A/N: As always, I don't own the Potterverse, and any other creative properties you might see in here probably belong to Wizards of the Coast. *innocent whistling*
temul - (v.) signifies a sense of creativity and passion; to rush headlong, to be inspired, to have creative thoughts, and even to take a flight of fancy [mongolian]
Dragons. Of all the magical beasts they could have chosen for the champions to challenge, they chose dragons. Well, it could have been oh so much worse as well; thinking of all the 5 X creatures that weren't chosen almost made him feel better about it being just dragons. Just. As though they weren't even a threat by comparison. A snort of amusement, then tracing a familiar path down to the library to see what wizards of ages past had written about the beasts.
Luckily, the sparse bit of literature that still existed about Triwizard Tournaments past (eternal glory, hah!) mentioned that the champions often needed to merely dodge the creature and acquire some trinket that would provide future clues, rather than trying to kill their beast outright. Not to say that it hadn't happened before by accident, but the choice of dragons made single combat to the death a prospect he knew the likely outcome of, and he thanked whatever had made the tournament organizers decide to add safety protocols for this edition.
Ok, here was something he might be able to use: dragons prefer to chase prey, rather than taking the easy meal. Just give them something to chase, and make sure it's more appealing than you. No sweat. The problem was, his conjuration tended to get a bit wonky on things larger than he was, and it's not like he could just create a dog and hope the dragon was more interested in chasing it briefly than keeping an eye on him. No, he would have to keep looking for something else.
A quick trip into the Restricted Section revealed a bookshelf that Cedric could have sworn wasn't there the last time he visited, filled with a series of seemingly related books all written by a wizard named Gygax. Many of the books contained spells that seemed to fit his current frustration, but the requirements for most were obscenely expensive. Although this one….yeah, that might just work. Gonna need to check a map for this, but I think I've got a plan.
The day of the first task arrived, and Cedric arrived to the champion's tent carrying 4 small metal rods. Most who saw gave him a quizzical look, but an approving nod from Dumbledore suggested the Headmaster had a good idea of what he planned to do. The champions each chose their dragon (none looking terribly surprised, confirming what Harry had told him), and Cedric found himself holding a miniature Swedish Short-Snout. He was actually kind of glad that this was his dragon, as he had found the most comfort with the gleaming metal he was now carrying into the arena.
As Bagman shouted last instructions at the crowd, Cedric stared directly at the dragon in front of him, knowing he would only have one shot at this. The whistle blew, and his task began. He held up the metal rod he had brought into the arena, and began chanting magical words of power. He slowly advanced on the dragon, who seemed content to watch, as he made no threatening moves otherwise, and a small piece of metal would do little to penetrate her hide. At 30 feet away from the dragon, the metal rod began to glow blue, and when the dragon began to extend a claw towards Cedric, he quickly tapped the glowing rod against the first part of the claw he could reach.
A blinding blue flash lit up the arena, and when the spectators' eyes cleared, all they saw was Cedric standing in the middle of the clutch of eggs, holding the golden egg aloft. He exited the arena to much cheering, and was greeted by the judging panel just outside the stadium.
"Impressionnant, Meester Diggory," said Madame Maxime. "Would you kindly tell us where the dragon went?"
Cedric scratched behind his head sheepishly. "Well, if I'm lucky, it'll be somewhere near the dragon sanctuary in Arjeplog. If not….you might want to alert the Norwegian, Finnish, and Russian Ministries, just in case. The range on Planeshift is rather wide, after all."
Five gaping mouths greeted this response.