Disclaimer: As always I do not own Harry Potter or anything associated with the franchise. This is all JKR's beautiful world, I just enjoy to cause a little bit of chaos in her utopia.
Authors Note:
Thank you to my betas James Marx and SonofPoseidon2018 for their work on this story.
"Speech"
'Internal Dialogue'
French
Parseltongue
Chapter 10: Propositions, Competitions and Delegations.
It was a rather anxious Harry Potter that slowly made his way to the entrance of Dumbledore's office before finding himself in front of the gargoyle.
"Cockroach Cluster."
Immediately the gargoyle stepped aside, granting Harry a clear view of the elaborate spiral staircase that he knew led up to the headmaster's office. Tentatively Harry made his way up said spiral staircase before he reached a large, oak door with an ornate knocker.
Tentatively, Harry stepped forward and knocked three times.
"Enter." Said the brisk voice of Professor Dumbledore from inside the office. Still feeling a slight bit of trepidation, Harry pushed open the door and stepped inside.
The office was decorated just as impressively and eccentrically as Harry remembered from nearly two years previous. He only hoped that this time he was here under much better circumstances.
As if Dumbledore could sense what Harry was thinking he smiled kindly at him and gestured to the seat directly across from him on the near side of his desk.
"I assure you Harry that on this occasion you are not being falsely accused of attempted murder against another student."
Harry smiled at the way Dumbledore referenced the whole Chamber of Secrets fiasco despite himself as he stepped forward and lowered himself into the seat across from the headmaster.
Dumbledore seemed to have a gift for putting people at ease, Harry suspected that as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, as well as headmaster of a magical school full of teenagers it was probably a very useful gift to have.
Harry was distracted by a rush of movement and a rustling of something behind him. Before he could investigate he felt claws lightly dig into his shoulder as a breathtaking phoenix landed on his shoulder and trilled happily as it gently rubbed its great head against Harry's neck.
Harry smiled an easy smile as he gently stroked the plumage of the brilliant bird. "Hello there, Fawkes." He said, his mood seemingly lifted automatically by the presence of the phoenix.
"He does seem to like you." Dumbledore said with great interest and amusement. Fawkes let out a happy note, seemingly agreeing with his old friend.
Dumbledore examined Harry closely before speaking. "I was unaware of your duel with Mr. Nott over the summer."
His voice was not accusatory in the least, just questioning and perhaps a bit disappointed.
"I'm sorry, sir, it was right before we were set to return to Hogwarts and I didn't want to bother you or anything."
Dumbledore merely nodded. "An admirable goal, however, please understand that you are never a bother to me, Harry. If there is ever something you wish to discuss or bring to my attention then you may do so. If you did not want to discuss it, that is understandable, but do not think you are merely burdening an old man with your problems."
Harry nodded.
"I am going to assume that Misters Crabbe and Goyle who go on trial tomorrow afternoon were his associates in the attack?"
Harry nodded again.
Dumbledore just sighed. "All the more reason to go ahead with it then." He said, sounding older than Harry had ever heard him sound before. "Before we do though, and before you bombard we with questions, as will be only natural for you to do, I would like to ask you one of my own. If I may?"
Harry nodded once more, seeing no reason not to.
"Has your scar bothered you at all since the vision of Lord Voldemort?"
Harry thought for a moment but shook his head. "Not that I can remember, no." He answered truthfully.
Dumbledore nodded, looking thoughtful.
"So you still believe that it was a vision?" Asked Harry, wanting to here the words come from Dumbledore's mouth personally.
"Yes I do." Sighed Dumbledore. "You will remember of course our conversation at the end of your second year upon you emerging victorious from the Chamber of Secrets?" Again Harry nodded. "I told you then that you could speak Parseltongue because Lord Voldemort can speak it, I told you then that it was my belief that the curse that failed to kill you that Halloween night linked you and Voldemort more closely than any two wizards have ever been previously linked by magic."
Harry nodded, he did indeed remember that conversation.
"I believe it is this connection that is allowing you glimpses into Lord Voldemort's mind and actions. I believe that this connection is at its strongest when Lord Voldemort is feeling particularly strong emotions. I also regret to inform you that these visions will likely only increase in frequency if Voldemort continues to gain power."
Harry nodded, not really surprised by that fact, it made sense as annoying as it was.
"Now, I imagine you are wondering why I asked for your time tonight?"
Harry nodded for the umpteenth time in the meeting. "Yes sir, I was actually pretty curious."
Dumbledore chuckled. "Curiosity, a great yet terrible thing, but only natural nonetheless. Well, Harry, as I hinted at in the note I had delivered to you I would like to offer you a proposition. Though it may sound like a brilliant blessing at the beginning, I wish for you to hear me out completely before you come to your decision. Do you understand?"
Harry nodded, his curiosity most certainly peeked now.
"Good." Said Dumbledore, stroking his beard distractedly. "It should go without saying that nothing I say should be revealed to anyone under any circumstances unless you receive my expressed permission to do so, I will not make you swear an oath as they are quite easy to fool and I trust you unconditionally."
Harry nodded once more, he found that a lump had formed in his throat at the show of faith from Dumbledore, which made speech a bit difficult.
"Now, it is my belief that in the next couple of years at most, we will be dealing with a Voldemort who has regained a physical form and his full power once more." Harry made to speak but Dumbledore held up a hand silencing him. "Surely Harry, you of all people did not believe that he could be held off forever? Lord Voldemort will return, it is an inevitability. On one hand, it is a good thing for us."
