Chapter Eleven: Here There Be Giants
Harry growled as the knocking on his door caused him to miscast and get smacked in the face by a tennis ball. He hurriedly froze the tennis ball launcher, which he'd conjured up to help with his target practice, in place before it smacked him in the mouth again. Muggles really did think of the most ingenious things sometimes.
He briefly considered ignoring the knocking, which had stopped now anyway, and go back to his target practice. With the twenty fourth of November careening towards him, and he still not knowing what the hell he was going to have to contend with, he'd decided that the best way to prepare for the unknown was to hit the books and sharpen his spell-slinging to a razor sharp edge.
It was either that or go insane trying to figure out what deadly monster, impossible task or unsolvable riddle was awaiting him. He'd taken out all the books he could on the previous tournaments to refresh his memory and had found absolutely jack shit.
He wasn't the only champion who'd walked out of the Library looking distinctly pissed off though. Harry had nearly been knocked clear off his feet one evening by Viktor Krum as he slouched away as quick as possible from his ever growing set of stalkers, Harry could relate, with a heavily accented 'sorry' and a surly glare. He'd not even had the chance to pick up a book as far as Harry could tell.
With one last look at the now silent door Harry shook his head and lifted his wand to start clearing up the remains of the tennis balls littering the centre of his lab.
The knocking started again as Harry cast his third vanishing spell, more frenzied this time, and Harry stomped over to the door and ripped it open.
'What? I'm busy damn it!'
Cedric Diggory staggered back in shock and scratched at his hair with an apologetic smile. 'Sorry Harry, I wasn't sure you were in.'
Harry let out a sigh and shook his head at the taller boy. 'I was busy.'
Cedric nodded. 'Yeah, I can see that.' Cedric gestured at Harry's workout clothes with a grin. 'Good thing I'm not a second year sent to fetch you for something, I might have fainted. I still might, you stink Harry.'
Harry scowled and sniffed at the sweat soaked vest. Cedric had a point. 'Yeah, good thing. Now is there something I can help you with Cedric?'
Cedric's smile dimmed and then went entirely. He cast nervous looks down the corridor Harry's lab was on. 'Can I come in? This shouldn't be said where anyone could be listening.'
Cedric had never looked so serious, not even on the Quidditch pitch, this had to be bad news.
Great, just want he needed. He was still getting over the crap Skeeter had published in the Daily Prophet. Fame hungry brat indeed. It wasn't Harry's fault he'd blabbed about her sex life, which was apparently a secret, in a roomful of spiteful and opportunist journalists looking to get back at Skeeter for all the garbage she'd passed off as news throughout her career. He didn't tell them to report she was a crap shag. He just hoped they would.
Harry studied the tall Hufflepuff like a particularly difficult crossword.
What the hell did Cedric have to tell him anyway? He liked the guy sure, there wasn't a nicer bloke in the castle, but he wasn't his friend. Harry didn't have time to solve his own damn problems let alone Cedric's. Besides, Harry would bet there were literally dozens of adoring fans in Hufflepuff who'd bend over backwards to help Cedric in any way he asked.
'You sure I'm the one you should be bringing your troubles to Cedric? We've only got a couple days until the first task. I don't have loads of spare time.' Harry tried to say it as politely as possible but he wasn't sure he'd managed much less than indifference.
Cedric wasn't dissuaded. He stared at Harry like he was trying to get him to understand the seriousness of his news by look alone. 'No, this is something only you need to hear. You'll want to know I promise.'
Harry relented and moved to the side so Cedric, with one final look down the corridor, could rush into the lab.
Harry slammed the door shut and followed a shocked Cedric into the rest of the room.
Cedric whistled and looked around Harry's expanded lab, courtesy of his Triwizard Tournament Champion status, to be more like a one person flat rather than a classroom. Harry had walked back into the lab after classes on the first of November to find his lab now had a kitchenette, bathroom and living room merged into one. There was even another room that hadn't been there the night before, which had a double bed and a wardrobe. It was the first real perk of being a Triwizard Champion. The view of the Forbidden Forest from his window was pretty cool as well.
