a/n: here, it is the next chapter and after only a week. oceanlover14 requested a brief recap of what's happened so far and i was going to stick it in here but it got a bit long, so if you follow the link on my profile to my homepage there is a nice summary on my lj. if you have trouble getting to it or have issues with lj because everyone has to have a site they dislike for reasons entirely their own just PM me and i'll send you a copy. thanks for the fantastic support and reviews, you guys blow me away.
Chapter 48
Harry was cold and more than a little annoyed. They'd gotten through just half of the first years and he was honestly a little bored. Not that they weren't putting on a good show. Ally had taught them well enough to put on a decent fight against someone roughly their own skill level. It was just that he was used to watching Death Eaters fight. He was used to watching and occasionally joining in when the ADADA fought. Compared to that there wasn't anything particularly thrilling about watching midget first years shooting basic incapacitating spells at each other.
He paused in his prowl of the edge of the fighting platform, to squat next to Ron for a bit of conversation and to steal a bit of warmth from Hermione's fire. If it were just the ADADA he'd have just wandered around on fire, using his own power to keep warm. Unfortunately the whole school was present so that wasn't really possible. He felt sorry for McGonagall and Snape who were standing with Madam Pomfrey and the trainee healers she'd borrowed from St Mungo's. They stood on the side lines outside a small medical tent without the warmth of a fire or a good blanket.
The first years hadn't caused too much damage but the same was unlikely to be true of the third years and up. Those students, Ally deemed old enough to learn how to really cause some damage and were almost strong enough to use it to their advantage. She'd organised for the aid tent to make things simpler.
'It's wrong that I'm bored, yeah?'
Ron looked over at him from his position snuggled up against Daphne under a blanket and frowned. 'Yeah,' he agreed, 'but you're not alone.'
'We're a little bored too,' Daphne explained.
'And dead tired,' Emmy complained. 'I had to follow some stupid witch all the way around Scotland last night.'
As if to prove that being forced to sit through this tournament was, in fact, a waste of time, she rolled up the leg of her cords to show a white bandage wrapped around her calf. It showed just the slightest red splodge of blood having seeped through. To Emmy, and apparently the rest of the ADADA (perhaps with the exception of Hermione) this was evidence enough that their skills were beyond what could be tested in a simple tournament.
'That's nothing,' Daphne assured her. She unzipped her jacket a little and pulled down her scarf just enough to show an ugly red and purple bloody mess over her collarbone. 'Death Eater curse, Snape still doesn't know what it was.'
That was a little impressive and Harry really hoped Dumbledore never caught sight of so many signs of their time spent fighting Death Eaters. If he was having trouble grasping the idea that children could fight back to protect themselves then he certainly wasn't going to take well to the evidence that they were getting hurt in the process.
Before them, the last of the first years finished their fight, the loser hitting the ground with a heavy thwack and a slight spray of blood. The winner, breathing heavily, looked more surprised than pleased with his win. He wouldn't get time to enjoy it though, not the way Ally had organised this tournament. In this tournament you fought until you were defeated and then whoever beat you got to try their hand at beating everyone else. He'd have a few minutes to grab a drink from Madam Pomfrey before he would get to try his hand at the first of the second years.
'Ouch,' Ginny remarked rather calmly as the second year positively whipped the poor first year into a lump of unmoving person on the ground. 'That lasted long.'
Harry shrugged; Snape was sending him pointed looks that suggested perhaps he could remove the unconscious student because the spell that had hit him had thrown him much closer to Harry.
'Duty calls.'
He tried not to be too reluctant as he got up and walked casually over to the unconscious boy. He could hear Ally shouting the name of the second year up next but he paid it no attention. He crouched beside the fallen boy and inspected his injuries. It didn't look like anything bad, then again these days his idea of bad was a lot direr than it had been. Or anyone else's interpretation of bad, for that matter. His bad was probably more aligned with everyone else's definition of half dead.
He tapped the boy's cheek lightly in the hopes of bringing him around. When that failed to work he hit the kid a little harder. That definitely worked and the kid's eyes opened slowly and he blinked up at Harry in confusion.
'On your feet kid.'
He received a groan in response but the boy did get to his feet slowly and Harry pointed him in the direction of Madam Pomfrey and her little aid tent. He seemed to shake it off a little as he walked and Harry turned his attention back to the fight about to start. This one, like all the ones before it, didn't last very long. Oh, it lasted longer than most but it ended the same, with a second year student on the ground and the winner panting with a look of great relief on her face.
And so it went on, some lasted longer than others, some barely made it through one fight but in the end just one second year boy was left standing. He'd fended off four of his fellow second years to take the position of top of his year and he looked exactly as you would expect. His face was flushed and sweaty and his breathing was laboured, no doubt made worse by the winter chill.
