Chapter 49 - The First Task Pt. 2

***** Bonus chapter #2 ***** A/N: So we reached 100k words..... Kinda crazy since I started this on a whim, and I've never really written anything before (outside of reports for school and stuff). Chapters are in the 2400+ words range now and I think things are developing nicely. Good job me! ahaha NGL I had a bit of trouble re-writing these chapters, as didn't want to give too much away lol. Anyways Hope you all enjoy! 2nd chapter to come out later.... honestly not really happy with the re-write, so im on my way to starbucks to re-rewrite it lol. *****

Khan watched, Fleur by his side, as both Bagman and Harry left through the tent flap to start off the first task.

Watching him leave, face pale as a ghost, Khan silently wished Harry luck. Hopefully, even if he wasn't able to get the egg, he would be able to survive.

"Well, you're up next Fleur. How are you feeling?" Khan decided to make some small talk, while passing the time. "Confident? I'm assuming Madame Maxime had told you about the dragons in advance, and you have formulated a plan or strategy?"

"Yes, I 'ave a plan.... 'Opefully it will work." She replied, a bit nervously. She was attempting to put on a front for Khan, but with her coming up next right after Harry, her nerves were starting to show.

She was trembling slightly from head to toe, grabbing Khan's arm in a vice-grip, as she kept her balance.

Suddenly however, they heard the roar of the crowd sound from outside the tent. Which meant that Harry had not entered the enclosure, and was now face-to-face with the living counterpart of his dragon model.

Listening to the crowd outside go nuts, Khan and Fleur (and Krum) heard as they all screamed, yelled, Gasped, and reacted as a single entity, as Harry attempted to get past the dragon.

"Great Scott, he can fly!" Khan heard Bagman yell out, as the crowd shrieked and gasped, reacting to whatever Harry was doing.

"I wish we were allowed to see how the other champions performed..... I really am curious what strategies they all will be employing." Khan complained to Fleur, as the commotion continued outside.

The loud cheering and screams were ever increasing in a crescendo, until it finally peaked.

"WILL YOU LOOK AT THAT FOLKS?!?" Bagman seemed quite excited judging from the sound of his voice. "The Youngest Champion succeeded, with quite the fast time as well! This is definitely doing to shorten the odds on Potter!"

The cheering and applause continued through Bagman's excited commentary in the background, before there was a brief pause.

Khan assumed that Harry was getting his scores from the judges, as after that brief pause, more cheering and clapping followed.

"I guess he wasn't just practicing summoning charms for my tournament." Khan said happily to himself, as it sounded like his younger friend not only survived his encounter with a dragon, but also succeeded in getting a dragon egg with a fast time.

Fleur meanwhile, was coming to the realization that she would be next, now that Harry had finished, and was starting to grow paler by the second, her trembling increasing at approximately the same pace.

Although Khan was thinking about Harry at first, eventually he realized Fleur's growing panic, and tried to calm her.

"It's alright Fleur.... Think of it like just another test." Khan started rubbing the small of her back trying to comfort her. "You won't be in any real danger. The Dragon Poac- Tamers will be standing by in case anything happens."

Fleur, not trusting herself to speak to her crush, came around in front facing him, from standing by his side, and proceeded to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him closer in a tight hug.

If was though she tried to absorb some of Khan's calmness as if through osmosis.

Khan, enjoying the intimacy, closed his eyes, as he breathed in her scent, completely missing some red ancient magic whisps being released from him and his aura, and being absorbed by Fleur.

"One down, three to go!" Bagman yelled and cut into their intimate moment, as the whistle blew again from outside the tent. "Miss Delacour, if you please!"

Stepping back from Khan, but still facing him so they were a foot apart, it seemed their moment embracing each other had rejuvenated her, as Fleur now appeared ready to go.

Her trembling had stopped, and her natural glow and lustre was back as her confidence appeared to have returned.

She stepped forward once again, and proceeded to give Khan a solid kiss on the lips, before turning and marching out of the tent, with her head held high, and her hand clutching her wand.

Khan was left stunned, as her remained transfixed on the spot, his only company being a scowling Krum, who was still pacing around the tent flat footed.

