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Chapter Twenty Two: The First Task

Before Harry knew it, it was the morning of the first task. The entire school woke up early, preparing to turn out to watch the entire spectacle of the Triwizard Tournament. Harry attempted to calm his nerves; he was just fighting a dragon. A large vicious fire breathing, murderous dragon, there was nothing for Harry to worry about.

Harry tried to calm himself as he joined the others at Breakfast. He sat himself right between Hermione and Ginny and across from Daphne and Theodore at the Slytherin table.

"Harry, you look rather tense," said Daphne in a casual voice.

"No, I'm fine," said Harry in a cool tone of voice. "First task today should be a spectacle."

"Harry, don't do anything reckless," said Hermione, even through she knew her warning would go through one ear and out the other.

"I'll try not to Hermione," said Harry, giving his friend an extremely strained smile.

"Harry..." began Ginny, not knowing quite what to say to her friend.

"Yes, Ginny?" asked Harry, promptly Ginny to continue to speak.

"I know you'll be brilliant out there," said Ginny quickly as she turned to talk to Hermione, her ears going red. After what nearly happened last night, Ginny wasn't quite sure quite how to act around Harry.

"Thanks Ginny," said Harry, watching the sunlight reflecting off of his friend's hair and his mind not quite on what he was eating as he began to chew on a napkin before realizing what happened.

"You know, I hear napkins are rather high in fiber," said Hailey quietly so only Harry could hear as she had just joined her brother and his friends at the Slytherin Table. "So Harry, today's the first task. Please don't get yourself killed, or I might have to find a way to resurrect you so I can kill you myself."

"I'll be fine, Hailey," said Harry.

"Mr. Potter," said a calm voice. Harry turned around seeing Professor Snape standing there. "I am to escort you to the champion's tent, so Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch can give you instructions for the third task."

"Okay, sir," said Harry coolly as Hailey avoided Snape's piercing glare, as he led her brother off.

"Greasy git," muttered Hailey to Hermione.

"Now come on Hailey, he's really not that bad," said Hermione although she tried to fight a smirk.

"I'm dismal at Potions, so he’s rather horrible to me," argued Hailey. "I also have a rather unfortunate habit of speaking my mind and it does tend to get me into trouble."

Harry was followed by Snape to the tent as Snape turned to Harry.

"Crouch and Bagman are inside the tent, they will give you further instructions," said Snape shortly. "Good day to you Mr. Potter."

Snape walked off, his robes billowing behind him as Harry stepped into the tent, seeing the other three Hogwarts champions. Fleur looked as if she was about ready to be sick and Krum was pacing up and down the tent. Cedric looked uncertain, as Harry had a strong suspicion that he didn't find out what he was up against ahead of time.

Harry sat himself down on a bench, looking rather calm as Ludo Bagman entered the tent along with a very weary looking Barty Crouch. Crouch looked extremely pale, if he was combating a strain of the flu or something. Bagman was his usual animated self as he walked up with a bag in his hand, looking around at all the champions with smiles.

"Good morning to you all," said Bagman brightly and why not? After all, it wasn't like he had to go up against a dragon. "The first task will begin in a matter of moments but first, we need to draw for the order in which will be competing against your task. There are different species of the peril you must face, some more dangerous than others naturally. Still, all of them are a bit of nasty business if I may say so myself."

"And tell them what they need to collect, Ludo," said Crouch in a tired, but curt voice.

"Oh yes, as Barty has so kindly reminded me, you are required to collect the golden egg," said Bagman happily, bouncing around while holding the bag. "Should be a blast, shouldn't it?"

Harry thought that attempting to get an egg away from an angry fire breathing dragon would be anything but a blast. In fact, Harry would be the one being blasted, with a red hot jet of fire.

"Now we may draw for your adversaries so we can get the first task of the Triwizard Tournament underway," said Bagman, before holding his bag in front of Fleur. "Ladies first."

Fleur numbly reached into the bag, her hand trembling as before pulling out a Welsh Green Dragon model with a tiny number two tied around its neck. She backed off, preparing herself for what she needed to do.

