Hello everyone!
This chapter was really fun. I started writing this for my own fun but then decided to post it anyways. It was like flexing my writer muscles.
Please review.
The song for this chapter is "Avatar Soundtracks: Agni Kai [Extended]" from Avatar: the Last Airbender, uploaded on the channel 0rangaStang on yt.
Avatar the Last Airbender has the best tracks, you guys should check it out.
I sat in the judges box secretly hating the whole concept of this tournament.
Maybe my teen-self would have found this exciting but for my present-self, the tournament was the equivalent of someone passionately waving a big ol' red flag screaming "MORTAL PERIL! MORTAL PERIL!" at the top of their voices while having a Sonorus charm in place.
And the 'security measures' did little to console me.
Chains were supposed to hold the dragon down while Dragon Keepers lined the perimeter.
But seeing as some of these 'experts' were to be busy chatting and placing bets with each other as the first dragon was being rolled in, they couldn't be held highly in my eyes. As a matter of fact, one of the dragon keeper was in the commentator box right now, betting with Ludo Bagman.
I wondered how much trouble I would be in if I hexed the two.
Bagman then shooed the man away (fortunately) and rushed to the champion's tent for the choosing of the dragons ceremony.
I saw a beautiful silvery-blue dragon with sharp grey horns, brought in as she roared and struggled the whole time. She had been tied onto a platform, which was being levitated into the arena by about 20 dragon keepers. The nest of eggs had already been set up and as the dragon's yellow eyes fell on it, she started to resist the dragon keepers' magic even more.
For the first time I was thankful for the corrupt nature of the wizarding world. Maxime and Karkaroff would have told their champions about the tournament already and Bagman would have told Cedric, whom he was betting on, so the champions' must be prepared and not just blindly walking into a death trap.
Speaking of the devil, Bagman ran back into the commentator's box and raised his wand to his throat muttering 'Sonorus'.
"Ladies, gentlemen and of course, dragons," Bagman chuckled as if he had just told a genius joke, "Welcome to the First Task of the historic Triwizard Tournament of 1994."
A deafening roar followed his announcement which rivalled that of the dragon's.
I had a hunch that the dragon wasn't feeling very welcome.
"The champion's task is to cross past the dragon and reach it's nest where an golden egg awaits them," Bagman paused dramatically, "This golden egg will hold a clue regarding the second task. Anyone who fails to get their eggs might as well be... eliminated."
"The first dragon we have here is a Swedish-Short Snout," Bagman pointed towards the dragon, on cue the dragon keepers removed the binds from the dragon. A hundred pairs of eyes snapped towards the dragon in impressive synchrony. The dragon attempted to fly towards her nest but hit the ground due to the chains on her feet, which rattled like bells in a temple.
She then crawled across the grounds towards the nest and stood over it, baring her teeth at the crowd.
She raised her head to the sky, emitting a huge stream of blue fire equalling the power of 10 muggle flamethrowers.
The crowd ooh-ed and aah-ed in unison, playing the part of a perfect audience.
All I could think of as the dragon, moved around in paranoia while trying to drag the weight of the enormous chains was that this, is animal cruelty.
"And here comes our first contestant," Bagman said, "Give it up for the Hogwarts champion - CEDRIC DIGGORY!"
Cedric Diggory walked into the arena - his hands shaking, his eyes glistening with fear and his fingers clenching around his wand - to be met by screams from the students of Hogwarts.
"GO CEDRIC!" "You can do it man!" "Hufflepuff rocks!" "HOGWARTS rocks!" "LOVE YOU CEDRIC" "CEDRIC DIGGORY FOR THE WIN!"
A few Beauxbaton students clapped politely while other looked on in disdain (though I had seen a group of girls swoon). The Durmstrang students, on the other hand, had started booing and hurling insults into the stadium.
Cedric didn't seem to hear them though, his eyes focused solely on the dragon who was returning the stare with a fierce glare.
The boy hesitantly took a step forward, as if testing his limits with a strict professor.
Instantly the dragon released a jet of fire.
Cedric jumped, ducking behind a rock.
The fire engulfed the rock, its blue tongues licking the stone, hiding it from sight.
After two whole minutes the fire died down, leaving just ash and smoke in it's place sprinkled with the glowing embers.
I sighed in relief when Cedric's tussled brown hair could be seen as he peeked out from behind the stone.
Cedric ran out from his hiding. Another beam of fire was shot his way, he jumped behind another stone a few feet ahead of the first one. When that stream of fire had ended he jumped up again, and ducked under a stone a few feet ahead of the previous stone as more fire was shot his way.
He continued on like this for a while.
