Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

A Change of Identity

Chapter 38: The Yule Ball

Harry enjoyed the Yule Ball. Because he had been honest from the start about why he'd asked Luna to partner him he was under no pressure to behave in a romantic fashion and could just act normally. He would probably have preferred not to have to make a grand entrance in a procession with the other champions and their partners but his embarrassment was eclipsed by the shock of seeing that the Durmstrang champion Viktor Krum was partnering none other than Hermione. Once they were seated Harry glanced down the hall to where Ron was sitting and noticed his outraged expression. Personally Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with the situation. His father had said that it was probably Karkaroff and Madam Maxime who had told their own students about the dragons. And given Dumbledore's comment about cheating being traditional Harry felt he couldn't blame the other champions.

Instead of the food appearing on large platters in the centre of the round tables at which everyone was seated, there were menus at each place. Dumbledore set an example by perusing his menu and saying clearly to his plate, 'Pork chops!' Everybody quickly followed suit and Harry couldn't help but grin when Luna ordered 'A teensy weensy bit of everything, please.'

'What an excellent idea!' exclaimed Dumbledore with a smile. 'I wish I'd thought of it.' Soon everyone was busy eating and talking. Harry and Luna found themselves discussing the differences between Hogwarts and Durmstrang with Viktor Krum and Hermione. Harry realised that although the Bulgarian seeker looked surly he was in fact very amiable unlike his headmaster who curtly ordered him not to divulge any secrets. At this Dumbledore chipped in.

'Well I know no one will divulge all of the secrets of Hogwarts for the simple reason that I doubt anyone knows them all. Not even my deputy James here and I think that he and his little gang discovered a tremendous amount when they were students here.' Here Harry's father gave a grin which Harry returned. There was indeed a lot of information on the Marauder's Map which was not generally known. Karkaroff scowled at Krum.

'Please refrain from giving out any information which may help outsiders find our school please, Viktor.' Krum just shrugged but he stopped talking about Durmstrang. Soon the meal was finished and a band made its way onto a raised podium in the centre of the hall. Dumbledore stood up.

'Will the Triwizard Champions and their partners please take their places on the floor for the opening waltz.' Harry surreptitiously looked at Cedric as he gallantly offered his arm to the Ravenclaw seeker Cho Chang and led her onto the dance floor and did the same with Luna.

'Er,' he whispered, 'this may not be the best time to tell you but I don't know how to dance.' Luna smiled and answered rather more loudly,

'Don't worry, neither do I.' She didn't seem at all perturbed at the thought of them looking like fools. Well, if she could cope with it then so could he, thought Harry. The band started playing a slow tune and the other three couples started waltzing in perfect time. Luna grinned, grabbed Harry round the waist, took his hand and started whirling around quickly. Harry stumbled but quickly got the idea and soon the two of them were dancing circles around the other three couples. As they passed the various tables Harry was aware of mixed reactions to their antics. Dumbledore was grinning broadly. Harry's father was shaking his head in mock despair. Several girls were giggling. Malfoy looked disdainful and Snape was scowling fiercely. After a few minutes the staff and Ministry guests joined the champions on the dance floor followed soon by the rest of the students. When the band stopped playing Harry and Luna breathlessly returned to their seats.

'That was fun,' said Luna. Harry had to agree and when the band started playing a livelier tune he was quite happy to take Luna onto the dance floor again. After another wild session they were breathless and went off in search of drinks. Once they had supplied themselves with glasses of punch they decided to take a stroll in the grounds to cool off. They kept to the path around the school, laughing at all the couples hiding behind bushes kissing. Then they had to hide behind a tree themselves to avoid bumping into Snape after they came across him and Karkaroff as they were having an argument about something.

'Wish I could have heard just what they were fighting about,' commented Harry. Then they almost ran into Madam Maxime.

'How dear he insult me like that!' she was muttering loudly. 'Half giant indeed! Moi, I just have big bones!'

Standing forlornly a short way off was Hagrid. Evidently he had said the wrong thing to his would be lady friend. Harry and Luna avoided him too, thinking it best he didn't know they were aware of what had happened. Harry knew that Hagrid was half giant and from the size of her it was pretty obvious that the headmistress of Beauxbatons was the same even if she didn't want to admit it.

Re-entering the Great Hall Harry couldn't see any sign of Ron. He guessed that he'd gone off in a sulk. Well there was still plenty of the ball left to enjoy. He and Luna collared Ginny and Neville and they commenced another riotous dance.

Harry was up for breakfast the next day and so was Hermione but there were no other Gryffindors in the Great Hall at the same time as them. Harry's father was there and he came over to them once he had finished his own meal.

'Well I saw that you enjoyed yourselves last night,' he commented. 'The headmaster certainly enjoyed your style of dancing, Harry.' Hermione grinned.

'And I bet it took your mind off that dream you had a while back, Harry' she said.

There was an uncomfortable silence during which Harry kept his eyes firmly fixed on his plate. He could feel Hermione shifting nervously beside him. He could also feel the full force of his father's gaze.

'Tell me Harry,' said his father at last. 'Do you think that the headmaster and I would be at all interested in hearing the details of this dream?' His voice was calm but Harry wasn't fooled into thinking that he wasn't going to be in trouble. He nodded, still not looking up.

'Then if you've finished eating we'll go and see him now.' Harry stood up. He had been intending to have more toast but his appetite had completely disappeared now. The walk to Dumbledore's office was taken in silence apart from one short exchange initiated by his father.

'I don't want to hear so much as a rumour of you giving Hermione a hard time over letting out your little secret,' he said. 'Is that clear?'

