Breaking Apart ; Harry Potter [2]

Chapter 11

Harry followed Moody to his classroom.

Once they got into the cold classroom, Moody wasted no time in sitting himself down and taking off his prosthetic leg.

Harry, not really comfortable with looking at Moody as he took off his leg, trailed his eyes over to the strange objects Moody had lying around.

"That's a foal glass. Lets me keep an eye on my enemies. If I can see the whites of their eyes they're standing right behind me." Moody's voice came sudden, making Harry jump and turn back to his Professor.

A trunk, lay by Moody's desk, rattled and Harry's eyes flickered to it briefly, his curiostity growing.

"Wouldn't even bother telling you what's in there. You wouldn't believe it if I did. Now... what are you going to do about your Dragon?"

This caught Harry off guard. He hadn't really thought about the dragon as every time he did his chest got tight with nerves.

He tried to avoid thinking about it as much as possible. But as Moody awaited for an answer, it dawned on Harry that he had no bloody clue what he was going to do.

"Oh... um... You know I just thought I'd..."

"Sit." Moody interjected. Harry sat.

"Listen to me Potter. Your pal Diggory, by your age he could turn a whistle into a watch and have it sing you the time. Miss Delacour, she's as much a fairy princess as I am. As for Krum, his head may be filled with sawdust but Karkaroff's is NOT. They'll have a strategy, and you can bet that it'll play to Krum's strengths. Hmm? Come on Potter. What are your strengths?"

Harry's nerves were building by the minute. A hot flush ran over his body and his breathing increased, not enough for him to be gasping for air but enough to make his heart skip a few beats. He was scared.

Harry took a few minutes to reply to Mad-Eye. "Um... I dunno.. I can fly. I mean I'm a fair flyer." Harry shrugged, struggling to think of strengths.

"Better than fair the way I heard it." Moody said.

"But I'm not allowed a broom." Harry said, looking at Moody.

"You're allowed a wand." Moody huffed and Harry grinned, the tightness in his chest loosening up a bit.

>>>

The day for the First Task arrived and to say Harry was nervous was a big understatment.

The tightness in his chest returned and he could hear his heart pumping in his ears, loud like drums and never ending. The sound echoed through his head, giving him a headache. His palms were sweaty and he found himself constantly wiping them on his trousers. He also found himself pacing, a thing he did quite often when he was nervous or scared but it did nothing to calm him down.

"Pssst! Harry? Is that you?" The voice of none other than Hermione Granger whispered urgently outside of the tent wall.

Harry stopped in his tracks and walked closer to the rough material of the dusty brown tent. "Yeah." He answered back, his voice quiet but surprising calm. A regular occurrence when Harry was put in harms way, his voice was always strong and calm, never wavering and never showing how he really felt.

Hermione was quick to reply. "How are you feeling? OK? The key is to concentrate. After that you just have to..."

"Battle a dragon." Harry interjected blankly, the tightness in his chest only getting worse.