Anna Grayson and The Order of Merlin
The First Task

The days leading up to thefirst task of the Triwizard Tournament were exciting at Castlewood. Not onlydid the events from Englandbring with it an unusual amount of anticipation, but the fact the tournamenthad come so close to the Thanksgiving Day holiday meant classes had ended earlythat week, and brought with it, as it always did, a festive warm up toChristmas.

There were an unusual number ofparents being escorted by their children through the school, and several tourslead by members of the Crimson Guard. Captain Dunning was strangely gracious tothese guests, although most of the students believed his willingness to flyopen the doors of the school were due more to the Chancellor’s sociablehospitality than anything the Captain of the Guard had thought to do on hisown.

Anna was especially nervous.After the first Triwizard task, she would be riding in her very firstVollucross race in front of the entire school and the town of Spellsburg. And just as Doctor Pearl hadpredicted, Anna’s practices were being monitored closely by the odds-makers intown, and several local newspaper articles had been written referencing her as,‘The newcomer in town, who might very well reset everybody’s expectationsfor the upcoming season.’ Anna’s unusual visibility in the newspapersseemed to heighten her popularity at the school to uncomfortable levels shenever thought possible.

Anna believed she could dowithout all the extra attention, but Eric was thrilled. In his mind, the morethe Guardians were seen in a positive light, the better their chances were foradding to their ranks. He likened them to a force of destiny and, to prove hispoint, her brother took the time to deliver three strong presentations on themission of the Guardians in one of the school’s largest classrooms. The groupsof students willing to come and listen to these discussions were surprisinglylarge, due in part to their curiosity over all the new Guardians walkingthrough the halls of Castlewood after Eric’s birthday. The lectures wereabsolutely brilliant, and Anna believed many students left the talks ponderingtheir own role within their current unions. Sure enough, within just a few daysfollowing Eric’s efforts, eight more Guardians were announced to the school. Itseemed her brother was right. The juggernaut that was the Guardian cause wasrolling along at an unstoppable pace.

Then there was Anna’s birthday,which brought with it an array of wonderful gifts from both her family and herfriends at the school. Her father had given her a new Vollucross bridle withthe Grayson crest for each side of Swooper’s jaw, along with a magnificentGuardian shield for the top of his forehead. It would seem her father wasanxious to create as many things Guardian as he could. Gabby had made her aVollucross safety harness to go with the new bridle. Although Anna appreciatedthe elf’s efforts, she ended up stripping away most of the heavy chains Gabbyhad expected her to wear wrapped around her waist and neck. Apparently, when itcame to her mistress’s personal safety, the Grayson house elf didn’t have a lotof faith in the equipment being offered by the school.

While all the gifts werewonderful, for Anna, it was exciting enough just to be at Castlewood. Shecouldn’t believe, just a few months ago, all she could have hoped for wasanother quiet birthday alone with her father. In fact, this would be the firstbirthday Anna could ever remember sharing with Eric, and her brother was makingthe most of it.

It wasn’t Eric’s gift ofamethyst earrings that made her birthday special; it was the manner in which hehad them delivered. Her present came in a small, white box couriered personallyby Hobbs.Totally recovered from his injuries in the attack by the Crimson Guard at SaintDrogo’s castle, Eric had painstakingly nursed Hobbsback to perfect health, and although he still had a few blackened feathers, Hobbs’ flying abilitieswere nearly perfect in the bright morning dawn of Anna’s thirteenth birthday.Anna was so excited to have Hobbsback that she nearly crushed him in her howling embrace. It was her greatestbirthday ever.

But the best gift of all washaving Gwen as a fellow Guardian. Anna found out Gwen had gone to her parentsafter all and requested that she be allowed to walk through the Mirror ofEnlightenment in support of what Anna was doing, but they had refused to givetheir consent. Anna couldn’t blame them. After all, Gwen was already exactlywhere everybody believed she should be — in the Artisan Union, studying her music.

Then, in an act of courage Annawould have never thought possible on her behalf, Gwen reentered the mirroranyway with her parents’ threats still ringing in her ears. Steadfastlystubborn, Gwen told Anna her only regret about her decision was her becomingthe fifteenth Guardian and not the second.

But Mr. and Mrs. Reese did notwillingly accept Gwen’s decision or, in their mind, the appalling results. Inshort order, they both unexpectedly arrived at Spellsburg on the iron graymorning following the day they were notified of Gwen’s change of Union. Intent on removing their daughter from Castlewoodentirely, it was only due to the personal intervention by Chancellor Thordarsonhimself that made them relent and allow her to stay at the school.

Thordarson assured Mr. and Mrs.Reese that Gwen’s study of music would continue within the newly formed Unionof Guardians. In fact, the Chancellor had informed Gwen in front of her parentsthat she was required and obligated to continue, and that he would ‘Throw herout of Castlewood himself’ if her lessons fell behind. Knowing how muchGwen truly loved the piano, Anna could only imagine how secretly relieved shemust have been to understand that, whatever her future might be as a Guardian,her music would continue to be a key part of her future at the school.

Armed with the knowledge theyhad an ally in Thordarson, the Reeses left Spellsburg after delivering amuch-intensified threat of severe reprisals if Gwen ever stepped out of lineagain. And although Anna saw Gwen acting the part of a bravely defiant daughterafter her parents had departed, she could tell their message had settled inGwen like never before. Yes… Gwendolyn Reese would toe the line at Castlewoodfor a very long time to come; at least a week, maybe even longer.

There was only one thing leftundone as the Thanksgiving holiday quickly approached, and that was Anna’sdecision of what question she would ask the Verosapt. Unfortunately, she was nocloser to making that decision than the day she had first found out about the Jennings’ family oracle.As Anna lay in bed staring out at the evening, and listening to the lastminutes of her birthday tick by, she decided to put her decision off untilafter the Christmas holiday. Perhaps she would have a better idea of what toask after she had a chance to speak to her father about the other things hehinted of in his letter. Besides, she had a whole year to decide what to ask.In her mind, there was no rush.

As the last three minutes ofAnna’s birthday slipped away, Hobbssat outside her window objectively pondering in which direction to begin theevening’s hunt. Anna recalled Titan’s story about her mother, which wassomething she had been doing nearly every night before dropping off the sleep.She smiled at the thought of Victoria Grayson moving through the same corridorsshe herself traveled every day.

Two minutes left. Anna sawherself using the new riding bridle, and how she would hide from Gabby the factshe had no intension of using the chain-laden safety harness the elf had givenher as a gift.

One minute to go. Suddenly, Anna heard a softclick below her feet and sat bolt upright looking at her dresser. Her reactionto the sound made her realize she had somehow expected this, almost like anunwanted dinner guest arriving at her door earlier than expected. The familiarred beam of light blazed from the top of the kaleidoscope and spread itselfwide. She could see the billowing, gray clouds rushing forward, this timereaching into the room all around her. Anna looked quickly over to Sarah whowas snoozing peacefully, still facing the wall opposite. From out of theclouds, Anna could hear the deep, rumbling voice speaking over the sound oftrickling water and chirping crickets.

“Thy day of thy entry has nearlypassed, Jennings.Why have you not called out to the Verosapt?” Although the great ape didn’tappear to her, Anna could still hear the sardonic tone in the beast’s voiceover some growling thing next to him in the forest. Obviously, he was anxiousto get their business over with quickly. Anna glanced over to Sarah again. Herroommate continued to sleep undisturbed.

“I haven’t decided what toask,” Anna whispered back. “I didn’t know you could come here on your own.” Shecould hear the impatient snarl in its response.

“The Verosapt is not withoutpower, little one. We who are all within the kingdom go where we please, whenit pleases us to do so. Ask thy question Jennings!The truth awaits.”

“I said — I’m not ready yet.”Anna replied edgily. “I still have a whole year to ask my question… it doesn’thave to me now.” There was a loud chatter, mixed with the buzz of thousands inthe background. There seemed to be many others eagerly waiting to hear herquestion.

“Insolent human… why dost ithold the Verosapt hostage so?”

“I’m not doing anything of thesort. I’m just… undecided.” There was a long pause before the clouds rumbledtheir reply.

“If it is –– as it claims ––undecided, it wouldst be a first for us to witness. Couldst be thineuncertainty is not in what thou wouldst ask, but how thy world might change inthe truth of what it seeks? Many have called our knowledge a gift, but somedidst also call it… a curse. What wilt it be for thee, Jennings?”

