The Potter Twins and the Goblet of Fire

Chapter 9: Dragons!?

The prospect of talking face-to-face with Sirius was all that sustained Harry and Michael over the next fortnight, the only bright spot on a horizon that had never looked darker.

They had written back to Sirius about when they would be able to talk to him where he suggested.

But in the meantime, life became even worse for them.

Rita Skeeter had published her piece about the Triwizard Tournament, and it had turned out to be not so much a report on the tournament, but a highly colored life story of Harry and Michael. Much of the front page had been given over to a picture of Harry and Michael; the article (continuing on pages two, six, and seven), had been all about Michael and Harry. The names of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champions, (misspelled), had been squashed into the last line of the article, and Cedric hadn't been mentioned at all. Even Michael felt bad about that, despite the jealousy.

The article had appeared ten days ago, and Harry and Michael still got sick, burning feelings of shame in their stomachs every time they thought about it. Rita Skeeter had reported them saying an awful lot of things that they couldn't remember ever saying in their lives, let alone in that broom cupboard.

She claimed that Harry had said:

"I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now…. Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it…. I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me…."

And she had claimed Michael had said:

"I honestly don't care what my parents would think, they're dead. I'm confident in my abilities as an Animagus, and as a powerful wizard. I know me and my brother are destined to win this thing!"

But Rita Skeeter had gone even further than transforming Harry's "er's" into long, sickly sentences, and Michael's anger into a false bravado attitude: She had interviewed other people about them too.

"Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school."

Michael was lucky she didn't know anything about his sexuality, or his crush on Cho.

From the moment the article had appeared, the twins had had to endure people, Slytherins, mainly, quoting it at them as they passed and made sneering comments.

"Want a hanky, Harry, in case you start crying in Transfiguration?"

"First you're a champion, then you're an Animagus, what else are you gonna be, Michael?"

"Since when have you been one of the top students in the school, Potter? Or is this a school you and Longbottom have set up together?"

"If you're so confident, Michael, why don't you go fight every troll in the forest?"

"Hey, Michael!"

Michael found himself shouting as he turned around in the corridor, having had just about enough, "yeah, that's right! I've just been crying my eyes out over my dead mum, and I'm just off to do a bit more!"

"No, it was just, you dropped your quill."

It was Cho. Michael felt the color rising in his face.

Michael muttered, taking the quill back, "oh, right, sorry..."

Cho, "er…. Good luck on Tuesday. I really hope you do well…."

This left Michael feeling extremely stupid.

Hermione had come in for her fair share of unpleasantness too, but she hadn't yet started yelling at innocent bystanders; in fact, Harry and Michael were in full admiration for the way she was handling the situation.

But Harry and Michael couldn't ignore it all. Ron hadn't spoken to them at all since he had told them about Snape's detentions. The twins had half hoped they would make things up during the two hours they were forced to pickle rat brains in Snape's dungeon, but that had been the day Rita's article had appeared, which seemed to have confirmed Ron's belief that they were really enjoying all the attention.

Hermione was furious with them; she went from one to the other, trying to force them to talk to each other, but Harry and Michael were adamant: they would talk to Ron again only if Ron admitted that they hadn't put their names in the Goblet of Fire and apologized for calling them liars.

The twins claimed they didn't miss Ron.

But this was a downright lie.

They liked Hermione very much, but she just wasn't the same as Ron. There was much less laughter and a lot more hanging around in the library when Hermione was your best friend. The twins still hadn't mastered Summoning Charms, they seemed to have developed something of a block about them, and Hermione insisted that learning the theory would help. They consequently spent a lot of time poring over books during their lunchtimes.

Krum spent an awful lot of time in the library as well, with Hermione constantly denying his good looks….

….

It is a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up. The days until the first task seemed to slip by as though someone had fixed the clocks to work at double speed.

Michael and Harry's feeling of barely controlled panic was with them wherever they went, as ever present as the snide comments about the Daily Prophet article.

On the Saturday before the first task, all students in the third year and above were permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade.

Hermione had insisted Michael and Harry go with her there. They did…. But only under their invisibility cloak.

They had nearly run into Rita Skeeter while in Hogsmeade. Hermione had still tried to work on her S.P.E.W movement, but with little success.

Michael had at least been hopeful upon seeing Cho without a badge saying, "Support Cedric."

They at least shared a nice moment with Hagrid and Moody.

Hagrid, "alrigh', Hermione?"

Hermione, "hello."

Moody limped around the table and bent down; Harry and Michael thought he was reading the S.P.E.W. notebook, until he muttered, "nice cloak, Potter's."

