I somehow fudged up and forgot to post the last couple of chapters here that I've posted over on the other site. Up to 21 is posted there if you are interested. Otherwise I will catch this up in a bit, but I don't want to post them all at once.
Chapter 19: Of Wings and Waiting
Professor McGonagall led Chrys around the corner. Chrys looked up at the tall stands that had been built on the edge of the tree line.
"I think I'll wait down here, for now," she said quietly.
"Then I will wait with you," Professor McGonagall said.
They stood there in stiff silence.
At some point Madam Pomfrey and Professor Flitwick came down. Professor Flitwick conjured up a stretch of white canvas to the side of the stands. Then he waved his wand and the canvas righted itself into a second tent. There was a little red cross over the entrance. Chrys swallowed. Madam Pomfrey thanked Professor Flitwick and walked inside. Professor Flitwick spotted Chrys and Professor McGonagall and walked over to them.
"How are you, Miss Potter?" He asked, looking a bit concerned.
"I…" Her throat felt sticky. He smiled gently.
"I am sure he will do admirably," he said. He nodded at Professor McGonagall. "Minerva."
He headed up into the stands.
Chrys wasn't sure how much time passed before she heard the students coming down from the castle. Slowly they started to file up into the stands.
"Chrys!" Hermione cried out, relieved. Ron was at her side. "We'd better go up if we want to get a good seat…"
Chrys nodded. "Thanks for waiting with me, Professor."
"Of course, Miss Potter."
The three of them headed up to the stands, settling towards the top, just above a large group of Gryffindors.
Ron stared down at the empty enclosure. It had been fortified since Chrys last saw it. The enclosure was now walled, with the middle sort of scooped out like a bowl. If Chrys squinted, she could see a shimmery barrier covering the top of the enclosure in a dome. In the center of the enclosure was a nest, filled with—
"Blimey," Ron said. "Those look like dragon eggs—and there's the gold one, right in the middle." There was a golden egg nestled amongst the others.
"Professor Dumbledore just explained the First Task to everyone in the Great Hall," Hermione told Chrys. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, explained is a rather generous word for what he said."
"He only said each champion is going to face an obstacle, and try to get past it to retrieve some sort of golden egg," Ron said. "Only he didn't say what the obstacle was going to be… but that's a big enclosure down there, and if those are dragon eggs, then..." On one side of the enclosure was the champions' tent. On the other was another stone enclosure, but those walls were too high to see over. That must be where the dragons were being kept. Ron's brow furrowed. "You don't think they're meant to steal an egg from a dragon, do you?"
"Yeah, I do think…." Chrys looked around to make sure no one was listening. "Actually, I don't just think, I know." Ron looked at her.
"What do you mean?"
"I tried to tell you the other night, but you weren't really listening, and then I fell asleep—"
"It can't be dragons," Ron said, his eyes widening. "That'd be mad … I mean I know these tasks are supposed to be dangerous, but they're supposed to be less dangerous this year."
"There was supposed to be an age limit as well," Chrys reminded him.
"But—" Ron said. "Harry—"
"Good afternoon, to all who are gathered here today!" Dumbledore's voice echoed over the mutters of the crowd. Chrys turned. He was standing in a raised booth with the other judges. "The First Task of the Triwizard Tournmanet of 1994 will commence shortly. Our announcer, Mr. Ludo Bagman will start things off for us…" Dumbledore looked around. Bagman was nowhere to be seen. Dumbledore pulled out a whistle and blew it. A moment later, Bagman came sprinting out of the champions' tent. "Ah, here he comes now." They waited until he made it up to the judging panel.
"Well—" Bagman said. His projected voice was a little winded. "Will the keepers bring out the first challenge!"
One of high walls opened up, and the Swedish Short-Snout was led out into the enclosure.
"Bloody hell." Ron clenched his hands into fists. The dragon keepers chained the Short-Snout close to a peg in the ground near the nest and then backed away quickly through the high walls again. The dragon sniffed the eggs, let out a satisfied roar, and then curled around them. "Swedish Short-Snout, they've got some of the hottest fire there is…"
"Do they?" Hermione squeaked. She gripped Chrys' arm. "Why didn't you say anything? We should have prepared for each dragon specifically!"