Reaching up to touch his lips, still in shock a few moments later, Khan traced where he was kissed for the first time in his life.

"Wow.... she kinda tastes like cherries." Khan didn't really know what to say or how to feel. This was the first time, after all, that he had been kissed.

"OH! NEARLY GOT IT THERE!" Bagman yelled excitedly from outside the tent, interrupting Khan of his thoughts.

It appeared he had been standing in place for a period of time, as Fleur seemed to be right in the middle of her task. At least that is what Khan assumed, listening to all the Cheering, oooo-ing and awe-ing, and the commentary, coming from outside the champions' tent.

"Oh I'm not sure that was wise!" Bagman was heard commentating, as the crowd echo'd his commentary, with a loud "OOOO".

"Come on Fleur, you can do it!" Khan cheered for her internally, hopeful that she would be able to escape unscathed.

A few more minutes passed, before the cheering reached a crescendo, followed by a roar of applause.

It seemed Fleur must have been successful as well.

"Excellent! Both my friends have succeeded." Khan said to himself with a smile on his face. "Looks like I need to up my game and keep up with them!"

Khan's competitive spirit was soaring, as he listened to the cheering and clapping coming from outside the tent, as they announced Fleur's scores.

"And here comes Mr. Krum!" Yelled Bagman from outside the tent, as a whistle blew out, signaling the start of Krum's first task.

Krum slouched out of the tent, leaving Khan alone with his thoughts.

Listening to the crowd 'OOOO' and 'AHHH' from outside of the tent, Khan found that instead of nervous, he was starting to grow excited.

His heart was beating rapidly, fingers tingling with eagerness as his magical core seemed to be reacting to his growing excitement to do battle, and responding to his growing emotions, as the air inside the tent grew heavy with Khan's magical aura.

If anyone else was present inside the tent, they would feel as if there was a magical weight pressing down on them, forcing them to their knees; fortunately only Khan was left, and he was naturally unaffected by his own magic.

As Khan was powering up, he oddly felt as though he was outside himself, seeing the walls of the tent, hearing the crowd go crazy in the background, as though a 3rd person spectator, with the world moving in slow motion.

His senses heightened, he could hear the commotion outside more clearly, as Krum did battle with the Chinese Fireball Mother Dragon.

"Very daring! He's sure to lose marks for that!" Bagman yelled, as there was a horrible heart-wrenching shriek that followed from the dragon, while the crowd drew in its collective breath, stunning them into silence.

This was the first time the crowd had been silenced, and naturally, Khan was curious as to what occurred. Did Bagman mention that Krum would lose points?

"Thats some nerve he's showing....." Bagman followed up. "AND YES, HES DONE IT FOLKS! HE'S GOT THE EGG!"

Khan got to his feet, as applause rang out with Krum now finishing his task. He was eager to get started and anticipating the whistle blowing.

Another pause of silence followed, as the judges were giving Krum his various scores, followed again by applause from the audience.

The whistle then blew once again, and Khan rushed out of the entrance of the tent, excitement growing each step that he took closer to the enclosure.

With his heart was pounding in his ears, and an almost manic grin on his face, Khan reach the enclosure and stepped into it through a gap in the fence.

Stepping through, he saw hundreds upon hundreds of faces staring down at him from the stands, with the 5 Judges sitting in their own separate spectator box close to the dragon. And speaking of the dragon...

The Habridean Black was at the opposite end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, one of them being gold. Appearing quite similar to the dragon he and Poppy had returned the dragon egg to all those years ago, this dragon was an exact replica of the model Khan was currently carrying in his pocket.

Dark black, rough scales, with lined spiked ridges running along its back ending in a giant spiked tail, this Hebridean Black seemed extra protective of her eggs, as she refused to even leave her eggs, choosing instead to cover them with herself, in a protective crouch, her wings half furled, as she stared at him warily.

'Odd....' Khan thought to himself, in observation of the dragon. 'The eggs look real.... I thought it was just going to be the golden egg...'

Mother dragons, especially Hebridean Blacks, were known for being very aggressive around their eggs. Hiding the eggs deep in caves for safety, these types of dragons will typically patrol and hunt around her territory, ensuring there are no predators in the general vicinity.