Krum stuck his hand into the bag next, before pulling out a Chinese Fireball. The Chinese Fireball had a number three tied around its neck. Krum nodded before backing off.

Diggory was next and he pulled out his model, his face pale and sweaty as pulled out a Swedish Short-Snout with a number one tied around its neck. Bagman turned around, sticking the bag out in front of Harry.

Harry reached into the bag, with his eyes closed. He slowly pulled out the dragon revealing one of the worst dragons of them all. One of the most dangerous, fearsome fire breathing beasts that existed, a very difficult task to go up against. Harry found himself face to face with a model of a Hungarian Horntail. The model bared its fangs as it stared at Harry before spitting a small bit of fire towards Harry.

"Champions, you have chosen your dragons and your order," said Bagman. "I bid you all good luck and hope you are a credit to your respective schools."

Bagman and Crouch set off as the champions readied themselves but there was little to be down to prepare their minds for the task ahead. Harry attempted to clear his mind of any doubts that were plaguing it from within.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the first task of the Triwizard Tournament," said Ludo Bagman's booming voice. "At the sound of the whistle, the first champion will come out to face our first dragon. The goal that our brave champions are to face is to capture the golden egg. Now, at the sound of the whistle, the Triwizard Tournament shall start right about now."

Ginny, Daphne, Theodore, Hermione, and Hailey were sitting rather high up in the stands, looking rather anxious. They all jumped out the sound of the whistle blowing but it wasn't Harry who walked out, rather it was Cedric Diggory who looked rather pale and sweaty.

"So Diggory is the first one out," said Hailey. "It's almost like he decided to play the Tournament fair and square without snooping around to see what he would be facing."

"Isn't cheating against the Hufflepuff code of honor or something?" asked Daphne.

"There is a Hufflepuff code of honor?" asked Theodore.

"Yes there is a code of honor in the Hufflepuff house but no, cheating is only prohibited if you get caught," said Hailey.

"He looks to be transfiguring something," said Hermione quietly.

Indeed Diggory transfigured a rock on the ground to look like a dog. The dragon snorted, it didn't seem to want a dog, it seemed as if human was on the menu for this morning for this Swedish Snort-Snout. The dragon breathed fire at Diggory, burning the right side of his face.

"Well that's what you get for standing there and gawking at a dragon like a complete buffoon," said Hailey underneath her breath. "Honestly, he was the most worthy champion that the Goblet of Fire could pick for Hogwarts."

"Yes, well he is a prefect," said Hermione in an absent minded tone of voice. "So surely he must have some level of intelligence."

"Hermione, don't make me break out the Marcus Flint argument again," warned Daphne.

Diggory attempted to get his hands on the golden egg but the dragon seemed to be not playing ball. Another jet of fire and Diggory stumbled before falling flat on his face to avoid being burnt to a crisp.

"That’s sad, and he’s supposed to be of age, thus qualified for the Triwizard Tournament" said Hailey shaking her head.

"Tough luck for Diggory," said Bagman as the Swedish Short Snout made several more attempts to burn Cedric Diggory to a crisp but managed to miss each time. "That dragon doesn't seem too happy and Diggory better formulate a plan soon or he may be knocked out of the competition."

Diggory got up to his feet, waving his wand at the eggs but the dragon flew up into the air, breathing fire at Diggory. Diggory managed to get his hands on the golden egg.

"What a comeback, Cedric Diggory has gotten his hands on the golden egg, in ten minutes and twenty seven seconds!" yelled Bagman. "Dragon handlers are on the field to subdue the beast and healers are out to tend to the champion. In a matter of moments, we'll put up the scores for Diggory for the crowd to see."

"I'd give him a five and that's being completely generous," said Hailey.

"Why a five?" asked Ginny.

"He managed to get the egg and not get completely barbequed but he stumbled around blindly to do so," said Hailey.

"They're putting up the scores now," said Daphne, pointing towards the five Triwizard judges.

"And now ladies and gentlemen, the marks for the first task given out of ten possible points for a cumulative total of fifty," said Bagman excitedly.

