Chapter 16: Fighting Fire With...A Broomstick?
The next morning, Claire and Harry told Hermione about the previous night's events. Hermione was just as shocked as they were to find out that Karkaroff was an ex-Death Eater and the first task was dragons.
"Dragons?!" Hermione said in disbelief. "They must be joking! You'll be burnt to a crisp!"
"Gee, thanks for the encouragement, Hermione." Harry deadpanned.
"Are you sure it's dragons?" Hermione asked.
"Pretty sure, Hermione. I don't think I would imagine seeing a fifty foot fire-breathing dragon." Harry said. "Anyway, what about Karkaroff? If Sirius is right, shouldn't we be doing something about him?"
"Harry, I think keeping you alive after the task is a bit more important then Karkaroff at the moment," Claire said. "We'll worry about him when the first task is over. And besides were not even sure if Karkaroff was the one to put your name in the goblet. It could've been Voldemort's spy."
"What if Voldemort's spy is Karkaroff?" Harry questioned. "You said the person's face was blurry in your dream. It could be him for all we know."
"Harry, Claire's right, we need to focus on this task first, then we'll figure out Karkaroff. If he was the one who put your name in the cup, then you showing up to the first task unprepared would make his mission easier." Hermione said.
"Alright, but how am I going to stop the dragons from killing me?" Harry asked.
"I'm sure there's loads of books on dragons in the library," Hermione said.
So, the three of them set off to the library. They pulled every book off the shelf relating to dragons and began to search through the large pile.
"'Talon-clipping by charms...treating scale-rot...' This is no good, this is for nutters like Hagrid who want to keep them healthy." Claire muttered to herself.
"'Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, owing to the ancient magic that imbues their thick hides, which none but the most powerful spells can penetrate...' But Sirius said a simple one would do it." Hermione said.
"Let's try some simple spellbooks, then," Harry said, throwing aside Men Who Love Dragons Too Much.
"Wait a second!" Claire said suddenly. "Maybe I could send a letter to Charlie and ask—"
"No." Harry said shortly.
"Why? If anyone would know how to defeat dragons it'd be him." Claire said. "He works with them for a living."
"He won't tell you. It'd be cheating. He was one of the people at Hagrid's hut trying to tame the dragons." Harry said.
"What? Why didn't you say he was here? I could've said hello." Claire said.
"Claire, I think we have more important things to worry about at the moment." Hermione said.
"Oh, right," Claire said sheepishly, remembering their dilemma. "Sorry."
The trio continued to look through the mountain of books; Hermione whispering to herself as she read.
"Well, there are Switching Spells...but what's the point of switching it? Unless you swapped its fangs for wine-gums or something that would make it less dangerous...The trouble is, like that book said, not much is going to get through a dragon's hide...I'd say Transfigure it, but something that big, you really haven't got a hope, I doubt even Professor McGonagall...unless you're supposed to put the spell on yourself? Maybe give yourself extra powers? But they're not simple spells, I mean, we haven't done any of those in class, I only know about them because I've been doing O.W.L. practice papers. I bet Claire's done them, but she might not be able to teach Harry in time for the first task..."
"Hermione," Harry said, through gritted teeth, "would you mind keeping your thoughts in your head for a bit, please? I'm trying to concentrate."
"Don't stress, Harry," Claire said, trying to calm him down. "We still have time."
"We have two days, Claire." Harry snapped. "And we haven't found a single thing to use against the dragons! How am I suppose to keep them from attacking me? Once they see me—"
"That's it!" Claire exclaimed while Madam Pince shushed her. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Harry, you could use your invisibility cloak! The dragons won't be able to see you and you'll have a less likely chance of being attacked. You could easily defeat it."
"That's not a bad idea." Harry said.
"I don't know," Hermione said skeptically. "Moody saw right through your cloak, Harry. It's possible the dragon might be able to see through it as well. Or the dragon could use its other senses to detect your presence."
"Back to the drawing board, I suppose." Claire sighed, opening another book.
"Oh no, he's back again," Hermione said irritably as Viktor Krum slouched in, cast a surly look at the three of them, and settled himself in a distant corner with a pile of books. "Come on, we'll go back to the common room...his fan club'll be here soon, twittering away and then we really won't be able to concentrate..."
And it turned out Hermione was right, for the moment they stepped out of the library, a group of girls tiptoed past them, one of them wearing a Bulgaria scarf tied around her waist.
Monday morning came and Harry's nerves were at their height. As he walked down to the Great Hall, he tried to think about anything other than the tournament. However, it proved to be a difficult task as his thoughts drifted to the fact that he might end up as the dragon's next meal. Harry then realized that Cedric was the only champion who wouldn't know about the dragons. He would have to tell Cedric after breakfast. When he reached the Great Hall, he saw Claire and Hermione seated at the Gryffindor table. Making his way to them, he noticed Claire had a letter in her hand. Hermione saw Harry and motioned for him to come over to them.
"Who's the letter from?" Harry asked Claire as he sat next to her.
"My mom, Sirius, and Remus," Claire said. "They've given you an idea for the task."
Claire handed the letter to Harry.
