The Hope of The Future

by MuggleDumbledore

Harry's life from his fourth year onward as he faces new challenges and fight his way through to his destiny. Story is tangent to canon except pairings. Story will encompass Harry's fourth to seventh year. No intentional bashing. T initially,may be M for later chapters.

6. B1: Chapter 6 - The Extra Champion

Disclaimer: All character and the world in this story belongs to JK Rowling. I own nothing.

A/N: Some OCs will have important roles to play and may be present in the future years. In this chapter, I have taken the liberty to use some of the articles of Prophet directly from the book, there will be some changes in them but the gist of them remains the same. Please Review.

Chapter Six: The Extra Champion

"That crazy woman, who does she think she is?" Hermione was enraged and the reason was the article in the Daily Prophet. It was the day after the wand weighing ceremony, Harry and Hermione were sitting at the Gryffindor table for the breakfast when the post-owl arrived. Hermione opened the newspaper the moment owl delivered it. As she started reading it, her eyebrows shot up to be hidden by her hair.

"What happened?" harry asked her, in response she just passed him the newspaper. And there it was, the reason behind the bookworm's anger.

The Extra Champion

A sneak peek into the life of The-Boy-Who-Lived

By Rita Skeeter

Harry Potter, aged thirteen is the youngest champion in the history of the tournament. After many unsuccessful efforts, your favourite reporter, Me, finally got the opportunity to interview the young tragic hero of our world.

Q: "Harry, what keeps you going, even after losing your parents?"

"I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now."

Q: "Do you miss them?"

"Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it."

Q: "Are you afraid about the tournament?"

"I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me."

Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend and fellow Gryffindor, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggle-born witch who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school. Another close friend, on the condition of anonymity, said that Harry is difficult to befriend and his behaviour is cold towards majority of his fellow students. We hope that this behaviour is just his shy nature and not the result of a boosted ego.

Hogwarts did not take the article lightly, students were already against Harry for supposed cheating, Hufflepuff felt that Harry was stealing the glory, which rarely came towards them, from Cedric. Syltherins hated him because no major reason except the house rivalry and it did not help that Malfoy was putting immense effort to make Harry's life hell. Ravenclaws weren't as openly hostile as the other two houses but they were cold towards him and kept their distance.

Hermione had to answer multiple inquiries from the female population of Hogwarts about her alleged relationship with Harry Potter, she was trying her best to tell them that they were 'just best friends'. When the number of such inquiries exceeded beyond her liking, she just outright refused to talk. Nobody wanted to ask these questions to Harry directly and he was grateful for that. After a while, the duo decided to ignore the rumours and rumourmongers.

The biggest blow and the one that hurt the most was the cold shoulder he was getting from his housemates. Ron had spoken against Harry and was doing his best to avoid him, he had made close friends with Dean and Seamus in the meantime. The twins were a peculiar case, they weren't hostile or hateful and they didn't care if he put his name in the goblet. Whenever they came across Harry, they would just joke about him being the youngest champion. Harry wasn't angry with their antics but he had started to get irritated by it. The hero-worship he endured from Ginny and Colin was now on a different level, behind the closed doors they were celebrating his selection and rooting for his victory but in front of everyone, they were doing their best to ignore Harry's existence and by association ignoring Hermione.

Around ten days before the first task, Harry was enjoying his breakfast at the house table along with Hermione and Neville who was now ostracised by their housemates, especially Ron, for voicing his opinion that it is possible that Harry did not want to compete in the tournament. It's unnecessary to point out that it didn't go well for him with the remaining Gryffindors. Harry received a small note, delivered by a great grey owl. Both Harry and Hermione were intrigued as they couldn't recognize to whom this owl belonged. Harry snatched the note, gave a piece of bacon to the owl and opened the letter, Hermione was reading it over his shoulder.

Harry,

Come at noon this Saturday, to the place where we met last time in the presence of Wormtail. Bring your father's gift and marauder's creation. Use the passage beneath the roots.

Padfoot

P.S.: Burn the note. Owl is a gift for Hermione.

Hermione took the note from Harry, place it in her empty breakfast plate and burned it with an 'Incendio'.

"It's beautiful, isn't it Harry? What should we name it?" Hermione asked in an excited voice while stroking the plumage of the bird. It looked like the bird was enjoying the attention, it closed the eyes in delight.

