Oi vey mashugana, I really need to ensure I have a list of what needs to be done and whatnot. (snorts) Oh well. Finally getting back to this one, so let's do it. (pulls the Disclaimers in)
Disclaimers: I don't own either book series, but you already know that.
As Val walked into Professor Moody's office, she took a look around the vicinity curiously, wondering about the odd gadgets and all, as was Harry.
The duo watched the professor remove his prosthetic leg and place it on a pedestal in front of a... very odd looking mirror.
Moody took notice of their intrigue and pointed to it while explaining, "That's a Foe Glass. Lets me keep an eye on my enemies. If I can see the whites of their eyes, they're standing right behind me!" He turned and laughed a little maniacally at his jump scare.
What got the two students spooked, however, was the shout from the chest in the corner and the shaking, as if... someone was inside.
"Wouldn't bother telling you what's in there. You wouldn't believe it if I did." The wisened old teacher said casually as he got their attention, taking a pen as he continued with a question: "Now, Ms. Tod. What are you going to do about your dragon?"
Valerie blinked slightly. "Oh. Uh... I... I haven't the vaguest clue. I..." She honestly didn't have any ideas.
Harry looked at the two and said, "I'll leave you two alone to discuss battle plans." He turned and left the office, closing the door behind himself. But inwardly, he was grateful that he had the telepathic connection with Val so he could listen to the conversation.
Thinking over what she had taught him a few days ago, he quickly dashed down the hallway and made his way into an unused room, taking the Invisibility Cloak out and throwing it over himself to remain hidden before he took a deep breath and started focusing on the Dhampir's mind, finding her sitting in a chair as she listened to what Moody was laying out for her.
"...Diggory? By your age, he could turn a whistle into a watch and have it sing you the time. Miss Delacour? She's as much a fairy princess as I am. As for Krum, his head may be filled with sawdust, but Karkaroff's is not! They'll have a strategy, and you can bet that it'll play to Krum's strengths!" Moody was saying through the link, leaning in close to Val a second later and growling lowly, "Come on, Tod. What are your strengths?"
"Uh... I don't know. I mean I'm pretty fast both in the sky and on the ground, so..." Val mentioned to him, and Moody corrected her with a small smirk, "Better than fast, the way I've heard it."
"But sir, I'm not allowed to use a broom." She reminded him with a confused expression.
"You're allowed a wand." He told her with a correcting tone in his voice.
That was the moment that Harry pulled out of Val's mind and took the cloak off as he started thinking to himself, "Okay, let's see... if she's allowed a wand and she can at least move bloody fast enough to avoid dragon flames..." He stroked his chin with a pensive expression before his eyes started shining as he thought of something, grinning to himself. "That's brilliant!" Immediately, he tore off to tell Hermione and Ron his idea.
"And you're sure this could work?" Hermione asked curiously, unsure of Harry's idea: Val was gonna learn an Acceleration Spell so she could get around the dragon faster than her normal accelrated speed.
Harry nodded a bit. "It's better than anything else I can think of right now, and let's face it: Val's good on a broom, but she's not like me."
Ron shrugged slightly. "He has a point, mate."
Hermione sighed softly and nodded a bit. "Fair enough." She headed to her books and opened one up, flipping through the pages of her fourth year book to find an acceleration spell.
Valerie walked into the common room a few minutes later and sighed softly as she rubbed her forehead. "Whew. Never thought thinking through strategies in some crazy game would be impossible." She sat down and looked at the others. "So what do we do?"
Hermione looked at the boys before she sat down by Val's side. "We've got a plan, but you'll need to learn a new spell."
The Dhampir nodded a bit. "Alright. Let's work with this."
Once the day of the first task came, Valerie was getting in her uniform and preparing herself mentally, tying her hair back and sighing softly as she bit her lip and listened to Professor Dumbledore's speech outside the tent. "Each of the three tasks involve very considerable danger. Please keep your seats at all times..."
Cedric walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "How are you feeling about this?"
She nodded a bit. "Nervous, but I think I'll be okay."
He nodded in understanding. "From what Hermione told me, the big key we need is concentration, and then afterwards we - "
" - battle against our respective dragons." She gulped nervously, but she felt Cedric's arms wrap around her a second later out of comfort and she turned before hugging him back.
A camera flash caught their attention at that second as Rita Skeeter walked in. "Young love! How..." She motioned to her quill as it scribbled away before finishing: "... stirring." She relaxed and adjusted her glasses as she told the two teens who were glaring at her, "If everything goes unfortunately today, you two may even make the front page."
"You have no business here," Viktor told her, coming to the defense of his fellow champions. "This tent is for champions and friends." He nodded to Val and Cedric.
Rita smiled and looked at her quill, catching it as she said, "No matter. We've already got what we wanted." Passing the feather under Krum's chin, she walked away before the cameraman snapped a picture of him.
