A/N: I wished I owned Harry Potter. Alas, I do not. Ms. Rowling, I'd be happy to take it off your hands.
A/N: I'm back! Hope you all had a happy holiday period, regardless of what you celebrate.
I am going to write a slightly longer note right now to address something. If you are still with me, thank you and I hope you are enjoying the ride.
You probably noticed I did NOT tag this story with any pairings. That is because Harry is 14. He might stay together with Daphne. He might not. We are far from done for our journey through this AU. I am not going to tag this story with any pairings in order to keep some element of suspense and surprise. If you are reading this in real time and want to know who Harry's eventually partner will be because you like a specific pairing and you have noticed that character in my story, feel free to review with suggestions. I have not decided myself and I may make changes, though I do have a character in mind and some pairings are already determined. If you are reading this and I have already finished this story, then I may not respond for a little while, but reach out nonetheless and I will try to get back to you.
Like I said in my first chapter, I want you to read this because you enjoy my version of the characters given the circumstances I created. If Daphne and Harry is not something you enjoy but you like the other elements of the story, that doesn't mean you should give up just yet (even if this idea is not the most unique).
Ok, enough of my blathering. Back to the real story.
Chapter 19: You Want Me to do What?
November, 1994
Harry could not believe that the first task was a few days away. He had been announced as the fourth champion only 3 weeks ago, and Halloween continued to be the worst night of his life, no matter what the year was. For a day, the world crashed down around him. Then Hermione had dipped into his lake of misery and dragged him out of his mental shipwreck, and his friends helped dry him off. Daphne had completed the process and Harry, though it took more than a day, had righted the ship.
The wind had started to propel his metaphorical ship forward the Wednesday after that horrible Halloween. Daphne had showed up unexpectedly in the library while Harry's informal study group was working on potions, shoved Neville out of the way, sat down next to Harry, and quite visibly slid her hand into his. The only emotion she had showed as she looked around the table was determination, and while there were a few people surprised, most of the students seemed to shrug it off and get right back to homework.
"It wasn't a big deal to them," Daphne had complained after the study group had broken up for the evening, leaving just Harry, Daphne and Hermione. While he had kept his promise to not be alone in a broom closet with Hermione, Harry had told her exactly what happened the minute he saw her Tuesday morning. She was happy for him, confirming Harry's suspicion that Daphne was incorrect that Hermione was anything more than a wonderful best friend.
What Harry didn't know was that it took remarkable self-control for Hermione to keep a real smile plastered on her face when Harry told her the news. She wasn't surprised, far from it. Although Harry was completely in the dark, she, as well as almost every girl in the castle harboured a crush on Harry. Some were serious like herself, and others, such as Ginny Weasley's were frankly ridiculous. But Harry looked happy when he talked about the kisses, and he did not stop talking about it with her in hushed tones even after Daphne had joined them. So she kept that smile on her face.
"Of course it wasn't." Harry had told Daphne as Hermione sat there silently. "They don't really care you are a Slytherin. Besides, given my position, I can't really be too picky about who wants to be around me. Cedric is trying, but most of Hufflepuff is mad because they think I am trying to steal the spotlight from their champion. Your entire house hates me, but nothing is new there. I have never had good friends in Ravenclaw, and they aren't about to come around now." Harry shrugged and went to get a book.
"So," Hermione had said once Harry was out of earshot. "You and Harry."
"You dropped him off at the room I was in," Daphne responded. "You knew that it wasn't to chat about his rights as a lord."
"Harry said that kissing you was magical," Hermione snapped, trying to get the blond-haired witch to fire back.
"Look, Hermione," Daphne said, turning to match eyes with her, "I really don't want to go down this road."
"What do you mean?" Hermione said, surprised by the conciliatory tone in her voice.
"I like Harry an awful lot," Daphne admitted. "Way more than I thought I did. I spent all of the last two days thinking about how I feel, and while some of my close friends might understand, most of my house would attack me the moment this got out. You don't have to drive me away. One comment from you and Harry and I would be done."
"I think he likes me as well. But I know that what you and Harry have is special. If I get in the way of that, I'd lose. Harry and I could hypothetically get married and have kids way in the future, and if I got in the way of your friendship I would still lose. I hold no illusions about the importance of your friendship with Harry. That's when I get confused by your choices in the past and at that moment."
