DISCLAIMER: THE BOOK BELONGS TO J. I HAVE ONLY BORROWED BOTH CHARACTERS AND PLOTLINE.

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Thank-you for following the story up to this point, and now I'm going to stop writing!…Just kidding :) From here on out though the story will get a bit angsty I suppose, but only after this chapter, which I hope you like! (Oh! Never stop reviewing,. The good, the bad and the ugly, bring it on!)

CHAPTER 60

They were standing outside early in the morning even before the sun had risen, braving the freezing cold on the day of the first task. In front of them a huge makeshift dome had been built where the dragons and whatever it was Harry was facing were housed.

Luckily no audiences was allowed in due to the high security and to prevent accidents in case the wards were not enough to protect them against a surprise attack. The students were allowed to wait outside the dome if they wanted to, but so far there were only a few stragglers and early risers loitering about looking curiously at them.

Ron and Draco had been to the kitchens already to get the champions coffee and something to eat, they had to literally force it down their throats as they were too nervous to eat and were then made to leave by Harry, Darren and Hermione who promised them that they would give them a detailed description of what happened inside.

only a couple of ordinary dragon tamers were now present along with them on the field, ready to take control in case things got out of hand and of course the judges themselves. Reporters and students being strictly forbidden to attend reduced the added stress of having to perform in front of an audience.

Darren, Hermione and Cedric had discussed the first task together initially and we're about to come up with strategies to take on the monsters together, when Hermione the law abiding witch, cunningly extracted an oath from each of them so that none of them could help the other, that they would go against the beast using their own talents and their own plans individually.

Harry was of course under no such compulsion, but when he'd offered to help Darren come up with a plan he was immediately swatted away with the words "I don't have time to waste Harry, I can't play around with you right now, and I've already decided to go with Ron's plan which is to use my biggest asset, flying the hell away from the beast by using my broom!"

Harry was a bit hurt, but also felt surprised that Ron had come up with such an effective plan, he just hoped that Darren knew that dragons in flight were impossible to catch up to with its great speed, and that the heat of their flames could melt his bones in an instant.

Now standing a few feet away from the dragons themselves, Harry wondered if his tiny broom would survive the wrath of the beast and was starting to get nervous for him when he saw Charlie Weasley step out from the group of tamers and come to wish them luck.

Darren just nodded tersely at him, unable to say anything due to his anxiety, which Charlie understood and let go, instead choosing to walk over to Harry. After grabbing him in a bear hug he asked him "So, you prepared to face whatever it is you're going up against then?"

"How can I be prepared Charlie, when I have no clue what it is?"

"The other's already know what it is their up against?" Charlie said looking shocked by that statement "In fact Hermione wrote me a letter asking me for advice on how to complete the task!"

Harry smiled to himself and thought 'Wow, sneaky little Gryffindor! She was not called smart for nothing after all', "Look, I know the others are up against Dragons Charlie, but I still don't know what it is I have to do thanks to three very unrelenting judges, so I'm just doing this blindly."

Charlie visibly paled and came forward to stand closer to him, "I'm under oath not to reveal the task to anyone but god! Harry, just back out of it now, especially since you're going unprepared. You won't survive this, mark my words. I thought that Crouch was barking mad when he told me what it was you were facing, but then I thought you might have a plan of some kind, kid the money is not worth this trust me and get out while you can!"

Harry didn't know what to say to that so he looked away, and heard the roar of the dragons from within the shelter. He felt an odd shiver pass down his back and turning to face Charlie he asked him if they had been properly trained because what he'd heard from that roar, accompanied by the jumbled images, gave him the idea that those creatures were something wild and untamed, like they were shrieks from beasts that were aiming only for the kill.

"Actually these are not from our hold," Charlie said frowning, wondering how Harry could decipher that the dragons were wild "These were the ones provided by the Ministry themselves, so we have no idea how long they've been trained, but don't worry it's probably safe since they wouldn't try to kill you kids right? Anyway, Harry, I've got to go so listen up kid, you still have time to walk away from this, be smart about it please, yeah?"

