It doesn't take a lot to just listen to him, besides, he was doing it for Harry mostly. He already had formulated some sort of plan. He just worries, he worries all the time. Worry can make him go slightly over the edge and maybe worry will make him end up in an asylum.

He took in a breath and looked over at Harry as he put his hands in the bag. Alphabetically, he was the first one to go up to the bag filled with charmed mini-dragons and pick one out. He let out a breath as he held the replica dragon up by its spiked tail, the small thorns digging into his thumb and index finger. There were no numbers around its neck like the rumours said it did. "There you are, Mr. Black!" Bagman said happily, "You'll be able to defeat it easily!"

The champion of Beauxbatons was next, she had picked one of the milder dragons. The Welsh Green. Krum was emotionless as he blinked at the Chinese Fireball that was throwing a tantrum on his palm. "Feisty, aren't they?" Edmund joked in Bulgarian and Krum cracked a small smile through his facade of emotionlessness.

Harry had picked out the Swedish Short-Snout, which made Edmund relieved to no end because that was the dragon with the least amount of deaths to its name. Edmund looked closely at Harry's expression though, his breath quivered and the hand that wasn't holding a miniature dragon was slightly shaking. His brother dearest is nervous.

Edmund put a hand on Harry's shoulder and squeezed it lightly, pulling him out of his own head. "Do what you have to do," He said quietly to his brother. "It is going to be dangerous, so survival is the priority. I don't care if you won't win."

"I do." Harry said sharply. "I do care if I won't win." Edmund raised his eyebrows at his brother's sudden attitude. "Slytherins are walking around with badges, supporting you and not me. They don't want me as their champion, they want you."

The words that spilled out of Harry's mouth made Edmund recoil. "I don't want to do this either." He said and clenched his jaw. He took a step back and recognized the competitive nature in his tone. "Fine, Potter. We'll do it the way you want to."

The yellow and black colours contrasted the subtle tones everyone else was wearing, but Edmund didn't care what disadvantage it gave him. He was going to win this, not only for the colours he was donned in, but for the whole school of what he represents. He glanced over at Harry and took in a breath. Frustrating, everything. He understood that tensions were running high but never before had he thought that he deserved that reaction from someone he was trying to help.

He let out the breath and stretched his legs, trying to take even breaths as he could hear Bagman's voice echo over the stadium and in the clothing room. "Gather around to witness the first task of the Triwizard Tournament-" A deafening cheer sounded and the breathlessness appeared back in him. "Our brave champions are about to face a challenge never done before. Welcome-" His voice dropped a few octaves lower, entrancing the crowd. "To the Dragon's Reflections!" He called out and this time Edmund closed his eyes and just shook his arms. Nervous nerves, all over his body, nervous nerves. "This magical domain has dragons." A few gasps sounded through the otherwise quiet area. "Dragons that our champions had sightlessly chosen from a bag. Amid the sea of danger and illusions they must run and survive from their chosen dragon."

A wizard who worked at the arena started to appear in the room and guide each of the players their own way. Leaving Fleur on her own, looking nervously at the door as if it was her death. "Good luck." He called out before he disappeared. She looked over at him and the look on her face would haunt him for the game.

"Bewitched treasures await, beware of the illusions as they tempt you, taunt you. Our champions must navigate through the illusions and threaten the line between reality and illusion until they reach their treasure trove. Get to your egg and win." He was put up at the northern side of the arena, he could see the sun peek out between the cracks of the curtain and glare at him. "You better run! The dragons have your scent and are out to hunt." A yowling screeching scream sounded from one of the dragons and a shiver ran down his spine. "I didn't know they had cues." Bagman joked and Edmund's mood turned slightly sour. Bagman was laughing in the face of a possible death, these dragons were no joke, even though one of the most harmless ones are here, they can still cause bodily harm and if too long near them, death.

The curtains dropped suddenly and Edmund put a hand up to cover his eyes from the sun's glare. "At the third cannon, you are free to start running. Five seconds headstart before the dragons are released with you, as their destination in mind." The man said into his microphone and the endless cheers sounded, it was getting quieter in suspense.