“I don’t know what you mean,”Anna lied. The fact was she knew exactly what the Verosapt was hinting at. Dayby day, Anna had come to think she might very well ask about the events leadingup to her mother’s death. Was the Verosapt hinting they knew what she wanted toask and that there might be some kind of pain in their answer? “I will make mydecision in my own time,” Anna said forcefully.

There was another long pause,and then, “We shall see. We await thy call, daughter of Victoria.Fear not the truth in the knowledge thou seeks.” And with these words, thegrayish smoke withdrew from the room and back into the fan of light, whichclosed into a single beam. “Truth is enlightenment, and in the fullness oftime enlightenment befits wisdom. Sometimes the path from truth to wisdom islong and strewn with many obstacles. It is better to start soon…” the voiceechoed, before dropping down into the ruby of YU once more. After checking thatSarah was still sleeping, Anna laid back in her four-poster.

The path from truth towisdom is long and strewn with obstacles. “Does that mean… if the truth issomething unexpected, then the path to understanding it could be difficult?”She rolled over and forced her eyes closed. All the more reason to takemy time.

TWO

On the early morning ofNovember twenty-fourth, the entire school was buzzing with excitement. The dayhad finally come; the Triwizard Tournament was about to begin. For Anna, shedidn’t know what was more exciting, watching something the Wizarding world hadequated to a Muggle Olympic event, or her participation in her first Vollucrossrace afterwards.

The Guardian breakfast tablewas a bit more crowded these days, now that their number had suddenly grown totwenty-three, and for the first time since she had arrived at the school, Annafelt like she was finally part of a real Union.It was a nice feeling being a part of a larger group.

Finally, the message was sentthroughout the castle. “All students wishing to see the Triwizard Tournament —please follow your Union Knights to the castle entranceway. The tournament willbegin in one hour.”

“Good luck, you two,” Gwen saidto Anna and Eric. “Bring home some Vollucross glory for the Guardians.”

Eric smiled, and then noddedhis strong determination to fulfill her request.

“Am I supposed to be thisnervous before the race?” Anna asked her brother anxiously. Eric put his armaround his sister and grinned.

“You only have to worry if youget as worked up about these races as I do,” he said with a smirk.

“You? Don’t tell me you’renervous too.”

Eric looked around them guardedlyand then leaned forward. “I always try to keep myself in a very high state of anxietyin the days leading up to these events,” he said, jokingly. “To tell you thetruth, that’s how I keep my edge.” Anna laughed. “Don’t worry, you’ll do fine.You’ve trained hard, you have an excellent mount, you’re using the bestequipment, and we’ll be riding together as a team. You’re as ready as you’llever be.”

Anna was grateful for hisconfidence. “I just don’t want to let you down.” The worry in her voice wasobvious.

“Are you planning on going intothis thing half-heartedly?” Anna’s eyes widened and Eric laughed at herappalled expression. “I didn’t think so. As long as I see you giving it yourbest, I’ll be happy no matter what the results. Come on… let’s get outta here.”

They gathered themselves upand, after a few more supportive handshakes from their fellow Guardians, theyheaded off with the crowd toward the castle entranceway. As they walked throughthe main doors and across the drawbridge, they were met by a number oftownspeople.

“Good morning, Eric. How do youfeel today? Expect you’ll have a good race?” asked a tall man in yellow robes.He was holding a racing form and a notepad.

“Odds-makers,” Eric whispereddown to Anna. “They’re looking for signs of weakness. Play it cool; be humble,but confident.” He turned to greet them. “I feel great, the weather isbeautiful, it should be a fine day for flying,” he answered the man.

“And… how about your sister?We’ve been reading a lot about her lately; the first fully qualified egg intwenty years. Do you think she’s ready for the race today?” Eric turned withthe rest of the students off the bridge and onto the cobblestone streets of theSpellsburg. There, they merged with a large crowd of townspeople heading towardthe city gates.

“Why don’t you ask heryourself?” Eric replied, stepping to the side to reveal Anna purposely walkingin his shadow. Four more men in yellow robes immediately moved in. “Humble, butconfident,” Eric muttered down to her.

“Well… how about it, MissGrayson? Do you expect to win today?” asked a man to her right.

Anna tried to smile. “Theweather is perfect and I have a strong horse,” she replied. “I’ve trained veryhard, so I hope to do my best.” The men in yellow grinned as they wrote intheir pads.

A second man stepped in. “Weunderstand that you’ve been training on just one horse, Miss Grayson. Is thattrue?”

“Anna –– please –– call meAnna.” The group walked through the city gates and then turned toward thestadium. The men in yellow were walking backwards as they continued to scribblein their notepads.

“Okay, Anna, why don’t you tellus about your horse. Doctor Pearl and Mister Kingston won’t let anybody nearthe stables.”

Anna smiled again. She lovedtalking about her mount to anybody who would listen. “Well, his name isSwooper, he’s seven years old, and his breed is Mountain Thorse. He’s a verystrong…”

“Isn’t it true, Anna, that thisThorse you ride is the only animal you’ve ever trained on?” another maninterrupted.

The massive crowd was nowmerging together onto the plateau. Several wizards and witches wearing variouscolored robes and hats were talking excitedly as the large group moved as onetoward the stadium.

“Well… yes. Swooper is the onlyflying horse I’ve ever ridden. But I’ve been riding all my life.”

“But the Vollucross season canbe long, and if your ability to ride well is based on the health and ability ofjust one horse, how can the fans be assured we can count on you to play astrong part later in the season?”

Anna didn’t like the tone ofthe question. It seemed more like a well-disguised accusationrather than something a person on the street might really want to know.

“If you’re asking me if I’dcontinue to ride if something ever happened to Swooper, the answer is no,” shesaid, somewhat irritated. “I only took up this sport because of Swooper. Ican’t see myself flying without him.”

“How about you, Eric?” saidanother odds-maker to her brother. “You don’t seem to have any limitationsdependent on the mount you ride. Can we depend on the Guardian team or not?”

The question surprised andimmediately infuriated Anna, but Eric simply smiled. “We all have our favoritemounts, and each rider feels they do better on some more than others. I knowyou guys don’t like hearing that, but it’s the honest truth. I think you willreplace one of Anna’s strengths comes from her close relationship with her horse.Would she be just as good on a different mount? In my opinion — yes, I believeshe would do well on any horse. However, most of the experts have already seenher on Swooper during our practice sessions, and I believe after today the trueenthusiast of our sport would be disappointed if the two weren’t flyingtogether. Frankly, I’m proud of my sister’s willingness to set her racing asideto care for her mount if it ever came to that.”

Anna admired her brother’sability to handle the men in yellow. He was always polite, but never to thepoint of allowing himself to be pushed about by their questions. The men madeAnna feel like she was being set up to say something stupid at the expense ofher team.

They finally entered thestadium and Anna was amazed by the sight of thousands of people stacked highbelow a beautiful morning sky. She thought this must have been what her Mugglefriend Teres was trying to describe to her when she said her father had takenher to see what she called a football game. While the sight of so manypeople was incredible, it was the level of noise that really surprised Anna.There was a constant and absorbing hum that she could actually feel pressingagainst her face. She looked up at her brother and caught him smiling down ather. As he looked back up at the crowds surrounding them, she thought shealmost heard his voice waver a bit.

“Amazing, isn’t it? I wasn’tlying when I said I’m always in a state of high anxiety.” He watched the crowdspouring through the gates. “Honestly… I’ve given up trying to be calm before arace.”

“It’s incredible,” Anna said inawe, looking around them. “I never realized there were so many people living inSpellsburg.”

“Oh— this isn’t just Spellsburg. In the last three days, the Allegheny Pride has been bringing people in from all over the Americas.Events like the Triwizard Tournament, together with Vollucross Opening Day, werebound to draw a huge crowd. Add the fact it’s all happening over theThanksgiving holiday, and you have what you see today. Mister Kingston saidthis is one of the biggest crowds they’ve ever had.” Eric looked at Anna andraised his eyebrows. “Just wait until they start screaming. You’ll still behearing them yelling in your sleep tonight.”

Annasmiled. Looking around again, she watched the gathering audience talkingexcitedly. She couldn’t imagine what she was about to experience. If possible,Anna felt more nervous than when she first had entered the dueling pit.

