Harry Potter: Dragon Eyes

Victor Krum was having a bad day…

Not only was it the day of another vicious triwizard task, but he got bit by a damn Mackled Malaclaw.

The little beast was a magical creature which closely resembled a mundane lobster, a fish that Krum had started eating lately.

However, this particular creature was far more dangerous than its tasty cousin.

As any competent witch or wizard knew, bitten by a Malaclaw was known to cause extreme bad luck for up to a week.

Experts advised anyone cursed with a Malaclaw bite to cancel all bets, wagers, and ventures, as those would almost certainly turn against them.

And Krum could already feel its effects taking hold…

After all, how could one come face to face with a Cloaked Lethifold, in the depths of a British Lake?

Not only were they even rarer than their land-based cousins, the normal Lethifolds, but they were also far more dangerous; for humans at least.

The Cloaked Lethifold was known for its ability to meld seamlessly into its surroundings, they could disappear almost entirely when submerged, blending into the dark waters like shadows in the night.

Krum had read only once about them and discarded the idea as mere folklore or urban legend — the kind that wizards told to scare each other over late-night drinks — but he never thought he'd come face-to-face with one.

'Especially not during the fucking Triwizard Tournament,' he thought bitterly.

Karkaroff had promised him that the tournament would be safe and that he would probably walk away injury-free…

Krum tightened his grip on his wand, his jaw clenching with determination; he'd be damned if he let some aquatic phantom get the better of him.

He saw it, slithering through the water with an eerie, predatory grace, its dark, cloaking tendrils drifting around it like a sinister veil.

Krum had barely made out its form, a faint shimmer in the dim light.

He lost sight of the creature though, and he could hear his heart pounding in his chest as he frantically scanned the murky waters.

He could feel it watching him.

'Where is it? Where did it go?'

The question echoed in his mind as he spun in a slow circle, his eyes straining to catch even the slightest movement.

A soft ripple to his right made him turn, just in time to see the Lethifold flicker back into sight, its tendrils stretching towards him like creeping vines.

With a sharp flick of his wand, Krum bellowed through his half-shark maw, "Lumos Protectis Maxima!"

A blinding light burst forth, cutting through the darkness and creating a bubble of protective light around him.

For a brief moment, the Lethifold recoiled, its shadowy form shimmering under the harsh illumination.

Needless to say, it wasn't enough to drive it back.

'Damn thing and damn patronus,' he cursed and with a quick wave of his wand, he cast "Impedimenta!" hoping to slow it down, but the spell seemed to bounce off, barely slowing the creature's advance.

Krum, for all his flying genius and combat prowess, was unable to cast the silvery-white guardian…

Uncaring about Krum's inner quandaries, the lethifold slithered forward, wrapping itself around Krum's light sphere, absorbing it, and quickly snuffing out the glow.

"Confringo!" he cried, sending a blast towards it.

The water exploded in a burst of bubbles and light, but when the waves settled, the Lethifold was still there, slipping around the attack as if it was nothing more than a passing current.

It was also closer than before.

Krum almost panicked as he felt an icy tendril of fear grip his heart.

The Lethifold's presence seemed to seep into his very bones, chilling him from the inside out.

He struggled to maintain his composure and his thoughts briefly flashed to the other champions.

Were they dealing with similar horrors, or was it just his miserable luck that had brought this nightmare upon him?

Raising his wand, he summoned all the power he could muster for a single spell.

"Ventus Maxima!" he roared, and a powerful whirlpool surged out, spiralling through the water and forcing the Lethifold to unfurl its tendrils, revealing its form.

"Bozhe moi," he muttered, his eyes widening at the sight.

Perhaps he shouldn't have done that.

He was sure that if he survived, the writhing mass of darkness he saw would haunt him in the nights for days to come…

The currents tore at the creature, making it shimmer and twist, but still, the lethifold pushed forward, relentlessly.

It was close now, too close.

Krum could see the faint suggestion of a mouth, a dark, gaping maw hidden beneath its shroud, and he knew that if it managed to get ahold of him, there would be no escape.

"Incendio Perpetua!" he bellowed, a fire spell powerful enough to burn even in water.

Dark flames erupted from his wand, swirling around the Lethifold, encasing it in a fiery spiral.

The creature hissed, its tendrils shrinking back as the heat seared through the water.

Krum held his breath, forcing the spell to stay lit, to burn bright — or dark — and strong, even though the lethifold fought to extinguish it.

By the time it managed to snuff out the flames, Krum had dropped his self-transfiguration and instead shifted into his animagus form… becoming a dolphin!

He immediately swam away, and the water around him seemed to lighten as he found himself drifting into a new clearing.

'Thank god, I managed to escape. At least now, nothing worse can happen,' Krum thought to himself.

Relief washed over him.

But then he felt a disturbance in the water.

The vibrations quickly grew stronger, and with them came a sense of foreboding.

