“The First Task,” Hermione read. “Finally, we got to it.” ”Yeah, at least we didn't have to deal with knowing about the dragons for too long,” Cedric said. Harry got up on Sunday morning and dressed so inattentively that it was a while before he realised he was trying to pull his hat onto his foot instead of his sock.
“I think it would be best if you paid attention,” Luna said, while the others sniggered. When he’d finally got all his clothes on the right parts of his body, he hurried off to find Hermione, locating her at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, where she was eating breakfast with Ginny. Feeling too queasy to eat, Harry waited until Hermione had swallowed her last spoonful of porridge, then dragged her out into the grounds for another walk. “I wonder if I'm able to correctly assess your reasons for wanting me to hurry or not,” Hermione said. There, he told her all about the dragons, and about everything Sirius had said, while they took another long walk around the lake. “We seem to be doing that quite a bit lately,” Harry said. Alarmed as she was by Sirius’ warnings about Karkaroff, Hermione still thought that the dragons were the more pressing problem. “Considering how close the task is, I can see why I'd want to focus on the dragon's over Karkaroff,” Hermione said. “Let’s just try and keep you alive until Tuesday evening,” she said desperately, “and then we can worry about Karkaroff.” “That is a sound plan to go with, for the moment,” Cedric said. They walked three times around the lake, trying all the way to think of a simple spell that would subdue a dragon. “I have the feeling that we won't be able to think of anything,” Harry said. “After all, so far, the only magical creatures we've been introduced to are hippogriffs, flobberworms, and now the Skewrts. We haven't even touched upon Dragons yet, as surprising as it is, considering how Hagrid feels about them.” “Yeah, it is surprising, but I have the feeling that the reason for that is the fact that he can't have one brought for a class period, since he most likely would want to have a more hands-on experience,” Hermione said. “Yeah, while the parents might put up with Hagrid doing what he's been doing right now, there is nothing to suggest they would be calm if Hagrid was able to bring a dragon to the class, and I doubt even Dumbledore would be able to protect him if that happened,” Cedric said. Nothing whatsoever occurred to them, so they retired to the library instead. Here, Harry pulled down every book he could find on dragons, “Probably not the best idea, since a good bit of them would be something people who would want to care and keep them healthy, while others are simply information about them, and most likely won't have spells in them,” Cedric said. “Your best bet would be to look up simply spells, and cross reference what spells that you'd think would work with any weak point a dragon might have. I mean, it's only it's thick hide that makes it hard for any spell to work on them.” and both of them set to work searching 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 ...” “Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, owing to the ancientmagic that imbues their thick hides, which none but the most powerful spells can penetrate ... but Sirius said a simple one would do it ...” “Let’s try some simple spellbooks, then,” said Harry, throwing aside Men Who Love Dragons Too Much. “I think I should have realized that the answer wouldn't be in that book when I saw the title,” Harry said, shaking his head at his book self's actions. “You never really know,” Cedric said, shrugging. He returned to the table with a pile of spellbooks, set them down and began to flick through each in turn, Hermione whispering non-stop at his elbow. “Somehow, I don't think that's going to help me a whole lot,” Harry said. “In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it made me even more nervous.” “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 to 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 ...” “Hermione, you probably shouldn't be mentioning things that are definitely out my ability range,” Harry said. “Sorry,” Hermione said. “Hermione,” Harry said, through gritted teeth, “will you shut up for a bit, please? I’m trying to concentrate.” “I have the feeling that you really won't be able to concentrate,” Luna said. “That's probably true,” Harry said. “Especially since I most likely would be constantly thinking about the dragon.” But all that happened, when Hermione fell silent, was that Harry’s brain filled with a sort of blank buzzing, which didn’t seem to allow room for concentration. He stared hopelessly down the index of Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed: instant scalping ... but dragons had no hair ... pepper breath ... that would probably increase a dragon’s firepower ... horn tongue ... just what he needed, to give it an extra weapon … “I really don't think that that book is going to be helping you all that much,” Cedric said. “No, based on what spells have been shown already, it isn't,” Harry said. “Oh, no, he’s back again, why can’t he read on his stupid ship?” said Hermione irritably, “And there goes my ability to concentrate,” Hermione said, frowning as she remembered what it had said about Krum – for that was the only person that Hermione could think of having entered to cause such a reaction from her at the moment – visiting the library so often. She really couldn't figure out why he would go there so often, because she really couldn't see him as being a huge bookworm like her – then again, she didn't know him all that well, so she could be misjudging him. Cedric, now thinking about it, also wondered why he couldn't read on the ship. Maybe he thought he'd get some more privacy away from those on the ship. Of course, that doesn't explain why he'd continue going to the Hogwarts library once it became clear that he wouldn't be getting privacy there. Or, maybe, it's not privacy he's looking for – maybe he wants to be admired... Cedric shook his head mentally at that. Based on what's been said so far, he really couldn't see Krum wanting that. Of course, he could end up being wrong, but he didn't think he was. as Viktor Krum slouched in, cast a surly look over at the pair of them, “What, does he not like the fact that we're there?” Hermione said, frowning. Cedric, however, suddenly thought about something else that he had completely skipped over in his thoughts before. Hermione had to be well known for going to the library often, well known enough that it probably would get around to the visitors quite quickly. Was it possible that Krum had gone there for that reason? Of course, that didn't explain the look he had cast to them... though it might have only actually been to one of them... A slight surge of jealousy ran through him at the idea that Krum might like Hermione. and settled himself in a distant corner with a pile of books. “Come on, Harry, we’ll go back to the common room ... his fan club’ll be here in a moment, twittering away ...” “You know I have to wonder how Madam Pince is dealing with the fact that those girls are doing that,” Cedric said. “Yeah, she doesn't sound as though she likes it when people are there to fool around and not reading or doing homework,” Hermione said. “That is the exact truth,” Cedric said. “I have the feeling that it won't be too long before Madam Pince bans them.” And sure enough, as they left the library, a gang of girls tiptoed past them in the library, one of them wearing a Bulgaria scarf tied around her waist. Harry barely slept that night. When he awoke on Monday morning, “You last free day until the first task,” Cedric said. “Don't remind me,” Harry said. “Besides, it's your last free day as well.” “I know,” Cedric said. he seriously considered, for the first time ever, just running away from Hogwarts. “You won't, though,” Luna said. “Because Hogwarts is he only place you've ever really been happy. Besides, I have the feeling that you'd rather face the dragon over seeing the Dursleys before you actually have to.” “I really don't doubt that,” Harry said, as it was a sentient that Harry was agreeing with. But as he looked around the Great Hall at breakfast time, and thought about what leaving the castle would mean, he knew he couldn’t do it. It was the only place he had ever been happy ... well, he supposed he must have been happy with his parents, too, but he couldn’t remember that. Somehow, the knowledge that he would rather be here and facing a dragon than back in Privet Drive with Dudley was good to know; it made him feel slightly calmer. “That's a rather strange thing to feel calmer for,” Hermione said. He finished his bacon with difficulty (his throat wasn’t working too well) and, as he and Hermione got up, he saw Cedric Diggory leaving the Hufflepuff table. “I think I'm going to remember that you don't know about the dragons,” Harry said. Cedric still didn’t know about the dragons ... the only champion who didn’t, if Harry was right in thinking that Maxime and Karkaroff would have told Fleur and Krum … “Which you most likely are right about,” Hermione said. “At least, concerning Krum. It's the only reason why Karkaroff would have been sneaking around like he was.” “Hermione, I’ll see you in the greenhouses,” Harry said, “I really hope that my book self is grateful for the fact that you're willing to make sure that I know, even if it's only to even the field,” Cedric said. “I hope so, too,” Hermione said, though she had a feeling that he might be a bit suspicious over Harry offering any hints about the first task. After all, she had no doubt that it would cross his mind about there being no reason for Harry to be willing to hep him. She didn't say that out loud, though, knowing that it would just make him feel really bad – it wouldn't be the first thing to do that, after all. coming to his decision as he watched Cedric leaving the Hall. “Go on, I’ll catch you up.” “Harry, you’ll be late, the bell’s about to ring –“ “I don't think I realize what it is that he wants,” Hermione said. “Otherwise, I'd probably either be more willing to let him go, or I'd convince him to do it after class.” “I have the feeling that