Harry's jaw fell open at the proclamation but Dumbledore merely chuckled once more before elaborating.
"If you will forgive my modesty, or lack thereof, I am a rather powerful wizard, and that power as well as my reputation did indeed serve as quite the deterrent for Tom in the first war, by Tom I am of course referring to Lord Voldemort." Harry nodded, having assumed it was Tom Riddle whom he was speaking of. "Between the two of us, I am hardly young, and the faster that Lord Voldemort returns, the more of an aid I will be. So yes, in that regard it would help us greatly."
Harry couldn't help but agree with Dumbledore in that regard. It was common knowledge that Dumbledore was the only one Voldemort ever feared.
"The issue with this" Dumbledore continued, snapping Harry out of his thoughts "is that it will most certainly be yourself who Lord Voldemort targets above any other, and the longer you have to prepare yourself for that inevitable confrontation the better.
"So, what does this have to do with anything you may be asking yourself? Well, I have decided to see if you would allow me to try my hand at speeding up the process, by which I mean your preparations for the unavoidable danger you will be in."
Harry's jaw fell open once more and he stared at Dumbledore in sheer shock and amazement.
"Now, I would teach you a number of different things, some of them may seem useless to you at the beginning, if you accept the offer I would ask that you conduct yourself with great patience, due to the aforementioned and because much of the magic I would be showing you would be far beyond the capabilities of your average fourteen year old wizard. I have complete faith in you and your abilities. However, it would be a very large amount of work to take on, and I do not wish to take you away from your school work nor Quidditch, nor your personal life. There would be a great deal of self study, especially due to the fact that my schedule is rather full and equally unpredictable, so it is unlikely that we would be able to meet anymore than one or two times a month while you are at Hogwarts."
Harry's jaw had remained open for the entirety of Dumbledore's elaboration and finally he closed it, before opening it again, and snapping it shut once more.
Dumbledore seemed rather amused as he looked on at his potential pupil. Finally, Harry gained the ability to speak and there was awe laced into every syllable. "You would teach me?"
"That is my implication." Said Dumbledore, his lips twitching upwards in amusement. "After all, what is the use for all of the extensive magical knowledge that I possess if it will simply follow me to the grave?"
Harry remained frozen in place do to disbelief for a number of moments before Dumbledore spoke up.
"I can see I have very much caught you off guard." He said, a twinkle in his eye. "You do not need to make an immediate decision…"
"Are you joking!" Piped up Harry. "Of course I accept, I just can't believe that you're offering to do this for me."
Dumbledore smiled, but a moment later his face took on a more serious expression. "You do understand the amount of effort I am asking you to put in on your own time do you not? I expect at least two hours of practice every night, preferably on the practical side of things, with perhaps a bit of time spent on any given reading material."
"That's fine." Said Harry, thrilled at the opportunity now that the initial shock had passed. "But sir, where am I supposed to practice practical magic?"
"Well, I believe many students use abandoned classrooms, though I should certainly not be recommending such things. I would advise against that option because if a prefect catches you out I will not be able to revoke the punishment as it would both give away our secret and appear as a great show of bias."
Dumbledore thought for a moment before smiling. "I believe that I may have hired someone over the holidays who may be of great assistance in the matter. He has after all been most eager to see you."
"Who?" Asked Harry, slightly bewildered at who could fit such a description.
Dumbledore smiled once more before snapping his fingers.
Instantly a small creature appeared before him. For a moment there was stillness as the creature took in its surroundings, and then its large, green eyes found Harry.
"MASTER HARRY POTTER SIR!" Squealed Dobby as he launched himself at a very surprised Harry. Fawkes quickly abandoned his shoulder in time to avoid the impact and instead landed back on his perch, preferring to simply observe the situation. "Dobby has been waiting, sir, Dobby wanted nothing more then to see the great Harry Potter sir. Dobby wants to thank the great Harry Potter sir and…"
"Dobby!" Shouted Harry over the elf's ramblings. "It's great to see you too, but could you please let go of me. I think you might break a rib."
Dobby immediately let go of Harry and stepped back. "Dobby is sorry Harry Potter sir, it is only because Dobby is so excited to see the great Harry Potter once more sir."
He then seemed to realize who else was in the room and turned to Dumbledore, looking apologetic.
"I am sorry Master Dumbledore sir, I only wished to greet the great Harry Potter sir."
"That is quite alright Dobby." Reassured Dumbledore with a small chortle. "It is actually a matter regarding Harry that provoked me to call you here this evening."
"Dobby will get to help the great Harry Potter?" He asked excitedly, seeming to hardly be able to believe his luck.
"If you are able, and if you are willing then yes." Said Dumbledore kindly.
Dobby spun to face Harry at once, his face alight with pride and anticipation.
"How can Dobby be helping the great Harry Potter sir? Dobby will do anything to help, anything just ask of Dobby?"
Harry shot Dumbledore a look that caused him to smile at the young man's expense.
"Erm… ok, Dobby, do you know of anywhere in the castle that I could practice powerful magic and not be able to be found by a prefect or teacher? The room, or passage, or whatever would have to have plenty of room."