Harry had promptly set up shop in the flat. He hadn't been back to the dormitory since his fight with Neville and he intended to take full advantage of the alternate sleeping arrangements if it meant he could avoid Neville and Hermione for even a second longer. He'd only been in the Common Room a few times. When he knew his friends weren't there.
His possessions had been moved in the next day with the help of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.
He'd got a bit of ribbing for it from the Twins but they'd still helped the 'Gryffindor Champion' as the entire team had called him, much to his irritation. The catcalls about bringing his 'ladies' to his 'private little bachelor pad' had been funny though.
'Whoa, Harry, what happened here? A hurricane or something?'
Harry groaned, in his temper he'd forgotten to vanish the rest of the tennis ball remains. Not to mention the damage he'd done to half the furniture before he forced his anger into something more productive than just destroying the room.
Stupid Rita Skeeter and her stupid articles. He really should stop reading them. Or just the papers in general. He never did like what he read.
'I happened,' Harry said as he brandished his wand and started flicking it at damaged coffee table, ripped open pillows, cracked walls, a turned over lounge chair and a wobbling sofa with light mutterings of 'reparo!'
Harry gestured to an undamaged stool for Cedric to sit on. 'Do you mind if I shower before we talk Cedric?'
'No Harry, by all means.' The tall boy sat down and watched the room put itself back together with a kind smile. 'I'll busy myself for a bit.'
Harry nodded and headed for the bathroom for a quick shower.
Ten minutes later, in fresh clothing and towelling still damp hair, Harry came out to find his quarters completely repaired and Cedric crouching down by the tennis ball launcher with a pensive look. Harry could practically see the cogs whirring round in his brain as Cedric's mind jumped to the same possibilities for the clever Muggle invention.
'Right Cedric.' Cedric jumped to attention when Harry broke him out of his thoughts. 'What can I help you with?'
Cedric chuckled a little and rested down on the stool Harry had left him on. 'I'm actually here to help you Harry.'
Harry raised an eyebrow and folded his arms across his chest. Help him eh? This ought to be good. After all, shouldn't Cedric be aiming to win this tournament? Hell shouldn't he even be a little mad that Harry had taken some of the spotlight away from the real Hogwarts Champion? 'Oh? That's good of you Cedric.'
'Sound a bit more sceptical Harry.' Cedric smiled ruefully. 'Not everyone from Hufflepuff hates you just because your name came out of the Goblet.'
'Name some names Cedric,' Harry said coolly. Cedric might not hate him, believe his story even, but he was being ridiculously naïve if he didn't think the rest of his house shared his level of belief. 'It's beginning to feel like second year all over again when it comes to your housemates.'
Cedric grimaced and picked at a loose thread in his robes. 'I did try to tell them you didn't enter yourself Harry.'
Harry smiled bitterly. 'Called you gullible didn't they? Good, trusting Cedric, of course he'd believe fame-hungry Harry Potter's cock and bull story. Why wouldn't he? He's so nice!'
Cedric scowled, it looked somehow wrong on a face that was made for smiling, and nodded instead of trusting his mouth not to say words Harry was sure very rarely entered the boy's optimistic brain.
Yeah, Harry thought as much. He couldn't help but feel bad for the bloke. He was far too nice for his own good. Harry hoped he kept that. It'd save him from letting the crap that he was likely to face throughout this tournament bring him down to the cheating and conniving world that the tournament created.
The silence that reigned over them stretched to awkward and Harry could feel his temper waning. He wasn't here to bitch and moan about how the children at this school viewed him. Harry had more important things to do. Like figure out what the First Task was and how he was going to survive it.
But first he had to get the brooding teenager out of his flat.
'Look Cedric, I appreciate you trying to convince your house that I'm not cheating or bending rules but to be frank I don't give a fuck what they think and I never have.'
Cedric blinked, from the language or just the shock Harry didn't know, and looked up at Harry like a deer in headlights. He slowly smiled. 'Well that's true, except for the girls of course, hey Harry?'
'Of course.' Harry grinned wolfishly. Girls were always the exception. 'But you said you came here to help me? So help me and let's both get back to trying to prepare for the unknown threat we've gotta deal with in a couple days yeah?'
Cedric nodded and stood from his stool with the same sense of importance he'd had when he'd walked in. 'You're right Harry. Except it's not a totally unknown threat if you get what I mean.'