"It's your owl Hermione, you decide what you want to name it."

"Hmm…. I think I should name it Mercury." Hermione answered, biting her bottom lip in concentration.

"Why Mercury?" Harry asked, confused about the reason behind the name.

"Mercury was the messenger of Gods in Roman mythology, plus his colour resembles that of mercury planet." Hermione gave another piece of bacon and the bird left, most probably to the Owlery.

"Now, we seriously need to go to Hogsmeade, I need to get some stuff for my owl."

They did not have time to dwell further as they had to their lectures in a few minutes. If they had any hope for a brief respite, they were truly mistaken. In the afternoon class of Care of Magical Creature, an uninvited horrible creature was present, conversing with the snakes in the emerald and silver robes. The creature was none other than Rita Skeeter.

"It's not good." Harry whispered to Hermione so no one can eavesdrop. Once she had spoken to the Slytherins, she started asking questions to Hagrid and a few questions to other students. Towards the end of the class, she came towards Harry and asked him just one question.

"Harry, how do you feel about this class and the teacher."

"He is a kind-hearted person and he knows more about magical creatures than you know about journalism." Harry snapped.

Rita left the afterwards with her lips forming a smirk. At the end of the class, Hagrid asked Harry to stay behind. He asked Hermione to go the castle and promised to meet her at the dinner.

"Harry, come to me hut jus' afta curfew. Its impo'tant and bring yeh' cloak."

Harry just nodded and left Hagrid to join Hermione and probably Neville at the dinner. His mind still processing why Hagrid would ask him to come and meet him after the curfew.

-X-X-

Harry was waiting in the common room for the curfew time to approach. As the clock struck ten, Harry went to the dorm, opened his trunk to retrieve his cloak and the map. He wrapped the cloak around himself to make himself invisible and walked out of the common room unnoticed. Once he was in the corridor, he activated the map to find the safest route to Hagrid's hut, making sure that he does not come across professors and prefects. It took him fifteen minutes and changing the route a couple of times to get to the gamekeeper's hut unnoticed.

Hagrid was waiting for Harry outside his hut with his dog Fang. As Harry came close to Hagrid, he whispered that he is here, Hagrid replied similarly and asked Harry to follow him. Hagrid raised his left arm which was holding a lantern to lighten the path, he started walking towards the forbidden forest. "Stay quiet and stay close, Harry." Harry was not going to be do otherwise anyway.

After five minutes of walking, they heard a loud roar which was immediately followed by someone calling Hagrid. A minute later, he could see the tall form of Olympe Maxime walking towards them, she was in a dark purple robe with dark grey fur at the collar. In the dark, she looked like a hideous walking tree.

"I thought you won't come!" Hagrid's voice was filled with unveiled excitement.

" 'ow could I not, 'Agrid. You zaid eet wass impo'tant." Madame Maxime said in her overly accented voice.

"I've got to show yeh somethin'." Hagrid said while escorting her deeper in the forest.

Now they could hear the roars loud and clear which were earlier muffled by the trees, there were multiple sources of the roars. As they walked ahead they could now clearly hear the rattling of chains, banging of metal on metal. They could see that there was light and fire which was somewhat blocked by the dense forest. After a few moments, they arrived at the edge of the clearing and now Harry could see the reason of all the chaos as clear as sun. The clearing was at least four times the size of the Quidditch pitch. Madame Maxime walked a few more yards to enjoy the view but Harry had quite the opposite reaction to it. All colour drained from his face, his face as pale as a ghost, fear had started to take a hold of his heart. He could not believe the scene playing in front of him, he was shocked. It was good that Madame Maxime had walked ahead and his voice could not be heard in all the chaos.

"DRAGONS! We have to fight Dragons! That's the first task! You are kidding, right?" Harry could not hold it in any longer. There were six fully grown adult dragons, each larger than thirty feet. Ten to twelve dragon tamers were trying to keep each dragon under control. The dragons were in metallic enclosures, as big as a classroom. Harry could see that they had turned many tree around them into ash, the stumps present were evidence enough.

