A/N: To Slytherclaw, your request for that scene to be included in the first task has been granted. To how Eva knew about the dragons will be explained soon. As to how Eva keeps getting her money, well…Fred and George now know how because they're now helping her get her money. I'm not sure when, but that will soon be explained in Year 5.


On Sunday morning, Hailey got dressed so sloppily that it took a few minutes before she realized that she was trying to wear a skirt as a shirt. After finally pulling herself together and putting the clothes on the right parts of her body, she and Mandy went down to breakfast.

Hermione was at the Gryffindor table eating with Ginny, while Michael was sitting with Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein. Mandy waited for Hermione to finish eating while Hailey waited for Michael to finish. After he grabbed the last bit of his toast, Hailey dragged Michael away from the table and to the doors of the Great Hall. When she passed by the Slytherins' table, they made obnoxious kissing sounds at them.

It reminded her of the summer during her third year, when Dudley and his gang did the same thing, because Dudley thought Michael was her boyfriend after Michael hugged her goodbye at King's Cross. Even though she told Dudley repeatedly that Michael was just a friend and nothing more, Dudley didn't care because he had something new to use to pick on her.

Hailey and Michael meet Hermione and Mandy outside the Great Hall. They went outside and took a walk around the Great Lake, while the two Ravenclaw girls explained to Michael and Hermione about the dragons and Sirius's warning about Karkaroff.

"Let's try and keep you alive until Tuesday, and then we can worry about Karkaroff," Hermione said, sounding desperate.

"How am I supposed to get past a dragon?" Hailey asked. "Sirius said that there was a spell to use on a dragon, but I don't know what it is."

"Maybe the library has a book on it," Mandy said.

With that, they went to the library and they pulled out every book that they can find on dragons. After that, they went to work looking through the large pile of books for help.

Hailey read from a book, "'Talon-clipping by charms…treating scale-rot…'"

"That's not very helpful," Mandy pointed out.

"It's helpful for people like Hagrid who wants to keep dragons healthy," Michael stated, flipping the pages from a book.

"Listen to this," Hermione said. She read a passage out loud, "'Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, owing to the ancient magic that imbues their thick hides, which none but the most powerful spells can penetrate…'" She frowned, "But Sirius said a simple one would do it…"

Hailey set Men Who Love Dragons Too Much aside and said, "Let's try some simple spellbooks, then." She got up and went to the shelves, pulling down spellbooks before returning with them. She set the books down and started flipping through them.

Hermione whispered, "Well, there are Switching Spells…but what's the point of Switching it? Unless you swapped its fangs for wine-gums or something that would make it less dangerous…The trouble is, like that book said, not much is going to get through a dragon's hide…I'd say Transfigure it, but something that big, you really haven't got a hope, I doubt even Professor McGonagall…unless you're supposed to put the spell on yourself? Maybe to give yourself extra powers? But they're not simple spells, I mean, we haven't done any of those in class, I only know about them because I've doing O.W.L. practice papers…"

"Hermione, can you please stop?" Mandy whispered, holding up a book. "We're trying to concentrate."

Hailey felt like her mind was blank, even as she stared down at the index of Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed. Instant scalping…dragons don't even have hair…pepper breath…that could increase the dragon's firepower…horn tongue…give it another weapon…

"Oh, no, he's back again, why can't he read on his stupid ship?" Hermione complained as Viktor Krum slouched his way into the library. Krum gave them a surly look and then got comfortable in a distant corner with a pile of books.

"Why are you so irritated with him?" Michael asked.

"Come on, we should leave…his fan club'll be here in a moment, twittering away…" Hermione said.

As soon as they left the library, a gang of girls tiptoed past them. One of the girls was wearing a Bulgaria scarf tied around her waist.


On Monday morning, Hailey seriously considered running away from Hogwarts. When she, Mandy, and Michael went into the Great Hall, Hailey looked around. She thought about leaving the castle would mean, and she knew that she couldn't do it. It was the only place she had ever been happy…well, she figured that she must have been happy with her parents, but she couldn't remember that.

The thought of staying at Hogwarts and facing a dragon that being back on Privet Drive with Dudley was somehow calming.

After finishing the bacon with some difficulty because it seemed like her throat was working properly, she saw Cedric Diggory leave the Hufflepuff table.

She was positive that he didn't know about the dragons. He was the only champion who didn't…she was sure that Karkaroff and Madame Maxime told Krum and Fleur.

"I'll see you in the greenhouses," Hailey replied, watching Cedric leave the Great Hall.

Mandy was confused, "What—?"

