This chapter has been reposted after a few corrections that needed to be completed (08/07/2012). Sorry but you will not get many notes in my stories because I hate chapter notes that seem to go on endlessly.
**Samantha Potter**
Entering the most coveted magic school in England, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Samantha Potter felt somewhat anti-climatic. She had never stood within the halls of Hogwarts but had been invited to be schooled here when she had turned eleven. She did not take her place here as many people of the Wizarding World thought that she would, instead she and her guardians had chosen to have her begin school at the tender age of ten in France at the all girls school of Beauxbatons Academy.
Now in her fifth year and with three masteries (Charms, Arithmancy, & Ruins) she had already exceeded the expectations of anyone including the masters that had trained her. There were many secrets behind this but only her guardian's knew some of them. Even now, Samantha was working on her fourth mastery in potions and had goals to finish that by the end of the year.
Now though, the Tri-Wizard Tournament had disrupted her studies. On October 31st her name had come out of the Goblet of Fire forcing her to become the "fourth" champion. There had only even been three champions in the tournament since it found and suddenly this year after so many years of not holding the tournament they had brought it back and this year there would be four champions. The ruling had already been passed down, Samantha Potter would participate or loose her magic. Never mind the fact that the name that had come out of the goblet was Harry Potter, Samantha no longer considered herself that person anymore. The fools of England had left her to die and she had healed then strived to better herself after everything that they had turned a blind eye to.
Yes, Samantha Lillian Potter had once been Harry James Potter before the age of seven, but those days were mostly past her now. With the help of her companion that enter Hogwarts with her, Sister Sophie, she had help with the last hurdle that she still had yet to brake. She was still fearful of all men, to the point of locking up when a male would even touch her. The orphanage was setup up just for female orphans and the only male contact that many of the orphans had was Father Justin, but he would always keep his distance from the orphans in his charge. The nuns had always been good to her, always allowing her more lead way than the other girl because Samantha never caused trouble. Samantha was always there for the other orphans, always willing to help them and be the anchor that they needed. The fact was Samantha knew that she would have to get over her fear of males if she really wanted to do anything with her life, she wanted to do what her mother never had a chance to.
To this day Samantha had no idea how Father Justin or his superiors had gotten the information about her family that they did but having that history of her mother had made Lily Potter née Evans, her role model.
Samantha and Sister Sophie had seen the carriage of Beauxbatons Academy and the ship that had carried the delegation from Durmstrang here for the tournament when the walked up from the gates from Hogsmeade but they know that it was dinner time for all the students from all the schools right now so no one had thought to meet them at the carriage. As they entered the entry hall they could clearly follow the sounds of hundreds of students and staff were clearly in the doors to the left that right now stood closed to them keeping their arrival un-noticed.
Before Samantha could open one of the massive doors Sister Sophie spoke her name making Samantha turn to look at her companion. Sister Sophie was much more then a nun to Samantha, she was a confident, parent, friend, and protector. In the first days while in the hospital, Sister Sophie had been a nurse at the time, spent all of her time with Samantha helping her and comforting her. Although Sophie would have gladly adopted Samantha it was not allowed since Sophie was not married and didn't have the means to support them both. While working in the hospital Sophie was to be deciding if she would be taking her vowels and after finding out for sure that Samantha would be being placed in the care of Father Justin's orphanage Sophie took her vowels. It was a life long commitment but to know before taking her vowels that she would be still able to stay with Samantha and other girls like her made the decision that much more easier for her. It was her calling, to work with the girls was a blessing and healing for Sophie, she had gone though some the the same treatment when she was in her teenage years.
"Patients Samantha, you should keep your calm. They're not expecting us until tomorrow so we can stand here all night and they would still wait for you. Don't allow this tournament to change who you are." Sister Sophie said while straightening Samantha's blouse and skirt (Standard Beauxbatons' uniform).
"I'm sorry Sister. I'm just nervous being here after all that Father Justin said about the Headmaster and what the rest of the girls will say when they find out about me." Samantha explained knowing that it WOULD make her feel better talking about it.
