The crowd screamed…yelled and made all possible hellish sounds possible. In between, Harry could make out some broken commentary from Ludo Bagman. The words like daring and wicked were thrown around from time to time. Harry couldn't gauge what exactly was going on other than the fact that the crowd was suitably entertained.
Then the crowd fell silent and for a time there was very little sound other than a few garbled commentaries. Then the whistle struck again and it was Fleur's turn.
Harry watched as the French Champion stepped up to her Task. Then the waiting began. Same as before the crowd went ballistic at Fleur's entrance and from there it went on.
Harry sat straight and fished out his wand from his wand-holder. Just to be on the safe side he began applying flame repelling charms on his body as well as his clothes. He also decided to do away with the cloak. While he didn't expect to move around a lot he wasn't leaving anything to luck. The cloak could prove detrimental when the Task commenced.
With that in mind, he applied a shrinking charm on the cloak and placed it safely in his pocket. With the cloak gone he was dressed in his pants and shirt with a sweater on top.
Soon Fleur's Task came to a speedy conclusion. Then it was Krum's turn. Harry didn't have to wait too long before he heard the thundering applause and then a relative silence. He waited for his turn patiently while his mind went through the spells he was going to use.
The whistle came, signalling for his entry.
"Finally!" he muttered before he walked forward.
The moment he stepped away from the tent he noticed the fences and trees that surrounded him. The great enclosure was filled with people he barely recognised. There were too many to focus on and he dared not focus on people when the yellow eyes of an apex predator was watching his every move.
The distance between Harry and the dragon was not that much but it was workable. The sheer size of the dragon gave him a pause though. No amount of practice sessions with stone golems in the ROR did any justice to the true Hungarian Horntail he was facing.
This was indeed the most powerful and dangerous dragon in the world.
Despite the instinct of fear drilled into his being, he walked forward. He took clear measured steps and wanted to see what would provoke the dragon.
The moment he approached a certain distance the dragon let out a soul-chilling roar and he could even make out a few cries of despair from the audience.
The dragon all of a sudden reared itself and launched a torrent of fire straight in his direction.
Harry's movement was swift. With the Holly wand in his palm pointed downwards he made a small spin with his magic thrumming through his veins. The pure rush of magic was incredible especially when he watched as the flames of the dragon drowned his shield.
"Indomitus."
The shield spell was so difficult to perform but so useful as well. He could feel the sheer magical energy it took to construct the shield but he has been practising this spell for a while now. The Patronus Charm felt more difficult than this one.
'Now, it's time to show this dragon who's running the show.' he thought, flickering his wand at the energy barrier protecting him.
The kinetic force behind the jet of flames was turned outwards in a single concentrated blast and the flames were smashed away if only for a while. But that was the opportunity he was looking for.
"Eventerum Ventus."
The next spell was an air elemental spell that pulled a mini-cyclone out of the tip of his wand. The hot air and the remaining fire from the Horntail were blown right back towards the dragon under a powerful pressurised wind. The dragon reeled back but he doubted the dragon was hurt in any sense.
But, the dragon's focus was shifted and that was his window of opportunity. He could hear the roar of approval from the crowd and Ludo Bagman was excitably shouting from wherever the man was commentating.
Harry raised his wand towards the sky and pictured the spell in his mind.
"Tridenti Fons"
The tip of his wand glowed with a blue aura and a blue trident fired off into the sky. The trident followed a parabolic path and its three prongs separated mid-air striking before the dragon in the ground.
"What was that spell? Our young champion seems to have overcome the flames of the dragon and is now attempting another spell." Bagman excitedly chatted away.
"Oh, look. There is something happening on the ground." Bagman excitedly added.
Trident Fons, a spell used very commonly in deserts by ancient wizards and witches to conjure springs of water. It is said, the spell originated from ancient Greece when a wizard and witch competed to be the patron of a city.
To be precise, the spell has connections to the myth behind Poseidon and Athena's struggle to become the Patron of Athens. Poseidon is said to have gifted Athenians a salt-spring while Athena supposedly gave them an Olive tree.
'Without fire, there is no smoke.' Harry thought, as the ground before his eyes rumbled, and water began to sprout out in abundance. Every myth has a pinch of truth buried deep inside.
But, myth and truth held no sway in the present situation. Only magic matters.
Magic is might, Harry discerned, as water began to flood the enclosure. Flooding the enclosure was not his plan. Why would he drown himself? The water was only the first part, now comes the hard part.
Harry raised his wand and add a full clockwise spin.
"Suffusio."