"Go on, I'll catch up with you," Hailey said, grabbing her bag.

"You're going to be late," Michael said.

"I'll catch up, okay?" Hailey replied and left the Great Hall. When she reached the marble staircase, Cedric was already at the top. He was with sixth-year friends. Hailey felt nervous at the thought of talking to Cedric in front them because they were among the ones who quoted the Rita Skeeter article at her every time she went near them. She followed Cedric at a distance and saw that he was heading towards the Charms corridor.

She had an idea and took out her wand and aimed it carefully at Cedric's bag. "Diffindo!"

The bag split, causing parchment, quills, and books to spill out, right onto the floor. Several bottles of ink smashed.

Cedric's friends went to help him, but Cedric said, "Don't bother. Tell Flitwick I'm coming, go on…"

Hailey relaxed because that was what she was hoping for and slipped her wand back in her robes. She watched Cedric's friend disappear into their classroom and hurried up to Cedric, glad that the corridor was now empty.

"Hi," said Cedric, picking up a copy of A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration, which was now splattered with ink. "My bag just split…brand-new and all…"

"Cedric, the first task is dragons," Hailey told him, crouching down to gather some parchment.

"What?" Cedric asked, looking at her.

"Dragons." repeated Hailey, trying to speak quickly before Flitwick came out of his classroom to see where Cedric was. "They've got four, one for each of us, and we've got to get past them."

Cedric stared at her, and Hailey saw panic in his eyes. Cedric replied, in a hushed tone, "Are you sure?"

"Dead sure because I've seen them," Hailey replied.

"But how did you out? We're not supposed to know…" Cedric asked.

"Never mind," Hailey replied. She was sure that Hagrid would get in trouble for telling her. "But I'm not the only who knows. Fleur and Krum will know by now—Madame Maxime and Karkaroff both saw the dragons too."

Cedric grabbed the parchment from Hailey as he straightened up. His arms were full of inky quills, parchment, and books. His ripped bag was dangling off of one shoulder. He stared at Hailey, looking almost puzzled and suspicious. "Why are you telling me?"

Hailey was incredulous and she was sure that Cedric wouldn't ask if he had seen the dragons too. She wouldn't let her worst enemy face the dragons unprepared—well, except for Malfoy, Snape, and Voldemort… Hailey said, "It's just…fair, isn't it? We all know now…we're on an even footing, aren't we?"

Cedric, however, was looking at Hailey in a slightly suspicious way, when there was a familiar clunking sound from behind Hailey. Hailey turned around to see Mad-Eye Moody emerging from a nearby classroom and she was briefly worried that he heard them.

"Come with me, Potter," Moody growled, "Diggory, off you go."

Hailey was feeling apprehensive, "Er—Professor, I'm supposed to be in Herbology—"

"Never mind that, Potter," Moody replied. "In my office, please…"

Hailey followed after Moody, thinking up as sorts of scenarios of what Moody would do to her. Does Moody want to know how I found out about the dragons? Would Moody go tell Dumbledore and tell on Hagrid? Would he turn me into a ferret? Although, if I was a ferret, it would be easier to get past a dragon, because I would be hard to see from fifty feet up, Hailey could help think. She followed him into Moody's office.

Moody closed the door behind them and turned to look at Hailey, his magical eye fixed up Hailey along with his normal eye.

"That was a very decent thing you just did, Potter," Moody stated quietly. Hailey wasn't sure what to say to that because she wasn't expecting that reaction. "Sit down…"

Hailey looked around for a chair. She had seen the office before with two of its previous occupants. When Professor Lockhart worked there, the walls had been plastered with beaming, winking pictures of Lockhart himself. When Lupin worked there, one was more likely to come across a specimen of some fascinating new Dark Creature that he had procured for them to study in class.

Now the office was full of a number of strange objects that Hailey figured Moody used back when he had been an Auror.

On Moody's desk was a large Sneakoscope, which looked like a cracked, glass spinning top. She owned a Sneakoscope as well, but hers was much smaller. In the corner of a small table was an object that looked like an extra-squiggly, golden television aerial, which was humming slightly. She was sure that it could've been a Secrecy Sensor, but she forgot what it does. Opposite of Hailey was a mirror, but instead of reflecting the room, there were shadowy figures moving around inside, but the figures weren't clear.

"Like my Dark Detectors, do you?" Moody asked, watching Hailey closely.

"What does the Secrecy Sensor do?" Hailey asked, pointing at the Secrecy Sensor.

