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"The first task is dragons," Iris said.

It was the morning after her meeting with Sirius and the day after she and Harry had found out about the dragons, and she immediately went to find Cedric to inform him. She had found her boyfriend in the Great Hall with Logan, Maddie, and Kasper, but had dragged him out of the castle and towards the Black Lake. With her arm wound around his as they stepped in unison, a soft chilly breeze blew across the grounds, picking up Iris' hair and sweeping it behind her.

Cedric's head snapped down to look at her, his beautiful grey eyes wide, "What?"

"They've got one for each of us, Harry and I saw them last night," Iris told him.

Cedric stared at her, halting the two of them in place as Iris' arm slipped down till her hand fell in his, "Are you sure?" She hummed in confirmation and he continued, "What have we got to do with them?"

Iris sighed, gazing out across the sparkling lake water as she shrugged, "As far as I can tell, we just have to get past them."

She could see the panic in his eyes, she didn't have to look in his mind to know just how worried he now was, "But how did you find out?" He asked, "We're not supposed to know..."

"Don't worry about that," Iris said – she knew Hagrid would be in trouble if she told the truth. "But I'm not the only one who knows. Fleur and Krum will know by now - Maxime and Karkaroff both saw the dragons too."

Cedric sighed heavily, "Right, well... just a dragon... easy."

Iris laughed, "Just a dragon... It'll be fine."

She wasn't sure she believed her own words.

⌗ ⌗ ⌗

The morning of the first task, Iris woke up early. She didn't get much sleep at all really, having had trouble falling asleep the night before, instead staring up at the dark ceiling as her stomach churned with anxiety. She was exhausted yet at the same time she felt more awake than ever. Before even the sun had risen she had gotten out of bed, sitting in the common room in her fluffy pyjama bottoms and one of Harry's t-shirts. Iris didn't stay there long before venturing out into the castle, the light pattering of her socked feet and the snoring of the portraits on the walls the only sounds that could be heard.

The teenage witch roamed through the castle before coming upon the stairwell up to Dumbledore's office. Upon her arrival, the large stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance shifted, granting her passage. Iris walked up the steps, arms wrapped tightly around herself until she reached the top and pushed the heavy door open.

It was quite dark in the room, with only a couple of candles lit faintly on the walls. Ignoring the emptiness if the room, Iris sat herself down in the plush armchair that rested in front of the Headmaster's desk and folded her legs up crisscrossed. Letting the backs of her hands fall loosely over her knees as her eyes closed, she tuned out everything and looked into the darkness.

Iris never thought she'd be the type to meditate, but with all the fear building inside of her, she needed a way to calm down and not think. She let herself drift off into empty thoughts, breathing evenly as she went numb to the outside world. Finally, after sitting in the cold office for almost an hour, the sun began to rise over the surrounding mountains, bathing the room in a soft, dim yellow glow.

It was just a quarter after seven when Dumbledore walked in, remaining quiet so as not to disturb the Potter girl as he sat before her behind his wooden desk. He observed the young witch with much curiosity as she reposed, looking quite peaceful in that moment. The wise old wizard got distracted, though, when he noticed a peculiar thing happening.

Coming from the palms of her hands was a red glow, tiny sparks peppering off of each. She showed no signs of purposely causing the phenomenon, still in a deep trance, but Dumbledore's eyebrows furrowed greatly as he watched it, unsure of what he was seeing.

He had never know power like hers, and he couldn't think of any logical solution as to why Iris Potter was such a marvel. There was one thing the Headmaster did know though, and that was that there were horrible people out in the world, horrible people who would kill to have power like hers.

They would be after the girl relentlessly if word got out, and Dumbledore realized something just then: he cared immensely for Iris Potter.

He knew he would seek to protect her for as long as he possibly could, hiding her from the dangers of the world, from the evil that would try to hurt her. She had already suffered too much, both her and Harry, and it was something the older man knew he would never be able to forgive himself for, no matter how necessary it was in the long run.

"Iris," he spoke out quietly.

Iris stirred, and Dumbledore watched as the red glows flared up for just a second before disappearing as she opened her eyes. Curiously, the Headmaster noted her eyes, too, faded from red as she woke from her meditated state.

"Good morning, Professor," Iris greeted him, gazing out at the Hogwarts grounds which were washed in grey and orange, the sky turning warm as the sun got higher. The reflection of the sunrise on the Black Lake turned the water many colours, rippling in the light breeze as a fog lay low across the valley.