Still, he had that look of someone who knew they'd just done a pretty good job and weren't going to let anyone take away his title. This was when Ally announced the first of the third years and his next opponent. Keeping in mind that she was drawing the names at random out of a hat, it was just plain bad luck what happened next.
'Stephanie Allen.'
An explosion of noise from the ADADA accompanied Stephanie as she moved toward the platform. Harry bumped her shoulder playfully as she passed and grinned when she shot him a dirty look over her shoulder. The poor second year didn't stand a chance.
Harry moved as close as he dared just so he could get a better look at the slaughter about to take place. He didn't bother holding in his laugh when Stephanie stepped onto the platform and stood with her arms crossed and her head tilted to the side.
'Well, go on then,' she prompted, waiting for the second year to make a move.
He wasn't stupid, Harry would give him that. He, like most of the school, had noticed that Stephanie was a part of Harry Potter's group and it was giving him pause. Still he couldn't just stand back and do nothing in the hopes of surviving whatever was about to be thrown at him.
He threw the first spell.
Stephanie had her wand out and a shield up before the spell had even been fully cast. She battered it away, and snapped a spell back. The crimson red light hit its target but a last minute shield prevented it from doing any lasting damage. Unimpressed, Stephanie fired back three successive spells, simple though they were, and moved closer to her opponent. He tried to fight back and he did put up a pretty good effort but when he fired a little white spell at her and she just back handed it out of her path he knew it was all over.
He took a stunner right to the chest, one of the older ones Ally told them not to use unless they had a good eight hours on their hands. He hit the platform like a stiff board and Stephanie pocketed her wand. She rubbed her hands together to fend off the cold in an obvious demonstration that the fight hadn't affected her one bit.
Snape offered her an almost smile when he moved onto the platform to remove her unconscious opponent. She grinned and then turned to greet the next poor sucker. This one, a tall willowy girl, didn't go down as quickly as the last but she still fell to Stephanie, as did every other third year who tried to best her. Some were difficult; some were easy enough that a strong spell merely tore through their shields.
Stephanie didn't come out on top completely unscathed, she had a few scratches and one burn but when dealing with Death Eaters and, well, Harry, scrapes and burns were not unexpected. Her skin was flushed but she wasn't struggling for breath. She was much more accustomed to this sort of thing than any ordinary thirteen year old probably should be.
She made her way across the platform to Madam Pomfrey who offered her a nice warm cup of cocoa and a piece of cake. Stephanie smiled gratefully and ducked inside briefly to check out the mini massacre she'd just caused. There was a general chorus of moans and groans and the occasional bit of bitching but mostly it was good natured.
While Stephanie was in the tent trying not to rub it in how she had beaten every single one of the third years, Ally walked up to Harry and McGonagall. The two were conversing in low tones about the fight put up by certain promising students.
'We're breaking for lunch,' she informed them, rubbing her hands together against the cold and then using McGonagall as a shield so she could stick them in one of the pockets of Harry's jacket.
McGonagall pursed her lips but didn't comment, even when smoke started to curl up out of his pocket and she began to smell parchment burning. Whatever had been in Harry's pocket hadn't survived Ally's desire for warm fingers.
'Molly's hungry,' Harry mentioned absently as he watched the students moving away to the row of tables the house elves had set up with hot soups and stews and pretty much any delicious winter type food you could want.
'Yeah, I know,' Ally murmured. 'I'm going to go feed her; we'll start up again at one.'
Once Ally was gone, heading back to the castle and their daughter, McGonagall and Harry returned to their conversation about promising students. They didn't get much chance to talk before Dumbledore was descending on them, a look of joy and amusement on his face. Up close it was easy to see the worry hidden under the smile.
'Miss Allen was quite impressive.'
It was an observation as much as it was a warning light going off in his head that something was not right. Both Harry and McGonagall inwardly winced in preparation for an interrogation or some words that would once more make Dumbledore seem like a controlling git.
'Am I to understand that Miss Allen is a member of Professor Martin's advanced defence group?' Dumbledore asked with all of the polite interest he could muster.
'She is,' Harry answered warily. He was far too cold to deal with Dumbledore; if he wanted to start being worried about someone else going dark that was fine. Just so long as he did it elsewhere.
McGonagall, who was of the same opinion, looked Dumbledore square in the eye as though daring him to say what he was thinking. They stared at each other for longer than was strictly necessary and Dumbledore (unfortunately) came out on top. McGonagall stayed firm, though, she'd seen enough in the short time she'd known about the ADADA to know that Dumbledore was clueless and short sighted when it came to the true potential of his students.