"It vibrates when it detects concealment and lies…no use here, of course, too much interference—students in every direction lying about why they haven't done their homework. Been humming ever since I got here. I had to disable my Sneakoscope because it wouldn't stop whistling. It's extra-sensitive, picks up more than kid stuff," Moody explained.

"What's the mirror for?" Hailey asked, looking at the mirror.

"Oh, that's my Foe-Glass. See them out there, skulking around? I'm not really in trouble until I see the whites of their eyes. That's when I open my trunk," Moody explained and gave a harsh laugh. He pointed to a large trunk under the window. The trunk had seven keyholes that were in a row and Hailey wondered what was in there. Moody said, "So…found out about the dragons, have you?"

Hailey hesitated, because she was afraid of that question. She didn't tell Cedric how she knew and she wasn't going to tell Moody that Hagrid had broken the rules…again.

"It's all right," Moody stated, sitting down and groaned as he stretched out his wooden leg. "Cheating's a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and always has been."

"I didn't cheat," Hailey lied. "It was—a sort of accident that I found out."

Moody smiled, "I wasn't accusing you, lassie. I've been telling Dumbledore from the start, he can be as high-minded as he likes, but you can bet old Karkaroff and Maxime won't be. They'll have told their champions everything they can. They want to win. They want to beat Dumbledore. They'd like to prove he's only human." He gave another harsh laugh and his magical eye swiveled around so fast, it made Hailey ill just watching it. "So…got any ideas how you're going to get past your dragon, yet?"

"No," replied Hailey, feeling dumb. Well, trying to use a spell on a dragon, counted right?

"Well, I'm not going to tell you," replied Moody in a gruff manner.

Gee, thanks, Hailey thought.

Moody continued, "I don't show favouritism, me. I'm just going to give you some good, general advice. And the first bit is—play to your strengths."

"I haven't got any," Hailey stated, before she could stop herself.

"Excuse me," growled Moody, "you've got strengths if I say you've got them. Think now. What are you best at?"

Hailey tried to concentrate. She supposed that she was good at Defense Against the Dark Arts and—

"Quidditch," she said, "and fat lot of help—"

"That's right," interrupted Moody, staring at her very hard. His magical eye was barely moving. "You're a damn good flier from what I've heard."

"Yeah, but…" Hailey started. "I'm not allowed a broom, I've only got my wand—"

"My second piece of general advice," Moody interrupted again, "is to use a nice, simple spell that will enable you to get what you need."

Hailey looked at him, confused, and then it dawned on her. She needed to get past the dragon on a broomstick…and how to get her broomstick…


"I need your help," Hailey whispered to Michael, Mandy, and Hermione. She had arrived in the greenhouse three minutes late, and apologized to Professor Sprout. They were pruning Flutterby Bushes.

"What do you think we're trying to do?" Mandy asked, almost snipping off a stick off her quivering Flutterby Bush.

"Careful, Brocklehurst!" Professor Sprout shrieked.

"Sorry," Mandy said.

"What do you need help with?" Michael asked.

"I need to learn how to properly do a Summoning Charm by tomorrow afternoon," Hailey said.

Michael just stared at her.


They didn't have lunch, because they headed to an empty classroom. Hailey tried with all her might to make various objects fly across the room toward her, but she was still having troubles. The books and quills kept falling halfway through the room.

Mandy summoned a chair while Michael summoned some chalk. Hailey couldn't help but admire the way Michael summoned objects with ease.

"Concentrate, Hailey, concentrate…" Hermione instructed.

It made Hailey look away and tried to summon a quill, which ended up losing steam halfway through the room. She groaned, "What d'you think I'm trying to do? A great big dragon keeps popping up in my head for some reason…"

"Just try again," Michael said and Mandy looked at her watch.

"We have Divination next," Mandy told Hailey.

"Can we just skip it?" Hailey responded. "I don't want to hear Trelawney predict my death, again."

"I can't skive off Arithmancy," Hermione replied. "And I'm sure Michael can't, if he wants to become a Curse Breaker."

"I can," Michael said and Hermione gave him a sharp look. "On second thought…" he added quickly.

So, Mandy and Hailey ended up going to Divination. Hailey didn't see the point of trying to learn when Michael wasn't there encouraging her. For half of the lesson, Hailey had to endure Professor Trewlawney telling everyone that the position of Mars with relation to Saturn at that moment meant that people born in July were in great danger of sudden, violent deaths.

Hailey was growing frustrated and said loudly, "Well, that's good. Just as long as it's not drawn-out. I don't want to suffer."

For a moment, it looked as though Ron was going to laugh, and he seemed to have caught Hailey's eye for the first time in days. It made Hailey a little happy at that.

