Well this chapter was about as hard as I expected it to be, just wish I had more time to dedicate to fanfiction, might have been up sooner. Over half of this story was written in December (thank you nursery Christmas holidays).
This chapter is obviously important (I after all haven't shut up about it) and you can tell why. Asides from having a little sister, the contents of this chapter really detail how this story is an AU when compared to Rowling's masterpiece. I'll get into that more in the end note (if you really want to read them).
Regardless, please leave reviews.
A big shout out to anyone who is familiar with Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, to you it will be obvious that I got a certain amount of inspiration from their (especially in regards to the elements).
Warning contains periodic use of strong language
First Task: Elemental Magic
When Emma got up that morning, she had hardly slept a wink. It was so early that the sun had yet to rise. Today was supposed to be her first Hogsmeade visit. She wasn't sure if she wanted to go.
Nonetheless she got up and snuck out of the Common Room. It was too early, curfew was still in effect, and Emma wasn't supposed to be outside the tower. But she had to go and check on her brother. With Ron and Hermione still not talking to him their plan was to go to the village together. She very much doubted Harry would be up for it though.
Harry had spent months doing research into the Patronus Charm, ground breaking research that could change the way magical people viewed the powers they took for granted. Last night he had discovered the last and most terrifying secret there was, a secret that must never be used.
"Do you know how?" Asked Emma.
"I know how to find out." Said Harry.
Harry was very talented when it came to Defensive magic. But Defence Against the Dark Arts required some understanding of the Dark Arts itself, even if one never dared dabble in such magic. Harry had gone through many deadly situations since he entered the magical world, the Triwizard Tournament was just the latest example, he had to do whatever he could to survive. But when everything ended what would the cost be for her brother? How deep would he go into dark magic in order to survive?
Emma entered the Room of Requirement and found him curled up in some very thick blankets on a bed. In an unusual step, Emma had Harry spend the night in the Room, she was not sure she wanted him near anybody right now.
"Harry are you awake?" Asked Emma, though she already knew the answer. Harry was shaking and breathing extra hard.
"Emma… I… I…" He stuttered, he didn't speak, he couldn't speak.
"I know, Harry I know." She said softly.
"I just wanted… I just wanted…" Harry murmured through light sobs.
"Sssshhhh." Said Emma softly, taking him in her arms. "I know what you find out terrifies you, it terrifies me. But you don't have to use it. Put it behind you and never look back."
"But what if a Dementor comes our way." Said Harry. "Last year you… you…"
"There is nothing wrong with Expecto Patronum." Said Emma insistently, standing up. She made sure Harry could look straight into her eyes while they talked. "You are not evil, the magic you discovered may be but you aren't."
"I've already gone this far." Said Harry. "The Patron…"
"You don't need to do it again." Said Emma. "Look, you're clearly not well. Stay here, I'll ask Callie or one of the other elves to bring you something to eat."
"I… I don't want to go…" Cried Harry putting his head in his hands.
"I know." Said Emma. "You should stay here a while, maybe just a day or so, until you calm down. But you can't stay here forever. Asides from anything else, if you don't show up on Tuesday, something terrible could happen to you."
Harry looked at his sister.
Emma approached her brother and took him in a big tight cuddle. "All those years you spent watching over me, keeping me safe. I'll keep you safe Harry, even if what I'm keeping you safe from is you."
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Emma stopped by the kitchens and had Callie the House-Elf take some breakfast up to Harry. In the meantime however, she had to deal with the aftermath of what her brother had done. The Guild were good enough to keep their mouths shut, but Emma could tell they were curious. The rest of the Gryffindors would not let up though.
"Potter what did your bro do?"
"Emma has your brother finally gone bananas?"
"I knew he shouldn't have put his name in the Goblet."
As the Gryffindors continued to talk, the other houses got wind as well. Malfoy naturally just took it as a sign that Harry had gone insane.
"Tuesday should make a funny show, let's hope Potter survives the task long enough to perform." He sneered to his circle of followers.
Emma just ignored him, she just ignored everyone. She had to, she knew too much about the secret and she was worried she would say something she shouldn't. However when Professor McGonagall came to her, she was not in a position to just ignore her.
"Miss Potter where is your brother?" Asked McGonagall, still clearly unimpressed at having to repair the damage to the fireplace.
"He's sleeping." Said Emma.
"I have been up to his dormitory, he did not come in last night. Now where is he?" Demanded McGonagall angrily.
"This is not the time Professor." Snapped Emma.
"I BEG YOUR PARDON!" Growled McGonagall.
Emma stood up and faced the very scary old lady. "You heard." She shouted, somewhat. "No one can see Harry right now, he's not well. If you have a problem with that then tough, I'm not telling you where he is and he is not coming out to play today, so go away and leave me alone."
In some ways Emma felt ten-years-old again: timid, frightened. But in others she felt her courage inside her. Harry was her brother, and now was the time when he needed her to stick up for him.
"I need to speak with Mr Potter, Emma." Said McGonagall sternly.
"Now is not the time." Said Emma. "He has enough to work out just now."
McGonagall gave way. "See that he sees me as soon as possible."
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Emma went to Hogsmeade, but more to get out of the castle than anything else. Katy Creevey would be rather disappointed in Emma had she known how lax she was being about Colin's desire to buy every sweet in sight. Thankfully Demelza was on his case and emptied sweets from his basket faster than he could fill them up.
They decided to skip the robe shop, the girls had plans regarding Colin but Emma's heart just wasn't in it. So they spent a lot of time in Zonkos Joke shop before heading to the Three Broomsticks.
"Come on Emma cheer up." Said Colin. "We're at Hogsmeade."
"I should have been here with Harry." Growled Emma.
"He's been having a rough time." Said Demelza.
"Yeah." Said Emma. "Yeah he sure has."
"Em', what happened to Harry?" Asked Ginny. "I know it's not the tournament. He burnt a ton of stuff he's been writing in."
Emma closed her eyes. Should she keep this from the Guild? If she could, she would keep it from herself, and Harry. But how could one unlearn something, especially something like this.
"That bad huh?" Said Demelza.
"Worse." Said Emma.
"We've had bad before." Said Colin.
"Not like this." Said Emma. "If this gets out…" She slapped her hand to her mouth. "I need to go, bye guys."
"What?" Said Demelza. "Lunch hasn't come yet…"
But Emma ran off.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
She ran out of the Three Broomsticks and down the least populated street she could find, Emma had no idea whether she was heading back to Hogwarts or not, but she had to try. She ran harder and more recklessly than she really should have, before collapsing to her knees.
"You know, the only time people run like that is when they have something terrible to face up to." Said a familiar grumpy voice.
Emma turned to see her Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, in his company was also a familiar and friendly face.
"Seems like yer in need o' a drink." Remarked Hagrid.
"I just had a drink at lunch." Ground out Emma.
"Have another." Growled Moody. He lifted her to her feet by her arm and guided her to the Hogs Head, a pub not often frequented by Hogwarts Students. The place felt distinctly less clean than the Three Broomsticks and had significantly fewer patrons.
"Ge' the lady a butterbeer." Hagrid said to the barman. "A bottle, no a glass. And four pints of ale. Anythin' Alastor?"
"I'm fine." Said Moody, lifting up a flask.
Emma was sat at a table by Moody, while Hagrid got the drinks.
"I know what you're going through lass." Said Moody. "I've had to watch many I care about go through great trials and torments in their own lives."
Emma glared at him. "How could you possibly know what I'm…" She stopped herself. What was she going through?
"I've had to watch many friends go through things, none as structured as this ruddy tournament as well. One of my partners was making a name for himself nailing smugglers. One day they kidnapped his 18-month-old daughter. We got her back unharmed, but it took us 2 weeks, all the while he was in perpetual hell. Nearly lost his mind. I also had two great students, husband and wife – they made great Aurors, after the war they were tortured and driven to insanity. My team couldn't get to them in time to save them. They had a young son, who had to be raised by an elderly relative who was sad and angry about what happened for a long time."
Emma looked at Moody again.
"You may have your own specific problems, but there are still similarities. Your brother is in danger, there is not a lot you can do for him and nothing instantly that can fix his problem. All you can do is be there for him, and help him face the problem."
"What if this problem can't be solved?" Said Emma.
Moody sighed. "There are always problems that aren't solved. But most of the time it's because people don't have the guts to sort them out."
As Moody was talking, Hagrid sat down. "Yer brother knows abou' tha' too." Said Hagrid. "He has a lot o' courage. If it weren' fer him I would probably still be in Azkaban. I know ye helped an all…"
"But Harry led us." Said Emma. "He saved me too, and Ginny. He also spoke to Mrs Dorr when the Malfoys tried to execute Buckbeak."
"He also kept you in min' when he was 'ere in his firs' year." Said Hagrid. "Harry has always worked his hardest to help his frien's. Even now, I bet he would drop everything to save Ron and Hermione, in spita' curren' circumstances."
Emma nodded. She didn't think Ron and Hermione deserved it, but Harry would fight for them if he had to.
"Drink up and go see your brother." Said Moody. "There is not much time left. Now if you'll excuse me, I think there's Dung under that hood over there."
Moody got up and went over to an old lady bent over at the fireplace drinking through a straw.
"Thanks Hagrid." Said Emma.
"No probs… Tell Harry to come see me at 11." Said Hagrid. "I think I might be able to give him a useful tip."
ORACLE2PHOENIX
In the short term, Hagrid and Moody's pep talk did not do much good. As Emma left, she hurried, partly because she felt compelled to go and see her brother but mostly because Moody had pulled the hood off the old lady, who turned out to be a shifty looking man, and the barman had joined Mad-Eye in laying into the shifty looking guy.
Once she got to the Room of Requirement, Harry had not shifted from the position he'd entered after burning Lawrence's paper. He stunk of bed sweat and looked incredibly pale.
"I think it's time you got out of bed." Said Emma simply. "You smell… so bad."
Harry just ignored her.