"Your gifts are nothing to be ashamed of and if they do not except you for who you are then it is they who will miss a opportunity of a lifetime to know some so wonderful. You are young now Samantha and in the years to come you will look back on these days thinking yourself foolish for even sparing the time to worry about what your peers think."
Samantha closed her eyes and took a deep breath before slowly letting it back out. "Thank Sister, I know that your right. Thank you for being here with me."
"Ah, but I could not allow you to leave me behind while you have all the fun. Besides, you wouldn't want to do the first task tomorrow without me there to cheer you on would you?"
Samantha reached out taking Sister Sophie into a hug, "I wouldn't make it to the first task without you here Sister."
"You would and will Samantha, you are much stronger then you believe. Come now, we most meet the other schools and let Madam Maxine know that we are here before we get to explaining why you are here out of school (Well, your school)."
Sister Sophie was the first to walk in after Samantha had opened the door for her. Their plan was to make sure that Madam Maxime knew that Sister Sophie had come with Samantha and was not traveling alone. Samantha only had a few incidents while at school and none of those could be consider her fault since word had gotten out that Samantha Potter was a full shape shifter, therefore considered prime slave material for any man that enslaved her. In Samantha's second year a bounty hunter had been hired by a man who wished to add Samantha to his Herm. Madam Maxime had been the one to kill the man just before he was able to force entry in to the dorm that Samantha share with seven other girls from her year. By the next morning the matter had been closed by the French Ministry although the man that had hired the bounty hunter had been arrested as soon as he touch British soil the next year. Samantha was not told what had happened to the man except that the Queen had made sure that he would not come after Samantha again (Yes, the Queen of England). Two more attempts had been made to enter the grounds of Beauxbatons and each had been stopped before either could get to the school proper. Those two other attempts had failed after only just entering the grounds so Samantha never knew who they were after. There were three other girls that were either from high profile families or were Veela, any of the four of them could have been the target.
As they walked to the head table at the far end of the hall Samantha saw the other girls from Beauxbatons all gathered into one of the four house tables together. Samantha looked through the students and tried to keep her eyes open for threats, Father Justin and Sister Olivia both had told her to be on guard, not that she would not be on guard as she always was. The enchanted ceiling started to catch her eye before a movement caught her eye. Fleur was trying to catch her attention but Samantha just nodded her away from now. Fleur was a Veela and the champion for Beauxbatons but the explanation would have to wait until later, that would be a very long conversation.
As they reached the head table Samantha could already see that Madam Maxime was waiting for the explanation of their presence. Madam Maxime was never told of who Samantha was born as since that was not information that the school needed. The true threat for Samantha had always been that she was a Shape Shifter and just like Veela, wizards wanted her as a slave. Madam Maxime must have figured it out at some point because she did not look that surprised but she also had been told they they would be coming for the first task of the tournament because they would be in the country.
"Madam Maxime, I hope that you are well?" Sister Sophie said.
"Yes, yes. I was told that the two of you would not be here until tomorrow to watch the event?"
"There are many things to discuss tonight Madam. We wished to speak with you before any others to explain the reasons that we are here and our early arrival." the Sister explained.
"Very good, we shall..." Madam Maxime was cut off by the Wizard that Samantha was able to identify as the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore.
"May I have your attention." Samantha immediately thought that the man was really brash as he seemed not to ask for the attention but more demanded it. "It is truly a honer to have one of England's most famous heroes here with us tonight. Please allow me to introduce to each of you to..." the man raised his hand in gesture toward Samantha, "Harry James Potter. She prefers to be called Samantha now but I assure you that this young Shape shifter was born as Harry Potter to James and Lily Potter. Please make sure that you welcome him and offer him all the same curtsey that you would for each other." Samantha was fuming along with her companion and headmistress. "If the champions and their respective representatives would like to meet in the antechamber off of hall after we have finished eating you shall have the first chance to meet our fourth champion."
Samantha had not needed Sister Sophie as much as she did right now. Anger was the top emotion then embarrassment, but as she looked at Madam Maxime she could only wish to cry. Only the firm hand of Sister Sophie was keeping Samantha from breaking down right there.
