hands to her chest as if she had been hurt. "You insult me, the people want to hear from their champion. Champions." She added, glancing at Harry with a crocodile-smile.
Scanning for insincerity: Insincerity detected.
Harry contorted his face into a worried smile.
"If I could borrow the both of you for a moment." Skeeter pushed them both back out the door and into the classroom opposite. "There now, that's more comfortable. None of those old judges and officials."
"Everything she says is a lie." Harry thought to himself. "And you had better watch what you say too."
"Do you mind if I use a quick quotes quill?"
"Yes." Malfoy said at the same time as Harry said,
"No." Harry noticed that Malfoy was looking slightly worried so followed up with, "I mean 'no don't use it.'"
"Oh," The reporter looked disappointed, then brightened up slightly. "I hear you two have a little rivalry going." Harry opened his mouth but Malfoy answered before he could speak.
"I wouldn't call me beating him at every class a competition."
"Whatever." Harry shrugged.
"You're not going to argue Potter?" Malfoy sneered at him.
"Nah, make up any lie you want." Harry shrugged again. "That's what she's gonna do."
"Well Mr Potter," Rita Skeeter asked smoothly. "Do you think you, a mere twelve year old, can succeed in this competition that has clamed the lives of wizards older and wiser than you."
"I don't know." Harry scratched his head. "The fact that I intend to cheat outrageously may help."
"You…" Rita Skeeter's eye's lit up. "You're going to cheat?"
"I already have!" Harry replied happily. "Say, do you think that Karkarov guy's open to bribes? He looks like a man who enjoys the finer things."
"Potter…" Malfoy hissed from between clenched teeth but Harry ignored him.
"Of course It'll be easy to bribe him using all the stolen property that I own. Would you like a diamond necklace?"
Rita's quill was moving so fast she was tearing the paper.
"I can always obtain more through my extensive criminal contacts."
"Potter stop now you id-" Harry winked at Malfoy, shutting him up.
"Of course my primary pastime remains kitten-smashing." At Skeeter's shocked face he continued. "Yes, kitten-smashing. It's kind of like a sport, you use a special club. Baby seals as well, and cute little chipmunks. Deer, ostriches, endangered marmosets, ponies, dolphins that sort of thing."
"Mr Potter…" The reporter's eyes narrowed.
"What?" Harry grinned. "If you're going to make up lies about me they might as well be entertaining. How about saying I'm a vampire or a Nazi or that I have two heads and one of them speaks fluent Italian."
"Don't play this game with me Mr Potter." Rita Skeeter tapped her quill against her quill against her notepad. "You won't win."
"Yes I will." Harry smiled. "Marauders always do, in the end."
"Am I interrupting?" Their three heads turned to see Barty Crouch in the doorway. "We're ready for you now."
Harry smiled and wandered out off the room, leaving the startled reporter behind. As he walked back into the arithmancy classroom he noticed that two more people had arrived. Fleur Delacour he was expecting, the other was more of a surprise.
"Mr Ollivander?"
"Mr Potter, so good to see you again." The old man looked the same as he had on the day, four years ago, that Harry had bought his wand. He wasn't acting as oddly however.
"You're doing the wand weighing?" Harry guessed.
"I am Mr Potter, I am." He held out his hand and Harry grudgingly surrendered his wand. As soon as it left his hand he found himself feeling paranoid, almost naked. He kept eyeing up bits of furniture for their potential as weapons should someone attack him.
"Your… this wand seems to work quite adequately." Mr Ollivander said slowly, looping a long golden ribbon out of the tip. "Of course, if you were in the market for another…"
"No." Harry shook his head before the wand maker could once again try to force a different wand on him as he had at their first meeting. "That one's served me pretty good. I'll stick with it if you don't mind."
"Very well." Ollivander shook his head and handed the wand back. "I don't understand it but…" He spread his hands and shrugged.
Everyone else in the room kept shooting Harry odd looks for the remainder of the wand weighing, everyone except Dumbledore.
As Harry was walking away from the weighing when he heard a voice behind him.
"Do you have a moment Mr Potter?" Harry turned to see Barty Crouch. "If I were you I would not underestimate Ms Skeeter."
