Bagman smiled like it was the best day of his entire life. His grin was even wider than before. Everyone could plainly see that the man was enjoying himself. That couldn't be said for most of the other people in the tent. The three headmasters looked tense, which was quite understandable. While you could say that the main thought behind the tournament was building relations, it was still a competition. Umbridge was different. Her toad-like face showed a scowl, while she stared at Sirius, Narcissa and Remus. She raised her stumpy finger and pointed at them.
"What are you doing here, this is the champions' tent. Leave!" Her tone wasn't sickling sweet like it often was, obviously she had given up that course of action when interacting with the House of Black. Narcissa only raised her left eyebrow, looking down at the woman with nothing but contempt. Her whole gaze almost screamed 'know your place...vermin.' Sirius, on the other hand, smiled widely, shaking his head.
"Oh, Miss Umbridge I almost forgot that you were part of this. We, of course, are representing Lord Peverell, as is our right, as his godfather, legal advisor and his proxy."His finger pointed at himself, Remus and Narcissa in the same order. Umbridge turned a marvellous shade of red, while her right eyelid was twitching slightly.
Dumbledore already noticing that there was a new storm brewing, shook his head.
"Sirius my boy, I understand your concern, but this is hardly a place where legal advice or a proxy would be needed. Remus, Miss Black I hope it isn't too much of an inconvenience for you to move to the spectator seats."
Remus almost automatically stepped back towards the exit, only to hesitate when Narcissa wasn't moving a single inch. Her arms were still crossed and her nose raised higher than usual. Then slowly her gaze turned to Sirius. The black-haired man looked her in the eye for a moment, like a nonverbal communication was taking place and then nodded. Narcissa curtsied to Sirius before turning. She cupped Harry's cheek for a moment and with the back turned to everyone but him, gave him a short smile. Then finally she left, together with Remus. The message here had been clear. She wouldn't take command from anyone, but the Head of House Black. Dumbledore sighed, shaking his head.
That woman was so hardheaded, he had seen only a few times. Molly Weasley and Amelia Bones were the same but other than those two, who more or less trusted him, Narcissa Malf...Black wouldn't trust him with a single knut. Somehow he just knew this would turn out to be a problem in the future, but he had no idea what to do about this. Again he shook his head. He then turned to the former quidditch star.
"Mr Bagman, maybe now is the time to tell the champions their task."
With a huge smile, Bagman pulled out a small bag, while stepping in the middle. He looked at all the champions one by one.
"Now gentleman and of course my lady, it is time for the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament. I know you are all excited and all, but don't worry I would say you will handle it all pretty well. All you have to do is enter the arena one by one and get the golden egg at the other side of the field." He raised a finger still grinning.
"But, there is a tiny problem in the way you have to overcome. Or pass by to be more precise. Miss Musashi, I would say ladies first." He held the red velvet bag towards her. Akiko stepped closer, sticking her hand inside and pulled out a small life-like dragon, that turned it's head and roared rather cutely at the Japanese girl. It was green with yellow wings and had two small horns on the back of his head. A '2' was hanging around his neck.
"Ah yes, The Common Welsh Green, very well Miss, very well. Now Mr Warrington." Harry looked over at the other students. None of them seemed surprised at the reveal of the scaled creature. He, of course, knew how Ulrich had known but the other two also seemed totally unphased, so either they got a tip as well or were very good at hiding their surprise. Still, all of them looked more or less nervous, grim-faced and thoughtful. Their skin was pale and none of them showed much confidence. The only one who didn't look much different than before was Ulrich, but that was more of a statement how sick he normally looked rather than the strength he showed right now.
Cassius looked rather darkly at the older man when he put his hand in the bag and pulled forth a dragon with pearly scales and multicoloured eyes. It looked really beautiful, even for Harry, whose own experience with Norbert had made him worry about the tall creatures. A number '1' hung around its neck.
