Harry took back his words. He was most certainly not looking forward to the First Task.
He raced back up to the Gryffindor common room, as fast as he could, which was not very fast, considering he was under the invisibility cloak. The moon shone brightly; it was nearly full. Harry's mind cast back to their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher last year, Professor Lupin. Harry sighed, wishing he'd never left. But once the school found out he was a werewolf, Professor Lupin chose to resign. He was the only good Defence teacher they'd had in their first three years of magical education. Although, Professor Moody did seem like a knowledgeable teacher, Harry realised, given what he'd taught them over the past few months.
It was nearly one o'clock in the morning. Harry was about to be late for the fire meeting with Sirius, and he'd just found out from Hagrid what the First Task involved.
Earlier that day, while sharing a Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks, Hagrid had requested that Harry came to see him that night, at midnight. Harry had been hesitant, as he, Ron and Hermione had scheduled a meeting with Sirius regarding the Tournament and other things at one o'clock. Harry had only been pacified from his worries when Hermione had pointed out that she and Ron could fill him in on anything that he'd missed. Ron had added that whatever Hagrid wanted to show him must be important; he'd never asker them to meet him at midnight before.
Now Harry knew what the task involved.
Dragons.
Fire breathing dragons.
He sighed as he slipped into the castle and climbed the staircases. Why did he always have to face dangerous situations?
Entering the common room, Harry saw Ron and Hermione lingering by the fire, waiting. The common room was otherwise empty. Their heads both whipped around when the portrait hole opened, emitting the invisible Harry.
"Harry? Is that you?" Ron asked. In response Harry took off the clock and closed the portrait hole.
"You're just in time. It's nearly one o'clock," Hermione said, clearly relieved.
Harry wasn't relieved in the slightest.
"The first task is dragons," Harry informed them, feeling that a blunt announcement would best. It had the effect Harry was hoping for; Ron swore under his breath and Hermione froze.
"You're sure?" Ron asked in a hoarse voice.
"Hagrid showed me. They've got four huge dragons. Oh, and Charlie was there too. He's one of the people restraining them." Harry told Ron. Ron perked up slightly.
"So that's what Charlie meant, when he said he'd be seeing us sooner than we thought," realised Hermione.
"Yeah, that makes sense," said Ron. There was a pause.
"But dragons? How do we fight dragons?" Hermione said, breaking the silence, sounding fearful.
"I don't think we have to fight them. Just get around them," Harry said, trying to remember what they said.
"Also, Hermione, you don't need to worry. It's us who actually have to face them," Ron added.
"Oh, right." Hermione said. "But I might have to! I'm still involved in the task in some way," she pointed out.
The Triwizard Tournament was usually held with Champions competing by themselves. But due to the alarming death toll from the tournament, the panel had decided to make it a team competition. This was designed to make it easier on the Champions and to make the risk of a severe or fatal injury lower. The rules for the new competition were slightly different.
The First Task would be completed by the Captain and the first Champion whose name was read out when the Trio's names came out of the Goblet of Fire. The Second Task would be completed by the Captain and the other Champion. The Champion not directly involved in the first and second tasks would be incorporated into the task somehow.
The Third Task was the hardest. Therefore all three Champions would compete in it. The scoring system was kept the same, however, as it was frankly inconvenient to change it, according to Ludo Bagman.
So Harry and Ron would be doing the First Task. And Hermione would be involved in some way yet unknown.
"Yeah, but, you won't be fighting the dragons," said Ron.
"I can still help. Hopefully." Hermione pointed out.
"You aren't allowed a wand, Hermione," Harry reluctantly reminded her.
At that moment, somewhere deep in the castle, a clock chimed once. One o'clock. Right on cue, the fireplace crackled, and to Harry's great surprise, Sirius's face appeared in the fire, moulded out of the flames and wood in the fireplace.
"Sirius!" Harry dropped to his knees in front of the fire.
"Hello Harry. Ron, Hermione." Sirius rasped. His face contorted normally when he spoke. Harry found the way Sirius was made from the fire utterly fascinating. It was perfectly normal, except for the fact Sirius's face was literally fire. Although he wasn't too confused; earlier that year he had seen Amos Diggory communicate to Arthur Weasley in the same way.
"How are you Sirius?" Hermione asked anxiously, twisting her hands.
