Chapter 18: Of Preparation and Perilous

"Balderdash!" She said to the Fat Lady, who appeared to be sleeping.

"If you say so," the Fat Lady murmured, and swung open without evening opening her eyes. Chrys climbed through the portrait hole. Harry looked up.

"Chrys?"

Chrys pulled the cloak off as the portrait swung closed behind her.

"You won't believe what Hagrid's just shown me!"

"Wait a sec…" Harry glanced at his watch. And then Sirius' head appeared in the fire. Harry beamed. "Sirius!" He knelt down in front of the fireplace. Chrys sat cross-legged next to him. "How're you doing?"

"You look good," Chrys said. His long matted hair had been cropped short, and his face wasn't as gaunt or grey. Sirius almost smiled.

"Thanks, little flower," he said. Chrys nearly blushed. Harry shot her an amused look. Then Sirius' expression turned serious. "But never mind me, how are you two?"

"I'm okay, but…" Chrys looked sideways at Harry.

"I'm—" Harry choked. "I'm not great," he admitted. He told Sirius about Ron and most of the castle not believing him about putting his name in the goblet, and then about Skeeter's fabrications. "I don't know how it can get worse."

Chrys winced. "Ah… funny you should say that." She rubbed the back of her neck. "I've just been with Hagrid and… he showed me what the first task is." They stared at her. "It's dragons. Charlie—that's Ron's brother, Sirius, he's a dragon keeper—well—Charlie and these other dragon keepers have brought four nesting mothers over, one for each champion. Charlie thinks the first task is going to be getting past them somehow, but he didn't know the details."

Harry groaned. "Great. I'm a goner. Terrific. Just fantastic."

Chrys patted him on the back. Sirius looked at him concernedly.

"Dragons we can deal with, Harry, but we'll get to that in a minute," he said, rather dismissively, in Chrys' opinion. She and Harry exchanged a confused look. "I haven't got long here—I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire, but they could be back at any time." Chrys frowned. "There are things I need to warn you about."

Harry stiffened. "What?"

"Karkaroff," Sirius said. "Harry, he was a Death Eater. You know what Death Eaters are, don't you?" Chrys stared wide-eyed at him.

"Yes," Harry said. "He—what?"

"He was caught, he was in Azkaban with me, but he got released," Sirius continued quickly. "I'd bet everything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwarts this year—to keep an eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place." No wonder Karkaroff looked both so frightened and spiteful the first night he saw Moody.

"Karkaroff got released?" Harry asked confusedly. "Why did they release him?"

"He did a deal with the Ministry of Magic," Sirius said resentfully. "He said he'd seen the error of his ways, and he named names… he put a load of other people into Azkaban in his place… he's not very popular in there, I can tell you. And since he got out, from what I can tell, he's been teaching the Dark Arts to every student who passes through that school of his. So watch out for the Durmstrang champion as well."

Chrys frowned. Karkaroff had seemed sleazy from the start, but Krum hadn't. He was a bit surly, perhaps, but he didn't seem dangerous.

"Okay," Harry said slowly. "But… are you saying Karkaroff put my name in the goblet? — Because if he did, he's a really good actor. He seemed furious about it. He wanted to stop me from competing."

"We know he's a good actor," Sirius grunted. "Because he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn't he? Now, I've been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet, Harry—"

"You and the rest of the world," Harry grumbled.

"—And reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman's article last month…" Sirius continued. "Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts." Harry opened his mouth. "Yes, I know she says it was another false alarm, but I don't think so, somehow. I think someone tired to stop him from getting to Hogwarts. I think someone knew their job would be a lot more difficult with him around. And no one's going to look into it too closely—Mad-Eye's heard intruders a bit too often. But that doesn't mean he can't still spot the real thing. Moody was the best Auror the Ministry ever had."

Chrys nodded. "That's what Remus said."

Sirius blinked. "You've been in touch with Remus?"

"Yeah. You should write him, he misses you," she told him. Sirius frowned slightly.

"I… I still don't understand," Harry said. They looked at him. "Sirius, what are you saying? Karkaroff's trying to kill me? But why?"

Sirius hesitated. "…I've been hearing some very strange things. The Death Eaters seem to be a bit more active than usual lately. They showed themselves at the Quidditch World Cup, didn't they? Someone set off the Dark Mark… and then—did you hear about the Ministry of Magic witch who's gone missing?"