"The Antipodean Opaleye, beautiful creatures those. Well done. Well done indeed." Bagman exclaimed, before stretching out the bag to Harry. Cassius snorted, pocketing the small dragon-like he didn't care. Harry reached into the bag, feeling around until he felt something stick to his hand, pulling it out. Wrapped around his fingers was a long thin creature. It looked almost none like the other dragons, beginning with the fact that it doesn't really have wings. Instead, the body was stretched and thin, with two long whiskers and almost a beard like hair around the snout. It looked out to him, also roaring tinily. It had the number '4' around its neck.
"The Chinese Long Neck, very well Lord Peverell." Harry stared at his dragon. He had read about it. These creatures were fast and lived in the bamboo Forrest in central China. Their lack of wings was compensated by a faster body and higher wits. Also to his dismay even though they didn't spit fire really far they were the only poisonous dragon type.
Harry looked up only to see Ulrich pull out the British Black Dragon, wearing the number '3'. It was like the name stated black of colour and its most prominent feature was that this species never stopped growing. Harry liked Ulrich and he hoped he wouldn't get too old of a specimen. Bagman smiled, vanishing the bag in his hands with a clap.
"Well now that everyone has their challenge, I think we can get started. You will enter the arena in the same order your dragons are numbered, which means that Mr Warrington will be first." He glanced over at Harry like he wanted to say something to the boy, but Sirius' hand rested on his shoulder and when the Judge looked at the Lord of the Wizengamot, he was sure he shouldn't talk to him.
Bagman turned to Dumbledore, who nodded in return. The old headmaster stepped forward.
"You will have now five minutes to prepare. When the signal is made, go inside. Good luck everyone. Sirius, I now must insist on you also leaving."
The black-haired man looked for a moment like he would object, but then he nodded slowly. Spinning Harry on his shoulder, he kneeled down and hugged his godson fiercely.
"Stay safe out there Prongslet. You can do this, I know you can. Lils and James would be so proud." The man whispered into Harry's ear and the boy noticed the worry and anxiety in the voice of his godfather. He hugged him back.
"Will do Sirius will do." He smiled and Sirius stood, following the rest of the adults out of the tent. Harry sat down on a stool, while his stomach turned itself into knots. His hands were clammy and he felt like throwing up. But there was nothing he could do, now he just wished he would have pulled out the dragon with the number '1', getting over with this as fast as he could. He looked up, staring at the other champions. Ulrich was lying on a couch, his arm over his eyes like he tried to sleep, but he was twitching and shifting more often than not. Cassius, who would go first was nibbling on his thumbnail, patting his foot. Akiko had sat down in a meditation pose and closed her eyes. Of all the champions she seemed the calmest. Only after a few moments, her face twitched and she opened her right eye, staring coldly as Cassius.
"Stop that tapping please." She growled out, her voice betraying her nervousness. Cassius blinked then he turned to snarl at her.
"Shut up I try to concentrate you foreign-"
A loud bang, like a cannon, cut off Warrington, obviously being the signal for him to start. He scowled one last time at Musashi before he turned and walked out briskly. Harry stared after him, hearing only Ulrich mumbled words.
"Was ein Arschloch."*
Sirius moved quickly through the rows on the mostly Gryffindor dominated bleachers. His place was rather easily spotted by him, thanks to the dark grass green robes of Lord Greengrass and his daughters in the middle of a sea of Red and Gold. He sat down next to his fellow lord, shaking his hand in the process. On his other side were Remus and Narcissa. Bushy and blue hair two rows in front of him marked the place were Harry's friends were sitting. Susan, Hermione, Neville, Fred and George were sitting there, but he could only see the backs of their heads. Lord Greengrass leaned over.
"How is Lord Peverell?" He asked in a low voice, while his eyes were still focused on the arena. Sirius also stared down, feeling nervous and anxious to the point where he sweated.
"He is fine. Nervous, but still. He won't fight the dragon according to plan he will forfeit instantly, not getting himself in danger."
Lord Greengrass nodded. "A well-calculated move. Whoever put his name in the tournament will get nothing out of it if he just does the absolute minimum."
Sirius shrugged rather un-lord-like. "As long as he is safe I don't...oh Merlin." He whispered out. The dragon tamers had brought in the first dragon. It was about thirty feet long, with shimmering scales, pale and yet filled with every colour of the rainbow. The beast stretched out her wings, shooting a flame to the sky, while the tamers retreated. A long chain held it close to a nest full of eggs, one of which was golden. On a stage to the side, all five judges were sitting, with Bagman holding his wand to his throat and commentating. Sirius stared at the beast not really hearing Bagman starting his explanation. After a few short sentences, a cannon shot, marking the beginning of the task.
