YOOOOOOO!

First of all, sorry for the delay, I have good reasons tho. I had a second session of exams. Plus the chapter was hard, I had to re write it again and again because of the First Task, I decided to change a little what I had in mind first.

Now I wanted to thank you for taking the time to review, even if u do it anonymously!

ADJ: Harry definitely knows it deep down, however when you lose your best friend, you start feeling insecure about your other friends. That's the reason he feel the need to answer her question. Thanks again!

Lastly, this chapter was corrected by Webstriker, the one who made my mess looking like a decent chapter, so thank you.

Enjoy!

ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ

The next day, Harry got up quite early, a full-fledged plan in his mind. It was Sunday, so no lessons; in short the perfect day to go down the Chamber and try his luck with the dead body of a certain Basilisk. But before that, breakfast. One needs a full stomach before going all out.

Harry was in a pretty good mood, as he got to talk with his godfather, he got back to Ron for being a prat, and he had an idea about how to pass the first task. Pass it was the good word, because Harry had no desire to win the Tournament in the first place. He was an outsider, the real Hogwarts champion was Cedric.

Oh, and thinking about Cedric, I should tell him about the dragons. From what I saw yesterday, Delacour and Krum will certainly be briefed by their respective headmasters.

Still munching his toast, Harry was waiting for Hermione to arrive. It was a rare occurrence that he was up before her, but maybe he was too excited. Now that he looked around him, there were not many people in the Great Hall. He looked at the staff table where Snape (who was still looking at him murderously), Professor McGonagall, and Professor Dumbledore were the only ones present. The latter caught his eyes and winked at him before going back to his breakfast.

During his numerous detentions with the Headmaster, Harry became closer to him. Well, as close as he could be to his Headmaster. It made an idea emerge in Harry's mind. He knew professors were not supposed to help students with the task, Crouch told them so the night he was chosen. However, Harry could ask his Headmaster if there was any magical creature that could be more magic resistant than a Basilisk. He could then know if the plan he had in mind was useless or not.

When Hermione finally came down, he told her for the second time about the dragons. He told her that Hagrid showed them to him last night. Four dragons, one for each champion, and he also told her about the fact that Charlie was here, and about his conversation with Sirius.

"You should talk to him," Hermione said. "He is not a professor; he could help you without breaking the rules. Plus, I don't think there's anyone who would know more about dragons around here."

Harry nodded. He thought of this when he noticed Charlie yesterday. However, Charlie was Ron's brother. Sure, he seemed kind and cool, but the only thing that linked Harry and Charlie was Ron. Even if he did not mind, Harry's pride would not allow it. He did not choose to be in that tournament, but there was no way he would rely on anyone else's help, be it by an intermediary or in person. Especially someone who left him. He would ask Dumbledore as planned, and then proceed by himself.

Harry raised his head toward the staff table and noticed that the Headmaster was leaving. The fourth champion quickly did the same after asking Hermione to join him at the library and followed him out of the Great Hall.

The corridor was surprisingly calm for a morning in Hogwarts. Even if it was still early.

"Ah, Harry. Is it safe for me to guess that you are not here to enjoy the calmness of a Sunday morning?" Dumbledore turned to face Harry, his eyes twinkling as they always were. They were the only ones present, except for the portraits on the walls.

"Not that far, Professor." Harry learned, with the time he spent in detention, how to talk with his headmaster. Just copy him and beat around the bush. Dumbledore loved this. "I had something on my mind and needed some time away from the noise to think about it."

A smile appeared on Dumbledore's face.

"Of course, of course." Harry frowned. "Then, I will excuse myself, I shall no longer disturb your time alone."

To say that Harry understood how to talk to Dumbledore was perhaps true, but apparently the theory and the practice were miles apart. Damn, he didn't even need to say anything, I got myself in that position alone. He thought while his Headmaster resumed his walk.

"Actually Professor, I think you could help me with the thing I had in mind, it's purely academic."

For the second time, Dumbledore turned around with a smile.

"Ask away, Harry."

