Surprise update is surprising!

Welcome one and all to Chapter 26! Pretty much filler, as we slowly get closer to the Second Task. So leave a review if you feel like it, and enjoy the chapter. In other news: Thank you for the reviews, the alerts and the favorites. Now, ENJOY!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER

The Yule Ball had been eleven days ago, and Harry was enjoying a steaming cup of lemon tea whilst sitting in an empty courtyard, enjoying the early morning chill. The school was pretty empty now, as most had left after the Yule Ball. Draco had actually gone home for the holidays.

Officially, Draco had formally apologized to Lucius and he was repenting for his misdeeds. The unofficial story was that Draco was informing his mother on the correct use of Rumpling sap and his plan to take care of Lucius.

Neville had gone home as well to enjoy the use of the Greenhouses of Longbottom Manor. And he was visiting his parents of course, although Neville wasn't aware that both Harry and Draco knew of this.

There were only a few students in the school, and Harry was the only one of his year. Harry's only company was Cedric Diggory, who was currently flying with Cho Chang at the Quidditch Pitch.

Sipping on his tea, Harry calmly paged through his strategy book. He had developed multiple methods for solving the Second Task, and Harry was currently weighing the pros and cons of each method.

A lot depended on whether or not he would be allowed to fight the other champions or if he had to leave them to their own devices…

Taking another sip, Harry was surprised when his lemon tea was suddenly accompanied by a sherbet lemon which appeared next to his cup.

Grinning, Harry spoke, "Thanks, as if the lemon tea wasn't sour enough on its own!"

As Dumbledore sat down in front of Harry, Harry could see the old man's beard twitch.

"Well you are very welcome Harry. How are you doing today?" Dumbledore spoke with his twinkly eyes at full strength.

"I'm… good. Enjoying a nice cup of tea, I know what the Second Task is, nobody who interrupts my studying and I am comfortably seated. So yes, I am doing good. How about yourself Albus?"

"I am doing very well Harry, thank you for asking. Now, I am here with a reason. I want you to go and check up on your apprentice today." Dumbledore informed Harry. Seeing Harry's questioning look, Dumbledore elaborated.

"I want you to go and make sure that she isn't building up to another eruption. I understand that you have given her exercises to practice her control, but I do not trust Miss Owens to maintain control without any supervision. She is just a normal teenage girl after all, and discipline is not usually a strong suit of teenagers."

Suppressing an exasperated sigh, Harry simply looked at Dumbledore before repeating, "I'm good. Enjoying a nice cup of tea, I know what the Second Task is, nobody who interrupts my studying and I am comfortably seated. So yes, I am doing good. How about yourself Albus?" Harry spoke whilst placing emphasis on the relevant part of his earlier statement.

Dumbledore didn't even flinch, he simply looked Harry in the eye for a second before swiftly pulling is wand and banishing Harry out of his seat and onto the floor.

Harry had drawn his own wand during his fall and had retaliated with a color-changing charm and a subtle transfiguration that Dumbledore had failed to notice.

Just the memory of Dumbledore's fluorescent pink beard and hair, made getting a Pensieve an immediate priority for Harry.

"I'll make you a deal, I won't dispel your charm until sundown, and you will do as I asked." Dumbledore proposed with his twinkles at full force.

Allowing himself a grin, Harry nodded.

"Now, if you'd hand me your wand or a second, I'll see about blocking the Trace for 8 hours. Being the Chief Warlock does have its uses after all." Dumbledore said, before waving his own wand over Harry's a few times.

"Very well, and on a side note, if you happen to encounter a Pensieve, would you be so kind as to inform if I could somehow acquire it? I have a memory which I would really like to watch again." Harry said, before swaggering of, leaving a highly amused Dumbledore, a half cup of lemon tea, and a Gobstone disguised as a sherbet lemon, as Dumbledore would soon discover to his unpleasant surprise.

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Walking out onto the grounds, Harry came to the realization that he didn't know where Rachel lived…

How to solve that? Logically, Hedwig would be able to find her, so all he really needed was a broom.

