Lemme know what you guys think of the story when you finish it! This chapter is much shorter than the rest will be, so I can promise there will be longer chapters.

Harry Potter discovers he is a Rider during the Tri-Wizard Tournament's First Task. What will he do when he awakens the dormant blood flowing through his veins? Save the dragons from the Lone Rider keeping them enslaved of course. H/Hr, bad!Ron

Harry tried to convince himself that it was alright, he didn't need support from Ron in order to make it through the task. This would be a breeze. He had practiced and practiced his Summoning Charm and had gone over and over in his head what he was going to do when it was his turn. Hermione was right, it was fairly simple. All he had to do was –

A roar and screams from the outside of the tent made him flinch. He forced himself to take a deep breath and then release it slowly. This was okay. He would be fine. He had to be fine.

Slowly, the raven-haired Gryffindor opened his hand and stared at the animated dragon sleeping soundly curled up in his palm. Little puffs of smoke would blow out from his mouth when he exhaled and the longer Harry watched, the more he found himself relaxing and he smiled slightly. Cautiously, he ran one finger down the dragon's back and chuckled as it stretched out like a cat against his finger.

The Hungarian Horntail gently nipped his finger, much like Hedwig did. Harry had to hold back a chuckle and almost forgot about his Task until he heard the booming voice summoning him into the arena and he felt the blood drain from his face. Gulping, Harry put the dragon into his pocket with a shaking hand and gripped his wand tightly in his right hand as he stood up and made his way to the exit of the tent.

He paused for a moment, taking deep breaths to calm himself. He might be young, and he might not have wanted to go through with this, and everyone might hate him, but there was no way he was going out there looking like some scared, lost little kid. Harry hardened his expression and pulled his shoulders back, his mouth fixing into a line of grim determination. If he was going to be forced to do this, he was going to do this right.

Harry stepped into the arena.

There must have been some sort of charm on the tent to prevent him from hearing most things going on in the arena, because he was immediately assaulted with screams and cheers and boos and taunts. But he ignored them, because that wasn't the problem. The problem was the Hungarian Horntail crouching over her eggs and straining against the chain on her leg. She was howling in confusion and fear and to Harry's horrific surprise, he could hear what she was bellowing. What is going on? What do you want with me?

Suddenly the dragon's nose flared and her eyes locked on Harry. Every plan he had went flying out of head when that gaze, that terrified and rage filled gaze, met his own. Are you trying to hurt my eggs? The others had their eggs injured or destroyed. She hissed at him and let loose a roar of fire from her mouth. Harry managed to cast an effective Aqua Shield Charm, which he knew from Hermione was a more effective shield against fire, and hissed back. I'm not here to injure your eggs! I promise!

The fire stopped, but Harry kept his shield up just in case as the dragon stared at him with guarded interest, unmoving from her protective position over her eggs. Harry felt a twinge of sympathy for her. But only a twinge. She had just tried to burn him to a crisp a moment ago. A Rider? I have not met one in… many years. Rider, what is your name? Explain to me why I am here and my eggs are in danger!

Harry lowered his charm hesitatingly, but the dragon just waited for an answer and didn't try to burn him again, so Harry decided to answer her question. My name is Harry Potter, ma'am. He stumbled to add, unsure if the dragon had a name or would be offended if he did not address her properly. He had no intention of becoming a crisp. You were brought here for these idiotic humans entertainment. Harry scowled and jerked his thumb over at the judges. There is a Tournament going on called the Tri-Wizard Tournament and the first task the champions have to face is dragons. We have to collect the golden egg from your nest, without hurting any of your other eggs.

The dragon huffed out a puff of smoke, but thankfully didn't try to burn Harry again, which relieved him immensely. I understand, Rider Potter. I was forced to participate in a similar Tournament years ago. These stupid humans seem to think they have the right to do as they wish with our lives, and risk the precious lives of our children, and I will not stand for it! She howled.

Harry was quick to agree with her and not just because she could crush him so easily. I was forced to participate too. I had no intention of doing this, but they are forcing me, regardless. He scowled for a moment, the rage bubbling up in him before he shoved it away and met the dragon's gaze once again. I will not allow any harm to come to you or your eggs, I promise you that.

For some bizarre reason, the dragon's glowing yellow eyes seemed to soften from lightning to the color of melted butter. I trust you, Rider Potter. A Rider would never harm a dragon; it goes against the very nature of them. She seemed to inhale deeply. Rider Potter, have you never met a dragon before?

No. Harry admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. I have not. Why do you call me Rider Potter, ma'am? Harry is just fine for me.