"We had a hard enough time making a general plan," Chrys reminded her.
"So—so, he does have a plan?" Ron asked nervously. "But—but how did you know it was dragons?"
"Well—" Chrys started.
"Cedric Diggory, if you would please come out and face your dragon!" Bagman called out. Cedric came out of the tent. He was rather pale, but his head was held high. The Swedish Short-Snout looked down at him suspiciously. Cedric raised his wand, but before he could do anything the Short-Snout breathed out a jet of blue fire at him. The crowd gasped. Cedric rolled out of the way just in time. "Ooh, narrow miss there, very narrow."
"Three out of four champions are Quidditch players, so they should have good reflexes," Hermione muttered. "I wonder if that'll put the Delacour girl at a disadvantage…" Cedric raised his wand again, saying something they couldn't hear from this distance. Suddenly there was a large golden dog where there had been a rock a moment ago. "Impressive… that's really advanced Transfiguration, but I suppose, for a seventh year—" The short-snout was considering the dog, but hadn't moved.
"Clever move—pity it didn't work," Bagman said. Cedric pointed his wand at the dog. It moved towards the dragon on one side, while he moved around the other. He got up very close behind the dragon. As the dog got closer, the dragon's interest grew. It stretched its neck out towards it. Cedric crept up behind it, but the dragon's arm was blocking the eggs. Cedric raised his wand again. The dog moved closer. The dragon raised its arm to swipe at it. Cedric ducked under his arm. "He's taking risks, this one!" Cedric grabbed the egg. The dragon's head whipped around. It spat out a blast of fire. Cedric's face caught on fire. People screamed. Hermione was clutching Chrys so tightly Chrys could feel her fingernails biting through her robes. Several dragon keepers rushed out from behind the wall. Some of them grabbed Cedric and pulled him back while the others distracted the dragon. Professor Sprout, Hagrid, and Moody ran out onto the field. They reached Cedric just as the keepers were putting out the flames. "Well, look at that, Mr. Diggory is still standing." That was a good sign, at least. Professor Sprout appeared to be arguing with Diggory. "That's the resilience of youth for you! Still… obviously not ideal—in fact, serious injury came mean disqualification—" The crowd groaned, the Hufflepuffs the loudest. "—But he did get the egg before he was injured, so I say he should get some points for that… what do you say, Barty?" Crouch leaned in and whispered something to him. "Excellent! The judges will not disqualify Mr. Diggory!" The crowd cheered. Cedric held his egg up triumphantly over his head. It was a bit hard to see from this high up, but Chrys was fairly sure half of his face was one big blister. "Very good indeed! And now the marks from the judges…"
The judges shot silver ribbons out of their wands that formed into numbers.
"Full marks is ten points from each judge," Hermione said quietly. Most of the crowd was talking very loudly. "He didn't do too badly, considering…" She frowned. "He will be all right, won't he?"
"He should be," Ron said, though his face was very pale. "Charlie has got burned loads of times… I mean, Short-Snouts do have a really hot flames, but as long as Diggory gets it treated quickly…" Professor Sprout was practically pushing Cedric towards the First Aid Tent at that very moment.
"There has been a lot of improvement in dragon-fire-burn-treatment in the past ten years," Chrys, who had read about this last night, said.
"Oh, here we go again," Hermione said nervously. The dragon keepers were leading out the Short-Snout. Then they replaced the nest with a new one, and brought out the Welsh Green.
Dumbledore blew his whistle again.
"One down, three to go!" Bagman said. "Miss Delacour, if you please."
Fleur came out of the tent. She raised her wand in a sort of spiral motion. The dragon followed her movements and then collapsed. The impact of the dragon hitting the ground knocked Fleur off her feet.
"Oh, I'm not sure that was wise!" Bagman said.
"It's not hurt, is it?" Chrys asked worriedly. Ron glanced at her.
"You sound like Charlie—worrying about the dragon before you worry about the girl."
"Either way she gets points off," Hermione told them.