"Bertha Jorkins?" Harry recalled.

"Exactly… she disappeared in Albania, and that's definitely where Voldemort was rumored to be last," Sirius said. Chrys frowned. "…And she would have known the Triwizard Tournament was coming up, wouldn't she?"

"Yeah, but… it's not very likely she'd have walked straight into Voldemort, is it?" Harry thought.

"Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins," Sirius said. "She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination, Harry. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap."

"So… so Voldemort could have found out about the tournament?" Harry said. "Is that what you mean? You think Karkaroff might be here on his orders?"

"But, Sirius, you said Karkaroff turned in other Death Eaters. I doubt they would welcome him back with open arms…" Chrys thought.

Sirius nodded slowly.

"You've got a point. I agree that he doesn't seem like the type to go back to Voldemort … unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him," he thought. Chrys remembered him saying something similar about Pettigrew. He turned back to Harry. "But whoever put your name in that goblet did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you and make it look like an accident."

Harry grimaced. "Looks like a really good plan from where I'm standing," he agreed. "They'll just have to stand back and let the dragons do their stuff."

"Right—these dragons," Sirius said quickly. "There's a way, Harry. Don't be tempted to try a Stunning Spell—dragons are strong and too powerfully magical to be knocked out by a single Stunner, you need about half a dozen wizards at a time to overcome a dragon—"

"Seven, at least," Chrys said. "I've just seen them do it."

"But you can do it alone," Sirius continued, still looking at Harry. "There is a way, and a simple spell's all you need. Just—" Harry held his hand up. There were footsteps coming down the boys' staircase.

"Go!" Harry said. "Go! There's someone coming!" Harry and Chrys stood up, blocking the fire from view. There was a 'pop!' behind them as Sirius left. Harry sighed in relief.

And then Ron stepped out of the stairwell in his maroon paisley pajamas. He froze, staring at them. "Who were you talking to?"

"Each other," Harry and Chrys said at the same time. Ron's brow furrowed.

"Thought I heard a man's voice…"

"Harry must finally be going through puberty," Chrys joked. Harry shot her a look.

"Anyway, what's that got to do with you?" He snapped at Ron. "What are you doing down here at this time of night?"

"I just wondered where you…" Ron shrugged. "Nothing. I'm going back to bed."

"Just thought you'd come nosing around, did you?" Harry snarled.

"Harry…" Chrys said tiredly. Ron's face turned red.

"Sorry about that," he said, not sounding very sorry at all. "Should've realized you didn't want to be disturbed. I'll let you get on with practicing for your next interview in peace."

Harry grabbed one of the Support Cedric Diggory badges (which Chrys realized now said 'Potter Really Stinks' on them) from the table and threw it hard at Ron.

"Harry!" Chrys said sharply as it hit Ron on the forehead and bounced off.

"What?" Harry snapped at her. "It's something for him to wear on Tuesday!" He glared at Ron. "You might even have a scar now, if you're lucky… That's what you want, isn't it?" Harry pushed past Ron and stomped upstairs.

Ron stared at the badge lying on the floor.

"Are you… are you all right?" Chrys asked hesitantly. She reached up to touch his forehead. He winced.

"I'm all right…" Ron pushed her off gently. Then he frowned. "Actually, you know what? I'm not all right, Chrys."

"Yeah." She grimaced. "I sort of figured. Want to talk about it? I've got licorice…"

Ron snorted. "You've always got licorice…"

Later that morning, Chrys woke and went for her run with Ginny.

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked as they walked back to the castle, Chrys clutching a stitch at her side. "Your time was much better last week."

"I'm just tired, I think," Chrys said. Ginny frowned.

"You've got trouble sleeping again? I'll go with you to get a Dreamless Sleep Potion from Madam Pomfrey, if you like."

"No, no, it's not like that…" Chrys pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Actually, I was up late last night talking to your brother."

"Hmm…" Ginny studied her. "Fred?"

"What? No! I meant Ron. Why would you think it was Fred?" Chrys felt very warm all of a sudden. It must be all the running.

"I wonder why…" Ginny smiled slightly. "Anyway, you were talking to Ron about his and Harry's stupid fight, I suppose?" Chrys nodded.

"Fat lot of good it did. I mean he finally started talking about his feelings…" she said. Ginny smirked. "…Which is good, but he didn't let me get a word in, and then I sort of fell asleep while he was talking, and he was very offended." Ginny laughed.

