09

Cedric waited in the tent with the other champions as Rita Skeeter went through each contestant, trying to humiliate them in her paper. All of a sudden the was a flurry of clicks and flashes from the camera man and Skeeter's enchanted quill was writing furiously. Cedric looked over to see what the commotion was all about. He saw Hermione hug Harry and he felt a pang of guilt for how things had left off between them. Cedric noticed the hurt in her eyes as they made her way towards him. She looked away and went to tell off Rita Skeeter, but Krum had stepped in.

"Lady, what are you doing here. This tent is for champions only. And friends," he added when she pointed at Hermione accusingly. "You are no friend, so leave us alone."

Skeeter huffed and marched out of the tent, her enchanted quill and notebook following her, still writing in hideous green ink. Hermione hugged Cedric and moved her face close to his ear. "Good luck, Cedric. I believe in you," she whispered.

As Skeeter left through one side of the tent, the other side opened and Dumbledore and Barty Crouch drifted in. Crouch motioned for the champions to gather around him but Cedric was too focused on Hermione to notice.

"Ms. Granger, I suggest you leave the tent, it seems the longer you're here, the smaller Mr. Diggory's attention span gets," Dumbledore chuckled. Hermione nodded and grew pink in her cheeks before exiting through the same door that the men came in through, and Cedric snapped out of his trans to join the circle of champions and officials.

"In this bag there are four small versions of different dragons. Each dragon represents a much larger, much more dangerous version of a dragon waiting outside. The four of you will each have to get past the dragon and take a golden egg that we have given the dragon to protect along with it's own dragon eggs. You will be rated on speed, creativity, and stealthiness. We beg of you, please do not harm the real dragon eggs. Mr. Krum, why don't you choose your first dragon first?" Mr. Crouch held out the small sac to Viktor and he attempted to shove his burly hand into it. He pulled out a small lifelike dragon with a number three around its neck.

"Ahh, the Chinese fireball, interesting," awed Mr. Crouch. Next, he held the bag out to Cedric. He shoved in his hand and felt small stinging and warm sensations on his fingers where the small dragons were biting and blowing their small fires at him. He grabbed the dragon that had latched on to his index finger and pulled it out of the bag. It had a number one on his neck. What are the odds, of course I get number one, He thought.

"Ooh, the Swedish Short-Snout, intriguing."

The bag went to Fleur next. She reached in and pulled out a dragon with the number two on its neck.

"Ahh, the Welsh green dragon, fascinating." Crouch was starting to get on Cedric and the other champions' nerves now.

Finally, Crouch held the bag out to Harry. His face went dark as he muttered something under his breath and pulled out dragon number four.

"Aha, the Hungarian Horntail, quite the fighter. Mr. Diggory, if you would follow me, you're up first," said Mr. Crouch as he strutted out of the tent. Cedric felt a lump from in his throat as he basically ran to catch up to Mr. Crouch.

The crowd cheered wildly as Cedric exited the tent. He could see many students wearing yellow clothing and he could his friends cheered loudest of all the students in the crowd. Cedric however, did not notice this, as he was too busy stating at the enormous dragon crouched in front of him.

"The canon is your queue to start," shouted Mr. Crouch before he ducked into the safety of the judges panel. Cedric adjusted his competition robes and waited patiently for the canon to go off. He twiddled his thumbs and picked at his fingernails nervously until the booming sound of the canon went and he ran into the stadium.

The louder the cheers got, the less Cedric could hear them as he charged at the golden egg beneath the dragon. The dragon roared and blew fire towards Cedric, but he dodged it and quickly hid behind a rock.

This dragon is clearly going to put up a fight. I need a distraction.

Cedric looked up at the sky and noticed a funny looking cloud. It looked like a dog.

Perfect! I'll transfigure that boulder into a dog, it can distract the dragon!

Cedric jabbed his wand towards the boulder and cried out the incantation. The boulder transfigured into a golden retriever. Cedric threw a small rock and the dog chased it. As the dog ran, Cedric noticed the dragons eyes following it so he took the chance to go and try to get the golden egg. He charged at the egg but the dragon spun his head at the last second and blew fire at Cedric. He cursed as he felt his skin burn and blister.

Cedric continued to sprint towards the egg and the dragon blew fire again, nearly missing him, melting the soles of his shoes. The dragon swooped it's head and tried to bite Cedric but he dove out of the dragons reach and hid behind another boulder. He tried to transfigure the boulder into another dog but he didn't have the strength.

He stood up too quickly and his body started to fail him. Cedric slowly made his way towards the dragon.

"Mr Short Snout, I know that we haven't exactly gotten along, but I think we can work this out. Just let me have the egg, and I'll be your best mate, alright?" Cedric was suffering from heat exhaustion, fume inhalation, and soreness. He had no clue where this courage was coming from.

The dragon stopped moving abruptly and Cedric swore the dragon winked at him. He continued to walk slowly towards the dragon. The egg was within arms reach now, if he could only touch it, this would all be over. Cedric lifted his arm to grab the egg, but the dragon whipped its tail at him and sent him flying into a nearby boulder, knocking him out