A List of Names.

All rights for the Harry Potter Characters and story belong to JK Rowling. These are just sandcastles built along her beach that will disappear when the tide changes. Thanks for the great story she brought to the world.

In the year of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, several young women at Hogwarts are driven to despair by the machinations of meddling men. In an act of desperation, they take steps to remove the meddlesome and cantankerous wizards. No major ships, bashing DD, Snape, and MG. Several OC's are the primary characters in the story. Harry and his friends as observers mostly.

CHANGE SCENE: Looking for Tom Riddle

With only three weeks before the first task, Myrtle Warren argued that she and Jessica Howell should begin their task of finding the corrupted item in the Come and Go Room and visiting Tom Riddle. The Fat Friar went with the two ghost girls into the room to teach Jessica how to ignore the passage of time.

"What does this mean? Ignore time?" asked the new ghost.

The Fat Friar nodded, "We are not alive. We remember being alive and that is a bittersweet memory for your first hundred years as a ghost. But then one moment, you realize that three hundred years have passed among the living while it seems like a summer afternoon and evening to you."

"But they've spent three centuries…I don't want three centuries to pass before I speak to Angelina or Edwina again."

Myrtle floated down beside Jessica and explained, "Our time is not their time. I died fifty years ago…and I can be in any of those years I want. I don't go see my death, but I enjoy Spring 1948 any time I want, Halloween 1954, Christmas 1963…you'll find dates you like best."

"Like Halloween 1994 dancing with the greasy git?" Jessica asked.

The Fat Friar smiled and said, "And the living can't understand this concept. Nearly Headless Nick tried to explain it to Albus Dumbledore twice while the wizard was a young, powerful man and the wizard refused to understand. I think it challenged his understanding of time too much."

"But we're ghosts," Jessica said. "Why couldn't he believe time might be different for us?"

While they continued talking about the perception of time, Jessica and Myrtle floated through a hundred different variations of the Come and Go Room. There were interesting artefacts from five centuries ago, important but forgotten scrolls, gold nuggets, rich clothing, and trash piled up with paths barely wide enough for the house-elves to pass.

"This will take a hundred years," Jessica declared.

"But it is fun!"

Smiling, Jessica nodded. "We'll spend lots of time here finding treasures in the future. And we'll use the house-elves to gift important things to the right person at the right time. But how do we find this diadem the Gray Lady sent us to locate?"

Leaning close, Myrtle said, "I'll share a secret if you won't tell anyone."

Without hesitation, Jessica replied, "Of course, Myrtle! You're my friend."

"Really? You're my friend? Not just hanging around because I'm another ghost?"

"Myrtle Warren! How can you ask that? We've been through a lot together in the last month. I can't imagine doing this without you haunting the halls with me!" Jessica replied. "Remember when we scared Snape so bad, he pee'd himself?"

The other ghost smiled. "That was fun."

"Now, let's find that diadem."

"But we already have."

"What do you mean?"

"Someday in the future, we'll find this piece of jewellery that Rowena Ravenclaw wore on her head. And all we have to do is come back to now and tell us where we found it."

Jessica frowned but Myrtle giggled and said, "Wait, I'll do it. 4 November 1994 is when we need to know the location of the fancy headpiece."

Another ghost – Myrtle Warren – appeared in front of Myrtle and Jessica. The new Myrtle pointed over Jessica's shoulder and said, "It's over there on top of a bust of Rowena. Don't touch it. Get Peeves to levitate it into a bag made of silk and then into a box carved from stone. The elves can safely move it then."

"Thanks, me," the Myrtle beside Jessica said. "Where do we take it?"

Future Myrtle giggled and replied, "No, I won't tell you that. You have to have some fun and adventure."

Then the future ghost vanished while the two girls floated toward the diadem they could see now. They called Peeves and house-elves to provide the silk bag and stone box. Then the elves hid the box in the Come and Go Room until Myrtle, or Jessica called for them to retrieve it.

