Hi everyone. I hope you like this offering.
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Harry wanted the earth to swallow him whole. He had hoped that his friends had been joking about asking Krum for a match, but it seemed they had been totally serious. They had all gone over to ask Krum during breakfast on Monday.
"Excuse me Mr Krum. We were wondering if…" Hermione said taking the lead as the others seemed a bit tongue-tied in the presence of a celebrity. Why they were tongue-tied, when they were fine with Harry who could claim far greater fame, was difficult to understand.
"Ya, you can have my autograph, but only because you are pretty. Vat iz your name?" Krum said smiling his most winning smile. His face wasn't exactly an oil painting but Hermione hadn't had much experience with flirting and ended up flushed and stammering.
"I-i-it's Hermione, b-b-but we're actually here to ask you if you would like to have a one on one play-off with the Gryffindor seeker to see which of you is the best," Hermione managed to get out.
"Who is this seeker who thinks he iz better dan me?" Krum demanded, his eyes narrowing.
"Harry Potter," Dean chipped in, finding his voice.
"I feel no need to embarrass ze boy by beating him so easily. I am afraid I must decline," Krum said waving them off, giving Hermione one last smile before they left. His smile caused the group of girls which had been following him around since he had left the ship that morning to break into giggles and extravagant sighs.
The group were a bit dejected when they arrived back at the Gryffindor table but Harry had been relived that they had failed to set it up, he hadn't been looking forward to it.
"I guess that means you won't get to know who is better. Such a shame," Harry said in an almost believably sincere voice.
"It's obviously Krum," Ron said. "I just thought it would be cool to see him fly."
"Well at least Hermione thinks I would win," Harry replied. Though he didn't want to play Krum, it was annoying having one of his best friends so sure he would have lost. "Don't you Hermione?"
"Of course," she said. The part of her that had developed a crush on Krum the moment he smiled at her, told her that she was lying. However, she had previously said that Harry would be better and she wasn't going to turn on her friend now.
"Thank you Hermione," Harry said. Then he did something that put Krum out of her mind completely. He gave her his most winning smile.
Hermione's knees grew weak and she only just managed to sit down at the table before they gave way altogether. Somewhere behind her a group of Harry Potter fan girls fainted at the sight. Harry very rarely let himself relax enough to smile like that so she wasn't prepared for just how much force the smile had gained since the last time he had used it. When he smiled like was one of the few times you could feel the power he held and it filled the area around him with a warm, happy feeling.
Not ten seconds after Harry's smile had briefly been unleashed; Krum arrived at their table glowering at Harry. From where he had been sitting Krum had seen the effect that Harry had had on Hermione and hadn't liked it.
"I accept your challenge. I will play you on Saturday," Krum grunted out. He threw another smile at Hermione as he left, but didn't get anything more than a polite smile back.
"Oh come on!" Harry moaned, putting his head in his hands.
Come Saturday, every person in the castle had turned out to watch the face off. Harry had hoped that they wouldn't be allowed to do it but Dumbledore had said it was a brilliant idea and that they could use the quidditch pitch. The rules were simple. Rule one; five snitches would be released onto the pitch and the winner would be the first to catch three. Rule two, no contact was allowed. Fred and George had set up several bets on the match. For some reason no one apart from the twins knew, the odds were in Harry's favour. This just made the payoff for betting on Krum that much higher, so no one had complained.
Harry and Krum squared off against each other at the centre of the pitch. They had already shaken hands and only awaited the starters whistle. Harry had tried to talk to the Bulgarian but the Krum, while not hostile, didn't seem in a talking mood. Madam Hooch released the snitches and though they attempted to follow the flight of at least one of them the little golden balls had soon disappeared. The whistle blew and they both rose into the air on their Firebolts.
"And they're off. This battle of two giants is under way. Who can tell which way this-Merlin's wobbly underarms, Harry's got a snitch!" Lee Jordan, as usual, was commentating. The sound of the familiar voice had focused Harry so when, only six seconds after the whistle, a snitch darted toward him he had effortlessly grabbed it out of the air. The stadium was filled with cheering, the loudest by far coming from the Gryffindor section.
"That may have been a new world record there from the obviously superior seeker Harry Potter," Lee Jordan crowed. "I'd like to see newcomer Victor Krum try and match the awesome skill of our own Mr Potter as I'm sure it'd be hilarious to watch. Ouch! Ok I'm sorry; I was just trying to give Harry a bit of support. Obviously Krum has an enormous amount of skill which was showcased by the beautiful Wronski feint he pulled off at the world cup. The very…"
Harry tuned Lee out as he began to look around for another snitch. Over on the other side of the pitch, Krum was doing the same. It took five more minutes for one of them to find a snitch and, unfortunately for Harry, it was Krum. Krum had suddenly turned on a dime and shot straight up, returning to the search a moment later after capturing the enchanted ball. The crowd cheered wildly, this time lead by the Durmstrang students sitting with the Slytherins.