Michael and Harry stared at him in amazement.

Moody grinned.

Michael, "can your eye, I mean, can you?"

Moody, "yeah, it can see through Invisibility Cloaks. And it's come in useful at times, I can tell you."

Hagrid was beaming down at the twins too. They knew Hagrid couldn't see them, but Moody had obviously told Hagrid they were there. Hagrid now bent down on the pretext of reading the S.P.E.W. notebook as well.

He whispered to the boys, "Harry, Michael, meet me tonight at midnight at me cabin. Wear that cloak", straightening up, Hagrid said loudly, "nice ter see yeh, Hermione", winked, and departed.

Harry, "why does Hagrid want us to meet him at midnight?"

Hermione, "does he? I wonder what he's up to? I don't know whether you should go, boy's. It might make you late for Sirius."

It was true that going down to Hagrid's at midnight would mean cutting their meeting with Sirius very fine indeed; Hermione suggested sending Hedwig down to Hagrids to tell him they couldn't go, (assuming the owl would comply.)

The twins, however, thought it better just to be quick at whatever Hagrid wanted them for. They were very curious to know what this might be; Hagrid had never asked them to visit him so late at night….

….

At half past eleven that evening, the twins, who had pretended to go up to bed early, pulled the Invisibility Cloak back over themselves and crept back downstairs through the common room. Quite a few people were still in there. The Creevey brothers had managed to get hold of a stack of badges and were trying to bewitch them to make them say: Support Harry Potter! Support Michael Potter! So far, however, all they had managed to do was get the badges stuck on POTTER STINKS. The twins crept past them to the portrait hole and waited for a minute or so, keeping an eye on Harry's watch. Then Hermione opened the Fat Lady for them from outside as they had planned.

They slipped past her with a whispered, "thanks", and set off through the castle.

….

The grounds were very dark. They walked down the lawn toward the lights shining in Hagrid's cabin. The inside of the enormous Beauxbatons carriage was also lit up; the twins could hear Madame Maxime talking inside it as they knocked on Hagrid's front door.

Hagrid whispered as he opened the door, "you there, boys?"

Harry, "yeah."

The twins slipped inside the cabin and pulled the cloak down off their heads.

Michael, "what's up?"

Hagrid, "got summat ter show yeh."

There was an air of enormous excitement about Hagrid. He was wearing a flower that resembled an oversized artichoke. It looked as though he had abandoned the use of axle grease, but he had certainly attempted to comb his hair. The twins could see the comb's broken teeth tangled in it.

Harry, "what're you showing us?"

Michael, "hope it's not another three-headed dog."

Hagrid, "come with me, keep quiet, an' keep yerselves covered with that cloak. We won' take Fang, he won' like it…."

Michael, "listen, Hagrid, we can't stay long…. We've got to be back up at the castle by one o'clock-"

But Hagrid wasn't listening; he was opening the door and striding off into the night. The twins followed and found, to their surprise, Hagrid was leading them to the Beauxbatons carriage.

Harry, "Hagrid, what-?"

Hagrid shushed them as he knocked three times on the door.

Madame Maxime opened it. She was wearing a silk shawl wrapped around her massive shoulders.

She smiled when she saw Hagrid and said, "ah, 'Agrid…. It is time?"

Hagrid, "bong-sewer."

He beamed at her and held out a hand to help her down the golden steps.

Madame Maxime closed the door behind her, Hagrid offered her his arm, and they set off around the edge of the paddock containing the giant winged horses, with the twins, totally bewildered, running to keep up with them. Had Hagrid wanted to show them Madame Maxime? They could see her any time they wanted…. She wasn't exactly hard to miss….

But it seemed that Madame Maxime was in for the same treat as them, because after a while she said playfully, "wair is it you are taking me, 'Agrid?"

Hagrid, "yeh'll enjoy this. Worth seein', trust me. On'y, don' go tellin' anyone I showed yeh, right? Yeh're not s'posed ter know."

Madame Maxime, "of course not."

She started fluttering her long black eyelashes.

And still they walked, the twins got more and more irritated as they jogged along in their wake, checking Harry's watch every now and then. Hagrid had some harebrained scheme in hand, which might make them miss Sirius. If they didn't get there soon, they were going to turn around, go straight back to the castle, and leave Hagrid to enjoy his moonlit stroll with Madame Maxime….

But then, when they had walked so far around the perimeter of the forest that the castle and the lake were out of sight, they heard something. Men were shouting up ahead…. Then came a deafening, earsplitting roar….

