"Great and Wonderful Harry Potter, sir must be waking up!" Harry had been asleep when it finally happened. "Great and Wise Harry Potter, sir wished to know if something unusual was brought inside the wards. He must wake up so Winky can tell him."
"Just a moment, Winky, I need my glasses." His glasses promptly appeared on his face and the little elf came into focus. She was almost bouncing with excitement and had a wide smile on her face. He felt an answering one stretch his own cheeks. "Okay, Winky, what have you discovered?"
"Many wizards is bringing four dragons into the forest Great and Noble Harry Potter, sir." That conversation with his elves about appropriate and above all concise forms of address had just gotten a bit more urgent.
"Thank you very much, Winky. You two did a stellar job." He watched as she swelled with pride. It was a vast improvement over the sobbing drunken mess she had been. He was also going to have to talk to Hermione about elf-rights and what the elves wanted those rights to be.
"Will the Great and Magnificent Harry Potter, Sir be needing anything else?" That's it! We are having this discussion now.
"Yes actually, but I need the both of you here for this. Dobby!" With a small pop the elf population in Harry's bed doubled.
"The Great and Honoured Harry Potter sir is calling Dobby?"
"Yes. I wanted to talk to the both of you about one more thing. I just want you both to know that you are free to call me whatever you like. This 'Great and Wonderful Harry Potter Sir' business is a bit of a mouthful though. Do you have anything shorter that you can call me? Perhaps you could just call me 'Harry'?" The two elves looked at each other and then back at him before responding in unison.
"Of course, Master Harry." Before he could tell them that he didn't need anyone calling him 'master' they had popped out. He briefly considered calling them back, but he had said they could call him anything. Perhaps this was an instance where his preferences should make way for the elves', even if it meant his talk with Hermione had just gotten more difficult. He mentally shook himself and slipped out of bed. Grabbing his broom and invisibility cloak he snuck down to the common room and opened a window. He flung the cloak around him before mounting his Firebolt and flying off towards the Forbidden Forest.
Using Hagrid's hut as a guidepost he soared out over the forest. Seconds later he saw flash of light in the distance and headed in that direction. As he got closer the roars of the animals and the shouts of their handlers were easily heard. Hanging in the air, invisible, gave Harry a great vantage point to do some scouting. The cages with the dragons in them were being moved into position much to the animals displeasure and repeatedly groups of handlers fired stunners only for the dragon to wake up again a few minutes later. Harry stayed just long enough to determine that the four dragons were the same breeds as last time and to hear someone mention the golden eggs.
Upon his return to Gryffindor Tower Harry thought about the difference even the few days advantage would have made if he had known what awaited him as soon as possible. That inevitably made him think of the other champions. With a sigh he headed back up to bed. It looked like he was going to have to ask Hermione to send another letter to her parents.
:-:-:-:-:
In a tent in the Forbidden Forest one handler was desperately writing a letter full of information he had been strictly ordered not to mention to anyone outside of the team he was a part of.
The next day three of the champions received letters from Hogwarts school owls. Each of them paled upon reading the letter and none of them would speak of what they contained. Also each of them left breakfast rather abruptly after speaking to their headmaster, or in Cedric's case Professor Sprout. Harry's lack of a letter was ignored by the student body and so were Hermione and Luna's pale faces and shaking hands.
:-:-:-:-:
The day of the first task dawned crisp and sunny. The sky was clear and it didn't look like the champions would be getting any help from a well-timed shower of rain. Knowing he had already successfully faced what awaited him was the only thing that allowed Harry to function somewhat normally as he spent his time trying to work on his occlumency shields. While his nerves weren't as bad as the last time he had faced the first task, the prospect of facing a nesting mother dragon is never approached with complete calm. When lunch time rolled around Harry forced himself to eat something. Next to him Hermione was desperately trying to pretend she was calm and in any state to reassure him. When Professor McGonagall walked over and asked Harry to follow her out she lost that battle and flung her arms around him.
"Promise me you'll come back to me, Harry." Harry had wrapped his own arms around her, returning her hug and trying to offer some comfort.
"I promise." She nodded her head into his chest but still had to be coaxed into letting him follow their Head of House. At the Gryffindor table Hermione and Luna gave up all pretense of being alright and simply held on to each other. Harry observed that Professor McGonagall was looking paler than usual as she led him to a tent near the enclosure where he would soon be facing a dragon once again. Just before he walked in she spoke up.
"Do your best, Potter, and be careful." He decided to try and reassure her a little.
"I'm prepared, Professor." At her sharp look he simply smiled and said "Remember the end of our discussion in your office, ma'am?" A look of honest to goodness relief filled her eyes for a moment and she put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "Make Gryffindor proud then."
He nodded his head and walked into the tent. The other three contestants were already there, tense and hyper-aware of what the next hours would bring. None of them acknowledged the presence of any of the others. Harry simply joined them in their silence. Soon they heard the sound of hundreds of footsteps passing by on their way to the stands and shortly after that the tent flap opened and admitted the judges. The drawing of the dragons went the same as Harry remembered and he would again face off against the Horntail. At least I know to keep an eye on the tail this time.