Dear Harry,
Sirius informed Remus and I that you were fighting dragons for the first task. We've been mulling over ideas for how you'll defeat them. There are a few spells such as Augamenti (Water spell) and the Conjunctivitus Curse. If you use the Conjunctivitus Curse then aim it for the dragon's eyes, as a dragon's eyes are its weakest point.
We wish you the best of luck. We know you are perfectly capable of mastering these spells in time.
You'll do fantastic!
Carina, Sirius, Remus
"Didn't we practice Augamenti and the Conjunctivitus Curse from the books you got from the library?" Harry questioned.
Hermione nodded. "Though that was several weeks ago since you've practiced them."
"I'm sure if he reviews them he'll be fine. Class starts in a few minutes. We can go over them after lessons." Claire suggested.
Harry nodded in response and then remembered he had to go talk to Cedric about the task. Cedric was now leaving the Great Hall and Harry got up from his seat.
"I'll see you later," Harry said to them. "I'll catch up."
"Harry, the bell's about to ring—" Hermione said.
"I'll catch you up, okay?"
Harry then followed Cedric out of the Great Hall.
Hermione muttered to herself as Harry left. "What in the world is he up to?"
"I think he might be trying to tell Cedric about the first task." Claire said as she saw Harry go the same direction as Cedric. "Well, I'll see you and Harry later. I've got to head to Transfiguration. Bye, Hermione."
On her way to Transfiguration, Claire passed the courtyard and noticed two figures; they seemed to be arguing.
"Stay away from her!"
"You don't own her! If she wants to be around me then she can!"
She recognized those voices. It was Jason and Jeremy. Anger coursed through her as she walked towards them, withdrawing her wand.
"You're no good for Claire!" Jason shouted.
"You're no better for her than me!" Jeremy retorted, scoffing.
Then Jason punched Jeremy in the face.
"Jeremy!" Claire ran to him.
She noticed Jeremy held his hand over his nose and it was starting to coat in blood.
"Claire, I can explain—" Jason said in shock.
Claire turned to him, her brown eyes glowed with anger.
"Explain what, Jason!?" Claire exclaimed, seething in anger. "I saw what happened! Stay away from me and my friends or I guarantee what I do to you will be more than a punch in the face!"
"Claire—"
"GO AWAY!" Claire shouted.
Jason glared at Jeremy then looked at Claire before leaving. Claire turned to Jeremy who's hand was now completely red.
"Are you alright?" Claire asked concern.
"Well, I don't think it's broken. That's a plus, right?" Jeremy said.
Claire let out a small laugh as she helped him up. He swayed slightly, but Claire managed to steady him.
"Sorry, I'm starting to get dizzy. Must've lost too much blood." Jeremy said.
"I'll say," Claire replied. "Just keep applying pressure to your nose. You need to see Madam Pomfrey. She'll fix you up in jiffy."
Claire supported him until they reached Madam Pomfrey's. The moment they set foot in the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey gasped at the sight of Jeremy's bloody nose and him being supported by Claire.
"What in the world happened to you, dear?" She asked. She pulled his hand away from his nose. "Well, it's definitely bruised. Episkey won't be able to fix it seeing as it's not broken. Miss Smith, sit him down in one of the chairs over there. I'll get the Blood-Replenshing Potion, a Numbing Draught, and some cloths to clean up the blood."
Madam Pomfrey went into her office while Claire and Jeremy went over to the chairs. Madam Pomfrey soon came out of her office with the two potions in one hand and a bowl with wet cloths in the other. She went over to Jeremy and began cleaning off the blood from his face and hand.
"What's your name, dear?" She asked, cleaning the blood from his nose.
"Jeremy Anwir, I'm one of the Durmstrang students." Jeremy replied, wincing from the pain.
She poured some of the Blood-Replenishing Potion into a cup and gave it to him. He gulped it down, gagging at the taste.
"I don't know why everyone thinks the potions are going to taste good. If that was their purpose, I might as well give you candy," Madam Pomfrey muttered. "Well, Mr. Anwir, let the potion set in for ten minutes. Then I'll give the Numbing Draught for the pain. I'd give you it now, but it'd interfere with the other draught. After you take the Numbing Draught you can tell me how you ended up like this."
Madam Pomfrey walked back into her office leaving Jeremy and Claire alone.
"Thanks, Claire," Jeremy thanked her. "You didn't have to do this. You'll miss Transfiguration."
"I'm sure Professor McGonagall will understand," Claire said. "Anyway I owe it to you. It's my fault Jason punched you."
"No, it's not." Jeremy replied. "If it's anyone's fault it's mine. I could've walked away when he confronted me, but I chose not to."
"Still he had no right to physically assault you," Claire said. "He was the one who decided to stop talking to me, so he shouldn't be mad at you for talking to me. Like you told him, it's my decision who I want to hang out with. I already told him that the other day when he confronted me about you."
"What'd he say about me?" Jeremy asked.
"He said you were bad news." Claire replied. "But right now the only one who's bad news is him. There was no reason for him to hurt you."
"Claire, it's fine," Jeremy assured her. "You can't control what he does. Besides, this was bound to happen at some point. We've never got on well. It's understandable that he'd be angry at me for hanging around his ex-girlfriend."
Claire sighed frustrated. "I just don't understand why he's acting like this. Did he act like this back at Durmstrang?"
"Stubborn? Persistent? Angry?" Jeremy offered. "Yep."
