Triwizard Mechanics

Chapter 11

ONE DAY I WILL REMEMBER. ONE. DAY.

Cedric walked out to the arena slowly, looking around everywhere. His eyes locked on the Swedish Short-Snout he had to get past. He pulled out his wand, slowly, trying to keep the dragon from noticed. His moves were in vain. The dragon suddenly snapped his head toward Cedric. It looked like it might ignore him, but, after a few seconds, leaped into the air. Cedric turned and ran. He hid behind a rock just as the dragon blew fire.

Calypso leaned in closer to Leo. "Do you think he'll be alright?" Leo put his arm around her.

"I built it, what do you expect?" he said with a smirk. Calypso shook her head and smiled, but didn't relax any.

Cedric reached around the rock he was hiding behind a waved his wand. A dog appeared a few feet from the dragon. It barked, and the dragon turned its attention to it. Cedric began to slowly creep out from behind the rock. He was halfway to the golden egg, when the dragon suddenly lost interest in the dog. It snapped its head back to him, letting out a long breath of fire. Luckily, Cedric somehow managed to leap out of the way, leaving only minor burns to his body. He hurried to grab the egg, and ran back under the covering. Charlie and the other dragon-handlers hurried into the arena and pretended to put a spell on the Short-Snout, while Leo pressed a button on a remote control that shut it down. The dragon shuttered and collapsed to the ground, and the wizards use a real spell to levitate it and carry it away from the arena.

A wizard comes back on to announce the next champion. "Next we have Fleur Delacour, who will be facing the Common Welsh Green dragon!" Fleur came running out into the arena, the exact opposite of Cedric. Calypso tightened her grip on Leo's hand, thinking Fleur would surely have her face burned off, but when she saw the dragon, she immediately hit it with a spell. Before the dragon could react, it crumpled to the ground, snoring. Calypso relaxed, and Leo stifled a laugh.

"Did she just--," Leo said, quietly. Calypso nodded.

"Yep."

Fleur slowly started making her way toward the egg. She seemed to be doing very well, until the dragon shot fire from its nose, mid-snore. Fleur screamed as her skirt caught on fire. Quickly, she pointed her wand at the flames, and water shot out of it. The fire was extinguished, so Fleur started toward the golden egg again, though much quicker. She grabbed the egg and, shaken up, hurried back to safety. The judges made their scores, and the next champion was announced.

"Our next champion is Viktor Krum. He will be facing the Chinese Fireball!" Krum came thundering into the arena, same as Fleur, looking for the dragon. The dragon, however, spotted him first. Krum dived behind a boulder as the Chinese Fireball shot flames at him. He quickly pulled out his wand, and shot a spell at the dragon. He hit his target, and it stumbled back. Krum ran out from behind the boulder, and bolted toward the eggs. The dragon continued to stumble around, and Krum had to stop for a few moments while the dragon stumbled over to the eggs, smashing a few of them in the process. When the dragon had moved away, Viktor grabbed the golden egg. He ran back under the tent as Charlie and the others lifted the Fireball.

"Our final competitor for this afternoon is Harry Potter, who will be facing the Hungarian Horntail!" Calypso and Leo sucked in a breath. They both knew how nasty that particular dragon was. Leo's grip on the remote control tightened, knowing he would probably have to do something to help Harry.

Calypso leaned in closer to Leo, who put his arm around her. "Here he comes," she said.

Sure enough, Harry was creeping onto the field. The Horntail immediately noticed him, and blew fire. Harry dived behind a rock and sat, closing his eyes. Leo groaned. Nothing good was going to happen. He looked over at Hermione, sitting alone. It looked like Ron didn't even bother to come. They met eye contact, and Hermione's eyes pleaded with him to help Harry. Leo solemnly shook his head, and Hermione seemed to understand. She nodded sadly and went back to watching Harry, who hadn't moved. The Horntail was getting closer. He didn't have much time left. Leo looked around for Ron. After scanning the crowd for a minute, he finally saw him. Ron was sitting with Fred and George, who looked as happy as ever, while he sat with his head in his hands. He looked up, and he seemed on the verge of tears. Leo turned his attention back to Harry and the dragon.

