A/N Did you know, canon Harry only trained two days (a Sunday and a Monday) before the first task (which was on the Tuesday) despite the three weeks of time he had between October 31st and November 24th?

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does

"Text" – Thoughts

"Text" – Spellcast


Chapter 8 – Fate?

Date: Tuesday, November 1st 1994

Location: Fourth Year Gryffindor Male Dormitory

Harry had just woken up, slightly later than usual. As per tradition, first class on the day after Halloween was cancelled, so Harry allowed himself to sleep in. When he arose, however, he noticed that the dorm was empty so he just quickly walked downstairs into the Gryffindor common room.

Last night had ended horribly, even for Halloween standards (which, considering the past three years was quite a feat). Ron had decided to end their three-year long friendship over Harry's unwilling entry into the tournament despite Harry's adamant refusal that he had done so on purpose. THe confrontation had almost come to blows until Neville and Dean stopped them from hexing each other. Harry hadn't had high hopes that the issue would be resolved overnight and unfortunately, his prediction had come true.

Harry was well acquainted with the other members of the dorm but was not particularly close to any of them apart from Ron. Harry knew that he didn't really have anyone else he really felt particularly close to, other than Ron and Hermione, a fact that he had actually realized after trying (and apparently failing) to remember every person in his own year. Without any hesitation, he decided two things. First, to find Hermione and to hopefully get her help in dealing with the tournament. Second, to try and see if anyone else would be willing to help him out in his current predicament, and make more friends along the way. His thoughts briefly flew to the blonde Slytherin who had taught him so much as he arrived at the common room.

The room itself was quite empty, as most people were still downstairs eating breakfast. Harry quickly strode out of the common room before anyone could try and engage him in conversation (he was too polite to refuse) and found himself face to face with Hermione as he walked through the portrait hole.

"Hello" she said, holding up a small stack of toast and a few books. "I brought you this. Want to go on a walk before class? We have thirty minutes or so"

"Alright" Harry said, happy to talk to Hermione. As they descended to the ground floor, the pair discussed Ron's behaviour the previous night, where Hermione expressed her thoughts on why Ron was acting in such a way.

"I'm not going to wait until he grows up!" exclaimed Harry in a bout of pent up fury. Hermione looked despairingly at her friend but spoke again.

"Harry, you know what you should do once you get back to the castle right? Write to Sirius, ask him for advice on this. He asked you to keep him posted about recent events at Hogwarts, he'll want you to hell him." Harry was about to argue about putting Sirius in further danger but stopped himself. After all, Sirius was bound to find out soon, given how fast news could travel.

"That's a good idea, Hermione, thanks for the advice. Now I just need to see if I can get more people to help me out" Harry said contemplatively

Hermione slowed slightly at his words "What do you mean? I can help you, isn't that enough?"

"Well, I was thinking. If I am going to survive this tournament, I should get some more help. Maybe Daphne or someone could…" Harry said, his voice trailing slightly.

Hermione stopped walking. "Why would you need her help? I can get you all the spells you need on my own." Hermione had begun to raise her voice slightly, a hint of worry bleeding into her tone.

Harry didn't notice this and replied "Well, I've been learning a bit about old wizarding families, some of them have some really impressive magic!" he said excitedly. Hermione raised her eyebrows and asked "Where did you learn that from?"

Harry stopped. He hadn't mentioned his lessons to Hermione like he did with Ron as he didn't want to cause his friend worry. Despite this, he knew he couldn't lie to his friend like this and told her "Daphne told me about it, she has been giving me some lessons about this kind of stuff"

Hermione's gaze narrowed "And why is this the first time I'm hearing of this? And when did you start calling her Daphne?" she asked accusingly.

"It never came up, Hermione, honest." Harry replied with a slightly fearful tone as he was beginning to sense Hermione's mood.