"No, come on. We need to figure this out, you're getting up and you're getting washed now." Said Emma, trying to sound bossy.
By the time she coaxed Harry out of the bed and up to the boys' dormitories, people were starting to come back from Hogwarts. She sat in the Common Room, waiting for her brother to come down, if necessary she would take him back to the Room of Requirement for some peace, but Harry was taking an unusually long time. So much so that she asked Dennis to go and find him.
Dennis came back saying that Harry was just standing under a stream of water.
"I asked if he was alright, he said nothing, so I said you were looking for him. He came out and got a towel." Squeaked the little boy. "Do you think Colin brought me any sweets?"
Emma didn't care about sweets though and gave Dennis a look that had him back off a bit, thankfully he got the message.
Harry wandered down stairs a few minutes later, smelling distinctly less bad. However he still seemed to be on depressive auto-pilot. Emma dragged him back to the Room of Requirement, just as Gryffindors came back from Hogsmeade.
"Hey Harry, you feeling better?"
"Don't try frying me, I like my skin the way it is."
Emma moved him faster. "Ignore them."
Harry would normally not have risen to anything, but Emma was taking no chances. This was a situation unlike any other, so much was no being placed on Harry's shoulders, and the stupid pressures of the Triwizard Tournament were not helping either.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry and Emma talked a lot in the Room of Requirement. Emma didn't understand a lot of what her brother said. If the situation was so serious she would be jealous of how good Harry was at Arithmancy after only a short time.
"You said you knew how to find out." Said Emma.
"The fact that I discovered it, means I know how." Said Harry.
"Can anyone else find it out?" Said Emma.
"Not without me, or Lawrence's research." Said Harry. "The Arithmancy involved is a little complex, but it is doable. But no one can learn the secret without access to the formulae and a good understanding of their own Patronus. No one understands the Patronus like me or Lawrence, well except maybe you."
"I haven't even done a corporeal one yet though." Said Emma. "It seems the solution is simple. You're the only one who knows it exists, you're the only one who can find out. So don't ever tell anyone, never cast anything other than a normal Patronus again and come up with a whole new N.E.W.T. project."
"I've thought of one." Admitted Harry. "It's based more on Runes, it has a useful application in the real world and the area is significantly under studied."
"There you go." Said Emma. "We can figure this out a bit more after the First Task."
Harry looked down. "I don't want to figure it out, I want to forget it."
"You and I know that's not possible." Said Emma. "Try not to think about it."
"I'm not sure that's possible." Said Harry. "I have spent hours at a time working on Lawrence's paper. Those formulae are seared into my brain. I can't stop seeing them."
"That's just because of what you learnt last night, it'll…"
"IT WILL NOT PASS." Screamed Harry. "Don't you get it? Have you heard nothing about what I said? The Patronus Charm is magic unlike any other. It may be the most powerful magic there is. The magic has been imprinted in me since I cast it, I've had those formulae in my mind for months now. I know them as well as I know your face. This is magic beyond anything."
Emma scrutinised her brother. She had been dependent on him a lot in understanding this theory. Part of her wondered if he was losing his mind. But even if he was, she had seen what magic he could do, she had witnessed first had the ground breaking discoveries that he was so excited about. If Harry showed the world what he had learnt, magic would change exponentially for generations. But he couldn't anymore.
"Let's just focus on the First Task. You need all the help you can get, Hagrid…"
That however proved to be the wrong thing to say.
"I do not need help." Harry snapped. "Everyone thinks I'm going to die, if that's what's going to happen then so be it."
"Harry." Said Emma.
"No. I'm sick of putting up with everyone's comments. I'm going to go in, using only what I know, no help from anyone." Said Harry.
"But Hagrid said he had a tip." Said Emma.
"I don't care." Said Harry.
"YOU COULD DIE!" Pleaded Emma loudly.
"I don't care." Said Harry. "Maybe that is for the best. If I die, then Lawrence's secret dies with me."
"Harry." Said Emma in shock. She could not believe what her brother was contemplating.
"I can't find out how Lawrence died. Just that he died less than a year after County Down. The timing is interesting, he spent about as much time researching as I did." Said Harry.
Emma was stunned, she knew what he was suggesting. "Harry please. I need you."
Harry said nothing.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry refused to come out of the Room of Requirement. He allowed himself to believe that if he stayed in the Room, the secret would stay with him. Maybe on some level he hoped that the Room would take away the knowledge, after all it was here he had first found that paper.
Meanwhile Emma re-joined her friends from Hogsmeade. She was determined to keep Harry out of the conversation for now, but when she saw Hagrid, she had to tell him.
"It would be fer tha bes' if he came." Whispered Groundskeeper.
"He's not coming." Said Emma. "The stuff he's going through, even I'm not sure I can pull him out."
"Harry's should really come, it'd be a big mistake if 'e didn'." Said Hagrid, a certain urgency in his voice.
"Maybe, but it's his decision to make." Said Emma. "We have to have faith that Dumbledore will keep him from getting hurt."
The mention of Dumbledore seemed to mollify Hagrid significantly.
"I have faith in Harry too." Said Emma. "I don't know what he's facing but I believe in him. He'll pull through and he'll make me proud."
ORACLE2PHOENIX
That evening, Harry left the Room of Requirement and headed for his own dormitory. Someone however must have tipped off McGonagall though, because she personally came and fetched him. Emma ran off after her brother who was being physically guided to the Practice Room, it seemed this couldn't wait until they got to the First Floor where McGonagall's office was.
"Mr Potter, you will explain what happened in the Common Room." Demanded McGonagall.
Emma pushed her way in. Harry wasn't talking, he wasn't really in the realm of reality. He was downcast.
"Mr Potter." Said McGonagall.
"Professor he really isn't in the mood to talk or listen." Said Emma, trying and failing to be diplomatic. "If you'll let me explain."
"Mr Potter." Said McGonagall.
"Professor, you see, Harry panicked because of some homework and…"
"MR POTTER." Roared the deputy-headmistress.
Emma jumped in fright at the sudden outburst.
Harry lifted his head and looked, green-eyed into his Head-of-House.
McGonagall's demeanour immediately disappeared and was replaced with significant concern for Harry's wellbeing.
"What have I done?" Harry asked, not unlike a nursery child asking when they can go home.
"Harry really isn't well Professor. I… we… it's complicated." Said Emma.
McGonagall took a few breaths and said. "Get some sleep Mr Potter. Then report to Madam Pomfrey first thing after breakfast."
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry had no love of Poppy Pomfrey, and the following morning he conveniently forgot to go and see her. McGonagall reminded him again in Transfiguration after he had come in and sat down. When she told him to go to the Hospital Wing, he got up and left. But he didn't go, he merely went for a stroll.
Harry was somewhat mindful of other people around him as he went, some of whom may or may not have been acting like jerks to him. However he was on auto-pilot until that is he encountered Cedric Diggory.
"Harry."
Harry kept on walking.
"Harry hang on a sec. Guys can you give us a sec." Said Cedric to his followers who, wandered off muttering something about 'Potter Stinks'.
He turned to look at Cedric. Harry could still only feel depression and anger at this stage and he knew it.
"Look, I shouldn't really know this, but I got to tell you something. I found out about the First Task from M…
Oh well.
"WHAT, YOU THINK I NEED YOUR HELP!" Roared Harry. "I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF, I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP." He turned and walked away.
"Harry wait!" Called Cedric desperately. "Fleur and Krum know, you're the only one who doesn't."
Harry however did not wait. He marched off up to the Owlery, where he sought out his faithful companion.
"I can't stop thinking about it Hedwig." Said Harry. "What I learnt. I may be facing certain death tomorrow, but I can only see what I discovered. I don't even know if I would be able to…" He trailed off.
Hedwig looked at him quizzically.
"Ah who am I kidding?" Said Harry. "I could do it, and I could do it badly. The Patronus…"
Hedwig screeched affectionately.
"I wish I could be like you and fly away." Said Harry. "Still. If it all ends tomorrow, I'll have distinctly less stuff to worry about."
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry skipped diner that evening. Neville came to him in the Fourth Year Boy's Dormitory saying that Moody would like an urgent word with him. But Harry couldn't bring himself to care. Somewhere along the way, since last Friday evening, the rest of the world didn't seem the slightest bit relevant. No matter how hard he tried, and Harry was trying, he could not stop thinking about the Patronus Charm. He had absolutely no thoughts on the Triwizard Tournament or what possible fate he was awaiting in the morning.
It seemed nothing was going to bring Harry out of his brooding. That is until the task started.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry went about as he normally would any other day. At Emma's request, Neville had suggested Harry put on clothes suitable for a sporting event. Namely the ones the Gryffindor coloured clothing with the words Hogwarts on the front and Potter on the back, that had been left on top of Harry's trunk some time during the night.
Emma forced him to eat some food, but Harry's mind was still plagued with what he had discovered. Not only did he fail to eat his food but he practically guaranteed that his and Lawrence's research was at the forefront of his mind when McGonagall took him to the Champions' tent.
Harry paid no attention to the other Champions or the Ministry officials. Upon reflection he realised Bagman was trying to draw his attention, but at the time he was trapped in his own metal contemplations. Even as everyone else rose and congregated for some reason Harry heard little and ignored what he did hear.
"Mr Potter, are you not going to take one out the bag?" Said Mr Bagman. "Oh well, the others have all chosen anyway. Good luck."
One by one the other champions left the tent. Then sometime later it was Harry's turn and somehow, he was able to register this fact and headed outside.
When he did get out of the tent, well there really was nothing that could be said other than this:
"Holy Shit."
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Emma was only now beginning to wonder what her brother was getting himself into. She had sent him to the Champion's tent after trying to get him to eat something and failing miserably.
However now she was regarding the stadium itself. The organizers had somehow erected a massive structure round the forest perimeter just out of view from Hogwarts Castle. It was a largely rocky setup, but surrounded by stands. The performing area, for lack of a better term was nearly half a dozen stories into the ground, the audience stands were as such elevated a significant level above the surface.
