For the entire week that followed, Hermione dragged Harry and Orli through the library, combing through every book about dragons. Harry even wrote to Sirius. But when Sirius learned that his godson might have to face a dragon alone, he nearly stormed into Hogwarts. It took Lupin considerable effort to calm him down, and after that, Harry didn't dare to mention anything about the Triwizard Tournament to Sirius again.
At first, they hoped to find a spell that could subdue a dragon, but their search yielded nothing. Hermione then suggested looking for a dragon's weaknesses, and she spent every day poring over a towering stack of books.
"'Dragons are incredibly hard to kill, as their thick hides are imbued with ancient magic. Only the most powerful spells can penetrate them…' This one's no good," Hermione said, tossing aside Basic Spells for Dealing with Hyperactive and Troublesome Creatures. She picked up another book, Dragon Enthusiasts, and muttered, "'Magical claw trimming… Treatment for scale rot…' Useless! This is for people like Hagrid who want their dragons healthy, well-fed, and cozy…"
Harry, meanwhile, was flipping through a spellbook. "Transfiguration spells… But what good is Transfiguration? Unless you turn its fangs into jelly beans or something to make it less dangerous… The problem is, as that book says, not much can penetrate dragon hide… Maybe Transfigure it? But transforming something that massive would never work—I doubt even Professor McGonagall could manage that…"
Orli tossed The Types of Dragons in Great Britain and Ireland back onto the pile. She knew perfectly well that Harry could use the Summoning Charm to call his broomstick, but Harry had been in such a terrible state lately. He had just learned the charm in their last Charms class, and his performance had been so poor it was as if he had suddenly become a Squib. As a result, Professor Flitwick had assigned him extra homework—besides Neville, he was the only one given extra work.
Ron had also been acting strange lately. It was as if the part of his brain concerning Harry had been scooped out like a potato sprout. They attended classes together every day, but Ron and Harry never sat next to each other. Both could talk normally with Hermione and Orli, but they never spoke to each other. It was all very odd!
What was even more troubling was that they had two full periods of Potions that afternoon—Harry's first time entering Snape's classroom since becoming a champion, and the room would be packed with two dozen Slytherins.
After lunch, the three of them arrived at the Potions classroom door. For a moment, Orli thought Hermione's S.P.E.W. had grown dozens of times larger. Slytherin students were gathered outside the classroom, each wearing a large badge on the front of their robes.
Then she saw clearly that all the badges bore the same words, printed in bright red letters that gleamed in the dim light of the underground corridor: Support Cedric Diggory—The Real Champion of Hogwarts.
"Like them, Potter?" Malfoy called loudly as Harry approached.
"They come with extra features—look!" He pressed the badge hard against his chest. The words disappeared, replaced by another line, glowing in green: Potter Stinks.
The Slytherins burst into raucous laughter, each pressing their badges until the glowing words surrounded Orli, Harry, and Hermione: Potter Stinks.
"Oh, very funny," Hermione said sarcastically to Pansy Parkinson and the other Slytherin girls, who were laughing the hardest. "Witty beyond measure."
"Want one, Granger?" Malfoy said, holding out a badge to Hermione. "I've got loads. But careful not to touch my hand. You see, I just washed it, and I wouldn't want a Mudblood to dirty it."
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
The story isn't over...
🤔 Want to know what happens next to the characters?
🤫 Eager to explore the untold secrets of this world?
✍️ Ready to read more of my wildest stories?
✨patreon.com/DarkGolds