"And it's one all. I think we should have released more snitches, if they keep this pace up this won't even take half an hour." Lee said through the speakers.
Harry ignored everything going on around him in favour of searching for one of the elusive snitches, occasionally looking over to Krum to see if he had spotted one. They both flew in a methodical manner, trying to cover as much area as possible without straying too far from each other. It seemed they had both been lucky with their first catches, because it was half an hour till any of the other snitches showed themselves. When they did, two of them appeared almost simultaneously. Each choosing the one closest to them Harry and Krum set off. Harry's ducked down into the support structure of the stadium and he was forced to fly in between them as he closed the gap. Half way round the stadium the snitch looped round one of the main supports and flew back the way it had come, forcing Harry to corkscrew through the turn in order to avoid the many beams. The snitch finally made its way back onto the pitch just in time for Krum, who had been following the other snitch through the spectators, to run right into it. The swipe that had missed Krum's own quarry had instead captured Harry's. Not all was lost however, as they both swerved to avoid each other Harry pulled off a perfect loop-the-loop, managing to snag the snitch Krum had been following at the pinnacle of the loop.
"And in an astounding display of nerve the two seekers have managed to each snatch the other seekers snitch," Lee Jordan announced. "It's two all and all to play for. How will they cope with the pressure, because it has all come down to the last catch. So far, they have gone after separate targets but that is no longer an option. This is the one on one action we've all been hoping to see today."
The adrenaline from his flight through the dangerous area under the stands still singing in his veins Harry took to searching with renewed vigour. Not long after he had settled in to his search Krum pulled up beside him.
"You fly vell," Krum said. "I had not thought that you vould be a real challenge but I vas wrong."
"You fly well too," Harry said without stopping his search. "To be honest I didn't want to challenge you, that was Dean's idea, but Hermione thought it was a good idea so here I am."
"Her-my-o-niny, she is the one who asked me yes?" Krum asked carefully.
"Yeah, she's my best friend." Harry replied matter of factly.
They lapsed into silence, and Krum drifted a few meters away. Krum's face was a picture of concentrated thought while he continued to search. It took another half an hour before anything of note happened.
Without warning Krum tipped forward, accelerating into a dive.
"I think Krum has seen the snitch," Lee exclaimed. "But why isn't Harry following?"
The moment Lee said this Krum pulled out of his dive and rose back up, once more looking around the stadium.
"It was a feint!" Lee reported. "It really looked like Krum had seen the snitch, but our Mr Potter wasn't fooled."
When Krum once more reached the level Harry was at Harry smiled at him before going into a dive of his own. A moment and an expletive later, Krum did the same. They had been high above the ground when they had started so the dive was a long one. They appeared as two blurs speeding towards the ground. Krum was desperately trying to gain some ground. Not two meters from the earth they levelled off, following the erratic pattern of the snitch. Krum came neck and neck with Harry soon enough but was surprised to see the look on Harry's face. At the speed they were going, and with the manoeuvres they were doing, he had expected to see absolute concentration similar to what he knew was on his own face. On Harry's face however, was a serene smile as if they were simply coasting along companionably, rather than locked in a battle of ability at a speed probably exceeding one hundred miles an hour. What happened next would ever be one of the most brilliant things Krum had ever seen and one of the most galling.
The snitch which had been flying ahead of them jittered to the left, towards Krum. Krum triumphantly reached out to grasp it only for it to be snatched, by an upside down Harry, millimetres from his fingertips. Somehow Harry had managed to vertically circle him while hanging from his broom with only his legs to guide it, something which at a slower speed was completely plausible but which, at the maximum speed of the Firebolt, was next to impossible.
Pulling up, Harry brandished the captured snitch above his head.
"And, with that unbelievable move, Harry Potter has taken the snitch, and the match. It was a close one but Harry Potter wins three snitches to two," Lee said, trying to be heard above the wave of applause which filled the stadium. From somewhere in the Gryffindor section fireworks flew into the air and exploded into coloured sparks that danced around in the air for a few seconds then the sparks came together into a gigantic lightning bolt and faded away.
While the crowd cheered, though there was a distinct lack of sound from the Slytherin area, Harry landed and approached a gobsmacked Krum.
"Thanks for such a great game Viktor," Harry said holding out his hand.
"It vas my pleasure Harry," Krum said breaking into a smile and shaking the proffered hand. "You vill have to show me how you did that thing at the end. It iz a useful move I think."
