Heyy Guys! I really am trying to get back on a semi-regular update schedule! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and also please check out my other little piece over at the Daily Prophet!
53
Regina Finds Out
Ginny was so fired up watching the game of Capture the Flag take place that she was having trouble restraining herself from diving into the frenzy and joining in the fun. She could see by the look on Harry's face that he felt the same way, but they were here to act as teachers, so she would have to be content with silently rooting for the girls. The game had started off quite slowly, until Ron had shouted some explicit words of encouragement to the boys, which had led Hermione to place a very stubborn Silencio charm on him, which he was still struggling to remove non-verbally. To further Ginny's delight, Gabrielle was caught in a very tricky Reverse of Reverse charm that caused her to fire spells backwards onto herself, walk in the opposite direction that she was actually trying to, and generally left her completely confused and helpless. Ginny made a mental note to learn the charm herself. Truthfully she should have released Gabrielle by now, and removed the caster from play, but she'd been so caught up in the game that she'd missed what was happening a few feet away. Harry wasn't to be fooled though, and as Ginny turned to face him again, he smirked, raised an eyebrow, and gave her a look that said come on, stop being so petty. Grudgingly, Ginny removed the charm, and to make it fair picked a fifth year boy closest to the girls' flag and hit him with a Quicksand Charm, causing him to sink waist deep through the floor. Cheater Harry mouthed across the room. Ginny batted her eyelids and flashed a wicked grin. Turning her attention back to the game, Ginny could see the girls closing in on the boys' flag, the Slytherin Beater leading the charge. They would definitely get to the flag; there was only a handful of third and fourth years standing in their way, enough to slow them down a little, but not enough to actually stop them from reaching the end of the hall.
Both teams could feel the end of the game approaching, and spells began to fly everywhere as the girls closed in on the flag. Ginny ducked a stunning spell cast by a 7th Year, which exploded off the wall behind her head. Neville froze him in place, while Harry and Ron deflected some of the stronger spells away from the younger students. Hermione activated more of her floor charms, causing students to sink in, slide, become stuck, or lose their balance on the large flagstones. For her part, Ginny kept watch on the flags, making sure it was all fair. The Slytherin girl – Regina, if Ginny remembered correctly – had grabbed hold of the boys' flag, and now all the girls needed to do to win was to return the flag safely to their side of the room. Not an easy task as a group of sixth year boys had formed a defensive circle behind two of the upturned tables in the centre of the Great Hall. Now it was a numbers game, and the three girls with the flag were going to lose out badly. One of the girls threw up a shield charm as the boys began blasting the trio with charms and hexes, it would buy them enough time to come up with a counter-strategy, but it wouldn't hold the boys back forever. In fact, as Regina and one of the other girls conversed, Ginny could see the caster of the shield struggling to maintain it under the barrage of spells it was deflecting.
Ginny watched with interest as Regina pointed her wand at the flag and muttered an incantation that she couldn't hear over the noise of the spells. To her surprise, the flag spun in the air a few times and then transformed into a Quaffle! As the shield charm shattered, Regina dashed forward as far as she could, and when she was hit by a quicksand charm, she picked out one of the girls from the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and tossed the Quaffle forward to her whilst she got herself unstuck. The Ravenclaw player made another dash of about 6 feet before her she was frozen with a sticking charm. Regina had finally managed to free herself from the quicksand charm and ran to the centre of the Great Hall to catch the Quaffle before throwing up a quick shield charm to avoid getting hit with an enormous wave of spells fired from the opposing team. Regina paused to consider her options, but with so many people locked in duels it was hard to see a way out of her situation. Regina's face lit up, as though an idea has suddenly flashed into her mind.
"Hey, Frenchie!" she shouted, "Hail Mary Spiral!" Many of the boys rushed towards the far end of the Great Hall, recognizing the famous Quidditch tactic, but it would ultimately prove to be too late as Regina tossed the Quaffle high into the air, Gabrielle vaulted over an upturned table and plucked the Quaffle out of the air with an experienced hand before ducking out of reach of any spells and sprinting back to the girls' flag. Small fireworks popped and crackled on the ceiling as the girls cheered their victory, some of them shooting off sparks with their wands. The boys looked dismayed, some of them complaining about the flag being transformed into the Quaffle, others conceding that it was a decent idea. Slowly, the students all began to congregate at the base of the Teachers table.