"Be quiet Harry, keep the cloak on. Yeh are takin' it better than Ron. The poor boy fainted when he saw the horntail roar." Hagrid said pointing towards an enraged black-brown dragon with big scales on his body. It was a horrific sight, bronze coloured spikes protruding all over his tail and back, his tail ending in a big conical spike. Its head as big as a cow with bronze coloured horns adorning his head, his yellow eyes with cat like vertical pupils.

"I have to admit that Horntail is a right nasty piece of work."

"Ron was here?" Harry asked, unsure how to react at the news that Ron knew about it but said nothing.

"Ron came to meet Charlie, he is one of the tamers. Didn't he tell you that?" Hagrid asked with a surprised tone.

"No, he said nothing." He answered flatly, his mind trying to work out if the Harry-Ron friendship was now beyond repairing.

-X-X-

If Harry thought that the last night was awful and nothing could surpass that, he had another thing coming. After his return to the common room around midnight, he had explained the happenings to Hermione who had waited for him to return in the common room with a book open in her lap. He expression reflected that of Harry earlier that night. She was befuddled that how someone could ask students to fight adult dragons. She had a few days to think about it.

Harry had just sat to have his breakfast when the post-owl arrived with a delivery of Daily Prophet for Hermione. Her shriek was indication enough that something was seriously wrong, his guess was very close. He scooted closer to her to read the Prophet over her shoulder, what he read blew his mind.

DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE

Albus Dumbledore, eccentric Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has never been afraid to make controversial staff appointments, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. In September of this year, he hired Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, the notoriously jinx-happy ex-Auror, to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts, a decision that caused many raised eyebrows at the Ministry of Magic, given Moody's well-known habit of attacking anybody who makes a sudden movement in his presence. Mad-Eye Moody, however, looks responsible and kindly when set beside the part-human Dumbledore employs to teach Care of Magical Creatures. Rubeus Hagrid, who admits to being expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, has enjoyed the position of Gamekeeper at the school ever since, a job secured for him by Dumbledore. Last year, however, Hagrid used his mysterious influence over the headmaster to secure the additional post of Care of Magical Creatures teacher, over the heads of many better-qualified candidates. An alarming large and ferocious-looking man, Hagrid has been using his new-found authority to terrify the students in his care with a succession of horrific creatures. While Dumbledore turns a blind eye, Hagrid has maimed several pupils during a series of lessons that many admit to being "very frightening." "I was attacked by a hippogriff, and my friend Vincent Crabbe got a bad bite off a flobberworm," says Draco Malfoy, a fourth-year student. "We all hate Hagrid, but we're just too scared to say anything." Hagrid has no intention of ceasing his campaign of intimidation, however.

In conversation with a Daily Prophet reporter last month, he admitted breeding creatures he has dubbed "Blast-Ended Skrewts", highly dangerous crosses between manticores and fire crabs. The creation of new breeds of magical creature is, of course, an activity usually closely observed by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Hagrid, however, considers himself to be above such petty restrictions. "I was just having some fun," he says, before hastily changing the subject. As if this were not enough, the Daily Prophet has now unearthed evidence that Hagrid is not, as he has always pretended, a pure-blood wizard. He is not, in fact, even pure human. His mother, we can exclusively reveal, is none other than the giantess Fridwulfa, whose whereabouts are currently unknown. Bloodthirsty and brutal, the giants brought themselves to the point of extinction by warring amongst themselves during the last century. The handful that remained joined the ranks of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and were responsible for some of the worst mass Muggle killings of his reign of terror. While many of the giants who served He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named were killed by Aurors working against the Dark Side, Fridwulfa was not among them. It is possible she escaped to one of the giant communities still existing in foreign mountain ranges. If his antics during Care of Magical Creatures lessons are any guide, however, Fridwulfa's son appears to have inherited her brutal nature. In a bizarre twist, Hagrid is reputed to have developed a close friendship with the boy who brought around You-Know-Who's fall from power, thereby driving Hagrid's own mother, like the rest of You-Know-Who's supporters, into hiding. Perhaps Harry Potter is unaware of this unpleasant truth about his large friend, but Albus Dumbledore surely has a duty to ensure that Harry Potter, along with his fellow students, is warned about the dangers of associating with half-giants.

At the moment, Harry was unable to wrap his mind around the fact and process everything written in the paper. He needed to see Hagrid right now. All his hunger now forgotten and his breakfast left untouched, he rose from his seat and started towards the entrance of the castle, Hermione following a step behind. In all this conundrum, they didn't see the glee on the faces of Draco Malfoy and his cronies. They also failed to see them pass something along and across the house tables.