The crowd turned in excitement towards the judges. Crouch was first, shooting a seven into the air. Bagman followed with another seven. Next was Madam Maxime who shot up a six. Dumbledore waved his wand, forming an eight and Karkaroff finished with the last number, giving Diggory a four for his efforts. As a result, Cedric Diggory scored thirty two points out of a possible fifty for the first task of the Triwizard Tournament.

"Why didn't they announce the point values to the crowd?" asked Hermione.

"They probably didn't want to put anymore pressure on the champions they then had to," said Daphne in a logical tone of voice. "After all, isn't it bad enough to fight a giant fire breathing dragon?"

Everyone nodded all around as Bagman once again address the crowd.

"Our next champion, Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons!" yelled Bagman in a booming voice as the male portion of the crowd cheered as Fleur stepped onto the field, preparing to fight a welsh green dragon.

"This should be entertaining," said Hailey. "One toasted part Veela coming up."

"Now, Hailey, that wasn't nice," said Hermione in a reproachful voice.

"I know, that's why I said it," said Hailey, looking towards the field.

Fleur stood in front of the dragon, giving a deep breath before raising her wand. The dragon sniffed Fleur, as if sizing her up for its next meal. The dragon prepared to breathe a jet of fire but Fleur waved her wand, causing the dragon's eyes to slowly glaze over. She continued muttering under her breath as the dragon slowly drifted off into unconsciousness.

"It looks like this task is nearly over, if Miss Delacour can put that dragon out for good, she has it in the bag," said Bagman in an excited voice. "She is making sure, slowly inching her way over towards the egg before the dragon comes back to its senses. Oh wait a minute, that's bad luck right there!"

Fleur shrieked as the dragon snorted a jet of fire from its nose. Her skirt was caught on fire and she pulled out her wand, attempting douse it with water. It took about a minute but she managed to fight the flames before bending down and grabbing the egg before the dragon awakened.

"Incredible, Fleur Delacour has reached the egg in nine minutes and fifty three seconds!" announced Bagman. "She barely managed to beat Cedric Diggory's time but she managed to get to the egg with little injury other than a slightly charred skirt."

Fleur was escorted off of the field as the judges prepared to give their scores. Crouch weighed in first, shooting a number seven into the air. Bagman fired an eight into the air. Madam Maxime followed, giving Fleur a nine. Dumbledore was next, shooting a respectable eight into the air. Karkaroff sneered before shooting a three into the air.

"My isn't he subtle?" said Hailey sarcastically.

"About as subtle as a Beater bat to the face," said Daphne.

Fleur walked off from the field from off the field, looking pleased with her thirty five points, now in the lead but how long she sustain the lead.

About a moment later with the Welsh Green subdued, the Chinese Fireball was brought towards the field. The dragon looked rather irritable, attempting to attack the dragon handlers as it was brought onto the field.

"My, the next champion should have a tough time with this brute," commented Bagman. "Coming onto the field right now, from Durmstrang, Viktor Krum."

Krum got a respectable amount of cheers as he walked onto the field. The dragon turned towards Krum before flying up into the air, diving at Krum. Krum didn't look too coordinated without a broomstick and he fell to the side.

"Oh, Krum was nearly snatched by that dragon but he seems to be leading the dragon's line of sight over towards him," said Bagman in an excited tone of voice as Krum blasted a jet of orange light right at the backside of the dragon. "While that can't penetrate that beast's hide, it bloody well sure got its attention. The dragon appears to be stalking Krum but Krum knows exactly what he needs to do."

Krum raised his wand, pointing towards the dragon's eyes before shooting a jet of red light. The light smacked the dragon right in the eyes, causing it pain.

"The Conjunctivitis Curse," said Hermione in awe. "The dragon's weak point is its eyes, so naturally a spell that would affect the eyes would be in order. A rather smart thing to do, if I may say so."

The dragon ambled around, cracking several of the eggs, causing them to crack but the dragon's wild tail whipped around, causing the egg to roll out of the nest into Krum's waiting hands.

"Incredible!" yelled Bagman. "Viktor Krum has captured the golden egg in ten minutes and one second!"

"Incredibly lucky," said Hailey underneath her breath. "The bloody egg rolled into his hands!"

