Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
...
For many people, they had assumed Harry's initial words to be little more than a joke. A show of bravado that he had no fear to be in the arena with the fearsome beast. When Harry hadn't moved after the first minute, curiosity began to reign supreme as students and adults alike wondered what kind of plan Harry was putting into place. After ten minutes, the first boos and jeers were heard as people began to complain about the lack of entertainment.
That escalated shortly after that.
Harry however had paid none of it any mind. Ludo Bagman had tried to interfere in an attempt to place some sort of time limit onto the task but Harry had swiftly countered by explaining that none of the other champions had been hindered by time restraints in which to perform. Harry continued by stating that by forcing him to adhere to a time limit it would ruin his plan on how to accomplish the task. Ludo had tried to come up with some other alternate but his words never particularly made more than a shred of sense, leaving Harry to remain as he was.
The Hungarian Horntail, for all it's terrifying splendor, had decided that if Harry wasn't going to try and steal from it's nest then the human was nothing to be concerned over. That didn't prevent the dragon from glaring menacingly at Harry to try and work out what his ploy was. For now however, it was content with guarding it's eggs and if the human wasn't going to do anything to threaten their safety then it wouldn't turn them into charcoal, at least not yet.
After half an hour has passed, the realization that Harry was preparing a multi hour event had long since settled into the mind of the viewers, causing a number of them to choose to vacate the venue. Never before had there been a walkout in the history of the Triwizard Tournament. Rita Skeeter was having a field day as her quill streamed back and forth amongst the parchment taking in the notes of multiple people of varying political power showing their distaste in the Harry's performance. Even calling it a 'performance' was a bold declaration, because from her eyes it purely seemed as if Harry was doing his best to irritate one Albus Dumbledore.
And the cracks had started to show.
"Surely there is something that if the five of us come to a unanimous decision then we can force this event to proceed in a way befitting of the tournament," proclaimed Ludo Bagman.
"Surely the two of you must see the benefit of stopping this madness sooner rather than later," begged Bartemius Crouch Senior. "This event is going to make us a laughing stock."
"I know not who you assume 'us' are in your babbling," stated Madame Maxime. "Each of the students went into this task with a different plan in mind on how best to tackle the task set for them. They did not know what would be required of them and had to construct a plan for any situation. Why are we to condemn Harry for his idea?"
"Igor, surely you see the madness in this?" asked Ludo, desperate to get one of the two foreign headmasters to help convince the other.
"A boy, not even a student of a school, was pulled into a tournament that he had no way of entering. Who are we to judge how he chooses to compete, especially against such a beast? If this is his answer, then who are we to condemn it?" countered Igor Karkaroff.
"Well the potion he consumed..."
"We have already agreed that he would be deducted points for drinking the potion," stated Madam Maxie. "We came to that conclusion together and as far as I am concerned, any other decision has to be unanimous as well."
"Albus, please, you must see that..."
A lone hand was raised from the Hogwarts Headmaster to silence Ludo before he made more of a fool of himself. The man had been trying his best to persuade the foreign Headmasters for far too long to little success. He would not be part of his bargaining plan as the two of them had clearly decided to plant their heels in the ground and were content to let Harry play out this charade. The real question he had to ask though was why both Igor and Maxime were allowing Harry to do as he wished.
For now, he knew what he had to do. Bartemius and Ludo would bend over backwards to keep in his good graces. If the first task was to be see as a blemish then it wouldn't cause much damage in regards to relations between himself and the two Ministry officials. Doing whatever he could to appease Igor and Maxime was a far more important task to accomplish. Getting the two of them onto his side was a far better use of his time, both for the immediate future and for further down the line.
"Headmaster Karkaroff, Headmistress Maxime, perhaps it would be best to allow the other contestants to watch," said Albus, looking past Ludo who seemed displeased about being so nonchalantly dismissed. "After all, there is no point in the three of them sitting in the tent without knowing how young Mister Potter is performing."
A quick glance to the side showed that Bartemius had clued in to his words and had interpreted them his own way. "An excellent idea Dumbledore, surely we wouldn't want the other champions to worry themselves in the tent about an outcome that, for all intents and purposes, could have happened. Given how much time has passed, it is very much possible that they may have thought the worst has occurred."
