Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, I am writing this fanfiction for my own amusement and make no profit, all recognizable characters in this story are the property of J.K Rowling, Scholastic, Warner Brothers, etc.
AN: This a little longer than I prefer, it also will probably be one of the darker chapters in this story as there is a secondary character's death towards the end of the chapter.
AN: Up until this Chapter, things are the same as the original version of this story. After this chapter everything will change from the first version. As you can guess, I will be posting the rewrite here as well as A03, since it won't have near as much smut.
AN: I won't be working on this story very often, but I wil tinker with it when I have some downtime from Pink-Haired Auror.
Forbidden Forest, Scotland, 11/22/1997, 23:50
Harry had been trudging through the forest for the last twenty minutes, he was sticking close to the outer edge as he did not want to venture in very deep.
Every once in a while he would check the Marauder's map that he had swiped from the Wasley twins in his third year. There seemed to be no activity on the castle lawns but unfortunately, the map did not cover much of the forest. At the moment he wasn't far from the Beauxbaton carriage and Hagrid's hut heading northwest through the forest.
Harry checked the map again and stopped walking, he had just seen the name 'William Potter' step out of the castle. Watching the map for a few minutes he observed his brother crossing the lawn making a beeline for Hagrid's hut.
"Wonder what he's doing out here?" Harry muttered as he brought his wand to his head and cast a disillusionment charm over himself.
Harry looked through the trees hoping to spot his brother, after a few seconds he glanced back at the map noticing his brother was near the gamekeeper's cabin which meant Will was probably under his cloak, not surprising really.
Curiosity getting the better of him, Harry crept toward Hagrid's cabin and caught the end of a rushed conversation.
... Jus' stay under tha' cloak and don' be seen," Hagrid instructed.
"Okay, but where are we going?" Will asked as he threw his cloak back over himself.
"Ya 'll see soon enough," Hagrid said distractedly.
Harry watched Hagrid from the cover of the trees as he approached the Beauxbaton carriage, not long after the headmistress stepped out and shut the door behind her.
Harry was too far away to hear the exchange between Madame Maxime and Hagrid though he did make out a girlish giggle from the usually intimidating headmistress.
After a couple of minutes, the two of them began strolling toward the forest, looking almost as if they were on a date.
'I hope Hagrid didn't ask Will to come along because he liked to be... watched,' Harry thought wryly.
Harry had to go a bit deeper into the trees to avoid getting trampled by the massive couple. They entered the forest not far from where he had been observing them and began making their way through the trees.
Waiting until they passed him, Harry began trailing behind them, as much noise as the two of them made muscling their way through the forest, it was not very difficult.
They were walking along the outer perimeter of the forest, the same path he had planned to take before he got sidetracked by his brother's appearance on the map.
They headed Northwest along the perimeter of the forest far enough that the castle and the lake could no longer be seen when Harry heard a thunderous roar before he saw a bright orange flash of light in the direction they were walking. He didn't have to go any further to know what that sound was.
The summer after his second year his mother had taken him and Will on vacation to Wales. They had done a lot of sightseeing and even went hiking in the Snowdonia national park. One of the places they had visited was the Welsh dragon preserve in the Cambrian mountains. He had been enthralled seeing the massive green dragons through his omnioculars from a great distance away, watching the dragons shoot gouts of flame into the air, even from the great distance he had observed them, their roar could be heard clearly.
Now he was hearing that familiar roar from a much closer distance, he could feel his stomach tighten uncomfortably as a primal fear stole through him, that was the sound of certain death.
Harry stole his nerves and continued to follow Hagrid and Maxime wondering if they were insane heading towards the clearly agitated roar of a Welsh green dragon.
' I suppose that makes me just as crazy,' Harry thought as the couple stepped out of the treeline into a vast clearing and Harry followed behind them.
Harry stayed in the shadows of the trees and looked around. This area of the forest seemed to have been clear cut very recently if the huge pile of debarked logs on one side of the clearing was any indication.
Not that he noticed that for very long as the other inhabitants of the clearing caught his attention. There were four very large animals out in the open, they had big chains around their neck that were staked into the ground. All around the creatures were about thirty people seven or eight to each dragon, most likely dragon handlers.
When Harry was eight years old he had developed an obsession with dinosaurs, he would not shut up about them. He was always going on about dinosaurs until Sirius finally got fed up, his godfather had given him a book about something even cooler than dinosaurs, dragons.
Just like with dinosaurs, Harry had memorized the names of his favourite dragon species, and numbers one and two on that list were in this clearing tonight.
The Swedish short snout had been his favourite because of its silvery-blue scales and the bright blue fame it breathed.
The Swedish short snout's flame was a few magnitudes hotter than any other dragon and could incinerate anything it wished in less than a minute. The dragon had a shorter snout than most other breeds with a large horn on its nose reminiscent of a rhinoceros, it also had two long thin horns on its head that had to be at least four feet in length, this one looked about twenty-five feet long give or take, and Harry could swear it's luminous golden-bronze eyes were looking into his very soul.