"Thanks man" Harry said, but remained standing where he was, he would face his task head-on and hope that somehow he managed to complete it.

About to rejoin the others he saw Mr Bartemius Crouch standing a little ways from all of them and Harry was pretty sure that he saw him talking to something invisible in front of him, his eyes having this weird glazed appearance, but when Harry approached him he looked perfectly normal and was silent.

When he turned to face the boy he had on this haughty look and said "You don't like following the rules do you Mister Potter?" Harry could easily make out his poor attempt at a cover up that made him wonder again if what he'd seen was actually real, "Please do not wander around aimlessly and kindly join the others as it is time for the tournament to commence."

Walking back to the group, they arranged themselves so that they were standing nervously in a small circle and wishing each other best of luck, Hermione was up first so she walked up to the dome and waited at the entrance, when Madame Maxime stood next to her and whispered a few calming words in her ear and handed her a bag, putting her hand inside it she pulled out something and gasped.

With one final look at the remaining champions, she blew a kiss in Darren's direction and disappeared into the holding where the judges, the tamers and the dragons were all waiting for her.

Harry closed his eyes and felt the strong presence of the dragon, it felt like a Chinese Fireball, but it was a very strange feeling trying to read it's mind, Harry had never before entered the mind of such a beast. It was chaotic, filled with pain, anger and injury; the creature had been brutalized to point of having become murderous!

Doing his best to keep up with the images, he focused on the fight between the dragon and Hermione at the same time, and for her part, she stood unflinchingly in front of it and raised her wand calmly shouting out a spell, the dragon moved faster than anyone expected and fended off the attack with its thick hide and slowly started to advance towards her.

Harry saw ugly images come into its mind, Hermione's body ripped to shreds and her flesh becoming its food, shuddering, he realized that there was no way that she could take it on all by herself, this dragon was trained with one purpose only and that was to kill!

He held out his palm surreptitiously and said 'Custodis Extraho' knowing that within the dome the creature would now be en-caged inside a golden cage with silver creepers weaving through the bars forcing it to calm down. The cage would remain invisible to the others but him, giving him the chance to do this unhindered by anything or anyone and waited until part of the dragon's pain had lessened and then he let go.

'Conjuntiva' Hermione called out and this time it hit the beast square in its eye! Roaring with pain, it suddenly blocked Harry out from its head so all he could do then was hope that she had escaped.

Few minutes later they brought her out on a levitated stretcher, with her grinning triumphantly and waving at them, sporting only a couple of burns and scrapes but nothing major. Darren ran over to her to hug her and helped them take her to the first aid tent.

Next was Cedric's turn and with a nervous smile at Harry he went to compete in the first task. Again Harry saw it all through the dragon's mind, this time a Heridian Black. He felt the same darkness in the beast as the first one, so he put up the cage and calmed the beast enough so that Cedric could transfigure a rock into a dog and escape with what looked like an egg, making Harry feel that either the boy had a death wish or was plain idiotic to face the creature with nothing but a dog!

It seemed he had come out unscathed and Harry went to thump him on his shoulders in congratulations for such an easy defeat, struggling not to mention the idiot part of it.

Darren was up next and he'd gone inside shelter looking pretty confident with him-self. Harry saw that he was facing the Hungarian Horntail, the meanest bastard amongst the dragon's and felt worried, problem was the creature was also a superb flier and he knew that if Darren wanted to survive this round, he was going to have to fly like a crazy person today!

Calming the dragon within the cage which strangely seemed almost unnecessary, because his dragon felt normal, Harry watched as Darren mounted the broom and took off flying speedily, directly towards the eggs. Harry saw the dragon fly towards him, its tail whipping out and creating a deep gash on Darren's shoulder, the boy avoided the next attack very neatly by swerving away and soon a fast-paced cat and mouse game was being played until Darren tricked the beast by feinting and caught the golden colored egg.

