Harry got up on Sunday morning and dressed so inattentively that it was a while before he realized he was trying to pull his hat onto his foot instead of his sock. When he'd finally got all his clothes on the right parts of his body, he hurried off to find his friends, spotting Hermione eating breakfast with Ginny at the Gryffindor table while Ben was at the Ravenclaw table between Daphne and Luna. Harry was feeling too queasy to eat, so he waited for Hermione and Ben to finish up. Ben spotted him first, getting up with Daphne and Luna to walk towards him just as Hermione spotted him. With Ginny, she walked with the trio coming towards Harry before stopping in front of him. He indicated them to follow him as he led them out onto the grounds. He filled them in about everything as they walked.
"And when did Hagrid ask you to come over?" Ben asked, interrupting after a moment.
"At Hogsmeade, when you two were on your date," Harry responded irritably. Ben and Daphne both blushed, Daphne slightly, Ben spectacularly. They both smiled as well, in a similar manner to their blushes. Ben and Daphne both gained faraway looks in their eyes.
"A good day. A good date," Ben said distractedly, Daphne nodding in agreement.
Harry, Hermione, and Ginny shared an amused glance while Luna merely smiled at them. Harry resumed his tale.
The group was alarmed by Karkaroff's allegiance, though they prioritized the dragons.
"Let's just try and keep you alive until Tuesday evening," Hermione said desperately, "and then we can worry about Karkaroff."
Sirius's suggestion of the Conjunctivis Curse to the eye was discussed but quickly discarded, as that would aggravate the dragon and, if it failed to subdue it, may cause it to rampage and kill someone, namely Harry. Nothing else occurred to them, so they retired to the library instead. Here, Harry pulled down every book he could find on dragons, and all of them set to work searching through the large pile.
" 'Talon-clipping by charms . . . treating scale-rot . . .' This is no good, this is for nutters like Hagrid who want to keep them healthy. . . ."
"'Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, owing to the ancient magic that imbues their thick hides, which none but the most powerful spells can penetrate . . .' We already knew that; Sirius's idea was dangerous, though."
"Let's try something you can do without much danger, then," Ginny said, tossing aside How to Train Your Dragon, a Guide to Dragon Rearing. "Perhaps simple spells?"
Harry got up and returned to the table with a pile of spellbooks, set them down, and began to flick through each in turn. Ben was muttering quietly to himself while Hermione was whispering at Harry's elbow.
"Well, there are Switching Spells . . . but what's the point of Switching it? Unless you swapped its fangs for wine-gums or something that would make it less dangerous. . . . The trouble is, like that book said, not much is going to get through a dragon's hide. . . . I'd say Transfigure it, but something that big, you really haven't got a hope, I doubt even Professor McGonagall . . . unless you're supposed to put the spell on yourself ? Maybe to give yourself extra powers? But they're not simple spells, I mean, we haven't done any of those in class, I only know about them because I've been doing O.W.L. practice papers. . . ."
"Hermione," Harry said, through gritted teeth, "will you shut up for a bit, please? I'm trying to concentrate."
"You don't need to be so hostile, Harry," Ginny said. "I understand you're stressed, but there's no need to take it out on us."
Harry exhaled loudly. "You're right. I'm sorry, Hermione."
Hermione waved it aside, although she didn't start muttering again. But all that happened, when Hermione fell silent, was that Harry's brain filled with a sort of blank buzzing, which didn't seem to allow room for concentration. The lists of spells in the index of Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed didn't help in that matter.
"Oh no, he's back again, why can't he read on his stupid ship?" said Hermione irritably as Viktor Krum slouched in, cast a surly look over at the pair of them, and settled himself in a distant corner with a pile of books. "Come on, guys, let's go to an abandoned classroom . . . his fan club'll be here in a moment, twittering away. . . ."
And sure enough, as they left the library, a gang of girls tiptoed past them, one of them wearing a Bulgaria scarf tied around her waist.
-Break-
"Look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get his egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr. Potter!"
Harry saw the dragon keepers rushing forward to subdue the Horntail, and, over at the entrance to the enclosure, Professor McGonagall, Professor Moody, and Hagrid hurrying to meet him, all of them waving him toward them, their smiles evident even from this distance. He flew back over the stands, the noise of the crowd pounding his eardrums, and came in smoothly to land, his heart lighter than it had been in weeks. . . . He had got through the first task, he had survived. . . .
"That was excellent, Potter!" cried Professor McGonagall as he got off the Firebolt — which from her was extravagant praise. He noticed that her hand shook as she pointed at his shoulder. "You'll need to see Madam Pomfrey before the judges give out your score. . . . Over there, she's had to mop up Diggory already. . . ."
"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.
Professor Moody looked very pleased too; his magical eye was dancing in its socket.
"Nice and easy does the trick, Potter," he growled.
"Right then, Potter, the first aid tent, please . . ." said Professor McGonagall.
Harry walked out of the enclosure, still panting, and saw Madam Pomfrey standing at the mouth of a second tent, looking worried.
"Dragons!" she said, in a disgusted tone, pulling Harry inside. The tent was divided into cubicles; he could make out Cedric's shadow through the canvas, but Cedric didn't seem to be badly injured; he was sitting up, at least. Madam Pomfrey examined Harry's shoulder, talking furiously all the while. "Last year dementors, this year dragons, what are they going to bring into this school next? You're very lucky . . . this is quite shallow . . . it'll need cleaning before I heal it up, though. . . ."
She cleaned the cut with a dab of some purple liquid that smoked and stung, but then poked his shoulder with her wand, and he felt it heal instantly.
"Now, just sit quietly for a minute — sit! And then you can go and get your score."
She bustled out of the tent and he heard her go next door and say, "How does it feel now, Diggory?"
Harry didn't want to sit still: He was too full of adrenaline. He got to his feet, wanting to see what was going on outside, but before he'd reached the mouth of the tent, three people had come darting inside — Hermione, followed closely by Ron and Sirius.
"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, "I'm so very sorry. I'm behind you completely from now on."
Relief was all Harry felt. Ron had finally come around.
"It's about time," a familiar voice called from the tent entrance.
Harry turned to see Ginny had walked in with Ben and Daphne, the later two blushing a bit, although that was fading.
"What's with you two?" Harry asked them.
Ginny smirked as Ben and Daphne's blush returned with a vengeance. "These two decided to celebrate your survival by sharing their first kiss."
"Oh-ho?" Sirius said, smiling mischievously. "My nephew's had his first kiss. How was it?"
Ben, clearly distracted by the memory, replied, "Glorious."
Daphne's blush deepened even as she smiled. Sirius started laughing loudly, setting off the rest of them. Still chuckling, Harry picked up the golden egg and his Firebolt, feeling more elated than he would have believed possible an hour ago. Harry ducked out of the tent, Ron by his side, talking fast.
AN: So, hope you're having a good day today.
Uploaded Aug. 28th, 2022, Edited Jan 10th, 2025