Summoning his Cleansweep 6C, Harry merely had to focus on Hedwig for a second before Harry could hear her mighty cry ringing through the sky.

Looking up, Harry smiled as he saw his beautiful familiar rocketing towards him.

"I need to find Rachel Owens. Could you show me the way Hedwig?"

Getting Hedwig's agreement, wizard and familiar took to the skies.

It was already 3 p.m. when Hedwig began descending, Harry trailing her still. He had 4 hours without the Trace being active left.

Casting some Muggle-repelling charms on himself, Harry grinned when he saw a man who had been looking at a plane that was flying over, suddenly grow very interested in his shoelaces.

Hedwig landed in front of a modest two-story house at the end of a suburban street. Harry was reminded of Privet Drive, but somewhat more … friendly. People didn't seem to be as focused on privacy and their image here, the cars weren't all perfectly cleaned, the fences didn't seem to be as high and the front yards weren't as well kept.

Shrinking his broom, Harry thanked Hedwig before dispelling his notice-me-not charms. Realizing that he wasn't exactly inconspicuous in his robes, Harry moved towards the front door. Hedwig took off into the sky, starting her return to Hogwarts.

Ringing the doorbell, Harry stood back as he waited for somebody to come and open the door.

After a few seconds, Harry could hear footsteps inside the house. Then the lock clicking back and the handle being pulled down.

The moment Harry caught a glimpse of the person opening the door, he noticed that this person was too tall to be Rachel herself. Which meant that he'd have to deal with one of the relatives at least.

As the door opened fully, Harry came face to face with a rather normal woman. She was about 5 feet 5, give or take an inch. She had rather short hair, which had been dyed blonde and she had a rather athletic build, with no signs of excess fat clearly visible. Wagering a guess, Harry estimated her at about 40 years old.

"Hello, can I help you?" The woman said, looking at Harry with a friendly smile, although he could see her confusion at his choice of clothes.

"Yes, am I at the Owens' residence? I'm looking for Rachel Owens."

"Oh why didn't you just say so? Come in! I'm Julie by the way. I'm Rachel's mother." The woman happily introduced herself.

Before getting a chance to reply, Harry was interrupted by a male voice coming from further inside the house.

"Julie?! Who is it?" A male voice called.

"A friend of Rachel's!" Julie shouted back.

Leading Harry into the sitting room, Julie scampered off to the kitchen.

She came back not two minutes later with a box filled with teabags and some cups.

"Pick any flavor you like, I'll be right back with the water." She said before walking off towards the presumed kitchen again.

Picking out a bag of lemon tea, Harry looked around the sitting room. He spotted some photographs of Julie and Rachel and of the man Harry presumed to be Rachel's father.

The man in the pictures had short hair, which was already grey in the more recent pictures, yet Harry wouldn't give him a day over 45. He too had a rather athletic build, and he was probably around 5 feet 10, give or take an inch again.

As Julie walked in again, bringing the hot water with her, she was accompanied by the man in question, who walked to Harry.

Standing up, Harry shook the man his hand.

"I'm Greg. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Harry, Harry Potter. Nice to meet you as well, sir."

As everybody sat down, Harry took a sip of his tea before complimenting the Owens' family on their house. After other necessary pleasantries were taken care of, Harry came to the point.

"Now, Greg, Julie, it's clear that Rachel isn't here right now. Which is not bad, but I do have a rather important question to ask her. Would you happen to know if Rachel has been practicing her ability to control fire?"

The adults shared a look with each other before Greg spoke.

"Yes, the first day after returning home, Rachel did all kinds of things in the backyard. It was rather scary to see actually. She must have been out there for something like four or five hours. When we asked, she said that Harry had given her those exercises. I take it that you are the Harry she spoke of?"

"Indeed. You see Rachel has a very rare talent. She has the ability to control one of the elements to a degree far greater than that which wand magic could ever accomplish. This talent is so rare, there are only two people at our school currently in possession of it. Rachel is one, and I am the other. Seeing as Rachel unlocked her talent only recently, she has little control over it. This is dangerous because if she gets extremely upset, she might lose control over her ability to control fire, instead merely letting the fire control her." Harry explained.