As they stepped closer to Hagrid's hut, Harry started to form the sentences he needed to get to Hagrid. He wanted to know the truth behind every accusation and wanted to give him every support he need, that's what friends do for each other. He would support Hagrid every possible way to help him get through this mess.

"Hagrid! Open the door." Harry shouted, banging his fist on the closed door of the hut.

"Open the door or I will break it." Hermione threatened, there was no response. They keep knocking for five minutes before deciding that it was futile right now and they should return sometime later.

Once they came to realize that they can't do anything worthwhile regarding the article, Harry had another thing on his mind. He had explained the situation to Hermione last night that the other champions would probably know what the first task is except for Cedric. Harry was well aware that Dumbledore would not help Harry and Cedric during the preparation of the task and most certainly won't give them hints to help them. He had planned to tell Cedric what the first task is.

The breakfast time was over and they had to get to their first class of the day so they ran towards the class. Harry decided that he would inform Cedric about the task during lunch.

After his second class of the morning was over, he started walking towards the great hall with Hermione in tow. They were shocked as they got closer to the great hall. Most of the students they came across were sporting badges which were quite insulting to Harry, to say the least. He noticed the badges and what was written on it, a few students helped him in doing so by shoving the badges right into his face.

'Cedric Rocks, Potter Sucks', 'Potter: The-Boy-Who-Lies', 'Youngest Fraud in a Century', 'The Gryffindor Attention Seeker'.

After reading all this, his appetite was already lost, the only reason he was still going towards the great hall was to inform Cedric. Luckily, he was about to enter the hall when Harry called him. He saw that all his friends, who were accompanying him, wore the badges. For a fleeting second, Harry wanted to just walk away but his conscience would not allow it.

"Can I talk to you, in private?" Harry asked, avoiding the other bystanders.

On his affirmative response, both walked towards a broom cupboard under one of the stairways and out of the earshot of the present students.

"Dragons, that's the first task." Harry said, keeping his voice barely above a whisper so no one except Cedric could hear it.

"Are you sure?" Harry just nodded. "Ok, and I apologize for my friends…."

Harry cut him off midsentence. "I don't care", and walked away.

Harry started to walk back towards Hermione who was standing close to the entrance to the great hall when someone shouted from the stairway behind him.

"Hey scarhead, how did you like the badges? If you ask me, best two hundred galleons spent." Malfoy spoke with an evil smirk, his cronies laughing on the remark.

Harry tried to ignore him but the next sentence made his blood boil.

"For that dimwit half-human, I didn't even need to move my hands. The opportunity landed in my lap. Finally, that brute will be kicked out of the school."

Harry turned towards him with true anger in his eyes, "He is twice the man you can ever imagine to be." Harry replied, trying to keep his voice flat. He turned back and started walking towards Hermione. But before he reached her, Draco drew his wand from his robes and was in process to fire a curse towards him when Moody came out from a corner and fired a curse towards Malfoy, turning him into a white, furry ferret.

Moody was bouncing him with the flick of his wand, every student nearby turned to watch the Slytherin prince bouncing in the air in his complete ferrety glory, the entrance hall erupted in cheers, laughs and catcalls. It did not last long as Snape came running out of the great hall, his cloak billowing behind him, giving him the effect of a giant bat.

"What's the meaning of this?" Snape asked Moody in his characteristic flat voice, his eyes sending a angry glare towards him.

"Ask your snakes to keep their wands away. If they are so interested in a duel, attack from front like a man and not from behind. And if you can't get them in line, I would be too happy to do that for you." Moody scowled, everyone could see that Snape was seething with anger.

"He will serve detention for a week." Moody said, changing Malfoy back to his human form and started walking towards the great hall, his wand safely back in his robes.

"He had served the punishment, there will be no detention." Snape replied, anger rising in voice and demeanour.

"You want to argue about it?" Moody asked, drawing his wand from its place. Snape hesitated for a moment before drawing his wand. The entrance hall went deathly silent in the anticipation of a heated duel but before spells could start flying, McGonagall entered the entrance hall and asked everyone to go to the great hall in the most authoritative voice she could muster. Her lips thinning in a line, clearly indicating the fury she was experiencing.