Transfiguring a large stone close by him, into a deer, Khan tested the dragon, to see if she would leave her eggs, to hunt her favorite food.

The deer pranced around the enclosure, looking for a way to escape, with the dragon eying the deer every step of the way. But even with her instincts screaming at her to grab her next meal, the Mother Hebridean Black did not move from her spot, guarding her eggs, as though she was scared something would happen to them.

"Come on move.... I don't want to hurt you." Khan mumbled to the dragon under his breath.

He flash stepped a bit closer to the dragon, to further probe her reactions, and see if she would attack and chase him. Perhaps he himself, could lure her away from her eggs?

But the dragon simply roared at him in response, as a warning to stop his approach.

Ignoring her, Khan kept flash stepping towards her, in a zig-zag pattern, moving closer and closer to her, and her eggs.

The crowd was cheering Khan's flashy movement skills, although it seemed to be doing nothing to this intelligent dragon, as she simply remained hunched over her eggs, roaring the occasional giant fireball at Khan's approach in warning and protest.

Khan of course, was much too agile, especially with his flash step movements, to get hit by her fireblasts.

Unfortunately, this plan of his, was not working either, as the dragon had yet to move from her eggs still, choosing to shoot at him from perched atop her eggs.

'Why the fuck is she this protective....' Khan asked himself, as he continuously dodged the fireballs, attempting to come up with a plan. 'That Hebridean Black that Poppy and I encountered chased us all over the castle ruins. Why is this Hebridean Black so determi- WAAAAA'

Moving all over the area with his flash steps, Khan happened to slip on something slippery, not watching his footing, and moving at such a high speed, he ended up wiping out in a heap.

Luckily his crash, sent him coincidentally tumbling under the next blown fireball from the dragon, and he was able to avoid getting burnt to a crisp.

Looking down at where he slipped, Khan was wondering what that could possibly be that would do that to him, before he saw something that made his blood boil.

The weather reflected his mood as usual, as storm clouds began to form overtop the enclosure, Thunder and Lightning crying out angrily in rage.

Blood was pounding in Khan's ears, as he could feel himself start to lose control.

'Bloody Fucking Wankers, they put the mother's real dragon eggs in here? With no protection? No wonder she's being so fucking protective...'

Khan was staring at the remains of a crushed silver dragon's egg, the slime from the egg, being the slippery substance that Khan had previously slipped on.

Dragons were already rare enough his previous era, with poachers and hunters killing them to almost extinction. Khan could only imagine the dragon numbers in this current era if the rate of their genocide kept up over the last 100 years....

Khan was already unhappy previously, when he learned he would be fighting 'mother' dragons.

But now.... instead of just simply having the champions fight the dragons, they also involved the actual mother's dragon eggs?

Poppy's face flashed before Khan's eyes, as he imagined her looking rather disappointedly at him right now.

This tournament may be for Wizarding entertainment, but this was a magical Beast's life we were talking about here.

They were all no better than the poachers who previously made the dragons fight in Horntail Hall.

'Mother fuckers....' Khan got to his feet angrily, and pointed his wand at the storm clouds, his rage taking over, and his red ancient magic responding in kind.

A bright red flash blinded the arena moments later, with Lightning from the Stormcloud meeting the red lightning shot out from Khan's wand.

As everyone got their vision back, what they saw ended up shocking them.

Khan of course, recognized it immediately.

It was a giant lightning construct, in the shape of a Qilin, from Asian Mythology.

The lightning construct displayed the details of the ancient mythical beast with stunning detail. A giant dragon-like head, with large antlers and whiskers coming off its face, its body was fully scaled, and shaped almost like a large muscular horse.

The construct had formed directly in front of him, as if guarding him, red lightning shooting out of its body in arcs of electricity, eying the dragon who was growing even more agitated at the appearance of this new foe.

Finally standing up and bringing herself to her full height, the dragon mother seemed to have realized the threat to her eggs the new construct presented, and prepared to do proper battle.

Unfurling her wings out, and opening her large mouth, showing off all her large sharp teeth, with a loud "RRRROOOOOOAAAAARRRR", she kicked off the combat as round 2 began.