Hermione's gaze was like steel as she peered at Harry. She mentally ran through her own knowledge of pureblood traditions and her gaze narrowed evermore. It was an unwritten tradition for purebloods to not call each other by first name, usually addressing the other by their surname and title when applicable. Giving a first name or nickname to another for usage was a sign of trust, respect or even friendship.

"How long has this been going for?" she asked. Her voice had lowered in volume significantly, becoming almost a whisper.

Harry frowned "Almost two months by now, why?" Hermione's eyes widened in shock. "TWO MONTHS?! That's almost since school started… How could I have not noticed?" Hermione thought, rapidly trying to process that information, trying to leave out her comments of "That bitch!" as she processed. Harry looked at his friend questioningly as she began to speak.

"Harry" she began. "I would prefer if you don't talk to Greengrass again." Her tone and posture was strong, as she looked fiercely at him. Hermione had done his a few times in the past and it had worked wonders in keeping Harry and Ron out of trouble.

Harry frowned "Why not? She's my friend too. I should be allowed to talk to her if I want." A stray thought flashed through his mind again "Is she trying to limit my number of friends?"

Hermione pursed her lips and said "Greengrass is dangerous, for all we know, she could have put your name in the goblet" Harry's frown deepened and asked.

"Didn't we agree that it would be impossible for me to have tricked the goblet? How is she any different?" he asked. His voice was raised again, a hint of anger beginning to form.

"As you said, Greengrass has access to family magic. I read that the Greengrasses are really dark, they probably have a spell that could do it" Hermione said, trying to keep her tone even despite her current desperation, a hint that Harry didn't detect.

Harry looked affronted as he remembered back to what he had read about some of the ancient families. Daphne's section on her own house was very robust and long, but Harry basically only remembered that the Greengrasses were farmers in the past, with ties to that industry still strong. Daphne had mentioned that some branches of her family supported Grindelwald in the past but her family had shifted their stance as a whole to a more neutral-greyish political view. This conversation had led to a lecture about politics which Harry couldn't wrap his head around.

"The Greengrasses aren't dark, not anymore at least" Harry said, looking at Hermione.

"I bet she told you that" Hermione bit back.

"She did, yes, but she also explained a bunch of things as well. Not everything is black or white, 'Mione" he replied

"You still don't need her help, Harry, I can do it myself" Hermione said, changing the subject. Now, Harry had fully caught on to Hermione's desperation. "She is trying to prevent me from making more friends" Harry thought, his frown deepening into an angry scowl.

"You are trying to stop me from making friends aren't you?" he demanded, causing Hermione to recoil in shock. "Harry, I –" she started but was cut off by an irate Harry

"No. If you aren't going to let me get help from others, maybe I don't need your help as well." Harry said as he fumed. He was beyond angry now. "Daphne was right; you are manipulative" he said bitterly.

Hermione's shock turned to anger as well "How dare you!" she screamed, almost wanting to slap her friend in the face. "How much have I done for you over these years? Hm?" she fumed "Who figured out who Nicholas Flamel was? Who figured out what Slytherin's monster was? I did!" her angry voice reverberated across the castle grounds as the two friends glared fiercely at each other. Moments passed before Hermione looked away from the intensity that was Harry's stare.

"Don't you see Harry?" Hermione said softly "Greengrass is pushing us apart. Please don't let this happen"

Harry considered his friend's words. His first thought was to comfort Hermione, tell her that she was right. But as he thought on, his thoughts shifted to the opposite of the spectrum. Hermione had been influencing him to not make as many friends, that much was apparent to Harry. With a cold look, he began to talk again.

"No, Daphne isn't the one who pushed us apart. You are. By driving me away from making more friends" He walked away without another word, leaving Hermione speechless in the middle of the path they were on.


Later...

Harry groaned as he lay back on his bed, exhausted from the day he had been having so far. On one hand, the Gryffindors seemed to love him, hailing him as a hero, even though he repeatedly told them he didn't enter himself in the cup. On the other, the rest of the school seemed to have grown several degrees colder towards him in the span of a few hours. Harry had to duck around every corner to make sure he wasn't about to get hexed by a vengeful Hufflepuff, or glomped by a passing Gryffindor fangirl.