It was the first water spell he practised when he decided elemental magic was the way forward to combat a dragon. He had repeatedly tried to make the spell more efficient but he was not at a level where he could pull water out in an explosive torrent from the tip of his wand. That left him with a sole option. Use two spells!
One was for pulling water in large quantities while the other manipulates said water as a weapon.
The tip of his Holly wand shined silver-blue and the water before him converged into a storm of swirling mass. A sharp jab with his wand saw to it the water surged forward and struck the horntail head-on.
The Hungarian Horntail let out a bellow of anger as it took on an element of nature. But, Harry was nowhere near finished. He focused the spell so that much of the water was dragged out into the open upon the dragon before he let the spell fail.
Now, water alone was only going to annoy the dragon. He could already see the Horntail was largely unbothered except for the fact that it was using its tail and wings to shield itself from the onslaught of his spell. To truly make an impact on the dragon a mere water spell was not enough. It required one more spell.
"Pruine Ventus."
Frosty gales of wind blasted out of the tip of his wand. It helped the climate was damp and cold as his spell was positively reinforced by nature itself.
The dragon was now feeling the effects of his spell. Along its thick scales, frost began to form up as the water solidified in an instant. Sure, the dragon was not going to shiver to death or anything but Harry could already see the dragon was reeling under this swift turn of temperature.
Harry could hear Bagman enthusiastically describing the spells and their effects to the crowd. Frankly, the man had his work cut out for him as the crowd was screaming so loud he could feel pain in his ears.
Keeping that aside, this was his perfect chance as the Horntail was sufficiently distracted and weakened.
Transfiguration was not his strong suit but there are ways around Transfiguration and still use its effects to his advantage. He dipped his mind into his inventory of spells and pulled out a Charm that was suitable for the situation.
"Avis."
A flock of golden coloured birds appeared out of the tip of his wand circling his head.
"Oh, look…look, folks! Mr Potter has used the Bird-conjuring charm. What is he planning?"
Harry heard a snippet of the enthusiastic commentary of Bagman.
Indeed, many would wonder why he was conjuring small birds but they can grow, right?
"Engorgio Maxima."
He felt a considerable drain on his magic but he paid it no mind. This Task was nearing its end.
The small birds grew to the size of horses. There were seven giant birds circling above him and the Horntail clearly felt threatened by them.
'Finally, Mr Horntail. Our encounter is coming to an end and you can go bother someone else.' Harry thought as he held both his hands up gripping the handle of his wand and jabbed in the direction of the dragon uttering another spell.
"Oppugno."
The effect of the spell was instantaneous!
The giant golden birds shot through the air like bullets and began to hound the dragon, and that was Harry's chance.
"Accio Golden egg!"
Unfortunately, the egg didn't make a move.
He could hear Bagman saying the Egg was covered with anti-summoning charms. The only reason he didn't begin with the Accio spell the moment he entered the enclosure was that he feared the dragon would snap at the Egg and somehow damage it. If the Egg is damaged he may lose points.
Even if Accio didn't work, he held another spell at hand. This time he was dipping into Transfiguration.
He channelled his magic into his wand and began spinning his wand high in the air above his head. Sparks began to come out of his wand but he continued feeding the spell more magic before jabbing straight at the Egg.
"Riata Laqueum."
A long lasso sprung from the tip of his wand and he expended his magic, directing the lasso all the way towards the Golden Egg where it quickly proceeded to curl around the Egg. When he was sure he had the Egg secured he made a sharp pull with his wand and the Egg sprung out of the dragon's nest. He quickly dismissed the lasso and used the Levitation Charm to slowly guide the Egg into his grasp.
"Look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! Our youngest Champion is the quickest to get his Egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr Potter!"
Harry could hear the whole enclosure shaking with applause and he hastily stepped back with the Golden Egg in hand, his Task completed. He promptly dismissed the conjuration of birds attacking the dragon as well. The last he saw before he stepped back into the tent, the dragon handlers were surrounding the Horntail.
Harry blinked twice as he looked at the Golden Egg in his hand.
"I've done it!" Harry absently whispered as a smile bloomed across his face. This was proof of his resilience, and above that, his ability to triumph greater odds.
The tent's flaps were ruffled as Professor McGonagall, Hagrid and Moody rushed in.
"That was excellent, Potter." cried McGonagall. "Such brilliant piece of magic and an excellent use of Transfiguration."
"Yeh did it, Harry!" said Hagrid with watery eyes. "Yeh did it! Against a Horntail of all dragons!"
"Thanks, Hagrid." said Harry
Moody looked visibly pleased but otherwise remained silent.
"You'll need to see Madam Pomfrey before the judges give out your score." said McGonagall as she led him out of the enclosure towards another tent.
