Chapter Twenty Two: The First Task and Announcements
Raiden was in a foul mood. Hogwarts, with the exception of the Slytherins, hated him. Oh not the teachers, they were too professional to let a little thing like his completely unwanted championship competitor status cloud their judgement. No it was the students. Hufflepuff he could understand, they thought he'd stolen the glory from Cedric, which in a way he had. Gryffindor had always despised him so no surprises there. It was the Ravenclaws, with their traditionally neutral history which shocked him, they had taken to being quite nasty to him and Raiden was about ready to use the Chamber of Secrets as a dormitory for the Avengers, as Hermione was the only Ravenclaw that supported him and as such was rapidly being tarred with the same brush as he was.
He had managed to talk to his master and Voldemort had told him that yes this was part of the plan. He had to compete, and win, in order for the operation to go smoothly. Apparently Professor Moody, who was Crouch in disguise, would help him in indirect ways if he needed it. After hearing that though, Raiden vowed to get through with as little help as possible; he wanted to prove that he could handle it on his own.
The Avengers now sat at the Slytherin table at every meal mostly with Hermione joining them for her own protection. This made Flitwick, the Ravenclaw Head of House rather annoyed, not about Hermione's change of seats itself but the underlying reason for it. He felt that the unfortunate accident was just that, and didn't hold Raiden responsible. The rest of the staff generally followed his line of thinking on the matter; excepting Snape who was fully in support of Raiden and was enjoying winding Sprout up about it. She retaliated by asking how he was going to feel if he ended up attending Raiden's funeral.
The champions hadn't been told what the first task was, but Raiden had the odd feeling that the other three knew what it was anyway and no one had told him. He shrugged, if they wanted to be the true cheats then that was their problem. In the meantime, he had homework to attend to before the first task the next day.
The next morning dawned bright and clear and the four champions gathered in the tent set aside for them at the side of the stadium type construction that the first task would be held in. Raiden still didn't know what the task was but the other three were giving him half superior, half pitying looks to which Raiden merely sneered in reply. Cedric looked uncomfortable, as if he'd wanted to tell Raiden but been forbidden to. Even Crouch hadn't told him, although that was because he hadn't had a chance to do it clandestinely, as the teachers weren't supposed to help at all.
Finally the tent flap opened and Crouch senior, followed by Karkaroff, Madame Maxime and Dumbledore came in. Crouch was holding a small purple bag which was making hissing noises and smoking. The four champions gathered round the bag and each drew out a miniature model dragon with a number round its neck. Raiden had a Hungarian Horntail with the number four. Cedric was first with a Swedish Short-Snout, Fleur second with a Welsh Green and Krum third with a Chinese Fireball.
He saw with a sick kind of feeling that the other three had definitely known and now he had little time with which to come up with a plan. He had to grab a golden egg from the dragon, and he didn't know any spells to subdue one.
'Oh you idiot!' he thought as his mind abruptly flashed back to his latest charms class, which had covered the Summoning charm. He was the best Seeker in the school, maybe not as good as Krum but still good enough. He could summon the broom, then draw the dragon up from the egg long enough to dive and get it out safely. With that plan settled he smirked as he imagined the dragon going up against a Firebolt. Sirius had surprised him with the broom as a fourteenth birthday gift during the summer and Draco had also received one for his birthday. The two had had great fun racing each other on them but now Raiden was about to face something a lot more dangerous.
With the other three having faced their dragons and won, Raiden was now the last one left. He walked down the short tunnel and into the stadium. Looking round he saw all the Slytherins gathered in one section and among them was Hermione. The Avengers were all holding a large sign of support for him and he smiled, before scanning the teachers' box. Among the staff he saw Lucius and Sirius, both of whom were furious that he'd been unlawfully entered by someone else but not able to do much except support him and hope he didn't get killed. Neither of them knew of the overall plan.
Raiden took a breath and shook his head, clearing it of extraneous thought and calming himself. He looked round for his opponent, scanning the area carefully, using both sight and sound. He could see the golden egg but doubted that it was unguarded.
Gathering himself he leapt sideways behind a large rock, just as a large spiked tail slammed into the spot where he'd been just seconds before. He heard a frustrated roar and peeked out of his hiding place to see the largest dragon he'd ever seen. He pulled back quickly as the dragon breathed fire at him, and threatened to melt his cover.
Growling inwardly, Raiden leapt upwards and behind another rock, avoiding the large tail by milliseconds this time. He wasn't so lucky the third time as he was caught and sent flying across the arena. He could hear the gasps from the crowd and see the worry on Sirius' face and the concern on Lucius' and Snape's faces as well. Snarling, he pulled himself upright and concentrated. Pouring all his will into the spell he yelled, "ACCIO FIREBOLT!"
He spent another few minutes dodging the dragon before he spotted his broom flying towards him. Smiling, he waited till the last second and then leapt onto it, flying away from the blast of fire his scaly opponent sent at him.
The crowd roared in delight as he took to the sky. The Slytherins were roaring in appreciation as Raiden swerved round the dragon, teasing it, trying to get it to fly upwards. It did, and managed to break the chain holding it down. Raiden's eyes widened, this wasn't supposed to happen. The dragon chased him out of the arena, and Raiden now flew for his life, pulling all the tricks he knew to stay in the air and ahead of the massive beast. He didn't intend to head towards Hogwarts but thought that he might as well take advantage of the many small corridors and other things that he could use to lose his pursuer. Flying round the school, circling the towers, and going round and through walkways and other areas, Raiden tried to shake off the dragon.