Because she had left with Harry, she was among the first to arrive. She found some seats with a relatively good vantage point.
"Um… Emma?" Came an unwelcomely familiar voice.
Emma did not look at Hermione. She merely got up and moved a little further round. She also drew her wand and made sure it was visible. Thankfully Granger got the message and didn't follow. When she sat down, Emma could see that Ron and Hermione were talking frantically, well Hermione was talking frantically while Ron looked worried. Emma couldn't make out any of it but the sound of it indicated how anxious Hermione was, it seemed that now the First Task had arrived the reality of the situation had caught up on them.
Similarly many acquaintances Emma and Harry had were coming into the stadium and looking at the large and daunting area with, if not concern then slightly serious consideration. A few other people tried talking to her. But Emma wasn't in the mood. One such person must have realised because Ruth Clearwater sat down next to her and waved over at someone who turned out to be Remus Lupin, who hurried over.
"Emma?" Said Lupin.
"Professor?" Said Emma.
"I told you, I'm not your Professor anymore." Said Lupin.
"Would you prefer Moony?" Said Emma.
Lupin laughed. "Well my companion here might." He nodded towards a black shaggy dog.
"S… Padfoot." Said Emma happily.
"Cool dog." Commented Ruth. "I didn't realise you were a canine person."
Emma didn't look at Ruth immediately. She spent about a minute or so rubbing Sirius behind the ears. By the time she fully registered the Ravenclaw was there, the rest of the Guild had arrived, and congregated round Emma, Ruth and Lupin.
"Um… Hi…" Said Ruth nervously.
It now only occurred to Emma that she and the others hadn't spoken to Ruth since long before the Summer holidays.
"Hey." Said Emma, morosely. "Sorry, I'm a bit distracted. Where have you been at I haven't seen you in ages?"
"I… I… well after what happened over the Summer…" Ruth stuttered off. "I had no idea she'd do that." She looked directly at Ginny. "I'm sorry, is he ok?"
"Who?" Said Ginny in confusion.
"Your brother." Said Ruth
"Oh him, he's an absolute prat. He has been acting like a complete idiot and has been treating Harry like scum since his name came out of the Goblet. But you know this, you were there that night." Said Ginny. "Also what could you have possibly done to Ron?"
"Ron?" Said Ruth in confusion. "No not Ron, your other brother."
"Oh." Said Ginny. "Which one?"
"The one my sister dumped." Said Ruth incredulously, before clamping her hands over her mouth.
"Oh." Said Ginny simply. "Oh!" She then remarked slightly louder in realization.
"I swear I had no idea she would…" Ruth began.
"That's not your fault." Said Ginny. "Have you been avoiding us because of that?"
Ruth looked down, her face going a little pink.
"Ruth." Said Ginny. "We don't hold you responsible for that. Sometimes people just break up. Besides that's a matter between Percy and your sister."
Sirius chose that moment to bark "Woof!"
Ruth burst out giggling and directed her attention at the dog by ruffling his fur. "I like him."
While they were doing that, Emma and Lupin had a quick discussion.
"You know, neither of us have heard from you or Harry since you sat your O.W.L.s, I had to tell Padfoot." Remarked Lupin. "Don't apologise, I can see the two of you have had a lot on your plate. Moody also told me that Harry seems to be going through something right now."
Emma couldn't bring herself to say anything. Should she tell him?
"Maybe the four of us should sit down and talk sometime." Said Lupin. "You are both invited for Christmas."
Emma looked up, excited.
Lupin smiled back and pulled her into a hug. "We'll make some time, this week regardless of tournaments, N.E.W.T.s, classes or whatever."
Emma nodded. Maybe this is what Harry needed. They really should have done this sooner.
"Hey the judges are there." Said Geoffrey.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMENT, WELCOME TO THE TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT…"
"Potter, Potter." Came Moody's voice.
Emma and those around her turned to see Moody shoving people out the way in order to get to her.
"Emma." He said desperately. "Does he know?"
"What?" Said Emma.
"Your stupid brother. Does he know what he's facing out there?" Said Moody gesturing to the performing area. "Hagrid just told me, said he wouldn't come the other night."
"No." Said Emma. "Bagman told Harry that the task is a test of courage and resourcefulness, so he'll only find out about it either when it starts or not long beforehand."
"Shit." Spat Moody.
"Hey there are children around." Came Hermione's voice from along the way.
Moody gave her no attention though. He narrowed both of his eyes towards the tent where Harry was.
"He really doesn't know. Well Miss Potter I think we're about to find out how tough and resourceful your brother is."
All the panic and worry Emma had been feeling over the last few weeks came back to her, she got light-headed and Lupin had to catch her before she hit the bench.
"Hey it's Harry." Said Demelza. "He can do anything, remember."
Emma looked at the Cornish Girl.
"Dumbledore won't let anything happen to him." Said Hermione, dragging Ron closer to the rest of the Guild. "Besides Harry knows what he's doing, he is better at this kind of thing than probably anyone else here."
For a short period in time, animosity between the Potters and Ron and Hermione was forgotten. Emma nodded, but the dread with in her welled up as Hagrid unhelpfully started espousing everything he knew about Swedish Short-Snouts, then sure enough the handlers brought one out. Harry was facing off against a Dragon. One after another, they came out and faced a champion until the fourth and final one, a Hungarian Horntail emerged, it's opponent: Harry Potter.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
For the first time since returning from the Hub, Harry's mind was now properly focused on the task at hand. But by strange contradiction he was being watched by hundreds of teenagers and other spectators looking dumbfounded at a massive Dragon.
"What the heck am I supposed to do against that thing?" Thought Harry. "Do I kill it, or is there some twist."
"AND HERE WE ARE, THE FOURTH AND FINAL CHAMPION, HARRY POTTER HAS BEEN GIVEN PROBABLY THE TOUGHEST OF THE DRAGONS. THE HUNGARIAN HORNTAIL. WILL POTTER BE ABLE TO GET THE GOLDEN EGG FASTER THAN MR KRUM. WE'LL SEE. LET CHALLENGE COMMENCE!"
"Ok get the egg." Thought Harry. "Sounds simple enough."
The egg in question was very visible, unfortunately it was on the other side of the Dragon from Harry.
He began moving somewhat slowly at first, but the Dragon eyed him and then started edging closer. Seeing this, Harry broke out into a run.
He drew his wand from his person and fired off two silent Reductor Curses, however they dissipated on contact with the Dragon who glared down maliciously at Harry and breathed out fire.
Using a large and conveniently placed boulder, Harry took cover.
"Maybe the mouth?" Thought Harry.
When the Dragon exhausted its breath, Harry jumped from behind the rock and fired a spell he'd recently mastered, the Explosion Curse.
"Confringo!"
The curse exploded in the Dragons mouth, but it barely seemed phased by it.
Harry ran again, as this time the Dragon used the horn on its tail to try and clobber him. The double spiked tail narrowly missed him and got stuck in the rock for 10 precious seconds, which Harry used to gain a little distance between himself and the creature.
Desperately he tried to recall everything he knew about Dragons. Beyond the basics, that they were giant lizards that breathed fire, he couldn't recall much. What little he could, was only so helpful: for instance, much like basilisks, Dragon skin had natural immunity to magic, but unlike basilisks, the underbelly was just as immune as the rest of the Dragon. The only weak point was the eyes.
"Stupefy!"
Harry missed. He aimed again and fired three spells in quick succession.
"Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!"
One of the stunners hit. However the Dragon seemed more irritated by it than anything else. It seemed that instead of hitting a weak point Harry had merely hit something that wasn't quite as heavily armoured as the rest of the creature.
He ran again to avoid the Dragon's horntail again. He legged it up the side of a slightly steep ridge and jumped over a crevice in the rocks. Harry then dropped into another crevice on the other side and ran through a maze in the rockery.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
By the time he brother's turn came around, it was already plainly clear to Emma what he was up against. She couldn't say anything, but her friends and those others she cared about around her had their own comments on the situation.
"What on Earth made them think this would be a sensible idea?" Said Demelza.
"Dumbledore said appropriate protections were in place." Rambled Hermione. "How can anything be appropriately protected anywhere near a Dragon."
When Harry did come out, Emma felt nauseous.
"Harry will be fine, Harry will be fine." Said Geoffrey repeatedly.
Elsewhere in the stadium, there were a lot of jeers against Harry, especially from certain Slytherins.
Emma stopped to growl under her breath. A playground rivalry was one thing, but she had thought, at least partially, that they would have the decency not to taunt Harry in a situation where he could die. It seemed Slytherin really did have some evil people. Having said that, there were students from other houses and schools were doing the same.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry came face to face with a dead end. Running would not work forever, but so far it had been the only thing helping him survive against the Dragon. Now he stood, backed up against a wall and a Dragon getting closer.
He raised his wand again.
"Confringo!" He incanted the explosion curse.
Upon contact, the Dragon recoiled ever so slightly, probably to get his eyes out of the smoke so it could better see Harry. Needless to say it was not hurt.
The Dragon opened its mouth and in the split after the its throat glowed flaming red, Harry knew this was it.
He had used some of his most powerful spells against the creature. Nothing and no one had ever prepared him for this. After Norbert, Harry never thought he would ever see another Dragon again. The Basilisk had been unusual, but even it could not breathe fire. Then there was Wormtail, the Trolls, the Acromantulae, the suits of armour, Professor Quirrell. None of the magic Harry had used on them worked on a Hungarian Horntail.
So as the next split second passed, and the flames left the Dragon's mouth, Harry's wand was aimed at the oncoming attack, ready to counter with a different kind of magic. The Flagrance Curse allowed Harry to fire off a flamethrower and it had been effective, especially against the Acromantulae. But that wasn't exactly what Harry was going to use against the Dragon, at least not exactly.
"Comburet Glaciem!"