"I was thinking about the second-year events, Professor." The dark-haired teenager started. "And I was wondering about something concerning the Basilisk."

Albus Dumbledore looked at him, a thoughtful expression on his face. Then as if it never was on his face, Dumbledore's face lit up with a smile, as he started stroking his beard.

"So, I was asking myself if there were any creature with scales as hard and magically resistant as the Basilisk." He continued. "Because you know, when I was in the Chamber of Secrets, I remember that I had to stab him inside his mouth to finally pierce it."

"A good question you are asking here, Harry. One that needs a nuanced answer. You see, the Basilisk in the Chamber is probably the one Salazar Slytherin himself put in the Chamber. It means that it was around a thousand-years-old."

Harry absentmindedly nodded.

"Now, about your inquiry, I would say that if it was a young Basilisk we were talking about, I could name a few names that would fit your category." Dumbledore marked a pause for a second. His eyes twinkled more than they ever did. "However, as we are talking about a thousand-year-old Basilisk, to the best of my knowledge, I can tell you that there is no creature as resistant as this Basilisk. And if I may add, certainly not a magical creature from the Forbidden Forest."

Harry had to contain his smile, Dumbledore obviously understood his motives and still helped him. In a way that reassured him. He thought that maybe his Headmaster would be reluctant to answer him because of the rules.

"Alas, I have to excuse myself now, Harry. I may give the opposite feeling, but I am a busy man." The Headmaster started walking again. "Enjoy your Sunday."

Harry was left alone in the corridor, thinking hard of the implication of what he just learned. He now had something to try his spell. However, there were still two problems Harry had to resolve. First he had no spell that came to his mind to damage a Basilisk skin. Second, the only way to be sure his spells would work on the dragon was to make them work on a Basilisk. That was much harder to do.

Well, I might as well take it as training and not just the first task. How cool would it be to pierce the scales of a Basilisk. He smirked. I should tell Ron that… Nevermind.

"Harry?" A voice came from behind him. "What are you standing here for?"

Cedric Diggory came from behind him, a worried expression on his face.

"Are you okay?" He asked again.

"Yeah, yeah don't worry about that, I was just thinking about the first task." Harry looked around, and surprisingly, Cedric was alone. "Dragons."

"What?" A baffled expression replaced the worried one. "We have to fight dragons?" He sounded panicked and Harry understood why. He almost broke down if not for Sadye.

"Not fight, no. We have to get past one," explained Harry. "Beauxbatons's girl and Krum already know it."

Cedric stared at him, looking calmer than before.

"You sure?" He finally asked quietly.

Harry nodded and not waiting for more and started walking towards the library where Hermione was waiting for him. He came across some students who were as usual, murmuring and pointing at him. Do they think I can't see them, or do they just not care at all? Harry was as always flustered, he started looking at the ground and walked faster, ignoring what happened around him. A squeeze came from his left arm, Sadye was trying in his own way to reassure him, which improved his mood a little bit.

When he finally arrived near the library, after being held back by Professor Moody, a bushy brown hair tornado grabbed his arm and led him in. At first when he saw Moody appear after his conversation with Cedric, he thought that he would be at least reprimanded. However, the only things that followed were hints about how to overcome the first task. At first he was a bit put out by his help but then remembered that he was Dumbledore's friend, he obviously meant well.

But seriously, is he crazy? How in the world does he expect me to outfly a dragon? Does being friends with Dumbledore make people go as crazy as he already is?

Hermione was leading him to what seemed to be a quiet corner, where she already put her things.

"Where were you?" She murmured furiously. "I was waiting for you! I had to endure Krum and his bunch of fanatic girls."

"Krum was here?" Harry was surprised, he seemed more like Malfoy's goons, not someone who could spend time reading at the library.

"Of course, he was. We're in the dragon's section, and he obviously knows about the task. Now be quiet and let's check every single book here to make sure you can make it out alive Tuesday."

That's how Harry's afternoon quietly passed, by reading. The more he read, the more he knew he would not find anything interesting in those books. Hermione too seemed to get more depressed as hours passed, but she did not stop, and that warmed Harry's heart, because she cared.