Suddenly, Harry whipped out his wand and yelled, "Accio!" He got up from the rock and ran to another one nearby, delaying the dragon. Off in the distance, Leo saw a speck flying toward the arena, growing larger. It was Harry's Firebolt. He caught eye contact with Hermione, beaming. Hermione was smirking. They must have discussed what he was going to do. The Firebolt was in reach of the stadium now. Harry peeked out from behind his rock just as the Firebolt came to him. He quickly hopped on it and soared into the sky. Hermione screamed with excitement. Leo and Calypso began cheering on Harry with the rest of the crowd. Ron lifted his head, and immediately began cheering.

Harry flew around, just out of the dragon's reach. He stopped, looking for the golden egg. When he had found it, he dived, but quickly pulled out of it as the Horntail shot fire at him. He flew high up and began circling around, making the dragon dizzy. He soon dived again, barely missing the Horntail's flames. He swerved, just as its tail swung out. It grazed his shoulder, and Hermione screamed. The rest of the crowd groaned.

"Push the button, for god's sakes, Leo, push the button!" Calypso whispered, sounding terrified. Leo shook his head.

"He can do this!" Just as he said this, the Horntail rose onto its hind legs. Harry had flown so high that the dragon had gotten extremely annoyed. He immediately swooped down, grabbing the golden egg before the dragon could even move. The crowd immediately erupted in cheers. Leo and Calypso flew to their feet. Leo pressed the button on his remote as Charlie and the crew came to take the dragon away. Harry flew toward them, giving them a thumbs up. Hermione ran toward them.

"C'mon, let's go to the tent and see him!" They quickly ran to the champion's tent. They were almost there when Ron jumped out at them.

"Hey! Guys!" he called as he ran toward them. They screeched to a halt. Hermione scowled.

"What do you want, Ronald?" she said, coldly. Ron looked down.

"Look, I-I realized how stupid I was being. Th-There's no way Harry would be mad enough to enter his name."

Calypso put a hand on Ron's shoulder. "It's okay, Ronald," she said with a snicker. Hermione and Leo didn't move.

"So you think you can just come crawling back, huh?" Leo said. "Think everything's all right now that you've said you were sorry? I don't think 'sorry' makes up for abandoning your friends for a month."

Hermione frowned. "He admitted he was wrong. It was all stupid in the first place." Calypso nodded. Leo still didn't forgive him, but the others were moving on.

The group met Harry as he was coming out of the tent, the cut on his shoulder gone. He smiled and hurried toward them, but frowned when he noticed Ron.

"Harry, that was absolutely brilliant!" Hermione exclaimed. Leo slapped him on the back. Ron looked down, sheepishly.

"Harry, I-I was wrong. Wh-whoever put your name in the goblet must be out to get you!" Harry stared at him blankly for a few moments.

"Finally caught on have you?" he said coldly. Hermione began to look nervously between the two. Ron opened his mouth, and Harry shook his head. "Forget it."

"But I-"

"I said forget it!" Harry smiled, and Ron smiled back. Suddenly, Hermione burst into tears. "What's up with you?!" Harry said, bewildered.

"You two are just so stupid, that's all!" she said through glistening tears. They all laughed, and left the tent to see the scores. Ron began to describe the other champion's experiences. Suddenly, he stopped. Madame Maxine shot her score into the air: an eight. Then came Barty Crouch: a 9. Ludo Bagman gave him a 10.

"What?!" Harry exclaimed. Leo slapped him on the back again.

Dumbledore gave him a 9. Last, Karkaroff shot a four into the air.

"A Four?!" Ron shouted. "Why you biased little-" Hermione shot him a disapproving look, and he became quiet. "Well, you know, Harry, you really deserved a 10." Harry smiled.

Later that night, the Gryffindors were celebrating in the common room. Everyone was shouting for Harry to open his egg.

"Alright, alright!" Harry grabbed his egg. He pried it open, and suddenly the room was filled with a horrid screeching. He immediately shut it.

"Oh, gods, Harry!" Leo shouted. "What was that?" Harry shook his head and shrugged.

The party fizzled out pretty quickly after that. Harry tried to figure out the egg for the next few days, but gave up eventually when he couldn't. The next task was coming soon, and Leo and Calypso were soon called to Dumbledore's office again.