Chapter 7

The Power(they do not use)

Previously:

"Or you and I will come to some kind of agreement as to how to proceed from here" She turned and faced him with a hopeful look on her face, clutching the sheet over her to her chest.

Harry took all this in and pondered it for a moment. He knew he had a tendency to jump before thinking and he also realized that this was probably the most important conversation he would ever have in his life..

All that running through his mind he took a breath and spoke.

Chapter 7

Harry took a deep breath and spoke.

"Let me start by saying this, I will never reject you, never run from you, never do anything to deliberately hurt you.."

He paused to gather the words.

"Hermione..From the first moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were special, at the time I didn't understand how to describe what that meant, but I knew in that instant, that I wanted to be your friend and confidant."

"In the four years since, I've grown, and hopefully matured, I have met and dealt with a lot of people and a lot of situations, and in all of it, in every circumstance, you have been there for me, you have supported me and you have given me your trust and love...yes, love." "I am not so clueless to not recognize something when I see it, and there can only be one response to the trust and love and support you have shown me."

"Hermione Jane Granger, I love you with everything I am, with my life, my magic, with all my worldly goods..I am selfish enough to want you, in every and any way you will let me into your life, and in return, I will give you everything I am without any limits."

"To me, your mind is a treasure, your wit and intelligence are to be held in the highest regard, and in my eyes you are a truly beautiful woman, lovely to behold and that's what I really want to be doing, to be..holding you"

His lip quirked at the pun as a smile grew across her face. He continued. "Once I get free of all the people trying to control me, kill me or make money on my back, I want to spend the rest of my life doing one thing, that is, making you happy and fulfilling your dreams." he looked into her eyes. Hermione, will you let me do that for you?, will you let me fulfill your dreams, let me hold you close, let me kiss you and love you like you deserve?..please?"

The girl in question lay on her pillow in France, tears running from her eyes as pure joy flowed through her heart.

"Yes, yes yes..I want to be there for you my love, I will do everything in my power to give you what you want and need, I know your heart;s desire is to have a true family, and I will do everything I can to make that dream come true.. yes Harry, you can fulfill my dreams and wishes, because my dreams and wishes are to make yours come true as well."

The young man in Scotland was relieved, he finally returned to breathing as she answered.

"Harry James Potter I give you my heart, my mind, my soul and my body in this life and the next."

There was no glowing light, no bonding of souls, no magical binding of the two teens, but there was the start of a lifelong relationship right there. The entirety of the bonds between the two were based on their love, friendship and respect.

The newfound telepathic connection they had made during the Yule ball was based on their communication with Shala, and the natural exercise of the gift made it come to fruition.

They spent the next hour whispering love to each other, blocking out the rest of the world and it's troubles. Their next meeting in the flesh would be a memory forever.

Two days after his midnight conversation with Hermione Harry decided to get Sirius out of the Ministry's grip.

He sent a message to Rita and asked her to meet him at the three Broomsticks, and she agreed to it. Andy was to be there also, as his solicitor and publicist. Andromeda Tonks showed up, she looked tired and worried, she had been working at a rapid pace trying to cover everything, everywhere.. but the Potter Holdings were so extensive it was becoming overwhelming.

Harry and Andy and Ted Tonks were sitting quietly at a back room table, waiting for Rita to show up.

"You two look beat, what's going on, are you ok?" Ted Tonks answered first. "You have so much work that needs done, Harry, we have to deal with fourteen years of neglect and back taxes and all the things needed to run your businesses, plus the things that we need to do just to stay even, let alone get ahead..I'm afraid that we will slip and miss out on something, Andy hasn't slept properly in months, and I'm almost about to drop.."

Harry looked at the two whom he trusted with all his business. "OK, here's what we are going to do." "The Potter Holdings have been running on automatic for fourteen years. Stop with messing about with those except for the most essential, and only then if it is something that will help the bad guys.. The only priority right now is Sirius and getting him free." I want you to publish every proof and transcript we have in every magical publication in the UK and Europa, and have the public put pressure on the Ministry's lack of action..embarrass them into action."

"The DEs have a habit of bribing people to get out of their problems, make those public, as discreetly as possible, take the people out of power who are stopping Sirius getting free." "If I have to I will challenge Crouch to a duel or something..what can we get on him, is what I want to know."

"The second thing I want you to do, is stop doing it all yourselves, delegate some work, hire the people you need to do the jobs that need done, surely you don't have to do it all yourselves, in spite of the traditions of the wizarding world..start treating Potter Holdings like a corporation, be the CEO at the top of the management team, let other people do your bidding, and just approve or deny actions."

"Hire the muggleborn who are disaffected from the wizarding world because of pureblood bigotry and nepotism.. hire squibs or muggles who are related to magicals, not everyone has to be a wizard or witch to do the work, right?" the couple nodded, realizing they had been too close to the forest to see the trees.

"Hire some good people and get them under oath to do what's best for all of us, and schedule some time off for the both of yourselves, you are no good to anyone if you are worn out and sick from the pressure."

He pondered for a minute. "Do we have any evidence or suspicion of people who are guilty of bribery or other crimes?

Both Ted and Andy nodded.

"Good, here's what I want. See Mooney and we're going to set up a private Auror force..of Lycans."

The couple was shocked at this.

"Don't be surprised at this, We are in control of billions of galleons of property and businesses, we need a security force to protect it.. there are a lot of Lycan people out there who cannot find work because of bigotry, who better to track and find criminals than Lycans?, who has the endurance and stamina to do some of the things that need done?, who would be more loyal than a bunch of people whose life you change for the better?"

"I will contact Mooney right after this meeting..

Oh, Hello Rita, Welcome, have a seat."

