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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
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"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 350: The Power of Lord Hadrian Potter-Black
"Well… ehm…" Silverbell seemed hesitant to continue.
"Well, what? Come on, spit it out, old man. Are we going to die if we don't get this done?" Victoria asked harshly.
"I have a feeling it's worse than that…" Tall Harry sensed something troubling.
Neville glanced at the old gnome. He knew what would happen if those other versions of them didn't return...their worlds would collide, and only one could survive. And it looked like the small professor did not want to tell them that.
"I believe it's best to focus on the task at hand. Knowing too much won't help you right now," Silverbell decided, fearing that the added pressure could backfire with so much at stake.
There were murmurs of complaint, but Neville cut them off with a powerful shout.
"That's enough!" His voice carried so much force that the entire arena shook. Even the dragons snapped their jaws shut.
"All you need to do is complete the task, and you'll go back home. That's all you should focus on. Thinking about what happens if you fail is just a distraction," he added.
"Heh, Longbottom's right," Hadrian said, locking eyes with a particular dragon. "Why would I think about failing?... when I never fail." He pointed at the dragon. "That one's mine," then at the nest, "and those…"
"Everyone, stand back! I'm going to release his dragon and bring it forward," Neville instructed.
The dragon had to be before the nest, as it would have been in the actual test....or so Neville believed. He wasn't sure of the universal rules for fixing cosmic convergences, but this felt right.
"Go get yourself burned, pervert," Victoria muttered, hoping the Hungarian Horntail would wipe the smirk off Hadrian's face.
"Hurry up, will you?" Tall Harry urged.
"Be careful! Those beasts look nasty," Skinny Harry added.
As Neville dragged the dragon into position using the chains, Hadrian stood confidently in the center of the arena.
"Ready?" Neville waited for Hadrian's nod, then vanished the chains holding the dragon.
The dragon was freed and began to roar. It looked extremely angry and ready to kill the first thing that got close to it. The Horntail proceeded to look back at its eggs for a moment, before turning its fiery gaze toward the front.
Hadrian did not seem intimidated by the best and approached a bit more.
"This will be fun." He smiled.
Everyone else, including Neville, had positioned themselves far behind, ensuring the dragon's aggression would focus on Hadrian.
The young man stood tall, showing no intention of retreating. The audience watched in breathless anticipation as he boldly approached the dragon.
Flames flickered in the dragon's mouth, and a moment later, it unleashed a torrent of fire straight at him with no restrain whatsoever.
The boy made no attempt to defend himself, not even drawing his wand, or at least that's what it looked like. He simply stood there, letting the flames engulf him.
Neville could hear gasps of shock from behind him. "He's fine…" he muttered.
'If he wasn't lying about being part Incubus… dragon fire would never kill him.' Neville recalled that both Incubi and Succubi had a natural affinity for fire, giving them a lot of resistance also. On top of that, he noticed Hadrian had cast a fire-resistant charm on himself without needing his wand.
As the flames diminished, Hadrian's silhouette emerged unscathed, much like Neville had predicted.
The young wizard stood untouched, watching the dragon tire from its fiery assault.
He let out a loud chuckle. "Hah! That's the best you've got? Those flames are nothing… let me show you some real fire!" Hadrian raised his right hand, and a strange flame began to form.
Viridescent flames, glowing green, danced around his arm. And the temperature in the arena spiked rapidly.
"Tsk… that fool," Neville muttered, casting a heat-protective charm around himself and the others. Without it, they would've been seriously burned at this distance.
"What dark magic is that?... is it Fiendfyre?!. No...this is something else." Victoria exclaimed, her eyes wide. She was well-versed in the dark arts after reading most of the books at the Black Family library, she would have recognized a Fiendfyre being used, but this was something she had never seen before. It looked even more potent and dangerous.
The dragon, sensing danger, tried to turn back to protect its eggs, but Hadrian wasn't about to give it the chance.
"This is too much! He's going to destroy the eggs!" Silverbell shouted.
"Stop freaking out. I know what I'm doing," Hadrian replied with a wide grin. He threw the small green flame toward the dragon.
As soon as the flame touched the Horntail's scales, it rapidly expanded, enveloping the entire beast.
The dragon's roars of agony echoed through the arena, but they didn't last long. The green flames consumed it like a living entity before sinking into the ground, leaving almost no trace...only a few black bones and the scorched stones where the dragon once stood.
Neville couldn't help but be impressed. This boy had a tremendous level of control over something that no ordinary human could ever hope to master. He noticed that the nests had not been touched. Most of the head had been focused on himself and the dragon.
"What was that?!" Victoria demanded.
"Those were Nether Flames. Fire is sourced directly from the Netherworld, where demons reside. Fiendfyre was modeled after it…a very long time ago." Neville explained.
Hadrian walked with his head held high, confidently retrieving the golden egg from the nest. "See? I told you. I never fail."
"Now I would like to go back. I'm sure there are a lot of worried girls waiting for me."
Just as he said that Hadrian vanished, along with the nest and the rest of the eggs.
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