The Hungarian horntail was a close second on his all-time favourite dragon list because of its size and reputation.
The Hungarian horntail was a behemoth, it was more than fifty feet long easily dwarfing the other three dragons in the clearing. The dragon's scales were a shiny jet black colour giving it the appearance of being wet, it's scales were reflecting the light of the bonfires the dragon keepers had lit, illuminating the dragon in an eerie orange glow. Where the short snout's flame was the hottest of all dragons, this dragon's flame could travel the furthest, the horntail could shoot flame upwards of fifty feet! This dragon was the stuff nightmares were made of, with a body covered in spikes and long stegosaurus like horns on its tail making either end of the dragon deadly.
Harry watched enraptured as the dragon bared its eight-inch curved fangs at the dragon keepers before letting out a roar that had the hairs on the back of Harry's neck standing on end. Then the bast let loose a powerful jet of crimson flame in the direction of the men trying to sedate it. Its yellow eyes were alight with malice in the glow of its own flame and Harry wondered why anyone would ever approach such a creature.
The other two species of dragons were far less impressive in Harry's opinion, that's not to say he would take either one lightly.
The Chinese fireball or liondragon could have been a mascot for Gryffindor house with a smooth scarlet body and a golden fringe that resembled a lion's mane. The dragon was about tbe same size as the short snout about twenty-five feet long. Also, like the short snout, the fireball had a shorter stubby looking snout with a crown of six-inch gold spikes on the top of its head. This dragon was known for shooting its flame in s characteristics fireball which had earned the dragon its name. Like the horntail, it had yellow eyes but Harry could not see the same malice in the fireball's gaze.
The last dragon was a common Welsh green, this was a larger specimen topping nearly twenty feet in length but it was still significantly smaller than the other three in the clearing. The dragon had a smooth scaly body with a single row of spikes running down its spine, it had a long snout and two horns on either side of its head, and its scales were coloured a vibrant green that made its silver eyes stand out in the flickering light of the bonfire.
... four dragons one for each of the champions," Harry heard the redheaded dragon handler say bringing him out of the awe he had felt at seeing these creatures up close.
Harry had been so overcome with taking in the dragons that the significance of there being four of them in this clearing hadn't immediately registered in his mind.
"I don' see how a kid could defea' a dragon, Charlie," Hagrid exclaimed sounding worried.
"They aren't going to battle them and if one of those shits injures one of my dragons I'll wring their necks," the redheaded dragon keeper muttered.
"So wha' are they goin ta do wit' 'em?" Hagrid asked looking longingly at the horntail who had finally been sedated recently.
"Steal a fake egg from their nest," Charlie said looking concerned at the thought.
"Ya don' mean these are nestin' mothers?!" Hagrid demanded looking very alarmed.
"They are, though we have replaced all of their real eggs with fakes. Can't have the eggs getting damaged in the task," Charlie answered
'Are they fucking insane!' Harry thought angrily as he backed out of the clearing and began walking back to the school.
Harry's emotions were in turmoil at this new discovery.
On the one hand, he was furious at the organizers. How could the tournament judges expect two seventeen-year-old wizards, one annoying witch, and an underage wizard to steal an egg from one of the most dangerous XXXXX creatures on the planet!
Dragons were aggressive at the best of times but a nesting mother was several times more ferocious. Harry seriously doubted any chains could restrain the horntail when she went into a fury.
Not only that but two of the breeds in that clearing were known to prefer human prey, horntails were notorious for actively hunting humans.
Harry had no doubt one misstep in the task and a champion would be charbroiled and swallowed before anyone could intervene.
The other emotion that was consuming him was terror. Monday at two in the afternoon he would have to step into the ring with one of these four animals, somehow steal an egg from her nest and manage to make it out alive.
That was a pretty tall order in his opinion.
He was at a loss as to how to pull this off and was seriously wishing he had not entered this damn tournament.
Harry was brought out of his thoughts as he saw the silhouette of a man walking through the forest about twenty feet away. Coming to a stop Harry waited in the shadows of a pine tree as the man got closer.
It wasn't long before he recognized Igor Karkoroff heading in the direction of the dragon enclosure looking around nervously, no doubt he had heard the rumours about dangerous creatures in the forest.
'Well, at least all of the champions will know what they are in for,' Harry thought knowing full well that the Durmstrang headmaster would tell his champion about the dragons.
Harry had a hunch that Madam Maxime would tell Fleur about this as well.
Shaking his head, Harry began walking again heading towards the castle, he needed a good night's sleep as he had plans to spend tomorrow in the library trying to make a plan for how he would handle his dragon.
Checking his watch he scowled, it was half-past midnight already. He had less than thirty-eight hours to solve the problem before he would face a nesting mother dragon.
'God, I hope I can get through this in one piece," Harry thought as he stepped out of the forest and started crossing the lawn.