“Now… are we straight about thespells we’re allowed to use today?” her brother asked her.

“I think so.” Anna rememberedDoctor Pearl’s book on Vollucross and how surprised she was to learn howcomplicated the sport could be. The book described the beginner’s race in muchthe same way she had practiced them. However, in the more advanced levels ofthe sport, riders were expected to use their wands to help them gather theobjects, which didn’t necessarily have to be the metal rings Anna had beencollecting from the checkered poles.

The Gathering, as it wassometimes called, might include battling with trolls for the items in theirpossession. Or they might be required to capture a magical creature within theforest, or skirmish with the other competitors for several objects hidden inthe woods. The penalty for failure, however, was always the same: Those who didnot finish or did not successfully complete the tasks given to them would besent back or disqualified once they reached the Amber Gates. As if thatwasn’t enough, advanced riders were not required to wear a safety harness and,in honor of the sport’s oldest traditions, very few of the school’s seniors,including her brother, actually did.

When it was announced somemoderate forms of magic would be allowed during the first race, Anna believedshe wouldn’t be allowed to compete. Given her novice magical abilities, shefelt certain she would be grounded come Opening Day. But Eric wouldn’t hear ofit. Believing the Hall’s honor might somehow be at risk, he and her fellowGuardians took Anna aside in the evenings to coach her on some of the secondand third-year spells they thought she might need during the race. EvenProfessor Titan seemed willing to push Anna along in his Magical Incantationsclass by frequently calling on her during most of the demonstrations.Eventually, Anna was able to increase her abilities in those areas where shehad to move and push objects about, but the one spell Eric wanted her to learnthe most, something called the summoning charm, seemed to evade hercapability altogether.

“Do you understand our strategytoday?” Eric asked her covertly.

“Yes,” Anna assured him. “Lowto the ground at all times.” Her brother nodded.

“Staying low is the shortestroute to the first gap. With any luck, most of the riders will be watching theseniors more than a first-year. We’ll use that and Swooper’s speed to ouradvantage,” he said confidently.

The riders headed toward thestable entrance where they expected to receive their final instructions andaccess to their mounts. Mister Kingston had each horse set in a stalloverlooking the open field beyond the prying eyes of the odds-makers.

“Goodmorning riders,” said Doctor Pearl to the group. “A beautiful day for flying.Let’s review the rules for this morning’s race, shall we?” The doctor lookedvery formal in black-velvet robes trimmed in red, topped with a crimson hat.“This is an event for qualified riders only, and each Unionwill be allowed up to three riders today. Since several of you only have twoqualified riders on your team, we will only require two to finish in thepoints. The first Union to successfully get two of their riders across thefinish line after completing the course through the Shadowed Forestwill be declared the winner, and fifty points will be awarded toward theChancellor’s Cup.” They all nodded. “Since this is not an all-senior field, youwill not be allowed to use magic to hex another rider. Is that clear?” shesaid, sternly.

“No magic, Doctor?” asked aseventh-year Defender in surprise.

“You may use magic to help yourteam gather the rings and create the normal barriers to your opponents, butthat is all.” The senior Defender looked to protest, but Pearl cut him off. “Any student caughtsending a hex at another rider, will be sent back to the stables when they passthrough the Amber Gates, and their team will be disqualified from thematch. Is that clear enough for you, Mister Wendell?” The boy reluctantlynodded.

Eric casually leaned down andwhispered, “Watch out for Michael Wendell, Anna. He’s already proven he has nohonor while flying. Keep a good distance from him at all times.” Anna lookedsuspiciously over at the seventh-year boy and found him staring back at her. Hegrinned evilly, and Anna could tell he was proud of his less than honorablereputation. His sallow, pointed face reminded her of an older version of Damon.

“I want a clean run out there. No accidents please.Although there are points at stake, this race represents the Opening Day forour sport.”

“Here it comes,” whispered Ericcasually again, “The Pearl Proclamation.”

“The what?” Anna said, with aquestioning smile.

“Keep in mind, all of you,” thedoctor continued, “your flight today represents the continuation of thestrongest traditions our sport has to offer, going back nearly two thousandyears. You should feel privileged and grateful to be here. Remember our code ofhonor while you’re out there. I won’t have any disgraceful underhandedness onthis, our biggest Opening Day ever.” She glared at Wendell again. “I’ll bewatching you all very closely.” She finally looked at the others ratherworriedly. “And — as always — be safe… please.”

She pointed behind them. “Yourrobes are waiting for you in the locker room, and you will be watching theHogwarts tournament with me atop the stables. Good luck — and good flying.”

The riders departed for thelocker rooms while the rest of the stadium continued to fill. Twenty minuteslater, they reentered the stadium with their bridles and blankets draped overtheir arms and headed for their seats to await the start of the TriwizardTournament.

Anna felt extremely proudwearing her new Vollucross robes. The garment was a deep purple that simmeredin the morning sun. Looking closely at the cloth, she could see threads of goldwoven into the fabric. The crowd celebrated the riders with loud applause asthey took their seats.

A few minutes later, Anna couldsee Chancellor Thordarson and the Mayor of Spellsburg enter the top box to anenthusiastic cheer from the entire stadium. The two men smiled and shook handswith many of the people sitting near them under a beautiful canopy of white.Then Thordarson signaled to another wizard Eric said was Professor Bots. Theman stood and then, pointing his wand to his own throat, his voice boomed overthe boisterous crowd.

“Ladies and gentlemen,citizens, students, faculty, and honored guests. Welcome to the City of Spellsburg and OpeningDay of this year’s Vollucross season.” There were roaring shouts of jubilationfrom the now standing crowd. “On behalf of the Honorable Mayor Prower andChancellor Thordarson of Castlewood Academy, we are pleasedto present our first race.

“Our gracious host thismorning, as always, is our very own Doctor Margaret Pearl, Healer, and Vollucross Steward ofCastlewood.” Doctor Pearl, who was seated in front of the riders above thestables, stood and acknowledged her introduction to the stadium with a happybut reserved wave.

“And let us not forget ourriders for today’s exciting event!” At this, Pearl turned to face the riders and motionedfor them to stand. They did as one, and the stadium erupted in earth shakinghowls of delighted applause. Pearlturned again to the stadium, bowed respectfully like a Roman governor, and thensat. Immediately the riders sat down behind her. The noise was pegging theneedles in Anna’s brain, and she couldn’t help smiling at the inducedexcitement and pageantry of the assembly gathering around them.

“But first,” Professor Botscontinued, “we have a real treat for you. For the first time in over onehundred years, the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place this year atHogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In agreement with our brotherwizards in England,and the International Committee of Ministries, we are very excited to bring toyou the first of what will be three tasks today. In just a few moments, youwill be able to see everything as if your were there, thanks to the magic ofour incredible Vollucross Hemisphere.” There was more applause from the crowdas Professor Bots turned to speak with several wizards seated below him. Afternodding to the men, Bots turned to the stadium once more.

“I have just been informed thatthe Triwizard Tournament is about to start. So, without any further delay, letus take you now… to England!”There was a cheer as Bots raised his wand high into the air and then bellowedthe incantation, “Projectius Visum Hogwarts!”

Instantly, the morning sunstreaming into the stadium darkened like the dimming lights in some gigantictheater. For a moment the sky was completely black, and then, quite suddenly,the sky burst a brilliant blue once more. But this wasn’t the morning lightthey had just seen fading to black the moment before; it was high noon, and thenoise inside the stadium seemed to double. More cheering voices were added totheir own as the picture above them showed another stadium filled with studentsfrom the faraway school across the sea. They were seated high above agrassless, open area surrounded by wooden planks.

“Fantastic!” Anna whispered toEric sitting next to her. He nodded and smiled excitedly.

The scene being sent to themlooked like somebody was on a broomstick, flying over the distant stadium. Thecamera, or whatever it was that was projecting their view, flew low into adirt-filled enclosure, and the dizzying scene rushing passed them wassupplemented by the sound of some gigantic and beastly roar. The image rosehigh above the enclosure and over a waving crowd of students seated in blackrobes. It continued to rise above the surrounding trees to settle on abeautiful and mountainous countryside. It panned the emerald green hills androcky ledges, and finally settled on the massive castle they called Hogwarts.The crowd around Anna pointed and ‘oohed’ at the legendary school ofwizardry, and then clapped enthusiastically as a British announcer began tospeak to them.