Potions class had been a veritable nightmare as Snape coldly glared at him at basically any opportunity. Malfoy and his gang didn't make it any easier, constantly whispering taunts and teases at him from across the dungeon hall when Snape wasn't looking. Even Daphne seemed infinitely more guarded at him, barely even acknowledging his presence when they bumped into each other as they filed out of the room, a fact that hurt Harry more than he was willing to admit. All in all, it was one of Harry's worst days yet, right after Halloween of 1981 (which he could barely remember).

"Hey Harry" said a low voice from the doorway. It was frowned as he glanced up at his ex-best friend.

"What is it Ron? Back to yell at me more have you?" Harry said, tersely. He steeled himself, trying to mimic an expression he had seen Daphne make when she got irritated by putting on a neutral mask as he focused his irritation through his eyes. However, he was quite shocked at what came out of Ron's mouth.

"I'm sorry" Ron said quietly. Ron was staring down at his on feet, seeming like he wanted nothing but to be swallowed up by the red carpet that lined the dorm's floor.

Harry sat up in surprise and let out a "What?"

Ron sighed and repeated himself. "I said I'm sorry Harry. For yelling at you and not believing you when you said you didn't do it." Ron shuffled around awkwardly as Harry watched him. Harry's surprise had quickly worn off. In a slightly irritated tone, he asked "What took so long?"

Ron gave a light chuckle "Believe it or not, it was Tracey who talked some sense into me"

Flashback

Potions was just about to end for the fourth-year Gryffindors and Slytherins. As usual,Ron was slowly finishing his potion though he was much more behind than usual. He gave a sideways glance at his ex-best friend, who remained sitting next to him because there were no other spare seats that either were willing to sit in. As a result, the two sat as far apart as they could, each on the edges of their seats as they worked silently on their potions. However, Ron still couldn't concentrate. He couldn't figure out why Harry did what he did.

Soon the class ended and Ron slowly packed up his belongings. He wasn't seething anymore but still decided to not talk to Harry. Hermione seemed on edge as well and left without a warning. Harry too left soon, probably out for a walk or back to the common room, Ron supposed. Making a quick decision, Ron decided to wander around aimlessly on the corridors.

He had made it to the first floor before someone grabbed him and dragged him into a nearby unused classroom. "Gahh!" squealed Ron, who felt himself being swept off his feet into an unfamiliar room. Hastily, he took his out his wand from his robes, ready to cast a hex at his assailant but stopped when he saw who it was.

"What is it Davis, I'm not in the mood" he muttered.

Tracey pursed her lips and expressed an angry pout. "What. Happened." Ron looked confused as she elaborated "to you, Harry and Hermione"

"You know what happened. Potter entered himself into the Triwizard Tournament and didn't help anyone else do it" he grunted crossly. Tracey suppressed a snort as she replied

"Do you really think that? Potter might be powerful, especially for our age but for him to trick the cup into spitting out his name as a fourth, unnamed school's champion? And get pass all the barriers that Dumbledore himself put up?" she asked challengingly. Ron looked affronted but looked away. "He could have used some other method." Ron argued indignantly.

Tracey rolled her eyes. "Really Ron, I know you don't think that's true. You know Harry better than anyone, if he really knew how to enter himself, would he have not at least told you? Aren't you two supposed to be best mates?" Ron's eyes widened slightly. He nodded slightly, mostly convinced but still irritated.

Tracey nodded victoriously as she asked another question "Alright, so we cleared that up. So what's wrong with you?" she asked. Ron looked at her in surprise but didn't speak. The two stood in silence for a while before she spoke again.

