Chapter 9:

They got outside and Mia was freezing by then. She never went outside at night so she didn't realize how cold it would be. Fred noticed how she was shivering and wrapped his own jacket around her. They went out a different way than she was used to most likely because they tend to lock the front doors.

They walked towards a blocked off area when Fred turned to Mia and asked her to trust him

while he threw a cloak over the both of them. "We are invisible, Mia. Nobody can see us, except

apparently Mad-Eye but he hardly counts. Now, I am going to show you something, okay?" He

whispered to her while they stood still.

Mia had a feeling that whatever he was going to show her probably wasn't harmless and was most likely against the rules, considering they had the cloak on. They walked on together with Fred whispering her instructions as to where to turn and such.

Finally, Mia heard a lot of noise and saw fire, when she turned she saw dragons.

Mia was in shock. Dragons?! Really?! And how am I supposed to survive this, let alone win this? She though angrily. She wondered if her father knew what the first task was and whether he was worried too.

She walked away with Fred and they took off the cloak after a while.

"So, how do you suppose I get passed the dragons?" She asked him, shaking.

"You're quick," he said while rubbing her cold hands. "You're the most real athletic out of all of the contestants. By real, I mean you actually run, not just fly. Most people here don't know how to work out without the use of a broom and that hardly counts."

"Yeah but those dragons are HUGE! I doubt I can just run past them," she said frowning.

"Well, not just run but avoid them. Learn spells to help keep them in line for a few seconds at a time. You can do it," he said with his arm on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. "I'll help you."

Mia had no idea how she was going to get through this but she knew that she had to have faith that this would work out. There was no backing out.

…

The next day Mia awoke to the sound of Katie's voice waking her, again. This was a very common occurrence because Katie always got up early and Mia could sleep competitively.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Katie asked her eyes wide.

"Yes," Mia answered, rubbing her eyes. There was no use in lying. Of course she was scared. She was supposed to meet Fred later who would help her come up with an idea on how to get passed the dragons but she wasn't too hopeful. She was still hoping they would grant her mercy and not make her compete.

She made it down to breakfast late so therefore she only had a few minutes to eat. She saw her father looking paler than usual and she wondered if he knew about the dragons as well. She made a mental note to visit both him and Hagrid later that day. She knew that Harry was Hagrid's favorite but Mia got along with him well, especially because she had always shown interest in interesting animals/creatures. She figured she could just ask him about dragons and see if he would answer her without getting too suspicious.

She wondered if the other contestants knew about the dragons and wondered if she should tell them.

"Hey Mia," Harry Potter greeted her in the hall on the way to her class.

"Hi Harry," she said grinning.

"Ummm… listen, about the first task," he said nervously.

"Do you know what it is?" she asked, hoping that he did so she wouldn't have to tell him.

"Yes, dragons," he said. "And Cedric, Fleur and Viktor all know too."

"Thank you Harry," she said nervously. "Between you and me, I have no idea on how to get past them."

"Yeah this is a tough one," he said with a pained look on his face. She wondered if he knew what he was going to do. She felt kind of sorry for him, he was the youngest of the bunch but if the rumors were true, he may be the strongest-at least mentally. He had faced Voldemort twice and lived to tell the tale.

"Well, I'd better get going to class. Thanks for letting me know. Now I just have to figure out how to survive," she laughed darkly.

"Yeah, good luck," Harry said as he went in the other direction.

Mia started thinking about things that would get her out of the tournament but knew that it was a lost cause. Putting your name in the goblet was a contract between the person who entered it and the tournament. It couldn't be broken, she was sure that if it could her father would have figured it out already. She didn't mean to be such a wimp but she also didn't like dragons very much, she liked her life a lot more.

…

Mia didn't pay much attention in her classes, she kept thinking about the tournament. She highly doubted she could get past the dragon by pure athletics. Those things were huge and could breathe fire. She wondered what the other's were planning on doing and couldn't imagine what would happen if they didn't know of it until the day of.

"You should eat more," George told Mia as she shoveled her food around her plate. "You're going to need the strength."

Mia just glared at him, took a bite and went back to playing with her food.

"Miss Blair, will you see me in my office later," Mia looked up and saw Professor Moody standing above her. "After dinner of course," he said with a weird smile.

Mia nodded "I'll be there."

She had no idea what he would want from her but she had a tiny bit of hope that he may have mercy on her and help her get past the dragons.

…

"Sit down, Miss Blair," Professor Moody said as she knocked on the door. "Are you ready for tomorrow?"

Mia shook her head reluctantly.

"I assume Potter told you about the dragons," he said, it wasn't a question but rather a statement.

Mia nodded, avoiding eye contact.

"Well as your teacher I cannot pick favorites or help you but I do think it is unfair that you and Potter have such disadvantages-especially because I do not believe that you put your own name in the goblet," Moody said with apparent disgust. "So I'm going to tell you some things about dragons, just so you are up to the level of your components. I did the same with Harry. First of all, dragons can be easily distracted-especially animals who are eye-level," he stared at her like he was trying to get her to understand something. "I hear you're quite the muggle athlete."

"Not really, I just run for fun," she said wondering how he knew.

"I've seen you, you're fast. That can be used to your advantage but the dragon has to be distracted," he said calmly. "Don't underestimate a dragon's strength but also do not overestimate a dragon. You can overcome them if you need to. You are more powerful than you know."