As the judges were leaving, Bagman called out to Harry and asked to speak to him outside. Knowing what was coming Harry followed him out.
"Feeling alright, Harry? Anything I can get you?"
"I'm fine, sir." Bagman faltered a little. Clearly he had not expected that level of composure from a teenager who had just been told he would face a dragon.
"Got a plan?" Harry had to stop himself from taking a step back as the corpulent ministry worker invaded his personal space by leaning forward conspiratorially. The man smelt of stale sweat and some kind of pungent aftershave. "I can give you a few pointers, you know, since you are so much younger than the others…" He trailed of suggestively and Harry wondered if Bagman thought he was being subtle.
"I'll be fine, sir. Besides I doubt I'd have time to effectively use anything you tell me on such short notice. Now if you don't mind, I need to focus." With that he turned around and marched back into the tent leaving a slack-jawed Ludo Bagman behind him.
One by one the champions were called out. Each had a look of terror mixed with determination. Harry was torn between putting up a silencing charm so he wouldn't hear Bagman's inappropriately enthusiastic commentary or leaving matters as they stood so he could at least hear that the others came away unhurt. In the end he listened and waited for his turn. When he was finally called out, Harry squared his shoulders and walked out into the enclosure.
Despite having been faced with this sight once before his stomach dropped unpleasantly as he took in the angry dragon across the enclosure. Staying behind the boulders at the edge of the arena Harry raised his wand and preformed the only spell he needed.
"Accio Firebolt!"
He risked a quick look at the Horntail but she was busy keeping an eye on the crowd since he wasn't making any moves towards her eggs and they were still cheering loudly. Sooner than he expected Harry heard a whistling noise as his broom approached at high speed. Leaping onto the broom without waiting for it to stop near him he rocketed into the sky. A small part of him absently noted that it was perfect quidditch weather. Shaking that thought off he set about luring the massive magical lizard off of her nest.
The crowd gasped and cheered as he dove towards the dragons head, dodging bursts of flame, but Harry never heard any of it. He was completely focused on flying and nothing else penetrated his awareness. When he pulled back up Harry heard the snap of her jaws closing behind him. Again he dove and this time his climb was accompanied by a roar of frustration from the Horntail. She wanted to swat this nuisance from the sky. On his third approach Harry was thankful that he knew to watch out for the tail as it whistled past his shoulder. He was ecstatic that he had managed to dodge that injury. It was one of the first concrete examples that he could change things for the better.
Having once again found a safe height Harry looked down at his opponent. From the way she was glaring up at him he was sure he could get her up with his next pass. Taking a deep breath he shot down towards one of the most feared creatures in the magical world for the fourth time that day. As he weaved in between the bursts of flame he was muttering to himself.
"Come on, come on then, you oversized oven. Get up. Give me chance."
Almost as if she could hear him, the Horntail's head followed him and as he climbed into the sky once more she rose up on her hind legs in a furious effort to end this insulting intruder. The moment he saw her move Harry was plummeting to the earth trying to draw every ounce of speed from his loyal Firebolt. He dodged a blast of fire, two claws and a tail before leaning out to grab the golden egg and racing for the edge of the enclosure. Once he was past the arena boundary it was as if someone turned the sound back on.
"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!" The students were going mad in the stands at the performance by one of their own. He could see Hagrid, McGonagall and Moody making their way over to where he was as the dragon handlers rushed into the enclosure to bring the Horntail back to her cage. Harry was just starting to relax when he heard a loud snap behind him.
Harry whipped around and saw to his horror that the Horntail had snapped the chain that kept her secured to the nest. This is bad. The inane thought shot through his head and was immediately ignored in favour of the Hungarian Horntail in an absolute fury that something had taken one of her eggs and gotten away unmolested. She was pouring out enough fire to make a blast furnace jealous and the handlers were desperately dodging it as best they could, all thoughts of coordination abandoned as each looked to their own survival.
As Harry watched, one of the handlers decided that this was not what he signed on for and broke away. Once the first one fled the others soon followed as the situation became untenable. The last man out of the enclosure had flaming red hair. With no prey available in the enclosure however, the dragon turned its attention to the panicking spectators who were trying to flee the stands. The sheer press of humanity was working against them though as they were bottlenecked at the exits. Harry was moving before he was consciously aware of what he was doing. Dropping his egg he slung a leg over his Firebolt and launched himself back towards the stands. He desperately drew his wand even as the dragon drew in a massive breath. A split second before a torrent of flames erupted from the beasts maw Harry threw all his magic into his spell as he screamed "Aegis Divus!".
Harry hadn't managed this shield in his many tries during his training sessions in the Room of Requirement but now with the lives of his friends and classmates on the line, the Heaven's Shield Charm burst from his wand like a golden cloud of light and shot forth to place itself between the stands and certain death. The fire streamed from the dragons mouth for nearly a minute and when it finally let up. Harry thought he might fall off of his broom as the exhaustion slammed into his body. I can't stop. Not yet. Not while everyone is still in danger. Not when it's my fault. He needed to focus the Horntail's attention on himself but he didn't think he could cast so much as a Stinging Hex after that shield. Suddenly he froze. That is a really stupid idea. It might just work though and if I don't try anything she's going to roast the stands.