"That'll put Ginny a good mood for the rest of the night," Ron laughed sarcastically as Gabrielle hoisted the Quaffle over her head in victory.
"For the rest of the week mate," Harry grimaced. "Remind me again what it is that makes them dislike each other so much?"
"Not sure," Ron replied, "Apparently it's about this crazy guy with a scar on his face that runs about battling dragons and stuff."
"Oh, that guy. Heard he's a bit of a tosser really." The pair shared a laugh as they stepped away from the wall to address the crowd and begin the last part of the nights' lesson. In the back of his mind, Harry wondered what it might be like if the two girls stopped with the pettiness and one-upmanship for five minutes and discovered how much they actually had in common. It hadn't just started this year either; Harry had first noticed the animosity between the two girls at Fleur and Bill's wedding, but apparently it went even further back. Harry stepped into the middle of the gathering crowd to speak to the students, whilst Hermione got rid of all the floor charms, and Ginny, Ron, Neville, and Hannah quickly restored the room to normal. "Excellent!" Harry beamed, "that really was brilliant to watch. Great idea, turning that flag into a Quaffle, it made it so much easier to pass around. Did everybody have fun?" Most of the class nodded, or gave and audible yeah, except for one fifth year boy who'd spent most of the game battling one of Hermione's charms.
"So, for the last part of our lesson, we are going to split you up into your classes. First and Second Years will stay at this end of the hall with Neville. Make sure you pay attention to him, he's a very powerful wizard, we're really lucky he agreed to help us out tonight. Third to fifth years will go with Ron, Ginny, and Hannah to the far end of the Hall, and Sixth and Seventh years will stay here in the middle with myself, Hermione, and Luna." Harry motioned the class to split into their designated groups and waited a few minutes as the class shuffled tiredly to their designated area. As Harry's group thinned down to just the sixth and seventh years, he beckoned them in closer, forming a tightly knit circle.
"Thanks, all of you, for coming along tonight. I hope it hasn't been too easy-going for you," Harry addressed the older students, "We're going to work on some more complicated stuff in a minute, but I just wanted to give you a little more information regarding the DA. I expect you to keep this to yourselves as well." Harry checked around the circle, each student gave a nod of understanding, so he continued, "I was asked to put the DA together to help train the younger students, I'm not entirely sure why, but it would seem as though something is happening next year that they need to be prepared for. At this point, there aren't many things I can teach you that you shouldn't know already, because you're at this stage in your school lives. What I can offer to you is extra credit for helping to run the classes, help with exams and very tricky spells, proper dueling practice after the younger students have left, and there may even be opportunities for the school to help some of you arrange interviews with some of the Departments in the Ministry of Magic to gain some work experience. So we can definitely provide you with some good opportunities, but whether or not you want to take them is up to you.
For tonight though, Hermione can teach you just about anything you can think of. Really, she could be a future Minister for Magic, or the Head of the DMLE, you won't find anybody in this room that can perform magic like she can. Luna is very good at charms and defensive spells, especially non-verbally. You can learn an awful lot from her. As for me, I will be giving a lesson in just a few minutes on the Patronus Charm. It's always a popular one, and it is my most powerful spell. So, whenever you guys are ready, we can get started." Harry finished talking and the group disbanded, spreading out across the centre of the hall. Before starting with Patronus Charms, Harry grabbed a hold of the girl who'd led the Slytherin students into the Great Hall and pulled her aside for a word.
"I don't think we've met properly," Harry began, the girl cut him off mid way through his next sentence.
"Regina Corsica," she said, "I already know who you are." Harry gave a slightly awkward nod. Everyone knew who he was, all the time, everywhere he went.
"I really appreciate you bringing your house to tonight's class," Harry continued, "I know a few people were quite skeptical about what we're trying to do here, but it really is for the benefit of the students here."
