A/N - Here's the newest chapter and it's time for the first task. I'd really like to know what people think of this chapter as it took me quite a while to come up with what I hope is at least somewhat of a new way to handle the first task.
In other news this story has just passed 25,000 views. Thank you to everyone who has been reading it and I hope you continue to read and enjoy it.
Disclaimer: The X-Men were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and belong to Marvel Comics. Harry Potter was created by and belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no money from this and the only thing that's mine are the original parts of the story.
Quotes taken from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
"Normal Speech"
"Telepathy"
-Parseltongue-
18) THE FIRST TASK
It's amazing both how much and how little can happen in a single week. For Harry it was the usual as he counted down the days to the first task. As far as he was concerned it couldn't come soon enough just so it would be over and done with. As Ilvermorny was now officially participating in the tournament a certain number of tickets were made available for students to come watch the first task. About the same number of Ilvermorny students would be permitted to attend as Beauxbaton and Durmstrang students would also be at the task. It wasn't all that large a number so tickets were made available on a first come first served basis. This was less contentious than it could have been because the first task was taking place on Thanksgiving Day and many students had gone home for Thanksgiving break. It was only students who were staying at the school over break who tried to get tickets for the task. The one exception was Ororo whom Harry had personally invited to come see the task. She would arrive with the other students but as Harry's personal guest she couldn't be denied a place.
As the X-Men had all decided that Harry would not go through the tournament without them nearby Professor Xavier had arranged with Dumbledore that the team would all be at Hogwarts for the first task. They would arrive at the castle just before the task and attend as guests of Headmaster Dumbledore who would pass them off as friends of his whom he had invited to come watch the task. They would not be in uniform of course unless there was an attack so no one would know they were anything except members of the larger public.
Rita Skeeter's article about the tournament came out on Monday the 21st. Harry was pleased to see that she had spread the attention evenly among all of the champions so no one was overshadowed. The part she wrote about Harry explained again about how he had been entered into the tournament against his will and couldn't get out of it as well as who had entered him although she said nothing about Voldemort's possible involvement. Above all she made it clear that Harry had not cheated his way into the tournament.
While all of this was going on the Dursleys had received a second letter from HSBC. This one restated the bank's request for the desired documentation and reproached the Dursleys for not having fulfilled the original request. A new deadline was set for December 15th and this time a notice was added at the end of the letter stating that action would be taken against them if the request was not met. The Dursleys ignored this letter too figuring that when the third one came they would plead that they had not received either of the first two letters. They also figured that nothing would happen before the new year as surely no action would be taken before Christmas.
Dumbledore invited Harry to come to Hogwarts on November 23rd and stay there for the night so he could re-acclimate somewhat to British time before the task. The task would be at 2 PM, which would mean 9 AM in America. Headmaster Pope gave Harry permission to go to Hogwarts a day early (as did Professor Xavier but the magicals didn't need to know that). Harry had accepted and he arrived at the castle not long before dinner. Dumbledore gave him the choice of staying in a guest room or returning to his old dorm room in Gryffindor tower with his former year mates. Harry had chosen the guest room. He didn't have anything against returning to the tower but he knew that if he did he would be swamped with people wanting to talk to him even more than they already had. On the eve of the first task that was a distraction he didn't need.
At dinner Harry was able to confer with Ron and Hermione who told him in low voices that Fred and George had found out that Fleur and Viktor had been told about the dragons by their respective headmistress and headmaster. The twins didn't say exactly how they found out this information claiming that they "need to keep some secrets" but both had been willing to make oaths that what they said was true even though Hermione stopped them from actually going through with it. Harry's two friends had then told Cedric about the dragons so now all four of the champions were going into the task on an even footing. Hermione wanted to quiz Harry on what he was going to do for the first task but Harry begged off stating he didn't want to think about it right now any more than he had to.
After dinner was over Professor McGonagall took Harry to his guest room. It was a nice room which included an en suite bathroom. Harry threw himself down on the bed to test it out but he didn't stay there for long. The sun had set some time before dinner started and it was now fully dark outside. Harry got up from the bed and looked out the window. The guest room was located on the front side of the castle with a view of the lake and the Forbidden Forest. In the darkness of the night Harry saw light coming from the forest.
