The Dragon Games

The day had passed by in a blur of notes; Charms had managed to pile on a load of homework that rivaled his Transfiguration homework, and even History of Magic was somehow duller then usual.

Harry met up with Ron and Hermione outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom a few minutes before class started.

"I wonder who they got," Hermione said excitedly as they opened the door and entered.

The classroom was empty, but a book lay on each of their desks. Hermione immediately went to a book and picked it up.

"Magical Warfare: Tactics of the 19^th Century," Hermione read aloud. "This isn't exactly a Defense book."

"I wonder if this class will be any good," Ron said as he took a seat near the front of the room.

Harry nodded his agreement and sat next to Ron, setting out a quill and parchment. Hermione was walking around the room, and the two boys watched as she went to the teacher's desk and looked at the papers lying in a big stack.

"They made us an itinerary!" Hermione said, almost joyfully.

Ron let out a groan, and then noticed Hermione starting to search the desk. "What are you doing, Hermione?"

"Oh," Hermione said, looking up. "I was just seeing if I could find their name somewhere," she answered sheepishly, walking away from the desk and sitting down on Ron's other side.

"We'll find out soon enough," Harry said. "Class is about to start soon."

Hermione nodded and took out her own quill and parchment.

The door opened, and in rushed a frantic younger-looking woman. She had long crimson hair, dark brown eyes, and was wearing dark emerald robes.

She moved past the trio without seeing them, and went immediately to her desk and picked up the stack of itineraries that Hermione had been looking at. She started to place them on the desks, and gave a loud shriek when she noticed that Hermione was occupying the desk she was setting a paper on.

Hermione gave a slight jump too, and then smiled. "Sorry, professor."

The woman quickly regained her composure and smiled back. "Oh, hello. Sorry, I'm not usually this crazed. Just, first day, you know." She turned to place a paper on Ron's desk and gave a slight jump at the sight of him.

Ron stared at her, unsure of what to say. The woman shook it off, laughed at herself, and continued to place the rest of the papers down.

Students started flooding in and taking their seats. Neville Longbottom took a seat behind Hermione, and when Dean entered the room, he gave Harry a slight glare as he sat next to Seamus in the back of the classroom.

The professor stood at the front of the class, now looking a lot more assured of herself. All the students stared at her, waiting for her to begin.

As the woman opened her mouth to speak, the door opened again, and Draco Malfoy came walking in, late. Harry noted how unusual that was for Malfoy.

Draco took a seat towards the middle of the classroom, and the woman watched him with a blank expression.

"Good evening, Draco. Glad you could join us," she said with a small smile.

"Do I know you?" Draco drawled, giving her a blank look.

The woman stared at him for a moment, and it seemed to Harry that they were having some sort of silent communication.

"Well, everyone, welcome to my class!" the professor said with a smile. "I am your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Rosaria Snape."

---

The wooden panels of the floor of the house were beginning to rot, the brick walls were covered in moss and vines, and the house was gutted from the inside out. The house was abandoned right beyond fields of cherry trees, and no one currently lived there. That, however, was about to change.

A man dressed in dark red robes entered the house, wearing a hood that shadowed his face. The man was shaking, though not from the cold, as he was very warm under his robes; but from fear. The windows rattled as he closed the front door, and the door made a crack. He took in the look of the house, muttering under his breath.

"It's safe here. Nothing will come here. I'm fine, I'm fine."

He turned to see a door leading off into a pitch-black hall. He held his breath as he took care to be silent, walking towards the door.

"They don't know I'm here," he kept saying, trying to assure himself.

He took out a wand from the inside of his robes and lit it. The hall went alight, and he was able to see the room more clearly. It was empty of everything but cobwebs. There was a snap as the door shut behind him and his wand went out. Frantic for his life, the man started to yank at the door, but it didn't budge.

He heard a soft swish of a cloak and he swiveled to see the source, but came to find he couldn't see a thing other than a faint outline of just more hallway. He gave a deep sigh and turned back to the door. It still wouldn't open.

A crackling laugh came from behind him, and the man's heart jumped. He collapsed to the floor, desperately trying to turn the handle.

"Please!" he shouted. "Don't do this!"

The laugh continued, echoing around the hall. He closed his eyes and started to kick the door, banging it with all his might. The laughter was coming closer, and he was shaking even worse. His heart was racing and sweat was starting to form on his forehead.

Please, he thought. Open! The door snapped open. He quickly crawled back towards the empty room, the floors giving a loud squeak as he scrambled to get back up. His wand dropped from his hand as he braced himself on a wall, using it to move away from the hall.

Then a voice whispered in his ear, "Your turn, Mudblood."

The man felt the figure's robes brush his neck. He was frozen in fear, still shaking like mad.

A quick yank of his hood occurred, and the figure chocked the man, dragging him back into the hall. The door slammed shut, and there was a scream before the harsh words, "Avada Kadavra!" A flash of green light emanated from underneath the door, and then nothing more.

