I do not own Harry Potter, only the OC.
Hello guys, Badger here. How are you all today. There was a bit of a delay writing this chapter. Due to college work and packing things, as I will be moving sometime soon, I didn't have much time to write. To make up for that, I have a longer chapter for you today. I don't think it is the longest chapter, but it sure feels like it. When writing this chapter, I realised two things: Harry doesn't have his Firebolt [Unless I wrote it in and I forgot], and I forgot to add Dobby in. There was going to be a small moment where Harry finds Dobby working at Hogwarts. These will be resolved in future chapters.
Side note: The poll is still up on my profile. I don't know when I will take it down, so get your votes in.
That is all for now. Read on, I hope you enjoy and I will see you at the end
Chapter 48
The First Task
Teenage Tragedy,
Rita Skeeter
As many may know, a shock ran across the Wizarding World when, during the Champion selection for the Triwizard Tournament, both Harry Potter's and James Badgers name came out from the Goblet of Fire. The two had made a Magical Vow to prove their innocence in placing, or having others place their names in the Goblet itself. The fact that they are still alive more then proves that fact. There is still speculation on who it was who placed their name in the Goblet. The Goblet initiates a Magical Binding Contract, meaning the two will lose their magic if they don't compete. Is it a plot? I can't be sure readers. What I can say is, the two seem determined to win the Tournament. It seems Harry's past trauma makes him keen and James, the pain hidden in his eyes gives him strength, a will power to succeed. One must wonder what happened to cause such pain. I had the pleasure of talking to Hogwarts student, Theodore Nott, who had this to say about James Badger:
"There is many speculation about what happened. Some seem to believe they entered themselves, ignoring the Magical Vow they made. Whilst I don't doubt James has intelligence, I doubt he is smart enough to trick magic itself. Then again, his family are known for its dark history, maybe he found something he doesn't want others to know. Who knows what kind of secrets he is hiding?"
Secrets indeed. The Badgers were known for their magic, history, as well as their secrets. One must speculate how much his friends actually know about him. Whilst I was interviewing the other Champions, Beauxbatons Champion Fleur Delacour, had this to say about the youngest contestants:
"The two are nothing more then little boys, they must be out of their minds if they think they can beat me, and the other champions. I'm not even interested in what kind of magic the two possess, the two of them have no chance. Just watch, the two will fail this Tournament"
Interesting words from the Beauxbatons Champion. I, however, am interested in seeing how the two youngest Champions fare through each task. That is all for now readers. For more information on the Tournament, turn to page 5.
James threw the Daily Prophet into a nearby fire. He pinched the bridge of his nose, as he tried to keep his cool. That Skeeter woman was starting to get on his nerves. It also seems Nott is using his Slytherin side to try and drag his name into the mud. With his statement, rumours were sure to follow. No doubt he will have more interviews with Skeeter. He could only imagine what he will tell her. As long as he didn't discover anything that could cause problems, James wasn't worried. Then there was Fleur Delacour. What was her problem? There was a lot of hate in her statement. Seems someone is going to have to teach her that if you mess with the bull, you get the horns. James sat, staring at the fire, flames slowly engulfing the Daily Prophet. He was sure, just yet, but he was going to have to do something about Skeeter.
…
Harry walked down the Hogwarts corridors, resisting the urge to hex the next person who taunts him. It seems Pansy was telling the truth. Malfoy had, somehow, made badges which said 'Support Diggory', which would then change to 'Potter stinks'. No doubt there were others with James' name on them. However, it seemed the only people who wore the badges were most of the Hufflepuffs who still seemed pissed off about their 'spotlight' being stolen. He would have to think about it some other time. The dragons remained center stage in his thoughts. He felt sick to his stomach. He pondered on whether he should tell Cedric. No doubt Maxime would tell Fleur and Harry was sure Igor would find someway to tell Krum. Then there was himself and James, who Hagrid shown the dragons to. That meant Cedric was the only one who had no clue. After a moments thought, he decided he would tell the Hufflepuff Champion. It took some looking, but he found Cedric, talking to a few Hufflepuffs, who smirked noticing his approach.
"What do you think of this Potter" One asked indicating to his badge, Cedric giving Harry an apologetic look, as the others laughed
"Its nice, it distracts me from your dumbass face" Harry replied, causing the Hufflepuff to go red in rage, before Harry turned to Cedric "Do you mind if we talk, in private"
"Of course" Cedric nodded, looking back to the others as they moved away "Look Harry, I'm sorry about them, I asked them not to wear them but…"
"It's fine Cedric" Harry sighed "Listen, I know what the First Task is…Dragons, they have one for each of us, we have to steal a Golden egg from their nest"
"Shit" Cedric muttered "Why are you telling me this?"
