THE VEELA AND HER LION (Patreon)

Chapter 8- Dilemma

“Your first task, dragons.” Bagman announced dramatically, though he frowned when he didn’t expect any reaction from the champions. Harry’s jaw tightened slightly at the declaration.

His eyes met those of the Headmaster and he could see that the man was worried for him and equally so for his counterparts as well. Harry noticed one thing in particular. They weren’t fighting nifflers over here. They should do something against a dragon. If people think that this is thrilling, they really have no brains. But for some reason, none of the champions showed a reaction. Not even a small flinch. He could deduce what had happened. They knew. The champions might have received information from their Heads, or somehow, but they certainly knew.

“Your target is the golden egg. This egg will be placed with a bunch of real eggs and you are supposed to evade your dragon and retrieve this egg from its nest.” He explained the task.

“Now, if each of you champions step up and pick a dragon of your choice.” He held out a small pouch. “Ladies first. Miss Delcaour.” He watched as the French beauty glided up gracefully to the man and her hand dove in, as she searched for something. She pulled out after picking up whatever was inside and she picked up a perfectly small model of a Welsh Green. The small model of the dragon had the number two around its neck.

“Ms Delacour will be facing the Welsh Green.”

The girl walked back confidently to her seat and sat down. She might have not shown it, but she was paler than normal. Harry ignored her for a moment as Krum walked up to Bagman. He repeated the procedure. He pulled out a scarlet Chinese Fireball, with a number three around its neck. He walked back, his face twisted into a scowl. Does the man ever smile? He looks like a fucking monkey with that scowl on his face. Draco Malfoy was a sight better to see than this man and he is a celebrity for Merlin’s sake.

Diggory was the next one and he pulled out a bluish-gray Swedish short-snout and with a number one around its neck. Harry’s turn came up and just as he approached Bagman, the man stared at him apologetically.

“Mr Potter. We couldn’t get a dragon for you as you were an unexpected choice in this tournament. But you have to compete and I am sorry to say this, but you have to face a different beast.” The man retrieved what seemed like a figurine from his pocket.

The face of a man, the body of a lion and a tail that resembled that of a scorpion. A manticore!

He stared incredulously at the man.

“This was your solution?” He questioned, his temper rising in folds. He shook in anger.

“You brought a manticore for me to fight and you couldn’t afford a dragon?”

“Mr Potter, I don’t determine the tasks. I am just a host. I was instructed by the organizers that this is what will happen.” Bagman cut in quickly and took a step back.

“You will be the last champion to perform.” He rushed away from the tent which held the champions.

The tent descended into silence as soon as the boisterous man left. Nobody saw that coming. A manticore was considered a very dangerous beast. A notch more than a dragon and on par with the likes of Basilisk. They are very quick and humongous. And their tails were that. Scorpions tail. He would be cleaved into half if that connected.

Harry was glaring at the ground and if his sight could do damage, there would have been a crater the size of a dragon by now. He pulled a cigar out of his robe pocket and lit it.

He puffed hard and blew out a cloud of smoke. He continued this procedure a few more times.

"Mr Potter?" Dumbledore spoke, breaking the silence.

"I would kindly ask you to leave, Headmaster," Harry whispered. "There is nothing you can do." He motioned for the man to leave, pointing out.

"Oh, and by the way, you need not worry. I certainly won't die." Dumbledore flinched ever so slightly as he heard those words.

"That is a manticore, Potter," Krum grumbled. "You think you can take on one?" He snorted.

Harry gazed into the young man's eyes.

"We will see." He smirked.

—--&&&------

Fleur Delacour felt bad. No scratch that. She felt worse. She had a plan that could help her with the task, but she was about to face a dragon.

She heard a round of applause thirty-odd minutes later. Diggory might be done with his task. She stood up and exhaled nervously as she began making her way towards the entrance of the tent.

She turned back around and her eyes incidentally met those of Harry's. She waited for a few seconds though she didn't know why and then finally left.