"I don't underestimate her, she overestimates herself."
"Perhaps so." The judge nodded. "But she has the potential to cause you real harm."
"No she doesn't." Harry interjected. "Sticks and stones and all that, I've survived worse than bad press."
"I am worried about you Mr Potter." Mr Crouch moved up to stand next to Harry. "There is more than one reason we increased the age limit on entry to the tournament. I fear you are too young to stand up to the scrutiny."
"Me? Harry boy-who-lived Potter?"
"Ah, yes." Mr Crouch chuckled a little. "Perhaps you are right on that score, but nevertheless a certain level of maturity is expected, even necessary, and I worry that perhaps you do not have it."
"I'll hold my end." Harry said, vaguely insulted.
"Do you feel adequately physically and mentally prepared for the first task?" Harry thought that an odd question, but answered anyway.
"No, not entirely."
"Well I can't give you advice of course." The older man nodded. "Just remember that no one is expecting you to win. Just by doing well you will have exceeded everyone's expectation."
"And by winning I'll exceed them even more, and win some money!"
"Just take it slow," Mr Crouch told him. "A respectable score is better than being injured so you cannot compete."
"The only respectable score is winning." Harry grinned like a tiger.
Harry woke lazily the next day and ignored the sounds of people going down to breakfast. This weekend had been a long tome coming and he was going to enjoy it.
On the way down to breakfast though he got an odd foreboding feeling. His suspicions were confirmed when he walked into the great hall and all conversation ceased. Harry walked down the Gryffindor table to his friends in total silence and sat down in the empty seat they had left for him.
"Explanation?" Harry asked quietly, the room was still almost deathly silent.
"Um, we think Malfoy may have talked to Rita Skeeter after you left." Hermione was holding a newspaper nervously, kneading the paper with he hands. "He said some things and they printed some things…"
"Give it here." Harry reached out and grabbed the paper. He quickly scanned down the text…
… fellow champion Drako Malfoy says that everyone in Hogwarts knows they're just afraid to say anything. "He hides it but everyone knows. I mean that's why he's so short and weedy." The hansom sixteen year old said "And it explains the hair." This reporter has seen evidence to support these arguments and can reveal to you now the truth about Harriet Potter…
Harry burst out laughing. In the utterly silent great hall it sounded extra loud as Harry guffawed in great breathy gulps.
"Harriet Potter!" Harry dissolved into a fit of giggles.
"It's not funny Harry." Hermione said.
"Yes it is! Look, they've even doctored a picture of me." Harry pointed. "I've got long hair and breasts and everything… Actually I don't look half bad… But come on no one's gonna believe this."
"You never know Harry." Ginny said from the other side. "People tend to trust the Daily Prophet."
Harry had a thought and grinned. Without a word he stepped up onto the bench then up onto the Gryffindor table.
"Attention Hogwarts!" Harry yelled, he felt all eyes come to land on him. "By now most of you will have read the Daily Prophet, or have heard about it from someone. And unless you're deaf you've heard how I regard these rumors. I have just two things to say, any guy who doubts me can get kicked in the face (don't laugh I know where you all sleep). And for any girl who doubts I'm male a demonstration can be arrang-"
"MR POTTER!" The school giggled as McGonagall stood from her place at the high table. "My office! Now!"
"Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week." Harry sauntered out of the hall, waving at the laughing crowd as he went. The last thing he saw before he left was the dark look of murder on Malfoy's face and decided to rub salt in the wound. "And Draco next time you try to attack me think of things that would hurt me not that would have hurt you. You care about reputation. Me? I don't give a crap what anyone thinks!"
"MR POTTER!"
"I'm going I'm going." Harry grinned and walked out. The students laughed again, some even cheered.
The prophet was forced to print a retraction the next day after hundreds of people wrote in to complain. Unfortunately Harry didn't have time to savor the victory as the first task drew closer and closer.
"I'm screwed." Harry slid another book back into the library bookcase and looked along the shelf for other dragon related books. "I am royally screwed."
It was the day before the first task and Harry had made an executive decision to ignore all his lessons that day. His time could be far better used and he figured his teachers wouldn't mind, or wouldn't find out till too late.
