The time at Hogwarts, from Halloween to November the twenty-fourth, seemed to fly past in a blur.
All anyone was talking about was the upcoming task, giving more and more ridiculous suggestions of what it could be.
"I heard they're going to fight a Nundu!"
"Don't be ridiculous, Greg" Draco scoffed. "It can take hundreds of wizards to kill a Nundu. There's no way they'd make them face one. A manticore, maybe, but a Nundu? No way"
For some reason, everyone was convinced that the first task would involve an animal. Harry wasn't so sure. It seemed like it would be difficult for them to arrange a dangerous animal, that wouldn't be too dangerous.
Whatever it would be, Krum didn't seem to be too worried about it. Harry had formed quite a rapport with the scowling Bulgarian, after discovering him flying one morning.
At first, Krum had been very closed off, grunting in response to Harry's "good morning"
After a few days though, he seemed to realize that Harry wasn't going to be pestering him for his autograph, and they started having actual conversations.
His English did leave a lot to be desired, though.
"Harry. Do you know girl in library?"
"You mean Madam Pince? The librarian? Looks a bit like an angry vulture?"
"No! No vulture. Girl. Her name is Herm-Hermininy"
' Good God. No way'
"Hermione Granger?"
Krum nodded frantically. "Yes. You know her?"
"Not really. We're not really friends"
"But she is clever. And pretty. It is good to be friends with girl who is clever and pretty, no?"
"Not if you have a girlfriend"
' Pretty? We're not talking about the same person, are we?'
Viktor laughed heartily. "Never too many girlfriends. I want ask her to ball. She has boyfriend?"
That gave Harry a mental image of Granger and Weasley shagging. Trying not to vomit, he said. "I don't think so. She does have a good friend who is a boy, but I don't think they're dating"
"Good. You know what she likes?"
Harry shrugged.
' Being an insufferable, know-it-all bitch?'
"Books?"
"Maybe. Thank. This will help"
"Pleasure"
And time moved on. Poliakoff started sitting on the other side of the Slytherin table, flinching when Harry looked at him.
It worked nicely since Olga and Carolus stayed in the same seats. It gave Harry a chance to speak to them, to gauge them. He found them-impressive. They gave no indication whatsoever of their allegiances, smiling at Harry even though they surely thought he was the enemy.
After their idiot friend, they were a breath of fresh air.
Even though Harry wished they were stupid as well.
Classes continued, the teachers refusing to so much as discuss the tournament. They seemed to feel that by ignoring it, they could keep their students focused on the subjects, instead of debating what the tasks would entail and who would come out the winner.
Snape didn't let up at all on Harry and Draco, and finally, they started seeing some real progress.
After an intense duel, they managed to disarm him.
He had flashed them a brief smile, before telling them that he was pleased to see that they were not as incompetent as he had thought.
After that, he had started putting them under the Imperius and training them to recognize the feeling.
It was- odd. Kind of like being drunk, although also not. It was just something Harry couldn't explain, even when he and Draco tried telling Theo what it was like, they ended up trailing off, saying "you just have to experience it to know"
Snape said he would start them off easily, ordering them to do something that would go against their instinct, and that doing so would give them a higher possibility of fighting him off.
"Once you have learned to throw the Imperius off, you will be able to carry that ability through to other orders you are given when under it"
Draco was told to have his mind in its normal state, to not have it split, before Snape put him under the Imperius.
"One of the benefits of the split-mind technique is that, if utilized correctly, it allows for the Imperius to be all but ignored. The purpose of what we are doing now is for you to recognize the feel of the Imperius, to learn to fight it when you have no defenses in place. You will be wasting my time more than usual if you use Occlumency against me now"
Draco nodded, gritting his teeth.
"Imperio"
Harry watched, with horrified fascination as a gleaming knife was handed to Draco.
"Cut your left palm. Not too deeply, mind"
Face blank, Draco drew the knife across his hand. It may not have been too deep, but it definitely should have hurt. He gave off no signs of discomfort, however.
Until the curse was lifted. Then, he yelped, dropped the knife, and clutched his hand, swearing under his breath.
"That will not be healed until the end of this session. You will find that pain is an excellent motivator. Imperius"
Harry's mind was filled with a comfortable fog. He was floating, totally relaxed.
Something slapped into his hand. A knife. He looked at it, seeing the light reflect off of its blade.
"Cut your left palm. Not too deeply"
He moved the knife over.
' Should I? I don't think I should'
"You should. Cut your hand. Do it now"
He pressed the blade in, seeing it part the flesh.
' Something isn't right. I'm sure I shouldn't be doing this'
"You should. Do it. Slice across your palm"
He dragged the knife forward, blood started seeping out.