Samantha did not even notice when her companion and Headmistress lead her to the antechamber off of the head table. So lost in thought, Samantha missed most of the conversation that they were having until Albus Dumbledore himself walked in. It was not his presents that broken Samantha out of her stoober, no the man had grabbed her shoulder and took her right hand in his to shake her hand. All the emotions had a outlet and as he touched her, her magic flared and became visible as it launched one of the greatest wizard in recent history to the other side of the room leaving him laying flat on his back in a daze.
"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME FILTHY ROTTEN OLD MAN!" Sister Sophie was already in front of Samantha trying to calm her down while Samantha tried to continue, "You! This is all your fault! I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you. Then you just go and insult me! I'll never be able to show my face..."
There were tears flowing down her face as Samantha was stopped mid rant as she heard Sister Sophie singing softly into her ear. Samantha didn't know it but her aura was still visible but only seconds after Samantha stopped yelling and listened to Sister Sophie's song did the aura get enveloped back into her body. Samantha did something that she had not done unwillingly in more than two years, she shifted, causing her clothing to fall to the floor, when she transformed into a small gray house cat that was then picked up by Sister Sophie while she continued to sing, "Jesus Lives The Little Children". It was her favorite and although it was only a children's Sunday school song, it meant much more to Sammantha.
As the door to the antechamber opened Madam Maxine told her counter part, "Never touch Miss Potter Dumbee-door. She does not react well with to being touched. You would do well to remember that in the future." She only stopped long enough to take breath while looking at the others that were arriving, "You have done a great disservice to England and your Hogwarts today Dumbee-dore. How could you introduce one of my students in such a disrespectful manor? If my students were not risking there magic I would surly remove then from this school and country to save them from further embarrassment."
"Harry has been missing from british people's lives for far to long, surely you understand what it means to have Harry Potter back at the school he was always meant to attend?" Albus replied.
"Samantha is a Beauxbatons' student and will remain so until either she or her guardian decide otherwise. She will be taught with the rest of my students and since she is currently beyond the Hogwarts curriculum she would not be able to learn anything from the classes that you teach here. Furthermore, you will address Samantha Potter as Miss Potter only while Beauxbatons is visiting here. To call her by any other name is insulting to the choices that she had made in her life including the accomplishments that she has made. She carries as many Masteries as you, yourself hold, she should have your full respect. I will expect a full apology tomorrow morning, please make sure to let your male students know that they should not have any psychical contact with Miss Potter, or any of the Beauxbatons students while we are here."
All the while the others that had joined them in the room watched on listening to Madam Maxime give Albus Dumbledore his dressing down. The only three not watching the formidable women were the only three that were in the room from Beauxbatons besides for Madam Maxime.
As soon as Fleur had seen Samantha being held by Sister Sophie she had known that Samantha had taken it worse then Fleur thought she would. All that she could do was offer her support but she did what she could. They left with Madam Maxime leading the other three after the formidable women had cleared a path to the door. In the Great Hall Madam Maxime had to guide them through again since it seemed that all of the students were waiting for something while gathered around the front of the hall.
After Madam Maxime and Fleur had helped Sister Sophie get Samantha comfortable in Samantha's room for the night Madam Maxine had retired to her offices in the Beauxbatons carriage. Fleur made her way back down to speak with the other girls before turning in for the night.
**Samantha Potter**
When Fleur awake in the morning, the morning of the first task, she thought about the night before. Some of her peers had been upset with Samantha Potter for accepting to participate in the tournament although Fleur spoke passionately in defiance of Samantha. With what that British brute did to Samantha last night Fleur expected that Samantha would not come out of her room or be seen until she had to later in the afternoon.