Without another thought, the two ghosts retrieved the memory taken from Fake-Moody and began their ghostly trip from Hogwarts to the small town of Little Hangleton. It was midmorning when they arrived in the town and without a moment's hesitation, they floated to the old Riddle Manor home. The roof was in bad shape, windows were broken and the doors were warped, but the two ghosts entered by floating through a wall.

They remain together – safety in numbers – though who or what might harm a ghost was an unknown. After passing through each room including the basement, the ghosts consider what they can feel and see. Jessica declared, "There were some people here until just the other day. Well, they used to be people."

"And one large snake," Myrtle said. "Since the basilisk killed me, I can always feel when snakes are around. And the 'things' here – neither is really a wizard any longer."

After a moment, the youngest ghost said, "One is the spirit of Tom Riddle but it's corrupted beyond all redemption. Never a ghost or soul ever again. How sad."

"And the other soul lived in fear of the snake that slid through the house. I see a giant rat," Myrtle added. "And somehow in the past, the snake was human."

"But where did they go?" asked Jessica. "I did so want to explore the dreams of this Tom Riddle fellow."

"Let's look around some more," Myrtle suggested and they found a large spot drenched in blood that had begun to rot. There were no flies in November in the north of England but the blood-soaked carpet and wall were evidence that something large had bled out here.

The two ghosts gently probed and decided the blood must have come from the snake. Myrtle said, "There wasn't a soul here – not a regular one."

"Must have been the snake that might have been human," Jessica decided.

"Do you think it was like Professor Kitty who can turn into a cat?"

"We will have to ask some wizards and witches later."

The two ghosts did float around the house and found a ward placed by some unknown wizard. While they couldn't trip the ward – they weren't alive – they did figure out the magic was cast by someone named Saul Croaker.

"Wonder where we'll find him?" Myrtle asked.

"Didn't the Gray Lady say that we can ask the walls?"

"Yes, but the walls here are not magical," replied the older ghost.

"We'll ask when we get back to Hogwarts."

The two ghosts floated out of the house and Jessica spun around a few times before she pointed toward a thicket. She revealed, "Myrtle, there's more magic over there."

Moving through the overgrown shrubbery and young trees, the two ghosts found a shack close to collapse. Jessica said, "There's lots of magic here and it feels like the diadem."

Myrtle's voice was shaky as she added, "And there are lots of serpents here. Hibernating but there are more serpents than is natural."

Jessica stepped close to her friend and said, "Then we'll not stay here. We can come back later if we need to…or send someone to retrieve the thing…whatever it is that's here with the snakes."

The two ghosts moved away from the shake and debated returning to Hogwarts or venturing to London. Myrtle said, "What was it the Gray Lady said? Ask questions?"

"Yes, she said to ask the walls in the Department of Mysteries how to destroy Tom Riddle's soul."

"Where is the Department of Mysteries?" Warren asked.

"I think it's part of the Ministry for Magic."

"Well, London is closer than Hogwarts." Giggling, Myrtle said, "But I don't think distance makes that much of a difference to us now."

CHANGE SCENE: Department of Mysteries

"#23, we might have a problem," said unspeakable#47.

"It's too early in the afternoon for another problem to appear. Tom Riddle is a big problem. The soul jar he hid somewhere is an equally big problem for the members of our organization," #23 replied. Sighing he asked, "What's the new problem?"

"There are two ghosts down in the Hall of Problems talking to the walls."

"Ghosts talking to a wall?" the lead Unspeakable asked as if he didn't understand the first wizard's speech.

"Yes, and the walls are answering their questions."

"What?" asked #23 who rose from his desk and hurried from the room.

When #23 reached the Hall of Problems, where Tom Riddle and Peter Pettigrew were held in stasis alongside Barty Crouch, Jr., he found a group of his colleagues gathered around a non-descript part of the wall where two ghostly forms were having an animated conversation with the stones in the wall.

'Looks like a new security problem for certain,' thought #23. He noticed that #61, #29, and #42 were using passive spells to examine and record the ghosts, the walls, and the conversation. As the experts on 'ghosts' for the department, the trio of Unspeakables should be able to expel the ghosts before they revealed any secrets.

