The Fourth Wizard
DISCLAIMER:I do not own the Potterverse.
Chapter Nine
The usual group gathered the day after the Valentine's Ball to discuss the next task. It included all the contestants, Hermione, Neville, and the Weasley twins.
"We got little model dragons," Daphne said. "This does not bode well."
"If it's too dangerous remember that as long as you make any sort of attempt you won't lose your magic," Hermione said. "If you show up and cast a single spell then run that's good enough."
"I might do that," Daphne said.
"Moi aussi," Fleur said. "But perhaps we won't have to fight it just sneak past it or something."
"I hope so," Harry said. "Congratulations on being in first place."
Fleur kissed Harry's cheek, "Thank you mon amour." Then she kissed Luna's cheek and said, "Congratulations to the two of you for tying in second place."
Krum grinned and looked at Hermione, "Do I get kiss for being in third place?"
Hermione blushed but went over to kiss his cheek.
George grinned and kissed Daphne's cheek, "Congratulations on tying for third."
Harry said, "Well we know a spell to make ourselves fireproof."
Fleur said, "And warned that we have to do it well if we want to save our clothes too."
"And the old perv was looking at you when he said it," Daphne said.
"I am, unfortunately, used to that reaction to my allure," Fleur replied.
"Is it even stronger in the full blood Veela," Hermione asked.
"Yes, but the full bloods can turn it off when they wish," Fleur said. "An ability I wish I had."
"So, does anybody know any spells that will work on a dragon?" Cedric asked.
Krum said, "Yes, I know a blinding spell that will work on dragons." He showed everyone.
"Thanks Victor," Harry said. "Anyone got anything else?"
"That tunneling spell will come in handy if you just have to get past it," Neville said.
"True," Harry said.
The next event came on March fifteenth and the champions were waiting in a tent for Bagman. Eventually he came in to say, "You'll need to get a golden egg away from a nesting dragon. You will be graded on skill, speed, and whether or not you damage any eggs."
"What if we damage the dragon?" Harry asked.
"Good effing luck with that," Bagman replied. "If you can injure the dragon you won't be penalized as far as I know. At least not by the judges. We brought in extra healers just in case it injures you. Good luck, try to stay alive, and remember I've got money riding on Cedric." With that Bagman left muttering about unreasonable bookies.
"Your officials are worse than in Bulgaria," Krum said. "I never would have guessed."
Harry grimaced, "Well I'm stuck here for three more years at least. And I have to deal with Moldyshorts, if for no other reason than he thinks I can so he keeps trying to kill me. How about you Ced? Are you leaving the country after the tournament?"
"Well, I hadn't been planning on it before," Cedric said. Then he turned to Krum and asked, "Does your team need a keeper?"
Krum laughed, "In all honesty yes, but current keeper is grandson of owner so your chances, not so good. At least not as starter. Maybe they hire you as backup for when he is too hungover."
"Thanks anyway," Cedric said.
"He didn't even tell us who goes in what order," Fleur said. "Do you have no competent members of government?"
"Why didn't you ask?" Harry said. "And I'm sure there must be a few."
Cedric shrugged, "I guess we just listen for our names."
"That would work," said the Unspeakable as he entered. "But I got the schedule from the fool who has taken too many bludgers to the head, Bagman. Fleur is first, Viktor is second, Cedric is third, Angelina is fourth, Daphne is fifth, Luna is sixth, and Harry is last. Be careful out there and remember your fireproofing spells."
Soon Fleur had been called and left the tent. The others listened to the commentary but most of what Bagman said was compliments about her looks. It seemed like Fleur was distracting the dragon. They could hear roars and curses in French but eventually it was over and Fleur received her scores.
"As she is being led to the infirmary tent by the lucky security men on duty," Bagman said. "I will say she had great form and she did get her egg despite losing her clothes to dragon fire. Her scores average out to an eight once more bringing her score to twenty-four overall. Everyone, bring your hands together for our loveliest contestant!" Bagman stopped his sleazy commentary and the audience applauded.
Viktor blinded his dragon then tunneled under it to grab the egg and retreat back to a safe distance. He got penalized for that despite what Bagman had said and because he broke a real egg while grabbing the golden one. His scores averaged out to a six.
Cedric transfigured a bunch of boulders into apes and sent them towards the dragon. Some attacked it while the rest went for the egg. Unfortunately the dragon had no trouble attacking eight apes at once and after seeing the remains Cedric was sick and the time ran out on him while he was keeping his last meal down. He received two points.
Angelina summoned her broom and attempted to grab the egg on the fly. She managed to do that while keeping the fireproofing spell up and unlike Fleur she did it well enough to keep her clothes undamaged as well. Her score was a ten.
Daphne also used tunneling but also damaged a real egg in the process. She ended up with a six as well.
Luna talked to the dragon with a spell none of the others knew and it handed her the false egg after examining it critically. She received ten points.
Harry summoned his broom and used the fireproofing spell and flying skills to snag the golden egg on the fly without being harmed by the dragon or damaging any real dragon eggs. He was awarded ten points.
After that was a trip to the infirmary where the healers checked them out and Fleur transfigured a blanket into a dress. Then they all came out to wave at the crowd and hear their scores.
"Harry Potter has twenty points, Luna Lovegood has twenty points, Daphne Greengrass has eleven points, Cedric Diggory has two points, Angelina Johnson has ten points, Viktor Krum has eleven points, and Fleur Delacour retains her lead with twenty-four points. Let's have a round of applause for all our champions!"
When the eggs were opened they projected an image of the Hogwarts lake followed by an image of seven columns in a row underwater, then an image of a gold coin. It repeated the images three times in the same order then shut down.
"Well, I think that's fairly clear," Harry said. "We'll need to dive under the black lake and retrieve a treasure from a column under water. Maybe an actual coin but it might just be a symbol."
Fleur shivered, "Brr, April is at least Spring but that water will still be terribly cold."
Neville and Hermione were there with them and Neville had an idea, "If you can get gillyweed it will protect you from the cold as well as allow you to breathe underwater."
"Oh yeah," Cedric said. "I've used it before. That's a great idea Neville. Now we won't have to worry about holding a bubble head spell while casting offensive spells."
"Offensive spells?" Angelina asked then nodded. "Oh, right. They won't leave the treasure unguarded."
"Can you owl-order from here?" Fleur asked.
"Yes," Neville said and pulled out an order form. "If you can duplicate this enough times you can all order separately or you can pool money and order together."
"We should order extras so we can practice," Viktor said.
They ended up ordering 30 doses and planning a joint training session when it arrived.