It was a beautiful day, just too bad it would be tarnished with such worrisome activities.

⌗ ⌗ ⌗

The atmosphere in the school was one of great tension and excitement. Lessons were to stop at midday, giving all the students time to get down to the dragons' enclosure – though of course, they didn't yet know what they would find there. 

Iris felt oddly separate from everyone around her, whether they were wishing Harry and her good luck or hissing "We'll have a box of tissues ready, Potters" as they passed. It was a state of nervousness so advanced that she wondered whether she might just faint from it all... at least if that happened maybe she'd have a chance at getting out of fighting a dragon. Time was behaving in a more peculiar fashion than ever, rushing past in great dollops, so that one moment she seemed to be sitting down in her first lesson, History of Magic, and the next, walking into lunch... and then (where had the morning gone? the last of the dragon-free hours?), Professor McGonagall was hurrying over to Iris and Harry in the Great Hall. Lots of people were watching. 

"Mr and Miss Potter, the champions have to come down onto the grounds now... You have to get ready for your first task."

"Okay," said Harry, standing up, his fork falling onto his plate with a clatter.

Iris stood wordlessly, though looking even paler than usual with a tinge of nausea added in.

"Good luck, guys," Hermione whispered. "You'll be fine!"

"Yeah," said Iris in a voice that was most unlike her own.

The twins left the Great Hall with Professor McGonagall. She didn't seem herself either; in fact, she looked nearly as anxious as Hermione. As she walked them down the stone steps and out into the cold November afternoon, she put a hand on each of their shoulders. 

"Now, don't panic," she said, "just keep a cool head... We've got wizards standing by to control the situation if it gets out of hand... The main thing is just to do your best, and nobody will think any the worse of you... Are you two all right?"

"Yes," Iris heard Harry say as she nodded along. "Yes, I'm fine."

McGonagall was leading them toward the place where the dragons were, around the edge of the forest, but when they approached the clump of trees behind which the enclosure would be clearly visible, Iris saw that a tent had been erected, its entrance facing them, screening the dragons from view. 

"You're to go in here with the other champions," said Professor McGonagall, in a rather shaky sort of voice, "and wait for your turns. Mr Bagman is in there... he'll be telling you the – the procedure... Good luck."

"Thanks," said Iris, in a flat, distant voice. She left the siblings at the entrance of the tent. Iris and Harry exchanged a nervous look and went inside. 

Fleur Delacour was sitting in a corner on a low wooden stool. She didn't look nearly as composed as usual, but rather pale and clammy. Viktor Krum looked even surlier than usual, which Iris supposed was his way of showing nerves. Cedric was pacing up and down. When Iris entered, Cedric gave her a small smile, which Iris returned, feeling the muscles in her face working rather hard, as though they had forgotten how to do it. She felt a bit like she was floating, looking down at her body from above.

"Harry, Iris! Good-o!" said Bagman happily, looking around at them. "Come in, come in, make yourselves at home!"

Bagman looked somehow like a slightly overblown cartoon figure, standing amid all the pale-faced champions. He was wearing his old Wasp robes again. 

"Well, now we're all here – time to fill you in!" said Bagman brightly. "When the audience has assembled, I'm going to be offering each of you this bag" – he held up a small sack of purple silk and shook it at them – "from which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face! There are different – er – varieties, you see. And I have to tell you something else too... ah, yes... your task is to collect the golden egg!"

Iris glanced around. Harry was as white as a ghost next to her, looking as though he might faint any second. Cedric had nodded once, to show that he understood Bagman's words, and then started pacing around the tent again; he looked slightly green. Fleur Delacour and Krum hadn't reacted at all. Perhaps they thought they might be sick if they opened their mouths; that was certainly how Iris felt. But they, at least, had volunteered for this...

And in no time at all, hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of feet could be heard passing the tent, their owners talking excitedly, laughing, joking... Iris felt as separate from the crowd as though they were a different species. And then – it seemed like about a second later to Iris – Bagman was opening the neck of the purple silk sack. 

"Ladies first," he said, offering it to Fleur Delacour. 