One of the ghosts turned toward #23 after a moment and floated closer to the head of the department. In a very clear and steady voice, this ghost of a young woman said, "The stones say you are the wiz…the Unspeakable that Myrtle and I need to talk to."

"Do the stones talk to you?"

Sniffing very much like she was alive, the ghost said, "I said that. Are you going to answer every statement I make with a question to delay me?"

Motioning toward the trio of ghost experts, the ghost added, "They tried that for about two minutes and then the stones gave them all headaches. That's why they're just collecting information to examine later."

Bowing his shrouded head, #23 said, "Thank you to explaining. Please don't hurt anyone."

"As I said, it's the walls that gave them headaches because they kept interrupting our conversation."

"And now?"

"Again with a question," Jessica said. "But the walls shared their ideas on how to destroy Tom Riddle's toys and we need to talk."

"Tom Riddle…" #23 almost began asking a question before changing his thought into a statement, "He is a terrible wizard and we think he made a Horcrux. It is a container with a piece of his soul trapped inside."

The ghost sighed deeply, much like #23 remembered his daughters doing when they were argumentative teenagers. However, her next statement shut the mouth of the Unspeakable for a long time, "He made more than one. That's why we were looking for Tom. We want to visit his dreams and find out what they are and where they are."

CHANGE SCENE: Conference

Amelia Bones was seldom invited to attend a meeting in the Department of Mysteries. Unspeakable#23 usually just appeared in her office when he wanted to talk. But today, an unfamiliar Unspeakable appeared in the hallway outside her office and issued an invitation for the Director of the DMLE to attend a meeting with Unspeakable#23 in the Hall of Problems at 2:00 PM.

"The director has a full schedule," was the reply of the Auror managing Amelia's schedule replied.

In response, the Unspeakable leaned closer and said, "Auror Linda Brandywine, the Department of Mysteries suggests most strenuously that Amelia Bones appear in the DOM at or shortly before 2:00 PM this afternoon. If you hope to live beyond that time without permanent chicken feet, you will deliver that invitation to her in the next five minutes."

The witch seated at the desk glanced down and found her feet and boots were indeed transfigured or transformed into large chicken feet. They were bright yellow with long claws and the witch squealed with horror and surprise. She jumped up and immediately fell to the floor – standing and walking on three toes pointed in different directions felt very strange.

Fortunately, the Auror made enough noise to attract the attention of Director Bones who received the news of the invitation without any comment. At a later date, she would speak to the Head Auror about some mentor talking with the young witch finding some common sense if she hoped to survive in the Ministry for Magic. Behind the closed door of her office, Amelia considered the reason for the announcement of the meeting in the open DMLE office.

'The Unspeakables wanted the news to spread about a meeting in just over one hour's time,' she decided. 'So Dumbledore's spies will inform him and Fudge's spies…oh Merlin's ear wax. Umbridge will hear and try to push her way into the meeting. Fudge is out and the toad will try and impress him.'

'I'll take guards loyal to the department – not Fudge or Dumbledore,' she decided. 'And I'd have thought Shack would have figured out by now that, unlike Fudge who gets his lackeys promoted, Dumbledore never does anything to advance his minions.'

At 1:50 PM, Amelia departed the DMLE with six Aurors around her. Just outside the entrance to the DMLE halls, the director was verbally assaulted by Dolores Umbridge.

"Bones! What rebellion are you planning with the Unspeakables?" demanded Umbridge.

Not pausing to respond, Amelia stepped along the hallway toward the elevators while Umbridge tagged along with her demands that were ignored. After following Director Bones to the elevators, and not being listened to, Dolores drew her wand and shouted, "I am Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic! You must obey my commands!"

Then the witch fired off a weak bludgeoning spell.

'Someone must have cast a compulsion spell on the toad,' Amelia thought as her guards disarmed and arrested the witch. 'Dolores is not subtle but never this direct.'

Auror Proudfoot held Dolores under a silencing spell and asked, "Boss?"

"Charge her with the attempted assassination of the Director of the DMLE. Put her in my secure cell so I know she'll be there when I return. And find out if anyone cast the compulsion spell on her."