"I guess I shouldn't've underestimated him. After all, when I first met him he acted the same way." Claire said.
"How did you two end up together?" Jeremy asked.
"Jason was persistent on me taking a chance on him. Eventually, I gave in." Claire began. "It seemed as though we had chemistry, but then at the end of the year feast, he just snapped at me. He acted like he did when I first met him in second year. I thought maybe he was in a bad mood that day and maybe he'd talk to me before school let out. However, I was wrong. He didn't even make an attempt to talk to me. He completely ignored me for the whole summer and then decided to talk to me out of the blue like he never did anything wrong."
"Did he at least tell you why he stopped talking to you?" Jeremy questioned.
Claire shook her head. "He kept saying it was for my own safety, but wouldn't elaborate as to how I was in danger. I think he's hiding something. It wouldn't be the first time he's hidden something from me."
"What do you mean?" Jeremy asked.
"When we were together, he never went into too much detail on his life. At the time I thought he just didn't like talking about his private life. Now, since our encounter the other day with him being all secretive as to why he ignored me, I'm beginning to think he was doing it on purpose. Like he didn't want me to know anything about himself. All he ever told me about himself was his music interests, where he lived, and that he was adopted. I didn't even know what his adoptive mother's name was until Harry was interviewed by her for an article in the Daily Prophet." Claire said.
"Rita Skeeter is Jason's adoptive mother? No wonder she wrote those horrible things about you. Bet she wasn't happy that you and Jason weren't together anymore," Jeremy frowned. "And just so you're aware, I've never believed a word of Rita Skeeter's articles. The woman has a knack for writing tall-tales and that article was one of them. I know you'd never do those things."
Claire smiled softly. "Thanks. Though I think Skeeter wrote those things not just because of Jason, but because of my mother."
"What does Skeeter have against your mother?" Jeremy asked.
"Apparently, they were enemies back in school," Claire said. "Guess she has a habit of holding grudges."
"That's an understatement." Jeremy replied, then grimaced as his nose started hurting again.
Claire looked at him worriedly. "Do you want me to get Madam Pomfrey? I'm sure it's been ten minutes."
"Yeah. Thanks again, Claire." Jeremy said.
When Claire came back with Madam Pomfrey, she gave Jeremy the Numbing Draught. As the throbbing in his nose subsided, Madam Pomfrey asked for them to tell her how he ended up with a bruised nose. Jason told her about the fight with Jason. When he finished, Madam Pomfrey frowned.
"Well, I must report this to your headmaster as well as Dumbledore." Madam Pomfrey said. "Fighting is not allowed on school grounds. You said the person who did this to you was Jason Saxton, correct?"
"Yes, but there's no need to report it, Madam Pomfrey," Jeremy replied, making both Madam Pomfrey and Claire look at him as though he were crazy.
"Mr. Anwir, I must report this incident. You've been injured—"
"It wasn't a serious injury, just a bloody nose. It's all fixed now, isn't it? There's no need to trouble my or your headmaster. They have more important things to worry about at the moment. Besides, Jason won't do this again, trust me." Jeremy said.
Madam Pomfrey studied Jeremy for a minute before sighing defeatedly. "If you're sure, Mr. Anwir, then fine. However, if this happens again come to me straight away and we'll notify the headmaster."
"Thank you," Jeremy said.
"Well, you may stay here until the bell rings for your next lessons," Madam Pomfrey said. "If you need me, I'll be in my office."
When Madam Pomfrey vanished into her office, Claire turned to Jeremy.
"What was that about?" Claire questioned. "Why did you tell her to let Jason go?"
"I have more important things to worry about then what Jason did to me," Jeremy said.
"So, you're just going to let him get away with this?" Claire said in disbelief. "You almost passed out from blood lost!"
"Look Claire, I appreciate what you've done, but just let it go," Jeremy said. "Like I said before something like this was bound to happen between Jason and I. So, let's just move on with our lives instead of worrying about the past."
Claire was silent for a moment, thinking of what to say next.
"You're being too good of a person to Jason, you know," Claire replied. "If he was in your position I bet he would've told the headmaster."
Jeremy shrugged. "Two wrongs don't make a right."
Claire knew he was right. However, she still felt Jason deserved some repercussions. But it was out of her hands and if Jeremy could let it go, then so could she; well, to some extent at least. The two talked until the bell rang for their next classes. Jeremy thanked Claire one last time before Claire went to Hagrid's hut for Care for Magical Creatures. As she approached the hut, she saw Jason talking to some of the other Slytherins. Jason caught her eye, but she looked away still mad with him. She soon spotted Hermione and Harry whispering intensely to each other.
"What's going on?" Claire asked, starling them.
"Oh, it's you, Claire," Hermione said. "Well, Harry, go on and tell her."
"I had a talk with Moody about the first task. He indiscreetly gave me pointers for the first task. I have to learn the Summoning Charm by tomorrow." Harry replied.
Claire looked at him as though he were crazy. "You have to do what by when?"
"Learn the Summoning Charm by tomorrow." Harry repeated himself.
"Are you sure we haven't covered that one already in one of the library books?" Claire asked.
"We did," Hermione said, "but that was one of the spells he had difficulty with. Remember, we decided to come back to that spell after mastering the others. We must've forgotten to go back to it."