Dobby thought very hard for several moments, and for a second Harry thought he had drawn a blank as an expression of sadness crossed the elf's face, but then an idea seemed to come to him and his face split into an ear to ear smile as he bounced on the balls of his little feet.
"Dobby knows a place Harry Potter. Dobby knows the perfect place to help Mr. Harry Potter sir, become an even greater wizard. To become the greatest wizard sir." Dobby proclaimed proudly.
"You do? Where is it?"
"It is called the Come and Go room Harry Potter sir. Though yous humans be calling it the Room of Requirement."
"So the legends of such a room are true?" Asked Dumbledore, clearly very interested.
"Oh yes, Master Dumbledore, sir. The room is spectacular, it can become anything. Anything that Master Dumbledore or Mr. Harry Potter sir want it to be."
Harry's jaw dropped at the description for he knew Dobby would not lie or exaggerate.
"Would it be possible for you to show us the room now Dobby?" Asked Dumbledore curiously.
"Oh yes sir, but it is easy to find, great wizards like you would have no trouble, no trouble at all, it is on the seventh floor sir, across from Barnabas the Barmy."
"Ah." said Dumbledore with a nod. Harry had nodded as well, for he to knew of the place that Dobby was talking about, though he was very confused.
"But Dobby?" Asked Harry slowly. "There is only a blank wall near that tapestry."
Dobby just beamed at him once more.
"Oh yes, Harry Potter sir, that is what it looks like, but it is being very different then a blank wall. You'd be being walking in front of the wall, sir. Back and forwards three times and thinking of you want the room to become, sir."
"I assume that the room follows the basic magical laws associated with transfiguration?" Asked Dumbledore. "That it to say, it could not produce food, nor other humans?"
"Yes sir, that be seeming correct, sir."
"Very well, thank you very much, Dobby, you may go back to the kitchens if you wish."
Dobby beamed at then once more before disappearing with a loud crack.
"He really is an odd elf." Noted Harry.
"I quite like him." Admitted Dumbledore, the twinkle in his eyes as his lips twitched upwards.
"You have your invisibility cloak, Harry?"
"Yes sir." Said Harry, who rarely went anywhere without it.
"Very good, I would very much like for you to put it on and take my arm, we are going to go to the room in question."
By Dumbledore's request it seemed as if they were going to apparate, but Harry knew that was impossible. "But sir, isn't it impossible to apparate inside of Hogwarts, and why the cloak?"
Dumbledore smiled. "It would not do for our little secret to get out, now would it? As for the apparition inside the castle, it is indeed impossible. I think you will find however, that there are equally fast means of transportation."
Harry just shrugged and through on his cloak before taking Dumbledore's offered arm.
Only then did Harry realize what Dumbledore had meant as he had held up one hand and his phoenix had come flying over to them before Dumbledore seized Fawke's tale and they were gone in a flash of fire.
…..
Harry left the Room of Requirement nearly an hour later awe struck at the discovery. It was simply marvellous in every sense of the word. He and Dumbledore had experimented a bit, and even had some fun with the room's capabilities.
It could turn into anything from a training room, to a duelling arena, to a luxurious living quarters, and even a full sized swimming pool.
Harry was so amazed at the discovery he hardly noticed where his feet were carrying him until he arrived in fron to the fat lady. He'd probably have walked straight into the portrait if she hadn't snapped him out of his musings by a rather loud clearing of her throat.
"Oh right, sorry ma'am, balderdash." He said with an apologetic smile. She just harrumphed indignantly and swung open to admit him.
It must have been later than Harry had originally guessed for the room was mostly empty aside from a few first years seemingly pouring over homework, a handful of fifth and seventh years respectively, the twins, and then Ron and Hermione, waiting for him near the fire.
"Bloody hell!" Exclaimed Ron as Harry approached them and took the saved seat between them. "Where have you been all night?"
"Meeting with Dumbledore." Answered Harry, they had decided he could tell his friends about the meeting but that at least for now, Harry would not inform them of their true purposes.
"Blimey" said Ron, seemingly impressed. "What was that about anyway?"
"Just asking me about the duel with Nott, and some stuff about Crabbe and Goyle. He's overseeing the trials as chief warlock."
"Ah," Said Ron, nodding his understanding. "You have any homework to do tonight?"
"That essay for Snape and a quick write up for runes, how about you?"
"Snape's, McGonagall's, and Trelawney's." he groaned. "You wouldn't mind checking over my charms would you? Hermione said she wouldn't do it but I don't want them answered just a bit of help maybe?"
"Just let me finish Snape's first, if you help me with some of the research, I'll look over it and correct your charms."
"Cheers!" Said Ron appreciatively as he scrambled to get up the stairs to the dorm to go collect his potions text.
"You've got to stop helping him." Said Hermione from behind the runes text. "He'll never learn this way."
Harry shrugged. "He's learning the subject better by being corrected then allowed to assume his errors are truths. Besides, it's getting him to do his potions and helping me out at the same time, so it's a win win is it not?"
She sighed, but didn't seem to be able to dispute his point. "I suppose you're right of course." She said. "You do know how to get him on track after all."
"I'm well practiced in that area." He said with a smirk that made her giggle slightly.
"Are you going out for duelling tomorrow?" She asked him, sounding a bit nervous.
Harry nodded. "Yeah, I'm actually pretty excited to tell you the truth, a bit nervous, but excited."
