"Brilliant isn't he? Completely demented of course and terrifying to be in the same room with...But he's really been there you know? He's looked evil in the eye" Ron grinned as they left DADA, He hadn't noticed how Harry looked dazed, he didn't notice Hermione had fresh cuts in her hand from Lyra who was still shaking.
"There's a reason those curses are unforgivable!" Hermione snapped at the boy who was smiling brightly "To preform them in a classroom, to preform them on us?" she shook her head as they passed Neville who was staring out at the black lake.
"Neville?" Lyra whispered and the boy looked up at her with a blank look on his face, she was moved to the side as Moody passed her towards Neville.
"Son? You alright?" he asked and Neville nodded "Come on, we'll have a cup of tea, i want to show you something" Neville hesitated but followed after the teacher after Lyra grabbed his hand and squeezed in comfort.
They went to the great hall where the Goblet of Fire had been set up with an age line drawn around it, one after one people from all three schools went and put their name into the blue fire each being awarding with a small applause.
Lyra watched as Cedric and his friends ran into the hall drenched from the storm outside, the Hufflepuff boy was unceremoniously thrown into the ring where he paused before adding his parchment into the fire. There was an applause and the boy left the ring to be swallowed by his group of friends in celebration, Lyra was sat with Hermione, she wasn't reading like her friend instead she was watching closely at each who put their names into the Goblet.
"YEAH!" The twins ran into the hall "Well lads, we've done it" Fred held up a phial.
"Cooked it up just this morning" George grinned.
"It's not going to work" Hermione sang as she smirked, Lyra snickered from beside her and was jostled when Fred and George moved to crowd Hermione, one on either side.
"Oh yeah? And why is that Granger?" George chuckled.
The girl huffed "You see this? This is an age line" she gestured to the spelled circle which encompassed the Goblet "Dumbledore drew it himself"
Fred cocked a brow "So?"
"So?" Hermione huffed and shut her book with a light slam "So, a genius like Dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled by a dodge as pathetically dimwitted as an aging potion"
"But that's why it's so brilliant" Fred smirked winking at Lyra who snickered.
"Because it's so pathetically dimwitted" George finished and the pair stood up shaking their potions "Ready Fred?"
"Ready George"
"Bottoms up" the pair saluted and crossed arms to consume the potion, once the phials were empty the pair jumped off the bench into the circle and waited. Nothing happened and people cheered making the twins celebrate, together they put their names into the Goblet of Fire.
"Three, Two, One" Lyra counted down with a large grin on her face and just as the crowd started to applause the fire burst angrily sending the two twins out of the circle and onto the stone. The two boys grew long beards that were white very similar to Dumbledore's, their red hair also turned a shocking white colour.
As they fought Hermione went back to her book and Lyra settled back on the bench leaning on the higher bench behind them, however even sat like this she couldn't stop the abhorrent need to straighten up, cross her legs and put her hands on her lap.
The crowd watching and cheering the twins to fight fell silent when Krum and his head master walked into the hall, the boy didn't look anywhere but at the Goblet, he walked through the age line and placed his name into the fire. As Krum turned he locked eyes with Hermione, his lip twitched up at one corner before it fell and he walked right back out of the hall.
Lyra turned to look at Hermione who was smiling slightly with a flushed look on her face "That was sweet" she smirked watching her friend turn a shade or two darker.
"Shut up" Hermione hissed as a few Beauxbatons walked into the hall, Fleur being one of them, Lyra smiled politely when they made quick eye contact but she then looked elsewhere "Who do you think will make the Tournaments"
"Diggory, Delacour and your boyfriend Krum" Lyra smirked and Hermione nudged her shoulder with her own.
"Speaking of boyfriends" Hermione whispered and Lyra glanced at the hall watching the dark haired boy walk in with his friends but interestingly enough he wasn't putting his name into the fire merely supporting his friend who was "Do you know his name yet?"
"No, not yet" Lyra watched him closely, he really was beautiful, she didn't startle when their eyes clashed, she didn't flush when he smiled handsomely at her in fact she made no motion of being effected at all. He said something to his friends before he walked over to her and Hermione confidently.
"Mademoiselle" he bowed gently holding his hand out for her, she placed her hand facing down into his palm and he kissed the air an inch above her knuckle.
"Monsieur" she bowed her head in greeting, he looked at Hermione offering her his hand as well, she looked hesitant but repeated what Lyra had done.
"Parles-tu français?" he smiled when he released Hermione's hand turning back to Lyra. (Do you speak French?)
"Peut être" (Maybe) she shrugged "ça dépend" (It depends)
He smirked "Cela dépend de quoi?" (It depends on what?)
