Chapter 11 -Always me
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"I'm sure glad they keep holding these tasks on Sundays. You have the Portkey to bring you back here at half an hour before the second task begins?"
"Harry your going to drive Dumbledore bonkers with this plan of yours." Luna giggled.
Morag added, "I just hope his wards don't pick up on us leaving Hogwarts it's only Friday night."
"Don't worry. Come on, its dark enough now, let's go."
Dumbledore's wards did indeed pick up three animals leaving Hogwarts grounds towards the forbidden forest. Had it not been so dark Dumbledore might have attempted to intercept what he didn't see but…
The Golden Nemean Lion was loping toward the forbidden forest with a blonde Persian cat firmly attached on its back. It was the bald Eagle that was having trouble maintaining its balance. While the Eagle's claws were firmly grasping the mane of the lion, its perch on top of the lion's head was a bit precarious.
/Scene Break/
Last night I got the girls out of Hogwarts and all of our plans had been put into place. I was sitting in the common room just before curfew. I was still trying to get my brains around a gorgeous female called Death. Tomorrow was Sunday and the second task so I expected one of the professors at any moment. The common room door opened…
"Mr. Potter please have your wives come to my office immediately. Here's a hall pass for them to use."
"Professor didn't you get my message? My wives are off in London on family business."
POP
"Doodles be sorry, Doodles be busy Miss Katze." Doodles handed McGonagall my letter and…
POP
The expected tongue lashing that I expected didn't happen as McGonagall turned and sped out of the common room. Yep, it's great when a plan comes together. Doodles had done her delivery perfectly on time.
/Scene Break/
The girls arrived back at Hogwarts just under a half an hour before the beginning of the second task. With a girl on each arm I strolled down to the lake trying to keep a straight face. I did hear a snicker or two from Morag while Luna was softly humming one of her little tunes.
Bagman started the task, "You will start on my whistle. You have one hour to recover what has been taking from you. So…on the count of three. One… Two… Three!"
Neville and Fleur had opted for the bubblehead charm while Victor transformed into something that looked like a shark. I saw this as I shouted…
"Accio Harry's special trunk." When it arrived I opened it and started pulling out the miniaturized items. A simple 'Finite Incantatem' and the underwater sea scuba two-seater with windshield reverted to its normal size. The motor drove two stainless steel propellers driving the craft up to 80 km an hour now floated on the lake. Pistol size spear guns were mounted on either side of the driver and the passenger seats. I slipped on the fins, strapped on the scuba tank and masked and headed to the bottom of Lake for my theme park adventure.
This was the first time for me and I was enjoying the bottom of the lake. About twenty minutes into the task I saw a couple of people assisting Fleur back to the surface so I figured I best find the hostages. Merlin only knew what Dumbledore had come up with that would count as something I sorely missed.
As I pulled up to the remaining hostages all I could do was shake my head, this had to be some kind of sick joke.
It was apparent that Neville and Victor had already rescued their hostages and were long gone. I pulled the knife from the glove compartment and headed toward Fleur's sister. Whether it was the scuba vessel or I was taking the wrong hostage the Merpeople got quite upset. When the first Trident zipped by I sent a couple of 'Depulso' spells at the offending Mermen basically as a warning. I had by now cut the ropes binding the little girl and was moving her toward the vessel. The second Trident would've hit the girl had I not moved us out of the way. One of the Mermen warriors decided to charge Trident pointed at my chest. He got the shaft, in the shoulder, from the spear gun on the passenger side as I buckled the little girl into the rear seat.
My using the spear gun really set them off and a good number of them charged. I hurled several 'Confringo' curses. This froze the mob as it's not every day you see exploding mud and Mermen burning in a lake. This gave me enough time to hop into the front seat and head to the surface with all good speed. The Merpeople could keep my hostage, Draco Malfoy.
No sooner had by vessel touched the shoreline when everybody started yelling and asking questions…
"Harry are you okay?" Morag yelled.
"Gabrielle! Is she alive? Is she 'urt?" Wailed Fluer.
"Harry my boy where's your hostage?"
Dumbledore went silent, Weatherby started screeching while Fudge looked like he was having a stroke when I said… "If you want to save any pieces of Malfoy you had better get down there. The Mermen are totally upset as I had to kill a couple of them."
While everyone was yelling and screaming I pulled the ignition key and grabbed my wives and headed to the castle. I was looking forward to a hot bath once I got this wetsuit off; it was in the middle of February after all.
What no one had noticed was the beetle that had taken off from Hermione's hair like a supersonic jet aircraft heading for the Daily Profit building.
