The competing champions

Chapter 4.17 (The First Task)

Harry appeared, looking sick to his stomach. He was going to face a black, lizard-like dragon, with yellow cat-like eyes and horns all the way to the end of his tail...he looked somehow even nastier than the other dragons had. "HARRY POTTER, facing the Hungarian Horntail!" The Horntail was crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half furled, trashing her spiked tail.

The crowd was making a great deal of noise. Aurora saw Harry breath in deeply, raising his wand and shouting something.

"Nothing happened." Said Ron, in concern.

"Why would you care?"

"He's still my best friend." Ron snapped.

"Some way of showing it..." Aurora snapped back. "And it did do something...look!" Speeding through the air behind Harry, the Firebolt was hurtling towards him. It stopped dead in mid-air beside him, waiting for him to mount. The crowd was making even more noise and Aurora found herself standing up, her eyes not leaving Harry for a moment.

Harry swung his leg over the broom, and kicked off from the ground. And a second later, Harry's face eased into an easy smile. A determined look on his face as if this were nothing more than a Quidditch match he was going to win.

Then suddenly...Harry dived. The Horntail's head followed him. He pulled out of the dive just in time. A jet of fire had been released exactly where he would have been had he not swerved away... "Great Scott, he can fly!" Yelled Bagman, as the crowd shrieked and gasped. "Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?"

Harry soared higher in a circle. The Horntail was still following his progress. Its head revolving on its long neck...

Harry plummeted just as the Horntail opened its mouth, but this time he was less lucky...he missed the flames, but the tail came whipping up to meet him instead, and as he swerved to the left, one of the long spikes grazed his shoulder, ripping his robes-

The crowd screamed and groaned, but the cut didn't seem to be deep...now Harry zoomed around the back of the Horntail. Harry began to fly, first this way, then the other, not near enough to make the dragon breathe fire to stave him off, but still posing a sufficient threat to ensure she kept her eyes on him. "He's trying to make the Horntail take off and leave the eggs unprotected." Aurora gasped, as she understood what he was doing.

He flew higher. The Horntail's head rose with him, her neck now stretched to its fullest extent, still sawying, like a snake before its charmer...

Harry rose a few more feet, and she let out a roar of exasperation. He was like a fly to her, a fly she was longing to swat. Her tail trashed again, but he was too high to reach now...she shot fire into the air, which he dodged....her jaws opened wide...

Amd then she reared, spreading her great black leathery wings at last, as wide as those of a small aeroplane....and Harry dived. Before the dragon knew what he had done, or where he had disappeared to, he was speeding towards the ground as fast as he could go, towards the eggs now unprotected by her clawed, front legs...he had taken his hands off his Firebolt and he had seized the golden egg..

And with a huge spurt of speed, he was off, he was soaring out over the stands, the heavy egg safely under his uninjured arm.

The crowd was screaming and applauding as loudly as the Irish supporters at the World Cup...

"Look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get the egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr. Potter!"

Aurora saw the dragon keepers rushing forwards to subdue the Horntail, and over at the entrance to the enclosure, Professors McGonagall, Moody and Hagrid were hurrying to meet Harry, all of them waving him towards them, their smiles evident. Harry flew back over the stands, the noise of the crowd was pounding Aurora's eardrums as Harry smoothly landed.