Dark Conscience

by HighKeyMars

For as long as Harry could remember, there had always been a voice in the back of his head, giving him advice. but when the Deers are about to kill him and Sirius, he finally gives him and listens to it. that might just be the best decision he's ever made or perhaps the worst decision the world has ever seen. (Not a Tom Riddle Jr/Harry Potter slash fic)

3. Chapter 3

A/N: Real quickly before we get into the story, this is NOT a goody goody pure hearted Harry Potter story nor is this some OP dark lord wank fest Harry Potter story. Harry is starting off at the canon purehearted Harry and slowly going to swing back and forth between making the wrong decision and making the right decision. Someone complained that they didn't even finish the first part of the last chapter and saw the story as "this is another generic goody two shoes Harry story. Doing anything you can to justify Harry being a staunch proponent of the light, whilst minimizing the power of dark magic. It just feels awfully contrived." Which is rather stupid as we saw Harry literally kill a man in chapter one with his own magic and he needed to come to term with that. I dunno about you people, but when I was 14 years old, I wasn't murdering people nor did I think that was normal. Let's have a hint of common sense, please.

The Voice

The Voice's inner thoughts/The voice during flashbacks

"Parseltongue"

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

Are you okay?

'What do you think?'

That my dislike for the mindless sheep that walk about this school grows by the second

'Thanks'

Do you wish for me to help you put a taboo on your name?

'You know how to do that?'

I know many things about many things

'I see'

Harry sat alone at the Gryffindor table, more metaphorically than actually. The table was packed with other students, but nobody sat within 5 feet of him. Thus, he was sitting on the end closest to the door to the Great Hall.

You would think these people would grow tired of being wrong about you. They do this basically every year

'They can't help it, they're scared'

Of what? You? You wouldn't harm a fly unless it asked you to.

'They're just upset that I was chosen as champion'

No, they're angry because you were chosen to represent Hogwarts. Whoever placed your name in before the cup was hidden behind the age line ward did so knowing how powerful you are. It would be extremely difficult to trick something like the Goblet without doing something that would leave a magical imprint.

'So, what is our plan besides winning?'

Do we need a plan other than win?

'Maybe?'

Just eat your toast, we have a lot of dueling to go over soon

Harry absentmindedly nodded as he munched on the toast, his mind drifting back to the moment when he was selected.

At the top table, Professor Dumbledore had straightened up, nodding to Professor McGonagall.

"Harry Potter!" he called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"

"Go on," Hermione whispered, giving Harry a slight push. Harry got to his feet, trod on the hem of his robes, and stumbled slightly. He set off up the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. It felt like an immensely long walk; the top table didn't seem to be getting any nearer at all, and he could feel hundreds and hundreds of eyes upon him, as though each were a searchlight. The buzzing grew louder and louder. After what seemed like an hour, he was right in front of Dumbledore, feeling the stares of all the teachers upon him.

"Well . . . through the door, Harry," said Dumbledore. He wasn't smiling.

And neither was Harry at this moment, it felt like a punch to the gut, this always happened to him.

Harry moved off along the teachers' table. Hagrid was seated right at the end. He did not wink at Harry, or wave, or give any of his usual signs of greeting. He looked completely astonished and stared at Harry as he passed like everyone else. Harry went through the door out of the Great Hall and found himself in a smaller room, lined with paintings of witches and wizards. A handsome fire was roaring in the fireplace opposite him.

The faces in the portraits turned to look at him as he entered. He saw a wizened witch flit out of the frame of her picture and into the one next to it, which contained a wizard with a walrus mustache. The wizened witch started whispering in his ear.

Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour were standing around by the fire. They looked strangely impressive, silhouetted against the flames. Krum, hunched-up and brooding, was leaning against the mantelpiece, slightly apart from Fleur Delacour, who looked around when Harry walked in and threw back her sheet of long, silvery hair.

"What is it?" she said in slightly accent English. "Do they want us back in the Hall?"

Before Harry could say anything in response, there was a sound of scurrying feet behind him, and Ludo Bag- man entered the room. He took Harry by the arm and led him forward.

"Extraordinary!" he muttered, squeezing Harry's arm. "Absolutely a soft noise of impatient disbelief in the shadows.

"As if anyone believes you Potter" scoffed Snape softly. His black eyes were alight with malice. "Don't go blaming Dumbledore for Potter's determination to break rules everyone. He has been crossing lines ever since he arrived here —"

Are you going to let him talk to you like that?

'What should I do?'

Banish that man's sleeve

Harry was certain that was a bad idea, so he did not do that. But he did put that information in his back pocket.

'All right, Snivellus?' said Harry, repeating what Junior told him to

Snape flinched before anger exploded onto his face like Harry had never seen before, but Harry being the son of a master prankster that he was, was one step ahead and before Snape could say anything, Harry silently cast silencing spell on Snape.

