Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix [170]
“Let’s take this battle to the air, Woodworm!” yelled Harry, starting to feel more confident about fighting his friend. Woodworm jumped into the air and rose to the height that Tapescrew was at.
“Shoot some fire Tapescrew, and watch out for its tail!” yelled Harry. Tapsecrew was already trying to coil itself around Woodworm.
Woodworm reared back slightly, and let loose a giant ball of fire right at Tapescrew. It was a massive fireball, and it was flying right towards Tapescrew’s face. Harry was getting excited, there was nothing Ron could do to stop it now.
Then, just as the fireball was about to hit its face, something amazing happened. Tapescrew opened its mouth, as if to breath fire, but no fire came out… just water. Hundreds of thousands of gallons came shooting out, right at the flame that was heading for it, immediately putting it out, and reducing it to nothing more than some smoke. Harry just stared, dumbfounded. Whoever heard of a water-breathing dragon?
It was now Tapescrew’s turn to attack. It shot right at Woodworm, at speeds faster than Harry could have imagined. Then, when it looked as thought it were going to collide with Woodworm, something even more amazing happened: it went through Woodworm. Half of it was sticking out of Woodworm’s back, and the other half was sticking out its front. Woodworm, however, didn’t appear to be in any pain; he just closed his eyes, and appeared to have fallen asleep. This was very odd sight, seeing two dragons connected like this, and it brought many gasps from the audience.
Tapescrew then just continued going through Woodworm, until he had passed through him entirely, and was all on one side. This, however, was not good for Woodworm, as he was still asleep. Since he was unconscious in the air, he could do only one thing: fall.
He fell from high in the sky all the way down to the ground, creating a massive explosion sound, along with a small earthquake that shook the entire audience and stadium. Woodworm gave a low, painful growl and stuck his tongue out, indicating that he was done fighting, and that Harry had lost.
“Let’s hear it fer th’ winna… Mr. Ron Weasley an’ his dragon Tapescrew!” yelled Hagrid. The audience erupted into applause as Ron walked back to his seat, bowing and blowing kisses to everyone. Clearly, he was enjoying the attention. Harry tried to feel happy for him, he rarely ever got praise like this… he deserved it.
Harry walked back to his seat, and waited for Ron. He wanted to congratulate him as well. Just as he saw Ron emerging from his throng of admirers, the bell rang, signaling it was time to start their last class of the day. Harry saw Ron disappear back into the group as he headed for his next test. Harry decided he would just congratulate him during their next O.W.L., during Divination.
Harry shuddered. It was time for his Divination O.W.L., and he couldn’t imagine a worse torture than that. He was tired, hungry, his brain felt like mush, and he wouldn‘t be the least bit surprised if his hands exploded from cramps. He really didn’t feel like taking another test.
But, he somehow made it to the top of the tower, and climbed into the Divination room. Harry saw that everyone else was already there, including Ron. Harry walked over to his desk, and collapsed into it.
“Hey, great game,” he said to Ron.
“Thanks,” he said back. “I had no clue I was going to win.”
“You deserved it,” said Harry. “Training your dragon, even though it looked like it was never going to be any good. You stuck with it, and you prevailed.”
“Thanks, Harry. You’re a real pal.”
Just then, Professor Trelawney popped into the room, holding a large amount of papers. She immediately began passing them out.
“Now,” she began in her usual, misty voice, “even though I already know the outcome of these tests, and who will and won’t get the O.W.L., I have decided to have you take them anyway… for practice.”
Harry and Ron rolled their eyes.
“And even though