"I'm fine. I've been living as Padfoot, mostly."
"How are you communicating with us right now?" Asked Ron, curious. "I didn't know you had access to a fire."
"I'm in a muggle house," Sirius informed them. "Although I'm staying near Hogsmeade so I'm close in case something happens."
"You can't do that! Sirius, that's dangerous!" Scandalised, Harry raised his voice slightly, only to be shushed by Ron.
"Harry, we don't want to wake anyone up," Ron reminded him.
"Right." Said Harry, feeling annoyed, both at himself and at Sirius. He was putting himself in danger for the three of them! It was unacceptable.
Sirius asked them about how the tournament was going so far, so the three of them filled him in on everything that had been happening, including the mysterious fact that Mr. Crouch wasn't acting very invested in the tournament. He hadn't come to the Weighing of the Wands ceremony, and it was rumoured that he wouldn't be attending the First Task. Which was on Tuesday. Just three days away.
"Do you know anything about the task?" Sirius queried.
"Oh, yeah. Harry just found out. It's dragons." Ron said.
"We have to get past them," Harry clarified.
"And how do you plan on doing that?" Sirius asked them, his expression serious.
"We don't know yet," admitted Hermione. "Do you have an idea?"
"I think your best chance at getting past a dragon…hmm…" Sirius trailed off. "Ah, I know! You just need to-" Sirius broke off, as they all heard the noise.
Footsteps.
"Sirius, go!" Harry said quickly. As much as he wanted to hear what Sirius had to say, he couldn't risk him getting caught.
Harry, Ron and Hermione moved to block the fireplace from view, turning to face the staircases that led to the dormitories. The footsteps were growing louder; someone was coming down. Harry could tell they were coming from the boys's staircase, so he focused his gaze there.
A short boy wearing striped pyjamas entered the room. Neville.
"Hiya Harry!" Neville said cheerfully, unaware that he'd interrupted the most crucial communication Harry had had in his four years at Hogwarts. "Hey Ron, Hermione. What're you guys doing?"
Hermione found her voice, and tried to find a polite, friendly tone to speak with, although Harry could hear the frustration and annoyance she was feeling leaking though into her voice. "We were just planning for Tuesday. Trying to work out what the task is, and what kind of spells we'll need, that kind of thing." She lied to Neville. Well, technically it was only a half lie. They were planning. Just with Sirius. And they already knew the task.
"Oh, OK. I'll let you get back to it then." Neville said, but he walked over to one of the little tables instead.
"What're you doing, Neville?" Ron asked.
"Finishing my Transfiguration essay. I woke up to some voices; probably you guys."
"Sorry, Neville," Harry said hastily. It was clear Neville wanted a response.
"That's alright," replied Neville, sounding rather dignified. "I was lying in bed for a while, but then I remembered that our essay on organ Switching Spells was due on Monday-tomorrow, now, and I hadn't finished it. I realised I'd left it down here, so I came down to finish it before I forget, otherwise McGonagall will be mad at me." Neville sat himself at the table. "You guys carry on," he said, waving his hand at them.
Neville didn't seem to realise that they couldn't exactly keep talking in front of him. Not considering their conversation would involve Sirius and dragons. Harry glanced back at the fire. His godfather was gone.
"I think we should head to the library tomorrow, to check out that spell you mentioned, Ron. I'm not sure how to do it, but it might come in handy, you never know." Said Hermione pointedly.
"What spell?" Ron asked, dumbfounded.
Harry gave him a look. "The one you said you read about in a book. Similar to Alohomora."
"Oh, yeah, that." Ron said, finally catching on.
"Until then though, we should probably get our sleep." Hermione said.
"Yeah, good idea. Goodnight Hermione." Harry said. Ron echoed him.
"Goodnight Harry. Goodnight, Ron." Hermione walked over to the girls' staircase. Then she stopped. "Goodnight, Neville," she added. Then she disappeared up the staircase to the girls's dorms.
"G'night," Ron muttered to Harry and Neville. They replied with Ron's less formal farewell. Then Harry and Ron headed up to bed as well, leaving Neville sitting in the common room, finishing his essay.
