77 77) The First Task

"Aren't you nervous?" Francesca asked with a worried look on her face. Tomorrow was the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. Yet, Severus seemed relaxed as ever about the whole thing.

"Should I be?" Severus asked amusedly. He already knew everything about the first task. Lucius had already given him every information about the whole thing.

"There is a Swedish Snout, a Quintaped, an acromantula. Hardly any of them is a challenge." Severus dismissed lightly. He had already developed measures against each of them.

"They are XXXXX creatures. They are called 'Wizard Killers' for a reason." Francesca reminded him.

The week after the date was extremely pleasant for her. She had started to interact more with him, and even shared many of her past experiences with her. His patience for her was really astounding. He never interrupted her in any way, and listened silently till she ended. Suffice to say, she liked this behaviour.

"Don't die on me. I really want you as my husband now." Francesca spoke with a teasing smile. She gyrated her hips to emphasize it.

Severus tried to not get hard at that. Francesca was too fast in showing her affections. It had been a week since their date and she had already started to sit on his lap and kiss her till his worries left away.

He let out a soft smirk at her words. She really wanted him as her husband. It was certainly amusing to hear.

"I wouldn't want to leave my beautiful girlfriend waiting for me." Severus replied putting his hands on her thighs for emphasis.

Francesca smiled lightly. Here she was. In his office. Him sitting on the couch, and she sitting on his lap, facing him.

"You know. If you win the first task. I might reward you." Francesca spoke with a lick of her lips. She felt him stir beneath her, becoming a little excited. His whole body had shivered at her words afterall.

"What type of reward?" Severus asked trying to appear as casual he could. He didn't want to show his interest on her words. She was dangerously tempting. It invoked his lust and desire for her. At the speed on which they had went on with their kisses and touch, he didn't think either would remain virgin till their marriage.

"That's a surprise, lover boy." Francesca replied with a wink.

Severus sighed with mock disappointment.

"Don't try such antics. You won't know, till you win." Francesca replied with a smile on her beautiful face. She was sure that Severus was going to enjoy his surprise.

"Really?" Severus asked with a smirk.

"Yes." Francesca replied determined.

Severus lifted his legs suddenly. Her back arched forwards by his sudden actions. He grabbed her perfect waist and pulled her to his embrace. He kissed her on mouth softly. Francesca responded to his kiss as her long fingers roamed across his calloused chest. She gently snuck her hands inside his shirt and felt the skin down there. She could feel chest hairs, the feel of his manly skin, the muscles which were squirming at her touch.

His hands weren't idle too. They roamed across her back. Squeezing those soft bums which he felt adorable. Both moaned and attacked each other bodies with their touch and kisses.

It was the way between them. Neither wanted to lose and both were passionate about each other. They continued to kiss each other. Spit dropped from their chins after the amount of kissing they did with each other. They were a mess yet their hunger wasn't satiated.

Severus left no tables unturned. He groped, pinched, slapped her back encouraging her. Each drew a moan from her. She loved it when he dominated her, he realised.

They continued to take their passion forward.

Neither wanted to stop for now.

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Today was the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. The first time when he will perform as the champion of Hogwarts. It was an odd feeling though.

Having the knowledge of future challenge made it more easy for him. Out of the three challenges posed infront of him. None of them looked too hard.

For some reason, the students of Hogwarts were more excited than him. He had been wished luck by nearly every Hogwarts student he passed. Even some Gryffindors had wished him luck, which in itself was confusing.

There were too many people in the stands. There were guests and various members of the three school. The noise outside the tent was awe inspiring as the students competed among themselves to chant for their schools.

At that precise moment, there was a flutter and people entered the tent. Severus recognised her immediately. She was Millicent Bagnold, the Head of Department of International Magical Co-operation. She was not alone though. Standing with her were the three Heads of the Schools. There was another figure present there too. He looked old and lanky. A strange aura surrounded him. An aura or calmness and wisdom. With him was another middle aged man. He had a funny smile on his face as he looked at them.

"Mr Schmidt, Mr Bernard and Mr Prince." Millicent Bagnold addressed the three champions softly.

"Please meet Mr Nicholas Flamel. He will be judging you alongside me and the three Heads." Millicent spoke happily. It was a pleasure to meet the famous wizard who created the Philosopher's Stone. And more so when he was going to join them as a judge today.

Severus was interested now. Of course the strange aura of wisdom and calmness made sense now. In front of him was a man who had lived for centuries, collected knowledge of arcane arts and many other things.

"We have another visitor with us. Though he won't be judging you. He will be watching over the tasks. Gentlemen, please meet Mr Newt Scammander." Millicent said happily. Newt had been her senior. They both had been in the same house during Hogwarts. Thankfully he had accepted her offer to join them.

He was going to be there watching over the creatures from a distance. They couldn't risk any catastrophic damages to either of the champion.

