Harry cautiously stepped out of the tent, and found himself in a thin line of trees. Past them was a large clearing, with bleachers at the near side. He quickly stepped to his right and ducked behind a tree; if the dragon was already looking for him, he wanted to take cover immediately. When no attack came, Harry turned back toward the tent and raised his wand.
"Accio Firebolt!" Harry's broom immediately popped above the tent and rushed to his hands. At least something was going well.
Harry seized the broom and took another look at his surroundings. He didn't want to go flying blindly into the open mouth of the dragon, and the dragon had to be around here, somewhere-it was the whole point of the task, after all. It took a moment before Harry located the dragon. It was at the far end of the enclosure, hunkered low to the ground. Finally satisfied that he was in no immediate danger, Harry mounted his broom and cruised forward, moving smoothly through the trees.
"And there he is," Bagman said over the loudspeaker. "It appears that Harry has summoned a broom! Quite the clever plan!"
Harry cursed quietly. Bagman had just announced Harry's tactic to the other competitors. Harry doubted that Krum or Delacoer could summon brooms, because they didn't know the location of the quidditch shed, or which brooms were secured there. Diggory, however, might.
As Harry emerged from the trees, the Short Snout immediately began tracking his movement. The dragon backed up slightly, taking a protective stance over the nest. Underneath the dragon, Harry could see the glint of gold—what he assumed was the egg.
This was not going to be easy. Harry tried to convince himself that this was just another quidditch match. The opposition was ahead by 110 and trying to make their lead insurmountable. Harry had to do something to distract the other seeker so that he could catch the snitch and win the match. A diversion of some sort.
Harry raised his wand and fired red sparks to one side. The dragon didn't even move its eyes, let alone turn its head.
"That won't work," Bagman said to the crowd. "Dragons are smarter than that!"
Harry frowned. That wasn't necessary; Bagman didn't need to narrate Harry's every failure. But if the dragon was going to keep its attention on Harry, then there was only one option for a distraction: Harry himself.
Harry hauled back on his broom and soared higher in the air. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Harry certainly didn't have the depth of spellcasting knowledge that the seventh year students had, but Harry could fly with the best of them. Harry just needed to trust himself.
Harry aimed the broom down and shot up to full speed. He raced toward the dragon, hauling his broom aside at the last moment. He heard the snap of the dragon's mouth as he rocketed past. Harry glanced behind him—the dragon had moved slightly away from the nest, but not completely.
Harry repeated his actions. He could tell that the dragon was becoming frustrated. Whatever this strange threat was, hovering casually above the dragon's nest, it refused to be caught if the dragon remained on the ground. The dragon shot a few tentative blasts of blue flame into the air, but Harry dodged them easily. Charlie had been right—the dragon drew its head back before each breath of fire, and Harry had no trouble moving out of the way.
The dragon lowered itself over the golden egg once again. It looked up at Harry and hissed. Small sparks flew out of its mouth and past its teeth.
Harry reconsidered his plan. If the dragon refused to take to the air to chase him, Harry would have to get the golden egg while the dragon was on the ground. To do that, Harry needed to make the dragon turn. While it was turning, it would be up on its legs, and Harry would have an opportunity to dart under its belly and grab the egg.
Harry moved behind the dragon. The dragon raised itself off the ground and turned in place. Harry shot forward on the Firebolt, but he was too far away and the dragon had completed its turn before Harry could grab the egg.
Harry found himself hurtling toward the face of the dragon. The dragon drew its head back, and Harry pulled himself up and to the left, rolling so that he would narrowly miss the dragon's open mouth. A blast of flame roared through the space that Harry had occupied only seconds earlier, and Harry could feel the intense heat on his body. Then he was past the dragon's head and he could feel only the rush of cool air. He pulled himself up into the air and glanced down at the dragon, which was once again up on its feet and lumbering to turn around.
"That was close!" Bagman shouted into the loudspeaker. "I don't know if Potter will want to try that again!"
Harry laughed to himself. Actually, that was exactly what he planned on doing. He would give himself a bit more space so that he wasn't quite so close to incineration, but once he was past the dragon, while the dragon was on its feet and turning around, Harry would make a tight turn and retrieve the egg. Easy as could be.
Harry lowered himself until he was hovering slightly above the ground, and waited until the dragon was facing him head on. Harry slowly began to accelerate, once again racing directly toward the dragon.
"What is Potter doing?" Bagman exclaimed. "This is suicide!"
Harry grinned. He'd show them a thing or two about flying.
As Harry approached, the dragon drew its head back,preparing to breathe fire. Harry pulled to his right, swiftly moving his broom away from the path of the impending dragon flame. A moment later he was past the dragon's shoulder and out of danger. Now he just needed it to start to turn…
Suddenly, the sky was blotted out. The dragon had reared back on its hind legs and unfurled its blue, batlike wings. Each wing was as large as the dragon's body, and the left wing was directly in Harry's path. Harry hauled back on his broom, desperately trying to bring himself to a stop, but he was too close and moving too fast. He crashed into the dragon wing, and he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder.