Similar issues had happened at Beauxbatons but Samantha had become better at bouncing back and learning to live with it then moving on. All of the contacts put on her and Samantha made them into tougher witches but Fleur knew that there was more to Samantha Potter. Being born as Harry Potter would cause a lot of hard feelings to the people that lived through the last war in England. Add to that being a full Shapeshifter and THE TOP STUDENT of Beauxbatons, then you have a lot of jealous witches and wizards. Last but certainly the most mysterious was Samantha Potter's past, why did the girl the was born Harry Potter have a nun that alway was at school with her and why did she react so badly to males? It had been the cause of many rumors in all of the dorms but now that she thought about it, maybe it had something to do with having been Harry Potter. The Veela had many, far to many, who had similar response to males that had been harmed by power hungry males but Fleur did not want to think about that happening to anyone.
It would not be until after lunch that Samantha would finally leave her room with Sister Sophie right as Fleur was leaving her own. The sister approach Fleur right away asking Fleur to stay with Samantha as they went to meet in the Champions tent. Fleur thought that it was going a bit overboard stopping a non-magical nun from going into the Champions tent. The Aurors that had come to protect Fleur and Samantha would still be following them into the champion tents, why would they allow them but not Samantha companion?
They enter the champions tent without Samantha saying a word to Fleur but she did notice the nervous in the young shapeshifter. Entering the champions tent with their escorts from the British Aurors, the other two Champions were already there along with each of the heads of schools. After Fleur and Samantha had taken a corner to themselves where the found seats they waited only a few minutes for two men to come in from the British Ministry of Magic.
"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. It is a wonderful day for the first task, is it not?" The Ministry man seemed to think a great deal about himself as he somehow thought that his audience there inside of the champion tent would respond to his question. "Before we begin we must first have each of the champions choose a items from the bag I have here. Ladies first, I believe. Ms. Delacour, if you would please." Fleur stepped forward and reached into the bag that the British Ministry man was holding out to her. Fleur removed a small animated green dragon with a tag around it's neck with a number two on it. "Welsh Green, very good Ms. Delacour, very exciting." The man then turned to Victor Krum, "Mr. Krum if you would please." the man said holding out the purple bag to the Drumstrang champion. Victor removed a red dragon that the man identified as a "Chinese Fireball" that had a number three on the tag around the dragons neck. Then Cedric Diggory pulled a "Swedish Short-Snout" from the bag with a number one on it's tag.
Samantha look on knowing what was to come next. It was not the dragon that caused her to feel anger at this moment, no, it was the embarrassment that she knew would happen again in this horrible place when this man from the British Ministry would call her to remove one of the figurines from the bag. She took calming breaths to quiet the anger, she just had to get through the task and then she could leave these cretans behind her again. It should have been the fear of facing a dragon no matter what would need to be done to it but that was not Samantha's concern since she already had a plan.
"Harry Potter, marvelous..."
"Samantha Potter or Miss Potter sir." there was no small amount of anger laced in her words. As soon as she said it and despite have to interact with the man she forced herself to reach quickly into the bag and remove the last dragon to remove another dragon with the tag that said number four.
"Yes, yes...humm, the Hungarian Horntail for our forth Champion. You each will see a tag indicating the order in which you will each face your dragon. Each of you are tasked with collecting a golden egg from the nesting mothers."
"I will be calling your names at which time you will step from the tent for the task. Once you step into the arena you will be timed and the judges will score you on time and on how well you complete the task. The task will begin in about ten minutes." The man and the heads of each school walked out and while the tent flap was open Samantha could see Sister Sophie there just beyond trying to look in.
"Samantha, do you know what you will do?" Samantha heard Fleur asked from very near her. Samantha turned and looked at her friend. Well, friend was not the right word but she was certainly more then a peer but they had much more in common to be anything less. They had taken to watching out for each other even if they were not friends.
"Yes, it maybe anti-climatic but I will not be eaten by dragon today." Fleur smiled and seemed to look her over. "How about you, got something that will get you more points for the show that we are putting in these brutes?"
"I am the same. I would rather this not cause damage to a sister of fire so I will put her to sleep and hopefully make it in and out of the arena without having to fight with her."
"I had forgotten about that but you're correct. Good luck out there Fleur." Samantha said before moving a little into the corner to prepare herself.