She seemed to wave off any concerns he had. "You'll be fine, Harry, probably be the best in the school, though apparently Diggory is quite good as well."
Harry nodded. "Cedric seems a very capable wizard in general, I imagine he will be tough to beat."
"They'll probably do it in rounds though, since there are multiple tryouts. They'll probably make you all duel each other once over the few tryouts and keep track of the results and overall performances and pick the team based on that."
Harry nodded, he hadn't put that much thought in it but it made sense. "Sounds about right." He said, pulling out his own potions text as Ron made his way back down the stairs.
"You going for the academic one then?"
She nodded, looking a bit sheepish. "You should do it with me?" She suggested, almost sounding desperate.
He smiled at her but shook his head. "We both know I'm far better in the practical side of it. Sure, my theory is really good in charms, transfiguration, and defense; but aside from that I'd be useless. I get good marks because of the practicals in all the others. Besides, I'm already doing Quidditch and duelling, assuming I make both."
Hermione just sighed. "You don't give yourself enough credit. Your theoretical work is really good in potions as well, Snape is just horrible to you and marks you down."
Harry raised an eyebrow, surprised Hermione would acknowledge that, she had defended Snape vehemently in the past.
"Oh come off it." She said, smiling at him as though she could read his thoughts. "I don't think he's evil, but that doesn't mean I don't see what he does to you."
Harry just smiled at her appreciatively in return. "Either way though" he said "I wouldn't have time."
She nodded. "I know, but it'd be nice to have someone I knew."
The sadness in her voice had him taken slightly aback, but their conversation was interrupted when Ron flopped down into the chair to Harry's right.
"Let's get this over with then." He said with authority and so they did.
…..
"Duelling is far more than throwing spell after spell at your opponents." The tiny charms master began his lecture to the large group of students gathered in the great hall, which greatly resembled itself on the night Lockhart had hosted the one and only meeting of the Hogwarts duelling club nearly two years ago. Harry smiled at the fond memory as an image of Lockhart being blasted off the stage came to the forefront of his mind. Quickly and guiltily he turned back into the conversation. One where Flitwick was lecturing the students on the etiquette and complexity of organized duelling.
"We, that is to say, myself and Professor Snape will pair you off one by one and you will duel. There will be three tryouts before Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrive, the team will be decided in those tryouts and announced the night of their arrival."
They began pairing them off but to Harry's displeasure Snape reached him first. "Ah yes, of course. Our very own golden boy has arrived and chosen to grace us unworthy with his presence." Drawled Snape, his ever present sneer well and truly in place. "I think a good duel to wheedle out the unworthy, let's see. Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy, I believe your previous duel was never concluded, step forward please."
Harry smirked, Snape clearly had far too much faith in his student. Or maybe Malfoy had simply asked for this after Harry and Moody had embarrassed him. Either way, Malfoy was not looking so confident now.
Snape whispered something to him, once again giving Harry flashbacks to the duelling club from two years previous.
"Seeing as I am not either of your head of house, I will referee this duel to ensure no bias." Squeaked Professor Flitwick as he stepped forward, Snape looked livid at the proclamation. "Now wands at the ready on go; three, two, one…"
But just like two years previous Malfoy had started early, but this time Harry had expected it.
"Levicorpus." The spell caught Harry off guard, he did not know that one, must have been the one Snape had given him. Not wanting to find out what it did, Harry simply dodged before raising his own wand.
"Everte Statum."
The bolt of blue energy blasted at Malfoy who dove to the side but Harry had expected it. With a swish and a flick of his wand Draco Malfoy was lifted up into the air and hurled head first into the magical force field around the stage.
There was a loud popping sound as Malfoy was thrown back to the ground hard.
Most of the audience cheered and whooped as the blonde hit the ground with a thud.
Snape looked horrified and livid in equal measure. Clearly he had not expected silent casting.
"Do you wish to continue Mr. Malfoy?" Asked Professor Flitwick as he closely inspected the blonde.
Malfoy just nodded before getting back to his feet.
For the next minute Harry allowed Draco to hurl curse after curse at him to no avail, finally he decided to end it when Malfoy had gone too far.
Malfoy had sent a stunner which Harry easily blocked but he followed it up with an incantation that Harry did not know. The jet of black light that flew towards his shield was a bit too foreboding for Harry's liking so he dropped the shield and rolled to the side before coming up on the offensive.
"Expelliarmus." The disarmer flew at Draco who sidestepped, but again he stepped into the path of Harry's next spell, a stunner.
"Protego."
"Bombarda!"
Draco's shield was more than enough to deal with Harry's stunning spell, but his blasting curse blew clean through the invisible Barrier, sending Draco flying backwards into the forcefield once more.
If Draco would have stayed down, Harry would have been forbidden to attack under the laws of duelling. However, as soon as Draco's hand touched the ground and he assumed the position of one about to stand it was fair game.
Harry pelted Draco with several stinging hexis until he fell flat on his rear end, his wand still pointed at Harry.
"Diffindo."
Harry sidestepped the frantic spell easily.
"Serpensortia."
The cobra that erupted from the tip of Harry's wand looked confused for only a moment before Harry hissed.
"Seize him, scare him, but do not harm him."
The snake lunged at Draco who let out a high pitched scream as he was quickly pinned down and wrapped in the coils of the snake.