'I wonder if that's where they're keeping the dragons until tomorrow?' Harry thought to himself. Since it wasn't late and he wasn't tired he decided to find out. Opening up his pack he pulled out his X-Man uniform. He rarely traveled anywhere without it these days as he figured that one never knew when something might happen. He hadn't expected to be using it on this short trip but he was glad he had brought it as it gave him a way to reach the forest without him having to travel through the castle hallways and risk someone seeing him. In the darkness of the night it was unlikely that anyone who happened to be outside would see him fly by even if a lot of his uniform was yellow. He was helped along with this by the fact that, unless they were flying, playing Quidditch, or in Astronomy class wizards didn't look up very much. (1)
Once he was finished changing Lightning took off and flew out of his room window leaving it open behind him so he could easily return. After taking a moment to fly around the castle once and appreciate the fresh air of the night Lightning flew straight to the Forbidden Forest and was soon soaring above the trees. It didn't take long before he reached a clearing that was lit up by torches and bonfires. There he saw the dragons. There were four of them and they were all different kinds. He didn't know enough about dragons to name the specific breeds but as he came down toward the clearing he saw just the person he'd want for that. Standing near the edge of the clearing with his back to the trees was Charlie Weasley and for the moment he was alone although Lightning could see a lot of other dragon keepers moving around different parts of the clearing.
Lightning quietly landed behind Charlie and tapped him on the shoulder.
"What – ?" Charlie began as he spun around to see who was there only to find a hand pressed over his mouth and the forefinger of another hand pressed against the lips of the person who had surprised him.
"Take it easy Charlie" said Lightning in a low voice, "it's just me." Charlie was surprised when he get a good look at his visitor.
"Har – I mean Lightning" he said after the hand had been removed from his mouth, "what are you doing here?"
"I flew over to see the dragons" said Lightning, "it was the only way I could get out of the castle without running into someone."
"Who told you?" asked Charlie, "none of the champions are supposed to know about them."
"It's far too late for that" said Lightning, "we already know."
"What? How?" asked Charlie.
"You told Ron you would see him at Hogwarts before he came back here in September" said Lightning, "that tipped off him and Hermione when they found out about the tournament. They told me when I was dragged into this mess. We later found out that Madame Maxime and Professor Karkaroff told their champions about the dragons so I asked Ron and Hermione to make sure Cedric knew too just so things would be fair. Hermione told me that they did that over the weekend."
"That was very good of you all" said Charlie, "and did Headmaster Pope tell you about the dragons too?"
"He didn't have to" said Lightning, "I told him I already knew what the task was before he could do that. When he asked me how I knew I told what I told you. Teachers can't help the champions but friends can."
"I see" said Charlie, "I'm glad you all know. I'd hate having to go in blind to face one of these monsters. They wanted nesting mothers although I don't know why. Aggravating a mother dragon when she's protecting her nest is a potential recipe for disaster."
"So much for the tournament being safe" said Lightning sarcastically, "what kinds of dragons are these?"
"I suppose there's no harm in telling you that now" said Charlie, "the green one is a Common Welsh Green, the blue-grey one is a Swedish Short Snout, the red one is a Chinese Fireball, and the black one is a Hungarian Horntail. That one's the worst of the lot."
"Which means that with my luck I'll probably be the one who faces it" said Lightning, "at least you don't have a Wakandan Warrior Dragon."
"I'm sure the tournament organizers would have tried to get one if they could" said Charlie, "but that would have meant a dead champion, no more, no less. How do you know about those dragons? Wakanda doesn't allow much knowledge about them to leave their country. I learned about them during my training – all dragon keepers do, well we learn that they exist but not much beyond that. I've never seen one."
"Let's just say that I know someone who has been to Wakanda twice and has seen a few of them" said Lightning, "she told me about them. She said they were 'beautiful, magnificent, and terrifying.'"
"Lucky woman" said Charlie with clear envy in his voice, "I wish I'd been there too."
Lightning and Charlie talked for a few more minutes before Lightning bade Charlie good-night and flew back to the castle. Once back in his room he changed out of his uniform and put on his pajamas. It wasn't very late but Harry didn't want to stay up late tonight. He knew that tomorrow would be a hectic day and wanted to be well rested for it. He just hoped he'd get through the task uninjured.
