Gerard Way and the Triwizard Tournament

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

It was weirdly quiet in the library. I'm sure Madam Pince liked it that way, but I hated it. Silence is the enemy, after all. There were only a few students in the library. There was a group of Ravenclaws in the Reference section, and a few Slytherins were whispering amongst themselves while looking around in the section on Magical Creatures. Frank was sitting at the table next to the Restricted Section. He waved to me, and I sat down next to him.

"Hey Gerard," he whispered. "I checked out a few books on dragons. It turns out that you can't stun them."

"Really?" I whispered back. "That was my plan."

"Well, it's possible if there are a lot of wizards doing the spell at the same time, but otherwise, you can't stun a dragon," Frank told me.

"What can I do to defeat a dragon?" I asked.

"I have no idea," Frank admitted. I took out my copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, hoping that it would tell me how to defeat a dragon. "I already checked that book. There's nothing there. Try this." Frank handed me a copy of Marauding With Monsters by Gilderoy Lockhart, and starting reading Dragon Breeding For Pleasure and Profit.

"This book isn't even about dragons!" I exclaimed.

"It was in the Dragon section," Frank said.

"It must have been misshelved," I said, tossing the book aside and picking up Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland. "Did you find anything?"

Frank shook his head. "This book is all about taking care of dragons. It doesn't say anything about defeating them." I skimmed through Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland, and although I learned quite a bit about Common Welsh Greens and Hebridean Blacks, I still didn't know what I was supposed to do for the Tournament. Suddenly, Frank shouted, "I found it!"

"MR. IERO, THIS IS A LIBRARY! BE QUIET!" Madam Pince shouted.

"She's such a hypocrite," Frank whispered. "Anyways, according to Advanced Dragon Fighting, which I definitely did not just steal from the Restricted Section, the Conjunctivitis Curse is one of the few spells that can work on a dragon."

"I've never even heard of that," I said.

"It swells the victim's eyes shut," Frank explained.

"How do I do it?" I asked.

"I'm not quite sure. Let me get another book," Frank said. He ran off into the Charms section and got a copy of Curses and Hexes. "Here it is. The incantation is Conjunctivito."

"Easy enough," I said. "What about the wand movement?"

"It looks like you just point your wand at the dragon's eyes," Frank said.

This spell almost seemed too easy. I was definitely going to win the Tournament with this. "Can I practice?" I asked.

"Sure," Frank said. He Transfigured his quill into a mouse. "Practice on this."

I pointed my wand at the mouse and said, "Conjunctivito!" A jet of pink light came out of my wand, but nothing happened. "I don't think it worked," I said.

"Try it again," Frank said. I tried again, but nothing happened.

"Are you sure I'm doing it right?" I asked.

"I think you are," Frank said. He took out his wand and tried the spell. This time, the mouse's eyes swelled shut.

"This spell seems unnecessarily cruel," I said.

"How else are we going to defeat the dragon?" Frank asked. Frank did another spell that I didn't know, and the mouse's sight was restored. "You can try it now."

I pointed my wand at the mouse again. "Conjunctivito!" I exclaimed, and the spell finally worked. I practiced the spell a few more times. After a while, I started to get the hang of it.

"Wow, you're doing really well," Frank said.

"It's all because of you," I said. "Thank you so much Frank."

"No problem, Gee," Frank said.

I glanced at the clock in the library. "We need to get to class!" I exclaimed.

"QUIET DOWN, YOU TWO!" Madam Pince shouted, but I was already packing up my stuff and heading out the back door. Frank followed me to Astronomy. We were both late, but Professor Sinistra probably wouldn't notice.

"Well, that was fun," I said, glad that I could finally speak at a normal volume.

"I know," Frank said. "Do you know what we're learning in Astronomy today?"

"I have no idea," I said.

"Oh well," Frank said. "I'm sure it will be fun. I love Astronomy."

I shrugged. Astronomy was okay. Defense Against The Dark Arts was still my favorite subject, and that was mostly because of Professor Howell.

Frank and I arrived at the Astronomy Tower. The sky was beautiful that night, and I knew that we were in for an interesting lesson. Frank smiled. "This is why I love Astronomy," he whispered.

We stayed there for a few minutes, just looking up at the stars. Then we realized that we actually had to go to class, so we ran upstairs to the top of the Astronomy Tower. Professor Sinistra yelled at us a bit since we were so late, but we didn't get a detention or anything, so it was okay. It was a beautiful ending to a beautiful day.