Edmund nervously as he looked into the pit of nothingness, all the walls were straight and the mirrors made him the most nervous, reminding him of the fair, then confusing warnings Dumbledore had given him in the form of his teachings and criticism. The glimmering layer of air that was right above the walls made him note that there was a barrier up there, to not let any of the players climb the wall, or use it to scout their potential way.

A thunderous booming noise sounded and Edmund stopped covering his eyes from the sun. The warmth embraced his face and he let his shoulders relax. "One." He counted and listened to his surroundings. The sound of metal rattling, the cannons were agitating the dragons.

Then came the second booming noise. Edmund pushed a leg back and crouched, he was ready to run and survive. He glanced over to the corner of the closest person next to him and his posture faltered. "Hermione." He breathed out and looked at her.

Her hands were balled up by her lips and like usual when she was nervous, she was biting the inside of her cheek. Her eyes were wide with fear for him as she looked down, silently they both looked at each other. Then she smiled at him.

The third was set off and he tore his eyes away from hers and ran, he ran looking around at the ground, the wall if it wasn't made of glass. His wand was in his hand and he was running around at a steady pace. Golden coins laid on the ground and Edmund looked around warily. Flinching when another cannon sounded again, along with the four different sounding screeches of dragons being released from their cage.

His steady pace was picked up to a full blown sprint when the walls and mirror behind had caved in by the powerful force of the Hungarian Hornback, shrapnel flew and Edmund ignored the bleeding from the back of his arm as he just ran. The dragon had no mercy as it continued flying down, tail sometimes swooping down to try and pin Edmund with its spiked tail.

After some more running, the dragon went up higher in the air and Edmund recognized it as the posture of the dragon going to spew out a flame that could make stone red in mere seconds. He let out a breath and looked at it with narrowing eyes, the chest expanded from all the air it was taking in and the dragon held it for a few more seconds.

Edmund jumped onto the ground around a corner and covered his head with his arms, laying flat on the cool ground. He looked up and reached out to his wand, wincing because of the pain. Slowly, he stood up to look around, there was no noise and no dragon. He took in a breath and just as he had reached out for his wand.

His hand hovered over the wand as he looked up to the vision of Hermione, her familiar bushy hair was put up, a few strands escaped from the bushy bun and Edmund's heart pounded in his chest. "Hermione?" He asked quietly as he pushed himself up and reached out to her.

He stopped, realising where he was and that there was no way that they would use Hermione in the competition. The Hermione he cared for deeply suddenly turned grey with snarling flesh-tearing teeth. He stumbled back and picked up his wand, he kicked the siren away from him "Petrificus totalus." He casted and ran to the spot where light was coming from.

Suddenly he was back in the game, the blood pumped in his veins as he heard the wild screech from the Hungarian Horntail, trained to hunt him and only him. His feet hit the ground running and he continued, picking up tiny clues from the ground and glints in the walls. Edmund wondered if he was the only one so far to run into the trap and what the siren had hidden itself to the other contestants, to lure them into a false sense of safety.

He rounded another corner as another breath of fire had signed his sleeve. He had been in the maze for what he thinks has been ten minutes of tense, running and near misses of ending up as a barbeque platter for the fire-breathing dragon.

Then he saw it, the pattern of the dragon. How it would go after him for about ten corners and then fly into the air. In the air it would briefly disappear into the clouds and then reappear some other place above the maze. "The Golden Egg, the dragon is checking on her egg." He breathed out as he caught his breath before the dragon returned.

With another screech from the dragon Edmund started his pace, he hadn't seen from which way it flew but that was a problem for later, at the split moment the dragon dived down from out of the sky. Edmund started to run again.

It inched closer, biting at his ankles, aching to get a taste. He kept running until he stopped around a corner, the sound of destruction coming to a halt. He peeked at the mirror in front of him, seeing if the dragon was about to destroy the path behind him in a blind wraith to find her prey.

He put his hand on his knees and breathed out, he had never been so tired before and he had to thank his uncle Remus and Severus for putting him on such a vigorous program. He chuckled as he had a sense of deja vu. A scaled monster running after him, trying to kill him. It was just like his second year at Hogwarts in the Chamber of Secrets.