you'd mostly be leaning towards him doing if after class,” Luna said. “I get that feeling as well,” Hermione said. “I’ll catch you up, OK?” By the time Harry reached the bottom of the marble staircase, Cedric was at the top. He was with a load of sixth-year friends. “I'm probably not going to want to talk to you with them around, especially when it's probably that they're among those who have been horrible to me,” Harry said. Harry didn’t want to talk to Cedric in front of them; they were among those who had been quoting Rita Skeeter’s article at him every time he went near them. “Looks like you're right on the spot,” Hermione said. He followed Cedric at a distance, and saw that he was heading towards the Charms corridor. This gave Harry an idea. “I have the strangest feeling that I am not going to like what this surprise is,” Cedric said, frowning. Pausing at a distance from them, he pulled out his wand, and took careful aim. “Diffindo!” “I really hope that you hit the right thing,” Cedric said, knowing that that second year spell did. Cedric’s bag split. Parchment, quills and books spilled out of it onto the floor. Several bottles of ink smashed. “You know, it would probably be a good idea if you made it so that your bottles of ink couldn't break should something like this happen,” Hermione said. “And you should know a spell for that by now, almost being done with schooling as you are.” “You're probably right since the spell to do that is one of the early third year spells from what I've heard,” Cedric said. “Right now, I can't do it because it hasn't been taught, but by this time in the books, I should already know it and therefore should have performed it.” “Don’t bother,” said Cedric in an exasperated voice, “Has your bag been doing that quite a bit?” Hermione asked. “It's possible,” Cedric said, frowning. “It's either old and therefore worn, or some others have been doing what Harry did in order to be able to talk to me. Of course, if it's the latter, I would hope that I would realize what the problem is after the first few times.” “How wonderful,” Hermione said, trying not to laugh at the way he said it. as his friends bent down to help him, “tell Flitwick I’m coming, go on ...” “I'm sure he won't mind me being a little late, so long as they explain,” Cedric said, smiling. This was exactly what Harry had been hoping for. He slipped his wand back into his robes, waited until Cedric’s friends had disappeared into their classroom, and hurried up the corridor, which was now empty of everyone but himself and Cedric. “I wonder what I'll think of you being there,” Cedric said. “Well, it's possible that you won't suspect him of having caused your bag to split,” Hermione said, having the feeling that, if it was others that made him have that problem, they were mostly females.” “Hi,” said Cedric, picking up a copy of A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration that was now splattered with ink. “I wonder why I didn't think of doing that spell,” Cedric muttered to himself. “My bag just split ... brand new and all ...” “Which mostly points to it being old and worn,” Harry said. “Of course, that doesn't mean that others couldn't have still been causing it to break,” Luna pointed out. “The bag might have been old, which was why you may not have made a connection between it tearing and people coming up to talk to you. And that's assuming that every time it tore, that happened.” “Cedric,” said Harry, “the first task is dragons.” “Talk about being blunt,” Hermione said. “I have the feeling that's going to surprise me,” Cedric said. “What?” said Cedric, looking up. “Dragons,” said Harry, speaking quickly, in case Professor Flitwick came out to see where Cedric had got to. “I don't doubt that Flitwick would be wondering why your there,” Hermione said to Harry. “They’ve got four, one for each of us, and we’ve got to get past them.” “I really hope that Charlie was right about that bit,” Harry said. “Because I do not want have to deal with them in another way.” Cedric stared at him. Harry saw some of the panic he’d been feeling since Saturday night flickering in Cedric’s grey eyes. “So, I'm pretty much feeling how you were upon learning about them,” Cedric said. “Not surprising.” “You don't seem to be panicking about them right now,” Harry said. “Neither are you,” Cedric pointed out. “As for the reason why I'm not, well, I think it's because it's a book, and I probably have some idea of what I'm going to do, even without knowing what I'm facing. I've probably worked out several different strategies, in fact.” “Are you sure?” Cedric said, in a hushed voice. “Dead sure,” said Harry. “I’ve seen them.” “That's going to have me questioning about what you're telling me, especially since you weren't supposed to have seen them,” Cedric said. “But how did you find out? We’re not supposed to know ...” “I can't really tell you the answer to that,” Harry said. “I know,” Cedric said. Considering how Harry felt about Hagrid, it made sense that he wouldn't want to get him in trouble. “Never mind,” said Harry quickly – he knew Hagrid would be in trouble if he told the truth. “But I’m not the only one who knows. Fleur and Krum will know by now – Maxime and Karkaroff both saw the dragons, too.” Cedric straightened up, his arms full of inky quills, parchment and books, his ripped bag dangling off one shoulder. He stared at Harry, and there was a puzzled, almost suspicious look in his eyes. “I have the feeling that my book self doesn't quite believe you,” Cedric said, feeling a bit ashamed. Boy would his book self probably end up feeling foolish when it turned out to be true, and showing that Harry just hadn't wanted him to go in the first task blind. “Why are you telling me?” he asked. “Considering that you're the only one left to tell, it makes sense that he would,” Hermione said, frowning at Cedric. “Yeah, he pretty much just said that you would have been the only one who didn't know,” Luna said. “How would it have made you feel if you were waiting for the task to begin, and realized that everyone but yourself actually had been able to prepare for it better than yourself.” “I don't know, but I know that I probably wouldn't have liked it,” Cedric said. “Especially since it would have shown that they had people more than willing to do anything to help them, while my friends most likely just say I can do it and that I'll make Hufflepuff proud while not doing a thing to help me out.” Harry looked at him in disbelief. He was sure Cedric wouldn’t have asked that if he had seen the dragons himself. “But I didn't,” Cedric pointed out. “Besides, now that I think about it, I've probably heard about the fact that other competitors try to do everything to sabotage their competition, and, since my book self believes that you somehow entered yourself into the competition, well...” “It's easy for your book self to believe that he's trying to freak you out,” Hermione finished. Harry wouldn’t have let his worst enemy face those monsters unprepared – well, perhaps Malfoy or Snape … “I think Riddle is the only person you'd do that to,” Luna said. “No matter how much you dislike Malfoy and Snape, I just don't think you'd really let them go in unprepared.” “It’s just ... fair, isn’t it?” he said to Cedric. “We all know now ... we’re on an even footing, aren’t we?” “Yes, we are,” Cedric said. “Even if my book self is being a jerk about believe it.” Cedric was still looking at him in a slightly suspicious way when Harry heard a familiar clunking noise behind him. He turned around, and saw Mad-Eye Moody emerging from a nearby classroom. “Oh, no,” Hermione said. “He probably heard it all,” Cedric said. “Which probably simply confirms any thoughts from him on wither I know about the dragons or not,” Harry said, remembering that Moody and Hagrid had been talking while at the Three Broomsticks. He couldn't help but have the feeling that Hagrid had a little prompting from Moody to show him the dragons – Harry didn't think that it would have come to Hagrid to do that without some prompting. He didn't know why he felt that way, he just did. “Come with me, Potter,” he growled. “Diggory, off you go.” “You know, having Moody catch you tell me might actually do some good,” Cedric said. “Wanting to talk to you just might be done because of the fact that you know, and, seeing that, I might end up coming to that conclusion.” “Or you might become even more suspicious, since he could be telling Harry off for lying to you,” Hermione said. “No, I don't think I'd do that, since, with what I know about Moody wouldn't fit with him talking to Harry if it was that,” Cedric said. “He wouldn't care for someone trying to trick someone else, and would make it clear right then and there. Of course, since that's not the real Moody, I could be wrong, but my book self doesn't know that it's not the real Moody, so...” Harry stared apprehensively at Moody. Had he overheard them? “Er – Professor, I’m supposed to be in Herbology –“ “That's probably not going to work,” Luna said. “Hey, you know you could probably get a pass from him to help excuse your lateness,” Cedric said. “I really have to wonder why he wants to talk to me, though,” Harry said, frowning. He really couldn't see what the impostor wanted with him. He wasn't the only one, either; the others wondered what the person pretending to be Moody wanted as well. Luna, though, wondered if they might learn a bit more about this impostor with whatever it was that he wanted to talk to Harry about. “Never mind that, Potter. In my office, please ...” Harry followed him, wondering what was going to happen to him now. What if Moody wanted to know how he’d found out about the dragons? Would Moody go to Dumbledore and tell on Hagrid, or just turn Harry into a ferret? Well, it might be easier to get past a dragon if he was a ferret, Harry thought dully, he’d be smaller, much less easy to see from a height of fifty feet … “There's no guarantee that you'd become a ferret, though,” Cedric said. “Chances are that you'd become something that would be a reflection of your true self.” He followed Moody into his office. Moody closed the door behind them and turned to look at Harry, his magical eye fixed upon him as well as the