The woman in question had just entered the room in an awkward position, there was an anti-animagus ward over the door, They knew her secret and planned ahead. She had flown into the door, seeking private information and when she crossed the barrier, she was knocked out of her bug form into human form. Harry had greeted her as she found herself sprawled on the floor.

Harry took the initiative as the frazzled woman tried to make herself presentable. She sat and was about to pull out her notepad and quill, a proper dictation quill this time, she had learned her lesson.

Harry pulled a dossier out of a large folding file and began to read.

"Amorita Amelia Sketersen, Born June 8, 1946, to Einar and Marie Sketersen of Nord Långö , Sweden ,

Graduated from Svenska Magiskolan in 1964, here is a copy of the GETs (Grundexamen i trollkonst) "

"Attempted writing of novels for three years, but found no publishers."

"1969:"

"Worked in the softcore porn industry with actress Uschi Digard, best known for her roles in Russ Meyer films."

" Hmmm..'acted' is seventy one films with titles such as Little Oral Annie, Anal Freakshow, and Hardcore Honeypot" He turned a page and riffled through some photographs.

"In 1972, left the Porn film industry to attempt writing again, this time doing shot pieces for scandal sheets, under the name Annie Ass-en, telling of various actors and celebrity sexual shenanigans, That year also wrote a series of sex novels under the name of 'Annie Oral', which are still selling today, Volume 38 due out in March." he frowned and continued. "translated into seven languages.."

He looked up at the shocked woman.

"Need I go on through the 80's?"

she slowly shook her head in the negative.

He inserted the paper he was reading into the dossier, complete with color pictures and tossed it across the table to her.

"work with us and this will never be known by anyone, at least, not from us." "Work against us, and every magical person in the UK and Europa will know your complete biography and your status as an illegal animagus." he leaned back and crossed his arms. "We can make you known worldwide if you want, under whatever name you want..even your birth name.. We have had professional editors read your first attempts at novels and find that they had promise, the problem you had, was that the editor you brought them to was looking to get in your knickers.. if you had gone to another publisher, you might have had a different career." Rita was still aghast at the facts that had been revealed.

Harry continued.

"By the way, your mother says hello, and why don't you write?"

The meeting went on and Rita kept an eye on a folding file that had many folders in it, and she squeaked out a question. "are all those dossiers...?

Harry looked to Andy and Ted. They nodded. He pulled it to himself, flipped through the lot and pulled out a few. "These are the files pertaining to the Sirius Black case, here is Peter Pettigrew, Barty Crouch Sr., Tom Riddle, AKA Voldemort, Severus Snape.. that's enough for now..We want you to release the Black files in toto, and peruse the rest for background information. Also release the entire interrogation of Pettigrew, as recorded by the Ministry's interrogators."

"Here also is a statement by Director Bones of the DMLE stating her desire to release Black immediately, since she has evidence he is innocent of any wrongdoing, and her list of those who are pushing back in the Wizengamot, barring her from releasing him."

"These files are the background we have on those Wizengamot members and several of the bribes they have taken, their associations, etc."

He gave her a smile. "Isn't it fun to make big, scandalous headlines with truth rather than lies?

She agreed to put together an article and distribute it to all the UK and European publications, and they were heading out the door, when Harry stopped her.

"You know that there is now a ban on any published photographs of me that have not been approved, so let me get Colin here to shoot a couple pictures for your articles, ok?" She was happy for that, because the deal was she couldn't bring Bozo with her to the interview, she would have to be happy with what she could get.

Colin set them up in front of the Three Broomsticks, with the pub's sign in plain view, Rita and Harry stood side by side, Harry grinned and put his arm around Rita, his hand on her waist, and just as Colin clicked his shutter, his hand slipped down and pinched her right butt cheek, making her jump. He hastily said his goodbyes and she found herself standing on the street in Hogsmeade, her head spinning and a front page story in her notes.

"Mooney"

Remus John Lupin groaned and rolled over, he was still stiff and sore from the previous nights transformation. He shook his head and stretched, assorted bones and joints creaking and cracking.

"Mooney"

He picked up the mirror and activated it. "G'morning Harry, what d'you need?" He wasn't quite awake yet.

"Your investigative skills paid off, Rita, I mean Annie Oral, didn't know what hit her, so good job on that one.. what I want?, I want you to wake up and get over here to Hogwarts, have lunch with me and sit with me in an interview with Professor McGonnegal.."

"What?, why?"

"I have my reasons, I need someone who is objective and cannot be obliviated easily, plus I have a new business to start, and I want you to run it for me."

"Obliviate?, Business?"

"Oh, all right, give me an hour to wake up and get dressed, I will see you at the gate."

"I'll be waiting"

they signed off.

He took a shower and got dressed, had a cuppa and stepped out of his cottage to apparate away.

Harry had been out with his Firebolt flying around the grounds, swooping and leaving rooster-tails of snow as he skimmed the surface at excessively high speeds. Colin took advantage of the situation to get some pictures for his ongoing albums. Mooney appeared at the gate of the school, which stood open during the day.

Harry arrived at the gate within seconds and the two of them flew up the hill together, avoiding the climb in the snow.

They entered the front doors of the castle and kicked off what snow they had on themselves and Argus Filch stood nearby and frowned.

Harry shrunk his broom and put it in his pouch. He took out his wand and started to do a spell, when Filch jumped out "No magic in the corridors"

Harry turned to the caretaker. "I was just going to clean up our mess, ok?" He didn't wait for an answer and vanished the snow and puddles and the assorted mud tracked in by others, leaving the whole entryway spotless and dry.

He was about to walk away, and turned and looked at the entry door jambs and woodwork. He stepped back out and looked at the stonework outside the entry.

