Chapter 10: Two Champions
Dumbledore's plan wasn't going quite the way he wanted. He thought that by shifting focus of James from Harry to Daniel would help the Boy-Who-Lived grow up in a happy and loving environment, since he was convinced love was the 'power he knew not'. Now he was afraid he was sending Harry down the path of Tom Riddle. From the other professors he got to know that Harry was brilliant in studies and was also slowly gained a number of loyal followers, just like him.
But then he didn't sense anything dark from the older Potter twin. Mysterious, true, but nothing dark or evil. The only problem was he didn't sense anything bad from him too, until it was too late.
'It has been long enough, perhaps it is time to remove that spell...' Dumbledore thought as he grabbed some floo powder and went to his fireplace.
"James? Come over here please, I have something I want to discuss."
Indescribable.
That was the only word Harry and Ginny had for flying. Riding thermals thousands of feet up into the sky then tucking their wings into their sides and diving towards the earth at impossible speeds. Nothing could sufficiently describe the rush that each of them got from that experience. The improved eyesight was another thing neither had really expected. From thousands of feet in the air they could see the smallest creatures, scurrying around on the earth below them, in perfect clarity.
For the first time in their lives Harry and Ginny felt the true unrestricted freedom that only flying could bring. They spent almost the entire first day home soaring, diving, rolling, and gliding through the sky. For a few hours Lily had sat in the backyard of the house watching the two children play happily in the sky.
Finally as the sun began to set Harry and Ginny were forced to come down so that Ginny could go home. Once Ginny was gone Harry ate as quickly as he could. Daniel was spending a few days at the Weasley's but James was still staying at the Manor and had just gotten home from work. Harry left quickly to avoid the thick tension between himself and his father.
The best part of his transformation Harry found out was that as he got more used to it, his animagus form's abilities started staying with him even after turning back. His eyesight fixed and reflexes faster than ever, Harry grinned and put his glasses in his desk, never to take them out again.
July 31st came quickly that summer. This time though, Harry had something to look forward too. Lily was throwing him a party. There were two separate parties. Daniel was having his at the Weasley's and it would be another large one. Harry was having another smaller party at Potter Manor. He didn't mind that there would only be a few guests at his, he was just happy to be having a party for once.
James, Daniel, and Remus were preparing to leave Potter Manor and floo to the Burrow. The only problem was that Sirius refused to go with them.
"Padfoot come on, we're going to be late!" Sirius didn't move from his chair as James spoke to him.
"No thanks James, I'm going to stay here for Harry's party. I might stop by later."
"Why would you want to stay here?" Sirius looked at James in confusion, wondering why they were having a separate party in the first place.
"I don't mind, he's my godson. I should be here. Besides his friends are pretty cool, I sat with Ginny and him last summer. They're pretty funny kids." Instead of placating James, this only seemed to frustrate him.
"Yea but today is special! I'm giving Daniel the you-know-what's! I'll be helping him start a new generation of the Marauders this years! You should be there." James said excitedly making wild hand gestures to emphasize his point.
"I'll stop by after I give Harry his present, alright James?" James reluctantly nodded and disappeared into the flames. Less than a minute after he left Ginny came stumbling through the fireplace just in time to be caught by Harry as he entered the room.
"Thanks Harry, Happy Birthday!" Ginny hugged him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, causing Harry face to turn Weasley red. Behind her Sirius made some inappropriate kissing faces and waggled his eyebrows teasingly. Harry could only roll his eyebrows in response to his godfathers actions.
"Thanks Gin. Neville and Luna should be here soon, I thought we could go flying!" Sirius who had returned to reading a muggle magazine looked up and smiled widely at the mention of flying.
"Alright!"
The day turned out to be enjoyable for everyone. Ginny, Neville, and Luna had been the only students Harry had invited. He'd never been close to many of his house mates. Lily was there, along with Sirius and later in the day Molly showed up to help prepare dinner and wish Harry a happy birthday. They spent the day flying out back and Harry and Ginny found that after flying in their forms, flying on a broom was simple. Despite the fact that they had to use old brooms they easily made Sirius look like a nervous first year in comparison. After cake Harry was forced in front of a pile of presents and told to open them.
