Out of The Shadows (Golden Trio Era) {1}

The Horrible Horntail

The whistle blew again and Ludo Bagman cried, "And here comes Mr. Krum!" Krum slouched out of the champion's tent to a loud roar of cheers. His normal scowl was heavier than usual. The whistle went and he darted forward at the same time as the Chinese Fireball. Krum ran away from the dragon before turning around and pointing his wand at it. "Very daring!" Bagman yelled as whatever spell Krum used hit the dragon right in the eye and made it shriek loudly in pain. The dragon went trampling around and the crowd gasped as it stomped on half of the real eggs. Krum didn't show any sympathy, though, and darted forward. "That's some nerve he's showing, and," Krum deftly picked up the golden egg. "Yes, he's got the egg!" Applause shattered the wintery air around us. Mikayla reluctantly clapped along with everyone around her as Krum got his score. He got a penalty taken off him for causing the crushing of the Chinese Fireball eggs. Karkaroff's marked Krum ten, which placed him in the lead and it was coming up on Harry's turn now. The whistle blew and Mikayla reached out and grabbed Ron's hand, clutching it tightly. Ron looked at her with a gaping mouth but he must have seen her horrified and nervous expression. He kept quiet and turned his head back to look as Harry slowly walked out of the champion's tent.  Everyone looked down at Harry, who was looking forward at the Hungarian Horntail with wide eyes. Mikayla quickly looked at the dragon and winced; it was crouched low over her nest of eggs, its wings half-furled, and its evil, yellow eyes staring at Harry while its spiky tail thrashed against the ground, leaving yard-long gouge marks in the grass. The whistle blew and the crowd started making a bunch of noise, both cheering and booing, as Harry stepped forward and raised his wand. He shouted something and Mikayla knew it was the Summoning Charm, they had practiced all last night after Moody gave Harry the hint. Turns out Moody isn't such a bad guy after all but Mikayla still has her suspicions about him. People laughed and booed at Harry as he stood still, waiting for his Firebolt to fly out of the castle and make its way to him. "Oh no." Hermione moaned, clutching her cheeks with her hands. "Do you think it's coming?" "Yes." Mikayla said firmly, staring intently down at Harry as she squeezed Ron's hand. Ron looked more panicked than she felt at this point, and no one could blame him one bit. There was a roar of applause as several people pointed behind Harry. Mikayla looked and saw that his Firebolt was hurtling toward him at a quick speed, before stopping dead in midair beside him, waiting for him to mount it. "What a great idea!" Bagman shouted as the crowd made even more noise. Harry swung his leg over the broom and kicked off from the ground. Mikayla released Ron's hand looking anxiously as Harry soared upward into the sky and flew around before diving back down again. The Horntail's head followed him. Harry pulled out of the dive just in time as a jet of fire was released exactly where he would have been if he hadn't swerved away. "Great Scott, he can fly!" Bagman yelled as the crowd shrieked and gasped. "Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?" Harry soared higher in a circle as the Horntail still followed him, its head revolving on its long neck. Mikayla had a feeling that Harry was trying to make the dragon dizzy, and it looked like it was working. The dragon didn't like Harry's tactics, though.  Harry plummeted just as the Horntail opened its mouth. Harry missed the flames, but unfortunately, the dragon's tail went whipping up to meet him instead, and as he swerved to the left, one of the long spikes grazed his shoulder and ripped his robes. Mikayla gasped loudly, almost jumping out of her seat as screams and groans came from the people around her. Ron moaned, looking nauseous, and pulled her back into her seat. Harry zoomed around the back of the Horntail, making it twist its neck to keep an eye on him.  Harry paused, looking at the dragon in concentration, before he began to fly again. He went back and forth, as though trying to make the dragon step away from its eggs. The Horntail kept its eyes on him, its head swaying this way and that with its fangs bare. Harry flew higher and the Horntail's head rose with him, its neck now stretched to its fullest extent, still swaying. Harry rose a few more feet and the dragon let out a roar of exasperation. It shot fire into the air, which Harry dodged.  Suddenly the dragon reared up, spreading its great, black and leathery wings. Harry dived back down. Before the dragon knew what he had done or where he had disappeared to, he was speeding toward the ground, toward the eggs now unprotected by its front legs. He took his hands off the Firebolt and seized the golden egg. With a huge spurt of speed, he was off, soaring out over the stands with the golden egg tucked safely under one of his arms. The crowd exploded, cheering, screaming, and applauding just as loud as the Irish crowd at the Quidditch World Cup had. "Look at that!" Bagman shouted. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get his egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr. Potter!"  For the last time, the dragon keepers rushed into the arena to subdue the Horntail. Harry flew back over the stands and smoothly landed by Professor McGonagall, Professor Moody, and Hagrid, who were by the entrance of the enclosure. Mikayla sighed in relief, sitting back into her seat. Harry had done it. He had survived the dragon. He made it and he was the quickest. Mikayla quickly hopped up, knowing her friend is ok, she rushed down to the medical tent to find Cedric. Madam Pomfrey was rubbing a gel onto his face, Krum and Fleur looked unattended to. Mikayla rushed over to aid the school matron.

"I'll do this, you tend to the others." Mikayla told Madam Pomfrey, as she begins rubbing the gel onto Cedric's burnt face. "How you feeling Ced?" Mikayla asked sneakily giving him a kiss, "Much better you're here." He grinned a toothy grin making Mikayla giggle lightly. "You're a real charmer even on a hospital bed." Mikayla winked at her goofy boyfriend, "Will I get a present tonight at the cherry tree?" He whisper asked, Mikayla thought about it, "Midnight, good for you?" Mikayla questioned making sure no one was listening to her. He nodded still with his toothy grin, "How'd Potter do?" Cedric asked, "Harry was the quickest, he was tied with Viktor for first, you're second and Fleur was third." She informed him, Cedric asked what everyone else did. "Fleur put it to sleep, Krum basically blinded it and Harry summoned his broom and grabbed the egg." Mikayla didn't want to go into too much detail, as she tried to focus on tending to Cedric.