"We will discuss this with Albus later." Minerva said, attempting to maintain her composure.

"Potter, stay back. I need to talk to you." Moody ordered. Harry told Hermione that he would see her later and walked towards the DADA professor. They both walked towards his office which was on fourth floor, it took a few minutes to reach his office.

In his office, Harry noticed that there were many mirrors and big glass pieces were positioned everywhere, the shelves contained many potion vials and ingredient containers, table tops were littered with rotating metallic objects which Harry had never seen before. Moody went to the back of the room and sat heavily in a leather chair with wheels at the base. He removed his metallic prosthetic leg and place it on a table. He asked Harry to take a seat across from him.

"I saw you were intrigued by my possessions, let me help you with those. Those glass objects and mirrors are called foe glasses, you can see the faces of your enemy when they come closer. The rotating equipment are sneakoscopes, very handy in alerting if danger is near." Harry just nodded, his eyes darting all around the room. There was a big black trunk on the right side of the room, continuously rattling like some wild beast was kept inside.

"What are you planning to do, Potter?" Moody asked in a concerned voice.

"Ehh….", 'What an eloquent answer, you idiot.' Harry scolded himself internally.

"You should put the concern of cheating to rest. Every headmaster and hence every champion except for Hogwarts once know about the task. And don't worry, I'm here to help." Both his eyes focussed on Harry.

"Sir, I haven't thought about it." His eyes towards the floor in embarrassment.

"What are you good at it, Potter? Use it."

"Well, I'm good on a broom but that's not allowed. Only a wand is allowed."

"Then use your wand."

-X-X-

Harry was excited beyond measure, he was going to meet his godfather today after almost five months since he discovered his innocence. He woke up early on a Saturday morning, hell he couldn't sleep properly last night. He didn't know that he was not the only one. He dressed up after taking a bath, picked up the invisibility cloak, Moody's defence book and Marauders' map from his trunk and went to the common room even before any of his dormmates woke up. He was a bit surprised to find Hermione, curled up on their favourite couch in front of the fireplace, reading a book. It looked like she was already prepared for the day.

"Good morning 'mione, you are up early." He walked towards her and occupied the empty space next to her on the couch.

"Good morning yourself, couldn't wait to see Padfoot." She gave him a hearty smile, excitement clear in her eyes.

"Let's go for the breakfast and then have a walk around the lake before the snow covers the grass."

They went to the great hall to have a quick breakfast and went to the black lake. In the last few weeks and the three years before this one, the trio, now the duo had made a spot for themselves. It was an old oak tree on the shore of the black lake, mostly secluded from the bustle of Hogwarts students, having a feel of serenity accompanying it. There was a big boulder on the right side of the tree with a near flat top, just on the shore of the lake. It was on the perfect spot to just dip your toes in the lake while sitting on the edge of the stone. They spent the next couple of hours sitting there, enjoying the final few hours of sunlight before the harsh winter of Scotland came knocking, the books open on their laps.

Harry was trying to find some spell that would help against the dragon, he was going through the book Moody had given to him. Hermione on the hand, was reading the book about dragons, not a spell book but just a text book about dragons. Harry was confused about it, 'Why would she read textbook instead of trying to find some good enough spells to fight the dragon?', he found asking himself this question.

Suddenly Hermione shouted and jumped onto Harry before he could react, her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck. It took a few moments to identify the reason for this reaction from Hermione. A dangerous looking brown snake was sitting a foot or two away from where Hermione was previously sitting, it looked like the snake was analysing if he should attack or leave while continuously flicking its forked tongue.

Harry looked in the eyes of the snake and asked it to leave and threatened to finish it if he refused. The snake moved its head, unknowingly using Parseltongue again, the motion looked like a nod and left both of them on their own.

"I'm sorry Harry, I didn't want to jump on you. That snake just came close and I was afraid and I'm sorry." She tightened her grip around his neck, a few tears falling on his neck and chest where Hermione had hidden her face. In response, Harry wrapped his arms around her back and started patting her hair. It took a few minutes for Hermione to regain her composure but before she could extract herself from Harry and sit on the ground, Ron, Dean and Seamus walked towards the spot, still deep in their discussion. The moment Ron saw the two of them sitting there, Hermione practically sitting in Harry's lap, his temper shot skywards.

