I do not own Harry Potter, only the OC

Hello guys, Badger here. Been a while. I think. I hope you guys are well. This chapter is a long one. Well, maybe not long by your standards, but for me it's quite long. In my opinion, anything over 2000 words counts as a long chapter. I think this is the longest chapter I've done for this story so far.

Anyway, after taking some time, to think more about this story, and others, for possible plot points, I have a few ideas. Some that may happen, some that may not. Depends on where I choose to take this story. There are many directions I could choose to take, and would like to take. But we'll see. For now, I hope you enjoy this new chapter and I will see you at the end.

Chapter 8

Death With Wings

Harry walked alongside James and Daphne as they made their way to the stadium where the First Task was taking place. Harry was wearing special robes to allow easy movement, coloured black with red markings to show his affiliation with Gryffindor. Underneath the robes, Harry could still feel the runes burning on his skin. Even with the runes giving him protection from fire, Harry still felt incredibly nervous. Something that James noticed.

"Relax" He said "Those runes will protect you from any kind of flames…whether its from a candle, or from the mouth of a dragon…it can't hurt you…just keep moving and if necessary, use the Sensory Disruption spell I taught you"

"I know…I will" Harry nodded "I don't know why I'm so nervous"

"It's perfectly natural" Daphne shrugged "You're going up against a dragon…and not just any dragon, a Nesting Mother…I still think they're insane for doing this"

"Daphne this is the Wizarding World, no one is sane" James replied "Okay Harry, this is where we part, good luck out there"

Harry nodded and, to his surprise, Daphne gave him a quick hug before she and James walked towards the audience boxes, leaving him alone. Harry took a moment to shake off his nerves, which didn't do anything in the slightest, before he entered the Champions Tent. Everyone else already seemed to be there. Seemingly waiting for him. Krum was wearing a black shirt, trousers and dragon hide boots, where the back of his shirt housed the Durmstrang sigil. Fleur was wearing light blue robes, which was baggy enough to remain comfortable whilst allowing movement. Cedric, meanwhile, was wearing the same robes as Harry except Cedric's had yellow markings, to show his affiliation with Hufflepuff.

His presence drew the attention of everyone else in the tent. Krum and Fleur gave Harry slightly impassive looks, though Cedric gave him a small smile and a nod. It was clear the Hufflepuff champion was grateful that Harry had told him about the dragons. Harry didn't have time to relax, before Crouch Snr appeared and was holding a small pouch, which seemed to be wriggling around, as if something was in it.

"Ah, Mr Potter" He said "Glad to see you're finally here…right, gather round champions, gather round"

Harry stood beside Cedric, as the champions stood in a circle, as Crouch opened the pouch, causing smoke to escape and fill the air. Harry didn't like where this was going.

"Now, champions, you're first task is to go up against a dragon and try and steal a golden egg from their nest" He said "In this bag, I have four miniature dragons…one by one, you will reach in and whichever dragon you remove, will be the beast you will have to go up against…so, ladies first"

Fleur, tentatively reached into the bag, flinching slightly, before removing a mini green dragon, with a tag around its neck, with the number 3 on it. The Common Welsh Green. With Fleur now being assigned to her dragon, Crouch moved onto Krum, who had no fear on his face as he reached into the bag. The stoic expression remained on his face, as he removed a black and red dragon, with a tag with the number 2 around its neck. The Chinese Firebolt. Crouch then moved onto to Cedric, who reached in nervously and removed a grey scaled dragon, with a tag reading number 1 around its neck. The Swedish Short-snout. Crouch then handed the bag to Harry, who swallowed nervously, having a feeling as to what was left.

Reaching in, Harry winced, from the heat that was radiating inside the bag. Feeling the sharpness of the scales, he grabbed the dragon and took it out, revealing a brownish red dragon, with black and yellow spikes on it scales, with a tag reading number 4 around its neck. The Hungarian Horntail. Harry internally cursed his Potter luck, having removed possibly, the most dangerous dragon of them all.

"Excellent" Crouch said "Now everyone has their dragons, we can begin…Mr Diggory will go first, then Mr Krum, Miss Delacour and finally Mr Potter…Now, Mr Diggory, when the cannon goes off, head on out to the arena…everyone understand?"