"Hey Mooney, whattya think, a scourgify rune here, here and here on the doorway, it would eliminate people tracking mud in, no?" He indicated a few spots on the stonework. Filch stood by watching. Mooney considered. "I think you need to tie it in with a water rune, otherwise you might damage someone's shoe or foot."

"OK, a water detection rune, that will identify if there is mud or water or snow coming across the threshold, tie it to a scourgify, angled down so it is no higher than six inches, in most cases that should eliminate the tracking in of mud, water, and snow." He turned to Filch. "Would that help you keep this area cleaner, it should eliminate at least 90 percent of whatever people track in.. what do you think, Mr Filch, it might make your job easier?"

Filch was stunned, not one of these students ever showed him respect, or asked his opinion. "Dunno, I can't do magic, so I can't make it work." he was quite gruff.

"You don't have to do magic, I will set it up so it is self powered, it will draw magic from the castle, and every person who goes by, no one will ever feel a thing. In fact, I could make you some of these to put on any doorway that you think people might track dirt out of, say, the greenhouses or Myrtle's bathroom." Filch grunted in surprise. "That would be a good idea, there's always water standing in that corridor.." "I'll get these done in the next few days, Mr Filch, if you think of any other places that need it, let me know, I'll be glad to make something up." The old man looked suspiciously at the young wizard.

"You're not trying to trick me are you, your father and this one used to do that, you know.."

"Actually, I don't know, Mr Filch, everyone tells me I look like my father, but no one ever tells me anything about him other than he liked to prank people..I have found out more about my parents from House Elves than people."

"Come to my office some time, I'll tell you some.. lets see if this works." Filch shuffled off, followed by Mrs Norris. Harry watched thoughtfully as the couple walked away.

"I'll have to put in an animal exclusion clause to the sequence, a scourgify powerful to clean feet and boots would hurt an animal."

"An animal detection ward, or a human detection ward..if it's human, it works, if not, it doesn't."

Harry looked to Mooney as they walked toward the Great Hall for lunch.

"Define Human"

"Ah, there, you got me..what might work for you and me, might not work for Professor Flitwick, or Hagrid.."

They sat down to the lunch table and enjoyed themselves, discussing all manner of things, before the appointment with McGonnegal in her office.


"So, Mr Potter, why have you asked for this interview, and why is Mr Lupin here? McGonnegal sat behind her desk, with her fingers threaded together in front of her. It was a pose that students had feared and fretted about for more than fifty years.

"Parvati Patil has been obliviated by someone before the
Yule Ball. She does not remember Ron Weasley asking her to go to the ball with him, nor does she recall getting dressed for said ball. She is worried that she has been sexually assaulted, or otherwise taken

advantage of."

Harry left out the part about Parvati going to see Madam Pomfrey and getting checked out, finding she was still virginal and had not been obviously assaulted, other than her mind.

McGonnegal took off her glasses and laid them on the desk.

"Why is Miss Patil not here on her own, I know she is in the castle at the moment."

"Because she doesn't trust anyone right now other than myself, not you, not the Headmaster, not the prefects, just me."

"That sounds somewhat suspicious, Mr Potter.. a young lady who only trusts a boy in her same year..the first thing the Aurors would do is check her for compulsion charms and potions." "True, but I swore an oath to her that I would protect her and her sister, not as Harry Potter, but as Lord Potter" He held up his right hand and let her see his Head of House ring. "My honor demands that I respect and protect her."

"When did you take up the Headship of your fathers house.?"

"Does that matter?, Your Ministry wants to force me to participate in a Tournament that is specifically for people Of Age, Seventeen or older. The Old Man and the Ministry's flunkies insisted that I participate. Therefore I am recognized as an adult." He smirked."You can't have it both ways, you know.."

"I see. Well, then, as an adult, I suppose I must let you know what happened, I think I should tell Miss Patil as well, shall I call her?"

"No need, I'll get her. Parvati?, Lavender?" he looked as if he was speaking to the air, or calling a house elf. A knock at the door, and McGonnegal waved it open. There stood Parvati, Lavender, and Padma, waiting to be invited in. Lavender was slipping something into her pocket.

"Why are Miss Brown and Miss
Patil here as well, Mr Potter, and How did you call them?"

"Miss Brown has had a compulsion on her for at least a year, set by someone, as a spy, in fact for someone to use her as a spy watching myself. I am offering the protection of the House of Potter to Lavender as well. As to how I called them, I have my ways."

Harry rose and offered his seat to the three girls, They stepped in and sat, saying nothing.

"How do you know that Miss Brown has a compulsion on her, or did you say 'had'..and if so, how was it removed?"

Harry stood behind the girls and put a hand on each of their shoulders. "Again, I have my ways, That doesn't matter right now. Please tell us what you know, and then we will decide how much we can tell you."

Minerva McGonnegal didn't like to bargain with students, but this was a situation where she didn't have a choice. She had to have the trust and respect of her students.. or fear and respect..one or the other.

"The Headmaster wanted to be sure Mr Weasley had a date to the ball, I do not know his reasons why, but from your tone of voice and the lack of respect you showed the Headmaster, you have some clue as to what is going on."

She looked at the girls.

"I would not permit him to obliviate you as much as he would have liked, so I stayed with him the whole time he was there and supervised.

"He cast a compulsion to have you go to the ball with Mr Weasley, and to get yourself dressed in an appropriate manner." "I knew that the dress and accessories that you wore were not correct, but I let it go, hoping you would realize that something was wrong, apparently you did. For this, I am glad, I wish I could have done something about it, but I was powerless, so I did the best I could under the circumstances."