She put a shaking hand inside the bag and drew out a tiny, perfect model of a dragon - a Welsh Green. It had the number four around its neck And Iris knew, by the fact that Fleur showed no sign of surprise, but rather a determined resignation, that she and Harry had been right: Madame Maxime had told her what was coming. 

He held the bag out to Iris next, and with a heavy beating heart Iris reached in and pulled out a dragon. It was the Hebridean Black – with dark scales and spikes, and brilliant purple eyes, the number two around its neck. She was breathing rather quickly as she stared down at the little dragon, remembering how Charlie had said it was one of the more aggressive ones.

The same held true for Krum as Fleur. He pulled out the scarlet Chinese Fireball. It had a number three around its neck. He didn't even blink, just sat back down and stared at the ground. 

Cedric put his hand into the bag, and out came the blueish-grey Swedish Short-Snout, the number one tied around its neck. Knowing what was left, Iris watched as Harry put his hand into the silk bag and pulled out the Hungarian Horntail, and the number five. It stretched its wings as he looked down at it, and bared its minuscule fangs.

It was just their luck that they had ended up with the most aggressive dragons.

"Well, there you are!" said Bagman. "You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see? Now, I'm going to have to leave you in a moment, because I'm commentating. Mr Diggory, you're first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right?

With that, Bagman hurried on out of the tent, leaving the Champions alone.

Iris walked over to Cedric who stopped in his pacing as she wrapped her arms around his midsection tightly. He hugged her back, resting his cheek on the top of her head as his quick heart rate slowed.

"You have a plan?" Iris whispered.

She felt him nod before he pulled back, gently holding her face in his hands. "You?" he asked.

Iris reciprocated his nod, "Doesn't mean it's going to work..."

A loud whistle blew from outside the tent. Cedric's eyes widened slightly, showing his fear before he left a kiss on her forehead saying, "I love you. You've got this."

Iris' expression was alight with panic, as she said, "I love you too, good luck."

And with that, he was gone out of the tent flap. Seconds later, they heard the roar of the crowd, which meant Cedric had entered the enclosure and was now face-to-face with the living counterpart of his model...

Harry walked up beside her, "You ready?" he choked out.

She sat down in a nearby folding chair, Harry following her move. Iris' head turned toward her twin, "Just remember the plan... focus on your strengths. You've got the summoning charm down so don't worry about that, and you're one of the best flyers I've ever seen... you'll be fine."

Remember your strengths. That's what Professor Moody had told them, remember your strengths and use them. Well, Iris only had one strength she could think of in this situation, and she wasn't even sure it would work.

It was worse than Iris could ever have imagined, sitting there and listening. The crowd screamed... yelled... gasped like a single many-headed entity, as Cedric did whatever he was doing to get past the Swedish Short-Snout. Krum was still staring at the ground. Fleur had now taken to retracing Cedric's steps, around and around the tent. And Bagman's commentary made everything much, much worse... Horrible pictures formed in Iris' mind as she heard: "Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow"... "He's taking risks, this one!"... "Clever move – pity it didn't work!"

And then, after about fifteen minutes, Iris heard the deafening roar that could mean only one thing: Cedric had gotten past his dragon and captured the golden egg. She let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Very good indeed!" Bagman was shouting. "And now the marks from the judges!"

But he didn't shout out the marks; Iris supposed the judges were holding them up and showing them to the crowd.

"One down, three to go!" Bagman yelled as the whistle blew again. "Miss Potter, if you please!"

She stood up, noticing dimly that her legs seemed to be made of marshmallow. Iris quickly hugged Harry before she walked out through the entrance of the tent, the panic rising into a crescendo inside her. And now she was walking past the trees, through a gap in the enclosure fence. 

She saw everything in front of her as though it was a very highly coloured dream. There were hundreds and hundreds of faces staring down at her from stands that had been magicked there since she'd last stood on this spot. And there was the Hebridean Black, at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half-furled, her beautiful, purple eyes upon Iris, a monstrous, scaly, black lizard, thrashing her spiked tail, heaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground. The crowd was making a great deal of noise, but whether friendly or not, Iris didn't know or care. It was time to do what she had to do... to focus her mind, entirely and absolutely, upon the thing that was her only chance.

Iris slowly walked to the side, keeping a close eye on the dragon as she moved carefully so as not to startle it until finally, the nervous girl reached a boulder she took shelter behind. The dragon was watching her very attentively, ready to pounce the second she took a step in its direction.

