Chapter 24: The First Task

"Sirius, calm down," Andromeda instructed as the quartet walked towards the school as the supposedly mature man bounced about with excitement as Padfoot. A form he'd been in all morning as he dragged Remus out of bed and jumped all over herself and Ted the moment they'd arrived.

Sirius changed back to normal as he looked to Andi with a wide smirk. "It's exciting, Andi. We get to see Harry!"

"You saw Harry yesterday, Padfoot. And the day before. And the one before that." Remus deadpanned. "You know, when we were helping him plan what he could do for the First Task, depending on whatever it actually turns out to be."

"It's been hours, Moony!" Sirius whined. "I'm used to seeing him all day every day. Letting them stay at the castle was a mistake."

"Just because you've lost your favourite doggy bed doesn't mean that Minerva was wrong. We've sheltered them too much. They need the chance to interact with people their own age, Sirius." Andromeda advised. "They don't even do so in the muggle world anymore. Their school is great but learning by correspondence, they rarely see anyone their own age."

"That's true," Ted added. "Nym has loads of friends up there she talks about all the time. I don't think she'd be half the girl she is today had we kept her home."

None of their very true arguments calmed Sirius though. Half of his energy was simply due to seeing Harry again. But a large part was the anxiousness. In a few short hours, Harry would be facing something he could not help with. Something potentially lethal. A soft hand on his shoulder drew his attention to Ted looking at him knowingly.

"He'll be fine, Sirius. They both will. Whatever this Task is."

Sirius gave the man a wry smile. Ted was a good man and saw a lot more than he let on. He nodded and within a moment was a dog once more, both for the speed it led to his run to the castle and the duller emotions it offered that kept him from stewing on the fast-approaching unknown.

ϟ

Breakfast had been a somewhat quieter affair than she had expected so far.

Hermione blushed every time that Nym smirked her way, the metamorph having found her snuggled close to Harry in his bed that morning, but had yet to tease her about it at all. She'd been unable to sleep with the mystery of the Task looming over her boyfriend and had popped to him in the dark. Harry had been lying awake himself and had welcomed her comfort.

Now, however, she had to deal with the giant black dog that was bounding down the hall towards them. One that proved constantly he had no concept of subtlety unless it furthered a prank. Hermione watched Harry stand only a moment before the massive beast hit him hard and sent them both sprawling. Only her familiarity with the lunatic and Harry's laughter kept her from leaping after him.

The pair on the floor drew curious looks from most of the other gathered students before the dog transformed and hauled the boy into his arms for a firm hug.

"Good morning, Sirius," Harry said, wrapping his godfather tightly in his arms. "You seem excited."

Hermione rolled her eyes at Nym, who mirrored the action. Sirius was always excited. His years in Azkaban had given him a truly positive outlook on all factors of life. Every day was something special now he had his family again. Though it hadn't taught him the value of restraint.

"I'm about to watch my godson own this stupid Ministry dog and pony show. No offence, Nym."

The girl just laughed at his comment as yet another well-wisher wandered past to offer them both luck for the Task. "Probably true."

"And how's my other favourite girl?" Sirius asked, turning to Hermione as he sat between Harry and herself.

"Fine, Sirius." She replied, poking her breakfast.

"Doesn't look fine to me," he whispered in her ear and gave her a knowing look.

Hermione hated that he knew her well enough to tell how frightened she was. But his wink convinced her he was in a mature enough mood that he wasn't going to out her feelings to the Hall at large. The sustained look allowed her to see she wasn't the only one who needed to stick close to Harry right now.

"Any new ideas what this whole thing will involve?" Nym asked across the table.

"No idea here. Maybe Moony and Andi will have some thoughts. They should be here any minute."

The people in question stepped inside right as Sirius said their names and Hermione couldn't help the smirk that rose in response. Because stood right beside Nym's parents, were her own. She stood and hurried the length of the hall, trying not to run outright. The hug she fell into immediately helped allay some of her worries as she sank into her parent's arms. She hadn't realized how much she would miss them being so far away. There would definitely be some ducking away from the castle in the coming weeks.

"Good morning, sweetheart. Did you miss us?" Her mother cooed.

"Yes."

"How are the classes going? Keeping abreast of things I hope." Her father commented, ruffling her already bushy hair.

"Dad. Of course, we are. We're quite a ways ahead in most of them." She blushed again as she considered their aborted first Arithmancy class. "We may have broken one of the teachers the other day though."

Remus laughed loudly from beside her and she glanced at the werewolf. "I can believe that. You two devour knowledge like Sirius devour's dinner."

The group slowly moved over to the Hufflepuff table where the students once more parted to allow the guests access to their house. Hermione wondered if she'd feel as comfortable in the large castle had they not joined the kindest and most welcoming house in the school. She'd already fended off several barbs from some of the other houses. And they'd only arrived on Monday evening.

She glanced across the table to find Nym squeezed tightly between her own parents and smiled brightly. Despite the unknown danger that loomed, having the Family here made everything feel a lot safer. She was glad she wasn't going to be stuck watching the Task alone. She had their support to keep her from going mad as her two closest friends faced off against who knew what.

