"Champions, you have to come down onto the grounds now… You have to get ready for your first task."
"Okay," Harry said, standing up, setting his fork down on his plate. Krum did the same. The professor had already collected Fleur.
"Good luck, Harry," Astoria whispered. "You'll be fine!"
"Thanks." Harry responded. He followed Professor McGonagall out of the hall, secret hoping that the first task was indeed dragons. If it wasn't, he would probably be in a world of shit.
As the professor walked him down the stone steps and out into the cold November afternoon, she put her hand on Harry's shoulder.
"Now, don't panic," she said, "just keep a cool head… We've got wizards standing by to control the situation if it gets out of hand… The main thing is just to do your best, and nobody will think any the worse of you… Are you all right?"
"I'll be fine." Harry answered. McGonagall nodded her head and the three champions followed her down to the edge of the forest.
They walked around the edge for a few minutes until a large clearing opened up in front of them, containing an arena along with a tent. He was confident in himself, but he just hoped that the he practiced enough.
"Mr. Bagman is inside the tent waiting for you three to arrive. He will give you instructions for the upcoming task while the crowd fills the seats. Good luck."
Harry followed Krum inside, and Fleur followed him. The tent was plain, with nothing more than a few seats and a table inside. There was a bag on the table, and Ludo Bagman was standing besides it.
"Champions, champions, how exiting this moment is! Please, gather 'round. Today is a big day for us all. All eyes will be upon you as you compete head to head against a fearsome monster. Exactly which monster you face will be inside this bag."
Bagman then grabbed the bag from the table, and held it open in front of Fleur. "Please, ladies first."
Fleur reach inside the bag with a small amount of trepidation, and a few seconds later she pulled out a miniature dragon statue. "Oooh, the Welsh Green Dragon. A pretty creature, but quite dangerous. Mr. Krum, if you will?"
The French witch showed no signs of surprise, but instead she had a steadfast determination. The surly Quidditch star reached into the bag and pulled out another dragon model. "The exotic Chinese Fireball! I hope it doesn't get too hot out there for ya! Harry, your turn!"
Krum merely shrugged when he pulled his dragon out, but it looked like he had started to sweat from nervousness, or perhaps surprise. Harry reached in and pulled out the only remaining dragon. "Very good, the Swedish Short-snout. Watch out for its tail, its spikes are very sharp!" Bagman then turned his attention on all three champions equally. "Now that you all know you are facing dragons, I will tell you what your task is. Each dragon is female, guarding a nest of eggs. There are several eggs in the nest, but there is also a fake, golden egg. Your task is to retrieve this egg; It contains a clue for the next task. Now, the audience is gathering, so you have a few minutes to steady your nerves and ready a strategy. Mr. Crouch will be commentating. A single horn will blow, then he will give an introduction. After that he will give a double horn blow, which will be Miss Delacour's signal to enter the arena. When her fight is over, the next double horn will be Mr. Krum's signal, and after that will be Mr. Potter's. Any questions?"
All three champions shook their heads, and Bagman wished them good luck before exiting the tent.
"How did you two learn ov dragons?" Krum asked.
"My friend's brother works with dragons, and they spotted him down in town when he should have been in Romania. What about you?"
"I saw them when I vas flying." Krum answered.
"One night when I was walkeeng back to our carriage, I saw fire through ze forest. I checked it out ze next day and found ze dragons."
None of the three champions said anything else after that. They all realized that while they knew they were facing dragons, they were now actually going to face them, and that was not exactly a comforting feeling, no matter how confidant they were in their skills and plan.
And then the sound of a horn rang out, followed by the amplified voice of Mr. Crouch. "Welcome! Welcome! To the First Task of the 134th Triwizard tournament! Representing the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic is Fleur Delacour! Representing the Durmstrang Institute for Magical Learning is Viktor Krum! And representing Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry is Harry Potter!"
"Today these three champions will face trial by fire. Each champion will have to show down a fearsome dragon, use their wits and skill to steal the golden egg from the dragons nest! Each dragon is a nesting mother, and will protect their clutch with determination and a lot of fire.. I promise you, this task will be a crowd pleaser! The champions are currently in the staging tent, preparing their nerves to face one of the most dangerous creatures in the world. On my signal, the First Task will commence and the first champion will make their way out from the ten! Who will it be?"