And what in Merlin's name did that mean? Had everyone but him been told what was going on or something? Was there some clue he'd missed? He doubted that very much. He'd gone over and over what Crouch had said when they'd first gathered the champions together. There had been nothing hidden in those words. Nothing.
'What do you know Cedric?' Harry asked slowly. Cedric wouldn't be trying to lead him along a wild goose chase surely? 'What's going on?'
Cedric chuckled at the suspicion on Harry's face. He'd always hated when people did that. His suspicion was justified damn it! This was not like when he'd finally started realising Santa Claus wasn't real. Why was Cedric laughing at him in much the same way that his dad had when he'd started asking questions?
'Let me put it this way Harry,' Cedric said. He started for the door and looked over his shoulder at Harry when he reached the door. 'It wouldn't be a terrible idea to go for a walk in the Forbidden Forest tonight, say at the part of the forest nearest the greenhouses? With a Disillusionment Charm on you maybe?'
'What in Merlin's name are you talking about Diggory?' Harry asked just as Cedric grabbed that doorknob. 'What's in the Forbidden Forest?'
Cedric shook his head and grinned widely. 'Just go for a walk tonight Harry. It'll be worth your while I promise.'
And with that Cedric left Harry's flat leaving the younger boy confused and annoyed in the middle of the room.
'What the fuck was that about?' Harry asked no one in particular.
Cedric had to be messing with him, right? What kind of advice was that? Go walking in the Forbidden Forest? At night?! Why did everyone he knew have to drop subtle hints instead of just freaking telling him what was going on?
Harry growled and palmed his forehead. This was bollocks. He didn't have time for this. He'd probably be fighting for his life in a couple of days. Now was not the time for mind games, which frankly he thought Cedric was better than, with so much at risk.
Harry turned away from the door, and was about to summon another book off his shelves, when he saw flocks of birds fleeing the shuddering treetops of the Forbidden Forest.
He paused and moved closer to his window with a bemused frown.
The trees were still and nothing else moved in the growing darkness. Had he imagined it? No. He'd definitely seen the trees moving, there was something in the forest, something big.
With the First Task around the corner and with Cedric's peculiar advice it was too much of a coincidence that something odd was happening in the forest now to be overlooked.
But did he really want to break more school rules on what could be nothing?
The treetops remained still as Harry watched for another five minutes, looked at his watch. It was half five in the evening, it'd be near pitch dark soon.
Harry growled and tore away from the window and marched to his bedroom.
Sod it, what could it hurt to have a look? He wouldn't settle now anyway.
The newly risen moon loomed amongst wispy clouds as Harry glided towards the greenhouses used in Herbology under his dad's Invisibility Cloak like a ghost.
'Thank you Alastor.' He'd have to remember to thank the old psycho for the stealth training he'd put Harry through the summer before last.
He kept as low as possible, the cloak was big enough to cover him but puberty had been working its magic on Harry and he didn't want to risk being spotted in the Forbidden Forest because he'd gotten so tall that the cloak left his ankles visible. That'd just be embarrassing.
He'd never been more thankful he'd thought to borrow, steal was such an ugly word, the cloak. Harry just hoped James didn't notice he'd nicked the Potter family heirloom, again.
James had another Invisibility Cloak that he kept at the Auror Barracks, James Potter was a wealthy man after all, so Harry had liberated the first one from his father's bedroom every first of September since he'd started attending Hogwarts.
He'd been caught last year, James had hit the roof and yelled at him for a good ten minutes about his irresponsibility and disrespect towards his ancestors. He certainly didn't want to sit through that again. Harry didn't think he'd be able to hide his boredom twice.
Oh well, if he found out this time James might take it better. If whatever was causing a commotion in the forest was something to do with the tournament, Harry could make a damn good argument about the advantages of him having the Cloak with him. It could be solely responsible for saving his life.
Yeah, that'd work.
Harry cast a mumbled Silencing Charm on himself as he approached the greenhouses and heard the sound of people talking.
Harry laid himself flat against the green tinted glass of the largest greenhouse and inched his way to the corner of the building.
'Got everything Gideon?' Professor Sprout said from just inside the greenhouse.
