Chapter 5

Harry had slept fairly well the night before. However, he was very anxious for the task, and it was more because he just wanted to get it over with and kill the suspense of knowing whether he was capable of the magic he was thinking of attempting. His friends had spent hours trying to talk him out of it, but his mind was made, and the plan was set.

The morning of the first task he was stretching and bouncing around in the champions tent wearing a uniform with the house Potter and Flamel logos and a dark black and blue cloak to match his Hogwarts House, while he also had the Wampus symbol on it because that was his house at Ilvermony, or so his friends told him he was at least an honorary one. Sirius was trying to get the plan out of him that morning to see if he would relent, "Come on Pup you got to give me something. Yesterday you had nothing, and today when you saw me you looked like you just got shagged for the first time. What's the deal?"

Harry laughed at his Godfather's humor, "Unfortunately I did not get shagged, but if I pull off my plan today, I may be beating them away with a beaters bat to keep it from happening."

This caused the man to bellow with laughter, "I am so proud. Taught you everything I know."

"Which wasn't much." Harry quipped.

The man was just about to get offended, but a new more feminine voice commented, "Well he has that right at least. Sirius Black how many times have I told you to stop corrupting my son with your womanizing tendencies?"

Pernelle Flamel, the immortal alchemist was standing in front of the two wizards with her hands on her hips clearly displeased on walking in on the back side of an inappropriate conversation, "Now what is this I hear about a crazy plan?"

Harry grinned, while Sirius shouted accusing, "You told a bird, but you won't tell me? The betrayal."

Laughing Harry retorted, "It was actually my friend Daphne's plan, but I just modified it to my liking. Both of you will just have to wait and see."

With that said Harry hugged his Godfather, and gave his mother a quick kiss on the cheek as she shot a stinging hex at his but which he deflected wandlessly back at Sirius who let out a literal bark, "Hey whose side are you on?"

This caused Harry to chuckle lightly, "Just have some faith. Nicholas is going to love my plan I hope he is here today. Just make sure you don't blink, or you could miss something exciting."

Pernelle looked at the boy she had come to care about so much over the years and sighed while Sirius said, "I recognize that look Sirius. Nicholas used to get it when he was up to mischief."

Harry cheekily responded as he walked away from the pair, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

This caused the present Marauder to nearly cry with joy, and his heart wrenched as he watched the boy, he had cared about his whole life walk away into a very dangerous task. For a moment he thought about stopping him, and calling the whole thing off, but he trusted the boy, and when he put his mind to something there was nothing he couldn't do. Just like James he thought proudly.

As Harry approached the tents, he could see Neville, Daphne, and Tracey who were all up in the stands clearly dreading the coming conflict between Harry and whichever dragon he drew, while Harry walked into the tent joking with the other champions about who would come in last, and it was whoever died first. This caused the already pale champions to pale further and start to have even more anxiety leading Cedric to say, "Harry mate I know we aren't really friends yet, so this may be a bit aggressive but if you don't shut up, I am going to hex you into the next year."

Harry laughed and just kept going about his business when the judges arrived and 'informed' the champions of their task. They then drew their order, and their dragon. It was not even the slightest surprise to Harry when he drew the Horntail and briefly contemplated if the whole thing was rigged against him.

The task played its course for nearly an hour before Harry was summoned. None of the champions had died from what he could tell by the crowd's reactions, but he also assumed all of them had taken at least some minor injuries by that same logic.

When Harry came out into the arena, he at once saw the rocky terrain, and saw the dragon staring him down from across the arena. He smirked a bit at the creature and whipped his wand around and began animating rocks nearby, and transfiguring others into wolves to attack the giant creature super aggressively so they wouldn't cause it to fall on the nest or allow it enough room to accidentally stampede any part of it. He then disillusioned himself and silenced his footsteps and went into a full run which allowed people to keep an eye on him, but the dragon was distracted with all his creations to focus on the slight shimmering sprinting towards the nest.

Many people cheered as the wolves attacked and did minor damage to the raging creature, but after just a few seconds the cheers turned to confusion when the shimmer ran past the eggs and to the dragon.

When he was in range Harry quickly turned the lunging wolves into iron chains, and even faster turned them into the heaviest metals he could think of and cemented them into the ground. He did this so fast the crowd blinked, and one chain had strapped the dragon down and threw it off balance. Then another in a few seconds, and then another, as the wolves started dissipating, and more even joined the battle as the boy was a blur of constant movement and instant decision. To those who did not know he knew of this task before hand they thought it was Merlin level magic, but honestly it was just some NEWT level Transfiguration, and a lot of spell casting.