"What say you?" asked Dumbledore of his peers.
"I see no harm in it," declared Igor.
"If you so wish it, proceed," said Maxime.
"Very well, Ludo, if you would be so kind," requested Albus, watching the man beam in joy of having been given such responsibility. Or at least Albus assumed as much.
"Yes, of course," said Ludo as he bounded off.
Albus meanwhile considered whether Harry would even react to the appearance of the other champions. It was unlikely but given everything he had bore witness to since the boy reappeared it was safe to say that anything was possible. Hopefully their appearance would spark a fire in him to actively attempt to complete the task. He doubted it.
...
"Are you 'ere by your lonesome little flower?"
Iris was glad to be somewhat isolated as Fleur called out to her before taking a seat by her side. "Hermione is off getting us some food and drink," said Iris. "You were very impressive against your dragon."
"That is kind of you to say but how is 'Arry?" asked Fleur, curious as to why it looked as if the Hungarian Horntail had yet to move from it's nest. "Is he hurt?"
Iris couldn't help but lightly chuckle at the thought. "You might have noticed but the crowd has pretty much left at this point," said Iris, indicating to the empty seats that surrounded them. At the start of the first task it was standing room only, hundreds of people lined up shoulder to shoulder to watch the champions perform. Now there was perhaps less than fifty people in attendance and even a number of them looked as if they were planning to call it quit. "Turns out that Harry's method isn't as entertaining and as such, not worth watching."
"And his method is?"
"Quite literally sitting on his ass doing nothing."
Fleur couldn't help but burst out in laughter, having clearly not expected such an answer. "You mean for the last forty minutes while me and ze other two champions have been wondering whether 'Arry was alive were worried for nothing?"
"Seems so."
"Zat is ze best thing I have heard today," chuckled Fleur as she winded down from her burst of laughter. "So 'Arry is well then?"
"Not so much as a scratch on him," said Iris as she pointed to where Harry sit without so much as a care in the world. Turning her head back to where Fleur was seated, she momentarily looked past her to where the other two champions were standing side by side, staring into the dragon's den with focus in their eyes. "Were Viktor and Cedric always so close?"
"I don't pretend to know what happens in ze mind of men," said Fleur with a huff. "They are far too simple of a creature I find."
"Does my brother fit into that equation?" quipped Iris.
"There are always exceptions to the rules little flower," smirked Fleur.
Iris returned the smile.
"How long do you believe 'Arry will employ his tactic?" asked Fleur.
"As long as he wants to I imagine," answered Iris. "He made it very clear at the start of this test that he can last several days without sleep due to the potion he consumed."
"That is good and all, however zere is something other than sleep required for ze human body. Does he have anything to eat or drink while he is down zere?" asked Fleur.
Iris went to answer before biting down on her bottom lip, not knowing what the answer to the question actually was. She was sure that Harry would have considered this situation and have planned accordingly but so far, with over an hour in the test having passed, he had not moved from his spot and hadn't consumed anything as of yet.
"More importantly, has 'Arry considered the feeding schedule of his dragon?" Fleur asked as she continued on.
"That...I cannot answer."
Sadly, that was as confident as Iris was at that moment and with quick realization, knew that with every passing minute if Harry wasn't getting hungry, it didn't mean that something else wasn't starting to.
...
Harry shielded his eyes as the sun crept into an unfortunate angle. The afternoon glow however informed him very much of how much time had passed since the moment he had stepped foot into the arena. A cursory glance into the stands showed him just how few people remained and those that did were barely paying attention to him or the dragon.
He could only imagine what garbage the writer for the Daily Prophet would spew out to try and make any of what had happened interesting to literal crickets, given that he had told Luna the previous day his plan. With her father's newspaper having printed out his answers to her questions along with how he planned to survive the day by doing as little as possible, he was sure that the irritating Skeeter woman would be hanging her head in shame.
The added bonus was that the questions asked of him by Luna was rather enjoyable. He wasn't quite sure what the Rotfang Conspiracy was but if he could stir the cauldron a little more when given the chance then why wouldn't he.