The loud shattering noise didn't distract him from the dragon coming down from the air and onto the wall next to him as he started running again. He was getting more tired and his vision was starting to blur. He rounded another corner and cursed as he ended up in yet another black room, this time he had his wand gripped tightly in his hand, his knuckles turning white.

He could feel the sweat cling against his upper body and his breaths were uneven, unable to control it now. Then the sound of rumbling wood sounded and Edmund turned around. Getting faces with all his family and friends. The look on their faces haunted him, truly.

"Why don't you like me?" The Weasley boy said and Edmund's eyes widened. "Do I talk too much about plants?" Neville asked, holding a cactus in his hand that suddenly lost all of its life. "Do I meddle too much?" Padma asked.

His breath hitched and he was shaking his head, "No, you guys-"

"Aren't I family enough? Or is it because we didn't raise you?" Draco and his parents behind him said, synchronised. "I raised you to be a good boy, why aren't you a good boy?" His Uncle Remus said, suddenly his face transformed and snarled at him, in his werewolf shape. "You have failed me." His uncle Severus said and his eyes began to water a bit.

He took a step forward and tried to reach out, only for them to recoil in disgust. "No-" He repeated and shook his head, "-I didn't!" He tried to convince them, they were family, they took care of him. He would never fail them. They had done a good job with him, he was so broken without his mother that he didn't think that any of them could have helped him continue to be a family without her. "You did help me!" He called out and a cold hand, ice to the touch, rested on his shoulder, he turned around and he let out a breath as he looked at Harry.

"Harry, you're my brother, please-"

"Why didn't you save me from this?" Harry's voice and face was lifeless, his eyes were sunken and the pupils were black. "You're my big brother, why aren't you protecting me?" Edmund was shaking his head now.

"I tried-"

"You tried. You failed." Susan looked over at him now. "That's all you do right, you fail?" His breath hitched as the girl laughed maniacally. "Poor little Edmund, can't save anyone, can you?"

He blinked away the tears and when he opened them Dumbledore stood in front of him, his face covered by the shadow of the Sorting Hat. "We declare you a waste." The two said menacingly.

Edmund took a step back and turned swiftly around as he bumped into someone, "I'm so sorry-" He said, his breath quickening. "M-mom." He was shaking now, he put a hand up to his mouth.

"Why didn't you come with me? Theseus." At first, Amanda Potter's voice was sad, until it gradually turned angry. It was a tone he had only ever heard once before. It was after she started to deteriorate, coughing out blood. She had locked herself in her room, screaming out profanities and throwing around whatever she could get her hands on. It was her moment of anger, sadness and frustration. "You promised that you wouldn't leave, why did you leave me, Theseus?!"

He was shaking as he reached out to her, "No mom." His voice cracked. "I didn't want to leave you. I never wanted to, please, stay mom." He pleaded.

"I'm dead because of you, Theseus."

That was when he felt the shiver up his spine, a stab in his leg from the pain. He looked at the glass shard in his left leg and winced, the pain he felt made him cry out silently. "Ah-" He breathed out and his mother changed shape.

His breath quivered as his father stood in front of him. His hand slightly moved the glass shard in his leg and his father changed into Hermione who looked angry, angry tears were sliding down her cheek. He held up his wand to her as she began to scream at him.

His left leg pushed down around the wound, causing another stab of pain to come up his leg again. Now there stood Professor Quirrel, slowly unwrapping his turban, ready to reveal Voldemort behind it. "Riddikulus." He casted silently and the turban turned into a red afro wig, the unusual outfit Quirrel used to wear turned into a clown outfit.

Edmund let out a breath as he walked over to the light that shone through the exit of the room. He looked up to find his dragon starting to fly away. Ignoring the wound in his left leg, he began to run. Faster and faster than it allowed him to go. He rounded corners and even caught a glimpse of Victor thinking he could wrestle with his dragon.

The Hufflepuff hadn't heard Bagman's voice at all, probably because the announcer had put a charm over the arena that his voice couldn't be heard. It was for the best. Edmund would have driven himself insane with overthinking if he heard that Krum was getting closer and closer to his- "Egg." He breathed out.

The screech from the Hungarian Horntail told him that she was angry, very angry. Edmund held up his wand and casted a firework charm. Loud noises could disorient any dragon. He then ran for the closest small passageway in the corner of the small rock formation made in the arena, designed for the dragon.