They had to cut their conversation short as they were soon swamped by the people flowing onto the field. Soon enough a head of bushy hair obscured Harry's vision as Hermione slamed into Harry. Harry, being used to such events, absorbed the momentum of her hug, managing to keep them both standing. They ended up on the floor a moment later anyway due to Luna adding herself to the hug. Once they were all standing again he patiently waited though the obligatory comments on how dangerous some of the stunts he had pulled were, nodding at the appropriate times. Luna added her own admonishment, though it was related to him not catching the Greater Brown Northing instead of the snitch. After those comments were out of the way, both the girls congratulated him. Having prudently waited for the two girls to finish with Harry, Neville and Susan moved forward to offer their own congratulations. Finally it was Ron who had taken longer to reach Harry than the others because he had stopped by Krum to ask for his autograph.
"That was brilliant mate. I knew you were better than Krum," Ron claimed, either missing or ignoring the incredulous looks he was receiving. He had been the most adamant that Krum was going to win.
"We should get back to the tower," Harry said, probably saving Ron from being knocked on the back of the head. "We wouldn't want to miss the party."
"Bye then," Luna said in a dreamy voice which hid the sadness behind it quite well.
"Aren't you coming to the party Luna?" Harry asked in concern.
"Oh!" She exclaimed, cheering up immediately. "I am. I was just worried that the Guntropes would stop you from bringing me."
"No creature will stop my friends having a good time," Harry said with certainty, and a certain amount amusement.
The party had continued into the early morning of the next day. Luna and Susan had ended up bunking with Hermione because they had missed curfew in the excitement. The three girls spent the next few days giggling every time they looked at the boys, though mostly Harry, for some reason. This was quite out of character for them and it wasn't long before they were back to normal, or in Luna's case, back to abnormal.
When Hermione asked the twins how they got the food for the party they told her they got it from the kitchens but they wouldn't tell her how to find it. It had taken all of twenty seconds before they broke, and told her how to get in to the kitchens. She had gone down with Harry and Ron to see how the elves were treated and had been unable to find fault with their situation. When they had arrived in the kitchen they were met by what seemed like several hundred house elves all dressed and pillowcases which had been stitched with intricate designs which all included name displayed proudly over their chest.
"Students!" One of the elves had called and before they could say anything in reply they had been hustled to a table in the corner which the elves filled in moments with a large amount of food.
"Excuse me…" Hermione had barely been able to open her mouth before she was cut off.
"Master Harry Potter Sir!" A voice called over the bustle of the kitchen.
"Dobby?" Harry asked in surprise. "How have you been? Do you work here now?"
Harry quickly began wishing he hadn't said anything as Dobby had begun to cry and the rest of the kitchen's noise had been replaced by reverent whispering.
"Master Harry Potter Sir is a great wizard to ask how Dobby has been," Dobby chocked out between great heaving sobs.
Harry carefully patted Dobby on the back which only brought forth a second wave of sobbing. Eventually Dobby's sobs stopped and he was only left with a huge smile.
"I'ds told yous he is a great wizard." Dobby announced to the room literally vibrating with energy.
There was a hum of agreement from around the room and suddenly the entire place exploded into even more activity then when they had entered.
"I would like you to meet Hermione and Ron, Dobby," Harry said. "Hermione would like to ask you a few questions, if that's ok with you."
"Dobby is happy to answer the questions of Master Harry Potter Sir's Miss Mione" The excitable elf replied.
Hermione blushed crimson at the mode of address and took a moment to collect order her mind before beginning her questions. While they talked Ron began to work his way through the food on the table.
The answers she got put the last of her worries about the elves to rest. The elves may not have had the same luxuries that the students had but they seemed not only content but deliriously happy with their situation. House elves had a rather odd problem, in that they had a dangerous excess of magic. Without a constant stream of work for them to funnel their magic into they would become oversaturated with magic. Oversaturation would first cause them to act erratically and then if they couldn't find an outlet slowly sicken and die. Hogwarts had an open door policy to elves so any elf in need of an outlet could go there to work. However, it was only a stop gap measure for most elves as they much preferred the work needed to take care of a family and its house. They bonded with the family so as to always know when they were needed. Under normal circumstances they could break the bond whenever they liked, though this was rare, but certain bits of dark magic could be used to prevent them from leaving with the only out being if they were given clothes. Being given clothes was basically them being told that they were no longer wanted which was something that, in most situations, would be a terrible blow to the elf in question.
