The day of the first task dawned bright and cold and students and staff alike were looking forward to the first task. As the students made their way to the stands they saw several camera's incased in floating balls, courtesy of the new technomancy office. These would allow the students at Durmstrang and Beauxbatons see the task instead of just reading about it. As similar magic along the lines of that used for the wireless networks there was no fear of the muggles intercepting the transmissions. Still the feed was encoded until it got to the monitors at the two schools for safety. Much of the magical world in Briton were just getting used to this new world. May purebloods feared it would expose their world and what was the ministry doing allowing such things to be used?
Remus was not thinking on that of course, no he was seated by his two best friends in the world (those that were alive that is) smiling. He did not care if Severus and Sirius were annoyed he was good friends with both, they really needed to get over themselves some days. They were both glaring at him and no wonder, he was decked out in Hufflepuff colors complete with a little banner that kept flashing Hogwarts Newest Champion Cedric Diggory! He was sure that Cedric would win this task as a new letter from Fate via Mercury had come a few days ago. He knew the information in the letter was not just to help Cedric win but was to help Harry in the long run. Just what kind of help it would offer he was not sure of as of yet.
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In the meantime Harry was waiting under his invisibility cloak as instructed by Moody, ever since the old Auror had over heard him talking with Remus about his Parseltongue abilities he had his eye on Harry. So when Cedric had come and asked for his help with the dragon Harry had agreed learning dragons understood Parseltongue. So that was why he waited for Cedric outside the tent, bundled up warm under his invisibility cloak he carefully shifted from foot to foot to keep warm. He peaked into the tent and gave a mental sigh as he saw Cedric draw a model dragon with the number three on it. Harry froze in fear as he saw just what kind Cedric was to fight, it was a Norwegian Ridgeback, the most territorial of all dragon breeds and very hard to keep. Meanwhile Remus was trying and failing to keep Severus and Sirius from arguing.
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"Dragons do not speak Parseltongue Black only snakes do!" Severus said so sure he was right (it was rare he ever was wrong) "prove to me they do!"
Discover moreBooksStory writing softwareWriting workshopsFan community platformCrossover fiction"We could have Harry prove it, speaking of which where is Harry?" Sirius said looking for his godson near his friends.
"He is going to help Cedric, and Severus you are a bright wizard however dragons understand and speak Parseltongue." Remus said smiling as Severus glared at him. "I learned that from Charlie Weasley."
"Snape wrong, ah this is a red letter day." Sirius said grinning.
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"Shut it mutt." Severus snarled.
"Stop calling me a mutt you mongrel!" Sirius snarled at Severus.
"Better admitting to being a mongrel than denying being a mutt." Severus said silkily.
"You damn bast…."
"You finish that sentence Mr. Black and you will serve detention wither or not you are a student at this time!" McGonagall said taking a seat behind the three wizards.
Severus smiled a cold smile and turned his attention to the arena where the task was to take place. Several dragon wranglers had brought in a sleeping dragon and put her with her eggs in the middle of the arena. She was beautiful, from tip of snout to tail she was ten feet long with a wide wing span. She was a Swedish Short Snout and like all dragons she had four legs and a long tail. She was deadly though, her blue-gray hide was so thick and magical that very few things could get through it, only goblin made steel, a blasting charm that would knock them out and certain muggle bombs, mostly the blockbuster or bunker buster and nuclear bombs. They could use fire for defense but as this could compromise their flight bladders it was used in self defense. The dragon woke up and snorted in anger as she realized she was chained firmly with goblin steel collar and chains to a large stake deep into the ground.
Discover moreFiction genre guidesApp store optimizationCartoonsMobile app marketingComicsFirst up was Fleur Delacour, she was clad in fire resistant robes of navy blue and she drew out her wand and transfigured several sheep that she knew the dragon would like. It worked, Fleur ran as the dragon was occupied with the sheep and she got the golden egg in the center of the clutch. She had made it three quarters of the way back to the gates when the dragon saw her and sent a blast of fire at her. Fleur threw up a shield but was cut across her back with fire, only her robes saved her. She staggered out of the arena, and even Severus could not hide his concern. Despite his cold and harsh demeanor he did care about children and students and really did not want them hurt.
"Lucky for her she wore those robes." Sirius said.
"Luck had nothing to do with it, she was smart to have those robes." Severus replied.
"I agree, dragons! These are children, they, she could have been hurt!" McGonagall said.
"Oh dear, look what is next." Remus said, paling "Hungarian Horntail! Those are man eaters!"