Hagrid led Madame Maxime around a clump of trees and came to a halt. The twins hurried up alongside them, for a split second, they thought they were seeing bonfires, and men darting around them….

Harry's jaw dropped and Michael smiled ear to ear at what they saw.

Dragons!

Five fully grown, enormous, vicious-looking dragons were rearing onto their hind legs inside an enclosure fenced with thick planks of wood, roaring and snorting. Torrents of fire were shooting into the dark sky from their open, fanged mouths, fifty feet above the ground on their outstretched necks. There was a silvery-blue one with long, pointed horns, snapping and snarling at the wizards on the ground; a smooth-scaled green one, which was writhing and stamping with all its might; a red one with an odd fringe of fine gold spikes around its face, which was shooting mushroom-shaped fire clouds into the air; a gigantic black one, more lizard-like than the others, which was nearest to them; and a large pale one with a seemingly permanent frost around them, their horns looking more akin to icicles, and their fire was blue with steam all around it!

At least thirty wizards, seven or eight to each dragon, were attempting to control them, pulling on the chains connected to heavy leather straps around their necks and legs. Mesmerized, Harry and Michael looked up, high above them, and saw the eyes of the black dragon, with vertical pupils, bulging with either fear or rage, they couldn't tell…. It was making a horrible noise, a yowling, screeching scream….

A wizard yelled, "keep back there, Hagrid! They can shoot fire at a range of twenty feet, you know! I've seen this Horntail do forty! And the Gargantuan did fifty, I swear!"

Hagrid, "is'n' it beautiful?"

Another wizard yelled, "it's no good! Stunning Spells, on the count of three!"

The twins saw each of the dragon keepers pull out his wand.

They shouted in unison, "stupefy!"

The Stunning Spells shot into the darkness like fiery rockets, bursting in showers of stars on the dragons' scaly hides.

Several tons of sinewy, scaly-black dragon hit the ground with a thud that the twins could have sworn made the trees behind them quake.

The dragon keepers lowered their wands and walked to their fallen charges, each of which was the size of a small hill. They hurried to tighten the chains and fasten them securely to iron pegs, which they forced deep into the ground with their wands.

Hagrid, "wan' a closer look?"

The pair of them moved right up to the fence, and the twins followed.

The wizard who had warned Hagrid not to come any closer turned, and the brothers realized who it was: Charlie Weasley.

Charlie, "alright, Hagrid? They should be okay now, we put them out with a Sleeping Draft on the way here, thought it might be better for them to wake up in the dark and the quiet, but, like you saw, they weren't happy, not happy at all…."

Hagrid, "what breeds you got here, Charlie?"

Charlie, "this is a Hungarian Horntail. There's a Common Welsh Green over there, the smaller one; a Swedish Short-Snout, that blue-gray one, a Chinese Fireball, that's the red, and a Greenland Gargantuan, the icy Dragon over there."

Michael found the last Dragon familiar, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. Hagrid seemed to realize something though, and was beaming at the last dragon.

Charlie looked around; Madame Maxime was strolling away around the edge of the enclosure, gazing at the stunned dragons.

Charlie, "I didn't know you were bringing her, Hagrid. The champions aren't supposed to know what's coming, she's bound to tell her student, isn't she?"

Hagrid, "jus' thought she'd like ter see 'em."

Charlie, "really romantic date, Hagrid."

Hagrid, "so…. So it's one fer each o' the champions, is it? What've they gotta do, fight 'em?"

Charlie, "just get past them, I think. We'll be on hand if it gets nasty, Extinguishing Spells at the ready. They wanted nesting mothers, I don't know why…. But I tell you this, I don't envy the one who gets the Horntail. Vicious thing. Its back end's as dangerous as its front, look."

Charlie pointed toward the Horntail's tail, long, bronze-colored spikes protruding along it every few inches.

Five of Charlie's fellow keepers staggered up to the Horntail at that moment, carrying a clutch of huge granite-gray eggs between them in a blanket. They placed them carefully at the Horntail's side. Hagrid let out a moan of longing.

Charlie, "I've got them counted, Hagrid. How are Harry and Michael?"

Hagrid, "fine."

He was still gazing at the eggs.

Charlie, "just hope they're still fine after they've faced this lot. I didn't dare tell Mum what they've got to do for the first task; she's already having kittens about them, 'How could they let them enter that tournament, they're much too young! I thought they were all safe, I thought there was going to be an age limit!' She was in floods after that Daily Prophet article about him. 'Harry still cries about his parents! Oh bless him, I never knew!'"

