He dove behind another rock to give him some cover from the dragon's tail. The dragon roared in fury and lunged towards his hiding place. The chain pulled taught for a second before there was a loud metallic snap. Realizing that the dragon had broken free of its bonds, Harry prepared to dart out from his now compromised position.
Just as he was about to make his mad dash, his Firebolt came zooming into the enclosure. Without missing a step, Harry jumped onto the broom and rocketed into the air as fast as his broom would go.
With another loud roar, the dragon launched itself into the air in pursuit of her prey. Harry heard the roar of the dragon and he chanced a glance behind him. Gaining on him quickly was an enraged Horntail. He knew that he could not reach the Forbidden Forrest before he the dragon caught up to him and there were no clouds in the sky for him to shake his pursuer. That meant that he had to head for the castle.
Pulling his broom into a sharp turn, Harry realized that he was more mobile but not faster than the Horntail. The dragon screeched in frustration as it shot past him. Harry put on a burst of speed and dove towards the bridge that connected the castle to the surrounding hillside.
The dragon had recovered from overshooting its mark and was diving to catch up with him. Harry briefly wondered where the dragon keepers were. He was beginning to feel the effects from the wound in his shoulder. It was getting difficult to hang onto the broom with his left hand. Blood was running down his arm and making his hand, and the broom handle, slick. Knowing that he was running out of strength fast, Harry had to end this insane chase or he would end up dead.
The stone archways of the bridge were looming in front of him and he knew that it was now or never if he wanted to survive this encounter. Pushing his Firebolt for more speed, Harry dove at the bridge, willing the dragon to follow closer. He pulled up just feet from the bridge and darted towards the castle. In his weakened state, Harry could not get the tail end of his broom level in time and it clipped the walkway. The impact knocked him off his broom head over heels.
There was a mighty crash behind him and stone flew up in every direction. The dragon had been unable to pull out of the dive and had crashed into the bridge too. It was making a horrible wailing noise as Harry pulled himself to a sitting position. Cradling his injured arm, he cautiously stood up to face the dragon.
Even though the Horntail had been trying to kill him, Harry felt sympathy for the beast. It had only been trying to protect her eggs. The dragon had two obviously broken wings and that was very bad. Harry remembered learning about Norbert from Hagrid and some other facts from the book that Moody had recommended, "Dancing with Dragons." He knew that the injuries were fatal. A dragon would not let anyone close enough to attempt to fix its wings and they were not the type of creature that could adjust to such a severe injury.
Sighing in resignation, Harry prepared himself for an unpleasant task. He could see the agony in the Dragon's eyes. It had stopped wailing and now had laid its head down on the damaged walkway, accepting its fate. It barely moved as Harry walked into its field of vision.
Pulling out his sliver potions dagger, Harry set it on the ground in front of him. He gave his wand a sharp jab towards the knife and said "Engorgio." When the knife had grown to just over six feet in length and four inches in width, he canceled the spell.
Pausing a moment to gather himself; Harry looked into the dragon's eyes. Holding its gaze, Harry said, "I'm so sorry."
With a quick swish and flick of his wand, he levitated the knife turned sword above the dragons head. Harry hesitated for a moment before he made a quick slashing movement straight down, banishing the blade as hard as he could directly at the dragons head. The sound of the blade piercing the dragon's skull and driving deep into the stone was like a physical blow to Harry.
He sank to his knees in front of the dead beasts face. Sobbing, Harry cried out in a strangled voice, "I'm so sorry." before slinking into unconsciousness from his injuries and exhaustion. He awoke a short time later lying in a puddle of blood, his own and the dragons. Struggling into a sitting position, he began to take stock of his situation.
Harry knew that he needed medical attention soon. His shoulder was still bleeding and he was sure that he had some other injures as well. Summoning his broom to him, he climbed on and took off towards the Champions Tent.
As he crested, the hill and the stands came into view he realized that someone must have spotted him because he could hear the noise from the crowd getting louder. Harry landed roughly next to the Champions Tent where he met Madam Poppy Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall, Albus Dumbledore, and the rest of the judges. Looking around the gathering crowd he croaked out; "Where's Hermione?" before he collapsed into a heap at their feet.
The teachers were shocked at Harry's appearance. He was covered in blood, and not all of it his own. Professor McGonagall's stern façade cracked as Harry collapsed. Madam Poppy Pomfrey immediately began checking over his injuries.
With a quick flick of her wrist, Minerva McGonagall conjured some privacy screens around them. Assuring herself that Madam Poppy Pomfrey had things under control, she swept out of the enclosure to locate Ms. Granger, only to see her running towards her with tears in her eyes and Remus Lupin not far behind.
Hermione had been a nervous wreck when Harry had flown off with the dragon in hot pursuit. She was furious when the dragon handlers were unprepared. They did not have any brooms standing by to pursue the dragon. Her worries grew the longer Harry was gone. When she saw him flying towards the Champions Tent she felt a wave of relief wash through her. That quickly turned to fear when Harry collapsed upon his return. Breaking into a run, she headed towards him as fast as she could, hoping that he would be all right.
Professor McGonagall moved to intercept the obviously upset witch. "Ms. Granger." She called out while stepping directly into Hermione's path. She was completely surprised when Hermione did not even slow down, she just ran around her and into the screened off area where Harry was being treated. Before she could turn around Remus Lupin was standing in front of her motioning into the enclosure. "Remus?" she asked in surprise.
"I'm going in Minerva." Remus said as he stepped by, leaving her to follow him inside.
Hermione paled at the scene in front of her. Harry was unconscious and covered in blood. Madam Poppy Pomfrey was pouring potions into the wound on his shoulder while muttering a healing charm. Hermione was hugging herself and rocking back and forth while Professor Dumbledore looked on in silence.
Remus stepped up to Hermione and pulled her into a hug. She flinched at the initial contact in surprise before breaking down in silent sobs in his arms, never taking her eyes off Harry's prone form.
Madam Poppy Pomfrey was working as fast as she could on Harry's wound. He had lost a lot of blood and his shoulder was dislocated. She would worry about the joint once she had Mr. Potter out of immediate danger. The potion was making the wound hiss and pop as it cleaned out the debris. While the potion was doing its job, she began pouring a blood restorative potion down his throat. Satisfied that the potion was working she turned her attention back to the still bleeding gash. When the cleansing potion was finished working Poppy began closing the wound. Mr. Potter was going to have a large scar to remember this task afterwards. Wounds from a dragon were magical and very hard to heal without scarring.
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