Following his incantation, Harry unleashed a massive combined torrent of snow, ice and artic winds. It met the flames about halfway, and the clash between the opposing elements of fire and ice began.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
"OH MY GOODNESS, NOW THIS IS GETTING INTERESTING." Bagman's voice boomed across the arena. "WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT HARRY POTTER WOULD HAVE A MOVE LIKE THIS… UH… WHAT IS THIS MOVE ALBUS."
In a remarkable shift, Dumbledore boomed around the stadium.
"WELL IF I AM NOT MISTAKEN, I BELIEVE HARRY HAS HARNESSED ICE ELEMENTAL MAGIC." Dumbledore commented, at a much higher volume than most present were used to.
"GOODNESS, HAS HE? I THOUGHT ONLY A FEW WIZARDS HAD EVER ACHIEVED SUCH A THING." Remarked Bagman.
"NOT AT ALL, SOME WITCHES HAVE ALSO CAST ELEMENTAL MAGIC. THOUGH YOU ARE RIGHT, THERE ARE NOT MANY WHO CAN CAST SUCH MAGIC."
"Emma, that's not Elemental Magic, is it?" Said Hermione incredulously.
Emma turned to glare at her. "Why are you asking me?"
"Because you and Harry do your plotting and scheming together, if anyone knows what he is up to it's you." Said Hermione, probably phrasing what she wanted to say in close to the worst way possible.
"Get stuffed Granger." Snapped Emma.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
After spending a good deal of time running for his life, the initiative was now in Harry's hands. Unlike the Dragon, he did not have to hold his breath in order to launch attacks. As the Horntail's fire attack began to wind down, Harry deliberately increased the power of his curse by rotating his wand clockwise. This had the effect of overwhelming the Dragon in his blizzard assault.
The Dragon roared in frustration and retreated backwards in order to avoid being blanketed by ice, snow and freezing cold water. Harry took stock of what happened. Dragons were resistant to magic, but that didn't make magic completely ineffective. Elemental Magic could have significant impact on whatever it got into contact with. The Horntail could get cold, now it was time to see if it could get hurt.
"Solum Reductor!"
The effect of a normal Reductor Curse was concussive. However the effect of a Reductor Curse enhanced with the Element of Earth was the equivalent, at least from a Horntails perspective, to getting hit by a large rock at high speed.
With one hit, the Dragon pulled its head back in pain.
His attack working, Harry followed through with his strategy.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
"INCREDIBLE." Roared Bagman. "IT SEEMS MR POTTER'S MAGIC IS REALLY WORKING NOW."
"I MUST CONCUR." Stated Dumbledore. "THIS IS ALSO ELEMENTAL MAGIC. I MUST CONFESS I AM STUNNED MR POTTER IS ABLE TO HARNESS THE POWER OF TWO ELEMENTS. SUCH A FEAT IS RARE EVEN AMONG THOSE CAPABLE OF CASTING ELEMENTAL MAGIC."
"How can Harry cast magic of Earth and Ice." Said Lupin.
"He's been busy." Said Emma. "This is just a fraction of what he can do."
Moody weighed in this time. "I knew Potter was good, but this… can he harness all six of the elements."
Emma's mouth trembled. Harry had unloaded on her but she had no one to unload on. She kept quiet, for the sake of her brother. Whatever she was suffering was far worse than what Harry was going through. The secret had to be maintained. The Question was, how close would Harry get to revealing it?
ORACLE2PHOENIX
"Solum Reductor! Solum Reductor! Solum Reductor!"
After three more spells left his wand and hit the Dragon, Harry realised his strategy had a weakness. Unlike some spells, Elemental Magic could not be cast non-verbally. In order to cast them, Harry's mind had to be focused completely on the element in question, in this case the element of Earth, meaning he couldn't mentally enunciate an incantation. The only way a spell could be cast was if it was spoken and, sad as it was, the number of extra syllables in an elemental spell meant Harry's rate of fire was drastically reduced.
The Dragon tensed its body then charged forward. Harry realised that while his elemental magic had effect on the Horntail, the creature was remarkably good at adapting to attacks, which meant he had to keep trying different methods.
"Expulso Adaquo!" Harry aimed at the Dragons head, it was the equivalent of getting hit by a giant water balloon, the contents of which exploded across the Dragon's face, including in its eye, causing it to lose its site for a few seconds.
As it turned out Harry had hit the Horntail at exactly the right time, the Dragon had been charging between rock mounds at the time while heading for Harry and it's temporary blindness occurred just before a sizable stalactite got in its way, causing the Dragon to clip it and fall into a crevice.
Harry, seeing an opportunity fired off another water spell.
"Confringo Adaquo!"
A large supply of water exploded against the Horntail, partially filling up the crevice, as well as producing one soaked Dragon. Just as Harry intended.
"Stupifidus Tonitrum!"
The modified variant of the stunning charm hit the water where it's modification, namely the element of Thunder, came into effect. The magical nature of the spell meant that everyone saw the electric current run up the Dragon, causing it to convulse in response. Harry took advantage of its lack of movement and ran for the egg.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
"Whoa." Said Colin quietly.
"WELL THAT WAS CERTAINLY A SHOCKING REACTION!" Came Bagman's booming voice.
"Prick." Muttered Moody under his breath, while everyone else despaired at the pun silently.
Emma managed a smile at hearing her Defence teacher. But the reality of the situation was still present. Harry had used four of the six known elements. She knew he was capable of using all of them. But this Dragon would not give up. Even as her brother was running towards the egg, the Horntail was getting up. Harry still has some tricks left up his sleeve but every time the Dragon gained the upper hand, Emma knew that Harry was getting dangerously closer to using a Patronus Charm.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry was now over halfway between from where he started and the nest with the Golden Egg, but once more the Horntail had gotten itself up and resumed its pursuit. The creature flew into the air and tried strafing him with its fire. Harry dived into a tight rocky corridor and ran in what he thought was the direction of the egg. But for the second time he encountered a dead end.
The Horntail landed in a wider area of the corridor blocking Harry's exit. It once more breathed in to launch another flame attack. Harry decided to try pure raw power in response, he fought fire with fire.
"Confringo Ignatium!" He incanted. A Fireball about the size of a lorry erupted from Harry's wand and exploded in the Dragon's face.
It was undeniably impressive but not much use against a Dragon. The Horntail shook off the effects of the spell then breathed fire at Harry who defended himself with a shield charm, and ice.
"Protego Glaciem!"
The wall of ice stretched across between the two sides of the narrow corridor and upwards from the ground to several dozen feet in the air, creating an ice wall taller than the Dragon. Like with his flagrance charm earlier, Harry imbued his shield with Ice Elemental magic. The Dragon could not breakthrough with its fire breath. For the brief second between its first and second breaths Harry quickly analysed his ice wall. It was holding up well. So he decided to keep using it.
"Duro!"
The ice became hard and dry, and fire attacks were having even less effect on the wall than before. The Dragon recognised this and in its rage it became determined to take the wall out, so much so Harry began to suspect its attention on him had become considerably lax. If it wanted to get to him it probably should have flown over the wall. But it was now determined to destroy it.
With a great charge the Horntail head-butted the wall, but it held firm. Harry decided to use this opportunity to escape. He pointed his wand at the top of rock face behind him, it was high up but sloped slightly forward. Harry cast his magic.
"Carpe Retractum!"
A magical rope shot out of his want and wrapped itself around a pointy rock sticking out not far from the top. While the Dragon head-butted the wall again, Harry reeled the rope in, using it to walk vertically up the rockery.
About half-way up, a sudden bang forced him to stop where he was hanging. The Dragon realised that its head was ineffective and resort to live up to its name by using the horn of its tail. The horntail was thrust again into the wall, the tip of it driving in slightly.
Harry's ice barrier was tough, but it would only take a few hits to break through. At which point he would have no choice but to go back on the offensive. So he hurried up to as high as his rope would allow then, pulled himself up to the top.
As he got there the Dragon smashed its tail hard into the wall. It didn't break, but the tail was now so imbedded in the ice that it was stuck. A sizable crack now ran vertically from top to bottom bisecting where the horn of the tail was stuck.
Harry raised his wand and aimed to the left, then right of the cracks.
"Solum Reductor! Solum Reductor!"
Cracks began emanating from where the two spells had impacted, further weakening the wall.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
"What the bloody hell is Harry doing?" Said Ron.
"Just watch and see Ron, he's being clever." Said Ginny.
"But why's he…"
"Shut up and watch." Snapped Ginny.
Ron growled and turned his attention away.
"What exactly is Harry trying?" Ginny asked Emma quietly so Ron couldn't hear.
"I don't know, but he knows what he's doing. Harry may like Chicken Drumsticks, but he does have a knack for this sort of thing. If I know him he's got some strange strategy in mind." Said Emma.
"You know I think I prefer Drumsticks to Wings." Said Ginny.
"Traitor." Grumbled Emma.
"I prefer stir fried chicken feet." Said Lupin.
Emma and Ginny turned to look at him as if he was an idiot.
"Ok that is bloody strange." Said Ginny.
"If we do come to yours for Christmas, you're allowed nowhere near the stove." Remarked Emma.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry had just fired off his two Earth elemental redactors. The wall was weakening, a few more tugs and the Dragon would be able to get its tail out of the ice. Harry had to time his attack just right, as the Dragon was pulling away, it was possible his curse would be powerful enough to send the Horntail flying on its own, but he was taking no chances, since the Dragon was engaging the wall so passionately, why use that against it.
Harry aimed his wand and waited for just the right moment before…
"Confringo Ventus!"
ORACLE2PHOENIX
"Oh crud." Cried Emma in shock as she heard her brother's incantation. He had demonstrated this spell to her about a week ago. She only just managed to get her wand out in time.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry's spell impacted the ice, about where the Dragon's tail was imbedded. As soon the curse left Harry's wand he dived down behind the rock he'd just climbed over, in order to take cover.