The twins had had enough. Trusting to the fact that Hagrid wouldn't miss them, with the attractions of five dragons and Madame Maxime to occupy him, they turned silently and began to walk away, back to the castle. They didn't know whether they were glad they'd seen what was coming or not. Perhaps this way was better.

The first shock was over now.

Maybe if they'd seen the dragons for the first time on Tuesday, they would have passed out cold in front of the whole school…. But maybe they would anyway…. They were going to be armed with their wands, which, just now, felt like nothing more than a narrow strip of wood against fifty-foot-high, scaly, spike-ridden, fire-breathing dragons. At least Michael was gifted with fire charms. But they had to get past them? With everyone watching? How!?

They sped up; they had just under fifteen minutes to get back to the fireside and talk to Sirius, and they couldn't remember, ever, wanting to talk to someone more than they did right now, when, without warning, they ran into something very solid.

They fell backward, Harry's glasses askew, clutching the cloak around themselves.

A voice nearby said, "ouch! Who's there?"

The boys hastily checked that the cloak was covering them and lay very still, staring up at the dark outline of the wizard they had hit. They recognized the goatee…. Karkaroff.

Karkaroff, "who's there?"

The brothers remained still and silent. After a minute or so, Karkaroff seemed to decide that he had hit some sort of animal. Then he crept back under the cover of the trees and started to edge forward toward the place where the dragons were.

Very slowly and very carefully, Michael and Harry got to their feet and set off again as fast as they could without making too much noise, hurrying through the darkness back toward Hogwarts.

They had no doubt whatsoever what Karkaroff was up to. He had sneaked off his ship to try and find out what the first task was going to be. He might even have spotted Hagrid and Madame Maxime heading off around the forest together. They were hardly difficult to spot at a distance…. And now all Karkaroff had to do was follow the sound of voices, and he, like Madame Maxime, would know what was in store for the champions.

By the looks of it, the only champion who would be facing the unknown on Tuesday was Cedric.

They reached the castle, slipped in through the front doors, and began to climb the marble stairs. They didn't date slow down. They had less than five minutes to get up to the fire….

Harry, "balderdash."

The Fat Lady was snoozing in her frame in front of the portrait hole, but muttered sleepily, without opening her eyes, "if you say so."

The picture swung forward to admit them. They climbed inside. The common room was deserted, and, judging by the fact that it smelled quite normal, Hermione had not needed to set off any Dungbombs to ensure that they and Sirius got privacy.

They pulled off the Invisibility Cloak and threw themselves into two armchairs in front of the fire. The room was in semi-darkness.

They both then jumped at what they saw happen.

Sirius's head was sitting in the fire. If they hadn't seen Mr. Diggory do exactly this back in the Weasleys' kitchen, it would have scared them to death. Instead, their faces broke into the first smiles they had worn for days, they scrambled out of their chairs, crouched down by the hearth.

Harry, "Sirius, how're you doing?"

Sirius looked different from their memory of him. When they had said good-bye, Sirius's face had been gaunt and sunken, surrounded by a quantity of long, black, matted hair. But the hair was short and clean now, Sirius's face was fuller, and he looked younger, much more like the only photograph they had of him, which had been taken at the Potters' wedding.

Sirius, "never mind me, how are you two?"

For a second, they tried to say they were fine, but couldn't do it. Before they could stop themselves, they were talking more than they'd talked in days. About how no one believed they hadn't entered the tournament of their own free will, how Rita Skeeter had lied about them in the Daily Prophet, how they couldn't walk down a corridor without being sneered at, how Michael had completed his Animagus training. And about Ron, Ron not believing them, Ron's jealousy….

Harry, "... and now Hagrid's just shown us what's coming in the first task."

Michael, "and it's dragons, Sirius, and we're goners."

Sirius looked at him, eyes full of concern, eyes that had not yet lost the look that Azkaban had given them; that deadened, haunted look.

Sirius, "Dragons we can deal with, boys, but we'll get to that in a minute. I haven't got long here…. I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire, but they could be back at any time. There are things I need to warn you about."

Harry, "what?"

Michael, "what could be worse than the dragons?"

Sirius, "Karkaroff. Boys, he was a Death Eater. You know what Death Eaters are, don't you?"

Michael, "yes, he…. What?"

Sirius, "he was caught, he was in Azkaban with me, but he got released. I'd bet everything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwarts this year. To keep an eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place."

Harry, "Karkaroff got released?"

Michael, "why did they release him?"