The hearty and happy breakfast continued for almost an hour before a voice interrupted them all. "I'm sorry to interrupt." The Family turned to see Professor Sprout standing behind Harry and looking rather grim. "It's time for me to take these two down to the stands, I'm afraid."

Sirius leapt up and hugged the woman who had begun teaching at the school during their years here. Hermione couldn't contain her laughter at the surprised look on the teachers face. But it lessened slightly as she heard the whispered request.

"Keep them safe, Pomona."

ϟ

"I wish I could stay with you both, but the rules forbid it. Be safe, glory only lasts so long after death."

Professor Sprout held the opening in the tent wide for the two Hufflepuffs. The pair entered and received a squeeze on the shoulder each from the cheery professor who smiled tightly before she turned and departed, leaving them alone with the two foreign Champions.

"Morning," Harry offered.

The two looked up, taking in the pair standing by the opening. Fleur gave a very half-hearted wave from a hand that barely passed her hips while Krum just inclined his head in their direction slightly. Harry glanced at Nym from the corner of his eye and smirked.

The atmosphere in the tent was tense as Harry and Nym sat opposite Fleur on the benches provided. Nym felt her own stomach clench slightly around her breakfast. She and Harry still had no idea what was waiting for them on the other side of the second opening to the tent. She wondered how her younger cousin was holding up, given he hadn't even been present for the Wand Weighing two weeks beforehand.

She glanced at him again and was surprised to find he looked cool as a cucumber. He noticed her gaze and smiled widely at her. "Stop worrying. Whatever it is, it'll be over soon. Worrying won't help."

He gave her a soft jab in the belly and she twitched, glaring at him in return though it lacked heat as ever. "I know."

Her response was cut short as a swathe of people entered the tent preceded by a bright flash and a witch in horrid glasses Nym remembered well from the Weighing.

"Hmmm, what have we here?" Rita Skeeter enquired as she loomed over the two, but she was soon cut off herself.

"There will be time for that later, Miss Skeeter." Mr Crouch called, as he stepped forward. As with every other time Nym had seen the man he was immaculately dressed, his hair styled to precision. It only became more evident standing between Albus Dumbledore in his bright robes and Skeeter in her truly abysmal crime against fashion. "Champions, gather here."

The four teens all stood and assembled in a half-circle facing the crowd of adults. Bagman was right behind the front three, staring at a bag in Crouch's hand like it was made of gold. "You four have been chosen by the Goblet of Fire to compete in a Tournament a long time in the making. Ensure you keep that in mind as you perform today."

Nym stifled a chuckle as she considered the choice of words. That they were nothing more than performers in Crouch's grand play and he'd be most disappointed in them if they failed to act accordingly. His pointed glare at Harry bookending his point nicely as he clearly disliked that something derailed his precious Tournament right from the off.

"We shall go from left to right, so Miss Delacour." Crouch offered the bag forward, a spell over the opening keeping any light from escaping its contents.

Fleur reached inside and with a yelp, pulled her hand back, now wrapped about a bright green growling figure that had her pinky in its jaws. Nym was slightly shocked at the small dragon scratching ineffectually at the french girl's fingers, and only the poke in the side from Harry reminded her the bag was in front of her now.

She reached inside and felt the squirming wyrms attack her fingers. It was by far the oddest sensation she had ever felt as they clawed and nipped at her, but their teeth and claws could not find purchase. Her fingers closed around the body of one and she withdrew it from the bag. Its bright silvery-blue colouring was beautiful, but Nym frowned at the shimmering number 1 tattooed on its chest.

She glanced back at Fleur's miniature dragon and noted a number 2 on its chest. Nym was going first. She was going to have to battle a dragon. Alone. With no chance to properly prepare. With nothing but a wand.

Panic gripped her body as reality settled over her. She was going to die.

A pair of firm arms pulled her tight and she looked down to see Harry still smiling at her. "Mr Potter. We're on a clock. Keep your displays for later and take your turn!"

Harry released one arm from Nym's waist but kept the one behind her back as he casually reached into the bag and pulled free his own dragon figure. His dragon was entirely black, but the boy seemed utterly disinterested in it as he continued to hold Nym close. She smiled in return and tried to settle herself as Crouch offered the bag to Krum, who withdrew a long slender red dragon.

"As you will note, all four beasts bear a number on their throat. This is the order you shall enter. You each begin at the sound of your respective canon blast."

Ludo stepped forward excitedly. "Now worry not, you don't have to duel the beast. Each dragon shall be guarding a golden egg. The task is simple: retrieve the egg."

He smiled broadly at the four as if he'd simply asked them to raise one hand and wave. With a cheeky wink, the former Quidditch star spun on his heel and departed the tent, several others passing out with him, leaving the Champions and the three front members of the intruders into their tent.