“A warm welcome to all of ourwizarding friends around the world. This is Patrick O’Shea, bringing to you,for the first time ever, a remote projection of the legendary TriwizardTournament.” The overhead scene quickly changed to a portly man, speaking intohis wand like a microphone.

“Good afternoon from England,everyone, and become to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The scenehere is absolutely breathtaking as we finally begin, after so much press andfanfare, this tournament’s first of what will be three amazing tasks. It’s awonderfully clear day here at Hogwarts, and expectations are high as we lookforward to finally starting this remarkable contest. But before we do, I’d liketo bring in my co-host for this event… a wizard needing nothing of anintroduction anywhere he travels, the famous dragon hunter, Mr. Beetle Mantooth.”A tall, smiling man in green robes stepped into the picture holding his wandunder his chin.

“Thankyou, Pat. It’s good to be here, and what a spectacular event we’re about tosee, eh?”

“Oh, I think we can guaranteethe audience something special today, Beetle. To quote my good friend LudoBagman,who will be commentating this event for us, we’ll be hip deep in fun veryshortly. But despite the excitement we see all around us now, we have to reportthis event didn’t have a very smooth start, did it?”

“No it didn’t, Pat,” said thetall man with a chuckle. “In fact, this event was almost cancelled before itwas started, because of the controversy surrounding the selection of thechampions from the three schools competing for us today – Hogwarts, Beauxbatonsand Durmstrang Academy. Many of us have already heardthe tale of the bizarre events leading to Hogwarts being allowed two champions,but that part of the story pales in comparison to the drama surrounding whomwe’ll be watching in the competition today. Our second Hogwarts’ champion willbe none other than the-boy-who-lived,Harry Potter.” The crowd around Anna gave out an acknowledged whoop ofexcitement. “But despite the fact the interest in this tournament has increaseddramatically because of the-boy-who-lived,the fighting within these Ministries is still rather stormy regarding the hostschool competing with two champions, Pat.”

“That might be true, Beetle,but despite the controversy, the task we’ll be seeing today is going to besomething I think folks will remember for years to come. Let’s show ouraudience what they can expect to see.” The projection on the hemisphere beganto move into the enclosure again and then to a smaller fenced area sittingbehind it.

“The first task is going totest the champion’s courage and daring, as well as their prowess with a wand,and I can’t think of a better way to do that… than with dragons.” The crowdaround Anna gasped as the picture zoomed in on four enormous dragons chained inseparate corners of a square paddock behind the stadium.

“That’s right, Pat,” added thesecond announcer. “And these are some of the most ferocious breeds in all theWizarding world. We understand the champions are just now replaceing out whattheir task is going to be, and which of these deadly beasts they’ll be facing.”The man shook his head and chuckled at the projector. “So… we shouldn’t be toosurprised if some of our competitors are seen leaving the champion’s tentlooking a little pale from shock.”

Patrick O’Shea laughed. “I thinkwe can all forgive them for that. Unfortunately, we still don’t know whatchampion will be fighting which of these terrible beasts, but we will bringthat information to you just as soon as it’s made available to us. We do,however, know the order of the dragons, so why don’t you lend us yourexpertise, Beetle, and tell our audience about them.”

Theother man nodded. “The first champion will be fighting a Swedish Short-Snout.”The picture moved inside the compound containing the dragons. “I believe it’sgoing to be… yes… it’s the blue-gray variety.” The crowd gasped at the huge,bluish dragon, which snorted a burst of fire at the projector, causing theentire hemisphere above the stadium to fill with yellow flames.

“These beasts are sometimeshunted for their skin, which has been used in the manufacture of protectivegloves and shields. In fact, there’s been a lot of discussion about placingthese creatures into an intensive breeding program, much like the RomanianLonghorn, because their numbers have dropped off so drastically in recentyears.

“Here’s an example where thechampion had better know something about this creature before moving againstit. The beast is extremely fast, and one of only two breeds that can issue firefrom both its nostrils and its mouth. It has one of the hottest flames of anybreed, and those horns… absolutely deadly.”

The picture moved on to thenext dragon. “And now we see a Welsh Green, another native of England. Thisbreed was once very common here in the high mountains, but has been pushed intototal disillusionment by the Wizarding community due to Muggle encroachmentinto their natural habitat. Like most of these dragon breeds, the females aresomewhat bigger and much nastier than their male counterparts, especially whenthey’re nesting.

“Our third beast will be theCrimson Chinese Fireball, and I have to say — I don’t envy the poor championwho draws this beast as their opponent. Of the four, this dragon is mostprotective of her nest, and she’s a known man-eater, Pat. Anybody gettingwithin a thousand yards would be dead on the spot if not for the chains holdingthis creature back. Coming in at a little more than four tons, this scarletcolored monster is almost as venomous as the Peruvian Vipertooth,” Pat let outa long whistle in amazement, “and it’s said its eggshells are highly prized inChinese magic.

“And, finally, we have aHungarian Horntail.” There was a loud ‘whooooa’ heard emanating from thecrowd around Anna as the projector turned to the last dragon.

“Beetle, I have to tell you,this black lizard is absolutely huge. It’s terrifying enough for me even atthis distance,” said the portly man nervously.

“And for good reason, Pat. Ireally don’t understand what the ministry officials were thinking to bring abeast like this into the tournament — absolutely vicious, this. In all my yearshunting dragons, I have always tried to wrestle myself clear of this animal. Atnearly fifty feet, it’s almost as big as the Ukrainian Ironbelly, and look atthat tail.” The crowd gasped as they watched the Horntail snap at its wizardhandler, yowling angrily and swishing its tail forward like a spear. The hornson its head matched the bronze colored mass of ugly spikes on its tail, whichshook and twitched like a rattlesnake, ready to strike at the wizard trying tocontrol it. “This beast will eat just about anything it can get into its mouth,including goats, sheep and, whenever possible, humans.”

“I have to agree with you aboutthis one, Beetle; she’s a killer for sure. Tell the audience what ourcompetitors have to do today.”

“Well,” said the tall man,shaking his head almost disbelievingly, “as if it wasn’t enough just to be inthe same enclosure with these creatures, believe it or not, our champions areexpected to capture one of the dragon’s eggs from its nest.” The other manlooked shocked.

“No… notfor a million galleons, Beetle,” said the commentator, his words rolling outfearfully. “These champions have to be made of the strongest stuff to acceptthis kind of challenge. What do we know about them?”

Four pictures of the schoolchampions flashed high over their heads. One of the pictures then expanded tofill the sky.

“FromFrance,this competitor is a seventh-year senior from Beauxbatons School of Witchcraft,Fleur Delacour. Miss Delacour is said to be studying English and hopes to workfor Gringotts one day.”

“When you see a beautiful younglady like this, Beetle, it makes you wonder if this tournament was taken allthe necessary precautions for the champion’s safety.”

The brooding face of adark-haired boy suddenly zoomed forward. “Viktor Krumof Bulgaria is anotherseventh-year student from Durmstrang Academy. You mightremember Viktor, Pat. He was the Seeker on the Bulgarian National Quidditchteam that played for this year’s World Cup against Ireland just a few months ago.Although Bulgarialost that match, Mr. Krum is still a national hero in his country, and allhopes lie with him during this tournament.” Another picture zoomed forward toreplace Krum.

“And here’s one of our localchampions, Cedric Diggory of England.Diggory is a seventh-year senior from Hogwarts and, we understand, one of thisschool’s top students.”

“A handsome lad, Beetle. Let’shope he comes through of this first task in one piece.”

“Andfinally,” the face of a younger boy with dark, messy hair and glasses zoomedforward above them, “we have the young man who so many people have been talkingabout since he was named Hogwarts’ second champion, the boy who survivedYou-Know-Who, Harry Potter.” The stands around Anna exploded in applause.Anna sat mesmerized at the sight of the legendary boy who had defeatedVoldemort as a baby.

“He’sso young,” Eric said, looking dumbfounded. “I can’t believe they’re lettingthat kid go up against these dragons.” Anna nodded uneasily as the commentatorcontinued.

“Yes,Beetle, Harry Potter might be the sentimental favorite in the Wizarding world,but the odds-makers don’t give him much of a chance, given his age andinexperience.”

“That’sright, Pat. Not only is the Potter boy lacking three years of experiencecompared to the other champions, but we can now report that he’s drawn thehorntail for this first task. I’m afraid young Harry will replace his challengetoday just as difficult as his run in with You-Know-Who,”the dragon hunter said, stupidly.

