Chapter 51
CASSIUS BLACK
"It's dragons!" whispered Hermione, as she ambushed the three of them in the library once more. Both Daphne's and Tracey's heads snapped towards her, as Cassius continued to work on his Transfiguration homework.
"What?" asked Tracey.
"The first task," Hermione clarified, clearly flabbergasted by the information, as both Daphne and Tracey realized the gravity of the situation as well.
"Dragons!" they both gasped as Hermione nodded and pulled out a chair beside Tracey.
"Yes, I don't know the details, but I can confirm that the first task involves dragons," and Tracey shook her head.
"What the hell are they thinking?" she gasped, and he looked up to see all three of them eyeing him with pity and concern, before sighing.
"I already knew," and it took a second for the shock to register.
"What?" Tracey gasped, and he shrugged.
"Yeah," and this time it was Hermione who spoke up.
"Then why aren't you making preparations?" asked Hermione, and he raised a brow.
"Because I am not participating in the tournament," he answered easily, much to her surprise.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because I don't want to," and she turned towards Daphne and Tracey for support, but both of them already knew of his plans and had nothing to say.
"And you agree with this?" she asked, and they both shrugged.
"It's his decision," Daphne argued as Hermione frowned.
"But why?" she asked.
"Because I didn't want to participate in the tournament at all," he responded, as she continued.
"And why wouldn't you want to participate in the tournament?" she asked.
"Because I did not out my name in," he clarified, as Hermione sat down.
"So, what are you going to do?"
"I am not going to compete in protest," and she shook her head.
"Why don't you compete and win, to show it to whomever put your name in that you are not scared of them," she suggested, and he smiled.
"Spoken like a true Gryffindor," he answered.
"But I am a Ravenclaw and I would much rather sleep than play these stupid games," and she sighed.
"Well..." but she had no argument now, and became sullen as she whispered.
"And I spend half an hour begging Fleur to tell me about the task?" and then she dropped her head on the table, as Cassius shrugged.
"Speaking of that, I wanted to ask you something," he began, remembering one thing he had wanted to discuss with her.
"Yeah," she asked still sullen at his decision.
"You have been staying at the Gryffindor dorm right?" and she nodded.
"Have you spent time with Harry and Ron?" he asked and she nodded again, though the way her eyes shifted at his question told him that she had an inkling about what his next question might be.
"Have you noticed anything different with Harry ever since you have come back?" and both Daphne and Tracey were eyeing him, suspiciously as he asked that. Though he had already spoken about his suspicions to both of them before, but neither of them was as close to Harry as Hermione.
And if his fears were correct, he needed to warn her as well.
"Maybe," she answered and he noted how the answer was not a no.
"What have you noticed?" he asked probing further, making her frown again as she began to rub her chin.
"He is a bit more confident, more outgoing," and she seemed to want to say more, but she stopped herself.
"But isn't it all because of Sirius?" and that was what his own mind argued, but in his heart he knew that this was not Sirius's influence. That this was something more.
"Maybe, but if you notice something else do mention it," and she was smart enough to know that this was not simple.
"Why?" and this time it was her asking that question.
"I am just curious," he lied, and she did not say anything at first.
"Well, you are the second person in the week to warn me about Harry?" and that made his head snap towards her.
"Second?" he asked and she nodded.
"Yes, Fleur said something unusual as well," she added without much care.
"But this is not the first time she has warned me to stay away from boys," and she rolled her eyes at that, though this was not so funny for him.
"Perhaps you should listen to her then," Daphne added, adding in her own two scents.
"I might, but speaking of Harry I did wanted to ask something of you," and she was along at Daphne now.
"Yes,"
"I heard that you had a class in DADA about the Patronus charm?" she asked and Daphne nodded, as his curiosity rose as well.
"Yeah, we had one last week. It was not even in schedule, but Professor Black hardly ever sticks to it, so it was not that much of a surprise," but why would he bring up the charm out of nowhere.
Unless, it was not his opinion to bring it.