Great Hall, Hogwarts, 11/23/1997, 08:37
Harry was exhausted, he had been up since five-thirty this morning.
He had locked up everything he could find on the four breeds of dragons he had seen in the forest last night. He had only found one weakness common to all four species.
The eyes of all four dragons were a weak spot, so theoretically a piercing hex or a conjunctivitis hex would blind them. Of course, this method would enrage the creature and likely make the situation worse. So he thought it would be a very bad idea, they could still smell you after all.
"Morning mate, you look awful," Cedric said as he slapped Harry on the back.
"I found out what the first task is," Harry admitted before taking a bite of his porridge.
"Well don't keep me in suspense, what is it?" Cedric demanded catching the attention of everyone else at the table.
"We have to steal an egg from a dragon," Harry snorted.
"You're having me on!" Cedric exclaimed looking at him in disbelief.
"I wish I was, I saw them last night," Harry said resignedly.
"I am so glad I wasn't chosen," Cedric muttered.
"It's for the best, you wouldn't look very good as a human fireball," Harry agreed.
"Too right, I am too pretty to be eaten alive," Cedric agreed.
"That's what Davies says," Harry agreed, causing Susan and Hannah to giggle from their place down the table.
"Get bent you tosspot," Cedric growled.
"Calm down Diggory, you seem tense," Harry grinned.
"Alright so how do you plan on dealing with a thirty-foot firebreathing monster?" Cedric asked wiping the smirk off of Harry's face.
"Depends on which dragon I get, the Welsh green and the fireball are fairly docile... well for dragons anyway. The Swedish short snout and the Horntail are not so easy," Harry admitted.
"Horntail!" Cedric exclaimed catching the attention of the entire hall.
"Yep, but that's not the worst part," Harry chuckled darkly.
"What could be worse than facing the most dangerous dragon on the planet?!" Cedric demanded incredulously.
"They are all nesting mothers," Harry said softly.
"Holy shit, what moron thought that task up?" Cedric exclaimed indignantly.
"If I had to guess then I would say Ludo Bagman," Harry replied with a thoughtful look on his face.
"You know what, that level of stupidity does have his name written all over it," Cedric agreed.
"Yeah, I think all of the other champions will know by now," Harry said before taking a bite of his breakfast.
"On the bright side, you've been training for this your whole life," Cedric smirked.
"How do you mean?" Harry asked in confusion.
"I have seen your sexy mother chew you out before, surely the Horntail can't be worse than that," Cedric answered causing Harry to scowl at his friend.
"Keep saying stuff like that about mum and I'll tell her you said it," Harry threatened.
"Go ahead," Cedric smirked.
"Don't tempt me Diggory," Harry sighed.
"Do you at least have a plan?" Cedric asked looking getting serious.
"Yeah, don't get killed," Harry shrugged.
"That sounds well thought out," Cedric snorted.
"I had thought about transfiguring something to distract it like a dog or something," Harry admitted.
"That's got to be the dumbest idea I have ever heard of, there is no way a dragon would go after a dog when there is a human near its nest," Cedric guffawed.
"True, I had also thought about trying something a bit simpler," Harry grinned.
"Why is your brother coming over here?" Cedric asked looking over Harry's shoulder.
"I don't know, maybe that will come up when he gets here," Harry said as his brother took a seat beside Harry.
"First off Hermione is furious at both of us for that prank," Will said turning his head to glare at Harry.
"What prank did you pull?" Cedric cut in.
"I may have slipped some of that fart powder into Will's drink while he was hidden under an invisibility cloak," Harry smirked.
"That's not the bad part, Hermione and I were sharing a table, when the powder kicked in everyone thought it was Hermione breaking wind," Will chuckled despite himself.
"Yeah even Fleur had a hard time being her usual haughty self," Harry grinned.
"Why were you there with her anyway?" Will asked catching Cedric's attention.
"You were there with that French goddess?" Cedric demanded.
"I usually go by Fleur, monsieur Diggory," Fleur's voice cut into the conversation.
"M-my apologies, Ms Delacour," Cedric sputtered out his face going bright red as Fleur took a seat beside him.
"So what do you want?" Harry asked looking at Will curiously.
"We need to talk about the first task," Will tried to whisper.
"You mean the dragons?" Harry said loudly.
"You know?" Will blurted out.
"I am pretty sure by now that all the champions know, I saw them last night," Harry answered easily getting a subtle nod in confirmation from Fleur.
"Good," Will said looking much more nervous than Harry had ever seen him.
"Come on Will, we do need to have a chat with Sirius," Harry said getting up from his seat.
"Catch you later Cedric, Delacour," Harry said before the two brothers walked out of the great hall.
Harry led Will into an empty classroom on the ground floor before fishing his communication mirror out of his pocket and saying, "Sirius Black."
"Hey mate what's up, hello Will," Sirius said after his face appeared in the mirror.
"The first task is dragons!" Will blurted out looking completed terrified.
"You're joking!" Sirius exclaimed in disbelief.
