That Damn Weasley Charm II G.W

Part 4, Chapter 22- Cedric Diggorys Dragon

"Good afternoon everyone! And welcome to the first task of the Triwizard Tournament!" Dumbledore's voice echos through the arena from an unknown location. The crowd goes wild. The sound is deafening, louder than any quidditch match I've ever been to. Fred and George squeeze through the crowd and back into their seats. They spent the majority of the morning getting people to bet on champions and now they are finally ready to watch the event.

"Now, for your safety as spectators!" Dumbledore calls. The crowd goes quiet, no one really knowing what is going to happen. "I have been asked by the handlers to tell you all some quick rules that must be followed. Firstly, absolutely no signs! Parchment or otherwise! These can and will distract what the champions must battle against! The use of a sign will put you and everyone around you in immediate danger and if a member of staff sees you with one you will be removed from the arena!"

"Charlie said stuff like that could get the dragons riled up and start attacking us instead. Wicked right?" Fred whispers down the line.

"Lovely," Walter mumbles

"Also! I need to ask everyone to keep their hands, arms, legs, and any other body part on the same side of the fencing as you stand! Once again this is very dangerous and will put you and those around you in great danger!" Dumbledore continues.

"I can't watch." I can hear a familiar voice from behind me. I turn around and Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and a few other Gryffindor students are standing there.

"And now! I introduce Mister Ludo Bagman and commentator this afternoon!" The crowd cheers and claps loudly.

"Thank you Dumbledore! Now the judges and I have kept very tight lipped about the first task. And the time as come for us to finally tell you what it is!" Mister Bagman shouts. "Each contestant will have to collect a golden egg from the arena. Easy enough right?" He pauses for dramatics, "Wrong! Each egg is being guarded by a fierce and dangerous dragon!"

The entire crowd gasps and starts to talk loudly. Mister Bagman has to raise his hand for silence again. "Each champion has been assigned a specific dragon to battle and outsmart! The only tool allowed? Their wand!"

"I can't believe that this is really happening." I say, my hands covering my mouth in a form of shock.

"Nothing bad'll happen. Charlie and his team is supposed to jump in if something gets too awful." George says. He puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me into his side.

"Bring out the first beast!" Mister Bagman shouts.

A gate on the other side of the arena opens and a huge dragon stalks out of the darkness. The crowd screams in both horror and excitement. I recognize it as the Swedish Short Snout before Mister Bagman introduces it. The dragon roars and fire erupts from its mouth.

"Bloody hell." Lee shouts, he's smiling from ear to ear just like the twins.

We can all hear Mister Bagman clear his throat, "And bring out the first champion!" Everyone in the crowd stops their feet as a sort of drum roll and a door opens on the opposite side of the arena. We can see the colours their wearing before we can make out who it is.

"Cedric Diggory!" Mister Bagman shouts. Cedric is wearing yellow and black, the Hufflepuff colours. As soon as he steps into the arena the door behind him closes and the crowd roars.

As soon as the dragon sees Cedric the action starts. The dragon stalks towards him and Cedric pulls out his wand and dives behind a rock just in the nick of time.

"Looks like pretty boy isn't going to be so pretty after this." Fred jokes. Emma and I both look at him horrified and he shrugs an apology.

Cedric hides behind a big rock, out of view of the dragon. Mister Bagman is commentating but no one is really listening. Cedric manages to transfigure a rock into and big hairy dog and sends it around the boulder he's hiding behind.

"Brilliant move on Diggorys behalf!" Mister bagman shouts over the roar of the crowd. The Hufflepuffs are going wild, in fact, every Hogwarts student is in the middle of losing their mind.

My mouth stays wide open in complete shock as the dog that Cedrick transfigured dashes in he opposite direction of the nest, getting the dragons attention.

"He's got to teach me that spell, my mother would never let me get a dog." Walter says.

No one responds to him though. We're far to busy watching Cedric dive from rock to rock getting closer and closer to the dragons nest. The nest is full of real eggs, all except the golden one that he has to capture.

"He's done it! I can't believe he's done it!" George yells. Cedric is feet away from the nest, I can tell hes calculating his next move.

"The dragon! Cedric! The dragon!" Emma screams.

It's like the entire crowd heard her. Every single pair of eyes in the crowd moves onto the dragon who has apparently bitten the dog and realized that it was fake. Now it's clambering over the rocks right towards Cedric.

"I'm gonna be sick." I moan. I cover my eyes with my hands but part my fingers so I can see through the gaps.

It feels like I'm watching it in slow motion. The dragon opens its mouth just as Cedric dives for the egg knowing that as soon as its in his hands he gets to go back to safety. His fingers graze the egg, the dragon releases a burst of flames that hit Cedric nearly right in the face.

Every person screams bloody murder, expecting to see a charred body where Cedric once was. But Mister Bagman blows his whistle and Charlie and the rest of the handlers come out of nowhere and get the dragon back into the cage it came from.

"Congratulations Cedric Diggory!" Mister Bagman shouts. It's only just dawned on us. He's not dead, he's got the golden egg. "The first of our four brave champions to brave a dragon and succeed! Now may we please have Madam Pomfrey... Ah here she comes now."

Cedric is groaning on the floor, one of his hands clasped over his face, the other clutching the egg as tight as he can. Madam Pomfrey and professor Sinistra who teaches astronomy come running out into the arena. They load Cedric up in a stretcher and float him out of the area and back where he came from nearly fifteen minutes ago.

"I can't believe he survived that." Lee says as he releases the breath he was holding. "I mean how could anyone survive a dragons fiery breath to the face?"

"I could have." Fred says. We all look down the line at him and he looks back at us and shrugs, "I totally could have."

"Yeah alright there big guy." Emma says. Everyone laughs but Fred just frowns.

"I don't think my heart can handle watching three more people do this." Walter says. The crowd around us have broken into their own little conversations while we wait for the dragon handlers to move the Swedish short snout out of the way and bring in the next dragon.

"One of them is fourteen! Imagine trying to defeat a dragon at fourteen! Do you know what we were doing at fourteen?"

"Sneaking through hidden corridors between the castle wall with our pockets full of candy?" George states.

I smile fondly at the memory, the six of us hauling ass through tight passages and steep, hidden staircases. "Exactly! I couldn't even get back to my common room without being caught. Now imagine trying to battle a dragon!"