Hailey spent the rest of the lesson trying to make small objects fly towards her under the table with her wands. She managed to make a fly zoom straight into her hand, though she wasn't entirely sure if it was her who did it or if the fly was just stupid.

She forced down some dinner after Divination, and then returned to the empty classroom with Hermione, Mandy, and Hailey, using the Invisibility Cloak to avoid teachers.

They kept practicing until midnight and Hailey was sure that they would've continued past midnight, but Peeves appeared and decided that Hailey wanted things to be thrown at her, so he threw chairs at them. They left before the noise attracted Filch and took Hermione to the Gryffindor common room, before going to Ravenclaw Tower, which was empty.

Mandy decided that she was going to bed, but Michael stayed back to help.

At two in the morning, Hailey stood by a table, surrounded by books, quills, several upturned chairs, an old set of Gobstones, and a chessboard. By the last hour that was when she started to get the hang of the Summoning Charm.

"You're doing better," Michael said. He looked exhausted but he seemed happy that Hailey was getting better.

"At least we know what to do when I do poorly at a spell," Hailey said, handing Michael his rune dictionary. "Just threaten me with a dragon."

"Right…" Michael said.

Hailey smiled, "Right." She held up her wand and said, "Accio dictionary."

The book flew out of Michael's hands, flew across the room, and Hailey caught it.

"You got it," Michael said, sounding glad.

"Just as long as it works tomorrow, because the Firebolt's going to be much farther away than the stuff in here. It's going to be in the castle and I'm going to be out there on the grounds…"

"It won't matter. Just as long as you're concentrating hard on it and it'll come." Michael said, "You should get some sleep, because you're going to need it."


After doing the Summoning Charms, some of the panic left Hailey, but it returned in full measure, the following morning. The atmosphere in the school seemed filled with tension and excitement.

When the students saw the champions' uniforms, the tension and excitement seemed to inflate.

Hailey wore a blue and black jacket. The sleeves were dark blue with a black front and back. On the sleeves were two bronze lines and had the Hogwarts crest on it. She wore black baggy trouser with gold stripes on the sides and she had black fingerless gloves. She wore a rain coat with dark grey with gold stripes, a gold star on the right sleeves, and there was the Hogwarts crest. On the back had a red star with POTTER above it

At midday, the lessons stopped, giving all the students time to get down to the dragon's enclosure—though of course, they didn't know what they would find there.

Hailey felt strangely separate from everyone around him, whether they were wishing her good luck or hissing, "We'll have a box of tissues ready, Potter," as she passed.

She was so nervous she wondered if she would just curse everyone in sight once they led her to her dragon instead of losing her head.

Time seemed to be rushing by, so it seemed like she sat down for her first lesson which was History of Magic, then walking to lunch…and then Professor Flitwick was rushing down to her, causing people to stop and stare.

Flitwick said to her in a squeaky voice, "Potter, the champions have to meet on the grounds, now…You need to get ready for your first task."

Hailey dropped her fork and followed Flitwick outside to the grounds, into the cold November afternoon. Flitwick patted Hailey's arm, "Now, I don't want you to panic. Just keep a level head…There's wizards on stand-by to control the situation if it gets out of hand. The main thing is, just do you best. Nobody will think any the worse of you…" He looked up at Hailey, "Are you all right?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Hailey replied.

Flitwick led Hailey towards the enclosure where the dragons were, right around the edge of the forest, but when they approached the clump of trees, which were actually behind a tent where the enclosure should've been. The tent's entrance was facing them, hiding the dragons from view.

"You're going to go in here with the other champions," Professor Flitwick stated, with a shaky voice, "Wait for your turn, Potter. Mr Bagman's in there…he'll be telling you the—the procedure…Good luck."

"Thanks," Hailey said, not meaning to say it in a flat, distant tone. Flitwick left her at the entrance of the tent and Hailey walked inside.

Fleur Delacour was sitting in a corner on a low wooden stool. She didn't look nearly as composed as usual, but pale and clammy. She wore a white and blue jacket, silver scaly looking shirt with blue trim, and purplish-blue looking baggy trousers, and black fingerless gloves.

Viktor Krum looked even surlier than usual, which Hailey figured was his way of showing nerves. He wore a brown shirt with a red Durmstrang crest on it. He wore red and black robes and black trousers.

Cedric wore the same thing as Hailey, but yellow was in place of the blue and dark blue and in place of POTTER was DIGGORY. When Hailey entered, Cedric gave her a small smile, which Hailey returned. It felt a little odd smiling at him.