Receiving tentative nods all around, Crouch took all the miniature dragons back, before he left the champions tent, towards the judges box. There were a few silent moments, before the blast of a cannon rang across the entire stadium. Paling slightly, Cedric took a small breath, before he left the tent, heading into the stadium. Harry took a seat, knowing it would be sometime until it was hit turn to enter the stadium. Krum and Fleur, meanwhile, kept their distance on the other side of the tent. None of them said a word, but Harry could see nerves in their eyes. Krum may have had an emotionless face, but even Harry could see the calmness was just a façade.

…

Across the country, in a secure location, a small bundle sat, eagerly and impatiently waiting. Today was the day of the First Task. If all went according to plan, then Potter would make it through the First Task. So far, his spy had been doing his job. Hopefully he will continue to do so. His spy had been keeping an eye on Harry, as best as he could, whilst manipulating things going on in the school. If his spy did the rest of his job well, then Potter will be in the graveyard when he's supposed to.

…

Harry didn't know how much time had passed. An hour? Two? Three? But it wasn't long until it was his turn to face his dragon. Cedric, Krum and Fleur had all gone up against their dragons. Because of bias from the Durmstrang Headmaster, Karkaroff, Krum was in the lead, with 32 points, despite Krum blinding the dragon causing it to crush a few of its own eggs. Fleur and Cedric were tied, with 30 points each. Cedric may have grabbed the egg, the quickest, and had performed some brilliant Transfiguration when he conjured a dog to distract it, but he had been burnt quite badly by the dragon when it decided Cedric was more interesting then the dog. Fleur had also taken less time then Krum, but she had been burnt slightly, when the dragon let out a stray burst of fire as she was putting the dragon to sleep.

Hearing all the commotion from the other champions dragons, had done nothing to help his nerves. As soon as the cannon went off, he took a few more breaths, before leaving the tent, hoping the runes will work like they were supposed to.

The arena was eerily quiet. Harry could feel everyone in the audience watching him, as he stepped into the arena which was transfigured to look like a rocky landscape, with deep crevices and trenches to hide in. Harry figured this must have been done to suit the dragons habitat. Unsettled by the silence, Harry removed his wand, just in case he needed to act quickly. The golden glimmer of the egg caught his attention. Tentatively, Harry made his way towards it, before he stopped, when the ground began to shake and rumble, along with the sound of loud thuds like something large was walking along the hard stone. Behind the golden egg, Harry saw something rise from a crevice. The sharp spikes, the teeth and piercing golden eyes. The Hungarian Horntail. Harry swallowed nervously, as the dragon towered over him. This wasn't a dragon. This was death with wings.

Harry had gone up against a Basilisk in his Second Year and, at that current moment, he would rather go up against that again, rather then the beast in front of him. Harry didn't know how large it was, because he was too busy staring at the golden eyes. Time almost seemed to stop, as they continued to stare at one another. After a moment, the dragons eyes narrowed and Harry saw a puff of smoke come from it's nostrils. Immediately Harry ran to one side, just as a jet of fire blasted the ground where he was standing just a moment before. The Horntail didn't stop the fire, as it twisted its head, hoping to catch Harry in it's flames. Harry kept running, where he could feel the heat from the flames behind him. He kept running, until he saw a rock large enough for him to hide behind. The heat from the flames increased, as he hid, sat with his back against the rock, the flames spreading around him. After a few moments, it was clear the Horntail wasn't going to let up. Gripping his wand Harry pointed it upwards and yelled the Sensory Disruption Spell, motus sensualis.

Harry winced at the high pitch noise that was bursting from his wand. The Horntail must've felt it too, as the flames stopped and he could hear the Horntail roaring in pain. Taking his chances, Harry dropped the spell and made a run towards the egg. As the Horntail shook its head, trying to gather it's bearings. It saw Harry running towards its nest and, fired another blast of fire in his direction. Instinctively, Harry jumped out of the way of the flames. Unfortunately, he didn't look before he jumped and ended up falling into a deep trench in between the rocky surface. Harry yelled out in pain, as he landed, feeling his left arm and collar bone break from the impact, before hitting his head. Harry felt blood running down the side of his face, as the world began to spin. Harry took a moment to gather his bearings, where he could hear the Horntail walking around above him, seemingly looking for where he went.