"He's not, I saw them too. Sirius, the dragons are nesting mothers," Harry said in a grave tone.
"Just wait until my mother hears of this," Will growled.
"First of all she is not going to be told anything, it will just worry her. Secondly, for the love of God don't make that your catchphrase. It's bad enough hearing the Malfoy brat saying that every time someone displeases him," Harry said in a deadly serious tone.
"He says father not mother," Will argued lamely his cheeks going red.
"I have seen his father, he looks like a little bitch with that hairstyle, he might as well be his mother," Harry shrugged.
"Agreed, so do either of you have a plan to get past your dragons?" Sirius demanded cutting off their byplay.
"I am still working on one but I think I have come up with something that might work," Harry answered feeling more confident the longer he thought about his plan.
"What about you, Will?" Sirius demanded.
"Not a clue, I am going to get Hermione to help me look up dragons after breakfast," Will admitted.
"Well the only thing I know about dragons is that their eyes are a weak spot," Sirius said thoughtfully.
"Yeah they are, but the last thing you want to deal with is a pissed-off blind dragon, they can still hunt by scent," Harry argued.
"Well if anybody would know it would be him, little bugger was obsessed with dragons when he was younger," Sirius conceded.
"So what should I do?" Will asked and there was no mistaking the terror on the kid's face.
"Step into the arena and cast the red spark spell, once you enter the arena you will have fulfilled the terms of the goblet," Harry shrugged.
"I can't do that," Will protested.
"If you had any sense at all, that is exactly what you should do," Sirius cut in
"I would look like the world's biggest prat," Will exclaimed.
"Better than barbequed and eaten," Harry countered.
" You just want me out of your way so you have a better shot of winning," Will accused.
"I will win, either way, I just don't want to have to deal with mum when you do something stupid and get yourself killed," Harry retorted.
"Fuck off Harry," Will said before stomping out of the room.
"Teenagers can be soo rude," Harry sighed, looking thoroughly exasperated.
"Pot, Kettle mate. If you were trying to give him the motivation to complete the task, I think you succeeded," Sirius quipped.
"Little worm has no sense of self-preservation," Harry muttered
"You're one to talk, you entered willingly," Sirius pointed out.
"Because I am the best Hogwarts has to offer, it's only right that I should be a champion," Harry smirked.
"Oh brother, you do take after your dad," Sirius grinned.
"Thanks mate, I have to go do some research and fine-tune my plan a bit," Harry said.
"Alright, your mum and I will be there to watch the task so don't do anything stupid," Sirius warned.
"No worries, if all goes to plan I will stay well out of range of the dragon, even if I get the horntail," Harry assured his godfather.
"Horntail what do you mean-
Harry grinned as he cut the connection to his mirror.
Harry had to read up on a certain transfiguration spell that he was sure would work even if they put an anti-summoning charm on the fake egg he had to retrieve.
'I will also have to put on a bit of a show," Harry thought as he made his way to the library.
Dragon Arena, Hogwarts, 11/24/1997, 13:47
Harry sat with the other champions in a tent off to the side of the arena. The other champions were all showing nerves in one way or another.
His little brother's face waS set in a determined grimace. Harry's plan to get Will to take the easy way out had only inspired his brother to complete the task just to spite him.
Fleur was pacing back and forth across a section of the tent, she looked paler than usual, she also had the same look on her face as his brother, a look of grim determination.
Krum was seated in the corner scowling at the floor, Harry supposed this was his game face, he also seemed paler than normal.
Harry heard the tent flap being thrown open, all four champions turned their head in that direction. Bagman and Crouch entered the tent, Crouch looking stoic almost bored while Bagman looked like he was fit to burst.
Bagman was holding a purple velvet bag that put Harry in mind of Crown Royal, the blonde man grinned at the four champions, the smile was not returned by the nervous teens.
"Alright champions, the time has come for you all to learn what awaits you in the arena. In a moment I will call you forward in the order your name came out of the Goblet. You are to reach into this bag and select one of the items inside," Bagman said speaking in a rushed excited tone as he held the bag up for them to see.
"Your goal is to collect the golden egg in the nest, points will be taken off if you injure the creatures in the arena, they are very valuable," Crouch added in a more controlled tone.
"Yes, now Ms Delacour if you would," Bagman said offering fleur the bag.
Fleur nervously reached into the bag and pulled out the common Welsh green with a tiny sign around its neck with a number two on it.
"Get used to that number Delacour," Harry smirked making Will snort.
"Mr Krum," Bagman said offering the Bulgarian the bag.
Krum quickly reached in the bag pulling out a tiny model of the Chinese Fireball with a number three around its neck.
"Elder Mr Potter," Bagman said as he held the bag out for Harry to take his turn.
Harry reached inside and felt two spiky things, he captured one and pulled it out.
He couldn't hide his grin at seeing his favourite dragon in miniature with a number one around its neck.
"Can we keep the models?" Harry asked Crouch as Bagman offered the bag to Will.