The dragon snorted in an offended manner and Harry was suddenly reminded of the way Hermione got offended when he commented on the size of her books. Rider Potter, I shall not call you anything else because you are a Rider. It would be disrespectful. I can smell the Rider blood flowing through your veins, stronger than any I have ever encountered before. It is dormant, of course, because you have not yet gone through the Rider ritual. Rider Potter, she changed the subject abruptly, staring at Harry with intensity in her eyes that made Snape look like he wasn't even trying. If I allow you to have this golden egg, you must come and visit me as soon as it is possible. There are many things I must tell you, but there is not time here. Give me your word.

Harry hesitated, looking from the dragon to the egg she was crouched over before he steeled himself and looked the dragon dead in the eye. You have my word, ma'am, that I will come and visit you as soon as I find possible.

This seemed to calm her, because she dipped her head to him as if bowing and after a split second Harry bowed back to her, and they rose as one. Do not disappoint me, Rider Potter. She warned, before baring her teeth in what Harry thought was a smile. He hoped it was a smile and she wasn't just thinking about leaving him with a goodbye gift. My name is – she broke off into a combination of hissing, growling, and gurgling noises that Harry didn't quite understand. Then, upon seeing his confused face, she rumbled an amused growl. However, until you learn the language of the dragons further, you may call me Adena.

The dragon, Adena, Harry corrected himself, moved from her crouched position and gently picked up the golden egg between her teeth, then closed the distance between them as she placed the egg into Harry's outstretched hands. Take care, Rider Potter. She warned. She was so close Harry could feel the heat from her breath as she growled on his arms. It didn't burn, though. Instead, it felt comforting and spiked his adrenaline.

Without thinking, Harry reached up and ran his hand down along the side of her face. He smiled when she nuzzled his small hand with her gigantic head and bowed to her once more as he dropped his hand and clutched the egg tightly. Thank you, Adena, for your understanding. I shall not forget my promise to you.

See that you do not, Rider Potter. Adena rumbled as she bowed back to him, lowering her head and extending one of her front legs out.

Harry rightened himself and grinned at her before he turned around and made his way out of the arena. He was vaguely aware that it was completely silent and no one was cheering and no one was booing, but Harry couldn't bring himself to care. He was too busy wondering about what just happened. Unfortunately, he didn't get any time to think before he was bombarded by the full force of Madame Pomfrey.

"I can't believe… Dragons… What were they thinking?" she fussed as she looked him over for injuries and then blinked in surprise and the corners of her mouth turned down into a frown. "Mr. Potter… You don't seem to have any injuries."

Harry shook his head and couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his mouth. It still seemed surreal that he had talked to a dragon and gotten out of the Task completely unscathed. Any moment now he expected himself to wake up from this dream to his alarm forcing him to roll out of bed and go and actually compete in the Task. "No, Madame Pomfrey." He replied simply, deciding he didn't want to tell anyone about his conversation with Adena. At least not until he learned more, such as what was a Rider, what did she mean when she said he had Rider blood, and what sort of ritual he was supposed to go through.

Flicking his gaze to the side, he frowned a little bit when he saw Cedric sitting on the bed with the side of his face swathed up in cloth and walked over towards him. "Cedric?" he asked, a little hesitantly, because he still wasn't sure where he stood with the older boy. "Are you alright?" he asked, trying not to sound alarmed. "What happened?"

Cedric turned so he could see him with the side of his face not covered in bandages and the Hufflepuff grinned at him, his eyes wild and still full of adrenaline. "Harry! Glad to see you made it through in one piece!" his hand hovered over his bandages ad he grimaced. "Got burned just as I got the egg, but Pomfrey said there won't even be a scar when it is healed!" he seemed rather happy about that.

Harry relaxed and grinned teasingly at him. "Well, that's a good thing. Wouldn't want that pretty face all scarred up now would we? Then where would you be?"

Cedric laughed off the joke and then peered closer to Harry with his one, more than a little curious by the looks of it. "Harry, what happened out there? I was still getting patched up, but it sure didn't take you long to get that egg. What did you do?"

The raven-haired Gryffindor just looked at him and shrugged one shoulder. "I talked to her and she gave me the egg."

Cedric was gaping at him, but before he had the chance to say anything more, someone with bushy brown hair came running out of nowhere and flung herself at Harry, throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing him so hard Harry was afraid she was going to break his ribs. "'Mione!" he gasped out, wrapping his arms around her to hug her back. He was careful to not let go of his golden egg.