Cradling his broken arm, Harry began to climb the rocky wall, in hopes of getting back to the surface. He moved slowly, the pain in his head getting worse, and his broken arm didn't make the climb any easier. Making sure to not alert the Horntail, Harry was able to climb up to the surface, where he could see the Horntail searching around the rocks. The Horntail then snapped its neck towards him, noticing his presence and, before Harry could do anything, blasted another jet of fire, where the flames engulfed him.

…

The audience, besides two, watched in shock as Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, get enveloped in flames. None of them could believe that they just witnessed the death of the saviour of the Wizarding World. However, just as they were about to declare the First Task over, they heard laughter ring out across the arena. Everyone looked where, to their shock, Harry stepped out from the fire, as the flames and smoke died down. Meanwhile, two Slytherins in the audience were smiling.

…

Harry couldn't help but laugh, as he walked out from the flames. He didn't care if he looked like a maniac to those in the audience. When he wasn't able to avoid the fire in time, he expected to be roasted alive. However, he felt the runes on his body activate as soon as the flames engulfed him, making an invisible barrier between him and the flames, that merely bounced off of him. The Horntail roared at Harry, offended that he didn't burn to a crisp, and opened its mouth to blast another jet of fire. However, before it could do so, Harry banished a boulder in its direction, which impacted the Horntail's snout, causing it to recoil back wards in pain. Harry banished more boulders, sending them flying towards the Horntail, in hopes of getting it away from the nest, allowing him to get to the egg.

Each boulder hit the Horntail in the face, causing it to recoil backwards, further away from the nest, though it wasn't enough. Bracing himself, Harry fired another Sensory Disruption Spell, which sent the Horntail writhing in agony and moved further away, as Harry edged closer, grimacing, as he felt like his ears were going to burst. When Harry was close enough, he dropped the spell and ran to the nest, where he easily grabbed the golden egg, whilst the Horntail was trying to regain its bearings. As soon as Harry grabbed the egg, the audience cheered, whilst Dragon Handlers entered the arena to take the Horntail away, along with its eggs. Tired and in pain, Harry made his way back to the Champions tent, the golden egg under his arm, his broken arm cradled to his side and blood running down the side of his face, that was now staining his robes.

Inside the champions tent, Harry saw the other three champions. Krum was looking at him with a neutral look, though Harry thought he saw an impressed look behind the stoic impression. Fleur had an impressed, yet slightly impassive look on her face. Meanwhile, Cedric didn't bother hiding the impressed look on his face and gave Harry a smile and a nod. A gesture which Harry returned, before he saw James and Daphne enter the tent, who immediatley made their way over to him.

"Glad to see you're okay Harry" James said "I told you those runes would work…though I did warn you it wouldn't protect you from anything else…should've thought about that before jumping into that trench"

"Hey that wasn't my fault…entirely" Harry replied, feeling slightly defensive, before wincing from the sharp jolt of pain that ran through his entire system

"Relax Harry, he's kidding around" Daphne rolled her eyes, with a slight shake of her head, before looking to his broken arm and blood on his face "Though you may want to get Madam Pomfrey to fix you up after your scores…you look like you got hit by the Knight Bus"

Harry nodded, before he heard someone yell out his name. He turned to see Hermione running to him, whilst Ron remained standing at the entrance of the tent. Seeing that Hermione was going to tackle into him, Harry moved out of the way, causing Hermione to stumble, knowing she would make his broken arm and collar bone even worse.

"What do you think you're doing Hermione?" He asked with a hint of cold steel in his voice

"We were worried about you Harry" She replied "Seeing you go up against that dragon"

"Worried about me?" Harry repeated "That's funny, considering you two have spent the last month or so avoiding me and glaring at me like I had done something to betray you"

"Listen Harry" Ron said, awkwardly "We figured you'd have to be barking mad to enter the Tournament…we think someone must be trying to do you in"

"So you've caught on have you?" James spoke up "It took you long enough, I must say"

"What are you snakes doing here!" Ron demanding, only just realising James and Daphne were there

"Doing what you two should have been doing in the first place" James replied, looking at his nails, nonchalantly "Why are you here?"

