the first task
28 november 1996
Mattheo’s POV
Harry and Mia spent nearly all of their free time over the last week practicing for the first task. I helped occasionally but Harry seemed more comfortable with just Mia. I’m not totally sure he knows who to trust right now and while I don’t blame him, it still stings a bit. According to Mia, Harry managed to pick up the spell fairly well but any time he got flustered or nervous he’d falter, which when you’re facing a life and death situation is not ideal. They spent most of the morning practicing again this morning, just to be certain but by the time lunch rolled around, Mia was saying she felt as confident as possible that he’ll be okay. I’ve tried not to feel neglected but I feel like I’ve barely seen my girlfriend all week.
An amphitheater was erected out on the grounds near the edge of the forest, a small tent with medical aid for the champions to get ready in and be cared for afterwards to the side, and although I can’t see where they are keeping the dragons currently, I can hear their roars. I sit in the stands with Theo and Enzo next to me as students and teachers file in, the anticipation palpable in the fall air for the first task.
I catch a glimpse of red hair at the bottom of the stands and straighten up, watching Mia as she climbs the stairs of the amphitheater, Astoria, Angelina, and Alicia in her wake. She’d walked Harry to the Champions tent but McGonagall had warned Mia during lunch that she couldn’t stay with him. She's wearing a Quidditch jumper, the red and gold of her house matching the champions uniform Harry was given, ‘Potter’ emblazoned on the backs.
Over the last few weeks, the Potter siblings have come under heavy fire from the three student bodies at Hogwarts but Mia is unwavering in her confidence, at least on the outside and in front of Harry. But I know that’s not the whole story. Even from a distance, I can see the anxiety in her features; her creased brow and bottom lip caught between her teeth and, as she moves to stand in front of me, I notice blood around her cuticles from picking at her skin.
“Hey baby,” I say with a smile, looking up at the beautiful woman in front of me, taking her hand in mine and squeezing tightly, wishing I could heal the scabs around her nails with a kiss.
“Hey, Matty,” she says quietly, and then greets Theo and Enzo. “Nice jumper,” she jokes as she sits next to me. I’m wearing a black jumper with the Hogwarts crest on the chest. I had tried to fit into one of Mia’s Quidditch kits but she’s quite a bit smaller than me and I nearly got stuck, it was a whole ordeal last night. She offered me a Gryffindor scarf but I declined; the only way I’m wearing Gryffindor colors is with her last name on the back.
“Hm thanks. Feeling okay?” I ask, rubbing my thumb over the back of her hand and the ridges of her scar.
She nods and looks out over the arena for the task; the amphitheater is a large circle with stands surrounding three quarters of the way around, a tunnel on the far side with the champions’ tent on the other side. The center is rough and rocky, luckily providing plenty of places to duck behind in case of fire, which is likely.
“Yeah, he did well this morning. His broom is stashed just outside so he should be able to get it fairly quickly,” she says, seeming to say it to reassure herself rather than me.
“Place your bets! Any bets?!” I turn as the Weasley Twins voices ring out over the stands, betting boxes hanging from their neck; always ones to find ways to make money. Mia told me they are saving for some kind of shop or something.
“Mia! Hey,” George says, noticing us first and making his way over. “Harry’s gonna do great,” he says, certainly trying to be reassuring but I can see the slight doubt in his eyes as a dragon roars somewhere nearby and I squeeze Mia’s hand again.
“Thanks, Georgie,” she says with a small smile.
“Hey, you guys want to place any bets?” Fred asks, coming up behind his twin and Theo and Enzo nod, handing over a few coins and whispering their bets to Fred.
“Alright, Phe, we’ll be back soon,” Fred says, wrapping his arms around Mia’s shoulders in a hug. I grit my teeth at the sight and don’t unclench until the Twins move along. I trust Mia, I do, but I still can’t help the jealousy that climbs into my throat every time someone else touches my girlfriend, especially her best friend. Not that I think they’re into each other, although I used to think they were dating before I actually knew Mia, but more that Fred Weasley has known Mia for 6 years and been there for her through more trials and struggles than I think I could ever comprehend. Every story of Mia’s includes the Twins; pranks she helped pull, how they rescued her and Harry from their muggle relatives one summer, every time she snuck out of the castle, every time she was struggling or upset they were there. I can’t help but feel inadequate by comparison.
Soon the stands are full and Dumbledore stands, holding his hands for silence. Extending from either side of him are the rest of the judges: Maxine, Karkaroff, and Crouch.
“Welcome to the first task of the Triwizard Tournament!” The Headmaster announces and is answered by cheers and shouts from the crowd. “Our first task has been designed to test our champions’ daring and courage. Each champion has been randomly assigned a dragon to face off against, armed only with their wands. Their task is to retrieve the golden egg the dragons have been given to protect, for hidden in the egg is the key to the second task, without which, our champions cannot hope to succeed.” I squeeze Mia’s hand, noticing how her shoulders tense at the revelation that success banks on more than just surviving this task, but the next one as well. Looking at my girlfriend, my heart aches. I wish I could take all her worries from her and wrap her in my arms, never to be touched by fear or pain again. But instead, all I can do is hold her hand and smile reassuringly.
“Up first, is Cedric Diggory facing a Swedish Short-Snout!” The announcer yells out and at his words, dragon wranglers appear out of the large of two tunnels which spill into the arena, leading a blue-gray dragon.
“Hey, look there’s Charlie!” Fred says from behind Mia and I, pointing down at the wrangler with flaming red hair and I realize it's the same Weasley Mia was sitting next to at the World Cup.
