Pariah: The Other Malfoy

Chapter 35: Dragons

Cedric was up first, turning a rock into a dog to distract the dragon. He was mostly successful, grabbing the egg quickly, but did get burnt in the face when the dragon turned around at the last minute. The cheers were loud as he escaped the arena, the first champion had succeeded.

Fleur Delacour was next. She charmed the dragon to sleep, only singing her skirt when the dragon snored and let out a jet of flames. She succeeded too, escaping the arena, taking only a bit longer than Cedric.

Next was Viktor Krum. He used a Conjunctivitis Curse to blind the dragon, but it ended up thrashing wildly and smashed half of its real eggs. Though he was quickest in retrieving his egg, he was docked points for that.

Harry was last. He was facing the fiercest dragon, the Hungarian Horntail. He barely got into hiding to summon his broom, the dragon was upon him immediately, and snapped its jaws as he flew past. I saw Harry flinch as a claw slashed his shoulder, but he just kept his head down, avoiding further injury.

The trail of fire followed him around the arena as he dodged around, trying his best to confuse it. There were a few times where he seemed to be engulfed by the flames, the crowd gasping with fear until he emerged again. It worked eventually, as the dragon lost sight of him and gave him the opportunity to grab his egg, then get out of there before the dragon caught sight of him again.

He had survived! We cheered loudly for him, Hermione having been covering her eyes after the first close call, yelling his name. The dragon was taken away before the four champions came out again, the points being announced.

Fleur was last, Cedric was second, and Harry was tied with Krum for first place. We were over the moon, cheering Harry even as he left the arena, seemingly everyone had forgotten how much they hated him five minutes before.

The mood in Gryffindor Tower was great that night. Harry was something of a hero, being lifted into the air by Fred and George Weasley, everyone congratulating him for his amazing completion of the task.

Hermione and I were at the edge of the crowd, grinning as Harry went from zero to hero. He seemed happy again, probably less so because of the popularity and more because they weren't whispering behind his back anymore.

"Do you want me to open it?" He held the golden egg high, yells of agreement surrounding him.

The room was silent with anticipation as his fingers fell to the latch on the top. He grinned at me across the room before turning the clasp, glancing at the expectant faces then letting it fall open —

A terrible screeching wail filled the room. Everyone doubled over, holding their ears tightly, Harry tumbling to the floor as the Weasley's dropped him. He fumbled to close the egg again, his face covered with pain, before finally the screeching ceased.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ron's voice broke through the silence.

Hermione and I glanced at Harry, who was staring at Ron. He had just entered the common room, a look of pain on his face from being greeted by the horrible sound. The whole common room was silent as they looked between the two boys.

"Alright, everyone," Fred said, "Go back to your knitting! This is going to be uncomfortable enough without all you nosy sods listening in."

"I reckon you'd have to be barking mad to put your own name in the Goblet of Fire," Ron finally spoke as a buzz of conversation resumed around us.

"Caught on, have you?" Harry snapped, "Took you long enough."

"I wasn't the only one who thought you'd done it, Harry," Ron defended himself, "Everyone was saying it behind your back."