Seeing the shocked faces of both Greg and Julie, Harry did his best to calm them.

"But we have means of preventing that. I unlocked my talent when I was seven, and I mastered it many years ago. I was appointed as Rachel's tutor by the Headmaster. I train with her, twice or thrice a week, to make sure that she masters her element. And she has made great progress already. But you see, if she doesn't practice enough, the fire starts building up in her core again, and the possibility of losing control reappears. This is why I gave Rachel a list of excercices, along with set times and dates for when to practice them. In total, there were four and a half hours worth of exercises. An hour and a half each for a period of four days."

Leaning forward, Harry looked both adults in the eye for a second, to make clear how serious he was about this.

"Now, are you absolutely sure that Rachel only practiced on the first day of her stay here?"

Seeing the fear in the faces of both parents, Harry suppressed a growl.

Maintaining his polite voice, Harry spoke again.

"Do you happen to know where exactly Rachel is?"

"No, she left after lunch. She went into the city for the day. Said she was going to meet up with some old friends to catch up. By now she could be anywhere in Leeds." Julie said, anxiety clear in her behavior.

Filing away the information that he was currently in Leeds, Harry stood up.

"Don't worry, I will see about tracking down Rachel on my own. Thank you for your help, and please, do not worry, everything is under control." Harry spoke, before striding towards the door.

Opening it, Harry cast another Muggle-Repelling Charm, as well as one of his Notice-Me-Not-Charms.

Giving a polite wave at Julie and Greg, who were unaffected as they were already aware of Harry being there, Harry turned to the road before putting away his wand and breaking into a run.

Jumping onto the street, Harry landed on all fours. Only, where Harry should have been, was now a majestic Arctic Wolf.

Sniffing the air for a few seconds, the wolf took off at full speed towards the city center.

Turning to his wife, Greg spoke enthusiastically, "You reckon Rachel will learn how to do that?"