The crowd was waiting, holding its breath as they wondered what Iris would do next, what her strategy was. Try not to hyperventilate, Iris closed her eyes for a moment, reaching out her mind.

The dragon's presence was looming over her, a huge shadow in her hall of minds. She pressed on the iron door, trying to enter the dragon's mind, only to be harshly shoved out with a frightening roar coming from the Hebridean Black.

"Okay – okay, this is fine, just have to get closer," Iris said to herself, leaning her head back on the rock for a second as her heart pounded before peeking around the side.

The dragon growled menacingly at her, but Iris ignored this, locating a second boulder nearer to her target. Wasting no time, Iris threw herself out in the open, running as fast as she possibly could. As she got closer, the dragon got angry and reared back before blowing a jet of fire at her. Iris screamed, the crowd mimicking her, and dove, landing hard on the dirt just behind the large rock.

Slouching behind the cover of the rock she could hear the dragon roaring not too far behind her. With her wand held tightly in her grasp, Iris tried once more, muttering, "Legilimens."

She got further that time, so close to breaking through the dragons mental walls, but with no success. Anything that wasn't human was so much more difficult to see into, and a dragon was a whole other level, one that Iris had never even gotten close to tackling before.

Frustrated as she was once again pushed out, Iris smacked the ground, groaning, "Come on!"

The Potter girl knew what had to be done now, she just wasn't sure if she would get hurt in the process. All of a sudden, the Hebridean Black blasted fire at the boulder she was behind. Iris could feel the extreme heat on her back as she ducked even lower. Screams and gasps rippled around the spectators... Bagman was shouting something... but Iris' ears were not working properly anymore... listening wasn't important... Readying herself, the moment the dragon's fire stopped Iris jumped up and looked the beast straight in its brilliant purple eyes.

"Legilimens," Iris tried a third time.

Before the dragon even had the chance to blow more flames at her, she was inside its head. She pushed hard, harder than she had ever forced herself to go before, breaking down wall after wall until finally, she got through. Moving too quickly to recognize her success, Iris forced an image through the dragon's eyes. A large, brightly coloured bird flying around the dragon's head was a perfect false vision to keep it distracted.

Iris pulled back, just enough to be able to see through her own eyes, but not releasing her hold on the dragon. Her lips quirked up just a little as she watched the dragon's head bob back and forth, teeth snapping at air and fire being blown into nothing. Not wasting any time, Iris nimbly skipped her way over to the nest beneath the Hebridean Black and plucked the golden egg up.

Holding it up in the air for everyone to see, Iris let a grin fall on her face, finally feeling able to breathe properly for the first time in weeks. It was as though somebody had just turned the volume back up – for the first time, she became properly aware of the noise of the crowd, which was screaming and applauding as loudly as the Irish supporters at the World Cup —

"Look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! What a fantastic job done by one of our youngest champions! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Miss Potter!"

Iris saw the dragon keepers rushing forward to subdue the Hebridean, and, over at the entrance to the enclosure, Professor McGonagall, Professor Moody, and Hagrid hurrying to meet her, all of them waving her toward them, their smiles evident even from the distance. Iris was practically running with the elation she felt, the noise of the crowd pounding her eardrums, her heart lighter than it had been in weeks... She had got through the first task, she had survived... Now the only thing she had to worry about for a while was Harry's run, and even that would be over within the hour.

"That was excellent, Potter!" cried Professor McGonagall as Iris reached them – which from her was extravagant praise. Iris noticed that her hands were shaking slightly, as she said, "The judges will give you your score first and then you can head into the first aid tent," she pointed toward the exit of the enclosure, "Mr Diggory is in there now – he is fine, I assure you."

"Yeh did it, Iris!" said Hagrid hoarsely. "Yeh did it! An' agains' the Hebridean an' all, an' yeh know Charlie said that was one o' the wors' –"

"Thanks, Hagrid," said Iris loudly, so that Hagrid wouldn't blunder on and reveal that he had shown her and Harry the dragons beforehand. 

Professor Moody looked very pleased too; his magical eye was dancing in its socket. 

"Nice and easy does the trick, Potter," he growled.

Ludo Bagman came back on the microphone, "And now the marks from the judges!"

With a nod from Moody and a grin from Hagrid, the two left Iris with McGonagall.