She may not have agreed, at first, with putting young children in the path of Death Eaters but she couldn't say it wasn't effective. The ADADA rarely left anyone standing or able to talk and those that could were handed directly to the right people within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Just the smallest of rumours had gotten out so it still came as an immense surprise when children started fighting back.
'How long has Miss Allen been a part of the group?'
He might be aware that Harry was also part of the group but that didn't mean Dumbledore had ever brought it up before or been lucky to witness a real ADADA session.
'She was the last to join,' Harry answered. 'Ron pointed her out after the last tournament at the end of September.'
Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully and Harry exchanged confused looks with McGonagall. Both of them were wondering if that was all he had to say or if he was just lulling them into a false sense of security before hitting them with a tough question.
Stephanie herself interrupted them before they could discover either way.
'Hey, Harry, Professor McGonagall.' She froze for a second when she saw Dumbledore but continued on as though she'd always known he was there, 'Professor Dumbledore.'
'Stephanie,' McGonagall greeted with a smile.
'Ah, Miss Allen. An excellent performance, today, congratulations.'
'Thank you, sir.'
An awkward silence fell over the group; one of those ones that you know would instantly go away if just one person left. In this case, Stephanie had obviously come over to say something and was now unable to say it, or unwilling to, with Dumbledore standing right there.
Whether or not he was aware of the silence and how its awkwardness could be attributed solely to him was apparently not something he was concerned about. He seemed perfectly happy to merely stand with them and survey the students as they gathered around the long tables collecting food before returning to their picnic blankets.
All at once Harry, McGonagall and Stephanie made excuses and hurried to leave. They didn't wait to see if Dumbledore was even going to say anything in response before hurrying away. Had they looked back they would have felt, perhaps, that they should feel a little guilty for leaving. Behind them, was a tired old man who was struggling to come to terms with a changing world.
Or a controlling old git who was really good at faking it.
Stephanie let out a startled cry as the ice jinx slammed into her shoulder but didn't falter as she fired off a screeching hex designed to deafen her opponent. The spell wrapped around the fourth year boy, shredding his shields and sending him to his knees. She finished him off with a stunner and then collapsed to her knees.
Snape hurried forward to remove the spell from the fourth year boy while Madam Pomfrey and McGonagall rushed forward to help Stephanie. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her jaw was clenched but other than the initial cry of pain she didn't make a sound. McGonagall helped her into a more comfortable sitting position while Pomfrey removed the ice jinx and used a gentle warming charm to heal the stiff joint.
'Better?' Pomfrey question when her probing fingers told her there was no longer any damage to Stephanie's shoulder.
Stephanie nodded and it was with great relief that she once more got to her feet. She rotated her shoulder a few times to ease the dull ache and thanked Madam Pomfrey for her help. Pomfrey muttered something about ridiculous and dangerous school activities under her breath but smiled at Stephanie before leaving the platform with McGonagall.
'Abigail Nathan!'
Stephanie couldn't contain her pained groan when Ally announced her next competitor. She was tired, she was sore and she was definitely dripping blood from somewhere. She'd been fighting for what felt like hours and now she had to face another member of the ADADA. Oh, she would put up a good fight but it was going to hurt like hell.
Abby stepped onto the platform looking fresh as a daisy and ready to wipe the floor with Stephanie. She grinned and Stephanie had to laugh. If she were going to go down in this tournament, she definitely wanted to fall at the hands of an ADADA member decked out in advertising for the Weasley twins' shop. The bright flashing letters on the back of her jacket were a point of contention for Dumbledore which only ensured Abby got more pleasure out of it.
Stephanie fired first, too tired to wait around and get hit. As expected Abby dodged the spell and fired back two of her own. And so it went on, for a good twenty minutes the two fired spell after spell at each other. They each took hits but nothing too big got through their shields. Sometimes it looked as though Abby would come out on top, sometime as though Stephanie would.
In the end it was something as simple as sliding on a slick patch of the platform that ended the duel. Stephanie's foot slipped and the shield she was casting faltered just long enough to let one of Abby's elemental spells slam into her. The force of the spell threw her off her feet and she landed on her back on the platform a good ten feet from where she'd started.
She probably could have gotten back up but she was spent. She lay on her back, desperately trying to catch the breath that had been knocked out of her by the spell. Abby came to stand next to her and hauled her to her feet, helping her over to Harry. He slung an arm around Stephanie's waist and guided her off the platform in the direction of the aid tent. Abby gave her hand a gentle squeeze before she went back to the centre of the platform.
'Ow, ow, ow, ow,' Stephanie moaned with every step.
Harry laughed and helped her gently onto one of the makeshift beds. 'You did good.'
Her only response was, 'Ow, ow, ow.'
Outside on the platform it was Abby's turn to demonstrate just what the ADADA could do.
