10) Lumos

"Hermione?"

"Yes?"

"You know we're overlooking a really simple spell here."

"And that would be?"

Harry pulled out his wand. "Lumos!"

"I'm so glad you thought of that! We can scare the dragon away with a glowing stick!"

Harry rolled his eyes at Hermione's sarcasm. "I'm serious! You know how Flitwick mentioned spell modifcation?"

Hermione's gaze grew outward as she thought back to the lecture the professor had given the other day. "Yes. There are some common methods to modify spells into different forms. Some spells have many different modifications already, but almost any simple spell can be changed. The more complex the spell it, the smaller the chance it can be changed and the number of changes it can take."

She paused before raising an eyebrow to Harry. "Will that work?"

He waved his wand at her. "Hey, if the army can use Flash grenades, why not?"

"Those work on humans. Dragons are another matter!"

"Time to research then isn't it? Isn't that your job?"

She punched him in the shoulder before agreeing with a small nod. "Have you finished your charms essay?"

He winced before glancing over at Hermione's glaring face. "I started on it 'mione! I just got caught up in helping Neville out with the defense homework!"

She put her hands on her hips and huffed. "Grab your essay and finish that while I start looking into this!" As she walked off to her favorite table she mumbled "Men! Can't trust them to do anything on their own!"

A very sheepish Harry returned a few minutes later and started to work. The next hour was filled with the sound of pages turned and Harry's quill. Harry's essay grew longer until it was almost complete, while Hermione delved deeper and deeper into her research.

"Ah ha! Found it at last!"

Harry looked up from his essay where he was putting on the finishing touches. "What's the verdict?"

"It will work. Dragon eyes are one of the few weak spots. Many books would talk about about an assortment of different spells you could cast to hit the eye to put the dragon out of commission. Most of them focused on how hard it is to hit the dragon's eye and methods of doing so. Only this one ever mentioned that spells that affect a bigger area can be more effective. There's even a few cases of using lumos, but you need to have a strong caster otherwise the dragon won't be blinded."

Harry leaned back in his chair. "Do you think I can one powerful enough?" His voice was laced with worry.

Hermione looked over at him in surprise. "You don't think so? Harry, you learned how to cast a Patronus last year! That is far more complex and is a spell most adult wizards cannot cast! I don't see why you can't a more powerful lumos!"

"Right. Let me finish this essay then we can practice it?"

Hermione beamed at Harry. "Harry volunteering to practice? You are learning!"

Harry just shook his head gently before turning back towards his essay.

As Harry stepped into the stadium, he looked around the stadium placing mental notes of the hiding places. The Hungarian Horntail looked much more dangerous when it was caged. The better lighting also didn't help. The teeth looked much sharper and the look in the dragon's eyes was feral.

He swallowed his before before inching closer. As the dragon open her mouth at Harry, he dived behind a rock. He didn't know if the dragon was about to throw some fire, but better safe than sorry. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of dark sunglasses. He donned then before peeking his head over the rock.

In the audience, Hermione followed suit before handing a bigger pair to Hagrid. He looked confused at the offer, but knew better than to question Hermione. He quickly grabbed put the glasses on as he watched Harry start to cast a spell.

With a deep breath and some concentration, Harry shouted "Lumos Solem Maxima!!" while his wand was trained steadily on the dragon's face. A blinding beam of light shot out of his wand before impacting the dragon just above the nose.

The dragon roared in pain as one eye started to boil before she could close her eyes. Most of the audience had to close their eyes or turn away as well. Only Hermione and Hagrid didn't move from the sight.

As the dragon roared in pain, she began to throw out fireballs blindly. One eye was almost fused shut now. The dragon tried opening her other eye only to find herself looking directly at a second beam of light.

Harry stood as the dragon's head fell the the ground. With a pitiful whine, the dragon passed out. Harry stood up and walked along the edge of the stadium to the egg. He picked it up and walked back to the entrance of the stadium. He turned and gave Hermione a thumbs up which she returned. He turned again to look at the judges table. He saw most of the judges scrambling around trying to return their eyes to the proper view.

Harry shook his head as he walked out.

AN: Both "Lumos Solem" and "Lumos Maxima" are used in the books/movies, but I combined the effects.