The First Task

Quidditch Stands, Hogwarts, Nov 22nd

"How are you holding up?" James asked, breaking the hug with his oldest son.

Harry shook his head. He was running on potions at the moment, but he was finally confident that both Viktor and his brother would be alright as long as they stuck to the plan.

"Tired," Harry said truthfully.

Gripping his son's shoulder, James said, "Join the club, Harry. Ever since Albus let us know what happened, your mother and I have been spending a lot of time trying to look out for Nathan."

"Where is Mum?"

"She's up by our seats speaking to Albus about Rita's Article. We've tried preventing her from lying in her work, but the Daily Prophet is a power unto itself."

"I hate that woman," Harry admitted. "Is there nothing we can do? Get them to print a retraction?"

"They did, Harry." James looked particularly annoyed. "The next day, actually. It was a small article in the editorial section saying her piece had certain inaccuracies and that they apologize. Not that anyone saw the damn article, but, legally, they met the minimum requirements."

"Wonderful."

Leading his son up a private staircase, James said, "I know. Your mum hopes Albus can help, but I doubt it. If Albus could stop Rita, I would like to think he would have done it years ago. She has been calling for his retirement practically since she started writing. That woman has issues, Harry."

"You can say that again," Harry muttered, walking out from the staircase into a large private stands overlooking the Quidditch pitch. Spotting his mother speaking with Albus Dumbledore and a blond couple, Harry made his way over to them.

"...couldn't agree more, Lily," Dumbledore said, "but my hands are tied at the moment. Rest assured though. I had a meeting with Roddick Bold the other day and I made it clear he needs to take a closer look at Rita's work. While he was not pleased, I believe he understands my position."

"Stories like this come and go," the blond man interjected jovially. "I'm sure it will die out eventually."

Lily looked ready to disagree, but stopped when she saw her son and husband.

"Harry," Dumbledore said once Lily had released him from her hug, "this is Mr. and Mrs. Diggory, Cedric's parents. Now, I am sorry, but I must go take my position amongst the judges. The task is almost ready to begin."

"Goodbye, sir," Harry said politely before turning to the Diggorys. "Nice to meet you both."

The Diggorys both smiled indulgently, but Harry could tell they weren't really happy to see him. Mr. Diggory practically radiated dissatisfaction while Mrs. Diggory was clearly uncomfortable for whatever reason.

"Amos," James said pleasantly. "Good to see you."

Mr. Diggory shook James' hand. "You as well, James. Hasn't this turned into quite the mess? Lily was just telling us about those interview requests from Rita. Can't imagine having Skeeter targeting your family being a good thing, especially with those whispers of a Potter returning to the Wizengamot once Tiberius retires."

"Those are just rumors, Amos," James waved the man off.

"Of course they are," Amos said, disbelievingly. "And is it just a coincidence that your incredibly famous son is named Triwizard champion, even though he shouldn't have been able to enter? Why, that would almost certainly boost your standing among the more traditional members."

"Are you insinuating that Nathan is only in the tournament to help my alleged political ambitions?" James turned fully to stare down the slightly rotund Ministry employee. "It would take a cold hearted bastard to use their child like that Amos. Or did you encourage Cedric for those reasons? Your family is up for the next open Wizengamot seat as well, correct?"

A noticeable tension descended upon the box, and, for a second, Harry thought his father and Mr. Diggory were going to come to blows. Fortunately, the magically amplified voice of Albus Dumbledore caused everyone to divert their attention.

"Welcome, one and all!" Dumbledore's enchanted voice came from the Judges' stands. "To the first task of the Triwizard Tournament!"

Harry watched as dozens of cameras flashed, emitting a small cloud of purple smoke.

"Today, our four champions shall endeavor to prove their bravery and valor as –" A colossal roar interrupted Dumbledore as the first Dragon was brought into the stadium. The entire crowd seemed to pull back in shock before a massive cheer ensued. It took several blasts of fireworks from Dumbledore's wand before they quieted again, leaving only the roars from the enraged dragon as background noise.

"As I was saying, each champion will test themselves against a dragon. Their goal is to get the golden egg, which sits within the dragon's clutch." Dumbledore turned as Ludo Bagman handed him a piece of parchment. "And I have just been given the order we shall see our champions in. After a random drawing, it has been decided that up first is Cedric Diggory, who will be facing off against a Swedish Short-Snout. After Mr. Diggory will be Ms. Fleur Delacour, Mr. Viktor Krum, and, finally, Mr. Nathan Potter."