"Je suppose que nous verrons" the boy laughed gently (I guess we'll see)
"Je m'appelle Beau Dupont et vous l'êtes?" He straightened up with a soft smile (My name is Beau Dupont, and you are?)
"Lyra Black"
"It iz lovely to meet you Mademoiselle" his English accent was as thick as his voice was deep and the butterflies in her stomach fluttered gently.
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well Beau Dupont" she grinned and he chuckled.
"Beau? Dépêche-toi!" his group of friends called and he turned back to Lyra after looking round when his name was called. (Hurry up)
"Jusqu'à la prochaine fois" he took her hand kissing it in parting, he bowed his head to Hermione who waved awkwardly he smirked when Harry and Ron were quick to join their bench Harry shuffling to sit beside Lyra. (Until next time)
"What did he want?" Harry watched the French man leave with a look of distaste.
"Oh nothing, just being polite why?" she questioned.
"Because he's the enemy" Ron glared at the Beauxbatons guys who just ignored the red head.
"Oh boy" Lyra whistled and shook her head.
~~~
Halloween night, the hall was decorated with flying pumpkins and squash all carved with faces and lit with a candle inside. Bat, spiders and other Halloween décor littered the great hall, the tables were filled to the brim just as the hall was with excited students of all three schools as they waited for the announcement to begin.
"Sit down, please" Dumbledore called and everyone took a seat, some were sat at the tables like normal people like Lyra, while some were say on the tables and even the windowsills for a better view like Ronald and even Hermione sat higher with him.
"Now the moment you've all been waiting for: the champion selection" in true Dumbledore fashion he flourished his hand and the fire torches that lined the wall dimmed until they extinguished with a hiss allowing only the blue fire of the Goblet to light the room.
As they waited the fire turned red as it spat out a a slip of parchment before the fire returned to it normal blue, catching it mid air Dumbledore unfolded it "The Durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum"
The crowd cheered and the said boy stood making his way to shake hands with Dumbledore before he was directed from the room. The fire flashed red another slip flying from it, Dumbledore allowed it to flutter gently for a moment before he caught that too "The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour" The crowd applauded once more as the half veela smiled prettily and moved to shake hands with Dumbledore as Krum did before she too was lead from the room.
Dumbledore caught what they all believed to be the last slip "The Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory!" Lyra brought her hand to her mouth and released a very undignified ear piercing whistle as the hall erupted into cheers, louder then before as there were more of them.
Cedric shook Dumbledore's hand before leaving the room identical to his two counter parts "Excellent! We now have our three champions but in the end only one will go down in history, only one will hoist this chalice of Champions, this vessel of victory...The Triwizard Cup!" the cover on top of the cup flew off in true dramatic fashion.
But it was very pretty, made of what looked to be Goblin wrought silver but the actual cup piece was made of glass, a glass that gave a soft blue shine that helped aluminate the carvings etched onto the glass. However, the applause and celebration dwindled when the Goblet of Fire started to spit and hiss, they all watched as the blue fire turned an angry red much brighter then the rest and a piece of parchment was shot from it so high that it almost hit the charmed ceiling.
All eyes in the hall tracked the parchment as it slowly drifted down until Dumbledore caught it and read it silently "Harry Potter?" he called finally and instantly the whispers started. Harry who was stood to see what was happening allowed his body to sink into the table looking like he wished the floor would open and swallow him whole.
Lyra subtly turned to face him "Harry Potter!" Dumbledore yelled and the room fell silent not having heard the old man shout with such angst in his voice before.
"Go on Harry" Hermione shook his shoulder but he didn't move "Harry, for goodness sake" Hermione pushed him to stand and he stumbled slightly, the hall was so quiet Lyra could hear Harrys shoes hitting the stone slowly as he walked towards Dumbledore.
"He's a cheat!" Someone from Ravenclaw shouted, Lyra stood from her seat on the bench and glared at the dark haired boy who shouted, she knew him as Terry Boot.
"He's not even 17 yet" another followed but this time it came from Hufflepuff, this one she couldn't name but glare she did all the same.
"You can't be so dense! There was an age line, Harry couldn't have crossed it" she stated loudly as Dumbledore rushed off to the room the champions had fled to.
"Still a cheat!" Terry yelled at her from his table.
"A fourth year could not have used a spell or charm to confuse the Goblet, it's not possible!" she sneered as she slapped the table with her palms, there were more yells as Flitwick and Sprout tried to calm the crowd seeing as McGonagall and Snape had followed Dumbledore along with Moody, and the other school heads.
"You would know! Rumour is you casted Evanesco in Defence, you regularly study spells higher then your year?" Boot taunted.
"Are you accusing me of getting passed the age line considering i too am not 17? That i placed my friends name into the Goblet not my own? That i taught myself that level of spell work?" she smirked but it was anything but nice "I didn't know you thought so highly of me Boot?"