Crouch's suspenseful narration was supplanted by the double blast of his horn. Fleur subconsciously straightened her clothes before walking out of the tent with her head held high, and her wand in attack mode.
"It's Fleur Delacour! This will be a great match! How will she recover her egg?"
The crowd cheered as the French witch made her way into the Arena.
"Fleur's approaching the dragon with fiery determination! She is braver than I! The dragon is a Welsh Green, its native land is not too far from here. How will she get past it?"
There was some more oohs and ahhs as Crouch continued his commentary. "That dragon fire is hot, but fire runs in Miss Delacour's veins as well. And what is this spell she is using? The ferocious dragon seems to be calming down."
Some booing could be heard in the tent.
"The Beauxbatons champion has used several anti-aggression charms on the reptilian monster. What is her next plan?
A minute passed before Crouch spoke again. "I hear a steady chant coming from Fleur…. It sounds like multiple hypnosis charms... Is she trying to put a dragon to sleep?"
And then after a long stretch of baited silence "She's done it! Fleur has put the dragon into an enchanted sleep! Getting the egg will be easy now! She's creeping up… yes, she doesn't want to startle a sleeping dragon of course… I'm whispering so my amplified voice doesn't mess up her task…"
Another minute passed before Crouch announced. "Ladies and Gentlemen - The Beauxbatons champion has done it! She has retrieved the egg safely and with no harm done. The judges will compile scores while the dragon handlers bring out a different dragon for our next champion."
"Sounds like she haf done it." Krum told Harry inside the tent.
"I'm not surprised." Harry said. "She is smart and skilled, otherwise the Goblet wouldn't have picked her."
Krum didn't say anything in response, and Harry didn't push. Krum was about to face the next dragon. Harry didn't manage to make out what Crouch said Fleur's score was, but then the sound of his horn blew.
Krum made his way out the tent and into the arena, but not before saying. "Let's hope the Goblet picked me for the same reasons."
Harry was alone in the tent but responded. "I don't think any of us can be considered smart now, having to face down dragons."
"Here comes out next champion!" Crouch's voice rang out. "Who is it? It's Durmstrang's champion, Viktor Krum!"
The crowd cheered very loud. Krum was ten time more popular than Fleur, and twice as famous as Harry. Hell, he was more famous in the wizarding world than James Dean was in the muggle world. Everyone knows about Quidditch, even if you hate it.
"How will Krum dazzle the crowds today? After an amazing World Cup performance, how will facing a dragon compare? We shall see! His task is to retrieve the golden egg from the nesting Chinese Fireball. Beware; it isn't named the Fireball for no reason!'
Sure enough, Harry heard oohs and ahhs, and even saw the change in lighting and felt the heat from inside the tent.
"Oh boy! That dragon sure is feisty! We felt the heat up here! It looks like Krum is employing a healthy amount of cooling charms as well as a modified-flame freezing charm. I can't say I blame him! How will he get the egg though?"
A few minutes passed as the dragon roared and roared and roared.
"Krum has come out from the safety of his rock shelter, and is looking to make a move. It looks like the dragon has calmed down slightly. Oh! Krum has transfigured a rock into a large dog!" Harry could hear the barking.
"It looks like he is using it as a diversion. Will it be enough? Krum doesn't think so, he's started to cast spells at the dragon's head!"
And then all of a sudden there was a huge roar. "Oh, it looks like he connected with the eye! Judging by the effects, It must have been an inflammatory curse! That dragon looks to be in a lot of pain now! Look! Krum's going in. Oh watch out!"
The crowded all yelled at once as Crouch continued. "That was close! The dragon stepped on some of the eggs, but Krum has the golden one in his arms! Well done! It looks like he may be injured, but the nurse will have him checked out in no time! An excellent performance!"
Harry stretched his muscles to loosen the tension he was feeling from his nervousness. The last few minutes before his signal were nerve wracking. "The dragon handlers are bringing in the final dragon while the judges decide their score…"
The sound of two horns broken him out of his trance, and then he made his way out of the tent.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, Harry Potter! The Hogwarts Champion will be retrieving the golden egg from a fearsome Swedish Short-snout. While it lacks in biting power, it more than makes up for it with its spined tail! Of course, all because it can't eat you, doesn't mean it won't cook you!"
