Disclaimer: All of Harry Potter belongs to J K Rowling

A Change of Identity

Chapter 37: After the Task

Harry noticed five people rushing towards him from the stands: his father, Ron, Fred and George Weasley and Hermione. Before any of these people got remotely close enough to talk to him however, he was marched into a tent by Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse. Harry saw that the other champions were all there sporting various injuries.

'I don't know what they were thinking about, allowing students within even a mile of those dragons,' she said angrily. 'Come on; let me see that shoulder of yours.'

A minute later Harry's shoulder felt perfectly fine although Madam Pomfrey insisted that he keep a dressing on it for the next twenty four hours. And she certainly wasn't prepared to stop fussing.

'Now you lot just keep things down if you want to be allowed to talk to Mr Potter here,' she said as the tent was invaded. She appeared to make no distinction between the four students and Harry's father in her command. Harry's father had an odd expression on his face- both grim and proud. He spoke to Harry only briefly before leaving.

'Very well done indeed,' he said. 'I need to have a serious talk with you but it can wait till tomorrow since I suspect your house would appreciate your presence in the common room for a celebratory party after you get your marks from the judges. Come and see me around eleven.'

After he left there was silence for half a minute before Ron spoke. He kept his voice low so that the other champions wouldn't be able to here him.

'How come they all knew what the task was and you didn't?' he asked.

Harry knew that Ron wasn't the type to like to say sorry but the indignant way in which he asked that question was good enough. And although part of him was still angry at Ron he felt he wanted to keep any friends he had rather than risk being a total loner again. He shrugged, not having any answer to give. Then he laughed as Hermione rounded on Ron.

'You see, I keep telling you how you should read ahead in the class work,' she told him. 'Harry could have been dead if he hadn't learnt that summoning charm in advance of Flitwick covering it.'

'Actually I didn't learn it, Hermione,' he said. 'I just remembered my father using it once last year.' That rendered Hermione speechless. The twins smirked and Harry realised they knew just what he was referring to but they didn't embarrass him by mentioning it. Ron said,

'Your dad didn't look all that happy. Do you think he's going to punish you for something tomorrow?' Harry wasn't worried on that account.

'If I was in trouble he'd let me know all about it and wouldn't be telling me to go to a party. I think he just wants to talk about this whole mess that I'm in with this tournament.'

At this point Harry was summoned to go before the judges and receive his marks for the task. Five minutes later he dazedly realised that he was sharing first place with Viktor Krum. He and the other champions were informed that the next task was to take place on February the twenty fourth and that they had to figure out the clue inside the golden egg they had collected in order to prepare for it. Next thing he knew he was in the middle of a riotous party in the Gryffindor common room. Fred and George had visited the kitchens with the result that the house elves had provided so much food that no one needed to attend either lunch or dinner. Hermione fretted slightly over the extra work this made for the elves. When she'd first found out about the existence of these creatures she had been all for trying to free them. Then Harry's father had heard her trying to get people to join a society for the purpose and stepped in. Rather than argue with her he'd given her an essay to write on the subject. As a result of all the research she had to do for it she discovered that it would actually be cruel to free them and gave up her campaign. Now she just tried to tell people not to make to much work for them.

At one point during the evening some bright spark badgered Harry into opening up the golden egg. He was immediately ordered to shut it again when the common room was filled with an extremely loud screechy wailing. Harry wondered how on earth he could be expected to make any sense of it but decided not to worry about it at present- after all it was around three months before the next task.

It was nearing eleven that night before the party had fizzled out and Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys found themselves alone in the common room and able to talk seriously.

'So why were you the only one who didn't have a clue what you were doing?' asked Ron.

'Was it that obvious?' asked Harry.

'Put it this way,' said Fred. 'You stood there for several minutes like a dummy. Then you did that summoning charm and sounded confident enough but looked as if you couldn't believe it when it actually worked.'

'Yeah, well I had to try something,' said Harry. 'But I've no idea how the others found out. I'll see what my father's got to say about it tomorrow. Right now I need to sleep. I'm worn out from laughing at all those first years turning into canaries. I reckon those sweets will be one of your best sellers, George.'

They all laughed. Fred and George had managed to trick every last one of the first year Gryffindors into taking one of their special joke sweets with hilarious results. It looked like the only obstacle to the twins' dream of running a joke business was lack of money. Harry was still smiling as he went to sleep.

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Harry was seated in a throne like chair which seemed far too large for him in a dark and dusty room. He was exceedingly angry.

'He should have been finished off by that dragon,' he hissed. Then you could have easily collected his blood and I would have been reborn.'

'I am sorry master. I had no idea that he would be able to think up a plan on the spur of the moment like that.'

'It appears that the boy is resourceful. He will need to learn however that he is no match for me. We will change the plan and take him alive. Listen well, my faithful servant. But first…CRUCIO!'

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Harry woke with a sharp cry of pain which he quickly muffled. Not quite quickly enough to avoid waking Ron however, who came into Harry's cubicle to see what was wrong.

'It was just a stupid dream,' Harry told him. But the scar on my head suddenly started hurting. It's going away now though.'

'Weird,' said Ron. How did you get that scar, anyway?'

'Second year,' Harry said shortly. It wasn't something he was proud of and didn't particularly wasn't to discuss it. Ron seemed to sense Harry's discomfort and didn't press him.

'Do you think you should tell your father or Dumbledore about it?' he asked instead.

'No,' said Harry. I'm fine now. I think I'll go back to sleep.'

'Yeah, me too,' said Ron and he left Harry to snuggle back under his quilt.