The boy flushed "Highly? You're just the daughter of a death eater!" it echoed over the other yelling in the hall and it made everyone fall silent, Professor Sprout gasped.
"What did you just say?" Lyra snarled but Terry shook his head "Say it again...I want to hear you say it again!"
The boy shook his head once more but stumbled back when Lyra went to round her table at him only being stopped by Hermione and Seamus "Say it again!" she yelled.
"Mr Boot! 5 points from Ravenclaw for the use of untasteful accusations" Flitwick scolded his student "Now off to bed, the lot of you!" Boot was one of the first to scuttle from the hall as Hermione spoke to Lyra in a whisper to comfort her down.
"He didn't do it" Lyra hissed looking at where the champions left through.
"I know, come on let's go to bed, it's been a long day"
~~~
The next morning the atmosphere in the Gryffindor common room was cold, nervous even but Lyra was sat on the couch in front of the fire when Harry came sprinting down the stairs to the boys dorms. Seeing her on the couch he fell into the cushion next to her "I didn't do it"
Lyra snorted "Obviously"
"You believe me? The others don't, they think i somehow put my name into the Goblet like i want any part of this fucking Tournament" he pouted as he studied her.
"I know you didn't do it Harry, i also know that the others from all four houses are not going to like it. Someone wanted your name to be picked, someone made sure it would"
"But why!"
"I have a feeling it's to do with the death count these things generate" she winced as she looked at him, he sighed and slumped back into the back cushion.
"That's just great, someone is trying to kill me again, every bloody year this happens"
Lyra snickered gently and patted his left knee with her hand "But hey, they never succeed and if you win, which would follow your lucky streak, you get to keep the pretty cup at the end"
"You can have it" his green eyes were locked on her hand that was still resting on his knee and she removed the appendage slowly trying not to blush "You help me stay alive like you always do and it's yours"
"Considering we live in the same house, i was going to end up with it anyhow" she rolled her eyes and he shoved her playfully.
"I heard what Boot said...Are you okay?"
"He's an idiot!" she snarled turning away "He has no idea what he speaks of and he is ignorant to just speak like that freely" Harry nodded agreeing with her whole heartedly.
"Everyone will come round"
"You may not believe that further into the year" she muttered and he sighed resting his head on top of hers when she lays her own on his shoulder.
"When are we going to have a quiet year"
"At Hogwarts? Never" she chuckled and he joined her they didn't have a chance to relax for long because Colin Creevey ran into the common room followed by his brother.
"Hey Harry! I've been..." he folding in on himself as he panted he held up a finger to tell them to wait a second "I've..." he panted once more shaking his head.
Dennis rolled his eyes "We were told to tell you that you have interviews right now, in the trophy room"
"Oh...Thanks" Harry grimaced and both him and Lyra stood, Lyra fixed his hair and sent him off with a smile that he tried and failed to reciprocate.
~~~
Lyra sneered as she read the Daily Profit, she had hoped Skeeter wasn't that bad but here it was on paper, the woman was awful. She had chosen not to focus on the Tournament but instead on Harry, Fleur and Viktor's names were both misspelt and if one wasn't knowing they too were champions one would simply assume they were random friends of his. Cedric hadn't been mentioned at all, it wouldn't take a genius to realize she did it on purpose but looking around at the angered faces, maybe it would.
: 'Harry Potter, aged 12, 'suspect' entrant in the Triwizard Tournament'
The photo of Harry on the front showed him repeatedly crossing and uncrossing his arms as he was coached into posing, at the end he looks off to the side with look that screamed 'I'm uncomfortable.
: 'His eyes swimming with the ghosts of his past'
: 'I suppose i get my strength from my parents, i know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now...Yes, sometimes at night i still cry about them, i'm not ashamed to admit it. I know nothing will hurt me during the Tournament because they're watching over me'
Lyra frowned at what she was reading, it could be seen as truth, wasn't far from what someone could assume as truth but Harry's friends would see it for what it truly was, this wasn't Harry speaking it was Rita acting as Harry.
: 'Harry had at last found love at Hogwarts: His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one, Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggleborn girl who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school'
Lyra scoffed as she ripped out the pages written by Rita, she crumpled them up and tossed them over her shoulder "What's wrong Black, sad Potter wants the mudblood over you?" She turned sharply to see Pansy behind her.
"What the fuck Pansy!" she hissed and the girl startled before calming her face "Don't you ever call Hermione that again, if you have nothing nice to say to me you can leave"
"Wow, maybe you really are a blood traitor"
"Yeah, you want to find out huh?" Lyra slowly stood from her seat and watched the girl go running back to her group of Slytherins "Pathetic"
~~~
November 24th was catching up and fast, Ron and most of Gryffindor had frozen Harry out, there were a few who still spoke to Harry, Lyra and Neville being the main two, along with Hermione but after the newspaper, the girl had tried to keep some distance between herself and Harry.