"It doesn't take a genius to realize that you liked Harry as more than a friend." Hermione gave a little jolt of surprise at that, but Daphne continued on as if she hadn't noticed, even though Hermione knew Daphne was too perceptive not to notice. "But you never acted on it. Maybe if you had shown some Gryffindor courage, we would be on opposite sides of the table. Regardless, you love Harry, both as a guy and a friend. I understand that, and appreciate that."
"I won't use words like love because they would scare Harry off. I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it and I don't know now. But can we both agree that Harry looks much better now than he did 3 days ago? I'm sure part of it is the fact that all his friends backed him up, but look at the cause and effect. When I talked to Susan on Tuesday, she said Harry cried. They might have been tears of happiness, but there was still sadness there. Ever since he and I kissed, no tears."
"You know that is overly simplistic," Hermione replied, annoyed that Daphne was making perfect sense.
"Just like you can see how his face lights up whenever he sees me. It is amazing to me that someone like me can affect someone as remarkable as Harry like that. Not Harry Potter, mind you. I would never date Harry Potter. Dating Harry, however, is something I am much more interested in."
"That's good," Hermione said.
"Look, I have no illusions about school romance. There is a chance that Harry and I will have a big fight tomorrow and it will be over. More than likely, I won't be Harry's forever girl. But I will always be in his life as a friend. He is too good a person for me to lose, regardless of what my relationship with him is. You still have the inside track of knowing him 3 more years than me."
"Daphne, could you please get to the point?" Hermione asked. She did not like being talked at.
"Any couple fights. Harry will run to you when we fight, for comfort and advice. You know him well enough to say what you need to if you want to break us up. Don't, at least not at first. Give me a chance to make Harry happy. Both you and I will be in Harry's life for a long time in different roles. At a bare minimum, can we be cordial for a little while?"
"You don't want to be friends?" Hermione asked.
"We have known each other since last year in runes, and you have never shown any indication that you wanted to be friends," Daphne noted. "I doubt me stealing the guy you love and your best friend is going to change that."
"You weren't friends with Harry," Hermione noted. "Now you are."
"First of all, I'm his girlfriend, not his friend, at least at the moment." Hermione nodded with a tinge of bitterness. "But if you want to be friends, I'd be stupid not to give it a go. If Harry and I break up, the friendship of the smartest witch in Hogwarts is right behind a friendship with Harry, Neville, or Susan in importance, and I'm sure if you wanted you could turn all three of them against me.
"Ok, we will give friends a try." Hermione said, though there was no smile. Daphne seemed sincere enough, and she made a lot of sense. Hermione wasn't as prejudiced against snakes as she had been in the past, and becoming acquaintances with Daphne had been the driving force behind that change. That didn't mean Hermione was foolish enough to take Daphne at her word but after doing some small calculations in her mind it was an easy choice.
Hermione and Daphne made sure to keep their conversation to themselves, for a variety of reasons. This was certainly not an issue Harry needed to deal with, even if he was equipped with the social skills to do so. To be fair, Hermione reasoned that no boy in the world could make his female friends like his girlfriend. That would really be magic. She was leaving the great hall with Harry on Friday when Daphne swung by.
"Hey Daphne," Harry said and Daphne gave him the briefest of nods.
"Sorry Harry, I'm stealing Hermione. We are going to have a girls day, get ready for Hogsmeade tomorrow. I have a feeling that someone is going to ask Hermione later today."
"Really?" Hermione seemed shocked and delighted. A small worm of jealously popped up in Harry's chest for a tiny moment, and he instantly squashed it seeing the look of happiness on Hermione's face and Daphne gave him a small smile, clearly happy she could make Hermione happy. Harry felt a little sick at his jealousy as Daphne dragged Hermione away, but it was clear his… dare he say it… girlfriend and best friend were off in their own world, which made him happy enough to ignore the jealousy.
"I didn't know they were good friends," Dean noted, coming up behind Harry
"I didn't think they were," Harry noted. "I have known Hermione a long time, and she still baffles me all the time."