normal one. “That was a very decent thing you just did, Potter,” Moody said quietly. Harry didn’t know what to say; this wasn’t the reaction he had expected at all. “It really doesn't surprise me that Moody would say that,” Cedric said. “I mean, I know that it's probably not really Moody, but that is something that he most likely would say, based on what I know about him.” “I really don't know anything about Moody,” Harry pointed out. “In fact, before this book, I didn't even know his name.” “Sit down,” said Moody, and Harry sat, looking around. He had visited this office under two of its previous occupants. In Professor Lockhart’s day, the walls had been plastered with beaming, winking pictures of Professor Lockhart himself. “Which probably made it a place to avoid as much as possible,” Luna said. When Lupin had lived here, you were more likely to come across a specimen of some fascinating new Dark creature he had procured for them to study in class. “Which probably made it interesting to visit, though most would probably still avoid it,” Cedric said. Now, however, the office was full of a number of exceptionally odd objects that Harry supposed Moody had used in the days when he had been an Auror. “Doesn't really surprise me,” Cedric said. On his desk stood what looked like a large, cracked, glass spinning top; Harry recognised it at once as a Sneakoscope, because he owned one himself, though it was much smaller than Moody’s. “The imposter must've broken it because it wouldn't stop going off,” Cedric said. “It's probably a good thing that it's bigger, because it means that it has a larger range and picks up more than your would.” “And being in a castle full of mischievous students...” Hermione trailed off, not needing to say much more than that. In the corner on a small table stood an object that looked something like an extra-squiggly, golden television aerial. It was humming slightly. What appeared to be a mirror hung opposite Harry on the wall, but it was not reflecting the room. Shadowy figures were moving around inside it, none of them clearly in focus. “Like my Dark detectors, do you?” said Moody, who was watching Harry closely. “They definitely do sound interesting,” Harry said. “What’s that?” Harry asked, pointing at the squiggly golden aerial. “Secrecy Sensor. Vibrates when it detects concealment and lies ...” “Which means that the reason why it sounds as though it's humming is because of the fact that he's concealing whom he really is and lying about it as well,” Cedric said. “The only reason why he probably left it still working is because a slight hum is the worse it can do and it's easy to ignore.” “no use here, of course, too much interference – students in every direction lying about why they haven’t done their homework. Been humming ever since I got here.” “It's too bad that the excuse for the real reason it's humming is so easy to hide behind,” Hermione said, frowning. “I had to disable my Sneakoscope because it wouldn’t stop whistling. It’s extra sensitive, picks up stuff about a mile around. Of course, it could be picking up more than kids’ stuff,” he added in a growl. “Like him,” Luna said. “And what’s the mirror for?” “Oh, that’s my Foe-Glass. See them out there, skulking around? I’m not really in trouble until I see the whites of their eyes. That’s when I open my trunk.” “That's probably the only thing in the room that's not useful in revealing who he actually is. Foe-Glass can easily be turned around to help a foe. The only way it would help revealing him as the impostor is by having one of his enemies close enough to attack him, as that's when the shapes inside are more distinct,” Luna said. He let out a short, harsh laugh, and pointed to the large trunk under the window. It had seven keyholes in a row. “Probably all of his things,” Cedric said. “Each keyhole is a different compartment of the trunk.” “Sounds useful,” Hermione said. “Only needing one trunk for everything.” “They are, though I think that's one of the more simpler ones. I've heard of ones that have specifically ordered compartments, as well as an apartment compartment that can connect to the other compartments. Those ones are, of course, supposedly among the most expensive, and, therefore, not usually used – of course, I don't think I've ever heard of anyone ever needing one enough to find out how much it is,” Luna said. “While it would be useful to have when travelling, most wizards use tents, finding them easier to deal with. Plus, no Muggle is going to question seeing a tent, where as a trunk would be questioned.” Harry wondered what was in there, until Moody’s next question brought him sharply back to earth. “So ... found out about the dragons, have you?” Harry hesitated. He’d been afraid of this – but he hadn’t told Cedric, and he certainly wasn’t going to tell Moody, that Hagrid had broken the rules. “Since Moody probably already knows how you found out, I doubt that he's going to question you about it,” Hermione said. “It’s all right,” said Moody, sitting down and stretching out his wooden leg with a groan. “Cheating’s a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and always has been.” “I didn't cheat, though,” Harry said. “I had no idea what it was that Hagrid wanted to show me.” “I doubt, though, that you would have been completely against knowing what he was showing you if you had known what it was that he wanted beforehand,” Luna pointed out. Harry thought about it. While he knew that cheating was wrong, there was a part of him that wouldn't mind knowing what was going to happen anyway, especially since he was more out of his league than anyone else – being under the age limit – and he would most likely would have still evened up the score by telling Cedric anyway. “I didn’t cheat,” said Harry sharply. “It was – a sort of accident that I found out.” Moody grinned. “I wasn’t accusing you, laddie. I’ve been telling Dumbledore from the start, he can be as high minded as he likes, but you can bet old Karkaroff and Maxime won’t be. They’ll have told their champions everything they can. They want to win. They want to beat Dumbledore. They’d like to prove he’s only human.” “It's sad that they have to do that to reassure themselves that he's what he truly is,” Hermione said, shaking her head. “Of course, with the way people seem to treat Dumbledore, for the most part, it's not really surprising.” Moody gave a harsh laugh, and his magical eye swivelled around so fast it made Harry feel queasy to watch it. “So ... got any ideas how you’re going to get past your dragon yet?” said Moody. “No,” said Harry. “Well, I’m not going to tell you,” said Moody gruffly. “I don’t show favouritism, me.” “You wouldn't have brought it up if that was true,” Hermione pointed out. “I’m just going to give you some good, general advice. And the first bit is – play to your strengths.” “I haven’t got any,” said Harry, before he could stop himself. “Yes, you do,” Luna said. “Not only are you good at flying, you're also good at coming up with plans within a split second before their needed.” Hermione, while agreeing with Luna, didn't say anything. However, she did try to control her anger a bit, since she knew that the reason why he had said that was because of what his sorry excuse for a family told him. While, logically, she knew that he should have realized that everything they said was worthless, realistically, even if he didn't think about it, everything they said was in the back of his mind, hitting at and confidence he may or may not have. “Excuse me,” growled Moody, “you’ve got strengths if I say you’ve got them. Think now. What are you best at?” Harry tried to concentrate. What was he best at? Well, that was easy, really – “Quidditch,” he said dully, “That's not the only thing,” Cedric said. “and a fat lot of help –“ “That’s right,” said Moody, staring at him very hard, his magical eye barely moving at all. “You’re a damn good flier, from what I’ve heard.” “More than damn good, from the sounds of it,” Cedric said. “Yeah, but ...” Harry stared at him. “I’m not allowed a broom, I’ve only got my wand –“ “But you are allowed to use any spell,” Hermione said, somehow just knowing what it was that Moody was getting at. “Somehow, if he's trying to help you – in a way so as to not just straight up say it – then I have the feeling that he didn't put you in the tournament so as to kill you.” “I think we've just realized who it is that Riddle was talking about in the first chapter, then,” Cedric said. “But I really don't get how the tournament is supposed to help getting me to him, as he seems to want,” Harry said. “We don't either, but, this way, since we know who the 'enemy' is, we'll be able to see if there's any clues as to how they plan on having you delivered to Riddle,” Hermione said. “My second piece of general advice,” said Moody loudly, interrupting him, “is to use a nice, simple spell which will enable you to get what you need.” “The Summoning Spell, Accio,” Hermione said. “That must be why it was mentioned earlier in the book,” Luna said. “Because it's something that you're going to definitely need.” Harry looked at him blankly. What did he need? “Come on, boy ...” whispered Moody. “Put them together ... it’s not that difficult ...” “No, it really is not,” Harry said. “I have to wonder why he's suggesting that you use that method,” Cedric said. “He's probably been told that Harry needs to be delivered alive, and figures having him as unharmed as possible is the best way,” Hermione said. And it clicked. He was best at flying. He needed to pass the dragon in the air. For that, he needed his Firebolt. And for his Firebolt, he needed – “Hermione,” There was some slight laughter at that. “Good to know that I'm apparently what you need,” Hermione said jokingly. Harry whispered, when he had sped into greenhouse three ten minutes later, uttering a hurried apology to Professor Sprout as he passed her, “I guess I didn't think to get a slip from Moody,” Harry said. “Hermione – I need you to help me.” “What do you think I've been trying to do already?” Hermione asked him. “What d’you think I’ve been trying to do, Harry?” she whispered back, her eyes round with anxiety over the top of the quivering Flutterby Bush she