"That task is not time-limited, however, we do have four of you to get through." The man glared at Harry again and Nym felt some of the fear recede, replaced by anger at this idiot. Their lack of security had entered Harry in the tournament, not Harry himself.

"Anything else?" The girl snipped at the infuriating man.

Crouch held her gaze and somehow managed to huff in her direction without shifting his body at all. "No."

"Then you can all leave so we can prepare."

Crouch really didn't like her comment, but swung about and swooped from the tent without another word. Rita turned her eyes to Harry and Nym tucked the boy closer to her hip in response. As the reporter moved to strike, the Headmaster cut her off.

"Come, Rita. You've a task to report on. Perhaps a meeting with the Champions can come afterwards."

Nym remembered well the many horrid stories that she'd heard of the Professor over the years, but she felt nothing but gratitude to him now as he guided the gaudy woman from the tent, leaving the Champions alone once more. She continued to stare at the flapping edges of the opening for several moments until Harry jabbed her again.

"Ow, stop that!" She scolded.

"You can do this, Nym. You're clever. And strong. Stop panicking and think. Don't distract yourself worrying about me either. Focus on your dragon!"

"You do know I'm almost three full years older than you? I'm meant to boss you around."

Harry smirked at her. "I'm up last, I've plenty of time left to panic. You could be going out there at any moment. So focus."

Nym gave her cousin a firm hug and let his comfort wash over her. He was right. She had to go out there and focus on the task. She had a fairly solid idea forming on how to do it too. She could do this.

A loud cannon blast made her jump and Harry pulled her tighter for a moment. "Be safe." He whispered as they pulled apart and for a moment she saw the fright in the fourteen-year old's eyes.

"Always."

Nym tucked the tiny model that still tried it's hardest to savage her hand into her pocket and pulled out her wand. With a single deep breath, she faced up to the opening and stepped through.

ϟ

The absence of noise assaulted her ears as Nym stepped forth into the morning sunlight. Surprise took over as she glanced about. She knew they were on one of the rocky cliff areas by the Forest, but the inside of the arena was so different from what she'd expected to see. While there were several mountains not that far from Hogwarts, the arena looked like it wouldn't be out of place in the Alps.

Sharp spikes of rock jutted up everywhere, leading down towards the edge where an enormous stand was hanging over the cliff. She was relieved to see the exit from the arena was down there by the base, so she wouldn't have to climb back up the rocky terrain with an egg under one arm and a pissed-off dragon at her back.

That though refocused her as she realized that she couldn't see the dragon amongst the dull grey rocks. The model had given her to thinking it would stand out, being blue and shiny. She tightened the grip on her wand and scanned the environment. All she could see was the craggy 'mountainside'. She took a step forward and noted several smaller rocks shift about her feet. She considered them for a moment before she whipped her wand several times.

Now five little grey creatures darted about her feet. Two dogs, a cat and a pair of rabbits shifted about against the similar rocks. She frowned at her failure to complete the transfigurations fully but tried not to let disappointment distract her. Five quick commands with her wand had the small critters vanish out into the field of stone and she began to walk cautiously forward.

A few moments passed before a cacophonous thud drowned out the horrid screech of a rabbit and, finally seeing her dragon, she understood why the Short-Snout was described as silvery-blue. Somehow the dragon had managed to blend unmoving against the rocky terrain, and in that state had almost disappeared into its surroundings. The open ice-blue eyes and stretched claw that had one of her stone rabbits trapped between vicious claws stood out now against the sharper terrain about it's hunkering form.

Nym felt her heart rate accelerate, she was barely twenty metres away from one of the most dangerous predators on this planet. The fact the Short-Snout had fewer human kills to its name did not comfort her at that moment. She doubted many were stupid enough to climb into the Swedish mountains looking to raid their nests.

She ducked down lower, losing sight of the massive beast as she began to weave her way down the slope and tried to skirt the dragon's reach. She kept her eyes peeled for the nest as she moved but couldn't remember exactly what it would look like through the terror in her brain. Her wandering mind stopped the same moment her actual wandering did as a wave of heated air came rushing at her from between the rocks. Followed immediately by the brightest blue flame she'd ever seen.

Without warning, Nym felt a tug on her stomach and she was suddenly somewhere else. She was staring into a hole in the rock face, several pinkish flower-like items poking up through the stone. The lack of light in the crevice had prevented them from opening under the morning sun but they were highly beautiful. They had a shimmer to their surface that almost matched the scales of…

Nym's brain stopped and she looked at them again. What she had first thought to be petals were, in fact, scales that interlocked over one another in an upward direction, coming to a rounded point at the top. The scales were pink, blue and lavender in colour, and she finally noted the shimmer of gold in between what she suddenly realized were eggs.

She smacked her forehead as she noted she stood directly in front of the very nest she had been looking to find. She shook herself at the obviousness of it, now she could see it. Nym was unsure just what she'd been expecting to find in a mountainous dragon breed's nest.