"Cease fighting!" Commanded Flitwick as he vanished the snake. "Draco Malfoy has been deemed no longer able to defend himself and therefore the winner is Harry Potter."
"But he used dark magic." Protested Pansy Parkinson.
"Parseltongue is not considered dark magic, Ms. Parkinson." Argued Flitwick. "It is actually not banned in duels, and was a very resourceful tactic if you ask me."
That shut the Slytherins up.
…..
The rest of the night was fairly routine for Harry.
He defeated a sixth year girl, and a fifth year boy who had been decent but had posed no real challenge. He was onto the next round. The matchups were already set for that next round. Harry was set to face Terry Boot from his own year, Marietta Edgecombe, a fifth year Ravenclaw prefect who seemed to be the shadow of Cho Chang, and Abraham Montague, a Slytherin sixth year who was actually supposed to be quite good, and was known for his vicious selection of spells, having injured all three of his opponents that night.
The next night saw the first practice of the academic team, but as the practice was held in private and not made open for an audience, Harry had to wait until Hermione returned to the common room to ask her how it had went.
In her usual way Hermione proclaimed that she had made several stupid mistakes when Harry knew it was all rubbish. He knew the mistakes that Hermione were talking about were far too rudimentary for someone of her intellect to make and that, as usual she was only working herself up over nothing.
…..
The weekend had come and gone rather quickly, and just like that the first Quidditch practice was upon them. The hopefuls for the Hogwarts team had been rather disgruntled when they saw that their practice had been scheduled for 6:00 in the morning.
"Who the bloody hell thought this was a good idea?" Asked Fred as he and George walked on either side of Harry down to the pitch.
"Hooch apparently." Harry responded through a huge yawn, impressed he had been able to speak at all.
"But why?" Asked the twins in unison.
Harry shrugged. "It will show her who is really committed, I guess, and probably narrow down the field quite a bit off the get go."
The twins nodded resentfully. "Still bloody stupid though." Cursed Fred.
Harry shrugged.
"You don't even seem that put out." Observed George through a yawn.
"I'm usually up at this time anyways, always have been. It's actually been much earlier in the last few months." He regretted saying that as soon as it was out of his mouth because he could predict the next question.
"Why the bloody hell would you get up earlier?" They asked in indignant unison.
In reality, the real reason Harry had been waking up earlier is because he was almost always woken up with the same nightmare. His mother's final moments, a blinding flash of green light, and then looking into the vacant, lifeless eyes of his godfather.
Sometimes, he would simply relive the dementor kissing Sirius, and witness as his Patronus had been a second too late, and the only family he had ever known ceased to exist in front of his very eyes.
The dreams of his parents sucked, but he could usually get back to sleep afterwards, but not now. Every time he saw that look in his godfather's eyes… he just couldn't do it, it was the one thing he could not deal with. Sirius's death had been closer to breaking him than anything else ever had before, and he could not dwell on it, could not acknowledge it, he had to ignore it, take the responsibility for his failure, but not think of the man himself. That was the only way he could deal with it.
"I usually do my homework in the morning when it's quiet." He said. "It started with me studying for exams last year and I just never really stopped." He did not like lying to them but no one could know this, not even Ron or Hermione. This was his problem and his alone. Despite his slight guilt it was a good lie, it fit with the timeline and everything and the twins believed it without question.
…..
It took quite a long time for all of the hopefuls to be gathered in front of Madam Hooch.
That first day had been standard.
"We will keep going until we have only double the amount of players we need." She had said. "From there on out, those of you selected will attend practices six days a week. On the night the other schools arrive, the team will be announced and we will go from there."
They had been in the air for a number of hours that day. Many of the "hopefuls" had dropped in minutes, but an equal number of them seemed evenly matched, and the practice dragged on quite a bit until finally they had satisfied their goal in terms of numbers and Madam Hooch called a stop to the practice.
…..
Harry's second week back had not been overly eventful. There had been Quidditch practices, but as Madam Hooch had warned they were quite standard, the only difference is that they incorporated muggle exercise into the practices.
Harry did well on anything speed based, probably being the fastest on the team, his cardio was decent, though nothing remarkable, but he did struggle greatly in the strength based workouts. He was rather small, though years of malnutrition tended to do that. But his aptitude for speed and agility "more then makes up for that particular deficiency" according to Madam Hooch.
Aside from that, there hadn't really been anything of consequence.
In charms they had started work on the banishing charm. Harry had learned this charm over a year ago do to its potential applications in combat. Combat magic was a branch of magic he had deeply looked into, both out of necessity and due to his interest into Defense Against the Dark Arts.
As a result he had been rather bored while watching pretty much the entirety of the class struggle with the spell. It was not easy to get right away. By the end of the lesson Hermione had managed it perfectly a couple of times, but was nowhere near consistent. Aside from her, Harry was unsure if anyone else had completed it once.
He had simply performed the spell perfectly a handful of times before Professor Flitwick had just smiled at him and allowed him to read.
It was not until Friday night that something interesting finally happened.
Harry was sitting, working in the common room when he could not help but overhear two all too familiar voices seemingly arguing with one another.
He looked over to see the twins pouring over a piece of parchment whispering urgently to each other. At first, Harry assumed it was merely another order form for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, but he didn't think so, they were far too secretive.
"No," he heard George say contemplatively "that sounds like blackmail, we've got to be careful."