Sirius, "he did a deal with the Ministry of Magic. He said he'd seen the error of his ways, and then he named names. He put a load of other people into Azkaban in his place. He's not very popular there, I can tell you. And since he got out, from what I can tell, he's been teaching the Dark Arts to every student who passes through that school of his. So watch out for the Durmstrang champion as well."

Harry, "okay. But…. Are you saying Karkaroff put our names in the goblet?"

Michael, "because if he did, he's a really good actor. He seemed furious about it. He wanted to stop us from competing."

Sirius, "we know he's a good actor. Because he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn't he? Now, I've been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet-"

Harry, "you and the rest of the world."

Sirius, "-and reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman's article last month, Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts. Yes, I know she says it was another false alarm, but I don't think so, somehow. I think someone tried to stop him from getting to Hogwarts. I think someone knew their job would be a lot more difficult with him around. And no one's going to look into it too closely; Mad-Eye's heard intruders a bit too often. But that doesn't mean he can't still spot the real thing. Moody was the best Auror the Ministry ever had."

Harry, "so…. What are you saying?"

Michael, "Karkaroff's trying to kill us? But, why?"

Sirius, "I've been hearing some very strange things. The Death Eaters seem to be a bit more active than usual lately. They showed themselves at the Quidditch World Cup, didn't they? Someone set off the Dark Mark…. And then, did you hear about that Ministry of Magic witch who's gone missing?"

Harry, "Bertha Jorkins?"

Sirius, "exactly…. She disappeared in Albania, and that's definitely where Voldemort was rumored to be last…. And she would have known the Triwizard Tournament was coming up, wouldn't she?"

Michael, "yeah, but…. It's not very likely she'd have walked straight into Voldemort, is it?"

Sirius, "listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins. She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination, boys. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap."

Harry, "so…. So Voldemort could have found out about the tournament?"

Michael, "is that what you mean? You think Karkaroff might be here on his orders?"

Sirius, "I don't know. I just don't know…. Karkaroff doesn't strike me as the type who'd go back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him. But whoever put your names in that goblet did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you and make it look like an accident."

Harry, "looks like a really good plan from where I'm standing,"

Michael, "they'll just have to stand back and let the dragons do their stuff."

Sirius, "right, these dragons. There's a way, boy's. Don't be tempted to try a Stunning Spell, dragons are strong and too powerfully magical to be knocked out by a single Stunner, you need about half a dozen wizards at a time to overcome a dragon."

Harry, "yeah, we know, we just saw. "

Michael, "I might be able to use my fire magic and Animagus abilities to get past, but what about Harry?"

Sirius, "well, there is a way, and a simple spell's all you need. Just-"

But Harry held up a hand to silence him, his heart suddenly pounding as though it would burst. Michael heard what he heard and instantly, his heart began racing as well. They could hear footsteps coming down the spiral staircase behind them.

Harry, "go! Go!"

Michael, "there's someone coming!"

The twins scrambled to their feet, hiding the fire. If someone saw Sirius's face within the walls of Hogwarts, they would raise an almighty uproar. The Ministry would get dragged in. He, Michael, Harry, would be questioned about Sirius's whereabouts.

The twins heard a tiny pop in the fire behind them and knew Sirius had gone. They watched the bottom of the spiral staircase. Who had decided to go for a stroll at one o'clock in the morning, and stopped Sirius from telling him how to get past a dragon?

It was Ron. Dressed in his maroon paisley pajamas, Ron stopped and faced the twins across the room, and looked around.

Ron, "who were you talking to?"

Harry, "what's that got to do with you? What are you doing down here at this time of night?"

Ron, "I just wondered where you…. Nothing. I'm going back to bed."

Michael tried to say something, but Harry suddenly yelled, "just thought you'd come nosing around, did you?"

Ron, "sorry about that. Should've realized you didn't want to be disturbed. I'll let you get on with practicing for your next interview in peace."

Harry seized one of the badges that read POTTER REALLY STINKS off the table and chucked it, as hard as he could, across the room. It hit Ron on the forehead and bounced off.

Harry, "there you go! Something for you to wear on Tuesday. You might even have a scar now, if you're lucky…. That's what you want, isn't it?"

He strode across the room toward the stairs; he half expected Ron to stop him, he would even have liked Ron to throw a punch at him, but Ron just stood there in his too-small pajamas.

Michael merely walked past Ron, muttering, "after four years…. Why would we willingly join something so dangerous? Do you really think we'd do that? I…. Sigh…."

Harry lay awake in bed fuming for a long time afterward. Michael merely lay staring at the ceiling.

Neither heard Ron enter the room by the time they got to sleep….

….

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