Harry sighed. Or maybe they would and he'd be thrown out of the competition and saved the indignity of being roasted alive in front of the entire school.
He had nothing. Not one idea.
"I should just rush in." Harry thought, shaking his head. "Start cursing, worked with the basilisk."
"Yes," Said a little snide part of his mind. "But the basilisk almost killed you."
Harry took down another book only to realize he had already read it and slammed it back into the bookshelf in anger.
"Problems Miss Potter?" Harry heard the snide drawling voice and sagged tiredly.
"None Daisy Mayflower." He turned to Malfoy and crossed his arms. "Shouldn't you be in lessons?"
"Last class ended half an hour ago." Malfoy shot back condescendingly.
Harry felt his heart droop. He had thought he had more time than that, he must have lost track. He caught sight of the book in Malfoy's hand and his eyes flickered to the conspicuous gap in the shelf next to him. He saw the Slytherin's cold grey pair match him.
"How did you find out?" Harry asked levelly.
"Find out what?"
"About the dragons Malfoy. Don't play games."
Malfoy smiled.
"My father noticed that the ministry was putting licenses through for dragon handling equipment and dragon handlers and dragons."
"That is damming evidence." Harry shrugged. "Got a strategy?"
"Like I'd tell you." Malfoy scoffed. "A little dragon doesn't bother me."
"You almost sound like you mean that." Harry pretended to shift weight while actually bringing his wand around to bear. "Lets see… Legillimens!"
It was like hitting a rubber wall. Harry felt his mental probe rebound off an Occlumency barrier like a tennis ball off a tank and had barely a second to compose himself before the counter attack hit his mind like a pneumatic drill.
"What the hell?!" Harry blanked his mind before any memories floated up. After a moment the drill receded.
"How dare you half-blood!" Malfoy spat at him. "Don't even think of trying that again. You're obviously an amateur compared to me. Just like you are at everything else."
"Getting lessons from daddy are we?" Harry kept his wand trained in case of another attack.
"I've been an Occlumens since I was eight Potter." Malfoy said through gritted teeth. "Don't try to get into my mind, the very thought disgusts me. Even after a failed attempt I feel like bathing."
"I'm shocked you know what a bath is Daisy." Harry shot back. "We all thought you just-"
"SHUT UP! Just because the Prophet printed a retraction doesn't mean you've won!" Malfy cracked, raising his wand. "So don't joke don't make snide comments, you are still going down. This tournament may be a joke to you but some of us care about preserving the honor of their names." Malfoy shook his head fiercely and lowered his wand a fraction.
"You won't win Potter. You might as well quit now." Malfoy sneered at him. "It's a dragon, you can't trick it or lie to it or prank it or sneak your way past it. You can't win. Just give up Potter, while you still can."
Malfoy turned and strode away, disappearing between the shelves. But Harry had begun to grin.
"Why the hell not?"
Harry mustered together every ounce of arrogance and cool he had to keep himself walking forward towards the pavilion that had been erected near the edge of the forest. He glanced to his right and saw Malfoy coming up from another direction, surrounded by a crowd of Slytherins. Some of them were wearing badges bearing Malfoy's smirking face.
Harry reached the tent and swallowed hard before entering.
"Glad you could join us Mr Potter." Barty Crouch greeted him with a smile. The other champions were already there. Krum was sitting stoically, staring straight forward. Fleur looked green and had one hand pressed to her stomach. "Nervous?"
YES! Of course I'm bloody nervous! I'm about-
"No, no sir." Harry answered out loud. "I think I've got it covered." He even managed it without his voice quavering.
"Ah and you are here too Mr Malfoy." Crouch said as Malfoy barged in through the curtain. "Then let us get started." He reached over and picked up a small bag. Harry noticed with a gulp that it was squirming.
"The task once you enter the stadium is to retrieve a golden egg from its guardian." Crouch explained in his dry bureaucratic voice. "Inside this bag are four statutes. You will each take one from the bag, at random. The statue should tell you both what this guardian is and will also have a number on it representing the order you will go in."
