Harry Potter and Claire Smith's Adventures: Book Four

Fighting Fire With...A Broomstick?

Chapter 16: Fighting Fire With...A Broomstick?

The next morning, Claire and Harry told Hermione about the previous night's events. Hermione was just as shocked as they were to find out that Karkaroff was an ex-Death Eater and the first task was dragons.

"Dragons?!" Hermione said in disbelief. "They must be joking! You'll be burnt to a crisp!"

"Gee, thanks for the encouragement, Hermione." Harry deadpanned.

"Are you sure it's dragons?" Hermione asked.

"Pretty sure, Hermione. I don't think I would imagine seeing a fifty foot fire-breathing dragon." Harry said. "Anyway, what about Karkaroff? If Sirius is right, shouldn't we be doing something about him?"

"Harry, I think keeping you alive after the task is a bit more important then Karkaroff at the moment," Claire said. "We'll worry about him when the first task is over. And besides were not even sure if Karkaroff was the one to put your name in the goblet. It could've been Voldemort's spy."

"What if Voldemort's spy is Karkaroff?" Harry questioned. "You said the person's face was blurry in your dream. It could be him for all we know."

"Harry, Claire's right, we need to focus on this task first, then we'll figure out Karkaroff. If he was the one who put your name in the cup, then you showing up to the first task unprepared would make his mission easier." Hermione said.

"Alright, but how am I going to stop the dragons from killing me?" Harry asked.

"I'm sure there's loads of books on dragons in the library," Hermione said.

So, the three of them set off to the library. They pulled every book off the shelf relating to dragons and began to search through the large pile.

"'Talon-clipping by charms...treating scale-rot...' This is no good, this is for nutters like Hagrid who want to keep them healthy." Claire muttered to herself.

"'Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, owing to the ancient magic that imbues their thick hides, which none but the most powerful spells can penetrate...' But Sirius said a simple one would do it." Hermione said.

"Let's try some simple spellbooks, then," Harry said, throwing aside Men Who Love Dragons Too Much.

"Wait a second!" Claire said suddenly. "Maybe I could send a letter to Charlie and ask—"

"No." Harry said shortly.

"Why? If anyone would know how to defeat dragons it'd be him." Claire said. "He works with them for a living."

"He won't tell you. It'd be cheating. He was one of the people at Hagrid's hut trying to tame the dragons." Harry said.

"What? Why didn't you say he was here? I could've said hello." Claire said.

"Claire, I think we have more important things to worry about at the moment." Hermione said.

"Oh, right," Claire said sheepishly, remembering their dilemma. "Sorry."

The trio continued to look through the mountain of books; Hermione whispering to herself as she read.

"Well, there are Switching Spells...but what's the point of switching it? Unless you swapped its fangs for wine-gums or something that would make it less dangerous...The trouble is, like that book said, not much is going to get through a dragon's hide...I'd say Transfigure it, but something that big, you really haven't got a hope, I doubt even Professor McGonagall...unless you're supposed to put the spell on yourself? Maybe give yourself extra powers? But they're not simple spells, I mean, we haven't done any of those in class, I only know about them because I've been doing O.W.L. practice papers. I bet Claire's done them, but she might not be able to teach Harry in time for the first task..."