The next morning Harry mostly kept to himself as he worked to mentally prepare for the task. He wasn't seen by the general school population until lunch time and then he was pretty uncommunicative when people tried to talk to him. He mostly answered questions with one word, single syllable answers. Hermione recognized the symptoms of nerves and began asking people who came over to the Gryffindor table to please leave Harry alone until after the task was over. Harry gave her a small smile of thanks for that.
As lunch ended Headmaster Pope came over to get Harry and take him to where the task would be held. The headmaster had arrived earlier that day to go over any last minutes bits of business that he, as a judge, might need to deal with. Unfortunately for him that had meant getting up ridiculously early (roughly 4 AM) in order to get to Hogwarts in a timely manner. He was not in the best of moods as a result of not getting enough sleep however he didn't take it out on Harry.
"Just do the best you can Mr. Potter" said the headmaster, "that's all anyone can ask of you."
"Are the other Ilvermorny students here yet?" asked Harry.
"They'll be arriving about 15 minutes before the task starts" was the reply, "there are some seats set aside for them." By now they were approaching the Quidditch stadium which was where the task would be held. In front of the stadium was a large tent. Pope told Harry to go inside and added that he would see him after the task.
Once inside the tent Harry saw that the other champions were already there. Also present was Mr. Bagman who was more excited than usual.
"Well, now we're all here - time to fill you in!" said Bagman brightly. "When the audience has assembled, I'm going to be offering each of you this bag" - he held up a small sack of purple silk and shook it at them - "from which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face! There are different - er -varieties, you see. And I have to tell you something else too.. . ah, yes... your task is to collect the golden egg!"
'So that's what it's all about' thought Harry, 'now I understand why they wanted nesting mothers for this. Of all the stupid –' He decided not to finish the thought. Instead he sat down and waited.
And in no time at all, hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of feet could be heard passing the tent, their owners talking excitedly, laughing, joking. . . . And then - it seemed like about a second later to Harry - Bagman was opening the neck of the purple silk sack.
"Ladies first," he said, offering it to Fleur Delacour.
She put a shaking hand inside the bag and drew out a tiny, perfect model of a dragon - a Welsh Green. It had the number two around its neck.
Krum went second. He pulled out the scarlet Chinese Fireball. It had a number three around its neck.
Cedric put his hand into the bag, and out came the blueish-gray Swedish Short-Snout, the number one tied around its neck. Knowing what was left, Harry put his hand into the silk bag and pulled out the Hungarian Horntail, and the number four. It stretched its wings as he looked down at it, and bared its minuscule fangs.
"Well, there you are!" said Bagman. "You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see? Now, I'm going to have to leave you in a moment, because I'm commentating. Mr. Diggory, you're first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right?"
Cedric nodded that he understood and Bagman left the tent. Harry sat down to wait until it was his turn. He closed his eyes and tried his best to center himself.
"Harry" Harry sat up with a start when he heard the voice in his head.
"Jean?" Harry asked, "is that you?"
"Of course silly" said Jean, "we just wanted to find out how you were doing right now."
"The whole team got here without any problems?"
"Yes, we're all sitting with your friends in the Gryffindor section except for Sirius who is sitting with Remus over in the faculty section."
"I'm glad you all came" said Harry, "I'm doing about as well as can be expected under the circumstances. I'll be happy when this is over."
Jean said good-bye to him after that and Harry continued to wait. Hopefully the team wouldn't need to do anything but Harry would rather have them nearby and not need them than the other way around. He had seriously considered going out there to face the dragon as Lightning but he had ultimately decided not to do this as it would only cause problems down the line.
Shortly afterwards the four champions all heard the whistle which meant that the task was starting.
"Good luck Cedric" said Harry as Cedric made to leave the tent. Cedric nodded at him but said nothing. Harry waited along with Fleur and Krum. He could hear the roar of the crowd and occasionally some of the commentary by Bagman but he didn't pay too much attention to it. It wouldn't help his mood if he listened to the blow by blow commentary, especially when Bagman was declaring that something didn't work, or questioning the wisdom of a move, or mentioning just how risky the whole thing was.
One by one each champion left the tent to face their dragons. Fleur went out there about 15 minutes after Cedric. Krum went about 10 minutes after that and now it was finally Harry's turn as he heard the whistle go and Bagman called his name. He got up from his seat and headed out of the tent.