"Miss Brown, do you have the compulsion still on you, or has it been removed?"

Lavender spoke."Harry found it and removed it, I owe him, and I will back him up in anything he asks me."

McGonnegal looked between the two and asked. "Are you two in some kind of relationship?"

"No, other than friends and housemates, no." Lavender answered this, Harry didn't speak.

McG turned to Lupin. "Why are you here?"

He decided to answer honestly. "I'm a lycan, I cannot be obliviated, and it would take someone with quite a bit of power to take me down, as you well know." Minerva had seen Mooney in combat training.

"Very well. Well, Mr Potter, what are we going to do about this situation?" "I want to know, whose side are you on, Mine?, Dumbledore?, The Ministry?"

Minerva leaned back and covered her eyes with her hand, as if she felt a bad headache coming on.

She sat up straight and looked Harry in the eyes.

"My first loyalty is to Hogwarts and her students..I have been fighting the Ministry for years about many things and I have very little respect for those old fools."

"I have sworn oaths to various people in the fight against evil and I cannot speak of them, so, at present I shall not"

Harry, seeing into her eyes saw the truth of those statements.

He skimmed the surface of her mind and found evidence of several compulsions and the threads of something leading off to somewhere..

in his quick surveillance he noticed multiple obliviations and pulled out.

"You have compulsions on your thoughts and mind."

"What?..How?"

"I have my ways."

"You are not a legilimens, I didn't feel anything..I have my shields up.."

"so you know occlumency?"

"Of course, it's an essential tool in being a teacher, and administrator at my level.. it was part of my Mastery"

"I don't use those skills, as I said, I have my secrets."

"What kind of compulsions?"

"I don't know, I didn't slow down to look."

"Can you remove them?"

"I did for these ladies"

"Please do so."

"Before I do, I promise that anything I see, I will not speak of without your permission" He held up his right fist and she saw the glow around his ring.

"Proceed"

Harry dived in, scanned and found the most recent. Examined it and did as he had done before, drained the magic out of it, and banished the debris left behind. He moved to the next, and repeated the process. Six more times and every compulsion he found was gone. He scanned again and found the scarring left behind where there had been something, an old curse or obliviation or something.. He didn't know what to do with it and just laid a mild healing charm on it. He looked about for gaps where memories had been obscured, and set the warmth of a magical sun into those areas and thought about how he had been taught in Herbology, loosen up the soil and fertilize and water the plant, and possibly you could bring it back. While he was at it, he did more of the healing charms where he could. He watched as the withered dendrites slowly became more flexible and filled out. Satisfied, he did one more all over scan and withdrew.

"Remember anything new, or old?"

"I seem to be regaining some memories, whatever you did, I think it's helping."

"Good, I want to go again after I do some research on oaths and links.." he pointed to the scar on his own forehead."


That evening, the express arrived and the school was flooded with students returning from holiday.

Harry stood by the front entrance watching the students unload from the carriages and enter the front hall. It was a dual task, he was waiting for Hermione to arrive, but he was also monitoring his new door runes as they cleaned the feet of all the entering students. A few pets crossed the threshold and the runes properly ignored the creatures.

"So, Mr Filch, what do you think?" The old caretaker stood nearby watching the throng enter, Mrs Norris cradled in his arms. He growled."It seems quite a bit better, Potter, usually there would be a trail of mud in here, up the steps and halfway to the Great Hall. Better. Thank you."

"You're welcome, but I think with one small addition we could probably eliminate it entirely."

"What?, How?"Harry stepped outside the entrance, indicating the old man should follow him. They stood watching the area where the carriages were pulling up. The entire area was a sea of mud, that extended all the way back to Hogsmeade station, and the town itself.

"Why is this the only area within several miles that is unpaved?.. if it were paved, that would eliminate the entire muddy situation."

The old man nodded in agreement. "The reason it is not paved was because a disagreement between the headmaster at the time and the local turnpike trust..its in the files somewhere."

Harry looked at the old man with a question in his mind, but the last of the carriages was pulling up and he could sense Hermione's presence.

"Mr Filch, I have to go, but I would like to talk to you sometime on this and see what we can figure out, that is, if you have the time?"

"that'll do, Potter, go, she's getting out." he indicated the carriage.

Harry turned to see Hermione stepping out of the carriage, not wanting to step into the mud. "Hermione, hold up" Quickly unshrinking his broom and was at her side in a trice. "Your ride awaits, my lady"

She gamely held on to the carriage and swung a leg over his broom and settled in front of him before letting go. Her body was stiff, her hands holding tightly.

"Loosen up, sweet, I won't let you fall.. c'mon.." he nuzzled the back of her neck and with one arm drew her in tightly to his chest, all the while whispering in her ear. She kept her eyes closed, not wanting to know how high they were, and he could feel that across the growing link.

She was no longer afraid of flying, but she could feel his excitement and desire to really fly. She was still new at it, and was worried he might od something reckless.

He kept one arm snugly around her torso, and she savored the full body contact, even if it was her back. "Open your eyes, Sweet." She cracked them open and was shocked that they were no more than ten feet above the ground and moving slowly. She had expected he would fly them up to the tops of the towers. His whole purpose was to avoid the mud, and to hold her.

They landed gently on the grass, beside the main door.. the last of the stragglers had gone in to the castle, and they were alone. The carriages had moved away, their duty done, as they rolled back down the hill to the stables. If either of the couple had bothered to look, they would see Hagrid taking the harness off the invisible creatures pulling the carriage.


The young wizard spirited away his girlfriend to their private place as soon as they could get away..He had spent the entire holiday up here in the hidden tower, studying and reading and working on projects. He was quite excited about showing her how far he had gotten on several levels.