Harry walked until he was about fifty feet away from the dragon, and then he called out "ACCIO!" He pictured the long object in his mind very clearly, but the school was a fifteen minute walk so it would there would be some flight time before it got there.
"Smart!" Crouch announced. "A summoning charm! I can't wait to see what he is retrieving! What will he do in the mean time?"
Harry responded by shooting a blasting hex at the rocky ground. It was another spell that he had learned with Daphne and Astoria the previous day.
He followed up with "Depulso!" to send some of the rocks careening at the dragon.
"He's banishing rocks at the dragon! Look at him go! Oh, watch out for the fire!"
Harry rolled off to the side, but still brandished his wand and countered the nearest spurt of fire with "Profundus Congellus!"
"A textbook cast of the Flame-freezing Charm, nicely done!" Crouch yelled.
Harry continued banishing rocks at the dragon as he dodged fire. "Depulso! Depulso! Depulso!" He kept casting. He didn't realize he wasn't saying the spell out loud any more, and was simply doing the wand motions.
He found himself within tail swiping range, but that just happened to be how close he needed to get for the Conjunctivitis Curse. He fired three before connecting with one of the dragon's large eyes.
"Harry has taken Krum's route and utilized the Conjunctivitis Curse. With such large eyes, it must be especially irritating to the dragon. But watch out for the tail!
Harry had to dodge backwards to avoid the tail. Harry had hoped that the barrage of stones and the Conjunctivitis Curse would cause the dragon to stagger away from the nest, but that didn't happen.
But then, he heard the whistling sound of his summoned item. He only had a split second to realize to extent of his folly, and he dived to the ground.
The Sword of Godric Gryffindor soared over his head, and embedded itself hilt deep into the Swedish Short-snout's chest. The dragon attempted to claw at the hilt with its stubby arms, but it collapsed to the ground after a few seconds and remained still.
"Shit, did I kill it?" Harry wondered out loud as he approached the nest of eggs, plucked out the gold one, and headed towards the medical tent. He had gotten the idea to summon the sword from the book about artifacts in the library.
"I don't believe it! Has Harry Potter slain a fully-fledged adult dragon? He has successfully retrieved the egg! Give him a round of applause! Handlers, please check out the dragon while the judges give their final scores."
Harry made his way into the tent and was accosted by the Hogwarts Nurse, Madam Pomfrey.
"Mr. Potter! Please sit. I can't say I'm surprised that you've found yourself fighting a dragon. One of these days you're going to get yourself killed though."
"Thanks for your kind words." Harry responded.
Madam Pomfrey shushed him. "Stay still, this will only take a few seconds, and then you can –"
"Harry!" a young voice cried, before a girl jumped onto him with a hug.
"Oh, hello Astoria."
"You alright?" the young Slytherin asked.
"He's fine." Pomfrey said. "If you start hurting in a few days, let me know. Sometime an injury doesn't manifest at first."
And then two other people entered the room. He let go of his sisterly hug with Astoria to look at who it was. Ron and Hermione.
"Uh, hi." Ron said lamely. "Look, I apologize. For everything. I'm sure there's a lot of things I did wrong, so I'll just apologize for them all. I would have helped you, you know, with the fight, or whatever, but we both know I'm not that smart and I don't think there's much I could have helped with."
"Well, uh, thanks for your support then."
"He was cheering for Krum." Hermione interjected.
Ron had the decency to look away and blush. "I would have bet on him too." Harry said.
"Who's this?" Ron asked, pointing at Astoria.
"Astoria."
"She your girlfriend?"
"Gross!" Astoria replied.
"No." Harry shook his head. "She helped me find some spells and practice with them."
"Er, mate, you know she's a Slytherin, right?"
Harry made a point to look right at her snake pin. "Yeah. But she's always so cheerful and carefree that you can't help but smile when she's around. She's like a cute puppy dog."
Astoria responded with puppy dogs eyes at both Ron and Hermione. Ron responded with a frown, but it was forced. Hermione rolled her eyes and looked away.
"Whatever. The judges are probably going to give the scores out soon."
Harry walked back out of the tent in time to see the judges hold up the scores. He had gotten a 47.
"What did the other two get?" Harry asked Astoria.
"They both got 47's as well."
Harry shook his head. "Rigged."