Of course it wasn't but the next morning before the three of us were in the headmaster's office with all the usual suspects…
"Dumbledore as Minister I'm going to have to arrest Potter for murder…"
"First I want to see him expelled from Hogwarts, he didn't even attempt rescue his hostage, just like his father…" Snape was bellowing.
"Minister your own laws don't classify the Merpeople as human so think of another pathetic excuse for your problems.
"Snape, my hostage was supposed to be someone I sorely would miss. First off I would never miss that slimeball and please don't tell me that you successfully got him away from the Mermen…"
"Harry that's Professor Snape…"
"Poor joke Dumbledore, he…"
Dumbledore's fireplace roared to life and the head of Madame Bones appeared. "Minister! You best return to the Ministry as you have several problems that have arisen."
"Amelia please explain this interruption."
"The Daily Profit this morning is accusing you of supporting Albus Dumbledore who is being accusing of everything from kidnapping to endangering students and starting a war between the Merpeople and France. The French minister has already contacted us via the Floe."
Luna, Morag and myself departed by the door as the Minister and Dumbledore leapt into the 'Floe' for the Ministry.
/Scene Break/
Now one can always find me with a book in my hand or my arm around Luna and Morag but I'm not exactly a man of the world. It then becomes obvious why females are so strange to all young males. Finding the right female to guide you to the rigors of the unknown called dating is just delicious. There was always something new that I was directed to or led willingly towards paradise. Allowed to find an earlobe or an exposed neck was extremely enjoyable. Unfortunately June arrived and so it brought the third task.
While I was allowed to skip some of my classes because I was in the tournament everybody seem to believe I was just a normal wizard. Unfortunately my practice of previously learned spells and curses was restricted to the forbidden forest. It was not that I was trying to hide but I was so powerful than average classrooms spell could kill. Adjusting the power flow through my Russian wand or wandless magic required constant practice. Unfortunately when I got to Ollivanders for my Holly and phoenix feather wand it did not exist in this new adventure so I just opted to use my Russian wand. Ollivander's Spruce and Dragon tongue wand could sit in my back pocket.
/Scene Break/
It is said that time waits for no man and it almost seemed the next day it was time for the third task.
"Mr. Potter it's time for you to report to the Quidditch pitch." Professor McGonagall informed.
Ten minutes after I arrived, the stands had begun to fill. The air was full of excited voices and the rumbling of feet as the hundreds of students filed into their seats. The sky was clear and the first stars were starting to appear. At least the night would not be totally shrouded in darkness.
Not long after I stepped into the maze is when I wanted to give those cute little females called 'The Fates' a good spanking. While thinking along that fantasy I was still able, with their information, to breeze through the maze and grabbed the cup which of course was a Portkey. However those cute little twits didn't tell me that they tweaked the task.
I grabbed a cup which was a Portkey and I arrived in the graveyard but somehow Longbottom had beaten me there. One very good spanking of the Fates was deserved!
Somebody must've put a Portkey on Longbottom while he was in the maze so when I arrived Voldemort was already back. When I arrive with the tri-wizard cup, there are a dozens of Death Eaters in front of me ready to fight. Another good nonsexual spanking was definitely going to be administered if I ever got out of this mess and my hands on those three.
I must've been a bit excited because I started shooting stunning curses every which way from Sunday. Well anybody would have panicked facing that many bad guys who were all throwing nasty curses in my direction. Nobody but nobody faces that many Death Eaters and lives. It would have been stupid for me to sit in one place behind a shielding charm. Even powerful shields can fail if enough curses hit it at the same time. They had me rolling to my left and raising another shield. I had again let loose a number of stunners and was definitely not going to stop to see what effect they were having. What I did see was a large marble statue just in front of me that would offer some protection in addition to my shield. I rolled behind the statue's thick base.
The large marble status gave me a chance to reflect and settle down and ask myself why I was playing patty cake with these idiots. I reached around the side of the statue and loose a 'Bombarda' spell. That definitely got their attention as the curses flew ripping out good size chunks from the statue. I stayed low behind the statue's base while planning on sending another 'Bombarda' spell. It suddenly went quiet. I was arguing with myself as to peak around the statue or not. I threw another curse into the graveyard without looking or exposing anything more my wand and my hand. My curiosity got the better of me as the quiet continued. So I peeked around the statue, from the other side, with the 'Bombarda' spells on the tip of my tongue, and found an empty graveyard. From the bloody bits and pieces I assume my spell went right through the Death Eaters shields. I was shocked that the Death Eaters not in pieces apparently had gotten the hint and disappear. Then I got the impression that my 'Bombarda' spell might have exploded a second and third death eater extra or my stunners were lethal or both. While I was trying remember how many stunning curses I threw and compare them to the bits and pieces I hadn't thought about what happened with Longbottom. When my thinking was able to come around to him, I figured he had grabbed the tri-wizard cup and was back at Hogwarts as both were missing. The Graveyard was now eerily quiet. As my body and mind got a little calmer I felt it was odd that Voldemort hadn't stuck around to fight.
