Hermione's Uncle

Chapter 11

Time flew fast when one was trying not to think of a deadline. Hermione was eating her breakfast. Next to her, Harry hadn't even filled his plate. Today was the First Task. Today, we will be facing a dragon.

"We'll be fine," she eventually said. "You know the spells and we've practiced some more."

From the moment they had received the letters and advice, the two had restlessly practiced the sleeping and flame proof spells along with illusion casting and living transfiguration in case the dragon needed distraction.

"It might not be enough," he pointed out grimly.

"You took the mandragores leaves with you, right?" Hermione asked

Harry shrugged and handed her the mandragores leaves.

"I'm not sure they actually act as dragon-nips," he said sarcastically.

"Paint always has some weird hear say at hand since he loves random facts. I tend to listen," Hermione interjected, feeling the need to defend her American friend. "He's not always a hundred percent accurate, but I'd say better safe than sorry, right?" Hermione said

They didn't speak until Professor McGonagall arrived to take them away.

The students were chatting excitedly, wondering what would await the Champions when the first loud roar echoed. Everyone became silent as the first dragon was led into the arena.

Fleur Delacour's turn came, and then Krum? Then it was time for Harry and her to show up.

The Hungarian Horntail was definitely larger than the others, which made our entrance on the ground even more pathetic. The dragon growled at their arrival, reptilian eyes blinking distrustfully. For a few seconds, Harry seemed at a loss at what to do, Hermione hit him to get his attention and he reached for his wand and they started approaching slowly when...the dragon stopped growling. It blinked slowly and twisted its head on the side, as if suddenly evaluating the student in a new light. Hermione held her breath as the dragon sat straighter and made a strange, soft sound for a creature its size. The noise reminded her of Crookshanks' purring.

Were the mandragore leaves working after all? The dragon seemed to lose all aggressiveness and looked at Hermione, Hermione and Harry took a few cautious steps closer, hand tight around their wand, and Harry looked paler and paler, Hermione looked so calm. The dragon growled... more gently this time ... and sniffed the air. The passive attitude made people whisper in awe, and from the corner of the eye, Hermione saw the tamers exchanging curious glances.

So it came as a shock when the dragon suddenly spit a pit of flames.

People screamed in the assembly, having been caught off-guard by the dragon's behavior. Thankfully, Hermione and Harry seemed to have anticipated the act and had time to cast the flameproof shield. The dragon spit another column of flames before getting up from its nest and moving with a surprising grace and speed towards Hermione. It spit fire a third time before Hermione seemed to realize he needed to move fast but by then it was too late. While they had practiced the flameproof shield against many other spells, nothing they had come up with had matched real dragon's fire and Hermione had been forced to remain still to defend herself. So when the creature was upon her, she wasn't fast enough to dodge.

The Hungarian Horntail opened its mouth but instead of spitting flames again, reached forwards and caught Hermione's clothes. Then, under everyone's wide and shocked eyes, it picked up the teenager and carried her back to its nest. Hermione was unceremoniously dropped on top of the eggs while the dragon resumed nesting, its large wings spread around her progeny like an impenetrable shield and Harry wondered what was going to happen to his friend.