"Look, Ron, I know that there's something that's bugging you. You knew that Harry didn't put his name in the cup even before we spoke but you still act like he did. So spill. What's wrong?" she implored, edging closer to the Weasley boy. Ron began to redden at Tracey's close proximity to him and began to squirm before he relented.

"Ugh… Fine." He looked away from the brunette as he spoke. "You know the twins, yeah?" he asked, prompting Tracey to nod. "They're brilliant. Never take their schoolwork seriously, only got three owls between them, but their pranks?" Ron trailed off as Tracey nodded once more, prompting Ron to continue. "Apart from them, I've got three older brothers. Bill, my eldest brother was Head Boy, aced his O.W.L.s, his N.E.W.T.s and is the youngest Gringotts curse-breaker in decades. My brother Charlie? Quidditch Captain who is one of the youngest dragon researchers worldwide. Then you have Percy, who was Head Boy last year, aced all his O.W.L.s too. See where I'm going with this?" he asked. Tracey put her hand up, stopping the redhead from rambling on.

"I have a question" she stated. Ron nodded and she continued. "Who was the person who beat Professor McGonagall in chess in his first year?" Ron looked confused for a moment before his eyes widened massively. Tracey smirked and continued "Harry told Daphne who told me. Apparently, Harry said you were absolutely brilliant. Anyways second question. Who was the person who ran into the forest to save a girl he barely knew a few months ago?" Ron nodded unsurely, not really understanding what Tracey was getting at.

"My point is, Ron, you aren't just some random person who has a lot of brilliant brothers and friends. You are a smart guy too, Ron, a genius even, if your working habits are as bad as I think they are" Tracey joked. By now, Ron was smiling a bit.

"Look, Ron. Remember what I told you when we became friends? Your friends need you as much as you need them. Right now, Harry is probably feeling all alone. He needs help to get through this year, or he could actually die." Ron's expression turned to one of horror. "What?!"

Tracey suppressed an urge to palm her face. "You never read about the history of the Triwizard Tournament? The reason why they cancelled it in the first place was because all three champions died on the last tournament in 1792 when the cockatrice they were meant to capture broke out. It even went and injured three of the judges before the tamers managed to calm it down" she explained. Ron fidgeted as he suddenly felt a wave of discomfort, his face reddening as he absorbed every word.

"I have to go now" he said quickly. Two steps towards the door, he stopped and looked back at the girl. "Thanks Tracey. For everything."

"Any time" she replied brightly, smiling as the boy ran out of the classroom.

End Flashback

"And that's what happened" recounted Ron as Harry looked on amusedly. "So, in short. I'm sorry, mate. I really, really don't want you to die so I'll help you out as much as I can." Harry beamed. He couldn't hold it to himself to be angry at Ron any longer and the best friends reformed their relationship.

"So, what did I miss?" asked Ron, as he sat down on the bed. Harry froze at this statement and sighed gently. "Well, Hermione and I kinda had an argument as well," he said as he recounted what happened that morning. Ron looked very surprised at how Hermione had acted but listened intently at Harry's story. When Harry finished, the pair sat silently for another short while. Some of the background noise from the common room filled the air as the two friends mulled over what had happened. Eventually, Ron spoke up.

"Wow. I mean. Blimey!" Ron was barely articulate at the moment. He hadn't noticed Hermione trying to drive Harry and him away from others before but now, it seemed to become clearer.

"Hey, Harry?" Ron asked, cautiously.

"Yeah?" his friend answered dully

"Sorry mate."

"It's fine, Ron. You had nothing to do with it" Harry said. Ron shook his head

"I promise to be a better friend to you." Ron said as he sighed a bit before he continued "Though, all I seemed to be good at doing was being your friend, I guess I thought it was the only thing I could do. I mean really, even just compared to you and 'Mione, I'm good for nothing" Ron exhaled loudly. He didn't really know why but it felt great to say it out loud.

Harry watched surprised as Ron spoke out his heart. He was momentarily stunned. Harry had never thought that he had made Ron feel uncomfortable in their relationship. "Ron, you aren't good for nothing." Harry said firmly. Ron looked up and grinned at his friend.