"So now you have to practice the Summoning Charm, Augamenti, and the Conjunctivitus Curse all by tomorrow?" Claire sighed. "Well, if that's the case we should just skip our next class and start practicing."
"Yeah, I wouldn't mind missing Divination." Harry said.
"Oh, no you don't," Hermione scolded them. "You two are not missing Divination."
"But Hermione," Claire whined. "You said it yourself that Divination is a useless subject."
"Still, you can't miss class." Hermione said.
"So, we can't miss Divination but you can walk out in the middle of Trelawney teaching?" Claire questioned, recalling last year when Hermione was told by Trelawney that she didn't have the Inner Eye and walked out of the classroom.
"Well, that's different." Hermione waved her hand dismissively.
"No, it's not." Claire replied.
But it seemed they were going to have to practice after Divination. When the bell rang, the three of them walked back up to the castle and headed to their classes. Hermione gave them a stern warning about not skiving off Divination before going to her Arthimancy class. Harry and Claire begrudgingly walked to Divination knowing that if they missed it they'd not only have to worry about a fire-breathing dragon, but a fire-breathing Hermione. For the next hour, they endured Professor Trelawney, who spent half the lesson telling everyone the position of Mars with relation to Saturn at that moment meant that people born in July were in great danger of sudden, violent deaths.
"Well, that's good," Harry said loudly, his temper getting the better of him, "just as long as it's not drawn-out. I don't want to suffer."
Ron looked like he was about to laugh for a moment, but he didn't. Claire sighed internally as Professor Trelawney continued teaching; well if you could call it teaching. Thankfully, at least for Claire, Trelawney had not made any comment about her death; not that Claire minded. When class ended, Claire and Harry left the classroom and caught up with Hermione.
"How was Divination?" Hermione asked.
"Brilliant." Claire and Harry deadpanned.
"So, I found the incantation for the three spells and I found a free classroom to practice in." Hermione said. "It's this way."
Hermione led them to an empty classroom and pulled out a piece of paper with the three spells written on it with their incantations. Harry set to work practicing the incantation and wand movement for each one. He was able to master the water spell and the Conjunctivitus Curse within the first hour. However, he didn't have much luck with the Summoning Charm. Claire suggested they start with smaller objects and work their way up to larger objects. Claire held a quill in her hand. Harry tried with all his might to make it fly across the room into his hand, but the quill would drop halfway in flight like stones to the floor.
"Concentrate, Harry," Hermione said, "Concentrate..."
"What d'you think I'm trying to do?" Harry snapped. "A great big dragon keeps popping up in my head for some reason..."
"Take a deep breath, Harry," Claire said. "I know you're stressed, but that'll get you no where if you're trying to learn the spell. Take a breather if you have to."
Harry took Claire's advice. "Okay, try again..."
They skipped lunch and practiced until it was dinnertime. Harry was able to move smaller objects across the room, but the larger items would barely move at all.
"We can practice after dinner," Claire said.
"She's right, Harry," Hermione said. "You to need to eat. You barely ate breakfast and we skipped lunch."
"Fine." Harry said reluctantly.
So, the trio went to dinner. The moment Claire sat down at the table, Fred and George sat in front of her.
"Can I help you?" Claire raised an eyebrow at them.
"What happened this morning?" George asked. "You missed Transfiguration."
"You missed Transfiguration?" Hermione asked, but was ignored.
"I—" Claire was cut off.
"More importantly, why are we hearing that you and that Durmstrang bloke Jeremy were seen together this morning during that time?" Fred said with a stern look. "Was he the reason you missed Transfiguration?"
"Yes, I had to take him to the hospital wing. His nose was bleeding." Claire explained.
"What made his nose bleed?" Hermione asked.
Claire told them the what happened between Jeremy and Jason.
"So," Fred said slowly, "then you and Jeremy weren't..."
"No!" Claire said as she realized what he was implying. "You two were thinking that because of Skeeter's article, weren't you?"
She caught the guilty look on their faces.
"When it first came out we didn't believe the article, so we didn't talk to you about it," George said. "We knew you weren't stupid enough to do those things at your age."
"However," Fred added, "when we heard some people saying they saw you and that bloke earlier, it made us rethink that article. Well, at least the bit about you two."
"Are you kidding me?" Claire said in disbelief. "I barely even know him. Besides, ever since your mom gave me "the talk", I don't think I'll ever do that."
"That's good to hear. Keep it that way," Fred said approvingly.
"We'll be off then. Just don't skip class again." George said leaving with his twin.
"They're ones to talk," Claire muttered.
"You're doing brilliant, Harry!" Hermione praised him.
It was two o'clock in the morning and Harry had been practicing since eight. He stood near the fireplace using the summoning charm on various items: books, quills, pillows, and chairs. It seemed he had mastered the charm.
"Well, we know what to do next time I can't manage a spell," Harry said, throwing a rune dictionary back to Claire, so he could try again, "threaten me with a dragon. Right..." He raised his wand once more. "Accio Dictionary!"
The heavy book soared out of Claire's hand, flew across the room, and Harry caught it.
"Harry, I think you've got it!" Claire said delightedly.
"Just as long as it works tomorrow," Harry said. "The Firebolt's going to be much farther away than the stuff in here, it's going to be in the castle, and I'm going to be out there on the grounds..."