Under the thundering applause of the Hogwarts students, Cassius Warrington stepped out of the entrance. He was wearing his Quidditch outfit, waving at the mass with a wide grin, standing in the entrance for a moment, looking around. The arena was filled with boulder and rocks, about 200 feet in diameter. Then the boy lowered his hand, pulling forth his wand and started moving into the arena. Up until now, the dragon didn't seem to have noticed him. He pointed his wand onto some boulder in the far distance and even though the people watching couldn't understand his words, the result spoke for itself when the boulder exploded in a spectacular way. Bagman was right on commentating there.
"All right our first champions go in with a boom, rather impressive piece of magic there I would guess, wonder what that was about." Cassius was still moving closer to the dragon and its nest. The creature had turned its head, looking where the boulder had been destroyed. Cassius again turned his wand at a boulder and exploded that one too. Still, the dragon wouldn't move, standing over her nest, but at least it was looking in the right direction.
Sirius snorted.
"This is his plan? Exploding boulders to distract it?" He pointed at the boy, kneeling behind one of the bigger stones. Remus nodded slowly.
"So it seems. I mean it isn't bad, let's hope it will be enough." Sirius nodded.
After a few minutes, the storm of applause slowly died down. Cassius exploded some more stones, each of those with more and more energy, but the tall scaled creature didn't move from its eggs away. The boy wasn't dumb, even though he knew he bored the people a little, he needed to be careful. Cassius often went hunting with his grandfather back a few years ago and the most important thing there was patience. He exploded another rock, but the damn animal just wouldn't come out off the damn thing. Cassius sighed, taking in his surroundings. This wasn't working well.
But no Slytherin went into something like this without a plan. The boy raised his wand pointing it into the distance behind some rocks and set off a fireworks shell. The cracking and lights outside of view stirred the creature. Raising its head for a moment back, it stretched out, basking the boulder in question with hot flames. For a few seconds, the entire stadium held it's breath taken aback by the sheer amount of fire that came out of the mouth of the dragon. Antipodean Opaleye wasn't the biggest or had the hottest flames but they had the most, could breathe fire up to a full minute if needed to. Still, after a few seconds, the dragon closed its mouth but the fireworks didn't stop. Roaring in anger, the giant lizard spread its wings and in a jump like flight hopped in direction of the boulders. Cassius grinned behind his boulder and slipped around it, falling into a sprint; that was what he had been waiting for. His strong legs carried him over the rubble of exploded boulders and around large rocks. All caution was blown to the wind. He could make it.
"Oh-oh, that doesn't look good." Hermione called out pointing at the big lizard. The dragon had stopped, halfway between the fireworks and its nest, sniffing the air. Then with snake-like agility, the opal coloured monster turned its head seeing the human running towards its most treasured and roared in a white fury.
Cassius cursed but didn't stop. All his plans were based around the fact that the dragon didn't know he was there. He had to trust his physic and strong legs now. The dragon was far away and it was only a few metres. That would do it. Come on Warrington you can do this! Run! Run!
The entire stadium was holding their breathes at the race towards the goal. The dragon had spread its wings again flying towards its nest. Cassius jumped from boulder to boulder leaping into the air his hand stretched out, reaching for the egg. The dragon was right in front of him, coming down like an avalanche of scales, shooting flames ahead. Fingers brushed over the golden surface. With a thundering rumble, the furious beast crashed into its own nest, smashing eggs in the process. It roared in pain and rage, twitching broken wings around.
The audience cried out in panic. Could that be the first champion died already? Some students averted their eyes, suddenly this felt much less fun and a lot more dangerous. Could he really be dead?
But then people shouted pointing at the stage where the judges were sitting. Lying there was a crumbled slightly burning heap of a boy, a large golden object at his side. A part of his robes was still burning and he wasn't moving at all. It was difficult to make out. The judges hurried to his side, extinguishing the flames. Madam Pomfrey was also hurrying over, kneeling down next to the boy. She waved her wand and again the entire arena held their breath. After a moment Bagman nodded, turning to the audience.
