11 The First Task Arrives

Over the next couple weeks not much of note happened. Rias came with Kiba and Koneko to have me remove the binding on their pieces as well. She didn't mention what she did before I left and I wasn't going to bring it up, but she seemed to take a lot of action to be close to me whenever possible. It also gave me the opportunity to tell her what had happened with her brother.

"That's what Sirzechs did when you two left? Why would he do that, he knows I hate marriage contracts?" Rias said with a frustrated voice.

"I don't know, but I threatened him, so hopefully he'll back off." I said, but Rias sighed in frustration when I said that.

"That'll do the opposite. Every devil has a sin, my brother's is Pride. He's prideful in his abilities, you challenging him and making him feel weak won't go over well, his pride can't accept it."

"So should I expect him to attack me?" I asked.

"No, at least not right away. He might be prideful, but he's still smart. He'll try to set up a situation where he can prove to his pride that he's better than you. I thought all this stuff would stop with the Rating Game, I guess that was a pipe dream." Rias said.

Moving over to her and wrapping an arm around her I said "I'm sure it will work itself out. I know this puts you in an awkward position."

"No, Sirzechs is clearly in the wrong here even if he's my brother. Especially since he tried to use me in his plan."

"Alright, well we'll figure it out once it happens." I said, but in my mind I was thinking 'The only things that could be the cause of this are either me being a new Campione, or me changing Rias' evil pieces. It could be a mix of both as well.'

Other than that I spent those two weeks working on my magic and making my way further into Salazar's journal. He spent his time with the Campione he had met, but refused to say what her name was. After spending some time with her she taught him what a Campione was and explained what that ability she used against the Nundu was. Apparently it had different names, but she was of Japanese descent and knew it by the name Haoshoku Haki, Conqueror's Spirit. That name seemed fitting to me, Campione were conqueror's and it was exercising our will.

I was called out of class one day for something called The Weighing of the Wands.

As I made my way into the Great Hall I thought about the status of my wand. 'I wonder if he'll be able to tell it has merged with my authority.'

Right before I walked through the doors I was accosted by a woman. "Harry Potter, I'm Rita Skeeter. I was wondering if I could get an interview for the Daily Prophet."

"I'll pass." I said and moved past her, using my authority to throw her speed off so that when she took a step to follow me she fell down.

Standing at the front of the room was Ollivander. "You all will be called up and have Ollivander inspect your wands and ensure they are in tip top shape." Crouch said.

One by one the champions went up and had their wands inspected. Eventually it was my turn. I had summoned my wand to my pocket before I had arrived in the room, so I just pulled it out and handed it to him.

"Ah yes, I remember this wand. 11 inches, made of holly, with a phoenix core." Ollivander said and gave it a wish, causing sparks to fly from it. I could feel that I could completely block him from even trying to cast with it, but I let him cast the spell.

"Everything seems to be in order."

"Okay everyone, pictures." Rita Skeeter called out.

"You all have fun, I'll pass." I said and walked through a nearby passageway to leave the room before Rita Skeeter could bother me again.

There was supposedly a Daily Prophet article about me, but I never bothered to read it.

Soon the day for the first task came upon me and as I ate my breakfast I found myself not all that worried. If it was a wizards challenge, I should have no problem whatever it may be. Fleur hadn't come to breakfast so I assumed Madame Maxine was going over some last minute stuff with her. Finishing my breakfast I stood up and walked towards the Great Hall. Like deja vu, Draco once against accosted me on my way there.

"Potter how long do you think you will last, a minute maybe even two?"

"Are you talking about me in the task or you in bed? Both should be about 10 seconds." I said.

Draco sneered and turned away from me, walking away while saying "Laugh while you can Potter."

Walking through the grounds to get to the tent where the champions were supposed to gather, I entered to find a nervous Fleur sitting down and muttering to herself while Cedric looked worried as well and Krum seemed to be thinking to himself.

Fleur looked up when I entered and gave me a wave but otherwise went back to thinking. Shrugging my shoulders I moved to a side of the tent and waited.

Eventually Crouch entered carrying a bag. "Champions gather up." He said. Well all moved in front of him and he began.