Ron shielded his eyes from the sun as he looked down at the enclosure.
"She's getting up again."
"It's almost like it's asleep," Chrys thought. Fleur crept up to the dragon, which did appear to be snoring. She reached for the egg.
The dragon yawned. "Oh…" Bagman said. Fleur froze. "Nearly!" Fleur reached for it again. "Careful now…" The dragon let out a snort of fire. The crowd gasped as Fleur's skirt caught. She quickly put it out with a jet of water from her wand. "…Good lord, I thought she'd had it then!" The dragon continued breathing slowly. Fleur darted forward quickly, grabbed the egg, and ran out of the way. The crowd cheered. Fleur's scores were shown. She had done much better than Cedric. The dragon keepers switched out the eggs and dragon. Next was the Chinese Fireball. Dumbledore blew the whistle again. "And here comes Mr. Krum!" Chrys groaned.
"What?" Ron said, applauding excitedly for Krum's arrival.
"If Krum has the Fireball, that means Harry has the Horntail."
Ron stiffened. "Hungarian Horntail?" He asked. Chrys nodded. "Damn." Ron's jaw clenched. "Harry gets all the luck, doesn't he?"
Krum raised his wand. A jet of orange light blast out of it and hit the Fireball in the eye. The Fireball shrieked. Several people covered their ears.
"Very daring!" Bagman said. The Fireball stumbled, disoriented.
"I think he's blinded it!" Ron said. Krum raced up.
"That's some nerve he's showing," Bagman said.
Krum wasn't as agile on his feet as he was on a broom, but he did manage to dodge the dragon's stomping. Her eggs were not as lucky.
"No!" Chrys shouted as several of the eggs were trampled. Hermione winced. The dragon keepers raced out, shouting in protest.
Bagman didn't appear to notice. "And—yes, he's got the egg!"
The crowd cheered loudly as the dragon keepers attempted stunned the Fireball. One of the dragon keepers stepped up to Krum and started arguing with him.
"Hey—that's Charlie!" Ron realized. Chrys stared at the blot of red hair below.
"Yeah… I forgot to tell you he was here…"
"He doesn't look too pleased," Hermione said, in an understatement.
"Krum just killed about three baby dragons before they were even born!" Chrys said angrily. "Why shouldn't Charlie be angry?"
"Yeah…" Ron nodded slowly. "But… well… it's Krum. Krum, Chrys." Chrys rolled her eyes.
"Well… he'll probably get some points off for the damage, at least," Hermione said, patting her on the back.
Krum got some points off, but not many. Karkaroff gave him full marks.
"Come off it!" Chrys said.
"What did you expect?" Hermione said. "Especially after what Sirius said about him…"
"Sirius said something about Karkaroff?" Ron asked.
"Look!" Chrys stood up. "The Horntail." Charlie had stopped arguing with Krum in order to help switch out the dragons.
"Harry Potter!" Bagman announced. Harry stepped out. He and the Horntail stared at each other. She started thrashing her tail.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no!" Hermione said. She stood up too, gripping Chrys' arm again. Harry raised his wand. "Focus, Harry, focus!" Harry shouted. They couldn't hear him from up here, but Chrys knew he was saying 'Accio Firebolt!'
"What's happening? How come nothing's happening?" Hermione said frantically.
Then Harry's broomstick came zipping through the shimmery dome above the enclosure. Chrys wondered if the barrier was only meant to block the dragons in particular—they hadn't known there would be a barrier, though it made sense, they had lucked out that the broom was able to pass through. It stopped in front of him. The crowd cheered as they realized what was about to happen.
"What a powerful Summoning Charm!" Bagman said. "And what a clever idea—summoning his broomstick!" Harry got onto his broom. He flew higher and higher, until he was speck above them. Then he dove. Chrys let out a squeak and grabbed onto Hermione. The Horntail was watching him. Harry flew to the side just in time to avoid a huge jet of fire. The crowd screamed and gasped. "Great Scott, he can fly! Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?" Harry flew up again, but not as high as last time. He circled the Horntail. Its head turned this way and that as it followed his progress.