"I know. If anything, I can beat the boy-who-lived and the brightest witch in our year at chess. Hell, I even beat McGonagall once!" he said. Harry grinned at his friend's new attitude as they relapsed into normal conversation on their respective days, their argument all but forgotten by now. As steel is forged through fire, the crucible they just underwent made their friendship far stronger.


Date: Friday, November 4th 1994

Location: Potions Classroom

The next few days had been hard on our favourite Gryffindor best friends but together they endured it. The Hufflepuffs were noticeably cool at Harry, the lessons that the lions and badgers had together seemed to be far less friendly than usual, especially as Professor Sprout, the Head of Hufflepuff, was teaching Herbology to the two houses at the same time. The Ravenclaws were equally distant, though there was no outright hostility. Many of the fourth and fifth year eagles were more irritated at how Harry managed to do something they could not than at the actual fact that he got into the tournament. The Ravenclaws in his year were hence badgered by their upperclassmen incessantly for information on Harry, thus leaving them less than friendly to the boy-who-lived.

The Slytherins were by far the worst. Malfoy and his gang had taken it upon themselves to make Harry's life miserable, creating charmed badges which wrote 'Support Cedric Diggory, The Real Hogwarts Champion' and 'Potter Stinks' at the wearer's discretion. The other Slytherins were less conspicuous about their opinions about Harry, but it didn't stop him from catching a wary glance from Nott or Roper. Worst of all, Daphne seemed to be ignoring Harry altogether, leaving the boy completely confused at her recent behaviour. This was the case during the double-potions class which Harry and Ron were currently in. Hermione had opted to sit next to Fay Dunbar today, leaving the seat on Harry's right woefully empty.

"Like them, Potter?" Malfoy said as Harry and Ron approached the dungeon door. The blond was pointing to the shiny green badge than was blazoned on his robes. He pressed the centre of the badge, flickering the burnt red words from the 'Support Cedric' message to the 'Potter stinks' message. This elicited howls of laughter from Malfoy and most of the Slytherins. Daphne and Tracey shuffled awkwardly at how sycophantic their housemates were acting, keeping neutral faces all the while.

"Oh ha-ha" said Ron sarcastically as he stopped walking.

"Want one, Weasley?" asked Malfoy in a domineering tone "I've got loads. Bet its worth more than your entire house" He and his cronies began another round of guffaws, much to the dismay of Daphne and Tracey, who had to suppress a sudden urge to palm their faces. After all, Slytherin must show a united front at all times, even if some of their housemates acted far more like Gryffindorish Hufflepuffs at times…

Ron angrily stepped up to the Malfoy heir. "What was that?" he said, his anger evident in his face. The boy drew his wand as he gazed at the blond in front of him. Tracey's expression morphed into one of concern for a moment but one look from Daphne prevented her from doing anything. Around the pair, the students rallied to their respective combatants. Whispering, Pansy began casting silencing charms at the dungeon door and was joined by Blaise Zabini in her endeavour. Daphne frowned and began to cast the counter-charms while Tracey looked on.

"Go on then, Weasley" Malfoy said quietly "Show us why I am the elite and you are the peasant. Do it if you've got the guts – no-one is here to protect you now" Harry instinctively drew his wand as well as the three boys stared at one another. Everyone backed into a wall to prevent themselves getting caught in the potential crossfire as Hermione watched on with concern etched on her face. And, as if as one, the boys moved.

