Chapter 24
A/N: IMPORTANT!! READ THIS!!
Okay, to tell you the truth, not much was scheduled to happen through the rest of Harry's year at Hogwarts, so I decided to fit all the events of the rest of seventh year into one long chapter. (Then I got lazy)
Why you ask? Frankly, I have so much planned for AFTER Hogwarts, that I feel that I have to get on with it. So, as Truman used to say, The Fluff stops here (or was it the buck?)
So read on and if anyone wants me to go into details, I might do a side story… Onward!
Christmas day carried on as usual. Despite advice from Aliss and Sirius, Harry had decided against visiting his family. He was in a good mood and had no desire to ruin it.
After Christmas vacation, the ride to Hogwarts was slightly eventful, but not overly so. Harry and his friends found a compartment as soon as the train set itself in motion. Not five minutes later, Thomas and Weasley barged into the compartment. Weasley seemed on the verge of making a snide remark, but was stopped by Thomas.
"Harry can I talk to you a minute?" He asked, effectively stopping Ron from being extremely stupid and starting a commotion.
"Yes" Harry simply said. "What about?"
"Outside if you will?" Thomas asked nervously. Harry turned to his friends.
"Right, I'll be right back" he said before getting up and closing the compartment door behind him. Once out in the hall, he motioned to Weasley. "Hey Weasley, go somewhere else. Private conversation going on and all" Harry said to Weasley who immediately turned red. It was so amusing to see Weasley rise to the small bait.
"How do I know you won't try anything?" he asked Harry condescendingly. "After all, snakes like you can't be trusted can they?" Harry sighed.
"Your choice Weasley; repulso magnus!" He said taking out his wand. Weasley went flying to the other end of the train. "That's better, you were saying?" he asked turning back to Thomas.
"Was that really necessary?" Thomas asked raising angrily.
"What? Weasley was being annoying" Harry began, but Thomas cut him off.
"Not Ron, he was being slightly ass-like. Did you have to move out on such cold terms? Mum hasn't stopped crying since you left. Ruined Christmas. Dad just keeps sulking about. Hell, even Sirius seems slightly depressed! Why the fuck would you do that Harry? Maybe Ron was right, you are turning into a slimy jackass" he said, nostrils flaring.
"I don't give a flying fuck what you think" Harry responded in a whisper. He was pissed off completely, hence the swearing. "You have no fucking right to judge what the hell I do! I'm a damn adult, and thereby can make my own decisions without uninformed fuckers like you influencing me!" Harry said coldly. "For all I care, dear mother and father can go to hell" he added before re-entering his own compartment. Thomas stared, dumfounded at the door before turning back for his own compartment.
"So, what was that about?" Draco asked awkwardly as Harry reclaimed his seat.
"Jackass" was all Harry said in response. The rest of the ride was uneventful for the most part. Finally, the train lurched to a gentle stop and the occupants piled out.
Harry claimed his usual seat at the Slytherin table and minutes later, Dumbledore's speech commenced.
"Welcome back for another term at Hogwarts" he began, and the crowd went silent. "Before we eat, I have a few announcements to make. First off, the representatives for each house have been chosen. They are as follow. For Hufflepuff, Ernie Macmillan. For Ravenclaw, Terry Boot, For Slytherin, Harry Potter and for Gryffindor, Thomas Potter" he said and each house cheered for its champion. Dumbledore raised a hand to settle everyone down. "I have grave news as well. Because of the dangerous conditions in the area, all Hogsmeade visits are hereby canceled" This was met with immediate protests. "There will be NO further discussion of this, our decision is final" Dumbledore added firmly. "Now, I wish you all a good feast" Dumbledore finished with a wave of his hand.
Harry began piling heaps of food onto his plate. He wasn't too great a cook, therefore the food over the vacation was not close to the food at Hogwarts. Needless to say, he was yearning for tasty food.
After the feast, the days flew by. There were five challenges that each champion had to face, one each January to February and three in March. The one in January consisted of a simple task. The challenged was to hunt for certain potion ingredients within a week's time. The scores were given based on time taken to gather the ingredients. Harry finished fastest, earning him a full score of 4. A day later, Thomas finished, scoring a three. Boot and Macmillan finished two days later, the latter a mere hour earlier than the former.
