AUTHOR'S NOTE: THE SENTENCES IN BOLD HAVE BEEN LIFTED STRAIGHT OUT OF J.K. ROWLING'S HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER.

SO ON THE SUGGESTION OF SOME VERY NICE BETAS I HAVE DECIDED TO ALTER THE FIRST CHAPTER A LITTLE BIT. HOPE YOU ENJOY

Harry heard the whistle blow and walked out of the tent. His panic rose steadily in a crescendo as he walked into the enclosure.
Eyes staring down at him did nothing to calm his nerves. Ahead of him some distance away was the horntail, scaly and black, monstrous spikes on her thrashing tail, malice incarnate, crouched protectively over her eggs. His heart beat faster.

Harry knew what he had to do. He hoped desperately it would work.

"ACCIO!" and in a few moments Harry was up in the air on his Firebolt. And miraculously everything was shut out…Ludo Bagman's excited magnified shouts, the roar of the crowd; it melted into silence; it was him and the dragon and he felt like he was back on the Quidditch pitch.

He looked down at the clutch of eggs and spotted the gold one, gleaming against its cement-colored fellows, residing safely between the dragon's front legs. "Okay," Harry told himself, "diversionary tactics. . . let's go. . ."

Harry flew swiftly around the horntail dodging its occasional fiery jets and tail when something happened that nearly made him topple off his broomstick. As he flew around the dragon's head, it roared at him; permeating his mind and dislodging every other thought except the alien sound.

He shook his head and tried to focus again pushing everything else to the back of his mind even though he was unnerved like never before…only the golden egg matters he told himself, his heart pounding at the bizarre turn of events.

The second roar caused him to not only stop dead in flight but to veer him off course to the edge of the enclosure. Harry didn't so much as feel bafflement as he felt a rapidly risingalarm and fear as the alien voice in his mind not only blasted through his mind like a storm nearly incapacitating him, it also spoke to him.

"STAY AWAY FROM THE EGGS!" Harry was more certain than ever that the dragon in the enclosure said that to him. His mind which was brilliantly focused when he had taken off on his Firebolt had begun to unravel...a misdirected jet of flame roared past him, its yellow light glinting on his spectacles and his sweaty skin. Harry spun away from the flames his heart pounding even more, fear and dread filling him like water.

"Focus Harry!" he reminded himself fiercely as the sound of the crowd rushed in and Ludo Bagman's yells over the megaphone. "You have a task to complete."

More jets of fire followed.

"YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS WITH YOUR LIFE!" Harry again. He swerved his Firebolt away cursing out loudly. He furiously worked to collect his wits.

Harry dodged more jets of flame while keeping a terse eye on the dragon. It was as if a telepathic connection had opened up between him and the dragon; it probed aggressively into his mind ferreting deep inside his consciousness.

"LEAVE NOW! LEAVE BEFORE I RIP YOU IN PIECES YOU LITTLE-" Harry winced, he was almost in pain; the intensity of her roar was so great it hurt him.

But he was nowhere near completing the task and time was running out. The eardrum-piercing roars made his mind feel like it was being wrested away from him. With a monumental effort he, he tried to set it back on track. He had already seen the golden egg while the horntail was busy shooting flames at him.

He dived for it. The horntail reached up and snapped at him. She missed-and unfurled her gigantic wings and swatted at him. Harry moved aside as the mammoth wings flew at him and maneuvered to his left hard as he pulled out of his dive. Still reeling under the uninvited presence in his mind he went for the egg and got it.

His reflexes, honed by his Quidditch training were dulled to a point of non-existence by the dragon's foray in his mind. Consequently he missed the tail which came up whipping and hit him with a full-body-flinching smack

A great shout went around the crowd as Harry crashed to the ground. Down on the dirt bracing himself on a very painful knee, and in the presence of an approaching oversized fire-breathing reptile, Harry began to realize how huge the dragon was. And appreciate the considerable distance his Firebolt had allowed him to stay from it.

His left arm cradled the golden egg, his right arm hurting him badly. Did I snap it? Harry thought, painfully crouched over. His broomstick lay beyond his reach. The horntail had abandoned the eggs and was barreling towards Harry, knocking rocks out of her way, churning up the black dirt in her path. Paralysed with fear, he watched the angry dragon mother charge at him. Harry gulped; the dragon-keepers were nowhere close to be of any help, the teachers were up in the stands looking down at them in horror.

"It's over for me." Harry thought silently and closed his eyes in resignation.

AN: FEEL FREE TO COMMENT OR PM ME ABOUT THE CHANGES.