Harry was now in his dormitory, he just came back from dinner and told Hermione he would see her tomorrow. He did so because while eating, he got an idea. A crazy idea, but an idea nonetheless. He wanted to try it as soon as possible on the Basilisk corpse.

He waited for everyone to sleep before slipping out of his dorm with his cloak and the map. He walked through the corridors in silence, trying his best to not cross Filch or his horrid cat. When he finally arrived at Myrtle's bathroom, he quietly checked if she was there, not willing to be the source of nasty rumors the next day, again. When he was finally sure no one was present except him, he opened the path to the Chamber and went in.

As usual, entering the chamber always made him remember his second year. With hindsight, he was really lucky. He could have died, and possibly without anyone finding his corpse ever again. Just looking at the damage the Basilisk had done to the Chamber—

Wait a minute, talking about the damage, except for the anteroom, why does the Chamber look so clean? I'm pretty sure the Basilisk damaged it severely.

When he entered the Chamber, what he saw was a clean room. He had never noticed it before, but it looked like the first time he came down there. Except for the diary, Voldemort, and the corpse of his best friend's little sister. But apart from that the Chamber did not have any scratches. No cracks on the pillars, nor on the Slytherin's statue, nothing.

Countless questions came to his mind, but Harry decided to set them aside. He had more important things to worry about, like a dragon to face on Tuesday. So, he got down to work.

ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ

The following day, Harry was holed up in the library with Hermione, reading as much as possible about a dragon's anatomy. His idea needed a good understanding of it to work, for the Basilisk, he actually got the help of Sadye. Being a snake made it easier for him to describe his anatomy to Harry.

Seeing that he was focusing his reading on that, Hermione started looking cheerful and anxious at the same time. Harry dreaded the moment she would explode and finally ask what she wanted to ask, not because he did not want to tell her, no. He knew her constant questioning about his way to deal with the dragon would make him doubt. And in a situation like this, Harry could not afford to doubt. That is why when Hermione opened her mouth, he already had an answer in mind for her.

"Are you planning to use Transfiguration tomorrow?" She finally let her thoughts cross her lips bluntly. "Because if that's the case, I have to warn you. With something that big even Professor McGonagall would have a hard time."

He merely smiled mysteriously at her, trying to impersonate Dumbledore. He knows from experience how annoying it was, and really wanted to tease Hermione. It worked because she hmphed and raised her nose, as if his teasing did not reach her.

"So, is it Transfiguration?" She tried to ask casually after a while.

Harry had to contain his laugh. Her reactions really are the best. "It's a secret." He winked at her and resumed his reading. While she looked at him scandalized.

ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ

Today was the fateful day, and Harry felt sick. He passed last night in the Chamber, making sure his plan was on point. He used his first lesson to sleep a little (History, it was not like he missed something important).

Whether he was in class or in the hallways, there was always someone to look at him, and murmur him some words. Harry could not even make out what they were saying, nor did he care, he was too engrossed by the dragons coming up later. Even when Hermione tried to talk to him, surely to give him her encouragements, he only absentmindedly nodded to her despite not hearing a single word.

When it was time for lunch, he got caught by someone and pulled into an empty classroom. Before he had time to register what had happened, he was enveloped by a tight hug.

"Be careful, Harry." He heard Astoria's quiet voice. "Don't forget we still have to fly together."

That phrase made his condition worsen, he remembered how Moody tried to help him. And his brain obviously made the link with the dragons. He patted Astoria's back and got off her hug. If he was in his normal state, the hug would surely make him uncomfortable. But with how he was now, his shyness had no room in him to manifest.

"Thanks Astoria." He managed to say and headed to lunch, walking as if it was his last one. Leaving a worried Astoria behind him.

Lunch was quiet. Or at least it was for Harry. The Great Hall was in fact buzzing with excitement, but in his state, the only thing he heard was a deafening silence. In a way, it was a lot like his meditation, if you add dragons to it of course. He knew he had to eat his lunch, his numerous Quidditch matchday helped him with that. Plus, who would be crazy enough to face a dragon with an empty stomach.