"He's trying to make it dizzy…" Ron realized. "Brilliant."
"And dangerous," Chrys muttered. "If he pushes it too far—" The dragon let out another blast of fire. Harry dodged the fire again, but was caught by the spikey tail this time. Ron jumped to his feet.
"Harry!"
"No!" Chrys said.
"Is he hurt? Is he hurt?" Hermione asked.
"His robes looked ripped—on his shoulder," Ron said. "But… but he's still flying, so—so I don't think he can be hurt too bad—right?"
Harry was slowly urging the dragon forward. He flew down, and then up again, just out of her reach. The Horntail's neck stretched as far as it could go, but he was just tantalizingly out of reach. She thrashed her tail in frustration, but he was too high up. She shot out another flame, but he dodged. Harry flew this way and that. The Horntail's eyes followed him… she flapped her wings. Harry dove underneath them, snatching up the golden age and zipping away again.
"Look at that!" Bagman said, barely able to be heard over the crowd roaring in excitement. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is the quickest to get his egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr. Potter!"
Harry land neatly at the enclosure's entrance. Professor McGonagall, Moody, and Hagrid came running out to him. Chrys wanted to run out of the stands and join him, but Hermione still had her arm in a vice. Harry talked to them a little longer and then exited the enclosure.
"Where's he going?" Ron asked worriedly.
"To the First Aid Tent, probably," Hermione thought. "Come on, let's go."
They ran down the stands towards the First Aid Tent.
Harry was sitting inside on a cot.
"Harry, you were brilliant!" Hermione shouted. "You were amazing! You really were!"
Chrys hugged him fiercely, and found that she was crying.
"Hey, it's okay," Harry said, a little startled. "It's all right, I'm fine—it was just a scratch and Madam Pomfrey's already healed it…" He drew away from her, showing her the unblemished skin where his robes had been torn on his shoulder. "See?" She sniffled and nodded. Harry looked over her shoulder. She turned. He and Ron stared at each other.
"Harry… whoever put your name in that goblet—I—I reckon they're trying to do you in!" Ron said seriously.
"Caught on, have you?" Harry said coldly. "Took you long enough." Hermione looked nervously back and forth between them. Ron opened his mouth. "It's okay. Forget it."
"No," Ron said. "I should've—"
"Forget it," Harry insisted. They grinned at each other. Now Hermione burst into tears. Harry stared at her in surprise. "There's nothing to cry about!"
"You two are so stupid!" Hermione stamped her feet. Chrys laughed.
Hermione glared at her. "Sorry, sorry," Chrys said quickly. "I understand—I'm happy they've made up too. Why don't we go out and see Harry's scores?"
Hermione nodded, still sniffling. She pulled Harry and Ron into a quick hug and then dashed out of the tent.
Ron shook his head. "Barking mad."
"You've put a lot of pressure on her, you know," Chrys said sternly, wiping her eyes on her sleeves. "You should apologize for making her run back and forth carrying message—"
"Yeah, yeah, I know…" Ron rubbed the back of his neck. "And you're right, we should go see the scores… C'mon, Harry." They stepped outside. "Where's Hermione gone?"
Chrys looked around. "No idea… maybe she just wanted a minute to herself…"
Ron shrugged. "All right." He started telling Harry about what the other champions had done as they stood on the grass, looking up at the judges' section of the stands.
Madame Maxime gave him an eight.
"Not bad!" Ron nodded to himself. The crowd applauded. "I suppose she took marks off for your shoulder…" Crouch gave him a nine. Chrys cheered. "Looking good!" Ron clapped Harry on the back. Dumbledore gave Harry a nine too. Then Bagman gave him a—
"Ten?" Harry said in disbelief. "But… I got hurt… what's he playing at?"
"Harry, don't complain!" Ron said happily. Chrys laughed, doing a little dance. And then Karkaroff gave him a four. Chrys stopped dancing and scowled. "What? Four?" Ron shook his fist. "You lousy, biased, scumbag—you gave Krum ten!" Chrys looked at Harry to see how he was taking it. He was smiling warmly at Ron.