After less than a minute had passed Harry had taken the beast to the ground and revealed himself to the creature and the audience. The creature was furious and struggled under the weight of the chains and let out a bellowing roar to show its disapproval. At this point Harry propelled himself onto the creatures back as it squirmed, and he was now throwing rapid fire hexes at the creature's head without it being able to maneuver much. Being on the back of a dragon, particularly one with razor sharp edges and skin was horrifying, but Harry had to commit to the plan, or it would cost him everything. After about a minute of his assault the dragon went down and into unconsciousness as Harry now just stared at the knocked-out creature. He was still on top of it, as if he was merely a dragon rider, and he leaned back and laid on the dragon for a second in relief. He stepped off the dragon easily, and walked around to it, and began waving his wand in an intricate pattern changing all the chains into metal poles, and creating a small metal prison for the creature not unlike the one he came in. Finally, Harry transfigured another rock into a giant muzzle and easily placed it onto the passed-out giant of a dragon, and then Harry walked over to the egg, checked his watch and saw that only seven minutes had passed, and merely plucked it up and strolled back to the exit.

The applause was deafening, and Harry gave good natured waves as he exited the stadium. He grinned at the success of his plan, after all it was Daphne's introduction to the meeting and giving him the idea of invisibility that gave him the ability to get close enough to transfigure all those chains. Had he not been a prodigy in transfiguration and had the speed of a champion duelist the encounter might have gone very differently.

When he strolled into the tents the other champions looked at him in awe. Not a scratch and compared to Viktor and Cedric who had both sustained pretty good injuries, and Fleur whom had at least been burnt they were amazed that this youngest among them was so unscathed and had done it so quickly. Fleur was the first to greet him, "Merdre, what did you do? How did you do it?"

Harry grinned tossing the egg onto a nearby bed, "Easy just a little bit of dragon taming, and sorry it took so long I leaned back and just about passed out from exhaustion when I was laying on top of it."

Cedric looked at the boy in confusion, "Tell me you didn't do something stupid like try to ride on its back right?"

Laughing Harry responded with, "Oh I didn't try. I did. My mother will be furious my ears are already ringing."

"The yelling will come much later my darling son. Today I will only congratulate you on a beautiful display of power and control." There at the front of the tent were the two Flamel's and his Godfather with Pernelle already heading towards her son in a fast walk with him going to meet her in the middle to embrace, "I am so proud of you." She whispered into his ear quietly.

Then she backed up and allowed Nicholas and Sirius a chance, Sirius spoke first, "I am so proud of you pup! That was an excellent display of magic. I had no idea you had the magical stores to pull something off like that you must have cast over a hundred spells in that match."

Harry grinned at his godfather and brought his father in for a hug next "That was brilliant. When you sent that letter two days ago that you still didn't have much of a tactic to fight whatever magical creature you faced you had me worried, but it seems it was unfounded, and that your thinking on the fly was as brilliant as usual."

This caused the other champions to exchange guilty glances, had he not known about the dragons. Seeing the looks exchanged Harry spoke carefully, "I had some good friends give me some good tips. I was prepared to fight a plethora of magical creatures, and they helped me adapt different strategies to adjust to the overall size of the creature we may be facing. We didn't predict a dragon, but we predicted a few things in its size class. After all, historically speaking the first task usually faced the champions off against some sort of magical creature or at least had one in the task somehow."

Cedric came over to greet Harry's parents in introduction, and asked, "If you were preparing to fight something as big as a dragon what was your first guess?"

Harry shrugged, "I feared a manticore, or a king sized acromantula considering the colony in the woods. I briefly even considered a basilisk because I know Britain used to be famous for having them on the isles many centuries ago. My only doubt was how would you prevent it from killing the crowd, and how would we be able to identify the beast without looking at its face."

All three champions paled thinking about the results that surely would have befallen them had they been forced to fight the king of snakes.

Before anything else could be said on the matter Nicholas placed a hand on Harry, "Each parent was only given a few minutes to check on their champion, but we wanted to say how proud we were, and to let you know the scores would be coming."

At this Harry smiled and stood up walking outside the medical tent with his parents at his side and he felt invincible. The Headmaster of Hogwarts stood once he made brief eye contact with Harry, "The scores are among the highest in the history of the tournament. For as far back as we can find Harry Potter has tied with the highest score ever given a 48 on the total score. From the Hogwarts Headmaster myself I give a perfect 10, for not only having the best time but not doing lasting damage to the nest or the creature. British Ministry of Magic representatives both give 10s for daring, power, control, and time. The Durmstrang High Master gave a 9 in deduction for one point for wasting time to cage the dragon. The French Headmistress also gave a 9 and deducted one point for similar reasons. Congratulations Mr. Potter for such astounding work in the face of danger and adversity."

Harry held out a fist of victory in the air as the stadium applauded him. When he turned around Neville was standing there, "You're a crazy bastard."

Smirking cheekily, he laughed, "Did you enjoy the show?"

Neville looked like he could hit the boy, but instead brought him in for an embrace, "Well done mate."