Then she added, "But run the Imperious test first. I don't want anyone to claim she was under the unforgivable."

With only four guards remaining, Amelia stepped inside the elevator and descended to the depths of the ministry where the DOM held sway. Stepping off the elevator, Amelia sighed when she found Arthur Weasley loitering outside the entrance to the department.

"Weasley, why are you here?"

"The headmaster thought he should be informed…"

Holding up one hand to shut Arthur's mouth, Amelia turned to Auror Makepeace and said, "Escort Mr Weasley back to his office. Sit with him in his office until I come and relieve you. He is not allowed to send any Patronus message, Owl communication, or Paper-Aeroplane. He can have no visitors. He cannot receive any messages or leave."

"Yes, Director Bones," the witch said, taking Arthur by the arm and dragging him back to the elevators. With only three guards left, Amelia entered the Department of Mysteries.

SCENE CHANGE: Really…A Conference

Unspeakable#23 greeted Director Bones and quickly explained the presence of the two ghostly visitors in the DOM.

"And they can really speak to the walls?"

"We can and it is rude to talk about us as if we can't hear you," Myrtle said.

"I remember you from my days at Hogwarts, Miss Warren," Amelia replied.

"Good. Then you know that I am likely to dive into the nearest pipe and send a flood of water everywhere when living people irritate me," the ghost reminded the stern witch. "So, don't irritate me!"

"It is hard talking to you people," the other ghost said. "I think I'll recommend that we find some ghosts and get them to inhabit the ministry full-time. The students and professors at Hogwarts are more understanding."

Unspeakable#23 forced all the living people in the small conference room to remain silent and not express any opinion. Then he said, "Miss Howell, can you explain to Director Bones why you are visiting with us in the Department of Mysteries today?"

"I can."

But the ghost didn't speak and the silence extended for a moment before Amelia said, "Please Miss Howell, I am interested in hearing about your reason for venturing outside of Hogwarts."

And finally, Jessica explained about the corrupted Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, the search for Tom Riddle in a dilapidated muggle manor house, and the discovery of a second corrupted, magical item in the shack near the manor.

"Why do you want to speak to Tom Riddle?"

"Ugh, I don't want to talk to him."

"We won't talk with him," Myrtle explained. "We'll invade his dreams and find the information we need."

"Like we did with Fake-Moody."

"Fake-Moody?" asked Amelia.

Myrtle looked at Unspeakable#23 and asked, "Is she always this slow?"

"No, it's…she's getting all this information in a short amount of time and needs a moment to process it.

"Neh…" Myrtle replied. "She's delaying so she can figure out a response."

Jessica said, "Director Bones and Unspeakable#23, Myrtle and I are acting at the direction of the Gray Lady, the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw. First, we visited Fake Moody at Hogwarts and learned he is an imposter. We got Peeves to substitute the Polyjuice with a spoiled potion. While we were arranging this, the Gray Lady told us about the corruption of the Diadem and charged Myrtle and me to find a way to destroy it."

"Something that made him sick and dizzy," Myrtle added.

"Then the professors and mediwitch tied him up and delivered him to you."

Looking at Unspeakable#23, Jessica asked, "And you've got him here in this Room of Problems along with Rat and Tom Riddle. Why?"

"The Rat is a wizard who is supposed to be dead already – Peter Pettigrew. Fake Moody is another wizard who is supposed to be dead too, Barty Crouch, Jr. who died in Azkaban in 1982. And of course, the Dark Lord's spirit is housed inside the baby."

"A baby?" asked Jessica.

"Oh, you haven't seen him, have you?" asked the Unspeakable.

"And the snake that was a person? Where is it?" asked Myrtle.

"The magical viper was a Maledictus. She was beheaded by a cutting curse and bled out on the floor of the house," said Unspeakable#23.

Amelia said very simply, "Let these ladies visit with the Dark Lord and see what they can discover."

CHANGE SCENE: Tom's Dreams

When the ghosts were informed that the homunculus form of the baby housed the soul of Tom Riddle, they both grimaced. Unspeakable#23 also informed them, "We dosed him with Draught of Living Death. He's alive but not aware of anything around him."