The crowd started back up towards the castle. Chrys, Harry, and Ron hung back, trying to spot Hermione.
"Harry!" Charlie ran up to them. "You're tired in first place, Harry! You and Krum!" Ron opened his mouth. "Listen, I've got to run, I've got to go and send mum an owl. I swore I'd tell her what happened—" Ron nodded, though he looked a bit disappointed. "—But that was unbelievable!" Charlie grinned at Harry. "Oh yeah—and they told me to tell you you've got to hang around for a few more minutes… Bagman wants a word, back in the champions' tent." He ran off again.
"You two can head up without me," Harry said as they followed him automatically towards the tent. "Maybe Hermione left."
"Nah," Ron said. They stopped in front of the tent. "We'll wait here for you."
Harry smiled. "Cool. Thanks." He stepped inside. It was only a couple of minutes before he came out again, and the three of them headed up to the castle together.
Ron and Chrys finished telling Harry about what the other champions had done as they walked along the perimeter of the forest.
"Congratulations, Harry!" Rita Skeeter said, stepping out from the trees. "I wonder if you could give me a quick word? How you felt facing that dragon? How you feel now, about the fairness of the scoring?"
"Yeah, you can have a word," Harry said. "Goodbye!" Chrys laughed. They continued on.
That night the four of them went up to the owlery to send letters to Remus and Sirius.
As they walked up the many flights of stairs, Harry filled Ron in on everything he missed.
"Really, we should've suspected him all along," Ron said of Karkaroff, though he had been quite surprised when Harry first told him. "Fits, doesn't it? Remember what Malfoy said on the train, about his dad being friends with Karkaroff? Now we know where they knew each other. They were probably running around in masks together at the World Cup…"
Chrys frowned. "I still don't think Karkaroff would be brave enough to face other Death Eaters after betraying so many of them… and I wonder why he didn't give up Malfoy."
"Bribes and threats, probably," Hermione thought.
"Wouldn't be surprised," Ron agreed. "Still…even if Karkaroff isn't paling around with his old mates, he could still be up to something. And I'll tell you one thing, Harry, if it was Karkaroff who put your name in the goblet, he's going to be feeling really stupid now, isn't he? Didn't work did it? You only got a scratch." They stepped into the owlery.
Chrys frowned. "There are still two more tasks, Ron."
Harry nodded. "Yeah, and—quit it!" Pigwidgeon had flown at him and was circling his head. Harry snatched him out of the air.
"Here, I'll help." Ron held him still as Harry attached the letter to his leg. Hedwig glared at Harry, clearly judging him for using such an inferior owl.
"You get to take mine again," Chrys told her. Hedwig squinted at her. "Come on—I bet you can get this letter to Remus before Pig can get Harry's to Sirius." Hedwig hooted, fluttered down, and stuck out her leg. Harry grinned.
"There's no way any of the other tasks are going to be that dangerous, how could they be?" Ron thought. "You know what? I reckon you could win this tournament, Harry." Harry grimaced. "I'm serious."
Hermione leaned against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest.
"Harry's got a long way to go before he finishes this tournament," she said as Chrys tied her letter to Hedwig's leg. "If that was the first task, I hate to think what's coming next."
"Right little ray of sunshine, aren't you?" Ron said, throwing Pigwidgeon out the window. "You and Professor Trelawney should get together sometime." Chrys snorted. Hermione glared at both of them. They watched Hedwig fly off into the night. "… Well, we'd better get downstairs for your surprise party, Harry—Fred and George should have nicked enough food from the kitchens by now."
As soon as they stepped through the portrait hole, the common room erupted into cheers. Ron made a beeline for the food. Harry followed him eagerly. Lee set off some fireworks as they were filling up their plates. He shot Chrys a thumb's up.
"Took a leaf out of your book!" He called out. "Why should fireworks only be for outside?" Chrys laughed. She had only set them off in the common room last time to cause a distraction so Harry could get some sleep… the room was rather smoky now. She waved some sparks away from her face, and then spotted the banners hanging up.
"Dean, these are great!" She told him. He grinned. Hermione frowned at the drawing of Cedric's head on fire. "Especially the dragon…" Chrys stared at it in awe.