"Who can understand girls?" Neville said, coming up in between the two of them.
"You seem to understand Hannah pretty well," Dean said with a sly smile at Harry. Neville blushed and looked away as Dean chuckled. "Perhaps we are not meant to understand them. Not completely. Maybe we are nearly meant to try and appreciate them, while we struggle with an impossible comprehension."
"Dean, that is perhaps the most insightful thing I have ever heard you say," Harry told his friend. "I think you are probably dead on too."
"My dad says he never understands my mom," Dean explained. "They are happily married too, even if he isn't my birth dad. You and Daphne have been a couple for 2 days now?"
"Daphne I know I don't understand, but it's Hermione who surprised me today. She was so excited when Daphne said someone would probably ask her to Hogsmeade."
"Oh, has he finally got up the courage?" Dean asked. "I can't believe I didn't see it before. I guess there was a silver lining to you entering the tournament for Hermione after all."
"Good for them," Neville said. "They could be a great couple."
"Want to tell me who the mystery guy is?" Harry asked
"Wait, he didn't ask her yet?" Dean said
"Is it Ron?" Harry guessed. Dean and Neville looked at each other and started laughing. "Ok, tell me who it is!"
"Not a chance," Dean said. "You are going with Daphne, so assuming Hermione says yes, and I bet she will, you'll see them. I bet they go tomorrow, so you and Daphne should do tomorrow as well."
"Is it really going to shock me?"
"I bet you a galleon that your mouth drops open and that Daphne will laugh at you." Harry accepted the bet and one day later paid Dean, still a little surprised when he saw Hermione entering the three broomsticks with a clearly enthralled Cedric. Daphne had given him a hard time about it, but the more Harry thought about it, the happier he was. He had respected Cedric last year and after spending more time with him this year his opinion on the 6th seeker had only improved.
He asked Hermione about it on Monday, purely because it would be weird if it didn't. A row behind them in Defense, Ron made a half puking sound and without flinching Harry turned and hit Ron with a Full-Body Bind. Akira took off 10 points, which Harry thought was more than fair but none of his Gryffindor classmates were upset. Harry did hear that the twins had sneaked a surprise candy into Ron's dinner as a result of his nasty remark and Ron spent 5 minutes as a tiny and whiny dog.
Later, when there was no redhead to interrupt them, Hermione had told Harry that Cedric was a perfect gentleman, and that she had been shocked when he asked her. After her initial hesitation, Cedric had told her that there not one person in the castle that he would rather go with, and with Daphne's urging she had accepted.
"It was great," Hermione had told him. "I had a lot of fun with you under the invisibility cloak last year, Harry, and of course any time you want me to go with you I'll happily tag along."
"Hermione, do you like Cedric?" Harry asked point blank. "You know I think he is a good bloke. He would not have been selected as the champion otherwise. But that doesn't matter if you don't like him."
"He is nice," Hermione said. "That's all I know for now. Let's get back to work." Harry smiled but let Hermione get away with the blatant and clumsy topic change. To be fair, Hermione had spent a shocking amount of time devising a schedule for him so that he could skip some classes, spend extra time with McGonagall and be ready for his end of year exams. However, she had made an unintentional mistake and put some morning study sessions in.
Harry had not intentionally kept his morning training martial arts sessions from Hermione, but since he only worked out in the boys dorm at night or early in the morning, it had never come up beyond a casual comment or two. He had invited Hermione along to the next morning to watch him and Akira practice, but after the second time Akira hit him square in the chest, the professor was forced to jump out of the way of a barrage on jinxes until Harry got up and calmed her down. Hermione took the morning study sessions off the schedule, but never attended another morning workout session, which Harry thought was a good thing. Akira tossed him around at least 3 times a week, which made sure that while Harry was happy, his ego never got too large.
Cedric had managed to turn some of Hufflepuff back from hostile to neutral, and it was no suprise the snakes hatred for him grew now that he and Daphne were a public couple, seeing it as Harry stealing one of the prettiest girls in school. That was only an ancillary benefit for Harry, who believed that he would have had feelings for Daphne even if she wasn't in another house. He had told her so the next weekend.
