She
looked around. None of the others looked as nervous as she did. Harry
was gripping his wand and muttering an incantation, Fleur was inhaling
deeply, and Cedric was pacing on the opposite side of the tent. They
were all so lucky. Cedric and Fleur had signed up for this, it had been
their decision. Harry had gotten surprise-entered like she had, true,
but he was a year older than she was. He had a year more magical
training, and unlike her, he looked like he was strong enough to carry
all of his textbooks without dropping them on his toes.

A
boisterous-looking man in brilliant purple robes bounced into the tent.
He carried a small red velvet bag with gold cinches in one hand, and a
piece of licorice in the other.

"Hello, champions!" The man seemed to exude pure glee. "I'm Ludo Bagman! Who's ready for the first task?"
No
one volunteered excitement. Jade was now seated on the floor, head
between her knees. Harry was sweaty, Cedric was breathing faster than
ever, and Fleur looked paler and less sparkly than usual. She didn't
want to make the man feel awkward, so she raised a hand.

"I guess I'm ready," she said in a tiny voice. "What do we have to do, again?"

The man beamed. "Reach into this bag, and remove the first thing you touch."
Jade did so. The bag was soft, and there were sharpish objects inside of it. She grabbed one and pulled it out.

It
was a figure of a dragon. Hers was scarlet, with a spiked head and huge
wings. It perched on the palm of her hand like an extremely dangerous
butterfly. Around its neck was a tag which had an inky number three on
it. She yelped in surprise when it flapped its wings and exhaled a
little bit of light.
The enthusiastic man, Ludo Bagman, clapped.
"There you have it! Miss Pevensie, you will be against the Chinese
Fireball, and you will be going third. Next?"
Jade stared at her
little dragon and felt a wash of relief. At least she wasn't going
first. But what would she have to do to the dragon? She couldn't kill
it, didn't have the heart to. Would she merely have to subdue it? Steal
something from it? Yes, that must be it.

Ludo Bagman spoke
again. "Your goal is to safely attain the golden egg without injuring
yourself, the regular eggs, or the dragon itself. The egg cannot become damaged, as it holds the key to the next challenge. The order will be based upon the number on the dragon which you drew from the bag. Mister Diggory, I will call you out in a few moments."

Jade relaxed. She only had to get the egg? That was going to be easy. She could distract the dragon with some light, grab the egg, and shoot away and into safety before the Chinese Fireball got wind of her existence.

****************************
Unfortunately, it wasn't quite that easy. As soon as she entered the arena, she froze. Terror filled every cell in her body, and her stomach seemed to turn. She inhaled to keep herself from throwing up, then let her fear be replaced with a new emotion. If her friends were behind her, if the dragon was trying to destroy them instead of threatening her....

Her heart swelled with what Alana jokingly called the 'momma bear instinct'- protectiveness. Her hair swirled around her head as she shot into the air. The light around her was a warm brown, and it licked up and down her, making a simulation of armor. Fingers of flame filled her hands, and the crowd gasped as one. Jade ducked the dragon's first blast of fire and soared towards the ground, the light in her grasp.

The dragon followed her, turning its head and looking at the young girl who dared approach it. She kicked back off and hovered in front of its nose. Jade locked eyes with the dragon, her golden eyes meeting its golden eyes. She tentatively placed a hand on its nose.
"I'm not going to hurt you," she whispered, conscious of the fact that everyone in the arena was staring at her. "I'm going to touch you. Will you let me touch your neck?"
It snorted. Jade took this as a yes and placed a hand on its neck. The creature felt strange, like a rubber band pulled taut. The scarlet scales were armor, powerful and impenetrable.

She giggled softly as a thought struck her. "May I name you?" The dragon exhaled. "Your name will be...Xīnghóng. That sounds right for a Chinese Fireball."
Xīnghóng made a cheerful clicking noise. "I'll take that as a yes. Now, there's an egg you're guarding, the yellow one. Can I...May I take it?"

In a split second, Xīnghóng had reared up and shot fire, dislodging Jade. One side of her robes was flaming, and if she hadn't been already floating, she would have fallen to her death. Jade tried to maintain her calm tone. "No, Xīnghóng, no fire. Angry is bad."
The dragon looked angry and snorted smoke, but didn't rear up. "That's it, good girl. That golden egg is for me. Not for you, not a baby. It's for me. I will carefully take it on the count of five. One..." Jade approached the ground slowly, raising her voice as she lowered herself. "Two..." Her feet touched the ground. "Three..." She grabbed the golden egg with a tendril of light. "Four..." She zipped back up into the sky. "Five!"

With a burst of energy, she looped in a circle and out of the arena. She hit the grass running, and dropped the egg as she collapsed. Madame Pomfrey rushed over to minister to Jade's burns, and Jade let her. She felt numb. She had done it. She had gotten the egg and out-witted the dragon- and she hadn't died in the process!