"Today is the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. You will all be required to retrieve a golden egg from a nesting dragon."

Crouch paused to let that sink in and I noticed Krum, Fleur, and Cedric looked unsurprised. 'So everyone but me already knew. If I was a normal person I would be kind of screwed.'

Noticing the unsurprised looks on everyone's faces, Crouch sighed and continued.

"You all will draw a different dragon from this bag. These models represent the real dragons you will find in the arena. Ladies first." He said and opened the bag, but you were unable to see inside. Fleur reached inside and pulled out a model of a small green dragon.

"The Common Welsh Green." Crouch commented.

Cedric then when next, reaching in and pulling out a silvery blue dragon.

"The Swedish Short-Snout."

Krum moved next, reaching inside and pulling out a red dragon.

"The Chinese Fireball."

Moving forward I reached my hand in and pulled out a black dragon.

"The Hungarian Horntail." Crouch said and I noticed Krum and Cedric giving my sympathetic glances.

'So this is the worst of the lot then. Fitting.'

Cedric was called out of the tent first to participate in his task, I stood and waited idly, thinking about how I wanted to deal with this dragon.

'I'm getting really tired of hiding. If I'm gonna beat this, I might as well do it properly.'

There were noises from outside, although I wasn't sure how well they indicated Cedric's success. Fleur was called out next and I gave her a thumbs up while saying "Good luck." She nodded in thanks and made her way out of the tent. Realizing I could keep track of what was going on with Senjutsu, I activated it and looked at the life signs.

I could see the other dragons, kept ready for their turn. Fleur made her way out and seemed to pause. The dragon seemed to still as she moved forward picking up the egg and running back, but as she was running the dragon woke up and hit her with fire. Fleur was quick to use some spell on herself, presumably to put the fire out, before making her way outside of the arena.

Krum then went out next. He cast a charm on the dragon that seemed to cause it to stumble around, so I assumed it was either a blinding or disorienting spell. He managed to get the egg, but the dragon smashed a bunch of the real eggs.

Finally it was my turn. I made my way out of the tent to find the entire population of Hogwarts along with lots of other guests watching me from the stands.

Striding forward confidently I stood and looked at the dragon in front of me. Signaled to begin, I walked forward. It only took me a second to be brought into the range of the dragon's fire. It opened its mouth, but before it could shoot its fire I glared at it and hit it with a blast of Conqueror's Haki. The dragon stilled before falling over unconscious. There were shouts of shock from the crowd, but I ignored them and continued up to the golden egg, picking it up and walking out of the arena. As I walked I turned to where I could sense Draco in the stands and held up 10 fingers.

Making my way to where the rest of the champions were, I found a shocked Krum and Cedric while Fleur just shook her head.

"You had to make it as flashy as possible."

"Of course, had to make it look good for the spectators." I said.

Turning to the judges booth, I called out "So what's my score?"

Dumbledore held up an 8, while Maxine and Karkaroff held up an 8 and 4 respectively. Crouch held up a 9 while Bagman held up a 10.

"Is 39 good or bad?" I asked Fleur.

"You're tied for third with Cedric, Krum's in first and I'm in second." Fleur answered.

I shrugged as I said "Whatever, this tournament doesn't matter for me anyway."

"Harry what was that?" Cedric asked.

"Me proving I could finish the task in the same amount of time as Draco lasts in bed." I answered and turned towards Fleur.

"Do you have to meet up with Madame Maxine?"

"Yes, she will want to talk to me now that the task is over."

"Alright, well I'll be back a little later." I said and moved to leave, but before I could Crouch came over.

"You all performed admirably, although there will be some investigation into how some of you accomplished your tasks. Those eggs contain a clue for the second task, your job is to solve it before February 24th, when the second task takes place."

After hearing that I turned and walked off before I was accosted again by Rita Skeeter. "Do you want me to do to you what I did to the dragon?" I said before she could even open her mouth.

"And what is it that you did to the dragon?" She asked and I sighed, turning away and walking from her as she chased me while I tuned her out. I did the same trick as before and made her trip.

