Beta: JGNelson (friend)
Original release date: 12/25/2018
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the canon Harry Potter universe or any other canon universe, in addition to any references to things in the real world that currently exist. AU.
Chapter Sixty Eight – By Fiery Dragons Be Driven
Thinking about the enormous amount of time dedicated to learning spells, honing old ones, attempting to puzzle the task out, Harry then clears his mind as Bagman walks into the gigantic tent holding the four champions.
"Attention champions, this task is to take a replica dragon egg and swap it with the golden egg in the nest. You will take the egg and decipher its message for a clue for the fourth and final task. However, approximately three days before the task begins you all will be given insight into the task just in case you were not able to decipher the clue. At the sound of the cannon, Miss Delacour will proceed into the arena. Remember, you will be judged on any damage ascertained to the dragon, however sleeping spells and confusing attempts will not remove any points. Any questions? No? Then let's BEGIN!" announces Bagman excitedly right before the sound of a cannon fires and Fleur tightens her grip on her wand and exits into the raucous arena.
As the minutes tick by with a muted atmosphere; with not even the cheering of the crowd permeating the tents canvas, Harry forces deeps breaths in set intervals to calm his fraying nerves. A minute or so later with his mind clear and breathing steady, Harry takes a seat on a bench across from the exit tent flap and closes his eyes. Several more minutes pass before light streams into the tent and Fleur enters, robes torn on her right shoulder, blood oozing out onto the surrounding silvery material, golden egg held in her arms, smile on her face.
"Madam Pomfrey, assistance place!" calls out Harry as he gets to his feet and ambles towards Fleur, legs having fallen asleep.
Smile still plastered on her face, Fleur's eyes roll into the back of her head as she collapses, being saved from further injury as Harry catches her, egg rolling on the ground a few feet before stopping.
"Mr. Potter, follow me" instructs Madam Pomfrey leading the way deeper into the enlarged tent to the medical wing portion with Harry carrying the now unconscious Fleur.
Gently placing Fleur onto a bed, Harry hears the sound of a cannon before returning to the champion area where he briefly locks eyes with Draco, before returning to his previous seat across from the tent flap.
"Ready for the dragon, Potter?" sneers Draco with a smirk on his face.
"I think the better question is, are you ready?" retorts Harry smirking in turn.
"Of course. I've got everything planned out" responds Draco still smirking, but eyes narrowing.
"Good. I look forward to seeing what you do on the replay, since we are unable to watch in real time before we've taken our turn at it, or so I assume" answers Harry crossing his arms.
Blood draining from his face, Draco asks subdued, "What do you mean by 'replay'?"
"On the Marauding Network, witches and wizards will be able to watch the tournament as it happens, and even watch it after it has happened, also known as replay" answers Harry openly.
"So…even my parents could be watching me in real time?" asks Draco as the truth begins to dawn on him.
"Correct, including the past two tasks" answers Harry.
Shoulders sagging, Draco takes a seat on a bench across the room before putting his head in his hands.
"Just do your best and you'll have nothing to worry about" offers Harry attempting to lighten the mood.
"Y-you're right. I'll just have to do better than you, no matter what" states Draco beginning to regain his composure.
"I look forward to it" states Harry with a smile.
Ten minutes later with no sign of Krum, cannon fire disturbs the silence, causing an almost instant blood draining from Draco's face, who wordlessly gets up from his seat and exits through the tent flap.
Reviewing the information gathered on dragons, the spells that might be useful, Harry closes his eyes and visualizes the information. Hearing the final cannon fire, Harry takes a deep breath before stepping through the tent flap and into the Quidditch arena now nicely modeled to be a rocky plain with ever rising ledges leading to the final goal; the dragon and more importantly the nest.
"And here comes the final champion, Harry Potter! Unlike the miniature dragon he received at the end of the last task, Harry will face a nesting mother dragon who will fiercely protect her offspring from evildoers!" announces Lee's excited voice through out the stadium.