February bought a more difficult task- fighting off one of Hagrid's newest cross-breeds. This one was a puppy that looked as if it was on steroids and was cross bred with a dragon. Was it mentioned it could breathe fire? The task was to simply subdue it. Harry finished only seconds after Thomas and again the scores were given as such. Harry and Thomas were tied for first while Boot and Macmillan were tied for third. The battle raged on.
The first task in March was fairly boring. Simply put, the first person to brew a potion correctly would win. With Snape cracking his knuckles menacingly in the background, Harry had no choice but to finish first. Surprisingly enough, Macmillan was second and Thomas third.
The second task was part one of the final task. In other words, the first round of a dueling tournament; everyone was interested in who would win. It was brought about that the first place and fourth place champions would duel as would the second and third. The winners of that round would proceed to fight in the final round.
"So Harry, nervous about taking on Macmillan?" Draco asked as the pair walked down to breakfast. Harry snorted snobbishly.
"That pushover? He's a freaking weak piece of crap!" Harry laughed. "Today will be a walk at the beach" Harry said and Draco couldn't help but agree.
"Probably" he said before veering off at the entrance of the great hall. "I'll be at breakfast in a few. I promised to meet up with Hermione before classes" He said and Harry groaned.
"Till when are you going to try to hide that from everyone?" Harry asked. So far as he knew, not even Ron or Thomas knew about Draco and Hermione.
"Till… later" Draco answered. "What's it to you?" he asked Harry.
"Nothing" Harry said, raising his hands in mock defeat. "Nothing at all. I'll see you in a few" he said before turning into the great hall. Taking a seat near the other seventh years, he grabbed a muffin and began to eat slowly. The duel was in exactly three hours, at twelve noon. He had three hours to do whatever he wanted. He got up and decided to pay a visit to an old friend.
Three hours later, Harry was standing on a small scaffold on one end of the great hall waiting for his opponent. He looked around and saw that few had made it a point of attending the match. Only a select few Hufflepuff and about ten Slytherins had bothered to show up. No matter, Harry didn't plan on wasting their time. He was going to end this quickly.
Macmillan came up onto the scaffold, albeit slightly reluctant, and faced Harry. Lucky for the both of them, McGonagall was judging the match.
"Alright you two, I want a clean match. No violent curses or fatal ones. The first to disarm and stun his opponent wins. BEGIN!" The witch called and Macmillan wasted no time in raising his wand. Harry however made no such gesture. He simple gazed into his opponents eyes and focused.
Suddenly, the Hufflepuff dropped his wand and clutched his head, writhing in pain. Harry took this opportunity to hit the boy with a stunner, effectively ending the duel. McGonagall confronted him at once.
"Potter, what did you do to the boy?" she asked frantically.
"Nothing professor, I did absolutely nothing" he said and sidestepped the woman, leaving a very confused old lady behind him.
Once he entered the common room, his eyes sought his three friends, who were sitting near the window. He approached them quietly.
"SO, any reason why none of you showed up to my duel?" he asked, making all three jump.
"Harry, you almost gave me a damn heart attack!" Daphne screeched, clutching her heart.
"And to answer your question, we knew you'd win. What we didn't expect was you would finish the match in less than three minutes" Draco answered.
"Actually, it was a minute and three seconds. Hufflepuffs are weak as hell" he said pulling up a chair. "So what do you three want to do for the rest of the day?" Harry asked.
"Sorry mate, but you're the only one exempt from classes today" Theo reminded. Harry waved him off.
"Bah, class is overrated. Besides, we're out of here soon. Cutting won't hurt will it?" he asked rhetorically.
"But NEWTS-"
"Fuck the NEWTS" Harry said. "They're easy as hell anyway" he waved off the exams as if they were worthless.
"Dunno about you two, but I'm with Harry" Draco said getting up. "How's about a trip to the kitchens?" he asked rubbing his hands together. "I haven't had anything to eat today"
"That would be your own fault" Harry reminded him, causing the blond to blush.