“Well…Beetle, the stage is set — and our champions are ready. Let me tell theaudience about our judges for today’s task.” The picture shifted to the portlycommentator again with a line of five pictures below him. “Our first judge willbe Mister Bartemius Crouch.” One of the pictures below zoomed forward to fillthe screen. The man being projected wore an unsmiling, rather vacantexpression, with clean-cut features and a thin mustache. “Mr. Crouch is England’s headof International Magical Cooperation and, we understand, one of the men we haveto thank for reviving this competition for us today.”

Asecond face zoomed up to replace the first. “My good friend Mr. Ludo Bagman ishead of England’sDepartment of Magical Games and Sports.” The man staring down into the stadiumlooked happy and jovial, and everybody laughed as his picture gave the crowd arather mischievous little wink. “I’ve known Ludo for years, Beetle, and I’venever seen him as excited as in the days leading up to this first task.”

Anolder man with a twisted goatee replaced Bagman’s picture above them. “TheHeadmaster of the prestigious wizarding school, Durmstrang Academy,this is Professor Igor Karkaroff. Karkaroff was also very instrumental inbringing this tournament to us. It’s said he personally participated in theearly negotiations on the rules.”

Anotherface loomed forward. “Professor and Headmistress of Beauxbatons Schoolof Wizardry, this is the famous Madame Maxime of France. I have to tell you, Beetle,I met the Headmistress last night for the first time, and she’s a woman whomakes her presence known whenever she enters a room.” The other man laughed asa final picture came forward.

“And here, of course, is a wizard of renowned fame and our hostfor this competition today, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft andWizardry, Professor Albus Dumbledore.” Everybody around Anna stood and startedclapping respectfully. The man in the picture looked exactly like hisphotograph in the newspaper that Anna had seen a few months earlier. He was amuch older man with long, silvery hair and matching beard. But his age did nothide the bright twinkle in his eye, looking out through his half-moon glasses.His nodding smile was warm and gracious.

“And so — there you have it,Beetle. Our judges are ready and so are the champions. The Swedish Short-Snoutis being moved into position, so I think we’re ready to start. Yes… there’s thewhistle. Our first contestant can be seen exiting the champion’s tent and headingfor the enclosure. Mr. Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts will be going first.”

The projector followed the boyfrom Hogwarts as he made his way toward the enclosure, and several dragonhandlers could be seen directing his way.

“I believe Mr. Diggory looks abit shaken, Pat, and who could blame him? The Short-Snout is an awesome beastto face by yourself, even for the best trained and fully qualified wizards.Let’s hope our first competitor is up to the job.” The crowd in Spellsburgwatched nervously as Cedric Diggory walked up to the enclosure entrance wherehe was stopped by some of the handlers.

“At this time,” said Pat thecommentator, “we’re going to turn over the spell-by-spell action to Mr. LudoBagman. Take it away Ludo!”

Thepicture switched to another portly man, standing behind a raised set of seatsdraped in gold. He was wearing a set of yellow and black robes that looked likethey were once part of a team uniform. The man leaned over to say something tothe rest of the judges sitting to his left and then brought his wand up to histhroat.

“Ladiesand Gentlemen, welcome to the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. Ourchampions are ready and so are our judges. The task today, as you can see, isdragons. Each competitor must collect the golden egg from the nest below. Marksout of ten will be allotted based on their skill, wizarding knowledge anddaring. So, without further delay, we’ll ask Mr. Diggory to join us.”

Thegate opened and Cedric entered the enclosure. There was an explosion of loudapplause given by the Hogwarts students encircling the planked fence as theseventh-year strode forward to face the Swedish Short-Snout. The boylooked extremely apprehensive, but he did not waver as he pulled out his wandand marched bravely forward. He finally stoppedand, as if inspecting each and every scaly inch of the beast before him, hishead slowly rose to finally face the creature. From his expression atthe end, Anna could tell the dragon appeared far worse than what he hadexpected. He quickly looked down, trying to focus on the golden egg between thebeast’s giant, clawed feet. He could see it there, almost hidden from view bythe other eggs surrounding it. His nervous gaze was broken by the Short-Snout’shorned face as the dragon lowered its head to stare across the dirt at the boy.Boiling smoke and orange flecks of singe rose from its nostrils like a freshlystoked fire. The thing growled ominously at him, and Cedric jumped with a startwhen Ludo Bagman spoke again.

“The scoring will begin now, Mr.Diggory,” said Bagman, who then sat down in his chair and picked up his judge’squill.

Anna was transfixed. As shewatched the scene above them, a strange sensation began to sweep over her. Shestudied the dragon; its long, blue tail wrapped tight around the bottom of herfeet to protect its precious eggs, and she could almost feel what it wasthinking. Despite its reputation for being a man-eater as the man named Beetlehad first described it, Anna could sense a much more complicated array ofemotions coming from the creature. She squinted up at the beast in absorbedconcentration. There was certainly anger, but that was something one shouldexpect after being stunned, stuffed rudely into a crate for travel, and thenawakened in a strange place surrounded by hundreds of people. It occurred toAnna that what the creature was feeling was quite understandable.

But now the beast feltthreatened. It was beginning to realize what the wizard in front of her wasintending to do, and it was now fearful for its brood. Under more familiarsurroundings, she would have certainly killed the thing standing in front ofher already, but the mother wasn’t going to leave her nest for fear the othercreatures surrounding her would move in. She was trapped. Her only option wasto try and scare the nasty, little egg thief away.

The dragon growled and bellowedangrily at Cedric. Puffs of black smoke snorted from its nostrils like a greatsteam engine engaging the screws. The beast remained low and trembled as shescreeched again, twisting its head around in a wide sweeping motion to scorethe ground with the horns upon her massive crown.She turned upright again to glare at the boy, and Anna could feel thecreature’s clear warning: Come no closer. Cedric began running to his right.

“He’s off!” Bagman yelpedexcitedly.

Cedric was waving his wandanimatedly at the dragon in a way that suggested he didn’t have the beast’sfull attention. If Anna had been with him, she would have told him that hecertainly did. As soon as Cedric started to run, the dragon immediatelycrouched low upon her eggs and Anna could sense the fear quickly buildinginside the beast.

Cedric shot a blast from hiswand to the right of the dragon’s head, obviously not meaning to hit it, butdistract it while he turned to run the other way. The dragon quickly ducked toavoid the blast and then looked back to replace the boy’s direction changed. Thecreature’s head trembled, reared slightly, and then shot a stream ofbrilliant-blue fire from its nostrils across the champion’s intersecting path.The flame was so hot that many of the students sitting in the front row leanedback in shocked surprise. Cedric dodged the blast just in time.

“Oooh,narrow miss there, very narrow. He’s taking risks, this one!” said Bagman over the nowbreathless crowd.

Cedric changed his directionand ran the opposite way again, all the time testing the beast’s range andclosing the gap between himself and the nest. The dragon took an anxious stepforward, thought better of it, and then stepped back again, turning her massivebody slightly to hide her clutch from view.

“Avis!” Cedric shouted,pointing his wand at the dragon’s head. A large number of birds zoomed out ofhis wand and up at the dragon’s face. “Avis!” he bellowed again. Soon,dozens of birds were flying in a tight circle around the Short-Snout’s head,buzzing like a swarm of angry bees. The dragon snapped viciously at the birdsand swiped at them with its deadly horns. Parts of the flock began to fall likerain upon the ground where they immediately disappeared in puffs of whitesmoke. But while the beast was distracted, Diggory had already made his movetoward the nest. The crowd gasped as he ran courageously forward, headingstraight for the dragon’s feet.

“No!” yelled Anna. “Not yet…not yet!” Eric looked at his sister and frowned. She seemed transported at whatwas happening above them. The dragon blew an enormous mushroom of fire over itshead, and what was left of the birds was immediately consumed and turned intosmoking ash. Fortunately, Cedric saw what was happening and skidded to animmediate stop. Stumbling slightly, he retreated just as the Short-Snoutblasted the ground around him. Cedric barely escaped.

“Carefulthere! Clever move… pity it didn’t work!” yelled Bagman.

Andso it went. On and on, Cedric tried to divert the towering monster with anarray of spells bent on distracting its full attention away from her nest.Finally, he pointed his wand at a rock lying within the enclosure and thenshouted something that transfigured the stone into a dog.