She walked around the tent, watching as Fleur, Krum, and Cedric walked around almost nervously. She saw the doorway to then tent moving and walked back to it. She pulled part of the flap to the side to look out to see Michael, who was looking a little anxious.

"Michael?" Hailey asked.

"Yeah," Michael said, sounding anxious. He walked over to the side of the flap so they can see each other more clearly.

"What are you doing here?" Hailey asked. "Why aren't with Hermione, Mandy, and…" She trailed off, momentarily forgetting that she and Ron weren't on speaking terms.

"I just wanted to see how you were feeling," Michael said. "How are you feeling?"

Hailey couldn't even answer that question. She couldn't seem to put how she was feeling into words. She looked to see if Cedric, Fleur, or Krum were looking at her. It looked like they didn't care that she was talking to someone through the tent doorway. She looked back at Michael.

Michael seemed to understand, "Okay, remember to concentrate and then—"

"Battle a dragon," Hailey finished.

"Yeah," Michael said.

Hailey nodded and then she was suddenly hugging him. Before she fully enjoy the hug, she heard the sound of a camera going off. She turned to see that Rita Skeeter was standing there with her quill, her pad of parchment, and a photographer who looked bored.

"Young…love…" Skeeter said as Hailey and Michael broke the hug. Skeeter walked in and started heading toward the fourth years, "…stirring…" she added.

Hailey wasn't sure how to tell the woman to leave. Fleur and Cedric were gathering around.

"If anything goes…" Skeeter paused, "…unfortunate today, you two may even make the front page."

"You have no business here," a voice said. It was Krum and it startled Hailey to hear him speak. She never heard him talk before. Skeeter turned to look at Krum, "This tent is for champions…and friends."

Skeeter seemed intimidated by Krum, "No matter." She said something that Hailey couldn't quite catch as the acid green quill touched Krum's face. Skeeter and the photographer stepped to the side with the photographer took one more picture.

Dumbledore entered the tent, "Good day, champions, gather around, please." He followed by Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, and Crouch.

Everyone gathered around, Hailey grabbed onto Michael's arm as Dumbledore kept speaking, "The moment has arrived. Now you've waited, you've wondered and at last the moment has arrived. The moment only four of you can fully appreciate." He looked around and noticed Michael, which made him do a double-take, "What are you doing here, Mr Corner?"

"Oh, right," Michael said, blinking. "I'll just go…" He left the tent.

"Barty the bag," Dumbledore said.

"Champions in a circle around me," Crouch said, pointing. He was holding a purple silk bag. "Miss Delacour over here," He moved Fleur next to Hailey, "Mr Krum…" He said, "Miss Potter…" He turned to look for Hailey, "Potter," he turned around and ushered Hailey to stand next to Cedric. "Over here, that's right." He held up the bag to Fleur, "Miss Delacour, if you will."

Fleur reached in and took out a green dragon which was the Welsh Green. It had the number two around its neck.

"The Welsh Green," Crouch said. He held the bag to Krum, "Mr Krum." Krum reached in and pulled out the scarlet Chinese Fireball, which had the number three around its neck. Crouch said, "The Chinese Fireball, oooh." He turned to Cedric, who grabbed a dragon, which had the number one tied around its neck. "The Swedish Short-Snout," Crouch turned to Hailey, "which leaves…"

Hailey reached in and took out the Hungarian Horntail, which had the number four around its neck. It stretched its wings as she looked down at it. The miniature dragon bared its minuscule fangs.

"The Hungarian Horntail," Crouch said. "These represent very real well dragons, each of which has been given a golden egg to protect. Your objective is simple, collect the egg. This you must do, for each egg contains a clue without which you cannot hope to proceed to the next task. Any questions?"

Hailey looked around at the other champions in disbelief and feeling nauseated. Eva was right all along…but how did she find out what the task is? Cedric nodded once, to show that he understood and started pacing around the tent again. He looked a little green. Fleur and Krum didn't react at all, probably because they might be sick if they opened their mouths. Hailey was feeling like that might happen to her. At least the other three champions had the comfort of knowing that they volunteered for it, she was entered to be killed.

"Very well," Dumbledore said, "Good luck champions. Mr Diggory, the sound of the whistle…"

The whistle blew and Cedric headed towards the tent entrance, looking green. Hailey tried to wish him luck but all she can manage was odd gibberish. She looked at Krum and Fleur, when there was a roar coming from the crowd, which meant that Cedric had entered the enclosure and was now face-to-face with the actual dragon itself.