She made it to the clearing and waited for her name to be announced and when it was called out, she took a deep breath and stepped out into the arena. She came face to face with the monster she was supposed to face. She swallowed nervously and raised her wand.

“It should not be this simple.” She whispered to herself and chanted an accio.

When the egg did not budge, she knew that it would not be easy.

Fleur knew what she had to do, she flared her veela allure and when she reached the level she was expecting, she directed the allure towards the dragon. The dragon which was looking around, trying to keep anybody from reaching the eggs, was hit head on with the full force of allure. The dragon lolled around slightly, before the eyes of the beast started to droop.

Fleur concentrated on the dragon, not wanting the dragon to break from the trance. She slid her wand into her hand and began waving her wand chanting softly. The dragon wavered slightly and Fleur could see her sleeping charm taking effect.

She redoubled her efforts as the eyes of the beast began to droop. Magical overload was causing the girl to tire on her feet, but if she would let the intensity drop, the dragon would wake up. She couldn't afford to lose. Not after the humiliation at his hands. Not to him.

With added resolve, Fleur held on. She didn't want to let this chance go. She would not stand the humiliation from someone three years younger. She would win this task. She would show him.

The dragon could not fight the assault of her allure and her charm work. With a small grunt, it settled down and with one last look around, lowered itself to sleep.

Fleur smiled in triumph and as quick as her exhausted legs could carry, sprinted towards the nest of the dragon. She picked up the golden egg and turned around to leave.

The dragon who was in a sleep-like trance suddenly opened its eyes and Fleur turned around when she heard a snort. She instinctively jumped to the side as she watched flames being shot towards her.

She was alright, but her skirt caught fire. She calmly extinguished the flames and rushed out of the exit to a huge round of applause.

She breathed a sigh of relief, lost in the moment as the Hogwarts matron gave her a once-over. She had done it. She had completed her task and she was sure that she had done well.

"You are fine, my dear." The matron confirmed. "You can go and get your scores.” Fleur thanked the elderly woman and then returned to the clearing. She waited for the judges to get back to her with her scores.

The first to give out the score was her Headmistress. A perfect ten. Dumbledore followed the scoring and awarded her a ten as well. The last was Karkaroff who awarded her a….. Six?

Fleur was outraged by the score given to her. She didn’t deserve a six. She wanted to voice her protest, but her Headmistress did that. She seemed to be speaking heatedly with the man.

Fleur turned around and left when there were no changes on her scores.

She was leading this round for the time being. She wanted a perfect score. He already had a lead and she had to do some catching up. She was sure that it was an uphill task to overtake him, but her Headmistress had let slip that there will be other challenges apart from the tasks of  the tournament.

She joined Diggory who had suffered a few minor burns from the looks of it. The matron seemed to have fixed him up pretty well. She sat down to watch the remaining champions.

Krum was next and although he was pretty quick, he damaged the eggs in the nest. That would be a huge blow to his chances. When the scores were out, Madame Maxine awarded an eight and Professor Dumbledore awarded him an eight. The next was Karkaroff and he gave a …ten!?

‘That bastard!’ Fleur growled internally. He was favoring his candidate and he was not even making the effort to hide it. It was blatant.

Now, he was tied with Fleur when he should have lost points for damaging the eggs.

All chatters stopped when an ear-splitting roar was heard. The arena was stunned into silence when a number of handlers brought in a manticore. Gasps of shock and fear rang through the stadium.

The beast was struggling within its bounds as it tried to free itself. The viewers gulped in fear as the face of the manticore twisted into a scowl as it let out another roar.

Whatever it was, Fleur was glad that she got the dragon.

—-&&&------

Harry heard the roar of the beast. He sighed as he stood up and threw his cigar down. He walked out to the clearing and stood waiting for the name to be called out.

After five minutes, he was announced. Harry entered the clearing and was immediately faced with the humongous form of the minotaur. He started down the beast and the beast seemed to be sizing him up. Harry smirked as he saw himself from the minotaur's point of view.

He was dead meat walking towards the predator. Such insignificance. Why can't Tom be consumed by a beast like this?