"Thanks, but I'm not sure how accurate it is," he said. "Since I had to go by memory. Wish I had a reference…"
"Oh," Harry said suddenly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out something small and moving. Chrys stared at the very realistic and lifelike model of a Horntail.
"I love magic," she breathed. Harry grinned.
"Yeah…" He held it out to her. "You want it?"
"Seriously?" She asked, her eyes widening. He nodded. She squealed and kissed him on the cheek three times.
"Ugh, Chrys…" But he was still grinning.
After they had all eaten and chatted for a while, Lee picked up Harry's golden egg.
"Blimey, this is heavy…" He said, weighing it in his hands. Chrys leaned over him, eyeing the groove around the middle, and the hinges. Bagman had told Harry there was a clue to the next task hidden inside. "Open it, Harry, go on! Let's just see what's inside it!"
"He's supposed to work out the clue on his own," Hermione said disapprovingly. "It's in the tournament rules."
"I was supposed to work out how to get past the dragon on my own too," Harry whispered to her. She smiled sheepishly.
"Yeah, go on, Harry, open it!" Seamus said. Several people called out in agreement. Lee passed it over. Harry dug his nails into groove and pulled it open.
Chrys immediately clapped her hands over her ears. There was a horrible screeching noise coming from the seemingly empty egg.
"Shut it!" Fred shouted, his hands also over his ears. Harry slammed it shut.
"What was that?" Seamus stared at it. "Sounded like a banshee… maybe you've got to get past one of those next, Harry!"
"It was someone being tortured!" Neville said. He was very pale, and standing in the pile of sausage rolls he'd dropped. "You're going to have to fight the Cruciatus Curse!"
"Don't be a prat, Neville, that's illegal," George said. Chrys frowned, watching Neville closely. "They wouldn't use the Cruciatus Curse on the champions." Neville shivered and started picking up the sausage rolls. He tossed them in the bin, and looked over the table. Fred and George had just laid out dessert before Harry opened the egg. "I thought it sounded a bit like Percy singing… maybe you've got to attack him while he's in the shower, Harry." Chrys laughed. Neville picked up a custard cream.
"Want a jam tart, Chrys?" Fred held out a plate to her. She squinted suspiciously at it. He grinned. "It's all right. I haven't done anything to them. It's the custard creams you've got to watch—" Neville choked on his custard cream. Chrys slapped him on the back. Fred laughed. "Just my little joke, Neville…" Chrys frowned. Fred motioned the plate at her again.
"…No thanks."
He shrugged. "Hermione?"
Hermione took a jam tart, studying it. "Did you get all this from the kitchens, Fred?"
"Yep." He cleared his throat and imitated the high-pitched squeak of a house-elf. "Anything we can get you, sir, anything at all! They're dead helpful… get me a roast ox if I said I was peckish."
"Oh, but you must have been very clever, finding out how to get in there," Hermione said casually. Fred grinned.
"Nice try, Hermione. I'm still not telling you how to get into the kitchens."
Hermione huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Why not?"
"Cause you'd probably try and lead them on strike," George said knowingly. Chrys put her hands on her hips.
"I thought you agreed they've got a rough deal?"
"Sure." George nodded. "But I don't think the solution is to put them off them their cooking. Or do you want Snape brewing something up for supper?" Several people laughed.
"I just want to talk to—"
Chrys was interrupted by a loud 'pop!' as Neville turned into a large canary. Everyone burst into laughter.
"Oh—sorry, Neville!" Fred shouted. Chrys could barely hear him over the laughing. "I forgot—it was the custard creams we hexed—"
She stood on tiptoe and spoke in his ear, "You thought it was the jam tarts! You were trying to turn me into a canary!"
"Well, you'd make a much cuter canary than Neville…" He winked. She flushed and drew away from him. With another 'pop!' Neville molted and appeared to be good as normal. He laughed along with the rest of them. Fred cupped his hands over his mouth. "Canary Creams!" He shouted into the crowd. "George and I invented them—seven sickles each, a bargain!"