Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K Rowling

Chapter 4: Assessment

Breakfast was not a munter affair, some kind of truce had been called between the champions so no hexing or trading insults was going on. My food remained on my plate though, my once warm slice of bacon was now long cold with nothing but a small piece gone.

"You need to eat something Harry," Hermione reprimanded me. "Here, have a piece of toast," she continued and offered me a buttered piece of toast.

Taking the piece of toast I started to nimble a few bites. It felt like chewing paper though, everything just got stuck in my mouth. It was as if my body had just stopped producing saliva.

Deciding that I wouldn't get anymore down I quickly excused myself and heard people wishing me good luck. I didn't really listen to any of them though. I was walking like a robot down to the tent which had been erected for the champions; my small parchment was clutched in a death grip in my hand.

The first thing I had done when I woke up was to carefully extract the parchment from where I'd hidden it under my mattress and read it. To my dismay, the parchment looked as it had yesterday. Doubt began creeping into my mind about whether anything would actually appear. I decided to trust the girl though, she had delivered everything she had promised before. If she had wanted me dead, she could have ensured that when we met the first time.

Learning to ignore the stares was a skill I quickly acquired upon arriving at Hogwarts, but on my walk to the exit towards the grounds everybody turned their heads and whispered behind their hands. I tried to hold my head high despite it all, I had more important things to focus on. Every few seconds I would check the small parchment for any signs of the plan. I briefly considered returning to the room on the fourth floor and making sure that everything was in order.

I felt so stupid standing in the tent waiting for the others to arrive. Yes, I had the advantage of actually knowing what the task was beforehand, perhaps the others didn't. If the girl turned out to have betrayed me I would be screwed. Almost no preparations of my own, reading a little about a dragon's eating habits wouldn't help me defeat it.

Slowly but surely all the champions and their entourages began to arrive in the tent. Delacour gave me her usual scowl and looked at me condescendingly, I only smiled in return which only made her huff indignantly and turn away. Krum was ignoring my presence completely, although he ignored everyone completely, so I didn't really take it as anything personal. Just before the clock struck eleven Cedric appeared in the tent, looking slightly green and completely lost. It struck me that Delacour and Krum probably knew what was ahead, but Cedric had no clue. If he actually managed to complete the task, he should come first, purely off that.

I looked around at those gathered, Dumbledore and McGonagall were standing with Crouch conversing about something but they were interrupted by Bagman clearing his throat and beckoning everyone one to gather around him.

Bagman was practically bouncing and his grin would have been infectious if I didn't know that I would soon be fighting for my life. He went into a dramatic explanation of the task and made us all select our opponents from a small leather pouch. My theory that Cedric was the only one not in on the secret of the task was practically confirmed when all color drained upon his face as he pulled a Welsh green from the pouch.

As for myself, I got the last pick and that was the infamous Hungarian Horntail. I stared at the little miniature intently. What I had read about this one wasn't very good news for me. According to the book 'Dragon Dangers' the horntail was known for being incredibly aggressive.

I gulped and didn't quite pay attention to what Crouch then explained for us, I did understand that I would be going last though. McGonagall looked as if she wanted to say something to me, but must have thought better of it because she left together with all the judges, leaving us champions alone in the tent.

We all sat down, not saying a word to each other. The only sounds we heard were that of those making their way to the huge arena which had been created. The parchment was still empty though. I was beginning to fear the worst. Had she betrayed me? Had she cast a spell on it wrong? Had I somehow destroyed the thing?

Cedric was called in first. We weren't allowed to see the other champions' attempts, all we could go on was the cheers and gasps of the crowd. It was painstaking listening to explosions and roars when you could only guess as to what was actually happening.

After Cedric, Fleur went out in the arena without a word. Her attempt was significantly longer and quieter. In the end, the crowd erupted in a huge cheer and it seemed she had succeeded as well.

By now I was just sitting staring at the piece of parchment staring for some kind of clue. Anything. The parchment was just as clean and void as usual; I tried to come up with some sort of plan. Everything I thought of was just useless though. Summoning a broom to outfly it was ludicrous. Trying to bewitch it was not something I could do. When Krum went outside, my hands were shaking violently. I tried to take deep breaths and pull myself together, but nothing helped. I was going out to fight a dragon with no idea what to do.