"Mr Warrington is all right! A little scorched and unconscious but nothing to be worried about." A sigh of relief went through the stadium. People collapsed back at their seats, while Pomfrey levitated the boy under thundering applause from the stage, while Bagman smiled, nodding to the judges. They came together, whispering to one and the other for a short while before Bagman turned to the audience.
"Mr Warrington did a fine job in his attempt to get the golden egg and succeeded. However, he wasn't all too successful. Not only did he get hurt himself, but he also injured this noble dragon and had destroyed a few eggs. All together the judges give Mr Warrington 8 out of the possible 15 points." His smile once again was bright and the applause rose, while Slytherin students rose from their seats, chanting Warrington.
"You think she will be okay, dad?" Astoria asked her father, pointing at the dragon.
Sirius looked down into the arena. A few dragon tamers, not looking really happy all in all, had stunned the poor dragon and were now manoeuvring it out of the arena. It looked badly hurt by its crash, one wing was almost torn off. Also, they were cleaning off the stone where the nest was, rescuing the remaining eggs. Out of six, only two had survived the destruction. Sirius was pretty sure the tamers were pretty mad about this, judging by the glares they gave the audience.
"Let's hope so, sweety." Lord Greengrass said, rubbing his daughters back. The girl loved animals, always had. It was something she had in common with his late wife. He sighed. To this day it was hard for Lord Greengrass to look at his youngest daughter. Not only was she a spitting image of her mother, down to the brown hair and green eyes, but also she carried the blood curse in herself that took his beloved partner way too early from him. His eyes turned to Daphne, who was sitting there with a straight back, her eyes cold and calculated. The death of their mother had changed both of his children, but Daphne more than Astoria. His eldest daughter had turned cold at that time, distant and icy. The laughing girl disappeared over night, leaving behind a frosty girl who did her best to be the lady of an old house. While Lord Greengrass respected his daughter greatly for her devotion for their family and her willingness to take up this burden, he couldn't stop thinking that he wished that the blond pride of his eye would have happiness in her life.
Lord Greengrass thoughts were interrupted by the roaring of another giant creature that was guided into the arena. It snapped towards the tamers, that held her back with spells and long chains. Green scales and short horns flashed in the autumn light, while the dragon roared again, being chained to its nest. Bagman again pointed his wand at his throat.
"And now we start with the second champion. A round of applause for Akiko Musashi!" He waved towards the entrance, where Akiko showed up. She wasn't wearing robes, but instead some wide pants and a short kimono, her hair pulled back into a knot. The applause was thundering, as loud as the one for Cassius, making the beast in the centre of the arena snap around in anger. Akiko, like Cassius, waved at the audience, before bowing slightly towards the dragon. Even though it couldn't see her, it was a noble creature and deserved her respect. She then lowered her stance and like Cassius tried to not get the attention of the dragon. That part seemed in common to all their plans, the attempt to sneak up on the creature.
But Akiko wouldn't resort to large displays of magic. Instead, she pointed her wand at herself, muttering under her breath and after a moment she started to blur and ripple, slowly fading from view.
"Oh, Miss Musashi is taking the stealthy road, interesting. In what way will she distract the dragon from her presence, we will find out." Bagman commentated joyfully.
But she wasn't finished. Again placing her wand to her herself, she muttered again, not that anyone would see that. And even if she wasn't anything to be seen, rather be smelled. Or more like nothing to be smelled. She had read that Dragons had a good sense of smell and therefore she had masked her smell and sounds for good measure. then for the first time, she pointed the wand into the arena, this time not making any sound, but soon everybody noticed a difference. A strong smell of cherry blossoms filled the air intensely and also a little calming. The dragon turned it's head, trying to find the source of the smell but it couldn't see anything and then….
