Harry Potter The Final Straw

Stepping towards the couple, Rita Skeeter had a sickly sweet smile on her face. "Ah, young love. And who is your little girlfriend Harry?" Her quick quotes quill was moving furiously across the notepad in her hand while she gazed hungrily at the pair of teenagers.

Before either Harry or Hermione could reply, another figure stepped in between them and Rita. To their surprise, it was Viktor Krum. "You are not welcome here. This tent is for Champions and friends." Viktor said to Rita and then he turned and gave Hermione and Harry a small smile before returning to his area of the tent, scowling at Rita Skeeter and her photographer, Bozo.

Rita's quill was moving even faster across the notepad now and Harry was dreading the article that he was sure would be in tomorrow's Daily Prophet. Before the situation could deteriorate further, Dumbledore walked into the tent followed by Barty Crouch, Ludo Bagman, Igor Karkaroff, and Madam Maxine.

Albus Dumbledore paused for a moment as he entered the tent, taking in the scene in front of him. He was not surprised to see Rita Skeeter there. What did catch him off guard was how close Harry and Hermione were standing to each other while glaring at Rita. None of this showed on his face as he strode to the middle of the room while motioning to all of the champions to join him. "Miss Granger, would you please go join your classmates. The first task will be starting shortly."

Hermione nodded in acceptance of Dumbledore's demands. She gave Harry a quick hug and a whispered message before departing. "Now then, Mr. Crouch will explain the task to everyone and then we can get started. Dumbledore said with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

By the time Mr. Crouch was finished with his instructions, Harry found his nervousness returning. He was going to be the final participant for the day and he had drawn the meanest dragon of the lot, the Hungarian Horntail. Trying to calm himself down, Harry focused on his bond with Hermione. He could feel her nervousness but also her strong belief that he would succeed in the task. Taking a deep breath, Harry drew strength from Hermione's belief and love in him. Albus Dumbledore had been watching Harry out of the corner of his eye when he noticed a change in his body language. The nervous stance from a few moments ago was gone and in its place was a tense, but determined posture. Turning his gaze upon Harry fully, Dumbledore noticed the robes that he was wearing. The Potter Crest was plainly visible along with the Gryffindor and Hogwarts Crests on his shoulders. He recognized the high quality dueling robes and he figured that Sirius Black had obtained them for Harry. The question was how did he get them to him? Harry had not received any packages via Owl Post that Dumbledore was aware. Nor had he met up with Remus during the last Hogsmeade weekend.

Pondering the mystery that was Harry Potter, Albus decided that he would need to keep a closer eye on the boy from now on, as he made his way out of the tent towards the judge's box.

Forty-five agonizing minutes later, it was finally Harry's turn to face a dragon. He cautiously stepped into the enclosure so as not to startle it. His first reaction upon seeing this particularly large beast was shock. This really drove home the point of how dangerous the tournament was and that someone really wanted him dead.

Shaking off his momentary shock, Harry slowly edged into the enclosure to better survey his options. He noticed that the noise from the crowd was agitating the already irritated dragon.

"Great." Harry muttered to himself. The last thing that he wanted was an irritated, nesting, dragon. He brought his wand up slowly and quietly intoned "Accio Golden Egg." Nothing happened. The egg must have been charmed against summoning. Not willing to change tactics just yet, Harry took careful aim and sent a quick "Finite Incantatem." at the golden egg.

The dragon bristled as it felt a second spell flash by her. Her protective instincts reared up and she spread her wings and roared at Harry before unleashing a huge ball of fire right at him. The speed of the fireball startled Harry so badly that he barely made it to safety by diving behind a large boulder. The flash of heat was intense, he felt like his face, and hands were sunburned. Doing his best to ignore the heat, Harry crept to another rock while staying low to the ground.

Peering around the edge of the boulder, Harry saw that the dragon was still watching the spot where he had been. Taking careful aim, he whispered "Accio Golden Egg!" To his complete surprise, the egg flew directly into his hands. Unfortunately, the Horntail's keen eyesight caught the flash of movement as the egg zoomed out of the nest.

With a roar of rage, she sent another burst of flames at the thief and began stalking towards her prey. When the fireball had dissipated, the dragon whipped her, spiked, tail towards his hiding spot.

Harry had barely managed to avoid the second blast of fire and he now realized that there was an enraged dragon between him and the exit from the enclosure. He never saw the spiked tail sweeping towards him from the side until it was too late. His shoulder exploded in pain when as he was tossed clear across the arena. Getting shakily to his feet, Harry thought that he was really in trouble now.

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