Upon impact there was a sudden concussive bang. Unlike a traditional Explosion Curse, this one had no fire. It was a pure shockwave, almost invisible however as it expanded outward, if one was looking carefully, one might have been able to make out a green tint leading the way. Regardless that was not on anyone's particular mind at the time as pretty much everyone was knocked off of their feet, as a loud and low-pitched buzzing sound rang in everyone's ears.
Only Emma, those nearest to her, Dumbledore, and the other judges positioned around him, managed to avoid the effects of the shockwave, Emma and Dumbledore had managed to cast shield charms in recognition of Harry's incantation.
Meanwhile in the arena, Harry's timing had paid off. His curse reacted on the ice just as the Horntail was pulling its tail from the wall. The backwards force it was exerting on itself, coupled with the force of the Wind-Elemental explosion caused the Dragon to fall back, its head and upper neck whacking against the rocks and the boulders behind it.
He made another run for the egg, however he only managed to get a little closer before the Dragon took off, flew and landed in front of him.
Harry stopped where he stood. Once again the Dragon was drawing in breath to unleash another flamethrower.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
"OH DEAR, IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S ALMOST OVER FOR POTTER." Cried out Bagman's voice. "WELL THERE IS NO DENYING HE'S PUT UP A VALIANT EFFORT FOR ONE SO YOUNG. I DARESAY THERE ARE FEW IN THE WORLD WHO COULD HAVE STOOD UP TO A DRAGON LIKE HE HAS JUST DONE."
"Harry's not finished." Said Demelza. "He can't be."
"He's not." Said Luna. "He's still alive and still breathing. Harry may have another plan in his mind."
At this point Emma knew it was over. Harry could survive this, he could even win it. But the cost was so great. But right now she was convinced it was a price worth paying. Besides, there was still a chance, in fact a probability the vital details of the secret would remain as such. In this moment, Emma now believed that it was a price worth paying.
"Oh Harry, no." Moaned Ginny. "You can't die here, please have a plan."
Emma took her best friend's hand, as the Dragon reared back his head she said. "I believe."
As the fire left the Dragon's mouth, Ginny repeated her "I believe."
The fire reached Harry, and from that point on the understanding of magic was challenged forever.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry's research into the Patronus Charm had been the reason for his incredible proficiency in using Elemental Magic. Admittedly his experience with the Flipendo Jinx up against Professor Quirrell, had been the start. It had taken him nearly two years to understand how his jinx was different from anyone else's and he had used that along with Lawrence's research to push the boundaries. Now was his time.
As the Dragon unleashed its torrent, Harry raised his wand and cast.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
For less than a second the fire seemed to engulf Harry. But just as it arrived, it shot back towards the Dragon, as if someone had magically made time go backwards. But when it reached the mouth of the Horntail, There was a loud crashing sound and the massive rock, that Harry seemed to have thrown against his foe, rammed into its head and dragged it backwards, before flying off into several dozen pieces, including two large pieces that made up about 80% of the original rock.
As the Dragon fell on its back, the rocks continued to role across the arena for a few seconds before suddenly, the two largest jumped up, jammed themselves together in mid-air and magically dragged the fragments that had broken off back into position. Everyone watched in perplexion as it took shape, not a shape anyone would normally consider a boulder or a rock to look like, but something else distinctive to Harry.
Dumbledore and Lupin were the first to realise what it was, having the knowledge of both the relevant magic and Harry. But now the secret was out.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
With the fire approaching and his wand in position, Harry cast.
"Solum Patronum!"
Just as the fire began to surround him, Harry's Patronus left his wand. It was not however a Patronus like the world had ever seen before. It was a stag, an animated stag composed entirely of rock. But much like a normal Patronus would charge down a Dementor, Solum dived straight up the jet of flame, absorbing all fire or else deflecting it away from Harry, and rammed the Dragon straight in the head. The force was so strong that, as the boulder dragged the Horntail on its back, parts of it broke off and the two largest remains of the stag passed over the Dragon's head.
As a part of him, Harry sensed Solum's pieces roll on the other side of the Horntail, though he couldn't see them. He used his will power over his Patronus and ordered the pieces to reform, and that is how Harry showed the world Solum the Earth Patronus for the very first time.
With his Patronus back in form, Harry ordered it to charge. Solum reared up for and attack before charging and ramming the Dragon in the side. The Horntail roared in pain as the Solum broke off into three pieces that ricocheted off the Dragon's body and reformed, much more rapidly the second time, at Harry's side before charging again.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
"GOODNESS GRACIOUS POTTER HAD DONE IT AGAIN." Roared Bagman excitedly. "THIS IS TRULY MAGNIFICENT MAGIC, INCREDIBLE, TRULY INCREDIBLE. ALBUS WHAT ARE WE LOOKING AT HERE?"
"I MUST CONFESS LUDO, I AM NOT SURE. IT APPEARS THAT MR POTTER HAS MANAGED TO CAST AN ELEMENTAL PATRONUS CHARM. EXTRAORDINARY DOESN'T BEGIN TO COVER THIS. FOR YEARS IT HAS BEEN A DEBATE AS TO WHETHER SUCH A THING WAS EVEN POSSIBLE. MANY MAGICAL RESEARCHERS HAVE TRIED AND FAILED TO CREATE ELEMENTAL PATRONI WITH NO SIGNIFICANT RESULTS TO SPEAK OF. TRULY EXTRAORDINARY." Came Dumbledore's booming voice, which somehow sound both calm and wondrous.
"Emma." Said Lupin. "How?"
"Harry's been researching the Patronus Charm heavily for over a year now, especially since he saved us the night Sirius Black got away." Said Emma. "What you are seeing here is one of the central results of his research."
"Central?" Said Lupin.
By this point Harry had ordered his Earth Patronus to continuously ram the Dragon while he continued towards the Golden Egg.
"Solum represents the element of Earth." Said Emma.
"Solum?" Said Demelza.
"Solum Patronum." Said Emma. "That is the incantation for an Earth based Patronus."
Lupin's eyes were widened in disbelief.
Moody waded in. "How many."
Emma looked to the ground. How much should she tell them?
"Emma, you said Earth." Said Lupin. "So are there…"
"Including Prongs, the Patronus who saved us from the Dementors last March, there are seven Patroni. One for each of the six elements and one for Prongs." Said Emma. "I really can't tell you anymore."
Lupin narrowed his eyes. "I will have questions…"
"I know, but neither Harry nor I can answer them." Said Emma.
"I'm not sure your brother…" Moody started.
"NO HE WON'T!" Snapped Emma. "He won't tell anyone."
"Why?" Asked Moody.
"Emma what is going on?" Asked Lupin
"The secret." Said Emma. "It's too terrible to tell anyone."
Lupin looked like he wanted ask more but then Ginny screamed "Harry!" and everyone turned in horror as the Dragon regained the initiative.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Solum must have rammed the Dragon over a dozen times, maybe even two dozen, Harry couldn't count. Things were going well, he was nearly at the egg, all he had to do was climb up the side of the rock face and he was there.
But the Hungarian Horntail was famous for its resilience and its overwhelming stubbornness. This one absolutely refused to let Harry beat him in any way. It took the Dragon a few practices meeting Solum head on, but as Harry was about to climb the rock face, it finally gained the upper hand.
With a whack of its tail, the Dragon knocked Solum to the far side of the arena then it took off into the air and dived down, giving Harry's Patronus the Dragon equivalent of a body slam.
Solum was crushed into smaller pieces, it was probably an act of rage more than tactical strategy, however the Dragon used its body to repeatedly smash the remnants of the Patronus until nothing larger than a pebble was left.
Then it turned on Harry. With a great jump, the Horntail flew/lunged at teenaged wizard. Harry only just managed to avoid the Dragon by running further along the crevice as the creature crashed into the rock face where he had just been climbing.
Harry ran as fast as he could but he could hear the Dragon get itself up and go after him. He made a hard right down another corridor of rock, running further away from the egg as he avoided another lunge by the Dragon who went head first into another wall. Harry then made another hard right. In doing so he left the Dragon's sight for the time being. The Horntail crawled straight ahead, going right past him.
Harry climb up the rock face and turned to face the Dragon. He still had at least a few seconds so he used them to draw the remains of Solum back into his wand. While Lawrence's research suggested it was possible to summon multiple but different Patroni was possible, it required large amounts of magic, Harry had only tried casting a second Patronus once, not only had he failed to conjure it but he passed out.
As of this moment, Harry could summon one Patronus, but could not summon another without drawing back the magic of the first. So he drew back Solum in order to summon another.
The last of Solum's magic returned just as the Dragon caught sight of him. Harry pointed his wand and incanted.
"Tonitrus Patronum!"
A stag, this time composed of glowing purple coloured lightning emerged from Harry's wand and charged forth. The Patronus, this time representing the Element of Thunder, charged head on at the Horntail, who in turn charged on as well. When the Patronus hit, the Dragon dropped to the ground and started writhing. Unlike the repeated hits of Solum, it was not able to shake off Tonitrus. Unfortunately for Harry it didn't have too.
From what Harry could tell it was theoretically possible to sustain the electricity of Tonitrus for a long period of time by focusing one's magic into the Patronus. However this was only the second time he'd ever summoned Tonitrus, after the first time Harry focused himself on advancing Lawrence's research, then he'd discovered the secret, after which he never wanted to use Elemental Magic again, never mind Elemental Patroni. As such he had not practiced or experimented using Tonitrus very much and from the second it made contact with the Dragon, the Patronus began dissipating and purple lights began emanating off the Dragon and flying into Harry's wand.
Tonitrus didn't last long and the Horntail was able to recover from its initial shocking reaction and went for Harry again. It took off and began breathing fire. Jets of flame streamed over the rock and approached Harry like a tidal wave. But he held his ground. Running was not working on this beast.
"I will not hide, I am not a coward." Harry thought. "I will not run, I will fight."