I wiped the sweat of my brow and began pacing the room quickly. I wobbled and I felt as if my breakfast would come up at any moment. Then I heard the crowd cheer in delight and I realised what was soon upon me. That was when it happened though, I felt the parchment warm up in my hand and I thanked the girl silently. I vowed to get her the best Christmas present, even if she didn't celebrate Christmas.

I slowly unfolded the shrinkled parchment open and I saw that some purple letters had appeared on the parchment. I stared at the parchment, not quite comprehending what it said. There, only one word was written in neat handwriting.

Improvise.

Improvise?

IMPROVISE!

I couldn't believe it, she had outright lied to me. Unfortunately, all I could do was to do exactly what she wrote: Improvise. That wasn't a plan. For all the metaphors of blueprints and tools, I was left here with nothing but a blueprint for an axe when I needed a nuke.

I took a deep breath, suddenly determined. If this girl thought that she could finish me off like this, I would prove her wrong.

"Improvise," I muttered bitterly and began walking out of the tent.

-()-

The arena looked large from the outside, it must, to have space for a dragon. It was not large though, it was huge. Huge stands were erected around the arena and I could see hundreds of faces staring down at me in excited anticipation. The smell of smoke reached my nose and I couldn't help but wonder if that was the last thing I would feel. The smell of smoke as I was burnt alive. The judges had a section of the stands all for themselves, exalted above everyone else. The arena itself was full of rocks and gravel, my hairs stood on end as I very cautiously walked forwards with my wand held high.

I heard the dragon before I saw it, which was surprising, considering how huge it was. All the descriptions and numbers in the books I'd read really didn't do the thing justice. It must have been larger than the great hall. It towered over me menacingly and I couldn't help but wonder if I'd been assigned an impossible challenge. If somebody wanted me dead, this was the perfect way to achieve it. I would have to contemplate that another day though because that was when the dragon spotted me and roared furiously.

I quickly darted behind a rock and heard slams which I with dread realised were footsteps; towards me. My mind reeled, how could possibly I defeat it?

Should I just go in guns blazing and hope for the best?

"No," I thought to myself, I had some time to get an idea.

The crowd was now booing and jeering at me, clearly not impressed with my lack of action. Even Bagman who commented on the event seemed distinctly disappointed.

"The best way to win a fight is to never start it," I muttered to myself. That was what the girl had tried to drill into me, according to her, it was a strategy which couldn't fail if done right. I couldn't help but feel an extra twinge of annoyance at her though, it was difficult to avoid a fight when you had to fight.

I tried to think. Think of something which could help me. I tried to think of what she taught me, explosive spells seemed insignificant though. Nothing I could do would penetrate the scales of a dragon.

I was suddenly broken from my musing as the dragon let out a hot ball of fire towards my rock which forced me away from my place of hiding. The rock exploded into pieces and I shuddered at the thought of being killed in such a way. The dragon roared again and let out a stream of fire in my direction. I ran as fast as I could, behind a new rock, the heat was unbearable and I could see the rock actually melting under the dragon's heavy onslaught.

I threw a stunner in the dragon's general direction and tried to make a run for it. Just as I was nearly back to relative safety behind a large boulder I felt a thousand needles being driven into my right calf. I threw myself the last way behind and the inferno which was the dragon's breath appeared where I'd been just half a second earlier.

I looked down at my leg and unsurprisingly, I had a large burn on my right calf. I really had to end this soon or I wouldn't be able to walk. Still, I was no closer to finding a way to get past it to steal the golden egg.

I tried to think, the conjunctivus curse could be useful, but not by itself. I blind dragon is a very angry dragon. I thought back to my lessons but had to admit that no spell I'd learnt would solve this for me easily. All the talk about having all the needed tools.

Then an idea struck me, the fight with the Beauxbatons students and the girl. Could I do something like that again? Distract the dragon with a spell from behind and make a run for it.