That was when he heard a distant roar, barely muffled by the depths.

It was unmistakably loud and terrifying.

He was about to change his course when he felt the water around him suddenly get colder, darker, as if all warmth had been sucked away.

'Unrelenting bastard,' Krum cursed and swam towards the terrible roar.

After all, what were the odds that the source of the sound was something more dangerous than the insidious thing that was hell-bent on eating him?

The lake grew darker, and Krum began to regret his earlier decision.

As he approached the source of the disturbance, he could see flashes of light illuminating the murky water.

Krum's sharp dolphin eyes soon caught sight of figures in the distance.

It was Potter, Delacour, and Diggory, locked in a fierce struggle.

For a moment, he couldn't make out what they were fighting, but then he saw it: a massive serpent, its dark, glistening body twisting and coiling around the champions.

'Holy shit.'

The serpent was easily the largest creature Krum had ever seen.

Even larger than the dragon he'd faced in the first task.

It moved with a lethal grace, its powerful coils propelling it through the water, and it was clear that it was toying with Harry, savouring the hunt.

Krum hesitated for a heartbeat, assessing the scene.

Delacour and Diggory were locked in combat with a horde of grindylows, led by an enormous, menacing Grindylow king.

The king wielded a jagged, twisted sword with surprising skill, slashing at the water with each swing, and deflecting spells.

His minions swarmed around, adding to the chaos…

Potter was facing off against the giant serpent alone, his wand glowing as he fired spell after spell at the monstrous creature.

The serpent's head bobbed and weaved, dodging most of Potter's attacks with unsettling ease.

However, the boy kept firing spells and eventually, somehow managed to conjure ropes that were able to restrain the serpent.

The creature thrashed against its bindings, its scales gleaming in the dim light of the lake.

Potter's face contorted with intense concentration before he bellowed an incantation.

Suddenly, a blinding flash erupted — it was as if the sun had somehow found its way into the underwater depths.

The explosion rippled through the water, an immense blast of orange light that seemed to swallow everything in its path.

For a moment, Krum could hardly see, his vision overwhelmed by the brightness.

The shockwave surged outward, sending a torrent of bubbles and waves crashing against him, almost knocking him off course.

As the light dimmed, Krum blinked rapidly, trying to refocus.

The serpent was still there, but it had been forced back, its body writhing in pain.

A jagged, smouldering wound marred its scales, stretching across most of its length.

The wound pulsed with an eerie, otherworldly light as if Potter's spell had left something behind.

It hissed, a deafening, furious sound that made the water around them tremble.

Krum watched as Potter lowered his wand, his chest heaving.

The boy looked exhausted, his limbs heavy, but his eyes were sharp, fixed on the serpent.

'Potter is insane,' Krum thought, his mind racing as he assessed the chaotic scene before him.

However crazy his fellow champion might have been though, Krum preferred sticking closer to his fellow humans, and Veela, in the moment.

'I mean, there should be one of them who can cast the damn patronus. Right?' Krum thought as he transformed back into a human, casting a bubble-head charm on his head.

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Something I added on fanfiction.net(I don't think this applies the same here, but tell me your thoughts):

I don't read your reviews often because honestly, it may take just one negative review to ruin my mood... Call me coward, whatever.

Let me start by saying that when I started writing this story I was not the person that I am today. I didn't know things that I do now and I definitely did not know where I was going with this.

So when I wrote about Dumbledore stealing the Potter inheritance, I made one of the many mistakes that haunt this story.

Now for most of you, who've reached this far, you probably don't care. I don't know whether it's because you simply ignored it, forgot about it or something else.

Me, I mostly forgot about it, and when it was first brought up I tried editing the chapter a bit, thinking that I fixed the issue.

I obviously did not, and I'm sorry for disregarding it so easily.

As I've said before, the point of the whole vault issue was to make Harry 'question' Dumbledore's motives...

Anyhow, I think I'll edit out the whole vault idea since it was mentioned very scarcely in the story and I don't think I could introduce it now. What are your thoughts?

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On a good note, I've started writing a new fic. Here's the synopsis.

An ancient ward has been activated at Hogwarts that kicks all the adults out of the castle. However, that's nothing compared to the ward that doesn't allow any of the inhabitants from leaving... Every adult—every teacher, every staff member—had vanished in an instant, leaving hundreds of students alone in a magically sealed castle. Cannon until 7th year. Harry goes back to school.

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Hello fellow muggles!

Thanks for reading the chapter <3

Here go the latest subbers on patreon: Jordan Guy, RedStark and LoneWolf_3000.

Instagram: fake._.violinist

Patreon Link: [https://www.patreon.com/Mr_0ne] or do a Google search of 'Patreon Fake Violinist' -> "Ch. 65 - Threads of Sorrow " with a pdf and an epub version available as well.

Discord Link... [https://discord.com/invite/NJ3WV9RVgR]