And first to the gallows will be…
"Miss Delacour…" Crouch held out the bag and the French girl put her hand in tentatively. She drew it out and revealed a small blue dragon statue, currently gnawing on her thumb. "The Swedish short snout."
Fleur looked at the little thing in her hand then raised her chin in determination. But Harry saw a trace of panic in her eyes.
"Looks almost cute." Harry commented, looking at the dragon. "Face looks kind of like a squirrel."
Fleur glanced again at the thing in her hand then looked at Harry in disbelief.
"Well… a bit." Harry grinned and saw a half smile in return.
"Mr Krum." Crouch hurried them along. The Bulgarian stuck his hand into the bag and drew out a long red-gold dragon, dangling it by its tail. "The Chinese Firebolt."
Krums expression didn't change, if anything it just became stonier.
"That's a weasel." Harry pronounced definitely (babbling so he wouldn't hit a total nervous breakdown). "A Squirrel and a Weasel."
"Mr Malfoy." Crouch held the bag out again and Malfoy carefully removed a sleek looking black dragon. "A Hebridean Black Mr Malfoy."
Malfoy seemed to be trying to keep his face ridged and unemotional, he was taking deep breaths through his nose.
"And you Harry." Crouch held out the bag and Harry reached in quickly and grabbed the last squirming statue. He held it in his fist as he brought it out, said a silent prayer to anyone listening, then opened his hand.
"The Hungarian Horntail." Mr Crouch pronounced tonelessly.
Harry closed his hand again and pumped his fist into the air.
"YES!"
The three other champions were looking at him like he was crazy.
"Mr Potter," Crouch spluttered. "You do know about that type of dragon don't you?"
"Read about 'em, yep." Harry nodded.
"And you're happy?"
"Yep."
"Potter you're insane." Malfoy said icily.
"Yep."
"Well…" Mr Crouch seemed a little flustered but motioned Malfoy towards the exit to the tent.
Harry watched them leave and took a deep breath. He sat down cross legged on the packed earth and leant back against a tent pole.
"You are very confident." Krum said in his heavily accented voice.
"I'm not worried." Harry said as he heard his racing heart beating in his ears.
Harry tried to blank out the sound of the crowd outside and the comments of the commentators. He tried to breath deeply so as to quiet his nerves. It didn't work.
"Mr Krum if you please!" Harry heard the whistle and wished Krum good luck as he walked out of the tent.
More minutes of growling and huffing passed and Fleur began pacing the floor worriedly.
"It'll be alright." Harry told her as the crowd quieted down and the scores were put up. "You got the easy dragon."
"Easier." She replied without looking up.
"Just think of it as a giant fire-breathing squirrel."
"'Ow can you be so calm!" She said to him angrily. "'Ow can you joke about zis!"
"I joke about everything."
The whistle blew a moment later and Fleur was gone too, gone to face the dragon. Harry got up and began pacing himself. He gripped his wand and began rehearsing what he would do again.
Nothing could possibly go wrong.
What the hell? Everything could go wrong!
Harry squeezed his eyes shut as he heard the whistle sound. He couldn't do this.
"And the last champion, HARRY POTTER!" The voice cried over the loudspeaker.
Professor McGonagall, like everyone else in the crowd, looked towards the tent. A gust of wind flapped the edges of the canvas. No one came out.
"Um… Mr Potter?"
No one came.
That poor boy. She shook her head, this had obviously been too much for him. The crowd had begun whispering now.
"Do you wish to go down there Albus, Or shall I?" She turned to the Headmaster, who was oddly smiling. "One of us will have to find him."
"Oh I know exactly where he is." Dumbledore chuckled.
"You see it too?" Moody cackled from the row below. "Damn kid's got nerve I'll give him that."
"What are you talking about Allastor? Albus?" Minerva looked from one to the other confused.
"Barty Crouch told me that Harry was oddly happy to receive the Horntail." Dumbledore smiled. "I did not quite understand that until now. The horntail is the most fearsome dragon in the world, but it's eyesight is quite poor."
Understanding dawned in Minerva McGonagall's mind and she turned to scan the arena once more. After a moment she saw it. A small, human shaped lump, perfectly camouflaged against the sand behind it, shimmering as it edged towards the dragon.