"You TRAITOR!" Ron shouted, turned on his heels and left before Harry could respond. Dean and Seamus following a step behind him. Hermione lifted her head from its previous position on Harry's shoulder and turned towards the angry voices. All she saw was the retreating figure of the three fellow Gryffindor boys.

They didn't have much time to discuss as they had an appointment to keep, they rose from their spot and started walking towards the Whomping Willow. When they were a hundred yards or so away from the tree, Harry checked if anybody was looking towards them and wrapped the cloak around both of them. He drew his wand and levitated a stone towards the locking root of the Whomping Willow. As the stone fell on the know of roots, the tree went still and the duo walked towards the tunnel under the base of the trunk.

They both entered the tunnel and lightened their wands with Lumos. It took them more then fifteen minutes to reach to the Shrieking Shack through the narrow passageway. The sight waiting for him cheered Harry more than anything else. In the disintegrating bedroom of the Shack, where Harry first met Sirius, were sitting to last links to his parents, Sirius and Remus.

"SIRIUS!" Harry was jubilant, he raced ahead and jumped to hug envelope Sirius in a bear hug, as close to it as possible with the height difference between the two. Sirius was smiling and patting Harry's hair in a very protective, even fatherly, way. Harry tried to pour all his happiness at seeing him in the hug. Harry had happy tears in his eyes and Hermione could not stop hers, she fiercely wiped hers away. They broke the hug after more than a couple of minutes, greetings were shared and questions about wellbeing were asked and answered. Sirius looked much better and healthy, he was wearing a black wizard robe over maroon shirt and trousers. Remus was in a brown cloak, under which he wore an off white which had certainly seen better days and a khaki pants. A few minutes later, they came to the serious conversation.

"It isn't safe for you to come here Sirius, you can be caught." Harry asked, a bit solidly.

"Don't worry, Harry. Nobody is going to come looking in Shrieking Shack to find the most notorious mass murderer in last 20 years." Sirius replied with a mischievous smile and a wink.

"Where have you been?" Hermione asked seriously.

"James's parents had a small hunting lodge near Loch Katrine in Scotland. They left it to me due to my…. my furry little problem. Now it's under Fidelius so no one knows where we actually are." Remus replied in his characteristic soft but firm manner.

"Here, It's a dragonhide protective vest and wrist holster for your wand. Pure Ukrainian Ironbelly leather. Its resistant to majority of normal curses." Sirius said while handing Harry a big package wrapped in brown paper. He opened the package hastily to find a smooth metallic grey leather vest. It was quite stylish for a protective vest with its straps on the side and long sleeves. There was a pair of leather wrist holster. Harry muttered his thanks but asked the reason for the second.

"Well the second one is for your girlfriend pup." Sirius answered with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Oh, no no no, we're not together, I mean she is not my girlfriend." Harry blurted out quickly, Hermione just shook her head.

"Ohh" Sirius's smile faltered a bit but he composed himself quickly "Doesn't matter, a small gift Hermione for helping save my life."

Harry removed his jacket and wore the vest and holster. Hermione strapped the holster on her left arm.

"So, let's get down to business, Harry. Did you put your name in the Goblet?" Sirius asked. When he saw the hurt expression on Harry's face, he continued, "Don't take it to your heart pup, it was necessary to ask. Now tell me about your dreams."

Harry explained about the nightmares he had been having throughout the summer and the two months he has been in the castle. He drew an explicitly detailed picture of his dream. Both Sirius and Remus had that look in their eyes that said their minds were racing to get some meaning out of it, they had concern written all over their faces.

"It doesn't matter, they are just dreams." Harry tried to play down the seriousness.

"Yeah, they are just dreams." Remus said with mixed emotions of worry, confusion and deep lying longing.

"Everything was just a big nightmare." Sirius had his face buried in his palms.

"There are too many things happening at the moment Harry, one of the ministry workers, Bertha Jorkins is lost. She went to Albania but hasn't returned in four months." Remus said, in a dilemma of telling him about things or not.

"Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins. She was at Hogwarts when we were, a few years above your dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination, Harry. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap." Sirius pointed out. "All the incidents in the summer, it's hard to believe them to be mere coincidences."

