Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
A/N: Thanks to MaeSilverpaws1, who is beta-ing this story.
Chapter Ninety
Working
"You wanted to see me?" Cedric asked looking at Harry half amused and half annoyed. "And do you always use Neville to run you errands?"
"No, but I needed to talk to you privately and I didn't know how else to do it," Harry said warily, knowing that he was about to deliver shocking news to Cedric that would wipe any kind of amusement out of the other boy. It was the morning after he had learned that they were facing a dragon for the first task and he had used the map to tell Neville about wanting to see Cedric. Once he was done with this conversation he was going to head to the Room of Requirement and try to work out things with the rest of Infinite Light about the dragon he'd be facing.
"This doesn't have anything to do with the article, does it?" Cedric asked, raising his eyebrow. "I'll admit I was a bit annoyed by it, but I realized that you didn't write it …"
"No, that's not it," Harry interrupted him and then just blurted out the reason for this meeting, "the first task is going to be dragons."
Cedric eyes rounded as he gaped at Harry, mouth hanging open. He seemed to try to say something for his mouth closed only to drop open again. Finally he forced out, "What?"
"We're going to have to get past a dragon," Harry said, feeling his own fear returned to him as he watched Cedric react to this news.
"How do you know that?" Cedric asked, and Harry was under the impression that Cedric was hoping he was making this up or wrong somehow. "We're not supposed to know …"
"I found out … I didn't mean to, but I did," Harry sighed, he wasn't about to tell anyone that Hagrid was the one that showed him. "And I know that Viktor and Fleur will know … probably already know by now because Karkaroff and Madam Maxime saw the dragons too. I couldn't let you be the only one that didn't know."
"So you're not lying," Cedric swallowed hard, his face growing paler as he took this in as truth.
"I'm afraid not," Harry sighed.
"I was sort of hoping you were lying," Cedric said, looking dazed.
"Believe me, I wish I was," Harry mumbled. "I've got to get going."
"Yeah," Cedric said not even realized that Harry had moved, his mind was busy thinking about the dragon he would have to face, but when he heard the door open, he turn to look at Harry. "Wait …"
"What?" Harry said turning back towards at the older boy.
"Thanks … you know for warning me," Cedric said giving Harry what would have been a smile if he wasn't so terrified at the moment.
"Anyone would have done it," Harry shrugged.
"No, not everyone would have," Cedric said, this time his smile actually looked like one. "I don't see Fleur or Viktor coming to rush to tell me this. No wonder Neville thinks so highly of you."
"Er … you're welcome," Harry muttered as he blushed, he wasn't sure what else he could say to that praise and then he left the room only to run into Mad-Eye Moody. "Sorry sir."
"It's all right, Potter," Mad-Eye said, his good eye on Harry as the other one moved to the room where Cedric was still in before it focused on Harry again. "Having a word with your competition, I see."
"Er … yeah," Harry said uncomfortably, wondering if Mad-Eye had heard him tell Cedric about the dragon and wondering what would have happened to him if his professor had. After all he wasn't supposed to know about them. "Sorry sir, but I have to be going."
"Professor, I was wondering if you could help me understand something," Harry could hear Cedric ask at the same time as Mad-Eye had tried to say something. Harry was sure that his professor wanted to continue talking with him so he was grateful that Cedric had distracted Mad-Eye. He quickly picked up his pace to put some distance between him and the other two before he pulled out his map and made sure that there was no one on the seventh floor right now. It was only a few minutes later that he found himself out of breath waiting for the door to open and he could join the others.
"Hey," Harry said to everyone and they replied likewise.
"Is it true … what Ron and Hermione said about your first task?" Ginny asked looking pale.
"Yeah, I'm going to be facing a dragon," Harry said and got sympathetic looks from everyone there, all of which had books in their laps.
"This sort of makes me glad that we couldn't enter into the tournament," George said trying to make a joke but his expression ruined it.
"Do you know how you have to face the dragon?" Luna asked her expression and question were much too normal for Harry's liking. He would have preferred it if she told him he had to catch a fiddlywink (or some other weird creature of hers) to help him face a dragon.
"I don't know," Harry frowned.
"You don't think you'll have to fight one, do you?" Neville asked in alarm.
"No," all of the Weasley said at the same time and the others looked at them.
"Charlie … and I'm sure the others dragon trainers … would never let their dragons come here if they would get hurt," Ron explained.
"I wonder if he has such concerns about the champions," Harry mused.
"I'm sure he doesn't want you hurt." Ginny assured him.
"You said they were mothers … they had eggs with them," Ron went on and Harry nodded his head. "Well, then they'll be really protective of their nest … I would imagine you would have to get past them."