"You deserved to know" Harry shrugged "You are the true Hogwarts Champion, me and James are merely unlucky and reluctant contestants"
"Well, thank you Harry" Cedric smiled "You are a good person"
Harry smiled back, before he walked away. He didn't make it far, however, when he heard a familiar, gruff voice.
"Potter" Moody said, as he walked up to him "I must say, its very admirable of you to tell Diggory about the dragons"
"Oh, you heard that?" Harry asked "Well…like I said, he is the true Hogwarts Champion besides…its possible the others would find out, I wanted to give him as much of a fair chance"
"I can respect that Potter" Moody smiled "So, tell me, what is your strategy for your dragon?"
That threw Harry for a loop. He hadn't even thought about a strategy. He was too worried about a dragon killing him to even come up with a plan.
"Well…I'd…thought" Harry stuttered "I…I guess I was…"
"Listen Potter" Moody sighed "Your pal Diggory, expert in Transfiguration, he could cause some kind of distraction, Miss Delacour may look like a fairy princess but no doubt has a mean streak, Krum may not be the best at planning and has a head full of sawdust but Karkaroff doesn't, they'll think of something, as for your friend Badger, he has got power and will no doubt cause problems for his dragon…every one of them have their own strengths…so tell me, what is your strength Potter?"
"Well, I'm a natural flyer" Harry spoke after a moment
"From what I've heard, I must agree" Moody smiled "You'll be able to fly rings around the dragon, until you can grab the egg"
"But I can't take a broom with me" Harry said "Only my wand"
"You know the summoning charm don't you?" Moody asked
Harry's eyes narrowed slightly in confusion, until they widened as realisation came to him. Moody gave him a toothy grin, before he walked off, limping due to his fake leg.
…
It wasn't long until the First Task began. Each champion were waiting in a small tent, whilst the massive crowd were patiently waiting in a large stadium, each one excited for the task to begin. Harry looked around, at each champion. Krum stood far from everyone else, an impassive look on his face. Cedric paced back and forth, a look of deep thought on his face. Fleur sat comfortably on a nearby seat, sending the occasional glare at everyone else. Then there was James, who sat a nearby seat, legs crossed under him, hands on knees, with his eyes closed, patiently waiting. Though no one said so out loud, they were all nervous. Each Champion wore an outfit reflecting their school, except James. Instead of wearing an outfit similar to what Harry and Cedric were wearing, he wore black dragon hide boots and trousers, a black button up shirt and a long black leather coat. In his words, he'd rather fight in something he was comfortable in. After what felt like an eternity of waiting, Dumbledore, Crouch and Bagman entered the tent.
"Greetings champion" Dumbledore said "gather round please, I'm sure you have all been waiting for this moment"
"Indeed" Crouch spoke, whilst everyone gathered round in a circle "Each of you will go one by one, to face a dragon, your goal is to grab the golden egg its guarding, the golden egg holds the clue to the next task…you will be judged on your time and performance in this task, and those after it…in order to do so, the judges will be using a Viewing Pensive, which will project an image for everyone to properly see what's going on"
"Who provided the Viewing Pensieve?" Krum asked "Those are incredibly rare"
"An anonymous donation" Bagman smiled
The suspicious look on James' face, his eyes narrowing, did not go unnoticed by Dumbledore. He couldn't blame the boy either. He, himself, was suspicious of the 'anonymous donation' as Bagman called it. The Viewing Pensieve had, indeed, been checked over to see if there were any dangerous charms on the object, but none were found. Still, that didn't quench his suspicions.
"Now" Crouch continued, holding up a pouch "Each one of you will reach into the bag and pull out a dragon, which will determine the foe you will be up against…ladies first"
Fleur slowly reaches into the small pouch where, after a moment, she pulls her hand back out. She was holding a small green dragon, with a tag around its neck, the number 2 written on it.
"The Welsh Green Dragon, not as dangerous, but should not be underestimated" Crouch said
It was Krum's turn next. He reached in and pulled out a small red dragon, with a number 3 tag around its neck.
"The Chinese Fireball" Crouch said "Good luck, nasty buggers"
Cedric went next, and he pulled out a grey dragon, the Swedish Short-Snout with a number 1 tag around its next. James cringed as he turned to Harry.
"How fucking lucky are we?" He whispered, sarcastically "Of course we would get the most dangerous ones"
Crouch then handed the pouch to James, who reached in and pulled out a greyish white dragon, with a number 4 tag around its neck.
"The Ukrainian Ironbelly" Crouch said "The biggest dragon in existence and very dangerous, good luck Mr Badger…that leaves…"
"The Horntail" Harry said, softly
"What was that boy?" Crouch asked
"Nothing sir" Harry said quickly, before he reached into the pouch, pulling out the final dragon, with a number 5 tag on its neck
"The Hungarian Horntail" Crouch said "The most dangerous of all, good luck to you Mr Potter…now, each one of you have your dragons, Diggory will go first, then Delacour, Krum, Badger and finally, Potter…any questions?"