Snape's face turned a shade of angry red that would make Uncle Vernon jealous as he cursed Harry without ever being able to say anything audible. His anger only grew when he realized that he wasn't able to undue the spell when he attempted to.

Harry turned back to Dumbledore, "Anyway, how do we get out of this. There are things I want to do, dying for some money isn't on that list"

"I'm afraid that you must compete" said Mr. Crouch

"Why is that?" asked Harry

"Your name came out of the Goblet" said Mr. Crouch, "You must compete for Hogwarts"

"Like show up and do nothing 'compete' or try my hardest to win 'compete'?" asked Harry, "Because I am willing to show up and do nothing"

"You have to attempt each task from the Tournament to the best of your abilities" replied Mr. Crouch as he read from the tournament's rule book

"Fine, I guess I'll win the whole damn thing" groaned Harry, "But how did I get entered in this thing to begin with. Doesn't the Ministry guard this cup thing?"

"Still have faith in the Ministry Potter? That is rather interesting considering how often they fail" said Moody as he entered the room. "It's very simple, to me at least. Someone put Potter's name in that goblet prior to the cup being placed behind the age line ward."

Madame Maxime arched an eyebrow, "But why? Surely there is better options for Hogwarts than a young boy?"

Moody shrugged, "Haven't you heard the rumors? Potter here killed a Basilisk with a sword and drove off over 100 dementors with a single patronus charm"

Harry was the first to react, "How do you know that? Those are private events that I only told Dumbledore about"

Dumbledore blushed lightly, "Those went into official reports to the ICW and the Ministry, the school was threatened to be shut down"

Mr. Crouch coughed, "Anyway, there will be 9 tasks involved in this tournament, The first task is designed to test your daring. Thus, we are not going to be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard, very important"

"Can you tell us when it is?" asked Fleur

"The first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth, in front of the other students and the panel of judges. The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament" said Mr. Crouch as he once again read from the rulebook, "The champions will face the first challenge armed only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over. Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from end-of-year tests."

Harry stood up, ignoring the jeers by the other Hogwarts students as he made his way back to his dorm, he would rather read in the comfort of his own bed than spend time dealing with these people.

So, I know a little bit about the TriWizard Tournament

'Of course you do'

Anyway, the first task is usually involves a dangerous magical creature

'Does it also usually involve a 14-year-old?'

No, it usually does not

'I'm fucked aren't I?'

Only if you fail to listen to me

The days dragged by slowly, the lack of contact with anyone outside of Neville was starting to get to Harry. Ron had stopped talking to him in a fit of jealousy that that spread through Gryffindor like a wildfire. And sadly, due to Hogwarts students being mindless sheep, that meant that once other houses saw that Gryffindors were giving Harry the cold shoulder, they followed.

Hermione was on the fence, choosing to split her time between Ron, Harry, and the Library. The only one who willing stood by him was Neville, although Harry was convinced that Neville might not have any other friends besides him at this point.

Technically Hagrid had slipped him a note saying that the first task was Dragons, which seemed to be an illegal decision to Harry. Mostly because he was 14 years old, and he didn't want to 'give his best effort' to fighting a fucking dragon.

Before the task started, there was this thing called the 'Weighing of the Wands'

To attend such an event found Harry in a fairly small classroom; most of the desks had been pushed away to the back of the room, leaving a large space in the middle; three of them, however, had been placed end-to-end in front of the blackboard and covered with a long length of velvet. Five chairs had been set behind the velvet-covered desks, and Ludo Bagman was sitting in one of them, talking to a witch Harry had never seen before, who was wearing magenta robes.

Viktor Krum was standing next to Fleur in conversation. Fleur looked a good deal happier than Harry had seen her so far; she kept throwing back her head so that her long silvery hair caught the light. A paunchy man, holding a large black camera that was smoking slightly, was watching Fleur out of the corner of his eye.

Bagman suddenly spotted Harry, got up quickly, as he started talking a mile per second, "Ah, here he is! Champion number three! In you come, Harry, in you come . . . nothing to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment —"

"Wand weighing?" Harry repeated nervously.

"We have to check that your wands are fully functional, no problems, you know, as they're your most important tools in the tasks ahead," said Bagman. "The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore. And then there's going to be a little photo shoot. This is Rita Skeeter," he added, gesturing toward the witch in magenta robes. "She's doing a small piece on the tournament for the Daily Prophet. . .."

"Maybe not that small, Ludo," said Rita Skeeter, her eyes on Harry.

This bitch is still alive?

'Huh?'