"Was Harry in the class?" he asked, and she nodded.
"Of course, he even tried to produce a patronus and failed though he had leave early. He began to feel ill for some reason," and that was interesting.
"He couldn't do it," Hermione asked, and Daphne again shook her head.
"No, why?"
"That's a surprise because Professor Lupin taught him the spell last year. And from what I know, he was able to do it last year, he even showed it to me and Ron..."
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HEADMASTER ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
The stands were filled to the brim, and all the necessary arrangements had been made. Albus's heart ached to see a majestic creature like a Dragon being used for sport, but there was little he could do to change the nature of the tasks.
The participants had already been informed about the task, officially, though he had not missed how none of them had been surprised by the inclusion of dragons in the first task. Obviously, just like other traditions, cheating itself was one of the oldest traditions of the Tri-Wizard tournament.
Albus himself did not wish to debase himself with such behavior. Still, he had little control over the actions of his colleagues and underlings who had chosen to rely on underhanded methods to receive an advantage.
Though Igor and Maxime probably felt entitled to it, after the perceived injustice they had suffered during the selection, as Hogwarts was somehow awarded two champions.
And despite his efforts, Albus remained oblivious to the culprit behind the scheme, or their intentions, and as he scanned the expansive crowd, he wondered just which one of them was behind this thing.
And as his eyes landed on Harry, he realised that he had asked the wrong question.
He already knew who? What he did not know was how, and the why?
"It is about to begin," added the Headmistress Maxime, and the woman dwarfed them all, as she sat beside him, as Igor sat to her right while the two representatives from the ministry flanked his left.
"Yes," Albus agreed, as he watched Cedric Diggory take to the stage, as the large Hogwarts crowd cheered on their 'real' champion. The Hufflepuff Headboy was quite popular and waved to the crowd as he prepared himself for the task.
"That's Amos's boy, right?" asked Bagman boisterously, adjusting his rather plump frame in the chair.
"Indeed," Albus answered as Madam Maxime slowly cut in.
"Do I need to remind you that we, as the judges, are supposed to be impartial?" she repeated in her accentuated French accent as she looked at the Head of Magical Sports and Games, who nodded quickly.
"Of course, I was just asking a question," and he wondered if the Headmistress herself would follow her advice, as the canon was shot, marking the beginning of the match.
The task was quite simple, for each of the champions had to retrieve the Golden Egg lying in the Dragon's nest. The dragon they had to face was chosen randomly by the champions themselves, and Amos's boy had lucked out having drawn the rather docile Swedish Short-snout.
The boy waved his wand in an intricate pattern, as the rock in front of him transformed into a Dog which began to circle around the dragon, taking away its attention as Cedric himself slowly approached the Egg.
It was impressive Transfiguration work, and the Headboy showed his resilience and fear as he picked up the Dragon Egg and began to retreat, but by the majestic beast had caught onto the plot, as it screamed in anguish and swung its tail towards him, and began to thrash around.
The attacks caught the Hufflepuff champion on the shoulder, as his scream filled the air, but in the end, the realization came too late, as Diggory vanished into the safety of the barriers.
The Dragonkeepers came out and began to calm down the beast, as the students all clapped in applause. And as the angry dragon was taken away, the champion appeared out of the tents once more, to receive his score.
He was pale and in pain, as he held his arm in a brace, as each of them stepped forward and awarded him his points, and despite Karkaroff's evident malice, the Hufflepuff champion scored a total of thirty-eight, a respectable total in his mind.
And so, the tournament continued, and it was the Beauxbaton champion who took the stage next, her dragon a Common Welsh Green. She used a bewitching spell, amplifying its potency through her own natural Veela charm, and put the mighty beast to sleep as she slowly approached the egg.
But even a sleeping dragon was still a dragon, and so as a fire breath escaped the beast's mouth, it caught her by surprise, lighting her skirt on fire, forcing her to douse it out.