"Oh, Harry!" she cried and pulled back but kept her hands on his shoulders. Her eyes darted around him as if to make sure he wasn't injured and her brown eyes were stern. "Harry I was so scared when you didn't call for the broom! What happened? We couldn't understand anything, you were just growling and hissing and roaring at the Dragon and she was doing the same back and – "

"Hermione! Breathe!" Harry felt the strange urge to laugh, but forced himself not to because he knew it wouldn't help the situation. Right now he needed to reassure his best friends that he was alright. When Hermione seemed to calm down, he put his egg by his feet and grasped both of her hands to look her earnestly in the eyes. "I'm alright. I promise and I'll explain everything that happened later. I'm going to need your help." He grinned wryly. "We have lots of research to get started on."

That comment made his bushy haired friends excited and confused at the same time but before she could open her mouth to ask him any questions, suddenly Ron was making his way through the tent. His face was redder then his hair and his eyes were dark and wild. Warily, Harry put himself between Ron and Hermione. "Ron, mate, what's – "

Ron's punch came out of nowhere, landing right smack on his jaw and making Harry stumble back a step and unable to do anything but stare at his best friend in shock as he screamed at him. "I knew it! You used Parseltongue to talk to that dragon, Potter! You must be a Dark Wizard," he snarled, eyes blazing. "There is no other way you would have been able to get out of that unscathed."

"Ron!" Hermione protested indignantly, her voice filled with rage. The last time he heard her that angry was when Ron had accidently burned her study schedule. "What are you talking about? Harry isn't a Dark Wizard!"

"Yes he is, Hermione. Only Dark Wizards use Parseltongue like that. Everyone knows he was talking to the dragon, who knows what he promised it in order to get the egg. He's probably going to feed it a bunch of first-years." Ron said coldly. "I had thought that Harry would stay Light no matter what, because he's Harry, but I guess I was wrong." He sneered at Harry, ignoring Hermione's outraged protests. "You listen here, Potter. I've got my eye on you. I don't know what your plan is with this Tournament, but I'm not going to let you get away with it. I was right all along, Cedric is Hogwarts true Champion."

Those words cut deep, but Harry forced himself to ignore it as he replied coldly back to Ron. "Think what you may like. I am not a Dark Wizard, Weasley, but you should watch yourself and remember who it is you're threatening. I don't want to, but I won't hesitate to defend myself against you should you choose to do something stupid."

Ron scowled at him before he spun around and stormed out of the tent. Once he was gone, Harry sighed and released the tension he had been holding and allowed Hermione to tip his jaw back to see how badly Ron hit him. Hermione lightly ran her fingers over the spot and Harry winced slightly. She grimaced. "You're going to have a bruise. We could ask Madame Pomfrey for some healing salve." Then she nodded briskly, mind made up. "I'll go fetch some for her."

When Hermione was gone, Harry sat on the edge of Cedric's bed and picked up his egg, running his hand through his hair to relieve some of his frustration as he replayed the conversation with Ron in his head. "Harry?" Cedric spoke up suddenly, and when Harry turned around to face him, the older boy was staring at him intently. "You do know I'm not mad at you for being picked. And I know you didn't put your name in the Goblet."

Harry managed a shaky smile. "Thanks, Cedric. That means a lot. No one really believes me about that, but you've probably figured that out by now." He gave a little shrug with his shoulders. "But that's alright. We both know I didn't put my name in the Goblet and that you are the true Hogwarts Champion." He smiled to try and wipe Cedric's concern look off of his face.

Cedric's frown, however, deepened instead of going away like Harry was hoping it would. His eyes were thoughtful; as if he was faced with a puzzle he had the pieces to but couldn't figure out what the big picture was supposed to be. "That's not enough, Harry. I know you don't want to admit it, but I know you've gone through a lot. I'm going to help you convince the school that you didn't put your name in the Cup. Starting with getting rid of those goddamned badges." He scowled.

"'Arry!" A sweet, desperate voice cried his name from behind him and he turned around to see Fleur and Krum walking towards him. Fleur wrapped her arms around him in a hug and kissed both of his cheeks, making his cheeks tinge pink. "What you did, zat was amazing! I've never zeen anything like it before!"

Chuckling, Harry hugged the French girl back with a small smile on his face. "Thanks, Fleur. I wish I could've watched the rest of you. It was so nerve-racking just sitting there and waiting." He stepped back from the hug and frowned a bit when he noticed her skirt was partially burned off. "What happened? Did the fire catch you?"

But Fleur wasn't listening, Instead, she was examining the slowly forming bruise on his jaw where Ron had punched him. "Oh, 'Arry! What happened here? I did not zee you get injured in ze arena." Her hands were cool and gentle, but Harry nervously pulled away from her touch. It felt… different, then when Hermione had touched it to examine it.