"Furnuculus!" yelled Harry

"Densaugeo" cried Draco

"Slugulus Eructo" screamed Ron

The three spells sailed through the air, Harry and Draco's spells clashing and getting thrown off course. Ron's curse flew straight at Draco, who immediately ducked and allowed Crabbe to get hit behind him, who cried out in shock as a slug tumbled out of his mouth. Beside him, Goyle had gotten stuck with an overpowered pimple jinx, causing painful boils to erupt on his face. Across the hall, Hermione was struck down by Draco's tooth growing spell, her teeth rapidly expanding out of her mouth. As the casualties of the confrontation writhed in pain, Snape had arrived and dealt with the situation by deducting seventy points from Gryffindor and giving detentions to both Ron and Harry. The former bit back a list of curses he wanted to use at Snape as he went over to see if Hermione was fine while Harry only gave her a clandestine glance. The girl nodded curtly and quickly scampered into the dungeon, leaving Harry and Ron outside on their own.

Class quickly commenced, with a smirking Draco jeering as the Gryffindors present stared daggers into Snape's back for deducting so many points unfairly. Harry and Ron got to work on the deceptively useful Girding Potion, a potion that they had learnt last year. However, their anger at Snape prevented them from progressing properly, a fact that was noted by Snape (and they were thusly reprimanded for it).

On the other side of the room, Tracey had, as per usual, finished her potion much faster than most of the class. She looked towards her best friend to see how she was doing and noticed something strange. Daphne seemed to work less concentrated than usual, her hellebore leaves were slightly mismatched in size and the powdered mackled malaclaw tail was uneven. Tracey frowned at her friend's strange behaviour but decided not to question her yet.

She looked over to the Golden Trio, ahem, Golden Duo. Predictably, the two were far behind her in terms of Potion making speed but the two friends seemed much happier. Ron gave a glance in Tracey's direction and gave her a quick grin, which she returned with as much happiness. On the other hand, though, Tracey easily noticed Hermione sitting far away from her usual spot which made her frown slightly. Oh well, Hermione could take care of herself.

Another sweep of the room found Pansy Parkinson glaring at her. Tracey began to frown. Pansy's opinions of Tracey had always been low, as the brunette had never allowed herself to be subjugated but the spoiled Parkinson, despite being a 'filthy half-blood' as Pansy would say. It didn't help that Tracey was best friends with Daphne, a person who had equal social clout as the Parkinson heir and thus neither had power over the other. However, this most recent batch of thinly veiled hatred stemmed from the lack of a shiny green badge on her robes.

You see, Draco and Pansy had convinced a majority of Slytherin house, in all years, to wear the badges. Those who were sycophantic to Malfoy eagerly agreed to wearing the badges. Others soon followed to simply curry favour with Malfoy, or to keep themselves out of the spotlight. Soon, only a few people chose not to wear the ridiculous green badge in Slytherin. Daphne and Tracey had an unspoken agreement to not wear the badges, something which had highly irked the Parkinson.

Pansy had tried to get some higher years to bully the chestnut haired half-blood into wearing the badge but luckily for Tracey, Daphne showed up and the thugs retreated, not willing to risk getting hexed by the Greengrass heir, or worse, getting their parents involved in a schoolyard affair. Since Draco had flat out refused to get involved in the matter, Pansy was left without anything else to use. Because of this, Pansy had been intermittently gushing at Draco and glaring at the two deviants that sat in front of her. Tracey gave the girl a cheeky smirk as she carried on staring back in front, causing the pug faced girl to glower.

The door to the dungeon suddenly flew open as a mousy brown haired Gryffindor walked into the room. Snape got up and privately conversed with the young boy, who seemed to turn redder by every word.

"Very well! Potter – take your bag and get out of my sight!" sneered Snape as he concluded the conversation. Ron quickly patted Harry on his back as the youngest Triwizard champion took off with the younger Gryffindor.

The fourth year Gryffindors and Slytherins had quietly yet quickly gotten out of their potions class, where Professor Snape had dismissed them. Most of the Slytherins were jeering at Hermione, who had quickly run off towards the Hospital wing to fix her currently oversized teeth. Ron watched sadly as his sort-of ex-friend walked away as he felt a tap on his shoulder. Tracey silently motioned him towards a separate corridor, away from the boorish crowd that was still watching the fleeing Hermione. Ron nodded and clumsily, albeit strangely silently walked to the corridor.