Nothing happened. The audience stared into the arena, looking for a sign or some move but there was nothing to be seen. No flashy move, no sudden movement nothing. Just quiet, except the twists and turns of the dragon, which after the first minute laid down next to its nest, staring at the audience, which was obviously the only thing he noticed. The audience in return turned a little bored after the first few moments. There was nothing. Well, the dragon was interesting and most hadn't seen one ever before but still, nothing happened. Even Bagman stopped commentating, not sure what he should say, with this lack of action.
Fred leaned over to George. "That is a little underwhelming don't you think? I mean dragons are cool and all but..."
George nodded. "It is a little boring." Susan huffed from the other side of Fred.
"So what? This is clever and also probably the safest way to get to the final stretch. Who cares if it is boring?" She snapped at the both of them, who raised their hands. The bluenette glared at them with venom in her eyes, before turning back to the arena.
"Sorry. Merlin." George said, returning to the arena himself.
After almost twelve minutes all the sudden the golden egg just disappeared from the nest and Akiko reappeared on the stage, as if she had just strolled through a park. Applause rose. This might not have been the most spectacular display of magic but certainly the most elegant. Bagman almost jumped out of his seat in surprise and waved his hand quickly.
"There she is! Wonderful display Miss Musashi, wonderful indeed!" He said smiling. Madam Pomfrey again rushed over, checking the girl up, but the Japanese Champion only shook her head slightly at the questions of the school nurse and after handing her a potion, the dignified mediwitch retreated to return to the injured Cassius.
"She is unharmed! After facing a dragon that is quite a feat. Now we as the judges will talk to each other, one moment please." And with that again the judges stepped together, talking to each other. This discussion turned out a little longer and you could all see the argument that was happening. After a while, all of them nodded and once again Bagman turned to the gathered students.
"After an energetic discussion, we judges came to a conclusion. Miss Musashi has made a perfect display of acting clever and looking out for her own safety in the face of danger. However, the progress was slow and steady, but still slow. We judges award her 12 points." The applause was loud and Akiko turned, bowing to the audience before stepping off the stage as well.
Sirius and Lord Greengrass also clapped politely and watched the girl leave.
"Who do you think was the one disagreeing?" Narcissa asked her cousin from the side, watching the judges on the stage.
Sirius frowned looking the over. "The way they are all giving Umbridge the stink eye I would say she was the one. Most likely she wanted her to have even fewer points, judging by the look on her face." He was right, Dolores Umbridge didn't look all too happy as it was. Her arms were crossed and she glared down into the arena, where right now a pitch-black dragon was lead-in. It roared like the one before did, showing off his underbelly, which was coloured in a wine like red.
Narcissa nodded in agreement. "She is a foul woman. I don't like her." To which Sirius could only nod in agreement. He didn't like that woman either, not since his trial and every time he came in contact with her he was stronger in his belief that she was an awful human being.
Bagman smiled waving at the audience.
"Now, our third champion. Big applause for Ulrich Kurfurst, also known as the Ashbringer!" People roared in applause, more than when Akiko was announced. This was the famous duelling champion, even if he wasn't a dashing figure like Cassius he was still famous and had a lot of fans in the wizarding world.
The announced teenager walked into the arena, wearing jeans and also a shirt with the bat-winged sword on the front. He also wore a woollen cap, protecting his head from the cold wind. One of the sleeves slowly flapped in the wind, empty. Ulrich didn't wave towards the crowd or anything, not even looking up. His eyes were trained on the creature in the centre of the arena. The dragon was sitting upright, its tail swishing back and forth. Ulrich raised his wand mumbling something no one could understand pointing it at the largest boulder on the opposite side of the arena, interestingly the same one Cassius had used to hid his firework. The boulder morphed twisted and turned only to the change its form and with a short flash, there was suddenly a second dragon in the arena, smaller than the original but with bright green scales. It was the form of another Brazilian black dragon, more so a male. Even though they were smaller, male Brazilians in the wild tried to destroy the eggs of females, making them ready to breed again. The black scaled beast in the centre reacted instantly, standing on its hind legs, roaring a challenge to the creature that appeared d in her domain, near her breed. Wings flapped, feet stomped loudly onto the ground. Ulrich kept holding his wand towards the transfigured dragon, still controlling it and pulling the real one further away. The creature reacted wonderful, engaging full-on into the duel. It moved forward, still, wings spread, puffing its chest, trying to intimidate the suddenly arrived adversary.
