Hermione Granger and the Goblet Of Fire (Completed)

Chapter 16 - Short Snout, Green, Fireball and Horntail

Dumbledore stood up and told the school to go outside. Hermione, Ron and Ginny got up and followed the school outside. They found that a path had been created while they had been inside, winding towards the Forbidden Forest. The three of them followed the path and Hermione was very glad to find that it only went around the perimeter of the forest, not into the interior
"How much longer do you think we're going to have to walk?" groaned Ginny, as they lost sight of Hogwarts castle. Just then, a thunderous roar echoed over the trees. The three of them froze
"Not very long, it seems" said Ginny

They turned a corner to find what looked like a large square box made of stone, lying on the outskirts of the Forest. They joined the throng of students entering through a door in the side. Hermione tapped her fingers nervously on her skirt as she wondered if Harry was in the small tent she could see in the distance

They reached the door and found themselves in a square shaped, paddock like enclosure. The ground was covered in rocks, some of which looked cracked. The atmosphere resembled that of the morning before a Quidditch game. There was a large gap in the wall opposite them, presumably for the dragons to go through

Hermione, Ginny and Ron filed into seats near the front. They were very close to an undercover area where all the teachers sat. Professors Dumbledore, Maxime and Karkaroff sat with Barty Crouch at the front and just behind them was - Hermione's heart sank slightly - Rita Skeeter, wearing acid green robes and with a matching quill perched on a notepad beside her. Just in front of the undercover section were several dragon keepers, wearing armour like clothing and with their wands out. There were groups of three scattered around the perimeter of the paddock. In front of them were a middle aged man, a blond woman with a military like stance, and-
"Isn't that Charlie?" said Hermione
Indeed, a moment later Charlie Weasley looked up and caught their eyes. He grinned, waved and went back to watching the paddock

A whistle was blown from somewhere, and the crowd fell silent. Ludo Bagman came running in, looking flustered, and took his place in between Dumbledore and Karkaroff
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen" he said, his voice magically magnified "to the first task of the Triwizard Tournament!"
The crowd cheered and clapped, but Hermione didn't join in

There was another roar and Hermione's eyes snapped up. The crowd gasped. About ten dragon keepers were leading a dragon, an actual dragon, into the paddock. It towered over the paddock, eclipsing even the tallest trees in the forest. Hermione recognised it as a Swedish Short Snout. Its lizard like body and face was sky blue and flecked with grey. It had two huge silver horns protruding out of its head, which looked sharp enough to pierce diamond. It was snarling at the crowd and dragon keepers, a sound which stood Hermione's hair up straight

The dragon was led to the centre of the paddock and was chained to the centre of the paddock. Judging by the Short Snout's reputation for having fire so hot it could burn bones, Hermione was sure that it could escape in an instant if it wanted to. Its reason for not resisting much was explained as another dragon keeper came in, carrying a nest full of blue grey eggs. The keeper set the nest at the dragon's feet before running away from her as fast as possible. Hermione noticed that one of the eggs was different. It was slightly smaller and its solid gold shell glittered in the midday sun

"The champions task is to collect the golden egg from their dragon" said Bagman "first up, please put your hands together for Mr Cedric Diggory!"
The crowd roared as Cedric walked into the paddock, his wand drawn. Even from a distance, Hermione could tell that he looked sick. The dragon watched through beady eyes as Cedric slowly started walking towards the dragon. He stopped several feet from the dragon and raised his wand

The crowd screamed. The dragon had lowered its jaw and brilliant blue fire shot out of her mouth, heading straight for Cedric. Cedric dove out of the way and the pillar of flame hit a rock instead, melting it in an instant
"woah" gasped Ginny, clearly overstimulated
"Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow" said Bagman, seeming to enjoy himself