"I still don't think you're being totally honest with us," the remark caught Harry off-guard, but in reality, she wasn't wrong, so he let her say her piece, "If you really are preparing us for something, then it would've been a good idea to start the DA months ago. I don't know what you're up to, but failing an explanation, I'll settle for the promise that none of my Housemates will get hurt. Slytherin students are being attacked too frequently, and if your club, whatever hidden agenda it has, can teach them how to protect themselves, then I'll play along with the charade."
"I knew I was right about you," Harry muttered, "The club doesn't have any hidden agenda. The school has its secrets, but the DA really is a club which teaches students how to defend themselves, and I'd like you to help run it."
"Me?"
"Absolutely," Harry continued, "you wouldn't be in charge of the club, I have someone in mind for that job already, he is a little more qualified, but I would like it if you were to be something of a second in-command, a student-teacher. I might not know you very well, but I have kept an eye on you since that broom race. You're a powerful witch, you aren't afraid to take the younger students under your wing, and your House clearly looks to you as one of its leaders. I asked Professor Slughorn if I could take a look through your school file, I know that your O.W.L results were mostly Outstanding's, you were considered for Prefect a year early, and you're most certainly going to be Captain of Slytherin's Quidditch team next year. I know that Slughorn also wants to make you Head Girl next year, and I can't see why anybody would object. I think you are the best person for the job."
"You're serious about this, aren't you?" she asked. Harry nodded and smiled. "I'll think it over," she replied flatly. Harry hoped that eventually she would come around, once her suspicions had mellowed out.
Admittedly, Regina had an excellent time at the DA meeting. Capture the Flag had been a fun game, and by the end of the class she had managed to cast a wispy Patronus Charm. It wasn't corporeal, but she would be able to practice it in her own time until she was able to conjure one of the ghostly blue animals like Harry and Hermione. But whilst she'd had some fun, and her Housemates had learned a lot, she reminded herself why she was really at the class. Harry and co were up to something, and she was going to find out what. As the class finished, Regina watched a large throng of students sign their names onto a piece of parchment, declaring their support for the new club to be instated, she thanked Harry for teaching the class and told him that she would consider his offer, and then she walked from the Great Hall with her friends, everything appearing quite normal. Once she was out of sight of the Great Hall however, Regina let her friends continue on to the Common Room, and once she was sure that nobody was watching, she cast a Disillusionment Charm over herself, rendering her invisible. Thanks for the idea Harry, she thought, treading quietly back towards the Great Hall.
Harry and his friends were walking lazily back towards the Gryffindor Tower, chatting about the class. They'd gotten 78 signatures tonight, enough to have the DA instated as a permanent club in the school. You guys go ahead, I'll go and tell McGonagall the good news. Regina was right, Harry was up to something, and the Headmistress was in on it. Quietly as she could, Regina followed him along the corridors, fearful that her charm might wear off, or that he might hear her footsteps and become suspicious, and then maybe abandon his trip to the Heads Office. But after an agonizing five minutes of following Harry around the twisted maze of corridors and staircases, she arrived at the statue guarding the stair to the Headmistress's office. In the back of her mind, it occurred to Regina that the only other time she'd ever been in the Heads office was after she'd been made a prefect, but she pushed the thought aside as Harry called out the password and the gargoyle stepped aside. Regina waited a few seconds, and then hurriedly tiptoed up the steps behind him.
Harry had closed the door to the office before she could slip inside, so she had to resort to pressing her ear against the door, but she could still make out faintly what they were saying. So you managed to get the signatures Potter?
78 of them! The class went very well indeed.
Have you thought of who would be suitable to replace you?
I have someone in mind, I'm going to speak to him about it tonight, see what he thinks. I know he is hoping to stay on at the school as a teaching assistant, so it could work in his favor in the long run. Also, I have a student in mind that I think could really help out.
That would be Miss Corsica? I hope you don't think I missed that all of Slytherin arrived at your class together, with her leading the way. If she agrees to it, I'm more than happy to give her a modicum of authority over the rest of the students. She's Horace's top candidate for Head Girl, so you wouldn't be the first to place your faith in her.
The ICW are dead set on forcing Hogwarts into the Tournament then? Tournament? What tournament? And why was the school being forced to compete? Questions began running through Regina's mind faster than the Hogwarts Express on Gigglewater.