The pair walked silently for a short period of time before Tracey led Ron to an unused classroom. Ron look suspiciously for a moment before the impatient Tracey dragged him in.

"Seriously, you still don't trust me?" Tracey asked frowning at Ron "Even Daphne didn't take this long, or Theo for that matter"

Ron shrugged as he continued to listen to Tracey's rant "Also, could you be any noisier when you walk? I had to cast a silencing charm on your feet!" Ron's head moved upward as he learnt why his clumsy footsteps made no noise just now.

"Ughh" moaned Tracey as she sat down on a nearby chair. Ron took a moment to look around the classroom. Like the usual potions dungeons, the room was wide spacious, dimly lit with low hanging green lamps. The few tables and chairs that were still in the room showed signs of wear, even though the furniture had protective and lasting enchantments on them.

"Anyways," said Tracey, breaking Ron out of his thoughts, "You made up with Harry?" Ron grinned at this, nodding somewhat vigorously. "Thanks for what you said, it really helped me"

"No problem," Tracey replied "anyways, I was wondering something. How is Harry's training for the tournament going? It's in three weeks so how is he?"

Ron frowned a little but answered her "Harry is alright I guess; we don't really know what to do so we've mostly been practicing the spells we know." He gave Tracey a shrug as she continued to ask "Like what?" Naturally, Tracey had heard many of the awe-inspiring rumors that propagated the Hogwarts hallways, some that were plausible to some that were obviously false to even some which seemed so strange it looped back around to being plausible. Naturally, Tracey was highly curious about the boy-who-lived power and had incessantly pestered Daphne to find out more information, to which the blonde had either disregarded or forgot (Tracey refused to believe that Daphne Greengrass could not get information out of Harry Potter).

"Mostly the spells we have learnt this year; it's not like we know many more spells. Hermione's the one with all the knowledge, we usually just followed what she said" he explained, scratching his head in contemplation. His words broke Tracey out of her benign fantasies of Harry's mysterious powers. She stood in shock as Ron stared right back at her, confusion beginning to form on his face.

"So you're telling me" Tracey said after a few moments of disbelieving silence "That Harry Potter doesn't know any super-secret or super powerful spells, nor does he have a group of elite aurors teaching him?!" Ron stared blankly at Tracey as he replied "Err… No?"

Tracey started slightly as she realized she had accidentally stated some of her false assumptions as Ron continued "I mean; he has the Patronus Charm but I'm pretty sure you knew that already" Ron glanced at Tracey who nodded slightly. That had been one of the more plausible rumors that had circulated (unlike the ones where he was apparently the heir to all the Founders' Houses). Some people had even claimed that Harry had cast the Patronus against the Malfoy and his cronies during the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw last year, even though most others had chalked it up to the Fumos Blanche spell instead.

Suddenly, Tracey started. "Wait…" her mind processed the information she had just received and she had a shocking realization. "So Harry Potter is planning on entering the Triwizard tournament with only third-year spells, a handful of fourth year knowledge and the Patronus Charm?!" Tracey had walked up to Ron once more, her eyes gleaming with incredulity. Ron got flustered and only managed to nod as Tracey's jaw dropped.

"He knows that he can die, right?" she demanded, to which Ron nodded. "So why isn't he trying to learn anything else?"

Ron frowned and thought a little. The answer to him was obvious. Harry and Ron simply did not have the resources (or rather, the ability to utilize the resources) to get more useful spells for Harry to use. With close to no information about the upcoming task, Ron and Harry agreed that they would be better off making sure Harry was able to do all that he knew, rather than attempt to learn new spells without proper guidance, a feat that they knew was highly difficult to do. He barely even considered lying or not answering Tracey as he spoke.

"We don't know anything about the first task so Harry and I decided that it would be better for him to practise what he knows rather than try something new."