"His mind is still there, yeah?" asked Jessica. When the Unspeakable nodded the two witches dived inside the corrupted corpse of a stillborn baby boy.

About ten minutes later, Amelia began to shift restlessly while the Unspeakables remained focused on the motionless homunculus. At the twelve-minute mark, the two witches returned and both of them cried for a few moments before Jessica put a ghostly arm around Myrtle's shoulders.

"Tom Riddle was abused as a child in a muggle orphanage. He never knew about wizards until he was almost eleven years old. The boy lived in London during the blitz in World War II and saw people around him killed by bombs, fires, and collapsing buildings," Jessica said. "Albus Dumbledore interfered with Headmaster Dippet's plans for orphans and muggle-born to have a refuge in the summer and forced the boy to go back summer after summer during the war."

"That's why he went so…why he made those things," Myrtle said. "He was truly afraid of dying every summer."

"That doesn't excuse what he did," Unspeakable#23 stated firmly.

"No, it doesn't, but it explains what caused him to kill so many people without any remorse. Wizards and witches didn't care if he died," Jessica said.

"What do you mean about Tom Riddle being a muggle-born?" asked Amelia. "He's a pureblood supremacist."

"He pretends to be. Tom Riddle hated the purebloods the most because of the way they treated him when he came to Hogwarts. He planned to kill all of them after making them kiss his feet for generations."

Myrtle nodded to agree with Jessica. Then Unspeakable#23 asked, "What about the Horcruxes?"

The youngest ghost replied, "He planned to make six eventually to have a total of seven pieces. First was a diary that Harry Potter destroyed two years ago when he killed the basilisk – though Tom doesn't know that yet. And the Diadem that we have at Hogwarts."

"And there's a ring from the Gaunt family he's descended from that he loaded with curses and protections. Take twenty Unspeakables to fight the curses and twenty Aurors to fight the protections when you go for it about a half kilometre from the Riddle manor house."

Now Myrtle said, "Then there is Slytherin's locket in a cave filled with inferni. Lots of fire needed there to dispose of the inferni. And then there's a cup that belonged to Helga Hufflepuff that's hidden in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault in Gringotts."

Jessica frowned when she said, "He made the Maledictus into a Horcrux when he created the Homunculus – that's one reason why he's so weak and not able to beat the Draught of the Living Death. But there's still some piece missing."

"That's a good list to start with. We'll gather the Horcruxes and experiment…"

"No, that's very foolish!" the first ghost argued.

"The best thing is to throw him through your Veil of Death in the next five minutes," insisted the second ghost. "And then we're going to talk to some books hidden in the headmaster's office

"And talk to the phoenix about how to destroy these deadly toys."

Unspeakable#23, "But we need to study how…to know if he's really dead."

Ghost Jessica pointed at the sleeping homunculus and said, "That's short-sighted and foolish. Throw that through the veil now."

"Yeah, you don't want to be here when he wakes up. The walls told us you planned to experiment on him and Dark Mark and they've been trying to tell you to throw him through every minute of every day," Myrtle stated, her irritation showing. "Haven't you noticed some of your doors and rooms have vanished?"

Jessica revealed, "The walls here in the DOM hid the chambers of time and fire in case Tom wakes up. They have renamed the chamber of love to be the chamber of torture to be a trap if he starts wandering around."

"Do it!" Amelia declared. "Come on Croaker! Your experiments aren't worth it!"

"So you're Croaker?" Myrtle asked. "Your warning ward at the Riddle manor house wasn't any good."

"We believe it is safe to keep him here until we complete our experiments," Unspeakable#23 said, ignoring the advice of the ghosts and Amelia Bones.

There was a shiver in the walls of the Department of Mysteries that was felt throughout the Ministry for Magic. Suddenly, the floor turned into a liquid and the living people in the room found themselves trapped by solid stone and suppressive magic. A piece of the floor formed itself into a boat and a hand rose from another part of the floor to lift the homunculus form out of the table where it lay and place it in the boat. Then the stone vessel 'sailed' out of the Room of Problems. Myrtle and Jessica floated along with the boat and Amelia heard the ghost of Myrtle Warren say, "The walls were right. Wizards are stupid."