Remembering back to reading a passage on dragons that nesting mothers were the most dangerous dragons when backed into a corner, Harry groans to himself before examining the field and calculating his strategy. Looking at the egg under his left arm, Harry raises his wand in the air and shouts, "Accio Firebolt" before putting his wand back in his front right pocket. A few minutes later said broom zooms into view, hovering in front of Harry. Using his wand to conjure ropes to tie the egg to his abdomen, Harry takes a few deep breathes and test the tautness of the ropes before raising several feet in the air. 'I didn't think of this honestly' Harry thinks to himself.
Lowering his body as much as he can into the broom, Harry instinctively pilots the broom forward and towards the dragon who wearily watches him. Soaring across half the field, Harry comes to a complete stop before undoing the ropes and gently setting the egg on the ground. Tightening his grip on the broom, Harry resumes his flight towards the dragon.
"And Potter starts flying again! What is his plan?" announces Lee somewhat confused.
"To test the range at which the dragon can reach me considering it has a chain around its neck" mutters Harry to himself as he dodges rocky outcroppings as he nears the dragon. As the dragon looms ever nearer, Harry braces himself for a sudden stop when the dragon flaps her wings and heads towards Harry, jaws snapping as Harry scoots just out of the way.
"And Potter barely misses getting gobbled up by the dragon. He doesn't seem to have a clear plan of action unlike the previous tasks" announces Lee with a hint of disappointment in his voice.
Pausing several meters away, Harry burns the point at which the dragon can still reach him into his memory before going off towards the stands in an arc from the dragon to get a more exact range idea. Wind rustling in his ears, Harry then hears the rattling of the chain moving and then a loud crack as the chain breaks and the dragon takes off after Harry.
Eyes widening at the fast approaching dragon, Harry pulls up on his Firebolt and soars into the open sky followed closely by the dragon. Feeling a growing heat at his back, Harry leans in even closer and pushes the broom even faster. "This has just turned into a game of survival where death awaits for a wrong move" remarks Harry to himself as he flies away from the arena and towards the castle. Nearing the castle, Harry gives a small smile before opening the taps and pushing his broom as fast as he can, navigating the spires of the castle as the dragon continues to follow him.
Wind whipping through his hair, Harry spots a bridge and the lattice work supporting it and drops like a brick and soars through the lattice work, smiling before hearing the deafening sound of the bridge being rend asunder. Snarling to himself, Harry pushes harder and faster as the sound of the leathery wings beating grows closer and closer. Flying back over the Quidditch pitch, Harry hears, ""And Potter looks like he hasn't taken any injury from the dragon yet", before jumping off of his broom halfway across the field and dropping like a stone, causing the entire audience and Lee to go silent. Giving a half smile, Harry says quietly to himself, "If I fail this maneuver, then it may mean game over for me. But if I pull this off successfully, then, and just then, do I stand a chance to achieve the task with minimal harm to the dragon."
Nearing the ground, Harry reaches out his right hand and grasps his Firebolt as it had finally caught up with its owner, and Harry takes off towards where he had put the replica egg. Grabbing the egg, Harry hears a growing sound from the crowd and coerces more speed from the broom before locking on the nest and more importantly, the golden egg. Coming to a complete stop at the Gryffindor common room sized nest, Harry quickly sets down the replica egg before grabbing the golden one and takes off into the sky, dragons fire tickling his toes for the barest of seconds before disappearing. Darting into the air to outpace the dragon, Harry hears, "AND POTTER RETRIEVES THE EGG! What fantastic flying from Harry! And don't get me started on the sudden jump from his broom!" announces Lee.
Looking down to the arena where the final dragon was being subdued by her handlers, Harry slowly starts smiling before grinning ear to ear and holding the hefty golden egg into the air. Riding the euphoric state down to the ground, Harry puts the egg under his right arm and his broom over his left shoulder. Hearing the raucous cheering continue, Harry raises the egg above his head into the air, eliciting an increase in cheers. Feeling the adrenaline slowly start to ebb from his body, Harry retains the smile on his face before a sensation of something heavy slamming into his back and his vision blurring as the world accelerates forward and then the sensation of hitting the metal side of the arena and then darkness.