"I wish you luck also Samantha Potter. I must prepare myself also but I will see you after the task?" Samantha gave a nod of her head to Fleur as she sat down in the corner of the small tent to prepare her magic for what would come next.
Touching ones own magic was a very personal experience and more so for Samantha because the magic that she had was all around throughout her body. She did have a core just like other magical beings but shape shifters normally had smaller cores because of their ability to siphon off power from the rest of their body. It was not normally spoken of in polite conversation to speak of your core or the power level you had there. Samantha had only ever spoken with her healer about her core which was above average but with the combined power she could siphon off from her body she was very powerful. The drawback of siphoning power was that she could loose form (causing possible death) or she may not be able to change for several days until her power levels came back. Samantha was only going to use her core magic for the wards that she planed to make to ensnare the dragon safely but she would be shifting to keep out of harms way also in case the dragon was stronger then she thought. The task of preparing ones magic was simple and always a good idea so that her magic would be strongest for the type of magic she would be performing.
Samantha only slightly noticed that the Hogwarts Champion was called out but when Fleur was called Samantha gave her fellow champion a smile before she left. She watched more carefully after Fleur had left, leaving her and the man from Drumstrange, Krum, alone in the tent. Samantha didn't like the look of the man and even after he left she still felt unsafe alone in the tent.
"Now we will welcome our final Champion! From Beauxbatons Academy, our forth champion, Harry Potter!" the voice of the man from the British (or maybe she would just call them Brutish) Ministry of Magic announced.
Samantha stood and walked out of the tent to see Sister Sophie there next to the entry of the enclosure that held the Horntail. The look on Sister Sophie's face told her more then she wanted to see, she was very afraid for Samantha. Samantha wanted to run to her and quail her fears to reassure her that she would be fine but to do that she might be breaking the rules for the tournament so instead Samantha gave her a bigger smile and a wave, it would have to do for now.
Samantha made her way into the enclosure and immediately grabbed a larger fist sized stone before looking up to find cover before the Horntail saw her. All the while she was working on the complex charm that would permanently stick the stone to "The earth" no matter how the earth changed the stone would still stay there. This would allow of stone to be used as the base for the ward that she would be using. Finding a large bolder to shelter herself behind Samantha sat down and continued her work. Next was the runes that needed to be cut into the stone that would be the ward and one to the activation the ward that Samantha used a tinny drop of her own blood for. Blood magic in general was against the law in England and all of the Ministry of Magic's territories (blood magic is dark magic, blahaa!) but not in France so she had little fear of what they would think, she was here with diplomatic amenity so the English people would just hate her more...not that these witches and wizards really concerned her.
As she finished the first stone of the six she planed Samantha turned and took a look at the dragon that was only about eleven meters from her. Samantha added strength to her body to allow her to thrown the stone where she needed it before taking another peek at the dragon. While the dragon was watching her eggs, turn away from Samantha, Samantha stood and gave a good throw and tracked the stone as it sailed over to the right side of the Horntail before rolling to a point just behind the right rear leg of the dragon. The dragon turned and immediately breathed flame upon the whole area where the stone had landed. Well that did not go as planned but Samantha would add a flam freezing charm to each of the other stones to make sure that the dragon flames did not melt the runes off the stones. Samantha looked at the time but remember that she had not looked at the time when she started so it really didn't matter, she wanted survive more then make the best time. Samantha choose another stone from behind her bolder where she was hiding (yes, hiding! It's a frigin dragon) and started on her next ward stone and after repeating the same process she added the flam freezing charm before tossing the stone to just behind the left rear leg. The process went on until she had completed seven stones, one was to replace the first stone that she did not know if it would still work but it would not hurt to be careful. Samantha turned herself inwards to connect the magic waiting on the wards from her blood and connect it with her so that they would activate. It was a spectacular light show for a few short seconds before the ward stones found their mate and then a earth shaking roar from the dragon as four beams of visible ward tether pulled the dragon to the ground, restraining it. Samantha looked and saw, happily, that the first stone had still worked making another tether to keep the dragon held to the ground until the ward expended itself. Happy with the results watched the dragon for a moment before she shifted into a eagle the size of a car and making her way to the nest of eggs leaving her ripped and completely useless robes behind the bolder. She only had to beat her wings three times to reach the nest as she kept a eye in the dragon it took only took another ten seconds for Samantha to pick up the egg and return to the entry of the enclosure where Sister Sophie was waiting with a robe in hand. As soon as Samantha was out of the enclosure she set the egg in the ground before shifting into a cat and allowing sister to cover her in the robe she carried. Samantha shifted again until the robe was covering her modesty and pulled it closed to ward out the cold English air.