Slytherin had been the source of a lot of his problems, they had made the badge that was floating around the school. It started off yellow with a photo of Cedric, the words stated 'Support Cedric Diggory the real Hogwarts Champion' then it would flash green with a flash of Harrys face claiming 'Potter stinks'.
Lyra sat with Harry while Neville stood in the black lake, his trousers rolled up to his knees "Amazing" Neville muttered as he studied something he's picked from the lake in his hands.
She snickered when Harry sighed "Neville, you're doing it again"
"Oh right, sorry" Neville spoke softly as Harry looked at the book Longbottom gave him to look at.
"Magical water plants of the highland lochs?"
"Moody gave it to me, that day we had tea" Neville saw a few of their friends approaching and waved making both Harry and Lyra turn around.
Hermione, Ron and Ginny were walking forward towards them, Hermione and Ron were arguing while Ginny just smiled and waved back to Neville. Harry huffed but stood holding a hand out to help Lyra climb to her feet as they both moved to face Hermione who walked closer shooting both of them an apologetic expression.
"Ronald would like me to tell you, that Seamus told him, that Dean was told by Parvati that Hagrid is looking for you"
"Is that right? Well...What?" Harry looked at Lyra who chuckled and shrugged, Hermione hesitated visibly before she went back to Ronald to get him to repeat himself.
She walked back after Ron finished whispering in her ear "Dean was told by Parvati that" Hermione sighed "Please don't ask me to say it again, Hagrid's looking for you" she leant forward hugging Lyra firmly before she pulled back.
"Well you can tell Ronald--"
"I'm not an owl!" Hermione spun, it wasn't that she was necessarily mad at Harry it was more of the situation, the fact that everything felt awkward now and because Ron and Harry were fighting pushed her and Lyra to spend less time together. Obviously Lyra was going to support Harry seeing as they now lived together and he really didn't have a lot of people but the more Hermione stayed around Harry the more looks she got because of the issue Skeeter printed.
Hermione grabbed Ginny's arm and the two girls stormed away from the two fighting boys, Ron not far behind "What was that all about?"
"Everyone is tense right now" Lyra patted his arm for comfort.
Harry turned to face her "Have you seen anything?"
"All i see is fire, i'm sorry" she frowned but he shook it off, he didn't blame her or the lack of things she saw, the summer at Grimmauld place allowed him to understand her sight better thanks to the books there.
That afternoon Harry found her with wide eyes "It's dragons!"
"What?"
"Dragons, that's the first task!"
She gasped for dramatic effect "Harry! But that's--"
"I know, what am i meant to do"
"It's okay, this will all be okay. We have a place to start now Harry, tomorrow we'll go down to the library and we'll study"
Harry nodded "I need to tell Cedric, Maxime knows and will likely tell Fleur same with Igor and Viktor, it wouldn't be fair"
"Okay, okay we tell Cedric then we study"
~~~
"Cheat Potter" A slytherin taunted as Harry and Lyra walked the halls.
"Go bother someone who cares for your opinion" Lyra sneered while Harry just ignored them.
"You stink Potter" a random Ravenclaw grinned flashing his badge at them.
Lyra snickered mean spiritedly "So does your mum but you don't hear us complaining"
Harry grabbed her hand and forcefully started dragging her along, a bit further down a Hufflepuff, Susan Bones smiled gently "Good luck Harry" and Lyra greeted the Hufflepuff warmly. It was funny to Harry how loyal Lyra truly was, just like her father, to the mean comments he received she instantly sent one back but to anyone who'd simply greet Harry politely got a warm welcome from her like she was trying to tell them they made the right choice.
"Cedric rules" a small second year Hufflepuff ran passed them and Harry grabbed Lyra when she went to trip the boy up.
"Lyra, no" he shook his head warningly.
"I was only playing, wasn't actually going to..." she sighed but he flattened his lips to hold of a smile at her response, they went to walk out into the quad courtyard but they were physically blocked by two Hufflepuff's, Hannah Abott and Ernie Macmillan.
"Like the badge?" Ernie grinned flashing his 'Potter stinks' badge.
"Excuse us" Harry asked politely while they just stood there and laughed.
"Move!" Lyra snarled and forcefully pushed the Hufflepuff boy back, Ernie stumbled back hitting the stone.
"Hey!" Hannah glared harshly.
"Oh you didn't like that did you?" Lyra smirked moving to put herself almost nose to nose with the hufflepuff who's breathing hitched "Maybe next time don't block the exit or maybe, don't be pompous pricks, he asked nicely i won't"
"They're not worth it" Harry whispered into her ear tugging her back.