She's a nasty author of smear pieces, if she doesn't piss off half the wizarding population, she hasn't done her job

"I wonder if I could have a little word with Harry before we start?" she said to Bagman, but still gazing fixedly at Harry. "The youngest champion, you know to add a bit of color?"

"Lovely," said Rita Skeeter as Harry apparently didn't have a say in the matter as she was steering him out of the room again and opening a nearby door.

"We don't want to be in there with all that noise," she said. "Let's see . . . ah, yes, this is nice and cozy."

It was a broom cupboard. Harry stared at her.

"Is this where you really want to be? In a broom closet with a 14-year-old boy?" asked Harry, "Not that you're the worst option to have drag me in here"

Rita blushed as she took in the words that Harry had repeated, the insinuation being clear as day.

"You won't mind, Harry, if I use a Quick-Quotes Quill? It leaves me free to talk to you normally" asked Rita as she pulled a notepad along with an acid-green quill.

"A what?" said Harry.

Do not allow her to use that quill, it will dramatically misquote you

Harry eyed the quill

"Testing . . . my name is Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet reporter."

Harry looked down quickly at the quill. The moment Rita Skeeter had spoken, the green quill had started to scribble, skid- ding across the parchment:

Attractive blonde Rita Skeeter, forty-three, whose savage quill has punctured many inflated reputations —

Harry yawned as Junior helped him guide his magic to send out a pulse that destroyed the self-writing quill.

Rita looked at the quill as it dropped to the ground, a frown appearing on her face as she realized it wasn't going to work.

"Is your quill having … performance issues?" asked Harry

Rita nodded sadly, "It would seem so"

"Maybe I can give you an interview after the first task then" said Harry as he used this moment to open the broom closet door and slip out, getting away from the reporter.

The next day:

'Hey is there some kind of ritual I can use to juice myself up'

Not while you're 14, you're a growing boy going through too many changes. Come back to that idea when we turn 22, can easily have the public thinking you're the next merlin.

'So, what do you suggest that I do?

Don't wait to the day of the task to ask me for a plan

'I have a plan'

You have a series of mistakes that you plan on chaining together

'Ok, so less a plan and more of a concept I guess'

If we live, I plan on finding a way to gain my own body for a single moment and just slapping the stupidity out of you.

'Love you too'

He was pulled out of his thoughts about his fellow champion by Bagman presenting the three of them a bag.

"Ladies first," he said, offering it to Fleur Delacour.

She put a shaking hand inside the bag and drew out a tiny, perfect model of a dragon - a Welsh Green. It had tiny little scrap of fabric around its neck, that said 3. Harry knew, by the fact that Fleur showed no sign of surprise, but rather a determined resignation, that he had been right: It had been the right thing to have told her what was coming.

The dumbest thing you could have done in a contest that we are trying to win

'What if she died'

Then you'd be one step closer to winning and getting our name on the Trophy

The same held face-to-face for Krum. He pulled out the scarlet Chinese Fireball. It had a number one wrapped around its neck. He didn't even blink, just sat back down and stared at the ground.

Knowing what was left, Harry put his hand into the silk bag and pulled out the Hungarian Horntail, and the number three. It stretched its wings as he looked down at it and bared its minuscule fangs.

"Well, there you are!" said Bagman. "You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see?

The trio of teens stood around as Bagman raced around the tent grabbing this and that, not that Harry was paying attention to it. In the distance, Harry could hear the pounding of feet, growing closer and closer with every second.

'There must be about 14 or 15 hundred students between the 3 schools. The stand will be absolutely filled today. Now, as long as I can remember to stick to my plan, then I should have no issues giving the fans a show they wouldn't ever remember.'

Just want to remind you that your plan is full of shit once again

A whistle had blown somewhere.

"Good lord, I've got to run!" said Bagman in alarm, and he hurried off.

Harry walked back to the front of the tent, next to Fleur and Krum. The roar of the crowd was making its way into the tent and Harry couldn't help but wonder what was being said out there?

Was it "Hey guys, hope you like seeing teenagers getting shit stomped by dragons?" or "Have any of you ever seen an ant fight a human, this is gonna look a lot like that but with more fire"

Bagman yelled as a whistle blew. "Mister Krum, if you please!"

Krum nodded to Fleur and Harry and strolled confidently out of the tent into the arena.

Another whistle and a thunderous round of cheers as Krum entered the arena.

"You'll do fine, I'm sure of it." Said Harry before he could help himself.

"Really, and how would you know that?" asked Fleur

"Well, you got my note, right? The one that that while didn't provide all of the exact details of the Task, did explain that there were dragons and that we had to get something from them and then go past them, right?"

"Hmm, so it was your note huh?"

