20 And so it begins…
"Parseltongue/Dragon tongue"
"Normal talk"
'Thoughts'
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"You won't eat a random human!" he said with a tone of finality.
"They were sspying on usss!" he fired back incredulously, throwing angry glares at his caught prey.
"Yess, and after the match, I will find the spell that reversess an animagus' transformation and then, we'll find out who they are and why they were spying on usss," Harry said, pointing at the beetle.
Said beetle, was sitting inside a jar that was spelled unbreakable by Harry.
"You are no fun," Ash hissed as he uncurled from the glass container and slithered back on Harry's person.
Harry chose to ignore him as a ministry employee chose that exact moment to walk back in.
"Harry Potter, your turn is coming up. Follow me please."
Harry gave the man a nod and moved behind him, not forgetting to store the jar in his pouch.
"Oh, hey Fleur. Are you good?" Harry asked when the French girl appeared in front of them.
"'ey 'arry. Yes, I'm well, albeit very tired, it took me everyzing to beat zat damn dragon… I got forty-four points out of fifty!" she exclaimed with a brilliant smile, drawing a glare from the ministry guy.
That's what his intention was at least…
What he threw instead was a lecherous look, that both teens masterfully ignored.
"Woah, you must have done really well."
"Yes, I'm in the first place right now," she announced proudly, putting a hand on her chest and sparking a war in Harry's mind.
"Not for long," he replied with a lopsided grin, doing his utmost best to control where his eyes looked.
"Hahahaha. If you manage to surpass me, I'll take you out to dinner in that village that everybody talks about. I zink it was somezing like 'ogsmeed," she chuckled, warming Harry's insides.
'There's something off with her laugh… Why does it feel so good?'
"It's Hogsmeade and I'll take you up on that promise," he answered without thinking.
"You can continue flirting later Potter. Let's go," came the annoying guy's jealous voice.
With a wave, the two champions parted their ways.
'Why did I agree?' was all Harry could think of as they continued walking.
'And why do you keep laughing?' Harry asked Ash, getting more sniggering as a response.
When they finally reached the gate to the arena, the man turned around to face him.
"When you go inside the pit, you'll have to face the dragon that your card showed, an Abyssal Reaver. Your task is to inflict as much damage to the dragon as you can in fifteen minutes. You'll have to take off your robe and your pouch as you can't take anything inside except your wand," the man informed Harry, pointing at the items.
'Is he serious?' he wondered, throwing him an annoyed glare.
"I also have to inform you that killing the dragon will automatically result in you getting zero points," he said with a grin that displayed his feelings at the idea of the young champion defeating the dragon.
With a deep breath, Harry did as instructed and handed the man his stuff.
It wouldn't do any good to lose control now.
"Idiot, you dare?"
"What was that?" the man asked while taking a step back.
"Meet Asmodeus," Harry replied with exaggeration.
He almost rolled his eyes.
Meanwhile, Ash, as he couldn't hide anymore, made his way to Harry's neck.
"That's a snake."
"Really? Thanks for letting me know," he exclaimed with mock gratefulness, the ministry minion was pissing him off, though he couldn't deny that he was enjoying his discomfort.
"Ash, get off me and slither by my side. I don't want to test the task's restrictions those idiots put," he hissed, drawing a girly squeak from the man who now looked at him in fear.
"What's up with you?" Harry asked with a frown.
"Y-You speak parseltongue," he gasped.
"Where have you been living man?" Harry asked, genuinely confused.
The fact that he was a parselmouth was publicly known since his second year…
Not letting the man annoy him any further, Harry made his inside the pit with Ash following him from the floor.
'Thank god, the dragon's not here yet,' he thought before turning around to look at the ministry man.
"Accio my pouch," he murmured, getting his small bag back.
He also put some extra juice on the spell, making it forceful enough so that Newton's third law threw the man to the floor.
Harry gave him a cheeky wave before turning his attention on the pouch and started fishing various items out.
The first thing to come out was a translucent and silverish potion, Felix Felicis, otherwise known as liquid luck.
Harry immediately uncorked it and downed half of it, he could immediately feel its effects.
There was a sudden feeling of confidence overflowing his very being, a lightness that caused him to believe that nothing could ever slow him down.
Harry was feeling great.
Heck, if Voldemort suddenly popped up, he was sure he could easily beat him in a duel…
And just like that, the delightful feeling slowly started dissipating.
'Sal was right, this potion is as dangerous as it is miraculous,' he thought as he did his best to suppress the potion's effects on his mind with occlumency.
The mind arts were truly wondrous…
He then took out the magic strengthening potion that he made with the basilisk's venom and without any further delay, downed it as well.
'Ah, I could get used to this feeling,' he thought in ecstasy.
He could feel his magic flowing over every part of his being.
It was also itching to get out…
'Won't you get potion poisoning from those?' came a concerned voice in his thoughts.