He opened his present from Lily first, it was the first actual present she had given him since he was seven. Inside a plain looking box he found two sets of expensive looking dress robes, one the same emerald green as his eyes, and the second bold red with gold trimmings for his house colors. To most fourteen year old males clothes would be a pretty horrible birthday present. Harry knew his mother didn't know enough about him to get him something meaningful, but his Hogwarts letter had arrived that morning requiring dress robes for the coming year. So Harry kissed his mother on the cheek and thanked her for the gift.
The Weasley's sent over a box of homemade fudge, a book on chastity from Percy, and a box of prank items from the twins. Harry showed the book to Ginny who rolled her eyes and shook her head exasperatedly. The twins pranks which were in a box marked WWW were pretty advanced and Harry had a hard time believing they had only gotten three OWLS.
Neville gave him a seventh year Defense Against the Dark Arts book. It was one Harry didn't already own, and it touched on both the use of Dark Arts as well as countering them. Harry looked forward to looking through that one. Luna told him that he would be receiving a lifetime subscription to The Quibbler. This was actually a good present because Harry enjoyed reading the tabloid in his free to time to relax.
Finally Harry reached Ginny's present which was wrapped in a small box. They had agreed long ago to keep their presents small and meaningful rather than grand and expensive. Harry's face still lit up in happiness when he pulled out a hawk shaped pendant attached to a silver chain from the box. Etched into the back of the pendent were the letters 'GW - With you, Always'. Harry felt his eyes watering up, pulled the chain over his head before thanking Ginny.
Finally Harry opened the present from Sirius. Inside a long thin brown box wrapped in gold and blue wrapping paper was a Cleansweep 7. Harry pulled the broom out reverently admiring the craftsmanship.
"Listen Harry, I know it's not the best, but when you're mum told me you liked to fly. I thought she meant recreationally, not that you could out fly any professional Quidditch player. If I'd known that, that would be a Firebolt." Sirius stuttered out nervously. Harry looked appreciatively at his godfather.
"Don't worry about it Sirius. This is a great present, everybody except Daniel uses a Cleansweep on the team, I'm trying out this year," Harry said to his godfather's relief.
"A little birdie told me there won't be Quidditch this year, good for me! I'll simply get you a firebolt next year. Wear that broom out for me Harry, that'll make me less guilty about wasting my parent's 'hard earned' money," Sirius said smirking, leaving Harry to wonder which parts of what he said were sarcastic and sat back in his chair. Almost as quickly he got back up again, looking at the clock.
"Oh no I forgot to stop by Daniel's party! Sorry pup but I have to run or your dad will have my hide." Sirius pulled Harry into a tight hug.
"Don't worry Sirius, you were here most of the day." Sirius grabbed a handful of floo powder before turning to look back at Harry.
"How many times must I tell you? Call me Padfoot!" With that he was gone in a swirl of green flames, and Harry and his friends settled in the living room to talk and fool around until they had to leave.
A heavily cloaked man made his way through a dark abandoned mansion. Years ago this mansion had been resplendent and a loving family had lived there. Tragedy had struck however and now the entire family was buried together down the hill in an old decrepit graveyard. For the past few nights however something had been different. A light had been shining from one of the second story windows. There were few people close enough to the house to see the light, and those who knew well enough to ignore it.
The cloaked man entered this room. The room was large with a single fireplace against the far wall. In front of the fireplace was a high backed chair, curled on top of the chair was large black snake. The cloaked man crossed the room to the chair and knelt down subserviently next to a blonde haired man.
"My Lord, what is your bidding?" The cloaked man asked.
"Bring me the Potter boy! Use the tournament!" The words came from a raspy high pitched voice that seemed to emanate from a bundle of blankets on the seat of the chair.
"Yes my Lord. I shall bring the boy." The black cloaked man bowed his head and left the room in a hurry.
Hundreds of miles away Harry Potter sat bolt upright in his bed. Almost as soon as he was awake however, the dream began fading from his memory. Even with occlumency he was unable to retrieve anything from the dream except the image of a large black snake. Finally he was forced to admit that it most likely wasn't important and went back to sleep.