The dragon was wildly throwing its large body around, Edmund had to cast a shield to protect himself from the small pebble launched at a deadly speed. Grabbing a few big stones on the ground, he casted a transfiguration spell on them.

Small aeroplanes sat on the ground and Edmund smeared the blood from his left leg over the planes. The sound of thudding and ground shaking told him that the dragon was nearing. He shot out a few fireworks again before letting the aeroplanes fly around.

The smell of his blood and the disorientation confused the dragon to no end. The dragon was roaring out fire and thrashing. Edmund covered his head as he ran over to the golden egg. As soon as his fingertips touched the cold metal.

The dragon had chains around his neck and confetti came falling from the sky. His chest heaved as he held onto the Egg. A staircase floated from all the rubble on the ground and slowly Edmund walked up to the barrier, his head poked over it and the cheers fell on deaf ears as he fearfully looked over at his family and friends.

He just looked over at Bagman where two wizards walked out from behind the man and over to Edmund. He was being held up and they slowly walked over to the medical tent, their questions were muted and all Edmund could do was shake his head or nod.

He sat down and he stared out in front of him, his heart was pounding in his head and the adrenaline was running high. He felt the slight sting of the glass shard being removed and he just continued to stare out in front of him.

"Edmund?" His head snapped up at his father who stood at the entrance of the tent. "Edmund?" He called out again, the man walked over and stood as close as the medical staff allowed him to.

"Father?" He breathed out, his voice cracked. "I saw mom-"

"I know." The man said softly. "I saw her too. She isn't mad, she doesn't blame you. She loves you, yeah?"

Edmund blinked a few more times, the pain in his chest didn't leave. "She loves me." He whispered to himself. He repeated that a few more times, not seeing that his father was being pushed out by the staff.

He must've been repeating that to himself until the next person came into the empty tent. "Harry?" He said, loud but winced when he felt his raw voice. "Harry, are you okay? Harry-"

"I'm fine." Harry said as he was being pushed down by the medical staff onto a bed. "You look more awful than I do." The boy said and chuckled as the staff swarmed around him like bees. "Are you okay, Ed?" The boy frowned.

Edmund took in a shuddering breath, "I don't think I am, Harry." He said and reached out for a med. "Let me watch."

The medical wizard looked over his fellow colleagues but Edmund just tightened his grip. "I'm fine, let me watch." He said, pushing the poor man just doing his job. The man grumbled and helped Edmund into an empty top box, most likely designated for the contestants.

He looked over at the large arena. A picture showed the fight happening within the maze. Krum looked banged up and Fleur looked like she had greyed because of the stress. Krum was getting closer to his treasure while Fleur was running from her dragon into the opposite direction.

It was a wild goose chase, in his eyes. He listened to the cringy announcements made by Bagman. Edmund sat down with a wince, his leg still hurt, his face still had a few scratches and his feet had blisters from running.

He watched after some time when Krum came up the stairs and to a medical tent with Golden Egg in his hands. Then, after some shorter while, Fleur had found her Golden Egg by accident, she walked up those stairs as well.

A few more minutes and Edmund was escorted out the lonesome top box and over to the places next to Bagman, in front of the judges and mentors. It was all a blur to him, he just remembers wincing when Bagman pulled his hand up into the air.

As soon as the cannons went off, Edmund disappeared from the stage and tried to walk through the back of the staff's tent. A hand stopped him, he grimaced as hurt blossomed. "Theseus." The monotone voice said and Edmund looked at his uncle. "You did good." He said, a rare warm smile on his face as the hand on his chest went up to his shoulder. "You would never fail me, Theseus. You never failed your mother either, she would have been screaming out her lungs for you if she were here." Snape said and let his shoulder go.

He stood still for a moment. "Thank you, uncle." He said quietly. His breath quivered more and more. "It was horrible." If he were to look his uncle in the eyes, he would imagine the soulless look of the boggart.

"Go rest. I'll see you soon." His uncle said and disappeared into the shadows. The Golden Egg felt heavy in his arms and he continued down the path to head down to the Hufflepuff dorms, he even used the unknown path that he had discovered when he was still a kid, staying with his uncle.