In the end, it was a good showing, and she strode into the safety of the tents with the Golden Egg, applause, and the love of many male students. In the end, she scored an even thirty-six, with Karkaroff and Bagman taking away marks because of reasons that had nothing to do with her performance.
And then it was time for the third champion, and Viktor Krum walked onto the arena like a champion. His Quidditch career had made him accustomed to such fame, and pressure, and the boy did not flinch even as he faced the mighty Chinese Fireball, thrashing around the arena.
And as soon as the canon was fired, the boy aimed his wand at the Dragon and activated the Conjunctivitis curse, filling the arena with the dragon's screams and screeches as the boy ran towards the golden egg in a display of courage.
"That's my boy!" Karkaroff cheered on, even as the dragon thrashed the egg with its tail, tearing it up, as it reeled with pain as Albus shook his head.
In the end, even he was impressed with the Bulgarian Seeker's agility as he took the egg and ran back, as the crowd roared in cheers, clearly entertained by his performance.
Though one could not say the same for the Dragonkeepers, who were clearly angry, as they tried to control the raging beast. In the end, it took them quite a few minutes to stun the enraged beast, and once the arena was cleared, the Quidditch star came back to receive his scores.
Despite Karakoff's bias, Madam Maxime showed herself to be a bigger person as she awarded the boy a fair score, handing him a total of forty points, putting him above both Cedric Diggory and Fleur Delacour.
And now it was time for the final event, and unlike before, there was not much of a cheer of applause for the next champion, and even the judges around him were frowning as Cassius took to the stage.
The Ravenclaw prodigy had drawn the short straw, having drawn the most troublesome dragon of the lot. The Hungarian Horntail was the largest and the most feral of the four dragons and had been chosen by him, much to his dismay.
Though if the rumors were true, it would not matter much.
And everyone watched in anticipation as the cannon was fired, and the whole crowd went silent as the boy did not move an inch. Seconds turned into minutes as he simply stood there observing the mighty beast, and while some may think that it was fear that had stilled the boy, most of them knew the truth.
"This is a disgrace," roared Karkaroff, as Cassius Black took out what seemed to be a book from his pocket, plopped down on a transfigured chair, and began to read it with no care for the mighty dragon screaming down at him.
"Indeed, Albus you must do something," Bagman added, rubbing his hand.
"And what am I to do?" he asked, for he was an impartial judge.
"If he did not wish to compete, then why did he put his name in the Goblet?" added the Headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic.
"And that is his argument," Dumbledore answered.
"This is just his way of protesting," Dumbledore answered, as the rest of the judges shook their heads.
"Preposterous, and what are we supposed to do?" argued Karakroff.
"Are we going to sit here for hours, and waste precious time all because of one unrulystudent?" and he had no idea about that, and turned towards Rufus Scrimegour, who knew the rulebook by heart.
"We will have no choice but to wait for at least one hour," and that would be quite gruelling, and by now the crowd had begun to run out of patience as boos and shouts began to spark all over the stands.
"And even that is because of the amendment made by the Ministry, but the rules are rigid. Until the allotted time passes, we cannot interfere with the task at all, no matter what," and so they would have no choice but to simply sit here for an hour.
"Well, that is disappointing," added Bagman as he stood up.
"If he is not going to do anything, I am simply leaving," and he was not the only one.
Soon enough, Karkaroff vanished as well, along with Scrimegour and Madam Maxime, leaving him alone in the judge's chambers as he sipped his third cup of tea.
The stands were half empty by then as well, and of the allotted hour, only five minutes remained as Cassius Black sat there unmoved by the boos, chants, and curses, engrossed in his book.
The Hungarian Horntail splashed around, enraged by the disrespect, as it tried to attack the boy. Yet, the chain around its neck stopped it again and again. As he turned towards the stands, he eyed a young, bespectacled boy.
"Now what will you do..." Yet before he had finished his words, screams and shouts filled the arena, as he turned towards the central ground and watched as the chain around the Dragon's neck broke off, as it barreled towards the young black-haired boy with a mighty scream.
"No..."
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