The name of this chapter is just chapter nine because it's hard to find an appropriate name.

There are extracts from the Goblet of Fire in this chapter.

Enjoy.

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CHAPTER NINE

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The four time travelers kept together whenever they could. They stayed in the room of requirement for the most time, and in the Gryffindor common room.

Harry's magic was not yet fully replenished, but now Harry was sure that his magical levels had carried over from the time travelling. That was good. He could kick some death eater ass now.

The four of them were sitting in the room of requirement, lounging in hammocks. Hermione was reading the daily prophet and commenting on the general stupidity of the ministry, Ron was trying to sleep, and Harry and Ginny were reading wizarding comics.

"Harry?" Ron called out. "What's your plan for the summer? Let things play out like last time? What about the dementors?"

"I'm not sure," Harry said. "I'd like to get access to my family vaults, there's loads of useful stuff there, but I'm still underage... I'll talk to the goblins and see if I can do anything. I'll get rid of the trace as well. I'll probably move to House West after a week or so... I'm not looking forward to staying with the Dursleys. I don't know if ill be able to stop hexing them."

"Don't do anything too stupid," Ginny warned him. "Although those brutes probably deserve anything you do to them."

"Me? When have I ever done anything stupid?" Harry asked, his voice dripping innocence. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Albus will probably have someone keeping an eye on me, like last time," Harry said. "I wonder how ill get to Gringotts... If only I could go phoenix..." He sat up straight. Anybody who has sat in a hammock knows how difficult sudden movements are in these particular contraptions. Harry steadied himself.

"Hermione!" He said, excited. "Do you think I could change into my animagus forms?"

"Maybe... I..."

Ron spoke up, his eyes still closed. "Maybe you could get up and find out."

Harry sprung to his feet. He focused, reaching for the massive wolf in him. And two seconds later he had morphed. With a delighted howl he jumped at Ron, his teeth snapping through the fibers of the hammock. Ron crashed to the ground unceremoniously.

Ginny laughed, and she was happy for Harry. She knew how much he loved his wolf form.

Harry pranced around, reveling in the power of his body, the liquid strength, the grace...

He demorphed, grinning hugely.

"Mutt," Ron muttered, clambering into another hammock that the room made for him.

Seeing Harry change into his animagus form made Hermione remember something. She squealed and tumbled from her hammock, dashing out of the room.

The others didn't bat an eyelid.

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Five minutes later she was back. She looked very pleased with herself.

"Well?" Ron asked her.

Hermione had kept one hand behind her back, hiding it from the others. Now she showed them what lay in her hand. A glass jar, with a few leaves inside... And one black beetle.

Harry and Ron burst out laughing.

"What is that?" Ginny asked. Then she remembered a story Harry had told her. "Is that... Skeeter?"

Hermione nodded. "I completely forgot I had captured her," she said. "It was at the bottom of my trunk."

"You're a genius Mione," Ron told her fondly.

"How long will she last in there?" Harry asked. "Wait! She can't hear anything we say, can she?"

Hermione shook her head. "She can't hear us. Don't worry about her starving or something, she can stay alive in there for another two weeks, easily."

"We should try to use her," Ron said. "Maybe she can write an article and get it published, tell the public Voldemort is really back."

"I'll take her," Harry decided, stretching out and taking the glass jar. "Let her stay in the jar for a week, then I'll let her out and see if I can't strike a deal with her. I can be... convincing."

Ginny snorted.

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The last day arrived. Early that morning, Harry left the Gryffindor tower, under his invisibility cloak.

His mission was simple : help Luna Lovegood. He would get anything that had been stolen from her, and he would give it back to her. He wouldn't do anything about her bullies today. Once the fifth year started however...

He checked the map. Luna was in the astronomy tower.

He made his way there. There she was, looking out over the edge. Harry wanted to force her away from the edge, he remembered how Dumbledore had fallen...

Focus Harry, he told himself.

He took off the invisibility cloak and walked to Luna, standing by her, looking out onto the grounds. Streaks of red mingled with gold, the light glinting on the lake's surface, signaling the start of another day.

"Hi Luna," he said.

"Hi," she said. Her voice was dreamy. Luna-ish.

He didn't have to chit chat with Luna. With her, he could just cut to the chase. She wouldn't feel awkward.