Forget about that, who would be stupid enough to send a fourteen-year-old boy to face a dragon. He morosely thought.

A gentle tap on his shoulder broke him out of his dazed state.

"Mister Potter, the first task is about to begin. The champions are to come down onto the grounds, so if you could follow me…"

Without a word he stood up, and silently followed her. He did not hear Hermione bidding him good luck nor did he see all the eyes turned on him. Some were envious, others were laughing, or anxious. He did not even notice how anxious Professor McGonagall was, something that was noteworthy since she was always so composed. She then started rambling about who knows what. Harry still was in a state where his body was there, but his mind left. All that remained was his ability to dumbly nod to whatever she said. She then showed him a tent and he understood that he had to go in without her.

Inside were the three other champions and Bagman. At least his fellow champions looked as bad as he did. The French had bloodshot eyes, twisting her hands furiously. She still looked beautiful though, in a crazy way. Krum was sulking, there was no other way to describe the face he had at that moment, his fists were clenched, and he was walking frantically around the tent. Cedric for his part looked dishevelled, his face pale and his eyes moving fast all around him.

"Harry! You're here!" said Bagman when he noticed him. "Come in, I wouldn't start without you!" He laughed and winked at Harry.

The explanations were fuzzy in his mind but from what he gathered they had to collect a golden egg, but before that they had to pick what they would face. Apparently it was a small model dragon that would be picked randomly.

Harry knew his luck was bad, he always knew it. However, he did not think it would be bad to the point he picked the worst dragon among the four available. After that, Bagman tried to have a word alone with him, but Harry was not in the mood to entertain the man, so he flat out rejected him.

Cedric was the first one to pass, leaving only Harry, Krum, and the French girl, each one looking paler than the last. After some time, Harry decided he did not want to hear Bagman's commentary, it only made him feel worse. So, he decided to meditate while standing up. It was something new for him, he always did it in his stance, which was supposed to help his focus. But he figured that if there was one day Harry would be focused it was today, so it should not be a problem.

After some time, when he finally managed to calm down a little, he felt a hand on his shoulder. However, when he opened his eyes, he saw no one. Harry frowned, when he was meditating it was really hard to make him come out of it, only the physical contact had that effect.

Weird.

"And now Harry Potter, ladies and gentlemen." Bagman shouted, followed by a loud whistle.

It's time I guess.

A heavy pressure came from his stomach, as if his body refused to face what would come. Harry gulped and walked toward his first task despite all of the cells in his body wanting to flee.

He walked until he reached the enclosure. And in front of him; the Horntail. It was crouched on what seemed to be a nest, where the golden egg was laid. It was absolutely terrifying, a huge black winged lizard with yellow eyes that were fixed on him was there, and he was supposed to steal its egg.

They're crazy, wizards are absolutely crazy.

It was even more terrifying than the basilisk in his second year. At least he did not have to look at it back then.

He almost fell under the pressure he was feeling but once again Sadye recomforted him by squeezing his arm.

"You trained for that, don't let the panic overwhelm you, or you will die."

That's how much a snake can recomfort a human I guess.

Harry straightened himself, steeled his resolve and pulled out his wand. He had trained for that, studied for that, he succeeded on a Basilisk, there was no way he could not do it on a dragon. The latter was looking at Harry cautiously, his eyes following Harry's hand when he took his wand out.

Harry must have stayed some time motionless because murmurs came from the public, some were even laughing out loud, thinking he was paralyzed by fear and would obviously fail the task.

"Look at him, he can't even move—"

Harry did not bother looking at who said that. "Diffindo." He said, picturing the inside of the dragon's throat in his mind. A disgusting strangled noise was heard, followed by a loud thump that made the ground tremble.

Harry walked toward the golden egg, not taking his eyes off the Horntail. It was not dead, Harry knew it, but it was still incapacitated by the lack of air coming into his lung. He read that it would regenerate itself quickly though. The dragon was also looking at him, his eyes emitted a hateful glare that promised pain. Harry shivered and hurried his pace to collect his egg.

