The first task

Hello my dear followers, sorry for being late! I had stuff to do and I had to change this chapter quite a few times because I was undecided but now it's ready! The First Task! Enjoy!

Hogwarts, the day of the first task

Saying that Harry was nervous would be a euphemism, he was walking through the corridors of the castle with no real destination, waiting for the final call. today's classes finished earlier probably because the staff needed to prepare the dragons or something like that, but Harry couldn't care less at that moment. Of course he had a plan, he made all the preparations thanks to Hermione and to the 'General advice' of Mad-Eye, he decided to take walk in courtyard of the school, he walked and walked and walked until he felt observed by someone, he turned around many times but he couldn't find his observer.

Harry sighed "probably just my imagination " he muttered to himself but when he turned again to face the school he saw piercing red eyes staring at him. Harry fell backward and then slowly looked at the woman who was standing before him, she had two red lances in her hands and was undoubtedly beautiful, Harry gulped hard as he recognized the woman, she was Rin's servant, unfortunately, he couldn't remember her name in that moment maybe because he was too afraid

Her features remained stoic, and her gaze was sharp "Are you scared boy?" She asked with ice cold tone

Harry nodded "Y-yes..."

"Good, because fear is the only thing that will stop you from being too reckless, always remember boy. A fearless warrior is a dead warrior, being scared helps you survive. Being scared and being a coward are two very different things" she stated as pointed one of her lances at his neck "Are you scared?" She asked again

Harry gulped again "Yes" he said this time with a little more confidence and determination

Scàthach made a small almost invisible smirk "I'll tell you this boy, I'm far more strong than those lizards, if you can put up that face with me then you can succeed in your task" she said removing her lance "The professor McGonagall is looking for you" she added before starting to walk to the castle

"What you said...does it applies to you?" Harry said without thinking

Scàthach stopped her tracks, she threw him a glance before disappearing in her spiritual form. Harry stood up and stood still a few seconds before returning to the castle, it was time...

Magi's dorm

Shirou was doing some physical exercise, waiting for Professor McGonagall to call him. In the dorm there was utter silence everyone was out except Saber, she was watching over him like a silent guardian. The red haired young man looked at his shoulder seeing a magic rune filled with magical energy, he had a tender smile forming on his lips 'Rin...' he thought as he closed his eyes and remembered the moment he woke up...

Shirou had a strange dream, he was watching someone training himself so hard, and even though he failed he kept trying and trying over and over again. Shirou's vision blurred and now he was looking at a man, he couldn't see his face but he saw that he was wearing a red clothes, the man was talking to him, but Shirou couldn't hear anything...his vision blurred again and he opened his eyes, finding himself laying on the bed of the dorm, he was expecting to see Rin curled next to him but she was nowhere to be found, he felt an odd sensation on his left shoulder and when he checked he saw a runic on his skin, when he touched it, the runic started to glow with a light blue light. Shirou smiled and sighed "where would I be without you...?" He muttered to himself with a smile on his face

Shirou reopened his eyes now filled with determination, he looked at his hand and then clenched his fist. Saber, Scàthach and Tomoe gave him the training, Rin gave him strength and the others gave him support, now it was time to repay them. He heard someone knocking at the door, Shirou got up and opened the door, seeing Professor McGonagall followed by Harry

"Mister Emiya, the time has come" the Professor said with a stoic expression, Shirou nodded and started to follow her but not before giving a comforting smile to Harry.

The Professor lead them toward the place where the dragons were, around the edge of the forest, but when they approached the clump of trees, They saw that a tent had been erected, its entrance facing them, screening the dragons from view.

"You're to go in here with the other champions," Professor McGonagall said "and wait for your turn, Potter. Mr. Bagman is in there... he'll be telling you the" she paused trying to find the right words "the procedure...Good luck...both of you" she said as she started to walk away. Minerva threw one last glance at the young wizard and at the magus, her expression was filled with concern, she was worried for Harry and when she wished good to luck to Shirou she really meant that, she didn't hold any grudge or ill feelings for the young magus, the boy looked like a kind soul but she also knew that Shirou saw many things, his eyes told everything. The Professor saw the same eyes in The Tohsaka's heir, she heard some stories from the Durmstrang students, of some sort of competition in the Magi's society...she tried to forget those stories but she couldn't bring herself to do so... the thought of some teenagers being forced to participate a bloodshed was just too much. Minerva closed her eyes and sighed dismissing those thoughts then she started walking to the arena...