'Yes sir,' said Harry. He didn't add that he knew Hermione hadn't done it deliberately suspecting that that would invite a lecture on how she would have been doing the right thing if she had. All too soon they arrived at the stone gargoyles which guarded the entrance to the headmaster's office, Harry's father gave the password (liquorice allsorts) and they gained admittance.

'Well, this is an unexpected pleasure. To what do I owe it?' asked Dumbledore pleasantly. Harry kept his eyes on the floor while his father explained.

'I see,' said Dumbledore gravely when he had heard the story. I think the two of you had better have a seat while Harry tells us what his dream was about. At a wave of the headmaster's wand two chairs appeared in front of his desk. Harry sat down and at a nod from Dumbledore began.

'And I suppose this dream just happened to slip your mind when you were told the next day to report anything unusual to us?' Harry winced at the sarcasm in his father's voice but said nothing. Dumbledore held up his hand to stop him from carrying on his rant.

'We can address the issue of Harry's omission after discussing the relevance of the dream, James,' he said.

'You think that it was real?' asked Harry's father.

'I do,' said Dumbledore. 'I believe that when the young Tom Riddle failed to kill Harry in the chamber of secrets and gave him that scar he forged a bond between them which is only beginning to show itself now that Lord Voldemort is getting a little stronger. Unfortunately we have no way of knowing how he intends to carry out his plan. He might not even know himself yet.'

'But what can we do about it?' asked Harry's father. 'I mean it seems clear that the tournament is central to his plan and Harry is obliged to complete.'

'We can only be as vigilant as possible,' said Dumbledore. 'And share information,' he added, looking pointedly at Harry. 'Perhaps you could tell us now why you chose to keep that dream to yourself.'

Harry wasn't sure he really knew himself and just shrugged. His father wasn't impressed.

'We've had discussions about putting your life at risk before Harry,' he said. 'Surely you realised that not telling us about that dream could have serious consequences?'

'I didn't want to make a fuss,' said Harry. Dumbledore spoke sternly.

'You knew that you should have told us,' he said. Then he looked at Harry's father. 'James,' he said. 'Although Harry has acted in a most irresponsible manner he has not broken any school rules and I have no reason to take any action against him. I have no objection however, if you wish to take him to your own quarters and deal with him in your capacity as his father.'

'I think I will do just that,' replied Harry's father grimly. 'Come on.' He got up to leave and gestured for Harry to follow him. Harry did so, thinking that one of his least favourite pastimes was walking along the endless corridors of Hogwarts on his way to being punished by his father. The moment they entered the room, his father drew his wand and sent all the furniture to one corner and shrank it. He didn't keep Harry waiting to find out what he had in store for him.

'Under the circumstances I think it best if your punishment serves a practical purpose,' he said. 'I'm going to give you a training session and the extent of your punishment will depend entirely on how well you perform. Take your wand out. You may use only blocking and shielding spells. No counterattacking.'

What followed was the most gruelling session Harry had yet had. His father started from the beginning by firing off hexes one after another, barely giving Harry time to draw breath between them. Harry managed to block or dodge the first few successfully before his father started playing dirty. Harry had just successfully shielded himself against a jelly legs jinx when his father made a quick movement with his wand without saying a spell out loud and Harry felt a sudden pain in his backside as though someone had given him an almighty wallop. He now understood what his father had meant by his punishment depending on his performance. If he failed to defend himself adequately he would be very sore by the end of the session.

Harry gathered himself together and resumed defending himself. The next two times his father tried the "walloping hex" as Harry mentally termed it he blocked it. A couple of minutes later he was about to block another when he heard,

'Expelli…'

Uncomfortable though the hex might be it was preferable to losing his wand and thus all protection. Harry quickly blocked the disarming spell. He stumbled slightly as he felt the virtual wallop but he recovered himself quickly and prepared for the next onslaught of spells. For a brief moment his eyes met those of his father and he though he could detect a flash of approval. Then the attack continued.

After about half an hour Harry was exhausted. He'd avoided most of what his father sent his way but it had taken a lot out of him and he'd sustained a few bruises from diving to the floor to avoid some of the spells. His father took advantage of his son's weakened condition and sent off three tickling charms in quick succession. Harry blocked them but fell victim to a silent disarming spell which his father tagged on to the end. His father then sent a final fast flurry of wallops Harry's way before restoring the room to its original state and pocketing his own wand.

'You would have been dead by now if I were a Deatheater,' he said to Harry who was rubbing his behind. 'Think yourself lucky.'

'I would have been attacking as well as defending if you were,' Harry replied hoping he wouldn't be in more trouble for answering back. Fortunately he wasn't. His father smiled.

'I'm glad to hear that you've retained at least some sense in that head of yours,' he told him. Go and curl up by the fire and lick your wounds or whatever. He whipped his wand out and turned Harry into a wildcat. 'And if you can resist the change without all the mollycoddling I gave you last time you can stay like that until this evening.' I'll talk to you again then.

Tired and sore as he was, this seemed like an attractive proposition. Harry did as his father had suggested and gave himself a good wash before settling down in front of the flames. He was almost asleep when he heard his father gently warn him that he was due to change. This time he found it a lot easier to fight and soon the moment was over and he remained in cat form. He settled down to go to sleep properly, vaguely reassured that his father was no longer angry with him and that although he might have a nasty stock of punishments in store for when Harry stepped out of line it didn't in any way lessen the amount he cared about him.

A N: Yep, I'm still around. You'll just have to bear with me while the muse continues its strike action. If its any consolation I do know exactly how this story is going to end. Thanks again to all reviewers.