The Wall of Stone
This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy.
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Chapter 5 First TaskThe morning of the First Task was cloudy until the professors jointly cast a weather charm on the area around the castle to clear out the clouds and let in the sunshine. After lunch, Headmaster Dumbledore instructed the students to make their way to the stadium that had been constructed between the castle and Hogsmeade for the exciting first task.
The students from all three schools were surprised at the number of visitors filling three fourths of the stands before they arrived. There were witches and wizards from across Britain, Ireland, France, Italy, Germany, and eastern Europe. Reporters and photographers scrambled for interviews and photo-ops with the four champions – especially after the news of the dragons was revealed to the attendees by the roaring of the unhappy mother dragons.
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ForewarnedHagrid made certain Harry knew about the dragons three days before the first task by prompting the boy to follow the half-giant into the Forbidden Forest while underneath his cloak of invisibility. Scared by what he saw in the pens, Harry Potter returned to the castle and shared the information with Cedric. Harry got another surprise when the Puff was aware of the dragons and wondered why McGonagall had not shared the information with Harry earlier.
Diggory explained, "Professor Sprout shared the details of all three tasks with me the next morning. Dragons in the first task, a race in Black Lake for the second task, and then fighting magical creatures in a maze they'll raise on the Quidditch pitch for June."
Harry stared in disbelief that the others had had weeks to prepare. And they knew about the other tasks. Thinking quickly about the tasks, Harry mentioned, "Diggory, you should consider that we have Hagrid as the professor for magical creatures. There won't be hippogriffs and unicorns in the maze! It's more likely to be a Cerberus, the blast-ended skrewts, and Dementors!"
Turning pale Cedric exclaimed, "Dementors? Those exploding Skrewts? That's class XXXXXX! Not XXXX!"
Harry shrugged, "How do they classify dragons?"
"They're all class XXXXXX," the older Puff replied.
"Good luck," Harry said as he turned and trotted toward the library. He went straight to Hermione, and they began to research how to handle a dragon – nesting mother dragons.
The Goblet of Fire observed all important conversations in the castle (public and private) regarding the First Task. It judged the contest extremely dangerous for all contestants but referenced the set of rules it had chosen – the champions weren't to be protected. The three adults had chosen to enter their names freely. The goblet's thoughts weren't willing to leave the fourth champion's fate to pure chance and skill. The boy had been shanghaied into the tournament.
The Goblet of Fire wondered, 'Could We throw the judges into the arena and make them face the dragons? Or any of the adults that allowed this mess to occur? Which adult do we shanghai? Moody with the false face or Whiskers with the false smile? Ludo Bagman plans to force Harry to face the largest dragon as the last battle in the arena. That'll be good for suspense and keeping everyone in their seat until the end of the contest.'
After debating internally, the goblet determined to leave the judges alone until later. But the goblet would protect Harry Potter from the dragon and her flames, teeth and claws. Several red patches of magic were dispatched to investigate each dragon.
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ForearmedThere was no easy way to deal with a dragon let alone a queen defending her nest of eggs. Despairing of helping Harry to survive, Hermione broke down in tears every evening when they returned to the Gryffindor Dormitory. His other friends were quiet and unable to cheer the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry found it hard to sleep and took to walking the halls underneath his invisibility cloak in the late hours. One night, he was greeted by Dobby on the seventh floor.
How can you see me, Dobby?" asked Harry as he removed the cloak.
"Dobby can find Mr Harry Potters anywhere, anytime, anyplace. You can't hides from Dobby," the elf replied.
Grinning Harry asked, "How are you?"
Frowning Dobby replied, "Dobby be not good. Dobby be too worried how to keep Mr Harry James Potter alives to grow up and blows this joint."
"Huh?" asked Harry. "Blow this joint?"
"It be muggle words meaning to leaving on a jet plane."
Grinning, Harry said, "I think that's a song on the radio."
Dobby nodded, "And high Rocky Mountains be song Dobby likes."
Sighing, Harry admitted, "It's going to be hard to survive. I have to get around a dragon to retrieve something from her nest of eggs."
"It be this," Dobby said, snapping his fingers to display an egg of solid gold.
"A golden egg? Bollocks!"
Dobby blushed and said, "Mr Harry James Potter be planning to fly around dragon, rights?"
"Yeah…how do you know that, Dobby?"
