Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall - Chapter 37 - Harmless Flying Creatures
A/N Italics in dialogue will usually mean that the speaker is using the French language to express the message I've written in English. As previously stated, I don't speak French and have no desire to butcher that language.
--HM-
The next few months passed quickly for Harry as he made sure to practice his flying, just to make sure he wasn't getting rusty. One day Professor Ladue, the French Transfiguration teacher, saw him on his broom and praised his flying skills, mentioning that, in his opinion, if he kept hard at it every day his flying skills would rival Krum's. He also mentioned that he should study up on flying creatures if he wanted to absolutely master the art. Harry suspected the man was trying to give him a clue about the second task, but since he already knew about it, the hint didn't really affect his training plans.
He was told, via his mirror, that the enchanting club that Hermione and Brianna started at Hogwarts was doing well, with over twenty members. Enough of them chose to enchant hoverboards that they actually had a pickup game of Quidditch where one of the teams used hoverboards instead of brooms.
"You should've seen it, Harry!" said Brianna excitedly through the mirror Harry was holding. Even Hermione (who was on the `broomstick' team) couldn't keep up with us. We were winning by a hundred points…until the Snitch was spotted."
"I suppose it is harder to follow the Snitch on one of those things," agreed Harry.
"That stupid little ball just had to fly straight down, and Ginny couldn't keep up with Cho during that dive. I can't blame her, either. Only someone completely out of their mind would do a dive like that on a hoverboard."
"I suppose it would prove difficult," Harry agreed nonchalantly.
She eyed her brother suspiciously. "I hope you're not planning on trying that. You'll kill yourself."
"No, I'm not," he agreed. "But I do plan on making a few improvements to my board.
Later that night, after Harry had completed his planned fiddling with his hoverboard, he received his nightly call from his girlfriend, who'd suggested that a team where only the Seeker had a broom, while the others had hoverboards, would have a huge advantage in any game of Quidditch - two free hands with which to handle the Quaffle or Beater bats.
--HM--
Before Harry knew it, the day of the second task had arrived. Harry was nervously picking at his breakfast when his sister entered the Dining Chamber. As expected, Hermione wasn't with her. Despite the fact that he'd been warned of this, he still felt a knot form in his stomach. He knew that he would have to put his girlfriend at risk by trying to rescue her. The thought of just not participating had occurred to him, but he knew he couldn't do that - not after he'd already been told he had to do his best when he'd suggested doing the same thing during the first task. He was truly upset with the arrangers of this contest, but really couldn't do anything about it. He decided he should greet his sister, so he got up and walked toward her.
"Brianna," he said with a grin as he hugged her. "Thanks for coming. How are you doing?"
"I'm doing great," she replied happily. "I'm ready to watch you humiliate all those other champions today once you get on your broom. Then I'll humbly admit I taught you everything you know."
Harry laughed at that comment. "I doubt I'll be humiliating Krum, but I do think I'm a better flier than Cedric, and I've never seen Fleur on a broom. I've asked around and found out she's never even tried out for Quidditch." He took a deep breath. "That doesn't mean she can't fly, but…"
"It does make that very likely. It is funny that the other three champions are all Quidditch Seekers."
"Yeah, it is. I never thought of that."
Brianna frowned just before commenting, "I'm sure you noticed Hermione's not here."
Sighing, he admitted, "I have. I suppose she's currently hanging from a tree. I told her she could've hid…"
"And put someone else in danger?" interrupted Brianna. "You know she'd never do that."
"I know," he nodded. "Too much like me in that respect, I guess."
"Yep," his sister replied with a smirk. "Besides, I think she wants to be the girl in your arms at the end of the task."
The rest of the morning passed with Harry, Brianna and Minerva catching up until it was time to prepare for his adventure.
--HM--
At 11:30, the four champions were called into a tent to have their current task described to them by the head of the French Department of Games and Sports. "About twenty miles east of here is a range of mountains where someone important to you is being held. Your job is to retrieve that person in less than an hour. You will, of course, be allowed flying transportation such as brooms or beasts."
"Sounds simple," replied Cedric sarcastically. "What's the catch?"
"Oh, nothing too serious," he replied innocently. "Just a few harmless flying creatures that will try to stop you."
"Like what?" asked Krum.
"You'll find out. The contest starts in about ten minutes. That should give you plenty of time to retrieve your brooms. Good luck." He then hurried out of the tent before he could be asked anymore questions.
"Well," said Harry. "I guess we'd better do what he said." He then hurried to his dorm to retrieve his Lightning Bolt.