She wasted no more time as she grasped the golden egg from within the nest and pulled it free, trying not to jostle the other eggs in the nest as she did. She felt eyes lock onto her from above and as she tucked the egg under her arm she jumped from the small outcropping she was standing on to a lower one to the right. A wave of superhot air rushed past her and she didn't dare look back to see the pissed off eyes that were surely following her.

The stand was not far away from where she had ended up and she shuffled along the rockface, weaving between the towering spikes hoping they could protect her as she felt much cooler air swirl around her. Unable to resist, Nym cast a glance back over her shoulder and finally saw the full figure of the Short-Snout as it's wide powerful wings carried it up into the sky. It was enormous and beautiful and very very angry.

The dragon had literally caught her with her hand in the nest and it was out for blood now. Nym let a shudder run through her lower half and she felt the power in her legs grow. Muscles that would put a life-long mountain climber to shame developed and she dashed between the rocks, ignoring the looming shadow that darkened the path she had chosen.

A tight twist in her stomach resurfaced as another wave of hot air washed over the area she stood in. This time she recognized the feel though she'd never had her magic direct it alone before. She popped back into place only a dozen metres from the opening by the stands that would see her free of this chase. Nym rushed for the exit and felt another wave of cool air as the angered dragon leapt back into the air. She could hear the frustrated anger in its growl as it chased after her once again.

As she reached the flat ground before the exit, she glanced over her shoulder again and saw the shimmering scales of the dragon's throat as it reared back once more. Fear surged with adrenaline as Nym gave everything she had to the muscles in her legs and she leapt through the opening only moments before it was bathed in bright blue flames. She could feel the heat through the opening, but none of the flames managed to enter. She realized that there must be safety methods keeping the flames from ruining the stands and the spectators within.

Nym glanced at the golden egg still tucked under her left arm and smiled. It was over. She'd survived and achieved the goal of the task. She could relax.

ϟ

Hermione released the vice grip she had on her parents' hands as Nym appeared above the stands, golden egg in hand. The last she'd seen the girl was diving in front of a wave of searing hot flame into a small exit to the arena. The adults about her had assured her that she'd be fine, but it was only the fact Nym was now safe in front of her that settled her nerves. Hermione leapt from her chair and latched onto her friend tightly.

"It's ok, Hermione. I'm fine." The metamorph soothed, returning the hug.

Hermione smirked into Nym's shoulder as she let her heart rate slow. One of her friends was through this awfulness. "That was terrifying. I thought it had you a few times."

"Me too," Nym whispered in her ear.

"C'mon, Hermione. Stop hugging the victorious Champion." Sirius beckoned from his seat. "Let the rest of us have a go."

Hermione blushed as she turned about and faced the adults once more. Most of them were adamantly not looking at the two girls, their gaze fixed out over the edge of the stands. Hermione glanced in the direction they had been looking to see a strange sight.

"Wow," Nym mumbled as the pair took in the arena. What before had been rocky mountainous terrain was fast becoming a hilly grass-covered plain. Over a hundred wizards worked over the surface of the arena preparing it so that it would be closer to the normal territory in which the second form of dragon would nest.

"That is impressive," Natalie stated, looking slightly overwhelmed. Hermione wondered how she'd have taken it if today was the first magic she'd ever seen.

"As you'll note," The once more magically amplified voice of Ludo Bagman shouted over the stands. "The next stage is almost ready to go and the judges have completed their deliberations. So before we bring out the next Champion, could Miss Tonks please step forward."

Nym glanced at the Family who all smiled supportively. She stepped passed them to the long table full of foreign witches and wizards in various colourful robes. "Present."

"Nymphadora Tonks. The judges have assessed your very competent usage of Illusory magic to complete the task and shall now each present your score out of ten." Hermione quietly coughed into her hand, covering the desire to laugh at the fact every one of the judges had misinterpreted Nym's performance.

"Jodie Forrester, Prime Magister for Australia, present your score. That's a nine. Arnold Brown, Vice Minister of Canada, present your score. That's also a nine. Madame Anastacia Lisov, Minister of International Relations of the Russian League, your score, please. A seven, thank you. Miss Gabrielle Caldeira, Headmistress of Castelobruxo. An eight, thank you, ma'am. And finally, Minaka Hirakata, fresh off the Japanese teams stint in the finals of the Quidditch World Cup, your score if you please. Nine as well.

"A very respectable showing by our first champion out today. Congratulations, Miss Tonks. Please take your seat and we shall continue onto the next Champion."

Hermione jumped and cheered with the Family as a blushing Nym turned back to face them. Forty-two points out of a possible fifty was a wonderful start. But the celebration was cut short by a resounding roar. The girls spun on the spot to see twenty wizards departing through a side entrance and a large green dragon growling at the sky, still slightly drowsy as she looked about the reformed arena. The next event was about to begin.

Sure enough, a second canon blast sounded and several moments later the French Champion entered the arena through a concealed opening. Hermione and Nym carefully sat as they watched the Delacour girl sweep the enclosure with her eyes. It was hard to tell from up in the stands at the far side, but she seemed unable to see the full arena from her position by the entrance.