Granted he could control a Basilisk, but there remained a number of beasts who could just consume every bone.

He looked around all the while keeping an eye on the beast. He needed to do something to finish the beast. He would certainly not be able to try and make his way to the egg just by distracting it. It was impossible with a dragon and it certainly was impossible with this one.

He formulated a plan with his surroundings. The quidditch stadium had actually been turned into something like the Roman stadiums of the old, where gladiators fought. Huge boulders and trenches strewn around the field to help favor the champions. He actually could do something out of the surroundings.

The moment he stepped onto the field, the tail zoomed towards him. He had to jump out of its way very quickly.

“A warning would be nice, jerk.” Harry grumbled. He was up on his feet and with nary a glance, he swiped his wand towards the stones in his immediate surroundings. The stones zoomed past Harry and slammed into the beast. It would not have been much to the beast, had it not been for the continuous firing. He needed to weaken the beast. If the thing starts flying, it would be difficult to land attacks.

Just when he had finished that thought, the manticore rose up in the air. “Great,” Harry muttered sarcastically, though he was pretty sure none heard it.

The beast flew towards Harry very quickly and Harry had to use a wide area banishing charm concentrated on the front of the beast to land a blow. It connected and when he found some space to think, he decided to not play around and get to finishing the work.

Harry disappeared from in front of the beast just when the beast made an attack.

The manticore looked around in confusion.

He decided to gather around the eggs.

Just when the beast had turned away, a bright red beam zapped and hit the manticore right next to his eye.

The human face of the beast twisted into a snarl, a very scary expression. An ear-splitting screech rang through the stadium, deafening the audience.

Harry appeared from a few meters from his previous spot. Just when the beast tried to move towards him, he disappeared from view.

The next moment, a spell slammed behind the beast gaining another ear-splitting roar.

The crowd watched in fascination as Harry seemed to be cropping up at weird places within a blink of an eye. One moment he would be at the front of the manticore. The next moment, he would appear behind and the next, from the side. The beast couldn't do much as he was giving no chance for an attack from his opponent here.

The moment it understood that it was being overpowered, the animal decided to make sure to protect its eggs. It walked back quickly towards the eggs. It stood protectively around the eggs, making sure to keep an eye on its surroundings.

Harry appeared in front of the beast. The now angered beast made to pounce on him, but to the growing shock of the audience, Harry split into five more Harrys who went on to split into five more Harrys who surrounded the beast.

The manticore looked around and was confused for a moment before it roared dangerously and slammed its tail towards any Harry that it could reach. When none was injured, the manticore went bonkers. It rushed forward and abandoned its egg and lashed out on the various numbers of Harry’s in front of it. It swiped its claws and roared as it tried to bite one of them. Harry who was standing away from all the chaos till now, his wand controlling the actions in the arena.

When the manticore was distracted, Harry took the moment to quickly walk up to the nest and grab the golden egg.  He picked up the egg and turned around but the moment Harry touched the egg, the manticore had heard him and had given up with the copy Harrys.

The manticore was certainly not pleased with the egg in his hands and with all the attacks, it was enraged beyond measure and this puny human touching its egg was the last straw. With a ferocious roar, the beast pounced upon Harry.

Harry dropped the egg onto the ground and an overpowered banishing charm was all that saved him from the attack. The manticore was pushed back a few feet and Harry decided to put an end to it. He wanted to get out of this place.

He remembered a spell from one of his Grandfather’s notes. He twirled his wand in small circles consecutively with each circle growing bigger and bigger. Just when the manticore had gathered itself, Harry slashed his wand towards the direction of the manticore.

A burst of wind started from his wand, but what started out as a small wave of breeze gradually increased in size to form a tornado. The tornado would not have been much special if not for the fact that the tornado split into five more, trapping the manticore in between.

Harry increased the intensity of the tornadoes and the manticore could do nothing being surrounded by the tornadoes. Harry swiped his wand downwards and the five separate tornadoes converged to the centre.