"Look at this- Look at the way the boy is manoeuvring through the stadium," Bagman announced, "Using that quidditch agility to his advantage- BLIMEY! That was a close one. "
The crowd gasped as the fire nicked the edge of Cedric's cloak.
"Looks like the young lad will have to be careful- Oh my another close one," Bagman said, "The man's almost reached- will he be lucky..."
I was on the edge of my seat.
It wasn't luck that Cedric needed but a distraction.
He was too close to the dragon so the fire would reach him quicker, not only that but the dragon seemed to understand what Cedric was doing. She was more prepared. Cedric was dodging and ducking in too much of a rhythmic pattern, it was easier to understand when he would get out of his hiding spots.
"He's taking a risk this one. He's almost there-" Bagman said, excitement in his voice, "He has reached- and he- OH! Lord bless him, the poor boy almost got his head burnt off." The crowd gasped in unison, and I heard an Asian Ravenclaw scream Cedric's name.
"Clever move- pity it didn't work," Bagman said disappointed, "But look- he's on the move again- and he's off, jumping from stone to stone like a bowtruckle in search of fairy eggs. But what's he doing- he's moving sideways- what's on the boy's mind!"
I leaned forward in interest wondering along with the hundreds of other spectators, the pattern of Cedric's movements.
"What's this? The boy seems to be encircling the dragon- he's changing perspective."
Surely enough the Diggory heir seemed to be moving in a circle. The dragon- though shooting fire in his direction- couldn't move all that way in fear of trampling the eggs.
Cedric peeked out from behind the rock and pointed his wand towards... the ground?
"The boy's charming something- but what? Ho ho ho- genius- he's transfigured a rock into a dog. A brilliant distraction!"
The Labrador barked loudly, catching the dragon's attention. The dragon swivelled her head in the animal's direction. She roared angrily. The dog who had been enjoying it's newly formed life, blissfully ignorant, turned towards the dragon. The animal started shaking, like the diaphragm of a drum.
Cedric used this distraction to run out of his hiding place, sprinting towards the eggs.
Unfortunately for him, the dragon decided that she would rather have Roast Diggory than Hot Dog.
It turned towards and released its blue flames just as the boy was scooping up the golden egg.
Luckily, the dragon decided to redirect her beam of fire so as to not hit the eggs. Unluckily, it still passed close enough to Cedric for him to be burnt. He screamed and fell to the ground, clutching the egg like it was his lifeline. The crowd gasped, I heard the same Ravenclaw scream in fear.
Dragon keepers rushed to the scene and sent several stunners towards the dragon, who gave one last roar before falling to the ground. She was then levitated back into her cage, the nest of eggs in tow.
As Cedric was being taken away from the scene, he raised the arm that was holding the golden egg in a final moment of glory. The crowd roared in approval as Bagman excitedly spoke, "The boy has done it- amazing, ABSOLUTELY astounding." The crowd roared even louder in response to Bagman's commentary, he chuckled and said, "Seems like the crowd agrees. Very good indeed! And now the marks from the judges!"
Maxime raised her wand and gave Cedric a 6, Karkaroff then gave Cedric a 3, Crouch a 6, Dumbledore a 7 and Bagman gave a solid 10.
I raised my wand and gave a 7. Cedric may not have used any formidable magic, but his manoeuvring was worth a praise. Plus I was happy that the dog wasn't harmed.
That gave Cedric a total of 39 out of 60. He might have gotten more if not for Karkaroff.
Cedric grinned, the grin coming out lopsided due to half of his face being burned, and walked out of the arena into the Hospital wing.
"One down, three to go! Now comes in our second dragon-" the dragon keepers brought in a beautiful green dragon whose ears twitched at the sound of the crowd. This one was less violent than the previous dragon. Instead of roaring, she produced sounds that sounded partially like a whimper and partially like a growl. It had a beautiful lilt to it, that made me fall in love with the dragon immediately. The bindings on the dragon were removed just as Bagman announced, "It's a Common Welsh Green!"
The dragon roared loudly. The audience gasped at how musical it sounded. Instead of trying to fly like her predecessor, the dragon immediately scrambled towards her eggs, turning around to release a narrow stream of fire threateningly.
"And here comes our second champion," Bagman announced, "From Beauxbaton Academy, here comes - FLEUR DELACOUR!"
This reaction was more subdued than that of Cedric's but in no ways was it any less enthusiastic. The Beauxbaton student's clapped politely for their contestant. A group of the blue-clade students, whom I assume were Fleur's friends, decided to skip the politeness and cheer loudly for their friend hooting and whooping. Boys from all three schools were cheering loudly, a few screams of 'MARRY ME!' echoing across the stadium.
"Ms. Delacour, if you please."