"Of course not Harry, i already knew that" she sent them another smirk before they walked off to find Cedric who was with his friends dead centre of the quad.
Cedric's friends jeered at the two approaching Gryffindor's but Harry ignored them and Lyra flashed them her middle finger "Can i have a word?" Harry asked simply.
"Ayy, read the badge Potter" One of Cedric's friends taunted.
"Your voice is grating, disrespectfully, stop talking" Lyra glared at the boy who blink fast a few times at the insult before his badge flashed green with Harrys face and his smile came back as he waved his hand by his nose as if they stunk.
"You stink Potter!" he joked as Cedric stood to walk with them.
"There is it again" she glanced up at him "Diggory your annoying pet won't stop yapping"
"Oi!"
Harry groaned and pulled her along before she could cause anymore trouble "Dragons, that's the first task, they have one of each of us" he looked at Cedric who's smile dropped.
"Are you serious?"
"No, he made it up to fuck with you, very similar to wearing those badges" Lyra rolled her eyes.
"But..." Diggory studied her tense frame before facing Harry once more "Fleur and Krum, do they--?"
"Yes" Harry nodded with that he interlocked his fingers with Lyra's once more and tugged her along but Cedric grabbed his free arm.
"Listen, about the badges, i've asked them not to wear them"
"Don't worry about it" Harry muttered shrugging off Cedric's hand as he continued moving before Lyra truly blew her fuse...Speaking of fuses his own built quickly as he saw Ron and Seamus walking towards them so he sped up to cut them off towards the exit "You're a right foul git, you know that?"
"Seamus" Lyra smiled at her Irish friend who smirked back with a cheeky wave.
"You think so?" Ron raised his brows ignoring the exchange between Lyra and Seamus.
"I know so"
"Anything else?" Ron asked Harry when he stopped talking.
"Yeah" Harry stumbled over his words slightly "Stay away from me"
"Fine" Ron grunted and moved passed them.
"Lyra" Seamus waved once more and she snickered wiggling her fingers at the boy.
"Why so tense Potter?" they both turned hearing Malfoys voice, another boy who was scorned by the fact Harry was champion, Lyra had a nasty suspicion Draco was the sole reason the badges were in existence "My father and I have a bet you see" Draco grinned "I don't think you're gonna last 10 minutes in this tournament, he disagrees. He thinks you won't last 5"
"I don't give a damn what your father thinks Malfoy. He's vile and cruel and you're just pathetic" Harry snapped shoving the blonde boy while Lyra stayed suspiciously quiet, Harry turned back to Lyra but seeing that Draco snapped.
Ever since Sirius came back Lyra and Potter were closer then ever, Draco thought it was bad enough he had to share her time with the muggleborn witch who was practically fused to Lyra side 24/7 but now? It was so much worse because while practically the whole school iced Potter out, shunned him, Lyra became his number one fan, his protector and in doing so she had made many new enemies this year.
"Oh no you don't sonny!" Moody's voice yelled out just as Draco realised he'd pulled his wand out, after that Draco wasn't sure what happened, Lyra's eyes widened when Draco was forcefully transformed into a ferret, she took several steps forward.
"I'll teach you to curse someone when their back is turned!" Moody yelled "You stinking, cowardly, scummy..."
"That's enough! This is outrageous!" Lyra yelled moving even further forward.
"Professor Moody!" McGonagall's voice cut through the laughter "What are you doing?"
"Teaching"
"Is that...Is that a student?" McGonagall demanded looking outraged.
"Technically, it's a ferret"
Lyra glared "You arsehole!"
"Miss Black!" McGonagall scolded her language just as Moody forced ferret Draco down Crabbe's trouser pants, Goyle went to help but Draco bit his hand as he fell down the boys pant leg towards the floor, McGonagall waved her wand and the ferret turned back to a now ruffled looking Draco.
"My father will hear about this!" Draco sneered at Moody but stumbled backwards when the man strode towards him threateningly.
"Is that a threat! Is that a threat!"
"Professor!" McGonagall yelled.
"I could tell you stories about your father that would curl your greasy hair!" Moody yelled as Draco along with his friends ran off passed the crowd that had gathered.
"Alastor! We never use transfiguration as a punishment! Surely Dumbledore told you that"
"He might have mentioned it"
"Well you will do well to remember it" McGonagall stated coldly before she shooed the crowd and walked off, Lyra watched 'Moody' pull faces at her behind her back.
"Real mature" she hissed but he looked at her blank faced.
"You" he glance at Harry "Come with me" she went to follow Harry "Only the boy Miss Black" Lyra grumbled harshly but let them leave knowing he was just going to try helping Harry with the task.