When he finally came back to the entrance to the enclosure, he noticed something. The lack of something more exactly. The lack of noise, the public was silent, the judges were silent, the dragon keepers were silent. It contrasted heavily compared to how Harry's day passed. It was loud while he was isolating himself from the noise because of the stress. Now that the stress left his body, he did not need to isolate the noise anymore, he could let it fill his ears. However, there were none left.

Three Professors were waiting for him, each one of them with a different expression on their face. Professor McGonagall looked aghast, her mouth slightly open. Hagrid looked at the dragon, looking a little sad. And Professor Moody for his part stared at him with a thoughtful look on his face

"Hum… The judges will give out your score now since you're obviously not injured." Professor McGonagall finally said with a shaken voice.

The dragon keepers immediately started putting the Horntail back into its cage. It did not take too long since it was still not moving. By the time they finished, he found himself engulfed in a bone crushing hug.

"I was soooo scared." Hermione sobbed in his shoulder. "When I saw you standing still I thought you lied to me and did not prepare anything."

"I told you it was a secret." He awkwardly patted her back. And when she pulled herself out of her hug to face him he winked at her. "It was not Transfiguration."

She laughed and hit his shoulder lightly. "Prat."

Now that he looked around, the noise started roaring again, it was as if he was back at the World Cup again. However, he, again, isolated himself from it when he saw who was standing behind Hermione. It was Ron, they stared at each other for a minute, neither said anything. After a moment Harry saw Ron open his mouth to say something, but he interrupted right away, knowing what would come.

"Don't bother." Harry said to him. "I was just waiting for you to come and talk to me to be honest."

"But…" Ron tried again.

"It's okay, forget it. You needed some time away, it happens."

Ron grinned nervously at him, and Harry grinned back, all the accumulated tension was swept away just like that.

Sobbing sounds coming from Hermione started rising again.

"Why are you crying?" Ron asked her bewildered.

She did not answer him and settled for hitting the back of his head. "Ouch! That hurts Hermione!" Harry laughed, it was as if everything came back to normal.

"Look Harry!" Ron said excitedly. "Your notes are coming out."

He explained to him how it worked and how the other champions do.

"I knew you would come up with something amazing, like this time when we were waiting in front of Dumbledore's office." Harry's heart stopped.

"What do you mean?" He said quietly.

"You know, the thing with Parkinson's bag—"

Fortunately, he interrupted himself when Madame Maxime awarded him an eight out of ten.

"Surely because you froze at the beginning, I mean you did not get injured, and were the fastest champion." Hermione remarked, her voice almost inaudible because of the cheering.

Mr. Crouch gave him a nine as did Dumbledore. The weird occurrences were the two last notes, from Bagman and Karkaroff.

The first one gave him a ten and the last a five. Mrs. Weasley, if she was here, would have cut Ron's tongue off if she heard the bunches of insults Ron just shouted to Karkaroff. Harry for his part did not really care about his notes, his objectives in this tournament was first; survive and second; see the result of his training. First place or last, he did not really care.

They then started to walk toward the school but were interrupted by Charlie Weasley caught up to them.

"Bloody hell Harry, that was something!" He put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "I don't have much time but congratulations! You're first place, one point ahead of Krum. I need to tell Mum what happened. Huh I don't think I want to be the one to tell her though." He said to himself more than to Harry. "Oh yeah, bagman is waiting for the champion back in the tent."

He thanked him and went back in. His friends told him they would wait for him.

The ambiance in the tent was totally different than the first time he went in. It was friendly and welcoming, everyone was smiling, even though he felt some wariness coming from Krum and the French girl. He did not care though.

Cedric arrived just after him, his face covered in some orange paste. From what he heard from Ron it was surely for the burn injury on his face. When he saw him, Cedric tapped his back lightly.

"Wow Harry! You might not be in by choice but you're a serious contender to the win." He smiled at him.

"It was only luck." Harry grinned back.