Seeing no raised hands, Crouch nodded leading Diggory to the entrance of the tent, so he could head out at the sound of a cannon, before Crouch and the other judges headed to the judges box. After a few more minutes of waiting, a cannon went off and Cedric took a breath, before heading out the tent.
…
Harry and James were currently alone, as they waited for the cannon to go. Cedric, Krum and Fleur had all gone out and faced their dragons. Things were neck and neck between Cedric and Fleur, with Krum currently first, due to Karkaroffs biased points. It wasn't long until the cannon went off again, prompting James to get out of his seat.
"Good luck mate" Harry smiled
James gave Harry an appreciative smile, taking a breath, before he left the tent. The rocky land in the stadium made James feel slightly intimidated, as he made his way out, his image being projected high above, via the viewing pensive. He could see the Golden Egg in the distance. One thing was missing. The dragon itself. He flicked his wand out of its holster, as he cautiously walked through the stadium, the crunch of stones and dust under his feet. He stopped, however, when he felt the ground shake as thudding noises, followed by the rattling of chains, came from the other side of a large rock, that seemed like a mountain. James stood ready, as the thudding got closer. Large talons gripped the top of the rock, before the Ukrainian Ironbelly revealed itself, letting out a large roar. The crimson orbs of its eyes, gazed at James for a moment, before blasting a jet of fire his way. James quickly jumped out the way, flicking his wand, which sent a large boulder flying at fast speed, which hit the dragon on its snout. The Ironbelly let out a roar of pain, as it recoiled. It quickly composed itself and blasted more fire at James, who quickly jumped behind another large boulder, to use as cover.
…
In the stands, everyone watched in suspense, as James hid behind the rocks, the Ironbelly sending a large stream of fire his way, as it stood guard around the egg.
"Do you think he will be okay?" Luna asked, nervously
"I'm sure he will be fine" Daphne reassured "He is too stubborn to let a dragon kill him"
…
James could feel the heat of the fire, as the Ironbelly kept sending fire in his direction. He waited until the fire stopped, where he quickly ran out sending another boulder flying into the dragons face, causing blood to run from its nostrils. Whilst the dragon was thrashing in pain, James transfigured some more boulders into tigers, which ran to the dragon, in hopes of distracting it, as he hid behind another boulder. The tigers didn't look perfect but, right now, that wasn't important. James punched the boulder he was hiding behind, ignoring the bones breaking in his hand. The Ironbelly refused to move from the egg. James considered turning into his crow form, but didn't want to When the dragon crushed and burnt the tigers, he quickly jumped out, sending more boulders flying, as well as transfiguring more rocks into animals, birds in particular. The Ironbelly let out roars of frustration, as the birds kept pecking it and flying around it, which was beginning to annoy the dragon.
The dragon noticed James trying to make a run for the egg, now it was distracted, and immediatley blasted another jet of fire. This caused James to quickly change course and jump out the way. Unfortunately, for James, he didn't look before he leapt, which caused him to a small quarry. He hissed in pain, as he felt more bones in his body broke. As the dragon tried getting rid of the birds, he thought. If the dragon refused to move from the egg, he was going to have to make it move. He began climbing up, out of the quarry, ignoring the pain spreading through his body, until he came face to face with the dragon once more. The Ironbelly opened its mouth, but before it could do anything, James flicked his wand, sending a loud high pitch noise to ring across the area, causing the dragon to thrash in pain, as well as causing everyone in the stands to cover their ears, in hopes of blocking out the sound. James used some mind shields to block out the sound, as he approached the dragon, which made it retreat away from him, hoping to get away from the sound. When James was close enough to the egg, and the dragon was far away enough, he dropped the spell and dashed forward, picking up the egg and running back to the tent. The crowd cheered, as dragon handlers came out to take the dragon away.
James panted heavily, almost choking, as he gasped desperately for breath. Harry rushed over, as James hunched over, resting a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you okay?" He asked
"Yeah…yeah I'm good" James panted "Just…give me a moment"
"You did good" Harry said, helping him stand up straight "Shall we see what points you got?"
"Lets" James smiled
Keeping an arm around James' shoulder, so he is standing steady on his feet, they made their way to the front of the tent, where the dragon had just been taken away.
"What a brilliant performance" Bagman's voice rang out "Well done Mr Badger, judges, time to award the points"
Madame Maxime raised her wand, where a ribbon appeared, forming a 7 in the air. Dumbledore went next, giving James an 8. Crouch also gave James an 8. Bagman smiled brightly, as he gave James a 10. Then Karkaroff went last, giving James a 4. Boos ran across the stadium at the mans unbiased score, though the man was unfazed, as he sneered.