Between the show and tell, they spent time curled up in front of the fire together, exploring their kissing and touching skills, and expanding their repertoire.

It took two days before Harry called a temporary hold on things.."I have to prepare for the second task, love, we need to go over the ideas I have here."

She sighed and reached for his sketchbook, for she knew that every idea was there in some form.

"Show me."

He opened to the correct pages and began the commentary. Each idea had a small drawing illustrating the idea. The first was a little man standing at the edge of the lake, and the waters parting as if it were the red sea. The note scribbled under it read "too flashy" The next was the same little man in a submarine with arms. The note for this one was "too much to do before task." the next was a variation on that theme, a swimming man being pulled by a fish, a big fish. This note said "possible" the next five drawings were variations, one with a SCUBA kit, one with a bubble-head charm, one with gillyweed, and the last picture showed the little man on an underwater broom. Beside this one was a series of arithmancy and runes written and marked out, as if he had spent a lot of time thinking about it.

Hermione asked questions about the different ideas and they discussed them from several angles, and between them they decided on a combination..Harry was pretty good with transfiguration, and they discussed the possibilities of transfiguring a large fish, Harry dug around in his pile of materials and found an appropriate piece of wood, and carved out a fish, tied a piece of string though it's mouth and carved a series of runes on its fins and belly.

He laid it on the floor and pushed some magic toward it with his wand, and it grew to be several feet long with a thick rope trailing out of it's mouth. Another silent spell and the fish was animated, swimming through the air as if it were water. Harry took the rope in hand and pulled on it this way and that, and he was physically dragged around the room as the couple laughed. Finally they shrunk the fish back to it's carved size and while they were talking out the rest, he worked on the thing, refining the form and making it pretty as well as functional.

In the end, they decided to learn the bubble-head charm, and have some gillyweed on hand,as a backup in case of a failure of the charm. Between the towfish and the charm , they figured they had a good chance of winning the event. "What about the water, it's sure to be freezing, the task is in February, after all." "will warming charms work underwater?" It took a few days, but they came up with the magical equivalent to a wetsuit, using a silk body stocking and the warm water charms that the castle showers used.. The water came in through a scoop under Harry's chin and was warmed by the inscribed runes to 37C, and circulated through the suit, being expelled from his toes.. that way no part of his body would drop below a comfortable temperature.

The only problem was that he couldn't wear anything over it, so while wearing the suit, he was virtually naked, just about everything was visible.

The final design was that he would have a harness slung over his shoulder with his wand and tools in it, knife, extra gillyweed and a shrunken cloak to throw over himself when he came out of the water.

They slipped down through the portal where they had come in on the boats before their sorting and Harry tested out the equipment. The suit worked fairly well, but both teens were blushing when he crawled up onto the ledge.. the water made the skintightness very much so.

Much practice in creating the bubble-head, silently and quickly, practice in activating his towfish silently as well, that was done with runes on the towrope, so the thing wouldn't swim away if he lost his grip..Two days before the second task, they went down to the lake one last time, and Harry took his tools for a final test run, going out into the lake, and doing some time runs from point to point, estimation how far they would have to go to do the job..

He passed under the Durmstrang Ship a few times and did a small bit of snooping.. He saw Viktor jumping into the water and turning into a man-shark, and hustled out of sight as quickly as possible. He also saw Fleur practicing once, wearing a light blue bodysuit.

During he time they were working on the fish and other projects, Hermione told of the time she had in France, the kindness and friendship of the two women they had become friends with. Genn lived with her mother, and they had a lovely flat in Paris. Her father had been killed in the line of duty several years before, as he had been an Auror. Genns' mother worked as a warding specialist for the French Magical Ministry, and had a fair income, but not enough to support her daughter in her quest as a runes master.

The gift that she was given by Harry's patronage was like a miracle from the gods, Evangeline Dubois was stunned when she had heard of her daughter's good fortune, and was asking for someone to arrange a meeting between herself and her daughter's patron. Harry had agreed to it when it was found that Genn was to be Harry's hostage for the second task. It was scheduled for the next day after the task, And Harry was looking forward to it as he had questions to ask Mrs Dubois concerning wards and uses of runes and wards in that field.

Bill Weasley got wind of the impending conversation from the twins, and he was at the school visiting for the weekend, he inquired into the possibility of meeting Mrs Dubois also, since she was a minor celebrity in the warding field. Once this was all arranged, Harry had a smirk on his face as he sent Hedwig on a special mission to deliver an invitation to a friend of his.

The day of the task was at hand. The wards on Hermione's room had triggered shortly after midnight and the tracking charm they had constructed activated. Harry sat up watching the cluster of dots on his map go from Hermione's dorm to the infirmary and then the cluster broke up, leaving Hermione in an infirmary bed, with Genn next to her, Cho next to her and Gabrielle on the end. He looked at the dots on the map and wondered how they had gotten permission to use the eight year old girl as a hostage, had they gotten permission, and if so, whose.. it didn't seem right to just take someone and put them at risk.

He sat for a long time and looked at the dots, wondering.

The morning was cold, biting cold and the spectators were gathering for the event. The four champions were huddled together, wearing great robes to keep them warm, and they were talking amongst themselves.

"I don't see how this is going to be interesting for the spectators, watching a half frozen lake in February seems kinda dumb to me.."

Harry spoke this thought. The others shrugged, "That's the way it is, most magical peoples have their quirks, The English seem to be lacking a certain..something, I think? Fleur put this forth. Cedric grinned. "Miss Delacouer, what are you saying, that my countrymen are not quite right in their minds?, how could you think that?" he spoke with mock incredulity. "I mean, the whole concept of staring at dark water for an hour, it's it's just brilliant!"