Walking into the castle, I made my way up to the Room and got an expanded pouch. The I walked down to the second floor and down into the Chamber. I wasn't sure what exactly the backlash would be from what I did, but in case it led to me deciding to leave the castle, I wanted to finally test out what that magic circle did.

Walking to the main room, I collected all the books and potions into the pouch. Putting the pouch into my pocket I turned to the magic circle on the ground.

'Well here goes nothing.' I thought and channeled magic into it. It lit up and I could feel it about to teleport me away. 'So it wasn't one to teleport someone here, but to teleport the user somewhere else. Let's see where it goes.' I thought as I let it take me.

Once my vision cleared I found myself in the entrance hall of a mansion.

'Who's mansion did I end up in this time?'

Walking deeper into the mansion, I activated my Senjutsu and was suddenly blinded by a massive life sign above me.

'That's an even bigger life sign that Hippolytos. What the hell is that?' I thought. Walking up the stairs I came in front of the door to the room where the life sign was. Grabbing the handle and pushing the door open, the sight in front of me was surprising.

A young blonde boy who looked to be around 14 sat on a throne in front of me.

"So someone finally came around here. How long ago was it that I killed those two who lived here. The woman put up a fight, but the man went down like it was nothing." the boy idly commented.

"Who are you?" I asked, while taking note of the fact that a man and woman lived here who he killed.

"I've been known my many names, but my favorite is Azi Dahaka."

I had taken it upon myself to read up on as many mythologies as possible, since I would most likely be encountering more Heretic Gods. Knowing what they're potential weaknesses are would be helpful in a fight with them. Azi Dahaka is a former human turned dragon god who gained power and managed to kill millions of gods.

'This is bad, he's probably one of the most powerful gods ever.'

The boy stood up from his seat and spoke. "Well, let's see if you can entertain me. It's been a while. I've wanted to sleep for a long time, this will be my last act." When he finished speaking he took a step and pushed off the ground, blitzing across the room towards me. I could see him move with the awareness I had developed, but I couldn't move my body fast enough to avoid the punch that came, sending me crashing through the wall and out into the open air.

A wound opened on my chest that I hissed closed as I recovered and looked up to see the boy float down towards me with wings made of shadow.

Knowing I was going to be attacked again, I used my control of speed on myself so I would be able to react to his attacks.

"That was disappointing, perhaps you can do better." Azi Dahaka said.

Taking the initiative, I summoned my staff and sped towards him. Swinging my staff at his head, he moved his hand, block the attack with his palm. Shrinking my staff so he would lose his grip on it, I pulled it back and thrust the staff forward towards his chest. He caught it before it could hit him, but I extended it in his hand, letting my staff hit him, only for the staff to barely move him.

"You'll have to do a lot better than that." He said as he grabbed the staff and flung it along with me into the ground. I slammed into the ground below, forming a crater and sending dust into the air as I impacted. Slowly standing up, I tried to think of a way to beat him.

'Come on, what was his legend. Think.' I didn't have a time to figure it out before he was upon me, throwing a punch forward. I used Travel to slow his punch down, but right after slowing down Azi Dahaka said "Avesta" and he sped up again. The punch connected with my staff and shattered it, continuing on to my arm and breaking it as I was thrown back.

Using Parselmagic to heal my arm, I tried to figure out what had just happened.

'He either nullified my ability or copied it. I don't have any idea what kind of limits that has, but he could copy any ability I use on him. There has to be a weakness, what about his legend gives me a weakness. Azi Dahaka was a human who gave up his humanity for power. Maybe that's the answer.'

Standing up, I looked towards Azi Dahaka. He was slowly walking towards me as he said "This is not nearly as entertaining as I hoped. Perhaps it's better if I put you out of your misery."

"Well let's see if I can make it interesting." I said and kicked off the ground, charging towards him and throwing a punch, speeding up my movement at the last moment to make it connect, the punch managing to actually make him bleed.

"Well that's a lot more interesting." he said and we got into a fist fight, with nothing but pure physical skill instead of powers or authorities. I had realized something, in his legend Azi Dahaka gave up his humanity, and it was his weakness. Humanity was the only thing that could beat him, not my authority obtained from Sun Wukong or my Travel authority, but pure humanity.