"Yes," Crouch said not even looking in his direction.
"Why are you smiling?" Fleur demanded of Harry.
"The Swedish short snout was always my favourite dragon, now I get to see one for real," Harry answered.
"Your brother just drew ze 'ungarian 'orntail," Fleur said looking at Will with what Harry could only describe as sympathy.
"Little bugger killed a basilisk with a sword when he was twelve, I'm sure he'll be fine," Harry said hoping to reassure her as much as himself.
"Harry when you hear the whistle you are to enter the arena, William can I have a word?" Bagman said looking over at Will who was staring unblinkingly at the model of the Hungarian horntail in his palm.
Harry watched his brother exit the tent with Bagman and began to wonder what that was about, that is until the whistle blew and he rose to his feet.
He passed Will on the way out and stopped to look at his brother, " good luck little brother, please don't do anything stupid out there," Harry said seriously, walking out of the tent before Will could reply.
"AND NOW FOR HOGWARTS VERY OWN CHAMPION, I PRESENT MR HARRY JAMES POOOOOOTTER!" Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice echoed around the stadium set up around the dragon arena.
Harry idly wondered how they had set up all of these stands in a little over a day before Bagman roared, "BEGIN!"
The arena was roughly the size of a Quidditch pitch, the gap in the stands Harry had entered through was on one end and about five hundred feet away was the mother short snout crouched over her clutch of eggs.
The terrain was uneven and rocky, there were large boulders spaced randomly between him and the dragon most likely to give the champions a place to take cover.
The dragon had huge manacles on all four of her legs, the manacles were attached to heavy chains that were staked into the stone of the arena floor, which would hopefully prevent her from taking flight.
Harry felt sympathy for the dragon, that was no way to treat such a majestic creature.
The dragon's golden eyes locked onto his, and she gave a warning roar urging him to stay away or die.
Harry had no intention of getting any closer than he had to. Deciding he had waited long enough, he began putting his plan into action.
Raising his wand Harry tried the simplest spell he could think of to end the task, a nonverbal summoning charm. He cast the spell flawlessly only for the golden egg to stay where it was.
As he expected, the egg was unsummonable but it would have been stupid not to try doing it the easy way first.
Taking a breath he began walking towards the dragon, he had to get close enough to see the golden egg before he could try the next spell on his list.
Harry tuned out the crowd keeping his eyes on the dragon who got more agitated the closer he got to her nest.
"AND POTTER IS WALKING TOWARDS THE BEAST, LET'S HOPE HE HAS A PLAN! THE SWEDISH SHORT SNOUT IS ONE OF THE TOP FIVE MOST DANGEROUS DRAGONS IN THE WORLD, THIS COULD GET VERY EXCITING!"
Harry heard Bagman's commentary before he tuned it out as well. He had to focus on the task at hand, he began lengthening his stride, speeding up his pace, the sooner he got this over with the sooner he could leave the arena.
He felt his stomach squirming the closer he got to the short snout, he hoped he wouldn't have to walk much further. Idly he noticed that the dragon seemed to get larger with every step he took.
Finally, after he had walked about halfway across the arena he could clearly see the golden egg amidst the clutch of fake creme-white teardrop-shaped eggs.
The short snout's eggs had a sort of scale pattern to them that greatly resembled a giant flower pod.
Coming to a stop, Harry raised his wand and summoned a melon-sized stone from the arena floor. Weaving another spell into the summoning charm he transfigured the stone as it flew through the air so that it resembled one of the fake eggs in size and shape when it arrived.
Harry grinned at the successfully Transfigured egg as he deftly caught it in his arms.
"THE OLDER POTTER SEEMS TO BE ATTEMPTING SOMETHING," Bagman's voice echoed through the stadium
Looking at the golden egg again and memorizing the aquatic motif etched into it, he held that image in his mind.
Grinning at the dragon who was shooting torrents of blue flame at him in warning, Harry cast a dense fog spell towards the dragon completely obscuring it from view.
The thick white fog continued to pour from his wand filling the area between him and the dragon before it enveloped him entirely. Soon Harry could barely see his wand stretched out in front of him as the fog got thicker.
The protective barrier that was set over the arena prevented the fog from passing through it allowing the fog to quickly cover everything inside it.
When he couldn't see the crowd anymore Harry cancelled the spell and cast three firework spells in quick succession sending flashes of light and loud bangs through the distance between him and the dragon. The dragon responded by breathing large gouts of flame giving the fog a bluish glow.
From the outside, Harry hoped it would look very impressive with the loud bangs and flashes of multicoloured light illuminating the fog but really it was just a distraction of sorts.
"I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS GOING ON IN THERE BUT THE LAD IS MAKING A DEVIL OF A RACKETT!
Harry heard Bagman commentating, he sounded a bit put out for some reason.
Deciding that the commentary was not important right now, Harry Concentrated on the golden egg before casting the spell he was confident would bring it right to him.
