Chasing You (Viktor Krum X Reader)

Chapter 5: Dragons Are So Scary and Harry Potter is a Try-Hard

"Well, that leaves you, Mr. Potter." Harry grabs the final model out of the bag. "The Hungarian Horntail."

"Y/N!" Someone calls from the flap of the tent. "They're ready for you."

I try to steady my breathing as I tuck the model dragon into my pocket and make my way to the task arena. The first thing I notice is the crowd. There are so many people that they blur together. The second thing I notice is the dragon. It's huge, far bigger than I had expected, with silvery-blue skin that shines in the sunlight. It snorts in displeasure as I near it, a puff of smoke escaping its nostrils. I look around the arena and try to find Cedric in the crowd to settle my nerves, but there are far too many people to catch a glimpse of my friend.

I'm still lost in thought when the beginning of the match is signaled. I tear my eyes away from the crowd and try to focus on the dragon before me as I grapple for my wand. With some difficulty, I draw my wand, but my mind goes blank. Wiped clear. Logic: gone; lessons: gone; spells: definitely gone.

What do I do?

The dragon shoots a blue line of fire at me, which I duck to avoid, throwing my arms over my head for some protection. Heat tears at my arms, and it's almost comical to imagine the hairs on my arms curling away into ash. The dragon follows my movement with its beacon of flame, and I flatten myself on the ground, rolling to the side with as much grace as I can muster. Which is not much.

As soon as the flames let up, I spring to my feet. The more time I spend rolling around on the ground, the more time the dragon has to turn me into a pile of ash. So... I have to do something. Anything. Literally anything.

But my mind is still blank.

I duck behind a rock to shield myself so I can think.

Come on! Literally anything would be better than nothing, I chide at myself, peeking over the rock to catch a glimpse of the dragon. It is definitely cognizant of my location. Very nice sense of object permanence, I realize as another column of flames barrels in my direction. I duck my head behind the rock and shy away from the blinding heat.

So, I can currently remember close to nothing. But I can remember... transfiguration? Yeah, I can do that. That's easy enough. Professor McGonagall's exams have always felt very similar to the task at hand, so maybe in some bizarre sense of context and state retrieval, I can draw on some conditioning to bring something useful to mind.

I exhale deeply to calm myself and look around. I just need something to transfigure. Bonus points if it gets rid of something helpful for the other champions. I find one of the larger rocks that have been set up and point my wand at it, willing myself to recall transfiguration. I cheer to myself when I'm able to turn the rock into a dog, which immediately sets off running in the opposite direction. A tentative peek over the rock I'm hidden behind shows that the dragon's focus is now zeroed in on the dog. I leap over the rock and sprint toward the egg, refusing to waste time gauging the dragon's location.

I grab the golden egg, barely having time to register the cool metal beneath my fingers or the intricate carving of its body. I shove it under my arm and run. My thighs burn with exhaustion as I sprint away from the dragon, which roars when it sees me with the egg in my grasp, shooting another beam of flame at me. I'm far enough away that the heat barely licks the back of my thighs, and the task is called moments later.

As the dragon is wrangled and prepared for removal, I collapse onto the bench designated for the champions. My chest is heaving, my arm still clamped tightly around the egg. Madam Pomfrey checks over me and, when she's satisfied that I'm okay, she leaves me to return to the sidelines of the arena in case the next champion is injured.