After approximately five minutes, the floor pushed the Unspeakables and Aurors back to the surface and then the two ghosts returned by passing through the walls.

"Now that's taken care of," Jessica explained. "He got tossed through the veil with four Unspeakables as witnesses."

"And the walls sang a hymn of joy," Myrtle added though Jessica smirked to hear her friend pranking Unspeakable#23.

"How about we plan how to find the rest of these things and finish the last pieces of Lord Doohickie."

"I like Thingamabob better than Doohickie," Myrtle insisted.

CHANGE SCENE: First Task

Albus Dumbledore's outlook on life continued to sour as the days passed until the First Task in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. He'd lost all his positions and power in the Wizengamot, the ICW, and it appeared he would be leaving Hogwarts at the end of the current school year.

'If I wasn't trapped in the tournament, they would have fired me already. But the minister and governors understand they can't mess with the contract binding the contestants to the tournament without suffering the consequences,' Dumbledore knew. 'But I have a chance for redemption if Tom Riddle returns as he planned.'

Glancing at the newspaper again, the headlines discussed the trial of Dolores Umbridge for the attempted assassination of Amelia Bones. The article included a detailed description of an Auror's memory of the event and medical affidavits that the Senior Undersecretary had not been under any outside influence.

"I believe Dolores just lost her temper when no one would pay attention to her that afternoon," the mind healer stated on the stand.

'And rather than find any forgiveness in their hearts, the Wizengamot sent her to Azkaban for ten years,' Dumbledore thought. 'If I ever appeared before them…they'd give me the kiss.'

During lunch, Dumbledore could not help but notice that many visitors sneered or frowned whenever they looked his way. And there were so many ministry officials, foreign dignitaries, and reporters from every news source in Britain and the continent. Worse still, the students refused to stop talking and barely listened when he announced it was time to make their way to the arena for the first task.

The headmaster was disappointed when the majority of judges refused to allow him to sit with them until it was time for his tussle with a nesting mother dragon. Only his minion, Minerva McGonagall appointed as the judge for the School of Wulfric Before Brian, voted to allow him to remain.

"Filius!" Dumbledore chided the diminutive charms professor. "Surely you would allow me to remain here."

Sighing sadly in a Dumbledore-like manner, the half-goblin explained, "But you told me to follow the rules, Albus. And the rules specify clearly that all contestants must be inside the tent where they can't see how the other contestants perform."

The charms professor asked, "You wouldn't want magic to think you were cheating, would you? What would the contract demand of you?"

CHANGE SCENE: Arena

The first contestant to perform was Fleur Delacour and the French witch used powerful charms for music, sleeping, and contentment to lure the Chinese Fireball dragon into a stupor. The dragon lay close to her nest of eggs, snoring softly after ten minutes. Unfortunately almost every person in the arena was also napping, including the dragon handlers and judges. When Fleur made her way closer to the nest and lifted out the egg, the snap of a large twig startled the dragon. She opened her eyes and found an egg thief stealing from her nest.

A stream of fireballs burned part of the nest, set a few rocks on fire, and burned away Fleur's beautiful hair and eyebrows. Everyone in the stands was awake while the Chinese Fireball and her eggs were removed to a secure pen where the mother settled over them carefully. Fleur was awarded 26 points by the judges – even Madame Olympe was not unimpressed with the witch's command of magic.

The second contestant was Victor Krum who walked into the arena and bowed before the Hungarian Horntail he'd drawn from the bag of models. When his time began, Victor pulled out his Quidditch Broom, enlarged it and began flying circles around the dragon. This treat to her nest drove the mother dragon into a frenzy, and she bugled her distress while pulling on the chains that secured her to the rock outcropping in the arena. Suddenly, she was free from the chains and rose in the air to challenge the egg thief. (In the aftermath, investigators from the DMLE found the chains had been sabotaged but there was no magical signature attached to the breaks so no one was charged).