"No they like virgins." Sirius said then looking at Remus, "virgin maidens, so you are safe mate."
"But the girls here are not!" McGonagall said, "what if she gets loose?"
"She will not, besides I doubt all the girls are virgins." Severus said, "I don't care what wards are on the castle there are no wards on the forbidden forest or Hogsmeade."
"Aren't you a ray of sunshine." Sirius growled.
The Horntail was a massive dragon in bulk, she was not much longer than the Short Snout but she was stocker and more muscled with a thicker hide. She had horns all around her face and she woke faster than the Short Snout. Victor Krum entered the arena clad in crimson robes that were fire-proofed just as Fleur's had been. What he did to get his egg was probably the bravest and most ingenious way to get the egg he could come up with. He summoned his broom and began a dangerous game of keep away with the black scaled beast. Weaving back and forth he got the dragon further from her eggs and finding his chance he dove, grabbed the golden egg and few out, only to get hit hard with the spiked tail of the Horntail cutting his arm deeply. Remus heard McGonagall gasp in shock at the sight of the wounded boy, but he got to safety out of the arena.
"That leaves Cedric, you sure he is allowed to do what he is about to do?" Remus said to a very pale Sirius.
"Ah nothing in the rules against it." Severus said seeing just how green Sirius had gone, "he will not be hurt."
"What do you mean?" McGonagall said, "Harry is not in the task."
"Well ah he sort of is." Remus said realizing McGonagall was going to kill him, after Sirius did. "It's not as if he is in danger, he just has to speak to her."
"Speak to a Norwegian Ridgeback!" Sirius said in a panic.
"Oh bloody hell!" Remus moaned the realization of what he had allowed Harry to do hit him hard.
Harry was thinking the same thing as he followed Cedric into the arena. He really was not sure facing the large brown dragon with black wing ridges was a good idea. He stepped up and began to speak telling the dragon what they needed. To his relief she listened to him but as expected only let Cedric by when he summoned the fat goats that this breed really liked. As she ate the goats Cedric ran, grabbed the egg and ran out of the arena with Harry. He was the fastest and without any injuries with a peaceful dragon devouring the goats he hoped to get the highest score too. He was right, he ended up with 28 points out of 30 while Victor got 25 and Fleur ended up with 26. Harry was not happy with Karkaroff as he had been the only one to give Cedric an eight and Krum a full score. He nearly ran into Severus on his way to see his friends with Remus and Sirius right behind him.
"Typical Potter always have to share the spotlight." Severus said softly.
"No sir, I was hidden, no-one knew I was there! It was brilliant sir! She was huge and scary too!"
"Harry please don't do that again." Sirius said taking Harry much to his embarrassment in a hug, "I was not expecting you in the task!"
"That was a stunt worthy of James, but please don't do that again!" Remus added.
"I am sorry, I just wanted to have fun." Harry said looking sorrowful.
"We know pup, now let's go get some butter beer, Severus you want to come?" Remus asked.
"I cannot, I have to see if any of the champions need any rare potions." Severus replied.
He walked off to see to the champions while Harry met up with his friends and went to Hogsmeade with them. Much to the amusement of the students Sirius turned to Padfoot and instigated a game of fetch that kept the teens busy as they made their way to Hogsmeade. This was another change from the past timeline, instead of the first task taking place on a weekday it took place on a Saturday morning leaving the rest of the day after for the students to head to Hogsmeade. Remus was not sure how this new timeline would work out, so far it seemed to be better than the last time but Fate had warned him that Voldemort still would come back. Remus just hoped this time they would be prepared for it.
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The day of the Yule ball came and all the students were looking forward to it. Ron actually had a date this time around, he had asked Susan Bones and she had happily accepted. Neville was going with Luna Lovegood and Hermione was going with Victor Krum though she had managed for the time being to keep Harry, Ron and Neville guessing who she was going with. Fred and George had their dates, Angelica for Fred, Alice for George. Harry was going with Ginny, it was clear they were very close, Harry found he could talk to her and tell her things he had a hard time telling others. Harry and Ginny had become close, very close and he could talk to her about things he feared to talk to others about.
Remus had another surprise that was quite pleasant in nature for the Yule Ball. Dora was fresh out of Auror training and was on her first assignment at the school. Remus had literally run into her a few weeks back and apologizing profusely he introduced himself. It was love at first sight, a very rare thing but then again there was a possibility of Remus and Dora being natural soul mates. Sirius was not amused at first to find his younger cousin with anyone but he came to terms with it and even teased them to the point he got hexed many times for it. There was only so many times (once really) that Dora would put up with jokes of "multicolored pups". Sirius ended up looking very interesting for a time and even his wife would not come to his rescue.
