Harry Potter: Dragon Eyes

Harry tensed, ready for another attack.

But to his surprise, the serpent's air changed.

Its massive head lowered slightly, and its eyes, still blazing with intensity, held a glimmer of something else – fear, he realised.

Harry was taken aback by the sudden shift in the serpent's demeanour.

'Does it fear me?' he let himself wonder.

The thought trailed off unfinished, as Harry noticed a new presence in the water.

A dark form quickly glided through the murky depths, its movements smooth and deliberate.

When it drew closer, Harry could make out the distinctive shape of… a dolphin.

'What the fuck?' he thought incredulously.

As if the surprise wasn't enough, the dolphin suddenly morphed, its sleek form elongating and shifting until it became the familiar figure of Viktor Krum.

Harry's eyes widened as the last champion swam towards him, his wand at the ready.

"Do you know how to cast the patronus?" Krum shouted immediately, his eyes darting nervously behind them.

Harry nodded, keeping his eyes on the suddenly still serpent, his grip tightening on his wand.

"I can," he replied with a steady voice; a deep contrast to Krum's panicked tone.

"Why are you asking?" Harry inquired and followed the boy's gaze.

He didn't see anything at first, but then he let his hold of his magic sight and sense relax.

Countless sensations flooded his senses as he opened himself to the magic surrounding them.

He let more and more of his awareness expand, and then… even the water started to whispering him secrets.

He was about to rein his senses back in, but then… he caught a glimpse of something.

'What the hell?'

The presence he felt — it was somehow cloaking itself against him.

At first, he couldn't make sense of it; the sensation felt alien and unsettling.

But as he focused, it was as if a dam had burst, flooding his senses.

The previously insidious being revealed itself to Harry, and Merlin was he surprised…

It was a force so dark and cold, it seemed to suck the very life out of the water around it.

He briefly wondered if a Dementor had somehow found its way underwater — 'Can Dementors swim?'

Harry's magical sense enveloped the dreadful being, probing its nature, and what he felt sent the mother of shivers down his spine.

It was as if a fragment of Death itself had somehow found its way into the mortal world and took form.

It was shifting and writhing like a living shadow; its edges were blending so seamlessly with the murky depths that he was having a hard time distinguishing where the creature ended and the water began.

As it drew closer, Harry felt an overwhelming sense of dread wash over him, a primal fear much like the one caused by Ozeth, but also completely different.

It was worse than a Dementor — much worse — and made his blood run cold.

"Krum," Harry said sharply, his eyes darting to the Bulgarian, "What the fuck did you fish?"

The Bulgarian flashed a sheepish smile, which quickly turned into a grimace.

"A Cloaked Lethifold. Do you know vot's a Lethifold, Potter?" Krum asked, his voice tense with urgency.

At Harry's shake of the head, the older boy quickly explained.

"Like a Dementor, it feeds on fear, but vere Dementors suck avay happiness, the Lethifold wraps itself around its victims, smothering them in silence. They're nearly impossible to detect until it's too late."

Harry's mind raced.

He had faced the damned wraithlike Dark creatures before, and his Patronus was strong enough to repel them.

But this was different; he hadn't faced a Lethifold before.

'A simple Patronus might not be enough to drive it back.'

"It's been hunting me since I encountered it earlier in the lake. Ve need to act fast before it gets too close to us," Krum continued, unaware of Harry's internal deliberations.

The Bulgarian's words snapped Harry back to the present.

"Alright. When that dreadful creature comes, you will distract the snake long enough for me to deal with it," Harry stated.

Whether Krum could hold back the serpent long enough for him to deal with the Cloaked Lethifold, was another matter altogether.

And he'd rather not contemplate if he could deal with the darkness incarnate…

'What choice do we have?' he wondered absentmindedly.

The giant serpent, though wounded, was still a formidable threat, and now they had a Lethifold to contend with.

Speaking of the snake, it seemed to break from whatever trance it had been in and suddenly lunged forward.

Its massive jaws opened wide, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth as it barrelled towards them.

Krum's eyes widened in shock as the serpent surged forward.

With barely a moment to react, the Bulgarian whipped his wand, slashing at the oncoming death sentence.