"Luna, I'd like you to be my friend."

"Are you joking?" Luna's voice wasn't hard, or angry. It was a matter-of-fact tone.

Harry mentally cursed the stupid Ravenclaw bullies.

"Luna. I promise never to call you loony. I promise ill never turn my back on you. Believe me."

"I do," she said simply. "You're very different. Is something wrong with you?"

Harry had expected something like this. Luna Lovegood wasn't off her rocker. She was so in tune with magic, that she could sense it to a certain extent, and he believed she could even see magical energy from time to time. This caused her to act like she did. Her mother's death had hit her hard, and having a slightly odd father with almost the same powers hadn't helped too much.

"I'm better than ever," Harry assured her. "Luna, I know people take your stuff and hide them. I want to help you get it back."

"They think I'm mad." Luna said serenely. "And I don't want you in trouble."

"I won't get in trouble, I promise." Harry told her. "And I don't think your crazy. Look. I honestly think, that you're a loyal friend. Those people are bullies and fools, they can't understand you, and they can't accept you."

"It might be nice to have a friend... Friends?" She asked him, her inflection wondering and hopeful.

"Best friends," he told her. She beamed at him. "Now, tell me what's missing, and I'll summon it for you."

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Ginny, Ron and Hermione had just woken up and come down to the common room when Harry came back. He was grinning.

"What's got you all happy?" Ginny asked him.

"Luna," he said. "I promised her we would be her friends, and I helped her find everything that had been stolen from her."

Hermione smiled warmly at him. "That's nice of you."

"Yeah," Ron said. "Hey, you ought to talk to Neville too. He's still a bundle of nerves you know, all he needs some confidence and he's the Nagini-slayer."

The other three stared at him.

"What?" he said indignantly.

"That was so... Sensitive." Hermione told him.

"Thoughtful." Harry said.

"Deep," Ginny added.

Ron scowled at them, then grinned. "Idiots."

(0)

The leaving feast was the same as last time. The atmosphere was subdued, there were no celebrations, no smiles and laughter.

Dumbledore made the same speech.

"The end," said Dumbledore, looking around at them all, "of another year."

He paused, and his eyes fell upon the Hufflepuff table. Theirs had been the most subdued table before he had gotten to his feet, and theirs were still the saddest and palest faces in the Hall.

"There is much that I would like to say to you all tonight," said Dumbledore, "but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should be sitting here," he gestured toward the Hufflepuffs, "enjoying our feast with us. I would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to Cedric Diggory."

They did it, all of them; the benches scraped as everyone in the Hall stood, and raised their goblets, and echoed, in one loud, low, rumbling voice, "Cedric Diggory."

Harry caught a glimpse of Cho through the crowd. There were tears pouring silently down her face. He looked down at the table as they all sat down again.

"Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff house," Dumbledore continued. "He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about."

Harry raised his head and stared at Dumbledore.

"Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort."

A panicked whisper swept the Great Hall. People were staring at Dumbledore in disbelief, in horror. He looked perfectly calm as he watched them mutter themselves into silence.

"The Ministry of Magic," Dumbledore continued, "does not wish me to tell you this. It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so - either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Cedric died as the result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory."

Stunned and frightened, every face in the Hall was turned toward Dumbledore now...or almost every face. Over at the Slytherin table, Harry knew Draco was talking with Crabbe, a smirk on his face. But it didn't bother Harry anymore.

"There is somebody else who must be mentioned in connection with Cedric's death," Dumbledore went on. "I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter."

A kind of ripple crossed the Great Hall as a few heads turned in Harry's direction before flicking back to face Dumbledore.

"Harry Potter managed to escape Lord Voldemort," said Dumbledore. "He risked his own life to return Cedric's body to Hogwarts. He showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honor him."

Dumbledore turned gravely to Harry and raised his goblet once more. Nearly everyone in the Great Hall followed suit. They murmured his name, as they had murmured Cedric's, and drank to him. But through a gap in the standing figures, Harry saw that Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and many of the other Slytherins had remained defiantly in their seats, their goblets untouched. Dumbledore, who after all possessed no magical eye, did not see them.

