Brighter Than the Sun

Chapter Sixty

"Great Scott, he can fly!" yelled Bagman as the crowd shrieked and gasped. "Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?"

Krum actually was watching, but he didn't look impressed or upset, just stony, like a statue.

Harry soared higher in a circle; the Horntail was still following his progress, its head revolving on its long neck If he kept this up, it would be nicely dizzy, but he shouldn't push it too long, or it would be breathing fire again —

Harry plummeted just as the Horntail opened its mouth, but this time he was less lucky — he missed the flames, but the tail came whipping up to meet him instead, and as he swerved to the left, one of the long spikes grazed his shoulder, ripping his robes —

Hermione and I shrieked in alarm, but Harry seemed okay. Now he zoomed around the back of the Horntail, flying first one way, then the other, not near enough to make her breathe fire to stave him off, but still posing a sufficient threat to ensure she kept her eyes on him.

"He's trying to coax her away from the eggs," I pointed out.

Harry flew higher. The Horntail's head rose with him, her neck now stretched to its fullest extent, still swaying like a snake before its charmer... Harry rose a few more feet, and she let out a roar of exasperation. He was like a fly to her, a fly she was longing to swat; her tail thrashed again, but he was too high to reach now. . . . She shot fire into the air, which he dodged... Her jaws opened wide...

Finally, she reared, spreading her great, black, leathery wings at last, as wide as those of a small airplane — and Harry dived. Before the dragon knew what he had done, or where he had disappeared to, he was speeding toward the ground as fast as he could go, toward the eggs now unprotected by her clawed front legs, and seized the golden egg.

And with a huge spurt of speed, he was off, he was soaring out over the stands, the egg safely under his uninjured arm. The crowd screamed their approval. Hermione and I relaxed and collapsed onto the empty bed.

"Good Morrigan, Hermione," I exclaimed, examining my hand, which was now peppered with small cuts from her fingernails. Hermione's hand wasn't much better off, and her cheek had marks too from where she'd been grabbing it.

"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!"

I saw the dragon keepers rushing forward to subdue the Horntail. Harry flew back over the stands. He would be arriving here any moment and I'd have to help Madame Pomfrey — who was waiting for him at the mouth of the tent — take care of his shoulder.

"Dragons!" she said, in a disgusted tone, when Harry arrived, pulling him inside. 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... Aisling, the —"

"Got it," I said, handing her a bottle of the ointment she was pointing at. She cleaned the cut with a dab of the purple liquid, then poked his shoulder with her wand, healing it instantly.

"Now, just sit quietly for a minute — sit! Aisling, you see to it he does! 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 lurched forward, but I pushed him back down. "Don't even think about it. She said to sit down for a bit.

"Harry, you were brilliant!" Hermione said squeakily. "You were amazing! You really were!"

Suddenly Ron entered the tent, looking pale and staring at Harry as though he were a ghost.