If the point of emergence was far enough away from the dragon the hit would definitely be felt. I knew that the spell could only get a certain amount of strength though, so starting it too far away wouldn't help much.

Would it really work though?

The dragon would turn around but quickly realise something was amiss and turn back to me and make me into a bit of coal. If only I could create something which could be the girl, something which the dragon would think damaged it. I thought about transfiguring something into an animal or conjuring something, but that would require me to actually know how to do it, and to be where the animal appeared. That would defeat the entire purpose.

I looked around for ideas and caught sight of the judges' box where the five judges were sitting by themselves, observing me intently. It was crazy. It was totally crazy. It was dangerous, insanely dangerous.

Perhaps it wasn't this kind of price the girl had intended for me to start paying for victory, but it was my only shot.

Perhaps it was time to throw away the 'noble intentions' and pay the price of victory. These judges forced me into this tournament, so they could be the ones to pay my bills. My mind made up, I quickly darted away from the rock and threw a 'Bombarda' to the left of the dragon and made an impact in the wall below the judges' box.

Just before the spell was about to collide with the wall and explode, a bright blue shield appeared and rendered the spell useless.

"Shit, a magical shield," I cursed.

I groaned at my naivety and began to look for another solution. Of course they would protect the walls to prevent not just the dragon but the champions from destroying them.

I just about managed to dodge another barrage of fireballs as I limped behind another rock. This was the last piece of protection near me, everything else lay shattered or melted. If only those shields weren't there. Then it struck me, I could make sure they weren't. I had used the spell on Greengrass' cauldron and it had worked perfectly. These shields were way stronger, but my spell was unknown. How can whoever made this shield make it resistant to something they didn't know existed?

I stood up and winced in pain at my burning calf and shouted, "Tutefecta".

The familiar jet of dark purple light sprung from my wand and impacted the shield. I could see the judges standing up, probably sensing the threat. Not intent on making my opportunity slip away; I aimed my wand and once again fired a 'Bombarda'.

It felt as if everything happened in slow motion, the spell sizzled past the dragon and struck the wall creating a huge explosion. The wall collapsed and the judges' box fell together with the judges into the arena. As I had expected, they all were completely capable of slowing their fall. It didn't change the fact that all five of them were now standing on the other side of the arena. Bagmans 'Sonorous' spell must have been cancelled somewhere because it was now deadly quiet in the arena. Even the crowd was eerily silent, in shock or dismay, I didn't know. Probably both.

All I heard was the dragon's deep, gurgling breath and my breathing. I was now completely in the open with the dragon only staring at me intently. It then opened its mouth to fire, but I acted first and imagined a bolt of pink light emerging from where Dumbledore stood and striking the dragon in the back.

"Feriollo," I whispered confidently. At first I thought nothing happened but then the dragon jerked violently and roared furiously as it turned around to where the judges stood. It once again opened its great jaws and a stream of fire emerged, but this time not directed at me. I didn't pay attention to what was happening on the other side because I was staggering to the nest with the golden egg. I heard the sounds of fighting behind me which meant that someone had tried to attack the dragon.

"Perfect, keep it distracted," I muttered as I picked up the golden egg. By then, it wasn't far to get over the line to complete the first task. The dragon handlers all looked at me in shock as I limped towards them. Some of them looked outright fearful. As I crossed the line, all of them simultaneously sprang into action and began firing stunner after stunner on the dragon. The dragon roared again and thrashed in desperation as it was slowly subdued.

Madame Pomfrey didn't say a word as she took care of my burned calf. It was a fairly easy thing to heal apparently; because I was quickly dismissed. Not one second of bed rest was needed. I looked around the room and met the shocked stares of my fellow champions. For the first time ever, Delacour didn't actually scowl at me, but looked mildly impressed. Cedrid looked at me as if he had never seen me before, I couldn't really blame him. What I had just done must have looked crazy to them watching. It was crazy.

The Durmstrang champion Krum was not intent on just looking at me from afar though, he stormed towards me, his red face contorted in anger. He jerked his wand from his pocket and fired a nasty looking, black curse. I was ready though and conjured a shield to protect myself. It was unnecessary; a golden shield appeared between us, separating us from each other and protecting him from my retaliation.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" Krum roared furiously. "TRYING TO KILL MY HEADMASTER?"

