November 1994
Unknown Location
While Bellatrix was busy in reporting to Voldemort the events which had 'transpired' in the Lestrange vault, Harry had made his move on the last Horcrux. The Gaunt's Ring.
It was the same ring which had the resurrection stone inscribed in it. And it was horcrux which had the best protection to it.
Even with all the magical knowledge he wielded, Harry could not have guaranteed a safe retrieval of the ring without Voldemort's memories.
It was another of master piece of Voldemort's brain and only because of the specific memory of Voldemort, he was not worried.
Harry bypassed most of the magical protection at the Gaunt's shack with ease. Because of the memories, he faced no problem in retrieving the ring.
Similarly, like the Hufflepuff cup, his purpose with the ring was not to take the ring away. After all, Voldemort could decide any time to check the ring. Maybe he would place the Hufflepuff cup with the ring. He was not exactly very far away.
After retrieving the ring, Harry placed the same rune on it which he had drawn on the Hufflepuff cup.
After completing the task, he placed the ring back in its original position and placed the exact same curses on it.
Even so, Voldemort had a good chance of noticing something different about the ring. Not because of what Harry did to it now but because it had its gem missing. The resurrection stone.
It seemed to Harry that Voldemort had not checked the ring after his arrival and Harry hoped he does not do it now.
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November 1994
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
finally, it was the day of the first task.
Harry Potter till now one had left one important task, a sort of tradition related to the tournament. The weighing of the wands.
It was an ancient tradition being followed since the first tournament but since it was not included in the magical contract, Harry had no interest in participating in it.
The other interesting thing which had happened was that Hagrid- the gatekeeper of Hogwarts had made a request to meet Harry in the midnight, one day prior to the task.
It came as a slight surprise to Harry. After since, the things started to turn around in Hogwarts, he had rarely seen Hagrid.
Though their relation had not worsened, it certainly did not have the same warmth. After all, Hagrid was one of the most fervent supporters of Dumbledore.
Even so Harry had no qualms or complaints against Hagrid. The half giant was undoubtedly one of the purest man Harry had known. The big man carried a big heart.
Even after suffering so much which included discrimination because of the giant blood or the false accusation of the murder of moaning Myrtle, the man had neither turned bitter nor evil.
Hagrid was also one of the close friends of his parents and both James and Lily held the giant in a high regard.
Wondering what could Hagrid possibly have wanted, Harry had gone to see the giant.
Hagrid did not spoke much and only asked Harry to put up his invisibility cloak and follow silently behind him.
The gatekeeper then led Harry deep inside the forbidden forest. In mid way, they were joined by madame Maximoff.
The blush on Hagrid's face and the slight shyness on madame Maximoff clearly told Harry that the duo was very close to become an official couple.
Deep inside the forest, Harry had been surprised to see the 4 dragons. To use these dangerous entities in task for tournament was completely illogical for Harry. And this was when this tournament was being termed safer compared to previous tournament.
For an average wizard not trained in specifics of dragon handling, the creature could kill them in moments. And now school going wizard were going to face them.
Even though it would not have made a dime of difference if Harry had learned about the dragons moments before the task, he was still thankful for the good will of Hagrid. It was clear that the giant still cared for Harry and like a majority of population, he did not believe that Harry had turned evil.
At one point, he wondered if he should tell Cedric about the dragons but then let it be. Fleur and Krum were surely aware about it.
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November 1994
Hogwarts' Grounds
Bagman had just finished describing and giving instructions about the task which was retrieving the golden egg from the nest of a mother dragon.
From the expression on the faces of the 4 champions, Harry could tell that everyone was aware of the task. Even so the nervousness and fear on their face was clear.
They then chose the tokens and it was as:
First to participate would be Cedric Diggory and he would go against the Swedish Short- Snout dragon.
Second would be Fleur Delacour and she would go against common Welsh Green.
Third would be Victor Krum and he would go against Chinese fireball.
And finally, Harry Potter and he would against the most dangerous of all- the Hungarian Horntail.
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Minutes before the task was about to starts, Minerva McGonagall and Amelia Bones entered in the tent and approached Harry.
Minerva's face was marred by an anxious expression and though Bones appeared calmer, the worry on her face was visible.
"Harry," whispered Minerva in a worried way. "Are you sure about it?"
"This is too dangerous," she almost shrieked albeit in whisper.
Harry remained unfazed.
"This is the moment, madam," he said with a calm expression.
"Are all the preparations ready?" He questioned to no one in particular.
Amelia nodded, "Everything is ready… just as you said."
"Good," replied Harry.
He gave them a final nod and walked towards the other end of tent where the other three champions were sitting anxiously.
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