Chapter 18: Explosion of Snape's office
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER. IT BELONGS TO JK ROWLING.
A/N: Read, enjoy, and remember not to take either life or my writing too seriously.
After several chaotic minutes the dragon handlers finally managed to restrain the enraged Hungarian Horntail.
The arena slowly returned to silence.
In the center of the field sat Ron Weasley, completely naked, perched on the golden egg and staring blankly into space.
Several dragon handlers cautiously approached him while Molly Weasley hovered anxiously nearby.
The silence didn't last long.
Laughter began to spread across the stadium.
First from the Slytherin section.
Then Ravenclaw.
Soon Hufflepuff joined in.
Eventually even Gryffindor students couldn't hold it in.
The laughter echoed around the arena.
Several students laughed so hard they fell from the stands.
A few even needed to visit the hospital wing afterward due to cracked ribs from excessive laughter.
The Medical Tent
Harry and Hermione Granger hurried toward the medical tent to check on Ron.
They stopped abruptly when they overheard Poppy Pomfrey explaining Ron's injuries.
"The broken bones will be easy to fix," Madam Pomfrey said calmly.
"But we must wait until the swelling in his… rear… decreases before removing the egg."
Harry and Hermione froze.
"And until it's removed," Pomfrey continued, "we cannot properly treat the burns."
Harry slowly backed away.
Hermione tugged him toward the exit.
They had heard enough.
Outside they nearly collided with Minerva McGonagall, who appeared slightly green after hearing the same diagnosis.
The Judges' Scores
Back in the arena the judges began awarding points.
First Olympe Maxime raised her wand.
A silver ribbon formed the number 3.
Next Bartemius Crouch Sr. awarded 2 points.
Then Albus Dumbledore produced a glowing 4.
Ludo Bagman awarded 1.
Finally Igor Karkaroff raised his wand.
His ribbon shot forward.
Then split in half.
One piece formed a horizontal line.
The other formed a 3.
Together they created –3.
Hermione stared thoughtfully.
"Impressive."
Harry frowned.
"Those scores were terrible."
Hermione shook her head.
"I meant it's impressive that Karkaroff understands negative numbers."
Rumors Begin
When Ron had been launched into the air earlier, Harry and Hermione had jumped to their feet.
Later witnesses claimed that Harry had performed wandless magic while standing up.
Within hours the story had already grown dramatically.
According to rumors spreading through Hogwarts:
Harry transformed Ron back into a human mid-airHe protected the entire spectator section from the dragonAnd in some versions he personally charged the dragon with the Sword of Gryffindor
The legend of Harry Potter grew larger by the minute.
Meanwhile…
Elsewhere in the medical tent lay Draco Malfoy.
His injuries were being temporarily ignored while Ron received priority treatment.
Draco's head bandages had been removed.
The damage was… unfortunate.
His eyebrows were gone.
Part of his ear appeared slightly melted.
His parents, Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy, stared down at him silently.
Lucius sighed.
Events earlier in the day replayed in his mind.
Earlier That Day
Lucius had arrived at the arena with Draco.
Something strange happened immediately.
Every Slytherin student sitting near them suddenly scrambled away.
None of them wanted to sit within ten feet of Draco.
"Why is everyone avoiding you?" Lucius asked.
Draco scowled.
"It's Potter's fault."
Lucius raised an eyebrow.
"Everything is Potter's fault?"
"Yes!"
Lucius sighed.
This boy has absolutely no subtlety, he thought.
The competition began.
Cedric used transfiguration cleverly.
Draco criticized him.
Krum blinded his dragon with a spell.
Draco criticized him too.
Then Fleur entered the arena.
When she transformed partially into a Veela and blasted her dragon with several fireballs, Lucius watched with interest.
Draco scoffed.
"Half-breed showing off."
Lucius stared at his son.
For the first time in years he seriously wondered if Draco might not actually be his child.
The Dragon Disaster
Later, while Lucius was drinking Firewhisky with Severus Snape, the final champion entered the arena.
The sight of a giant yellow canary being chased by a dragon was extremely entertaining.
Unfortunately nobody noticed when one of Molly Weasley's spells accidentally struck Draco.
He collapsed over the railing.
Then fell directly into the dragon enclosure.
A burst of dragon fire hit the spot where he landed.
When the handlers finally captured the dragon they discovered Draco lying nearby with smoking bandages.
Thankfully no one noticed him being carried away.
Everyone was too busy staring at Ron.
The Next Morning
At breakfast Harry slammed the newspaper onto the table.
"Damn."
Hermione looked up.
"What happened?"
Harry handed her the Daily Prophet.
The entire top half of the front page showed a magical picture.
It depicted a giant yellow canary transforming into Ron while sitting on the golden egg.
The headline read:
RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY — TRIWIZARD CHAMPION LAYS AN EGG
Below that was another enormous photo.
Harry and Hermione kissing in the Three Broomsticks.
The caption read:
TRUE LOVE — THE BOY-WHO-LIVED BECOMES THE BOY-WHO-LOVES
Hermione buried her face in her hands.
The Hospital Wing
Later that morning Ron finally woke up.
The first thing he saw was the newspaper lying beside him.
He groaned.
Then he noticed the photo of Harry and Hermione kissing.
Ron's face turned red.
Suddenly—
A tremendous noise erupted.
The force blasted the golden egg loose from its… position.
The egg shot across the room and struck the still-unconscious Draco Malfoy in the head.
Unfortunately for Ron, the skin that had stuck to the egg went with it.
Ron fainted instantly.
Down in the Dungeons
At that same moment Severus Snape was brewing Felix Felicis in his office.
He sneered while stirring the potion.
"Soon I'll finally have the luck needed to catch you breaking the rules, Potter."
Then he smelled something.
A terrible odor suddenly filled the room.
Seconds later the mixture of gases ignited.
The resulting explosion destroyed half the office.
Potions detonated everywhere.
Shelves shattered.
Glass bottles burst under the heat.
When Albus Dumbledore arrived moments later, he found Snape buried beneath the smoking ruins of his laboratory.
The Headmaster sighed.
It had already been a very long day.
~•~•~•~•~••~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Thank you for reading!
See you in the next chapter ✨
Thank you very much for all the support and donate power stones!!
Do Comment, anything just comments and Donate Power stone!!
If you're enjoying the story, don't forget to leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating! Your feedback means so much. And feel free to comment on where you think the story should go next—I'd love to hear your thoughts on the future direction!