ALL NOVEL Chapter 36: Of Guns and Dragons
Chapter 36
Of Guns and Dragons
The next weeks passed by in a blur as Ron lashed out at Hermione and myself, to nobody's surprise. As Hogwarts erupted in 'Potter Stinks' badges, I chose to let it die down before letting Cedric know his first task would be dragons. He was not thrilled to say the least, his face blanching before nervously asking if I was serious. My unamused look left him bumbling thanks and departing.
On another note, after Hagrid finally showed me the fire-breathing and flying lizards, I asked Hermione for assistance in taking them down, and one letter to Sirius for good measure, though the latter would not be of any practical help. My girlfriend and I planned around fourth-year spells before she walked in on me doing target practice in the Room of Requirement.
As anyone could imagine in such a situation, Hermione was less than amused that I was hiding a potentially lethal magical weapon from her, but made me promise to tell her so that she'd keep the secret.
"...So you somehow have permanent performance-enhancing drugs in your blood, a magical gun that disfigures flesh, access to a different dimension and you never thought to fill me, your girlfriend in?"
She looked as if I cheated on her with another girl, and knowing Hermione, not showing her all potential research subjects might come quite close.
"You forgot the magical armour, but yes..."
By now she seemed positively livid and was beginning to reach for her wand when I finally surrendered. The next hours consisted of me displaying various equipment from the subspace and Hermione flipping over every dimension-related book to find how I managed to do it. She only regretfully paused when I reminded her of our original purpose, which is to help me survive the dragon.
Perhaps out of someone's displeasure at being kept in the dark, the Room began to form a towering stone dragon. Granted, it was only about one-fourth the size of the Hungarian Horntail, but seemed much bigger in an enclosed space. And the stone dragon started to move towards me menacingly.
When I looked back at Hermione, she had now conjured a comfortable box for herself to spectate myself and the dragon. Well, the stone should be inconvenient, but with some kiting not impossible. I slipped onto full Shadow Armor and sunk into my own shadow, right in time to avoid the dragon's outstretched claw.
The stone dragon kept turning around but not finding me, as I was shifting from one room corner to the next out of its line of sight. It finally did, though, when I stood still to load Whisper. A flame torrent came in my direction, and I escaped behind the dragon's shadow.
'One.'
I took a breath and pulled the trigger. The gun lived up to its namesake as an immaterial voice sounded in my mind. Its magic-infused bullet struck the head of the dragon, leaving a small dent and fracturing the surrounding stone. The stone creature roared, flapping its wings and taking to the ceiling, preparing to dive towards my direction.
- The Hungarian Horntail shrieked in annoyance but seemed unfazed by the mark, refocusing on myself dodging out of the way. Its outstretched claws swiped in my direction but sailed barely overhead, leaving a gust of wind. Bagman was shouting something about my attack not doing enough, and Hermione looked slightly worried. -
'Two.'
I rolled forward right under the swooping dragon, feeling a brief but crushing weight on my shoulders as my armour dispersed most of the impact. A loud crashing followed, chunks of the wall breaking from the collision, lodging the dragon in it for a short time. The second shot came out, disappearing mid-air before deepening the dent from the first.
- Taking advantage of its imbalance, I leapt a short distance to the side, aided inconspicuously by my shadow while aiming Whisper at the unsuspecting reptile. The scales on its forehead started to fall off at this next bullet, upping the dragon's pain from "light sting" to "small scar". It gave up physical attacks and its gaping mouth began to glow ominously. -
'Three.'
At frightening speed compared to before, the stone creature swiped the ground with its tail, which I barely dodged by jumping upwards, while pouncing with its hindlegs towards my current spot. I was standing point-blank with the dragon while Whisper was about to fire. This shot clearly shattered its forehead, but this merely knocked the enormous weight from crushing me.
- Wand in hand, I conjured the thickest fireproof wall possible and dug a small hole for myself as if I was a trench soldier staring down a flamethrower, which is not that inaccurate. The blazing heat almost instantly melted the wall and hungrily lapped at my singed hair, which was doused in water before entering the arena. Digging even deeper, I blasted a short path directly towards the dragon from underground, lining up the third bullet and causing some serious bleeding from the Horntail. -
'Four.'
Whisper 'shouted' the last shot at the still stumbling Room construct before piercing it through. To be honest, the blast felt like a tactical missile rather than a normal rifle, and in truly Virtuoso fashion, left one artistic flower made of the debris. The look on Hermione's face was truly priceless.
- If the organisers figured out anything was amiss, they did not respond in time. My magic rushed towards the gun, the runes on its side glowing slightly in the undergrowth. The impact was definitely worth all the exhaustion it caused, though, as the Horntail finally slumped forward, its wound bleeding out grotesquely yet the exposed flesh crafted into a masterpiece to anyone who wouldn't throw up at first sight. The crowd went silent, for once, after the body hit the ground with a rumble. -
"Harry, what is that weapon?" my girlfriend trotted towards me in a mix of curiosity and awe. That display removed most of the annoyance, probably.
"This? It's called 'Whisper', and I daresay it makes a damn good show."
- And maybe, just maybe, a bit excessively. Or so I thought as the dragon trainers, teachers and reporters round in on myself, eager to waste my time on interviews. For what it's worth, Dumbles and Crouch Jr looked so puzzled, as if someone just stole their favourite toy. -