Harry looked at the French witch and chuckled, "Come on, I literally signed it with my name"

Fleur laughed in a light-hearted manner and said, "I know, it was rather bold of you to do so. But then again, cheating is a part of the history of the tournament. If you had not told me, I would have found out for myself at some point. Did you ever tell Krum?"

Before Harry could say anything, a whistle went off and Fleur slipped out of the tent and towards the arena.

Harry listened with a great deal of concentration, hanging on to every word of Bagman and every Oh and Ah of the crowd. Finally, he heard Bagman yell out one last time.

"Oh, and she's done it, that was one of the most impressive displays of magic I have ever seen. How is it that she managed all of that and never got touched by the dragon? I would give her a perfect score …"

I swear to Merlin, if you let this little crush of yours get in the way of us doing something amazing out there, I am going on strike.

'What does that mean?'

It means that I will withholding my wisdom until you learn to be blessed with some level of competence on your own.

Harry rolled his eyes as the whistle blew for the final time and he walked out of the tent, the booming voice of Bagman fading away.

There were hundreds and hundreds of faces staring down at him from stands that had been magically put there since he'd last stood on this spot. And there was the Horntail, at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half-furled, her evil, yellow eyes upon him, a monstrous, scaly, black lizard, thrashing her spiked tail, heaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground. The crowd was making a great deal of noise, but whether friendly or not, Harry didn't know or care.

It was time to do what he had to do… to focus his mind, entirely and absolutely, upon the thing that was his only chance.

He raised his wand.

"Accio Firebolt!" he shouted.

This is going to end so poorly

He knew that it would take about 20-30 seconds before his broom would come to his location. He seemed to be looking at everything around him through some sort of shimmering, transparent barrier, like a heat haze, which made the enclosure and the hundreds of faces around him swim strangely…

And then he heard it, speeding through the air behind him; he turned and saw his Firebolt hurtling toward him around the edge of the woods, soaring into the enclosure, and began to make its way next to him, he was ready to mount it, when his danger senses went off.

The crowd was making even more noise… Bagman was shouting something… but Harry's ears were not working properly anymore… listening wasn't important. Not at the moment, as Harry jumped to the side and not a moment too soon. A burst of deadly dragon fire hit the spot that he had just been at, and Harry saw it in slow motion.

His broom was still being pulled towards that location and he couldn't cancel the spell in time as his broom raced into the flames and burnt into nothing in less than a second.

I fucking hate you with every ounce of my being, because HOW DID YOU NOT THINK THAT A FIRE BREATHING DRAGON WOULD NOT BURN A WOODEN BROOM!

"OUCH, IT SEEMS THAT WHATEVER PLAN, YOUNG HARRY HAD, IS NOW MOST CERTAINLY DOOMED." Said, Bagman.

Harry's eyes narrowed as his anger skyrocketed, and he turned to face the dragon.

'Fine, tell me what to do and I will study that big ass book of charms that I've been putting off'

Promise?

'Yes'

Ok, remember when we did the patronus charm last year? Lean into me and I will guide us to a victory here today. Also, that was a gift from Sirius, and I am like 99.99 percent sure he stole that for you.

With a wave of his wand, Harry conjured a sword, very similar to the Sword of Gryffindor as he kept his eyes on the dragon. It was the only sword he had ever seen in his life, thus he used it to fuel the image of a sword to conjure.

The dragon let out a roar and Harry flicked his wand up. A wall of stone rose from the ground and just in time as the dragon let loose another burst of flames. The flames hit the stone and stopped. The Dragon seeing that the flames couldn't get past the stone spun. Its tail swept in and smashed the protective rock into pieces. Harry slipped behind another rock and the dragon began to slam its tail into each rock. As it systematically destroyed each rock that Harry was capable of hiding behind, Harry continued to listen to Junior complaining in the back of his mind.

I did not show up to show the world that we are fast and the best at running away, do something and go on the offensive

"Terebro Terrae (Earthly Drill)" said Harry as he pointed his wand at the ground. The spell hit the ground and drilled a small hole. The purpose of the spell became clear when it kicked up a bunch of dust, hiding Harry from the view of the dragon.

Harry pointed his wand at the crumbled stones all over the arena, transfiguring the smashed rocks into clones of himself. He must have created 20 clones by the time that the dust cleared, and the dragon could see again.

Another roar came from the mighty beast and a different type of roar came from the crowd. Harry slipped behind the dragon and began using a cutting curse to cut a circle into the ground.

"IT SEEMS THAT POTTER HAS A PLAN. THE DRAGON IS SO CONCERNED WITH THE TRANSFIGURED ROCKS, THAT IT IS COMPLETELY IGNORING POTTER BEHIND IT. IT SEEMS THAT POTTER IS CUTTTING INTO THE GROUND …" Announced Bagman

Harry felt a shift in the wind and ducked as he avoided the tail. He climbed to his feet, just in time to dodge the tail once again. Gritting his teeth, Harry look at the tail and pointed his wand at the base of the Dragon's back, where the tail and body met. A weak point on the dragon, if there was one besides the eyes.

