Harry Potter Short Stories

Choices 2: Let the real games begin and life at Hogwarts

Harry Potter had survived. Not only did he survive, he received the highest score. How did he accomplish this without having the use of a wand? By using his talents not to mention the considerable amount of anger which was consuming him. Sometimes anger (and revenge) can help you perform miracles and what Harry did was considered a miracle – by some – but dark magic by others.

Harry had found out about the dragons and being the good sportsman that he was he had told Cedric Diggory what he knew. Krum and Delacour knew but Diggory hadn't a clue and didn't have the common courtesy to thank Harry for the warning so that the Hufflepuff "real champion" would have a fighting chance of surviving.

Harry had been doing lots of research since he became a pariah and was cast out. It had freed him from the prison called Gryffindor and the guards known as McGonagall, Weasleys and Granger and yes, the evil manipulative warden, Albus Dumbledore.

It had been his secret friend Luna Lovegood who told him the task was dragons as well as there was a theory that dragons could understand a parsel speaker and Harry should sneak out late one night and find out. She went with him for moral support and because she wanted to ask the dragons a few questions if the theory was true. Besides he needed her help in finding and putting sleeping charms on the dragon handlers guarding the dragons.

Mercifully, the theory was proven correct and deals were made with each dragon to help Harry in his task and Luna got her questions answered.

Therefore, despite not having a wand, Harry did a bit of a dodging dance – for appearances sake – and told Borbolya (which was the dragon's name) what was going on. She threw out a blast of fire near him (as was planned) but said in was in sympathy for the way he had been so rudely used and abused.

After a few minutes she stopped, they "seemed to come to an agreement" and she nudged the golden egg out of her nest and pushed it towards Harry. He took it, they bowed and he told her she would be receiving the three cows she wanted as soon as Harry's elf could buy them or before she left for Romania. Worst case scenario she would get them after she went home but she WOULD get them.

When the crowd realized what Harry had done, it exploded in applause. Even Slytherins were applauding as well as most of the students from the other schools. Harry didn't care he just went back towards the tent like he was supposed to do but stopped about 20 feet in front of it. He looked at the fickle crowd of...%#*%#^&^&#^ and then called out loud and strong "FAWKES" and the great bird appeared and flashed him away.

Dumbledore was delighted as he thought his familiar had taken Harry directly to his office and would keep him there until Dumbledore could deal with the boy. He was delayed because the scores had to be announced, he had to finish playing the host, do a few odds and ends such as giving the news media a statement and then he calmly made his way back to his office to find it empty of both boy and bird. He called out for Fawkes but the bird didn't answer his call. He then tried again and again until finally after 15 minutes it was evident that Fawkes was not rushing back to heed his call.

That should have been the first clue that things were about to change but Dumbledore was too proud, too arrogant to think that Fawkes would not soon be back and bringing Potter with him. However, after two days had passed with no sign of Fawkes or Harry Potter, it had finally sunk in that something was wrong. But what?

The news media was going insane as was Fudge. People were demanding to see Potter, to interview him, to ask him how he had accomplished his task without the use of a wand. Ron Weasley had told Rita Skeeter (in the first of his exclusive interviews) that Potter was a known parselmouth and despite even Dumbledore telling him to stop it as it was a dark, evil practice and the sure sign of a dark wizard, Potter went around the school hissing in the wicked excuse for a language "And I wouldn't be surprised if he was casting curses when he was hissing and not being caught while others, like my brothers, were blamed for his pranks."