“Yeah, Haz said he was there when Hagrid showed him the dragons,” Mia nods as the wranglers chain the first dragon to the rocks and the creature settles over the gleaming golden egg in the center. The crowd roars as Diggory emerges from the smaller tunnel and the first task of the Triwizard Tournament officially begins. Fred mutters something about Diggory to George which I don’t catch but Mia does apparently, because she turns around and lightly smacks Fred’s knee.
“Stop,” she scolds, rolling her eyes and turning back to the arena where the Hufflepuff makes his first move towards the egg. Mia grimaces along with the crowd as the dragon cuts Cedric off of his path with a blaze of fire.
“I didn’t know you were friends with Diggory,” I say to Mia, my eyes trained on her face. Her brow furrows and her eyes dart to me.
“I’m not, really,” she says with a shrug. “The twins just don’t like him because he caught the Snitch when Harry passed out from the dementors last term.” The crowd gasps around us as Diggory ducks behind a rock, very nearly getting scorched, and the dragon roars.
“He cheated. It was totally unfair,” George says from behind us and Angelina scoffs.
“It wasn’t his fault, he didn’t realize Harry wasn’t well and when he did notice he begged Hooch for a rematch,” Angelina defends.
“Even Oliver didn’t blame him!” Alicia adds.
“Honestly, the two of you hold grudges for Harry and I longer than we ever do,” Mia chuckles, rolling her eyes playfully and reaching back to pat Fred’s knee.
“Whatever,” George grumbles, eyeing the back of Angelina’s head.
Cedric retrieves his golden egg in 15 minutes, having transformed a rock into a dog which he used to distract the dragon. It worked well enough, but he got quite burned before he managed to capture the egg. Fleur finished in 10 minutes and managed to charm the dragon to sleep; however, she also caught fire when the dragon snored. And Krum, the best so far, managed to hit the dragon in the eye with a spell and got his egg quickly, although the dragon trampled most of the real eggs which the judges deducted points for. The closer and closer we get to Harry’s turn the tenser Mia gets and the more excited the crowd gets. “And now, our final champion, Harry Potter, faces off with the Hungarian Horntail!” The announcer exclaims and the crowd is a mix of cheers and taunts for the unexpected fourth champion.
“A Hungarian Horntail?” Mia exclaims, her green eyes wide, “All Fleur got was a Welsh Green!”
“A dragon is a dragon, I’m not sure the type really matters, Mia,” Theo shrugs, craning to catch a glimpse of the oncoming dragon.
“It’s alright, he can handle it,” I say, squeezing her hand as the dragon is escorted out and chained to the center of the arena. The Horntail crouches low over the eggs, sulfurous yellow eyes darting around the geering crowd. Her body is black and her long tail spiked, as well as her head, which she thrashes around, leaving gashes in the ground with each pass. Looking at the fearsome dragon, I think I’d rather face any of the others as well.
The whistle blows and soon, Harry emerges from the champions’ tunnel. He looks very nervous and pale but his eyes are trained on the dragon across from him. Even from a distance he looks determined. Mia takes a deep breath and squeezes my hand so tightly her ring begins digging into my skin. Before Harry can raise his wand, the Horntail roars loudly and, slamming her tail on the dragon and sending shards of rock flying, sends a column of fire towards the tunnel. Harry manages to leap out of the way and scurries behind a large rock. Mia’s free hand flies to her face as she watches.
Once the Horntail has stopped assaulting the back of Harry’s hiding place, Harry slowly peaks around the rock and flicks his wand towards the castle, presumably summoning his broom. “C’mon, Haz,” Mia mutters as Harry stumbles back as the dragon brings her spiked bronze tail down in front of Harry, very narrowly missing him. Just then, Harry’s Firebolt rushes into the arena and towards Harry. “YES!” Mia yells, pumping her fist in excitement at their hard work paid off. Harry leaps onto his broom and takes off into the air until he’s out of range of the Horntail and then dives sharply. The dragon follows Harry and releases a jet of fire towards him, but Harry skillfully pulls out of the dive just in time. Unfortunately, the dragon’s tail sweeps up in the air and slices Harry’s shoulder, and the Gryffindors around me gasp and grimace but Harry continues to fly around the dragon, circling and diving. Harry begins trying to get the dragon to fly, but she’s reluctant; too protective of her eggs that Harry desperately needs to get his hands on. Harry begins inching his way higher and higher, baiting the dragon. Suddenly, the Hungarian Horntail spreads her wings and begins flying up towards Harry but before she can get to him, Harry dives sharply, plummeting to the earth. Mia jumps up yelling encouragement as Harry speeds closer and closer to the egg. And his hands wrap around it, he soars up and away with it clutches tightly in his hands and we all jump up screaming, Mia the loudest of us all.
“He did it!” George and Fred cheer, clapping Mia on the back as we all celebrate.
“Our youngest champion is the quickest to get his egg! How fantastic!” The announcer shouts excitedly, clearly in awe of Harry’s flying.
“I’ve got to go find him!” Mia says, turning to me with a smile wider than I’ve seen on her face since Halloween.
“Congratulate him for me, princess,” I nod, kissing her forehead and she nods and pushes her way off through the crowd towards her brother. The rest of us wait in the stands until we see Harry emerge again, presumably from the Med Tent since his shoulder is now bandaged up, with Mia at his side to watch the scores from the judges. Hermione and Ron stand with the Potters as well.
“Looks like Ron’s finally managed to get his wand out of his ass,” Fred chuckles to George.
The judges, one by one, raise their wands and score Harry's performance out of 10. Harry ties for first place along with Victor Krum.