Harry raised his wand, with Tonitrus back he could summon another Patronus again, so he re-summoned Solum.
"Solum Patronum!" (Earth)
ORACLE2PHOENIX
"I can't watch this much longer." Said Geoffrey, as Solum re-emerged and hit the Dragon in the face.
Vicky took his hand. "Have faith Sweetie, Harry's done this sort of thing tonnes of times before." The Dragon landed atop another rocky mound and faced off against Harry.
"Don't worry it will be over soon." Said Luna.
"Harry is not going to die." Said Emma determinably, misreading was Luna was saying.
"No. But I think the Dragon might." Said Luna. "Look at his face."
Emma looked and then she understood Luna. Harry's face was not conveying depression as it had for several days now, nor did it indicate he was scared. He was at peace with himself and he was determined to fight. Harry was many things, a Quidditch player, a brother, a scholar, a prodigy, not to mention the Boy Who Lived. He would not back down from a challenge and he would not let fear or anxiety stop him from doing what he was must. The Hungarian Horntail was amongst the fiercest of the Dragons. But this one was about to meet its maker.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Solum took its place next to Harry. When the Dragon breathed out its fire, Solum charged forward and pushed the flame back. But the Dragon was getting better at playing this game. When Solum got to near, the Dragon dodged its head out the way. As the Patronus passed, it re-aimed at Harry, forcing him to hurriedly bring Solum back into position so he could charge at the Dragon again.
This process kept repeating itself a number of times, for nearly a minute. Harry and the Dragon reached a stalemate. The Horntail didn't let Solum hit him and kept on breathing fire straight back at Harry as soon as it dodged. But it couldn't stop its attempts to burn Harry because if it did, Harry could use Solum to batter the Dragon again.
"I've got to end this." Thought Harry. "If he gains the upper hand before I do, I might not survive this task. But how am I supposed to do that? Dragons are resistant to magic, and while the elements have an effect, Dragon skin is tougher than most metal. This thing can take as more hits than I can give it. If I could get Solum far enough away then maybe, but how would I keep the Dragon in one place, even if I could, it can still breathe out fire."
Smash. Solum clipped the Dragon's shoulder.
"Wait. Out. In… That's it." Said Harry.
Solum made another charge at the Dragon's flame and narrowly missed hitting the Dragon's head.
"I need two Patroni for this. But can I do that? Last time I fell down unconscious. Even if do, I need to time this just right."
As Solum galloped back round to Harry, he seemed to look at him. Solum was a Patronus, therefore he nothing more than an impression of Harry's soul. But as the Patronus looked at Harry it seemed to nod: yes.
"What the heck." Thought Harry. "GO!" He Shouted.
Solum ran towards the Dragon and met the jet of flame head on again. Just before it reached the Dragon, Harry incanted again.
"Aqua Patronum!"
As he did so, he felt every bone in his body become a hundred times heavier, his head began throbbing, his eyes had to be forced open and it became harder for Harry to breathe. But for now, the Second Patronus was out.
Solum went right under the Dragon's Head and rammed into its body, splitting into three pieces again. While it reformed, Aqua went straight for the Dragon's mouth.
Representing the Element of Water, Aqua like Tonitrus and Solum was shaped like a stag, but its body was composed entirely of water. Water that held together and did not out as it ran towards its opponent.
Harry really had to thank Colin for the inspiration. Dragon's might be 'weak' against water in video games but in reality they are no more vulnerable than any other creature. That said water if used right could be a deadly weapon.
Having been rammed, the Horntail was momentarily distracted but it lifted its head to breathe fire on Harry again. Only before fire could leave mouth of the Dragon, Aqua went in.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
"GOODNESS GRACIOUS." Roared Bagman. "IT LOOKS LIKE THAT DRAGON HAD BEEN FED A MOUTHFUL."
The Guild, as well as the wider audience, looked on with amazement as Harry forced his water stag down the Dragon's mouth. Not long after hitting its throat, no sign of the water could be made out. But there was a swelling bulge its neck gradually moving down.
Solum reformed and began galloping straight up into the sky, apparently Harry was ordering it to do so, because his wand was pointed high in the air.
Meanwhile the Dragon was clearly not alright. Panic was evident in its eyes, which were wide open and leaking tears.
It tried gasping for air but all that came out was a chocking sound and drooling Dragon's saliva. It dropped from atop the rocky perch it was standing on then crouched low with exhaustion, but continued shaking and thrashing about on the ground. With a sudden belch it threw up a chunk of mucus combined with water and blood. But it was still chocking.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry felt Solum had enough time to gain enough altitude. He twirled the wand in his hand so that it was pointing down and made a thrusting motion in that direction.
Way up in the sky, Solum, who had been running straight up, turned round and ran as fast as he could. A Patronus could reach the speed of magic given the chance, a speed that was essentially instantaneous. However it could not just reach that speed, it had to accelerate first. Solum did not have the time to accelerate that fast, however the eagle eyed students and spectators in the arena who saw Solum coming would testify to the presence of a Vapour Cone behind him.
The Dragon was delirious, and probably going to lose consciousness, but Harry was not taking any chance. Which is why Solum came crashing down on the creature's head. The skin of a Hungarian Horntail was incredibly durable and probably one of the strongest armours in Magical Nature, which is probably the only reason the Dragon survived the impact.
Harry's opponent was out for the count. He'd won. Now all that remained was getting that egg. But Harry found himself unable to remain standing through his own power. He dropped to his knees and, with his hands pressed against the rock, only just managed to avoid falling completely on his front.
Meanwhile around him the crowd went wild. The sheer overwhelming noise of the cheering reminded Harry he was essentially playing entertainment for Witches and Wizards on an international level.
"INCREDIBLE." Roared Bagman. "IT LOOKS LIKE THINGS HAVE TAKEN THEIR TOLL ON YOUNG MR POTTER, BUT WHAT A FIGHT, WHAT A FIGHT. DESPITE FACING THE TOUGHEST OF THE DRAGON'S, POTTER HAS OUTMATCHED HIS IN BATTLE, SOMETHING NO OTHER CHAMPION HAS BEEN ABLE TO ACHIEVE HERE TODAY. BUT IT LOOKS LIKE IT MAY BE ALL FOR NOT. IF MR POTTER DOESN'T GRAB THE EGG IN THE NEXT TWENTY SECONDS, HE WON'T BE ABLE TO BEAT MR KRUM, WHO IS CURRENTLY IN THE LEAD HAVING COMPLETE THE TASK FIRST. IF POTTER CAN'T COLLECT THE EGG, HE COMES IN DEAD LAST."
For the most part Harry couldn't give a flying hippogriff about the egg or the tournament. But he still had to perform, courtesy of the contract he never entered. The Earth Patronus reformed quickly and took position next to Harry, allowing him to lean on the stone body and stand up, with support.
"Thanks Solum." Harry whispered. For some reason it was taking a while for the magic from Aqua to return to him, probably because that Patronus had berried itself deep with the Dragon. The energy was returning slowly but Harry still felt he was going to pass out at any time. The Egg was across a sizable crevice in the rocks but Harry, in spite of his exhaustion could see it clearly.
He tried lifting his wand arm, but his attempt was so painful he couldn't bring himself to manage, even letting it dangle was agony. But Solum, sensing his discomfort, angled his head so that Harry's arm could rest on one of its stone antlers. With his arm supported, Harry was able to aim at the egg, while keeping his wand steady.
"I'M AFRAID THAT WON'T WORK HARRY." Boomed Bagman's voice. "MR DIGGORY TOO TRIED A SUMMONING CHARM, WITH ONLY TEN SECONDS LEFT AND HIS APPARENT EXHAUSTION I DON'T THINK MR POTTER IS GOING TO MAKE IT."
Harry had no idea what a Summoning Charm was, but given Cedric had tried it, it was probably a stupid spell only a Nancy-pants pretty boy would use. Yes that was the kind of mood Harry was in at this time.
Nonetheless, with wand in position, Harry incanted.
"Carpe Retractum!"
A long magical rope shot out of Harry's wand, flung itself across the arena and rapidly and thoroughly wrapped the egg up tight. With a great heave, Harry retracted his rope until the golden egg was hanging from his wand like oversized bait from a fishing line before taking it in his hands, completing the task three seconds quicker than Krum had… for the record.
The Audience exploded with applause and cheers. Harry absorbed the last remnants of Aqua's energy. But he was still exhausted. He briefly considered recalling Solum to him, but he had another use for that Patronus. With a bit more energy recovered from Aqua, and leaning support from the Solum, Harry walked out of the arena.
Meanwhile a team of two dozen Dragon handlers gathered round the unconscious horntail and began debating whether it would be more trouble to move an unconscious Dragon or wake it up and try and convince it to come with them.
Harry however was having none of it. Right now he hated the Triwizard Tournament more than anything else. He had been forced to use magic that was linked to something very dangerous. Something only he and Emma knew about, but now he had cast Elemental Patroni, others would try to experiment. It was doubtful they would get anywhere without Lawrence's formula and Harry's understanding of Elemental Stimuli. But the secret was now dangerously exposed.
Harry suspected he had just made a huge mistake. He would need to ask someone, probably Dumbledore, a question in order to find out.
As Harry exited the arena, swarms and swarms of people made for him, judges, students, teachers, Pomfrey. However initially no one got close.
Solum sensed Harry's apathy and foul mood regarding the human race and reared up manically, punching its front legs through the air, causing the approaching crowd to keep its distance.
Emma reached the front of the crowd, nodded to Solum quickly then ran past and engulfed her brother in a hug.
"Emma…" Began Harry.
"I know… it will be ok…" Said Emma.
Harry nodded. "It's a different world now, you realise?"
"Mr Potter, Mr Potter." Came Bagman's voice.
Through the cuddle, Emma could feel Harry cringe in response.
"Just go." Whispered Emma.
"Am I allowed to?" Harry whispered back.
"Harry!" Shouted Hermione running up to him.