"Well that sounds so much better than fighting them," Harry said, not sure if he was being sarcastic or not. It probably was better, but only just.
"We've divided the work into two groups," Hermione said after a long pause. "Ways that you could use to fight a dragon … er … well not really fight them but spells that a single wizard could use that would actually have an effect on a dragon. The other group is ways that you could improve yourself to get past a dragon."
"Have you found anything?" Harry asked, hopefully.
"Not yet," Hermione sighed and upon seeing Harry's frown quickly added, "we've only been looking for an hour, I'm sure we'll find something."
"Yeah," Harry said, well aware that he only had a few days before the first task and that they didn't only have to find something, but he would have to learn how to use it in that time.
"Have you talked to Sirius and Remus yet?" Ron asked.
Harry shook his head, his heart hammering in his chest. He should have thought of that before, they might know something. He grimaced as he remembered that he didn't have the two way mirror that would let him contact them, it was in his trunk. He really wished that he had it with him. Then he noticed something next to him and grinned. He loved the Room of Requirement; it was so useful at times.
"Remus, Sirius," he said to the mirror and hoped it would work.
"Harry?" Sirius said after a few seconds and Harry had to repeat the names a few times. "Do you realize that it's only nine in the morning on Sunday and I like to sleep in on the weekends?"
"Sorry, Sirius, but it's important," Harry said.
"Should I get R-remus," Sirius asked not being able to stifle a yawn.
"That would be good," Harry said and Sirius squinted at Harry for a moment, looking like he had woken up a bit and realized how worried Harry was. He hurried to the kitchen were Harry could hear them have a quick conversation before Sirius propped up the mirror so that Harry could see the both of them.
"So what is it, pup?" Sirius asked.
"Pup?" Fred snorted. "That's got a nice ring to it; maybe we should call you that."
"Shut up," Harry growled at him before turning back to face Sirius and Remus, his face slightly red.
"You should have told me that you were with your friends," Sirius pointed out, though he seemed to be sniggering almost as much as Harry's friends were.
"I learned I'm going to have to face a dragon in the first task," Harry said wiping the amusement off of Sirius's face and causing Remus's mouth to drop.
"WHAT?" the both asked at the same time.
"Dragon!" Sirius gasped. "Did you say dragon?"
"Yeah," Harry sighed. "Do you know how to get past one?"
"You're serious," Sirius asked.
"No you're Sirius, I'm Harry," Harry said, which caused Remus to come out of his shock a little as he rolled his eyes and then frowned at Harry.
"What do you mean get past a dragon?" he asked.
"Well, we think that I'll have to get past and not fight the dragon or something," Harry said.
"What a relief that is," Sirius said shaking his head. "What was Dumbledore thinking? Even if you were seventeen it would be nearly impossible to face a dragon … and you weren't even supposed to be warned about what you were facing!"
"Off the top of my head I would say that it would be best to use a Conjunctivitis Curse," Remus said, ignoring Sirius's rant. "The dragon's eyes are the only place in the body that could be affected by a curse and that would be the best one to use."
"He's right," Sirius said still looking worried. "That's what I was thinking as well."
"Then why do you still look so horrible," Harry asked.
"Oi! I never look horrible," Sirius tried to joke. "And just because I said it was what I was thinking, doesn't mean that it will be easy for you to do. The spell itself won't be difficult … it should only take you a day to learn … however, even if the dragon is blinded, that doesn't mean it will be any less dangerous."
"Okay," Harry said nodding his head. "I'll look up the spell."
"Harry," Remus said, "You know that you can call us at any time. Whether you need more help or just want to talk. It can't be easy with all this extra stress the tournament put on you."
"I know," Harry sighed, wishing he could just talk to them right now, but he needed to feel like he was doing something. "Thanks."
"Harry," Hermione said as he put the mirror down and she handed him the book. "I found the spell that they were talking about. Sirius was right, it doesn't sound too complicated."
"Right," Harry said giving her a smile, this was just what he needed right now.
"Why don't you work on that spell, as we try to see if we can find anything better," Ron said.
"But Remus said this was probably the best spell …" Harry started to say.
"It's probably the best offensive spell," Ron said. "Going for the dragon's weakness is a good option, but there might be other things we can think of."
"Dad always said there was more than one way get past a sleeping dragon," Luna nodded her head in agreement with Ron.
"He has a good point, Harry," Hermione said. "We should probably work on the spell as the others try to research more …"
"I think it's better if George and I teach him the spell," Fred said. "After all, we have learned it before."
"Besides, you're the best researcher," George added as Hermione frowned.
"She just wants to learn the advance spell," Ron sniggered.