Waking up, Harry attempts to sit up when bolts of pain shoot through his abdomen, adding fuel to his already massive headache. Moaning, Harry lays back down and closes his eyes before the warm voice of Madam Pomfrey speaks, words unintelligible as warm and spicy liquid is spooned into his mouth, sleep overtaking him. An unknown amount of time later, Harry attempts to sit up and does successfully before grabbing his glasses from the bedside table and putting them on. Looking around, Harry remarks quietly, "So I'm in the Hospital Wing."
"And what were you thinking?!" exclaims Daphne as she comes into view.
"About what?" inquiries Harry curiously.
"Jumping off your broom of course!" states Daphne staring daggers at Harry.
"I was thinking about evading the dragon and scoring the egg from the nest" remarks Harry calmly.
"Did you not think once that your plan might end in your death?!" exclaims Daphne, voice wrought with several intermixed emotions.
"I did, and accepted that ultimately I may pay the price for it, but the payoff would be worth it, if I succeeded" answers Harry honestly.
*SMACK*
Silence covers the room before a voice remarks, "Well done Mr. Potter. Stupendous flying for the youngest seeker of the century, and for deftly maneuvering and achieving a grandiose victory for Hogwarts", as Dumbledore comes into view, hands together, having made the smacking sound.
"Now as Miss Greengrass has made it quite clear, she disapproves of your stunt despite its success. Such passion and emotion of a scale that I have not seen for many years. I do suggest not putting your life in more danger than you must, Mr. Potter. Next, I do have the scores for your performance, a ten from both Ludo Bagman and myself, a nine from Crouch, a nine from Madam Maxime, and a seven from Karkarov for a total of You did well" remarks Dumbledore putting a hand on Harry's right shoulder for a few seconds before exiting the Hospital Wing.
"Anyways, I brought you some good and bad news. Which would you like first?" asks Daphne taking a seat beside Harry's bed.
"Let's start with the bad news, although I'm not certain what it might be."
Handing Harry rolled up parchment, Daphne looks at Harry's face as he unrolls the parchment. Reading the title, 'Potter Unfaithful to Most Loyal', Harry blanches before quietly snarling at the journalist's name, Rita Skeeter. Grinding his teeth, Harry dives into the article for several minutes before crushing it in his hands. "She must have been eavesdropping on us at Madam Puddifoots. But why it would take her so much time to…release it. It coincides with the third task. It's the only thing that makes sense to me. I didn't give her an interview, so this is…so very frustrating. So what is the good news?"
"The good news is the news contained in this parchment" remarks Daphne handing Harry another roll of parchment. "To be fair, you've been out three days, so these articles are slightly dated" adds Daphne.
Unfurling the second roll, Harry reads the title, 'Dueling for a Challenge' and smirks before continuing into the article. "'Potter found his duel with Durmstrang Champion, Viktor Krum most fulfilling, with Miss Fleur Delacour's duel taught him many things.' Fascinating. I enjoy her tact on making it seem like I wanted to duel everyone equally. I do appreciate that."
Nodding her head, Daphne remarks, "I agree, which is why I brought you both sets of papers so you'd have a better idea of what is going around the rumor mill when you get released."
"Mr. Potter, it is wonderful that you have caught up with your daily news, however it is time for your medical examination to determine whether or not you are in any shape to leave the Hospital Wing" announces Madam Pomfrey appearing at the foot of the bed.
"It was naught more than a scratch I figure, paired with a headache for a few days" jests Harry jovially.
Frowning, Madam Pomfrey remarks, "That is Mr. Malfoy's line as he wasn't as tactful as you were, and was nearly mauled by the dragon. Fortunately he had the good sense to wear the breastplate for protection as if he wasn't, he'd be a pulled pork sandwich at this point."
The weight of the words spoken keeps Daphne and Harry quiet as Madam Pomfrey waves her wand over Harry's body before declaring him fit and going back to her office.
/*elsewhere*/
Stepping back from the building, Sirius wipes his brow before smiling at his handiwork. "Looks pretty good. I think Harry will enjoy it. Especially once the tournament is over."
"I agree, and I think it is something that will pique his curiosity. You did leave a note in the system that we were building something here, but left no details on what it is, correct?" remarks Remus smiling.
"Of course. Obfuscation is a valid technique for Harry, since he peruses our plans, diagrams, etc. He will just have to deal with the lack of information for now. He DOES have better things to think on, such as classwork and for the fourth and final task" answers Sirius crossing his arms and looking at the two story building in front of him.