Champions tent

Harry and Shirou entered the tent, the first person they saw was Fleur Delacour, she was sitting on a wooden stool, she didn't look composed as they always seen her and she was looking rather pale. Krum in the other hand, was, even more, surlier while Cedric was walking up and down the tent. The young wizard looked at the red haired magus and was surprised by what he saw, Shirou's body was tensed up but there was fire in his eyes, a burning determination. Harry clenched his fists seeing Shirou's behavior, in a way the magus has been able to give more courage. When Bagman saw them he ran up to them with a smile on his face

"Well, now we're all here, it's time to fill you in!" He said happily, the man explained everything they needed to know and what was their task. Shirou, Harry and Cedric nodded, showing they understood everything, though Cedric looked like he was going to puke. Time passed and the champion could hear the audience passing by chatting, joking and making some bets. Before Harry could notice Bagman was opening the silk sack where he knew there were the dragons models. The first one was Fleur, she picked up a Welsh Green. Krum got the scarlet Chinese Fireball and Cedric got the blueish-gray Swedish Short-Snout. Harry and Shirou exchanged a few glances before the wizard put his hand inside and picked up his dragon model...it was the Hungarian Horntail...Harry wanted to run as far as he could from that place but sighed and watched as Shirou picked up his dragon, it was a Ukrainian Ironbelly suddenly Harry felt luckier while also feeling bad for Shirou, the young wizard saw the look of concern that Bagman had But Shirou was calm.

Shirou watched as Bagman asked Harry to talk outside. Shirou looked at the model dragon in his hands 'is this really that bad?' He asked himself remembering the face of Bagman but dismissed the thought.

After a few moments he heard a whistle and Harry returned to the tent, Cedric walked in the arena. The champions waited in the tent, they heard the public cheering, screaming and gasping and goddamn Shirou had to admit that this was making him nervous, he looked at Harry and saw the wizard shaking, he put his hand on Harry's shoulder, the young boy tensed up a lot but Shirou saw that he appreciated it.

Krum was staring at the ground while Fleur was pacing up and down the tent. The commentary was making things even worse but Shirou kept his cool. After fifteen minutes, Cedric got the golden egg and Fleur was called in the arena. The same process happened with Krum and then the time comes and Harry was called in the arena. The young wizard got up and walked to the exit of the tent, feeling his legs like marshmallows

"Hey Harry" Shirou called for him making Harry turn "I'm rooting for you, good luck " he said with a smile. Harry managed to crack a smile and left the tent.

There were hundreds and hundreds of faces staring down at him from the stands when he saw the Horntail, crouching on some eggs, her yellow eyes were glued on him, Harry began to sweat but then the image of Scàthach's eyes flashed in his mind along with her words ' I'll tell you this boy, I'm far more strong than those lizards, if you can put up that face with me then you can succeed in your task'

Harry found himself more calm, he raised his wand "Accio Firebolt!" He shouted and then waited his eyes were looking for his Firebolt while also keeping an eye on the Horntail then he heard...the unmistakable sound of his Firebolt, he turned in the direction of the sound and saw it, the broom stopped right beside him in mid-air, the public was shocked and the commenter was shouting something but none of it mattered to Harry, he took off and flew high in the sky, he took a deep breath now feeling in his true habitat.

Harry spotted the golden egg between the normal ones and dived into it, of course the dragon wasn't happy with that and released his fire to him, but the young wizard dodged and kept circling around it.

The dragon released his fire again and again Harry dodged it, unfortunately for him, the dragon also swung his tail and gave him a small hit on his left side, Harry felt the public scream in terror and a stinging sensation to his left arm but at that moment everything didn't matter.

Harry analyzed the situation and understood that if he wanted to get the egg he needed to lure the dragon, he started to fly in all direction just out of the fire breath reach, he could tell that the dragon was starting to get annoyed, he decided to go higher and now the Dragon stretched his full neck trying to reach him.