Harry shifted a hair closer. He had silenced his feet to get rid of his footfalls but there was still the risk of something shifting or crunching. He could hear members of the crowd beginning to laugh now, he didn't care. They'd know the truth when he snagged the egg right out from under the belly of the thing. And besides, the more noise they made the better.
The Horntail suddenly shifted, raising it's nose high. Harry froze in a crouch. It sniffed the air.
Damn! Harry froze. He had hoped that by keeping the wind in his face would have kept his smell from the beast. Apparently not, that meant he would have to cast a spell, which would agitate the thing and reveal his location. But it would find him anyway if he didn't. Too bad he didn't know non-verbal magic.
Harry drew his wand and tensed his legs. The Disillusionment charm worked best when you stayed still but it wasn't perfect even then. The dragon would see through it once it got a clue where to look. He would have to move the instant he cast or he would be crispy-fried.
Harry took a deep breath and yelled,
"Avgo Sapios!" The cloud of green smoke gushed out of his wand and smacked the dragon on the snout but Harry was already throwing himself sideways and rolling to a crouch on the floor.
Which was lucky because a moment later the sand where he had been standing was reduced to a white-hot sheet. The dragon swept its lance of flame across the arena, passing just feet in front of Harry's face. Harry saw the sand steam and cool from blue-white to red, then to a duller, glassy, finish. A scar across the land. Harry forced himself to breath again, shallowly.
He moved his head slowly to look at the dragon, it was shaking its head from side to side as if to dislodge the foul smell that had taken up residence in its nostrils.
When Harry was sure it was looking the other way he hopped over the burnt swath and crouched down on the other side. A gasp went up from the crowd, they must have seen him when he passed over the burnt patch.
"Don't get it agitated." Harry thought desperately as he inched closer. "Just keep quiet."
"HEY DRAGON!"
Bugger.
Harry rolled to the side in panic as the dragon gouged another flaming scar across the sand. He realized belatedly that the downside of choosing to approach the dragon from downwind was that it put the Slytherin stands at his back.
"OVER HERE!"
Harry ducked as a fireball flew over his head. He risked a glance back to see it impact on a shield. The stands seemed to quiet down a bit, perhaps realizing the idiocy of attracting the attention of an angry dragon.
Harry inched forward again and had to duck as it's spiked tail whipped through the air. He could see the egg now, glimmering in among some duller ones. Harry crawled silently up near the dragons side and looked up. The wall of the great reptile's body gave way to the massive shading canopy of it's wing. He was right up next to it now. If he screwed up it would step on him.
Harry reached into the little gap between the floor and the shifting belly of the Horntail. His fingers curled around the golden egg. He twisted it and brought it out horizontal, making sure not to touch the dragon. Like that game, what was it called… operation! Except with his life on the line.
Harry held his breath as the egg finally saw the light of day and swiftly stuffed it under his t-shirt so it would be camouflaged. He slid backwards slowly then froze as the dragon stood and shifted. Harry followed it's gaze and saw a dozen keepers approaching.
"No!" Harry thought. "They're not that stupid! Please NO!"
"Stupify!"
"AAaaaa!" Harry screamed and threw himself backward as the dragon collapsed right onto the ground where he had been crouching. A moment later he was driven to the floor as its wing crumpled on top of him. Harry crawled out from under the leathery blanket, forced himself to stand on legs that wanted to crumple like plastic straws and stumbled towards the dragon keepers.
"What the hell…" Harry growled. "Was the big idea of dropping the dragon on me when I'm still bloody under it!"
"Sorry Harry." The red-head at the front of them shrugged. "You're kind of hard to see."
Harry looked down, he was still Disillusioned. Harry raised his aching arm and tapped himself on the head with the tip of his wand.
"Khamaileon akyrono." He felt the warm dribbles down his head painfully slowly. They stopped before they even reached his stomach. "Oh great…" Harry sagged his half-visible body.
"Let me Potter." Harry flinched as someone tapped him from behind. He turned and looked up at the scarred face of Mad Eye Moody.