He held off his snort of laughter for almost two whole seconds..

They all laughed, and Viktor dourly spoke. "My own people, I think might take themselves a bit too..seriously" he nodded his head back and forth as he rolled his eyes, not letting his Headmaster hear him speak.

There was noise behind them indicating something happening.."Before we start, guys?" he winked at Fleur. "At two tomorrow, I am hosting a lunch with Genn's mum, in a private hall, bring your mates, bring your friends, it will be private away from the press, just us, ok?"

The Champions agreed, and before they split up, he added. "I have invited a very special guest, you won't want to miss it...Good luck everyone" they all waved and went to their designated spots.

Cedric went first, followed by Harry, Viktor and Fleur. Each Champion set on about their method. Harry pulled up his hood and activated the water heating runes and set a bubble-head in place, and to the view of the Spectators, he swam out and down.

The last thing he did before starting off was to activate his mirror, which was on feeding to every single mirror he and Hermione had created.. there were a great many people watching the live feed from Harry, and many of the spectators crowded around the holders.

Once he was out of sight, he deployed his fish. The suits' water heating runes worked perfectly, and Harry could feel the warm water flowing along the inner surface of the material. The fish pulled him along effortlessly through the water. He watched his tracking charm which pointed towards the center of the lake. He skimmed about ten feet below the surface of the water, avoiding the bottom dwellers and any tangleweed or problems. Once he was at the center, he went straight down and in very short order was there with the four hostages who were tethered to the bottom by ropes fastened to their ankles.

Hermione's robes billowed out as did her hair, he circled her, drinking

in her beauty. He tried to link to her consciousness, but couldn't get anything useful. He circled around Cho and Gabrielle, and finally Genn. Genn was wearing a pure white robe, and under it a skinsuit similar to his, although it only had a warming charm on it. Harry had insisted that Hermione have one also, not knowing exactly what was going to happen, or if he trusted the people running the stupid Tournament.

The mermen moved around, cautiously to make sure that Harry took the correct hostage, he indicated that he was just looking, and he understood them a little, they had an odd singing like voice, it was not in a language he understood, but he did understand it, it was a side effect of messing about with Shala's training and communication with telepathy.

::take yours only::

::I understand::

::you speak?::

::some..little::

::come visit?::

::I will..are they safe?::

::yes, we will protect::

::I come back later::

::yes::

Harry cut Genn free and started to move away when he saw Viktor swimming in his shark persona, and Cedric somewhat farther away, but coming.. He set his towfish in motion and went towards the stands and the finish of the event. Genn, he slung a strap under her arms and across her back, and he had the other over his shoulder. He skimmed across the bottom, keeping an eye out for Fleur. He took Genn up to the surface and lifted her up onto the platform. The girl was awoken and taken into see Madam Pomfrey to be dried out and checked over.

He yelled to the judges "Fleur is in trouble, I can't find her" He didn't wait for an answer and dove back into the water, following a point me. Several minutes later he found Fleur, tangled in a mess of strangler vine. She was moving sluggishly , as her suit had been penetrated by several of the poisonous spines. He cut her free, and swiftly moved to get her to the surface. She was barely conscious, and he had to recast the bubble-head around her before they even left the floor of the lake.

He handed the young woman up to the waiting hands and flipped back to retrieve Gabrielle. He came to the Mermen's area and the young girl was all alone.

::I have come to retrieve the girl::

::you cannot, you have taken yours::

::Her person was injured::

::we were told to stop you::

::I am here now I am taking her::

::as you wish::

He cut the bindings and retrieved the small girl.. he was beginning to feel tired. With one last heave he brought her to the surface and then heaved himself back to the deck. He lay there, worn to the bone, but happy he had survived the event.

He felt hands lift him and dry him off, and wrap him in a warm blanket. He felt the mental warmth of his girlfriend nearby, worrying over him. He sent a warm embrace back over the same connection.

Colin was ecstatic, he had figured out how to photograph the mirrors and was waiting back at the castle with a series of pictures to be approved for sale.. these would end up being the only known pictures of the underwater event, and this, quite valuable.

They had found that the mental connection was a product of the little dragon from the first task, as long as he had it with him, he could send some limited mental messages to Hermione, but no one else.. they had tried putting the small dragon oh Hermione's shoulder and she had tried to contact Shala, tried to contact Harry, and nothing happened. It was something they they would have to explore later,

The judges had tallied their points and posted them.

Viktor was first at 37 minutes

Cedric was second with 41 minutes

Fleur was DNF because she did not bring her hostage back,

Harry was last because he took 59 minutes.

When various people protested the judgment was left standing, because he had not gotten out of the water when he had brought Genn up. Therefore his portion of the task was not finished. Many people were angry about this,especially at the Headmaster, because he was seen as not supporting his own student. Cedric threatened to go to the Wizengamot about it, or at least ask his father to do so on Harry's behalf,

He gathered in the other champions and their hostages. "Please don't, it's just more of Dumbledore's games, He's trying to control me, somehow."

"Just let it be, please" he sighed. "I got what I wanted out of it, I survived, and didn't make too big of an arse out of myself."

with that, he picked up his gear and left, heading back to the Castle, flanked by Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Luna.


That evening he was in his tower with his friends, discussing things, he quashed any and all complaining that 'his victory' was stolen..

"I was forced into this stupid Tournament by the old man, and I am just using it to take advantage of the situation.. I mean, I finagled a full time pass to the restricted section from the Moody guy, I am learning more magic from him this year than the last three together.." He sighed and slumped in his couch, pulling Hermione close. "I am playing to survive, not to win." he waved around, indicating the tower."I am sure that the old man knows that I am using this tower, I probably couldn't get away with that any other year.. you guys are enjoying the use of the potions lab, right?"

