Dragons

The following days proceeded much like those before them, with the exception of Ron being even more of an ass than he had ever been. Harry thought Hermione still looked sad whenever she would sneak a glance at him. All of Gryffindor had become tired of the non-stop fights going on between Hermione and Ron. It seemed that without Harry there to act as a buffer between their personalities they clashed constantly.

Harry thought the situation was a little sad, but he was glad that it gave the Gryffindors something to talk about other than him. The rest of the school still considered him to be the best topic for conversation however, although the glares that so many of them shot his way were easily ignored. Harry laughed at the fact that he had never seen the Hufflepuff's, Cedric Diggory's house, so angry.

Harry continued to train and within a week he had made it through almost half of the fifth year spells. Every night he pushed himself and his magic as hard as he could for as long as he could until he reached the point where he thought he would faint from exhaustion. With every passing day Harry felt himself getting stronger and able to put more power behind his spells.

He had never read anything on the theory behind how a person's magical strength is determined, but he guessed that it must be something like physical strength. Only in this case instead of running or lifting weights to build muscle mass he was casting powerful spells to increase his available power. He enjoyed the feeling that his new found strength gave him, and on some level he finally understood why someone could become obsessed with gaining more.

His nervousness about the first task was seemingly always present. Harry had heard that people had died in the Triwizard Tournament before and he knew that he was already starting out with a disadvantage. Frequently he wished that he could just walk away from the tournament but he knew that was impossible. Another, smaller, part of him was actually quite excited about the tournament.

Harry had always loved a challenge, especially when it was something he was not expected to do well in. That was part of the initial reason he adored Quidditch. He still enjoyed the sport, but was starting to realize that he liked the flying much more than the game itself.

On days when he needed a break from his training he took his Firebolt to the unused Quidditch pitch and flew, letting the wind crash into him and for a moment forgetting all of his troubles. He supposed that if things were different he would have spent time with his friends, talking and laughing as his worries faded away. But without them, he needed something else.

Today was one of Harry's flying days. The first task was a mere ten days away at this point the stress from the anticipation was starting to get to him. One of his favorite stress relievers was to fly high up into the air before diving straight down, going as fast and as close to the ground as he could before pulling up. On this occasion he took the time to stop at the top of his ascent and take a good look at Hogwarts, the place that he felt more at home at than anywhere else.

The castle was easily visible, as were the Black Lake and the Forbidden Forest. However, Hagrid's home looked tiny from this high up. It was then that he noticed something new off in the distance. From this far off it appeared to be a quarry of some kind. 'Do they have mines at Hogwarts?' Harry wondered. Deciding to get a closer look, he sped off towards the structure.

The first thing he noticed as he got closer was the stands that were in the process of being built. They looked a lot like the ones surrounding the Quidditch pitch he had just left. The stands looked large enough to hold everyone in the school and then some.

"Of course! This is where the first task is going to be!" Harry said to himself. Then, realizing that as a Triwizard Champion he probably wasn't supposed to be here, he cast disillusionment charms on himself and his Firebolt so that he would hopefully not be noticed.

The protection the charms provided was good enough for now, but he found himself wishing he had his invisibility cloak with him. Satisfied that he was as hidden as he could be, Harry flew closer to the arena as he now thought of it and tried to figure out what was going on.

What he had thought was a mine or quarry was actually a huge stone pit. The bottom part was fairly level, except with the middle section raised a few feet. One side of the arena had a less severe slope, with a path leading up to a large tent. Harry took one last look at the pit and decided to inspect the tent, hoping that he would be able to find out more about the first task.

His hopes were answered when he noticed a small group of people coming out of the tent and walking down to the arena. Harry recognized the person at the front of the group to be Ludo Bagman, head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.

"Now, if you'll all follow me I will show you where our four champions will face their first challenge!" Bagman said as the group followed him down the path to the arena. Harry flew nearby, close enough so that he could hear every word being spoken.

"Now, I'm not supposed to be telling anyone the details about the first task. But we're all friends here, no? I'm sure you can all keep a secret." Harry almost fell off his broom in shock at his good luck.

The rest of the group also seemed interested, and gathered in closer to Bagman who looked quite pleased to be the center of attention. "As we speak, four dragons are being brought to Hogwart's. One for each of our champions!"

"Ludo! You can't seriously expect children to slay a dragon!" one member of the group yelled. Harry had to agree with him, he knew that bringing down a dragon was difficult for a group of fully trained wizards, let alone one teenager who would have had no idea what he was facing.

"No, no, not to worry." Bagman assured them. "They will not have to kill the beast, just to recover a golden egg that the dragon will be guarding. A clue pertaining to the second task will be placed in the egg. Each contest will be judged on if they were able to retrieve the egg, how long it took, and how they did it."

Excited murmurs broke out from the crowd. Meanwhile, Harry looked back out towards the arena. He now realized what he had mistaken for a quarry was actually a man made dragon's nest.

He had never seen a real one before so he had no idea on whether or not it was accurate, but he assumed so. The group of people continued down to the nest, clearly excited about the tournament. Harry followed them, hoping to gather more helpful information about the tournament but Bagman did not seem willing to talk about the other tasks.

"Alright everyone, let's head back to the tent where dinner shall be served. You will all have the chance to see this again, I promise. I have arranged for the Department to provide each of you with front row seats!" Bagman proclaimed to the delight of the group.

Harry doubted that he could sneak into the tent unnoticed, even with the disillusionment charms, and that he might as well head back to the castle. As he flew back, Harry thought about the challenge to come.

'Bloody Dragons! They expect me to fight off a dragon long enough to steal something from its nest. How in the hell am I going to do that' he thought. 'I'm going to have to call in help getting ready for this one I guess.' he finally decided. Smiling, he wondered if Daphne had any idea what she was getting herself into when she offered to help him.