On Monday, the Trio were no closer to working out how to beat a dragon than they were on Saturday. They had scoured every book in the library that so much as mentioned a dragon, and had come up with nothing useful. Harry and Ron had fallen behind on their homework severely, but this did not bother them. (Hermione, of course, was still able to keep up to date; ahead, really, of their coursework, even in the few days before the task, something Harry and Ron marvelled at.)
"There has to be something! There has to be!" Hermione had said furiously on Sunday night. They had been in the common room with stacks of books on dragons, hunting for information dedicatedly.
"I don't think there is. We just have to accept it. We're not going to succeed." Ron yawned. "The library's failed us." He added slyly, glancing sideways at Hermione, who looked insulted.
They were on the way to Herbology when Harry saw Cedric heading towards Charms. Cedric didn't know about the dragons, Harry realised.
"I'll catch you guys up," he told Ron and Hermione. "Give my apologies to Professor Sprout." Ron and Hermione looked perplexed, but Harry was hurrying back up the staircase before they had a chance to reply.
Cedric was surrounded by his friends. Harry paused, unsure of how to get Cedric on his own; and then it came to him.
"Diffindo!" Harry whispered, aiming for Cedric's satchel.
The satchel split open, spilling books, quills, parchment and inkwells everywhere. Cedric sighed, exasperated. "I'll catch you guys up…no, it's fine…tell Professor Flitwick why I'm late…" To Harry's relief, Cedric's friends continued on to Charms, leaving Cedric by himself. Harry hurried up the last few steps and over to Cedric.
"Hi…" Cedric said. He scrambled to grab an inkwell that was rolling away. "My bag just tore, brand new, too…"
"Cedric, the first task is dragons." Harry said.
Cedric blinked at him.
"It's dragons," repeated Harry. "They've got one for each team. We have to get past them." Cedric still stared at Harry.
"How do you know?" He asked, voice hushed. His eyes were wide.
"Because I saw them myself, on Saturday night." Harry couldn't say any more without landing Hagrid in trouble.
Cedric narrowed his eyes at him. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Madame Maxime and Karkaroff saw them too. They will've told Krum and Fleur's teams, too. Now we all know. It's only fair that we have an equal playing field."
"Oh. Thanks, then." Cedric said. He paused as if he wanted to say more, but he couldn't quite find the right words.
"You're welcome." Harry replied.
Clunk. Clunk. Clunk.
Mad-Eye Moody.
"You better head to class, Diggory." Moody said, but the order was subtly implied. Cedric nodded, and scooped up the last of his things from the ground before walking off to Charms, glancing worriedly back at Harry, who sent Cedric a small smile.
"And you best come with me, Potter."
Harry didn't bother protesting. He followed Moody into the DADA teacher's office.
Harry had been here when it belonged to two of the previous occupants. Gilderoy Lockheart had decorated his office with pictures of him smiling sleazily. Remus Lupin had had magical creatures everywhere, ones that he'd captured and brought into class for them to practice with.
Professor Moody had all sorts of strange trinkets all over the room.
"Dark detectors." Moody told him, seeing Harry looking at them. "Sneakoscopes. Foe Glasses. They help me sense danger, so it doesn't catch me off guard."
Harry was fascinated, but he was also worried. He wasn't supposed to know about the task. How much had Moody heard?
With his magical eye on the door, Moody said "That was a very decent thing you just did, Potter."
Harry was caught off guard. "Excuse me, sir?"
"Telling Diggory about the dragons. Now, I'm not going to ask how you know about them."
Harry visibly relaxed. Hagrid wasn't going to get in trouble.
"Do you know what you're going to do?" Harry shook his head. Moody frowned, and tried a different approach.
"What are your strengths, Potter?"
"I don't have many strengths." Harry admitted.
"That's not true, from what I've heard. Apparently you're a damn good flier."
Harry smiled at that. "Well, I guess my strengths are Quidditch. And a fat lot of help," he tried to joke, but it sounded flat to him. Moody didn't smile.
"Play to your strengths." He advised.
"But I'm not allowed a broom," Harry reminded his teacher reluctantly. "I can only have my wand."
Moody looked him in the eye. (with his non-magical eye.) "All you need is a simple charm to get what you need."
Harry understood. And to do that he needed-
"-Hermione, I need you to help me." Harry said anxiously, as he ran into Herbology five minutes later, uttering a hasty apology to Professor Sprout.
