Another Weasley (FTM OC)

Chapter 8: Trials and Treatments

Draco was being a prick. It was definitely Theodore's influence not to say that Draco didn't have any original ideas but he was being egged on by the taller boy. Pansy stayed out of it but Blaise was for the most part on Caydens side as he was one of the few slytherins in their group not raised by ex-death eaters. All the badges and stickers however, were becoming ridiculous and Cayden barely had the energy to fight him on this after all he had studying to do. Cayden also did not want to watch the first task. It's not that he hated dragons, sure he didn't have his love for them like his brother but he never hated them. That being said he didn't exactly want to watch them attacking his friend. The whole school however did not share his sentiment. Everyone seemed to have nothing to talk about other than the first task, what it could be, who would win, if anyone would die. It was slightly jarring to see everyone talk about the possibility of death so casually. Most students hadn't faced death before so it made sense. It was hard even for Cayden to conceptualise.

The day finally came and everyone was gathered around for the event. Walking there felt so strange, Cayden knew what was coming but no one else did. They were all talking and laughing, he wondered how many would still be laughing if they were the champions. He looked around the crowds of students, everyone was on the edge of their seats. They all heard the cannon and watched as Diggory emerged from the tent. He was terrified, kept a calm composure one Cayden assumed he'd been practicing since he learned about the dragons. None the less the entire crowd cheered for him, some for his victory and some for his failure. The first dragon to enter the arena was a Swedish short snout. He'd heard about dragons all his life, remembered bedtime stories from Charlie but seeing on in person. Even from how high up he was he could see its massive size and short snouts weren't overly large. Cedric was smart, he knew he couldn't get past it so he created a distraction. He turned one of the nearby rocks into a dog and once the dragon left its post to chase it he grabbed the egg before the dragon could react. He was safe. The entire crowd oohed and cheered all in unison holding on to all of his actions, it was terrifying and Cayden could barely get a sound out. Maybe it was the shock, almost no one had really seen a dragon this close before, maybe they were all stunned and couldn't help but be in awe. Maybe they were able to distance themselves from it. Cayden however couldn't. He looked at his friends and most were on the edge of their seats. Greengrass was covering her eyes unable to watch, pansy however couldn't peel her eyes away. Davis was mostly uninterested. Nott was engaging her in conversation. Gregory and Vincent only seemed to react as the crowd did but Draco was on the edge of his seat. Blaise was the only one who seemed to share in Caydens silence watching every move with a hint of fear only Cayden could detect. He wondered if Blaise had ever seen a dragon on one of his travels before. Still everyone was glad to see the dragon gone once Diggory got the egg to safety. Then judges started to score his work. Right, this was all one large game. He received a total of 38 points from the judges marks taken for how long it took him. Fifteen minutes however didn't seem that long considering he was a seventeen year old facing a dragon but then again Cayden wasn't a judge so what did he know?

There was a brief intermission between Diggory and Delacour. The poor girl was shaking from head to toe and everyone could see it. Cayden felt almost obligated to cheer her on, show support. She had a good strategy, enchant the dragon to sleep, the only problem being this dragon snored fire. It was still impressive that she was able to use a sleeping spell on a beast that size. The judges however did not agree, apparently her skirt catching on fire wasn't aesthetically pleasing even though it only took her ten minutes to complete the challenge. She ended up with 35 points, some people in the crowd complained but it was no use as the judges held firm. Krum was next and very good at hiding any fear he might have had going into the challenge. He gave everyone a wave and everyone cheered harder. It was like this was any other performance for him, just another show. Right as it started Krum hit the dragon with a Conjunctivitis Curse causing the dragon to fumble around and crash into everything around it. It ended up destroying half of its eggs in the confusion causing Cayden to wince at every cracked egg. He remembered how valuable dragon eggs are and prayed they were props. Charlie would likely have a heart attack if he were here. The thought gave Cayden a quick smile as Krum emerged with the golden egg causing uproar in the crowd, everyone cheering his name. The judges gave him a very high score of 40 points causing confusion with Cayden. Apparently he only lost a few points for the dragon crushing its own eggs which in his opinion should have been far more damaging to his score. Finally it was Harry's turn. A fourteen year old versus a fully grown dragon, what could possibly go wrong.