The twins nodded. They were in heaven. Harry had hired their services at learning potions properly, as well as many projects he had in the works. They didn't realize it but he was trying to wean them off pranking fulltime and do something constructive as well as profitable.

Their current project for Harry was figuring out how to 'store magic' He had explained to them how an automobile worked, that you had to put 'fuel' into it to keep it running, he wanted to create some things that he could set in motion and ignore, that is, not keep supplying magic to the thing.. it was all fine and good to add power runes to something,but the power runes worked slowly.. they were ideal for long term things like wards and cleaning enchantments, that kind of thing. High energy things, like animated animals or statues needed more magic quickly to work.

Harry nodded as they were talking and rose, wandering around his 'shop' looking for something. He found it, an old butterbeer bottle. He transformed it into a half dozen glass discs, and put a silver knut on the pile of discs.. another bit of magic and there were half a dozen silvery mirrors two inches in diameter. No one said anything, they kept their conversation and time together pleasant, eating and drinking, but everyone kept a quiet eye on the dark haired wizard.

He dug around some more and found a rod, a wood rod about three feet long as thick as his thumb. He cut it into three pieces and set them on the bench. He took a disc mirror and fastened it to the face of the rod, actually made the wood flow out and grasp it on the tip like a claw or something.

"What are you doing Harry?" Hermione had gotten off the couch and came up behind him. She hugged him from behind, looking curiously at his work.

"Could you get me a book, sweet?"

"Sure, which one?"

"A bug book, one with pictures of flying bugs in it.. bees, flies, dragonflies, that kind of thing.."

She nodded in assent and went to his trunk which was always open to the book section. She scanned through several shelves, until she found the necessary books. Laying them on the bench where he was working, they both flipped through the pages, until they found some nice color plates illustrating various dragonflies and other closely related things.

He continued with his crafting, but paused to pull out an older sketchbook and flipped through it to the section on mirrors.

"Here, put the first three charms on the mirror, the view, transmit and sound sequences." She set about doing this.. There were eleven sets of spells on the first pairs of magical mirrors they had been given, and they spent many hours figuring them out, and converting them into the proper runic sequences.. for a simple test subject though, casting the spells with a wand were sufficient.

Their tower workspace had evolved since the first of the year, and by now it had many of the comforts of home.. one comfort was a large mirror mounted on the wall, that could be tied into any of the small mirrors that by now, just about everyone carried.

Harry was working on some fragile looking wings and a very complex joint where the four wings tied together..Hermione finished the charming of the mirrors and was poking the stick here and there, using the mirror end as a pointer..she looked into the mirror and the large wall mirror showed a distorted brown eye looking back at them..Someone took it from her and was poking it various rude places while everyone was giggling and having fun.

Harry, noticing the laughter, looked up from his project and grinned at the antics. This was what he wanted, friends and family, a place to be.

He finally finished and took one of the bodies and fastened the wing assembly to what looked like an appropriate place .

He took some wire bits and bent them into legs and inscribed the joints with the appropriate runes, the same ones he had used to make a prototype spider. Finally he added a set of controls that led back to a handheld box. He was familiar with Dudley's attempts to fly a remote control airplane, as he was the one who had to retrieve it countless times when his cousin had crashed it. The remains of the plane now resided in the smallest bedroom, and on some boring nights, Harry had turned on the electronics and made the various parts move.

Mentally he had designed the dragonflies controls something like that, copying the control sequences from Luna's broomstick. It looked something like her broomstick, in fact, so when the first flight was taken, he gave her the controls and told her, "It's as close to your Darter as I could get, give it a try." Everyone watched as the blond Ravenclaw deftly controlled the

flying device. It rose from the bench and hovered, a bit shakily, lifted up above head height and circled the room. Luna was torn between watching the big mirror, which showed the viewpoint of the artifact, and watching the thing itself.. She kept up a commentary describing the feedback from the controls.

"Obviously not the same as my broom, Harry, the balance is off, but it is acceptable.. the response is a bit sloppy when I do this, or this, but I think it can be fine tuned..I want you to build me some of these, but we need to improve the eyes, Daddy and I will love to use them for our creature hunts.." "We need to create a better way to control this, the mirror is no help, really, unless you have a wider field of vision.."she went on at length, explaining the need for binocular or more vision.. Harry had a dictation quill taking all this down, and everything was helpful in building the device.

The friends were rapt, watching the girl maneuver the device around the room, and had fun with the one eyed visual feed.

Just watching the big mirror could be disorienting, but everyone could tell it had potential.

Hermione had made a huge contribution to their education, Based on the CopyRight charm that Sirius and Mooney had sent them. The idea was a recording variant of Specialis Revelio. An example of this was seen when Harry had examined Luna's broom, the Venhull Darter.

He laid a large sheet of parchment on his work table and cast the charm, along with the proper modifiers, which allowed recording.

The charm 'looked' at the broom, and it then made a perfect line drawing of the artifact, along with a complete listing of every spell, charm, rune and enchantment on the object. It also showed the alignment of the different magics, as well. When he was done with the sequence of diagnostic charms, he had a large, well rendered picture of the object, along with the magical breakdown of every part. The interesting bit that it was completely inert, and would not affect the scanned object in any way..this allowed some rather volatile things to be scanned.

There were problems with this bit of magic, though, Hermione had described it as working with computer coding, you could have ten thousand lines of code in a program, and if one line is wrong, the whole thing might or might not work.

Late that night the young couple were in their beds, talking quietly with their mirrors.