The young Gryffindor rose a few more feet. In the public, Jeanne was praying for the young wizard, Bartemius saw her and was about to interrupt the match when Dumbledore stopped him "my friend, she's not chanting" he said gesturing Jeanne "she's praying for the young Potter safety, let her be" he said with a calm tone, Bartemius muttered something but Dumbledore ignored it.

Finally the Horntail roared exasperated, she spread her wing and took dived, before the dragon knew what he had done, or where he had disappeared to, he was speeding toward the ground as fast as he could go, toward the eggs now unprotected by her clawed front legs , he had taken his hands off his Firebolt, he had seized the golden egg, and he was off, speeding away from the dragon. His first task completed and he was alive...

Back at the tent

Shirou heard the crowd cheer, and smiled 'Good job Harry, Good job' he thought as he got up, the commenter called his name and left the tent and like Harry, he saw the Ukrainian Ironbelly, the dragon looked at him with his feral red eyes waiting for him to make his move...

'That's a big dragon' Shirou thought, it could have been around 60 feet but none of it mattered to him. He steeled his features and opened his hands

"Trance on!" He said as his magic circuits activated, Shirou reinforced his legs and traced the two twin blades Kansou and Bakuya, he knew that probably his blades weren't going to do any damage but he had to test his opponent, look for his weak points and learn his moves.

The wizards were shocked when they saw the two blades popping out of thin air and where more shocked when the red haired magus dashed to the dragon at an inhuman speed, in the other hand the magi of the clocktower where cheering for him especially one servant

"Go boy! Show that giant lizard who's boss! " Rider boomed with his voice as he ate and drunk some food and drinks he bought from a student.

Meanwhile Scàthach, Artoria and Tomoe and watched silently. Rin put a hand on her chest but didn't stop looking at him.

Shirou dashed to the dragon, who immediately rose up roaring and then breathed his fire to him. Shirou jumped away from the Ironbelly's breath and proceed to attack it from the side, however, the dragon's scales were hard as steel and so the twin blades didn't damage the dragon much.

The magus noticed that the scales on the back looked more fragile and so he waited for the Ironbelly's next attack, which came in the form of a deadly bite but for Shirou it was slow, the young man jumped on the beast's head and then stabbed the twin blades in his back, as he thought the scales there were more fragile.

The Ironbelly roared in pain as she started to fidget in order to make Shirou fall off from her back. Shirou knew that he couldn't keep his balance for any longer and started to run on the dragon's back, the Ironbelly lifted his tail, Shirou ran up to it and used the tail as a springboard, he flew high in the air as the public held his breath.

The world slowed down for Shirou, his mind was at peace at that moment, he stretched his arm out again and traced HIS bow, the same bow Archer used in the Holy Grail War, in the other hand the Broken Phantasm The Fake Spiral Sword Caladbolg II. Shirou aimed at the Ironbelly and fired his arrow, what came after was a blinding light.

When the Light disappeared the Ukrainian Ironbelly was nowhere to be seen and at his place, there was a crater.

The audience was protected by the members of the staff, who raised a magical barrier just in time under Dumbledore's order, and they had to admit, if it was a direct hit then their barrier would have been useless but what they didn't know was that Jeanne her noble phantasm ready for protecting everyone. Shirou landed on the ground quite hard but thanks to his reinforced legs he managed to avoid any serious damage, the public was agape.

Shirou looked at the crater and felt a little bad for the beast but what he didn't know was that the Ironbelly was already sentenced to death for killing some goblins and wizards by the Ministry of Magic. After few moments of utter silence, the crowd exploded into cheers as Shirou blandly walked to the golden egg and picked it up. He looked at the public and when he spotted Rin, he smiled at her, after all, he wouldn't have been able to use Caladbolg if it wasn't for her transfer. Shirou walked out of the arena with a triumphant expression.

Lord El-Melloi II watched as the rad haired magus left the arena and sighed but shook his head "I don't even care, this is the fastest result"

"And a message" Rider added with a smirk "this is...how you call it? Oh yes...this is a giant middle finger to those who follow that Voldemort guy that are probably watching" he exploded into laughter "That boy is interesting! I like him a lot!" He said as Waver sighed again "if you say so" he replied as he got up and started heading back to the castle