He then looked up and saw Harry looking at him, Harry blushed, looking a bit embarrassed before smiling apologetically at him before he made to turn away but George waved him over.
"Nonsense." Said George as Harry made his way over, pulling up a chair in between the two boys. "You can keep a secret of course?" Asked George, sounding deadly serious. It was this that alerted Harry to the nature of the situation.
He nodded, looking at him intently.
"You remember the bets we had with Bagman at the Quidditch World Cup?"
"Yeah, what about it?" Asked Harry, slightly confused.
"He scammed the lot of us."
Harry was confused. "He gave me the money, and I gave it to you didn't I?" He asked, a bit worried he had forgotten.
Fred simply waved that off. "Yes yes, we know that, and yeah, you gave it to us first thing but that's not what we meant."
"What then?"
"When we woke up the next morning it was all gone." Stated Fred bluntly.
Harry frowned trying to remember it vanishing. He had no recollection of noticing, but he was sure he would have done something with the gold and could not remember seeing it after that day, and it had been a considerable amount, not a meager sum that would go unnoticed.
Slowly Harry nodded. "You're right, I hadn't noticed that to tell you the truth, but you're right, but how is that even possible? I'm taking it we didn't all drop it in the forest afterwards, I didn't even have the same robes on so that couldn't have happened."
"Nope." Said Fred a bit bitterly. "We had ours stored away and in the morning it was just gone."
"But how?" Asked Harry again, legitimately stumped at this point.
"Leprechaun gold." Said George.
Harry's jaw went slack and he stared open mouthed for several moments before face palming. He and Gabrielle had actually laughed at the people scrambling for their gold, laughed at their stupidity. 'Damn karma to hell and back.' He thought with venom.
"That's bloody cruel of him, but genius to be honest." Harry conceded grudgingly. "He must have made a lot of enemies though."
"I'm sure he did." Said George, a malicious grin on his face. "And you're looking at two of them."
"Are you trying to blackmail him?" Asked Harry curiously.
They both shrugged in unison.
"Not if we can avoid it." George Answered.
"We just want him to pay up for real." Clarified Fred.
"How much did he owe you?" Asked Harry.
"About 100 galleons since he gave us just under three to one odds." Said Fred, not missing a beat.
Harry made to get up but Fred stopped him.
"Oi, where are you going."
"I'll pay you." Harry said bluntly.
"Like hell you will!" They said in unison, each taking an arm and pulling the younger boy back into his char.
"I'm serious." Said Harry.
"We know." The duo corassed in unison.
"But we don't want your money." Said Fred.
"It's him who should be paying." Continued George.
"But he won't." Said Harry. "You know he won't."
"Probably not." Conceded Fred with a sigh. "We're trying to think on a way to get him to pay up."
Harry thought for a few moments before he shrugged. "I don't know, I'll think on it."
"You don't need to help us." Said Fred.
"Yeah, you're busy enough with Quidditch and duelling as well as being our little prodigy in class." Said George.
Harry just smiled at him. "It's fine" cut in Harry. "If you won't let me pay you myself, at least let me help."
The twins just sighed.
"You are way too damn selfless for your own good." George concluded.
Harry just shrugged, not really knowing how to reply to that.
"Hey!" Said Fred excitedly, looking between Harry and his twin. "You said you want to help right?" Harry nodded. "Well here's a bloody good idea" continued Fred proudly. "How about you help us find a way into the Triwizard Tournament!"
…..
The next day came, and with it the second duelling tryout.
Overall, the duels were quite fun to watch. Cedric Diggory in particular was rather impressive, beating all three of his opponents on that day.
Harry had demolished the fifth year Ravenclaw girl, it had not even been fair. She had attacked with little more than basic jinxes and charms. Harry had stunned her quickly. Terry Boot was better then Harry had expected, but was nowhere near fast enough, nor did he have the spell repertoire to beat Harry.
Now though, Harry stood across from the boy who he knew would be his biggest challenge thus far.
Abraham Montague was a sixth year Slytherin. He was the second best in his year at Defense Against the Dark Arts, trailing only Cedric. He had apparently been tutored in duelling, or as Harry suspected, fighting at home by his father and had already gained a reputation for being the most dangerous duelist there. It was not just his wide array of dangerous spells, but his willingness to both play dirty and show absolutely no remorse. Harry knew his defense would have to be on point as he bowed slightly to the boy who merely jerked his head in response.
"Begin." Piped up Flitwick.
The duel started fast and furious.
The boy went on the offence at once, throwing cutting curses, blasting curses, and some others that Harry was less familiar with at him all in quick succession.
The boy's onslaught did not end for several minutes, and as Harry's shoulder was grazed by a well disguised cutting curse, he thought just for a moment that he may be overwhelmed.
The boy fired off yet another blasting curse and Harry sidestepped and chose to go on the offensive.
Harry fired a leg locker at the boy, followed by a stunner, disarming spell and bludgeoner.
Montague was clearly taken aback by the speed Harry had fired, there was literally no gap between his spells, one just streamed right behind the other. Rapid casting was very rare, he had certainly not anticipated it from a fourth year.
He managed to dodge the leg locker and raise a shield to block the stunner and disarmer. The bludgeoner broke through his shield and sent him staggering backwards as a cutting curse opened up a wound on his chest.
He snarled as he began to lose blood quickly, he knew he had to finish Potter now or he would lose this duel in the next couple of minutes.