"Your dreams, Death Eaters at the World Cup, Disappearance of Bertha Jorkins, the competition being revived and your name coming out of the cup." Remus noted the incidents.

"Be careful, something sinister might be in the making. Don't trust everyone. And if anything out of ordinary happens, tell us and tell Dumbledore. We might be able to do something." Harry just nodded at Sirius's statement.

"Sirius, it would be better if we handle the more pressing issue first. We can't stay here long." Remus reminded Sirius.

"Do you have any idea about the first task Harry?"

"Dragons." Harry answered, his eyes fixed at the floorboard.

"What! That's outrageous. Has Dumbles got soft in head? How can he allow this?" Sirius started ranting which went on for a couple of minutes before his anger subsided.

"What are you planning to do?" Remus asked.

"Moody said that I should use my ability on a broom but only wand can be carried so he said use your wand, whatever that means."

Hermione, who was silent during all this, held Harry's hand in hers throughout the discussion, drawing small circles on the back of Harry's hand with her thumb, providing him silent support.

"Harry, you could summon your broom." Hermione answered, like telling a stupid child something very obvious.

"We don't know how to." Harry replied, a bit harshly.

"We can learn and practice and beside you might not need to do that." Harry's facial features showed his confusion which was clearly reflected on the faces of the friends of his father.

Hermione answered in her lecturing tone, "Harry, dragons are reptiles, they belong to serpent family. You can explain the situation and ask the dragon politely using parseltongue."

"For a minute, you sounded like Hagrid there, Hermione." Sirius started laughing, his contagious laughter now catching up with the other two males in the room. Moments later all except Hermione were laughing, she just huffed and folded her arms in front of her.

"Hermione, you truly are the brightest witch of your age." Remus said, with a look of pride on his features.

Hermione blushed, bowed her head forward to hide the blush and muttered thanks.

"Dragons are resistant to usual spells, the only weak spot is their eyes. It takes many dragon tamers to control a fully grown dragon. Out-flying it or as Hermione mentioned, politely asking might be the best options." Remus informed Harry.

They spoke for a few minutes about other inconsequential matters, tried to make some kind of strategy regarding the task. Remus and Sirius apparated back to wherever they were living, just before 3 PM. Harry and Hermione walked back to the castle under the cloak until the found an alcove where they removed the cloak and went back to the common room. Harry had to learn a summoning charm and that too, soon.

The last six days before the task were spend majorly in the gymnasium where Harry was trying to master the summoning charm. Hermione had already mastered it and was helping Harry do the same. Harry was having difficulty to use the charm on hidden or far away objects. Sometimes his aim was off, on the other times either he didn't put enough power into it or put too much power into it. One such time, his aim was off and he summoned Hermione from across the room, both falling to the ground in a heap as the result of the collision. Harry's behinds bruised by the fall but the embarrassment was the more difficult thing to handle. Hermione had fallen on top of him, their heads hitting together.

November 24, 1994

Finally, the day of reckoning was here. Harry woke up early and got ready, his dragonhide vest and wand holster in their place. His nerves were getting out of his hands, he never remembered having this issue during Quidditch matches, then again there was no dragon to face. He walked to the common room where Hermione was waiting on him to go to the great hall for breakfast. Harry could not each much due to his nerves, he thought he would throw up if he ate something. He ate an apple and had a goblet of pumpkin juice on incessant insistence from Hermione. The task was to start at half past nine, all students were asked to be in the stands by nice and the participants to be in the participants tent by quarte past nine. He was informed about it last night by McGonagall and was given a jersey in Gryffindor colours, to be worn for the first task. They had set up the arena on the edge of forbidden forest away from the castle and the planted vegetation. He bid Hermione goodbye around half past eight to go to the common room and get changed into the jersey. Half an hour Later he was in the champions tent, fifty yards or so away from the arena and the stand surrounding the arena. All the participants already present in the tent, he was given the number six, he walked inside the tent towards his assigned area, he nodded to Cedric on the way, who looked deathly pale. Champions area had a bad and a small table with a pitcher of water place onto it. Harry was walking one side of the tent to the other, worrying about the task at hand when he heard the muffled voice.

"Pssssst…. Harry!"

A/N: I might not be able to update for two weeks, college work. Please be patient with me. Please Review.