"Morteus Ignis!"

A torrent of purple fire erupted from the tip, spiralling through the water like a fiery serpent itself…

The flames lit up the darkened depths, casting eerie shadows against the serpent's closing teeth.

Krum's spell made the massive creature hesitate for a moment, but it still pressed forward.

'Oh shit,' the Bulgarian thought.

The spell connected.

And predictably, the serpent recoiled, its scales sizzling where the purple flames had touched.

The underwater depths were once again reverberating with terrifying roars of pain.

Yet, the serpent's eyes gleamed, because it knew… it knew that it had its prey.

Despite the searing pain from Krum's spell, the snake didn't slow down for even a moment, and Krum had realised that much too late.

Krum's eyes widened in terror as the serpent's massive jaws were closing in, its teeth gleaming in the murky water.

'If I find that Mackled Malaclaw in the afterlife, I'll make sure it regrets ever dying,' Krum thought bitterly.

His life flashed before his eyes and he braced for the inevitable impact.

Images of his family, his friends, and his early Quidditch career, when things were simpler, flashed in his mind.

He saw the proud faces of his parents, and the cheering crowds at the school when he caught the snitch for the first time, breaking all Durmstrang seeker records…

He closed his eyes as the serpent's jaws enveloped him and were about to snap.

But the impact never came…

'What?'

Unlike Krum, Harry wasn't surprised by the snake's sudden lunge.

Despite talking with the older boy, he wasn't dumb enough to stop observing the snake.

His reflexes, honed by years of Quidditch and live-or-die situations, kicked in instinctively.

In a fluid motion, Harry raised his wand, his mind already formulating the perfect spell to counter the imminent threat.

However, the snake had lunged at Krum, and the stupid champion didn't bother moving himself out of harm's way.

With heavy reluctance, Harry stopped his spell midway and instead cast a powerful summoning charm.

"Accio Krum!" Harry shouted instead, just as the serpent's jaws were about to snap shut around the older champion.

Viktor Krum's body jerked violently through the water and the spell yanked him towards Harry with alarming speed.

He narrowly avoided the crushing bite of the serpent's fangs, a blur of shadow and scales as the creature snapped at empty water.

Krum, now floating limply next to Harry, looked stunned, his face pale and wide-eyed beneath his bubblehead charm.

Before Krum could even utter a word, the serpent turned to the two wizards, its cold, reptilian gaze fixed squarely on Harry.

It hissed, the sound reverberating through the water like a thunderclap.

"Wizard, you've proven yourself a formidable opponent," the serpent hissed begrudgingly, its voice seething with anger. "But do not think this battle is over. I sense a greater darkness approaching, one that will spell even your doom."

"Your threats don't scare me," Harry retorted, his hiss steady despite his inner turmoil.

"We don't have time for you to get eaten, Krum," Harry muttered, his wand still raised, eyes locked on the massive serpent.

However, the Bulgarian didn't answer.

The near-death experience had rattled him, and adding to that, was Harry speaking to the giant snake.

Krum blinked.

Of course, he knew that Harry Potter was a parselmouth, everyone knew that after it was revealed in Harry's second year.

However, knowing and seeing were two different things.

Finally regaining his composure, Krum returned Harry's barb, "I—vould prefer that," he muttered, straightening himself.

The tension in the water was palpable as the two sides stood at an impasse.

The giant serpent, even more wounded than before, looked back with anxiousness.

"Speaker, I think we—"

The snake was cut off when an unmistakable entity arrived, its presence chilling the water around them.

Neither the snake nor Krum could see it yet.

However, Harry saw it as clear as the day — the Lethifold's dark, insidious form — and exactly where it was…

'Bloody hell.'

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CHECK OUT MY NEW FIC! - "HP : No way out of Hogwarts"

An ancient ward has been activated at Hogwarts that doesn't allow any adult to be in the castle. However, that's nothing compared tot the ward that doesn't allow anyone underage from going outside of the schools' wards... As House loyalties fracture and tensions soar, Harry fights to keep his friends alive—and sane. With death looming and forbidden arts stirring, the mounting crisis threatens to tear Hogwarts apart.

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