"Gentlemen. I wish you all good luck." Nicholas spoke with a smile. Albus had approached him to be a judge for this Triwizard Tournament. Normally he would have rejected the offer, this time he had pondered over it though. He had been sitting bored from decades. Hopefully this tournament might give him some fun.

"The first task is going to be easy. The arena which you have seen. We will place a golden egg in arena. The egg will be protected by a XXXXX creature. There are enchantments which would prevent the creature from crossing a certain line. Behind that white line you are safe from the creature, it won't be able to attack you. However once you cross the line, the same couldn't be same. You will have to use your wand alone. You can't take anything apart from your wand outside. Your job is to capture the egg and bring it back with you. The judges will give you marks on your efforts, style and damage sustained." Millicent explained calmly to the three boys infront of her.

Newt stepped forward with a bag in his hands.

"Put your hands inside this and pull out any one of the options." Newt said with a gentle smile on his face.

"Mr Schmidt?" Newt asked softly. Durmstrang got the first preference for now.

Alexander placed his hands inside. All he could feel were small toy figures. He pulled out one.

"A Quintaped." Newt appraised with a smile. He got the smallest one of the bunch. However, it didn't mean that it was the easiest of the three.

"Mr Prince?" Newt asked next.

Severus gently put his hand inside the bag. He grabbed the first thing he got and pulled out.

There was a small wooden dragon in his hands. Newt smiled and looked at him.

"A Swedish Short Snout dragon." He affirmed softly. The dragon was not particularly aggressive. But it was more agile with its body.

He moved to the next and last contender. There was only one option left now.

"Mr Bernard." Newt went to the last champion.

Gabriel put his hand into the bag and emerged out with a miniature acromantula toy in his palm.

"An acromantula." Newt affirmed softly. This one was going to be easiest as they were particularly easy to shoot spells at if the user was skilled enough.

"Good luck gentlemen." Newt spoke with a smile. He will meet them in the arena.

Severus had the urge to laugh. He had planned meticulously for each of them. And the one he got finally. It was the one which he had planned perhaps in the most ridiculous way. This was going to be so funny and embarrassing at the same moment.

"Any volunteers for going first? Or else we can draw lots?" Millicent asked with a jovial smile. They had already the lots prepared. The only thing left was to draw them.

"I will go first." Severus offered. The sooner he could do this, the better he would be. Besides it will slightly unnerved his two peers. They would be a little tensed to see him so eager to complete the task.

"Very well Mr Prince." Millicent replied completely taken back. She only meant it as a joke. She hadn't thought that the Hogwarts Champion would take it seriously.

"I will go second." Alexander spoke up too. He couldn't be overshadowed by an English boy when it came to guts and courage. He was of the Schmidt bloodline. The family which bred war and courage in their children's veins from the day of birth.

"If you all say so." Millicent replied with a cheerful look. She had to mask her surprise. However this went smoother than she thought. The Champions looked determined to win.

"At the sound of canon. You may start the task Mr Prince." Millicent informed softly with an encouraging smile. She hoped that the three kids performed well in the task. They had tried their best to place security for them and others. It will be a shame if they will not be able to live up the standards.

Severus saw that Dumbledore looked carefree about the whole situation. Perhaps it was his trust in safety measures, Newt Scammander or on him. Whatever it was. He found it strange.

Millicent left with the judges. They had to prepare for the task. The handlers needed to place the dragon perfectly.

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"Really a dragon?" Lily questioned in fear. What the hell were the organisers thinking?

"The Ministry's filled with barmy people." Ron spoke in agreement. It was so true afterall. They had brought a Hungarian Horntail for Harry to fight. They really didn't think much before acting.

"A Swedish Short Snout." Hermione spoke up in sudden realization. It was the same dragon which Cedric had fought. Thinking about Cedric hurt her a little. He had been a good and honest friend, killed by Voldemort for opposing him.

"Now. Let's welcome our first contestant for today. Give out a great applause to Mr Severus Prince, the Hogwarts Champion. He is going to face a Swedish Short Snout in this match!" Bagnold said excitedly from the mike. She was here as a judge and commentator. The last she sucked, however there was no one else to do it.

"No way, he's going to fight it." Marlene spoke scandalized. This was a XXXXX creature. A Wizard Killer. She couldn't believe that they are set against this type of challenges.

"He doesn't have to fight it. He just has to make his way around it to snatch the golden egg." Alice explained from besides Mary. She knew Severus would be able to do it easily. Knowing him, he might have already known about every obstacle from the beginning. He would have a plan with him. He always had with him.

"I don't believe it is going to be easy though." Mary spoke unsurely.

"C'mon Severus. You can do it!" The Gryffindor students two seats away shouted.

