"They have hidden dragons in the Forbidden Forest mister Hommleur. I hope you will take good care of this information."

"Yes Headmaster Maxime."

His headmaster left his room and Fleur appeared from under the bed were she had hidden when there had been a knock on the door.

"What do you think about that, Daé? Dragons, are they insane."

Daé was still too shocked by their Headmasters announcement to give Fleur the answers she demanded.

They wanted students who were, apart from him, barely of age to fight a dragon? 

He reached for his drawer were he kept his personal belongings to look for his well loved copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

"What are you doing?"

Daé was looking through the book to find the section about dragons.

"Getting more information on the dragons. Madame Maxime said there were three dragons, a Swedish Short-Snout, a Common Welsh Green and a Chinese Fireball. I'm not planning to go into this challenge blind, so I need to look up their weaknesses beforehand."

There was little to no actual information on the dragons weaknesses. The author obviously thought that anyone who encountered the dragons already knew what they were doing or would run as fast as they could.

"I think an enchanted sleep is the best course of action, unless you are willing to severely injure the dragon, you won't be able to come close otherwise."

Fleur was leaning on his shoulder to also read the pages with information. It was a good suggestion, depending on the actual Task it should be feasible.

"Do you have any experience with it, Fleur? I think I should be able to quickly pick it up as it's close to Veela charm."

Fleur picked up her wand from where she had dropped it on his bed.

"Sure, let's go. There should be some sort of dueling grounds here."

-

There were no dueling grounds at Hogwarts, nor a functioning dueling club or any other place where people could safely practice any spells. 

"Should I be surprised by this?"

They had eventually arrived at the Quidditch Pitch were several students in sport gear were playing a match. The field was thus out of the question, but the grounds around it should suffice.

The oldest Weasley had walked from the stands were he had been watching the match towards them, after he had seen them throwing spells at each other.

He had a, very small, dragon on his shoulder.

"Ask him what he thinks would be the best way to defeat a dragon."

The hissed instructions in Daé's ear woke him up from his daydream, and he turned around to ask her why him conversing with his mate's family was now suddenly allowed.

"What are you guys doing?"

Practicing for a Tournament to beat your school.

"Why do you have a dragon with you?"

Fleur shot back a question of her own.

"My brother asked me to look after him. Apparently this is his reaction to our mother saying he should get a partner and kids."

That's not good, even if it's a joke.

How was he supposed to, very likely, harm a dragon if his mate was so close to them.

"Cool, we were having a discussion regarding them. Do you think that if you want to defeat a dragon without hurting them a sleeping charm would be the best course of action?"

Way to get to the point, Fleur, full marks for subtlety.

"Uhm, I think so?"

The dragon on his shoulder was nodding his head along.

"No, yes, absolutely the best course of action. But why you're asking?"

Daé was still looking at the dragon who seemed awfully familiar with bright red scales, yet did not look like a Chinese Fireball, when Fleur answered Bill.

"Reasons. Thanks for your input Bill, see you at the First Task."

With a small wave of her hand, Fleur said goodbye and dragged Daé back to the castle. They had practiced enough, no need to make everyone suspicious of their behavior.

-

The examination of their wands went very well, as in no asked for Daé's and now they were ushered inside a tent next to the area were they would face the First Task.

"Alright everyone, if you all would be so kind to pull one of the miniatures from this bag to establish the dragon and order of appearance, we can begin with the party."

Viktor would go last and got Chinese Fireball. Daé would be second with the Common Green Welsh and Cedric would be first against the Swedish Short-Snout.

This would end marvelous.

Daé sat near the entrance with the dragon handlers as Cedric faced his opponent. 

Charlie was standing a little to the left and looking at the battle with a stoic expression.

The dragon was technically not getting hurt, but for a dragon lover it wouldn't be a pretty sight. And than they weren't even talking about the eggs that were being endangered by this Tournament. 

He really needed to subdue the dragon without harming her.

"And Cedric Diggory got the Golden Egg, people. What will the jury say about his performance? Unfortunately they will only comment once all the Champions have participated to announce the winner and loser of the First Task."

The dragon handlers went inside to clean up the mess and to escort the second dragon plus eggs inside.

"Good luck Bauke, show them what you've got."

Charlie was petting the dragons neck in a feeble attempt to calm her down a bit more.

"Now we see Daelán Hommleur from Beauxbatons, Veela. Let's see how he will defeat this Common Welsh Green!"

The dragon was guarding her nest and looking distrusting at Daé who wasn't faced from that treatment. Humans had shown more ire in the prospect of him coming closer, a dragon he knew he could defeat was actually less dangerous.

His words stayed unheard unlike human ones.

Daé ignored the cheers from the stands and allowed himself to fully merge with his harpy side, something he rarely allowed to happen.

His black feathered wings sprouted from his shoulder blades and reached far above his head. 

His magic sang in freedom in his blood and through his wings.

A song to enthrall anyone who heard it to listen to his voice.

"Sleep, Bauke, sleep. Know you're safe with me."

The dragon laid down in her nest, she blinked her eyes a few more times before falling into a deep slumber.

Daé carefully walked closer and picked up the egg, without ever disturbing the dragon's sleep. When he had retrieved the egg he walked back towards the entrance were the handlers stood ready to get the dragon back out.

He had successfully finished the task.

"I don't know what just happened people, but it looks like Daé just finished the First Task like it was a walk in the park!"

-

Viktor managed to crab the golden egg by shooting the conjunctivitis curse at the dragon's eyes. It wouldn't really hurt them, but the stumble resulting from its irritated eyes destroyed half of the real eggs laying in the nest. 

Charlie cringed at the image of his dragon being hurt and burst out in tears when the eggs were destroyed. 

Daé itched to go and comfort him, but fortunately one of the other handlers engulfed him in a hug. Together they watched as Viktor Krum exited the arena together with the golden egg. It was a good thing his Headmaster was waiting for him otherwise one of the handlers might have actually cursed him, something which wouldn't end well for anyone.

-

"In first place leading with 20 points is Viktor Krum. Second is Cedric Diggory with 15 points and last is Daelán Hommleur with 10 points. Good luck to the champions, and I will see everyone again at the Yule Ball. Good day."

-

January 2, 2023