GoF Ch. 7
"How could you do something so idiotic? Something so completely irresponsible that you could have died! A freezing spell against a fully-grown dragon? Grown wizards have tried that and ended up becoming nothing but a pile of ash!" I let Rowena rant. Not much else I could do. Being passed out from magical exhaustion meant that I was stuck with her until I woke up. Bad for me, good for sensible Rowena. "You should have run, or at least gotten out of the way of the flames. Are you even listening to me?"
"Yes. And I'm sorry, but I was going on instinct-"
"A lot of good that did you! Do you know what I had to do in order to make sure that you weren't roasted alive? I had to call in a favor from-"
"Death?" I sat up immediately, but Rowena scoffed.
"Believe it or not, I wasn't going to waste a favor from Death for something like this. No, I asked a few spirits to use what magic they had to bolster yours. I lost quite a few favors for that. Despite how good you think you are, you do not have the magical ability to freeze a fully-grown dragon."
"So, what, you got a few spirits to bolster me? Doesn't sound that bad."
"A spirit of a wizard is magic itself. When they did that, they put themselves in a lot of pain. Willingly giving their magic temporarily to you, well it's painful, very painful, not something that they can easily recover from."
Goddam it. "I didn't need to know that."
"You needed to know what your actions cost."
"Right, because I asked to be in the tournament."
"That doesn't matter! You are in! Stop complaining and compete! Prepare as best as you can and then execute! You know what is coming! Deal with it and stop acting like child!" Rowena shouted, losing her composure. "Did I tell you? No, but get over it! You're waking up. Go!"
The white ceiling of the hospital wing had become a usual sight by now. The sun was up and I heard birds chirping. It was relaxing, peaceful, though I'm sure that anything would have been peaceful compared to the tongue lashing Rowena had given me. I mean she was telling me that I didn't have a right to be upset that I was in the tournament? I didn't want to be in the damn thing, I didn't ask her to call in those favors.
I looked around and saw that there was a, to be frank, shitload of banners. Some said congratulations, others said "GO LOVAGE". There were a few cards, as well as candies that people had left me.
"Ah, Mr. Lovage, seems you've finally awoken," I saw Madam Pomfrey walking over he wand draw. She cast a few charms on me, seeing if I was okay internally, but all the colors turned green which I assumed was good.
"How long have I been asleep?"
"Three days. Oh, don't look so shocked, you froze a dragon, incredible feat by the way, but still, the amount of magic you needed drained your core, almost entirely." Well that doesn't sound good. Guess Rowena did do me a favor.
"Any damage?"
"Besides a small coma, a few burns, and a shard of ice piercing your leg you're fine." That didn't sound good. I lifted the sheets and saw a large bandage on my calf.
"How did that happen?"
"The spell you used isn't known for its ability to stay on course. A few shards were thrown around the arena." She cast one final spell and then nodded to herself, pleased. "Very well. Mr. Lovage, you are free to go, but I recommend you use this."
She handed me a wooden cane and I grasped it. It wasn't anything special, just a walnut cane that was polished and had a rubbed stopped at the end. Weird, I didn't know wizards used rubber.
"You couldn't fix my leg?"
"The ice you created was very magically potent, it seemed to resist my attempt to remove it magically." Probably a side effect of the spirits bothering me magically. "So, while I pulled it out and did what I could, there are a few shards that I couldn't get out so when they melt, and with the amount of magic you put into that spell should be two or three days, I'll finish mending the wound and you won't need the cane."
Temporary, I can do that.
The Gryffindor's welcomed me back with thunderous applause. They regretted that they couldn't give me as grand a party as they had given Harry, but I didn't really mind. I was just trying to figure out where Luna and Neville were. I searched the common room twice, checked the dorm for him, but came up with nothing. I asked around and no one had seen him.
I decided to go and look for Luna asking any Ravenclaw that I could find, but they either asked why I was looking for Loony, which did not go over well for them, or looked at me weird.
I made my way to Ravenclaw Tower thinking that I would find Luna there. I limped around on my cane looking for them. As I got closer to the tower my leg began to throb and I had to take a short break on the stairs. I sat down off to the side and rubbed the area around my wound. If this was anything close to what Frank had been through, then my respect for that man went higher than it already was.
"Are you alright?" I jumped at the voice and I tried to get up but just ended up putting too much weight on my leg. I yelped in pain and sank back to the floor. "Oh no! I'm sorry, don't get up."