The Horntail was getting confused and ever more enraged. Why wouldn't these inferior creatures just die?! Nothing was going right for the mother today. She sucked in another massive breath. She would turn their world into an inferno. Nothing would live through her fury! The expected blast of flames never formed however as her left eye erupted in pain and the original annoyance flashed in front of her face. With a roar she tore after it, determined that it would pay.
In the stands a pair of red-headed twins were staring in awe at the figure that was rapidly becoming a speck in the sky.
"Gred, did you just see what I saw?"
"If you saw Harry Potter spitting in a hacked off dragon's eye, then I think so." The two shared a look before returning their attention to the most reckless Gryffindor to ever mount a broom.
Harry meanwhile had discovered a flaw in his plan. Now that he had the dragon's attention on him he had no idea what to do next. Tired as he was she was likely to win a flight of attrition. He had no way to bring her down and he wasn't sure he could count on someone else distracting the beast or bringing it down for him. Later Harry would never be able to say what made him do it but almost like offering up a prayer he begged in his mind Hogwarts, help me!
A seeker trains to spot a glint of gold under any conditions so a burst of flame high above himself and the pursuing dragon followed by a glare reflecting off of an object clearly much larger than a snitch was always going to catch Harry's attention. He wrenched his broom up and raced off in that direction almost on instinct. As he closed Harry could see what had caught his attention. Fawkes had brought the Sword of Gryffindor. When the mythical bird saw that it had been recognized it trilled a melody and released the sword. Harry pushed his broom even harder in an effort to reach the only thing that Hogwarts thought could help him. He was flattened along his broom's shaft, one hand extended towards the ruby encrusted hilt. The distance between the two shrank rapidly until with a lunge Harry's hand closed around the sword.
During his mad chase he had completely lost track of the dragon that wanted him dead and ashes. A roar brought her back to his attention. Having to lift her bulk it was far more difficult for the dragon to climb than it was for Harry. It was gaining quickly now though and Harry didn't have long to decide what to do. In the end there was only one course of action that would see the students safe at the end of it. Making sure he was between the sun and the dragon he answered her roar with a wordless battle cry and turned the shaft of his broom towards the ground with one hand. The sword was gripped tightly in his other. The combination of one eye having to squint due to irritation and looking into the sun meant that the Horntail couldn't see her prey but she knew roughly where it was. When she guessed the irritant to be in range she opened her jaws and loosed a torrent of fire in the general direction she knew him to be in.
Seeing the flames racing up hungrily to meet him Harry started a spiral that took him out of the path of a superheated death and allowed him to keep avoiding it as the dragon tried to adjust her aim. The two combatants closed rapidly and Harry knew this was going to be like threading a needle blindfolded on a motorbike. Steeling himself he watched his target get closer and closer. At last moment he took both hands off of his broom and gripped the sword and applied the only bit of fencing he knew: the pointy end goes into the other guy. Faster than the dragon could react he thrust the sword into its good eye allowing their speed to drive it all the way back along the optical nerve and into the brain. Though he tried Harry couldn't let go in time was almost wrenched off his broom by the impact. Barely hanging on he spun out of control, buffeted by the wind of the dragons passing as he tried to regain control. He saw the tail a moment before it hit but couldn't avoid it.
"Aaaarrgghhh!" One of the spikes that gave the dragon its name was driven clean through Harry's shoulder. The force with which Harry was falling caused the tail spike to snap off. The good news was that Harry was now clear of the dragon. Using his good arm he managed to stabilize the broom and get out of the way just in time to watch the dragon's corpse plummeting towards the ground. The wind catching its wings caused it to flip and tumble on the way down until it slammed into the ground with an almighty crash. Relief washed through Harry when it stayed down.
Harry flew his broom down gently. As he approached the ground he heard the cheering, crying and laughing of the people who hadn't been able to leave the stands. The adrenaline high they were coming off of combined with sheer relief at still being alive meant that they were venting their emotions any way they could. Ignoring them for now Harry landed next to the dragon's head. Now that it was over he could feel his own adrenaline rush subsiding but there was still something he needed to do before he could collapse. He walked over to the dragon's head and grabbed the hilt of the sword that still stuck out of the dead predator's ruined eye. As he wrenched it out Harry called out "Fawkes!".
A burst of fire above his head marked the arrival of the magnificent bird. Holding up the sword to the phoenix Harry allowed it to land on the hilt before letting go and entrusting the artefact back to the one who had brought it to him.
"That's two I owe you, Fawkes." A warbling trill answered Harry's statement before Fawkes flashed out again. Dizziness swept over Harry and he steadied himself on the dragon's snout. Gathering himself he managed to mount his broom one last time and flew towards the medical tent never rising more than a few feet off the ground. Once inside he finally let go of his iron grip on consciousness and fell to the ground as blackness overtook him.