"Whats bothering you,my sweet?" Hermione's face showed worry at the pain Harry was showing. He thought about it for a moment, trying to come up with the words.. "It's just that, I'm only fourteen, Love, I should not have to do all the thinking and planning..It's like once you have entered the wizarding world, you check your brain at the door.. no one uses any common sense or logic." We need to do something, I know that, but why does it have to be us?, why me?.. who is responsible for putting this target on my back?. Who made this whole 'boy-who-lived myth and tied it to me?." he rolled his eyes.

"We both know that one, but the question is why?" anger crossed his face.. "Who is writing all those books about me and who is making money off them?

Instead of answering his questions, Hermione just looked sad. " I wish there was an easy answer to that one sweetie, but I don't know what it is, I'm sorry." Harry continued on. "Andy and Ted Tonks, they are wonderful people, Ted is muggleborn, but I think he forgot that somewhere along the way.. he was trying to run the entire Potter Holdings by himself, that's just not possible, even with a time turner.."

"So what did you tell him..them?"

"I told him to stop most of it, the business has set idle or running on automatic for fifteen years, it can go one more..I want them to concentrate on getting Sirius free and clear, and to concentrate on the business of business...to hire the right people to oversee the various parts of the Holdings..and then take a vacation."

"You're a good man, Harry.."

"I don't want to be, to have to.. I want to have a life, I want to just be a 4th year student and learn and have fun with my girlfriend, why should I have to do all this, just to survive?"

"I swear, Hermione, I feel like going as far from here as I can, as far as is possible on this planet." concern and no small amount of fear crossed Hermione's face. "You stay right there, don't move" he nodded as she cut off her mirror.

She sat up and pulled on her robe and called Dobby. The elf appeared in a few seconds. "Yes, Miss Hermione?" he was whispering, since it was quite late, or early.. "Please go and get Harry's invisibility cloak." Dobby popped away and returned with the item. She slung it around her shoulders and was about to pull up the hood, when Dobby made a comment. "You know there is a tracking charm on the cloak, right?"

Her brow furrowed, as suspicion filled her mind. She pulled out her wand and did some diagnostic charms, the ones she knew, anyway, and came up with something, although she couldn't tell exactly what.

"What kind, I can't seem to find it.." "It is set by Old greybeard, so he can follow Mister Harry wherever he goes.." Hermione's concern turned to anger.

"Is it possible you can remove it?"

"Oh, yes, where shall I put it?"

she thought for a moment. "Put it on Ronald...Dumbledore should always keep track of his spy."

"It shall be done."

Dobby did some odd hand gestures and it looked as if he were pulling a rope.. an orange haze gathered on the cloak and pulled off with a silent 'plop' He popped away and returned momentarily. "It is done."

"Please look at all of my and Harry's belongings and remove any tracking or monitoring charms you find, I would very much appreciate it."

"As you wish, Miss Hermione".

Dobby moved around the girls dorm and did a few things, looked in her trunk and in the armoire that she hung her clothes in. he nodded to her and popped away. She pulled up the hood of Harry's cloak and left the room with a silencing charm on herself. She ghosted over to the boy's side of the dorms and slipped inside, She saw Dobby working through all of Harry's clothes and belongings, there seemed to be tracking and monitoring charms on virtually everything he owned. Harry sat there on the edge of his bed watching the elf going through his belongings, and was quite amazed at the number of charms placed on himself. Harry had quietly dug out a piece of warding stone that he was planning on carving, and he had Dobby attach all the tracking charms to the stone.

Finally Dobby was done, as Harry felt a body sit down on the edge of the bed beside him. A hand slipped out of nowhere and took his as he felt warm breath in his ear.

"I asked Dobby to remove any and all tracking and monitoring charms on both you and I.. what are you going to do with the stone?"

"I don't know.. throw it in the lake and disappear?..they will think I drowned and then leave me alone."

"maybe, but lets just save that one as a last resort, please?"

"Yes, dear".

"Prat".

"that's right, I am..sometimes."

"Thank you Dobby, if you find anything else, please let us know"

"I will..." Dobby seemed hesitant to leave.

"Is there something else, Dobby?"

Dobby stood there for a moment looking at Harry's face. Harry realized the elf was looking at his scar, not just looking at it, but glaring at it..

"Is there something attached to his scar, Dobby?" Hermione asked.

"Yes.. there is a thread.. it goes to where the evil one is..it can go both ways.. I cannot cut it, I do not know how.. but one of the old ones might."

"Who are the old ones?" Naturally the one with the first question was Hermione.

Dobby looked uncertain. "The old ones live in the world between..it is the place where the dead are sent..before they are gone."

The young couple pondered this statement. "Like a spirit realm or something?" Harry came up with this one first.

"Yes, between the worlds.. Miss Luna can see them.."

Realization dawned. "In between the alternate realities.. the myriad ways she was talking about.." an excited look built on his face, "Maybe if I talk to that Mr Cromwell she was talking to..he could give me a hint, help, something..." he frowned.

"If you say there's a thread from me to him.." his eyes met hers..

"Then there's a.."

"Bit of him in you.." she finished the sentence.

"I need to make an appointment with this guy as soon as possible.."

Hermione's heart skipped a bit and then she focused on the idea.

"Hold that thought, we will take it up first thing in the morning."

they turned to Dobby and thanked him for what he had done.

Dobby popped away and Hermione silently cast silencing charms on Harry's bed and pulled him in, closing and sealing the curtains.

Neville's eyes shone in the dark, and he lay there awake for more than an hour, thinking about all he had heard and seen.

Edit 2-16-10

Edit 2-19-10 for correction of Sweden locations and names.

(thank you jhautefaye )

Edit 6-5-10 fixing a few things