I looked over and saw Parva- no blue tie, Padma standing there, worried and her hand held out, motioning me to stop.
"Oh, hey Padma," I ground out massaging the spot where most of the pain was radiating. "Fancy seeing you here."
"Are you alright?" She knelt down and placed her books on the ground looking at my leg.
"Oh, yeah! Fine, just some lingering pain you know how it goes. What book do you have there?" I pointed to the book she was carrying, it was thinner than most of the school books, and the binding was paperback. Eh, I prefer hard covers every time.
"Oh, it's nothing," she grabbed the book but I saw the flash of a title. Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
"Was that the Chronicles of Narnia?"
"No!"
"You're reading the Chronicles of Narnia?" She blushed and looked away. "No! I'm not making fun of you! I love those books! I read them when I was growing up."
"You did?"
"Yeah! Those and Har- Lord of the Rings! They were my uh, they were essentially my childhood."
"When did you begin reading them?" Padma asked, seemingly eager to delve into the subject.
"Since I figured out where the library was. I always had a fascination with magic and dragons and the like. Though what I've been through now, I think eight-year-old me should be a bit weary." Padma laughed and brought the book out from behind her back.
"This is probably the fifth time I've read this series," she admitted as she held out the book. It was a bit battered and worn out. The pages were yellowing a bit and there were obvious tea stains on it. All in all, pretty good condition compared to my books.
"Have you read any other series?"
"I've been looking, but sometimes I get so busy that I can't really come up with the time to find any new ones."
"Well the obvious choice would be Lord of the Rings. Lewis and Tolkien were friends and based characters on each other. Tolkien was Professor Kirke, and Lewis was a character called Treebeard."
I felt the pain in my leg go away and I stood up. I tested it by putting a small amount of weight on it. There was a slight stinging, but other than that, it felt relatively fine. Good enough to walk on.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Padma asked me.
"Fine, Padma. Thanks for worrying though. But, if I may ask a favor?"
"Of course."
"Okay, have you seen Luna Lovegood anywhere? Or at least Neville Longbottom?"
"I think I saw them head to the lake not too long ago," explains why they weren't there, "I think they might still be there."
"Thank you very much Padma! You just saved me a very large headache."
"I glad. You should probably head over there if you want to make it before dark," She said motioning at my cane. "Oh and, if you ever want to… maybe we could be partners in Arithmancy sometime?"
I smiled. "Of course."
I'd say it was a solid hour. That was how long it took me to get from the base of Ravenclaw Tower to the lake. I stumbled around looking through the trees and not seeing them. After ten minutes of that I managed to stumble into a small area where I finally found them, and good thing too, as my leg was beginning to cramp up and I needed to sit down.
They hadn't seen me yet and I was a bit out of breath so I didn't call over. I took a few steps forward looking down so that I could see where I was walking, careful not to get my cane caught on anything so I didn't injure my leg anymore, then I heard Luna sniffle. She was crying, goddamn it, I made her cry.
"Oh, dear." I said gaining their attention.
"Daniel!" They both said, jumping up and dusting themselves off. Luna jumped up and ran over to me, nearly toppling me over with a rib crushing hug.
"Hey there, Lu. Miss me" I asked as I hugged her back.
"We didn't know when you would wake up!" she cried and I wrapped my arm around her tightly.
"It's alright, Lu. I'm here. I'll always wake up," I whispered to her.
After dinner that night McGonagall notified me that Dumbledore wanted to see me in his office. I nodded, pretending to be happy about the situation, but underneath the layer of charisma, I was scared. I mean, Dumbledore and me. Alone. Shit.
I limped out of the Great Hall, my stomach churning more and more with each step I took. Okay, how is this going to go? He could just question me and try to get me to spill on what I knew, or this could turn out to be nothing but a question about me being a champion, of Ravenclaw that is, the Tri-Wizard Tournament is pretty self-explanatory.
I reached his office, McGonagall saying the password for me, and I crossed the threshold walking into the office. He was waiting for me, smiling and a small twinkle in his eye. I avoided them, just in case he tried to read my mind.
"Ah, Mr. Lovage! Come in, come in. I'm sorry to take you away from dinner, but I knew that I should do this as soon as able. I believe that this belongs to you," He grabbed something from behind his desk and produced a golden egg. Or, more specifically, my golden egg.
"Oh, thank you Professor! I was wondering where that went." I honestly had forgotten about it, I knew what the challenge was, so I didn't really think about the egg too much.