"Wait hold up," Claire began, "You're planning on using the Summoning Spell for your Firebolt? You know it's made of wood, right? You're battling a dragon. Wood and fire don't mix and the wood always ends up burnt."
"I didn't think about that," Harry said.
"Really?" Claire said sarcastically. "Did you know that he was using the spell for his broomstick, Hermione?"
Hermione shook her head. "It's too late now. Let's just hope that he's able to summon his broom and not have it catch fire. Worst case scenario he could use the Augamenti or the Conjunctivitus spell Sirius, Carina, and Remus suggested." She glanced at the clock. "It's late. We should get some sleep... you're going to need it, Harry."
Harry had been focusing so hard on learning the Summoning Charm that evening that some of his panic had left him. It returned the following morning in full measure. At least classes stopped at midday; not that he was able to concentrate in class anyway. Claire and Hermione escorted him to the grounds to a tent set up for the champions. They entered the tent and saw the other champions inside looking anxious and nervous for the first task. Cedric saw them and waved politely. Viktor Krum sent a small smile to Hermione, who's cheeks turned a light pink.
"You'll do fine, Harry," Hermione said, then turned to Claire. "I'll go get our seats."
Hermione left Harry and Claire standing inside the champion's tent.
"Listen to her, Harry," Claire said. "Just remember to focus and don't let your nerves get the better of you. After that, all you have to do is—"
"Battle a Dragon." Harry finished for her.
Harry was caught by surprise when Claire hugged him. For some reason, when she hugged him he no longer felt worried about the first task. Suddenly, a camera flashed.
"Ah, young love," came a sickly-sweet voice.
They broke apart to see a woman with acid-green robes, curly bleach-blonde hair, and green eyes framed with glasses. A camera, notepad, quill, and ink bottle floated in thin air beside her.
"You must be Claire Smith," She smiled deviously while Claire glared at the woman. "Tell me, are Harry and Jeremy the only boys who you're having relations with or are there more?"
Claire was about to say a few choice words when Cedric and (surprisingly) Krum stepped in.
"This tent is for champions only," they said.
Skeeter stared at the two before replying in a careless tone, "No matter. I got what I needed."
She grabbed her floating quill and notepad and scribbled something down before she left the tent with the floating camera following behind her.
"Thanks," Claire said to them. "Good luck out there."
Krum nodded and went over to sit in one of the chairs while Cedric said, "No problem."
Claire turned to Harry. "Well, I better catch up with Hermione. You can do this, Harry."
She left the tent and headed towards the stands. The stands were packed when Claire reached them. She soon spotted her bushy-haired friend next to Ron. Hermione waved to her as she shuffled through the crowd to her.
"This is the only spot I found," Hermione said as Claire sat next to her.
Ron was on the other side of Hermione. Claire waved at him and he returned it. Hermione looked between the two.
"Are you two not fighting anymore?" Hermione asked. "When did that happened?"
"The same night Harry found out he was battling dragons." Claire answered.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Hermione questioned.
"We were sort of preoccupied with preparing Harry for the first task, weren't we?" Claire said.
"How is Harry, by the way?" Ron asked.
"Nervous, but what can you expect with what he's up against?" Claire replied. "Why haven't you talked to him yet?"
"He's not going to forgive me. I've been a right foul git towards him," Ron said.
"I have a feeling he'll forgive you if you admit that to him," Claire replied.
"Fine. I'll talk to him after the task ends," Ron said.
"Place your bets here!" Claire looked over towards the shouts and saw the Weasley Twins carrying a box.
"What on earth are they doing?" Hermione questioned, noticing them.
"They're trying to make money," Claire said simply.
"What for?" Ron questioned.
"That's top secret," Claire replied. She had a feeling it had to do with their joke shop.
"I think the tournament's about to start," Hermione said as she spotted Ludo Bagman rushing to the podium.
When Ludo was standing on the podium, he pulled out his wand and pointed it at his throat, and said "Sonorus!" and then spoke.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first task of the Triwizard Tournament!"
Everyone began clapping and cheering, excited for the task to start.
"The objective for each of the four champions is to retrieve a golden egg," Ludo announced. "While this may sound simple, it's not. Each champion will have to get pass a dragon."
The crowd gasped.
"Dragons?!" Seamus Finnigan exclaimed in his strong Irish accent over the gasps of the crowd.
"They must be bloody mad to put them up against those!" Dean Thomas said.
Ludo continued to speak. "If the champion is successful in retrieving their egg, they will find the egg contains a clue to the second task. The champions will be scored on three things: speed, skill, and avoiding damage to the other dragon's eggs. Now, without further ado, let's bring out the first champion Cedric Diggory who will be battling the Swedish Short-Snout!"
A silvery-blue dragon with long, pointed horns was being pulled onto the field by seven wizards holding chains that attached to a leather collar around the dragon's neck. Once the dragon was on the field the seven wizards hooked the chains to a metal pole in the ground to keep it from flying off. Claire found it hard to believe that a metal pole and some chains would stop the dragon from flying away. The crowd clapped and yelled shouts of encouragement as a pale-looking Cedric ran onto the field gripping his wand tightly in his hand. Claire felt a bit scared for him. Suddenly, a whistle blew and the first task began. Claire watched as the dragon caught sight of Cedric and breathed fire at him. Cedric barely got out of the way as he jumped sideways landing on the ground to avoid the hot flames.
"Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow..." Ludo commented.
Cedric looked ahead to see the golden egg resting in a nest with other eggs behind the dragon. He started to charge across the field as the dragon blew fire at him.
"He's taking risk, this one!" Ludo exclaimed.
The dragon stopped breathing fire for a moment and blocked the nest from view. Cedric had taken shelter behind one of the boulders, trying to catch his breath and plan out his next move. Claire watched as Cedric aimed his wand at a rock nearby. A yellow light emitted from his wand and engulfed the rock. When the light disappeared a golden labrador stood in its place. The dog let out a bark and the dragon's attention was immediately on the canine. The Swedish Short-Snout let out a terrifying roar and the dog ran as the dragon started to go after it. While the dragon was preoccupied by the dog, Cedric took this opportunity to get the golden egg. He sprinted towards the dragons nest. Just as he was in reach of the egg, the Swedish Short-Snout seemed to be tired of the dog and diverted its attention back to Cedric.
"Clever move—pity it didn't work!" Ludo said.
The dragon had spotted Cedric in its nest and blew out fire. Cedric grabbed the golden egg, but not before he burnt the side of his face. The whistle blew signaling that Cedric had gotten the egg. The crowd burst into cheers.
"Go Cedric!" Claire shouted amongst the other cheers.
"That was a neat trick what he did with transfiguring that rock into a dog," Ron said.
"That's something you learn in Sixth year Transfiguration. It's supposed to be challenging. Claire, you take sixth year Transfiguration, have you done something like that?" Hermione asked.
Claire nodded. "It was difficult. I had to transfigure a pillow into a bunny. Took me twenty times just to get a tail and ears."
"Very good indeed!" Bagman shouted. "And now the marks from the judges!"
There were five judges: Madame Maxime, Mr. Barty Crouch, Professor Dumbledore, Ludo Bagman, and Professor Karkaroff. Madame Maxime raised her wand in the air and a long silver ribbon shout out of it, twisting itself into a seven. Crouch, Dumbledore, and Ludo put up a nine. Karkaroff was the last one and put up a three. The crowd cheered as Ludo commented on Cedric's score.
"Cedric Diggory managed to score thirty-eight out of fifty points in a whopping fifteen minutes! One done, three to go!" Bagman yelled as the whistle blew again. "Miss Delacour, if you please!"
Claire looked at Ron as his eyes glazed over staring down onto the field as Fleur Delacour walked out, with her head held high. Hermione wore a small frown on her face as she caught Ron looking at Fleur. Claire furrowed her eyebrows at this.
"What's wrong, 'Mione?" Claire asked her.
"What? Oh, nothing, nothing at all," Hermione said, her cheeks a bit flushed.
Claire stared at her for a moment before turning her attention back to the field.
"Fleur Delacour will be up against the Common Welsh Dragon!" Ludo said.
A smooth-scaled green dragon took the place of the previous silvery-blue one. When its' chains were hooked up to the metal pole, the whistle blew again. The Common Welsh eyed Fleur suspiciously as she walked calmly towards the dragon. Claire had to give it to her that she appeared to be maintaining her calm. The dragon roared as she came closer.
"Oh I'm not sure that's wise!" Ludo commented.
Fleur raised her wand and waved it in an elegant manner. A soft white light illuminated off the wand and travelled towards the dragon, engulfing its head. When the light faded the dragon blinked its eyes several times, before laying down on the ground and closing its eyes. She ran over to the eggs. It seemed whatever she did to the dragon worked, that is until it started snoring. The dragon let out a loud snore and a flame of fire came out, landing on her skirt.
"Augamenti!" Fleur shrilled. A jet of water shot out from her wand onto her skirt.
"Oh...nearly! Good lord, I thought she'd had it then!" Ludo said. Fleur had put out the flames on her skirt and was now slowly walking to the eggs. "Careful now..."
She picked up the golden egg and the whistle blew. The crowd applauded and whistled; most of the whistles came from the boys.
"An interesting trick by Miss Delacour," Ludo said gleefully. "Here's what the judges have to say about it."
Madame Maxime's wand produced a ten. Crouch gave her a six. Dumbledore and Ludo both had an eight. Karkaroff gave her a five. The crowd applauded louder.
"Fleur Delacour managed to score thirty-seven out of fifty points in ten minutes! She's the time to beat, but she takes second place with her score!" Ludo said.
The whistle blew yet again.
"And here comes Mr. Viktor Krum who will be fighting the Chinese Fireball!" Ludo cried.
"Go Krum!" Ron shouted.
Krum looked up into the crowds and caught eyes with Hermione. Claire caught this exchange. Krum waved at her. However, Ron seemed to think he was waving at him.
"Did you see that?" Ron said in shock. "Krum waved at me!"
"Sure, he did," Claire said sarcastically.
Hermione's cheeks were still pink when the whistle blew and a small red dragon with fine gold spikes around its face was chained to the metal pole. Krum waved his wand and a red light emitted from his wand and hit the dragon between the eyes. The dragon shook its head as Krum managed to get inside the nest.