As the crowd cheered or booed for each champion, Dumbledore continued, "I would like to thank the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary for assisting with this task as well as the numerous Ministry Officials that have worked so hard to put this entire tournament together. So, without further ado, I wish all the champions the best of luck!"

The crowd cheered wildly, something that Harry observed seemed to irritate the large dragon. Sitting down in a seat next to his parents, Harry waited for Cedric Diggory to make his appearance, which he did after several drawn out seconds.

"That's my boy!" Amos cheered. "Show that dragon who's boss, Cedric!"

As Cedric turned a nearby rock into a dog, Harry did not bother to stifle his laugh. "That's his plan? A dog?"

Apparently, Harry had spoken louder than he intended because Mr. Diggory turned to glare at him. "I think your son should keep his opinions to himself, James!"

Before his father could say anything, Harry turned to face Mr. Diggory and asked incredulously. "Why would a dragon care about a dog? What could a dog ever do to a dragon?"

Mr. Diggory gestured at the arena where the dragon had turned to face the barking dog, causing it to momentarily ignore Cedric. "Obviously, as a distraction!"

"A dog is only a distraction until Cedric starts moving towards the nest. Then the dragon will just roast them."

"Harry," James snapped, causing his son to look up at him, "enough. Apologize to Mr. Diggory this instant."

Stunned, Harry opened his mouth to protest but his father cut him off. "How would you like it if Mr. Diggory critiqued Nathan or Viktor's strategy?"

His face flushing, Harry turned back to Mr. Diggory. Before he could say anything, the entire crowd seemed to collectively gasp as the dragon released a burst of flame – roasting the transfigured dog. Almost immediately after, the large reptile turned its attention onto a sprinting Cedric, who had been making his way to the clutch under a disillusionment spell. With a mighty blast of fire, the dragon roared its defiance just as Cedric grabbed the golden egg.

As Cedric ran out of the arena, the dragon vainly swiped its massive clawed leg at him and released a burst of fire. The dragon's claw landed a glancing blow, sending the Hufflepuff flying forward. Ironically, the strike seemed to knock the boy beyond the reach of the dragon's fire, and he unsteadily climbed to his feet and moved out of the arena. Immediately, the dragon handlers stormed into the range, firing stunners at the enraged dragon. After 12 simultaneous Stupefys, the creature collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

The Diggorys were up and leaving the stands before the dragon even hit the ground. Mrs. Diggory's face was pale as the two of them raced downstairs to check on their son.

"Nathan has to face one of those," Lily said fearfully as the dragon handlers switched the downed Swedish Short-Snout for a Common Welsh Green.

"He'll be okay, Mum," Harry said, trying to convince himself. "The dragon handlers will step in if it gets bad."

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Dumbledore began. "I present, Mr. Cedric Diggory!"

The stadium cheered as Cedric walked out of the medical tent. His upper body was covered in bandages, but he gave a wave to the crowd before turning to the judges.

Harry watched as the large Headmistress from Beauxbatons gave Cedric a 7, Karkaroff gave him a 3, Dumbledore a 7, Crouch a 7, and Bagman an 8.

"Cedric Diggory is currently in first place with 32 points!"

"I guess your Highmaster took points off for Cedric getting hurt," James said.

Harry snorted. "He was going to take points off regardless. Karkaroff wants to win."

The Potters fell into an uncomfortable silence until Fleur Delacour stepped out to face her Dragon.

"She's part Veela," Harry said, watching as the girl easily sidestepped the dragon's fire. He watched as Fleur began to wave her wand in a very intricate motion, her eyes never leaving the dragon.

"What's she doing?" James asked, noticing that the dragon had begun to sway slightly and had stopped roaring all together.

"She's putting the dragon into a trance," Lily said, recognizing the spell immediately. "It's a very advanced piece of Charms magic. I hadn't thought it would be possible for it to affect a dragon."

"I wonder if her allure as a Veela is boosting the effect," Harry speculated, noticing how many people in the crowd had grown silent and were swaying slightly as well.

After almost five minutes, the dragon teetered over and fell asleep.

"Wow," Harry said, impressed. "That was a nice bit of Charms work. I never thought of trying to put the dragon to sleep."

"Agreed, it was a wonderful bit of – Oh my!" Lily watched in horror as Fleur, walking past the sleeping dragon, was caught off-guard by a burst of fire leaving the dragon's nostrils. Her clothes immediately caught fire, and she frantically went about casting water charms.