Bagman started congratulating everyone, mostly Harry. He then explained the modalities of the second task. Modalities that were resumed by the date and the egg, nothing else. He said the egg was a clue to the second task that would take place the twenty-fourth of February. That was all, they were then excused.

Harry re-joined his friends and started walking towards the castle again, talking about the modalities he just got from Bagman and also asking more detail about the other champions' first task. However, once again they were interrupted by someone less welcomed than Charlie Weasley. Rita Skeeter.

"A word Harry?" She asked him sweetly.

He thought for a second and then smiled. "Nitwit! Blubber!" Before resuming his walk, laughing with his friends who understood where the words came from.

When they finally reached the castle, Harry noticed someone in a corner. Daphne was trying to catch his attention quietly, however her plan was doomed since Astoria called him loudly from behind her. He smiled and told his friend that he would be back in a while.

"Hello Astoria, Daphne!" Came Harry's cheerful voice.

For the second time today, he was finding himself in Astoria's embrace, the only difference was that now he was embarrassed by it.

"Dragons! They're crazy! Making you face an adult dragon." Astoria said rapidly. "You did well though, but why did you kill it, it was so beautiful."

Harry snorted, she was like a mini-Hagrid. "I did not kill it, I doubt I could even if I wanted to. I merely incapacitated it for a while."

They talked for a few minutes, Daphne was as usual, silent. However, when Astoria bid him goodbye, Daphne did not leave.

"I'm happy you're okay." She quietly said. "I'm just not used—"

He smiled at her. "I know."

She raised her eyes, cobalt blue, and emerald green met and Harry was enthralled by those beautiful eyes.

"Do you want to go to the usual place tomorrow?" She asked, breaking him out of his dazed state.

He nodded and just like that she left, not without looking behind him with a thoughtful glance. Harry turned toward his friend and noticed that they were not the only ones. A lot of students were present and started whistling at him.

"Way to go Potter!" Someone said.

He furiously blushed and walked quickly toward his Common room, followed by his friends.

ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ

Now that the adrenaline in his body worn out, Harry was dead tired. He was in his dorm talking to his friends about how he passed the dragon. He already explained it to Ron and Hermione but his dormmates wanted to hear it too, so he had to oblige.

Flashback

Harry was in the Chamber, trying, with all his arsenal of spell, to damage the Basilisk scales. However, it did not work at all. It was something he was expecting, however he thought that if he put his maximum power into it, it could work. Apparently not.

"Are you ssstupid?" Sadye's voice interrupted him.

"Hey!" He indignantly protested.

"You know the ssscalesss are magically resssissstant, why are you trying to hit them?"

"What do you mean why am I trying to hit them? Becaussse I don't want to die, obviousssly. Do you want me to let myssself getting killed?"

"Ssstupid boy, don't try to hit sssomething that resssissstant, hit the inssside of it."

"Huh? Isss that really posssible?"

Sadye looked exasperated. "Why wouldn't it? You jussst have to visssualize what you want to hit."

End of Flashback

That was how Harry came to use that idea. Obviously he did not tell his friends that story, he just told them it came to his mind, and he tried his best to make it work. They all seemed to believe him and asked him to teach them. Which he approved quickly.

Now it was time to sleep, and Harry did not forget to meditate first. It had become his ritual, he never skipped it, and it felt great for his mind and his body.

ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ

Harry was sure he was asleep, so why was he so much aware of what happened around him. And above all, why was he standing in a completely dark room. He tried to look for some light but had no success doing so, he was walking with his hand in front of him in case there was a wall. Even if it was a dream, he did not want to hurt himself.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" A voice full of emotion and at the same time devoid of them reasoned in the room.

Harry turned around abruptly and came face to face with someone he had not seen in months. He almost forgot about his existence.

Chaos.

ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ

That's it!

I still have 2 exams to pass but I should come back to a 1chapter a week schedule, so don't worry.

Also, I'm uploading this story on AO3 under the same title, chapters will be posted at the same times.

Don't forget:

R-E-V-I-E-W-S

See you soon!