"Very daring!" Ludo yelled.
The Chinese Fireball emitted a horrible, roaring shriek, while the crowd drew in a collective breath. The dragon started shooting mushroom-shaped fire from its spikes, swinging its tail harshly nearly knocking Krum to the ground.
"That's some nerve he's showing—and—yes, he's got the egg!" Ludo yelled as the stands cheered.
Krum had managed to duck underneath the dragon's tail as it whipped furiously through the air and grabbed the golden egg without a scratch on him. Though Krum remained unharmed by the dragon's tail, the same couldn't be said for the remaining eggs in the nest. The other eggs had been damaged.
"Let's see how much damaging the other eggs affected Krum's score, shall we?" Ludo said.
Madame Maxime gave Krum a seven. Crouch gave him a five. Dumbledore and Ludo gave him a nine. Karkaroff gave him a ten.
"Well, look at that!" Ludo exclaimed. "Viktor Krum managed to get forty out of fifty points despite the destruction of the other eggs. Krum is in the lead with forty points in eight minutes. Now, let's bring out our final champion Harry Potter!"
The crowd clapped and yelled encouragements as Harry walked out on the field.
"You can do this, Harry!" Claire shouted, clapping furiously. "Beat that dragon!"
"Go Harry!" Hermione yelled.
"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed.
Eight wizards were pulling a gigantic black dragon with evil yellow eyes and a spiked tail into the arena. It looked more like a lizard than a dragon; a very dangerous-looking lizard. The crowd gasped at the sight of it. It was by far the most terrifying of all the dragons.
"Harry Potter's dragon will be the Hungarian Horntail!" Ludo announced.
Claire felt extremely nervous for her best friend's life. She couldn't imagine what Harry felt like at the moment. She clenched her teeth as the whistle blew. Hermione and Ron were no better than her. Hermione was practically digging her nails in the sides of her face. Ron looked a bit pale. Claire looked down to the field to see Harry raising his wand and shouting, "Accio Firebolt!"
"Please let the spell work," Claire whispered to herself, looking up towards the sky.
A few moments passed, and then the sound of the broomstick speeding through the air could be heard. The Firebolt came into view, hurtling through the air, stopping dead in midair beside him. The crowd was making more noise. Harry swung his leg over the broom and kicked off from the ground. Claire watched as he soared up towards the sky until he was a speck in the sky.
"You can do this, Harry," Claire said.
Then Harry dived. The Horntail's head followed him; it seemed he'd planned on this and pulled out of the dive just in time; a jet of fire had been released exactly where he would have been had he not swerved away.
"Go Harry!" Claire exclaimed.
"Great Scott, he can fly!" Ludo yelled as the crowd shrieked and gasped. "Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?"
Harry soared higher in a circle; the Horntail was still following him; he seemed to be trying to get the dragon dizzy. Harry plummeted just as the Horntail opened its mouth, but was less lucky this time—he missed the flames, but the tail came whipping up to meet him instead, and as he swerved to the left, one of the long spikes grazed his shoulder, ripping his robes—
"No!" Claire shouted while Hermione dug her nails deeper into her skin and Ron turned more pale.
Harry zoomed back around the back of the Horntail and then began flying this way and that; the dragon's head followed him. He flew higher. The Horntail's head rose with him, her neck now stretched to its fullest extent, still swaying, like a snake before its charmer. Harry rose a few more feet, but he was too high to reach now. She shot fire into the air, which he dodged. Her jaws opened wide. Claire noticed that he seemed to be coaxing the dragon to fly in the air and leave the eggs unguarded. The Horntail reared, spreading her great, black, leathery wings at last, as wide as those of a small airplane—and Harry dived. Before the dragon knew what he had done, or where he had disappeared to, he was speeding toward the ground as fast as he could go, toward the eggs now unprotected by her clawed front legs—he had taken his hands off his Firebolt—he had seized the golden egg—
And with a huge spurt of speed, he was off, he was soaring out over the stands, the heavy egg safely under his uninjured arm.
"Yes!" Claire exclaimed, high-fiving Ron.
The crowd was the loudest it had been throughout the entire task. People were screaming and applauding.
"Look at that!" Ludo yelled. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get his egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr. Potter!"
"He did it!" Hermione shouted, releasing her nails from her face. She had red marks on the sides of her cheeks.
"C'mon," Claire said to Hermione and Ron. "Let's go find Harry!"
The three of them shuffled through the crowds. They spotted Professor McGonagall and asked where Harry was.
"He's in the first aid tent over there," Professor McGonagall pointed towards a blue tent about ten feet away.
"Thanks," Claire thanked the Professor as they rushed to the first aid tent.
They reached the tent and as soon as they entered they ran into Harry.
"Harry, you were brilliant!" Claire praised him.
"You were amazing! You really were!" Hermione said squeakily. The fingernail marks on her face were still visible.
But Harry was looking at Ron, who was very white and staring at Harry as though he were a ghost.
"Harry," he said, very seriously, "whoever put your name in that goblet—I—I reckon they're trying to do you in!"
It was as though the last few weeks had never happened—as though Harry were meeting Ron for the first time, right after he'd been made champion.
"Caught on, have you?" Harry said coldly. "Took you long enough."