was pruning. “Hermione, I need to learn how to do a Summoning Charm properly by tomorrow afternoon.” “You're really cutting it close, aren't you?” Luna said. “Why haven't you already been practising it?” Hermione said. “You were, after all, told to by Professor Flitwick.” Harry shrunk slightly in his seat, knowing that she was right. He really should have been practising it. And so they practised. They didn’t have lunch, but headed for a free classroom, where Harry tried with all his might to make various objects fly across the room towards him. He was still having problems. The books and quills kept losing heart halfway across the room and dropping like stones to the floor. “Concentrate, Harry, concentrate ...” “I'm probably trying to do that,” Harry said. “What d’you think I’m trying to do?” said Harry angrily. “A filthy great dragon keeps popping up in my head, for some reason ...” “Yeah, just for no reason at all,” Cedric said. “OK, try again ...” He wanted to skip Divination to keep practising, “It definitely won't be happening,” Hermione said, more than sure that whatever class she had at that time was one she most likely enjoyed. “Of course, that really doesn't mean that you can't continue to practise without me. I mean, I'm not going to suggest that you continue going to that worthless class.” “Yeah, but I probably don't see a reason to do it without you,” Harry pointed out. “Which just means that you're not going to get much sleep that night, because you need to master it sooner rather than later,” Hermione said, frowning at him. “Considering that you're plan to do this hinges on being able to summon your broom, you need to practise whenever you can, skipping Divination if you have to. I mean, for all you know, skipping Divination and not having me there nattering you may actually help you more than you know.” “True,” Harry said. but Hermione refused point-blank to skive off Arithmancy, and there was no point staying without her. He therefore had to endure over an hour of Professor Trelawney, who spent half the lesson telling everyone that the position of Mars in relation to Saturn at that moment meant that people born in July were in great danger of sudden, violent deaths. “Not surprising that she would say something like that,” Cedric said. “Well, that’s good,” said Harry loudly, his temper getting the better of him, “just as long as it’s not drawn-out, I don’t want to suffer.” There was some laughter at that, though it was short lived, as none of them liked the idea of Harry dying. Ron looked for a moment as though he was going to laugh; he certainly caught Harry’s eye for the first time in days, but Harry was still feeling too resentful towards Ron to care. “At least you don't try to use this as a way to 'repair' your friendship,” Hermione said, her tone indicating that she clearly thought that that happening was horrid. She disliked the fact that her book self had been trying to get the same thing to happen quite a bit. He spent the rest of the lesson trying to attract small objects towards him under the table with his wand. He managed to make a fly zoom straight into his hand, though he wasn’t entirely sure that was owing to his prowess at Summoning Charms – perhaps the fly was just stupid. He forced down some dinner after Divination, then returned to the empty classroom with Hermione, using the Invisibility Cloak to avoid the teachers. They kept practising until past midnight. They would have stayed longer, but Peeves turned up and, pretending to think that Harry wanted things thrown at him, started chucking chairs across the room. “Of course he would,” Cedric said. “You probably should have done some privacy spells so that that didn't happen.” Harry and Hermione left in a hurry before the noise attracted Filch, and went back to the Gryffindor common room, which was now mercifully empty. “Yeah, it's probably a good thing, too, because you'd probably have problems if it wasn't,” Luna said. At two o’clock in the morning, Harry stood near the fireplace, surrounded by heaps of objects – books, quills, several upturned chairs, an old set of Gobstones and Neville’s toad, Trevor. “I wonder if that was done on purpose, or if you just began using whatever you could get your hands on,” Cedric said. Only in the last hour had Harry really got the hang of the Summoning Charm. “Good for you,” Luna said. “That’s better, Harry, that’s loads better,” Hermione said, looking exhausted, but very pleased. “I wonder how much sleep you've actually gotten since Harry's been entered,” Cedric murmured. “Probably not as much as needed, especially since learning about the dragons. I doubt knowing that has made it easy for me to sleep,” Hermione said. “Well, now we know what to do next time I can’t manage a spell,” Harry said, throwing a Rune Dictionary back to Hermione, so he could try again, “threaten me with a dragon.” “It seems to be a really effective tactic,” Harry said, while the others laughed. “Right ...” He raised his wand once more. “Accio Dictionary!” The heavy book soared out of Hermione’s hand, flew across the room, and Harry caught it. “Harry, I really think you’ve got it!” said Hermione, delightedly. “Just as long as it works tomorrow,” Harry said. “It will, so long as you concentrate really hard, and done let the idea that it might fail enter your mind,” Cedric said. “The Firebolt’s going to be much further away than the stuff in here, it’s going to be in the castle, and I’m going to be out there in the grounds ...” “You probably should find somewhere close by to put it,” Luna said. “Like, maybe, place it somewhere near Hagrid's house. That way, it's not actually in the castle, and closer to where you are at.” “Yeah, doing that would make sense,” Harry said. “That doesn’t matter,” said Hermione firmly. “I can't let you start doubting yourself. I probably know that, if you do that, it'll make all the practice that we've done obsolete if you do doubt yourself,” Hermione said. “Just as long as you’re concentrating really, really hard on it, it’ll come. Harry, we’d better get some sleep ... you’re going to need it.” “So true,” Luna said. Harry had been focusing so hard on learning the Summoning Charm that evening that some of his blind panic had left him. It returned in full measure, however, on the following morning. “Considering that everyone is probably reminding you of what the day, it makes sense,” Cedric said. “Yeah. I mean, the fact that everyone is probably excited about what's going to happen most likely doesn't help you,” Luna said. The atmosphere in the school was one of great tension and excitement. Lessons were to stop at midday, giving all the students time to get down to the dragons’ enclosure – though of course, they didn’t yet know what they would find there. Harry felt oddly separate from everyone around him, whether they were wishing him good luck or hissing ‘We’ll have a box of tissues ready, Potter’ as he passed. “Somehow, I get the feeling that the latter is mainly the rest of the school, outside of Gryffindor and the few students whom may actually not hate you for being a champion,” Hermione said. It was a state of nervousness so advanced that he wondered whether he mightn’t just lose his head when they tried to lead him out to his dragon, and start trying to curse everyone in sight. “You won't,” Luna said. Time was behaving in a more peculiar fashion than ever, rushing past in great dollops, so that one moment he seemed to be sitting down in his first lesson, History of Magic, and the next, walking into lunch ... and then (where had the morning gone? The last of the dragon-free hours?) Professor McGonagall was hurrying over to him in the Great Hall. Lots of people were watching. “That's usually how time acts when your dreading something that's coming up,” Hermione said. “Potter, the champions have to come down into the grounds now ... you have to get ready for your first task.” “OK,” said Harry, standing up, his fork falling onto his plate with a clatter. “Good luck, Harry,” Hermione whispered. “You’ll be fine!” “I would imagine that I at least survive, since there's more that's going to happen in the book,” Harry said. “Yeah,” said Harry, in a voice that was most unlike his own. He left the Great Hall with Professor McGonagall. She didn’t seem herself, either; in fact, she looked nearly as anxious as Hermione. “She does care about you,” Cedric said. “Not being about to do anything to keep you from having to compete is probably eating at her.” “Which is strange when you consider the fact that she doesn't seem to believe I'm innocent about entering myself into the competition,” Harry said. “At least, that's the impression I got from her.” “So did I,” Hermione said. “Otherwise, I would imagine that she would have spoken up in your defense.” As she walked him down the stone steps and out into the cold November afternoon, she put her hand on his shoulder. “Now, don’t panic,” she said, “just keep a cool head ... we’ve got wizards on hand to control the situation if it gets out of hand ... the main thing is just to do your best, and nobody will think any the worse of you ... are you all right?” “Yes,” Harry heard himself say. “Yes, I’m fine.” “It's probably a good thing that you didn't mention how nervous you were,” Cedric said. “She's probably end up becoming even more anxious herself if you did,” Hermione said. She was leading him towards the place where the dragons were, around the edge of the Forest, but when they approached the clump of trees behind which the enclosure would be clearly visible, Harry saw that a tent had been erected, its entrance facing them, screening the dragons from view. “They're trying to keep it as secret as possible, despite the fact that all of the champions already know about them,” Luna said. “You’re to go in here with the other champions,” said Professor McGonagall, in a rather shaky sort of voice, “and wait for your turn, Potter. Mr. Bagman is in there ... he’ll be telling you the – the procedure ... good luck.” “Hopefully, I won't have any bad luck,” Harry said. “Thanks,” said Harry, in a flat, distant voice. She left him at the entrance of the tent. Harry went inside. “Somehow, I will not be surprised if I'm the last one there,” Harry