Harry Potter 04 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

quiet – but, like you saw, they weren’t happy, not happy at all –’
    ‘What breeds you got here, Charlie?’ said Hagrid, gazing at the closest dragon – the black one – with something close to reverence. Its eyes were still just open. Harry could see a strip of gleaming yellow beneath its wrinkled black eyelid.
    ‘This is a Hungarian Horntail,’ said Charlie. ‘There’s a Common Welsh Green over there, the smaller one – a Swedish Short-Snout, that blue grey – and a Chinese Fireball, that’s the red.’
    Charlie looked around; Madame Maxime was strolling away around the edge of the enclosure, gazing at the Stunned dragons.
    ‘I didn’t know you were bringing her, Hagrid,’ Charlie said, frowning. ‘The champions aren’t supposed to know what’s coming – she’s bound to tell her student, isn’t she?’
    ‘Jus’ thought she’d like ter see ’em,’ shrugged Hagrid, still gazing, enraptured, at the dragons.
    ‘Really romantic date, Hagrid,’ said Charlie, shaking his head.
    ‘Four …’ said Hagrid, ‘so it’s one fer each o’ the champions, is it? What’ve they gotta do – fight ’em?’
    ‘Just get past them, I think,’ said Charlie. ‘We’ll be on hand if it gets nasty, extinguishing spells at the ready. They wanted nesting mothers, I don’t know why … but I tell you this, I don’t envy the one who gets the Horntail. Vicious thing. Its back end’s as dangerous as its front, look.’
    Charlie pointed towards the Horntail’s tail, and Harry saw long, bronze-coloured spikes protruding along it every few inches.
    Five of Charlie’s fellow keepers staggered up to the Horntail at that moment, carrying a clutch of huge granite-grey eggs between them in a blanket. They placed them carefully at the Horntail’s side. Hagrid let out a moan of longing.
    ‘I’ve got them counted, Hagrid,’ said Charlie, sternly. Then he said, ‘How’s Harry?’
    ‘Fine,’ said Hagrid. He was still gazing at the eggs.
    ‘Just hope he’s still fine after he’s faced this lot,’ said Charlie grimly, looking out over the dragons’ enclosure. ‘I didn’t dare tell Mum what he’s got to do for the first task, she’s already having kittens about him …’ Charlie imitated his mother’s anxious voice. ‘ “How could they let him enter that Tournament, he’s much too young! I thought they were all safe, I thought there was going to be an age limit!” She was in floods after that Daily Prophet article about him. “He still cries about his parents! Oh, bless him, I never knew!” ’
    Harry had had enough. Trusting to the fact that Hagrid wouldn’t miss him, with the attractions of four dragons and Madame Maxime to occupy him, he turned silently, and began to walk away, back to the castle.
    He didn’t know whether he was glad he’d seen what was coming or not. Perhaps this way was better. The first shock was over now. Maybe if he’d seen the dragons for the first time on Tuesday, he would have passed out cold in front of the whole school … but maybe he would anyway … he was going to be armed with his wand – which just now, felt like nothing more than a narrow strip of wood – against a fifty-foot-high, scaly, spike-ridden, fire-breathing dragon. And he had to get past it. With everyone watching. How?
    Harry sped up, skirting the edge of the Forest; he had just under fifteen minutes to get back to the fireside and talk to Sirius, and he couldn’t remember, ever, wanting to talk to someone more than he did right now – when, without warning, he ran into something very solid.
    Harry fell backwards, his glasses askew, clutching the Cloak around him. A voice nearby said, ‘Ouch! Who’s there?’
    Harry hastily checked that the Cloak was covering him and lay very still, staring up at the dark outline of the wizard he had hit. He recognised the goatee … it was Karkaroff.
    ‘Who’s there?’ said Karkaroff again, very suspiciously, looking around in the darkness. Harry remained still and silent. After a minute or so, Karkaroff seemed to decide that he had hit some sort of animal; he was looking around at waist height, as though expecting to see a dog. Then he crept back under the cover of the trees, and started to edge forwards towards the place where the dragons were.
    Very slowly and very carefully, Harry got to his feet and set off again, as fast as he could without making too much noise, hurrying through the darkness back towards Hogwarts.
    He had no doubt