--HM--
"Welcome, everyone, to the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. Just like last time, each champion's adventure will be projected for your viewing enjoyment. For today's event, each of the champions will have to retrieve a treasure of sorts from a nearby mountain, facing several fierce monsters along the way. The first one to return, assuming any of them do, wins."
"I'm glad he has so much faith in us, aren't you?" Harry asked his fellow champions before scanning the crowd with his eyes. He first saw his aunt sitting with his sister, along with his friends. He then noticed the last person he expected to see, yet the most difficult person not to spot, sitting in the stands. He grinned for a moment before frowning. "They wouldn't? Would they?"
"Would they what?" asked Fleur.
He didn't get a chance to reply, because at that moment, the canon went off, signifying that it was time to start flying. He mounted his Lightning Bolt while Krum mounted his Firebolt. The other two champions had Nimbus 2001's. Harry pushed his broom as fast as he could, which was faster than Cedric and Fleur could go, but Viktor's Firebolt, with its acceleration of one hundred fifty miles per hour in ten seconds, left him at a distant second place.
Harry kept pushing his broom to the maximum while watching Krum heading east. Suddenly, Viktor appeared to have been rammed into by something, but Harry couldn't see anything. The Durmstrang champion barely managed to stay on his broom, but wasn't moving very fast now as he was being rocked from side to side while Harry was catching up, wondering if this beast had been disillusioned. He, naturally, couldn't hear the announcer say, with humor in his voice, "It would appear that Viktor Krum has just met one of the Thestrals."
When Harry got within thirty feet of Viktor, he felt something hit him in the side that nearly knocked him off his broom. `I guess I found one of whatever Krum's facing,' he thought while trying to figure out what to do. Taking another look at Viktor, he got an idea. "I'll bet these demons can't keep up with this," he muttered before pulling his broom down into a full Wronski Feint, pulling up only a few feet from the ground and gliding along the surface for about a mile before pulling up. He didn't even notice Krum was following until he was passed on the way up by the Bulgarian Seeker. The other two champions were still fighting their invisible assailants, unable to pull off the professional move to avoid them, although Cedric was making slow progress getting around the beasts.
Thankfully, Harry didn't feel any invisible beasts attacking him when he got back up to a hundred feet above the ground. He sighed as he saw a mountain in the distance until he noticed a large group of hippogriffs approaching Krum. The small army of ten split up so that five began attacking Viktor while the other five headed toward him.
`Okay,' he thought. "How do I bow from on top of a broom?"
He never answered himself, because at that time one of them reached him and sliced him across the chest with its claw. "Ow!" he screamed as his shirt started soaking up his blood. "New Sparks!" he muttered, releasing his wand into his right hand after releasing its grip on his broom. He wasn't happy about what he was about to do, but didn't see any other choice. Now he had something else to be mad at the contest's organizers for. No matter what spell he used against the noble beasts, they would probably die.
"Reducto!" he shouted, aiming his wand at the nearest hippogriff's wing. It shrieked in pain as a large wound opened. The beast began slowly falling while frantically flapping its other wing. Harry hoped it would land softly enough to survive, but couldn't wait around to find out as his back was attacked by another. He swore before violently turning his broom around and blasting the beast with another "Reducto!" This spell hit the half-eagle/half-horse in the chest, sending it careening toward the ground.
He turned toward the others, pointing his wand with an angry expression on his face. They seemed to pause for a moment, before flying beyond him toward another approaching champion, who Harry recognized as Cedric before speeding up past Krum, who was still fighting his last two hippogriffs. He was now above the mountain.
"A natural perch," he muttered to himself, remembering the poem about this task. His Seeker eyes began searching for the highest tree, which he saw was nearby. Coming closer, he noticed that four people, two of which he recognized as Hermione and Cho, were tied to different branches of the tree. The other two were a little girl who looked a lot like Fleur, along with the girl Krum had taken to the Yule Ball.
Knowing the other hostages would be perfectly safe in the tree, he quickly freed Hermione and pulled her onto his broom in front of him, keeping one arm around her waist as he began flying away. He saw Krum approaching his position as he flew and almost ignored him until he noticed the expression of terror on Viktor's face. Krum pointed and shouted, "Behind you!" before flying toward his hostage.
Harry turned quickly to see a huge fireball headed toward him, and behind the fireball was what he'd feared the moment he saw Hagrid in the stands - a Hungarian Horntail. He swore as he swooped down, barely avoiding the blast, although he had a bad feeling that the bristles on his broom had caught fire. However, he never got the chance to find out.