Eventually, the girl was able to put out the fire, her left leg suffering what looked like the worst of the burns. Taking the egg, Fleur limped slightly off the pitch as the dragon handlers swept in and moved the sleeping dragon.

"She was better than Diggory, even though she got burned," James said, unable to keep his unease out of his voice.

Fleur was in the medical tent for only a few moments before returning for her scores. Unsurprisingly, the Beauxbatons Headmistress gave her a 10 while Karkaroff scoffed and gave her a 3. Dumbledore sent an 8 in the air while Bagman gave a 9. Crouch seemed to think very hard before giving her a 6.

"Ms. Delacour is our new leader with 36 points!" Dumbledore said, causing the girl to smile, curtsey and walk back into the medical tent.

"Your friend Viktor is up next," Lily said. "Do you think he has a plan?"

Realizing that his parents didn't know that Viktor and Nathan knew about the dragons beforehand, Harry said, "Yes, we worked on a plan yesterday. Viktor will be fine, Nathan should be as well."

Before his parents could question him further, the entire stadium started to chant.

Krum!

Krum!

Krum!

Krum!

When Viktor finally appeared, the entire stadium exploded in cheers. Enraged, the dragon turned to Viktor and gave a challenging roar before releasing a massive fireball at him.

Viktor immediately leaped away from fire, drew his wand, and fired off a very weak Conjunctivitis Curse. The spell struck the dragon dead in the eyes, causing it to roar and shake its head. The Chinese Fireball tried to raise its forearms to its eyes, but the limbs proved too short. Instead, it shook its head violently, as if it was trying to get something from its eyes. While the dragon was distracted, Viktor ducked behind one of the largest boulders and snapped, "Avis!"

A flock of black crows burst from Viktor's wand and took off into the sky. Not settled with a mere dozen birds, the Durmstrang champion began rapidly recasting the spell. As dozens of birds steadily emerged from Viktor's wand and continued to fly away, the crowd began to mutter amongst themselves.

Conjuring one last flock of birds, Viktor looked skyward and began swirling his wand. As one, the crowd gazed up and gasped. Rather than having flown out of the stadium, the crows were all flying in a packed formation, appearing as a large black block in the air.

With a final shout, Viktor released one last spell, causing the air to ripple. After a moment, the flock of birds became a single massive crow so large it cast a shadow over the arena. Almost immediately, the dragon ceased sending the occasional burst of fire around the stadium and let loose a challenging roar at the massive creature.

"Oh, wow," James whistled in awe. "Is that a transfiguration?"

"Illusion," Harry immediately replied. "Like I told Mr. Diggory, the only way to distract a dragon is to make it aware of another large predator."

"And the Conjunctivitis curse weakens its eyesight." Lily nodded approvingly as she spied Viktor walking out from behind the rock's cover, his wand still in the air. "I can see that the illusion isn't the greatest."

Watching as Viktor continued to slowly approach the dragon, the crowd going wild with every step, Harry couldn't help but defend his friend. "Well, you try keeping up that kind of illusion in these circumstances."

Reaching out, taking her son's hand, Lily smiled nervously. "I didn't mean it negatively, Harry. It is a wonderful bit of magic, but why is your friend not using a disillusionment charm?"

"We tried," Harry scowled. "Viktor couldn't keep up both spells simultaneously long enough. We decided it was better to just focus on the bird and if –"

"Merciful Merlin!" James shouted, as the dragon finally noticed Viktor had approached its nest.

Immediately lowering his wand, a massive screech was heard. The dragon instantly turned its head skyward as the illusion, flickering slightly, dove at the dragon. Completely ignoring Viktor, the dragon released a massive blast of fire that caused the illusion to shatter and hundreds of crows to cry out before falling to the arena, dead.

The crowd exploded into cheers of delight as they saw Viktor use the distraction to grab the golden egg and exit the stadium.

"Wow," James said, clapping with the rest of the crowd. "That was incredible."

Harry couldn't help but feel exceptionally proud. Everything seemed to have worked perfectly, from the Conjunctivitis curse to the illusion.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Viktor Krum!" Dumbledore exclaimed.

Viktor calmly walked out of the medical tent, looking perfectly calm and not like he just walked into a dragon nest.