Inside the tent, Madam Pomfrey was rushing about looking over the other Champions. She looked up when they entered the tent.
"Dragons!"
Harry heard her hiss out the word in disgust. Before he could say anything he was pulled into a cubicle and the Hogwarts healer began waving her wand over his body.
"I wasn't injured."
But, Madam Pomfrey ignored him completely.
"Last year it was Dementors and mass-murderers. This year it was dragons. What are they going to bring into this school next? A Nundu? It seems you are lucky to have escaped any injury although you could use some replenishment. Your magic has drained considerably."
Madam Pomfrey rushed out of the cubicle and returned with a potion. "Drink." she ordered.
He didn't complain and drained the potion in one go. Immediately he could feel a rush of energy filling him up.
"Now, just sit there quietly and let the potion run its course. Afterwards, you can go get your score." said Pomfrey before rushing out of his cubicle to Cedric's.
Harry sat in that cubicle looking at the Golden Egg sitting innocently by his bedside.
He waited patiently for a few minutes before Professor McGonagall came to fetch him. It was time for his score to be declared.
When Harry stepped out of the tent he saw Hermione and Ron standing outside.
"Harry you were brilliant." cried Hermione as she higher him. "It was amazing. The most brilliant magic I have ever seen."
"Thanks, Hermione. Thank you for helping me all this time. Couldn't have done it without you." said Harry, hugging her back.
"Harry." called Ron looking pale. "I reckon someone is looking to do you in."
"The understatement of this century. I don't have time for this right now." Harry muttered hoarsely overcome with adrenaline at his victory.
"Harry…!"
He ignored Hermione's cry in favour of McGonagall waving him forward towards the enclosure where the judges were waiting for him.
When he stepped into the enclosure he was greeted with thunderous applause from the crowd. He gave a brief bow in appreciation and straightened up to face the judges.
Madame Maxime raised her wand in the air. A long purple ribbon shot out of her wand and twisted itself into the number ten. The crowd applauded her decision. Then came Mr Crouch who also gave a ten which was followed by Dumbledore and Ludo Bagman. The crowd got more and more wilder in their celebration, especially from the Hogwarts side. It'd seem his performance had managed to rouse his peers and forget House boundaries.
Finally, it was Karkaroff's turn and the prick awarded him four points. The crowd immediately booed and began shouting obscenities at Karkaroff.
Even if Karkaroff decided to be a sore loser, Harry was happy. He had taken revenge in advance against Karkaroff in the Forbidden Forest. The man had walked funny when he saw him the next day and that was enough for him.
"With 44 points you are leading the Tournament Harry. You won!" said Neville who had come down to congratulate him along with the Quidditch team and a better part of Hogwarts.
"Yeah. If it wasn't for you Hogwarts would have been left in the dust." said Katie Bell
Now, that confused him.
"Yeah. Diggory lost the whole thing. He didn't manage to take the Egg. If it wasn't for you…" said Terry Boot of Ravenclaw.
"Cedric lost?" Harry asked in surprise. He had thought the Hogwarts Champion had a 60% chance of completing the First Task. Anyway, it didn't bother him much. This whole Tournament was just a prelude to the Second War. A total sham orchestrated by Voldemort and his pet Death Eater.
"Yeah. We would have been humiliated before those dark wizards of Durmstrang if it wasn't for you Harry.." said Justin Finch-Fletchely.
Justin was one of the few Hufflepuffs who had interacted with him cordially this year even after his name came out of the Goblet. The blond-haired boy had wrongly accused him in the Second Year, as the Heir of Slytherin, and when it was proven to be untrue, Justin had apologized to him. Since then, they had a good camaraderie of sorts only to be shaken again this year.
"Yeah. Look at their Death Eater Headmaster. He should be in Azkaban, not leading a Wizarding school. I suppose, with Durmstrang's reputation he is a good fit for those sorry lot." growled Ernie MacMillan.
Ernie was a somewhat reserved boy from Hufflepuff. Harry hardly knew the boy except for the fact that Ernie is a dab hand at Charms. Harry didn't know much about Ernie and so far had little interaction with the boy.
Congratulations poured in from other houses. He even shook hands with a few sixth-year and first-year Slytherins. It'd seem House boundaries were indeed breaking down a bit which was a good thing. He was sure, however, that this won't last beyond this year. Next year, everybody will be back to 'normal' or as normal as it could get in the Wizarding world.
Surrounded by well-wishers and praises he didn't fail to notice the presence of Rita Skeeter and her cameraman. He nodded at the witch and in time managed to extract himself from the crowd. It was time to capitalize on the tide that was going to crest just as he planned.