Harry was ready for the pain to come, but it never did.
He was feeling hot, very hot, like he had been standing under the torching sun for hours on end, but he still found it way better than his previous experience with a ritual.
He woke up a few hours later, and even though he was feeling way better than he'd felt after the previous one, he was still sore and a little dizzy.
"Welcome back, child. I assume everything went well?", he asked.
"How would I know?", retorted Harry sarcastically. "It's not like I'm very experienced with rituals, and this one doesn't have a visible change I can see for myself."
"You really should not speak in such a way to your elders, child. I can see you're in a bad mood."
"Well, I just spent hours feeling like I was burning in the sun, and then went unconscious for quite some time so, yes, sorry if I'm not in a good mood."
"I'll leave you be. You shouldn't perform more than simple spells today, your receptors are still adjusting and performing big acts of magic can seriously affect them."
"Sure, I'll just sleep for a couple of hours, I could use the rest."
"When I catch him, that little shit is as good as dead! What was he thinking, inviting Fleur Delacour, off all girls, to dinner?". Daphne was angry. What was Harry thinking? Inviting her to a date, finding a way for it to happen when she'd said she couldn't go, and then inviting another girl to dinner at the Slytherin table? In front of everyone?
"Easy, I don't think it was entirely his fault. From what I understood, she pressured him a lot into doing it.", defended Blaise, siding with his best mate. It was hard, as he hadn't seen Harry since Malfoy had rudely ended their dinner. He was rethinking his idea of even mentioning it to Tracey that morning. Obviously, she had gone to Daphne right away. "Look, at least give him a chance to explain himself."
"From what I can see, he doesn't even have the balls to show up here and explain, so why should I care about what he has to say?"
"He's probably getting ready for the tournament. From what Fleur said last night, they are going to have to face a dragon, so he's probably freaking out with his mentor wherever he's staying."
That was news to Daphne. "A dragon? He will have to fight a dragon? You're joking, right? And how did she know about it? The task is supposed to be a surprise to everyone!"
"She didn't go into details about how she knew it, but she sounded pretty sure it was a dragon."
"Of course, she's probably cheating in some way."
She took an elbow in the back from Tracey, who was sitting beside her. She was about to complain, looking furiously at her best friend, but Tracey spoke before she could say anything.
"Harry is going to face a dragon in two days, and you're worried about Fleur Delacour? Really? C'mon Daph, you're better than this. He invited you on a date, not her. And you didn't even have to pressure him into doing so. So just relax with the jealousy, okay?"
Tracey's words were harsh, but they were true as well. It was like a slap in the face for Daphne.
"Yes, you're right," She agreed "it's just… She is a Veela and all, it's hard to compete."
"She's three years older than us, she would hardly be interested in him that way." tried Tracey, hoping to calm her best friend.
'I wouldn't be so sure about that' thought Blaise, this time having the wisdom of keeping his mouth shut.
An owl had, in the meantime, dropped a copy of the Daily Prophet in front of her breakfast plate, without Daphne even noticing. Opening the newspaper up to see if something interesting had happened, she found barely anything, with only a small article about the Triwizard Tournament on page three, including a small photograph of all the champions lined up. She couldn't help but noticing the look Cedric was giving Fleur, and how Harry seemed completely unaffected by her allure. That was something, at least.
Her concerns returning to the dragon, she asked Blaise:
"How did he react about the dragon thing? Did he look scared, confident?"
"To be honest, I didn't really notice" answered Blaise, blushing and looking down at his plate.
"Of course you didn't." she huffed "Boys!"
Fleur's days had been increasingly filled. Between studying the vulnerabilities of dragons and what spells would be effective against them, the classes with Madam Maxime, which had become increasingly demanding as the first task approached, and spending time with Luna, she found herself way too busy to think about anything else. She noticed her control over her allure was diminishing as the stress increased, so she started to avoid the Hogwarts Halls more and more. She had taken advantage of Luna's friendship with all magical creatures, including the House elves, to arrange for the meals to be brought to her room in the Beauxbatons carriages, so she could continue with her studies even while eating.
She would sometimes invite Luna to lunch or dinner with her, and this was one of those times. It was the night before the first task, and both of the girls were enjoying one of Fleur's favourite dishes, a Cassoulet, courtesy of probably the weirdest house elf Fleur had ever met. His name was Dobby, he was Luna's favorite elf, and he had a funny obsession with socks.
But he had learned how to cook French food for her, and for that she was eternally grateful.
"Fleur, this room is bursting with Dabberblimp's, you need to relax, or you won't be able to sleep at all"
"I know, but I just don't feel ready. Dragons are very dangerous creatures Luna."
The smaller girl didn't know what to say to that, so she just got closer and embraced Fleur. She closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth coming out of the Ravenclaw. Tears flowed to her eyes, and she decompressed a little from the stress of the last few days.
"Thank you, Luna" She said. "Your friendship means a lot to me, I just want you to know that."
"Please don't die tomorrow Fleur" the girl asked, "I don't know what I would do if something happened."
"Don't worry dear, I'll do my best"
They hold each other tightly for a long time.
It was in that embrace that Fleur slowly drifted to sleep.
Harry woke up more nervous than he had ever felt before. Today was the day he was going up against a dragon. A goddamn dragon. 'The organizers must be insane' he thought to himself.
He had spent the last two days recovering from the ritual while going through the small library Salazar had left him, in search of something that would help.
He learned about the Conjunctivitis Curse that was usually used on dragons, but that was only to blind the dragon, not to defeat him. And there were a lot of warnings that a blinded dragon could be even more dangerous.
With Salazar's approval, he had opted for a simpler strategy, one that played to his strengths.
