Harry Potter and the Serpent Slayer

Chapter 8: The First Task

Harry woke up on Tuesday, exhausted and scared out of his mind. His nervousness was so great that he spent his breakfast on autopilot, unable to properly think or process anything. Time became a strange, warped thing as he went through his first few classes of the day where they were simultaneously going by too quickly but also stretching out forever. When Professor McGonagall came to collect him, he followed mutely, unable to properly listen to anything she was saying to him. But at least he could tell that she seemed as anxious as Hermione.

The champions' tent and the arena had been erected just at the edge of the forest, and it was into the tent that Harry was told to go. Just like pretty much every other time, Harry was the last to arrive and he saw that the other champions looked just as nervous as he felt. That brought him some comfort but it still wasn't enough. Cedric was pacing, but Harry could really only stand still like an idiot even while Bagman was explaining what was going to happen while trying to be as vague as possible. Not that it mattered, Harry was certain that everyone already knew what they were up against.

There seemed to be no shortage of bad luck for Harry as he pulled out the model of the Hungarian Horntail from the pouch Bagman was holding. Breathing heavily, all Harry could do to drown out the sounds of Cedric, Fleur and Krum's battles and remember the spells he'd been learning with Hermione for days on end. When it was time for his turn, Harry sucked in a deep breath, stood up from where he'd been sitting and left the tent.

Hundreds upon hundreds of faces were all staring at Harry as he entered the arena. But the only thing he could see in front of him was the Hungarian Horntail staring at him. Huge, black-scaled and with bright, yellow eyes staring at him, the beast slammed its spiked tail on the ground in a challenging way as the rest of its body curled protectively around its clutch of eggs. There in the middle, Harry could spot the golden egg shining brightly in the mid-afternoon sunlight.

Everything melted away in that instant. Harry felt vaguely calm while at the same time his heartbeat thundered in his ears. He wasn't nervous anymore, and in fact felt himself getting more and more excited. Unbeknownst to himself, he was now giving the dragon a vicious smile of his own. Raising his wand, he shouted out "Accio Serpent Slayer!" while also rushing headfirst towards the Horntail.

The dragon met Harry's challenge with a roar of her own and released a stream of white-hot flames at him. Instinct took over as Harry jumped to cover behind a large boulder, blocking the fire from consuming him. He rolled, absorbing the impact of his dive and waited as the heat from the flames washed over him. Somehow Harry thought that this was actually not the worst situation he'd been in. When the dragon finished, Harry chanced a peek over the now-glowing boulder. The Horntail was still bearing down on him but given that it was chained up to stop it from escaping, it couldn't fully reach him. That was good, he could use that to his advantage.

Rolling away from his shelter, Harry aimed his wand at the dragon. "Bombarda!" he shouted. The Exploding Charm was strong against most things it hit, but against a dragon all it did was snap the Horntail's head to the side. It quickly recovered though and let out an earthshaking roar that caused Harry to stumble backwards and forced most of the spectators to cover their ears.

Dazed by the attack, Harry barely had time to react in order to avoid getting crushed by the Horntail's tail. He jumped out of the way, landing on the ground with a loud thud. He hissed when the jagged gravel and dirt cut through his robes to graze his elbows and forearms, but he shot up to hit feet and sprinted to dodge another plume of fire aimed at him. He fired a Blasting Hex at the dragon, forcing it to stop breathing fire as the spell struck it on the nose. It growled and snapped its jaws at Harry, getting so close that he could have sworn he heard someone (a girl, likely Hermione) shriek in fright. He rolled out of the way and snarled back at the Horntail, then grinned when a sight caught his eye. The Serpent Slayer was on its way.