Apples and Snakes

The First Task

Finally, I got out when it was 8:00, when I needed to report to the Great Hall to meet up with the other champions and the judges. Naturally, I was the last one to show up, right on the dot, and everyone glared at me, since I was technically late. But not really.

"Alright, we're going to take you down to the changing tents-" Mr. Bagman said.

"Wait- changing?" I asked.

Karkoff glared at me. "Yes, Miss Potter, we can't have you exactly doing challenges in your pyjamas. Glad you made an effort."

My face turned bright red, I know it did.

"Well, let's go now, shall we?" Bagman said smoothly, interrupting the little exchange.

"Yes," I replied snappishly. We marched into yellow tents. I had a mini-room of yellow tent, where I got dressed into a silver and green track suit and boots. I tied my hair back, and left my bag there, with my wand drawn. I was ready for a fight with a dragon. All the others were standing around Mr. Bagman.

"Today, you'll be getting past a dragon. They will be guarding eggs, and you'll have to get the golden one. You can't damage any of the others. Understand?" We all nodded. I put on a surprised looking face, which wasn't too hard to pull off, but everyone else, except for Diggory, seemed unaffected by the news. Cedric was turning a vivid shade of green.

"You'll pull a model of a dragon out of your bag, with a number engraved on the back. The number determines the order you go in, and the dragon of the model is the same species as the one you'll go up against," Bagman said. "Who would like to draw first?"

I stepped forwards, and pulled a dragon out, a long and snaky white on with aquamarine fringe down its back. A number three was carved on its neck. "The Water Drakon, found often in the Kohaku River in Japan," Bagman said approvingly. He then passed the bag to Blondie, who drew a Green Welsh Dragon and would be going second, Krum, who drew a Chinese Fireball and was going fourth, Cedric, who drew a Swedish Snort-snout and would be going first, and finally Harry, who drew a Hungarian Horntail.

"Cedric, you're up," Bagman said, closing the bag. "You have five minutes." He then went over to Harry. I pretended to be examining my drakon, as Bagman said to Harry, "want any help?"

"No, I know what I'm doing, thanks," Harry replied, looking up from the Horntail.

"No one would know, Harry," Bagman said quietly.

He was trying to help my brother cheat! Anger rose in my chest. I felt like I was in the lava again... Or maybe that was too much coffee. Shows how much fairness there really is in this competition, I thought resentfully.

I watched as Cedric went through, and had to listen to the commentary. It was horrifying, hearing about misses, and my imagination painting vivid, gruesome scenes in front of my eyes. I expected Cedric to come back through a complete mess, but I never saw him, not even when it was all over.

I heard it again with Blondie, and expected a mess to come through, but I never saw her come back into the tent. Are they all dead? I wondered, as I went through the tent. A menacing drakon was in front of me. The most insulting part? It was one of the most beautiful creatures I had ever seen. I looked up, to see people watching eagerly, with rather sinister, bloodthirsty looks, and scowls from my parents. There was at least some support from the Slytherin section. That was all. Well, except for Wesley and Hayden, who were sitting together, smiling at me, with Hufflepuff and Slytherin flags.

I grinned, and looked back at the drakon. I then decided to try something, instinctively. I turned to a shadow, and tried to sneak past the dragon as a shadow. It was exhilarating, shadow-travel. I felt invincible in the darkness, as I resumed into colors. The drakon immediately shot boiling hot water at me. I was knocked down, and burns erupted all over my skin. I winced, and got back to my feet. I first tried to hex the drakon's eye, and missed. I dodged the water jet.

I am dead, I thought. Then I thought about their ancestry to snakes. Could they-

Worth a shot, I figured. "Can you understand me, Great Drakon?" I hissed. My parents' expression in the staff box looked terrified and angry.

"Yes, Mistress Slytherin," the Drakon replied. My eyes widened.

"I'm not an heir of Slytherin," I said hastily.

"But he lives in you..."

"Never mind," I said. "I've got to take the Golden Egg for this stupid task so I can get points. Will you let me do it, so we can both come out, mostly unscathed." I threw a pointed glare because of the water burns.

"As you wish, Mistress Slytherin," the Drakon said, and she backed away. I nodded with respect, and grabbed the egg, holding it up high. There wasn't any cheers or applause, just whispers. I scowled, and walked through the back of the tent. Madam Pomfrey immediately got me behind a bed curtain. I'm not going to say too much about that, but let me tell you, I had burns everywhere, and those clothes hurt to remove.

"Stupid Drakon," I muttered, as I went back out in my uniform to see my score. A consistent eight. The judges seemed quite impressed, with my display of shadow-travel, hexes, and Parseltongue, but some points had to come off for the water jet. As if I weren't getting punished enough.

I watched as Krum came through, unhurt, and Harry, with only one burn. I was in third place by the end of the task, which was just fine by me. I didn't want to win, I just wanted to survive. Of course, on the way back up, Mum and Dad, and Uncle Remus, and Uncle Sirius converged onto Harry, and congratulated him on flying past the Horntail. I sighed, and went back to the common room, got changed, and was surprised to find Hayden and Wesley waiting for me.

"You guys would wait?" I said, my voice cracking a bit.

"We feel sorry for you," Wesley admitted. "Isn't fair that your blood family acts like that towards you, when you haven't gotten even your friends around you."

I laughed, and threw my arms around them. "Let's go have some fun."