said. Fleur Delacour was sitting in a corner on a low wooden stool. She didn’t look nearly as composed as usual, but rather pale and clammy. “Knowing what it is that she's going to face is probably the reason for this,” Luna said. Viktor Krum looked even surlier than usual, which Harry supposed was his way of showing nerves. “Probably,” Hermione said. Cedric was pacing up and down. “Which is your way of showing your nerves,” Luna said to him. “That's true,” Cedric said. When Harry entered, he gave him a small smile, which Harry returned, feeling the muscles in his face working rather hard, as though they had forgotten how to do it. “And Harry seems to be having trouble showing emotion right now,” Hermione said. “Harry! Good-oh!” said Bagman happily, looking around at him. “Come in, come in, make yourself at home!” Bagman looked somehow like a slightly overblown cartoon figure, standing amid all the pale-faced champions. He was wearing his old Wasp robes again. “Someone wants to remind everyone whom he used to be,” Harry said. “Well, now we’re all here – time to fill you in!” said Bagman brightly. “When the audience has assembled, I’m going to be offering each of you this bag” – he held up a small sack of purple silk, and shook it at them – “from which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face! There are different – er – varieties, you see. And I have to tell you something else too ... ah, yes ... your task is to collect the golden egg!” “So, we basically have to get a golden egg from a nesting mother dragon,” Cedric said faintly. “Do they want to kill us?” “Apparently,” Hermione said, shaking her head. The first task alone pretty much said that whoever decided that the tournament needed to be brought back were idiots. It was clear that their 'safety feature' was just trying to keep it so that those of age and above were the only ones who could compete. Harry glanced around. Cedric had nodded once, to show that he understood Bagman’s words, and then started pacing around the tent again; he looked slightly green. “I really hope that I don't puke, considering the fact that I know what I'm doing is tempting death,”Cedric said. “is it really that bad to take an egg from a nesting mother”” Harry said. Cedric nodded. “Dragons are vicious straight up, but nesting mothers are three times more so than other dragons,” he explained. Fleur Delacour and Krum hadn’t reacted at all. Perhaps they thought they might be sick if they opened their mouths; that was certainly how Harry felt. But they, at least, had volunteered for this … “Despite the fact that, as far as anyone is concerned, I did volunteer for it,” Harry said bitterly. And in no time at all, hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of feet could be heard passing the tent, their owners talking excitedly, laughing, joking ... “And I really do not doubt that they'll be just as excited to watch you go up against the dragons,” Hermione said. She was, of course, basing this not only on the fact that the tournament had even existed to begin with, but on the fact that they all mostly loved Quidditch, which was pretty dangerous in it's own way. Of course, this thinking was only solidified by the fact that neither Luna nor Cedric protested what she said. Harry felt as separate from the crowd as if they were a different species. And then – it felt about a second later to Harry – Bagman was opening the neck of the purple silk sack. “Ladies first,” he said, offering it to Fleur Delacour. “I wonder what order the boys will be going in,” Luna mused. She put a shaking hand inside the bag, and drew out a tiny, perfect model of a dragon – a Welsh Green. It had the number ‘two’ around its neck. And Harry knew, by the fact that Fleur showed no sign of surprise, but rather a determined resignation, that he had been right: Madame Maxime had told her what was coming. “I wonder if I'll realize that as well,” Cedric said. “I hope that, if you do, you realized that you own Harry a thank you for making sure you were informed as well,” Hermione said. The same held true for Krum. He pulled out the scarlet Chinese Fireball. It had a number ‘three’ around its neck. He didn’t even blink, just stared at the ground. “So, basically, no matter which of you are chosen, Hogwarts will be the one who starts and ends the task,” Luna said. Cedric put his hand into the bag, and out came the blueish-grey Swedish Short-Snout, the number ‘one’ tied around its neck. “Why am I not surprised on which dragon I get?” Harry said. “Because it's the curse of being you,” Hermione said. Knowing what was left, Harry put his hand into the silk bag, and pulled out the Hungarian Horntail, and the number ‘four’. It stretched its wings as he looked down at it, and bared its minuscule fangs. “You know, I have to wonder if Bagman realizes that we are not all that surprised to see the dragons,” Harry said. “The guy seems to be a bit self absorbed,” Hermione said. “So, it's very doubtful.” “Well, there you are!” said Bagman. “You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see? Now, I’m going to have to leave you in a moment, because I’m commentating.” “I wonder why he's commentating. I mean, there's really no reason that can think of for it,” Harry said. “Not only will he most likely make everything sound worse than it actually is, but he's probably also doing it because he likes the sound of his own voice,” Cedric said. “Mr. Diggory, you’re first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right? Now ... Harry ... could I have a quick word? Outside?” “Why does he want to talk to me?” Harry asked. “And why did he refer to me by my first name instead of my surname?” “”Yeah, you don't really know him all that well,” Hermione said. “He shouldn't be acting so familiar with you as he is.” “Er ... yes,” said Harry blankly, and he got up and went out of the tent with Bagman, who walked him a short way away, into the trees, and then turned to him with a fatherly expression on his face. Harry frowned, remembering another certain celebrity that had acted that way to him. “Feeling all right, Harry? Anything I can get you?” “What?” said Harry. “I – no, nothing.” “Got a plan?” said Bagman, “Why does he want to know that?” Harry asked, frowning once again. lowering his voice conspiratorially. “Because I don’t mind sharing a few pointers, if you’d like them, you know. I mean,” Bagman continued, lowering his voice still further, “you’re the underdog here, Harry ... anything I can do to help ...” “He's trying to help me cheat,” Harry said, sounding surprised. “He has to have a bet on you,” Cedric said. “I mean, I can't see him wanting to actually help you win without there being a reason. Having a bet on you is the most likely reason.” “That makes sense,” Hermione said, remembering the fact that Bagman had been the one going around setting up bets during the Quidditch World Cup as well. It made sense that he'd do the same with the Tournament. “He must not be all that confident is saying Harry will do good, then, if he's offering to help him,” Luna said. “That, or he want to make sure that he wins straight up,” Cedric said. “No,” said Harry, so quickly he knew he had sounded rude, “no – I – I’ve decided what I’m going to do, thanks.” “Nobody would know, Harry,” said Bagman, winking at him. “Hermione would, because there is no way I'd keep it from her,” Harry said. “And so would I.” The idea of knowingly accepting help from Bagman, who would be able to tell him everything that was going to happen in the tournament, didn't sit well with him. It was one thing to accept help from Hagrid, especially when he didn't actually know that he wasn't about to learn of something about the a tournament task; it was an entirely different thing to accept help from Bagman, and know he was actually cheating. “No, I’m fine,” said Harry, wondering why he kept telling people this, and wondering whether he had ever been less fine. “I’ve got a plan worked out, I –“ “– have an idea on what I'm going to do,” Harry finished, figuring that it was what he was going to say. A whistle had blown somewhere. “Well, at least he won't be able to push for me to accept his help any more,” Harry said. “Good Lord, I’ve got to run!” said Bagman in alarm, and he hurried off. Harry walked back to the tent, and saw Cedric emerging from it, greener than ever. Harry tried to wish him luck as he walked past, but all that came out of his mouth was a sort of hoarse grunt. “I wonder if I realize that you were actually trying to say something to me or not,” Cedric said. “Who knows?” Harry said. “For all I know, you weren't even paying attention to me.” “That's probably true. I mean, I was probably more concerned about what I was about to be facing and concentrating on not puking while doing what I could to keep to the plan I've probably made in my mind so that I don't forget it,” Cedric said. Harry went back inside to Fleur and Krum. Seconds later, they heard the roar of the crowd, which meant Cedric had entered the enclosure, and was now face to face with the living counterpart of his model … “Which is a hundred times larger and more dangerous,” Cedric added in. It was worse than Harry could ever have imagined, sitting there and listening. The crowd screamed ... yelled ... gasped like a single many-headed entity, as Cedric did whatever he was doing to get past the Swedish Short-Snout. Krum was still staring at the ground. Fleur had now taken to retracing Cedric’s steps, round and round the tent. And Bagman’s commentary made everything much, much worse ... horrible pictures formed in Harry’s mind, as he heard: “Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow” ... “He’s taking risks, this one!” ... “Clever move – pity it didn’t work!” “No wonder Fleur's beginning to show her nervousness,” Hermione said. And then, after about fifteen minutes, Harry heard the deafening roar that could mean only one thing: Cedric had got past his dragon, and seized the golden egg. “Very good indeed!” Bagman was shouting. “And now the marks from the judges!” But he didn’t shout out the marks; Harry supposed the judges were holding them up and showing them to the crowd. “That's actually a smart idea,” Hermione said. “This way, no one has an added