"Of course. If I may, how are you handling being entered in the tournament? I know that you probably did not wish to compete, but, if I may, you handled yourself very well against your dragon. I dare say, I have rarely seen such displays of magic before."
I swallowed hard. "Well you see sir. I just felt, a surge of magic when I threw the freezing charm at the dragon. It was the only charm I could think of. I thought that maybe the boost of adrenaline added to my magic."
"There have been several theories about adrenaline boosting a wizard's magic during trying times. Yours was most likely an extreme. You are probably right." Yeah, I've been around enough adults to know what that meant. He was basically saying, 'I know it's bulshit, but I can't prove it.'
"Is that all professor?" I asked, wide eyes and innocence dripping from my tone. Dumbledore smiled and shook his head letting me go. I walked out and made my way to the common room.
So, the day had started good; still alive. Went bad; cane for two days. Good; met up with Padma and found Luna and Neville. Then bad; Dumbles knows something doesn't add up.
"Potter, Lovage — a word, if you please." Oh, okay, she was going to tell us that we needed dates, "Potter, Lovage, the champions and their partners —"
"What partners?" said Harry.
Professor McGonagall looked suspiciously at him, as though she thought he was trying to be funny.
"Your partners for the Yule Ball, Potter," she said coldly. "Your dance partners."
"I'm not dancing," Harry said.
"It is traditional," said Professor McGonagall firmly. "You two are a Hogwarts champions, and you will do what is expected of you as a representative of the school. So, make sure you get yourself a partner"
"May I be correct in assuming that this is a formal event?" I don't really like the whole knowing the answer but still needing to ask thing.
"It is."
"Since I do not have any dress robes, may I settle for a muggle suit?" I knew I didn't have either, but I actually didn't know this.
"A muggle suit would work as long as it is appropriate."
I smiled and gave McGonagall a thumbs up. "Great! Sounds good! Thank you, Professor, I will see you Monday!"
"So, Neville, who are you going to ask?" I looked at him as Luna, Neville and I walked through the halls. Most of the girls were in, what Harry would call "Packs" some looked over at me and giggled as I walked by. Not going to deny, I enjoyed some of the attention, back home I never got any attention from girls ever. Now, I got a lot, sue me.
"I uh… I'm not sure," he stuttered out, sending shy and quick glances to Luna.
"Oh, well that's a shame. Anyone ask you yet Luna?"
She shook her head. "No. though some girls in my house have asked if you already have a date. I think a few wish to ask you."
"Alrighty then."
"Have you asked anyone yet?" She asked me,
"No, but I am going to today. Right now, in fact." I broke away from them as we approached the Arithmancy classroom. "I'll see you two at dinner?"
They nodded and Luna gave me a double thumbs up. I slid into the classroom. Hermione was sitting by herself scribbling onto a piece of parchment, her brows furrowed. I took a deep breath and walked forward. I slid my bag onto the floor and took my seat.
"Hey Hermione," I said.
"Oh, Daniel, hi. I feel like I haven't seen you in a while."
"It was only a weekend Hermione. Plus, we saw each other in transfiguration."
She nodded and Professor Vector began her lesson. I mentally cursed, not being able to ask Hermione before the lesson. I sat there and glanced over every few minutes. I wished I could have done it, now all I could feel was a pit in my stomach as I began to overthink things.
When the end of the lesson came and everyone began to put their things away I took a deep breath and looked over to Hermione.
"Hey, Hermione, uh could I ask you something?" She nodded. "I was wondering if you would, uh… well, would you like to go to the ball with me?"
She paused and I could see a faint blush appear on her cheeks. "Oh, uh, Daniel I would love to," Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! "But I've already been asked."
Fuck. Jesus, how fast is Krum? I mean it's barely been a few days since McGonagall told us! Oh, I really hate that man!
"Oh! Uh, of course you do! I mean how could you not!" Should I have said that? "I mean, good for you! Uh, I should probably go! And Neville. And Luna, they're probably waiting for me! I should go."
Turns out Professor Vector saved me a very awkward class.
AN: Hey guys! How is everyone! I'm good I hope you are as well! So, as for the spirits being able to give their magic to someone in order to temporarily bolster it, let's just file that under Magical Rules Bullshit, yeah? Okay good. Daniels Magical Core, is a bit above average but nothing super spectacular. Anyway, I'm gonna try and get the next chapter up as soon as possible, so until then I'll see you all next time. Cheers! (Hey another brit, see what I did there. Ha!). Review! ~Pacco1