Due to all his preparation he hadn't seen his friends for the last three days, so he decided to go to breakfast in the Hogwarts Hall. He could really use their support after all.
"So, this may be the last time we talk to each other" said Salazar.
"That's a nice way to cheer me up, no doubt" he replied, dryly. "But yes, it's a very possible scenario, unfortunately."
"I have faith in you. We did all we could. I feel you're prepared for this. Now go and stun them all with the magical abilities of a fourteen-year-old trained by the Great Salazar Slytherin!"
"Now that sounds way more like a prep talk. I will. Thank you for all the help and the shelter. I wouldn't know what I would have done without you."
"This chamber was built for you and all my descendants. And my knowledge should not stay here rotting away in the shadows. I'm glad you showed up here. Now go, child. Make me proud."
He decided to meet Blaise, Tracey and Daphne in the Slytherin common room.
When he arrived, he had to wait for someone to open the door for him, not knowing the newly updated password.
"Harry, long time no see! Nervous?" Tracey had been the first to spot him.
"I'm glad I haven't eaten yet, otherwise I would be throwing up from the nerves right now."
She gave him a quick hug, stepped back, looked at him and said:
"Why does it look like you've grown again? What is happening to you? I don't see you for a few days and it looks like you've grown a lot."
"I don't know, puberty, maybe?"
"Well, piece of advice for you: Daphne's pissed off about that little stunt you pulled with Fleur Delacour a few nights ago, so take it easy with her, yes?"
"To be honest, Tracey, I'd rather deal with one hundred mad Daphne's than with the task that's waiting for me in a few hours."
"Oh the dragon? Yes, we heard about that, Blaise told us. We have been worrying so much for you. Tell me you have a plan?"
"I do, but I can never be sure about it when I'm facing a bloody dragon, you know?"
"I know, but you already killed a Basilisk, and you were twelve. I have faith in you. Oh, and that thing about preferring one hundred mad Daphne's? I wouldn't be so sure about that."
Daphne chose that moment to make her appearance, the timing so perfect that Harry almost suspected it was previously planned.
"Harry, there you are. Finally decided to show your face around here, hum?"
"Daphne I…" But she interrupted him right away.
"Don't worry. You have a dragon to face. Worry about that. We'll talk later. But trust me, the dragon is going to be the easiest thing you'll face today."
Harry was now really scared of what would happen to him if he survived the first task.
"Well, then I better make sure that dragon kills me for good." He joked, feeling himself break out in a cold sweat
They waited for Blaise and made their way to the Great Hall.
Harry's breakfast was filled with words of support from a lot of Slytherins, still some stares from a few Hufflepuffs, and a lot of insisting from his friends for him to eat something.
"C'mon Harry, we don't want you fainting in front of the dragon due to lack of food" Insisted Blaise, for the tenth time.
"I said I'm good, I've already eaten something" he defended.
"One small bite of toast is nothing" noted Tracey, putting two slices of bacon on his plate when she thought he wasn't looking. Facing his eyes, she defended herself "You always love bacon, I am trying to help."
"Yeah right."
"Excuse me, Mister Potter?" The photographer from the Wand Weighing Ceremony was upon them. "Rita would like to speak with you in private outside of the Great Hall in about five minutes, is that all right for you?"
"Sure, tell her I'll meet her there" He replied, noticing the curious looks from his friends.
"Friends with Skeeter now, Harry?" Asked Tracey, with a raised eyebrow.
"She's a dangerous woman, you have to be careful with her Harry" was Daphne's comment.
"Don't worry, I have everything under control. She's just doing me a favor."
He got up and walked out of the Hall.
"Rita, good morning to you"
"Harry, quickly, come here. I have something to talk to you about."
He walked into the Trophy room, with some bad memories coming up from the last time he had been there. But the room was empty, so it was as good a spot as any.
"What's up, any major discoveries already?"
"No, but I have some news for you. Your aunt Petunia's house is apparently under some sort of Fidelius Charm or something similar, so we can't really find it. We haven't been able to speak with them yet."
"I wasn't aware of that. Owls were able to find me. Dumbledore must have put some protections in place, of course. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Well, if it really is the Fidelius and you're not the secret keeper, then we're kind of screwed. If you give a memory of you being in the house, I might be able to find if something different than a Fidelius has been used."
"Sure, how do I do that?" He asked curiously. He'd seen the Pensieve in Dumbledore's office, but he didn't know how to pull memories out.
"It's really simple. Just close your eyes, focus on that memory, put your wand against your forehead, and imagine expelling the memory from your brain. It will come out."
"That seems fairly simple" He replied, doing as she told. A small silver mist hung on the tip of his wand when he was finished, and he placed it in the small vial Rita had handed him.
"Perfect. We will talk more when I have something to show you. I won't use owls because Dumbledore might be watching your mail."
"Smart idea, thanks Rita. And good luck with the investigation."
He quickly got out of the trophy room, finding his friends waiting just outside for him.
"Ready to do this?" asked Blaise, sharing the look of concern present on the girls faces.
"More than I'll ever be, I guess. Let's go."
And the four of them made their way to the quidditch pitch together, where the first task would be taking place.
AN: Chapter 10 is now up, and he have arrived to the first task. I've decided to stop the chapter here, as I want to give a special attention to the task. It's the first big action scene and I have big plan for it.
I won't put a chapter up tomorrow, probably. But on Sunday the chapter will be bigger to make up for it.
I want to thank my Beta Noam, for the amazing work he has put in the last two chapters. He also agreed to take a look at the first eight, so we'll be revising all them for writing mistakes, the content won't change. That won't happen for about a week though.
Thank you all for the reviews, follows and Kudos. This story as crossed 11k views on both platforms, which is just incredible to me.
Keep them coming.