"Dobby be listening to Mr Harry James Potter talking with Brainy Witch and Green Thumbs Wizard. I hears you plan to summon broom and fly. "
Nodding Harry explained, "We found sounds that the dragons don't like, and I'll cast them again and again to aggravate the dragon while dodging her flames."
Dobby nodded and added, "The great wall of stones will throw fire back on dragon. That helps. But…"
"But what?"
The house elf took a deep breath and said, "Dobby brings broom to outside stadium. When you summons, Dobby fly on broom into stadium and flies around dragon with Mr Harry James Potter."
"No, Dobby, I don't want you get hurt."
Dobby stomped his foot and said, "And Dobby no wants Mr Harry James Potter to get dead! Dobby magic helps make broom faster fastest.
"Would you violate the rule about not getting help?" asked Harry with some hope igniting in his chest.
The elf smiled and explained, "Dobby not a person so he not be adult, or professor so Dobby can fly with Mr Harry James Potters. My magic help Mr Harry Potter magic broom be super-fast. And Dobby can cast the sounds of cows and banshees again and again."
"Thanks, Dobby," Harry said before he reached down and hugged the elf who was overwhelmed with emotion. When Dobby was calm once again, the elf took the invisibility cloak and searched over it quickly – removing a couple threads that glowed with magic. Dobby banished the strings.
"Now White Lemon Whiskers not able to track Mr Harry James Potter under cloaks," the elf said firmly.
The next day, the last day before the First Task, Harry was able to eat and sleep to restore his energy levels but the only class he attended was the DADA class where Professor Alastor Moody attempted to demonstrate the killing curse.
### NOTE: Leaving on a Jet Plane (1966), and Rocky Mountain High (1972) are both great songs written by John Denver. Mike Taylor co-wrote Rocky Mountain High. Check out the songs on your favourite music service.
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The Adult Champions Challenge the DragonsHarry stared at the walls of the tent and decided the contest had been rigged – he would be the last contestant to participate in the First Task and his dragon was the fiercest, the Hungarian Horntail!
Leaving Cedric, Victor, and Harry behind, Fleur went first with aplomb and confidence. But once the tent flap closed, the commentator's play by play was blocked but the three young men could hear screams, shouts and cries of 'Oh No! from the crowd. There followed many minutes of silence before Ludo Bagman came for Cedric Diggory. When the flap of the tent was opened, the three remaining contestants heard the cries of the second dragon chained in the arena and Harry's Parseltongue mind translated the creature's cries to be, {My babies! No, don't hurt my babies!}
He realized that the female dragons were in the same situation of his mother that Halloween night when the Dark Lord appeared, killed James Potter, and then approached the crib where he lay.
'A mother will do anything to defend her baby.'
Cedric Diggory left the tent and once the flap dropped back in place, all noise except the cries of the audience was blocked once again. In a few minutes, the loud screams, shouts and cries of 'No! Help him! No!' were heard again. Then the shouts ended but listening carefully Krum and Potter could hear the weeping of many witches and wizards.
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A Slight Wrinkle of a ProblemWhile the dragon handlers removed the dragon and her nest of eggs, and the Aurors insured that there weren't bits of Cedric Diggory left on the sand of the arena, Albus Dumbledore sat quietly in the judge's platform and considered the new and totally unexpected problem that had descended upon him like an owl bearing a black letter from Gringotts. The first two champions in the Triwizard Tournament had been killed and eaten by their dragons almost effortlessly. None of their spells had touched the Queens defending their nests of eggs. This meant Dumbledore would have to placate grieving parents, and deal with lurid headlines, wild newspaper articles, and worse – furious government officials from France and London.
'How did this happen?' the headmaster wondered. Dumbledore's eyes widened when he realized, 'Whoever messed with the goblet to enter Potter's name must have changed the 'protect the champions' rule I placed…oh Merlin's Magic! Harry Potter is going to die!'
Albus sat frozen in his chair as his mind tried to find some way to delay or cancel the rest of the First Task. But there was nothing he could do! He was brought out of his dark thoughts by the screams of the audience as Krum was immolated and ripped into pieces by the Chinese Fireball before she dined on the wizard's flesh.
'Now there will be three sets of parents and three angry governments,' the headmaster mourned. Fortunately for Albus, everyone around him believed he grieved the dead champions, not the problems these deaths created for him.