Grinning the two separated and Daphne was shortly behind the boy with her best friend, "When you said you were going to tame a dragon you weren't kidding. That was brilliant, but terrifying."

Tracey not being as shy as the girl jumped into his arms, "You are the craziest most powerful young wizard I have ever met. You are insane. I just can't believe you laid there for a second like it was some type of pillow. You idiot, and the judges taking off a point for caging it, bullshit I mean you did their job for them!"

Just then Tracey blushed letting go of the boy looking at his parents, "I am Tracey Davis by the way I apologize for my language it just comes out when I get worked up sometimes."

Nicholas laughed, "That is okay young lady. I think any reaction after watching their friend fight a dragon can be a little vulgar. Nicholas Flamel."

Sirius grinned nudging Harry with elbow gently, "Oh I like her Pup."

Harry blushed lightly, which didn't go unnoticed by Daphne, but she didn't hear what the man had said. Trying to avoid any potential rudeness or social faux pas Daphne offered her hand to the men in greeting, "It is good to finally meet you Master Flamel, Lord Black."

The older man laughed heartily, "Just Nicholas will be fine dear. I am too old for anything else. The formalities take all the fun out of life, unless I am abusing someone in the political arena of course. Even my son here seems to take that after me as well when he can."

Sirius laughed as well, "Lord Black was my father save the Lord stuff for the Wizengamot."

The men both winked at the boy and he grinned as Harry introduced them to his surrogate mother who greeted both girls warmly.

Neville then asked as they walked back into the medical tent, "So what's the egg for anyways? At the end of Cedric's task who went first the headmaster said that it was a clue to the second task."

Harry shrugged and flicked his wrist causing the egg to sore towards him, and he examined it carefully under the eyes of many gaping people. After a moment of silence, he looked up to see everyone staring at him in awe, "What? Something on my face?"

No one said a word, but Fleur drew her wand, "Accio Golden egg."

Just like that the egg flew into her hand, "It was so simple. We all could've died for it, and all we had to do was summon it."

Suddenly Harry realized what everyone was looking at, "They didn't charm the egg to not be able to be summoned, and no one thought to try it?"

Harry was exasperated, frustrated, and quite ready to hit someone but a soft chuckle entered the room, "Sometimes the solution is far simpler than the task may seem. However, had you merely summoned the egg I am sure many of the judges including myself would have given you quite poor scores, after all that would not have shown much courage, and skill. However, we left a loophole in the task to allow a chance for nothing, but survival."

Daphne however shook her head, "I think I would've taken the opportunity to live a little longer."

The champions all nodded at this staring at their eggs in appreciation that they had actually earned them no matter the cost. Then a piercingly loud noise entered the room, and shrieks of deafening proportions shook the tent, and as fast as they had come, they stopped. Dumbledore turned to look at Hogwarts Champion, "I will advise you from opening that egg again Mr. Diggory, doing that indoors would be quite detrimental to anyone's hearing."

Harry and Daphne looked at each other with wide eyes at this proclamation. Had the headmaster just given all the champions a hint at how to solve the puzzle. Harry only barely shook his head at the girl indicating she should keep silent, while the other two champions stared at their eggs in puzzlement.

The other parents had re-entered the tent now and Amos Diggory was the only one to approach Harry after speaking to his son for only a moment, "Harry Potter. You have caused quite a stir in our government recently."

Harry respectfully side stepped the accusation, "The government must not have very important matters to deal with right now if the appearance of a fourteen-year-old teenager can shake things up so badly."

Dumbledore and Mr. Diggory both chuckled at this while the younger man replied, "That may be true. Your stunt on the international dueling circuit however has many people still reeling. I am curious when you go back to defend your title next year will you continue to go by James Flamel, or Harry Potter?"

"I plan to continue using my alias. It is a reminder to me and the world that I have not forgotten my name or my ancestry. The Potter name is still carried, but I am the heir to many houses, and I will never forget my heritage." Harry said gratifyingly.

The man put a hand on his shoulder, "That is good to hear. In fact, the way you just answered my question, I have a feeling I may be looking at my old alliance contract with house Potter. I could see you as a great ally in the political future Mr. Potter."

Sirius putting two hands on his Godsons shoulder said, "Hopefully politics won't be in the too distant future for my Godson here. He is quite the shark, and I know I sure miss his father's voting block from the little time we had together working in the government."

Harry grinned shaking the man's hand addressing the eldest Diggory, "If House Diggory remains to stand in the same light it has been in the past few centuries, I think you can count on that Lord Diggory."

This caused the man to laugh and return to his son as Nicholas put a hand on his son's shoulder and led him out of the tent with his friends and mother in toe.

On the way out one of the judges from the task stopped the boy in passing, "Potter well done today. Your parents would have been very proud."