“Brilliant!”said Eric, excitedly. “The dog is a great choice to divert some of the dragon’sattention.”

Hewas right. The dog started barking and darting anxiously around the dragon’sfeet, looking to coax and entice the beast a few steps forward. Being quickerand much more agile than Diggory, the dog was able to barter most of thedragon’s attention, as she immediately perceived it as the greater threat toits nest.

Cedricbolted forward again as the crowd held its breath. Within seconds he wasbeneath the beast undetected. He snatched up the golden egg and then peered outfrom between the dragon’s legs to replace his dog prancing and yelping loudly infront. Assuming the dragon was still watching the dog, Cedric boldly dashed awayfrom the nest in the direction opposite. Unfortunately, the dragon saw him.

Screechingmadly at the thing trying to steal one of its precious eggs, the dragon steppedforward and blasted a stream of hell’s fire at the fleeing boy. Cedric leapedto the left just as the blue flames blistered passed him. The crowd stood andscreamed in horror as Cedric began rolling in the dirt, clutching his face. Thedog immediately rushed in. Barking frantically up at the beast, it hoped todistract it one last time. The dragon raised her foot and with an angry roarshe smashed the dog flat into the ground. It lifted its foot again only to replacetransfigured rubble beneath, but in its final distraction, Cedric Diggoryhad successfully escaped. He had captured thegolden egg. The stunned crowd flew into a deafening roar of delight as thehandlers ran in to subdue the angry mother.

“Welldone, Mr. Diggory. Very good indeed!” shouted Bagman. “And now — the marks fromthe judges!”

Therewas a pause as the judges used quill and parchment to calculate their scores.The Hogwarts students were still cheering madly at the success of their fellowclassmate, as another set of handlers began to move the green dragon into theenclosure. Each of the judges then used their wands to present Cedric Diggory’sscore. First came Madame Maxime, eight; then Bagman, an eight; Mister Crouch,another eight. Professor Dumbledore agreed with his fellow judges and alsopresented Cedric with a score of eight. Professor Karkaroff was next, a six. TheHogwarts crowd, who had been cheering enthusiastically for Cedric’s marks up tothe last, started to boo and hiss bitterly at the Bulgarian Headmaster’s lowerthan expected score.

“So whaddya think?” Eric said,looking at his sister.

Anna didn’t exactly know whatto say. Although Cedric Diggory had been impressive, she couldn’t seem to shakea more powerful sense of gloom. Rather than feeling excited about Cedric’s win…she was saddened by the dragon’s loss. She looked at her brother and shrugged.

“I guess it was good,” shesaid, reluctantly.

“But…?” Eric replied, halfsurprised by her despondent expression.

Anna looked at her brotheragain and smiled. Once again, he had proven very few of her true feelings everescaped him.

“It’s just that… well… how doyou feel about the way these animals are being treated?” Once more, Eric seemedsurprised.

“I… don’t understand what youmean.”

“Well… I guess I’m not sureit’s necessary to task the champions at the expense of these magical creatures.They’re nesting mothers, scared and confused, and made angry by thecircumstances in which they’ve been placed. Although I can see the benefits ofhaving a tournament like this to bring the wizarding world closer together, I’mnot sure I like what they’re doing with these animals.”

Ericthought for a moment, looking back up at the projection above them. He nodded.“I think I see your point,” he replied guardedly. “I see the rest of us stillhave a lot to learn when it comes to being a Guardian,” he said, soundingwhimsical. Anna frowned as her brother turned to look up again.

“Onedown, three to go!” said Bagman. “Miss Delacour, if you please!”

Agirl in pale blue robes and long silvery hair entered the enclosure. She tookthree steps on the dirt-strewn field and stopped cold. Her wide eyes looked upin horrified wonder at the green, bellowing monster standing before her. Thecreature was rocking and stomping nervously over her nest of brown eggs fleckedwith green. The girl could see the golden egg lying atop the rest as she slowlypulled out her wand.

Therace to the egg began, and Anna and Eric were rather shocked at the aggressivenature of the girl’s attack. While Cedric had used magic as a distraction toget to his egg, Delacour was much more direct. She shot a stunning spell at thebeast as she marched forward, looking as if she intended to plow straightthrough the beast with only the force of her will. Her hex hit the dragon inthe neck, which sent the creature into a frenzy of howling snorts.

“Oh,no!” gasped Anna.

“OhI’m not sure that was wise!” shouted Ludo Bagman.

Thedragon reared back to emit an almost surprising song-like roar, and then felllow to blast two thin jets of fire that seemed to accelerate as they mergedtogether into one.

“My God, she’s too close,” Anna screamed,burying her face into her brother’s shoulder.

Fleur saw the fire coming andimmediately waved her wand in a wide circle in front of her body just as theflames enveloped her. The crowd screamed in panic, but the girl had managed toconjure a shielding charm that kept her from being turned to ash. The force ofthe blow sent her reeling ten feet backward onto the ground.

“Oh . . . nearly!” yelledBagman. Careful now… good lord, I thought she’d had it then!”

Forten full minutes, Fleur ran around the arena shooting an array of spells at thedragon, intent on forcibly moving her off the nest, but all she seemed to bedoing was enraging the creature more. Anna could feel the beast’s temper risingto near blinding levels. She wanted to scream at the girl to stop what she wasdoing, that she was close to a rage beyond her ability to control. The beastwas about to reach out with a fury rarely matched anywhere in the magical worldand put an end to Delacour’s short life.

The dragon shook its head in awild, almost insane fury, and then bellowed a hideous roar toward the sky. Themother spread her enormous, bright-green wings and then leapt forward. Itflapped once, hit the end of the chain wrapped around its neck, and then landedwith an earthshaking boom on the ground just twenty feet from the girl. Some ofthe handlers began to run in as Fleur screamed, stumbled backward, and thenfell to the ground. She screamed again as the creature’s jaws swooped down ather. In desperation, she pointed her wand at the beast and shrieked out whatshe thought would surely be her last spell. A jet of blue light shot from herwand and hit the dragon directly in the eyes. The beast bellowed angrily as itshead snapped back. It straightened, stumbled, and turned. It shook its greathead and then stretched its neck to look longingly back at its nest again. Thedragon wobbled forward, lurched back, and then staggered again, rubbing at itsnow tired eyes with one of its massive wings.

“Get the egg, Fleur. Get theegg!” yelled some of the students in the stands beyond the fence. There wereshouts in French by her fellow classmates who were also now pointing at theopen nest.

The girl quickly got to herfeet and ran around the dragon toward the eggs. The giant seemed too sleepy tostand and just managed to save itself twice from toppling over. It looked likea punch-drunk, lumbering tower ready to fall. Raising its head high into theair, it let out a short roar, almost like a bark, turned, and then blew anenormous ball of fire down at the ground as if to clear its sinuses before along nap.

Red and yellow flames explodedas they hit the ground and then spread in a wide circle around the dragon’sscaled feet. The girl was almost at the nest when she saw the inferno coming ather. She shouted something in French and then dove headlong into the nest ofeggs just as the flash reached her. The crowd screamed in horror as theywatched Fleur frantically conjuring several water spells to douse the flames onher robes.

When the girl had finishedputting out the fire, she peered fearfully over the edge of the nest to stareup at the dragon again. She found it shaking its head, trying to throw off thesleeping hex the girl had used to save her life. Knowing she only had a few secondsbefore the dragon rushed back to its nest, Fleur stooped down ratherindifferently and picked up her prize.

“Excellent!” yelled Bagman.“She has the egg!”

The crowd rolled into relievedapplause, as the handlers rushed in to subdue the dragon. They quickly movedthe beast back to her nest where the mother coiled herself into a ball tosleep. They then carefully placed her with the other dragons behind theenclosure.

There was another long pause while the judges worked on the girl’s marks. Madame Maxime was the first to lift her wand high. Along-bright and steely ribbon shot into the air, forming itself into the numbernine. Bagman, Crouch and Dumbledore quickly followed with matching scores ofeight. Professor Karkaroff, another six. Politeapplause from the Hogwarts students followed Fleur Delacour as sheexited the enclosure with her egg tucked under her armand the whistle cut the morning air once again.