"Well, wouldn't you be?" They stepped through the castle doors. Ginny looked longingly at the Great Hall. "I'm starved… don't suppose you'd want to have a bite before we hit the showers?"

Chrys shrugged. "I don't mind."

They got a few weird looks from their muggle styled jogging outfits, but Ginny and Chrys ignored them, spotting Hermione and sitting down next to her.

"Have a nice run?" Hermione asked, looking up from her Arithmancy book.

"Not bad," Ginny said, pouring some pumpkin juice for herself. Chrys started ladling oatmeal into a bowl. "We were just talking about…" She trailed off, looking over Hermione's shoulder at Harry, who was walking over to them.

"Chrys, Hermione, let's go for a walk," Harry said without introduction.

"But I just got back from my run," Chrys complained. Harry stared at her with those big green eyes of his. Damn him. She sighed, sliding her bowl of oatmeal over in front of Ginny so it wouldn't go to waste. "Let me just grab some toast."

Chrys and Harry told Hermione about the dragons and the meeting with Sirius. For the moment, Hermione was more concerned about the dragons.

"Let's just try and keep you alive until Tuesday evening," she said anxiously. "And then we can worry about Karkaroff."

They walked three times around the lake, trying to think about what simple spell Sirius could have been about to mention, that could subdue a dragon.

"Well," Hermione said. "When in doubt—"

"Go to the library," Chrys and Harry finished.

They emptied out the shelves in the relevant section and spread the books out over their favorite table.

"Talon-clipping by charms… treating scale rot," Harry read as he sorted through the pile. "This is no good, this is for nutters like Hagrid who want to keep them healthy."

"Hey," Chrys said.

"Sorry. I forgot you're also one of those nutters, Chrys."

She stuck her tongue out at him. Harry grinned.

"Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, owing to the ancient magic that imbues their thick hides, which none but the most powerful spells can penetrate," Hermione read. She frowned. "But Sirius said a simple one would do it…"

"Well, I don't know what spell you'd use, but in terms of penetrating their hide, a dragon's weakest point is typically their eyes," Chrys told them, tapping her glasses.

"But surely poking it in the eye would only make it angrier at me?" Harry thought.

"Probably," Chrys agreed. "Isn't the Hogwarts motto something about not poking a dragon in the eye?"

"Actually, it's Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus," Hermione corrected her. They stared at her. "…Never tickle a sleeping dragon."

"Well, I do know a tickling jinx," Harry said dryly. "I'll keep that in mind as a last resort."

At breakfast the next day, Harry appeared to be having trouble chewing his bacon.

"If you want, I'll do it for you," Chrys offered. His brow furrowed.

"What, chew my bacon? I'm not a baby bird, Chrys."

"Gross, no…" She made a face. "I meant I'd face the dragon." He stared at her. "I'll just… I don't know, polyjuice myself to look like you and then…"

"And then?" Harry repeated. She frowned. "It's fine. We'll figure it out… and even if we don't, at least I know what I'm up against. Imagine if I had to go into this without knowing what I was facing…" He paused. Chrys followed his gaze. He was watching Cedric stand up from the Hufflepuff table. "Listen, I'll meet you in the dungeons."

Chrys watched him hurry after Cedric.

"Miss Potter," Snape said as they sat down at their desks. "Where is your brother?"

"In the bathroom," Chrys lied. Snape didn't seem to find it a very impressive lie. He raised his eyebrows.

"Indeed?

"Yes…"

Harry burst into the room, panting slightly. Everyone stared at him.

"Er… sorry I'm late, Professor. I was… in the bathroom."

Chrys smirked. Great minds think alike. Unfortunately, Snape did not think of them as such.

"Five points from Gryffindor for your tardiness, Potter."

"But he's only three minutes late!" Seamus complained.

"Five more points from Gryffindor, Finnigan" Snape said. "Anyone else?" He looked around at them.

"No, sir," they muttered, opening up their books.

Harry sat down behind Chrys and Hermione.

"Hermione," he whispered. "I need you to help me."

"What d'you think I've been trying to do, Harry?" She whispered back.

"Hermione, I need to learn how to do a Summoning Charm properly by tomorrow afternoon," Harry elaborated.

They decided to skip lunch, finding an empty classroom to practice in. Harry had been trying and failing to cast the Summoning Charm for months—and now he had to master it by tomorrow—they needed all the time they could get.