Again he fired another onslaught at Potter, but the boy was fast, faster then he had expected and in an instant he had sidestepped his curses but an idea had come to Montague.
"Confringo!" He shouted triumphantly, pointing his wand at the ground at Harry's feet.
Harry's wand movement was interrupted as the floor under his feet exploded, sending him flying backwards through the air. He smacked hard into the shields which sent a painful jolt through his body as he went ridgid for a second.
Montague cried out in triumph as Potter flew backwards, raising his wand and meaning to step forwards to finish the job when he couldn't. He tried, but simply couldn't. And then he realized why, he was stuck in place, he had clearly been routed to the spot with a sticking charm.
He raised his wand to undo the magic when suddenly he felt it lift.
He spun, intent on making Potter pay when he was hit straight in the face with a cutting curse before hit in the nether regions with a stinging hex before finally being blasted backwards with a bludgeoning curse, all had come in the span of a second.
He flew backwards and smashed painfully into the forcefield, slumping to the ground as he cried out in pain from three different spells.
The pain was so much and so unexpected that he did not even notice when a smiling Harry Potter swiftly disarmed him, and held his wand up with a triumphant grin on his face.
…..
As the one previous had, the next week passed without fus and Harry found himself in the great hall to duel his fellow Hogwarts students one final time.
He ran though his first opponent before running into a sixth year Ravenclaw girl who was very good. She was smooth and fluid with her offence, versatile in her defense and both clever as well as unpredictable in her tactics.
Harry managed to essentially overwhelm her with speed and power. He suspected she was technically the best duelist there, but she lacked the speed and power to keep up with him and Cedric.
Speaking of Cedric, Harry met Cedric in the final duel.
Cedric came at him hard right away, sending a stunner, full body bind, cutting, and blasting curse all in quick succession. Harry shielded the first three but this time he had expected an impact spell so he dove aside, firing a bludgeoner at Cedric's leg as he rolled. The boy dodged by an inch but was caught by Harry's follow up cutting curse to the shoulder.
If Harry had hoped this would slow Cedric down he had been very disappointed. Instead it seemed to light a fire under Cedric as he pressed forward and threw everything at Harry, kitchen sink and all.
It was a long, painful ten minutes later that saw Harry and Cedric breathing heavy, sweating profusely and nodding at each other in confirmation of the respect they now had. But the duel was not over, they were at a stalemate, a metaphorical impasse.
Cedric flicked his wand and sent flaming arrows at Harry who shielded, Cedric's blasting curse missed by an inch. Harry breathed a sigh of relief, his shield would not have held against it.
Cedric had given him an idea though, he had used fire in several creative ways in this duel and Harry figured he had a pretty good knowledge of it. So, would he know of the most dangerous fire? Harry smirked, mentally thanking Tom Riddle for showing him the spell to manipulate fire. Not increase its power, but to mould its shape.
Instead of spelling out his name though, Harry fired a flaming lion from the tip of his wand and all hell broke loose.
The older students in the hall who suspected cursed fire screamed and made for the exit. Snape drew his wand, a furious and terrified look on his face and Flitwick stepped forward his voice a bit shaky.
"Fiendfyre is banned Mr. Potter, not just in duels but in…"
He never finished as Cedric's eyes had gone wide in realization and horror and he cut him off.
"Fiendfyre? Have you lost your bloody mind Potter? Aguamenti Maxima!"
An explosion of water erupted from the tip of Cedric's wand and shot towards the flaming lion. Harry actually had time to smirk at Cedric and mentally congratulate himself on the success of his plan.
Right before the water made impact with the lion, Harry cancelled his minor spell with no more than a flick of his wand and everyone gasped as Cedric's eyes went wide.
"Dipulso."
The wall of water flew towards Cedric, slamming into him at max velocity and throwing him against the forcefield hard, pinning him there.
Harry followed his banishing charm up with a disarmed and Flitwick and Snape hastily vanished the near ocean of water threatening to drown its creator.
Harry walked over to Cedric, breathing heavy from the excursion of the duel and offered the fallen boy his hand.
For several long minutes Cedric did not take it, he just stared up at Harry, slack jawed in disbelief before finally he broke out in hysterics and took Harry's offered hand to pull himself to his feet before clasping Harry on the shoulder, finally gaining control of himself once more.
"We've got this for sure!"
…..
Aside from duelling the weeks had not presented much in terms of classes, Harry however had been practicing tirelessly.
Harry had not had a lesson yet with Dumbledore, but he had recorded some books on defense mainly as well as transfiguration.
Harry practiced every night in the Room of Requirement. Most nights he would return to the common room after midnight, magically exhausted and unable to make it up the stairs. These nights he would simply sleep on one of the sofas nearest the fire.
Hermione had pestered him as to where he was disappearing to but he managed to fend her off for the time being.
One person… or ghost he had not managed to fend off however had been Nearly Headless Nick.
The ghost had tried to say something about Sirius twice now, it had only served to infuriate Harry and he had simply put on his cloak and vanished. He was now even going to the effort of checking the Marauder's map in an effort to avoid the ghost now, he was not about to be reminded of that, not when he was doing so well, he could afford no distractions, with his schedule and ambitions he had no time for Nick to bring up painful memories.
…..