This brought the conversation round to Winky who Hermione had noticed was lying in in the space between a cupboard and a sink. Dobby sadly told them how Winky had been pining for her family so badly she had neglected to do any work and had developed a form of depression. Harry glanced at Hermione then to Winky then back. She nodded in answer to his silent query.
Harry got up and went over to Winky. He gently lifted her out of the space she was lying in and propped her up against the cupboard. He then crouched down so he could look her in the eyes when he spoke to her.
"Winky, I need to talk to you," Harry said.
"Don't need to talk to Winky. Winky a disgrace," The distraught elf mumbled under her breath refusing to look at him. "No one needs Winky."
"I have a large house somewhere and no house elves," Harry said, "and I want you to be my house elf."
The hope in Winky's eyes had given Harry the patience to convince her he was indeed sincere. Harry had noticed Dobby looking at him with imploring eyes and had offered a place in his household to the hyperactive elf as well. He left the kitchens later, along with a happy Hermione and a still hungry Ron, the new Master of two house elves.
In the weeks after Harry had beaten Krum, and become even more famous in the process, Harry's grades began to climb. Never having been one to revel in the stares of others, he took to hiding out in the library where, in order to avoid boredom, he spent much of his time studying with Hermione. Over time his notes from class had become better, so he had had to rely on Hermione's less and less. Ron, Neville, Susan and Luna kept them company some of the time. Ron really hated being in the library and the others didn't like spending time there much either, so most of the time it was just Harry and Hermione. Draco had tried to start something once but Madam Prince didn't take kindly to him bothering her favourite student, and he ended up with a week of detention. He didn't try anything in the library after that.
Harry couldn't focus for hours at a time like Hermione could, so had to take breaks from study every hour or so. During these breaks he dragged Hermione away from their table, which Hermione had claimed much like the couch in the common room, and out of the library through a secret back door, hidden on page forty two of a tome, entitled 'Life the Universe and Everything', the size of Hagrid, which was the only way into to a small courtyard which had been spelled to have summery weather all throughout the year. Hermione had at first been annoyed with him for interrupting her study, but she soon came to appreciate the time spent with him talking about anything and everything. In addition, being away from her books, even for only a little while, had, much to her surprise, made her work much easier to focus on, freeing up time to pursue a bit more 'light reading'.
They were once more in the library in the afternoon of Harry's least favourite day of the year, Halloween. The horror of the day had been compounded by it falling on a Monday and the odd addition of lasagne to the breakfast menu had done little to improve the situation. After ten minutes of trying, and failing, to ignore Harry's fidgeting, Hermione gave up on the idea that they would be able to study at all and, for the first time, dragged Harry out of the library.
Hermione closed the cover of the book behind her and turned to see Harry looking quizzically at her.
"What?" She asked. "Never been dragged into a secluded place by a girl before?"
"Not to my recollection," Harry replied. "They're all to scared of what you would do to them, if they took me anywhere against my will, to try it."
"Why would they be scared of me?" Hermione said with surprise evident on her face.
"Well just about everyone knows about what you did to Malfoy last year so…" Harry trailed off sniggering at the memory of the punch.
"He deserved that," She said with a bit of smugness.
Harry had nothing to say to that as he totally agreed so they fell into a comfortable silence. Eventually Harry asked Hermione what she was doing in Arithmancy. Arithmancy was similar in many ways to muggle maths but had ways to quantify things like emotions. She had mentioned what homework she had for the class in a chat about a fortnight ago and had been pleasantly surprised when Harry had found the subject quite interesting. It wasn't long before she had him kicking himself for taking Divination instead.
"The lesson was on spell formation," Hermione said. "What you do is…"
She proceeded to explain how you formed an equation with Intent, Wand movement and Vocalisation as the variables. You could then work out what the spell would do and how much power it would have. She then showed Harry the example that they had been shown. It was the equation for Wingardium Leviosa.
"So you see the Intent function allows for the increase in effectiveness of the spell, with increased intent, whereas the Wand Movement and Vocalisation functions describe the spell itself." Hermione finished.
Harry hadn't understood the entire explanation but something about the last statement seemed false. When he looked at the equation Hermione had written on a scrap of parchment he couldn't help but feel that the values created by the functions for Wand Movement and Vocalisation were incorrect and that some of those values should be added to Intent, which was left as an unknown at the end. As had been proved every year at Hogwarts, Harry couldn't leave something that didn't seem right alone and the urge to figure out what was wrong with the equation quickly rose up and took hold. Having totally forgotten about what day it was for the time being, Harry asked Hermione if he could borrow her Arithmancy book for a bit and pulled a happy Hermione back though the book and into the library.
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I hope you liked this. I will be continuing to update once a week. Once more I welcome reviews and constructive criticism and will ignore flames.