Harry started to pull back up when he felt like he'd been hit by a tree. He heard a loud CRACK as his broom broke right in the middle. His hostage fell with one piece while he was falling with the other. He realized that the dragon's tail had hit them, but was thankful the horns on it hadn't. With a calm he didn't think he was capable of, he put his wand back in its holster, pulled a small piece of wood out of his pocket and performed an enlarging charm, restoring his hoverboard to its original size. As both he and his girlfriend continued falling, he performed a sticking charm on his right foot so that it would stay glued to the board. He then performed the first-ever Wronski Feint on a hoverboard, gaining as much speed as possible as he dived below his girlfriend, catching her about thirty feet above the ground.
As soon as his arms caught her, he lost his balance and found himself upside down and falling. Pulling his right foot back with as much power as he could, in a move similar to a summersault, he managed to right himself about five feet above the ground. He heard a loud roar that reminded him that the dragon was still nearby, so, seeing no alternative, he threw Hermione over his shoulder, holding her by the legs with only his left arm, while getting his wand back in his hand.
He turned as he gained altitude to see the dragon approaching them. He quickly shot off several reducto's at the monster that had nearly killed Hermione, managing to destroy one of its eyes. He was going to fire again, but saw someone else beat him to the other eye. He turned to see Cedric approaching his position, still headed toward the hostages. As the Horntail roared in anger and pain, Harry hurried up, hoping the blind dragon wouldn't be able to find him. He was bleeding, bruised and winded, and didn't know how much more he could take.
He had about a minute's reprieve, during which time he noticed Fleur was limping on the ground holding a broken broom, before he heard a roar that he'd recognized from a visit to the zoo. It sounded like a lion, which confused him until he saw four Griffins - lions with eagle wings - surrounding him from above. He swore, not for the first time during this task. Knowing he wouldn't last through a fight with those monsters, he decided to find out just how fast his hoverboard could go. He could see the palace approaching as he tried to out-fly the magical creatures. He could hear their wings flapping as they got closer, so he realized his plan of avoidance wouldn't work. He turned and pointed his wand at the first beast he saw. "Reducto!" he shouted before turning to the next and doing the same. After the second was killed, Krum approached. Harry was horrified to see one of the remaining griffins manage to claw Viktor's hostage before the Bulgarian blasted its head off. Harry quickly reducto'd the last monster before both he and Krum raced toward the palace, hoping nothing else was coming.
Although Harry's hoverboard was fast, it wasn't in the same class as a Firebolt, so Viktor got back to Beauxbatons first and flew straight to the make-shift hospital where his hostage was immediately treated by one of the Healers while his time was announced. Harry went to that same destination, where both he and Hermione, who gratefully was uninjured beyond a few bruises, were examined. He was immediately confined to a bed as his several injuries, including many cuts and bruised ribs, were treated. He passed out just as the Healer performed a finite to detach the hoverboard from his foot.
Hermione was awakened in time to hear the announcer saying in French, "Here comes Cedric Diggory with his hostage. After McGonagall and Krum cut their way through all the obstacles, he must've had an easy flight. At least he was considerate enough to pick up Fleur Delacour, whose broom was destroyed by the thestrals." Within a minute, a broom carrying Cedric, Cho and Fleur landed in the hospital area. The Beauxbatons champion looked devastated as she kept saying, "Gabrielle," over and over as she dismounted the broom. Harry's girlfriend immediately noticed the French girl's limp, as did the healer, who ushered her to a bed.
At this point, Minerva and Brianna rushed into the tent. "Are you alright, Hermione?" the headmistress of Hogwarts asked while Harry's sister rushed up to him.
"I'm fine."
"That's a relief," Minnie replied. "Now to see just how badly Harry was injured."
Suddenly it dawned on Hermione that she didn't know her boyfriend's condition. She was suddenly worried. "What happened?" she asked while turning her eyes to the battered and bloody figure on the bed across from hers. She got more and more upset as Minerva and Brianna explained what Harry had faced. "What were they thinking?!" she half-asked/half-screamed at her headmistress.
"That some people complained that the first task wasn't difficult enough," she replied angrily. "I'm sure they thought it was quite entertaining to see all of you nearly killed this time."
"So, what was my score?" asked Harry, who'd just woken up after being healed to the point of only having a few bruises.
Hermione, who realized her boyfriend was trying to lighten the mood, said, "Your aunt actually hasn't told me yet."
"Well?" he asked. "I suppose I got second place."
"Actually, we, that is all of us judges with the exception of Karkaroff, felt that you should get first place because your hostage was uninjured. Therefore, the scores were that you got 43; Krum got 42; Diggory got 30; Delacour got 15."
Hermione added, "That makes the overall scores thus: Harry - 84; Viktor - 83; Cedric - 72; Fleur - 55." With an excited smile, she turned to her boyfriend and shouted, "You're in first place!"
--HM--
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