The Wolf's Lion ~ Harry Potter (Editing)

Chapter Twenty-Four | Scoring

As Ariana had left the arena, thankful that it was over, she heard footsteps running towards her.

"That was excellent, O'Connor!" cried Professor McGonagall as she emerged from the rocky tunnel - which from her was extravagant praise. She pointed at a burn on Ariana's arm. "You'll need to see Madam Pomfrey before the judges give out your score... Over there, she's had tomop up Diggory already." 

Ariana grimaced when she looked at the raging red skin underneath her torn robes, the adrenaline having blocked out the searing pain that it caused wearing off a little.

"Yeh did it, Ariana!" said Hagrid hoarsely, grinning like a child in a sweet shop. "Yeh did it! An' agains' the Ironbelly an' all, an' yeh know Charlie said that was the wors' -"

"Thanks, Hagrid," Ariana interjected, so that Hagrid wouldn't blunder on and reveal that he had shown her and Harry the dragons beforehand. 

Professor Moody looked very pleased too; his magical eye was dancing in its socket. "Great job, O'Connor," he growled. 

"Right then, Potter, the first aid tent, please..." said Professor McGonagall.

A panting Ariana approached a white tent, seeing a very concerned Madam Pomfrey standing at its mouth.

"Dragons!" she exclaimed, in a disgusted tone, pulling Ariana inside. The tent was divided into cubicles; shecould make out Cedric's shadow through the canvas, but Cedric didn't seem to be badly injured; he was sitting up, at least. As Ariana was sat down, she could see Harry's shadow outside with Hermione. Madam Pomfrey examined Ariana's arm, talking furiously all the while. "Last year dementors, this year dragons, what are they going to bring into this school next? This isn't bad, I'll have to clean it before I apply a paste to it. The wound should be healed in an hour."

She cleaned the cut with a dab of some purple liquid that smoked and stung. The next thing that happened was Ariana's sleeve was rolled up, properly exposing the wound, then a thick orange paste was dabbed onto it.

"Now, just sit quietly for a minute - sit! And then you can go and get your score." 

She bustled out of the tent and he heard her go next door and say, "How does it feel now, Diggory?" 

Ariana couldn't sit still: her body was full to the brim of adrenaline. She moved to join her friends, nit paying any attention to the bruises that thronged when she moved.

"Ariana, you were brilliant!" Hermione said squeakily. There were fingernail marks on her face where she had been clutching it in fear. "You were amazing! You really were! What happened to your wand?! Where did it go?"

"I have no idea," Ariana said shaking her head. "Harry, brilliant work! I saw you on your broom."

"You too, Ariana," Harry smiled, his face splattered with dirty dust like Ariana's.

"Cedric Transfigured a rock on the ground turned it into a dog; he was trying to make the dragon go for the dog instead of him. Well, it was a great display of of Transfiguration, and it sort of worked, because he did get the egg, but he got burned as well - the dragon changed its mind halfway through and decided it would rather have him than the Labrador; he only just got away. And Fleur tried to charm the dragon into a Bewitched Sleep - well, that kind of worked too, it about fell asleep, but then it snored, and this great jet of flame set her clothes on fire - she put it out with water from her wand. And Krum - you won't believe this, but he didn't even think of flying! He was probably the best after you two, though. Hit it with a Conjunctivitis Curse. Only thing is, it went trampling around in agony and about squashed his egg - they took marks off for that, he wasn't supposed to do any damage to it," Hermione explained, then flung her arms around Harry and Ariana.

Ariana did miss Ron, since she thought he'd come to see them, but apparently she was wrong. Right now, Hermione was more than enough to make up for both of them.

The trio set off to see Ariana's scores. The judges sat on chairs draped in gold, having moved away from their seats with the other Hogwarts Professors.

Ariana saw the first judge - Madame Maxime - raise her wand in the air. What hooked like a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a large figure nine. 

"That's a good score!" said Hermione as the crowd applauded. "I suppose she took marks off for your arm..."

Mr. Crouch came next. He shot a number nine into the air. 

"Looking great," Hermione grinned, gripping Ariana's arm tightly.

Next, Dumbledore. He too put up a nine. The crowd was cheering harder than ever. 

Mr. Crouch - nine.

Ariana smiled widely, ecstatic. Her efforts had paid off, they were great scores. It could of been much worse... and it did get worse.

Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too - four. A sinister grin appeared in his mouth, showing off his foul, yellowing teeth.

"What?" Hermione bellowed furiously. "He gave Krum a ten! That evil, biased -"

"Hermione, it's alright," said Ariana, holding her arm.

As they turned to leave the arena, Harry nudged her. He was motioning to the crowd. It wasn't just the Gryffindors cheering for them, the other houses were screaming too. When it came down to it, when they saw what the pair had to face, they had as many supporters as Cedric. Except the Slytherins, of course, but Ariana didn't care about then at all.

"You're tied in first place! You, Ariana and Krum!" Charlie Weasley exclaimed, hurrying to meet them as they set off back toward the school. "Listen, I've got to run, I've got to go and send Mum an owl, I swore I'd tell her what happened - but that was unbelievable! Oh yeah - and they told me to tell you you've got to hang around for a few more minutes... Crouch wants a word, back in the champions' tent." 

"Charlie!" Ariana called. "I'm sorry about your dragon. I never intended to kill her."

"It's alright, it was you or her. I prefer this outcome to the other possibility. Oh, Dumbledore has your wand, Ariana!" he smiled, then rushed off towards the dragons' pens.

As Hermione waited outside, Ariana and Harry returned to the tent. The witch thought it seemed less intimidating this time around, due to the fact that she wasn't walking to her possible doom.

The other champions were inside, each one holding their eggs, just like Harry and Ariana were. They were a sign of their bravery and smarts, something they would remember for the remainder of their lives.

"Good one, Ariana, Harry," Cedric smiled, the same orange paste in his face as in Ariana's arm, presumably mending a burn.

"And you," said Harry, grinning back. 

"Likewise, Cedric," Ariana smiled, nodding her head.

"Well done, all of you!" said Mr. Crouch, his expression a little less serious than usual. "Now, just a quick few words. You all have a nice long break before the second task, which will take place at half past nine on the morning of February the twenty-fourth - but we're giving you something to think about in the meantime! If you look down at those golden eggs you're all holding, you will see that they open... see the hinges there? You need to solve the clue inside the egg - because it will tell you what the second task is, and enable you to prepare for it! All clear? Well, off you go, then!" 

Ariana and Harry rejoined Hermione, all talking avidly as they walked back to the school. The two survivors wanted to hear about the other performances in more detail, so Hermione was happy to give them that information.

Then, as they rounded the clump of trees, a witch jumped out on them. It was Rita Skeeter, the Quick-Quotes Quill in her hand blended perfectly against them. "Congratulations, Harry! Ariana!" she said, beaming at them. "I wonder if you could give me a quick interview? Can I see the sword? How you felt facing that dragon? How you feel now, about the fairness of the scoring?"

Ariana gave her a blank expression, moving her eyebrows in an unconvincingly kind was. "I feel it would be an insult to my ancestors if I handed this sword to you."

"Yeah, you can have a word," said Harry savagely. "Good-bye."