Harry imagined switching the fake egg in his left arm for the golden egg in the nest, he pictured every detail he could, the way the golden egg was shaped like an overgrown chicken egg, the nautical motif etched into its surface, the shiny golden shell.
When he had the mental image he raised his wand before touching the egg cradled in his left arm with the tip and muttering the incantation, 'commercia locamotis.'
Harry grinned when he felt the egg in his arms vanish for a split second before the slightly larger golden egg appeared in its place.
Raising his wand again he cast a nonverbal ventus charm that rapidly dispersed the fog. The crowd looked at him for a moment, they seemed surprised that he hadn't moved from where he had been minutes ago when he cast the fog spell.
"AND MR POTTER HAS RETRIEVED HIS EGG IN NINE MINUTES AND THIRTY-FIVE SECONDS AND HE APPEARS TO BE COMPLETELY UNINJURED!
Bagman roared causing the Hogwarts students to cheer loudly, the roar of the crowd irritating the dragon causing her to shoot another gout of flame at the stands and roar her displeasure.
Harry stayed where he was while the dragon handlers subdued the short snout before making his way to a tunnel under the stands that Professor McGonagall was standing in signalling for him to come to her.
Tucking the golden egg under his arm he made his way across the arena as the dragon handlers were moving his dragon out.
"Was that a switching spell?" McGonagall asked as soon as he had made his way over to the tunnel entrance.
"Yes professor, there was an anti-summoning charm on the egg or I would have just used a summoning charm," Harry grinned.
"Well let this be a lesson to you Mr Potter, Transfiguration trumps charms every time. Just don't tell Filius I said that," McGonagall smirked as she led him into what looked like a small infirmary under the stands.
"Your secret is safe with me professor," Harry assured her.
"I also want to congratulate you, the first Transfiguration was very well done, not many students can weave a summoning charm with an advanced transfiguration like that," McGonagall said sounding very impressed.
"I have been practising the concept with animation spells, there really wasn't much difference integrating a summoning charm instead," Harry admitted.
"It was still very impressive, when Poppy checks you over you can go out and get your scores, I have to get back to the stands before anarchy ensues," McGonagall said before sweeping back through the tunnel.
"You are perfectly fine dear, you didn't expend very much magic and you have no physical injuries," Poppy said after a few minutes of checking him over.
"I know, the trick to dealing with dragons is to not get anywhere near them," Harry grinned.
"I agree I just hope the other champions take that approach, you are free to go, dear," Poppy said gesturing to the tunnel.
Nodding Harry stepped back through the tunnel and waited at the entrance as the judges deliberated his score for a moment.
He knew he didn't have anything to worry about, as far as he was concerned he had done very well on the task but he still felt nervous as he waited for the judges to confirm this.
Crouch stood up first and cast a spell at the gigantic scoreboard set over the other side of the arena.
The scoreboard had the champions' names written in large letters with a picture of their school crest across the top of the board. There were six blank rows underneath forming a column under each champion's name.
In the column below Harry's name, a large golden nine appeared in one of the six boxes.
Madame Maxime went next and another golden nine appeared under his Crouch's.
Professor Dumbledore raised his wand and a third nine appeared in the middle line.
Next Bagman cast the same spell and a golden number eight appeared on the board.
Finally, Karkaroff cast his score and a five appeared in the fifth line of the column accompanied by loud booing and angry exclamations from the Hogwarts students.
On the final line, a number forty appeared after the score was totalled up.
Karkaroff's score was a tad low in Harry's opinion but forty points was still a fairly respectable score.
Harry turned away from the scoreboard and began scanning the crowd, it didn't take long to spot his mother and Sirius seated in the parent section of the stands close to the front row. Harry waved to them seeing they were both looking his way, his mother waved back and beckoned him to come up to where she was seated.
Nodding at her he made his way up the stairs into the stands and quickly fought his way through the stands, making it to their section just as a shrill whistle cut through the air.
"You did really well baby," Lily gushed as she got to her feet and engulfed him in a hug, Harry idly noticed that her head barely reached his shoulders now.
"Thanks mum," Harry grinned as he returned the hug.
"NOW IT IS TIME FOR OUR SECOND CHAMPION, PLEASE PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR THE BEAUXBATON CHAMPION, MS FLEUR DELACOUR," Bagman's voice echoed throughout the stadium.
"Wow!" Sirius exclaimed when he got a good look at Fleur.
Harry took a seat beside his mother and rolled his eyes at his godfather, the man was an overgrown teenager.
"She's young enough to be your daughter," Harry snorted.
"Age is nothing but a number, mate... provided that number is equal to or greater than the legal age of consent," Sirius said in a matter of fact tone
"When is William's turn?" Lily asked loudly cutting into their discussion.
Harry didn't answer immediately, he was a bit distracted by Fleur's voice echoing through the stadium.
Fleur was singing in a voice that was beautiful and eerie at the same time, the words were in French but tbe rhythm of the song put Harry in mind of a lullaby.