Harry stepped into the arena and looked down the field to where the dragon was crouched protectively over her eggs while staring at him with eyes that were both hostile and a bit fearful as if she was afraid he would harm her children. Harry walked a short distance out on the field but stayed well out of the dragon's range. He could hear the crowd making noise but didn't pay attention to it. He looked up at the Hungarian Horntail and opened his mouth.
-Good afternoon honorable mother- Harry said to the dragon, his words coming out as hissing to everyone who was watching, -allow me to introduce myself. My name is Harry Potter. I hope you are well. I mean neither you nor your children any harm.-
The crowd watching the task quieted down a lot when this happened as they wondered what Harry was doing. A few of them recognized he was speaking Parseltongue but couldn't understand what he was saying. The dragon reared back in obvious surprise before leaning forward again and looking at him with greater scrutiny and less hostility than before. She bent down towards the ground and extended her neck out toward Harry so as to see him better.
-You are a Speaker?- she said to him, -you speak and understand the serpentine language?-
-I do- said Harry.
-Explain to me why I and my eggs have been brought here- said the dragon.
-I'm sorry about that- said Harry, -wizards are not always smart people. A lot of them think that they're the supreme rulers of the magical world and they can do whatever they want. You've been brought here as part of a tournament task. If you'll look in your nest you'll see that there's a fake egg in there.-
The Horntail gave Harry a long look before pulling her head back and ducking down to examine her eggs.
-You are right Speaker- said the dragon, -why has that fake egg been put into my nest?-
-That is part of the task- said Harry, -the champions of this tournament are supposed to get the fake eggs from your nests.-
-Oh really?- said the dragon in an arch manner, -and how do you intend to do that?-
-I really don't know- said Harry, -all of the thoughts and approaches I and my friends came up with would mean having to treat you as a mindless beast – but it is clear that you are not. You are sentient and obviously intelligent. I and all wizardkind would do well to remember that. As I don't want to risk harming your eggs I feel that the best thing for me to do is to simply ask you if you would be willing to give me the egg.-
-Oh really?- asked the dragon, -and if I say no?-
-Then it will be no- said Harry, -I won't attempt to force you to do anything.-
There was a silence as the Horntail regarded Harry before finally speaking again.
-I will give you the egg- she finally said, -if you will do something for me.-
-If it is within my power to do so- said Harry, -and it can be done here and now I will try. What can I do for you?-
-As you have said- the dragon replied, -we are not mindless animals. I want you tell that to everyone who is watching us here today. Better yet can you do a translation spell so that I may speak to the crowd myself?-
-Yes- said Harry, -but only the most basic ones. Will it be enough?-
-Perhaps- said the dragon, -but I would prefer if you used the spell of Parsel Translation. It will translate my words into your language while at the same time translating your words into mine so that I may understand you when you speak your native language. Do you know it?-
-No- said Harry, -I've never heard of that spell.-
-It is no matter- said the dragon, -I will teach it to you. Chi Kil Kai told me that where she's from her keepers know the spell and she taught it to me a couple of days ago.-
-Who is she?-
-She's the Chinese Fireball who's here with us. She said that she met a Wakandan Warrior Dragon once who told her they know the spell where she's from too. Do Europeans not know it?-
-Maybe they do- said Harry, -I'm only a fourth year student. Maybe I haven't learned it yet.-
-I apologize Speaker- said the dragon, -I probably should have thought of that but no one at my reserve has ever used it. Perhaps you can teach someone the spell once I teach it to you. It's really quite simple. There are no wand movements. You just point your wand and say 'Cicero Anguis Lingua' which means "translate snake language" followed by the name of the language you want it to translate to. The language name should be said in its normal everyday form to give the translation magic a target to which it can attach itself.-
-So Cicero Anguis Lingua English?- asked Harry sounding out the words.
-Very good- said the dragon, -now please cast it on me so that I may speak to the crowd.-
-Okay- said Harry with a smile.
-Be sure to aim for my eyes- said the dragon putting her head down near the ground again in front of Harry, -or it won't work.- Harry nodded as he raised his wand and pointed it at the dragon's eyes.
"Cicero Anguis Lingua English" Harry said in a firm voice. When the crowd heard the spell they all went silent as it was not one that almost any of them knew. The keepers for the Chinese Fireball knew it and their faces showed surprise that Harry was using that spell. Dumbledore also seemed to know it as his eyebrows went up but he looked pleased.