“Andhere comes Mr. Krum!” said Bagman, happily. Viktor Krum slouched in to face the scarlet, smooth-scaled,Chinese Fireball. The creature’s protuberant eyes narrowed evilly as itsurveyed the boy in blood-red robes. It snorted a warning at Krum, billowingtwo large, mushroomed shaped balls of fire from its nose that wrapped inspiraled rings around the golden spikes encircling the fringe of its head. Itssnub-snouted face almost disappeared entirely as the beast opened its mouthwide to issue forth a horrible, shrieking wail. Spit dripped from its fangs andspattered the ground in fiery pools of yellow stench.

Theboy from Bulgarialooked unimpressed. He marched forward and Anna felt the knots in her stomachclinch once again. The boy whipped his wand around over his head and with ananimated, dance-like skip he cast a spell forward with the force of his entirebody.

“Aсоциирам3апалване!” he shouted, in his nativetongue. The hex shot forward, but the dragon dodged it easily. It let out aquick burst of flame in reply, which slowed quickly before rising as a blackball of smoke well short of Krum.

“TheFireball doesn’t seem to have the range of some of the other dragons,” Ericsurmised, optimistically.

Annaglared fearfully up at her brother. “Don’t be fooled,” she said, knowingly.Once again, Eric was surprised by Anna’s seemingly experienced assumptions.

“Oh,very daring!” yelled Bagman, as the Bulgarian, showing incredible quickness,easily dodged another burst of fire from the beast. Although not exactly faston his feet, the boy’s reactions were incredible as he dove, rolled, and thenpopped to his feet again to cast another spell forward. He was concentrating onthe nest between the creature’s feet as he weaved around the dragon, lookingfor the golden egg among its crimson brothers. He was closing in, acknowledgingthe range of the beast as he circled.

Suddenly,Anna stood and yelled out, “Get back — get back, now!”

Krumsaw it too. The beast stepped forward; this time narrowing its sights, it knewthe boy had been tricked into coming into range. Krum turned to run just as thedragon let loose a tremendous ball of fire twice the size of anything before.The crowd screamed as Krum darted to the left to escape. He then turned andfired again.

“Aсоциирам3апалване!” This time his aim wastrue. The hex hit the beast directly in the eyes and the dragon pitched backand bellowed in shocked agony.

“Itlooks like a Bulgarian version of a Conjunctivitis Curse,” saidEric, who started to applaud with the rest of the stadium. “He’s going for theegg!”

Sure enough, Krum wasrunning to the left and then behind the beast toward the piled sticks andbranches.

“That’ssome nerve he’s showing — and — yes, he’s got the egg!” yelled Bagman, over thecheering crowd. But they could all see Krum was still in great danger. Thedragon was stomping in agony around the boy, stepping on some of thecrimson-gold, speckled eggs in the nest as it howled in pain.

“No!”Anna and Eric yelled together as they leaped to their feet.

“Theeggs –– get the eggs,” Eric shouted pleadingly at the projection above them.The handlers ran in and immediately levitated the rest of the eggs out of thenest before the mother could destroy them all. Eric dropped heavily into hisseat and then slumped over his knees in frustration. “Damn it…” he groaned,despondently. He looked over at Anna who was crying. “This… is so wrong. Theentire nest could have been destroyed,” he said somberly.

“Theeggs…” Anna sobbed miserably. Eric wrapped his arm around his sister in anattempt to comfort her. “Lost…lost…” she moaned. She could see the brokenpieces of shell in her mind, the half formed and grayish embryos strewn uponthe ground. Everything smashed.

“Iunderstand what you were trying to say, Anna. I really do. Our first publicaction as Guardians will be to submit a protest about this task to the responsibleMinistries as soon as possible.”

Asthe crowd around them callously cheered on, the judges began working on Krum’sscore. Soon, ribbons of silver were shooting into the air once again. ProfessorKarkaroff was first this time.Unsurprisingly to everyone, he gave his Bulgarian student a ten. Dumbledore andBagman gave Viktor scores of eight, Crouch and Madame Maxime, apparentlyunhappy at the loss of the Chinese Fireball’s eggs, issued forth scores ofseven.

Thewhistle sounded again after the handlers had moved the Horntail into position,and a skinny boy with glasses stepped through the gap in the fence. Anna pulledin a calming breath, wiped her face, and looked up to stare at the boy. To her surprise, she thought hewas very average looking; somebody who would blend into a crowd easily if youdidn’t know who he was, and what he had done for the Wizarding world indefeating the most terrible dark wizard in the last one hundred years. ButHarry Potter was about to tackle a dragon more terrible than anything thestadium had seen that day, and Anna found herself desperately fearful for theboy’s life.

Thereaction from the crowd in Spellsburg when Harry stepped through the fence wasa blast of enormous applause. The English commentators were right; Potter wasdefinitely the sentimental favorite today. But to Anna’s surprise, the reactionfrom the crowd in Hogwarts seemed rather muted in comparison. Unlike theDiggory boy, who had received tremendous applause from his fellow classmates,Potter only seemed to be gathering the praise from a very small section of thecrowd.

“Aresome of the students over there booing him?” asked Eric, staring up at theprojection in disbelief. They definitely were. Anna could hear the jeers andcatcalls coming from Hogwarts, but the crowd soon went quiet as Harry steppedin front of the Horntail who was crouched low over the nest, her yellow eyesnarrowing under a scaly-furrowed brow.

Annareached out with her mind to touch the creature and her tears were immediatelyreplaced with terrified wonder. She could sense a rage unlike any other in thisbeast. In sharp contrast to the rest of the dragons, this one didn’t seem tocare about being encircled by the crowd outside the enclosure. From the verybeginning, the creature’s attention was fully focused on Harry Potter. Itunfurled its huge, bat-like wings, blowing itself up to scare off the thingapproaching her nest. It let out a tremendous scream, and Anna could see thecrowd at Hogwarts covering their ears at the high-pitched and screeching blast.Its bronze-colored, spiked tail whipped about to thrash the ground like a moataround her.

Suddenly,a cold wave of fear came crashing down in Anna’s mind and she immediately knewthis beast was far different than its cousins. Its inner spirit was almostprimeval and much more vicious. But the most terrifying thing about this onewas knowing she would abandon her nest in a fight. The wall that defined herboth as a predator and a protector was much thinner here and, if pushed to thewall, the rage that filled her heart would propel her through any maternalinstincts, to kill at any cost.

Potterstood looking at the beast and, for a moment, Eric thought this would be as faras he would go in approaching the nest. This young fourth-year was too scaredto move… and who could blame him? He was nothing more than a meal to thiscreature, a blundering fool approaching the dinner plate.

Potterraised his wand and yelled something that projected his genuine state of mind.He wasn’t frozen in fear at all, but in a high state of concentration.

“AccioFirebolt!” he shouted.

“What?What’d he say?” somebody behind Anna asked.

“Asummoning charm of some kind,” said another voice to her left.

Potterwaited with his wand in his outstretched hand, as if not quite sure of what hewas doing, or if what he was planning would even work. Moments passed by likehours as the noise from the crowd both at Hogwarts and Spellsburg grew into asteady rumble. Anna could see several people gathering around the odds-makersin yellow, looking to hedge their final bets. She frowned irritably, agreeingwith Doctor Pearl: What these men did was disgusting.

Pottersuddenly dropped his arm and looked around. A single broom was now flying intoview from around the trees. It rose into the air, cleared the enclosure fence,and then streaked its way toward the boy, stopping exactly next to him. The crowd around Anna cheered loudly.

“WellI’ll be; Potter’s got a broom,” Bagman yelled. “Now there’s some steely cunningout of our young champion. Let’s see what he can do.”

Potterswung his leg over the broom and kicked off. He did a half turn and then, likea cannon delivering its calling to the open sky, he shot straight up.Instantly, the projection above Vollucross stadium split itself in two; oneside of the hemisphere followed Potter streaking high above the crowd, and theother showed the dragon stretching its long-scaly neck to follow him.

“Idon’t know about this,” Eric said, appraisingly. “His tactics are sound; he canmove about the dragon in three planes instead of just two… but I don’tunderstand how he expects to get to the nest while riding on a broom.

Annaagreed. What was Potter doing?

Harrydid a couple of circles high above the dragon and then quickly dove. In aninstant he was level with the beast again and the dragon’s yellow eyes honedin, marking him for death. Its massive head fell back and then jerked forward.It roared fire in one long and continuous streak of orange into Potter’soncoming path. But the boy seemed to know what the dragon was about to do,which made his effort to avoid the blast look easy. The stream of fire missedhim entirely and trailed off in a river of blackened smoke.