I looked at him in disgust as I stuffed my wand back into my sleeve. "It was either me or them, I chose me."

"You will pay for this," Krum said to me angrily. "You think you had it worse before, you'll wish for death."

I just shook my head and searched for whoever had conjured the shield and found the judges standing in the entry to the medical tent.

Karkaroff made Krum's anger look like mild frustration. I was sure that I saw some actual smoke coming out of his ears, but that could just be from his smoking clothes. Every single one of them except Dumbledore looked as if they had been in the trenches. Soot, dirt and burn marks littered all of their clothes. Dumbledore appeared entirely unscathed though, it looked as if he was fresh from his wardrobe.

Crouch, Madame Maxine and Bagman all glared angrily, not saying a word. It was Dumbledore's look I cowered under though, he didn't look angry at all. More disappointed, sad and dare I say, regretful?'

After a few moments of awkward silence Ludo Bagman finally broke the staring contest. " , we have to give you your points. Usually we would do that in front of the entire crowd. But as you know, our sitting place is a little… damaged." It sounded as if he didn't want to do anything but strangle me alive and I realised that my solution was a very short term one. To be fair though, rather take the consequences of this than certain death.

The judges then shot up numbers in the air. Bagman began with a two, Madame Maxine followed up with another two. The purple faced Karkaroff gave me a one and a glare which promised suffering. Dumbledore also gave me a two and Mr Crouch, to my great surprise, gave me a staggeringly high six. Considering I had just made him fall thirty metres and fight a dragon, that was very generous.

I sat down at a couch with my egg clutched in my arms and waited for them to announce whatever they wanted to announce. Still glaring daggers at me; Bagman began speaking once again.

"Now that you all have collected your eggs, you now have the clue to the next task. The next event is not the second task however," Bagman spoke and paused dramatically.

I rolled my eyes at his antics but couldn't help but feel a little concerned about the imminent 'event'. Hopefully it wasn't compulsory.

"The event is compulsory for all champions," he continued as if he had read my mind.

"The Yule ball is on the 25th of December and all champions will begin the evening with an opening dance. That is all for this time, see you all at christmas day." he finished.

I cursed inwardly, a dance meant a date. A date was something I doubted would be solved easily. If the castle had been hostile before, I doubted that dumping the judges into a pit of death would do wonders for my image.

I waited for everyone else to leave before I would make myself scarce. Dumbledore was the last one out and he still only looked at me disappointedly as he left. I couldn't really blame him. Most of the castle's inhabitants must have thought that I was a psychopath. For all I knew, perhaps I was a psychopath. Endangering five people in that manner wasn't something a sound person did. I reminded myself though, me or them, and they forced me into this.

Now I only had one thing to do, confront the girl. She had betrayed me. Sure, I had succeeded in the end, but not because of her. I had done all she asked and only expected help with the task in return.

The one thing I really hated though was the fact that I'd been forced to do the one thing which she told me, I already knew what she was going to say. "I gave you a blueprint which you followed and succeeded with."

It technically wasn't wrong, but she knew as well as I did that the help I got wasn't the done I wanted. The victory had held an expensive price. Krum and Durmstrang in extension would be more aggressive than ever. All the judges would disfavour me, and I still had no idea how my friends would react. I made it seem to them like I had it all planned. How could I explain that I didn't plan anything of what I did when I had assured them of the opposite the evening prior.

I could just tell them about the girl and her place, but I remembered my promise to the girl.

"She broke her promise though," a voice said in my head. "Betray her like she betrayed you."

"No," I muttered to myself. "She deserves to explain herself."

I would give her one chance to explain, then it was done. The girl had betrayed me, but I couldn't ignore the fact that she had taught me every spell I'd used in the task. She obviously knew what she was doing. I hated being manipulated though, that was what she was doing. It worked so, very, very well though. It felt like I'd learnt more during these past few weeks than I ever had in classes.

I stood up and made to leave at last.

"You were wrong," I muttered quietly. "The best way to win a fight is to have someone else fight it for you."