Chapter 31:

Back in the common rooms, most of the Slytherins partied through the night until Professor Snape told them to shut it and go to bed.

Draco however, was surprisingly not laughing and drinking with everyone else but hunched in a corner with Crabbe and Goyle, working small flat circular objects that were currently flashing Hogwarts all through the room.

"Draco you too" snapped Professor Snape as the badge flashed 'Stinky' all across the common room.

Draco sneered and threw down the circular object- on closer inspection, it seemed to be a badge, and with a huff, plopped down onto one of the armchairs.

"To be Draco" prompted Snape impatiently but without even checking if Draco had heard him, he swept back out of the common room.

Calypso sat down next to Draco, "it's been a long day hasn't it?"
Draco shrugged, "Sure."
Calypso tapped her fingers on the coffee table awkwardly, "Er- what is it that you're making anyway?"
For a second Calypso thought he was going to throw the badge at her but instead, snatched up the piece of parchment next to it and slapped it in her hand.

On it, displayed a changing image from 'Support Cassius Warrington, the REAL Hogwarts champion' to 'Potter stinks'

"It's never going to work" sighed Draco dramatically.

Calypso glared at him before looking across the common room, "THEO!"
Theo looked at her weirdly, "What?"
"Come here for a second"
It was hard to see who looked more bewildered at that point, Theo or Draco. Or perhaps Calypso when Theo actually came over…

"What do you want?"
Calypso shoved the parchment into Theo's hand. "Any idea how to make this?"
Theo stared at it, "Seriously?"
Draco looked extremely offended, "What?!"
"It's just a switching spell. Did you ever listen in transfiguration? All you have to do is draw two different images and then cast the switching spell each time you want to change it"
Draco stared at him, "But what if I don't want to cast the switching spell?"
"That's not my problem- or you could just animate it with a muggle screen-"
"A WHAT?!"
"A muggle screen" repeated Theo slowly. "And batteries"
"Say what?"
"Ba-tter-ies. Then you don't have to cast spells or anything. The only problem is most muggle stuff don't work well with magic so you'll have to buy a magic proof computer next time you go to Hogsmeade"
Draco flopped himself back onto the armchair. "I think I'll do the switching spell"
Theo shrugged, "Fine with me"

The next day, it seemed as if Draco had taken Theo's words to heart because he had somehow convinced Theo to let him use his computer and animated everything on 'batteries' so the pictures changed every time you pressed a button.

He was handing them throughout the school and surprisingly, a large number of people wore them. Draco was also more excited than usual for Double Potions- he would get to show off his new creations, and sure enough, after lunch, he was one of the first ones outside the classroom.

When Potter and Granger came, he shrieked, "Like them, Potter? And this isn't all they do — look!"

He pressed his badge into his chest, and the message upon it vanished, to be replaced by another one, which glowed green:

The Slytherins all laughed and each of us pressed our badges too until the message POTTER STINKS was shining brightly all around the dungeon classroom.

"Oh very funny," Granger said sarcastically to her and Daphne who was laughing. "Really Witty"

Calypso glared at Granger, "I know right, do you want one? Draco's got loads"

Draco nodded, "Yeah, only don't touch my hand, now. I've just washed it, you see; don't want a Mudblood sliming it up."

That was the tipping point for Potter as he slowly drew his wand. Draco followed in suit, along with most of the Slytherins.

"Go on, then, Potter," Draco said quietly, "Moody's not here to look after you now — do it, if you've got the guts —"

For a split second, they looked into each other's eyes, then, at the same time, both acted. "Furnunculus!" Potter yelled just as Draco screamed, "Densaugeo!"

Jets of light shot from both wands hit each other in midair and ricocheted off at angles — Potter's hit Goyle in the face, and Malfoy's hit Granger.

Goyle bellowed and put his hands to his nose, where great ugly boils were springing up —Granger, whimpering in panic, was clutching her mouth.

"Oh my god" Calypso jumped forward to Goyle who now resembled something like poisonous fungi. "Are you okay?"
Gregory barely nodded, attempting to swat away the boils.

"And what is all this noise about?" said a soft, deadly voice. Snape had arrived. Everyone started to shout out explanations but Snape looked at Calypso. "What happened to Mr. Gregory?"
"Potter attacked him sir-"
"Malfoy attacked me too-"
"Hospital wing, Goyle," Snape interrupted calmly.

