A Favor for a Friend

Once Fleur had entered the Beauxbatons Carriage, Harry sprinted off towards the castle. He was likely late; Hagrid had told McGonagall they would be back in an hour or two, but Harry wouldn't be surprised if it was midnight by now. He quickly passed through the courtyard and into the main entrance. Sure enough, Professor McGonagall stood upon the main staircase, holding a lantern in her left palm.

"Sorry, Professor." Harry managed to wheeze out, "Took a bit longer than expected."

"I was just about to head over to Hagrid's Hut to check on your status. Head off to bed, Mr. Potter. You have your Wand weighing ceremony in a few days; there is no need to be short on sleep."

"Yes, Professor." said Harry, before hurrying past her. Once he was several metres away from her, Harry pulled out the Marauder's Map. The last thing he needed was for McGonagall to find out he was heading towards the Chamber of Secrets.

Thankfully, Professor McGonagall seemed to be heading towards the Staff Lounge, which happened to be on the other side of the school. Harry quickly made his way down to the second floor girl's bathroom, before entering the chamber.

"What's got you all worked up?" asked Salazar uncaringly when Harry rushed into the study.

"Dragons." Harry panted out, "The first task, it's dragons!"

Salazar paled significantly.

"Which breeds?" he asked hurriedly.

"Don't know, we haven't studied dragons. The worst one was definitely the black one though. It must have been as big as the basilisk, and it was covered in horns."

"Hungarian Horntail." muttered Salazar, "Let us assume that this is the one you will face off against. If you prepare for the worst, you will likely do best."

"Yeah, I figured." said Harry, "Will using wandless magic help protect me from the fire? Because I can use fire and all that, so I would assume I have some form of resistance."

"It can, but it would be very tiring." The portrait informed him, "There is absolutely no way you will be capable of using that, as well as the chains, within the coming week. It would also be very hard to explain why you are immune to the fire. People will think you have cheated."

"I have cheated!" Harry reminded the portrait.

"You're only cheating if you get caught."

"Yeah, so you've said. Do you have any way to protect me from fire?"

"Have you heard of the spell, Aguamenti?"

Harry nodded.

"It's a water conjuration spell, isn't it?"

"Indeed it is. If you can master the spell, and work on using wandless magic to control water, you could create a shield of sorts to protect you. Making a shield from previously conjured water would be much easier than using fire immunity, or moving the fire out of your path."

"Alright. I have that, and the chains. Also all the offensive magic you taught me, but I'm only using that in emergencies."

"It should be more than adequate." Salazar assured him, "The dragon would be immobile, and on the off chance that it can still open its mouth you would be protected from its flames."

"But only if I can master the spells."

"That is a given, yes. Is there anything else of importance?"

"I wasn't the only one who saw the dragons." Harry told the portrait, "Fleur Delacour, the Veela that is the Beauxbatons Champion, she was with me as well. We also saw the Durmstrang headmaster, he likely saw the dragons too."

"Which means that the only champion who does not know is the Hufflepuff." noted Salazar.

"I'm going to tell him." said Harry, waiting for the portrait to disagree with him.

"You should." said Salazar, surprising Harry, "Doing so will likely save his life - he will owe you greatly."

"I thought you were going to say something about how it was the right thing to do." said Harry sarcastically.

"I would never say such a foolish thing." snapped the portrait.

Harry waved off the portrait, before moving over to the chamber. He would need a lot of practice if he wanted to get out of this alive.

...

Harry quietly made his way to the courtyard, searching for Cedric Diggory. For once, he was not the subject of staring; Salazar had taught him how to use the notice-me-not charm. It was rather perfect, as people would not notice him unless he did something to draw attention to him, such as talking to them.

He eventually found the Hufflepuff sitting in the corner of the courtyard, surrounded by friends. Sitting to his side was Cho Chang, a pretty asian girl that Harry had fancied a bit the previous school year. All of the students, except for Cedric and Cho, were wearing Malfoy's badges.

Harry quietly walked over to them, stopping when he was but a foot away. As they noticed him, everyone but Cedric glared slightly.

"Hey, Harry!" said the Hufflepuff casually, "What's up?"

"Can I speak to you in private?" asked Harry.

"What, are you afraid to talk in front of us?" snarled one of the Ravenclaw girls.

Harry rolled his eyes, trying to ignore the way his hand twitched towards the wand in his inner robe pocket.

What do they think I'm going to say, yes?

"Yeah, of course." said Cedric. He followed Harry away from the others until they were out of anyone's earshot.

"Dragons." said Harry, "The first task is dragons."

Cedric paled drastically, similarly to how he and Fleur had reacted upon seeing the beasts.

"How do you know?"

"I saw them, there's four of them, one for each of us. Fleur and Krum know too, you're the only one who doesn't."

Cedric nodded slightly, lost in thought.

"Why are you telling me?"

Harry paused. He was not entirely sure about why. Perhaps it was because he did not want anyone to face off against a dragon without knowing so. A few months ago, that would be the only explanation as to why. But now, after learning from Salazar, he could not truly claim that to be the only reason; he could see how much he would gain from this, it could potentially save him in the near future.

"Because life is a bit more important than a stupid tournament." said Harry after a while, "And because it's a favour of sorts, it might help me later."

Cedric nodded, seemingly accepting his answer. He did not wait for Harry to say anything else before he slowly began his walk back to his friends, once again lost in thought.

.....

Can't wait to read more exciting chapters then what are you waiting for Join my p*atreon right now.

2+ FREE ADVANCED CHAPTERS FOR ALL FREE MEMBERS.

60+ Premium chapters.

Link: p*atreon.com/Dream_Guardian (Remove the *)