"Never mind." Harry whispered.
Solum rounded specifically in Hermione's direction, as she backed up she hit Ron and the two fell back onto the ground.
Harry handed the golden egg to Emma. "Find that a home, would you dear?"
Emma smirked and took the egg "Go get some sleep." She said fondly.
Ron and Hermione managed to untangle themselves and stand back up, but while they were doing that, Solum had crouched down allowing Harry to climb on top. He fastened his arms around the rocky neck.
"Mate, wait…" Began Ron.
Harry glared at his former friend and growled. "I have nothing to say to either of you."
Hermione and Ron found themselves rendered speechless.
"Mr Potter." Said Bagman, as he and the other judges approached. "That was…
Harry didn't listen however, he merely mumbled "Go."
Solum reared up again and galloped off with its master.
"Mr Potter, Mr Potter… Harry." Called Bagman.
Eventually his voice died away, Solum galloped back towards the castle. Harry instructed his Patronus to take him directly to the Room of Requirement. Between Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, Bagman and various other people who all would want to talk to him, Harry decided it was better if he went somewhere where he wouldn't be disturbed.
While made of rock, Solum was still a Patronus and could move as fast as one. However it could not move through walls, so it had to gallop up all the stairs. Solum was pretty fast, but Harry was so exhausted that he was sure it was taking forever to get him to his destination.
Nonetheless it took him to the room alright. Once inside, Harry had Solum rather unceremoniously dump him on a nice warm bed. He was awake only long enough to pull the duvet over himself.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Emma gave Ron and Hermione a look of disappointment, before seeking out her friends: Demelza, Colin and Ginny.
"Emma…" Hermione began.
"Get stuffed." Snapped Emma.
Emma gestured with her head for her friends to come with her. She was in absolutely no mood to deal with Ron and Hermione. She knew what this was about, Harry had more than proved himself a Champion, he had shown great courage and skill and also judging from the audience's reaction he was top of everyone's good list. But it was too late. Harry had been through hell the last few weeks. Harry, who would have laid down his life for his friends, was abandoned by them when he needed them most. They may want to reconcile, but neither Potter was willing to give them an inch.
It would not be so easy to regain Harry's trust.
Emma had walked just far enough to be out of earshot from Ron and Hermione, when she realised she had Harry's Egg.
"Miss Potter?" Came Professor Dumbledore's voice.
Emma turned to look at him.
"It seems your brother had prematurely left." The Headmaster noted.
Emma turned to look at the beaten up Hungarian Horntail that was being levitated by several dozen wands out towards the Forbidden Forest.
"He beat the Dragon, got the Egg and stayed alive throughout the whole thing, I would call it a job well done. Speaking of."
Emma forced the golden egg into Dumbledore's arms.
"Miss Potter, this item is not to be returned to the judges." Said Dumbledore.
"Well I don't want it." Said Emma despondently.
Dumbledore sighed. "I will hang onto it just now. But I will want a word with your brother at some point, perhaps after he has had a good rest."
"That's probably best." Said Emma.
"Miss Potter, Miss Potter." Panted Bagman. He had made a half-hearted attempt to follow Harry, only to return. "Please… return your brother… to… finish the… the… the proceedings… whooh nelly."
Emma glared daggers at Bagman. "My brother is not something I just fetch. He is tired because of your stupid activity. Now leave him alone or I will force-feed you Hydrochloric Acid."
"Mr Bagman." Said Dumbledore diplomatically. "I think we can allow Mr Potter this much leeway, it was after all not his choice to enter the tournament. I suggest we announce his score."
"Of… of course… my apologies Miss Potter." Said Bagman.
Everyone waited around for five minutes or so while the Judges conferred. The results were as such:
Dumbledore: 10
Maxime: 10
Crouch: 9
Bagman: 10
Karkaroff: 1
If it wasn't for what happened in the arena, Emma might have cared a little bit more about Karkaroff's mark. Now that Harry had left, she was taking the brunt of all the attention as if she had keen insight into the life and mind of the Great Harry Potter. She did, but that was beside the point.
"Come on." Emma said to her friends.
But moving on was easier said than done.
"Potter what were those reindeer your brother cast""
"Potter what were those things, don't get me wrong that was a pretty badass performance, but still?"
"Potter what was that magic your brother did?"
Thankfully Remus and Padfoot showed up and helped get them out of the crowds.
It was a somewhat downsized Guild that met up with them in the Practice Room. With no one around to sell him out to the Ministry, Sirius transformed back into his normal self.
"Oh so good to be back to normal." Said Sirius. "Now, Emma can you tell us anything?"
Emma sat silently for a few seconds. "There are seven Patroni, Harry has been researching the Patronus Charm since the Ministry set the Dementors on guard duty last year. As a result, he's now become an expert in Elemental Magic, and that's really all I can tell you."
"You really can't say anymore?" Asked Remus
"Harry might be able to, but he really is in no condition to right now." Said Emma. "I know that you are curious and that the Wizarding World is going to wand answers over this, but my concern right now is with Harry's mental health."
"Why?" Said Geoffrey, "Did you hear that crowd, they loved him. I think there were three or four Slytherins cheering, definitely less than five but…"
"It might have been better if people still ridiculed him." Said Emma. "Harry has never been so on the spot like that before. Not even when he discovered he was famous. Now that people have turned around on him like that, it just goes to show how… artificial… their feelings for him are."
"I see where you're going actually." Said Neville. "If I had to beat a Dragon just to be liked by people, I wouldn't want to be liked by those people."
"Even now, they've set up a party." Said Emma.
"That's my stupid brothers." Said Ginny.
"Your brothers mean well at least." Said Emma. "The people there are not celebrating Harry, they're celebrating the victory, and this victory has cost him a lot, revealing the Patroni like that."
"So… what can we do…" Asked Demelza.
"Nothing." Said Emma. "I myself can do very little. Harry told me that no one can summon Elemental Patroni or find out the secret without certain information he has. From this point on, everything rides on him."
"Is it really that bad?" Asked Sirius.
"I think so." Said Emma. "I'm sorry but I really can't talk about it. It's too dangerous."
Suddenly there was a loud bang in the direction of Gryffindor Tower.
"Sounds like my brothers have got the party going." Said Ginny.
"We should probably get going soon." Said Sirius.
"Agreed." Said Remus. "But Emma, remember you're both invited over for Christmas."
Emma smiled. "Thanks, that should cheer Harry up considerably."
She gave the two men a big hug before they left. With them gone, the rest of the guild was left in the Practice Room.
"Go join the party." Said Emma.
"But…" Trailed off Demelza.
"I have feelings regarding our housemates and what's happened since Halloween. But that does not change the fact that Harry just kicked some ass out there." Said Emma. "Go. I'm going to make sure Harry's resting then come and join you."
Harry was completely out for the rest of the day. Emma did come to the party and even managed to smile and enjoy herself. But there was no escaping what had happened in the arena. There was going to be fallout in the coming days, weeks and months, maybe even years.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Emma got up early and went to the Practice Room to see her brother.
Harry had already been awake an hour or so. When he woke up, he felt a huge amount of dread and anxiety, as memories of the Dragon battle resurfaced. He pulled out his wand and looked at it. The wand, as he held it, sent a warm feeling up his arm, as if letting him know that he was going to be alright.
To compare, he then drew out the Scottish Oak and Willow wand, the spare Moody had him purchase from Ollivander over the Summer. Ollivander had told Harry not to expect this wand to be as capable as his Holly wand.
He pointed the spare at a space in the room of requirement.
"Expecto Patronum!"
Nothing happened.
Harry briefly tried thinking of happy memories, but he stopped himself. Even if he could come up with anything, and he wasn't convinced he could, he didn't need to.
The idea that one needed happy memories to conjure a Patronus was misleading.
"How did you put it Professor." Remarked Harry to himself. "The idea at its basis is flawed?"
That was how Professor Lawrence had referred to it. Harry was confused by this at the time. But now he understood it completely. Using what he knew, he tried again.
"Expecto Patronum!"
He managed a shield, it was decent attempt at a Patronus, Harry even hypothesised one being able to fend off at least four Dementors with it, but it wasn't Prongs.
He swapped wands and incanted again. "Expecto Patronum!"
With ease he would have craved a year ago, Harry summoned his stag. Prongs was the first Patronus, but he was not the last.
That was how Emma found her brother when she came in, still in bed and looking at his Patronus.
"Harry?" Said Emma.
He turned to see her. "Hey."
"Hey." Said Emma back.
There was silence for a moment. But there was no escaping this conversation.
"We need to talk." Said Harry.
"We need to talk." Agreed Emma.
She ensured that the door behind her was firmly shut before she began.
"I need to be sure that the secret is safe and that no one can…" Emma began, but her brother cut her off.
"There is no way to do it without the numbers and an understanding of the Elemental Stimulus, even I don't know the latter." Said Harry.
"But you said you could find out." Said Emma.
"That's only because I have summoned the seven." Said Harry. "Each one is an essential part, if you fail to summon just one of them…"
"So the secret is still safe." Said Emma determinably.
"The secret is safe." Said Harry. "Unless I reveal it. Even then."
"Harry if that comes out…" Said Emma.
"I'm not going to do it." Snapped Harry.
"I'm sorry Harry I have to do this." Pushed Emma, throwing delicacy out the window. "There is no getting round this, if you do it even once…"
"I won't."
"How can you be sure?" Said Emma. "You told me you would never use any of the six elementals after you cracked Lawrence's last formula, yesterday you used three of them, and don't get me wrong I'm glad you did, I don't want a dead brother…"
"I want to live." Said Harry simply. "That's all."
"Harry, you may survive, but who else would." Said Emma. "I know you've tried to forget everything but you can't just forget something like this. People are going to go nuts about the elementals, if they discover what else can come from the Patronus."
"They won't." Said Harry determinably. "I will not let anyone else learn the Secret of the Seven Patroni."
