Chapter 66: Welcome To Arena!
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"But what if Harry needs me?"
I roll my eyes. "I don't think he needs fistfuls of ripped out hair, no matter how good it smells. You can't get through the wards, Hermione. We'll go see him as soon as he's in the first aid tent, okay?"
"I know you're right, William, I just wish it would—"
"And now," Ludo Bagman's voice boomed over the crowd. "Your fourth and final Champion will face off against the dreaded Hungarian Horntail! Please welcome to the arena...HARRY POTTER!"
The roar of the crowd drowns out Hermione's terrified scream as Harry walks out, clearly stunned by his reception. He thrusts his wand in the air but his incantation is inaudible.
Harry and the Horntail eye each other warily, and neither makes a move until Harry's Firebolt appears, at which time Harry hops on and starts weaving. Bagman gets the crowd roaring again at his excited commentary.
I have a feeling Harry is trying to get the dragon to come after him and get away from the eggs, but when that doesn't seem to work, he holds his wand out and casts Avis several times in a row, producing three or four fairly large, crimson-colored birds on each try.
"Oh that's brilliant, Harry!" Hermione shouts. The crimson matches his Champion's outfit.
The birds harass the dragon, flying in swift circles around its head. It manages to fry two or three after shooting a number of fireballs wildly, but Harry replaces those with a dozen more.
Finally becoming angry, the dragon rears up and flaps its wings, trying to blow the birds away with the swirling vortices of wind. It catches many of them, sending them spinning away, so the dragon takes the opportunity to fire a massive jet of flame at the annoyances.
It doesn't notice until it's too late that Harry shoots toward the nest in a blur, and before the five minute mark, Harry lands in front of the first aid tent, holding up the golden egg in triumph to the wild roaring of the crowd.
Hermione doesn't even wait for me; she just takes off, using her small stature to slip through the crowd. I sigh and try to follow, but, being considerably larger, I have to work to avoid jostling most of the revelers in my way. On the edge of one row I find Ron, standing rooted in his spot, pale as a sheet, staring at the dragon.
I clap him on the shoulder and gesture for him to follow. Neville and Luna spot Hermione and then Ron and I leaving, so they join our entourage as we arrive at the tent. I hold up a hand to halt them.
"Don't want to anger Pomfrey, do we?" At that I poke my hand in and loudly call out, "Harry? Hermione? Are you both decent?"
Ron's eyes bulge and Neville laughs nervously, while Luna just smiles dreamily.
"Get in here, William, you prat!" Hermione calls back.
"Just a second guys, I'll make sure they throw some clothes on. You know how Hermione gets it." I duck through the tent flap without checking their reactions to that. Harry's sitting on the edge of the temporary hospital bed that was meant for his treatment, and Hermione is sitting next to him with her arms firmly wrapped around his midsection.
"Good show, Harry! I was worried about the Conjunctivitis Curse after what Krum did, I'm glad you got by without it."
Harry smiles. "Oh, that's what you said, Hermione. William, you missed a solid play-by-play of the last two hours, told in about thirty seconds. Even with the crying I think I actually caught most of it."
"Prat," Hermione says, without letting go to strike him.
"I picked up a trio of tag-alongs on my way down here, if you'd like to see them, Harry," I say, jerking my thumb toward the flap of the tent.
He shrugs. "Sure."
"Okay guys, we've all got clothes on again," I call out loudly. Hermione kicks at me, but I dance out of the way with a laugh.
Neville pops his head in tentatively, then visibly relaxes. "Harry! That was incredible!"
Luna slips in while Harry and Neville are talking and stands off to the side humming and rocking back and forth on her heels.
"I thought you said three, William," Hermione says questioningly.
As if on cue, Ron steps tentatively into the tent. Harry's smile evaporates and I give Hermione a wink.
"Hey Harry," he says, voice shaky.
"Ron," Harry says coolly.
"Whoever put your name in that goblet...I...I reckon they're trying to do you in!"
"Caught on, have you? Took you long enough." Harry watches Ron blush embarrassingly red and open his mouth to apologize. "It's okay. Forget it."
"No," Ron says, "I shouldn't've—"
"No, you shouldn't've. But you must know that we can't go back to the way it was. Too many things...too many things have changed." Harry squeezes Hermione.
"I know...I know I bollixed it up good, didn't I? Well...I know you guys run every morning, so I'd like to join you, maybe help you train up a bit? Although it's clear after that performance you obviously don't need my help."
We all stand in silence for a moment, except of course for Luna's humming. Ron and Neville shift uncomfortably, looking down, Hermione and I look back and forth between Harry and Ron, and Harry stares at the floor.
I clap my hands and make everybody jump. "All right, you three, hug it out! Go on!" I give Ron a nudge and Hermione pulls him into the hug. Luna beams at me, and an idea hits me.
I step between Luna and Neville and throw an arm over each, which is quite awkward since Neville is just a couple inches shorter than I am and Luna is probably a foot shorter. Luna's eyes widen in surprise, and I give her a mischievous smile.
"Okay, now quit hogging all the hugs!" I pull my two companions towards the three others and Hermione pretends to scream before I squish Neville and Luna together and press them up against the other three, nearly knocking everybody back onto the bed.
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