Harry was surprised. He didn't think that Gryffindors were going to support so brazenly. He recognised those Gryffindors though.

It was Jacob and his group. They were wearing hoodies with Prince written on it. If all that wasn't enough, they had brought cardboards and flags supporting him.

There was a 'boom' and the canon sounded. The crowd erupted in chaos as the task was formally started.

Lily saw her old friend emerging out of the tent. He looked confident and in a hurry though. The loud cheers seem to have no effect on him.

He walked fastly towards the white line which separated the whole arena in a 3:1 ratio. The dragon resided in the larger part while the smaller part was for safe place of the champions.

He stood at the line and extended his wand. She couldn't hear him but the next moment, there was suddenly a flowery scent in air. It increased slowly with time until it settled in a constant pattern.

The dragon which was resting above its nest suddenly got up. It let out a gruf roar which scared Lily. It stretched its wings and looked around wildly. Its eyes roamed across every corner as the body of the wild beast was now for everyone to see.

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Severus knew it was time to put his second part. This was the moment which will see if it worked or not.

"Expecto Patronum." He whispered softly with a frown. A silvery wisp emerged from his wand. He focused on it and the silvery wisp grew stronger.

The wisp started to take shape into a winged creature. Infront of everyone, his wisp started to became more powerful as a dragon appeared from the wisp.

There it was, his own Corporeal Patronus. A huge freakin dragon. One which had surprised him himself when it appeared.

The dragon roared out a wail as it saw the silvery wisp of the dragon. It stretched its wings and walked slowly to the huge floating and flying silvery dragon which was performing manoeuvres in air.

It was the only moment he had. Severus made a dash for the egg in the centre. He reached it and picked it up. His Corporeal Patronus was still hovering in air and the Swedish Snout was letting out wails to it. Despite being from different species, the Swedish Snout still wanted its companionship.

He dashed back to the white line with the egg in his hand. A feeling of joy and exhilaration hit him at that moment. He had achieved the first task and that too without having an injury.

Once he crossed the white line, he cancelled the Patronus Charm. The Swedish Snout was disappointed and angry as it couldn't find the another dragon. It let out a huge roar. The shackles binding it trembled under its monstrous power as the beast expressed its fury.

"Mr Prince had did it. He had succeeded in the first task and that too without any form of injury." Millicent spoke up excitedly. Her voice travelled through the crowd as the Hogwarts students cheered up for their champion.

The chants and cheers lasted for a minute, before she next spoke again.

"Congratulations Mr Prince. Please stay and learn your marks from the judges." Millicent said to the casually standing champion in the arena with his golden egg.

Nicholas Flamel was the first to go. He held out his wand in air and a huge 10 appeared in the Sky above the arena.

The cheers which had dimmed lightly erupted once again in excitement.

Dumbledore was next as he too gave a 10 to his student. The old Headmaster was quite amused at the ingenious idea used by Mr Prince. A charm which many won't think of to use was being used in a situation like this.

Madame Maxime went next. She took out her wand and a huge 9 erupted in the sky. She was impressed by the out of the box thinking shown here. However she expected to see some more courage from him.

Otto went next. He took out his wand and let out a smile. A huge 10 appeared on air. The boy had earned it. He had taken spells which noone would ever think of and used it.

Millicent went the last. She too gave a 10 to the Hogwarts Champion.

"Explain what he did to them Albus." Nicholas advised mirthly. He knew that none of the students had an idea on what Mr Prince used here. This was also going to be mortifying for Albus which only made it more fun.

Albus gave out an amused smile. He nodded and took the mic offered to him gently. This was going to be so embarrassing. Nonetheless he did what his mentor asked from him.

"For those who didn't understand what Mr Prince did here. He used an 'ensnarement charm', a charm which is used specially by Dragon breeders. The charm effects an uninterested dragon in such a way; that it becomes excited to mate with another dragon. . . . Mr Prince excited the dragon for a partner. After which, he released his own Corporeal Patronus, which happened to be another dragon. The Swedish Snout chased after the silvery dragon giving him more than enough time to fetch the egg." Albus explained gently to the students pressed there.

The adult students who understood the gist of him were laughing now. They couldn't believe that Prince used such a charm for a purpose like this.

"He seduced a dragon only to cockblock him." Sirius spoke in amusement. Who know Snape had it in him?

"It's a her, Sirius." Hermione corrected. The Swedish Snout was a female. She was amazed at the details though. He had sent the dragon into an artificial heat and then used his own Corporeal Patronus to buy time. It was really s clever use.

The younger students couldn't understand properly what Professor meant. However they continued to applaud for their school champion. Afterall he had defeated a dragon.

Lily too clapped enthusiastically. That was just like Severus. Using a charm in such an unlike way. Plus he was already casting a Corporeal Patronus. Something which was one of the most powerful light magic. He really had come a long way, she realised.