The moment I was awake the next morning, I flew down to breakfast, wolfed down a decent helping then rushed off to the library in order to start my research. There were plenty of books on dragons, though not very useful ones. Mostly they were just instructions on how to take care of them or records of dragon-related incidents. There were a fair few cases of mauling and incineration, which weren't exactly inspiring. Still I searched, trying to find specific details on the four dragon breeds Harry and I'd seen last night.
Thanks to Charlie, I already knew a few ways in which to subdue a dragon, but most of them required several wizards working together. Their eyes were a weakness, and I also knew their blind spots, but still, in order to get past them, I had to have some kind of plan. Then there was Harry. I would probably be alright, but what about him? He didn't know as many high level spells as I did, and there was no way he'd be able to learn them by Tuesday. He'd have to make do with what he had, though for the life of me I couldn't think of a means to get him safely through the task.
He and Hermione joined me in the library soon after breakfast so that we could work together and I quietly listed off everything I knew about dragons from Charlie. "You can always go for a spell and hit them in the eye, but you'd have to get an angle on them so that you're away from the front of the face otherwise they'll just breathe fire on you…but I don't think one stunning spell will be enough and you'll probably just make them really mad." I said to him quietly as we continued to pour over books. "We'll have to teach you a means to distract them…bright lights and loud sounds particularly draw their attention, and if they perceive something that's a bigger threat, they'll go for that first, particularly nesting mothers…"
"How do you know all this?" Harry wondered at me as we sat in close conference, Hermione pouring over one of the many books we'd taken off the shelves.
"Charlie. He's always talked about his work and handling dragons, now I'm really glad I paid attention otherwise I'd be just as stuck as you."
"What are you going to do about your dragon?"
"Well, I have several ideas but until I know the aim of the task, I won't finalise anything. I have a feeling it has something to do with the eggs though, that detail struck me as odd. Ordinary dragons are ferocious enough, but Charlie said they particularly wanted nesting mothers and they brought the eggs with them too." I said thoughtfully, tapping a finger rhythmically against the table as my mind whirred. "I really hope we don't have to steal one of their eggs, otherwise we'll have no chance. Those dragons wouldn't let us within twenty feet of them." Just the thought of trying to steal an egg from a mother dragon was enough to make me shiver.
We discussed a little further until Hermione groaned quietly, noting that Krum had arrived and made the comment that he was 'back again', which meant that Krum apparently often came to the library. She decided to leave, Harry following after her but I opted to stay as Krum's fan group didn't bother me at all, and besides. Someone had to put all these books back. I began the task, waving my wand to make them stack neatly and float away as I guided them back onto the shelves until I felt someone approach me. "Hello Viktor. Lovely day, isn't it?" I greeted him and he gave a curt nod, ignoring the gang of giggling girls that were watching him.
"These books, vere you finished with them?" He questioned me quietly and I looked at him with a start.
"Oh, well yes. Doing research as well?" I gave him a knowing grin then lowered my voice. "I'm guessing Karkaroff already told you about the task, right? Don't worry, Fleur and Harry know too. Nobody could keep it a secret." Bringing the books back down I picked out the ones that would be of use to him, saying that most were just care manuals. "How are you feeling? Have you ever faced a dragon before?"
"No, but Karkaroff says that he 'vill teach me 'ow to get past. I just…vas hoping to see someone." Catching my interest, I invited Viktor to sit down with me then cast a charm around us so that no one else could hear us talking, telling him that we had complete privacy so he could talk freely. "You haff a plan to pass your dragon?"
"A few, though I'm more of a spontaneous make-it-up-as-I-go-along kind of person. Back to the important question though, who were you hoping to see? I'm curious." Viktor clenched his jaw which I was beginning to learn was a sign of embarrassment from him, though it made his expression all the more surly and stiff. Glancing around, he then admitted that he was interested in my friend, the one I had been sitting with as he had noticed her often in the library.
"She is quiet and does not follow me around like those girls over there." He said with his strong accent lilting. "I can 'ardly get a moment of peace, vherever I go, they seem to follow."
"Hermione? Are you talking about Hermione?" Blinking in surprise, I cracked a wide grin. "Oh yeah, she's brilliant. She's the brightest in her year, in several years, actually. She's one of Harry's best friends, and we get along well too, we often talk about magical theory and things like that. Would you like me to introduce you? I'm sure she'd be glad to say hello." Viktor considered for a moment but then shook his head, telling me that he wanted to talk to her himself but was trying to pluck up the courage to do so. I thought it all rather sweet, so I promised him that I wouldn't say anything to Hermione but if he ever wanted any help he could just let me know.
Instead we then talked about the dragons as I whispered quietly to him, theorising on what the details of the task would be but getting no further than guessing that we just had to get past them. There was the possibility that we had to get to some kind of treasure they were guarding, or stealing their eggs, but there were a number of things it could have been otherwise. Krum thought that maybe we had to knock them out and harvest something from them like a tooth, though I didn't really fancy the thought.
After spending the entire morning in the library we walked to lunch together with the group of girls still following after him, whispering and giggling though they were now throwing me rather envious glares. They didn't dare say anything, however, since now everyone was aware of the fact that I'd finally confirmed that Sirius Black was actually my dad, a lot of students were too afraid to talk to me. I wasn't bothered by it, the twins thought it was wicked, though they'd confronted me the first chance they'd got to demand why I didn't tell them, so I'd honestly responded with I took a long time to process the truth and afterwards, I didn't know how they'd react.