Oh they have their minds well and truly made up. The Tournament of Champions will continue as planned, and I won't be here to stand in its way. The Tournament of Champions, that is why Harry had been asked to form the DA. Regina had never heard of the tournament before, but if it was anything like the TriWizard Tournament, Regina wanted no part of it. The ICW was obviously the International Confederation of Wizards, who, in reality, could force the school to do things against its will, and by the sounds of it, they were getting rid of McGonagall too. With all these thoughts running through her head, Regina was nearly hit by the door as Harry left the office. Stumbling back, Regina worried for a moment that she'd been caught out, but Harry, oblivious to her snooping continued down the stairs. Regina followed quickly and quietly behind, narrowly avoiding being shut behind the gargoyle at the foot of the stairs. She had no more reason to follow Harry, having gleaned enough information from spying on his conversation with McGonagall, but she still wanted to find out about the Tournament of Champions. When she was sure that she was in the clear, Regina released her Disillusionment Charm, grateful that she no longer had to conceal her footsteps. She headed down to the library, hoping that she might be able to find a little more information on the tournament. When she arrived, Madam Pince was just about to lock up.
"Sorry child, but the library is closed," the terrifying woman said sharply.
"Please Madam Pince, I just need one book to help me with my Charms exam. I'm sitting the paper tomorrow afternoon, and I still haven't quite figured out the theory behind the Patronus Charm."
"Oh, well that is a tricky piece of magic," the librarian remarked.
"I know; I still can't produce a fully corporeal Patronus. I really will be quick about it, you can trust me," Regina flashed the Prefect badge pinned to her collar.
"Oh, why didn't you say child," Madame Pince regarded the badge with slight admiration, "don't forget to turn the lights off when you are finished, and do not damage any of the books."
"Of course Madam Pince, thank you very much!" Regina smiled, making her way into the library. She wandered along the shelves with all of the charms textbooks until she was sure that Madame Pince had left. She wasn't really sure what the Tournament of Champions was, but Magical Games and Sports was probably a good section to start. Making her way along the dusty rows of books, Regina looked for any title that might give her any clue on the tournament. There was a beat-up copy of Quidditch Through the Ages, no surprise that it was the only book that seemed to have been touched in the last fifty years, Wizards Chess: The Definitive Strategy Guide, Flying Seahorse Fishing, and Creaothceann, A Sport for the Manliest of Wizards provided no help, and Regina was beginning to doubt herself, when she came across Magical Tournaments: The Fan's Handbook. With little haste, Regina pulled the small, dusty book from the shelf and begin flicking through its contents. There were a lot of tournaments in the Wizarding World that Regina didn't know existed, making the book quite a chore to flick through. Aside from the hundreds of Quidditch Cups, and the Annual Broom Race, there was the utterly crazy Romanian Dragon Taming Championship, the Giants Wrestling League, Centaur Archery World Championships, and even the Stunt Flying World Tour. Regina made a mental note to check out that last one some other time. Finally, a breakthrough, as she came across the page for the TriWizard Tournament. She read through most of the waffle, skipping the things she already knew from watching the tournament in her second year. A footnote caught her eye though; The winning school of the TriWizard Tournament automatically qualifies for the Tournament of Champions (see Page 394). Regina quickly flicked through the book until she reached the correct page. There it was!
The Tournament of Champions
The Tournament of Champions, held every ten years since 1289, brings together eight schools from across the Wizarding World to compete in a series of events in order to win the Ignatia Wildsmith Trophy (the trophy was named in honour of the creator of Floo Powder, which, during the 1300's, was the most common way for the schools to transport their teams from one venue to another). Schools qualify for the Tournament by winning similar, smaller tournaments against other schools from their continent, such as the TriWizard Tournament, or the Pan-Asia Cup.
Each school then hosts a leg of the tournament, by holding a contest of their choosing. Common contests include Quidditch tournaments between the schools, a Broom Race through a dragon reserve, and the famous 'Safari Maze' held in Uganda in 1709, responsible for the death of two American students when a Manticore leapt from a hole in the ground and devoured the pair in seconds.