In response to her question, he merely shrugged and scowled darkly. "My ex best friend decided to let his opinions over my performance be known and claimed I was a Dark Wizard. Then he hit me." Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair, biting down on his bottom lip as he forced himself to stop thinking about it. "Anyway, you're changing the subject." He chided and took a step back to examine her burned skirt. "What happened?"

Fleur frowned delicately at the abrupt change of subject but seemed to understand that he didn't want to talk about it because she immediately launched into her tail of bravery and heart-stopping fear as she battled the menacing dragon for her egg. What should have been a short tail was dragged out as only a woman would be able to do and Harry was forever grateful when Hermione showed up with the healing salve. She clucked in an eerily similar manner to Madame Pomfrey as she gingery appied the salve on Harry's bruise. He let out a soft sigh as the cool paste was applied on his skin and smiled at Hermione when she finished. "Thanks, 'Mione."

Hermione smiled back at him but if she was going to say something, he didn't know what because just then they heard he judges announcing the scores for the Champions.

"Due to the most unusual of circumstances, it caused a slight delay in the awardence of points to our champions." Dumbledore's voice echoed through the air, penetrating the silencing shields around the tent that someone had set in place. "In fourth place, with a total of 32 points and a time of 22 minutes and thirteen seconds is Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons Academy!" There was a round of cheers and polite applause and Harry grinned at Fleur, who looked a bit dejected but happy nonetheless.

"In third place," Dumbledore continued when the applause and cheers died down. "With a total of 35 points and a time of 20 minutes and forty-seven seconds is Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts!" The cheers and applause were much louder this time around and Harry shot a grin at Cedric, who grinned back and gave him thumbs up. Harry could've sworn that he heard the growl of a badger coming from the crowd, but dismissed the ridiculous notion immediately.

"Then in second place," Dumbledore continued when the noise and applause once again died down. "With a total of 37 points and a time of 19 minutes and twenty-two seconds is Viktor Krum of Durmstrung Academy!" There were screams and cheers and gasp at Dumbledore's words, but the Headmaster continued speaking over them. "Which means, that with a total of 39 points and a time of 5 minutes and two seconds is Harry Potter of Hogwarts!" The screams and cheers and applause seemed to shake the tent and this time Harry knew for sure he heard the roar of a lion and, despite himself, he couldn't help the large grin that formed on his face as he turned to Viktor and held out his hand. Immediately, Viktor clasped it and stared at him intently. "Congratulations, Harry. I underestimated you because of your age but I will take more care in the future."

Harry laughed and shook his hand but kept his hand clasped with Viktor's. "Thank you, Viktor. And a job well done. I'm pleased I superseded your standards of me." The moment he let go of Viktor's hand, a squealing mound of bushy brown hair was bugging him again and Harry found himself laughing more today than he had all school year as he half-listened to Hermione congratulating him. He took her hand in his and walked out of the tent, fully intending on going to the Gryffindor Tower and catching a few hours of sleep before he went to go talk to Adena, and explain to Hermione what had happened.

Outside of the tent, he was mobbed by the entire Gryffindor House. He saw Dean and Seamus screaming at him from the crowd, grinning with their thumbs up and he laughed and waved at them. Neville rushed up to his side with flushed cheeks from the cold and sparkling eyes. "I knew you could do it Harry! Ron kept blabbering all this rubbish about you, just ignore him, no one is listening to him."

Harry smiled; feeling elated as he grinned at Neville and clapped his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Thanks, Neville." He lowered his voice into a whisper. "Think you can help me escape these crowds?" he grimaced and looked around at all of the screaming students. "I think my eardrums are going to burst." Instead of the affirmative he was expecting, Neville just smirked and shoved him towards the crowd where Fred and George caught him.

"Hey Harry!" Fred chirped and George laughed. "Need a lift?" Ignoring his surprised yelp, they lifted him onto their shoulders and Harry grunted as he buried his right hand in George's hair and his lift hand in Fred's hair to balance himself and keep from falling.

"Neville," Harry complained, craning his neck to get a glimpse of the little traitor. "I'll get you for this!" He spotted Neville shaking with laughter and Hermione standing next to him with her hand over her mouth and eyes shining with amusement and silent laughter. "NEVILLE!" He was unable to do anything more, because Fred and George started chanting 'Harry is Our Champion' and then everyone was yelling it. Harry felt thoroughly pleased and extremely embarrassed, but he laughed and grinned until his cheeks hurt because he finally had his House back and it felt good.