Hermione stood nervously between them, looking from one to the other. Claire, on the other hand, was waiting for Ron to get on with his apology. Ron was about to speak when Harry said, "It's okay. Forget it."
"No," Ron said, "I shouldn't've—"
"Forget it," Harry said.
Ron grinned nervously at him, and Harry grinned back.
Claire smiled at the two while Hermione burst into tears.
"There's nothing to cry about!" Harry told her, bewildered.
"You two are so stupid!" she shouted, stamping her foot on the ground, tears splashing down her front. Then, before either of them (or Claire) could stop her, she had pulled the three of them into a group hug and dashed away, now positively howling.
"Barking mad," Ron said, shaking his head. "Harry, c'mon, they'll be putting up your scores..."
Harry picked up his Firebolt and golden egg and the three of them ducked out of the tent, Claire and Ron on either side of Harry. Ron was talking fast retelling the other champion's taking on their dragons. By the time Ron finished, the three of them stood at the end of the enclosure of the arena. They could see the five judges.
"It's marks out of ten from each one," Claire said, and Harry squinted to see who the judges were.
Madame Maxime raised her wand in the air and created a figure eight.
"Not bad!" Ron said as the crowd applauded. "I suppose she took marks off for your shoulder..."
Mr. Crouch shot a number nine into the air.
"Looking good!" Ron yelled, thumping Harry on the back.
Claire rolled her eyes and coughed, "Kiss up." Ron glared at her and she smiled sweetly back.
Dumbledore was next. He also put up a nine. The crowd was cheering harder than ever.
Ludo Bagman—ten.
"Ten?" Harry said in disbelief. "But...I got hurt...What's he playing at?"
"Harry, don't complain!" Claire yelled excitedly.
And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too—four.
"What?" Ron bellowed furiously. "Four? You lousy, biased scumbag, you gave Krum ten!"
"Who's bright idea was it to have the headmasters of the champions to judge their own students?" Claire said. "It's obvious that they'll try to score their champions with higher scores than the other competitors."
But Harry wasn't too concerned about his scores. He was happy he wasn't a pile of ashes and that Ron was sticking up for him on his behalf against Karkaroff's score. He didn't tell Ron this, of course, but his heart felt lighter than air as he turned to leave the enclosure. And it wasn't just Ron...those weren't only Gryffindors cheering in the crowd. When it had come to it, when they had seen what he was facing, most of the school had been on his side as well as Cedric's...He didn't care about the Slytherins, he could stand whatever they threw at him now.
"Hey, Charlie!" Claire waved to Charlie as he came towards them.
"Hey, Claire, Ron, Harry! Harry, you're tied in first place! You and Krum!" Charlie said, hurrying to meet them as they set off back toward the school. "Listen, I've got to run, I've got to go and send Mum an owl, I sore I'd tell her what happened—but that was unbelievable! Oh yeah—and they told me to tell you you've got to hang around for a few more minutes...Bagman wants a word, back in the champions' tent."
Ron and Claire said they'd wait for him, so Harry reentered the tent. Ron and Claire stood outside the tent talking.
"I told you Harry would forgive you," Claire said.
"Yeah, I guess you were right," Ron muttered.
"What? Could you repeat that? I couldn't hear you," Claire teased, cupping her hand around her ear and leaning towards him.
Ron rolled his eyes. "You were right, happy?"
"Yep," Claire smiled.
Harry soon emerged from the tent, rejoined them, and they started to walk back around the edge of the forest, talking hard; Harry wanted to hear what the other champions had done in more detail. Claire and Ron took turns talking. Then, as they rounded the clump of trees behind which Harry had first heard the dragons roar, a witch leapt out from behind them.
Claire jumped startled, but then frowned as she recognized who it was. It was Rita Skeeter. Couldn't she just leave us alone? Claire thought to herself.
"Congratulations, Harry!" She said, beaming at him. "I wonder if you could give me a quick word? How you felt facing that dragon? How you feel now, about the fairness of the scoring?"
Claire was about to say something on behalf of Harry, but Harry stepped forward.
"Yeah, you can have a word," Harry said savagely. "Good-bye."
Claire couldn't help the grin that appeared on her face. Claire turned to Harry as the three of them left Rita Skeeter and set off back to the castle.
"I knew there was a reason I liked you, Harry." Claire said.
Claire failed to see Harry's cheeks turn a bright red.
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So I'm starting school tomorrow. Updates will be probably be once a month because I'm entering my senior year in high school and I'll be having a lot of extracurricular activities as well as AP classes. Just bare with me on the updates please. Anyway, this chapter was difficult to write because I kept getting writer's block. I hope you enjoyed the chapter after waiting a whole month for it. What did you think about the first task? What about Jeremy and Jason fighting? Why do you think Jeremy lied to Madam Pomfrey? What about Rita Skeeter's appearance? Is it just me or does she make you want to throw a rock at her? Things will start getting more interesting in the next chapter or two. These events will play a part in the ending of this book. Also, if you haven't already, please go vote for this book and book three for the Watty Awards. Voting ends the August 31, 2015, so if you enjoy this series please vote. Oh, another thing before I forget, if you want to get sneak peeks for chapters or future books listen to the music playlists I made for the books on my username is MMM16stories and you can find additional sneak peeks on my tumblr which is claustrophobic-turtles.