"Caeleste Slash (Heavenly Slash)" cried out Harry. Much to his surprise, the dragon hopped into the air and flapped her wings. As the fire-breathing rampage was facing the wrong way, Harry took off running, ducking the tail of the dragon and avoiding the flames that it was unleashing almost nonstop at this point.

However, his path to the golden egg in the nest was cut short by the Dragon biting through the chain's pin that was keeping it pinned to ground. Which meant that when the Dragon flapped its wings, it took off into the sky instead of just hovering.

"OH! WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT, IT APPEARS THAT WITH THE DRAGON FREE OF THE CHAIN THAT KEPT IT GROUNDED, HARRY MUST DEFEAT THE DRAGON IN ACTUAL COMBAT." Said Bagman

'Okay, I need to go on the offensive, anything you can add to my knowledge of dragons would really help right now'

Okay, so among the most important things that I remember about combating dragons was that you have to aim for the wings. Not the bone structure or the part that connects to the back, like with the tail. The dragon skin that makes up the wings are more like a bat wing than anything else. The skin is stretched extremely thin and weakest there. If you tear a big enough hole in the wing, you can ground it and prevent it from taking off back into the air.

'I want you to know that if this works, I will literally do whatever it is that you want. I will owe you anything that you want, if I can make it happen, you can have it'

I will keep that in mind, not just try not to get us killed!

Harry stopped running and turned around to face the dragon. The magical beast was in the air, about 75 feet about him, the wings flapping, and its mouth opens for a roar. In a moment of quick thinking, Harry banished a large rock into the mouth of the dragon, forcing the mouth of the Dragon to remain open. The Dragon tried to breathe fire, but the fire was unable to get the air needed to ignite and backed up into the Dragon's throat in a burst of smoke.

Turning his attention to the wings of the dragon, Harry sent a couple of "Caeleste Slash" at the wings, hoping to clip them. He was not disappointed when he managed to cause a small slice on the left-wing. The dragon didn't fall from the sky, instead, it spat the rock in its mouth out at him, forcing Harry to once again dodge.

Refusing to give up and get killed by a dragon, Harry continued his assault on the dragon's wings. He finally landed a blow that caused the dragon to fall, punching a soccer ball hole in the left-wing, using the slice that he had put earlier as a basis to punch through the hole cleanly.

Nice aim

Harry never got the chance to reply as the tail of the dragon smacked into his body. It sent him crashing into the wall of the arena, not too far from where he had been cutting into the ground.

'Every part of my body hurts'

We are extremely lucky to be alive

What do we do now?

'Kill it of course'

"DO YOU SEE THIS? HARRY POTTER JUST SURVIVED A HIT BY A BLOODY DRAGON. OH! THIS IS AN EVENT FOR THE AGES. THIS IS AN INSTANT CLASSIC … "Bagman continued on brown-nosing

Harry scrambled around the floor, his vision blurry but Junior was guiding him, allowing him to move back to his nearly finished circle cut into the ground and looked as the dragon sent another blast of fire at him.

"Ventilabis Omnipotens (Almighty Push)" shouted Harry and Junior at the same time, creating a shimmering silver dome of magic around them.

The flames raced toward him before it slammed into a magical barrier that stopped it from advancing on Harry. This was nothing like the Fiendfyre, as the strain this time was worse than anything Harry had ever experience. The heat of the dragon's flames washed over the barrier, causing blisters to form over Harry's hand holding his wand. The air grew stickier by the second and inhaling it made things worse.

A nasty wet cough ripped through Harry's throat, and he hissed as he felt the blood splatter through his grit teeth. The corners of his mouth tickled blood as he felt the greedy drain of magic from the spell.

Harry dropped the barrier when the Dragon let out another angry roar and instead pointed his wand downwards before blasting the ground apart, creating a circular platform of stone for him to stand on. The plan was working as the platform shot up into the air, Harry standing on it confidently until the dragon swatted at the platform. The claw grazed the stone and sent it spiraling as it continued to ascend. Harry lost his footing and barely managed to grab onto the edge as he almost fell to what would most certainly be his death.

Taking a deep breath, Harry began to swing his leg back and forth. Feeling his grip starting to wane, Harry used magic to speed up his moment and when he felt the time was right, he let go. His left hand reached out to the sword that he had created, and it shot off the ground and into his hand as he fell.