Fleur quickly dashed forward, surprising Hermione with the sudden movement. As she crested the first low hillock, a burst of flame shot in her general direction from the hunkered Welsh dragon, watching her closely as it circled its nest, all four heavy legs somehow whispering through the long grass.

Fleur eyed the animal and Hermione watched in awe as the girl began to sway, back and forth. Her shoulders and hips shifting in a light yet smooth dance. And then she heard the soft singing. A light voice on the wind, almost coming from all around her, and drowsiness began to take hold. Her mind rebelled, knowing it was far too early to go to sleep. She'd only just woken a few short hours before. She didn't want to sleep. She needed to watch Harry perform.

The name Harry shot through her like adrenaline and the drowsiness passed instantly. Fleur was still swaying and twirling through the grass before her, but the power of her spell had broken on Hermione. She poked her parents awake on either side of her but as soon as they caught sight of the French girl they slipped into dreams once again.

Certain that she wouldn't be able to keep them awake, Hermione refocused on the arena. Fleur's spell had nearly put even the dragon to sleep, it was still watching her, but through only one near-closed eye as it tucked into the grassy plain on one side of the small dugout nest. The mottled brown eggs, flecked with green blended well against its earthen surface, which only made the shining gold stand out all the more amongst them.

Daintily, the Champion approached, keeping her eyes on the now slumbering giant predator mere feet away for her. The dance slowed but the voice still carried on the wind. Fleur gently removed the golden egg from the nest and backed carefully from the rim. Her wand waved back and forth now, taking the place of the dancing as she retreated towards the exit, her eyes still fixed on the dragon.

Suddenly, a small girl a few seats away leapt to her feet and began to cheer and the spell over the crowd split, many jerking awake at the noise. Bagman snorted loudly, his enchanted voice echoing over the stadium rousing those the small blonde girl had failed to and the sound swelled. By the time most had woken enough to see what was going on below them, Fleur had reached the exit and released her spell entirely. She stepped out of the arena to confused applause as Bagman began to shout as if he'd been awake and commentating the entire time.

Hermione noted several of the judges roll their eyes at the exuberance of the man and she concealed a chuckle as she once again roused her parents. She was aided in her course when the Welsh Green in the field below roared awake and began to sniff about her nest. The mighty lizard's tongue caressed each egg in turn and she only settled once she had confirmed none of her young were missing.

It didn't feel like it took Fleur as long to join them in the stands as Nym had, but that could have been Hermione's own nerves. As soon as she arrived, the small cheering girl launched at her and Hermione smiled. Standing together, the resemblance was obvious and a small part of her yearned once more for the younger sibling her mother's condition had denied her. She felt a hand close over her own and turned to see her mother look at her with mild concern. Hermione blushed under her gaze and turned away as Bagman called on the judges to score the French Champion.

Hermione noted that every one of them looked wide awake, and assumed they must have stronger wards by their table, or that they'd been prepared once they saw Fleur begin her dance. But all had seemed impressed by her performance. She came away with four nines and a seven, which put her immediately in the lead and hard to beat on this event.

The assignment of the scores reminded Hermione of the arena below and she turned to see hundreds of witches and wizards moving about the now undulating landscape as a team of thirty removed the once more sleeping dragon and her eggs from the enclosure. It was some of the most impressive magic she had ever seen as the organisers converted the grassy plain into what appeared to be a dry river bed. Blades of grass merged to become brown and grey stones. Exotic plants she only vaguely recognized breached the roiling soil and sprouted along the river bed. Her father gasped in surprise as a river suddenly swelled over the stony bed and rushed along its length, curving back and forth across the arena several times.

The transformation was nearly complete as the crowd of thirty now guided a long slender red dragon into the arena. It looked almost like a giant snake with four powerful legs hanging limply below. A crown of golden spines rested back along the top of its neck but hung open below its sleeping face. Even in its slumbering state, a dull red glow could be seen inside its flared nostrils. This dragon was different from the others they'd viewed this morning in that it had no wings visible on its body.

The rough-looking handlers laid the dragon along the riverbed and the smaller group stepped forward with the magnificent eggs. They, too, looked almost flower-like, a bright cherry colour that seemed to pulse every few seconds. Small filigrees swirled off the tips of the 'scales' and the thick gloves the handlers wore began to smoke slightly in the winter air, indicating how warm the eggs were. As they tucked them into a small bowl in the bank of the riverbed, carefully formed to prevent any more than a light trickle of the river from entering, a cloud of steam arose.

The steam cloud widened over the area and was suddenly illuminated from within by dozens of yellow bursts. With a loud roar, the steam was lit even further by a bright burst of red flame that surged out the top and singed some of the nearby plants. Heavy footfalls could be heard, but the dragon and her eggs were very well hidden in the steam. When at last the only sound coming from the enclosure was the rushing of the river, a cannon blast sounded.