/*back in the common room*/
"What do you think the final task will be?" inquiries Ron looking at Harry.
"I'm not certain, but I think it will be exhilarating. And much more puzzling than the third task" answers Harry somewhat excitedly.
"What does the egg mean?" inquiries Hermione curiously.
"I'm not certain, but I honestly haven't looked at it too closely" admits Harry openly.
"Perhaps it holds a clue to the fourth task?" suggests Daphne.
"Probably does in some capacity, just need to get to it" says Harry.
"Oh, I forgot to give you something for Valentine's Day, just forgot to give it to you" states Daphne before pulling out a thin and rectangular box and hands it to Harry.
Eyebrow raising in surprise, Harry accepts the box and opens it and picks out the gold chain necklace with a wand shooting sparks on the left crossing a sword with a small crimson gem set into the hilt of the sword in front of a shield. Grinning ear to ear, Harry equips the necklace before giving Daphne a peck on the lips and says, "Thank you very much. I'll treasure this forever."
/*some transition here*/
Sitting on his bed in the dark, curtains pulled around his bed, Harry sits with his headphones, watching his Omni Play. Watching from an arena camera, Harry observes as Fleur exits the tent into the rocky surfaced arena and looks towards the scarlet colored Chinese Fireball before begins to dance in trance like motions, making her way slowly across the field. Changing camera views to one in the middle of the field, Harry notices that the dragon's head sways in time with Fleur's dancing as she arrives at the halfway point.
Feeling his mind get hazy, Harry lightly slaps himself on the face, clarity of mind resuming before continuing to watch the video feed. Making it to just outside of the dragon's reach, Fleur stops moving forward but continues her dancing with the dragon's head drooping lower and lower before finally dropping to the ground in front of Fleur. Taking advantage of the sleeping dragon, Fleur gracefully flows around the dragon and to the nest before grabbing the golden egg and raising her wand in the air with the replica egg being summoned from the entrance of the arena.
"Dancing her way to success. Very interesting and effective it looks like. I think Luna had a glorious day of observing the dragons and what is both effective and ineffective against dragons" remarks Harry, speeding up through to the judging portion where a black bar appears on the left hand side of the screen with the names of the judges and their respective scores appear underneath their names. Seeing a nine from Bagman, a ten from Dumbledore, a nine from Crouch, a ten from Madam Maxime and finally an eight from Karkarov.
Reviewing the remaining two champions attempts, Harry switches and aimlessly peruses before muttering several minutes later, "What is this? No information available? What are Sirius and Remus hiding and more importantly, WHERE is it?"
Shaking his head, Harry mutters to himself, "I'll figure out what those two are doing later. I should try to figure out what the egg holds."
Turning the golden egg over and over in his hands slowly, Harry gently caresses the egg, eventually finding the hidden pressure release spots and pressing them to have the egg open into three pieces with a common bottom piece connecting them. Gently a piece of parchment flutters out of the egg and falls to the floor where Harry picks it up and gently puts the egg onto his bed before turning his attention to the parchment in his hands.
"Hidden from sight, contained deep within,
Your final goal lies surrounded by surmountable odds
Delve into a labyrinth where you must face your own mind
Flight will be a disaster, foot will net you more distance
Be quick as there is only one winner"
Staring at the parchment in his hands, Harry doesn't move until the feeling of pinpricks come through his shirt and sees Wilhelm looking over his shoulder. Smiling, Harry gently strokes Wilhelm absentmindedly while still pondering on the note.
"Starting from the last line, it's obvious that only one person will win the tournament and win the task. Second to last line states 'Flight will be a disaster, foot will net you more distance', so I assume that I shouldn't try to fly to whatever the endpoint is, or suffer some form of disastrous event. Or that's what I think it means. The last portion of the line regarding 'foot will net you more distance', I don't quite understand what it is trying to say, but I'll assume it's telling me to go on foot" remarks Harry as he annotates some notes to the parchment.