On Ginny's birthday the entire Potter family, along with all the Weasley's, Sirius, Remus, Neville, and Luna gathered at the Burrow. All those people in one spot meant that the party was held mostly outside. By noon Ron and Daniel were bugging James and the other Weasley brothers for a game of Quidditch. In the end however, they found themselves with an uneven team of nine. Harry was the one who presented the solution.
"Ginny, Neville, and I will play." James, Daniel, and Ron looked at the three of them as if Harry had insulted them.
"Harry, do you and your friends even know how to play Quidditch?" James asked rather condescendingly. Sirius gave him a pointed look of confusion, but James either missed it or ignored it.
"Of course we do. Now are you going to let us play or not?" Ron decided to be the idiot this time and stepped forward.
"We're playing a real game here, not some fun little pretend game. Ginny doesn't even know how to fly!" Before anyone else could respond Sirius began laughing hysterically drawing everyone's attention.
"You're kidding right Ron. Harry and Ginny are the best flyers I've ever seen! They could fly circles around all of us." This received very skeptical looks from everyone, and an embarrassed blush from both Harry and Ginny.
"Fine if you're so confident Padfoot, they're on your team." Sirius smiled widely and quickly agreed.
In the end the teams ended up being Daniel, Ron, James, Fred, Remus, and Bill against Harry, Ginny, Sirius, Neville, George, and Charlie. Ron and Neville were both placed as keepers and flew up to their makeshift goal posts. James, Remus, Bill, Harry, Ginny, and Sirius were chasers. Fred and George were of course the beaters. This left Daniel and Charlie to square off as seekers.
The game began with James and Harry facing each other as Mr. Weasley threw the quaffle in between them. In a second Harry had the ball and was around an over confident James. He flew headlong at Bill, but just as they were about to collide he banked away and threw the quaffle in the opposite direction. Bill had started to turn with Harry and didn't have time to react as Ginny grabbed the quaffle and headed towards the lonely Ron.
Ron for his part sneered at his sister and held his position. Ginny just smirked to herself and rocketed towards him at insane speeds. Ron stayed where he was but his sneer began to fade as Ginny approached at dangerous speeds. At the last possible second she barrel rolled right and neatly placed the quaffle through the right hoop as she flew by. Ron stared at her in shock as she flew back towards the center of the field. Finally James retrieved the ball and roughly shoved into Ron's hands so he could throw it.
Ten minutes later the score was 90-0 in favor of Harry's team and James was on his first break away of the game. He easily got around Neville who was not as good a flier as Harry and Ginny. Another ten minutes had the score at 150-30, and James called a time out.
"I'll switch with Charlie and play seeker." This apparently wasn't what James had been hoping for and after some light negotiating with Charlie they returned to the field. This time with Harry flying high above searching for the snitch.
Two minutes.
That's how long it took Harry to spot the snitch. In those two minutes Ginny had scored four times, while James had gotten more frustrated and reckless. Without thinking of where Daniel was Harry took off after the snitch.
Daniel was actually farther away from the snitch, but while Harry was flying a Cleansweep 7, Daniel was flying a Firebolt, James had given him for his birthday. He managed to catch up to Harry just as the snitch went into a ninety degree dive. With gravity working in favor of the brooms they were evenly matched speed wise and Daniel and Harry plummeted to earth neck and neck.
They followed the snitch as it got closer and closer to the ground. Finally at ten feet Daniel pulled up convinced that Harry was about to smash into the ground. Harry kept chasing the snitch until he finally closed his fingers around it about four feet from the ground. Somehow, in the 2 milliseconds he had to pull up his broom, Harry managed to almost do it.
Instead of crashing into the ground full force Harry managed to bring the handle up. This slowed his downward momentum but he still kept moving downwards at an angle rather quickly. He crashed into the ground with both feet and rolled off his broom to lessen the impact. The momentum still caused him to roll about ten feet before coming to rest on his back. As everyone began rushing towards him he held up his hand, the snitch still firmly clasped in his fist.
Four hours later
Daniel, Ron, and James were still throwing a temper tantrum at being thoroughly beaten by Harry and Ginny. Harry and Ginny had long since stopped paying any attention to them and were currently walking around the pond behind the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley hadn't trusted them of course and had sent Fred and George to watch them. That had lasted about twenty seconds before Ginny threatened to bat-boogey them. Now Harry and Ginny were alone, by the pond, with the half moon shining down on them. It was slightly romantic.