"In total, James Badger has 37 points" Bagman said, causing cheers across the stadium "He is in currently in second place…there will be a five minute break before Mr Potter, the last champion, goes up next"
"Good luck mate" James said, patting Harry on the shoulder, as he made his way out of the tent, to where the other champions went after their points were awarded
…
Harry spent the five minute break, pacing back and forth, getting more and more nervous, as he waited. It must've been another minute or two, until he heard the cannon go off, signalling he now had to head out. The stadium was quiet, as he stepped into the area, the rocky land looming over him. In the center was his egg. He made his way over to it, but stopped, when the Hungarian Horntail dropped down, from nowhere, letting out a loud roar. Harry jumped out of the way, when it sent a jet of fire at him, and continued running until he was covered by some rocks. Ignoring the heat of his flames, he pointed his wand in the air and yelled:
"Accio Nimbus 2000!"
The faint whistle of a broom flying through the air could be heard. Everything watched as his broom flew into the stadium. Sensing an opportunity, Harry ran out of cover, jumping off the rock he was on and landed on the broom, quickly zooming off. The Horntail let out a roar and, with a tug on its chain, broke free from the restraints, as it flew after him.
"Shit!" Harry yelled, as he flew away from the dragon and out of the stadium, in hopes of losing it.
On the Viewing Pensieve, everyone watched, as the dragon chased after Harry. Using his advantage of being smaller and narrower, Harry zoomed around the buildings of Hogwarts, hoping he would lose the dragon and make his way back to the stadium and grab the egg. The Horntail didn't stop however, as it perched itself on the highest tower, overlooking what Harry was doing and sent jets of fire his way. Harry did his best to avoid the fire, but did get burnt on his arm slightly. Being careful to not fall off his broom, Harry pulled out his wand and fired a powerful cutting curse at the dragons eye. Luckily, the spell hit, and the dragon let out a loud roar of pain, as the eye burst. Its one good eye glared at Harry, before it flew after him, with the intent of eating him.
Harry flew away from Hogwarts and down near the water. Seeing a nearby bridge, he got an idea and changed course. Using all the speed he could get on the broom, he shot forward and flew under the bridge, through a small gap between the bridge supports. He looked back and watched as his plan worked. With only having one eye, the dragon tried following him, but crashed into the bridge and fell down into the water, below. Smiling to himself, Harry flew back to the stadium, where he heard people cheering, as he grabbed the egg and made his way back into the tent. To his surprise, James was waiting for him, his left hand wrapped in a bandage.
"That was brilliant mate" He said, making his way over "Are you injured?"
"My arm is burnt but, besides from that, I'm fine" Harry smiled "Though, I would like to know how the dragon broke free from its chains, do you think it's dead?"
"I don't know, the dragon handlers are most likely going to check" James shrugged "Lets not worry about that, lets see what points you've got"
Harry nodded, as they made their way to the front of the tent.
"I must say, an excellent display of flying" Bagman said "Krum, you may want to take notes…judges, points if you will…"
Madame Maxime raised her wand in the air, where a ribbon formed the number 8. Dumbledore went next, giving Harry a 9. Crouch followed suit, raising his wand, giving Harry an 8. Bagman grinned brightly, as he gave Harry a 10. Then Karkaroff went last, sneering as he gave Harry a 5, once more ignoring the boos.
"In total, Harry has gained 40 points" Bagman said "This means, Krum is currently in first place with 41 points, Harry in second with 40 points, James in third with 37 points, and Fleur and Cedric tying in fourth place with 36 points each…each Champion will have until the 24th February to find out the clue inside, for the Second Task"
"Well done Harry, you beat me" James smiled "Come on, lets get your arm looked at…then we can start looking at the eggs and any spells that could be useful for us"
…
First Task done.
I know it may have been an odd moment to end, but the chapter was getting quite long and I was feeling tired.
Anyway, what did you guys think? A lot of action in this chapter. Also, what is your opinion on the Viewing Pensieve? I don't know how to describe it, but, just imagine a large orb in the air, showing people what is going on, like a tv screen. Though, I think we can all agree, it must have been boring, in canon, watching the Second and Third Task: 'Oh, lets watch a lake for an hour and the entrance of a maze for god knows how long...FUN!'. So, yeah, the Viewing Pensieve seems like a good idea. However, leave your ideas as to who the 'anonymous donation' is.
Here is a small teaser for you guys, the Yule Ball will be happening soon. I don't know when, but soon. Who do you think James and Harry will take to the ball?
That is all for now. I will take a days break before writing the next chapter, but expect the next chapter within the next few days. I hope you enjoyed and I will see you in the next one.
Badger out.