The Family glanced as one to where they knew the entrance to be and watched as a gruff boy stepped through a 'boulder' and into the humid arena. His dark gaze swept over the environment and he cast several inaudible spells out into the concealed space. A deep thrumming sound rose in the misty air, and Krum focused on the sound like a vulture. Gone was the grumpy indifference that she'd seen on him around the school, he was the fixated champion seeker they'd seen in Italy and he'd spied the Snitch.

His wand was constantly in motion as he entered the lower section of the enclosure, and would have disappeared into the heated mist if not for his spell work clearing it away before him. He soon arrived at the surging waters of the river but he did not advance. He stilled and appeared to be listening intently at something on the other side. A flare of light was the only warning the audience had before a mushroom-shaped fireball splashed against the shore, right where Krum had been standing only a moment before.

The Quidditch star had rolled to the side and sent a blast into the water that sent a surge of it up into the air, steaming as it quashed the side of the fireball closest to his body. He did not remain static upon rising and rushed towards some of the tall slender plants by the water's edge. He climbed swiftly but when he was a bit over halfway up, the plant bent at the base and leant out over the river.

Hermione gasped as she expected Krum to fall into the surging water and be carried helplessly downstream, but the Seeker seemed to be prepared and as the plant descended, he shifted until he was standing on its length and used it as a diving board to cross the river, rolling as he landed on the nearer side. What began as a light combat roll, devolved quickly into a lengthways roll into the underbrush as a second fireball exploded against the river bank.

Krum finally found his feet and fired a blind shot into the steam cloud. A roar and a renewed fireball were his response and he climbed to his feet. He ducked in and out between the tall plants, tossing a new spell every few seconds in the direction he knew the dragon to be. The loudest roar of all sounded throughout the arena and Krum smiled. It appeared one of his spells had struck true. He focused once again on clearing more of the steam away and as a result revealed not only his target, but the clearly angry red dragon that loomed above it.

The golden spines around the base of its neck were pointed outward and twitching violently. The nearest of the dragon's two eyes had swollen shut and was dripping some horrid yellow liquid into the river. Its remaining open eye was now fixed on Krum as it reared back. The Bulgarian boy aimed and fired off a single spell, this one finding its target perfectly as it slammed into the dragon's second eye.

This eye also quickly swelled shut and crusty yellow residue formed over it until the dragon couldn't see anything. It howled with anger and launched several fireballs into the arena blindly as its entire body undulated and twisted. Its four large claws stomped back and forth in anguish and with a shock of realization, Hermione watched as it's front left leg descended towards its own nest in its frustration.

A moment before the distraught mother destroyed her future offspring, a thick shield shimmered in the air over the eggs, visible not only due to the now trapped steam but it was so strong it had distorted the air itself. The dragon's heavy claw clanged against it and the huge lizard slipped on the uncertain surface and splashed loudly into the river itself. More steam soared into the air as the hot body of the dragon met the cooler water.

As the steam began to obscure the audience's view once more, Krum rushed forward and divested the nest of its golden egg, with it tucked firmly under his arm he recast the powerful shield spell over the eggs and began to back quickly towards the exit. The Champion was drenched in sweat and Hermione wondered how much of it was from the humid atmosphere in the arena and how much from powering such a shield to defend the eggs from their uncertain mother.

The dragon surged out of the water, her head rocked side to side and sprayed water in all directions. Her eyes opened and despite the remaining yellow residue, she could clearly see once more. Hermione assumed that the rushing river water had dislodged most of the gunk from her eyes. They flicked first to her nest but upon seeing the foreign magic all over it, she roared loudly.

The Chinese Fireball lived up to her name as she shot fireball after fireball across the enclosure. Krum had to roll out of the way several times and he was only halfway to the enclosure when one struck close enough to send him flying through the air. He managed to retain his grip on the egg, but his focus slipped and the shield fell away. The mother dragon howled happily as she noted the foreign magic was no longer obscuring her eggs and after a quick check, she reared up on her hind legs and roared.

The audience watched on tenterhooks as the third champion regained his feet and no longer concerned himself with the nest behind him. He took off at full pace heading for the marked exit, this time, however, the enraged dragon gave pursuit, and this was her natural habitat. It was amazing to watch the enormous snake-like movements as she wended through the slender plants. In moments she was on Krum again and he fired a burst of water from his wand over his shoulder at the looming danger.

It wasn't skill that saved him though, as the humid air had made the ground treacherously slippery and he lost his feet several metres from the exit. The searing fireball that had been trailing towards him instead soared over his prone figure and splashed loudly against the wooden walls of the stands, but they did not catch, as they had survived the bright blue flame of the Swedish dragon, so too were they warded against the Chinese dragon's flames.

The dragon roared her victory to the air, the sound painfully loud at their close proximity. Krum took the offered moment of reprieve and launched to his feet. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him. The movement caught the clogged eye of the scarlet dragon that loomed over him. She reached out with scaled limb and attempted to swat the nuisance that had dared enter her home. Krum ducked the swipe and with a final lunge, tossed his body into the exit and out of view.