Harry wanted to wait for Darren to come out to congratulate him, when Crouch dragged him off to the entrance saying "You do not get to choose your fight Mr. Potter as per the condition" and handed him a small figurine of a creature that was bellowing fire from its mouth, thinking it was a dragon, Harry felt pleased and was about to go in when the Judge stopped him and said "The goal is to get the golden egg that is placed amongst the regular eggs of the Chimaera, and for you to try to fend off its attacks until you do so, so be extra careful."

Harry had stopped walking and was now staring at the miniature creature in his hand; it was no dragon, it was the deadly Chimaera! The beast had a lion's head and body, a tail from a dragon and a goat's head from its middle. It was a vicious creature, faster than a dragon; it was so deadly that there had been only one reported case in the entire history of its having being killed, that too accidently and by a man who later also died in during the last blow.

Gulping, Harry entered the dome and prayed to the gods that he survived this with all his limbs attached.

Standing in the middle of the grounds, Harry saw that he was completely surrounded by a ring of Tamers who were standing at the very edge of the dome and he sincerely hoped that they were actually of some use to him. Charlie's horrified expression had given him the idea that they were not equipped for handling Chimaeras and just this once he hoped he was wrong.

A door on the far end of the dome opened and a huge cat-like creature was brought in growling in a low subdued voice, it was secured firmly by thick iron chains, with its mouth covered by a leather muzzle, and beside it were a couple of eggs that were placed on the ground, arranged around a huge golden one right in the center.

The handlers were having a difficult time containing the magnificent beast as each swipe of its powerful limbs nearly dragged them to the ground. Harry could clearly make out its golden mane gleaming in torchlight, the black head of the goat jutting out from its middle bearing deadly horns and its poisonous, green dragon's tail bearing sharp spikes, it truly was an awe inspiring creature and Harry died a little inside knowing that he stood no chance against the monster.

He knew that he would have to take the beast down quickly and not give it a chance to gain momentum and get a measure of his power, so fixing that goal in his mind; he tightened his grip over his wand and took a fighting stance.

"Release it!" Came the stentorian voice of Bartemius Crouch and in an instant the chains snapped off and the muzzle disappeared before Harry could blink. He saw the golden mass come hurtling towards him with its mouth drawn into an angry snarl.

It was so fast, he could barely register its movements at all, suddenly with no warning he saw a ball of flames coming directly at him, and purely out of reflex, he threw up a shield which held back most of the heat but started to crack like glass and break away, Harry rolled away just in time to get away from the beast which was about to leap at him and got scraped by just the dragon's tail instead.

Suddenly he felt a connection forge between him and the rampaging beast, not a strong one but enough so that he could tell what the Chimaera was about to do next. 'It must have been the dragon's tail, I'd come in contact with' he thought and ran using superior speed to get away from it, feeling the magic pulsing at his feet .

He ran towards the eggs, but felt the gigantic beast follow him closely with matching speed, getting desperate he cried out 'Falatheil,' a golden bow appeared in his hands and before anyone could fully register what he'd done, he shot an arrow at the beast and watched as it dodged it with expert ease, frustrated he knocked another arrow immediately, and let it out, this time analyzing the beasts movements, the arrow struck true but bounced of the its thick unyielding coat.

Harry had almost made it to the eggs by this point and was about to cross the line to get to it, when the chimaera leaped high above him to get to its eggs first to protect them from him. Seeing its vulnerable stomach exposed for an attack, quick as a flask he shot another arrow at it and shouted 'Velocitari.'

The arrow moved so fast, it disappeared from sight and buried itself deep into the creature's stomach. The wounded beast fell to the ground like a heavy rock and landed such that it's rear end ended up neatly on top of Harry! It was growling in anguish and being smooshed underneath it, Harry could felt the vibrations right up to his bones. Using this as an opportunity to get to the egg, he tried to get stretch his hand out as far as he could since he was unable to shift the beast away and managed to grab it with the tips of his fingers.

However having his air supply cut off temporarily due to the heavy weight on top of him, he blacked out and let the egg roll away from him.