"WOW! IT SEEMS THAT HARRY POTTER IS ATTEMPTING TO GAIN SOME TYPE OF MOMENTUM BY SWINGING BACK AND FORTH. OH! WHAT IS THIS? IT SEEMS AS IF POTTER HAS LET GO OF THE STONE HE WAS HANGING OFF OF! HE IS FALLING TOWARDS THE DRAGON! THE SWORD HAS SHOT OFF INTO HIS HANDS AND …OH MY GODS LADY AND GENTLEMEN" ranted Bagman

Harry was falling towards the dragon, and with his extra control of magic, had a tiny rock slam into the dragon's belly and draw the attention of its head. Dripping the sword with both hands, Harry aimed as best he could while falling. His feet missed the snout of the dragon, and he panicked a bit. However, where his feet missed, the sword in his hands did not. The swords slid into the roof of the dragon, like a hot knife through butter.

The force of him stabbing the dragon in the mouth and his body falling called the dragon to fall forward. The hanging 14-year-old panted as he fell another 20 feet and landed on his feet.

CRACK!

CRACK!

"AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!"

His left arm, the one that had been holding onto the sword broke at the elbow. His right ankle had snapped under the pressure of his landing. Somehow, he hadn't lost his wand as the dragon had collapsed to the ground. Thinking quickly, Harry reached out with his right arm and pulled the sword out of the dragon's snout.

"POTTER HAS DONE IT! HE HAS SLAIN A DRAGON! IF I HAD NOT SEEN IT WITH MY OWN EYES, I WOULD NOT BELIEVE IT TO BE TRUE! NEVER IN MY LIFE WOULD I HAVE BELIEVED THAT A BOY AS YOUNG AS HARRY POTTER WAS CAPABLE OF SLAINING A FULLY-GROWN DRAGON! LET ALONE LIVE TO TELL THE TALE!" Chanted Bagman.

That is not a dead dragon, no that dragon looks very much alive and very much angry

'What do I do now?'

The best solution is a simple solution

Harry rolled sideways, his broken ankle sending pain shooting through his body as it twisted with his motion. He barely managed to avoid being crushed by the foot of the dragon as he banished himself away from the dragon. His back slammed into the wall of the arena and his felt the blood flowing from various spots on his body.

He tired looked ahead, wand and sword in his right hand as the dragon snarled at him and opened its mouth to blast him with fire

Now, do it now Harry

Harry didn't need to be told twice, he dropped the sword and pointed his wand at the dragon.

The bubble appeared around the dragon's head right as it unleashed the last blast of flames that it ever would. The flames hit the bubble of air around the dragon's head and created a limited supernova. The head of the dragon was cooked by the intense heat of the flames and after a minute, Harry watched as the charred head hit the ground and the Dragon laid dead.

"UNBELIEVABLE! I STAND CORRECTED! POTTER HAS ALL BUT SLAIN A DRAGON TWICE IN A MATTER OF MOMENTS!" Harry just ignored Bagman at this point as he cast a vastly overpowered summoning charm on the golden egg, shattering the anti-summoning runes that were placed around the nest

The egg didn't make it all the way to him, skidding along the ground before stopping right in front of him. He settled the heavy egg safely under his uninjured arm as he slumped backwards, his body aching and he wiped some of the blood away from his nose as he swallowed a mouthful of the copper tasting liquid that had slid down the back of his nose and into his mouth.

He looked up as the sight of Professor McGonagall Hagrid appeared over him to meet him, their lack of smiles evident even from this distance.

"That was insane, Potter!" cried Professor McGonagall as she got closer to him, which from her was not the worst praise. She flicked her wand and Harry was levitating in the air, his body protesting the change in position and his ankle went limp as there was no ground to keep it in place anymore

"I fucking hate this school" whined Harry

"You'll need to see Madam Pomfrey before the judges give out your score… Over there" McGonagall's voice faded in and out of focus

"Yeh did it, Harry!" said Hagrid hoarsely. "Yeh did it! An' agains' the Horntail an' all, an' yeh know Charlie said that was the wors' –"

"Thanks, Hagrid," said Harry loudly, so that Hagrid wouldn't blunder on and reveal that he had shown Harry the dragons beforehand. Hagrid went to hug him, and Harry paled. As injured as he was, he probably wouldn't survive a Hagrid hug, luckily for him, he was saved.

"Potter needs the first aid tent, first Hagrid. He's …" said McGonagall, stopping Harry from being killed

Harry landed on a cot and saw Madam Pomfrey standing at the foot of the cot, looking worried.

"Dragons!" she said, in a disgusted tone as she looked him over, checking what seemed like every single part of him.

"Look at your ribs, their cracked into a bunch of tiny pieces! That elbow is almost completely destroyed, it's broken in 4 places! Your ankle is snapped into 3 pieces, the bone is almost out more than it is inside of you! And you have the nerve to smile at me? I should have you mentally tested for brain damage while I am at it!" scolded Pomfrey.