They stopped once they had reached the far side of the pond and Harry nervously began fiddling with something in his pocket.
Ginny couldn't resist the urge to take a jab and said,"Harry, are you asking me to marry you?" to which Harry's eyes widened in horror and he began violently shaking his head.
"What!? N-No! I-I was just giving you your present!" Ginny cracked up first and soon both teens started laughing loudly.
"Yea, by the way, I got this for you." Harry brought the box he had been holding up and flipped open the lid. Inside was a silver charm bracelet with two charms : a tiger, and a falcon.
"Oh Harry!" Ginny flung her arms around his neck and pulled his head down. Their faces were really close and were inching closer until Ginny could feel Harry's breath on her face. But before she closed the distance Harry pulled away, blushing like a tomato and they awkwardly walked back to the Burrow.
Near the end of August, James supplied tickets for Daniel, Ron, the twins and himself to attend the Quidditch world cup. Bill, Charlie, and Arthur had been unable to go do to work, and Percy would be working at the Cup with his new boss Reginald Fairfield. James of course offered a ticket to Ginny, but when he steadfastly ignored Harry, she flat out rejected the offer.
So while the others went to watch Ireland dominate Bulgaria, and then spend the night being chased around by Death Eaters, Harry and Ginny relaxed. They flew for several hours in their Animagus forms, had lunch with Lily, and when Lily went to buy groceries, got back to what they liked to do the most - read books together in silence.
September 1st
Harry waited with Lily on Platform 9¾ for the Weasley's. James and Daniel were farther down the platform, doing something Harry could care less about.
The Weasley's began piling onto that platform at five to eleven and immediately began dispersing amongst the crowd to find their friends and get compartments. Ginny looked around to where Harry was and began making her way towards him, her parents followed a short distance behind her.
Running the last ten feet between them Ginny leapt in Harry's waiting arms. They held the hug for a few seconds before breaking apart and quickly disappearing onto the train. Behind them Lily, Molly, and Arthur were still staring open mouthed at the spot the two teens had just occupied. It wasn't until Harry and Ginny stuck their heads out the window of their compartment and called out to their shocked parents, that they snapped out of it. Lily silently wondered what exactly was happening between her son and Ginny.
"Ginerva Weasley! What do you think you two are doing?" Ginny smiled innocently down at her mother from the train.
"Hugging my best friend." Mrs. Weasley blinked and then narrowed her eyes.
"Are you sure young lady, nothing else you want to tell us?" Ginny was about to respond but was cut off by the trains whistle blowing as it began to pull out of the station.
"I guess we'll have to finish this conversation in June! Bye mum!" Before Molly could come up with an appropriate response the train had left the platform taking Harry and Ginny with it.
"Don't worry Molly, I'll keep an eye on them." Lily shuddered involuntarily, Molly wasn't completely convinced and just nodded her head.
"Which is why Hogwarts will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament for the first time in almost a century!" Dumbledore was standing at the Head table and had just dropped that bomb on the student body.
"Two galleons says Daniel tries to enter." Ginny rolled her eyes at Harry.
"Do you really think I'm stupid enough to gamble on a losing bet?" Harry laughed and returned his attention to Dumbledore.
"It has been decided that only those students of age will be allowed to enter their names into consideration for competition." There was a loud protest from most tables, but none more so than Daniel and Ron. Harry and Ginny could care less about it.
"The eligible students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving two days before Halloween and the Champions shall be chosen on Halloween. Now then I hope you will all fully support whoever is chosen as the Hogwarts champion and I wish you a good night."
Harry and Ginny sat on a conjured blanket under a large tree overlooking the lake. Ginny sat with her head resting on Harry's shoulders, scribbling away in her notes while Harry had his eyes fixed on the Defense book Neville gave him, determined to complete it. They been sitting like this for almost an hour in total silence just enjoying the time spent together. Harry had asked a house elf to bring a picnic lunch out to them.