“Great Scott, he can fly!”yelled Bagman. “Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?”

Potter was circling just out ofrange of the dragon whose neck was twisting itself like a coiled rope as itfollowed his every move. Then the Horntail dipped and, in less than a second,spun its head three complete revolutions to unravel itself before glaring up atHarry again. In that brief moment, Eric thought there might have been anopening to make a move at the nest.

But that wouldn’t be enoughtime, Eric thought worriedly. Besides, how could the boy hope to get tothe eggs on a broom?

Potterturned and dove again, but this time the Horntail’s reaction to the boy wasshifting away from simply scaring him off. It wanted him; it wanted to hunthim.

Formost in the crowd, Anna saw them as almost blind to the possibility thatsomething terrible was about to happen, but she understood why. Even Anna couldfeel the draw of complicated emotions herself; the internal struggle betweenthat of hoping to see something electrifying out of this deadly struggle, andthe more prudent hope that the boy wouldn’t get himself killed. There was a palatable,almost delicious tension, as the beast reared back once more intent on turningthe boy into ash. The crowd cringed as the head of the creature trembled todraw in a lungful of air; its eyes narrowing like a snake looking to strike.

Butthen Anna’s sensed something else. Maybe it was the way the beast moved, or thesudden shift of its weight to one side. At once, Anna’s attention slid awayfrom its now thrusting head and redirected itself to….

“The tail…” she mumbled underher breath.

The dragon let loose anotherblast of fire and then dropped its shoulders into the direction of Potter’sflight.

“The tail!” Anna yelled.

Thespiked-end of the Horntail suddenly whipped forward. The boy swerved left onlyin the nick of time just as one of the bronze spikes grazed his shoulder. Therewere a number of intermingled screams as the crowd in both stadiums groaned asone.

“Oh… now… that was too close!Careful there…” warned Bagman, who was now standing and nervously swaying in timewith Potter’s every move.

Anna closed her eyes andreached out, the fingers of her mind probing the dragon’s thoughts. “Potter’sbeen injured. Not badly… but the dragon knows he’s hurt,” Anna said knowingly.She looked at Eric again who was frowning down at her. “There’s blood in theair… the dragon can smell it.”

“Anna, how can you possiblyknow…?” Eric started to ask, but he was cut off my Bagman’s voice once again.

“Keep your wits about you,careful!”

Harry was now circling aroundthe giant’s head, just out of range of its fire, but still… close enough to bea threat. The creature’s yellow eyes narrowed as she reached up to snap at himwith her outstretched jaws. Anna could see her slowly rising higher off thenest as she straightened her knees. She snapped again, more out of frustrationthan knowing she could get to the thing flying above her. Her head swayed leftand right, stretching her long neck still higher.

Anna could feel the frustrationburning within the beast. She meant to have him, this nasty little thingtaunting her. The dragon stretched her neck as far as it could go. He wasthere… right there; if she lunged she could take him. Her knees slowly bent tomake the jump, but then, he suddenly was too high, too far again out of herreach. The creature rose and roared in provoked frustration, blasting fireagain at her tormentor.

Annacould sense the creature was at her limit of motherly protection. No longer asentinel of her brood, she was now exactly what she was born to be, a hunterand a killer. Her jaws opened wide to emit a horrible, deafening screech. Shehad been pushed to her limit; she had reached the wall of her given restraint.

The dragon suddenly spread itsarms wide like some horrific demon. She was as broad as she was tall with herblack, leathery wings unfurled to full. She leaped into the air, throwing herwings downward to sustain her great weight, and that’s when it happened. In theblink of an eye, Potter dived, falling faster than a rock hurled at the ground.

Eric grabbed Anna this time,“He wouldn’t… he can’t… he’s going for it!” he yelled in amazement.

The crowd screamed as Pottersuddenly turned just when they thought he was going to crash and then streakedin the direction of the creature’s nest just inches above the ground. Afterwatching him dance and weave for so long just out of reach of the beast’s jaws,all were amazed at this sudden burst of speed and pinpoint accuracy toward histarget. He was suddenly under the beast. He slowed, grabbed the golden egg, andbefore the mother could realize where her tormentor had gone, he was off —zooming up behind the dragon high into the air again and the crowd explodedinto jubilant applause. And this time Anna joined them in astonished wonder.Potter was amazing, incredible, and she couldn’t help noticing nearly everybodyat Hogwarts was now clapping and yelling for Harry just as they had doneearlier for the boy they called Diggory.

“Lookat that!” Bagman was yelling. “Will you look at that? Our youngest champion isquickest to get his egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr.Potter!”

Harryfinally landed and was instantly surrounded by a number of happy teachers,including a heavy-bearded man who was every bit as large as the giant,crimson-cloaked guard that had chased Anna through the halls of Castlewood. Thedragon keepers rushed forward to calm the Horntail and settle her down over hereggs again. The beast pushed her clutch around with the horn of her nose as ifcounting her loses, while Bagman’s voice boomed over the crowd once again.

“Andhow about a hand for all of our champions. Oh, absolutely brilliant! Really…well done!” The crowds cheered boisterously in agreement. “We’ll send Potter into see the healers while the judges work on his marks.”

Tenminutes later, Harry Potter reentered the enclosure, which was now empty ofdragons and full of happy students. A redheaded boy standing next to Potter wasdirecting his view toward the judges. Madame Maxime raisedher wand in the air and the number eight appeared over her head. The redheadedboy nodded happily and smacked Harry on his undamaged shoulder. Crouch andDumbledore’s score – nine; the crowds in the stands around Anna cheered.Bagman’s score – a ten; the odds-makers in Spellsburg could be seen waving offBagman’s mark in frustration; obviously they thought it too high. FinallyKarkaroff raised his wand and when the number four shot into the air, the crowdin both stadiums booed angrily.

Annalooked at the men in yellow and could see their angry expressions. It was theworst possible result for them. The sentimental favorite had beaten all theodds and won. And the many who were now surrounding the men with their littleslips of parchment would celebrate a toast Harry Potter tonight with theodds-makers’ profits.

“Idon’t believe it!” Eric said, excitedly. The Potter kid did it. He actuallytied for first place… really, very impressive.”

Forthe first time during the tournament, Anna smiled. “He was a very good flier,wasn’t he?” Eric was nodding his agreement.

ButAnna was far more impressed with Potter’s ability to do well without having tohex the dragon or damage its nest, and she knew that if she ever had anopportunity to meet this boy face to face, she would tell him how much sheappreciated that.

Thecommentators broke in again. “Well, there you have it, Beetle. Our first taskis complete. What did you think?” asked O’Shea, still speaking into his wand.

Theother man was smiling and shaking his head satisfactorily. “I have to tell you,Pat, I thought the contestants did surprisingly well. Very well, indeed. Theywere aggressive when they needed to be, and smart enough to keep from gettingseriously injured. The three schools represented here have to be proud of theirchampions.”

“Iagree. And what did you think of Potter using a broom instead of his wand toget to his egg?”

“Ithought it was brilliant. It allowed him to get to his egg in the shortestamount of time even though he was unfortunate enough to draw the Horntail.”

“So–– let’s review the marks for our audience,” said Pat. The four pictures of thechampions were shown with their scores. “Tied for first place are theBulgarian, Viktor Krum, and Harry Potter of Hogwarts — with forty points each.In second place is Miss Delacour of France with thirty-nine, and CedricDiggory of Hogwarts is in third, just one point behind, with thirty-eight. Whatdo you think of the marks, Beetle?”

“I thought they were reasonablyfair, Pat. Perhaps Krum’s score was a little high, given the damage he causedto his dragon’s nest, and I think the Bulgarian judge was a little harsh onsome of the other champions. But, overall, I think the final positions comingout of the first task were correct.”

Pat nodded in agreement. “We’venow been told that the second task will be held on February twenty-fourth, andwe hope to tell our audiences what the champions will be doing just as soon asthose details are made available to us. So… on behalf of my colleague, BeetleMantooth, this is Patrick O’Shea, signing off from Hogwarts. We’ll see youagain in February for the second task. Good evening, everybody.”

And with these final words theVollucross Hemisphere began to fade, and the appreciative spectators inSpellsburg continued their thunderous applause well after it had gonecompletely black.