It almost worked; he was heading towards the stadium again when he flew through one of the gaps in the bridge. At the last second the dragon chomped on the end of his broom, and Raiden hit his head on the stone before falling down the other side. It was a blessing that the dragon collided with the bridge and fell with him.
Raiden was half stunned but he managed to stay on his broom and control it enough that he made a painful crash landing on a conveniently placed ledge rather than falling on his head. The dragon wasn't so lucky and fell past him, splitting its head open on a sharp piece of the cliff. Groaning, Raiden pulled himself up and assessed the damage. He was bruised and sore, no surprises there but no broken bones, or any injuries that would be detrimental to the flight back to the stadium. His broom on the other hand…
Raiden held his broom and looked at it. 'Sirius is going to kill me' he thought. The Firebolt was still flight-worthy, but it would need a lot of repairs to render it the same super fast broom it had been. Looking at the bristle end Raiden snorted, the name Firebolt now seemed very apt. It was smoking slightly thanks to the dragon's attempt to fry him in mid air. Wincing, he threw one leg over the broom and kicked off from the small ledge he was on, feeling the vibrations in the broom and praying once more that it held together.
Back in the stadium, the students and staff were searching the skies for any hint of Raiden or the dragon. Lucius and Sirius, backed up heatedly by Severus and Minerva, were soundly berating the Ministry for allowing the chain to be breakable. There were charms that would render a chain unbreakable even by a dragon, and these charms had failed to be put on.
"Why the hell not!" Sirius snarled. Fudge leaned backwards, away from the furious wizards and one witch facing him. He twisted his hat in his hands and said nervously, "Well, the expense was too great, I must say this wasn't expected at all, terribly sorry and everything…"
Sirius closed his eyes, attempting to keep from killing the pathetic wizard in front of him. He felt the desire for revenge burn hotly inside and ruthlessly controlled it, opening his eyes to see Lucius lean forward, his soft silky voice sounding extremely menacing. When Snape added his own censure to the mix, Fudge nearly wet himself.
"You mean to tell me Minister, that a fourteen year old boy, my adopted son in fact, is currently fighting for his life somewhere out there, simply because you wanted to save some Galleons instead of making the task as safe as possible?" Lucius hissed. Fudge sort of nodded and whimpered slightly.
Snape leaned forward and drawled, "If he is seriously hurt or, Merlin forbid, killed, you might very well end up in Azkaban Fudge. You do remember that he is Harry Potter don't you?"
Fudge was about to reply when a shriek from the student section of the stands drew their attention. Hermione and Daphne were jumping up and down screaming, "YES, YES, GO HARRY!!" at the top of their lungs. The rest of the students followed their gaze and started screaming as well.
Sirius, Lucius and Severus turned to look, along with the other staff and their hearts settled to more normal rhythms as Raiden flew down towards the egg, his broom smoking badly but carrying him all the way to the flat topped, large rock where the egg was sitting. Landing next to the egg, Raiden quietly toppled off the broom and lay down, his hand resting possessively on his egg and the clue inside.
That night, the Slytherins partied long into the early hours of the morning. It was a good thing the next day was a weekend as they would have been useless in classes. Raiden was sitting with the Avengers, as Hermione had been granted permission by Snape to visit whenever she wanted as long as she didn't give out the password, and just relaxing. Lucius and Sirius had both praised him for his flying skills and had told him that it wasn't his fault the broom got fried and it was fixable so not to worry. With that off his mind, Raiden could think about the reward that Daphne had given him after he'd been patched up by Madam Pomfrey, a long kiss that didn't end until Severus gently but firmly pinched their nostrils shut with a bit of magic. This seemed to cement Daphne's claim on him until he said otherwise so all the other girls were making sure that if they talked to him, it was innocent talk and any flirting behaviors were firmly curbed.
A notice had appeared on the common room notice board when the exhausted Slytherins woke up later on the day following the first task. Raiden read it over top of the younger students and groaned.
YULE BALL WILL BE HELD ON CHRISTMAS EVE NIGHT. DRESS ROBES REQUIRED AND ALL PARTNERS WILL BE FOURTH YEARS AND UP. A FEAST WILL BE PROVIDED IN THE HOUSE COMMON ROOMS FOR ALL YOUNGER STUDENTS.
Raiden now needed two things. First was a partner. That was easy; he just needed to ask Daphne. They could use the Ball as a sort of tentative first boyfriend/girlfriend outing type thing. Second was more pressing and needed Narcissa's help. His reading on the Tournaments of past years told him that the Champions were expected to open the dancing and he refused to embarrass either Daphne or himself. Or Hogwarts he added grudgingly.
Raiden immediately went to his room and grabbed a bit of parchment, his ink pot and a quill. Hastily sharpening the quill he dipped it in the ink and wrote,
Dear Narcissa
The Yule Ball is being held on Christmas Eve. I have my dress robes and hopefully Daphne will say yes when I ask her. I need your help with something very important though. I need to learn how to dance properly as I've never been taught and I refuse to make a fool of either Daphne or myself. The Champions have to open the dancing and I'd like to at least look like I know what I'm doing.
Love
Harry
Raiden looked at the note and sighed. He'd got comfortable with signing his letters to Lucius and Narcissa, and Sirius that way but it was still a bit strange. Shaking his head he headed off to the Owlery, where Salazar nipped his ear affectionately and took the note, flying off into the sky. He hoped that Narcissa could arrange something or else he was going to look a right idiot come the night of the Ball. Walking back to the Slytherin common room he started planning how to ask Daphne to the ball.