---

Everyone was whispering at once. Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged looks, and Hermione's hand immediately shot into the air.

Rosaria did a double take, surprised at their reactions. "Well," she said, looking around. "Silence, please!"

Everyone went silent, but Hermione brought her hand up higher.

"Yes?" Rosaria asked, nodding at Hermione.

"Excuse me," Hermione said. "But are you related to Severus Snape, perhaps?"

Rosaria started to smile. "Well, in a matter of speaking, yes." she nodded. "He's my husband."

"Husband?" Ron called out. "Snape's married?"

Harry had the same reaction; he had never really thought of the teachers having personal lives before.

"Yes," Rosaria laughed. "Now, if that's all the personal questions we have, I'd like to move on to your education."

"Where is Snape?" Harry suddenly blurted out, unable to hide his hatred.

Rosaria regarded him with surprise before answering. "I don't believe that's any of your business. And as such, if you don't drop this topic immediately, I will be forced to give you detention."

Harry opened his mouth to say more, but thought better of it and settled on giving her a glare.

"In front of you," Rosaria began to lecture, "is an itinerary, outlining what we will be covering over this term. The book is about the tactics wizards have used in battle from the past century. You will be reading this book along with your defense book from now until the end of the year. And don't be surprised if I give pop quizzes from the readings. You will be expected to take them."

The next ten minutes of her class were spent taking roll and learning what was expected of them. Afterwards, she told them to get out their defense books and read chapter one in class, and chapter twelve for homework. The rest of the class was spent in silence as the students read.

When the class ended, Ron, Hermione, and Harry quickly piled out along with the rest of the students.

"Snape has a wife?" Harry muttered.

"Who in their right mind would marry him?" Ron asked.

"No kidding," Harry agreed.

"She seems like a good teacher, though," Hermione said. "At least the book she chose seems to be more informative. And it even deals with how to protect ourselves in the war."

"I wonder if she knows her husband is an evil bastard," Ron said.

"Who knows?" Harry replied. "I wonder if she even knows where he is."

"Maybe that's why she got so mad at you, mate!" Ron said suddenly. "It's probably a touchy subject because he left her."

Hermione made a tutting sound. "You two have some of the most ridiculous theories."

"But it makes sense," Ron said. After a moment, he asked, "Where are you going next?"

"Potions, with you," Hermione said.

"Oh, right," Ron said, his ears turning red. "How about you, Harry?"

"Potions," Harry echoed with a nod.

"Good," Hermione said. "Then afterwards during lunch, we can all discuss the first DA meeting."

"Right." Harry nodded. I'll just have to research the Dragon Games after dinner.

---

The Potions class, as it turned out, was taught by none other then the Headmistress Aiyana herself. She was just about as strict as McGonagall, but her classroom seemed a bit more fun, even though it was in the dark dungeons. Harry couldn't quite figure her out, but she kept giving the trio odd smiles that none of them could comprehend.

"Okay," Ron said slowly. "This may be just me being crazy, but was the Headmistress smiling at us a lot?"

"I noticed that too!" Harry said.

"She was giving us a lot of smiles," Hermione agreed. "I wonder, maybe she knows something about the Order?"

"Or maybe she's just really friendly," Ron suggested.

Hermione shrugged. "Either way, we're bound to figure it out. Harry, do you have that coin?"

Harry handed Hermione an old coin that was key to deciding when the DA meetings were held.

"So, how about this weekend, after Hogsmeade?" Hermione asked Harry.

"Sounds good." Harry nodded.

"Okay," Hermione said, setting the date into the coin. "It's set."

"Great."

"So, Harry, have you found out anything about Malfoy?" Ron asked.

"Not really," he replied. "He's just avoiding any questions I ask, mostly."

Hermione and Ron seemed to believe this answer and left it at that.

Just as they were sitting down for lunch, Hermione made a slight gesture with her eyes towards Harry.

"Oh, right!" Ron said quickly. "Harry, mate, I have a question."

"Yeah?" Harry said curiously, noticing Hermione's look.

"You don't happen to have a date for Hogsmeade weekend, do you?" Ron asked almost innocently.

"No, why?" Harry asked, eyeing him uncertainly

"Oh, well, you know, well...erm..." Ron trailed off, giving Hermione a slight 'I-don't-know-what-to-do,-you-think-of-something' look. Hermione returned the look before turning to Harry.

"Well, you should try," she said quickly.

Harry raised an eyebrow. Are they trying to get rid of me that weekend? Are they finally hooking up?

"Alright, I'll try."

"Great," Hermione said with a bright smile.

"Good," Ron concurred, and started to eat.

Harry looked at the two of them for a moment, smiled, and then set to making his plate.

---

After shoveling down a quick dinner that evening, Harry told Ron and Hermione that he had to go to the library. The two, who were so engrossed in each other, barely took notice of him leaving.