Hermione's head popped up from behind the Flutterby bush she was pruning. "What do you think I'm trying to do, Harry?" She asked him anxiously.
"I need you to teach me how to do a Summoning Charm by tomorrow afternoon."
So they practiced. They skived off lunch, and practiced the charm in the Transfiguration classroom. Harry wanted to skip Divination, and Ron agreed, but Hermione refused to skip Arithmancy, and seeing as Ron hadn't exactly mastered the charm either, the boys decided to just go to class, knowing any efforts to teach themselves the charm would probably be futile.
"Broaden your minds! Open your inner eye to see the future!" Trelawney intoned.
Harry rolled his eyes. They were crystal ball gazing again.
"Remind me of the plan?" Ron asked Harry. Harry obliged, even though he'd told Ron at least five times, purely for the distraction from the boring classwork.
"As soon as we start, I summon my Firebolt and fly around, facing off against the dragon, to distract it. Meanwhile, you stay on the ground and do whatever it is that we need to do." Harry said. He was pretty proud of his plan. He'd developed it between leaving Moody's office and entering Greenhouse Two. Ron nodded, looking slightly green.
"So tonight…"
"Tonight, I have to master the Summoning Charm." Harry sighed.
"I could just summon your broom." Ron said. Harry looked at him. "I'm a bit better at the charm than you are. I probably have a better chance at picking it up before tomorrow."
It was true. Harry's attempts were dismal. "But I'm flying the broom." He reluctantly pointed out the flaw.
"Then I'll just give it to you once I've summoned it." Ron said, like it was obvious.
Harry hesitated. "It's a good idea, but what if we get separated?"
Ron frowned. "I hadn't thought of that."
Harry decided, "Let's both master the charm. Then you can do it if you are able to, but if it has to be me, then I still can."
"What can you see?" Trelawney asked them. Harry and Ron jumped; they hadn't heard her creep up behind them.
"Uh…" Ron said. He gazed into the ball. "I can see danger. Fire," he improvised.
Trelawney looked interested, and gazed into the ball for a moment before snapping her attention to Harry. "And you?"
Harry unwillingly looked into the crystal ball. "Er…pain. Yeah, I'm in pain." Harry said.
Trelawney looked horrified. "Are you perhaps predicting the outcome of tomorrow?" She grabbed Harry's hand and started rubbing it. Harry felt disgusted; her hands were wet. He tried to pull his hand away discreetly, but Trelawney had a firm grip on it. "Oh, dear." She tapped his hand and let go. "Good luck." Ron rolled his eyes, and Harry wiped his hand on his robes; his hand was now sufficiently covered in moisture. "You'll need it."
It was half past twelve when Harry could confidently say he'd mastered the Summoning Charm.
Ron had gotten the charm really well at half eleven. Harry had picked it up at midnight, but Hermione made him practice for a solid half hour to make sure he really had it downpat.
"I think you've gotten it!" Hermione said, delighted.
"Yeah. Let me try once more," Harry said. He pointed his wand at the dictionary Ron was holding. "Accio!" The dictionary flew towards Harry. He caught it.
"Nice, mate. You've got it," Ron said.
"Hopefully you can manage it from that long distance," Hermione mused to herself, but when she realised the boys could hear her, she added, "But you guys have got this, as long as you concentrate hard enough I have no doubt you can do it."
She was obviously lying, but Harry appreciated the attempt to booster their morales all the same.
Ron held out his arms. "Group hug?" He asked. Harry and Hermione nodded and moved towards Ron. The three hugged each other, holding on to one another for strength, dreading what will happen later that day when the sun rises.
Author's note: Thankyou for reading the chapter! Next chapter will be the First Task! I'm excited for that…
Just a note that I'm not rewriting everything that happens, just the bits that change from the Goblet of Fire book, aka the differences in the Tournament.
As you will have figured, the Yule Ball will be in the next few chapters. I haven't decided who is going with who yet. Only the Captains will open the dance, although it is expected that the Champions stand up with their partners as soon as the first dance is over.
Should I make Harry and Ginny go to the Ball? Or does Harry go with Cho? How about Ron and Hermione? Or should I keep the Vikmione/Romione angst? Or should I keep to the original pairings? Please leave your preference in a review or PM me as I will be writing that chapter soon and I would like to make it what you want it to be.
:)