Dumbledore, Karkaroff, Madam Maxime, and Crouch both left the tent. Bagman was out there doing commentary.

The crowd was screaming, yelling, and gasping as if they were a single many-headed entity, as Cedric did whatever he was doing to get past the Swedish Short-Snout.

Hailey noticed Krum was staring at the ground and Fleur started pacing around the tent.

Bagman's commentary wasn't helping make Hailey relax, because he was saying, "Ooh, narrow miss there, very narrow…He's taking risks, this one!...Clever move—pity it didn't work!"

Fifteen minutes later, there was a loud roar, which meant that Cedric got the golden egg.

"Very good indeed! And now the marks from the judges!" Bagman yelled.

He didn't shout out the marks and Hailey figured that the judges showed the marks to the audience instead.

"One down, three to go!" Bagman yelled as the whistle blew again. "Miss Delacour, if you please!"

Fleur was shaking and Hailey felt a bit of sympathy for her than she had ever felt, as Fleur left the tent with her head held high and her hand clutching her wand. Now Krum and Hailey were left alone, standing at opposite sides in the tent She couldn't look at him and she wasn't sure how to start a conversation with him, anyway. She could start by thanking him for making Skeeter leave her and Michael alone, but she couldn't even speak do that because of how nervous she was getting.

Bagman wasn't making it less relaxing as he was saying, "Oh, I'm not sure that was wise! Oh…nearly…Careful now…good lord, I thought she'd had it then!"

It took ten minutes for the crowd to erupt in applause once more…Fleur must've been successful too. There was a pause while Fleur's marks were shown and then more clapping.

The whistle was blown again and Bagman said, "And here comes Mr Krum!" Bagman announced and Krum slouched out the tent, leaving Hailey alone.

Hailey was suddenly aware at how rapidly her heart was pumping and her fingers were tingling with fear.

"Very daring!" Bagman yelled and the Chinese Fireball emitted a horrible, roaring shriek. "That's some nerve he's showing—and—yes, he's got the egg!"

A loud clap of applause pierced the air. Krum had finished and now it would be Hailey's turn any moment.

She stood up and it seemed like her legs were wobbling, as she waited. The whistle blew and she walked out through the entrance of the tent, and Hailey felt her panic rising. For a moment, Hailey could think, I can't do this. I can't do this, even after entering through the gap in the enclosure of the fence.

There were hundreds and hundreds of faces looking down at her from the stands, which had been magicked there since she had last stood on the spot. There was the Horntail at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs. Her wings were half-furled and her evil, yellow eyes upon her. She was a monstrous, scaly, black lizard and she was thrashing her spiked tail, leaving yard-long gouges in the hard ground.

Around Mandy, Michael, Hermione, and Ron the crowd was making a lot of noise as Hailey stood in the enclosure. At least most of the noise was boos and the rest was cheers. It seemed like the Gryffindors and the less-than-half of the Ravenclaws were trying to drown out the booing crowd.

"She has a plan, right?" Ron asked, looking extremely pale.

"Of course she does," Hermione said in a matter-of-fact tone, "We helped her."

It looked like Hailey did the Summoning Charm and nothing happened.

"Maybe it didn't work," Mandy said. "That's…embarrassing."

The Firebolt hurtled towards Hailey and stopped right next to her.

"She's going to fly on a broomstick?" Eva asked, appearing right behind Michael. She was accompanied by her friend Ivy.

Mandy jumped and almost fell into either Fred or George, who were sitting in front of them. Mandy said, "Yes."

"I hope she'll be all right," Ivy said. She was still wearing a Support Cedric Diggory! badge.

Hailey had kicked off from the ground as Bagman said, "She's going to fly! Is she a match for the Hungarian Horntail on a broom?"

An older Ravenclaw appeared and handed Eva some Galleons before leaving.

Michael knew that Bagman was just trying to make the tournament interesting, but it wasn't helping. Hermione was looking like she was going to have an anxiety attack as Hailey dove for the golden egg and then pulled out as the Horntail blew a jet of fire at her, narrowly missing it, making Mandy, Eva, and Ivy gasp.

"Great Scott, she can fly! Are you watching this, Mr Krum!" Bagman announced.

Michael couldn't help but think that Hailey was going to give him anxiety.

Hailey started circling the dragon, flying higher and higher. The Horntail was following Hailey's progress, making its head revolve on its long neck.

"What is she doing?" Eva asked.

"I think she's trying to make it dizzy," Michael said.

The Horntail opened its mouth and breathed fire. She missed the flames but the tail whipped up and grazed her shoulder.

