Ivy Potter, Year Four | Raised By The Malfoys

Chapter Twenty Seven: Sleep

          The next morning, Charlie put my hair in one single braid. I had a specific uniform to wear today and it represented my house colors. I went to the Great Hall for breakfast and ate with the twins. They were fussing over me and made sure that I was eating enough. I didn't realize my physique since I've been walking so often. Harry kept staring at Cho and I realized he might be infatuated. Rolling my eyes, I leaned into Fred. He and George were going to be taking bets and they knew I would win. We disregarded the Daily Prophet easily since anyone who knew me, knew that I was Harry's twin. Not to mention she said he was 12 years old. The twins kissed my cheeks before I left with Ron. Ron was bringing me to the tent for the champions and we talked about my strategy. I hugged him and went inside the tent. It was just me and Viktor in the tent. He threw a green apple at me when we made eye contact.

          "Thank you. How did you know?" I asked and took a bite.

          "I watched," he replied.

          "I'm impressed," I said and smiled.

          He had a charming smile, "Your strategy?"

          I gave him a smirk, "Yours?"

          We both laughed and he was surprisingly humble. Despite his stoic exterior, he was very soft spoken. I had a small feeling that he wasn't the most gentle though since his strategy involved brute force. He admitted that he saw me at the Quidditch World Cup and was surprised to see me again here.

          "How did you see me out of everyone else?" I asked.

          He gently brushed my bangs from my face, "Your eyes. It was like catching a glimpse of the snitch."

          I turned red and looked away. He laughed and we were now joined by Cedric. We said nothing to each other and haven't spoken since Harry tipped him off. Cedric sat at a cot, alone, and we could only glance at each other before either of us broke eye contact. Fleur came in next and she and I conversed with each other. As usual, Harry showed up last and I saw Hermione come in to give him a hug. Rita Skeeter took a picture of them as she entered the other end of the tent. Viktor promptly kicked her out but she snuck back in anyway after Hermione left. Mr. Ollivander came in for another ceremony before the tournament. He was to weigh our wands. Afterwards, Mr. Crouch came in with a large bag that was growling. Mr. Crouch explained to us that we were to pull out a small dragon and that dragon would be the one we had to face in the first task. Fleur went first and she pulled out the Welsh Green dragon. Viktor went next and he had the Chinese Fireball. Cedric was standing next to me and he was next. He pulled out the Swedish Short Snout. My left hand brushed against his right hand and we looked at each other for a second. I went next and felt fire on my fingertips. The dragon I pulled out was the Norwegian Ridgeback. Harry whispered the last dragon and probably the most dangerous one out of the five. Harry pulled out the Hungarian Horntail.

          Our task was to collect a golden egg from our dragon and Charlie quickly came into the tent to whisper something to Professor Dumbledore. In the order we pulled our dragons, that was the order we were to proceed with the first task. There was a second tent for the champions after we had each completed our task. Fleur went first and I nodded to her confidently. She nodded back and took a deep breath as she left the tent. Charlie collected the dragon from her and he didn't even notice she was a Veela. I laughed that he was so focused on dragons and my dragon was already wrapping around my neck affectionately. Harry was annoyed with his dragon as it kept digging its claws on his hands to climb. Charlie came around to collect the little creatures while I was trying to avoid him. He finally caught me by my braid.

          "C'mon, Ivy. Let her go," he said firmly.

          I flicked my tongue at him, unaware that Rita was still here watching, and he took my dragon. My dragon didn't want to go and struggled in Charlie's hands. When he finally put her away, he and I stood quietly by each other. He awkwardly gave me a hug and I blushed, hugging him back.

          "Um, good luck, Ivy," he said shyly and left the tent.

          "Thanks, Charlie," I whispered behind him.

          Harry nudged me and I flicked my tongue at him, still blushing. Cedric and I would glance at each other and he looked upset. When Viktor went next, he bowed to me and wished me luck. I wished him luck as well and he went out confidently. Caving in, I walked to Cedric, who returned to his lonely cot.

          "Hey, cinnamon roll," I greeted.

          "Hey, baby girl. Look, I'm sorry. I'm not embarrassed of you. You need to know that," he said sadly.

          "Hey," I said, standing in between his legs from where he was sitting.

          "Ivy?" He asked and looked up.

          I hugged him and his head was by my stomach, "You can do this. I forgive you. So you better survive this and tell me everything after."

          He hugged me tightly, "Thank you, baby girl."

          It was his turn to go and he stood up much taller now. We smiled at each other and he went out. I sat next to Harry and was starting to get worried. He nudged me and told me that I would be brilliant. I smiled and my name was called. Standing up, Lilyth told me that I could always summon her if my life was at risk. I knew I would and stepped out of the tent. The bright sunlight blinded me for a moment and the massive crowd cheering nearly deafened me. Lilyth tried to block some of the sensations mentally and I realized that we were in a rocky cliff landscape. The faint metallic sounds told me that the dragon was chained. I scanned the arena quickly. On my left was a slight rocky cliff and I couldn't tell if it was very high. On my right was the second tent on a higher ledge. I picked up some rocks and started to throw them around the arena. Finally, the Norwegian Ridgeback made itself visible and it was pissed.

          It already sent a stream of fire my way and I ran across the cliff and slid down some rocks, cutting my legs. It was rather steep on the other end and I winced when I landed hard. I drew my wand from my sleeve with my right hand and started my incantation as I shuffled around the rock to face the dragon. My wand was for my voice and pressed the tip into my throat.

          "Count the stars, count the stars, where do stars bloom?" I sang.

          The dragon was charging at me and I stood facing it squarely with my left hand out to it. The crowd started to scream. The dragon wasn't slowing down. Oh, bloody hell, please work!

          "Underneath the sky where flowers softly doze," I continued stronger.

          The dragon finally stopped charging and skidded in front of me as it's breath heated my entire body. The force of it's breathing blew back my braid and bangs. Its breath was so hot and I was dripping sweat. Despite that, I wouldn't let anything break my concentration. 

          Slowly moving my wand to my side, I sang directly to it, "The moon shining brightly makes every flower petal glow."

          The dragon locked eyes on me and it pressed its snout against my hand as it fell on its side, falling fast asleep. The crowd was speechless but I ran to the egg beside the sleeping dragon. Hurry up, hurry up. The crowd celebrated early, waking up the protective creature. Ok, the dragon slashes downward so I need to jump straight to avoid it slicing my spine in half. Timing. Timing. It rolled onto its massive feet and whipped its head around to bite me. Crap! Venomous fangs, venomous fangs! Don't get bit! I jumped onto my stomach to dodge the bite and landed beside the egg. I grabbed it and I looked back to see the dragon's full body turning back around. I scrambled to my feet and jumped again to the cliff near the second tent when I saw the shadow of its front leg in the air coming down. Right when I landed, three of the claws tore open my back. The rightmost claw clipped the top of my right shoulder and clawed down my right shoulder blade. The middle claw missed my spine by an inch and cut off my braid as it clawed down the middle of my back. The leftmost claw dug below my left shoulder blade and clawed down the rest of my back, nearly clawing into my hip. The cannon sounded but the entire stadium was screaming in horror at the blood dripping down the rocks. There was so much pain that I couldn't even scream as I fell forward into the second champion tent.