Harry watched her closely, she had a look of intense focus on her face as she kept her wand trained on the dragon. She was holding a spell on the dragon, a golden semi-transparent beam was leaving her wand and flowing into the dragon's eyes, looking closer Harry could see the dragon's eyes were slowly drooping.
"Harry, when is your brother's turn?" Lily demanded pulling him from watching Fleur.
"Will is the last one out," Harty said distractedly never taking his eyes off of the French champion.
"She is really powerful," Sirius muttered.
"Is she enchanting the dragon?" Harry asked never looking away from Fleur as the music seemed to surround him.
"Yes, it looks that way. What dragon did William draw?" Lily asked not seeming interested in watching the French champion.
"I think it's better if you don't know," Harry admitted turning to look her in the eye.
"It can't be worse than a short snout, surely," Lily asked worriedly.
"It is," Harry said solemnly.
"Well, what is it, which dragon did he get?" Lily demanded.
"He drew the Hungarian Horntail," Harry said softly.
"What were they thinking putting a monster like that in a school tournament!" Lily hissed angrily.
"Will seemed pretty sure of himself though I did try and talk him out of competing," Harry said ruefully.
"What did you tell him to do?" Lily asked suspiciously.
"I told him to just shoot up red sparks when he entered the arena, he didn't... he didn't take it very well," Harry said before putting his arm around her shoulder.
"I swear you inherited James' arrogance and he inherited his stubborn brashness," Lily sighed in resignation as she leaned her head on his shoulder.
"I also inherited your brains," Harry smirked.
"And James' sense of humility," Sirius added as the dragon Fleur was enchanting began to lower its head to the ground.
"Thanks for that howler by the way," Harry said sarcastically as the dragon's eyes closed and Fleur began moving closer never stopping in her singing
"Yes, I thought you would appreciate mommy sending you her encouragement... for the entire hall to hear," Lily smirked.
"Oh no," Sirius exclaimed as the dragon snorted in its sleep and a small tongue of fire ignited Fleur's skirt.
Fleur hastily extinguished the fire before closing the distance to the nest and snatching up the egg.
"AND FLEUR DELACOUR HAS HER EGG IN A TIME OF TEN MINUTES AN TWENTY-FOUR SECONDS!"
Bagman roared from his place in the judges' booth as the dragon handlers rushed in to remove the common Welch green before it woke up.
She handled that pretty quickly," Sirius noted his eyes still locked onto the French champion.
"I was faster," Harry smirked.
"True but you wouldn't look near that good in a half-burnt dress," Sirius countered.
"You've got me there," Harry agreed.
"You handled the task better, your godfather is just a lecherous pig," Lily said shooting Sirius a disapproving look.
"Trust me, mum, I know," Harry said as Fleur's scores were being posted on the board.
Four of the judges gave her an eight but the Durmstrang headmaster only gave her a four for a combined score of thirty-six.
"I am starting to think the Durmstrang representative is not scoring very fairly," Harry said in a deadpan tone.
"No, he isn't," Lily agreed.
"What do you expect, the only reason he is not rotting in Azkaban is that he's a turncoat who traded his freedom for information on his comrades," Sirius shrugged as the shrill whistle cut through the air again.
"NOW MAKE READY FOR THE INTERNATIONAL QUIDDITCH STAR, THE MAN WHO IS THOUGHT TO BE THE BEST SEEKER IN THE WORLD, I GIVE YOU THE DURMSTRANG CHAMPION...VIKTOR KRUUUUM!
Harry looked in the arena and noticed that the Chinese fireball had been brought in while he was talking, it truly looked impressive in the middle of the arena. Harry saw Krum sprinting across the arena.
" Why do I have the feeling this bloke is going to try the blunt force approach?" Sirius asked.
"He does seem to be charging in," Lily agreed.
"Oh no!" Harry exclaimed when he recognized the wand motions of the conjunctivitis hex and saw the spell fly from Krum's wand striking the dragon in its eyes.
The reaction was instantaneous, the dragon roared in fury pulling against its chains, it blindly trampled its own nest crushing most of the eggs and flattening the gold one as it thrashed around trying to free itself.
Harry saw Krum charge forward and felt a cold chill run down his spine as he saw the dragon's nostrils flare, the dragon spun around as fast as a cobra and latched its jaws around the torso of the Durmstrang champion.
The fireball bit down hard sinking seven-inch fangs through both sides of Krum's body, Harry could hear the sickening crunch of broken bones as the dragon jerked its head and lifted Krum off of the ground before tossing his lifeless body across the arena.
"Oh my god!" Lily shrieked beside him as dragon handlers swarmed the arena.
"That was insane!" Sirius said looking horrified.
Harry watched as it took the dragon handlers at least five minutes to subdue the dragon before Poppy was allowed to enter the arena. They watched as the Hogwarts matron cast a few spells over Krum before shaking her head sadly, then conjuring a white sheet over him.
"Oh my god, he's dead!" Lilly sobbed as the medi-witch levitated Krum out of the arena.