"Fine, you teach him," Hermione said walking away from Harry, her face slightly red, proving that Ron had been correct with his comment.
Several hours later everyone filed out of the Room of Requirement for lunch, Harry lingering behind everyone else. He still hadn't gotten the hang of the Conjunctivitis Curse, and he could tell that the twins were starting to worry. It shouldn't be this difficult for him to learn this, but he couldn't seem to concentrate enough on what he had to do. Instead he was thinking about fighting a very angry dragon that he had just blinded. His gut sunk as he sat down at the Gryffindor table, he feared that even if he did master this spell (and it seemed like a big if at the moment) it wouldn't help him in the end.
"What's the matter Harry?" Ron asked as he sat down next to his friend.
"It's not going to work," he mumbled, making sure that only Ron could hear him. He didn't want Fred, George or Hermione to hear, but it was okay to admit to this to Ron.
"You don't know that," Ron said, trying to sound cheerful and failing miserably.
"But I do," Harry sighed and then looked at his friend. "Maybe if I felt confident in what I was doing it would be better. But I don't have any confidence that I will master this curse and then be able to use it …." he shook his head and took a deep breath, "I just don't think it will help me."
"Er mate … I don't know how to tell you this, but I don't know how you're ever going to feel confident when what you're trying to do is get around a dragon," Ron pointed out honestly and Harry actually cracked a smile at his friend. "I mean seriously, it's a bloody dragon, after all. Do you know anything that you're confident in doing?"
"The only thing I'm confident in is flying and …" Harry started to say.
"THAT'S IT!" Ron shouted, startling not only Harry, but everyone else nearby (he might even have startled everyone in the Great Hall).
"Ron … what …?" Harry asked but Ron was shaking his head.
"Just let me think a minute," Ron said, but he had taken much longer than a minute. He didn't seem to notice that everyone was looking at him as he slowly ate a sandwich muttering to himself. He also missed the hushed conversation between Harry, Hermione and his siblings. He still didn't say anything as they all got up, Harry having to pull on his arm to make him come with them, so they could go back to the Room of Requirements. He did, however, notice that Hermione picked up several extra sandwiches before they left and she smiled at him when their eyes meet.
"Thanks," he muttered to her.
"Are you ready to talk?" Harry asked annoyed that Ron had made him wait in anticipation for so long.
"Nah, we should wait until we're back in the Room of Requirement," Ron said. "I would have answered you sooner, but I'm not sure it's safe to talk in the open like we were." He smirked as he finished, noticing Harry grit his teeth in annoyance. "Hey, it's not my fault that you gave me a brilliant idea when we were at lunch."
"Whatever," Harry huffed and waited the five minutes before they were all seating back in the Room of Requirements in silence.
"Well, what was your brainwave, Ronniekins?" Fred asked once everyone was sitting.
"Well, Harry was just telling me that he didn't feel confident about using the Conjunctivitis Curse," Ron started.
"Oi!" Harry said glaring at him pointedly.
"Sorry mate, but I needed to say that to get to the point," Ron sighed. "And then I said something and Harry answered that the was only thing he was confident in was his flying!" he stated smiling at the others as if he just made a brilliant point and they looked at him as if he was mad.
"Right … then you shouted 'that's it'," Harry reminded his friend. "What's it?"
"Don't you see?" Ron said excitedly. "You need to fly Harry. Fly past the dragon!"
"That …" Harry opened his mouth but wasn't sure what 'that' was. The sinking feeling in his stomach seemed to lift a little at Ron's suggestion but he didn't know how that would work. "How am I supposed to fly?"
"Er … that's the part I'm still trying to work out," Ron admitted sheepishly. "But think of it Harry … as soon as you're able to, it will be easy for you to do whatever it is you have to do."
"Too bad your Animagus form isn't a crow like mine," Fred said. "Or an owl," he added nodding his head towards Hermione.
"Yeah, but I suppose that would have been too easy," Harry sighed.
"Easy … you call letting everyone know that you're illegal Animagus, easy," Hermione shook her head as she pondered the question that Ron had come up with.
"I would think that Harry would want to use his broom to fly," Luna said. "You always look so happy when you're flying on it; shouldn't that mean you should use it?"
"Yeah well, that would be ideal, but I can't bring my broomstick with me … I can only have my wand," Harry pointed out.
"You can summon your broom!" Hermione gasped.
Harry looked at her as she said this. Of course, he had yet to master that particular spell, and it meant that he would still have to work hard for now. But still. The idea that after he masters the Summoning Charm he would have his broom with him … he felt better than he had since his name had been pulled from the goblet. He felt as if he could actually do this.