Even with that weakness, it didn't mean much when Azi Dahaka had so many avenues to beat me with. The only reason I even lasted this long was because he was bored and wanted to enjoy a fight.

We continued our fist fight, and as we went I started to get more and more into it. Knowledge from Sun Wukong began to bleed over as I remembered techniques I had never learned from a martial art called Renewal Taekwondo.

I got better and better as the fight went on, but my stamina wasn't going to outlast Azi Dahaka. Day turned to night and then day again and we were still fighting. I was panting with Azi Dahaka standing across from me as well, bleeding from his body.

"Ha, this has been the most fun I've had in a while. More time to grow and maybe you would be able to match me at my full power."

"Full power?" I asked.

"I only used one of my aspects and didn't use my true form. It wouldn't have been very much fun if I did, which is why I have a deal for you."

'I don't think I can last much longer.'

"What's the deal?" I asked.

"I want a challenge, a year from now. You have time to get stronger, and I get time to rest. I've been here, waiting for centuries. I want to return to my myth, but I want one fight with someone who can stand up to my true power. I'll concede you beat this part of me, but if you want my full power you're going to have to beat my full power. So one year from now, I'll be back and we'll see who the true victor is." Azi Dahaka said.

'One year to get stronger, strong enough to fight him in his true form, with all of his aspects.'

"Alright, you've got a deal. I'll fight you in a year, and I'll beat you so conclusively you won't emerge from your legend for a millennium."

"We'll see, but you've got to earn it. One more clash, beat me and you earn this portion of my authority." Azi Dahaka said.

"I can handle that, one more clash." I said as I got ready. I could have healed my wounds, but I didn't. I knew he could heal his too, but if he wasn't then I wasn't going to give him a reason to.

Pushing off the ground, we both dashed across the clearing to each other. I used a move I had learned from Renewal Taekwondo, 3rd Stance Hwechook. Dodging Azi Dahaka's punch, I delivered a sequence of three kicks to his head. Time seemed to slow as my foot neared his head as he mouthed "One year" before my kick connected and sent his head flying off of his body.

His body disappeared into motes of light that entered me and I got knowledge of two new authorities.

[Avesta]: Take the enemies power and add it to your own. Able to create a mirror opposite ability to neutralize everything in line with the Dualism Theory of Zoroastrianism. Unable to be used on beings or abilities associated with Zoroastrianism or Taoism.

[Knowledge]: Able to access the knowledge accumulated by Azi Dahaka throughout his lifetime. Knowledge of magic, black magic, alchemy, science, and others. Can only be used to learn about one subject at a time. Changing subjects requires a cooldown of two weeks.

'The authority changed to fit me. Azi Dahaka came from humanity and thus they were immune to his power, but for me my power comes from Sun Wukong rooted in Taoism, so I can't affect beings associated with it with Avesta. This is still a massive boost in power, and to think this is only part of his abilities. One year Azi Dahaka, then I'll be ready.'

Healing myself with Parseltongue, I walked back to the mansion. I could see the hole caused by my body being shot through the wall when I neared it. Jumping through the hole, to the room Azi Dahaka had been in, I really took a look around and noticed something.

The walls had green symbols of snakes on the walls and there was a portrait of Salazar next to a Japanese woman.

'He said he killed the woman and man that were here before. Slytherin's magic circle let me here, this was where he lived with his wife. The woman was able to put up a fight because she was a Campione. This place could have even more knowledge than the Chamber. I need to come back here, but for now I'll head back to Hogwarts and get some rest.'

Making my way back to the magic circle, I activated it and appeared back in the Chamber. Using secret passages, I made my way to the Room and entered, crashing on the bed instantly and falling asleep.

--------------------------------------------------------------Author's Note

The whole encounter with Azi Dahaka is a big question mark as to whether you guys will like it or not. If it receives a bad response I'll rewrite the entire encounter to feature a different god, but I think Azi Dahaka provides a good driving force and powerset to Harry.