"You did so well Samantha, I'm so proud of you." Sister Sophie said as she hugged her charge. The crowds in the arena were politely clamping Samantha's efforts.
"Thank you Sister, is Fleur okay? How did the others do? Do you know how long I was in there?"
"Shh, Shh now child. Ms. Delacour did fine but she did get a small burn and the other two children are going to be fine also, just some burns mostly I think. They all did well except for that rouge from Drumstrang. He tried to fight the dragon causing it to step on her own eggs."
"Mr. Potter, if you would follow me please. I just need of make sure you have not come to any harm." a older looking witch said from beside them.
"It's Miss Potter Ma'am, Samantha Potter. I should hope that somebody in this country beside for the none-magical could remember that." Samantha said hotly. Sister Sophie tried to calm Samantha but she was feeling very put off with the people from the British magical world.
"I will remember that for future reference Ms. Potter. If you would follow me please, I really must check you over." the women said.
Samantha turned to Sister Sophie and made sure that she would be coming along also before they followed the women to a larger tent that currently had the other three champions in it. There were four beds and Samantha was lead to the last one where she was told to lay down.
"Ma'am, not to be rude but I am a Shape Shifter so there is little that you could do to heal any wounds on me if I had any. Also before you perform any magic on me you must first have my permission or Sister Sophie's and for that you will need to check with me before casting each spell. I don't know if Madam Maxine has explained this to you or not but I thought you should know." Samantha explained.
"Thank you Miss Potter and while had not been told your medical needs I believe I understand what needs to be done. If you would just allow me to do a diagnostic charm to make sure that you are indeed well then I will leave you to your own healing as long as you let me know if you ever need any assistance. Will that be expectable to you?" the women said.
"Yes Ma'am. I'm sorry but I didn't get your name."
"Poppy Pomfrey, Hogwarts students call me Madam Pomfrey but you are not my student so you may call me Poppy. I am not a healer but the next best thing that we have here at Hogwarts year around." Poppy said as she preformed the diagnostic charm to check on the general heath of Samantha, "You are just fine Miss Potter. Is there anything that I should be aware of? Light headed or trembling hands?"
"No Ma'am, I very used to doing wards now and shifting is no problem, just hungry." Samantha replied.
"Nothing wrong with a heathy diet Miss Potter. I have no reason to keep you any longer but I will say that you mother and father would have been proud to have seen you out there today. Please take care Miss Potter." Poppy said.
"Thank you Ma'am for checking on me and for your kind words."
"You're very welcome." Poppy said before heading over toward Hogwarts Champion.
Samantha made her way to Fleur's bed to check on her fellow Beauxbatons champion and the only other person to that seemed to look past all that had been happening to just be friendly with her. "Hello Fleur, are you going to be okay?"
"Yes, thank you Samantha. I was only burned on my right leg. How did you do? You didn't get hurt at all?" Fleur said.
"I think that I was in there the longest but I was focusing on not getting hurt so no matter what anyone says I made it through the task. What did you do to get past the dragon?"
"Focused my my allure to entrance the dragon then sang the dragon to sleep. It worked really well but I got burnt when the dragon snorted while it was sleeping. What was it you did to get the egg?"
"Used ward stones that I made in the enclosure to tie the dragon down then shifted into a oversized eagle to get the egg. Nothing really special and I'm sure that they were disappointed with my show."
Fleur smile brightly as see responded, "Sounds impressive to me but most of English out there won't know what they saw."