At long last the delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were set to arrive. After the final class of the day, that being transfiguration for the fourth year Gryffindors, the school had gathered outside the front doors to the castle, an unspoken sense of anticipation having settled over the masses as they eagerly awaited the arrival of their foreign counterparts.
Harry got great amusement listening to the inconceivable propositions in regards to the method of transportation that each school would take. One boy had actually suggested Durmstrang would arrive on the backs of dragons.
After a long while, Dumbledore called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers. "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"
"Where?" Said many students eagerly, all looking in different directions.
"There!" Yelled a sixth year pointing over the forest.
Something large, much larger than a broomstick, or indeed a hundred broomsticks was hurtling across the deep blue sky to the castle growing larger all the time.
"It's a dragon!" Shreaked one of the first years, losing her head completely.
"Don't be stupid, it's a flying house." Said Dennis Creevey.
Dennis's guess was closer, as the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the forbidden forest and the lights shining from the castles windows hit it they saw a gigantic, powder blue, horse drawn carriage the size of a large house soaring towards them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos and each the size of an elephant.
The front three rows of students drew backwards as the carriage drew ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed then with an almighty crash that made Neville jump backwards onto a Slytherin fifth years' foot as the horses' hooves, each larger than dinner plates, hit the ground at a gallop.
A second later the carriage landed too, bounding upon its vast wheels as the golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery red eyes.
Harry just had time to see that the door of the carriage bared a coat of arms, two crossed golden wands each emitting three stars before it opened.
A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forwards, fumbled for something on the carriage floor and unfolded a set of golden steps. He sprang back respectfully.
Then Harry saw a shiny, high heeled black shoe emerge from inside of the carriage, a shoe the size of a child's sled. Followed almost immediately by the largest woman he had ever seen in his life. The size of the horses and carriages now made sense, a few people gasped.
Harry had only ever seen one person as large as this woman in his life, and that was Hagrid. He doubted whether there was an inch of difference in their height, though somehow maybe because he was used to Hagrid, this woman, now at the foot of the steps and looking around at the waiting wide eyed crowd, seemed even more unnaturally large.
As she stepped into the light flooding from the entrance hall she was revealed to have a handsome olive skinned face, large, black, liquid looking eyes and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck. She was dressed from head to foot in black sattin, and many magnificent opals gleamed from her neck and from her thick fingers.
Dumbledore started to clap, and the students, following his lead began to clap too, many of them standing on tiptoe the better to look at this woman.
Her face took on a gracious smile as she walked forwards towards Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. Dumbledore, though tall himself had barely to bend to kiss her knuckles.
"My dear Madame Maxime," he said, "welcome to Hogwarts."
"Dumbledore," said Madame Maxime in a deep voice "I 'ope I find you well?"
"On excellent form, I thank you." Said Dumbledore.
"My pupils." Said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her.
Harry, who's attention had been focused on Madame Maxime had not noticed around fifteen boys and girls each, thirty total had emerged from the carriage and were now standing behind Madame Maxime. They were shivering, though it was unsurprising seeing as their robes seemed to be made of a fine silk and none of them were wearing cloaks. A few of them had wrapped scarves and shawls around their heads.
From what Harry could see of their faces, (they were standing in Madame Maxime's enormous shadow) they were staring up at Hogwarts with apprehensive looks on their faces.
"'As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked.
"He should be here any moment." Said Dumbledore. "Would you like to wait here and greet him? Or would you like to step inside and warm up a trifle?"
"We will wait." Declared Madame Maxime, drawing scandalized looks from some of her students. "We would not wish to come across as anyssing less zan grassious and I 'ave matters regarding my 'orses I must speak to you about."
"An honourable decision." Complemented Dumbledore with a smile.
"Madame." Piped up one of the girls near the front of the crowd asked, her scarf still wrapped tightly around her head.
"Me and my sister are freezing, could we pleaze make our way inside?"
Madame Maxime looked thunderous for a moment, but when she saw the identity of the student her face softened considerably.
"Of course Fleur, we will need you and your sister in top form for the tournament. We would not wish for you to get a cold." She then turned to Dumbledore. "Would it be possible for you to spare a student to escort zem inside to the 'all Dumbledore?"
"Why of course, Madame." Said Dumbledore politely, scanning the front of the crowd until his eyes rested on Harry with a twinkle. "Mr. Potter, would you be so kind?"
The Beauxbatons students began murmuring, many of them craning their neck to get a look at him as he stepped forward, his hood drawn on his cloak.
"Of course, sir." He said, inclining his head to Madame Maxime.
The two girls stepped forward. They were both tall, one a few inches taller than the other. Harry felt an odd pull towards one of them and his mind began to go fuzzy, but he shook his head forcefully and rid himself of the feeling before looking to the other and his mind truly did go blank, his jaw miraculously not falling open.
Tall, slim, graceful and as devastatingly beautiful as he remembered with her silvery blonde hair fanning out behind her in the wind and her pale blue eyes shining with warmth as she looked at him was Gabrielle Delacour.
Author's Endnote:
You guys won't know it because the delay in chapter nine will cover it up well, but this one took a while to write, I had a few ideas for the end, and I wasn't sure on how much detail I wanted to go into on the month, because I definitely wanted to get to this point in this chapter.
I know I mostly skimmed over the month, but I think the chapter was long enough as is so I hope you guys enjoy it.
Next chapter; the feast, the announcement of the teams, and an ominous warning.