Now that the Hebridean Black had been taken away, Iris could see where the five judges were sitting – right at the other end, in raised seats draped in gold.

"It's marks out of ten from each one," Professor McGonagall said, and Iris squinting up the field, saw the first judge – Madame Maxime – raise her wand in the air. What hooked like a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a large figure eight.

"Not bad!" said McGonagall as the crowd applauded. "I can't imagine what those two points were taken off for... It was a perfect run if you ask me," the Professor tutted, making Iris blush.

She wasn't going to be greedy with her score, she didn't even want to be in this competition to begin with and could care less about actually winning. With only a goal of survival in mind, Iris was thrilled with how it had gone, and how she had pushed the limits of her skill.

Mr Crouch came next. He shot a number ten into the air.

"Oh, yes!" Professor McGonagall gasped, patting Iris enthusiastically on the back.

Next, Dumbledore. He too put up a ten. The crowd was cheering harder than ever. Iris felt as though she might fall over.

Ludo Bagman – ten.

"Wow!" Iris choked out, a smile across her whole face.

"Fantastic, Miss Potter!" McGonagall yelled excitedly.

And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too – six.

Professor McGonagall changed in a flash, annoyance and anger covering her expression, "What!?" she shouted furiously.

But Iris didn't care, she wouldn't have cared if Karkaroff had given her zero; just surviving the first task was worth about a hundred points to her. Her heart felt lighter than air as she turned to leave the enclosure. She had realized something then, those weren't only Gryffindors cheering in the crowd. When it had come to it, when they had seen what she was facing, most of the school had been on her side as well as Cedric's... She didn't care about the Slytherins, she could stand whatever they threw at her.

Leaving the enclosure, Iris walked into the small first aid tent where she was met with a worried looking Madam Pomfrey, "Dragons!" she said, in a disgusted tone, pulling Iris inside. The tent was divided into cubicles; she could make out Cedric's shadow through the canvas, but Cedric didn't seem to be badly injured; he was sitting up, at least. Madam Pomfrey walked her over to his section, talking furiously all the while. "Last year dementors, this year dragons, what are they going to bring into this school next? You're very lucky getting out of there uninjured..."

She pulled the canvas barrier back, revealing Cedric. The side of his face had a layer of orange paste on it, "Oh dear," Iris said when she saw it.

Cedric let out a laugh, "The dragon burned me. Don't worry, Madam Pomfrey's going to fix me up good as new, right?" he looked to the older witch.

Madam Pomfrey let out an exasperated sigh, handing Iris a small pot of the thick orange paste that was on Cedric's face, "Would you reapply that on Mr Diggory for me, Potter?"

With a smile from Iris, the mediwitch left the cubicle, closing the canvas behind her. The dark-haired girl sat down next to Cedric, scooping a glob of the healing paste onto her fingers. As she began layering on top of what Madam Pomfrey had already done, Cedric spoke.

"So how'd it go? I heard a lot of cheers." 

The lovesick teenage boy observed the girl in front of him, taking in every detail of her freckled face. He noted the green rings within the brown of her eyes and the way her long, dark eyelashes complimented them so well. He loved how her brows would pull together in the middle and her nose would scrunch when she was concentrating on something and the way her eyes lit up when something amused her.

He listened raptly as she told him about her dragon and how she had gotten past it, leaving him absolutely amazed at the person before him.

"You are incredible, you know that?" Cedric told her.

Iris blushed, looking down slightly, busying herself with scooping out more of the paste. He leaned forward a little to place a swift kiss on her nose making her laugh.

The rest of the champions finished after not too long, Harry finishing with the fastest time and tied in second with Krum, Cedric in third, and Fleur in fourth. Iris came in first, much to her shock and the excitement of her friends. Once everyone was done and all healed up, they were called back to the champions' tent and were told they had until February 24th to figure out their clue for the second task, which was hidden inside of the golden egg they had retrieved.

Iris was relieved. Her heart could stop beating a mile a minute, and she could relax for the first time in months. She couldn't help but think after that task, maybe things would be alright.

I mean, what could be worse than fighting a dragon?

⌗ ⌗ ⌗

this chapter is so long I am so sorry 😂

but I hope you guys enjoyed it! I blocked out the rest of the chapters for fourth year and there's roughly seven left!! get excited because it's going to be crazy!

shoutout to @remuslupout for making this sign-off gif! ily ash, thank you sm!