"That looks like a clever idea. There is no better distraction than that, this is for sure." Bagman commentated with a grin.
The real dragon jumped forward with a roar, slashing its claws into the flank of it foe and the crowd roared. This was what they had come for. This was a spectacle. The dragons bit at each other fighting in the corner of the arena. Ulrich in the meantime had started running. His sprint was fast, not as graceful as Cassius sprint had been, but still looked rather impressive. There was nothing between him and the nest.
It would have been perfect if there wasn't a small detail. The chain that bound the dragon to its nest stretched in the exact moment Ulrich stepped over it and knocked him to the ground with a lot of force. The wet smack could be heard over the sound of the fighting dragons. The entire arena gasped. That looked nasty. His transfigured dragon disappeared returning to its stone form but luckily for Ulrich, the real one stayed where it was still searching for the suddenly disappeared creature. The teenager didn't move for a moment, before he sat up, shaking his head slightly. He moved on, leaving behind a nasty red stain where his head had hit the rocks. The boy stumbled into the nest and half fell half jumped onto the golden egg. He reappeared on the stage, collapsing and actually vomiting onto the floor. The egg rolled away uncared for. Madam Pomfrey almost appeared out of nowhere, waving her wand muttering under her breath. The stadium waited for her verdict, while Madam Greif was hovering, her face contorted in concern.
After a few waves, Pomfrey said something to Bagman and levitated the boy from the stage. Sirius saw a girl with blond hair sprinting through the rows towards the exit in a panicked pace. Bagman addressed the audience.
"Mr Kurfurst seems to be alright. A concussion and a laceration, nothing more." Applause erupted from the stands while the judges came together discussing their verdict. This time they didn't take long before Bagman once again turned addressed the students and other spectators.
"Very well Mr Kurfurst showed us an impressive feast of transformation. He was also the quickest of the champions up until now to retrieve the egg and did so without coming into conflict with his dragon. Yet, he got a little careless and injured himself in the process. We award 10 points to him for his efforts." The applause returned with vigour and Bagman waved at them.
Hermione and Neville looked out onto the arena where with difficulty the tamers moved the Black Scaled Brazilian was forced to return into her cage. The creature roared and tried to fight back twice but finally, the arena was empty again.
"Oh god, I hope this will go over well." Hermione said, wringing her hands slowly, while she stared at the place where all the champions had come in. On the other side, the pen opened, releasing Harry's opponent.
Harry listened to the applause on the outside, while he still felt worried. It seemed like Ulrich had been really quick with his round. Yet Bagman's words suggested he was hurt. Harry hoped the german boy was all right. He was a nice bloke. The few times they had talked, Harry had enjoyed the dry humour of the older teen. Yet while they had waited together, none of them had said a word to the other. Both were lost in their thoughts, thinking ahead. The only interaction was Harry nodding towards the bald teenager when he had made his way over to the entrance.
Harry looked down into Dawn's eyes petting her feathers in an attempt to calm his nerves. The phoenix thrilled and chirped, cuddling close to his hand, enjoying the attention, little diva she is. Harry smiled while his mind was fixed on the task. Just go out there and surrender directly. Let them laugh, you don't care at least you survive. You-
*Bang* Another cannon shot roared through the tent, marking his beginning. Harry stood, feeling dread in his stomach. Dawn took a seat on his shoulder and together they slowly walked through a small tunnel made out of wood. It was damp and dark and felt like a mile for him even though it was only a few feet. Harry could see light, rather brightly on the other side. He walked out, blinking at the sun and into a circular arena, filled with large boulders and rock. The rows around the arena were stacked high and n it clapping and applauding students were sitting, but it seemed less enthusiastic than before. Only the Gryffindor section was almost exploding when he stepped into the light and he saw Hermione, Susan, Sirius, Remus, the twins, Narcissa and the others clapping and cheering for him. Harry felt again a lump in his stomach. He raised his hand and Dawn hopped onto it as they had trained before.