"Well he got the egg and that's what the task calls for," said Hermione.

"While blindly stumbling into it," said Hailey in a stubborn tone of voice.

"You two can argue this point later, they're about to give the points," said Theodore.

First was Crouch, who shot a number seven into the air. Bagman followed, giving an eight to Krum. Madam Maxime shot a six into the air, followed by Dumbledore giving a seven. Karkaroff smirked, while twirling his goatee before shooting a ten into the air.

"Oh come on!" yelled Hailey in an irritated tone of voice. "That is rather unfair, that biased greasy scumbag."

Thirty eight points, that was what Harry had to beat and Ginny felt really on edge right now. She had a sinking suspicion that the worst dragon was saved for last.

"And now, last but certainly not least, the youngest champion, representing Hogwarts, and facing off against a Hungarian Horntail, Harry Potter!" yelled Bagman.

"A Hungarian Horntail," said Ginny, her face going extremely pale. Charlie had said before those were the most vicious dragons that lived right now.

"That's what he said," said Hermione in an uneasy tone of voice.

Ginny looked fearful as Harry stepped onto the field, attempting to look calm. The temptation to cover her eyes was rather appealing right now but Ginny forced herself to look down at the field. She just hoped she didn't see anything happy to Harry that would traumatize her for life.

Harry took a deep breath as the Hungarian Horntail looked at him like he was lunch. Raising his wand, Harry waited for the Hungarian Horntail to open its mouth. The Horntail prepared to breath fire and that's when Harry struck, using a spell he had found just for the occasion.

"Aguamenti!" yelled Harry, shooting an extremely large jet of fire right into the open mouth of the dragon. The dragon attempted to breathe fire at Harry, but nothing but a light grey smoke came out.

"Well look at that, Harry Potter has managed to swipe the dragon's number one weapon out from underneath!" yelled Bagman. "Still, the Hungarian Horntail does have a few other tricks up its sleeve."

The Horntail flew up into the air, swinging its tail wildly at Harry but Harry managed to expertly roll underneath before the spikes of the tail slashed at him. Harry faked going for the eggs as the dragon darted over to Harry to protect the eggs. The Hungarian Horntail went after Harry, opening its jaws, attempting to snap down on Harry's head but Harry kicked a rock in the way, causing the dragon to begin to choke. The dragon staggered from the eggs, with a rock lodged her throat, looking rather sick before spewing vomit all over the ground.

"Accio golden egg," said Harry calmly, as the golden egg flew into his hands as all of his supporters in the stands cheered.

"Harry did it, Harry did it!" yelled Ginny happily before rushing down followed by Daphne, Theodore, Hermione, and Hailey to greet Harry as he came out of the tent.

"That was rather brilliant," said Hermione looking amazed at how Harry tackled that task.

"Yes, he made the so called qualified students look like amateurs," said Hailey. "I can't wait to see what Harry gets for his points."

"Not a scratch on him either," said Daphne.

"Amazing," said Theodore.

They ran down to the tent as Harry was being checked out for injuries, although there wasn't much as Harry barely was touched by the dragon. In fact, the Hungarian Horntail would be the thing in need of medical attention.

"Harry, that was excellent, positively incredible," said Hermione beaming at her friend as they met him outside the tent.

"Yes, that was great," said Ginny, hugging Harry. "I thought something bad could have happened to you but..."

"Ginny, it's not like I went in there without a plan of attack," said Harry. As Ginny let go of Harry, Harry felt a burst of disappointment he couldn't even begin to explain but his concentration was broken when the judges prepared to give their scores.

Crouch fired a number eight into the air.

"Eight, that's not bad, not that bad at all, even if it might be terribly underrated," said Daphne.

"Crouch is such a strict person, if something isn't exactly right, he docks you anyway or so I heard," said Theodore.

Bagman followed up, shooting a ten in the air.

"Okay that's rather interesting, I'm not quite sure I deserved a ten..." said Harry.

"Yes, you do Harry, so quit complaining," said Ginny, thinking Harry deserved higher than a ten just because he was Harry.

Madam Maxime shot a nine into the air.

"Harry, I think you've got this in the bag pretty much," said Daphne.

