Neville Longbottom, the boy who lived year 4

Chapter 9

Sure enough it was the first task. They were waiting inside a tent for Dumbledore to tell them what they had to do.

Harry had switched into Neville an hour ago and Neville was under Harry's invisibility cloak so he could see what happens. He was worried about his best friend and felt a little guilty but knew he wasn't strong enough or anything.

While Harry was pacing someone called him.

"Neville, is that you?"

It was Hermione.

"Yeah." he said.

"How are you feeling? The key is to concentrate, then all you have to do is-"

"Battle a dragon."

"You can do it."

Then she left and a few seconds later Dumbledore appeared.

"Good day champions, good day champions. Now we've waited, we've wondered now we'll find out. Barty, the bag."

"Everyone, in a circle around me. Cedric over here, Ms. Delacour, here. Longbottom, Longbottom here. Ms. Delacour if you will."

She took a hand in the bag and took one.

"The welds green, Mr. Krum?"

He took his hand and got another one.

"Chinese fireball, ooo!"

After that Cedric did the same thing.

"The sweetish short snout."

Then he turned to Harry.

"Which leaves,"

"Horntail." he said quietly.

'You're so lucky I agreed with this.'

"What was that boy?"

"Nothing. Ah!"

"The Hungarian Horntail. Now, these are four very real dragons. Your collection is simple, collect the egg. That egg is what will tell you about the next task. Any questions?"

No one said anything.

"Very well, Mr. Diggory. When the canon goes off." Dumbledore said.

A few seconds later he was gone. While Harry sat there thinking he wished the others good luck. Then it was his turn.

"And now our fourth and final championship." Dumbledore said.

"Neville! Neville!" people shouted.

So he walked out and looked around pretending to be nervous. Then he saw it and slowly started walking to the egg. Suddenly there was a sound which got him to fall.

Everyone gasped or yelled.

Harry turned around behind a rock, took out his wand and shouted, "Accio Harry's Firebolt!"

That got some people to wonder how he was going to do this. Everyone knew Neville wasn't a good flier.

Then he turned around again and barely missed getting hit by fire. Then he looked up and saw his broom. When it was close enough he jumped up and hopped on it.

"YEAH!" people yelled.

He barely missed the dragon.

'Ok, we'll just say I helped him fly and will try and do it as much like Neville would as I can.'

Then he sped up a little.

"Okay," he told himself, "diversionary tactics... let's go..."

He dived. The Horntail's head followed his; he knew what it was going to do and pulled out of the dive just in time; a jet of fire had been released exactly where she would have been had he not swerved away...

Harry soared a little higher in a circle pretending to have trouble controlling it; the Horntail was still following his progress; its head revolving on its long neck - if he kept this up, it would be nicely dizzy –

Harry plummeted just as the Horntail opened its mouth, but this time he was less lucky - he missed the flames, but the tail came whipping up to meet his instead, and as he swerved to the left, one of the long spikes grazed her shoulder, ripping his robes and Harry pretended to start shaking at that —

'This being Neville is hard! I wanna fly as good as I usually do and would get it quicker!' he thought.

He began to fly, first this way, then the other, not near enough to make him breathe fire to stave him off, but still posing a sufficient threat to ensure he kept his eyes on him. His head swayed this way and that, watching him out of those vertical pupils, his fangs bared...

He flew higher knowing he had to.

The Horntail's head rose with her, his neck now stretched to its fullest extent, still swaying, hike a snake before its charmer... Harry rose a few more feet, and he let out a roar of exasperation. He was like a fly to him, a fly he was longing to swat; his tail thrashed again, but he was too high to reach now luckily everyone couldn't see it... He shot fire into the air, which she dodged... His jaws opened wide...

"Come on," Harry hissed, swerving tantalizingly above him, "come on, come and get me... up you get now..."

And then he reared, spreading his great, black, leathery wings at last, as wide as those of a small airplane - and Harry dived. Before the dragon knew what he had done, or where he had disappeared to, he was speeding toward the ground as fast as he could go, when he was close he slowed down, looked like he was terrified and everything he could. After being raised with Neville he knows what to do and how to do it. Acted like him as good as usual toward the eggs now unprotected by his clawed front legs - he had taken one of his shaking hands off his Firebolt - he had seized the golden egg.