While he raised his hand higher, he saw that in the stands Sirius was shooting out a few red and golden sparks, marking his position. Dawn spread her wings and took flight, rising quickly. Harry's eyes followed her for a while as she flew into the sunlight, heading towards Sirius outstretched hand. Harry heard Bagman's words like through a small filter.
"Our final champion has arrived Lord Peverell. And his wonderful phoenix has left his side, to be safe on the stands, very good idea, very good indeed."
Harry stopped listening raising his wand. Now he would have to do this humiliation, give up, something he was never really good at.
"Stay away from my children apes!"
A loud voice echoed through the arena, like thunder and lighting. Yet no one seemed to really mind. Harry looked around who could have talked, stopping in his tracks, wand half risen. Again the voice spoke.
"I burn you, I rip you to shreds! These are my brood!"
Harry turned his eyes to the long thin dragon in the middle of the arena. It looked like its miniature counterpart only a hundred times bigger. Over 30 feet long, it moved around the boulders, now Harry saw the snake-like physique of the dragon. It roared but the roar sounded different for him.
"Stay away! Burn! Die!"
Harry lowered his wand, staring at the creature. This must be his parseltongue. Yes, the dragon was a little hard to understand, like someone with a strong Scottish accent but still, he could make out the gist of it. Harry lowered his wand more. He just stood there staring at the dragon. He didn't hear Bagman's comment about being frozen he didn't hear Sirius and Remus screaming at him, the other spectators also calling out for him. Harry slowly climbed onto a boulder, like he was following some kind of compulsion and revealed himself to the creature.
"Oh, Peverell is the first champion to challenge his dragon face to face? Is that confidence or foolishness, we will find out!" Bagman said, pointing at the scene. Harry raised his head to stare into the dragon's eyes, who by now had seen him.
"Hello." He called out but the rest of the arena heard only a loud hissing noise, that gave them goosebumps. The dragon tilted it's head a slight bit, staring at him.
"Can you understand me?" Harry asked, careful not to let the dragon out of his sight. The large reptile lowered her head looking closer at him.
"A speaker. First I met." It grumbled back. The rough speaking was hard to understand but Harry tried his best. He nodded slowly.
"Yes, I'm a speaker. I didn't know dragons could understand me." Harry said at which the reptile growled, shaking itself. Everybody in the arena had turned quiet, starring at the bizarre scene of a teenager talking with a dragon.
"Of course not, those animals have no brains. I and my kind are the only true dragons." The serpent-like creature stretched itself, showing off her scales. Harry nodded again, licking his lips.
"And magnificent you are." He spoke hastily. The dragon made a sound that sounded a little bit like the purr of a cat.
"A flatterer. What do you want here, an ape with the noble tongue?" It asked, flicking its tail. It seemed really calm right now and while no one really understood what was going on, with the exception of maybe of Dumbledore. The old headmaster had taken the time in his life to at least understand parts of the snake's tongue. Even though he couldn't understand the dragon, Harry's words suggested that he was coaxing the reptile.
Harry stepped a little closer, carefully, while speaking. "I have the task to retrieve that egg from your nest." He pointed at it.
That was a mistake. The dragon roared, anger and flames spitting from her mouth, while it crushed stone with its claw.
"You want my brood thief? You will burn for that!" The dragon roared again and Harry could only dodge behind a bolder quick enough before fire basked the ground where he had just stood. Hot flames swept around the corners of the stone and quickly the sand melted. The audience screamed in surprise at the sudden attack and Sirius felt like he was dying right now. Harry quickly and in a panic called out.
"No! No, I don't want to steal your brood!"
It took a moment but the dragon stopped her breathing, so Harry slowly peeked back around the corner. The dragon had coiled itself around her nest staring at him.
"Explain, fast!" She said, her whiskers twitching slightly.
Harry carefully stepped out from behind his cover, blinking away sweat on his forehead. He slowly moved, not to spook the creature in any way or form. He pointed at the nest. "There is an egg in there that isn't yours. Someone smuggled it in between your brood."