Val walked over and placed a hand on the Bulgarian's shoulder. "Thanks for trying, man."
Krum nodded to her with a grateful smile.
"Good day, champions! Gather round, please." Dumbledore greeted the group as he walked in with Mr. Crouch and the four champions grouped together as the headmaster continued, "Now you've waited, you've wondered, and at last the moment has arrived, a moment only four of you can fully appreciate." He turned to the department head. "Barty, the bag."
Crouch stepped forward and directed the teens. "Champions, in a circle around me." He guided each person to the respective places before holding out the bag, which contained miniature versions of the dragons they'd have to face: Fleur selecting the Welsh Green, Krum pulling out a Chinese Fireball, Cedric getting a Swedish Shortsnout, and Val being left with the vicious Hungarian Horntail.
"These represent four very real dragons, each of which have been given a golden egg to protect," Mr. Crouch explained, "Your objective is simple: Collect the egg. This you must do, for each egg contains a clue without which you cannot hope to proceed to the next task. Any questions?"
Val swallowed nervously as she listened to Dumbledore speak next after a moment of silence: "Very well. Good luck, champions. Mr. Diggory, at the sound of the cannon, you may - "
Filch accidentally shot the cannon off early, making the tent shake, but at the same time, signaling the start of the first task.
Val walked over and gently placed a hand on Cedric's shoulder, nodding to him. "Good luck."
He nodded back and took a deep breath before walking out of the tent.
As the fights went on, Val sat down on the cot, frowning skittishly as she listened to the fights.
"Three of our champions have now faced their dragons," Dumbledore's echoing voice rumbled out later, "and so each one of them will proceed to the next task. And now our fourth and final contestant."
Val stood up and shakily made her way to the cave opening where she heard the chanting of her name from the other students and as she emerged, the chants turned to cheers for a brief moment as she saw all of her friends and took a deep breath.
Silence fell on the grounds as Val surveyed the vicinity silently before moving forward. But she yelped as she got attacked and flung down towards some rocks as the Hungarian Horntail roared above her.
The dragon landed on the rock where the golden egg was being protected before it shot a fire stream at Val, who deftly dodged it and quickly started running towards the nearest hill to climb up and get some leverage.
She quickly rolled around to dodge the spikes from the dragon and winced as her shoulder got pierced before she was flung around. "WHOA!!" She hit the ground and scrambled to her feet, ducking behind a rock quickly as she grabbed her shoulder in pain. "Son of a..."
Up in the bleachers, Harry was feeling the stinging pain, but he kept his cool as he telepathically spoke to the Dhampir: "Val, your wand! Use that spell we learned!"
Valerie nodded as she quickly dodged another fire stream and made her way to a safer hiding area before she pulled out her wand and aimed it up. "Accelero!" Blue sparkles swirled around her and before the next wave of fire could hit the rock she was behind, she was off like a shot.
The Golden Trio let out shouts of excitement with the crowd as they saw her enhanced speed working, Val moving swiftly below them and dodging everything the dragon threw at her, easily making her way underneath the dragon and snatching the golden egg up.
Back in the Gryffindor Common Room, Val was hoisted up by the twins as the group celebrated her victory and passed their blessings to the egg.
"Yes, Valerie!" "Knew you wouldn't die, Val!" "Lose a leg..." "... or an arm!" Fred and George spoke together.
"Make it through all together?" Valerie asked them with an eager grin, to which they replied, "Never!"
"Shush!" Seamus quieted the group down, kissing the egg before passing it back to Valerie. "Go on, Val! What's the clue?"
She looked at the group. "You guys want me to open it?"
"YEAH!!!" A collective shout came from the Gryffindors, prompting Val to open the egg to the most intense screeching they all had ever heard and forcing her to close the egg again.
"What the bloody hell was that?!" Ron said in shock.
"Not anything human, for certain," Draco spoke up from the doorway, causing the group to look over in surprise at the Slytherin.
As George got the others rustled away, Valerie walked over to the blonde boy who said, "I reckon you have to be barking mad to put your own name in that goblet."
She nodded a little bit. "Finally caught up, huh? Took you long enough."
He shook his head. "I wasn't the only one who thought it. Everyone else said it behind your back."
She glanced around at the others and sighed softly. "Great. That makes me feel a lot better."
He nodded a little bit. "At least I got Ron and Hermione to warn you and Harry about the dragons. I figured you might have done something to stay connected to each other mentally. Plus... I thought we'd be alright... after you figured it out."
"Who... who could seriously have figured that out?" Val made a face of surprise and confusion. "That was absolutely insane."
Draco chuckled slightly and smiled. "Isn't it? I suppose I was a bit distraught."
Val smiled back at him and chuckled slightly, leaving the Golden Trio in the background to smile and shake their heads with amused smiles on their faces.
Phew!! Finally! Took a while, but it was worth it! I think this is probably the longest chapter for the series yet. We'll see though. Read and review!