"We're Harry's friends" Hermione said defensively, not happy to see Harry standing with two Slytherins

"Friends?" Daphne repeated "Some friends you are…abandoning your friend…believing he's a cheater…people call you the brightest witch of our age yet you're extremely stupid…no wonder you aren't in Ravenclaw"

Hermione took a step back, like she had been physically struck. She felt personally offended, at Daphne's insult. Ron went red with rage, and approached.

"Hey, don't talk to her that way!" He yelled

"Ron, shut up!" Harry yelled back

"Harry…" Ron said, shocked at Harry's outburst

"No, shut up, both of you" Harry said, noticing Hermione was about to speak up "For over three years we were friends…three years…I thought you knew me, but it's obvious I was wrong…I hoped, when my name came out of the goblet, you two would believe that I didn't do it…but you abandoned me, believing I was a cheater…did the last three years mean nothing to you…Ginny, Fred, George, Neville, Katie, Alicia, Angelina…they believed I was innocent, so why didn't you…then I receive help…but not from you…I receive help from people who had no reason to help me and in only a few weeks, they have been better friends then you have been for three years…they have been by my side, helping me prepare for the First Task, if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have any plans for the First Task and probably would have died in the arena…but they shouldn't have been the ones to help me…it should have been you!"

"Harry…we're…we're sorry" Hermione said, tears pricking in her eyes

"I don't want your apologies" Harry said harshly "I had hoped we could still be friends…but now I know we can't…you abandoned me, when I needed you the most and I don't think I can ever trust either of you again"

"So, you're leaving us for these…these snakes!" Ron demanded "You're throwing away our friendship, for them!"

"I'm not throwing our friendship away" Harry replied "You two did that, the moment you turned your backs on me…three years…clearly it meant nothing to you…unlike you two, I can call James and Daphne true friends"

"Let's go Harry" Daphne spoke up "Save your breath before you tire yourself out…let's just go and see your scores"

Harry nodded, before he followed James and Daphne, leaving behind a fuming Ron Weasley and a crying Hermione Granger. As they were walking, James turned to Harry.

"Harry…you called us true friends back there" He said "Did you mean that?"

"Yeah…I did" Harry replied

James nodded and said no more, though Harry noticed a small smile on the Slytherin's face. A smile Harry couldn't read, though he chose not to comment on it. Stopping in a place outside the tent, so they can get a good view of the judges box and read Harry's score, they waited for each judge to give their individual verdicts.

Crouch went first. Pointing his wand in the air, ribbons shot out and formed a large 9 in the air. Harry was surprised. He didn't think he did that well to earn a 9. Maxime went next, where ribbons formed an 8 in the air, once more surprising Harry. It was then Dumbledore's turn. His ribbon split into two, where it formed a 10 in the air. Harry suspected there was some bias in his Headmasters score, if the twinkle in the mans eyes was anything to go by. Finally it was Karkaroffs turn. With a snarl, he lifted his wand, where ribbons formed the number 5. People in the audience booed the Headmasters bias, who had also scored Cedric and Fleur low numbers, whilst he scored Krum a perfect 10.

"What?" The Durmstrang Headmaster yelled "The boy clearly used Dark Magic to protect himself from the dragons fire!"

Despite Karkaroffs low score, Harry had earned a score of 32, placing him in joint first with Krum. Harry didn't care though. He didn't care about winning the Tournament. Nor did he want to. All he wanted to do was survive the rest of the Tournament. Of course, it was only a question as to whether he actually will survive whatever the next tasks involve.

…

And that's the new chapter done. I hope you guys enjoyed.

That's one task out of three down. We all know how Harry beat the Horntail in canon, by flying on his broom, but I didn't want to do that. I wanted to do something different. I hope you enjoyed this alternative. As HP fans know, the Yule Ball is next. Who will Harry take? Who will James take? I will say this, sparks may fly between two certain characters. If you can guess who, then I will give you a cookie.

Anyway, one of my favourite moments to write in this chapter, was Harry ripping into Ron and Hermione for abandoning him. I remember watching the movies and reading the books and at Ron's apology I remember thinking, 'Harry, your friend abandoned you, despite being your supposed bestie for three years, if I was you, I would be ripping him into all sorts of pieces', so writing the dialogue, as well as Daphne's jab at Hermione for not being a Ravenclaw for a reason was very satisfying.

That is all for now. Again, I hope you enjoyed this new chapter and I hope to see you next time, in whichever story I see you in.

Badger Out