"Madam Pomfrey, I know I did some stupid things" admitted Harry as she mended his broken bones, "But I am pretty sure that I just became the youngest person to ever slay a dragon"

"I don't know whether to feel proud of you" said Pomfrey, "Or strangle you to death for taking years off my life. If you think that we can just keep putting you back together each time that you hurt yourself, you are mistaken Potter"

Harry dozed in and out as Pomfrey finished fixing him up. The previous broke bones were healed, weak but still healed.

I think you did masterfully today Harry

'You don't mean that'

I have grown used to you being … rather Gryffindor in terms of behavior. My goal is to help you survive those types of things.

Harry didn't want to sit still and wait; He was too full of adrenaline. He got to his feet as sore as he was, wanting to see what was going on outside, but before he'd reached the mouth of the tent, two people had come darting inside, Hermione, followed closely by Ron.

"Harry, you were brilliant!" Hermione said squeakily. There were fingernail marks on her face where she had been clutching it in fear, "You were amazing! You really were!"

But Harry was looking at Ron, who was very white and staring at Harry as though he were a ghost.

"Harry," he said, very seriously, "whoever put your name in that goblet - I – I reckon they're trying to do you in!"

It was as though the last few weeks had never happened as though Harry were meeting Ron for the first time, right after he'd been made champion. The moment of truth had come, and Harry didn't feel the happiness that he had imagined when Ron would apologize. Instead, he felt angrier than ever, why did it take months for his supposed best friend to not be a piece of shit.

"Caught on, have you?" said Harry coldly. "Took you long enough."

"Huh?" questioned Ron

"Every year I get caught up in some plot and my life is in danger and you refused to believe me" spat Harry, "I risked my life to save your sister, and you couldn't even give me a chance to explain myself. Why do I need you to be my friend?

Ron looked as if he had been slapped upon hearing those words. Harry was about to tear into him even more when he saw a figure behind the redhead that he cared about much more. Fleur was standing there, eyes filled with awe as she stared at him. Hermione pulled Ron out of the way as the blonde beauty walked up to Harry.

"That was by far the most insane thing I think I have ever seen" commented Fleur, "You actually killed the dragon with a simple bubble head charm"

Harry puffed out his chest, "I have a tendency to do the impossible"

Fleur snorted as she softly shook her head, "That is by far the dumbest thing I have ever seen, but I see that you are a real threat now"

Harry smirked, "I was always the biggest threat to win this tournament, you just didn't know it"

"I will keep my eye on you" replied Fleur

"I've always had my eye on you" countered Harry before he gave her a once over, "And not just because you're pretty"

Fleur giggled as she walked away, and Harry was left alone in the tent.

Let's go see your score

'I better get a 50'

You deserve a 0 for being a lower intelligence life form because next time when I ask you if you have a plan, you should actually have one.

'Noted and I am sorry'

Did you really think that you could outfly a dragon?

'I would like to make no comment at this time'

Go see your score

Harry exited the tent to a round of thunderous applause, people liked to see him kill things as he barely survived. Looking up at the judge's table, stood before them as he wanted for them to acknowledge his presence.

Apparently that was all he needed to do as the first judge, Madame Maxime raised her wand in the air. What looked like a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a large figure eight.

Mr. Crouch came next. He shot a number nine into the air.

Next, Dumbledore. He too put up a nine. The crowd was cheering harder than ever.

Ludo Bagman's wand shot out a ten.

He does know that you got lucky right?

'I broke my arm, ribs, and ankle. I should not be getting a ten'

And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too — Six.

Eight, Nine, Nine, Ten, and a Six. Harry had managed to get a forty-three during the first task. This put him above Krum who got a forty-one and below Fleur who scored a forty-six.

Harry was more than okay with this, he knew to perform better if he wanted to the next task, but besides knowing that he had to figure out the golden egg clue, when was the next task.

As Harry slowly made his way back to the castle, walking slowly and somewhat aimlessly, Harry was joined by Dumbledore who gave him sharp look.

"You did rather well Harry"

"I sense a 'but' coming, sir"

"You killed a dragon, one that is technically endangered"

"Oh, I didn't mean to"

"I know, but you have to be aware and carful" tsk'd Dumbledore, "The political world is always looking to knock down someone such as you or I. Doing anything negative is opening the door to being attacked by people who wish to attack you for the sake of attacking you"

"I appreciate the advice, sir"

"Tell me Harry, what was your original plan with the broomstick?"

Harry blushed, "I wanted to use the broom to outfly the dragon"

Dumbledore blinked at him behind his moon shaped glasses, "You have a … unique manner of thinking Harry"

"Thank you?"