' This isn't right'
"Yes. It is perfectly right. Carry on"
He tried, but his hand refused to move.
Panic started setting in.
' This isn't right. This isn't right. Something's wrong, this isn't right'
"This is perfectly right. Nothing is-"
He jerked the knife, pulling it away from his hand, cutting his index finger as he did.
The curse broke.
Suddenly, the fog lifted, and pain spread outward from his hand.
"Fuck! Holy shit, ow!"
"Impressive. You were not attempting to use the split-mind technique, I hope?"
Harry pulled his finger out of his mouth, glaring at Snape balefully.
"As if that would even work for me. I suck at it. I didn't try"
"Spare me your adolescent drivel. You are doing as well with it as could be expected. If you truly did not try, well. That is very interesting"
"What, that you only managed to get me to cut half my fucking hand?"
Snape looked at him like he was an interesting species of beetle.
"Sometimes, I wonder if I have been cursed, forced to deal with imbeciles. Tell me, what would have happened if I had been trying to make you cut, not your hand, but your throat?"
"I-"
"You would be bleeding from a split jugular, if not dead. Should I even bother teaching you if you are simply going to moan that I am not being nice?"
"No, but-"
"If you are facing people willing to cast the Imperius upon you, they will not make you cut your hand. They will do far worse. Stop acting like a child"
Cheeks burning, Harry looked at his feet. "Sorry" he muttered.
Snape just ignored him and pointed his wand at Draco again. "Imperio"
As he had promised, he healed the crisscrossing cuts on their palms at the end of the session.
Well, nearly the end. He tested their Occlumency after that.
As usual, he was pleased with Draco's attempts.
"You have talent. Continue working it, and I would not be surprised if, by the end of this year, you are capable of keeping your mind split throughout all your waking moments"
He was much less flowing with his praise for Harry.
"Not totally moronic, I see. Keep on practicing, and try keeping it split for longer. Try doing a more arduous task with your hidden mind. You have only been reading up to this point, correct?"
"Yeah"
"Try doing a crossword, or something of the like. Make sure to keep your mind split. Eventually, you will be able to falsify memories under legimlemecy. That I am sure of"
"And keeping it going at all times?"
Snape's lip curled slightly. "I think not. Your talents lie in-more explosive areas. But you may, at some point, be able to have it going, as you so excellently put it, for a majority of the time"
There was only one other event of real interest that occurred between then and the first task.
Susan Bones, a Hufflepuff in their year, was called out of Transfiguration one day.
Her mother had come to the school, to inform her that her aunt, Amelia Bones, had tragically died in a floo accident.
Harry and Draco had just smirked at each other and nodded in response to Theo's unasked question.
' Clearing the path in the Ministry. Got to be that'
On the afternoon of the twenty-fourth, they made their way down to a large enclosure near the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Enormous stands had been set up, more than big enough for the whole school.
There didn't seem to be much to watch. There were three enormous tarpaulins on the ground, clearly covering some enormous things, and tons of witches and wizards standing around, watching them warily.
' Well, at least that rules out a Nundu'
In the Top Box, along with the rest of the judges, Ludo Bagman sat, wearing old quidditch robes. Once the stands had filled, he pointed his wand at his throat and announced in a booming voice.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls. It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to the First Task of the 125th Triwizard Tournament. Today, we will be testing our Champions' with a most heroic quest. They have to rescue a golden egg from a nesting mother"
Right then, one of the tarps disappeared, revealing what it had been hiding.
Some of the wizards on the ground aimed their wand at the enormous creature, and the dragon woke up.
' Ok. This is insane'
Blaise swore quite loudly, making a few heads turn his way.
"Did I forget to mention the species of these nesting mothers?"
Below them, the dragon unfurled its wings, sunlight glinting off of its blueish-grey scales. It roared and shot a stream of fire out of its mouth.
"After a random selection, the first champion to face the dragons has been chosen. Let's hear it for the Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory"
Cedric strode out onto the field, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw the dragon.
It roared at him, lowering its head and pawing at the ground.
With a series of complex wand movements, Diggory transfigured a boulder on the ground into a large dog. It barked and started running away from the dragon, while Diggory just stood stock-still.
The dragon took the bait and started tracking the dog's movements, moving its head slightly as the dog ran.
Slowly, very slowly, Diggory circled around the dragon, until he was right amongst the eggs.
He was just reaching out for the golden egg, when the dragon, which had been moving forward, snapped its head around.
With an earth-shaking roar, it let loose its flames.
Diggory ran, clutching the golden egg, with fire streaming from his head. As the dragon started making to chase after him, the wizards and witches on the ground started shooting stunners at it, taking it down.