"I still think it's strange that Moody helped you find out how to face the dragon," Chrys commented, sitting on the top of a desk with her legs dangling as she watched Harry stand in the middle of the room with his wand out. There were quills and books scattered around on the floor. They kept dropping halfway towards him.

He sighed. "I told you, he said it was a decent thing for me to do, telling Cedric about the dragon, and Karkaroff and Maxime are going to cheat anyway, so he wanted to give me a fair shot at this thing…"

Hermione tutted. "Concentrate, Harry, concentrate…"

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" He snapped. "A great big dragon keeps popping up in my head, for some reason…"

Harry briefly considered skipping Transfiguration in order to keep practicing… but no one wanted to get Professor McGonagall's bad side.

That night, they ate dinner quickly and then snuck into another empty classroom under the Invisibility Cloak. Sometime past midnight, Peeves turned up and decided that if Harry wanted things to come to him, Peeves would help.

"Let's go!" Harry said, ducking as a chair flew over his head. "Before the noise attracts Filch."

They went back to the common room, which luckily, was empty.

By two in the morning, Harry had finally managed to summon objects close enough for him to catch them, nine times out of ten.

"That's better, Harry," Hermione breathed, as Neville's toad Trevor came soaring into his hand. "That's loads better." She smiled sleepily at him.

"Well, now we know what to do next time I can't manage a spell…" Harry said. He threw Chrys' rune dictionary at her. She caught it awkwardly. "… Threaten me with a dragon." She snorted. "Right…" He pointed his wand. "Accio dictionary!" The book flew out of Chrys' hands and into his.

"Harry, I really think you've got it!" Hermione said happily.

"Just as long as it works later," Harry said. "The Firebolt's going to be much farther away than the stuff in here. It's going to be in the castle, and I'm going to be out there on the grounds…" Chrys frowned.

"I still think I should just stand nearby with it."

Harry shook his head. "It'll be too suspicious—I'm not supposed to know what the First Task is, remember? We can't get Hagrid in trouble… and Moody, I suppose."

Chrys nodded grimly. "It doesn't matter how far away it is," Hermione said. "Just as long as you're concentrating really, really hard on it, it'll come…" Harry yawned. "Harry, we'd better get some sleep… you're going to need it."

First period was History of Magic. Chrys held her up book in front of Harry's face so he could sleep a bit more.

Chrys wasn't sure he was fully awake when they walked out halfway through Double Charms. His face was sort of blank and he kept almost walking into things. Chrys grabbed his arm and guided him around the flood of students getting out of class for an early lunch before they went down onto the grounds for the First Task.

"We'll have a box of tissues ready, Potter!" Malfoy hissed as he passed by. Chrys made a rude hand gesture at him, and then grabbed Harry before he could flatten his face on a wall.

They had just sat down at the table when Professor McGonagall rushed up to them.

"Mr. Potter, the champions have to come down onto the grounds now… you have to get ready for the First Task."

"Okay." Harry stood up, his fork falling loudly onto his plate. Chrys winced.

"Professor, do you think it would be okay if I went with him?" She asked. Professor McGonagall frowned. "Just to see him off, you know."

"…Very well. I am going to show him to the tent. You may come with us," she said. Chrys smiled weakly at her.

"Good luck, Harry!" Hermione said quietly. "You'll be fine!"

"Yeah…" Harry said, his voice sounding far away.

Professor McGonagall paused on the front steps of the castle. She put her hand on Harry's shoulder. "Now, don't panic." She almost sounded like she was speaking more to herself. "Just keep a cool head… we've got wizards standing by to control the situation if it gets out of hand… the main thing is just to do your best, and nobody will think any the worse of you… are you all right?"

"Yes," Harry said in that same far off voice. "Yes, I'm fine." Professor McGonagall and Chrys looked at him doubtfully before starting off again.

Professor McGonagall led them to the line of trees in front of the dragon enclosure. A tent had been put just before the turn.

"You're to go in here with the other champions," Professor McGonagall told him, a little shakily. "And wait for your turn, Mr. Potter. Mr. Bagman is in there… he'll be telling you the—the procedure… good luck."

"Thanks," Harry said blankly. Chrys hugged him tight. They pulled apart, and she opened her mouth, but wasn't sure what to say.

"Come, Miss Potter," Professor McGonagall said apologetically. "It's time for us to go."