Fleur, unlike Cedric, didn't waste time in jumping into her plan. Her movements were planned and calculated, Immediately she jumped behind a rock, not even giving the dragon time to fire at her.
She peeked over the rock and just narrowly missed becoming French Toast.
"Oh I'm not sure that was wise!" Bagman muttered.
She breathed deeply for a few moments, trying to calm herself.
This time the girl peeked from the far side of the rock, instead of from the top. She raised her wand and pointed it at the dragon. She muttered something, her brows knitted in concentration.
The crowd watched with baited breath as the girl muttered rapidly under her breath.
"She seems to be charming the dragon," Bagman said, "But what? Keep in mind folks charming a dragon is deemed extremely tough- not to mention dangerous. If Ms. Delacour succeeds..." He trailed off as the dragon started showing signs of the magic.
"Merlin, Ms. Delacour is putting the dragon to sleep."
The dragon lowered her body reluctantly, her lids drooping. She was visibly struggling to stay awake, but eventually subdued to the magic and lay down, her eyes closed. Steam bellowed from her mouth, as she took deep breaths.
"I guess never tickle a sleeping dragon has become literal for the girl hasn't it! Oh look- she's on the move. Treading on light feet, she's moving towards the dragon- MARVELLOUS! She's almost there!"
She moved towards the dragon's nest- only problem- "She'll have to climb over the dragon's body. Talk about a risk!"
The girl nervously put her hand on the dragon's scales, looking around in paranoia. A Beauxbaton girl screamed, "YOU CAN DO IT FLEUR!"
Taking a deep breath, Fleur started climbing, using the scales as support.
She reached the top of the dragon and swung her leg over.
"Oh... nearly! CAREFUL NOW... good Lord, I thought she's had it then!" Bagman stated, as the dragon turned in her sleep almost crushing Fleur. Thankfully, the girl had enough sense to jump off the dragon at the opportune moment, the nest cushioning her fall.
Fleur hastily scrambled up and rushed towards the golden egg, picking it up. She sighed in relief and raised it to the crowd, her silver ponytail swinging in the air.
"AND she's done it folks. Brilliant, absolutely- OH NO! Look's like the dragon was a snorer!" The dragon snored out a beam of fire, that caught Fleur's skirt. Dragon keepers rushed towards her but Fleur had already cast an Aguamenti, successfully dowsing out the fire.
A group of Ravenclaw boys hooted, grinning wolfishly at the French girl's now shortened skirt.
They yelped and shouted panic-stricken as they found out that their cloaks had some how caught on fire.
I wonder who did that?
The dragon keepers helped the girl get out of the nest as they started to levitate the dragon out of the arena.
"Now for the scores from our esteemed panel of judges."
Maxime gave her student a 10 smiling down warmly, Karkaroff gave a 2, Crouch a 5, Dumbledore a 5 and Bagman gave a solid 7.
I raised my wand and gave a 9. She may not have been the most flashiest or have the most excellently thought out plan, but she had done incredible magic (on a dragon no less) and had quick thinking. Not to mention she did it all without hurting herself.
So in total she got 38, one less than Cedric.
"And now for our final dragon." The last dragon brought in was a scarlet, smooth scaled dragon with a golden spikes which shone under the sun. "It's the Chinese Fireball, or the Liondragon- Oh I can see the Gryffindors are excited for this one."
The dragon was then released. She stood up gracefully, glaring at the audience who were staring at her with wide eyes. She growled and released flames to the sky in a mushroom shape.
She rushed to her nest, faster than the other dragons and curled its body around the nest, covering it from all sides.
"Now it's time for the last, but in no way the least, champion from Durmstrang - VIKTOR KRUM!" The crowd cheered thunderously, the sound coming not just from the rambunctious Durmstrang student's, but also from the many Quidditch fans.
"And here comes Mr Krum!" Viktor slouched into the arena, his eyes travelling all around, assessing the terrain. Like Fleur, he immediately jumped behind a rock. As soon as his feet hit the ground he peeked out and fired a spell at the dragon's eye. But if he was fast, then so was the dragon. She moved to the side so that the spell hit her scales instead, bouncing off harmlessly. He sent a curse again and the dragon dodged again.
This continued on for a while, "Mr. Krum is firing Conjunctivitis curses at the Dragon's eye, very smart- would have worked for the previous two easily- but the Chinese Fireball is fast and clever. OH LORD! That was close-"
The dragon had flown upwards a bit, not too much due to the chains, but just enough that if Viktor didn't have such a short profile he would have become the dragon's victory meal (or I guess Viktor-y meal).
Now that the dragon had found this advantage it would become harder for Viktor to fire curses.
"What is the boy doing? He's moving out of his hiding spot and- going back? Why is he going back?"