"And he's got the egg! We'll wait for Diggory to return from the mediwitches tent.
Not too long later, Diggory strolled back, with his head covered in thick bandages.
"Merlin. How is he just looking so-so blasé about it?"
Daphne whispered back. "Maybe they lose points if they're not cool enough"
Diggory walked up until he was standing in front of the top box.
Madam Maxime raised her wand above her head, pointing upwards, and a large ribbon shot out of it, forming into the shape of a six.
Next was Dumbledore, who gave Diggory a seven.
Savoy gave him a seven.
Then, Bagman gave him a ten.
"Ten! His fucking head got set on fire! How the hell did he get a ten?"
"Isn't it obvious? Bagman likes him for some reason"
Karkaroff gave him a five.
"Well done to our Hogwarts Champion! Let's have a round of applause for Cedric Diggory!"
Everyone clapped as Cedric raised a fist, and walked off.
"What would you do? If you had to face a dragon?"
"Huh? I don't know. Probably run, screaming"
"And if that wasn't an option?"
"Try the Killing Curse, I guess"
"Would that even work?" Daphne sounded intrigued at the very thought. Harry shrugged.
"Maybe. Snape said that it could kill anything, even a giant. I guess it just depends on how thick their scales are"
"How thick would they have to be?"
"I don't know. Snape said if it's more than a couple inches thick, it could shield you from the spell. But the shield would be destroyed, so who knows?"
By now, the next dragon had been revealed. It was slightly smaller than Diggory's had been but seemed far more aggressive.
"And now, representing Beauxbatons Academy. Give it up for the lovely, Miss Fleur Delacour"
Fleur flounced onto the field, hair shimmering in the sunlight.
Immediately, the dragon snapped its head toward her, and let out a low pitched growl.
Her wand flashed into complicated movements, and even though she was too far away to be heard over the noise of the crowd, Harry fancied he caught a snatch of song from her.
Whatever charm she was doing, it was working. The dragon's head wavered from side to side, very slowly, before dropping to the ground with a thump.
She crept forward, continuing her singing as the dragon snores. Just as she was reaching the eggs, it sneezed. A small jet of flame shot out from its nostril, setting her skirt alight.
She shrieked, and a torrent of water flooded from her wand onto herself.
It definitely didn't hurt her looks, the way her skirt clung to her skin now.
With her pause in the song, the dragon seemed to be waking, it started raising its head, and she frantically started singing again.
She grabbed the golden egg, and ran off of the field, letting the dragon's enchanted sleep die off behind her.
As they had done with Diggory, the dragon keepers ran up and stunned the green monster.
She walked back onto the field, looking breathtaking.
Nine from Madam Maxime.
Eight from Dumbledore.
Eight from Savory.
Six from Bagman.
Five from Karkaroff.
"Seriously? Bagman and Karkaroff are fucked in the head"
"Oh, Harry. The world isn't fair"
"I know that. It's just- what's the point of the whole tournament of the judges are so biased?"
"And finally, we have the representative from Durmstrang Institute. Viktor Krum!"
Krum ran onto the field like a madman, and just kept going, heading straight for the scarlet dragon.
It raised itself on its haunches and peered at him, seeming to take a deep breath.
Krum shot a spell at it, hitting it right in the face.
It bellowed, giving off a loud scream of agony, and tried to raise its stubby class towards its face. When they couldn't reach, it started stomping its feet, spinning around, before it unleashed a huge stream of fire in a circle.
Krum rolled, managing to avoid its rampaging legs by inches.
When he got up, he was holding the golden egg.
The crowd gasped loudly.
"Holy shit! Daph, did you see that?"
She didn't respond, but she did grip his shoulder.
Krum got the dragon in the back of the head with another spell. Whatever it was, it clearly wasn't enough to knock the dragon out. But it did make it spin around, still crashing its feet.
He rolled again, and jumped off the ground and into a flat-out sprint, escaping the angry dragon behind him.
When he came back onto the field a few minutes later, he was greeted with the loudest cheers any of the champions had received. He bowed to the crowd, and that just made them shout his name louder.
Seven from Madam Maxime
Nine from Dumbledore
Eight from Savoy
Six from Bagman
Ten from Karkaroff
"See! They're just giving ten points to the one they like!"
"Harry, you really need to stop caring"
"I don't. It's just-"
"And so, the points stand Mr. Krum in the first place, with forty points. Miss Delacour in second place, with thirty-six points. And Mr. Diggory in third place, with thirty-five points. We look forward to seeing all of you at the second task, on February the twenty-fourth. Let's have a final round of applause, for our brave, incredible champions!"
It was deafening.