Harry entered the quiet library to find Ginny Weasley checking out an older book from Madam Pince.

Do I want to talk to her, or am I pushing my luck? he wondered, looking at the redhead.

When Ginny turned around and saw him, he ventured into a smile, rooted to the spot.

"Hello, Harry," she greeted, returning his smile.

He breathed a sigh of relief. She's talking to me; that's a good sign.

"Hi, Ginny. How are you?"

"Pretty good, yourself?"

"I'm great. I mean, I'm good," Harry said awkwardly. "What are you checking out?"

"Oh, just a book for some research I'm doing," Ginny explained. "What are you in here for?"

"Oh, research as well."

"Neat. Well, I better run along, Harry. I have to go catch some dinner if I can."

"Yeah, okay. See you later?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Sure. Bye, Harry," Ginny said, leaving the library.

"Bye," Harry said after her.

Harry settled himself into the back area of the library. He knew the book was probably not there. In fact, he knew the most likely area for the book to be in would be the restricted section- especially since it was Dark magic.

He glanced around, wondering how he could possibly get a teacher to sign a note for him to check out the book. There wasn't a teacher at Hogwarts as gullible as Lockhart had been, and he was certain Hagrid wouldn't agree to sign anything unless he was exceptionally drunk.

Harry sighed, taking out a piece of parchment. What would the book be called? He didn't have a clue. Sighing again, he began to write:

Harry James Potter has permission to check out any books on the subject of the Dragon Games from the restricted section for his research report in my class.

Cuthbert Binns

He examined the note carefully. He had chosen the History of Magic teacher, because after all, Binns was the most forgetful teacher in Hogwarts. If asked about the note, he would probably not remember if he gave Harry permission or not.

He brought the letter to Madam Pince who eyed the letter closely. Then, nodding, she turned to Harry. "Cuthbert is letting two students do similar reports?" she asked.

Pretending not to be confused, Harry said "Yeah," nodding.

"Very well, then. I'll get the book for you; we only have one other on the subject."

Madam Pince came back with a fading leather bound book with the title, The Darkest Games. Harry took the book and thanked her, sitting down at a back table.

He opened the cover and glanced at the table of contents. Summoning The Dragon. The Rules. The Consequences of Losing. The Dragon Prize. The list went on and on. Harry turned to The Dragon Prize and began to read.

Perhaps the only reason this game is played is for

the prize that can be won at the very end. The prize

can be anything a person can possibly think of. The

only catch is the two winners both have to want the

same prize. Whatever is in both of their hearts will

appear at the end of the game. Of course, if both

wizards/witches wish for many things, the wizard

or witch with the strongest mind frame will have

the power to choose the item. The famous wizards

dating back to Merlin's time who have joined in the

game have won everything from a Time-Turner to a

pair of Dragon eggs.

Harry sighed and then turned to the Consequences chapter.

As we have discussed earlier in this book, the reasons

for joining are not ultimately countered by the

consequences that may ensue for failing. Many wizards

have lost their minds or their lives playing The Dragon

Games. Another side note is once you have joined

the game, you may not remove yourself from it without

forfeiting, and therefore losing (For more information on

how to lose, go to page 382).

Harry gulped. That didn't sound too hopeful or at all easy. Then, he turned to The Rules chapter.

The rules are simple and straightforward.

1. Every participant must have a willing partner.

2. No backing out after you've entered without forfeiting your

life.

3. Each level of the Dragon Games has a time limit, except

for the Game of Trust which is played before each level.

4. The game must be finished in a year's time or it will be

considered a forfeit.

5. Both partners must work together in all levels of the game.

6. Cheating (if possible) will not be tolerated.

7. No protection, healing, or guiding spells are allowed inside

the games.

8. The Dragon may only be called upon twice in the game.

The library was getting dark, and Harry looked up to find he only had five minutes before the library was closing. He didn't want to be caught with the book by Ron or Hermione, or anyone else, for that matter. He flipped to the first chapter, which was an introduction.

The Dragon Games was created in 382 B.C., and was

created during a war for the soul purpose of finding

out how trustworthy their fellow partners were. After

the war was finished, the game was hidden until

revealed again about two hundred years later.

The game then added a prize at the end, and was

used for entertainment until the excitement died

down a few years later. The Dragon Games is now

rarely played, and rarely won. It takes a great

wizard to win the game, and anyone entering should

enlist a powerful wizard or witch to help them bring

forth the Dragon.

Harry quickly shut the book and brought it back to Madam Pince.

"You're done?" she asked, giving him a suspicious look.

"For now," Harry muttered. "Am I allowed to check it out again later?"

"If you bring me another note," Madam Pince replied.

"Right." he nodded, before turning to leave the library.

Harry made his way up to his common room, all the while thinking about the Dragon Games. Was there any reason he should participate? Was there a reason he shouldn't, other then the prospect of losing his mind or life? Was that what Malfoy was after? And what was the gift that Malfoy had for him to bribe him into the game?