Julie simply fainted.

~~~~Scene Break~~~~

Sprinting towards the city center, Harry did his best to sniff out Rachel's smell. It was now 4.27 p.m., so Rachel had left her house at least two hours ago, seeing as she'd been long gone when Harry had arrived at her house at 3 p.m.. Harry was really having a hard time sniffing her out from the thousands of smells lingering in the air.

Dodging past an unsuspecting Muggle, Harry got a strong whiff of the scent he'd analyzed as Rachel's. Following the stronger scent, Harry ended up in front of a small pub. Transforming back to human, Harry transfigured his robes into a deep-blue t-shirt and an average pair of jeans.

Looking sufficiently Muggle, Harry dispelled his charms before entering the café.

The pub was rather average, there were a couple of older guys playing cards in a corner, two of the regulars enjoying a beer at the bar, and a rather unclean bartender.

Not spotting any teenagers, Harry went for the bartender.

"Hello sir, excuse me, but did you happen to notice a girl, about my age, same length, with long, black hair and brown eyes in your establishment?" Harry asked the bartender politely.

" 'S none 'f your business kid. Now order s'mthin or piss off." The man grumbled.

Suppressing a sigh, Harry merely looked the man in the eye. Using Legillimency on the man, Harry soon found the memory he was looking for.

Rachel, in the presence of a couple of other girls, enjoying various fizzy drinks and giggling and chattering. Doing his best to understand what the girls were talking about, Harry just picked up something about a movie which would start at five thirty.

Irritated, Harry scanned through the man his mind for any information of a nearby movie theater. Harry turned up only one matching location. Memorizing the location and the shortest way there, Harry left the man his mind before striding out of the pub.

Recasting his Notice-Me-Not and his Muggle Repelling charms, Harry transformed again before sprinting towards the movie theater. The scent was getting stronger as well, so he was definitely on the right track.

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Transforming back, Harry looked at the building in front of him. A smaller theater with three or maybe four auditoriums.

Maintaining his charms, Harry strolled right past the ticket booth and into the theater itself.

Clearly, Harry was too late, as all movies were playing, and Rachel was now in one of the dark rooms where Harry would have a rather hard time recognizing her.

Deciding that a movie could hardly upset Rachel into erupting, Harry looked around for a second. Summoning a bucket of popcorn to him, Harry conjured a comfortable recliner before settling down in a corner to continue working on his strategy book.

As Harry had a perfect view of the doors of all the auditoriums, he would simply look up whenever he heard one of them opening.

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Glancing at his watch, Harry noticed that it was already 6.49 p.m. That meant that he had only 11 minutes of wand magic left. Seeing as flying back to Hogwarts would take at least four hours, Harry was now displeased. He'd been planning on exploring the Black Lake again.

Muttering a curse, Harry was just about to turn back to his book when he heard one of the doors open.

Glancing up, Harry was pleasantly surprised to see that Rachel had left her movie. Only to be followed immediately by a guy. A big guy.

Watching the situation unfold, Harry had to suppress his instincts when the guy grabbed Rachel's arm and spun her around so she was facing him.

Standing up and moving towards the two, Harry casually dispelled his charms as he came within hearing range.

Getting a better look at the guy, Harry guessed him at around seventeen or eighteen years old. He was around six feet already, probably weighing something around 200 pounds, and almost all of that seemed to be muscle.

"Don't run away from me Rachel! We're going to have a good time together. I've been looking forward to this for weeks, ever since your dad mentioned that you'd be coming home for the holidays. Now how about we go somewhere private huh?" The guy spoke soothingly, trying to charm Rachel probably.

Yanking her arm free, Rachel slapped him in the face. Hard.

"Stay away from me Rick! I want nothing to do with you, leave me alone!" Rachel yelled, before trying to run off.

Rick immediately grabbed her arm again and yanked her back. Clearly, he was angry now.

Reaching the arguing duo, Harry noticed exactly how red Rachel was turning. She was shaking a lot as well.

Realizing what was about to happen, Harry immediately put his right hand on Rachel's right shoulder. Standing on Rachel's left side, Harry immediately started channeling as much cold through his arm as he could.

Noticing Rachel lean into him, Harry looked at the clearly shocked Rick.

"I believe, Rick, that your presence is unwanted. Now if you'll excuse us." Harry spoke icily, before turning around with Rachel, and starting towards the exit.

Just as he could feel Rachel cooling down a bit, and slowing her shaking, Harry could feel a heavy hand clamp down on his left shoulder.

"Oi! Get back here. I wasn't finished with you."

Giving Rachel an encouraging pinch, Harry removed his hand before slowly turning around.

"Listen, Rick. Rachel is clearly not interested. This really doesn't have to get messy, so just back off, and let us leave." Harry spoke, staring Rick in the eye, before he could use Legillimency though, Harry was surprised by a hard shove from Rick.

Taking a step back, Harry slowed his breathing and started preparing for the inevitable fight.

"How about you back the fuck off or I'll kick your ass you little pussy!" Rick yelled, taking a threatening step forward.

"That's fine by me, we'll just leave then." Harry said, before trying to leave with Rachel again.