/Scene Break/
The 'Fates', tweaking of the tournament, deserved another round of spankings with a Quidditch bat. I would come to find out that I was half way right, the tri-wizard cup was gone along with Longbottom and so were the remaining Death Eaters which included Voldemort. What I did not know at that time would have fill the Goblet of Fire to the brim. My immediate problem was getting back to Hogwarts. I knew the 'Apparation' trick but unless you knew your limitations splinching was only one of the nasty side effects. Since I had no idea where I was or how far away Hogwarts was I was going to have hoof-it to the nearest road and hopefully call the Knight bus.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, Neville had returned with the tri-wizard cup unfortunately he was tied to the cup with several long ropes trailing behind him. Attached to those ropes were Voldemort and a bunch of his followers. Dumbledore apparently had made a Portkey of the cup to bypass the wards at Hogwarts. Voldemort had planned for an attack on Hogwarts all along.
Voldemort magically threw Longbottom to the side and started making demands of Dumbledore as the ensuing battle raged between teachers, Aurors and Death Eaters.
Voldemort was in a rage, "I demand the Boy-Who-Lived to be brought before me or I will destroy every living soul here at Hogwarts. I want Harry Potter now!" Voldemort then threw the killing curse to where Longbottom was scrambling to escape the area. "That imbecile could not vanish a dead mouse! I want Potter now!"
A Beetle hiding in the foliage of a tree was takes mental notes as Dumbledore continued to engage Voldemort.
Voldemort of course again escapes with his death eaters after inflicting numerous injuries and a couple of deaths. Voldemort had his dance with Dumbledore but the numbers were against him. His surprised attack had failed but he had done his damage and departed.
That's when I came walking in through the open wrought iron gates, the ones flanked with stone columns topped with winged boars. I was definitely not in the best of moods.
By the time I walked up to the viewing stands everybody still in the area stared at me and said nothing. Finally the girls show up with Morag hissing in my ear…"Voldemort has declared you the Boy-Who-Lived." Well that explained all the weird looks.
After hot shower a change of clothes and a full explanation of what had transpired we entered the Great Hall, hopefully for something to eat. The Hall instantly fell silent but then was filled with hissing whispers. I was extremely happy that the summer started in two days.
/Scene Break/
BUT! There were always the words we were sure to hear…
"Mr. Potter please report to the headmaster's office after you finished eating." Professor McGonagall was again acting as a messenger boy for the big cheese.
As we entered the headmaster's office we found the Headmaster, the Minister, Weatherby, two Aurors, Professor McGonagall and Snape. Weatherby I had run into a couple of times during the tri-wizard tournament, to put it mildly I didn't like the prick.
"Harry my boy we seem to have a problem. That proclamation by Voldemort was heard by a lot of people. We all know that Mr. Longbottom is The Boy-Who-Vanquished Voldemort but I was wondering if you might be able to shed some light on why Voldemort made that astounding statement." I definitely had the feeling that Dumbledore was trying to persuade somebody in the room.
"Sorry headmaster but I don't even know why Longbottom has the honor in the first place."
"You see Harry there was a prophecy that was made before he was born. While we cannot divulge the entire prophecy part of it reads that he will be marked. Neville Longbottom has THE Mark on his shoulder."
"Well that clinches it. He has the mark and is the Boy-Who-Vanquished. If you folks are so superstitious to believe in some stupid prophecy, now all you have to do is convince Voldemort."
"You will not make light of this serious matter we are discussing." Weatherby added his Knut to the discussion.
"You will not…" That's as far as Weatherby got as I waive my hand hitting him with a silencing charm. I figured if he tried real hard he may be able to undo it in a day or two."
"What have you done to my assistant? Aurors arrest the brat immediately!"
"Cornelius I wouldn't do that he…" Fudge immediately interrupted, "Stay out of this Dumbledore!"
The Aurors had hesitated as Dumbledore was as politically powerful as Fudge if not more so. This gave me the chance to jump in…
"Minister as the emancipated Lord of four Ancient and Noble Houses I demand to know your ridiculous charges are immediately."
"He's kidding isn't Dumbledore?"
"I'm afraid not Cornelius I recently had some research done in to this and he appears to be what he claims."
"Oh. Well… That is…I beg your pardon, I was being a bit rash."
I nodded my head and then turned toward Dumbledore. "Is there anything else headmaster?" Dumbledore just shook his head.
I got up and started to walk out of the office with my wives but the last moment I turned, "And that's Lord Potter to you Mr. Weatherby."