~~~
So for days Harry and Lyra studied dragons in the library but they were getting no where really, Harry sighed dropping his head onto the book he was reading about dragons.
"Good news, i saw something last night, i saw what dragons are going to be used. Instead of studying all dragons we focus on the four being used"
"That's brilliant!"
"There's a Hungarian horntail, they are pretty much the most aggressive breeds, they are fast, vicious and their flame reach is about 50 feet, their fire isn't the only thing you'd need to watch out for they have spikes on their tails hence the name" she winced along with Harry.
"Then i saw a Chinese Fireball, they are stupidly clever and fast, they can breathe fire from their nose not just their mouths so that's something you'd need to watch for, still aggressive but not as aggressive as the horntail"
"Next was a Common Welsh Green dragon, defiantly the most docile and smallest of the four. If they can they'll avoid you at all costs but do not be fooled, it's still a fire breathing dragon"
"Lastly i saw a Swedish Short snout, just a few feet bigger then the Welsh Green, it's almost as docile but it's probably the best flyer out of the four and it's fire in my opinion burns the hottest"
Harry sighed "So if i want any chance at winning i need to get the Welsh Green?"
"But that's the thing Harry, i can't make sense of why they have two aggressive breeds and two more docile breeds, what is it about them that would make it a level playing field?" she frowned trying to get him to connect the dots.
"Food?" Harry offered.
"No, that's not it"
Harry read the book in front of him "Well, they'll all be angry being caged no?"
"That is true but it wouldn't put all four on the same rage level"
"What about if they're mothering dragons? It says here all female dragons no matter the breed becomes vicious in protecting their eggs" he pointed to the paragraph he was referencing.
"Of course! Harry you're brilliant!" she grinned widely before allow it to drop "But if that is true this just got twice as dangerous"
Harry groaned "This sucks"
~~~
November 24th, the day of the trial, the three schools had been shown to the first trial grounds. A large clearing had been made in the forbidden forest far enough from the school to be safe, the stands for onlookers was similar to a quidditch pitch's. But it wasn't just the three schools watching, in the stands were family members, people who paid to watch, people who worked for different papers and even ministry officials were there.
"Bets! Place your bets!" Fred yelled as he carried a small tray for bets.
"Bets taken! Bets taken here!" George walked behind with a identical tray.
"Smart money's on Krum to survive" Fred yelled happily as Lyra walked closer "You here to bet little bird?"
"Little Bird? I'd eat you alive" she smirked.
"Fighting talk" George cheered "So, what will it be? It's 10 to 1 odds"
"20 galleons on Harry and Krum coming in first, tie. But another 10 galleons for Krum getting a point deduction"
"That's very specific" George frowned but took her name and galleons while Fred was wide eyed at the amount she just handed over.
"What can i say" she shrugged "I'm feeling lucky but do rest assured anything i win will be added to the money i'll invest if you come up with that answer for me"
"Lyra!" she looked to see Hermione waving her over.
"Later boys!" she grinned and jogged off.
"There you are! I've been looking everywhere, do you want to come with me to see Harry?" Hermione glanced at the champion tent.
"Skeeter will be there" Lyra warned her gently and the girl winced.
"Well...Harry needs us more then i care about some stupid article, let's go" Hermione took her hand and together they walked to the tent "I heard you've been practicing Accio with Harry?"
"Yeah, he's planning on using it here"
"Good, good" Hermione nodded "Has he got the spell down?" Lyra smiled.
"Yes Hermione, he has perfected the spell" Hermione released a breath of relief "There" she pointed at a shadow by the tents edge.
Hermione walked closer and 'psst' loudly "Harry? Is that you?" she whispered.
"Yeah"
"How are you feeling? Okay?" Hermione asked but got no answer "The key is to concentrate, after that you just have to..."
"Battle a dragon" Both Lyra and Harry offered her at the same time when she struggled for words, Hermione whimpered slightly and rushed in hugging Harry tightly. Lyra walked in at a normal pace just in time to see the bright flash of light.
"Young love" Rita cooed as Harry and Hermione ripped apart in shock both blinded by the flash "Oh how..." she searched for the word pointing at her quill "Stirring" Rita turned back to the three teens but focused on Harry "If everything goes unfortunately today...You two may even make the front page"
"How riveting!" Lyra gushed falsely "Are you going to falsely quote them for this also?"
Rita narrowed her eyes at Lyra "And you are?"
Lyra snarled "None of your business, why don't you take your tasteless crock of shit article and go else where?"
"Hmm, Black curls, silver eyes...Lyra Black" Rita's smile turned vicious like a shark who'd just smelt blood "How is your dad?"
