Chapter 13
This was bad. This was very bad. Harry was becoming far too independent. Albus was sure that once Ron had turned his back on the boy that he'd be easy to manipulate into getting help from Crouch Jr. Albus needed the boy to help give Voldermort back his body. His plans just wouldn't work otherwise. But Harry instead turned to other people for help. What had happened over the summer that made the boy so confident? And why wasn't he rising to Draco's taunts? Even Severus couldn't get a rise out of the boy, and he really tried. It would appear that Voldermort's horcrux was starting to take it's toll on Harry. Talking to that Dragon reinforced this idea. Albus couldn't allow the boy to become dark. There was still so much he needed Harry to do.
On top of all that, Amelia Bones had been contacting him regarding a serious incident he had willfully ignored. She wouldn't say what, only what he was under investigation and that if she heard of any other incidents involving him then he'd be in deep trouble. Albus felt like a naughty schoolboy the way the letters were written and he didn't like it, but he couldn't for the life of him think of anything he'd done that the ministry would catch wind of. He had a lot of secrets and it worried him that one of them might possible come out.
Fawkes looked sadly at the man. All this fighting and pain, just so Albus could rule the Wizarding world the way he wanted. He'd stayed with the man because at first Albus truly believed he was doing what was right. But now the man was becoming greedy. Fawkes knew that Harry had taken himself out of Albus' manipulations. Perhaps it was time Fawkes moved on as well. With a soft trill the Phoenix flashed away. His departure wan't even noted as the Headmaster tried to figure out how to get Harry back under his control.
Rita was not a happy reporter. She'd tried several times to get an interview with the Boy Who Lived, but to no avail. The selfish boy just wouldn't speak to her. She'd even dragged him into a closet to trap him into speaking, only for Potter to pull out a funny little device and start playing it, ignoring her entirely. Well she had a story now. The young brunette girl, the red head and the little blond were all over the boy saviour. A lovely four way relationship. Her readers would eat this up.
Crouch Jr was not a happy Deatheater. He'd tried several times to get close to Potter only to be blocked by the boy's friends. The Dragon was a fluke, he needed to get to the boy and push him in the right direction otherwise he wouldn't survive until the third task. Well, he'd get the boy with his gillyweed idea for the second task. He just needed to get Potter alone.
Harry was a very happy teenager. Hermione had yet to leave his side, she was still freaked out over the Dragon. Luna and Ginny weren't too far away either. Neville had given him a knowing grin over all the attention while Ron just sat there watching him enviously.
Sirius, when he had the chance to change back, had spoke at length with him along with Remus and the group. Harry quickly informed those who didn't know about Sirius' innocence and what happened last year. With that done, they discussed the next task. The twins came to the rescue with a tried and tested potion. Harry didn't want to know who they tested it on. It was supposed to act a bit like a bubblehead charm, except without the bubble. Oxygen would be gathered around him and taken in through his skin from the water around Harry. It meant no spellwork was required, leaving him open to use his wand if need be. It didn't have a time limit, the twins instead creating a counter potion. Since the Respiration Creation, as they called it, worked below and above the water, there was no rush to give him the counter until he was good and ready for it. Harry thought it was brilliant. They couldn't do much about getting through the water faster without resorting to spells, but Harry had an idea. Remus was tasked to buy a set of flippers and a good pair of goggles from the muggle world, and Harry would practice with them every day until he could swim fast in his sleep. He knew a warming spell he could use as well.
With that done Harry had one more thing left to ask. He wanted the animation spell on the mini Dragon to be permanent and keep the little guy as a pet. Chuckling Remus was happy to oblige.