"Shut up" Draco replied, looking away.
&
The next day at dinner, a boy came up to Harry, carrying a note. "This is for you" he mumbled before shoving the paper in Harry's hand and leaving.
Draco leaned over to take a look. "What ya got there?" he asked, spewing bits of food everywhere.
"That's disgusting" Was Harry's only reply. He opened the note to find handwriting he didn't recognize.
Dear Mr. Potter,
Would you care to join me in my office after dinner for a bit of tea and scones?
Albus Dumbledore
P.S. Ice mice are my favorite
"What the hell?" Theo asked, peering over Harry's shoulder. "Just send a note saying you're not interested" he suggested. Harry snorted.
"I really don't think this is something I can decline" Harry said. "He's just attempting to be polite is all"
"Doesn't seem too polite to me" Draco mumbled and Harry nodded.
"It isn't. It's basically an order in the form of a request. A sheep in wolf's clothing if you will. Besides, this has peaked my interest" he said, smiling. "I think I'm done with dinner" he added, getting up from his seat.
He made his way through the castle and towards the gargoyle's door. "Ice Mice" he said clearly and the statue moved aside revealing a spiraling staircase. Harry hopped on it and made his way up to the headmaster's door.
"Come in Mr. Potter" Dumbledore's voice rang from the other side of the door. The door swung open of its own accord, allowing Harry entrance.
"You wanted to see me headmaster?" he asked.
"Yes, I would like to congratulate you on your duel yesterday. It was quite the show" Dumbledore said mildly.
"Listen, I did nothing illegal or dark to Macmillan" Harry began, but Dumbledore put his hand up.
"I realize that Mr. Potter. That is not what I called you here to discuss" he gestured towards the desk. "Please have a seat" he offered and Harry obliged. "Lemon drop?" he offered.
"No thanks" Harry declined. "So what is it you wanted to discuss?" he asked. These pleasantries were becoming tedious.
"Yes, the matter at hand is your duel with your brother" he began. Harry nodded for him to continue. "I have noticed the two of you are not as close as can be" he said. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Could we please cut to the chase? If you called me here to tell me the obvious things about my life, then please allow me to cut this short"
"No, no, that is not what I wanted to talk about, but this is merely an introduction to the topic at hand. Please I ask you to hear me out and listen patiently. Listen to my entire argument first, then I promise I will let you have your say" Harry nodded.
"The war, is at a high point. Things are happening now, and I fear that a crucial event is approaching, a point in the war that will be referred to as the climax in history books. Are you following?" Dumbledore asked pausing to make sure the boy before him was paying attention.
"Yes, please continue" Harry prodded, bored out of his mind.
"Very well. As I was saying, I fear that Voldemort will take advantage of this point and reach a new realm of power. In other words, he will start his offensive movements. The only person who can end this war is your brother"
"The chosen one" Harry muttered sarcastically.
"Yes, the chosen one. I believe that he can come out of this war, victorious, and restore peace to Britain. Do you not want peace Harry?" he asked.
"Of course I do" Harry answered, still very bored. "What the hell do you want from me?" he asked in annoyance.
"You see Harry, we have run into a hurdle. Your brother is not very confident. He considers himself weak and unable to succeed. He doesn't think he can beat Voldemort" Dumbledore said, raising his hand to stop Harry's retort. "Rest assured, he needs a confidence boost"
"So what is it you want?" Harry asked, not liking where this was going. Dumbledore smiled.
"I simply wish for your to throw the duel" he said, shocking Harry to the core.
How was that? I was going to end the school year in this chapter, but this cliffhanger is much better.
Yeah, I know, no Aliss in this chapter, but hey, it was more a summary. If anyone wants to know how the other challenges went, I may write a few one shots about them. Anyway, REVIEW!!
I'm hungry for reviews!! SO hit that cool little blue button. It's your one way ticket to heaven, nirvana, inner peace, or whatever the hell you want it to be.
LOL! I'm feeling hyper today (dunno why). N E way, back to the story. How was it?
After this, the last chapter of Hogwarts and finally the real story begins! That may actually make this story much more interesting. Good night and don't forget the R word!!