A mild grumble from his stomach irked Harry mildly as he considered the time of day. He hadn't eaten anything in hours and was grateful that his potion from earlier quenched his thirst for the time that he was awake. He would have to remind himself to drink copious amounts of water before sleeping otherwise he would be very sore when he woke up. Hunger however was not solved by the potion. Harry was well aware that the human body could last a number of days without food, that didn't mean that he wouldn't be hungry during that time period.
The first motions of movement in the arena for many hours however indicated to Harry that he wasn't the only one getting hungry. Unfortunately for him, he was, in this moment, considered bite sized.
Given the emptiness of the stands, the growl made by the Hungarian Horntail echoed throughout the arena and caused all those who were still in the arena to stop what they were doing and pay attention. Harry knew that his time had run out.
That had always been a part of the equation.
The next few moments hadn't been.
Pushing himself into a standing position, Harry stared at the dragon before him, not breaking his line of sight for a moment. The beauty in this though was that while Harry had been sitting down for hours on end, he hadn't been wasting his time in regards to scoping out his landscape.
"Four seconds," he muttered to nobody in particular before he took off running to his right, mere moments before a torrent of flames struck the place where he had been standing. The searing heat behind him was an after thought as he skidded to temporary safety behind a large boulder.
The audience finally caught up with their gasps of awe and excitement at the sheer fact that after a number of hours, something was finally happening. Whipping out his wand, Harry aimed at the giant stone that was his source of protection. "Depulso," he cast, hurling the boulder forward at remarkable speeds so that it crashed squarely into the Horntail's side.
The roar of anger and anguish was blood curling as the dragon stumbled back several steps from the blow. Harry did not waste a second with having watched his attack land, moving towards the next piece of what many would assume as defensive cover before launching that at the Horntail as well. Like the first, the boulder crashed into the dragon who reacted by launching another torrent of fire at Harry. Instead of rolling to the side for safety, Harry Transfigured the ground beneath him, forming a wall which the flames crashed and parted against.
While the flames blasted against his barrier, Harry conjured a small flock of birds from the tip of his wand, the flock immediately setting about the task they had been given. Soaring above the barrier, the small avians went to work in disorientating the dragon, loudly chirping in it's ears and pecking at it's nose. Understandably, the torrent of flames came to a halt as the Horntail did it's best to eat the conjured birds out of the air.
The dragon's attempts weren't helped when a third slab of stone crashed into it's body, aggravating it further. With anger in it's eyes, it saw Harry standing there motionless and launched into action with speed far greater than a creature that size should be able to muster as it sprang forth and locked it's jaws around the human.
It was only once Harry was in it's mouth did the dragon recognize the taste of stone and not of human flesh. Whipping around fast enough for it's tail to carve into the wall, the Horntail froze as it saw the sight before it. Many in the audience as well fell into a state of silence as they awaited the outcome of what was about to happen.
Harry Potter held the golden egg, the artifact tucked under his left shoulder whilst his right hand held his wand which was currently levitating one of the boulders he had sent careening into the dragon above the nest of eggs. The Horntail, as hungry and as angry as it was, knew far more what the threat before it was. Before it was a fire breathing dragon, it was a mother and it's eggs were in dire jeopardy.
Seconds ticked by as Harry and the Horntail stared at one another in a stalemate. If Harry were to drop the boulder onto the eggs, the Horntail would stop at nothing to rip him apart. If the Hungarian Horntail struck first, then the boulder would crush it's eggs and it would be responsible.
Several more moments ticked past before Harry flicked his wrist and the boulder crashed down mere feet away from the nest of eggs. Then, ever so casually, he began to walk towards the exit as the Hungarian Horntail clawed forward to inspect it's eggs and ensure that everything was as it should be. Not a single egg was harmed in any way and the dragon turned to face Harry once more, the back of the young human clear in it's range of fire. There was nothing stopping the dragon from burning the boy to a crisp.
Just like there had been nothing stopping the boy from crushing it's eggs.
And thus, the Hungarian Horntail chose to wrap it's body around the nest protectively and allowing the threat to them to walk away unharmed.
Barely anybody paid attention as Ludo Bagman proclaimed that Harry had claimed the golden egg and finished the first task. The people in attendance were far more intrigued by the fact that a boy of fourteen had willingly gambled against a mother dragon and won.
Finally, after a time period which had gone on far too long, the first task of the Triwizard Tournament came to an end.
...
Hope you enjoyed.