"That was very close!" Bagman yelled. "Very close indeed!"

Ron groaned, Ivy and Eva screamed, Hermione made a strange choking noise as she grabbed at her face. Eva bent her head and started muttering a pray…

Hailey kept flying around the Horntail, who kept furling and unfurling her wings. It kept her eyes on Hailey. Hailey began to fly back and forth, staying at a distance. The Horntail was moving with Hailey, its fangs bared…

Hailey flew higher and the Horntail's head rose with her, her neck stretched out…the Horntail was swaying…

Hailey rose a few more feet and the Horntail roared, her tail trashing. The Horntail shot fire at Hailey, who dodged it…the Horntail kept her jaws open…Hailey kept swerving…

The Horntail reared, spreading her wings wide…and Hailey dove. She sped towards the ground, right towards the eggs; she scooped up the golden egg, to a loud roar of screams and applauds. Michael winced because Eva screamed in his ear. She was off, soaring out over the stands, looking pretty and amazing at the same time.

"Look at that!" Bagman was yelling, "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get her egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Miss Potter!"

Hailey watched as the dragon keepers rushed forward to subdue the Horntail, and, over at the entrance to the enclosure, Professor Flitwick, Professor Moody, and Hagrid, were hurrying to meet her, all of them were waving her to come over and smiling widely.

Hailey landed on the ground, feeling lighter than ever…She had gotten through the first task and survived.

"That was brilliant, Hailey!" Flitwick said and pointed at Hailey's shoulder, "You need to see Madam Pomfrey before that gets infected and before the scores are given. She's over there, tending to Mr Diggory." He pointed where Madam Pomfrey was.

"Yeh did it, Hailey!" Hagrid said in a hoarse voice. "Yeh did it! An' agains' the Horntail an' all, an' yeh know Charlie said that the was the wors'—"

"Thanks, Hagrid," responded Hailey in a loud voice, so Hagrid wouldn't blunder on and reveal that he had shown her the dragons.

Professor Moody was looking extremely pleased because his magical eye was dancing in its socket. He growled, "Nice and easy does the trick, Potter."

"Right, Potter, get yourself to the first aid tent," Flitwick said, looking at the cut on Hailey's shoulder.

Hailey walked out of the enclosure and saw Madam Pomfrey standing at the mouth of a second tent, looking worried.

Madam Pomfrey sounded disgusted, "Dragons!" She pulled Hailey inside.

The tent was divided into cubicles. Hailey saw Cedric's shadow through the canvas, but he didn't look to badly injured, because he was sitting up. Madam Pomfrey examined Hailey's shoulder, talking furiously, "Last year dementors, this year dragons, what are they going to bring into this school next? You're very lucky…this is quite shallow…it'll need cleaning before I heal it up, though…"

Madam Pomfrey cleaned the cut up with some purple liquid which smoked and stung, but then poked Hailey's shoulder with her wand, and she felt it heal instantly. "Now, just sit quietly for a minute," Hailey moved to put her shirt on, but Pomfrey ordered, "Sit! And then you can go and get your score."

She moved out of the tent and after a minute or two, Hailey heard Pomfrey ask, "How does it feel now, Diggory?"

Hailey put her shirt out and didn't want to sit still, because she was still feeling the effects of adrenaline. She got to her feet, wanting to see what was going on outside, but before she reached the mouth of the tent, four people had come darting inside—Hermione, Michael, Mandy…and Ron.

"Hailey, you were brilliant!" Hermione said in a squeaky voice. She had fingernail indents in her face. "You were amazing! You really were!"

Hailey was looking at Ron, who was very white and staring at Hailey as if she was a ghost.

"Hailey," Ron said, sounding very serious, "Whoever put your name in that goblet—I—I reckon they're trying to do you in!"

Hailey, Mandy, and Michael looked at him. To Hailey, it felt like she was meeting Ron for the first time after Hailey had been made champion.

She said coldly, "Caught on, have you?" She added, "Took you long enough."

Hermione, Mandy, and Michael were standing to the side. Hermione was looking extremely nervous as she looked at Hailey and Ron. Mandy and Michael were looking extremely anxious.

It looked like Ron was going to apologize, but Hailey didn't want to hear it. "It's okay. Forget it."

"No," replied Ron, "I shouldn't've—"

"Forget it," Hailey stated.

Ron smiled at Hailey nervously and Hailey smiled back. Hermione suddenly busted into tears and Michael looked like he had no clue what to say to that.

Hailey was bewildered at that, "There's no reason to cry."

"You two are so stupid!" Hermione shouted. She suddenly hugged the both of them.