Harry mouthed 'fuck!' and snapped his head back around the corner on instinct. Just his luck, Professor Sprout had to be at the greenhouses tonight. What the hell was Cedric playing at sending him down to the forest now?
It took Harry a couple of seconds to remember he was under a freaking Invisibility Cloak. Good thing they couldn't see his face, it was so red right now Professor Sprout might have mistaken him for a tomato or something. Sirius would freaking love this.
Professor Sprout as she left the doorway with her wand aloft and floating several gigantic bags of 'Merryweather's Magical Fertilizer!' in front of her.
'Yeah Pomona, got all the fertilizer they could possibly need.' Gideon, a muddy man from the shade of his hair to his mud-encrusted boots, wiped at his forehead as he followed Professor Sprout with several bags of fertilizer floating behind him. 'Whose bright idea was it to grow a beanstalk in the middle of a forest anyway?'
Beanstalk? What in Merlin's name? Harry waited for the two adults to start towards the forest before he stalked after them.
A beanstalk? Was this what Cedric had been trying to tell him about? The First Task was about a beanstalk? What were they supposed to do? Climb it and the first person to the top would win? That didn't sound too bad.
'Well they wanted to use some of the British and Irish folk stories for the First Task.' Sprout didn't look back at Gideon but kept heading for the forest. The muddy man following behind looking quite put upon that he was being left in the metaphorical dust by a plump old woman. 'Bran the Bloodthirsty is one of Britain's most famous giants. Even the Muggles know about him. They tell the stories about him to their children as bedtime stories.'
'I know the story of Jack and the Beanstalk Pomona,' Gideon said shortly. He sped up to walk next to her. 'I'm Muggle-born remember? I just want to know why they had to try and grow a beanstalk big enough to support a wood cottage in the middle of an overgrown and monster-ridden forest that's older than the castle itself!'
Okay, so Cedric wasn't screwing with him. This was definitely about the Triwizard Tournament.
Harry's brain was already running off possibilities for what the task might actually be. The First Task tended to be about getting an item from somewhere or something. Take an egg from a clutch of dragon eggs guarded by an actual dragon or steal a sword from the camp of a Goblin horde. Something ridiculous like that.
Huge beanstalks and a cottage at the top of it. Sprout had mentioned the story of Jack and the Beanstalk as well. James had read him that story, both Muggle and Wizard versions, when he was a kid. There could be a giant goose at the top that they had to take a golden egg from? That'd fit in.
Hell there could even be an actual giant. That'd meet up to the insane standards for danger in the Triwizard Tournament for sure. A giant. He nearly laughed at the absurdity of it. How would they even manage to get a giant from the safe confines of their camps in the Alps? Convincing one to leave to put itself amongst thousands of wizards alone would be impossible, let alone transporting one across Europe without anyone hearing about it.
No, Harry was pretty sure there'd be no giants to deal with in a couple days. Thank Merlin, he'd no idea what he'd have done if he had to face down a damned giant.
They were at the border of the forest soon enough and Harry debated leaving Gideon and Professor Sprout here. What else could there be to learn? He could go back to his flat and spend the next couple of days working on his upper arm strength and reading about beanstalks. If there was a golden goose he'd reckon he could deal with that as well.
Sprout and Gideon's voices got fainter and fainter as Harry stood at the treeline of the Forbidden Forest. He turned back to stare at the castle and thought of the warmth of his bed. The Cloak might be keeping him from being seen but it wasn't made for keeping in the heat. It was chilly and it would only get colder the further he went into the forest.
He'd been in there at least once a year so far and each time the place seemed to suck the heat out of you the further you went like it was feeding on you, it could very well be. The place was rich with old magic. Old and feral, it would take magic where it could and add it to its own. That's what old magic did.
No, he had what he'd come for. He'd remember to thank Cedric for sending him here and then spend his remaining days practicing on spells that could help him up a beanstalk.
Harry had already taken three steps back towards when he heard shouting, loud thudding that sounded like a fallen tree hitting the dirt and a single guttural bellow followed by the squawking and flapping of birds as they rose from their roosts in a flurry.
Harry broke out into a run towards the noise with his wand drawn and the Cloak wrapping around him like a lover in the throes of passion, his suddenly pale skin flashed in the moonlight as the fabric occasionally flapped away from his body.