"Next is 'Delve into a labyrinth where you must face your own mind'. This is confusing because I'm not quite certain what it means. A labyrinth of what? Is it a maze? But to face my own mind, that's the part that is baffling me. I can worry about that later then. Following that is 'Your final goal lies surrounded by surmountable odds', so I suppose whatever I may face, there is a way to beat it? I'd hope so at least, but considering that Dumbledore has probably stuck his fingers into several things before, I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow threw something in there that no one can beat. Finally there is 'Hidden from sight, contained deep within', and I'd hanker a guess that has something to do with the goal is deep within what I suspect is a maze, and that from whatever the starting point is, I won't be able to see it. So either obstacles or walls if this is a maze. That's my guess" finishes Harry adding his final notes to the parchment.
/*Days and then weeks start to pass by before it is late May*/
"Mr. Potter, just because you are excused from end of year exams doesn't mean you get to aimlessly stare off into space. You are still expected to do the assigned work and turn it in on time. Please do not forget this" chastises Professor McGonagall narrowing her eyes at Harry.
"Yes professor" answers Harry sluggishly dragging his attention back to Professor McGonagall's lesson.
"I don't even remember what she was transfiguring or teaching on" mutters Harry to himself, losing himself to his own thoughts, but remaining facing Professor McGonagall and the parchment he had begun taking notes on.
"Now champions, listen up for here are the details for the fourth and final task. In the Hogwarts Quidditch arena there is a labyrinth of hedges which will funnel you towards the goal, the Triwizard Tournament cup. The champion who first collects the cup will be determined as the winner of the entire tournament-" begins Ludo Bagman before being interrupted.
"Then what is the point of being awarded points?" complains Draco crossing his arms.
"The points, Mr. Malfoy, is what gives a champion an advantage in which they are able to start into the maze first. Based on the points you have will determine which position you are in for starting into the maze. For every position thereafter will start five minutes after a champion has left. So second place with points will leave five minutes after the first place champion, third champion will leave fives minutes after the second place champion, and the fourth and final champion will leave five minutes later" explains Ludo.
"So who's in what position?" asks Draco excitedly.
"You received thirty seven points total from the third task, combined with your previous seventy one points, you are dead last at one hundred and eight points. Miss Delacour is in third at one hundred and ten points, Mr. Krum is at one hundred and twenty two, and Mr. Potter is first with one hundred and thirty points" states Ludo.
Pausing at hearing the numbers, Draco replies slowly, "So I'm starting last? A whole fifteen minutes after Potter does?"
Nodding his head, Ludo states, "That is correct. But you could think of it as Mr. Potter finding some of the obstacles that you'd need to pass and, erm, take care of them before you get to them."
"What kind of obstacles then?" demands Draco, eyes still narrowed.
"That my boy you will find out when you reach them" answers Ludo.
"So go through the maze, get the cup, get a thousand galleons, name written in books, and get famous. Is that the gist of it?" asks Draco shortly.
"Yes. But before then we still have the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup with the final match between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor this coming weekend then the transformation of the Quidditch pitch will begin" reminds Ludo excitedly.
Sighing, Harry mutters to himself, "Don't remind me of the match that is coming up. This year has been hectic."
"Harry, did you say something?" inquiries Ludo peering at him.
"No, sir."
"Now, we do need to oblige in some photos for the Daily Prophet, and erm, the Quibbler" states Ludo losing some energy.
"Photos? Vhat kind ov photos?" inquiries Krum bunching his brows together.
"For some articles for the upcoming fourth task. Remember, these tasks are being streamed to your families, friends, professors, and the wizarding communities in the UK and France. I have high hopes for our two Seekers for possible visits from some great Quidditch teams after the tournament" remarks Ludo before winking.
"Let's get on with it then" says Draco with a smile on his face.
Turning around to face the door, the four champions stop as the door opens as four people enter. "Luna?" says Harry startled
"Yes, and Colin as well" replies Luna dreamily.
Looking to the oldest Creevey brother holding a six inch long and four inch tall metal slab with a circular spinning section with several objects on it. "Colin, what are you holding?" inquiries Harry looking at the device.
Beaming with pride, Colin answers excitedly, "It's the Marauders Emporium newest prototype camera, the Blitzshot It has several lens, including a fish eye lens for wide angle shots! Your family is amazing Harry!"