pressure of knowing what the score they have to top.” “One down, three to go!” Bagman yelled, as the whistle blew again. “Miss Delacour, if you please!” Fleur was trembling from head to foot; Harry felt more warmly towards her than he had done so far, as she left the tent with her head held high, and her hand clutching her wand. “She may be nervous, but at least she's doing her best to appear otherwise,” Harry said. He and Krum were left alone, at opposite sides of the tent, avoiding each other’s gaze. The same process started again ... “Oh, I’m not sure that was wise!” they could hear Bagman shouting gleefully. “He's either happy about the fact that she messed up, or he's happy that she was almost harmed,” Hermione said, frowning at the idea that it might be the latter. “Well, the former would make a lot of sense, since the worse she does means that the less of a chance she'll get a good score,” Luna said. “Oh ... nearly! Careful now ... good Lord, I thought she’d had it then!” Ten minutes later, Harry heard the crowd erupt into applause once more ... Fleur must have been successful, too. A pause, while Fleur’s marks were being shown ... more clapping ... then, for the third time, the whistle. “And here comes Mr. Krum!” cried Bagman, and Krum slouched out, leaving Harry quite alone. “I have the feeling that it's not a good thing that you've been left alone,” Hermione said. “They probably want to at least attempt to keep the champions who haven't gone out from knowing what the task is,” Cedric said. “They – or, rather, most of them – don't know that all of the champions already know what's going to come,” Harry said. “No, they most likely do not – in fact, the only ones who do are Karkaroff and Maxime, and they don't know that anyone but themselves and whoever their champions are know,” Luna said. He felt much more aware of his body than usual; very aware of the way his heart was pumping fast, and his fingers tingling with fear ... yet at the same time, he seemed to be outside himself, seeing the walls of the tent, and hearing the crowd, as though from far away ... “Very daring!” Bagman was yelling, and Harry heard the Chinese Fireball emit a horrible, roaring shriek, while the crowd drew its collective breath. “That’s some nerve he’s showing – and – yes, he’s got the egg!” “It doesn't sound as though Krum took all that long,” Hermione said. “Harry seems to not be paying as much attention to the time,” Luna pointed out. Applause shattered the wintery air like breaking glass; Krum had finished – it would be Harry’s turn at any moment. He stood up, noticing dimly that his legs seemed to be made of marshmallow. He waited. And then he heard the whistle blow. He walked out through the entrance of the tent, the panic rising into a crescendo inside him. And now he was walking past the trees, through a gap in the enclosure fence. He saw everything in front of him as though it was a very highly coloured dream. There were hundreds and hundreds of faces staring down at him from stands which had been magicked there since he’d last stood on this spot. And there was the Horntail, at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half furled, her evil, yellow eyes upon him, a monstrous, scaly black lizard, thrashing her spiked tail, leaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground. “Somehow, I think she knows what it is that you're there for, and she's not all that happy about it,” Hermione said. “No, I don't imagine that she is,” Cedric said. The crowd was making a great deal of noise, but whether friendly or not, Harry didn’t know or care. It was time to do what he had to do ... to focus his mind, entirely and absolutely, upon the thing that was his only chance ... He raised his wand. “Accio Firebolt!” he shouted. “At least you didn't forget about what you're going to do,” Cedric said. He waited, every fibre of him hoping, praying ... if it hadn’t worked ... if it wasn’t coming ... he seemed to be looking at everything around him through some sort of shimmering, transparent barrier, like a heat haze, which made the enclosure and the hundreds of faces around him swim strangely … “It almost sounds as though you're about to faint,” Cedric said. “You know, I just thought of something,” Hermione said, a strange look on her face. “What's that?” Cedric asked. “Do you think they made it so that the egg couldn't be summoned?” she asked. Cedric opened his mouth, about to answer, when he paused, thinking about it. “You know, I don't know,” he said. “For all we know, it can. But then, I would imagine that someone thought about it to make sure that it wasn't summoned.” “Yeah, but doing that would show logic, which, as my book self said in the first book, not a lot of wizards have,” Hermione pointed out. “Which is why I'm wondering if they did or not. I mean, on one hand, they might've, but, on the other, with it being such an easily overlooked spell and idea, they might have not even bothered.” “She's right,” Harry said. “I mean, it's such an overlooked spell and idea – her book self didn't even think about trying it out, and I would think that her book self would.” “Oh, no,” Hermione said, “I think my common sense has begun to become replaced with whatever witches and wizards use instead. That's probably also why, in the previous book, I didn't think there was anything wrong about the fact that Mrs. Weasley made, and most likely, used a love potion on someone. It's also why the idea of simply summoning the egg didn't occur to me, either.” “You'll have to make sure that you're careful not to let that happen this time around,” Luna said. “Especially since, if you don't, who knows what other idiotic thing you'd end up doing. Or, without your common sense, you might end up in trouble.” And then he heard it, speeding through the air behind him; he turned and saw his Firebolt hurtling towards him around the edge of the woods, soaring into the enclosure, and stopping dead in mid-air beside him, waiting for him to mount. The crowd was making even more noise ... Bagman was shouting something ... but Harry’s ears were not working properly any more ... listening wasn’t important … “No, it definitely isn't,” Luna said, smiling. He swung his leg over the broom, and kicked off from the ground. And a second later, something miraculous happened ... As he soared upwards, as the wind rushed through his hair, as the crowd’s faces became mere flesh-coloured pinpricks below, and the Horntail shrank to the size of a dog, he realised that he had left not only the ground behind, but also his fear ... he was back where he belonged ... This was just another Quidditch match, that was all ... just another Quidditch match, and that Horntail was just another ugly opposing team … “That's one way of looking at it,” Cedric said. “Hey, you know, this is almost like the dream you had in the previous book, you know, the one where you saw the Slytherin team show up riding dragons,” Hermione said. “Huh,” Harry said. “Yeah, it is a bit like that. The only difference is, there's only one dragon, and no one is riding it.” He looked down at the clutch of eggs, and spotted the gold one, gleaming against its cement-coloured fellows, residing safely between the dragon’s front legs. “And that dragon most likely will not move unless you irritate it enough,” Luna said. “OK,” Harry told himself, “diversionary tactics ... let’s go ...” He dived. The Horntail’s head followed him; he knew what it was going to do, 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 ... but Harry didn’t care ... that was no more than dodging a Bludger … “Once you're in the air, you pretty much just give yourself over to your instincts,” Cedric said. “Great Scott, he can fly!” yelled Bagman, as the crowd shrieked and gasped. “Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?” “I have the feeling that Bagman is saying that, as if to say there's someone who's just as good on a broom as he is,” Luna said. Harry soared higher in a circle; the Horntail was still following his progress; its head revolving on its long neck – if he kept this up, it would be nicely dizzy – but better not push it too long, or it would be breathing fire again – Harry plummeted just as the Horntail opened its mouth, but this time he was less lucky – he missed the flames, but the tail came whipping up to meet him instead, “Seems that the Horntail learned a bit from it's mistake, and isn't going to let Harry escape unscathed again,” Cedric said. “Of course, I doubt that it'll be able to hit Harry too well.” and as he swerved to the left, one of the long spikes grazed his shoulder, ripping his robes – He could feel it stinging, he could hear screaming and groans from the crowd, but the cut didn’t seem to be deep ... now he zoomed around the back of the Horntail, and a possibility occurred to him … “I think I'm just realizing that the Horntail isn't going to move away from the eggs,” Harry said. “not without some persuasion.” The Horntail didn’t seem to want to take off, she was too protective of her eggs. Though she writhed and twisted, furling and unfurling her wings and keeping those fearsome yellow eyes on Harry, she was afraid to move too far from them ... but he had to persuade her to do it, or he’d never get near them ... the trick was to do it carefully, gradually … “So as to not let it realize that you're taunting it to move,” Hermione said, smiling. He began to fly, first this way, then the other, not near enough to make her breathe fire to stave him off, but still posing a sufficient threat to ensure she kept her eyes on him. Her head swayed this way and that, watching him out of those vertical pupils, her fangs bared ... 