The blissful silence of the afternoon was shattered rather abruptly by the appearance of the two people Harry and Ginny wanted to see less than anyone else.
"Ginny! What are you doing?! Get away from him!" Ron was storming down the lawn towards where Harry and Ginny were still sitting together. Ginny waited until Ron was within normal hearing distance to respond instead of yelling. Behind him Daniel and Hermione stood, Hermione not appearing to care about the entire situation and Daniel glaring hatefully at Harry.
"I'm not moving Ron. It's much too comfortable where I am. Please leave." This only seemed to infuriate Ron more and he pulled his wand out. Trying to make a show of solidarity Daniel pulled his wand out too, although he kept it aimed at the ground.
"I'm not leaving unless you come with me. I won't let you humiliate yourself by pretending you like him." Ginny growled in frustration and lifted her head to glare at her brother.
"I really, really don't care what you have to say Ron. I thought the boy wonder over there had told everyone what happened last time somebody threatened me or Harry."
"He did! I'm with him though, I think the way you behaved with Daniel was very bad and Harry is making you think you have to love him." Ginny rolled their eyes before they standing up and walking past the trio, Harry following her.
"I'm telling mum!"
"Go on." Ginny knew there was nothing official between them (she did hope though), so defending whatever claims Ron makes to her mother would be easy.
Harry and Ginny disappeared into the school and walked down to the kitchens to enjoy their picnic in the kitchens.
Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrived in a show of exaggerated dance moves and fancy, but meaningless, spell work. Harry and Ginny had found the entire affair amazingly boring, especially since they had been too involved in their own conversation on the correct way to stir Felix Felicis to even pay the slightest amount of attention to the beautiful Beauxbatons girls or the rugged Durmstrang guys. Daniel and Ron, as predicted, had tried to enter the contest and ended up with rather long beards sprouting from their faces.
So Halloween arrived and the students all gathered in the Great Hall for the feast and the selection of the Champions. They were forced to sit anxiously first through dinner and then through long boring commencement speeches. Finally the Goblet of Fire was brought up by Professor Moody and the names began to shoot out of it.
"The Champion for Durmstrang," Dumbledore paused for the mandatory dramatic effect. "Viktor Krum!" The hall erupted into cheers, surprisingly even from Slytherin girls, for the celebrated Quidditch player. A second after Krum disappeared through a side door another piece of paper shot out.
"The Beauxbatons champion will be… Fleur Delacour!" Nearly the entire male population of Hogwarts leapt to their feet cheering loudly for the girl. Only a handful of the first years and Harry managed to control themselves.
"The champion from Hogwarts will be… Cedric Diggory!" The Hufflepuff table exploded, making almost twice as much noise for their Champion. The other houses clapped appreciatively as Cedric rose and exited through the side door.
"I'd like to tha-" Dumbledore stopped his speech as a fourth piece of paper shot out of the cup. The hall fell silent as Dumbledore snatched up the piece of paper and read it himself first once then out loud, the twinkle in his eyes gone.
"Daniel Potter!"
A/N
Another quickie. This chapter is simply a conversion of the original and a filler. For those who think acts of affection here were unnatural or outrageous for 13/14 year olds, trust me I worked hard to tone it down... a lot. Harry is going to be clueless as usual, for a little longer. Haven't done a word to word checking so put any mistakes you find in the reviews and I'll ninja correct them.
Hinny FTW : Thanks for your constructive reviews dude(or girl, idk)! I think Dumbledore is the only possible person who could've put the charm on James. I mean come on what do Death Eaters have to gain from him not giving Harry attention? It can't be because of a grudge since nobody except Voldemort himself knows who's the real BWL. Good news is I got a good enough legit reason for Dumbledore doing it, so I guess little to no bashing (yay?).
And I think I read that story long time ago, don't remember much though. I'm flattered you think my story has potential. I just write for the fun of it, to get all these ideas out of my head (unfortunately I forget half the really dope ones that come to me after 5 secs *sigh*). Funnily enough I don't have much original content for 4th and much of 5th years but got a shit ton for the later ones.
I intend to put out as many chapters as I can since I won't have any time after this week ends. Look forward to 2-3 more chapters soon.
Read, Review (I never get enough...) and Enjoy, Peace~