Each school is required to enter a team of three students between the ages of 12 to 17, and can select a different alternate for each leg of the tournament. The alternate does not have to be a current student at the school they are representing, but must have studied on the same continent within the previous ten years. One notable example of an alternate who did not attend the school they were representing is the famous Akimbo Manawa, who won the tournament in 1709 with his school, Uganda Uagadou, at the age of 13, only to return in the final round of the tournament 10 years later as the controversial alternate for the neighboring Kenyan School, becoming the first and only person to win the tournament twice.
The Tournament selects schools from the Eight Continents of the Wizarding World. The continents, and notable participants are listed below.
North America
Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Alma Aleron School of Magical Humanities and Spellcraft
South America
Castelobruxo Magic Academy
The Amazon Spellcraft Institute
Buenos Aries Magic Academy
The Polar Region
Polaris Institute of Magic and Sorcery
Kopparberg Academy of Magic
Arjeplog Sorcery and Witchcraft School
Asia
Mahoutokoro School of Magic
Beijing Academy of Magic and Science
Delhi Delight Academy of Sorcery and Spellcraft
Koldovstoretz School
Abu Dhabi Gold Standard Magic Academy
Shanghai Academy of Magical Technology
Africa
Uganda Uagadou
Kenya Kiara Academy
Rwanda Magic School
Oceania
Thundelarra College of Magic
Wollongong College of Spellcraft
Moutohora Magical Academy
Eastern Europe
Hecate Temple of Sorcery and Witchcraft
Kiev School of Witchcraft
Tallinn Academy of Sorcery
Western Europe*
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Beauxbatons Academy of Magic
Durmstrang Institute of Magic
*Due to the disbanding of the TriWizard Tournament, Western Europe has not had a representative since the late 1700's, with Durmstrang the last Western European School to compete in the Tournament of Champions in 1799.
Not for much longer Regina thought as she read the footnote. She sat for a moment, mulling over the information. A lot of things that had confused her before were starting to fall into place. She understood now why Harry had been asked to form the DA, and she realized just how important it would be. Twelve year olds could be selected to compete in the tournament! Regina thought of all the First Years in Slytherin, and tried to imagine any of them returning next Summer and jetting off around the world to compete in the Tournament of Champions. There was no way any of them would last; there had been Manticores in some of the tournaments, Regina wouldn't be able to take on one of them herself, and she was heading into her Seventh Year at Hogwarts. Then there was the thought of all the schools they would be competing against. Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were very well-respected schools, and Hogwarts had competed fiercely with them to pull out the win. Some of these schools from around the world would be even better, and Regina knew very little about them. Ilvermorny and Alma Aleron were quite famous, being the only two schools in North America, they maintained a long and bitter rivalry, and Castelobruxo was well-known due to their exchange program with Hogwarts; Regina had missed out on the opportunity to go in her fifth year, due to the war. As far as the other schools on the list; Regina hadn't even heard of most of them. What kind of tasks would Hogwarts be facing? She wasn't sure she wanted to know.
A/n:
Heyy guys!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! We don't have long now until the story is finished! Can you believe that it's almost time for Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Luna to graduate Hogwarts? And we still have the final match between Gryffindor and Slytherin! Without Harry, Ginny, Marcus, and Regina playing for their respective sides, who do you think will take the school Quidditch Cup? Of course, there's also the matter of the House Cup. With Gryffindor losing 100 points after the race, and Slytherin losing 150, will Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff win for the first time in many years?
Aside from all of those questions that I just dropped on you, I would really like you guys to answer these 3 questions for me, either with a review or a PM.
1. Who do you think Harry wants to put in charge of the DA? (it will not be a student).
2. What schools would you like to see compete in the Tournament of Champions?
3. Who do you think will represent Hogwarts in the tournament? Some of the current students, or someone totally new?
Remember at the end of my last chapter I did mention that I would be writing a few issues of 'The Daily Prophet'? Well, the first issue was published yesterday! It does have one big announcement... You can find it by clicking on my profile, where it will be in the 'My Stories' section. Also, I would be very grateful if you guys would vote in the poll at the top of my profile. It is quite a big poll, and you do have five votes each! I won't tell you what its about, so you'll just have to go and find out for yourselves, but if you do vote, feel free to tell everyone your choices in a review!
Thanks again everyone! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
IronMan.