No matter, Remus was now standing at the head of the great hall decorated with ice and snow covered trees. On each side of the door stood two half giants clad in white ice dragonskin armor and robes. Remus could not believe how lovely Dora looked in her silk robes of bright pink, her hair, body and face in "natural mode" she had long dark hair and gray eyes and a sweet heart shaped face and she was a shapely witch. Remus smiled as he watched the champions come in and caught his breath at the sight of Hermione Granger. She was exquisite in silk robes of pale blue and fit well next to Victor Krum who was clad in robes of deep red. Fleur was a surprise, she was with Bill Weasley and looked very lovely in robes of deep sapphire that went well with Bill's navy robes. Cedric was with Cho Chang and she was clad in lavender robes while he was in simple navy robes.
"Wow, they grow up fast don't they?" Charity said next to Remus, "Hermione is very lovely and Victor is such a dear."
"I am sure he would love you to say that." Severus said from where he stood by her, "he as a reputation to up hold."
"What as a irresponsible play wizard?" Sirius said smirking.
"He is as much a play wizard as Harry is!" Remus retorted.
"I will grant that in the past two years Potter has started to turn out more like his mother." Severus said with difficulty, "of course with the right discipline..."
"He is a dear boy, so humble, well as humble as a teen boy can be." Charity said.
Severus grunted and Remus watched as Harry came into the great hall with Ginny and his breath caught in his throat. Harry was clad in robes of emerald green and Ginny in lovely robes of light green. Her flaming red hair was piled up on her head and she had her mother's pearls at her throat. Both she and Harry walked with such grace and poise they looked like royalty as everyone turned to take a look at them. They took a seat with Ron, clad in his new navy robes and Susan, her strawberry blond hair piled on her head, clad in pink robes seemed very happy to be with Ron. Fred and George came in clad in navy robes with their dates, Fred with Angelica in robes of red and George with Hannah in robes of green.
Remus smiled as he saw Neville with Luna, she was lovely in silver robes and he was clad in robes of navy as navy, green and black seemed the robes of choice for the majority of the boys. Remus could not be happier, he had Dora by his side, Harry was not in the Triwizard tournament and Sirius was free and clear. Speaking of which he saw his friend clad in robes of red talking with Scrimgeour a very pregnant Rita by his side in robes of pale yellow. Sirius looked so happy and fairly glowed, and he gave Remus a pleasant surprise when he walked up to speak to Severus.
"Professor Snape, good to see you." Sirius said giving a small bow, he saw Charity by his side and took her hand and kissed it gently, "ah professor Burbage a pleasure to see you here."
"Thank you lord Black." She replied smiling at him.
"What do you want lord Black?" Severus snapped his eyes narrowing.
"To thank you sir, for well for being such a good friend to Remus." Sirius said and Severus started at him a look of shock on his face for a moment, "you make him happy, probably because well you are as smart as he is."
"No I am smarter, far smarter lord Black." Severus said narrowing his eyes, "who are you and what did you do with the real lord Black?"
"It's really Sirius." Rita said walking up, "I have been working on him."
"I see, well if you try to prank me here Black..."
"He would not dare, he knows better now." Rita said.
"Why Sirius I do believe you have been tamed by a witch!" Severus said a smirk forming on his lips.
"Yes, yes I have and you know what professor Snape?" Sirius said, "I like it if you will excuse me?"
"Of course."
Remus knew if they were not in such a formal situation that neither would have been so formal. The fact they could talk to each other now without trying to kill each other was a miracle in of itself. In school they had tried and nearly succeed in murdering the other on several occasions, only the so called prank with Remus was brought to the attention of the headmaster as James had stopped Sirius from feeding Severus to Remus. There was no more hate as there had been, both wizards had a truce, it was doubtful they would be friends but they would set aside their differences for their common friend Remus Lupin. That really was all Remus could hope for, for the time being.
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I had to use Harry in the first task, I was not going to have Cedric fly to get the egg, no let Krum do that! Sirius is very much a mother hen at times and does worry for Harry as he should. As for Harry and Ginny together, yes they are staying together from this time on. Ron will date several people but not Harry. Sirius and Severus will stay civil most of the time but don't expect them to be good friends. They are both alpha males and tend to want to be top dog as it where. This means they both like to fight and would have in school.