Harry gave the man a slight nod and smile, but he was unaware just how well this stranger could have known his parents. He was certainly unfamiliar to him, "Thank you sir. For the score and your kind words"

Harry detected something strange as he walked past the man. Something familiar, but he could not quite place it. He had been having dreams earlier in the Summer before the disaster and the World Cup, and briefly wondered how it all was related. The young man merely shrugged it off. He had after all just battled a dragon, and it was completely normal to have weird side effects during adrenaline crashes.

As they reached the grounds of Hogwarts Nicholas stretched his arms up and said, "Kids do you mind if we borrow our son just for a moment. It is time for us to head home, but don't worry we won't hold him long, and I am sure we will all be seeing each other real soon."

The others agreed easily and gave the four some space as they walked back to the school, and only Daphne glanced back curiously as Harry was waving his wand summoning privacy wards. Pernelle spoke softly and kept an even face, "I fear the matter is more severe than we originally realized."

Harry looked at the women trying to keep an even face, "What do you mean?"

Nicholas sighed, "Have you ever heard of a woman by the name of Bertha Jorkins?"

"Doesn't ring any bells is the witch famous?" Harry asked obliviously.

Sirius shook his head, "Probably not to most people, but she worked for Barty Crouch, the man who just spoke to you, as the second in command of the Department of International Cooperation. She is missing, and according to our friends at Gringotts she is unofficially dead."

Harry's eyes widened the death of a senior official in the Ministry was big news, and the fact that the Ministry didn't know about it since the death is still unofficial was even more interesting news, "This can't all be unrelated. The attack at the Quidditch World Cup, my name coming out of the goblet of fire, and now this missing Ministry agent."

Nicholas nodded, "Voldemort is on the move."

Harry flinched at the name. He had the nightmares. He had heard the prophesy. He knew his fate. He also knew the consequences of the man returning far earlier than they ever would have expected, "I don't understand. I thought we had years left to prepare."

Pernelle shook her head sadly, "With the dreams that you have had and the digging we have been doing I fear we don't as much as time as previously guessed."

"What do we do?" Harry asked trying not to let the fear show.

Nicholas shook his head, "Nothing now. We keep digging and get proof. We prepare, and you need to be ready to fight always at a moment's notice. Whether it's to run for your life or stop an attempt on it. With Moody and Dumbledore in the castle I believe you are safe, however your name ended up in that goblet somehow and if they slipped past those two once they can do it again, and you need to be ready."

"I will do what must be done." Harry said honestly.

Sirius looked at the boy strangely, and looked to see his friends standing off nearby, Daphne of whom was watching him, "You haven't told her about the Summer, have you? I recognized her the moment I saw her."

"I haven't told anyone about the Summer. Besides I am not even sure it was her. I never got a good look. Though I did suspect..." Harry said trailing off in thought.

Sirius shook his head, "Don't try and kid yourself Pup. I think she may even have her suspicions, or maybe her thoughts, but it wouldn't hurt to tell her. Plus, I think it would be good to talk to someone your age about it. She seems tough and seems to be pretty interested in your friendship. Even talking to Neville maybe would help. You can't fool that girl forever; besides I remember what it was like the first time I-"

"Sirius, I get it. I will think about it, but no promises okay." Harry said heatedly. It was a discussion the family had not had, and they all knew it had to happen eventually, but Harry was adamant about avoiding it forever if he could.

His godfather shook his head sadly, and his parents looked anywhere but at his eyes in this moment, "Is there anything else? I don't want to keep my friends waiting much longer."

Nicholas sighed heavily, "I believe that is just about everything. However, I don't want this to catch you unaware, but the Yule Ball will indeed be taking place this year so choose your companion wisely. I am sure whoever you choose unless they are a muggleborn might be sending us a marriage contract shortly after, but not to worry. Let's not make this all any more political than it needs to be."

Sirius throwing an arm around his Godson wiggling his eyebrows, "In fact let's make it as far from political as possible."

Harry groaned at the innuendo, but laughed good naturedly at the same time, "Thanks Padfoot. Please just keep me updated as things continue to unravel. Maybe we will find the culprit in all this, and it won't be as bad as we have made it sound."

The adults all gave the boy small smiles at his optimism and gave final hugs before they departed. At this Harry walked over to his friends and gave them all the brightest smile he could manage in the dark times and said, "Let's go see if Ravenclaw threw a party for its champion!"

(A/N) I hope you enjoyed my version of the first task! I have toyed with different versions of this story before, and I have never gotten as far as I have now on this. I just finished the tournament in my pre writings, so I think it is looking decent so far. Something I may need to fix though is that I haven't addressed the possibility of Harry being a Horcrux. The plot continuity problem I am having is that the Flamel's are so ancient and well versed in magic I am having a hard time justifying that they wouldn't have known or understood the link between Harry and Voldemort. Thoughts, advice, or tips? Please leave them in your reviews! Cheers!