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The First Task had taken place after lunch, so the Gryffindors had a party that lasted until it was time for dinner. The congratulations and praises still hadn't stopped, but Harry just flashed everyone who said something a grin and nod and eventually they went away and let him eat his dinner in peace. Ron was sitting at the other end of the table, which was fine with Harry. Hermione sat next to him and Neville was sitting across from him at the end of the table away from the rest of the Gryffindors. After a little hesitation, Harry decided to tell Neville what had happened as well as Hermione, because he seemed to be genuinely interested unlike everyone else who just asked with envy or wariness.

Quietly, so no one would overhear, he began explaining his conversation that he had with Adena. Hermione's eyes grew steadily wider and wider while Neville just listened attentively with a thoughtful look on his face. When he finished, Neville was the first to speak. "Well…" he began thoughtfully. "It isn't impossible. There have been legends of Riders dating back centuries." He frowned slightly. "But everyone thought they went extinct in the 1600's, which is why we don't learn about them in school anymore."

"How do you know about them, Neville?" Harry asked curiously, a little taken aback that he knew anything at all. He's never even heard of these Riders and didn't even think that anyone else may know anything since he's never heard anyone talk about them before.

Neville's cheek started glowing red and he looked a little sheepish. "All Pure-Bloods start taking lessons on various things once they turn five, and I remember the legend of the Riders from one of my classes." He frowned a bit. "That's all I remember though. I know there was more to it, but I can't remember what book it is in."

"We can look through the library here." Hermione said briskly, her chocolate brown eyes sparkling with excitement at the prospect of learning something know. "There must be some books about it. Hogwarts Library is one of the biggest in England." She paused for a moment to chew thoughtfully on a spoonful of mashed potatoes before she swallowed and said, "You know, Viktor may know something about Riders, or Fleur. They come from different countries, so they might have heard legends of Riders that we haven't."

Harry found himself smiling with mild amusement fluttering within him. "You two are taking this awfully well. When she told me, I thought I was going crazy and was going to wake up and find out it was all a dream."

Hermione rolled her eyes at and after she chastised him for talking with his mouth full, she said, "A dragon told you you're a Rider, Harry. I've read about dragons in the Wizarding World and they can live for thousands of years and are rumored to be the wisest creatures on the planet. I know you aren't lying, because you would never lie about something like this, so that means it must be true." She smiled and took a bite of some weird chicken with purple sauce on it.

Neville nodded from across the table, taking extra care to swallow his food before he started talking so he wouldn't get lectured by Hermione as well. "That's right, Harry. Dragons are ancient beasts, but no one really knows that much about them." He blinked and his gaze focused on something behind Harry. "Oh, hey Cedric. Did you need something?"

Harry glanced behind his shoulder to see Cedric approaching their table. The Hufflepuff shook his head at Neville's question and smiled at the three of them, gesturing to the empty spot on Harry's left. "You guys mind if I sit here?" he asked, giving them as much of a smile as he could with the bandages still wrapped on half of his face. Upon receiving shaing heads and shrugs, Cedric sat down next to Harry, who shot him a curious glance. "Why'd you come over here? You know the Hufflepuffs are glaring daggers at us."

It was true. Many of the Hufflepuffs were glaring at them with hate in their eyes or at Cedric in confusion and betrayal. Cedric however just rolled his eyes at their antics. "They need to get over themselves." He gave Harry an easy-going smile and clapped his hand on his shoulder. "Hufflepuffs are about loyalty, and I haven't been very loyal to my fellow Hogwarts Champion lately. I intend on fixing that."

Slightly taken aback, Harry smiled at Cedric, feeling a little nervous at what the consequences of his actions might be, but also feeling relieved that he and Cedric were going to be on the same side from now on. "Thanks, Cedric. That's a relief to hear." Harry's protests went unheard as Cedric ruffled his untidy hair.

Hermione raised her wand and cast the Tempus Charm, causing a small frown to form on her face. Harry, if we want to have time to talk to Adena we need to get moving. There's only a couple hours until curfew and I have a lot of questions I want to ask her. Plus, she needs to tell you about whatever Rider ritual you have to go through and Merlin knows how long that is going to take." She fussed, already starting to stand up to leave the Great Hall.

Harry and Neville jumped to their feet behind her and Harry flashed an apologetic smile at Cedric. "Sorry, I know you just sat down with us but we've really got to go. We'll make it up, I promise." Then with those parting words the three friends dashed off, leaving a very confused and very amused Hufflepuff in their wake.

Well this little ploy bunny sprung out of nowhere. Review your thoughts on what you think and if I should continue this story! Ask any questions and I will be pleased to answer. I always love hearing your thoughts and suggestions on where this story should lead!