"That was extremely intriguing," Pandora Fawley whispered to her friend, Lanecia Shacklebolt, "I can't believe that's You-Know-Who's origins."
"I agree," Lanecia whispers back, "it would be a real blow to his movement if everyone knew this."
"How you doing Iola?" Sirius is sitting beside her, "I came to watch the First Task."
"I can't believe they're forcing me to participate!" Iola thundered, "I'm not even 15 yet. The only benefit I have is that they told me what the first task is. FIGHTING A FLIPPIN DRAGON! I didn't sign up for this!"
"Dragons?!" Lydia's heart fell in her chest, "they're pitting teenagers against dragons?!"
"At least she'll have a great story to tell the kids one day," Sirius tried joking.
"I guess," Lydia calmed down, "and I'm sure they wouldn't allow her to die. I can relax."
"I know," Sirius reassures her, "but you'll do fine. You already have a plan, don't you?"
"Barely," Iola curled into herself, "it's rather simple. I'm going to try and distract it by using Draconifors. Then I'll use engorgio, and make it big enough to, hopefully, catch the dragon's attention. Then I'll use a strong defensive charm, haven't chosen from protego duo or repello iniminicum yet, but I'll rope off the area with the eggs. Then I'll snatch the egg, cast a notice-me not, and rush back. It's going to flop horribly."
"A well-thought out plan," Newt hums, "but unfortunately, she's unlikely to be able to pull it off. It relies on a lot of luck."
"I hope she'll be okay," Tina says worriedly, "this is unpleasant business."
"Maybe it will," Sirius says, "maybe it won't. Who knows? I just want you to know I don't expect you to win, nor do I need you to win. I want you to do the bare minimum to pass. If you win, we'll all be proud of you. If you lose, we'll still be proud. Survive. That's all we ask of you."
"Okay Daddy," Iola stands up, "I'll do you proud. I promise you that much."
"Good," Sirius kisses her forehead, "now I'm off to the stands. Don't forget to change into your uniform."
"Bye Daddy!" Iola shouts. Soon, Ludo Bagman and Crouch Senior arrive, and the dragons are doled out. Iola receives the most dangerous dragon, the Hungarian Horntail. As the other champions go, Iola paces the tent nervously. She is not pleased at all.
Cedric Diggory transfigures a stone into a dog, and the dragon chases it, allowing him to steal the egg. Fleur Delacour charms the dragon to sleep, and gets her egg burning her skirt in the process. Theodore Calderon-Boot opted for a simpler method. With great precision and skill, he baits the dragon away from the nest, and uses a cunjuctivis curse on it's eyes. Additionally, he raises huge, metal chains to trap the dragon, and casts strong protective spells on them. He rushes to collect his egg, with the crowd cheering in the background.
"The Calderon-Boot boy is good," Newt comments, "not unexpected, given his lineage." The hall is fascinated by the clever methods of beating a dragon the champions come up with.
"Iolanthe Potter!" Bagman calls, and Iola musters up her courage, exiting the tent to cheers from her school, friends, and family.
Iola took a deep breath, before casting her draconifors spell. As expected, another Horntail appears, although it's small in comparison. "Engorgio!" she shouts, and directs the fake dragon towards the real one. The dragon falls for the bait, and flies off. Iola rushes off towards the eggs, casting protection spells under breath. Most of the spells don't allow scent out, so the dragon cannot perceive or smell her. Iola grabs the egg, but her dragon only distracted the real one for so long. She'd have to fight her way back.
"This is petrifying," Lydia gripped tightly onto Sirius, "Pads, what if something bad happens?"
"Then I'll be there to support her," Sirius held Lydia's hand, "promise."
The dragon charges at Iola with it's fiery breath, and Iola barely dodges, her hair burning off. "Aquafors!" She shouted, dousing the flames, before continuing to run. The dragon got closer and closer, eventually, it's talons clawed into her side. Seconds away from a very painful end, Iola though on her feet, and cast, "METELOJINX!" A huge thundestorm erupted from her wand, and distracted the dragon. Iola ran and ran and ran, until she finally made it to the end point. She collapsed onto Ms. Hicks, and was relieved to see the dragon care-takers stun the dragon into submission.
"She did it Pads!" Lydia leapt onto the table, pulling her brother and future husband up with her, "our girl did it!"
"That's my great-niece!" Newt cheered alongside Tina. The hall erupted into cheers, glad the Potter girl made it out okay.
"Good heavens!" Poppy Pomphrey yells, "bring me the girl." Iola's burns and cuts were treated. "Damage from magical creatures is irreversible," Madam Pomphrey sighed, "I won't be able to remove the scars. They'll tingle from time to time, but otherwise should heal nicely."
"Thanks," Iola says, looking down at her body. She'd never be the same again. And most of her hair had burnt off, so she felt like a fool. And ugly fool.
"Hey Iola," Susan came, still in her gryffindor red robes, and sat next to her, "how's it doing?" Iola couldn't hep herself, and began to sob into her cousin's shoulders.
"The poor darling," Pandora Fawley pitied, "she must be so traumatized."
"Oh Iola," Amelia rushed in, "you're going to be alright."
"Yeah," Benjy said, ravenclaw blue robes on, "you got a decent score. You got a 37/50."
"YOU IDIOT!" Lydia Corner slapped him, her slytherin green robes whooshing with her movements, "you think she cares about that now?"
"Sorry Anthe," Benjy apologizes, "that was insensitive."
"It's alright," Iola wipes her tears, "it's all going to be alright."
"Guess who brought chocolate?" a voice sing-songed.
"Thank you Lily," Iola took some, "stole it from Remus?"
"No," Lily laughed, "little Rowan did. He took it from his father's stash, and brought it to his Mama. He's such a Mama's boy."
"I'm not!" little 2 year old Rowan Lupin stamped his feet, "I'm not!"
"He's so cute," Marlene gushed, "and he has your eyes Lily. And his Dad's everything else. But definitely your eyes."
"I think he has my hair as well," Lily tilted her head at the screen, "definitely the thickness and curls. Remus doesn't have that."
Iola laughed as her father rushed in, all cheers, and with a dramatic reiteration of the day's events. She'd be forever happy if she had her family.
The scene shifts to the month before the Yule Ball. "As you all know," Ms. Hicks began, "you will all be obligated to attend. I hope you all learn to dance formally before then, especially you Theodore and Iola. You two will be expected to open the ball."
"Yes Ms. Hicks," the hall chorused, "we understand."
"Who are you going to ask?" Olivia skipped arm in arm with Iola, "I asked Jacob Newurt from the upper year, and he said yes."
"I wonder if Iola has a crush of her own," Benjy whispered to Lydia.
"Nah," Lydia shrugged it off, "having had the same crush since second year, I can assure you that the kid doesn't have a crush. She'd be obsessing over him as much as I did over you."
"If you say so," Benjy chose to agree with her. He din't exactly want his daughter to have one anyways.
"I'm planning on going with Benjy," Iola shrugged, "he's too young to go on his own. Nev's taking Callie, and Mike's taking Lydia. We all wanted to go as a family, but those three were too young."
"Oh," Lilah said, "too bad. And here I thought we'd hear a love confession."
"Once again," Iola rolled her eyes, "I don't have any crushes. Go tease Leopold instead. Everyone knows about his crush on Isolt Foster."
"That's exactly why he's no fun to tease," Lilah pouts, "everyone already knows."
"I'm glad to see that they still have some childhood innocence," Augusta comments, "and that they value family."
"I agree 'Gusta," Euphemia announces, "Merlin knows they need it."
The scene shifts to the Cave of Inferi.