"Did it work?" asked the dragon and Harry heard her words come out as English.
"It did" said Harry with a smile, "allow me to introduce you. I just realized I've been forgetting my manners. I never asked you your name."
"I am Lexirri Sofara" was the reply, "of the Sofara dragon clan."
"I'm glad to meet you Lexirri Sofara" said Harry who turned to face the crowd. He put his wand to his throat and said "Sonorus." Everyone in the stadium looked at Harry even more attentively than before as they all wondered what he was going to say. He looked up at the spectators and spoke.
"Hello everyone" he said and everyone heard him clearly, "I know you're all wondering what's going on. You saw me speak to the dragon and I used Parseltongue to do it. Now before you all start declaring me a dark lord in training you should realize that the ability to speak Parseltongue is not dark. Neither is it light. It simply is – just like our own ability to use magic simply is. It's what we do with it that matters. Headmaster Dumbledore once told me that it's our choices that show who we really are. Our actions say far more about us than any blood status or house sorting. Today you have seen me use my ability to speak to this dragon. Is that evil? Has anyone been hurt because of it? Has anyone died?"
Harry paused for a moment to let the truth of his words sink in before speaking up again. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dumbledore nodding his head in approval over in the judges' box.
"The reason I have done this" he continued, "is because this great mother wishes for a chance to speak to all of you who are watching us today. With the translation spell that she herself has just taught me I have made it possible for her to speak to you in words that you will be able to understand. So without any more distractions I would like to introduce you all to Lexirri Sofara of the Sofara dragon clan."
The dragon stood up and turned to face the crowd although she remained standing protectively over her nest.
"Greetings to you wizards and witches of the magical world" said Lexirri. Her voice boomed across the arena and even without a Sonorus charm everyone heard and understood her.
"I suppose a lot of you are wondering how it is that I can speak to you like this" she said, her gaze traveling around the stadium taking in everyone, "after all we dragons are animals, are we not? Savages, mindless hostile beasts, is that not so?
"It is false. The mere fact that I can speak to you like this should prove to you that it is not so. We are not mindless beasts, nor do we wish to be treated as such. We are an ancient and intelligent race. We have a long history that humans do not know. My people walked this Earth as a strong race while yours were still hanging from tree branches in Africa. As you have been told I have a clan name and a personal name, just as you do although you call them first and last names.
"This young man here" and Lexirri indicated Harry with her head, "has taken the unusual step of treating me as a sentient being and talking to me. I taught him a translation spell that would allow anyone to speak with me or any other dragon. I would think such a spell would be well known but apparently it is not. None of my keepers know the spell and until I came here and met one of my fellow dragons I did not know it. There are some in Asia and Africa who do. Why haven't any of you Europeans bothered to learn it?"
One of the keepers for the Chinese Fire Ball who had been watching the task stepped forward and addressed Lexirri although the whole arena heard what she said.
"I can explain that" said the keeper, "it's European provincialism. Most European magicals don't listen to anything we Asians or Africans have to say. They don't even listen to any of the American countries or Australia all that much. They think they are better than we are and they look down on us. If not for that we could have taught them the spell long ago. We know that dragons are sentient and in our lands we treat them as such, not as animals."
"I see" said Lexirri who looked at the crowd, "is this true?" She looked around to see if anyone would deny the charge. There was a silence from the crowd. Then suddenly an unpleasant high-pitched voice rang out from near the judges' section.
"How dare you!" yelled the voice. When Harry turned to see who was speaking his saw a small, dumpy witch who looked rather like a toad. Harry remembered meeting her back in April at Hogwarts after the X-Men fought off the Brotherhood although she didn't say anything to him back then. She was Dolores Umbridge, the Senior Undersecretary to Minister Fudge, a bigot in the extreme according to Mrs. Weasley, and, Harry was sure, a relative of the Toad's in some way.
"You stop this right now Mr. Potter!" Umbridge yelled, "we all know you're behind this. Dragons are filthy beasts that have no intelligence. Don't try to make us think otherwise. They don't deserve to be treated any better than the animals that they are. I don't know what game you think you're playing but if you don't stop it right now I'll have you arrested – " Madame Umbridge continued to yell but no sound came from her mouth. Someone had cast a silencing spell on her.
'I wonder what her problem is?' thought Harry but his attention was then directed to Dumbledore who was speaking now.