The shouting had stopped when Harry reached the first clearing but what he found made his stomach jump into his mouth all the same.
On the ground, spread from one side of the clearing to the other, was a humanoid shape, about twenty feet long, a mess of leaf brown hair and beard covered it's face and it was dressed in make shift clothing made out of straw and ivy. Its breath came out in wisps of air from its cave-like mouth. Its hands were as big as Harry himself and covered in defensive cuts and bruises.
A giant. A giant! What in Merlin's name were they playing at? They'd brought a giant to a school full of children. What would they have done if it had got free and gone at the castle? Dumbledore had truly gone round the bend.
As if by thinking of him Harry had summoned the man, Dumbledore appeared and approached the downed giant with his bone white wand still drawn.
'Is everyone alright?' Dumbledore's eyes were like blue fire. Suddenly Harry was back in the Headmaster's office with Ginny Weasley hiding behind him. 'Pomona?'
Professor Sprout peeked around the beanstalk, which was as thick as several oak tree trunks and rose up and out of the treetops. Harry marvelled at the colossal plant. They'd actually grown a beanstalk large enough to support a giant. Sweet Merlin.
'I'm okay Albus, Alastor grabbed me just before it swung the tree.' Sprout pointed at the downed tree on that had only just missed the beanstalk. 'Thank you Alastor.'
Moody limped from his cover and patted the woman on the shoulder while he attempted a reassuring smile. 'Don't worry about it Pom …' Moody's magic eye, which had been rolling around in his head, zeroed in on Harry and held him in place.
Merlin's saggy bollocks! How could he have not thought Moody would be around when he'd seen the downed giant? Moody was a powerhouse and if Dumbledore was trying to manage a giant he'd have Moody on hand.
And now Moody had seen Harry where he shouldn't be. He was so rumbled. That magic eye of his let him see through everything. Walls, ceilings, floors even Invisibility Cloaks. Harry pulled the cloak around him more tightly and ducked down into the long grass on instinct and started backing away. Maybe if he moved away quick enough Moody would think his mind was playing tricks on him.
'Alastor?' Pomona said worriedly. 'Are you okay?'
Moody mouthed something that Harry didn't catch before the ex-Auror turned back to Sprout with his horrific smile and nodded. 'I'm fine Pomona, Albus is that bloody thing still alive?'
Harry's heart was beating like a jackhammer against his chest as Dumbledore stared at Moody and then where Harry was stood held his stare for a long moment.
Surely Dumbledore couldn't see him too? The old wizard might be the most powerful man to draw breath in a good century but he couldn't see through Invisibility Cloaks. Could he?
Dumbledore's mouth was a line when he inspected the giant, Harry breathed in deep relief when the Headmaster's eyes were off of him, and nodded in satisfaction when the monster groaned in pain as it rolled on its back.
'Gurlug is alive, yes.' Dumbledore waved his wand and the giant started to float off of the ground. 'I hadn't expected him to wake up so suddenly. I am sorry everyone.' Dumbledore frowned at the group of people around the clearing that Harry hadn't noticed beforehand. 'Now if you'd all help me float him to the cottage at the top so he may heal in time for the First Task?'
More wizards and witches drew their wands and pointed them at the giant, Gurlug Harry reminded himself, without hesitation. Sprout and a very shaky looking Gideon, who had been crouched behind the beanstalk as well it seemed, turned to tend to the beanstalk. Gideon's wand shaking in his hand as he went.
Moody's eye was still staring at him though. Harry felt cool dread trickle down his neck like a broken egg. The ex-Auror was gonna rip him apart for this. He just knew it. Maybe not at the school but when he next saw the man over summer Moody would have him dodging lethal spells for weeks. Weeks!
If he even survived to summer. Harry couldn't fight the fear that had gone from his neck and rested in his belly. A giant. How was he supposed to beat that?
'Go boy!' Moody mouthed at him, his eyes both wide as coins now. 'Be in my office tomorrow. We'll talk then. Just bloody go!'
Harry didn't need telling twice. He legged it from the clearing before the giant had broken the treetops and didn't stop until he was in the bedroom of his makeshift flat.
He was so dead.