The roar of the crowd almost drowned out the howl of victory the Fireball called into the air as she slithered her way back into the steam-filled 'forest'. A mournful yowl soon followed as dozens of flares of bright red light splashed against the concealed creature as the dragon handlers moved in. She returned several volleys of fire, but each was smaller than the one before until a loud thud indicated she had succumbed to their assault.

Hermione felt bad for the mighty creature being used for the entertainment of a crowd without concern for her feelings. While the spectacle had been amazing to watch, she wasn't being terribly impressed by the wizarding world she had seen so far. By the time the handlers had the dragon out of the arena, a patched-up Krum who had a handful of scratches and bruises from his energetic movements through the dense foliage had arrived by the judges.

They seemed slightly disappointed at his appearance, and Hermione felt that the three sevens and two eights he got were slightly low for the effort he put into his attempt. Not to mention his determination to protect the eggs from damage by the mother that would have been devastated had they been harmed. But as Krum nodded to the cheers of the crowd and wandered off to who knew where, Hermione felt her chest tighten as she noted the new arena, now a mixture of the first two environments, was almost ready to go.

Harry was about to enter that space and face the dragon the handlers were currently moving into the area. It was larger than all the previous dragons, covered in dense black scales and looked tremendously dangerous.

As its eyes opened and a cannon blast sounded, Hermione felt her heart stop.

ϟ

Harry stepped lightly into the open air, soft green grasses crunching under his feet as he moved into the open. The arena was full of rather sharp vertical shots of green covered rock and hills. If he didn't know better, he'd have assumed he'd just been transported to the rocky peaks across the lake usually visible from Hogwarts itself.

The only factor that ruled this out for him was the humid warm air, highly irregular for Scotland this time of year. It left a dewey residue over almost every surface so Harry focused his efforts on keeping his footing as he moved further into the mountaintop maze. He could see the wooden bounds of the arena down the slope, and the crowd within, but he could not see a dragon anywhere.

His heart was hammering hard at the thought it could be anywhere nearby, or he might walk into a trap set by the enormous creature, but he held his nerve. As he'd told Nym all morning, panicking and worrying solved nothing.

A rending sound came from his left and Harry ducked behind a tall outcropping as the heavy sound of rock smashing it's way down the face of the slope echoed about him. The sound now gave him a direction to focus on. He gingerly worked his way through the rocks and sooner than he'd have truly liked, he beheld a large figure covered in rough black scales arrayed before him. The dragon was faced away from Harry and was eagerly shifting something back and forth across the ground.

As it's large maw lifted away, Harry realized where the sound had come from. The dragon had smashed one of the raised peaks of stone out of place, leaving a small craterous shape that it had blasted with flame if its red surface was any guide. And it was moving the oddest shapes Harry had ever seen into the heated bowl. They looked almost like some kind of tropical fruit, purplish in colour with green furry stripes that rose upward to a peak where the stripes curled outward like fingers.

Each of the fruits jiggled slightly once it was placed in the red hot bowl of stone, and Harry twigged to the reality. They were the dragon's eggs. He focused once again, this time tracking where the mother was taking them from and sure enough, as her head lifted away with another fruit inside, he noted the glimmer he'd been looking for. Harry glanced momentarily toward the stands to find himself obscured from view by several of the outcroppings.

He smirked as he loosened the grip on his wand.

ϟ

Nym was on the edge of her seat as she watched her cousin move closer and closer to the enormous lizard that had just rent a chunk of the mountain out of the way. Every fibre of her being wanted to rush in there and drag him away. He was too young and inexperienced to do something so insanely dangerous.

The crushing grip Hermione had on her hand was not helping to settle her nerves in the slightest, but when it loosened and the girl beside her began to laugh, she became truly concerned. Hermione had seemed nervous through each of the Champion's attempts, but she was now laughing near hysterically.

Nym's eyes flicked to the girl's parents, who were also looking at her with concern. "Hermione?"

Her eyes flicked back to the arena as she felt a burst of elven magic from that direction, and when she looked back at Hermione, two and two connected in her mind.

"HE DIDN'T!" She growled.

Hermione was unable to speak, but she managed to nod as she slipped from her seat and nearly pulled her mother and Nym down with her. Nym looked out into the rocky field and saw Harry emerge from behind an outcropping of rock. He tucked his wand into his robes and approached the dragon in front of him, but suddenly Nym wasn't as concerned for him as she had been before.

ϟ

Harry smiled as he approached the mighty lizard before him. He made sure to kick a few of the loose stones nearby as he walked, to announce his approach, not keen to sneak up behind a mothering dragon. He stopped, still a good ten metres from the creature as it turned it's vibrant purple eyes to behold the interloper into its nest.

~Good day to you.~ Harry commented, amused at the fact the dragon was looking at him exactly as Nym did when he'd done something foolish, purple eyes and all.

The dragon growled at him in return and he smiled at her before he bowed deeply.

~I know you're busy, I just wanted to apologize for your being forced to be a part of this, because of my entry.~ He nodded in the direction of the eggs, still jittering in their warm home. ~I hope that they are all well.~

The dragon tightened about the melted bowl and concealed the eggs from view. Harry gestured that he meant no harm before the dragon gave a series of guttural growls and roars at him.