When everyone had once again resumed their seats, Dumbledore continued, "The Triwizard Tournament's aim was to further and promote magical understanding. In the light of what has happened - of Lord Voldemort's return - such ties are more important than ever before."

Dumbledore looked from Madame Maxime and Hagrid, to Fleur Delacour and her fellow Beauxbatons students, to Viktor Krum and the Durmstrangs at the Slytherin table. Krum, Harry saw, looked wary, almost frightened, as though he expected Dumbledore to say something harsh.

"Every guest in this Hall," said Dumbledore, and his eyes lingered upon the Durmstrang students, "will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. I say to you all, once again - in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.

"It is my belief- and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken -that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst.

"Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."

Dumbledore sat back down.

Harry took a deep breath and stood up. Everyone looked at him, whispers broke out again.

His voice was calm and even, and it carried an aura of authority. Nobody asked him to sit down.

"I want all of you," he said, "to go home and tell your parents what really happened. The Triwizard cup was a portkey; it carried me and Cedric to a graveyard, where Cedric was killed. Voldemort was resurrected using my blood. We fought and I managed to escape.
"The ministry and the daily prophet will continue to deny the return of Voldemort-" people gasped as he said the name - "but I'd like to point this out to you: It doesn't matter whether you believe he's back or not. If your family - if someone you love - is targeted it doesn't matter whether you believe he's back or not. They'll die anyway." More whispering broke out, but Harry ignored it. "Be prepared. I cannot stress this enough, you'll hear all sorts of things in the papers, the minister will attack the headmaster's integrity, but that won't change the fact that Voldemort is back. But if you can convince your parents, and the wizarding public opens its eyes and thinks a bit, maybe things can change."

He paused and spoke again. "Any ally of Voldemort is our enemy. We will stand together, and let this is be warning to anybody, anybody at all who stands alongside Voldemort. We will avenge Cedric.
"We are at war."

Malfoy's sarcastic comment died in his throat as Harry met his eyes. Harry's eyes were hard, for a moment Draco felt fear, but then he pushed it away. This was all just big talk.

Harry nodded to Dumbledore and sat down. Dumbledore inclined his head in return.

Dumbledore was surprised at Harry's impromptu speech. He seemed to radiate a sense of authority and confidence that Albus hadn't seen in him before.

(0)

They sat together on the train ride home - just the four of them. Hermione was reading, Harry and Ron were playing chess, and Ginny was peering into the glass jar, studying Skeeter.

"Malfoy's going to make an appearance you know," Hermione said. "Don't do any permanent damage."

Ron looked happy at the thought of getting to beat Malfoy.

"Nobody fire any curses," Harry said. "Let me talk to him first."

Ron's face fell. "Harry come on! I want to hex him! You want to hex him!"

"After I talk to him, if he still wants to pick a fight, you're welcome to hex him," Harry said.

The door of the compartment slid open and Draco Malfoy stepped into the compartment.

Crabbe and Goyle were standing behind him. All three of them looked pleased with themselves, their arrogance beefed up by the return of the dork lord...

"So," said Malfoy slowly, advancing slightly into the compartment and looking slowly around at them, a smirk quivering on his lips."You caught some reporter, and Potter's Dumbledore's favorite boy again. Big deal."

His smirk widened. Crabbe and Goyle leered.

"Trying not to think about it, are we?" said Malfoy softly, looking around at all four of them. "Trying to pretend it hasn't happened?"

Ginny, Ron and Hermione were furious. Harry was smiling at Draco.

Harry flicked his wand, closing the compartment door. He didn't want Fred and George hexing Malfoy this time. Not yet anyway.

Draco jumped when Harry waved his wand, but the arrogance returned when Harry lowered the wand again.

"You've picked the losing side, Potter! I warned you! I told you you ought to choose your company more carefully, remember? When we met on the train, first day at Hogwarts? I told you not to hang around with riffraff like this!" He jerked his head at Ron, Hermione and Ginny. "Too late now Potter! They'll be the first to go, now the Dark Lord's back! Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers first! Well - second - Diggory was the f-"

Harry stood up and walked over gracefully to Malfoy.

Crabbe and Goyle made to move, and Harry pointed his wand at them. They slammed into the compartment door and were held there.

Draco's eyes widened and he took a step back, pulling out his wand. Harry smiled at him, and Draco felt that fear again.