The Bulgarian seeker realized the danger posed to the scores of spectators in the stands around the arena so he bravely dived toward the dragon once again, keeping her attention on him. Leading the large dragon away from the arena, Victor dodged around the towers of Hogwarts and then across the Scottish Highlands. After thirty minutes of flight away from the wards of Hogwarts, Victor knew he could outfly the dragon for hours and survive, but he worried about where she would land – among muggles who had no defences against a magical creature.

Then he saw a large pasture with a herd of Highland cattle – he dived toward the pasture, leading the dragon in a Wronski Feint that brought the dragon to the ground among the cattle while Victor sped away. It took about thirty minutes for the dragon handlers who were following the magical trace of the dragon to find her. The handlers allowed the dragon to feed on the entire herd of cattle, paid the muggle owner, and turned over the situation to Ministry Oblivators.

Victor Krum was heralded as a hero and he was awarded 48 of a possible 50 points. Only the judge for Brian Before Wulfric graded down his performance by 2 points because he endangered Hogwarts.

Half of the dragon handlers focused on the Hungarian Horntail and left only half of the required number of handlers at the arena. In the contestant's tent, Octavius Rookwood was quiet contemplating his strategy while Albus Dumbledore fussed silently.

'The chains were supposed to break and set the Horntail loose in the stands. A tragedy for certain but one that would have ended the contest,' the wizard thought. 'Why is nothing going the way I planned this autumn?'

After a delay of thirty minutes, the Swedish Short-Snout and her eggs were brought into the arena. Several students had retreated to the castle and Madam Pomphrey found several children asking for calming draughts that afternoon.

In the arena, when the wizard appeared, the Swedish Short-Snout screamed at Octavius. The dragon paused to take another deep breath and while she was silent, Octavius cast an over-powered exploding spell he'd learned from some books left by his father before he was locked away in Azkaban. The spell caused the dragon to explode into tiny bits, shattered the eggs in the nest, and cracked all the wards that protected the stands of spectators. And rather than retrieving the golden egg, Octavius collapsed on the sand. He lay there for five minutes with most of Slytherin speculating that he was dead. When handlers entered the stadium – only half of the specified number – they removed the wizard to the infirmary tent where Fleur Delacour was being treated. Pomphrey immediate diagnosed Rookwood as having drained his core of magic.

"He'll be in the infirmary for two months if not longer," Poppy told Amelia Bones who came to check on the contestant before the judges awarded his scores.

After the judges awarded Rookwood a total of 19 points, the handlers attempted to banish the debris left from the exploding Swedish Short Snout. Unfortunately, they did nothing about the remains of the dragon's eggs and the smell of broken eggs immediately distressed the Welsh Green when she was moved into the arena.

Albus Dumbledore stepped into the arena and while his flashy robes caught the attention of the audience, the dragon paid him little attention. Then Dumbledore began casting sleeping spells at the dragon, mimicking the approach taken by the first contestant. He heard the murmurs from the stands and assumed the audience was impressed. Adding showmanship to his casting, he added multiple colours to each spell that appeared to put the dragon to sleep.

Welsh Green dragons are generally the size of a large pony and many wizards discount them as dragons completely, referring to them as overgrown lizards. However, the Welsh Greens have continued to thrive in a crowded Great Britain because they are resistant to magic and are very intelligent. They are able to hide, mimic stones, and hide in plain sight. The mother dragon feigned being asleep to see what the egg stealer would attempt. Pleased with how well his spell work put the dragon to sleep, Dumbledore stepped forward with great confidence until the dragon grabbed him about the waist in her mouth and flung him hard against the cracked wards protecting the stands.

The headmaster landed hard and slid to the ground without saying a word. He lay there in limp pile for the five minutes it took for the handlers to move the Welsh Green and her eggs back to a secure pen. Then two handlers levitated the old wizard to the tent where Madam Pomphrey patched him back together. Dumbledore received a total of 12 points from the judges for his performance in the first task and he did not collect his golden egg. However, he did have a permanent limp and his head remained tilted to the right from that day.

End of Chapter