~Ah, yes. Well… I hadn't considered that. You can understand me though?~ The dragon glared for a moment before she gave a definite nod. ~Huh, that's fascinating. Well, forgive me for taking up your valuable time. I wish you and your clutch the best.~

The giant Hebridean dragon simply bowed her head at him, and Harry smiled as widely as he had all day. He tightened his grip on the egg under his left arm and turned towards the exit, content to leave the mighty mother alone with her young. He'd even managed to turn a foolish blood sport into a safe learning experience. He'd spent a long time in that tent alone wondering and worrying. At least today hadn't been a complete wash.

A confused crowd looked on from above as he casually worked his way down the rockface and in through the marked exit. He had emerged above the stands and been glomped tightly by familiar arms before anyone in the crowd began to applaud, and he was fairly certain it was his godfather that had started it.

Though he no longer cared about the crowd as the girl wrapped around him pulled back and crashed her lips to his own in a very public and very welcome kiss. After hours of tension and uncertainty, Harry was finally in what he considered heaven on earth.

When she pulled away, at last, the crowd was cheering even louder and he grinned as he looked into her brown eyes. "I guess that keeping it quiet idea is over?"

She gently slapped his shoulder as he leant forward and embraced her lips once more, only stopping the delightful kiss when a tap on his shoulder distracted him. Harry pulled away to find Nym looking at him with a smile. "Once you've got your score, can we talk?" The older girl whispered.

Harry nodded to her as Hermione dismounted his midsection and the rest of the Family gathered about him, hugs and back slaps galore following as they shuffled him toward the judges. All of the five foreign magicals were looking at him with confusion and a little bit of awe. Harry ignored the booming voice of Bagman as he asked the judges to unveil their scores, but he was pleasantly surprised to find all nines shot from their wands.

"Why only nines?" Sirius moaned, quietly behind him.

"Because they can't figure out how he did it," Hermione explained. "They can't mark him down, because he finished flawlessly. But I'm sure they think approaching a nesting dragon is a little stupid, hence no tens."

Harry shrugged. "I learned something though. Apparently, parseltongue can have an accent. I couldn't understand a word she said beside MacFusty. Not even sure what that is."

"That's what it was? I could kind of understand you, but the dragon was unfathomable. I thought it was my inexperience." Hermione groaned.

"Nope, her Scottish accent is denser than uranium." Harry smiled as the Family wended their way through the baying crowd and out of the stands.

ϟ

It wasn't for several hours after the event that Nym finally managed to drag Harry aside without wellwishers or Family getting in the way. Even the Tournament stooges had taken a bunch of their time to bluster around telling them that the eggs contained a clue they needed to solve for the next task. When at last they'd managed to get alone, the only place she could find nearby to be alone was a broom cupboard.

As she closed the door, Harry looked at her with his eye raised and a teasing smirk. "Nym…?"

"Shut it, nothing like that. I need to talk to you about the task." Harry nodded and sat on an overturned bucket. "Did you do it? On purpose, I mean."

"Yes."

Harry looked somewhat confused at her question. "I don't think it's fair. I know I did too, but that was life or death. I'd be ash if I hadn't. But it's not fair on Fleur and Krum. Agreed?"

Nym sat heavily as she finished and stared at her cousin. It had been warring with her Hufflepuff nature ever since she'd stepped out of the enclosure. The two of them not only had an unfair advantage over their competitors, they'd both used it in the task.

"I didn't think of it like that. I just saw the golden egg and figured why put myself in range of a very upset mother just defending her eggs. But you're right. It's not fair. If I'm going to be a Hufflepuff while I'm here, I have to do it right."

Nym looked relieved and her shoulders sank. She'd been so concerned about how she was going to convince Harry to agree that she had nothing now that he had. "So… how do we do it? I mean, it saved my life in there. I don't want to stop that, I'm not dying for fair."

"We can just agree not to, I guess. I don't want to be a cheat."

She considered his option for a moment. Her usage had been unintentional, and while Harry's had not, he understood the principle she was trying to uphold. She extended her hand to the boy and smiled. "No intentional use of elf magic during the tasks then."

Harry matched her grin and took her hand. The pair shook once before a spike of energy shot up both their arms and they pulled back in shock. "Ow!"

"What the hell was that?" Nym asked angrily.

Harry ducked his head somewhat sheepishly. "I didn't think of that. Elf magic can be very literal. I don't think it's a choice anymore. I doubt that our elven magic will work during the events even if we tried. Unless it's life or death for us."

Nym looked at her hand concerned. But she had to concede, this was exactly what she'd decided was required, now she just had no chance to go back on that. "Well, in for a knut, in for a galleon I guess. Shall we go back to the common room and let Hufflepuff get their party on? It does pay to be right near the kitchens."

Harry looked at her with an expression she only saw when he was planning something. "Yes." He said with finality.