Samantha couldn't think of anything else to speak about, "I'm pretty hungry so I'm going to head back to the cartridge. I'll see you there?"
"Aren't you going to stay to hear your score?" Fleur asked.
Samantha smiled, "I guess this is my way of rebelling against the tournament. I have my potions mastery to complete this year and with the tournament now I don't have a master to train me, I'm forced to study on my own until next year. I'll be lucky if I'm able to get a mastery at all this year. I'm not going to participate anymore then I have to."
Fleur giggled, "You are still so young Samantha. You will have time for masteries later. You already have three masters, how many more are planing to get?"
"Everyone that Beauxbatons offers and I might have enough time more all of them if I can manage the potions mastery this year."
"Really, there have only even been four to have done that since Beauxbatons started. What are you planing to do after school?"
"I can't tell you but it really will be out of this world." Samantha replied smiling. "I'm going to head back to the carriage and get something to eat. It was nice speaking with you Fleur."
"You too Samantha."
**Samantha Potter**
Samantha retuned to the carriage with Sister Sophie without speaking with anyone since most of them were still in the stands waiting for the champions to receive their scores. It baffled Samantha as to why the students would just stick around for scores, there were some many other things that someone could be doing.
It would be days before Samantha would find out that she had placed third in the first task and that was with the longest time of all the champions to complete the task. Samantha had made points for not sustaining any injuries and for the method she had used using warding stone she had made herself in the arena. Fleur had told her that the rest of the audience also thought that Samantha had done the most magic to get at her egg not even including that she had also done the most advanced magic.
The advance magic had spurred Fleur to literally drag Samantha out of her bed this morning. Fleur had only given her time to slip on some slippers. Since the first task Samantha had worked out the egg's clue and setup the plan for the next task. After a day working on the egg (it was a really stupid clue really) and warning Sister Sophie that they might try to spirt her away, Samantha had brought her focus back to her studies. Samantha spent most of her time either in the potions lab inside of the carriage or in her room working on her potions mastery. After a suggestion from one of the seventh years when Samantha had a question about one of the reaction of frogs skin in the liver restoration draft, Samantha had written a letter about her question to the potions master of Hogwarts. To date Samantha had still not heard back and Samantha had been forced to write to Beauxbatons to get the answer to that question and the others that had come up since. Samantha had also been force to purchase more potion books because she just could not wait for the answers to come back by owl all the way from France. Owning the books cost a lot but maybe they would be useful in the future.
Right now Fleur was pulling Samantha through the entry hall of Hogwarts towards the Great Hall for a early Saturday breakfast. Samantha was not really worried but this was the first time that she had been in the school since the night before the first task. As they entered some of the seventh years from Beauxbatons that were already there wore smiles while a few giggled at Fleur and Samantha coming in. True, Samantha was only in her silk pajama pants and a white cotton top but it was better the Fleur in a night dress still.
There really was no one in the Great Hall this early on a Saturday morning and allowed Samantha to feel a bit better about being here. While they all talked about their studies and projects Samantha found a bit more acceptance from the group even though they were at least three years older than herself.
Just before they all breaking their fast one of students from Hogwarts approached the Beauxbatons group, "Excuse me, I'm sorry to interrupt your meal but my name is Hermione Granger. I have been...I wanted to meet Samantha if that's alright." although Hermione was standing behind Samantha about a arms length from her, she had addressed the whole Beauxbatons group.
Fleur stood and looked at Samantha then at Hermione, "'Ermione, please do not be afraid to come meet Samantha." Fleur reached out and made Samantha stand, "Samantha Potter, 'Ermione Granger. See now, we are all friends now. Yes?"
Hermione smiled at the French Veela and almost laughed at the way Fleur said her name but would not allow this chance to pass. Hermione held out her hand to Samantha noticing the blush of the pajama clad Beauxbatons girl. "It's nice to meet you Ms. Granger. Please don't take offense to the way Fleur says your name, she has it in her head that the English boys like her accent so she plays it up." Samantha said shacking Hermione's hand. Samantha took a look at Hermione taking in her brown eyes and full head of hair before making her way down to their joined hands. If Fleur would not have given her a shove for her remarks about her accent then Samantha may have been lost looking at the soft delicate hands and wrists of Hermione Granger, but she would never tell anyone about that.