"Malfoy got Hermione!" Weasley said. "Look!"

He forced the mudblood to show Snape her teeth — she was doing her best to hide them with her hands, though this was difficult as they had now grown down past her collar.

Snape looked coldly at Granger, then said, "I see no difference." Granger let out a whimper; her eyes filled with tears, she turned on her heel and ran, ran up the corridor and out of sight.

After quite an interesting argument between Potter, Weasley, and Professor Snape, the former two slumped into the classroom, sitting at opposite sides of the room.

"Antidotes!" said Snape, looking around at them all, his cold black eyes glittering unpleasantly. "You should all have prepared your recipes now. I want you to brew them carefully, and then, we will be selecting someone on whom to test one. . . ."

But he was interrupted by a loud knock on the door as Colin Creevy rushed in.

"He was the mudblood that was petrified right?" hissed Daphne.

Calypso nodded as he began speaking in very loud, excited voices, "I wish he would stay that way" she whispered.

"Very well !" Professor Snape was saying. "Potter — take your bag and get out of my sight!"

Potty swung his bag over his shoulder, got up, and headed for the door. As he walked through the Slytherin desks, POTTER STINKS flashed at him from every direction.

When Potter finally left, Professor Snape glared at all of us, "Well, take out your ingredients!"
Two hours later, everyone filed out of the dungeon classrooms again.

As she was walking back to the Slytherin common room, Daphne huffed rather loudly.

"What?" Calypso asked, looking up from her book. "Oh…" Theo and Celestia were snogging in the corridor, Calypso grabbed Daphne's arm, "Let's go another way- come on then", dragging Daphne away from them.

On Saturday before the task was going to take place, another Hogsmeade visit was taking place.

"Are you going with Adrian? I guess I'll stay back then." Daphne asked gloomily.

Calypso shook her head, "No..he's helping Cassius for the first task"

"Oh…" Daphne suddenly brightened, "Can we stay back and help him too then?"
Calypso shrugged, "Uh sure?" she wondered why Daphne was so eager to stay back in the castle.

Calypso ended up going to Hogsmeade though, turns out Daphne was horrible at making up her mind.

"Where do you want to go first?"

She shrugged, "I kind of want to buy Artemis a friend…"

Daphne stared at her, "You want to buy a FRIEND for your owl?!"
"Yeah...she seems so lonely sometimes"
Daphne rolled her eyes, "You've gone crazy, but let's go. I need to buy Astoria an owl for Christmas."

Fifteen minutes later, they were standing outside of Eyelope's Europium. Part of the reason that it had taken them so long to get there was because they kept stopping and looking at the different decorations on the shop, some had Christmas ones, some had fall ones, and some still had Halloween ones up.

"Ooh! Look at the owls-" Daphne pointed to a small black owl that was bouncing around in its cage.

The shopkeeper noticed Daphne's gaze, "Take him- for free! Been wreaking havoc all across the store- please?"

Daphne stared at him and made to nod but Calypso grabbed her hand, "Are you crazy?! That'll have to stay in the dormitories until you give it to Astoria-do you want to drive us mad?!"
"Yeah...I'll take him" Daphne smiled, turning to the shopkeeper.

I glared at her before she started browsing around.

Calypso finally decided on a cute barn owl that was the perfect sunny color for Artemis' white feathers.

After paying 10 galleons for it, Daphne and Calypso walked out of the shop each with their new owls.

"What are you going to name yours?"
Calypso shrugged, "I don't know…maybe Apollo, but I don't know if the owl's a boy or girl"

Daphne stared at her, "Seriously? You didn't even bother to check? Just change its name to Apolla or something if its a girl"
Laughing, Calypso looked at Daphne's owl, who was smashing itself into bars. "What's that thing's name?"
"Astoria.2" Daphne said immediately. "They're so similar it's crazy. Both loud, obnoxious, and crazy"

"Ahahaha, do you think they'll get along?"
"Obviously, I have a great taste," Daphne said sarcastically.

"Yeah...who was it again that bought that owl in the first place?"
"Oh shut up!"

Calypso slowly walked away from Daphne. "See ya"

"You get back here right now!"

They ran back to the castle, laughing before they bumped into Warrington.

"Oh! Hi, how's everything going?"

"Horribly" Cassius admitted. "Pucey has an uncle who works with dragons, they're bringing dragons over the first task"
"That sucks" Daphne summed up.