Lyra stared blankly at her "Do not forget yourself Skeeter, take a moment and remind yourself exactly who it is you're talking too" Rita simply cocked her head and remained silent.
"You have no business here, this tent is for champions and friends" Viktor Krum walked forward making Rita turn along with the quick quill and the man who took the photos, Lyra subtly twitched her wand and the film inside the camera started to smoke as it burned away.
"No matter, we got what we wanted" Rita smiled as the feathered tip of her quill flicked out sliding against the boys jaw in a flirtatious move, the cameraman moved to take another photo but frowned when his camera hissed.
"Fuck" he growled and opened the compartment with the film, it was on fire, he put it out and to her horror cast a spell she'd never heard of and she watched it reform.
"Good day champions, gather round" Dumbledore entered the tent happily, the two girls crowded Harry both taking a hand "Now you've waited, you've wondered and at last the moment has arrived...A moment only four of you can fully appreciate" he looked around casting the two girls a second look "What are you two doing here?"
"Oh erm...Sorry, we'll just go" Hermione cringed.
Lyra stood on her tip toes, kissed Harry's cheek and whispered "Remember. Concentrate, cast, fly, survive. In that order...You'll be great" with that she flashed Rita her middle finger and left the tent with Hermione.
Together they found her father who grabbed Lyra into his own tight hug "You two are going to give me a heart attack!"
"It wasn't us this time" she grinned "But he will be fine, i saw it"
A canon sounded and the crowd started to chant for Diggory, the Swedish Short snout was released along with a clutch of three regular eggs and a single golden one which she immediately curled protectively around. Diggory walked out and hid behind a large bolder while he transfigured several dogs out of smaller stones and rock.
It took a few tries as the dragon was more then happy to try to ignore the dogs, that was until one got too close and she snapped leaving her nest she started burning all of them giving Cedric the opening to run to the eggs. He grabbed the golden egg but upon running to the exit the dragon saw him and blasted a stream of fire his way, he made it out of the clearing but even Lyra in the stands saw the flame hit him.
The Swedish short snout was removed by the dragon tamers and a Welsh Green dragon took it's place, it's nest filled with five normal eggs and one golden one. Fleur came out next moving quickly to enchant the dragon to sleep. However, the girl had stupidly forgotten that a dragons breath itself was hot and alone could cause sparks or if it came in contact with, Lyra didn't know say, silk trousers? It would set the material on fire. That's what happened, Fleur got too close when grabbing the golden egg and her trouser leg caught fire, the girl had screamed in pain and ran to the exit where the fire was put out.
The Welsh green was removed and replaced with a Chinese Fireball dragon and a nest with four normal eggs and one golden egg. Krum was announced and immediately rushed the dragon, he threw his wand arm up and the dragon roared blasting fire streams around but not one came close to Krum. He had casted a conjunctivitis spell, the dragon couldn't see a thing and he used that time to grab the golden egg but the dragon had heard him and in her panic of being blind and someone nearing her nest the dragon went into a rage.
The red beast stomped about breathing angry fire, the crowd gasped as she accidentally smashed two of her own eggs. It was like the dragon felt immediately what she did because the mothering dragon froze cold before roaring out, a sound that brought tears to Lyra's eyes, it was a distressing sound, a mother grieving. They were all so distracted with the dragon they all missed Krum slinking from the arena.
It took the dragon keepers twice as long to get the dragon from the arena but they got it done, replacing it with the Hungarian Horntail who instead of curling around her clutch of eggs paced the arena angrily, as if she knew someone was coming for her eggs. There were only two normal eggs in her nest the golden one standing out.
"Three of our Champions have now faced our dragons and so each one of them shall proceed to the next task and now our fourth and final contestant" Dumbledore stated and a cannon went off.
As cold as the entire school body had been they all started chanting Harrys name, the good mood and adrenaline making them more susceptible to the boy. Herd mentality was a scary thing.
Lyra brought her hand to her mouth releasing a shrill whistle when she saw him, he stood just beyond the opening of the arena as he studied it. Good thing too because the moment he entered the horntail had been waiting and brought her tail down in hopes of killing any threat to her eggs but she missed by about a foot.
The thud caused Harry to go flying, his body hitting a nearby boulder as the dragon screeched turning to face him, there was almost no warning when it opened it's mouth and sent a wall of fire towards him. Harry narrowly missed it as he ran but the Horntail just followed trying to whip him with her tail, it was more efficient then running through her fire stores.
Lyra winced back when her tail missed Harry by inches making rock fly around him, but the mothering dragon was enraged and her tail caught Harry batting him across the arena rather then killing him.
"Come on Harry!" Lyra yelled as he shakily got to his feet and hid from the second blast of dragons fire.
"Your wand Harry! Your wand!" Hermione shouted.