Harry duly went to his father's rooms at eleven the following morning to find the headmaster there too. The fact that there was a tray with tea and biscuits on the table was enough to confirm Harry's assertion of the day before that he was not in trouble. That didn't stop him from feeling a little nervous though. Once he was seated with a cup of tea Dumbledore began.

'Firstly Harry,' he said pleasantly, 'I must congratulate you on your performance yesterday. You should be very proud of yourself. But what we need to discuss is your safety. The fact that the champions from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had prior knowledge of the task does not concern me. Cheating has always taken place in this tournament. However, it was agreed amongst all the Hogwarts staff that none of us would help either Cedric or yourself. Since yesterday I have ascertained that no one broke this agreement. This means that an outside agency must have told Cedric about the dragons.'

Harry said,

'But I don't understand. I mean I know someone might want me dead but what would it matter if something happened to Diggory as well?' His father answered.

'There was no way of knowing the order in which you would all attempt the task. If one of the others had been killed then you might not have been allowed to try. Someone wanted to make sure you got your chance. Fortunately you were more resourceful than they could have expected.'

'Do you think they'll try again for the next task?' asked Harry. Dumbledore shook his head slightly.

'Without giving anything away, the next task isn't quite so dangerous,' he said. Unfortunately we still have no idea who it is who put your name into the Goblet. This means that there is little any of us can do except be extra vigilant. I know that your father insisted that you were never on your own on the last Hogsmeade visit. I think that you should keep to this rule for the other trips this year. I also ask that you do not wander around secluded parts of the grounds on your own and that if you notice anything unusual you tell your father or me.'

'And I'm going to resume the lessons in defending yourself I started in the summer,' said his father, speaking for the first time. You can come here every Friday evening at eight. Then if whoever it is does try something you stand a better chance of surviving.' He spoke lightly but Harry knew that he was genuinely concerned and not at all happy that there was so little he could do about the situation. Harry wondered briefly if he should mention his dream but decided against it. It was only a dream after all; there was no point in giving his father even more to worry about.

Harry didn't tell anyone else about his dream. Ron however told Hermione, annoying Harry greatly because Hermione kept on telling him that he should tell his father about it.

'Look it was just a dream,' he told her. 'People have weird dreams all the time.'

'But suppose it was real?' persisted Hermione. 'Dumbledore might be able to find out for certain.'

Eventually Harry got fed up and said he would tell his father. Not that he had any intention of doing so but it shut Hermione up and enabled him to carry on with the normal school routine in relative peace. Not that things were ever simple. A week or so later Harry's father brought his lesson to an end five minutes early in order to make an announcement.

'As part of the celebrations for the Triwizard Tournament there will be a Yule Ball held at eight o'clock in the Great Hall on Christmas Day. It is open to all fourth years and above although you are allowed to invite a younger student as a partner if you wish. Dress robes should be worn.'

'Do you have to go with a partner?' someone asked.

'No, but I expect most of you would like to.' Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He certainly had no wish to ask any girl to go to a dance with him. Even though he no longer had the problem of everyone hating him he still wasn't the most sociable of people and didn't think he'd bother with joining in any of the dances at the ball.

'Just a minute Harry, I need a word with you.'

Harry turned round and came back into the classroom which he just been exiting. His father waited until the rest of the class were gone before shutting the door and dropping the bombshell.

'Harry, I'm afraid that what I said about not needing a partner doesn't apply to you.'

'What do you mean, Dad?' asked Harry. His father smiled.

'It is tradition that the Triwizard Champions and their partners begin the first dance. You are one of the Champions. Therefore you need a partner. Sorry.'

Great, thought Harry. The only girl he was anywhere near being friends with was Hermione and he didn't want to ask her in case Ron was thinking about it. Then he had an idea and decided to act on it and get it over with.

'Er, Luna?'

'Oh, hello Harry Potter,' replied the rather strange looking third year Ravenclaw girl. Harry only knew her by sight but had heard of her reputation for believing in the most ridiculous things. He also knew that she was a bit of a loner and that no one else was likely to ask her to the ball. If he had to take a partner he felt that he would like to take someone who might not otherwise have a chance. It wasn't so very long ago since he had had no friends after all.'

'I wondered if you might like to go to the Yule Ball with me,' he said.

'Why would you want to go with me?' asked Luna. 'You're a Hogwarts Champion. You could go with anyone.' Harry decided to be honest.

'There's no one I particularly want to go with,' he said. 'But I have to have a partner and I thought I'd ask someone who might not normally be able to go. I mean because you're only third year…'

'And everyone thinks I'm mad,' finished Luna. 'It's all right,' she went on as Harry reddened and mumbled awkwardly. 'I know what people think of me. And yes, thank you. I'd love to go with you.'

As Christmas approached Harry was glad he'd got his partner in good time. Several people including Ron found that the girl's they'd like to go with were already taken. Ron had eventually asked Hermione but she told him she was already going with someone else though she wouldn't say who. He wasn't very impressed when he heard who Harry was going with.

'Why on earth would you want to go with her?' he exclaimed. You could have had anyone. You could even have asked my little sister Ginny. She's only third year too.'

'You don't need to worry about me,' said Ginny herself who overheard this. I'm going with Neville Longbottom. And I think it was very nice of Harry to ask Luna. She's a nice girl and I think it's horrible the way people treat her.'

Harry was glad Neville had asked Ginny. He had briefly considered asking her himself but wasn't sure that Ron would have liked it. Besides, he knew that Ginny was a popular girl and there was a good chance that someone else would ask her. At last, two days before the ball Ron asked Pavarti Patil, one of the girls in their year. She already had a partner but volunteered her twin sister Padma for Ron. With everyone's partners settled they could all relax and look forward to the excitement of the ball.