Call Me Em

Dragons

Chapter Twelve: Dragons
***Embry's POV***

"Dragons!" I could feel my eyes doubling in size after Harry had told Hermione and I what the first task was the next morning. It turned out that Hagrid had taken him into the forest to show him the dragons in person. I couldn't believe that the first task was actual dragons, were they trying to kill these kids?

"They'll have one for each of us." Harry nodded as he looked down at his books while we all sat around a table in the empty library.

"Do the others know?" Hermione asked, glancing at me as she did so.

"I think Fleur and Viktor do but I'm not sure about Cedric." Harry nodded. "Has he said anything about it to you?"

"As far as I know he's still clueless on what the task is." I bit the inside of my cheek. "Are you going to tell him?"

"Yeah," he gave me a small smile. "I don't want him to be the only one unprepared."

"Thanks," I reached over the table and hugged him. "I promise I won't tell him anything that you have planned and to help the both of you."

"I know," he laughed as I sat back down in my seat.

"Speaking of which, what you you going to do to get past the dragon?" Hermione pointed out as she started flipping through a book full of information about dragons. "It's not like you can just go in there and go right back out. They have to be planning something for the dragons to guard or something."

"What would make anyone want to face off a dragon to retrieve?" I looked through my own book that was filled with defensive spells. I personally could only think of a handful of things I'd fight a dragon for the list only consisted of people, I found it hard to believe that Dumbledore would allow people to be held captive by dragons though. He'd thrown a fit about the Dementors being permitted on the school grounds at night last year when everyone was inside and safe, I couldn't imagine what he'd be like if it were a dragon instead of a Dementor.

"Who knows, Harry will just have to be perpared to get whatever it is." Hermione shrugged without looking up from her book.

"Let the search begin," Haryy muttered.

***

It'd been almost a week since Harry had discovered that the first task was dragons which left a week until the task was to take place and Cedric still had no clue what he was to face. He and his friends were constantly guessing what it could be but they never guessed that it could be dragons. I probably would never guess it if I didn't know that's what it was. I kept my promise to Harry though and hadn't said a word to Cedric about what the task really was, I trusted that Harry would tell him with enough time for Cedric to figure out what he'd do to face off the dragon. Harry, Hermione, and I had all decided that Harry would summon his broom with his wand once he got into the pit with the dragon and use his broom to keep out of the dragon's grasp and retrieve whatever he was supposed to.

"Lu, look at this!" Ernie called me over to him, Cedric, and some other Hufflepuffs while I was on my way to Transfiguration. I walked across the courtyard to join them and Ernie showed me a button that most of them were wearing. It said 'Diggory, Hogwats' true champion' and then right before my eyes it changed to read 'Potter Stinks!'

"I asked them not to." Cedric frowned at his friends.

"Okay," I wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying. All I could think about was how everyone seemed to be against Harry just because his name was pulled when he never put it in himself. Most people didn't believe that he didn't enter, not even Ron had come around to believing him yet. I just wish everyone would leave Harry alone.