Emma looked at Harry for a few seconds. He was about to speak, but she held up her hand. "You read those numbers, you explained to me what that secret means. Like it or not, the biggest threat comes from you."
Harry slumped and looked down. "I know."
"You and I are the only ones that know of this." Said Emma. "We are facing new challenges all the time, you've only faced one of the three tasks of this tournament and you've already had to use the Elemental Patroni to survive. The Secret is on you from this point on. Just remember that."
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry had to go back to his Dormitory in order to get some fresh clothes for the day. But afterwards he and his sister made their way down to the Great Hall for Breakfast. It seemed that people were still enthralled by his performance the previous day because they all cheered him upon entry. Harry growled to himself but determinably ignored everyone, he was in no mood to put up with people who had been bad mouthing him for the last three weeks.
He made for his Guild friends at the Gryffindor table, but he never made it that far. As he passed between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables, people jumped from their seats to congratulate him. But Harry was having none of it.
"Go away." Harry Grumbled. "Leave me alone."
He slid past people, but one Second Year Hufflepuff tried to shake his hand, reaching for it against Harry's desire, only to end up being shoved on the floor. Another two people, one Gryffindor Fifth Year and one Hufflepuff Third Year met the same fate before Harry decided he'd had enough.
"Tonitrus Patronum!" (Thunder)
The cheers were replaced by squeals as the Thunder Patronus emerged from Harry's wand. Harry smirked at the sight of people recoiling from him. After all the comments stating that he was a cheater that he was going to die or at least make a fool of himself. He now had something that showed everyone how powerful he was. Harry had the power of the Patroni behind him.
"Harry." Emma whispered.
"They've already seen it Em'." Said Harry loudly. "The secret is in no more danger than it was yesterday lunchtime."
Internally Harry cringed, people did not need to know there was a secret.
"Hey Potter stop showing off, everyone knows that that's just some stupid image trick. I bet those aren't a danger to anyone." Came Malfoy's voice.
"Oh screw it." Thought Harry, before incanting behind him.
"Ignis Patronum!" (Fire)
Another stag, this one composed entirely of fire emerged from Harry's wand. He did it without thinking but Harry found that he was able to easily summon two Patroni now without getting exhausted.
"If you think that's a trick Malfoy, feel free to pet him." Harry taunted him.
As if to emphasise the point, Ignis, the Element of Fire Patronus, began marching over to the Slytherin table. Malfoy screamed and dived down, causing a few sniggers around the hall.
"Mr Potter put those things away." Demanded Professor Snape angrily.
"Mr Potter please calm down." Said McGonagall. "What on earth are those things?"
"Patroni." Said Harry.
"As in the Patronus Charm? Don't be ridiculous." Sneered Snape. "Now what are they?"
"Elemental Patroni." Said Harry, he pointed with his wand. "Ignis." He indicated the Fire stag. "Tonitris." Doing the same for the Thunder stag. He then summoned back.
Both stags dissipated as red light from Ignis and purple light from Tonitris returned to Harry's wand.
"Solum Patronum!" (Earth)
"Aqua Patronum!" (Water)
At this stage, Harry decided to just introduce the entire team. So indicated first the Earth Patronus "Solum," by pointing, followed by Water "Aqua."
He pulled back his magic, then cast again. These two Patroni, however no one other than Emma had seen before and because of their elements the hall got considerably colder.
"Glacies Patronum!" (Ice)
"Ventus Patronum!" (Wind)
The two that came out were composed of their own elements as well. Glacies was the Patronus of Ice and as such was composed entirely of ice, the air around it was noticeably colder and vapour could be seen emanating from around the stag. Ventus however was the Patronus of Wind, it's body seemed to be made up of an entirely localised weather phenomena, that is to say either a tornado or a small number of small tornados had formed together to make the shape of a stag. It was a feat that shouldn't have been possible or visible, but the wind that was holding this Patronus together was visibly green.
"Glacies and Ventus." Said Harry simply, indicating the last two elementals. "Oh and of course…"
He summoned back the two Patroni.
"Expecto Patronum!"
The original Patronus then came forth.
"You've already met him but this is Prongs." Said Harry, summoning him back. "Those are the seven Patroni Professor, just to answer your question."
Those around Harry were silent in disbelief. He had just demonstrated magic the likes of which had never been seen before. Elemental Patroni were thought by many to be impossible but here Harry had just cast them.
"Mr Potter." Said Dumbledore approaching. "Perhaps you and your sister could join me for breakfast in my office."
Harry nodded. "Yes Professor."
ORACLE2PHOENIX
"Firstly Mr Potter, we understand that you have had an inordinate amount of stress placed on you recently." Said Dumbledore. "However I must ask you not to make displays like that again."
Harry nodded.
"Now then. Well done on passing the First Task." Said Dumbledore. "You are tied in first place with Mr Krum. This egg here however is yours to keep."
"I don't particularly want it." Said Harry.
"I must advise you to keep it nonetheless, for it holds a clue as to what your next task is going to be." Said Dumbledore.
Harry growled. He took the egg and placed it on the floor next to his feet.
"Now in regards to your performance, you displayed a significant level of magic. The likes of which, I hope you will forgive me for saying, are beyond what I think anyone could reasonably have thought you capable of." Said Dumbledore.
"You mean creating animated stags that could ram a Dragon?" Asked Harry.
"Elemental Magic is difficult to master Harry." Said Dumbledore. "Most who do can only master one element in particular, I myself have not managed to master all six elements and to my knowledge no one else has either. To do so one must have an unquestionable understanding of magic."
Harry shook his head.
"Is there something you wish to say." Asked Dumbledore.
"Harry?" Asked Emma. "Are you going to tell him or will I? There is no getting round this."
"Getting round what?" Asked Dumbledore. He looked carefully at Harry.
Harry panicked and focused heavily on his mind.
"I am not in the habit of looking into people's minds without cause Harry." Said Dumbledore. "But even without trying I can sense you are throwing everything into the defence of yours. Is there something you wish to say, or perhaps not to say?"
Harry took a few deep breaths. What was there to say? What could be said? In the end he asked "How did Professor Lawrence die?"
Dumbledore actually sat back in surprise. "Professor… Lawrence?"
"Winston Lawrence." Said Harry. "He was defence Professor here until he died in 1936. The papers don't say how."
Dumbledore looked confused. "Mr Potter what does this have to do with…"
"HOW… DID… LAWRENCE… DIE?" Said Harry. "You taught here back then didn't you? How did he die?"
"Harry?" Said Emma. "This won't…"
"I fail to see how Professor Lawrence had any bearing…" Began Dumbledore.
"It was suicide wasn't it?" Said Harry.
Dumbledore didn't say anything. He didn't need to, his face said it all.
"I'm sorry, I'm not that hungry." Said Harry getting up, taking his egg with him.
"I have more questions Mr Potter." Said Dumbledore. "I am also not the only one who is going to ask. The whole of the Wizarding World will have been told about your battle against the Dragon. People are going to want answers. You do yourself no favours keeping all of this to yourself."
Harry looked at Emma.
"Harry and I discussed this." Said Emma. "We… know certain things about the Patroni, Harry more than me but…"
"There is a secret to the Seven Patroni." Said Harry. "I'm sorry but I cannot tell you what it is. Some things are best left undiscovered. I really wish I hadn't found out what I did, but I cannot allow anyone to learn what I've learnt. If this gets out, people could suffer a fate worse than death."
Dumbledore looked into Harry's eyes. He did not read his mind, but he could tell Harry was not joking and that he was being honest and truthful. "I believe you Harry." He said gravely, "The stress and anxiety you have suffered is not the result of the Tournament or your friends is it?"
"No." Said Harry. "I need time to figure this out. I cannot allow anyone to find this out. If I tell people what I've learnt about Elemental Magic, they may find out their own way."
"I will inform your teachers that you will not be attending your classes today." Said Dumbledore. "Please come to me if there is anything I can do."
Harry nodded and moved to leave.
"Harry?" Said Emma pleadingly.
"I'm not going to die Emma, not if I can help it." Said Harry. "Lawrence may have thought it best, but I still want to live."
He then went out the door, closing it behind him.
Emma looked at her headmaster. "I don't know how he is going to pull through all this if I am honest."
"Your brother is a remarkable person Emma." Said Dumbledore. "This secret, is it as terrible as Harry has indicated."
"Maybe worse." Said Emma. "By my limited understanding, Harry may have discovered a threat to life itself."
"That is a rather dramatic assertion." Said Dumbledore. "However if Harry is going to pull through, I think he will need your help. Be warned, there will be fallout after what happened yesterday. I suspect Miss Skeeter will doubtlessly have published something in this morning's Prophet, my sources tell me she has a bit of a grudge after being ousted from the Hub."
Ok so… Elemental Patroni?
Before anyone says anything, yes I invented the plural term Patroni, yes I realise that no one else (including Rowling) uses that term. But I don't care. It works. The Secret of the Seven Patroni sounds better than the Secret of the Seven Patronuses seriously try saying it out loud (obviously not in front of anyone who isn't of the fanfiction realm, but seriously try it).
For followers of Tales of Symphonia, just so you know Lumen and Tenebrae arenot making a planned appearance and I currently have no plans to include them. For those of you who aren't familiar with Tales of Symphonia 2 (which I'm estimating is all but 3 of you) the six elemental Patroni take their names from a video game I grew up with and quite like.
Just to recap the Patroni are as follows:
Solum – Earth
Ventus – Wind
Aqua – Water
Tonitris - Thunder
Ignis – Fire
Glacies – Ice
I am open to continuing to write their names in English in brackets if you guys really want that, I know some of you have become irritated by the sheer number of names I've been throwing into this story, and low and behold I have just chucked in another six.
There is so much to talk about, but I'm going to stop here because this end note is ridiculously long.
Please leave reviews, thanks.
PS: I know I didn't reveal the great and terrible secret, I did say I wouldn't be doing that, but I did rename it… huh… huh…
Long live Hedwig