As the dust settled down, Harry watched the beast sway on its feet and with a groan, collapsed on the ground. The beast groaned a few times and with a final huff, closed its eyes, losing consciousness.

He picked the egg up and with one final look towards the beast, walked out of the quidditch stadium. He didn’t need to know the score. He didn’t need to know what happened to the beast. He survived. That is all that mattered.

Harry entered the champions tent and sat down on a chair nearby, breathing hard. He didn't know when Madam Pomfrey had begun looking over him for any wounds, but he realized it a bit late.

“You are fine, Potter. You can go get your scores now.” She tutted in disagreement. “Dragons and now a manticore.” She muttered to herself.

Harry chuckled softly at the disgruntled look on her face. It was pretty amusing. “Any lapse in your concentration and you wouldn’t be laughing, Potter.” The elderly matron scowled at the young man who failed to control his laughter.

“It is not funny.” She argued and Harry shook his head, laughing loudly. “It really is funny. Sorry, Madam Pomfrey.” The woman couldn’t stop a small smile from crawling onto her face.

“Don’t you want to see what your scores are?” She questioned curiously. The young man shook his head. “I am performing because I am supposed to, Madam Pomfrey. Not because I want to.” He explained, looking away.

“My objective is not to win. No. I couldn’t care less about this stupid tournament. I want to live and that is what I am doing, Madam Pomfrey. I am living.”

He shook his head and stood up. “Anyway, I will take my leave.” He informed the woman.

“One moment, Potter.” She stopped the young man who was about to leave.

“The champions will be receiving some information about the next task. So, you have to remain here for a while.” Harry nodded and sat back down and waited for the arrival of the others.

He closed his eyes, lost in thought and he didn’t know how long he was like that or had fallen asleep, but he was woken up by the arrival of the others. He was right as the judges and the other champions arrived in the tent.

“Mr Potter? You didn’t come out to get your scores. Are you injured?” Dumbledore questioned Harry. The young man shook his head.

“I don’t care about the score. What happened to that beast?” He had been thinking of that for a few minutes.

“It succumbed to its injuries, Mr Potter.” Dumbledore muttered and the rest of them heard it as well. “It was a bit surprising, Mr Potter. None can account to have killed a manticore single handedly. Quite a surprising achievement, though you can just put it on the list.” Harry and Dumbledore shared a smile at that.

“I had no intention of killing the animal. But when it came to my life and the beast’s life, I chose mine.” His tone was serious and was a warning to all those who could hear.

“What will be done about that, by the way?” He questioned curiously.

“Nothing much. The carcass will be delivered back to the place from where the manticore was sent from. The organizers had assured that the beasts will be delivered back safely, with probable minor injuries. Any further losses need to be reimbursed to the reserves. Now, the dragon eggs can be negotiated and could have been made something off, but not the manticore. The ministry has to pay a very large sum as compensation. And by large, I really mean large.”

“As I said, I had to give your scores and irrespective of your opinion, you need to know them. You did take a lot of time to complete the task. More than the other three contestants. For that, you would be losing points. The fact that you fought a completely different beast didn’t matter for the other judges. You received twenty points.”

Harry shrugged. “I don’t care.”

“Anyway.” Dumbledore clapped his hands as he made sure that the others were listening .

“The second task would be held on the 24th of February. The clue to the second task is inside that egg. So, until then, you can get back to your work.” Dumbledore finished.

The heads of the schools turned around and left leaving the champions in the tent. Harry stood up and he was face to face with Fleur Delacour. She seemed like she wanted to say something.

Harry would have walked away, but he remembered that he did want to say something.

“I need to speak to you.” His voice was soft, but the girl heard him. “Can you come with me?” He questioned and she nodded. He walked ahead and held the tent flap away so that she could follow him and the two walked in silence for sometime.

They reached the Black Lake and stared at the water body. The silence was slightly uncomfortable as the two struggled to break the silence.

“Sorry.” Harry began abruptly. He turned back to look the girl in the eye. “I should not have spoken that way. It was childish and unwanted.” He said. The girl remained silent, not speaking a word all the while.