"Anyway, the next task will be a free for all dueling tournament on Friday December 16th, please have a bit more of a grounded plan"

Harry nodded, "Thank you professor"

It was only after Harry had climbed into bed that he realized that was the first time that Dumbledore had never smiled at him during a conversation.

Never worry about whether or not the old man is smiling at you, there is a lot to do over these next couple of weeks before the duel

'What do you have in mind'

Are you going to listen to me without question?

Harry hesitated

'Yes, I trust you. I'll do whatever you say'

Good,

With Snape and Dumbledore:

There was no tea this time, they were both looking at the memory of Harry fighting the dragon. Their eyes taking in every detail of the fight, analyzing every movement and decision by Harry.

"Do you recognize those spells?" asked Dumbledore, "It is rather rare for me to see spells that I do not know"

"Yes, they are Italian-Latin spells. They come from a branch of the Slytherin family" answered Snape, "But I hadn't seen them since the Dark Lord had used them"

"Are they dangerous?" asked Dumbledore

"Caeleste Slash is a rather dark spell" admitted Snape, "The sheer power required to cast the spell is more than most people can muster"

"Interesting, this is the second time that we've seen something done by Harry, that hadn't been done since Voldemort" said Dumbledore, "Things that require magical strength, no less"

Snape stiffened, "I have a potentially scary question, but it has only popped into my head recently with all this new information"

"Ask away" replied Dumbledore

"As we are both aware, the Dark Lord is still alive. Are we certain that Harry Potter is still Harry Potter?" questioned Snape

"That is a rather loaded question" replied Dumbledore after a brief silence, "If Harry is not Harry, why wait so long to reveal their true nature?"

"Do any of us really know what happened in the chamber of secrets" countered Snape, "For all we know, whatever dark artifact that possessed Ginny Weasley attached itself to Potter when it realized the boy had more magical potential"

"As interesting of a theory as that is, Harry brought back the artifact destroyed" dismissed Dumbledore, "Harry is a unique person, someone that has been touched by Fate as per the prophecy as you know"

"So what? Potter's remarkable improvement this year is based on Fate?" asked Snape

"It could be a number of things" admitted Dumbledore with a sigh, "Magic is a force of nature that none of us understand completely. I wish I could tell you that Harry is simply growing up and becoming more of the young man he always had thew potential to be, but it could be the prophecy attempting to fulfill itself by giving him the power that Voldemort knows not"

"You have no idea what's going on" noted Snape

"Do any of us?" retorted Dumbledore with a smile, "If any of us could understand teenagers, the school would be much more peaceful"

Snape could help but roll his eyes as he regretfully nodded his head, "That is true, teenagers are not to be understood"

"Exactly, one of the bravest young men I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, someone capable of lying to the Dark Lord to his face, was once a young boy who was so scared of being rejected by his peers that he threw away the only friendship that mattered to him" said Dumbledore

Snape said nothing as he stood up and left the office, leaving Dumbledore alone with his thoughts, the puzzle of Harry Potter becoming more difficult by the day. Was it perhaps time to bring Harry in on the loop of the prophecy and his responsibility?

He was only 14, much too young to bare the weight of the magical world on his shoulders, but at the same time, that weight was sliding down towards his young shoulders by the day. Voldemort was gathering himself and growing more powerful by the day, Snape's dark mark becoming less translucent was a sign of things to come.

Dumbledore popped a lemon drop in his mouth, the calming draught infused candy working rather quickly as his mind wandered back to simpler times. A time where his only focus in the world was being the most well-balanced wizard that would bring about peace to the wizarding world, a curly golden haired young with a brilliantly bright and infective smiled by his side as they sought to make something of themselves, to make a chance in the world. Well, even decades later, Dumbledore could take pride in the fact that he had brought about change.

A/N: Another chapter in the books, I feel good about this. I have already started working on the dueling battle between the three champions. The funniest thing is that I said I probably wouldn't be able to produce 7000+ word chapters every time, but this hasn't been all that hard.

Once more, Harry is not canon saint Harry or is he some lunatic murder dark edgelord that some fanfics make him out to be. He's going to be vastly a decent person for the most part, especially when he's 14. He will grow more self-interested and will become more powerful, exponentially so in the future, but it will be gradual to a degree. If that doesn't interest you, I am sorry but there is plenty of dark lord Potter stories for you to read. Also. I do reply to almost every single review and PM, I like interacting with you guys.

My cobra kai story will be getting an update this weekend and then Snake Bitten before I drop the next chapter of this story then two more chapters for other stories. The pairing for this story is still not decided, but I think I have a good idea of what I want the endgame to be.

As always, please think about joining my discord, lots of conversations and just overall good vibes in there. Join using invite code: wV4bzhyQ