England's Bloody Rose

Iolanthe Potter Chapter #12

"That was extremely intriguing," Pandora Fawley whispered to her friend, Lanecia Shacklebolt, "I can't believe that's You-Know-Who's origins."

"I agree," Lanecia whispers back, "it would be a real blow to his movement if everyone knew this."

"How you doing Iola?" Sirius is sitting beside her, "I came to watch the First Task."

"I can't believe they're forcing me to participate!" Iola thundered, "I'm not even 15 yet. The only benefit I have is that they told me what the first task is. FIGHTING A FLIPPIN DRAGON! I didn't sign up for this!"

"Dragons?!" Lydia's heart fell in her chest, "they're pitting teenagers against dragons?!"

"At least she'll have a great story to tell the kids one day," Sirius tried joking.

"I guess," Lydia calmed down, "and I'm sure they wouldn't allow her to die. I can relax."

"I know," Sirius reassures her, "but you'll do fine. You already have a plan, don't you?"

"Barely," Iola curled into herself, "it's rather simple. I'm going to try and distract it by using Draconifors. Then I'll use engorgio, and make it big enough to, hopefully, catch the dragon's attention. Then I'll use a strong defensive charm, haven't chosen from protego duo or repello iniminicum yet, but I'll rope off the area with the eggs. Then I'll snatch the egg, cast a notice-me not, and rush back. It's going to flop horribly."

"A well-thought out plan," Newt hums, "but unfortunately, she's unlikely to be able to pull it off. It relies on a lot of luck."

"I hope she'll be okay," Tina says worriedly, "this is unpleasant business."

"Maybe it will," Sirius says, "maybe it won't. Who knows? I just want you to know I don't expect you to win, nor do I need you to win. I want you to do the bare minimum to pass. If you win, we'll all be proud of you. If you lose, we'll still be proud. Survive. That's all we ask of you."

"Okay Daddy," Iola stands up, "I'll do you proud. I promise you that much."

"Good," Sirius kisses her forehead, "now I'm off to the stands. Don't forget to change into your uniform."

"Bye Daddy!" Iola shouts. Soon, Ludo Bagman and Crouch Senior arrive, and the dragons are doled out. Iola receives the most dangerous dragon, the Hungarian Horntail. As the other champions go, Iola paces the tent nervously. She is not pleased at all. 

Cedric Diggory transfigures a stone into a dog, and the dragon chases it, allowing him to steal the egg. Fleur Delacour charms the dragon to sleep, and gets her egg burning her skirt in the process. Theodore Calderon-Boot opted for a simpler method. With great precision and skill, he baits the dragon away from the nest, and uses a cunjuctivis curse on it's eyes. Additionally, he raises huge, metal chains to trap the dragon, and casts strong protective spells on them. He rushes to collect his egg, with the crowd cheering in the background.

"The Calderon-Boot boy is good," Newt comments, "not unexpected, given his lineage." The hall is fascinated by the clever methods of beating a dragon the champions come up with.

"Iolanthe Potter!" Bagman calls, and Iola musters up her courage, exiting the tent to cheers from her school, friends, and family.

Iola took a deep breath, before casting her draconifors spell. As expected, another Horntail appears, although it's small in comparison. "Engorgio!" she shouts, and directs the fake dragon towards the real one. The dragon falls for the bait, and flies off. Iola rushes off towards the eggs, casting protection spells under breath. Most of the spells don't allow scent out, so the dragon cannot perceive or smell her. Iola grabs the egg, but her dragon only distracted the real one for so long. She'd have to fight her way back.