The stadium was filled by tearful adults and children shocked into silence. House elves appeared beside children to give them potions that calmed them. The elves popped the most distressed students back to the Great Hall where they were fed chocolate and listened to calming music conjured by the ghosts of the castle.
The first three champions (adults) had died in the flames, teeth and claws of the mother dragons. There were sobs from much of the audience after watching the savagery of the mothers protecting their nests. The newspaper photographers called for elves to bring them more rolls of film for their cameras. There would be lurid photographs in special editions that would sell out in Britain and on the continent. Wizards loved blood and gore so long as it was someone else's blood and death.
Minister Cornelius Fudge remained pale after throwing up his lunch when he watched the Swedish Short Snout devour Cedric Diggory. The young wizard was still alive while being chewed; Diggory was missing a leg and would quickly bleed out, but everyone saw the wizard driving his wand into the eye of the dragon as she chewed on his midsection.
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A Spectacular Wronski FeintHarry sat in the tent and reviewed his plan – summon his broom (Dobby waited just outside the stadium with the fast broom to make it easy for Harry to summon it) and then he would fly around, dipping down to challenge the dragon until she was exhausted, and he could grab the golden egg from the nest.
Listening carefully, Harry detected the sounds of sobs and cries again.
'Am I going to die?' he wondered. Then he rationalized, 'At least it'll be fast, and I'll be with my Mum and Dad for supper.'
The tent flap opened, and Ludo Bagman appeared, but Harry noticed the wizard was shaking and pale. Bagman tried to summon Mr Potter and it took him three tries, clearing his throat and trying to steady his shaking limbs before the wizard could say, "Mr Potter. It is…it is time."
Standing up, Harry walked by the nervous wizard and into the arena. Everyone waited while Bagman climbed the stairs to the platform while the dragon handlers positioned the Hungarian Horntail into place and double checked the chains that held her in place.
Agitated by the smell of cooked human flesh and fresh blood (usually, a delicacy forbidden to dragons), the Horntail hissed dangerously and whipped her tail around, knocking one handler back about ten meters. The other handlers levitated the wizard from the arena and rushed him to their inhouse healers.
From the platform for the judges, Bagman cast the spell to broadcast his voice and announced, "Attention Witches and Wizards! Attention!"
Ludo paused to clear his throat again before he continued, "The fourth and final champion in the Triwizard Tournament, Mr Harry Potter…"
The wizard's voice faltered. It took several seconds before the man could continue, "Potter will attempt…Potter will retrieve the Golden Egg from the nest of eggs of the Hungarian Horntail."
Many people held their breath, while others placed bets on how fast Potter would be eaten, and if the boy would cry while the dragon ate him. Cedric Diggory had been angry to be eaten and didn't cry.
Draco Malfoy shivered as his mother quietly cried beside him. The terrible images of the students dying and being eaten tore at her raw emotions – there'd been no word from Lucius, and no one could find hint or threads of evidence of his location.
In the Gryffindor section of the seats, Hermione Granger cried and buried her head in Neville Longbottom's shoulder to hide. She refused to watch, but Neville was determined to see Harry's attempt.
'If Harry is brave enough to face a dragon, I will be brave enough to watch my friend.' He took a deep breath, 'Yes! Harry Potter is my friend!'
Seamus, Dean, Lavender and Parvati were tearful and covered their eyes, unable to watch another person be killed and eaten by a dragon. Ron Weasley and his brothers and sister had been ill when Diggory was eaten – Cedric was a childhood friend and neighbour. Then when Victor Krum was barbequed and eaten by the Chinese Fireball, Ron bawled like a heartbroken child. His Quidditch idol had been eaten by a dragon.
Most of the audience wondered, 'What chance does Harry Potter have against the meanest dragon in Europe?'
Determined not to appear scared, Harry took the time to steady his breathing as he stood on the rocky ground of the arena. Potter wished he could block Bagman's annoying voice discussing every second that passed. Suddenly, the voice fell silent because Headmaster Karkaroff slugged the annoying man, knocking him to the wooden floor of the judge's platform and leaving him unconscious. Dumbledore frowned but didn't chide the other headmaster for shutting Bagman up.
Harry was beyond the range of the dragon's flames at the moment and everyone in the arena took a deep breath the boy raised his wand in the air and cast a spell. Suddenly, a broom flew into the arena and hovered just high enough off the ground for the boy to mount.
