Incendio

Ch.1 Yer a dragon...wait, what?

Harry Potter took a deep breath as he waited for the signal. The signal that would let him know when it was his turn to go out and risk his life in front of a crowd of people. Today was the First Task. Today was the day that Harry would have to face a real life, fire-breathing dragon. Of course in the First Task they just had to be going up against one of the deadliest creatures the wizarding world had to offer. It didn't bode well for the remaining two tasks. Harry had long given up that his life would ever be normal but it seemed that this year was trying to blow all of his expectations out of the water. So far this year he'd been unwillingly entered into some dangerous tournament, had the school turn against him because of it, and now he had to compete in three deadly tasks for eternal glory he wanted nothing to do with. Harry's life was complicated enough with Voldemort constantly coming after him. He didn't really need the added stress this tournament was giving him.

Harry ran through the plan he'd come up with. It wasn't exactly full proof but Harry supposed that it would have to do. Harry was only a fourth year, and though his experiences had probably made him a bit more capable in life or death situations than the average fourth year, he was still far behind the other contestants. Planning had never been one of his strong suits either. Moody was the one who eventually suggested that he focus on the skills he did best. Harry's mind had instantly latched on to flying. Harry had always been a brilliant flyer. From the very first moment he had picked up a broom, it was like he'd been born to soar through the air. For the plan to actually work Harry would just need to make sure that he lasted long enough against the dragon for his broom to reach him.

The horn blasted. It was time. Before Harry could second-guess himself he took a step out into the arena. The Quidditch pitch had been transformed for the task. It was covered with rocks and outcroppings to hide behind. In the center was the dragon itself. Of course Harry had to get the fiercest dragon, the Hungarian Horntail. The dragon was a brownish red color with rows of spikes. It had been chained to the ground, and there between its legs, in its nest was the golden egg that Harry had been tasked to get.

The moment the dragon caught sight of Harry it... Well, Harry didn't quite know how to label its reaction other than it looked... scared. The dragon reared back from Harry, and curled itself protectively over its eggs. The reaction surprised Harry so much that he momentarily forgot his plan. His mind was racing with other instances where magical animals had strange reactions to him.

Harry remembered Norbert's, the baby dragon that Hagrid had gotten his hands on in first year, reaction to first seeing him. Harry had written it off as a fluke the way the baby dragon had scuttled away from him like he was diseased when he had moved closer to inspect him. Then there had been the basilisk in his second year. When Tom Riddle had sent the basilisk after Harry the basilisk had hesitated. He'd held back and hissed something about Harry concealing fire inside him. The ancient basilisk had been frightened saying Harry smelled mostly human but that there was something more to him as well. Riddle had to scream and threaten before the basilisk finally worked up the courage to go after Harry. With everything that had happened after that Harry never really spent a lot of time thinking just why the basilisk had been so wary of him.

Until now, when the Horntail's extreme reaction brought up the memories of other creature's reacting negatively to him. The crowd seemed to be equally shocked by the dragon's strange behavior. Harry was thrown off. He completely forgot all about calling for his broom. He was too caught up in memories of other such instances, and so he continued to stand in the middle of the arena perfectly accessible to the dragon.

The dragon gathered its courage when Harry continued to remain motionless and unthreatening in front of her. She reared up, and sent a fiery blast of flame straight at Harry. Harry attempted to jump out of the way but his shock had slowed his reaction time, and he didn't have time to escape the blast. The flames hit him full force. But he didn't burn. The flames passed over him, and instead of experiencing a fiery death Harry was only engulfed by a tingling sensation. The crowd started screaming as soon as Harry was consumed in flames. No doubt they thought they had just witnessed their boy savior's death via dragon fire. His clothes were burning but Harry himself felt absolutely fine, and he watched detachedly as the fire licked at his skin without causing a bit of damage. The flames were almost comforting.