Squib On The Run (sequel to Squib In The basement)

35. Dragon Tales

Returning to England ended up being a smart move for the Black siblings.
For when Harry returned to Hogwarts, he ended up being placed in even more danger than before.
He had been entered into the Triwizard Tournament, despite him being too young to compete, and him claiming that he did not put his name into the Goblet of Fire in the first place.
Cassiopeia and Sirius could tell how scared he was, through the letters he sent them, and they knew that a written responce was not going to be enough to calm his nerves.
So, despite the risks, they decided to use the floo network, to talk to him face to face.

"This is extremely reckless" hissed Cassiopeia, as Sirius began setting up the fireplace.
The pair had just broken into a wizarding house in Hogsmeade, and Cassiopeia was terrified that the owner was going to show up any minute.
"Harry is about to face the first task, and he is going to need some reassurance from his guardians. You know how dangerous the Triwizard Tournament used to be, and I doubt they've made it any nicer. These tasks are designed to test 17 year olds, who are the best students in their schools. Harry is just an normal 14 year old boy, he is not ready for this" replied Sirius.
"Probably best if you don't say that to him, unless you want to make him even more nervous" mumbled Cassiopeia, as she looked out the window, to make sure no one was approaching the house.

"Noted. Now, get over here, unless you don't want to see Harry" instructed Sirius.
"Of course I want to see Harry. But if this gets us put in Azkaban I'm blaming you" informed Cassiopeia, as she joined Sirius in front of the fireplace.
"Whatever you say" mumbled Sirius, before sprinkling some stolen floo powder into the fire.
Cassiopeia and Sirius then stuck their heads into the flames, and when they opened their eyes they found themselves inside the Gryffindor common room.

"It's nice to be home" Sirius said quietly, as he looked around the empty room.
"It's smaller than I thought" commented Cassiopeia.
"Hey, don't mock it. This was the one place I truely felt safe and happy, when I was younger" snapped Sirius.
"Sorry. I just thought that since the castle was so big, the common rooms would be larger"
"They might be bigger in other houses, but this is the size of the Gryffindor one, and I love it. It has a very cosy, homely feel to it"
"I'm surprised you know what those two words mean, since we didn't grow up in anywhere that felt like that".

"Do you two argue over everything?".
Sirius and Cassiopeia looked away from each other, towards the figure who had begun walking towards them.
"Harry!" They exclaimed in unison.
"Hiya. I didn't think you would actually be here, since it's so dangerous" admitted Harry.
"Of course we were going to be here, we promised that we would. And we don't break promises to our godchildren" replied Cassiopeia.

"No, we don't, and before this goes any further I have one question to ask, did you put your name in the goblet of fire?" Demanded Sirius.
"No!" Insisted Harry.
"Good" replied Sirius.
"For the record, I never doubted you Harry" added Cassiopeia.
"You'd be the only one not to. Everyone thinks I put my name into the goblet of fire. Even my best friends... Ron won't talk to me because I won't tell him how I did it. He doesn't believe that I didn't put my name in, and the rest of our roommates are on his side" revealed Harry.
Cassiopeia could see the pain on his face, and it hurt her to see him look so crestfallen.
"I'm sorry, it's never easy when people you care about turn on you. But if you really are best friends, then Ron will come around eventually. You just need to give him time" Cassiopeia said softly.

"I've got bigger problems than friendship on my mind right now. Hagrid just showed me the first task, and it's dragons. They've got one for each of the champions, so basically, I'm done for" admitted Harry.
"Hey, dragons we can deal with, but right now we've got other things to worry about" warned Sirius.
"What do you mean?" Frowned Harry.
"Someone put your name in that goblet, which means that someone wants to you dead. It's the perfect crime. Put your name into the goblet of fire, and hope that you killed during one of the tasks" explained Sirius.
"Sirius, that is not helpful" hissed Cassiopeia.