Just as Harry thought that Rick might have actually fallen for it, he was yanked back by his shoulder.

"YOU leave. Rachel stays." Rick said threateningly, trying to his length and bulk to his advantage by leaning over Harry.

Suppressing a snort at the poor intimidation attempt, Harry took a step back before saying clearly,

"Rachel clearly doesn't want anything to do with you. Now you will let us leave. Touch either of us again, and I will be forced to take care of you through more painful means." Harry calmly said, before motioning for Rachel to start moving towards the exit.

As Harry heard Rachel start moving, he himself kept an eye on Rick. When the taller boy didn't seem about to act, Harry turned around as well. Starting to move, to catch up to Rachel, Harry listened closely if he could hear Rick moving.

The punch to his head came as a surprise then, as Rick had moved near soundlessly.

Managing to catch himself before he fell, Harry turned around to see a surprised Rick, who had clearly thought that his punch would have leveled Harry. Another reason for Harry to thank Dudley.

Adapting a boxing pose, Harry prepared for the now inevitable fight.

Harry could see that Rick was about to rush him, as the taller boy rolled his shoulders once before his legs tensed.

As Rick charged, aiming for Harry's nose with his right fist, Harry sidestepped to the left before punching Rick solidly in his stomach.

Turning around, Harry noticed that the taller boy barely seemed to have noticed the punch.

Realizing that this wouldn't be all that simple, Harry stepped in before unleashing a quick one-two combination to Rick's face.

Stepping out to avoid the retaliatory left hook, Harry assessed whether or not he had dealt damage this time.

Judging from the dazed look in Rick's eyes, the lack of response to Harry's earlier response had been an exception, rather than the rule.

As Rick charged again, Harry leaned out of his right, before ducking under his left.

Retaliating with a devastating uppercut to Rick's chin, Harry felt something crack in his fist the moment he made contact with the taller boy's chin. This was immediately followed by a stinging pain in his fist.

Fortunately, Harry would have to continue his fight, as Rick fell to the ground, and he didn't get up again.

Cursing softly, Harry turned around only to come face to face with an upset Rachel.

"What are you doing here!? You could have gotten seriously hurt! I had everything under control!"

"I came to check up on whether or not you were doing your exercises. I could have, but I didn't. No, you most definitely did not. Now, we are going to go outside, and you will take us to your house as fast as possible." Harry commanded, looking at Rachel until she angrily turned and started stomping off.

The moment Rachel turned, Harry examined his hand closely.

The skin had split and he could feel that he had broken at least two bones. Not being allowed to use magic any longer, Harry didn't really have that many options right now. Ripping off a piece of his shirt, he wound it around his hand, as tight as he could.

Catching up to Rachel, Harry made sure to stay on her right side, so she wouldn't be able to see his broken hand.

Walking in silence, the two started towards Rachel's house.

A silence that was soon broken by Rachel.

"Well? Why are you still here? I already did my exercises so there's no reason for you to stick around." Rachel spoke in a mix of honest curiosity and anger.

"Yes. You already did your exercises and that is precisely the problem. I gave you a schedule to go with those exercises! A mandatory schedule! Because you did all of them on your first day here, your reserves have been building up again ever since. Leading to the point where you almost burned down a movie theater had it not been for my timely appearance. Now, please keep quiet as you're getting on my nerves." Harry answered coolly.

Taken aback, Rachel kept quiet as well.

They walked in silence for the remainder of the trip.

Eventually arriving at Rachel's home, Harry followed her as she led them around back. Stuffing his broken hand in his pocket, Harry hid a wince as they walked inside. It was 9.32 p.m. by now.

Walking into the living room, Harry stood back as Julie and Greg fired a true crossfire of questions at Rachel.

They'd been called by Rick's dad, who had been less than pleased when his son had been brought home with a swollen face and a busted chin.

As Rachel explained what had happened, Harry subtly sneaked off, hunting for a bandage to replace the filthy piece of cloth that he currently had around his hand.

Finding the bathroom, Harry soon found the family's emergency kit. Taking out a bandage, Harry set his hand so he would be able to lay it around his broom, before firmly winding the bandage around it. Wincing as he pulled it firm, Harry was unpleasantly surprised when he heard a shocked gasp coming from the bathroom door.

Firmly tying the bandage, Harry looked over to see Rachel in the doorway.

"Merlin! Are you alright?" Rachel said as she hurried over to check Harry's hand.

Harry would never admit exactly how nice it was to have Rachel worriedly hovering over his hand.

"I'm fine. I'll have Pomfrey fix me up once I get back to Hogwarts." Harry said.

"You will do the second string of exercises on the assignment sheet, tomorrow morning, and the third string in three days. Now if you'd excuse me, I have a long flight ahead. And thank your parents for the tea, it was very nice." Harry said, before leaving the bathroom.

Walking out the back door, Harry used the command he had set earlier to undo the shrinking charm on his broom, before taking off for Hogwarts.

So, I'm giving you another chance at influencing the story. During the Second Task, will the Champions be allowed to fight each other? Answer through review or PM. Please leave a review and have a nice day.