Krum started moving towards the stands, opposite to the dragon's.
"He's considerable feet away- but what's this! He's not dodging behind rocks anymore, he's gonna be hit by the fire! Merlin's beard- what is he thinking. AND THE DRAGON HAS FIRED! But what's this- the fire isn't reaching him. Oh clever, clever move- using the short range of fire to his advantage. And he's climbing the slopes at the edge of the arena- he's gaining height for advantage- genius! Absolutely brilliant!"
The dragon started growing frustrated and continued to fire at Krum even when it was of no use. She couldn't move forward, partially because of the chains and partially because she didn't want to leave her nest.
Krum fired the conjunctivitis curse, but having a clearer view now he was easily able to hit his aim. The poor creature roared in pain
"And the dragon's been hit! Oh no-" The whole stadium gasped. "It's trampled it's own eggs- that's not good, not good at all- the dragon keeper's are not happy. This happening... and right after some of them bet on Krum!"
"No!" I gasped at the sight of the crushed eggs. The dragon was away from her nest at the movement, but the remains of her pained trampling were still visible. Broken egg shells littered the ground covered with the egg's content. I thought I saw a bit of blood in there too.
All those eggs, all that life gone. And all for the sake of some twisted form of entertainment.
I looked at the crowd. Some people did look disturbed or sad at the crushing of the eggs, but most were too invested in Krum and his quest for the golden egg.
It made me sick. How apathetic they were.
"Krum is running towards the nest- the dragon's still close enough to hit him. Very daring!" Bagman was yelling. The Fireball let out another horrific shriek as it hit a stone in it's blind panic, "That's some nerve he's showing- and- yes, he's got the egg!"
The crowd roared in joy.
Krum took a few deep breaths and walked away from the nest not even bothering to raise his egg as the other champion's had.
The dragon keepers rushed towards the dragon- shooting Krum dirty looks on the way- and stunned the dragon. She was moved out of the stadium and Krum stepped forward to gain his marks.
"Now for the scores!"
Maxime gave him an 8 as I looked in shock. How could she give an 8? All the eggs were destroyed!
Karkaroff proudly gave a 10 (as expected), Crouch a 7, Dumbledore a 7 and Bagman gave an 8.
Did nobody care? Dragon eggs had been destroyed! I repeat, THIS IS ANIMAL CRUELTY!
I didn't blame Krum, it's not like he could have known what would happen, but the lack of concern from the crowd was appalling.
The wizarding world never ceases to surprise me- and not in a good way.
I gave him a 4, not that it mattered. His score had reached 40 even before I had given my score, surpassing Cedric and Fleur.
Now he had a total of 44. He walked into the mediwizard's tent
"This brings us to the end of the first task," Bagman yelled. The crowd screamed in approval, "What an exciting day folks, what an exciting day! Can't wait till the Second Task arrives. It will start on the Twenty fourth of February- I know, I know, a long wait- but I promise that it will be worth it. Let's wait and see if the champions can figure out their clues till then! Now I'll let you be. Go celebrate with your champions who have ALL succeeded in passing the FIRST TASK! Good day!"
Bagman dropped the Sonorus charm and walked off towards the mediwizard's tent where all the champions were.
I saw Xenophilius and Rita Skeeter scamper off behind him to gain some words from the champions. Originally, only Rita was supposed to write on the Tournament, but the glint of a few hundred galleons was enough for the Daily Prophet to allow the Quibbler to write on the subject.
I heard they had another interview during the wand weighing ceremony which I had missed due to my recording. Rita had apparently completely butchered it. It didn't matter though, anyone with even the last remaining shred of a brain could understand that this woman was a joke.
But, to be fair, the wizarding world was filled to the brim with idiots.
I walked out of the commentator's box. Immediately I was surrounded by the Marauders and Martha who had been sitting in the teacher's box.
"That was bloody brilliant!"
"Did you see that Chinese Fireball! It was so scary."
"Good Conjunctivitis Curse by Krum."
"That was the obvious way. The Delacour girl was much more ingenious."
"Nah! Sleeping curses are so boring."
"Can't believe they let dragons into the school."
"Yeah! Too bad they didn't have the tournament in our time."
"Yeah- we would have crushed it!"
"Only one of us would be champion James."
"True... then I would have crushed it."
"What makes you think YOU would be champion?"
"Well it's obvious isn't it. Who else would be champion?"
"Uh- me."
"Pfft- please Padfoot!"
"I'm pretty sure Lily would have been champion."
"..."
"..."
"Yeah Moony's right."
"True that woman's bloody brilliant."
Martha rolled her eyes becoming the physical manifestation of my thoughts.
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