Harry looked back. The dragon's sinuous neck had curled around, and the dragon was staring directly at Harry. As Harry watched with horror, the dragon took a deep breath and began to draw its head back.
Harry frantically looked around. The wings were too large—even on his firebolt, Harry would never get around them before he was roasted by dragonfire. He was too close to the dragon's head to charge; he wouldn't have enough speed to make it past without being eaten.
The dragon's jaws dropped open, and Harry saw blue-white flame roiling in the back of its throat. He was out of time. Harry raised his wand, and desperately hoped that Charlie Weasley knew what he was talking about.
"INCENDIO!"
Harry snapped his wand forward, launching a fireball into the gaping maw of the dragon. Harry's fireball flew past the dragon's teeth, just as the dragon's own fire began to boil forward from its throat. The two flames collided in the dragon's mouth and exploded violently, engulfing the dragon's in flames. Harry caught a glimpse of small jets of fire shooting outward from the dragon's eyes before the dragon pitched over onto its side, screeching in pain.
The dragon's legs and wings began to thrash wildly about as the flames continued to expand. Harry rose swiftly into the air on his Firebolt, trying to put a safe amount of distance between himself and the writhing dragon.
As Harry watched from above, the dragon's spasms slowed, then ceased altogether. It was clear that the dragon would never move again. The scales and flesh of the dragon's head had been completely burned away, as had most of the neck. The only things that remained were the dragon's charred skull and spine, burnt black from the heat of the dragon's own fire. Small fires still burned on the ground surrounding the dragon's head, but they were mundane flames that could be extinguished with a simple splash of conjured water.
Harry slowly brought his broom toward the ground. Distantly, he could hear the roar of the crowd, including the lyrics of "Hail, Slytherin." Harry was saddened that they would be so excited by the death of a dragon, but everybody knew that the tournament carried risks. And while Harry didn't want to approach the dragon's corpse, his task had been to retrieve the golden egg. The other champions could not compete until his portion was finished.
Harry hopped off his broom when he reached the ground. The nest was obscured by the dragon's massive, blue-scaled legs, and Harry was forced to climb over them in order to reach the golden egg. His hands were immediately dirty, covered in the soot that had been scattered around by the dragon's struggles.
When Harry reached the nest, his heart went cold. The golden egg was there, but it was surrounded by a half-dozen real dragon eggs. Five of the dragon's eggs had been smashed by the dragon in its death throes—only a single egg remained unbroken.
Dragons were semi-sentient. Harry had assumed that the Swedish Short-Snout was a male dragon acting out of greed, protecting its hoard of gold, but he had been wrong. The dragon had been a mother, trying to protect its eggs. Harry hadn't been trying to simply "get past" a dragon; he had actually been attacking its nest. Its home. Its children.
Harry began to feel green, and his headache started to return. He was grinding his teeth together, as hard as he ever had. His head was swimming, and an emerald haze was starting to creep into the edge of his vision. Harry reached down and picked up both eggs. He tucked the golden egg inside his cloak, and delicately carried the dragon's egg back to his broom. Harry threw his leg over the Firebolt and flew toward the stands.
Ludo Bagman was announcing the judge's scores. "From Barty Crouch…seven! From Madame Maxime… seven! From Igor Karkaroff…nine!"
Harry pulled himself to a stop in front of the judges table. Dumbledore was slowly writing his score on a large white card with an oversized quill.
Harry's vision was green with fury. He drew his wand and tapped his throat, muttering "Sonorous" as he did so. The incantation seemed right, even though Harry had never been taught the spell for loudspeaking.
"You sent me to attack a MOTHER!" Harry's voice thundered over the stadium, as loud as a dragon's roar. Several students screamed, and Ludo Bagman literally jumped into the air. Dumbledore calmly finished writing his score before looking up at Harry.
Harry was trembling with rage. He lifted up the uncrushed dragon egg. "That dragon was a mother," Harry said to the judges. "You sent me here to attack a mother and her children. I killed a mother, and then she crushed the rest of her nest. This is all that is left. This dragon will never know its mother. Never know its family. Because of me. Because of YOU!" Harry pointed his wand at Crouch and Bagman. "You sat there and watched me commit murder, all for your amusement!"
Harry looked down at the egg in his hands. "Crushing this egg would be a kindness. What does this dragon have to live for? What will its life be, other than loneliness and abandonment?"
There was motion at the corner of Harry's vision. Charlie Weasley had entered the enclosure.
"Easy, Harry," Charlie said. "You don't want to do that."
"Why not?" Harry said. "All the others are gone, and nobody seemed to care about that."
"We'll raise the dragon," Charlie said soothingly. "It's what we do on the reserve in Romania. There are other dragons there. It will be fine. Better than fine. It'll be happy."
Harry looked down at the white egg. Its shell was covered in Harry's sooty handprints.
"I'm sorry," Harry whispered to the egg. He drew his finger along the shell, down and over and down, leaving a trail of soot like a lightning bolt. "I didn't want you to be like me. I didn't mean it."