Dumbledore followed up by shooting a nine into the air.

"Oh this is what's going to kill you Harry," muttered Hailey in a low tone of voice, looking at Karkaroff.

"Why?" asked Harry curiously.

"You'll see," said Hailey as Karkaroff sneered, making it clear that he would have given Harry a zero if he would have been allowed before shooting a one into the air.

"You now good, lousy, why..." said Hailey.

"Rather unfair but to be expected unfortunately," said Daphne.

"Relax, I'm not mad, I'm not worried about his opinion," said Harry even through he had lost out to Krum by just one measly point.

"We all know who really had the best performance in the tournament, good job Harry," said Ginny, bending forward and briefly kissing Harry on the cheek before pulling away and blushing. Ginny could not believe what drove her to do that but she wasn't so sure if she truthfully regretted kissing Harry on the cheek. Hailey shot Ginny a calculating smirk but an unpleasant distraction arrived on the scene.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, excellent bit of word, shame it's only second place," said Evan Darthmorth who had walked in.

"You, what are you doing here!" exclaimed Harry as Daphne and Theodore held him back from jumping on Darthmorth.

"No need to get all hostile, Harry," said Darthmorth smoothly as if he hadn't written a slanderous article accusing Harry of being a dark wizard. "So tell me, has my truth exposing, ground breaking article had a major impact on your life?"

"I'll have a major impact on your life if you don't leave Harry alone!" yelled Ginny angrily. "Your article has caused nothing but trouble."

"Show some respect for the media, little girl," said Darthmorth smoothly. "You must be one of Mr. Potter's little groupies."

"She's not my groupie, she's my friend you no good rotten mother fu..." started Harry before he was interrupted by the clunking sound of the leg of Mad Eye Moody.

"Is there a problem here?" asked Moody, before looking at Darthmorth. "Oh, that answers my question rather well."

"Eep, Moody," said Darthmorth backing away. Moody had personally captured him and Lucius Malfoy some years ago when they worked as Death Eaters for the Dark Lord but they managed to get off by claiming the Imperius Curse and bribing the Ministry of Magic. Moody wasn't too happy that they managed to escape from being sentenced to be imprisoned in Azkaban at the time and Darthmorth doubted the years softened Moody's stance on Death Eater's who bought their way out of Azkaban.

"I sure don't hope you aren't pestering these students," growled Moody.

"No, no, Moody, I was just er leaving," said Darthmorth before rushing off in the opposite direction to where Moody

"I have my eye on you Darthmorth," cautioned Moody before turning to Harry. "Potter excellent bit of work today, very impressive. Don't put too much stock with that coward Karkaroff marking you down, as his opinion doesn't matter too much. Worthless, slimly, but I digress. Potter, I am to inform you that Bagman wants to speak to the champions in the tent in ten minutes. Good day to you all."

Moody walked off with his eye spinning in all directions.

"Darthmorth must have been one of the Death Eaters that bought his way out of Azkaban," suggested Ginny. “After all, he’s friends with Lucius Malfoy after all and he seemed rather terrified of Moody when he showed up."

Harry nodded while holding onto the golden egg, but his attention was diverted elsewhere as he wondered if Ginny had really kissed him on the cheek or it was a figment of an unconscious desire in the back of his mind. Harry decided to not ask Ginny for the time being, and a moment later, as he entered the tent, joining the other three champions who appeared to be shooting Harry jealous looks pertaining to how well he did in the Triwizard Tournament task, Bagman entered the tent, looking like an overblown cartoon character followed by a very worn looking Crouch.

"Well done but the second task is on February 24th," said Bagman excitedly. "The clue to what the second task is rests inside the egg. You must crack the code in order to find out what you need to know for the second task. Barty, is there anything else I need to tell our champions?"

"No, Ludo, that'd be all," said Crouch. "You all may leave right now."

Friday evening, Ginny walked around the hallways of Hogwarts lost in thought. Harry had left to visit his family in New York for the weekend and even through he had been gone for an hour, Ginny missed him. She needed to talk to someone about her growing feelings for Harry. Ginny really didn't know what to believe anymore, she knew something was happening between her and Harry, but she couldn't really pinpoint exactly where it started. And attempting to figure out what Harry felt was like pulling teeth, as he tended to mask his emotions more and more in the past month.