"How did he do that?" demanded several wizards and witches. "Brooms don't hover…never hover without a rider in control!"
Excited Neville told his friends, "Look! You gotta look guys! Harry's already done something spectacular!"
Without a word, Harry (and his invisible partner Dobby), rose from the ground and flew closer to the dragon. The horntail snarled, took a deep breath and then expelled a powerful flame that would burn the boy and his broom to ashes in an instant.
However, the wall of stone appeared and hovered in the air between Potter and the flame. The staff and students of Hogwarts had seen the wall several times, but the general audience members were surprised and stared at the wall that protected the Boy-Who-Lived. As Harry flew, the wall moved with him and protected him from the angry dragon's flames. Once he was too high for the flames to reach him, the wall vanished.
As they flew down several times, aggravating the dragon to expel her flames, Dobby's magic blended with Harry's to make the broom as fast as a muggle jet aeroplane though Dobby kept a shield up to protect Harry's face from the rush of air. And the wall of stone hovered in the air each time Harry drew close enough for the dragon's fire to reach him.
Harry began using the Wronski Feint manoeuvre to dive upon the dragon, each one steeper and faster than the one before. During Harry's second drop from the clouds that confused the dragon, the first cheers rose from the true Quidditch fans. Dobby added sound effects of a screaming banshee during the descent to distress the dragon and used the moo of a cow when they rose away from the flames that were diverted by the wall of stone that appeared each time.
"Vary the sounds, Dobs. It'll confuse her more," Harry shouted.
The next time, the pair dropped down, the cow's moo filled the air first making the dragon fire her flame all around and triggering the wall of stone to appear around the dragon who suffered from her own fire. And when the pair on the broom rose up in the air again, the scream of the banshee made the dragon cower – that predator ate dragon eggs and babies when they were left unprotected.
The whole of Hogwarts and most of the adults cheered as Harry Potter proved that a wizard could survive dealing with a dragon. Finally, the Hungarian Horntail collapsed, shivering in fear, scorched and burnt by her own flames.
"Summon the gold egg this time, Dobs," shouted Harry as he began another Wronski Feint. The crowd cheered as the cow's moo alternated with the banshee's scream every five seconds. Potter on his broom moved so fast no one could track his movements.
Neville Longbottom shouted, "Wait for the wall of stone to appear! That'll tell you where Harry is!"
The whoosh of the broom flying through the arena spurred the Hungarian Horntail to action – she leapt forward over her nest to protect it even if the monster that tortured her collided with her. The wall of stone appeared to surround the dragon and the audience fell silent, looking and listening for any sign of Harry Potter.
"Where's Potter?" asked Draco Malfoy. "Is he trapped behind the wall with the dragon?"
When the wall of stone faded away, the audience saw the exhausted but angry dragon had burst one of her chains and lay across the nest to protect her eggs. Just outside of the tent where he'd waited to be called out to the arena, stood Harry Potter with his broom in one hand and the golden egg propped on his hip.
The silence lasted only a moment before every human voice erupted in cheers. No one was louder than Draco Malfoy and Ron Weasley who competed to see who could praise Potter's flying skills the loudest.
Prompted to enter the tent for the infirmary, Harry waited while Madam Pomphrey examined the young wizard for any wounds. The matron was in tears, but she confirmed that except for his hair being wilder than usual, there wasn't a scratch or bruise on the youngest champion.
Then Harry asked, "Where are the others?"
Too emotionally wrung out, Madam Pomphrey sobbed but managed to tell the teenager that the older champions had all been killed and eaten by their dragons.
"They all died?" he asked. "But they were prepared, weren't they?"
Exiting the infirmary tent, Harry stomped out into the arena again, cast the spell that broadcast his voice for everyone to hear and shouted, "Stop! Stop cheering! Three good people died today for this stupid tournament! The dragons were terrified that someone would kill their children!"
He shouted, "Of course, the mother dragons fought and killed the invader before their nest could be tumbled out on the rocks! There's nothing here to cheer for!"
Then Potter turned to the judges assembled on the platform and made an obscene gesture with his fingers. He sneered and said, "I curse you all to remember the moments of terror and blood as Fleur Delacour, Cedric Diggory, and Victor Krum died today…and were eaten! You did this! Dream of it every night until the day you die!"
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NOTE: Harry's curse is just a wish. He's too tired to put any power behind the curse at the moment.