“It was just that, I was not in the right state of mind with everything that happened and you not believing that I was innocent in all this farce just got to me.” He sighed. “I thought we were friends and I was wrong. I can’t change what you think of me. I certainly can try, but in the end, it is left to you. I….” He hesitated.

“I felt sad that you of all people believed that I was guilty.” He shook his head, but didn’t meet her eyes. If he had, he would have seen the surprise etched on her face.

“True. You had no obligation to believe me. We knew very little of each other and you had every right to doubt me. I can’t complain about that. It’s just that…..I thought that you would believe me you know?” He explained.

“Why do you care?” Fleur began, her voice suspiciously plain. “Why do you care what I think?”

She questioned once again.

Once again, Harry didn’t meet her eyes. “Nevermind.” He whispered. “I had to apologize and I am sorry.” He turned around and walked away as quickly as his legs could carry.

He didn’t turn around, nor did he stop for a second. He just rushed away and moved briskly to one spot where he knew that none would be around. The stadium was nothing like it should have been. It won’t take much time to look as it did before.

He walked through the various bumps and trenches and made his way to the exact center of the pitch. He sat down and pulled his knees close to his chest.

“I care because I like you Fleur. I like you a lot.”

It was true. He was not as dense as others would think so. He had felt instantly attracted to the girl. From the day they met they had got along well. A very intelligent girl and extremely pretty. The moment Narcissa put the idea of the two as a couple, he had not been able to think of the girl as anything but his partner.

He had envisioned himself holding hands with the girl. Walking slowly, with her arms wrapped around his. Laughing along with her and joking around with her.

He felt scared to point it out. The reason being that she was seventeen. She was an adult. He was fourteen. Yes, it would not matter to him, but is it the same the other way around? Does she even feel the same way as him? What if there is somebody else? No….That was not possible. He was going crazy.

He felt that he could start by apologizing to her. He did so. He would have said something more, but he could not. What more could he say? Wasn’t he supposed to be a Gryffindor?

‘One step at a time, Harry. One small step at a time.’ He figured it out mentally.

—--&&&------

Fleur watched him run away. It might not look like he was, but he did run away. Why did he run away? She sat down at the bank of the lake and stared at his retreating figure. She should be happy. She got what she wanted. He apologized. That is what she wanted. She now stood first in the competition after he scored twenty. She had received twenty for the dueling match and with twenty six, she was leading him by a point.

Why did she feel that he should have stayed some more? Why was she feeling that he should have spoken some more? Why was she anticipating more from the boy?

She turned to the other side and watched the calm water body. Her mind was certainly not this calm. She wanted the boy to eat his words, She was enraged that he had called her a princess and now, when he had apologized, it all felt for nothing.

She thought back to their conversation from a few minutes back. ‘Why do you care?’ She had questioned. There was a reason she had questioned him.

“How can I tell him that I like him?” She questioned nobody in particular.

Ever since she had met him, he was different. Very compatible. Intelligent. Not to mention handsome. They had gotten along well. Although she had forced some distance from each other for all these days because of the tournament, today, she wanted to hear something along the lines of that. Something that indicated that he likes her back.

He apologized and left. Not saying a single word. Why? Was he just apologizing to be polite?

Did he not like her? Her mind was now playing a completely different tune to the one that was played all these days. Why did she bring something petty in between them?

She wanted him to speak more. She wanted to look into his eyes. He didn’t look her in her eyes for once. Why? She couldn’t understand.

Now that he apologized, her mind was thinking of various other negative scenarios. She was not opposed to something so trivial as the age factor. No. It was silly. She might be older, but he was more mature. But what if he didn’t think the same? What if the age barrier is not acceptable to him? What if there is someone else? No…..That is just not possible.

He did apologize to her. The only right thing to do is for her to do the same. She would apologize and watch how it goes from there. Merlin, she was an adult and yet, she could not express her thoughts to a young man three years her junior.

‘One step at a time, Fleur. One step at a time.’ She figured it out mentally.

TBC—-----------