"Yeah, any of you know how to get past a dragon then?"
"Uh…" Calypso picked up one of the books he was carrying. "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them...oh I've heard about him," said Calypso, tapping Newt Scamander's picture. "His older brother's a war hero supposedly and fought with Potter's grandfather"

"Well, Scammander's books aren't very helpful. He's supposedly handled all these dragons but doesn't mention anywhere how to! Just look,"

Calypso flipped to the page about dragons,

"Dragon

M. O.M. Classification: XXXXX

Probably the most famous of all magical beasts, dragons are among the most difficult to hide. The female is generally larger and more aggressive than the male, though neither should be approached by any but highly skilled and trained wizards. Dragonhide, blood, heart, liver, and horn all have highly magical properties, but dragon eggs are defined as Class A Non-Tradable Goods.

There are ten breeds of dragon, though these have been known to interbreed on occasion, producing rare hybrids. Pure-bred dragons are as follows:

Antipodean Opaleye:

The Opaleye is a native of New Zealand, though it has been known to migrate to Australia when the territory becomes scarce in its native land. Unusually for a dragon, it dwells in valleys rather than mountains. It is of medium size (between two and three tonnes). Perhaps the most beautiful type of dragon, it has iridescent, pearly scales and glittering, multi-colored, pupil-less eyes, hence its name. This dragon produces a very vivid scarlet flame, though by dragon standards it is not particularly aggressive and will rarely kill unless hungry. Its favorite food is sheep, though it has been known to attack larger prey. A spate of kangaroo killings in the late 1970s was attributed to a male Opaleye ousted from his homeland by a dominant female. Opaleye eggs are pale grey and may be mistaken for fossils by unwary Muggles.

Chinese Fireball (sometimes known as Lion Dragon):

The only Oriental dragon has a particularly striking appearance. Scarlet and smooth-scaled, it has a fringe of golden spikes around its snub-snouted face and extremely protuberant eyes. The Fireball gained its name for the mushroom-shaped flame that bursts from its nostrils when it is angered. It weighs between two and four tonnes, the female being larger than the male. Eggs are a vivid crimson speckled with gold, and the shells are much prized for use in Chinese wizardry. The Fireball is aggressive but 12 more tolerant of its species than most dragons, sometimes consenting to share its territory with up to two others. The Fireball will feast on most mammals, though it prefers pigs and humans.

Common Welsh Green:

The Welsh Green blends well with the lush grass of its homeland, though it nests in the higher mountains, where a reservation has been established for its preservation. The Ilfracombe Incident notwithstanding (see Introduction), this breed is among the least troublesome of the dragons, preferring, like the Opaleye, to prey on sheep and actively avoiding humans unless provoked. The Welsh Green has an easily recognizable and surprisingly melodious roar. Fire is issued in thin jets. The Welsh Green's eggs are an earthy brown, flecked with green.

Hebridean Black:

Britain's other native dragon is more aggressive than its Welsh counterpart. It requires a territory of as much as a hundred square miles per dragon. Up to thirty feet in length, the Hebridean Black is rough-scaled, with brilliant purple eyes and a line of shallow but razor-sharp ridges along its back. Its tail is tipped by an arrow-shaped spike and it has batlike wings. The Hebridean Black feeds mostly on deer, though it has been known to carry off large dogs and even cattle. The wizard clan MacFusty, who have dwelled in the Hebrides for centuries, have traditionally taken responsibility for the management of their native dragons.

Hungarian Horntail

Supposedly the most dangerous of all dragon breeds, the Hungarian Horntail has black scales and is lizardlike in appearance. It has yellow eyes, bronze horns, and similarly colored spikes that protrude from its long tail. The Horntail has one of the longest fire-breathing ranges (up to fifty feet). Its eggs are cement-colored and particularly hard-shelled; the young club their way out using their tails, whose spikes are well developed at birth. The Hungarian Horntail feeds on goats, sheep, and, whenever possible, humans. Norwegian Ridgeback The Norwegian Ridgeback resembles the Horntail in most respects, though instead of tail spikes it sports particularly prominent jet-black ridges along its back. Exceptionally aggressive to its kind, the Ridgeback is nowadays one of the rarer dragon breeds. It has been known to attack most kinds of large land mammals and, unusually for a dragon, the Ridgeback will also feed on water-dwelling creatures. An unsubstantiated report alleges that a Ridgeback carried off a whale calf off the coast of Norway in 1802. Ridgeback eggs are black and the young develop fire-breathing abilities earlier than other breeds (at between one and three months).