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, and she let out a roar of exasperation. He was like a fly to her, a fly she was longing to swat; her tail thrashed again, but he was too high to reach now ... she shot fire into the air, which he dodged ... her jaws opened wide … “I think it's working,” Hermione said. “It does sound as though it is,” Cedric agreed. “Come on,” Harry hissed, swerving tantalisingly above her, “come on, come and get me ... up you get, now ...” And then she reared, spreading her great black leathery wings at last, as wide as those of a small aeroplane – and Harry dived. Before the dragon knew what he had done, or where he had disappeared to, he was speeding towards the ground as fast as he could go, towards 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, and it was as though somebody had just turned the volume back up – for the first time, he became properly aware of the noise of the crowd, which was screaming and applauding as loudly as the Irish supporters at the World Cup – “Wow,” Hermione said, shaking her head. “Of course they're going to do that. Now that he's proven he can handle going up against a dragon, none of them are going to want to admit they were horrible to him – most of them will want to act as though they supported him the entire time,” Cedric said. “In fact, it will not surprise me one bit if any of them turn around and say they believed that you were telling the truth about not putting your name into the cup.” “Look at that!” Bagman was yelling. “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!” “Definitely going to get you some more people being friendly to you,” Cedric said. “Should also get you the most points, should the judges mark fairly, without letting themselves be biased.” “Which most likely won't happen, since it's doubtful they took oaths to agree to that,” Luna said. Hermione scowled. If they didn't take oaths to agree to that, it was doubtful that the non-Hogwarts judges would most likely judge Harry lowly; she suspected that it was going to be what Karkaroff did. Harry saw the dragon-keepers rushing forwards to subdue the Horntail, and, over at the entrance to the enclosure, Professor McGonagall, Professor Moody and Hagrid hurrying to meet him, all of them waving him towards them, their smiles evident even from this distance. “I'm a bit surprised to know that Moody is smiling, since I don't think the real one would,” Cedric said. “I could be wrong, of course, but...” “Moody doesn't really strike me as the type to smile, either,” Hermione said. “And since the impostor is trying to act like Moody, I can see why you'd be saying that. If anyone saw him, he might end up giving himself away.” “But we don't really know Moody,” Luna said. “While it might seem unlikely,if Moody ends up liking Harry a bit, it would make sense for him to be smiling. Especially since it was Moody who helped give Harry his idea. Besides, if Dumbledore or McGonagall – who are apparently friends with him – haven't caught onto the fact that it's not him I would imagine that he's doing something right in pretending to be Moody.” “That's true,” Hermione reluctantly said. He flew back over the stands, the noise of the crowd pounding his eardrums, and came in smoothly to land, his heart lighter than it had been in weeks ... he had got through the first task, he had survived … “And I can stop worrying about it,” Harry said. “You'll probably act like that up until it becomes times for the next task,” Luna said. “True,” Hermione said. “That was excellent, Potter!” cried Professor McGonagall as he got off the Firebolt – which from her was extravagant praise. He noticed that her hand shook as she pointed at his shoulder. “You’ll need to see Madam Pomfrey before the judges give out your score ... over there, she’s had to mop up Diggory already ...” Hermione went a bit pale, worried about what might have happened to Cedric. “I hope you weren't hurt too badly,” Luna said to him. “So do I,” Cedric said. “Yeh did it, Harry!” said Hagrid hoarsely. “Yeh did it! An’ agains’ the Horntail an’ all, an’ yeh know Charlie said that was the wors’ –“ “Hagrid,” Harry said, sighing as he shook his head. “He really shouldn't be talking like that.” “Hopefully, Professor McGongall won't have noticed that,” Cedric said. “Thanks, Hagrid,” said Harry loudly, so that Hagrid wouldn’t blunder on and reveal that he had shown Harry the dragons beforehand. Professor Moody looked very pleased, too; his magical eye was dancing in its socket. “Nice and easy does the trick, Potter,” he growled. “Right then, Potter, the first-aid tent, please ...” said Professor McGonagall. “They must've decided that it was too much of a hassle not to have a tent set up nearby,” Luna said. “Especially considering the risk everyone was under; after all, one of the dragons could have easily done something to harm one of the watching spectators.” Harry walked out of the enclosure, still panting, and saw Madam Pomfrey standing at the mouth of a second tent, looking worried. “Dragons!” she said, in a disgusted tone, pulling Harry inside. The tent was divided into cubicles; he could make out Cedric’s shadow through the canvas, but Cedric didn’t seem to be badly injured; he was sitting up, at least. Madam Pomfrey examined Harry’s shoulder, talking furiously all the while. “Last year Dementors, this year dragons, what are they going to bring into this school next?” “Hopefully, nothing bad,” Hermione said. “You’re very lucky ... this is quite shallow ... it’ll need cleaning before I heal it up, though ...” She cleaned the cut with a dab of some purple liquid which smoked and stung, but then poked his shoulder with her wand, and he felt it heal instantly. “Now, just sit quietly for a minute – sit! And then you can go and get your score.” “I don't need to sit,” Harry said. “There's nothing else wrong with me, so I would imagine that I'm fine to leave.” She bustled out of the tent and he heard her go next door and say, “How does it feel now, Diggory?” Harry didn’t want to sit still; he was still too full of adrenaline. He got to his feet, wanting to see what was going on outside, but before he’d reached the mouth of the tent, two people had come darting inside – Hermione, followed closely by Ron. “What's that bastard doing there?” Luna said, frowning. Cedric, however, groaned. “What?” Harry asked him. “He's probably there to 'apologize' for his behaviour,” Cedric said. “Which, based on how your book self has been acting with the separation between the two of you, you'll most likely accept.” “What?” Harry said. “No. Please don't let my book self be that much of an idiot.” “Your book self will be an idiot,” Hermione said. “But you yourself, at least, if this happens, will be able to not be one.” “True,” Harry said. “Harry, you were brilliant!” Hermione said squeakily. There were fingernail marks on her face where she had been clutching it in fear. “You were amazing! You really were!” But Harry was looking at Ron, who was very white, and staring at Harry as though he was a ghost. “Harry,” he said, very seriously, “whoever put your name in that Goblet – I – I reckon they’re trying to do you in!” “Oh, caught on, has he?” Luna said. “Of course, he's not completely right; the impostor Moody isn't quite trying to do him in. He's just trying to get him to Riddle.” It was as though the last few weeks had never happened – as though Harry was meeting Ron for the first time, right after he’d been made champion. “Caught on, have you?” said Harry coldly. “Took you long enough.” Hermione stood nervously between them, looking from one to the other. “I'm probably wondering if there's going to be another fight between you two,” Hermione said. Ron opened his mouth uncertainly. Harry knew Ron was about to apologise and, suddenly, he found he didn’t need to hear it. “Okay, my book self is definitely an idiot,” Harry said, shaking his head. “You know, it's kind of funny how Ron tries to apologize after the first task is done instead of sometime before it,” Hermione said. “After all, now that you are not going to be a social pariah any more, he can't let you have all of the spotlight to yourself.” “Yeah, that's probably true,” Harry said. “How nice to see you easily accept him back after he turns his back on you for no good reason, yet you hold a grudge on Hermione for wanting to make sure that you're safe in the previous book, which you don't let go of until after you get the broom back, at which point you simply act as though you weren't being horrible to her while Ron brags about the fact that she was wrong,” Luna said, frowning at him and making him feel horrible. It was the truth, though. His book self pretty much pushes aside the one who had stayed by his side and supported him without even acting as though she didn't suspect him of being truthful, and accepts the one that who hadn't stayed by his side and was only wanting back most likely because of the fact that Harry would be in a more favourable spot light once more. The only thing consistent between them was that he hadn't accepted an apology from either of them, despite the fact that he was owed one from Ron. “It’s OK,” he said, before Ron could get the words out. “Forget it.” “No,” said Ron, “I shouldn’t’ve –“ “You have to give Ron props for at least managing to act sincere,” Luna sneered. “Forget it,” Harry said. Ron grinned nervously at him, and Harry grinned back. Hermione burst into tears. “Why are you crying?” Harry asked her, bewildered. “Probably because my book self has just had her nerves so rung up that seeing you two finally make up just set them off,” Hermione said. “After all, you've finally done what my book self has been wanting you to do since you first fought.” She made it clear that she did not agree with what her book self had wanted.” “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 could stop her, she had given both of them a hug, and dashed away, now positively howling. “Yeah, my nerves were definitely over strung,” Hermione said. “Barking,” said Ron, shaking his head. “Harry, c’mon, they’ll be putting up your scores ...” Picking up the golden egg and his Firebolt, feeling more elated than he would have believed possible an hour ago, Harry ducked out of the tent, Ron by his side, talking fast. “Of course. Ron's going to act as though he had never acted like a stupid, jealous idiot,” Luna said. “You know. I know that, for your book self, Ron is your first friend, but you should still be mad at him, even if it's just a little bit, instead of feeling elated,” Cedric said. “As much as I wish I could, I can't control what my book self is doing,” Harry said, sighing. “I know,” Cedric said. “I just can't ignore that little bit.” “You were the best, you know, no competition. Cedric did this weird thing where