It all turned out fine, in fact they'd made it into a new joke, saying that they'd known all along that I was mental, now they knew why. Other than that, things were fairly normal around school, though there was a clear anticipation in the air for the upcoming task, though it was only Monday morning when Harry received his idea on how he was going to get past his dragon, and it was thanks to Moody's tip he'd thought about it. His Firebolt, he was going to summon it.
That of course meant hours upon hours of practice, and even after Hermione had to leave to go to lessons, I bunked off class with Harry in order to help him practice, wanting to make sure he got it before tomorrow afternoon. He struggled at first, concentration didn't really seem to come naturally to him but, who could blame the guy? It wasn't every day you found out you were scheduled to fight a dragon. In between practicing summoning, I also taught Harry a few basic but rather useful spells for him to use, working out a game plan though he kept on asking about me. "Don't worry about me, we're focusing on you Harry." I'd quip before returning to the spells.
By about two in the morning Harry was demonstrating a strong competency with the summoning spell, so I directed him to bed and told him to get a decent night's sleep, though I doubted either of us would be able to sleep much. In any case, the morning came and we both carried on about our day as usual. People called out good luck to me wherever I went and I'd manage a smile or a nod but didn't really say much, even the twins noticed that I was nervous. "Don't worry, if you die I'm sure people will cry at your funeral." George said to me brightly as we walked to our second class of the day, though my mood did not improve.
"We'll bring flowers and everything. It'll be a real tear-jerker." Fred continued as the two of them flanked me either side as we headed down to charms. "But just so we're clear, if you do happen to die a horribly gruesome and painful death, can I have your Firebolt? The real one, not the miniature one."
"I thought I was getting the Firebolt? You can have her wardrobe Fred, I'm sure we'll find something that suits you…also, I'm taking Orion." They argued about who was going to get what of my stuff after I died, jokingly of course but for once, I wasn't in the mood for jokes and after about half an hour of them not noticing that I wasn't laughing, they then looked at me with surprise. "Mia, are you actually worried about this? I thought you were fearless!"
"I'm not scared, I just don't like the waiting. I'd rather get this all over and done with first thing in the morning so I can then go to lunch happy. All this waiting is making me jumpy." I scowled, poking my wand at the bird we were trying to get to sing opera. The large crow opened its beak and sang out loudly in a shrill, operatic voice before I then waved my wand again and it crowed instead. "Also, I'm worried about…"
"Harry." The both finished for me, rolling their eyes. "He'll be fine. What's the worst they'll make you do? Both of you have already faced more dangerous stuff in the past couple years than most of us lot will ever see in our lives. Can't be more dangerous than slaying a basilisk, right?" Quite frankly, I wasn't sure if I'd prefer the basilisk to the dragon. At least the giant snake didn't breathe fire. I didn't say anything aloud, though, just forced myself to smile and instead asked them what the betting odds were and that effectively distracted them as they launched into their money making scheme.
My odds were pretty good, I was glad to say. More or less equal with Viktor, with Fleur and Harry having much larger odds against them. Nobody was really doing any work and even Flitwick didn't seem to mind, squeaking to me as he came past that he hoped I would do my best and to keep my chin up. "Well…it's not like you'll do your worst, is it?" Fred murmured to me so I chuckled. Finally lunchtime came, however before I could even reach the Great Hall to eat, McGonagall found me with Harry already following along behind her.
"Ah, Miss Black there you are. Come with me now, have you eaten something? No? Well you'd best grab something quickly, there isn't a great deal of time." So I had to take food to go, returning to Harry and passing him a bacon butty I'd put together with ketchup and sausages, both of us eating as we followed the professor into the grounds. "Now, don't panic either of you." She started saying to us, though it sounded like she was the one who was panicking. "Just keep a cool head…we've got wizards on hand 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." I had a feeling this was mostly directed at Harry, the way she kept on glancing at him nervously. "Are you alright?"
"Yes. I'm fine."
"And you Miss Black?"
"Never better, professor." I said to her as we continued walking further away from the castle and towards where the dragons had been kept. "Any last minute advice before we face our doom?"
"This is no joking matter I can assure you, Miss Black. My advice to you would be to not get ahead of yourself and think rationally!" McGonagall quipped, her anxiety making her snappier than usual so I thought better of tempting her anger and just fell silent. Instead I looked forward, seeing that in place of where the dragons had been kept hidden from the rest of the school, a new tent had been erected and in the distance, I could see a large stadium behind it. When we reached the tent, McGonagall then instructed us inside. "You're to go in here with the other champions and wait for your turn. Mr Bagman is in there…he'll be telling you the – the procedure. Good luck both of you."
Then she turned and quickly walked away as if to leave before she could be tempted to cancel the entire thing and drag us both back to safety. I wouldn't put it past her, McGonagall could be even more terrifying than Dumbledore at times. Giving Harry a hearty clap on the back, I lead the way inside the tent, fully aware of the fact that in about an hour's time we would all be facing our own fire breathing dragons, and with no option to turn back, the only way we could go was forward.