"But who would do that? Who put my name in?" Asked Harry.
"Well, Wormtail is a possibility" answered Sirius.
"I can't see Peter sneaking back into Hogwarts, not while Dumbledore and Moody are on high alert" countered Cassiopeia.
"You know Mad-Eye Moody?" Questioned Harry.
"We both served under him during the war. He is a good man. He never saw me as a lesser being, even though I'm a Squib"
"He's been helping prepare me for the 1st task"
"That's good, I'm glad he's looking out for you".

"Cassie has a point, it would be foolish of Wormtail to come back to Hogwarts, especially when you've got the Marauders Map in your possession. But he's not the only death eater on the loose. In fact there are two in the castle right now" revealed Sirius.
"Who?" Gasped Harry.
"Severus Snape and Igor Karkaroff" answered Sirius.
"Both of them are reformed death eaters. They turned on their own friends to stay out of Azkaban, so I can't see either of them putting Harry's name into the goblet of fire " admitted Cassiopeia.

"There is no such thing as a reformed death eater. They are all evil down to the bone" Sirius said coldly.
"We both know that is not true. I wouldn't be here without one particular death eater. One who we both loved very much" reminded Cassiopeia.
"He made his choice. He chose to join them, and in the end it got him killed" muttered Sirius.
"Who are we talking about?" Quizzed Harry.
"Our brother Regulus. He was the middle child... He joined the death eaters when he was just a boy, and when he tried to back out, they killed him. He was only 17 at the time" answered Cassiopeia.

"We are not here to talk about the past, we must focus on the present. And I can guarantee you that Karkaroff is not a reformed man. They love teaching the Dark Arts at Durmstrang afterall, and he's the headmaster there. So you can bet that his champion is going to be a very dangerous competitor" said Sirius.
"So, you think Karkaroff put my name into the goblet of fire?" Asked Harry.
"Possibly. He used to serve Voldemort, and you took him down, so it makes sense that he would want you dead" replied Sirius.
"Well, he'll get his wish soon. All he has to do is stand back and watch as the dragon burns me alive".

"Hey, don't go thinking like that, you've got to stay positive" insisted Cassiopeia.
"The other champions are all 17, I don't stand a chance at beating any of them" mumbled Harry.
"This is not about winning, it's about surviving. And from what I've seen so far, you are pretty good at doing that. You got the Philosopher's Stone, you found the Chamber of Secrets, and you helped us face a werewolf at the end of your last term. So don't go talking bad about yourself, because you are a pretty talented kid" praised Cassiopeia.
"Thanks" replied Harry, forcing a smile.

"Right, so dragons are pretty tough. No normal spells are going to penetrate through their thick scales" informed Sirius.
"Yeah, I saw. It took a whole team of dragon tamers to stun the Hungarian Horntail" admitted Harry, with a shudder.
"Exactly. But I think a simple spell should work-" started Sirius.
"Stop! I hear something. Someone is coming!" Interupted Cassiopeia.
Harry turned his head to the staircase behind him, that led up to the dormitories.
"I hear footsteps. You had better go" hissed Harry.
"Good luck Harry" whispered Cassiopeia, as Sirius pulled her out the fireplace.

"Well, that could have gone better" sighed Sirius, as he stood to his feet, and wiped his sooty hands on his trousers.
"That couldn't have gone worse. All we did was make Harry scared that death eaters are after him, and we didn't tell him how to stop a dragon" exclaimed Cassiopeia.
She stood up and began pacing up and down the room in a panic.
"Hey, it could have gone worse, we could have been seen, but we weren't" replied Sirius.
"Small miracles... Come on, let's get out of here before the owner comes back and finds two criminals in his living room"
"Yes, let's go. Harry will have to figure this one out on his own"
"The Ministry officals will step in if Harry ends up in serious danger, right?"
"They want this to go well. They don't want another Triwizard Tournament death on their hands. But, if someone is out to get Harry, then I don't like his chances".