"He overestimated how important a dragon's eyes are," Harry sighed sadly as his mother cried into his shoulder.
He knew she wasn't upset about Krum so much as she was worried about Will who was up next.
The judges were in a furious discussion but after a few minutes, Karkaroff got up and left the stadium, the other Durmstrang students following behind him.
Not long after the Durmstrang contingent left the stadium, Karkoroff returned with another man who strongly resembled Viktor. Harry watched the two men enter the infirmary and a few minutes later they were seen exiting the tunnel a coffin levitated between them.
"It is with the utmost sadness that I inform you all that Viktor Krum succumbed to injuries he sustained in the task, our condolences go out to his friends and family," Albus' Dumbledore's sombre voice echoed around the arena.
"Unfortunately, we have to finish the task as the final champion is magically obligated to participate. However, if you wish to leave the stadium you are more than welcome to do so though the final champion will be asked to enter the arena momentarily," Dumbledore continued sounding far more subdued than Harry had ever heard him.
'God I hope he doesn't do anything stupid,' Harry thought to himself as the dragon handlers brought in the horntail making the crowd gasp in horror.
"I am going to murder whoever thought this task up," Lily hissed in fury when she saw the dragon her youngest son would soon face.
"I NOW PRESENT THE FOURTH AND FINAL CHAMPION, THE BOY WHO LIVED WILLIAM POTTER!
Harry scowled at Bagman's upbeat commentary, someone had just been killed in the arena and tbe tactless bastard was going on like they were at the Quidditch World Cup.
Lily clung to Harry's arm as a whistle blew signalling for William to begin. Harry thought his brother looked like an ant compared to the massive dragon on the other side of the arena The horntail was already shooting long gouts of flame, across the arena looking furious that a wizard was so close to her nest.
Then Will raised his wand and cast a spell that had Harry very concerned, his brother bellowed it for the whole stadium to hear.
"ACCIO NIMBUS!"
"He's not going to do what I think he is?" Harry asked looking over his mum's head at his horrified godfather.
"I-I think he is," Sirius muttered weakly.
"What is he going to do?" Lily demanded looking between the two of them.
Before either had a chance to answer Will's broom zoomed into tbe stadium and answered the question for them.
"No! Is he insane?!" Lily screeched as she looked at her youngest son in disbelief.
They all watched in horror as Will mounted his broom and kicked off of the ground flying towards the dragon, at the first jet of flame his mum hid her face in Harry's shoulder.
Harry would admit to himself and only himself, that he was impressed with his brother's flying. Will easily dodged the flames shot at him and went to dive the nest, he got close before another jet of flame intercepted his path and he was forced to break right.
His brother just like him was a natural on a broom, though they had different styles mostly due to the different positions they played. Harry excelled at dodging and evasive flight while Will was more adept at diving. Today he was showing off his skill on a broom and Harry couldn't help but feel proud of his brother as he evaded everything the horntail threw at him.
Harry watched as his brother tried, again and again, to dive the nest only for a jet of flame to miss him by inches, he swerved left and the dragon's tail clipped his shoulder sending Will off course, he just barely managed to pull up before slamming into the barrier.
"OH THAT WAS A CLOSE ONE BUT HE SEEMS TO BE ALRIGHT OH AND HE IS TRYING SOMETHING NEW, LET'S HOPE IT WORKS!"
Bagman's voice cut into his thoughts as he watched Will fly over the dragon's head just out of reach.
"He's charming her," Sirius said in awe as the dragon stretched her long neck out and was bobbing it side to side like a cobra would a snake charmer.
Harry watched as the dragon reared up on its hind legs and stretched out its wings, then Will made his move going into a dive straight down, Will snatched the golden egg and zipped under the horntail before she had even registered what he was doing.
"AND OUR YOUNGEST CHAMPION RETRIEVES HIS EGG THE FASTEST WITH A TIME OF NINE MINUTES AND TWENTY-THREE SECONDS!" Bagman proclaimed in a cheery tone.
Will made a beeline for the tunnel and Harry breathed an audible sigh of relief.
"You can look now mum, he made it through," Harry said gently.
"Good, now if you boys will excuse me I need to check on William, then have a word with these tournament officials," Lily said as she got up to make her way down to the infirmary.
"Ugh, I almost feel sorry for the bollocking Bagman is about to get," Sirius shuddered.
"I don't, I bet you anything that fat bastard is the one who thought up this task," Harry said irritably.
"Oh they are putting up Will's score," Sirius said as he pointed at the scoreboard where crouch had already put up a nine.
Harry watched as Maxime also put a nine on the board. Dumbledore placed an eight on the board and Ludo Bagman scored him a perfect ten.
"Thirty-six points isn't too bad," Sirius said reasonably.
"He would have tied with me if Karkoroff hadn't have left," Harry said.
"Maybe, still he put in a good showing," Sirius said with a grin.
'I'm just glad it's over,' Harry sighed as he and Sirius made their way down to find William.