"It's okay," Charlie said. "I know you didn't mean for things to end that way. I know you didn't mean to hurt the eggs." Charlie reached out toward the egg, moving slowly. "I'll make sure this egg hatches, Harry. I promise. Just give it over." Harry held out the egg, and Charlie took it gently from Harry's hands.
As Charlie walked away with the dragon's egg, Harry turned back to the judges, glaring savagely. "You can have your golden egg. I don't care. I don't want it." He reached into his robes and withdrew the golden egg. He drew his arm back and hurled it at the head of Barty Crouch as hard as he could, with all the accuracy of a skilled chaser.
Crouch pulled back and raised his arms, but the egg stopped just short of his face, hovering in the air. Harry looked over and saw that Dumbledore was standing, with his wand extended. The golden egg floated down the table and into Dumbledore's hand.
"I will hold this, Harry, until you are ready for it," Dumbledore said.
Harry laughed once, harshly, then fell silent. He seized his broom and stormed toward the champion's tent.
"Wait, Harry! Your last score!" It was Ludo Bagman, who somehow still believed that Harry was interested in the tournament.
Harry spun on his heel. He was trying to think of something nasty to shout, but was distracted by Dumbledore raising his scorecard. As Dumbledore lifted the card he also spun it, reversing the bottom and the top.
"Harry's final score is… a nine!" Bagman exclaimed. "What a performance by our youngest champion! Give him a round of applause, ladies and gentlemen!"
Harry blinked, and normal color returned to the world. Dumbledore had been prepared to score Harry as a six, but had changed his mind. It obviously meant something, but Harry was suddenly exhausted. He didn't have the energy to delve into Dumbledore's inscrutable motivations.
Harry walked slowly to the champion's tent. All the energy was gone from his body. He felt as if he could collapse and go to sleep immediately. He raised his wand mumbled "finite," ending the loudspeaking charm.
As he pushed his way into the tent, Harry found the other champions clustered around the door. He looked at them, one by one, before finally settling his eyes on Krum.
"You're next," he said. "Try to do better than me."
Harry walked to the corner of the tent and sat on the floor. He closed his eyes and dropped his head into his hands. How had that gone so horribly wrong?
*!*!*!*
By the time Harry returned to the Slytherin common room, he had regained control of himself. His breakdown in front of the entire school had been embarrassing, but he wasn't overly worried. Dumbledore wasn't terribly popular among Slytherins, nor was Barty Crouch. Challenging their authority so flagrantly (and successfully) would undoubtedly work in Harry's favor, as long as Harry could play it off as intentional. And although it was difficult to put the afternoon's violence out of his mind, it was much easier once Harry realized that he had earned the highest score among the four champions.
The Slytherin celebration of Harry's victory was as big as any party that Harry had ever seen. Nobody made any attempt to stay quiet or go to sleep, and the party lasted long into the night. As soon as Harry entered the common room, Pansy latched onto his elbow like a spider monkey. She refused to let go, even when Harry was trying to eat or drink. This was fine with Harry—there were far worse things than being close to Pansy. And as loud as the party was, she was constantly leaning close to Harry to say something in his ear. Her breath was warm, and smelled of peppermint.
Harry found himself in a whirlwind of conversations as he and Pansy moved through the party, but each conversation was almost exactly like the last. The other person would begin by saying one of, (a) "Harry, you were amazing!" or, (b) "I can't believe they made you fight a dragon!" They would follow up with either, (c) "How did you know what to do?" or (d) "You must have been so scared!" Finally, every person would finish with, (e) "I can't believe you said that to Dumbledore!"
By the fifth time Harry navigated the conversation, his answers had become automatic. "Thanks, I can't believe it either. I had a lot of help from my friends, so I felt prepared. What I said at the end was the truth, and it needed to be said. Thanks for your support!" The speakers began to blend into one another, and when Harry finally found his way to his dormitory it was three in the morning. His mind felt as if he had only been at the party for ten minutes, but his feet ached like he had been running for ten hours.
As Harry changed into his pajamas, he looked down at his arm, just above the elbow, where Pansy's hand had rested for almost the entire night. It felt strange that she was no longer by his side. Harry couldn't particularly recall anything they had said to one another, but there was no forgetting the way Pansy looked at Harry when she spoke. She would turn her head up and smile, and she didn't pull away even though their faces were so close that they were almost touching. It was almost enough to make Harry forget that he had murdered a dragon and orphaned a dragon egg earlier in the day.
Harry dropped into bed and closed his eyes. He didn't want to think about that. Better to think about Pansy, and how pretty she looked when she glanced up at Harry through her dark eyelashes. She was a good friend... And pretty... And speaking of pretty girls who were his friend, where had Tracey been all evening? Harry felt like he hadn't seen her since before the task... Maybe she hadn't wanted to talk to Pansy...
Harry's mind skipped from thought to thought, and it wasn't long before he fell into a deep sleep. His dreams were vivid, and awful, but when he awoke the next morning, the only thing he could remember was a rasping voice behind ruby red eyes.
A/N: You all want to read about the task, I want to post about the task, so... bonus chapter!