The dragon tilted its head, looking between its own coils. The ape was right, there was one between her beloved children that wasn't hers. It smelled different, she just hadn't noticed it up until now, the difference was faint. The creature roared angrily as she dived down trying to toss the thing out of her nest. But shortly before she could it something invisible blocked her from getting to her own brood. Even angrier the dragon tried, again and again, striking down like a viper, but that foul-smelling egg still stayed in place. After a few seconds, it noticed that the ape was waving at her, calling out to her.
"Wait! You can't toss it out, they won't let you!" Harry hissed, coming slowly closer. The angered dragon glared over at the ape flicking her tail. She wanted to get out of here, she wanted that false egg away from her brood. Her roar made that clear enough. Harry nodded, still holding up his hand trying to calm her.
"I know, I know. You want your family safe. I understand. Let me take the false egg, I can reach it." Harry was sweating all over, his breathing fast. The dragon stared at him for a few moments, flames flickering out of her mouth. Harry was sure she would kill him, burn him right then and there. He was about to pull back, slowly, berating himself how he could be so dumb to even try this when the large reptile spoke again.
"You will take that out of my nest, ape that speaks the noble tongue. I will kill you before you can even think of hurting my brood!" The dragon lifted a coil of her body, revealing a path to the nest. Harry swallowed hard and slowly and carefully walked closer. The dragon hissed, making him flinch but didn't strike. Harry felt like he was drenched in sweat and nervousness, inch by inch moving forward. The dragon looked so massive from up close. What was he thinking? But he couldn't back out again. Little did he know that the dragon had its own plans. When the ape had taken out the foul egg from her nest she would eat him. That would be a good meal, even though it seemed like a thin weak ape.
Harry blinked away the sweat when he ducked under the large body, underneath the coil. The creature could just drop her body again and he would die. Just a few more feet. He looked over the eggs and of course, the golden one was on the other side, making him either walk around the nest or right through it. Somehow he knew he wouldn't survive if he tried to walk right through so he made his way slowly around the big, stone-like eggs until he was in reach to touch the egg. He felt a shadow over himself, the dragon ready to strike.
Survival instinct kicked in and he knew the dragon would kill him the moment the egg was out of the nest so he stretched his hand out fast and the fingertips brushed over the golden object. He felt the familiar tugging on his naval when the portkey kicked in pulling him to safety.
The stadium erupted in applause. Even Slytherin couldn't hold back at the final of this tense and amazing display. No one really understood what happened but it seemed like the dragon had allowed Peverell to get to the egg and take it from her, unbelievable. Everybody couldn't believe that the youngest would also do the most amazing feat, dwarfing even Ulrich' attempt. Between all these people were only a few persons who turned even paler than before, while their eyes were focused on the stage, where the raven-haired boy should have appeared. Sirius called out, over the sound of applauding people, giving the thoughts of those few a voice.
"Where is Harry?!"
The stage was empty.
*What an asshole.
AN
The first task is over. God that was fun writing. I hope you liked it. I never agreed with Rowlings decision to not really show us what the other champions did, only describe it. So I did just that. I hope you really enjoyed it.
So I had to really think to come up with different approaches. Relatively early I decided the parseltongue route for Harry. I thought it was fitting. I know I'm not the first to have this idea, but I never really like that most of those who did it made the dragon act all civil all the sudden. It is still an animal to me and wanted to feed and all of that. Some of my inspiration came from Smaug from the Hobbit, but just smaller things. This feeling of trying to calm an angry beast that Bilbo has. That kind I wanted to recreate.
The idea with the chain knocking Ulrich to the ground actually comes from the series Top Gear. Just search 'James May BBC Top Gear Christmas Special 2010 Heroic Fail' in youtube and you will see what I had in mind with this moment. By the way, it is planned that Bagman says Ulrich last name wrong. Most English people speak an Ü like a U because there isn't something like it in the English language. I hade some other idea of what he should do but maybe I will keep that for later.
Akiko is smart. She is quite similar to Daphne actually, with only a few differences. You will see. I planted something in here by the way, but it is minor.
Cassius I always thought about what would Draco be like if he wasn't a coward, but someone so arrogant he would dive into danger. A little like a mix between Sirius and Lucius Malfoy if you would like to think that way.
We are almost at the end of the second big Arc in this story. Next two to maybe three chapters and we are in Arc three.
Next up: Where is Harry?