"First of all, let me tell you that Voldemort is a half blood himself. His dad was a muggle. Voldemort's real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. If you don't believe me, you're welcome to research it. Not that I care. Anyway..."

Harry reached out and caught hold of Draco's hand, twisting sharply. His other palm pushed Draco up against the door, next to his minions.

Harry brought Draco's wand hand up, and pointed the wand at his forehead. The tip of the wand dug into Harry's skin.

"Say the words Draco." Harry's voice was quiet, toneless. "Kill me. It's just two words. Say the cutting curse if you don't want to use an unforgivable. Use the blasting hex. At this range, a powerful stunner might cause brain damage."

Draco stared at him, his eyes wide. For five seconds nobody breathed. Harry gave a short bark of laughter and released Draco's hand.

"Being a death eater isn't fun and games Draco. Do you really want to kill, hurt and torture people? Do you like getting tortured yourself? The Dark Lord isn't merciful. Can you do it? Do you like blood, Draco?"

Malfoy said nothing, he was barely breathing...

"I have a message for your father Draco." Harry walked away and sat down. He looked up and looked into Draco's eyes.

"Tell Lucius, tell him I'm done playing games. Tell him to watch his back. Tell him to be scared."

"I know which side I'm on Draco. I know what it means. But do you?" He turned back to the chessboard. "Now get out." He released Crabbe and Goyle, and opened the compartment door with another flick of his wand.

Draco finally found his voice. "We'll see Potter. You and the mudblood and-"

It was if someone had exploded a box of fireworks within the compartment. Blinded by the blaze of the spells that had blasted from every direction, deafened by a series of bangs, Harry blinked and looked down at the floor.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were all lying unconscious in the doorway. Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were on their feet, all three of them having used a different hex. Nor were they the only ones to have done so.

"Thought we'd see what those three were up to," said Fred matter-of-factly, stepping onto Goyle and into the compartment. He had his wand out, and so did George, who was careful to tread on Malfoy as he followed Fred inside.

"Interesting effect," said George, looking down at Crabbe. "Who used the Furnunculus Curse?"

"Me," said Ginny.

"Odd," said George lightly. "I used Jelly-Legs. Looks as though those two shouldn't be mixed. He seems to have sprouted little tentacles all over his face. Well, let's not leave them here, they don't add much to the decor."

Ron, Harry, and George kicked, rolled, and pushed the unconscious Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle - each of whom looked distinctly the worse for the jumble of jinxes with which they had been hit - out into the corridor, then came back into the compartment and rolled the door shut.

"Exploding Snap anyone?" Fred asked.

"I'm glad I'm not a death eater," Ginny whispered to him. "You were scary."

Harry winked at her. "And yet you boss me around."

She smiled at him. "I'm your wife," she said, careful not to let the twins overhear. "I'm allowed to do that."

(0)

Harry kept Fred and George back, and just like last time he gave them the money from the tournament. He also told them he would invest heavily in their company, but they had to study and score decently for the remainder of their school years. And Harry would have access to their latest inventions for free.

He and Ginny stood close to each other at platform nine three quarters.

"Don't do anything rash. Don't hex the Dursleys," Ginny told him. "Well, hex them if you can do it undetected. I'll write to you."

"Yeah, I'll stay safe," Harry told her, even though he had no intention of it. And Ginny knew it. "See you soon."

Above them, a sprig of mistletoe materialized. People around them stared, but they didn't care.

Ginny peeked over Harry's shoulder. Fred and George, who else?

"It's worth it," she said, looking at the twins.

Harry nodded and squeezed her hands. It was worth coming back in time.

"Uh-oh, mums looking. She doesn't seem too happy. Maybe you should step even closer."

Harry chuckled. "Hey, I'm better than Michael Corner aren't I?" Harry asked.

"Maybe," Ginny teased. "I haven't dated him yet you know. Right, Dad's waving me over. See you when I see you."

"See you when I see you."

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Notice how Harry makes the decisions and takes control of the situation. I just wanted to show that the others listen to him, he's the alpha of sorts. That's not to say the other's will never question him, but you probably get the point…

If Cmedance reads this - what on earth has happened to you?

Thank you for reading, and do review!

Cheers,
Timefreak