Tracey's eyes narrowed as she persisted "What you mean is, you two can't figure out what to learn, am I right?" she demanded, casting a piercing glance at Ron, who partly wilted at the unexpected hostility displayed. "Couldn't either of you just have gone to the library to find some spells to learn from the higher years? Or asked anyone in our year for help?"

Ron was surprised at Tracey's rant, his emotions on full display on his face. It was only until Tracey began staring at him did he realize he was supposed to respond "Uh… we don't really know what to learn…" Tracey arched an eyebrow as he elaborated "I'm serious, Tracey! Neither of us really knows much about magical combat! I mean, we've been through quite a bit but we've never really used much actual magic to get through it!"

Tracey looked unimpressed. "And why didn't you ask anyone else for help?" Ron flushed and cast his eyes downward. He mumbled something incoherent, prompting Tracey to ask again.

"We don't really know anyone else in our year…" Ron muttered and he shuffled around in obvious discomfort.

Tracey frowned. Her preconceptions about the boy-who-lived had rapid fallen around her as she began to understand the magnitude of embellishment she had over the years pertaining to the legend of Harry Potter (especially from a certain Malfoy heir). With a sigh, she calmed herself and turned to Ron as she spoke. "Fine."

Ron looked over surprised. He was still nervous at dealing with the seemingly calm girl in front of him. He steeled himself for the onslaught that would erupt from the probably deceptively calm girl in front of him. Years of experience with dealing with an irate Molly Weasley née Prewitt, or a tantrum-throwing Ginny Weasley taught him to always be on guard when a girl was this quiet, but for all his experiences, none prepared him for what came next.

"I'll help"

Ron's face scrunched up in confusion. "What?" he offered blankly.

Tracey sighed again and reiterated "I said, I'll help you and Harry on the tournament perpetration. Morgana knows he needs it."

By now, Ron had given up on his expectations on the girl in front of him (again) and simply waited for Tracey to elaborate. "Look," she said "My dad's an auror right? He taught me a bunch of spells that I could learn in combat. I could probably teach you two some of what I know, that should work right?"

Ron nodded as she gave him a weak smile. "Alright, I'll have to owl my father to get some more information on the spells. When and where are you two practising next?" she asked, turning to Ron once more. The boy answered "Er… The classroom closest to the Dark Tower. Er… tomorrow after breakfast?"

"Good, I'll be there." Tracey answered. With a flourish of her robes, she turned. "Well, I hope you appreciate a girl like me taking time out of my weekend to help you two out." She said with a smirk. Ron grinned and nodded as Tracey left the room. With a start, he realized that he had been talking to her for a long time and quickly hurried back to Gryffindor Tower to put down his things before dinner.


Location: Daphne's Dormitory

"So" said Tracey, glancing at the person lying on the bed in front of her.

"Hm?" replied Daphne, looking up from her reading of the book Curse and Counter-Curses while sprawled on her bed. It was past curfew already, so the Slytherin common room was filled with people as usual. As such, Daphne and Tracey had decided relocated themselves into the former's room.

"I'm going to help Harry on his pre-tournament training" Tracey said casually. Daphne did not have any physical reaction, only giving an unladylike grunt in acknowledgement as she returned to reading.

Tracey frowned "Really? You aren't even going to say anything?" she asked, to which Daphne simply ignored. With a frustrated sigh, the brunette left the room, huffing slightly as she walked out the door.

Daphne frowned slightly as she watched Tracey walk away. For some reason, thinking about Harry Potter these past few days made her feel irritated for some reason and she didn't know why. Pursing her lips, she decided that she had enough of reading and went to sleep, trying to force herself from getting into a worse mood.


Spells Used:

Furnuculus – Pimple Jinx

Densaugeo – Tooth-Growing Spell

Slugulus Eructo – Slug-vomiting Charm

Fumos Blanche – White Smokescreen Charm

A/N: A few differences from what happened in canon, let's see where it takes us

Next Time: Realization