"I assume it takes all shots and sends them to your Omni Connect?" asks Harry curiously.
"Yes! And Sirius set it up so it also sends to Luna's account so she can use it for use in The Quibbler without pestering me for providing her with the results of the shoot" says Colin bouncing on the soles of his feet.
"Can we skip past all that and get to the REAL photography?" drawls a familiar female voice.
Turning to the source of the voice, Harry's fists tighten as the sight of Rita Skeeter appears with her cameraman from the first Triwizard Tournament task.
"Are you saying that Colin's photography isn't as good as yours? Considering that your camera is more than likely dated, and also considering that the quality of the photos in the Daily Prophet is grainy, I'd consider Colin's work to be great considering the strides that my family is making" states Harry narrowing his eyes at Rita.
"Oh my, Harry Potter is just upset that his articles aren't being taken seriously in The Quibbler, aren't you? Don't worry, the world is taking the Daily Prophet seriously" rebukes Rita crossing her arms.
"I'm afraid that the articles about me in The Quibbler aren't being taken seriously? Ha! I'm quite fine with them, because at least they take me seriously and don't try to twist my words into a sob story to make me and anyone else mentioned such as the Daily Prophet does, and more specifically your articles" answers Harry.
Opening her mouth to respond, Rita is interrupted by Luna who says firmly, "Harry, you shouldn't speak any more."
Taking a deep breath, Harry responds, "You're right Luna. My apologies. So, master cameramen, what formation would you like all of us in?"
"Let's begin with a serious pose with all four champions in a row" speaks the Daily Prophet cameraman firmly.
Glancing towards Luna who had withdrawn a pad of muggle paper and a pen who was taking notes, Harry returns his vision to the cameraman who starts positioning the champions before taking several steps back to look through the camera's sight while Colin stands as still as he can, smiling. Half an hour later with several poses taken of all four champions by themselves, all together, and one with Ludo Bagman, everyone but Luna, Harry, and Colin exit the room.
"I'm sorry you two for losing my cool earlier" confesses Harry apologetically.
"It's quite alright Harry" remarks Luna.
"The Blitzshot is great! I got so many shots while the other guy was positioning you all, and around while he was loading the powder for the camera. I think I took a few hundred shots, although I doubt many will be used. But still, Remus and Sirius said I should keep the device because they think I'd be the best to use it. I mostly used a *standard portrait lens here* but I tested out the fish eye lens from a standing view, from a crouching view, and I think that they came out quite nicely" exclaims Colin enthusiastically.
"Do you have a way to make physical copies of the photos you take?" inquiries Harry curiously.
"YES! I also received a MageSCP that can print the photos as I take them, assuming that there is paper!" exclaims Colin excitedly bouncing on the soles of his feet.
"Can you show me some photos when we're back in the common room? I might want a few prints, and I'll pay if you'd like" asks Harry.
"Oh no! I wouldn't dream of charging you Harry" answers Colin, eyes twinkling with happiness.
"If you say so. Thanks" remarks Harry with a smile.
"Harry, if you don't mind, I'd like to have an interview about what you feel about the fourth task" states Luna sitting down at a newly dusted desk.
"Can I stay too? I'd like to listen" chimes in Colin with a hopeful smile on his face.
"Sure" remarks Luna before jumping into asking questions.
Half an hour later and the three students head back to their respective common room. "I've still got Professor Snape's essay to finish, in addition to Trelawny's Divinitation essay on the cycles of the moon what events might occur, what my dreams might mean, and then practice spell work for the fourth task, not to mention Quidditch practice. *sigh* This will be a long month and a half."
"Don't worry Harry, I believe in you!" exclaims Colin enthusiastically.
"Thanks Colin" comments Harry before the two enter into the Gryffindor common room.
Author note: Thanks for reading, reviewing, etc! I do hope that this was a bit more entertaining the last few. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays for all! Just a reminder, I do not have the entire series scripted out, I just have some general ideas of what I want to do so it does take time to create the chapters and get them proofed/read over before I release. If my titles of articles and Marauders Emporium items aren't the most creative, my apologies. My undergrad years taught me to make things descriptive of what they contain.