"I got it to go on in one go." Harry explained, swaying a little. He was bruised on every side and his left arm didn't want to bend properly. He turned and saw McGonagall approaching from the stands and tried to stand a little straighter.
"Potter, are you hurt?" She said, an edge of concern tingeing her voice. Harry raised his left arm. "Excellent! You'll get more points for being uninjured."
Harry swiftly jerked his arm back down and brushed the dirt off the front of his robes. Mad Eye leant down and whispered into his ear,
"Arm broke Potter?"
"No, just hurts like hell." Harry breathed back. He eased it into his pocket, wincing slightly. "Maybe fractured."
"You gonna tell them?"
"Hell no!"
Harry held hard to the handrail as he walked towards the marauders. He was surrounded by cheers, people kept slapping him on the back (painfully)
"That was awesome Harry!" Harry heard someone yell and waved back, smiling wanly. He managed to make it to the free seat by the marauders and sat down.
"That really was awesome." Ron said from his left. "I mean we couldn't even see-"
"Yes that was the point." Harry joked. "Sort of the point of invisibility."
"That was really good you know Harry." Hermione said from behind him. "Much better than Malfoy."
"That's a given." Harry grinned. "What did he do?"
"Made some kind of mirror out of mist." Padma shrugged as if to say 'no big deal'. "Made the dragon fight it's own reflection."
"Did it work?"
"Until he got close to the eggs." Padma grinned evilly. "Then it caught on and flamed him. He only just got the egg. They gave him thirty points."
"Deserved two." Ron muttered angrily.
Harry shrugged, then winced as a stab of pain shot through his arm. The crowd fell silent, Harry looked up towards the judges box. Madam Maxim raised her wand, after a moment a sinuous five sprung out.
"Passive aggressive revenge bitch." Harry growled.
Next Crouch nodded thoughtfully and tapped a nine into the air.
"That's more close to awesomeness."
Next the heavyset judge Harry didn't know raised his wand with a flourish and painted an eight. A moment later Dumbledore raised an identical eight.
"Better…"
Karkaroff seemed to think for a moment, then drew a three in the air.
"Blatant undisguised favoritism." Harry narrowed his eyes. "It's like bloody Eurovision."
"Thirty three." Neville said, counting on his fingers. "Is that good?"
"It should have been higher!" Ginny said angrily. "You were the only champion not injured!"
"Yeah…" Harry tried not to think of what mark he would have got if they had known about his arm.
"It must have been how long you took/" Hermione said reasonably. "You were slower than the others."
"You beat Malfoy though!" Parvarti said cheerily (ignoring Ron as he turned on Hermione and began arguing). "And Fleur."
"Krum?"
"Got forty."
"Bugger. I'll get him next time." Harry felt his bruised and aching arm. "You see if I don't!"
"So let me get this straight Harry." Madam Pomfrey sighed, "You beat the dragon…."
"Yes."
"Left the stadium."
"Yes"
"Then on the way back to Gryffindor tower…"
"Yes."
"You happened to fall down a flight of stairs."
"Yes."
"Seriously Harry?"
"That's my story." Harry grinned. "I'm sticking to it."
Translations (I think)
"Ce n'est pas juste. Nous devrions dire les autres concurrents!"
This is not right. We should tell the other competitors!
"La fraude fait partie des règles. Il toujours a été."
Cheating is part of the rules. It always has been.
"Non! Vous me forcez à choisir entre mes morales et mon école."
No! You force me to choose between my morals and my school
"Puits que tu connais main tenant. Ne tu inquiéteras pas à son sujet. Tu dois penser au dragon."
Well you know now. You will not worry about it. You must think of the dragon.
"Tu as une stratégie? Tu pouvais le distraire. Tu-"
You have a strategy? You could distract it. You
"Non! Je ferai le repos moi-même."
Not! I will do the rest myself.
"Comme tu souhaites."
As you wish.
"Tu es un idiot et tu es un hypocrite. Tu accuses des Hogwarts de la fraude mais tu triches la toute première chance que tu obtiens."
You are an idiot and you are a hypocrite. You accuse Hogwarts of fraud but you cheat the very first chance that you get.