he Transfigured a rock on the ground ... turned it into a dog ... he was trying to make the dragon go for the dog instead of him.” “That would work, to a point,” Cedric said thoughtfully. “Well, it was a pretty cool bit of Transfiguration, and it sort of worked, because he did get the egg, but he got burnt as well – the dragon changed its mind halfway through and decided it would rather have him than the labrador, he only just got away.” “Well, being burnt isn't too bad,” Cedric said. “And that Fleur girl tried this sort of charm, I think she was trying to put it into a trance – well, that kind of worked, too, it went all sleepy, but then it snored, and this great jet of flame shot out, and her skirt caught fire – she put it out with a bit of water out of her wand.” “From the sounds of it, she still managed to do what she wanted,” Luna said. “What's the bet that, when he mentions that she bit the fire out with her wand, that he was disappointed about the fact?” Hermione said. “That's a sucker bet,” Cedric said. “He more than likely was really disappointed.” “And Krum – you won’t believe this, but he didn’t even think of flying! He was probably the best after you, though. Hit it with some sort of spell right in the eye.” “Oh,” Cedric said, smacking his forehead. “I can't believe that I didn't think about that.” “What?” Harry asked. “I think that's the curse that Sirius was trying to tell you about,” Cedric said. “It's a curse you learn in second year, and really simple. Plus, since the eyes are among the weakest spots on a dragon...” “It makes it an effective curse against them,” Hermione said. “I can't believe my book self didn't think of doing that either.” She was, of course, grouping that with having missed suggesting that Harry try to summon the egg to him when he did his broom, just in case they didn't think about guarding it from that spell.” “Only thing is, it went trampling around in agony and squashed half the real eggs – they took marks off for that, he wasn’t supposed to do any damage to them.” “Somehow, since I don't think that Karkaroff is going to mark fairly, he's going to be the only one who gave Krum the best score,” Luna said. Ron drew breath as he and Harry reached the edge of the enclosure. Now that the Horntail had been taken away, Harry could see where the five judges were sitting – right at the other end, in raised seats draped in gold. “It’s marks out of ten from each one,” Ron said, and Harry, squinting up the field, saw the first judge – Madame Maxime – raise her wand in the air. What looked like a long, silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a large figure eight. “That's not too bad, though she is being a bit biased against you. While she probably took the marks off for your shoulder, considering how minor the injury was, it wasn't worth having two points taken off,” Cedric said. “She most likely did what she thought that she could get away with taking off that wouldn't also call her out for being biased,” Hermione said. “Not bad!” said Ron, as the crowd applauded. “I suppose she took marks off for your shoulder ...” Mr. Crouch came next. He shot a number nine into the air. “Now, there's a fair mark off for the shoulder,” Luna said. “So, you're at seventeen points,” Hermione said. “Looking good!” Ron yelled, thumping Harry on the back. Next, Dumbledore. He, too, put up a nine. The crowd were cheering harder than ever. “Now you have twenty-six points,” Cedric said. Ludo Bagman – ten. “Oh, yeah, he's definitely betting on you winning,” Hermione said. “Hopefully, he doesn't make it so obvious in the next task, though.” “You're at thirty-six points now,” Luna said. “Ten?” said Harry in disbelief. “But ... I got hurt ... what’s he playing at?” “I take it that it doesn't occur to you that you might be the subject of a bet,” Cedric said. “No, apparently, it doesn't,” Harry said. “Harry, don’t complain!” Ron yelled excitedly. “You must have a high point count right now,” Luna said. “Which means that you're probably close to being in first place.” And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand, too – four. “Not surprising,” Cedric said. “We were already suspecting that he'd be biased about his scoring.” “So, I have forty points,” Harry said. “What?” Ron bellowed furiously. “Four? You lousy biased scumbag, you gave Krum ten!” “Now, why doesn't that surprise me,” Luna said. But Harry didn’t care, he wouldn’t have cared if Karkaroff had given him zero; Ron’s indignation on his behalf was worth about a hundred points to him. 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 ... “Which is very nice to have,” Harry said. he didn’t care about the Slytherins, he could stand whatever they threw at him now. “Kind of sad that you need most of the school on your side to be be able to to say that,” Hermione said. “You’re tied in first place, Harry! You and Krum!” “Nice,” Cedric said. “I wonder what Krums marks were,” Harry said. “I mean, from the other judges.” “Well, if we think about this rationally, we can probably figure it out easily,” Luna said. “Yeah, she's right,” Hermione said. “Now, chances are, the scores were around the same point level, save for two of them. We know that Karkaroff gave Krum ten, so we just have to figure out how the the other thirty is split.” “Maxime probably gave Krum the second highest score,” Cedric murmured. “Because, while she wants her champion to win, she probably rather have Krum win over us winning. And, since she most likely did take off for the eggs, Krum probably got an eight like you did. Dumbledore probably also gave Krum an eight for the eggs having been smashed. As for Bagman and Crouch, they both probably gave Krum his lowest score, both giving him seven.” “Yeah, that's probably what his scores were, to a point,” Hermione said. “I mean, we know that, other than Karkaroff, points were taken off for the smashed eggs. Plus, I would imagine that, while they may not want Krum to win, they wouldn't be as petty as Karkaroff seems to be acting.” “Yeah, that's probably true,” Harry said. “Of course, who gave what might be wrong.” “True, but that's pretty much what the marks probably were either way,” Luna said. said Charlie Weasley, hurrying to meet them as they set off back towards the school. “Listen, I’ve got to run, I’ve got to go and send Mum an owl, I swore 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.” “Probably information about the next task,” Cedric said. Ron said he would wait, so Harry re-entered the tent, which somehow looked quite different now; friendly and welcoming. “Task is done, so no one is as nervous any more,” Luna stated. He thought back to how he’d felt while dodging the Horntail, and compared it to the long wait before he’d walked out to face it ... there was no comparison, the wait had been immeasurably worse. “Especially for you, because you also had to watch us three go out one at a time, and listen to Bagman made the task more horrid with his commentary,” Cedric said. Fleur, Cedric and Krum all came in together. One side of Cedric’s face was covered in a thick orange paste, which was presumably mending his burn. “Ouch,” Hermione said, wincing as she thought of how that may have looked when watching it happen. “I really hope that it isn't as bad as it's making it sound,” Cedric said, wincing as well. It would probably have hurt worse had it managed to damage his eye along with the skin on his face. He grinned at Harry when he saw him. “Good one, Harry.” “I wonder if I was able to get Madam Pomfrey to let me watch the other champions,” Cedric said. “Probably not,” Luna said, basing her words on how the nurse had been described in the previous books. “I could hope,” Cedric said. “And you,” said Harry, grinning back. “Well done, all of you!” said Ludo Bagman, bouncing into the tent, and looking as pleased as though he personally had just got past a dragon. “Really doesn't surprise me all that much,” Hermione said. “Now, just a quick few words. You’ve got a nice long break before the second task, which will take place at half past nine on the morning of February the twenty-fourth” “I wonder why there's such a long break,” Hermione said. “I don't know, but it'll be nice to have it,” Cedric said. “– but we’re giving you something to think about in the meantime! If you look down at those golden eggs you’re all holding, you will see that they open ... see the hinges there? You need to solve the clue inside the egg – because it will tell you what the second task is, and enable you to prepare for it!” “Oh, that's why there's such a long break,” Harry said. “It's so that we have time to figure out what the next task is.” “All clear? Sure? Well, off you go, then!” “And we're free for about three months,” Harry said. Harry left the tent, rejoined Ron, 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. “Hermione probably would be a better person to ask about that, though,” Luna said. “No,” Hermione said. “I was probably a nervous wreck watching it happen. I doubt I watched it all, or even memorized what was going on.” Then, as they rounded the clump of trees behind which Harry had first heard the dragons roar, a witch leapt out from behind them. “I really hope it's not whom I suspect it might be,” Luna said, having the feeling that it could only be one person. It was Rita Skeeter. “If she was hiding, then I have the feeling that she's not supposed to be there,” Hermione said. She was wearing acid-green robes today; the Quick-Quotes Quill in her hand blended perfectly against them. “If you didn't know that she would most likely have it, then you wouldn't have realized that it was there,” Luna said. “Congratulations, Harry!” she said, “I think she's hoping for another interview that she can skewer to her liking,” Hermione said. “She isn't going to get one,” Harry said point-blank. 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?” “Yeah, you can have a word,” said Harry savagely. “Goodbye.” “Hopefully, she doesn't try to make anything of that,” Luna said. “Because she might turn vicious if she realizes that you do not like her.” And he set off back to the castle with Ron. “That's the end of this chapter,” Hermione said, handing the book over to Cedric, who turned to the next page.