"That's enough Madame Umbridge" the headmaster said and when Harry looked at him he saw Dumbledore putting his wand away before turning to look at the dragon, "I apologize for that. Great lady if you would please continue with what you were saying I think we would all like to hear it."
"Thank you" said Lexirri before turning back to the Asian dragon keeper, "one question before I continue. If you treat dragons as sentient beings then why did you bring Chi Kil Kai here?"
"We asked her first" was the reply, "and she consented to come provided that we used fake eggs for her part of the task. We did. Before we brought her into the arena we switched out her real clutch for a fake one. It was a good thing we did too as several of those eggs were smashed during the task. The only reason she didn't go on a rampage when that happened was because she knew that her real clutch was safe."
"You did well keeper" said the dragon, "what is your name?"
"Ang Wong" was the reply.
"The others could learn from you and your colleagues Ang Wong" said Lexirri, "I wish my eggs had been switched out for fake ones too. I would have felt much better about this whole thing." She turned back to the crowd
"That's another thing" she said addressing the crowd again, "neither I nor any of my sisters brought here for this tournament appreciate having our children placed in danger simply for a crowd's pleasure. If there are any parents in this crowd how would you like to have been in my place today? How would you feel about having your children placed in danger as part of a game for someone else's amusement? How would you feel if you lost one or more of your children as part of that game, as would have happened here today if the clutch that had been switched out for fake eggs had not been switched out?"
The dragon stopped speaking for a moment and it was clear that her shot had hit home with at least some of the crowd.
"I don't have much more to say" she resumed, "today is the first time that I am aware of in which a dragon has been able to speak to a large number of wizards and witches, at least in Europe. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak up for my fellow dragons. I hope that you will carefully consider my words and reflect upon your own attitudes towards us.
"That is all I have to say for now. If anyone has any questions for me please come see me here before I leave with the dragon handlers. Thank you."
The dragon fell silent. The whole audience was also silent. After a moment Lexirri bent down to her nest, picked up the golden egg, turned to Harry, and placed it down in front of him.
"This is yours" she said to Harry, "thank you for helping me."
"You're welcome great mother" said Harry who turned to the audience.
"The task is over now" he said to everyone, "however if anyone has any questions for Lexirri Sofara please come down here so you may ask them. I will stay and keep the translation spell going for as long as needed." He turned his wand to his throat and said "Quietus" ending the Sonorus spell.
"That won't be necessary Mr. Potter" said Ang Wong who was still standing nearby "I will keep the spell going for you."
"Actually I would like to learn that spell" said Charlie Weasley who had come over with some of the other dragon handlers, "would you show it to us? What's happened here is important and all of us handlers are of the same mind. Those of us who don't already know that spell want to learn it." Harry looked and saw that the other dragon handlers were all nodding their heads so he looked at Lexirri who nodded her understanding and he and Keeper Wong quickly taught Charlie and the other keepers the spell.
"And now" said one of the other handlers to Harry, "you need to get your scores."
"Oh" said Harry who had forgotten about that, "you're right, I do, but I'm going to stay anyway. I want to hear the question and answer session." The other handlers nodded.
"We'll let you get your scores first" said Charlie, "then we'll do this."
Harry turned and looked to where the judges were sitting. The four school heads, Ludo Bagman, and Percy Weasley were all sitting in a box overlooking the arena. All of them were looking down at him as if they couldn't believe what they'd just seen. They all seemed to realize that they had just witnessed something historic, something that went far beyond the tournament. What Harry and Lexirri had done here would be big news.
Madame Maxime was the first to raise her wand. She shot a ribbon out of it which took the shape of the number 10. Dumbledore went next and he also shot out a 10 as did Pope, Bagman, Percy, and even Karkaroff. Straight 10s across the board. Harry was indisputably in the lead. He bowed his thanks to the judges while the audience applauded him and then turned back to join Lexirri and the dragon handlers.
Ang Wong raised her wand and cast the same spell Harry had cast earlier before turning to the audience and inviting people to come forward with their questions. At first no one stood up. They all looked around at each other as if daring someone to go first. Finally Hermione stood up and began walking down the steps toward the playing field. Harry was not one bit surprised.
"I knew it would be you" said Harry to Hermione with a smile when she reached him.
"Prat" said Hermione although she smiled as she said it. Harry took her by the hand and brought her to Lexirri.