"Ooh, group hugs," Mandy said, joining in. Hailey looked at Michael, smiled, and held out her arm. Michael smiled and joined in. Hailey couldn't help but think that she always thought that Michael gave the best hugs.

Hermione dashed out of the group, howling now.

"Barking mad," said Ron about Hermione, shaking his head. "C'mon, they'll be putting up your scores…"

Hailey picked up the golden egg and the Firebolt, she felt more elated than she would think. They ducked out of the tent, with Ron talking fast. He told her the Cedric Transfigured a rock that was on the ground into a dog. Cedric tried making the dragon go after the dog, instead. Ron admitted that it was pretty cool and it sort of worked. Cedric did get the egg, but got burned as well, because the dragon decided to go after Cedric instead.

Fleur tried a charm to put the dragon into a trance. It kind of worked, because the dragon got sleepy. The dragon snored and it breathed fire, catching Fleur's jacket on fire. She put the fire out by pouring out water with her wand. Hailey was sure that it was the Agumenti Spell that Fleur used.

Krum didn't think of flying, but he was apparently the best after Hailey. Krum hit the dragon in the eye with some spell, but he caused the dragon to trample around in pain and squashed half of the real eggs. The judges removed marks because he wasn't supposed to damage them.

They reached the edge of the enclosure. After the Horntail was taken away, Hailey could see where the five judges were sitting, at the end, in raised seats that were draped with gold.

"It's marks out of ten from each one," Ron explained to Hailey.

Hailey squinted up the field to see the first judge—Madame Maxime. She raised her wand in the air and a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted into a number eight.

"That's not so bad," Michael said.

"I suppose she took marks off for your shoulder," Ron added.

Mr Crouch was next and he shot a number nine in the air.

"Looking good!" Ron yelled, thumping Hailey on the back.

Dumbledore went next and shot up a nine and the crowd was cheering harder than ever.

Ludo Bagman gave Hailey a ten.

"Ten?" asked Hailey in disbelief.

"You got hurt," Mandy said.

"What's he playing at?" Hailey asked, confused.

Karkaroff raised his wand and he paused for a moment. He gave Hailey a four.

"What?" Ron and Michael yelled.

"Four?" Ron yelled. "You lousy, biased scumbag, you gave Krum ten!"

Hailey didn't care though. She wouldn't have cared if Karkaroff gave her zero points. Ron being angry on her behalf was worth a hundred points to her. She didn't tell Ron that, but she did feel better as they left the enclosure together.

It seemed like most of the school, minus the Slytherins, had seen the dragons, they decided to stand by her.

Charlie Weasley came running up to meet them as they started heading back to the castle. "You're tied in first place, Hailey! You and Krum! Listen, I've got to run, I've got to go and send Mum an owl, I swore I'd tell her what happened—but that was unbelievable! Oh, yeah—and they told me to tell you you've got to hang around for a few more minutes…Bagman wants a word, back in the champions' tent."

Mandy, Michael, and Ron told Hailey that they would wait for her, so Hailey reentered the tent, which looked different now. It seemed more friendly and welcoming.

Fleur, Cedric, and Krum came in together. One side of Cedric's face was covered in a thick orange paste, which presumably was mending his burn. Cedric smiled at Hailey when he saw her. "Good one, Hailey."

"And you," replied Hailey, smiling back at him.

"Well down, all of you!" exclaimed Bagman as he entered the tent. He was looking extremely pleased as if he was the one who had gotten past a dragon. "Now, just a quick few words. You've got a nice long break before the second task, which will take place at half past nine on the morning of February the twenty-fourth—but we're giving you something to think about in the meantime! If you look at those golden eggs you're all holding, you will see that they open…see the hinges there? You need to solve the clue inside the egg—because it will tell you what the second task is, and enable you to prepare for it! All clear? Sure? Well, off you go, then!"

Hailey left the tent, rejoining Ron, Mandy, and Michael. They walked around the edge of the forest, talking. Hailey wanted to hear what the other champions had done in more detail. They rounded the clump of trees where she and Mandy had first heard the dragons roaring, and a witch leapt out from behind the trees.

It was Rita Skeeter, wearing acid-green robes. She was holding the Quick-Quotes Quill.

"Congratulations, Hailey!" Skeeter beamed at Hailey. "I wonder if you could give me a quick word? How you felt facing the dragon? How you feel now, about the fairness of the scoring?"

"Yeah, you can have a word," Hailey said scathingly, "Good-bye." With that, she set off back to the castle with Ron, Mandy, and Michael.