Peruvian Vipertooth:

This is the smallest of all known dragons and the swiftest in flight. A mere fifteen feet or so in length, the Peruvian Vipertooth is smooth-scaled and copper-colored with black ridge markings. The horns are short and the fangs are particularly venomous. The Vipertooth will feed readily on goats and cows, but has such a liking for humans that the International Confederation of Wizards was forced to send in exterminators in 14 the late nineteenth century to reduce Vipertooth numbers, which had been increasing with alarming rapidity.

Romanian Longhorn:

The Longhorn has dark-green scales and long, glittering golden horns with which it gores its prey before roasting it. When powdered, these horns are highly valued as potion ingredients. The native territory of the Longhorn has now become the world's most important dragon reservation, where wizards of all nationalities study a variety of dragons at close range. The Longhorn has been the subject of an intensive breeding program because its numbers have fallen so low in recent years, largely because of the trade-in of its horns, which are now defined as a Class B Tradeable Material.

Swedish Short-Snout:

The Swedish Short-Snout is an attractive silvery-blue dragon whose skin is sought after for the manufacture of protective gloves and shields. The flame that issues from its nostrils is a brilliant blue and can reduce timber and bone to ash in a matter of seconds. The Short-Snout has fewer human killings to its name than most dragons, though as it prefers to live in wild and uninhabited mountainous areas, this is not much to its credit.

Ukrainian Ironbelly:

The largest breed of dragon, the Ironbelly, has been known to achieve a weight of six tonnes. Rotund and slower in flight than the Vipertooth or the Longhorn, the Ironbelly is nevertheless extremely dangerous, capable of crushing dwellings on which it lands. The scales are metallic grey, the eyes deep red, and the talons particularly long and vicious. Ironbellies have been subject 15 to constant observation by the Ukrainian wizarding authorities ever since an Ironbelly carried off a (mercifully empty) sailing boat from the Black Sea in 1799."

"Well, at least you know what breeds of dragons there are right?"
"What good will that be? It won't just be like- hey you know my name? I guess I won't attack you then…"
Daphne laughed, "What other books do you have?"

"Dragon Species of Great Britain, From Egg to Inferno, and a book about dragon breeding."

"Oh…" Calypso picked up 'Spells and Curses for Beasts', "Have you found anything helpful yet?"

"Yeah...dragons are ridiculously hard to defeat and you can't stun them without ten people at least."

Calypso rolled her eyes, "I said helpful?"
"Ahhh. Well, there's Adrian, he looks upset. Probably because I'm going to be turned into crisp next week. See you guys"

Calypso grimaced, "Good luck."
Daphne nodded, "Yeah you'll need it. I wonder if any of the other champions have found out yet"
"Probably"
"Oh. Bye then. And speaking of which, Calypso, when's the ancient runes essay due?"

"Tuesday" Calypso answered as they walked into the Slytherin common room.

"So same day as the task"
"yeah, "
"Awwww. Two catastrophes in one day. Damn it"
Calypso raised her eyebrow, "If you just did it, maybe it wouldn't be such a 'catastrophe'."
"Nah, I'll risk it"
"Fine, your choice" Calypso said as she pulled out a spellbook her mum had given to her. "Do you think Dumbly would let the champions get hurt?"
"Probably. Remember when he tried to send us to a troll in our first year?"

"Ugh… you're making me nervous! What if he switched the dragon's scales for plastic wrap…"
"Talking about Warrington?" sneered Adrian from behind her.

"Adrian- what the heck?" asked Calypso, staring at him. "He's your best friend!"
"He was," he corrected, "I can't-"
"Bye Adrian" sneered Calypso. "I see how it is, you can't handle me talking to anyone but you huh? Daphne lets go"
Daphne stared at her, "Uh- Okay?"

They walked towards the library together, Calypso furiously flipping through the bounded books.

We hit 100,000 words! That's more words than followers I have on every social media platform combined lol. But I can't believe we did it! 100,000 words is a huge accomplishment for me, especially when I can't even hit the 500 on my essay due this week...but happy early Thanksgiving if you celebrate it!

mwah love you 3

Make sure to send some requests for the plot, or criticism, or whatever you want! Just don't be mean because I'm sensitive T-T