"Lost in thought, Ginny," said a voice, which caused Ginny to turn around see Hailey Potter standing there, with a curious look on her face.

"Oh hello, Hailey," said Ginny as if anyone had a fairly accurate idea about how Harry might feel about her, it would be Harry's own sister. "I need to talk to you about Harry."

"Okay," said Hailey before motioning for Ginny to follow her into an empty classroom. "I hope you know how to do silencing charms, because I sure as hell don't and I have a funny feeling you don't want this overheard."

Ginny nodded, she didn't want this overheard as she put silencing charms around the perimeter of the classroom. Once Hailey was sure Ginny covered everything, she turned to her friend.

"Okay, spill," said Hailey.

"Well, I feel like," said Ginny awkwardly.

"Take your time Ginny," said Hailey, who had a shrewd suspicion on where Ginny was going.

"I like Harry as more than a friend," said Ginny quickly before going red around the ears.

"Tell me something I don't know," said Hailey in a bored tone of voice.

"I'm that obvious," said Ginny looking like someone died and wondering who else might have caught on to this face.

"Well, yes," said Hailey. "Still, you spend a lot of time with Harry, sometimes going out of your way to do so."

"It hasn't been always like this," said Ginny quietly, attempting to convince herself. "It's only been like this since the Quidditch World Cup."

"Ginny, you and I both know you've liked Harry for longer than that," said Hailey. "Still, it might have taken you a while to realize it but your mind has been subconsciously pushing for something more than friendship for a long time. That's why you and Harry are spending so much time together."

Ginny paused; something about her feelings with Harry was clicking in your mind.

"You may be right," said Ginny. "Still, I did have that silly crush on the legend of Harry Potter, not Harry the person that became my friend which...kind of died off when I met Harry on the platform before his first year. Before I knew he was Harry Potter, not that it matters. I see it clearly now."

"Good to see that you finally stopped deluding yourself Ginny," said Hailey. "So the question is why are you telling me this and not telling Harry this?"

"I can't," said Ginny desperately. "He might laugh me or not like me like that or decide he might not be friends with me because I did something stupid like that to jeopardize..."

"Stop Ginny, stop," said Hailey holding her hand up before Ginny made another worst case scenario. "Now I can't tell you if Harry likes you as more than a friend as it wouldn't be my place to tell you."

"Does he like me or not?" asked Ginny.

"Not my place to tell you but I do know this," said Hailey. "Harry wouldn't decide not to be friends with you if you told him you loved him..."

"I said I liked him, isn't love a bit of a strong..." said Ginny in a defensive tone of voice before pausing and realizing that Hailey might not be too far from being accurate, give or take a few more months of knowing Harry.

"Ginny, you need to tell him eventually," said Hailey. "I won't say anything to him about what you told me but it's your place to tell him and not me."

Ginny nodded in understanding, but little did she know that a certain event would come up that may be the solution to her problems.

In his office, Dumbledore was pouring over a sinister black tome with a smirk on his face. Nearly thirteen years ago, under the agreement of their Unbreakable Vow, Severus Snape had handed him this book. Apparently, Voldemort had given it to Snape to destroy, as Voldemort could not destroy it due to having made a Horcrux. The book was very remarkable as not only did it tell someone how to make Horcruxes but it told the reader how to reverse the process.

Dumbledore had suspected that Voldemort created Horcruxes on a quest to become immortal and here was his proof in front of him. Leave it to the worthless half blood to use a ritual to rip at his soul, putting him in some kind of half existence. Dumbledore had much more sophisticated methods for extending his life. Still, the fact Voldemort created Horcruxes would benefit Dumbledore. Once Dumbledore modified the reversal ritual and when Dumbledore got out of this primitive form, he could use one of Voldemort's Horcruxes to control the Dark Lord. The fact that Dumbledore was never able to manipulate Voldemort burned the Headmaster up on the inside and he would rectify that wrong in a short amount of time.