"Lexirri Sofara" said Harry, "allow me to present to you my friend Hermione."
"Hello" said Hermione.
"Greetings Hermione" said Lexirri, "do you have a question for me?" Harry chuckled.
"I think she has many questions for you" said Harry before Hermione could say anything, "perhaps the two of you should sit down so you can talk to each other more comfortably."
"Harry – " Hermione began but before she could say anything a chair appeared right beside her. When she turned to see where it had come from she saw Charlie lowering his wand with a grin. She snorted at him but took the hint and sat down.
"Well" she said after taking a breath, "first – "
Hermione did indeed have questions to ask Lexirri but she wasn't the only one who took this extremely unusual opportunity to speak to a dragon. Other people were coming down to the field and lining up to ask Lexirri questions. Harry noticed that Draco Malfoy was one of them. After Hermione had asked a few questions Lexirri asked her to stop for a while so other people could ask questions too. For the rest of the session Hermione alternated asking her questions with other people asking theirs. Harry simply looked on while all of this was happening.
People were also coming down onto the field to speak to Harry. Madame Pomfrey came out from the tent and insisted on examining him and was surprised that he wasn't hurt at all. Other than that most people congratulated Harry on his performance of the task. His Hogwarts friends were among the first and Ron told him that there would be a party in Gryffindor Tower after dinner and said that all of the Gryffindors really wanted him to come as they still considered Harry to be one of their own even if he went to another school now.
The Ilvermorny students all came by and congratulated Harry. Ororo gave him a quick hug and told him she would see him when he got back to the school as the American students were all leaving right away. For them it was still morning. They had all gotten up very early to come see the task (although not as early as Headmaster Pope) and some of them were thinking of going back to sleep for a while when they got back to school. Harry was sorry to see them go but he understood.
Harry's teammates were among the last to speak to him after the task, They all kept their congratulations at a low key level, as if they were just people who wanted to say "hi" to someone they didn't really know. This was mainly for X-Men safety reasons with Jean promising Harry a better welcome when he got back to the X-Mansion later. Sirius and Remus, however, gave Harry big hugs and whispered "Congratulations pup / cub."
When the question and answer session with Lexirri was over she looked at Harry.
"Thank you for this opportunity" she said to Harry, the translation spell still in effect, "hopefully this will make some sort of difference to the way we dragons are viewed and treated in the world."
"It was my pleasure" said Harry, "and hopefully it will be as you say." Keeper Wong removed the translation spell and the dragon keepers led Lexirri away with one of them carefully transporting her eggs for her.
Harry's performance at the task would have major consequences for dragon kind although it would take time for things to really start changing. The news that dragons were not mindless beasts came as a big surprise to most of the world outside of some parts of Asia and Africa and was dismissed out of hand by many people at first. Madame Umbridge was particularly vocal that the whole thing was a hoax but very few people listened to her as she was known to be anti-anything that wasn't a pureblood. Most people just shrugged their shoulders and said it was "Umbridge being Umbridge."
What really jump started the change was the translation spell that Lexirri had taught Harry. A few people dared to try it at their local dragon reserves and found that it really worked. This led to more people trying it and finding out that not only were dragons not mindless beasts they were really quite intelligent. They had a lot of arcane knowledge to share with anyone who wanted to listen as well as a fascinating history which detailed their original descent from the dinosaurs and the pterosaurs. Things would begin to snowball from there and as the years went by and humans got to know what dragons were really like their whole attitude toward dragons and their treatment of them would drastically change for the better – but that's another story.
(To Be Continued)
(1) This is a shout out to Saphroneth's Harry Is A Dragon, And That's Okay which is one of my favorite stories on this site and one of my favorite fan-fics period. It has a running gag in it that "wizards don't look up" (it makes sense in context). If you've never read it you should. Go read it now. Really. Go!
Dragons in this story are descended from both dinosaurs and pterosaurs. They were very small when they first appeared in the late Cretaceous. They survived the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event when the asteroid hit Earth at the end of the Mesozoic era and evolved alongside mammals to fill the large animal slot left vacant by the extinction of the dinosaurs. Along the way they developed into the magical beings they are today.
That's all until next week. As usual please take a moment to leave me some feedback. Constructive comments are always welcome but no flames or trolls please. As always stay safe and well everyone.