'I'm just under my limit,' Harry reassured the caring snake.
'He also has me,' sounded a new voice.
It was ancient, older than most trees, wiser than most men and as divine as no other.
It was Fawkes.
Harry barely looked up, noticing the fiery flash that signalled the appearance of his second familiar.
The phoenix's appearance didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the crowd and many gasped and pointed at Harry as murmurs and speculations broke out.
"Albus, isn't that Fawkes? What is he doing above Mister Potter?" inquired the shocked Head of Gryffindor.
Dumbledore simply scowled, as he watched his previous familiar flying in circles above the fourth champion.
Harry, uncaring about the crowd's reaction, got the last item from his pouch, this time with his hand as it was impervious to summoning charms, and quickly put it on.
'Merlin bless clothing charms,' he thought, grateful at the magic that allowed him to use the basilisk's skin to make a robe.
A battle robe to be exact…
'God knows how awfully hard it's to manoeuvre in robes.'
The robe was unsurprisingly coloured in deep green, bordering on black, and it was designed with the idea to withstand fire, dragon fire to be exact. It was also adorned with multiple intricate snakes, Salazar was very persistent on that, and had the Potter crest on its back; an all-encompassing oak tree with a single bird on its top branch and the family's motto.
If one were to look closely, they'd notice that the bird was actually a phoenix.
"Toujours debout," Harry uttered when he felt a familiar presence closing in, suppressing the fear that was trying to manifest inside him.
His family motto was French and it translated to 'Always standing' or 'Still standing'.
'That's one more reason why I have to succeed today,' he thought with conviction as his eyes locked on the flying dragon.
Harry noticed the people in the stands start panicking upon seeing the unshackled beast flying on top of their heads.
He heard someone talk but didn't quite catch their words, his full focus was on the dragon that was quickly closing down on the arena.
He noticed that the spectators stopped fumbling around after that though.
'Probably informed them about the dragon's contract,' he mused absentmindedly, getting a confirmation from one of his familiars.
Now in the light, Harry could see the dragon's size and it wasn't small…
The Abyssal Dread's shadow covered the whole arena in darkness as it neared even closer to the ground.
Harry barely managed to catch a loud squeak that was oddly similar to Hermione's, before the dragon finally landed.
ROARRRRRRRRRRRR.
The dragon let out a roar that was as magnificent as it was terrifying.
All movements and sounds ceased, creating the illusion that the time itself had stopped in the presence of the ginormous beast.
Harry was the first one to break from his reverie as was expected, followed by the many dragon handlers and Dumbledore.
He had already experienced the Abyssal Dread's dragon fear, and he was also a very proficient occlumens…
Thankfully, Fawkes let out a calming trill that stopped many people from wetting themselves.
That innocent gesture garnered the dragon's attention and its glowing red eyes immediately snapped at the undying avian.
"Fawkes? Is that you?" he asked in the dragon tongue, getting an affirmative trill from the phoenix.
"What are you doing here? Wait, I see, you are bonded to this puny human. Speaking of, this aura feels familiar… Ah, the snake! He is the rude wizard that didn't answer my greetings!" he quickly concluded, much to Harry's annoyance.
"Yesss, that'ss me. This wizard begs of your forgivenesss for not sitting down and having a pleasant tea with you," Harry hissed with a mock bow.
"You understood me!? Oh, how very lucky to find a parselmouth here. I thought there weren't any left alive. Though considering the intent I feel coming off you, I'll have to make my wrong assumption a reality," he barked out keenly.
'No rules while competing,' Harry thought as he looked at a clock on the stands.
A minute had passed already…
He didn't have any time to waste.
With a jerk of his hand, he held his wand and pointed at the dragon.
"What are you going to do with that?" he asked lazily, this time in English.
While the dragon looked at him with a lack of motivation to act and the stands were watching shell-shocked, Harry started moving his wand in a very familiar motion.
As he performed the spell's hand movement, his mind took a stroll to the past.
He first thought about Voldemort and his continuous attempts to murder him…
The dark lord was a constant obstacle in his life, a taint that didn't stop following him. However, unlike a certain man, he was at least open with his intentions.
Yes, Harry hated Voldemort, albeit not as much as he did Dumbledore.
The man had consistently done his best to destroy whatever little happiness and stability Harry managed to gather under the guise of a greater good.
'Fucking goat,' he couldn't help but think.
His thoughts turned to the most recent letter he got from Sirius, where the man confirmed his fears and revealed that Dumbledore let him rot in prison for no reason.
Harry focused on the contempt and hate he felt towards the two men and finished the spell.
A lightning bolt; that's what his wand's edge drew in the air.
The scar that he saw every time in the mirror.
The scar that left him parentless and gave him more fame than anyone could ever want.
"Avada Kedavra," he intoned, illuminating the world in green.
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