The Headmistress from Beauxbatons sent a large number 7 into the air; however, she was unprepared for the massive outpouring of jeers she received from all around the stadium. Amused, Harry couldn't help but accept that Viktor just had a way with crowds. He could win them over in moments.

Unsurprisingly, Karkaroff gave Viktor a 10 while Dumbledore gave Viktor an 8. Surprisingly, Ludo Bagman only gave Viktor a 7, eliciting another round of shouts, while Crouch gave Viktor an 8.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the new leader is Viktor Krum with 40 points!"

Everyone in the stadium seemed to cheer as Viktor gave a final waive to the crowd before disappearing inside the medical tent. Harry wasn't sure why he went inside, maybe he twisted his ankle running from the dragon. Still, as proud as he was of Viktor, he couldn't help but feel a sudden sense of dread creep down his spine as he watched the dragon handlers exchange the Chinese Fireball for the massive Hungarian Horntail.

Lily gasped when she saw the dragon, and she grabbed her husband's hand squeezing it tightly.

"He'll be okay," Harry muttered, as if trying to convince himself. The entire stadium seemed to grow quiet as Dumbledore stood up.

"Our final champion, Nathan Potter!"

The first thing Harry noticed about his brother was how much smaller he looked than Viktor. While Viktor had a calm, commanding presence, Nathan seemed small and scared. When the Horntail let out a burst of fire, Nathan dove behind a large rock outcropping.

"Come on, Nathan, stick to the plan." Harry muttered, grabbing his parents' hands tightly.

Jumping out from behind the rocks, Nathan shouted, "Confundo!" The spell flew from Nathan's wand, but, unfortunately, struck the magically resistant scales on the dragon's chest. Undaunted, Nathan fired off another two confundus charms, the last one hitting the dragon in its left eye before he ducked back behind the rock outcropping.

Almost immediately, Nathan began casting spells at himself. Harry could recognize a poor attempt at the disillusionment charm and a weak notice-me-not charm.

"I cast scent masking and the flame-freezing spells on every article of clothing Nathan had this morning." Harry told his parents.

"Thank Merlin," Lily whispered, gripping her son's hand tighter. "You knew?"

"We found out yesterday," Harry admitted, as Nathan made his way to a closer rock outcropping. Unfortunately, the dragon seemed to notice the movement and sent another blast of fire at him.

Once the fire had ended, Nathan popped out from behind the rock and fired off a pair of Conjunctivitis curses. At such a close distance, the spells quickly found their mark, causing the dragon to roar in pain – its massive spiked tail striking everything around it.

Harry could only watch as his brother had to frantically dodge the dragon as it started to stomp around the arena in obvious pain. As Nathan retreated back, he whipped his wand toward the castle and shouted, "Accio broom!"

"Shit."

While they had discussed the idea of using part of Nathan's plan in case things fell apart, Harry had never thought it would really be necessary. The plan was supposed to be simple. Confuse the dragon, mask your scent, disillusion yourself, and get out. Let the other champions worry about style points. Just complete the task and survive.

After a few moments, the crowd saw what Harry knew would be coming. In the distance, racing towards his brother at top speed, was his Firebolt.

"Oh Merlin." James' face was pale as he saw his son try to cast a disillusionment charm on both himself and his broom. The spell was inexpertly cast, and there was still a noticeable outline of Nathan, but it was better than nothing.

Lily could only shake her head, willing her son not to take to the air. Unfortunately, her hopes were dashed a few seconds later.

"He'll be okay, he'll be okay, he'll be okay." Harry looked up and saw his mother crying, her eyes never leaving Nathan as he flew around the raging Horntail, who now seemed to be blasting anything and everything that moved. Most of the eggs had already been crushed, the enchanted golden egg a gleaming exception.

Eventually, Nathan seemed to grow tired of flying around the horntail and fired another pair of Confundos at the creature, causing it to turn and rabidly attack the judges' stands. As the dragon sent streams of fire at the heavily warded platform, Nathan swooped down, grabbed the golden egg and immediately took back off into the sky.

As soon as Nathan was away from the dragon, dozens of stunners struck the raging horntail, knocking it unconscious and allowing an exhausted Nathan to make his way towards the medical tent.

It was Lily who was the first to recover. Practically jumping out of her seat, she said, "We need to go see how he is!"

That's all it took for the three Potters to race out of the box. As Harry quickly descended the stairs, he couldn't help but feel incredibly nervous. His brother had made it through the first task, but there were still two to go.