"I read your papers that have been published. I was especial interested in your dissertation of the rune portals and I found the information on non magical home warding perfect for my own home. I'm a muggle born..." some of the other Beauxbatons girls expected some type of reaction from Samantha at the mention of "muggle born" but nothing came, "But your papers didn't say if it was possible to have a portal in a muggle house or not. Also, if I warded my parents home for pests, wouldn't the pests just be able to come up from the ground and infest our home? The crystals that you spoke of for absorbing the ambient magic, do you know where those crystals can be purchased? Have you figured out a way to protect the out building like for instance a pool pump and heater or garden shed lights?" Hermione had most of the Beauxbatons girls smiling if not out right laughing at her by the time that Samantha had stopped the flow of questions with a hand on her arm.
"Ms. Granger, I will answer the questions you have but please slow down for me." throwing a glare at the girls still at the table for their laughing, Samantha turned to speak with Hermione again only to see her blushing with her head almost all the way down to hide her embarrassment. "Hey, none of that now. I'm the same way when I have someone's brain that I can pick. It's hard to hold back at just one question but my Master while studying for my Charms mastery helped me a bit with it and don't mind these gits, they're just jealous that your so smart." although Samantha was blushing at her own praise of Hermione's intelligence, she notice that Hermione was smiling and blushing about it also.
These interactions did not go unnoticed by Sister Sophie and since it had happened only one other time she knew what was happen with her charge. The one other girl that Samantha had crushed on would not even give Samantha a second glance and had also caused Samantha a lot of heart ache because of Samantha's crush. It had also caused many of the girls in Beauxbatons to shun Samantha because of the crush even though it was all rumor beside for Samantha bushing and loosing her concentration when her crush was looking at Samantha. Sure it was true, Samantha had confided in her but that did not mean that Samantha was going to be chasing all of the girls of Beauxbatons. It had caused some arguments at the orphanage between herself and the other nuns. It had all been settled when Sophie had pointed out that Samantha had been born a male and could change back into a male anytime that she wanted to. Surprisingly, Father Justin had been on her side right from the beginning. For Samantha to seek out female companionship was natural and the church and other nuns "would support Samantha" no matter how she choose. The hard part was going to be making others understand because in the magical world it was practically law that all relationships were "one man and one women".
Sister Sophie reflected on this as Hermione walked back with them to the carriage from the castle. No matter the decision that Samantha made in terms of her sexual preference knew that she would always be there for her. After the pain that Sophie had gone through herself she would always allow others to seek what comfort and love that they could, no matter what the source or gender. Sophie was heterosexual but she was sure that even if she did not have her vow she would still never allow a man to touch her in a sexual way again. For now she received and gave of her love for children while raising them in safety and comfort, that was where she would always be. Children were so full of love and Samantha had captured her heart from the first moment they had met. Now Sister Sophie had many more girls to help the Lord raise into the best women that they could become.
Sister Sophie left without Samantha or the young Hermione Granger noticing but she wouldn't be surprised if neither of them notice that they were currently sitting in the carriage common area. She had watched them talk about things that were way above her magical knowledge but that was not surprising since she did not have any magic herself. After noticing that Hermione had not even gotten a chance to eat while she had been in the Hogwarts Great Hall, Sophie had slipped away to see what she could whip up for all the girls to share should they want something to snack on. It would keep her busy for a bit and allow her to think about how to get Samantha to keep into interacting with her new friend/crush.
**Samantha Potter**
Break to the next day:
It seemed to become a trend in Samantha's life as of late. The next preverbal fire had just been lit and Samantha was NOT happy about it.
It was not so much having to go to the Yale Ball that had Samantha ready to jump ship and head home, no, that could be managed with a bit of stomping and some grumbled words. It was that Madam Maxine had just told her that she had to go to this Ball with a date to open the ball with a dance with said date.