Lyra saw him cast the spell, it was just a waiting game now, a tense game of hide and seek but the thing is there wasn't really anywhere to hide and the dragon was locked in now. Realising her tail wasn't doing the job of the fast moving threat to her eggs she built up her fire stores and blasted the rock the threat was hiding behind.
The moment she let up the crowd watched Harry jump out and fly into the air, his firebolt securely under him "YES!" Lyra and Hermione screamed as they jumped in joy.
"Nice one Kid!" Sirius hollered loudly along with the crowd.
The dragon flew into the air to give chase, the collar around her neck snapping her tight trying to keep her to the restraints of the arena but it wasn't enough. With a tug that looked way too easy she snapped the metal chains around her and flew after Harry leaving the arena entirely.
"Oh my god" Ron whispered from beside them.
The arena waited, they couldn't see the dragon but hear it, they defiantly could and it sounded pissed. That was until it didn't...
It was like everyone held their breath, the second Lyra saw Harry coming over the treetops she started cheering with Hermione and Sirius, he didn't even stop his broom. Harry just flew into the arena, scooped low enough to grab the golden egg then flew towards the exit.
They left the stands to check on Harry, Sirius was a right mama bear making sure Madam Pomfrey was healing him up properly "We're proud of you Harry" he cupped the boys face making Harry brake out in a wide grin that looked like it hurt his cheeks "But if you ever get entered in one of these again, i'll kill you myself"
"Understood" Harry nodded.
Hermione entered the cubicle "They're giving points now" they all stood leading Harry out of the medical tent to see the judges.
Madame Maxime waved her wand, a silver ribbon like strand sprouted from it twisting itself in the air above her head in a figure 8.
Crouch moved next shooting a number 9 into the air.
Dumbledore waved his wand next, another 9 took existence in the air with the others.
Ludo Bagman waved his wand with a large flourish and a big 10 floated up above his head to join the others.
Karkaroff was last, he hesitated before a number 4 flashed in the air.
The crowd booed loudly, shouting their disproval seeing as he scored Krum 10, it was obviously fixed but when has life ever been fair.
"That puts you in joint first place with Krum" She turned to face Harry who was smiling.
"Bagman gave me a ten even though i was hurt?" he cocked his head in confusion.
Lyra chuckled "I have a feeling he betted money you'd win, he has a problem"
"Wotcher Harry!" they all turned and a large red head rushed towards them, Harry smiled and greeted the man happily but Lyra hadn't seen his face before. It didn't take her long to assign a name to his face for it was slightly obvious, he was probably the shortest Weasley boy standing about 5'10 but he was almost twice as broad as them all.
His red tresses hit just below his jaw but were swept back from his face showcasing a rather large dragon fang hanging from one of his ears. His skin was so freckled he looked tanned from a distance, he was definitely roguishly handsome, for sure!
"Good job out there today, that was unbelievable but listen i have to go send an owl to mum, i swore i'd tell her what happened" the man smiled at Sirius shaking his hand "Hiya mate, good seeing you about. Your daughter here by any chance?"
"Lyra?" Sirius frowned at the broad man "Why?"
"Hello Charlie" Lyra grinned and his smile widened, what happened next she hadn't been expecting, Charlie had approached her in three quick steps and had almost crushed her in one of the tightest hugs she'd ever received. Her feet literally left the ground but instead of tensing up she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him back.
"I don't know how you knew, but thank you. Got your letter yesterday, had to convince the boys to help me but we swapped them all out last night" he chuckled into her hair and she laughed.
"What's going on?" Ron demanded shortly.
Charlie set her back onto the ground releasing her from his tight hold "Your friend here sent me a letter claiming, nay demanding we swapped out the eggs with fakes. Stating the ministry couldn't be trusted to keep them safe, good thing too because that Chinese Fireball hasn't been doing too good, this is the first clutch of eggs that she's laid that looks healthy. Thank you" he turned back to Lyra holding his hand out for her to shake which she thought seemed a bit pointless after the hug he just gave her.
But she simply took his large calloused hand and shook it "It was no problem, happy to help"
"It just nice to see people caring, not many would care about a few eggs, let alone the dragons themselves..." Charlie nodded when it went quiet "Well, i should be off, great job again Harry" he waved and jogged off to help get the dragons ready from transport.
Ron frowned as he watched his brother go "You sent a letter to Charlie?"
"I saw it happen, felt awful but i didn't know what to do so i just sent him the letter" Lyra shrugged "Harry, you have to go back to the champions tent for further instruction"
Lyra knew the next task would be around February giving them plenty of time for the next task, as well as the yule ball coming up which was exciting. She just had to figure out a way to save Cedric and somehow hopefully stop Moldy from coming back.
Simple right?