"Harry, being a Slytherin is part of who I am. I assume you like the part of me that is cunning as well." Harry quickly assured her he did "I would be a different person if I didn't have that, someone who maybe never would have interacted with you the way we did this year. But it's silly to think about that."
"I guess so," Harry told her. "But it irritates me that some of your housemates accuse me of going out with you just to annoy them. Honestly I think they are just jealous."
"You might as well give them something to be jealous off," Daphne said, leaning back so that Harry could kiss her. They were outside, enjoying a rare warm day in November and while they had their care of magical creature books out beside them to study, they had been interrupted quite frequently. Harry was leaned up against a tree, with Daphne buried into her new favourite place, her head right under his resting on his chest.
Harry had been a little surprised by how openly and public affectionate Daphne was, but she had calmly explained, in between kisses in the middle of the library, that anyone and everyone should know that at the present time, Harry was all hers. Harry loved the thrill he felt down his spine when she kissed him and the mirth in her eyes when she broke off from a more serious kiss, so even though he was mildly uncomfortable with the attention he didn't complain all that much.
No matter what day it was or what was going on, Harry could call up the most important memory from that day so easily. Despite everything he had done, and the accomplishments and praise he had gotten from different people his entire life, that lazy Saturday had been his best ever day at Hogwarts. After a perfect day with Daphne, he had kissed her one final time before the sun went down and they had to move inside.
"This day was perfect," Daphne told him.
"Yeah," Harry said, feeling totally content.
"Harry, I have to tell you something and you have to promise not to laugh," Daphne told him. Harry nodded. "A promise is worthless unless you say it out loud."
"I promise, Ms. Greengrass. I shall remain stone faced."
"Prat." Daphne took a deep breath. "Do you remember how I told you that when I almost summoned my Patronus I wasn't using a memory? It was something I wanted to happen."
"Daphne, you know how I feel about talking about a Patronus trigger."
"Just let me stumble my way through this, ok?" Daphne looked more nervous than Harry had ever seen. "I have always loved this tree," Daphne said indicating the tree Harry's back rested on. "I thought it was so beautiful, and I always imagined that one day I would come out and have a picnic with a great boy underneath that tree who I was crazy about and who cared about me, but the guy never had a face. Until I cast the charm, and the boy, well it was you." Harry stayed silent as Daphne rose from his chest, pulled her wand out and whispered "Expecto Patronum."
The mist took shape with incredible speed and Harry watched as a large cat emerged from the mist, circling around the two of them. The courtyard was dead silent and Harry realized that at least 30 pairs of eyes were on them. Harry joined his girlfriend and raised his wand as well. He didn't have to search for a memory, as happy and proud as he was at that moment and a stag replaced the large cat as Daphne sat down tiredly. The stag trotted up to Harry and butted his antlers into Harry. And Harry stumbled back from the contact.
"Harry?" Daphne said in total shock as the stag bent his head so Daphne could pet him. Harry smiled as Daphne laid her hand on the stag who almost seemed to wink before he slowly faded away. The realization hit Harry like a load of bricks, literally knocking him down the ground. Prongs had been solid. What's more, he was not imaging it. Daphne had touched the stag too. They sat there not speaking for a few minutes and then Harry dropped Daphne off near the dungeons.
They had not spoken a word after Prongs disappeared. Harry normally would have wanted to congratulate Daphne on conjuring a Patronus, and ask her what the animal was. He had not recognized the big cat, and would ask her on soon. But after touching the solid form of Prongs, speaking that evening just felt like he was disturbing something special. Harry was not particularly religious: getting beaten and a young age and losing your parents not long after your first birthday made Harry really question if there was a higher power. But there had been something ethereal, almost sacred about Prong's appearance that evening that made Harry think. He couldn't talk about it, not tonight, not even to the one person who knew the entire story of Prongs.
Harry ignored all the greetings in the common room, even Hermione's simple hi and went up to his bed totally ignoring his usual exercises and found the lake. As a drop of water fell from the sky of his mind, Harry gazed at the lake in his mind. The ripples spread out in total silence, and a second drop fell, disturbing the image that appeared on the lake. Harry couldn't even control his mind as the picture from that evening, of Daphne's hand on the stag jumped into his mind and stayed there even as Harry tried to sleep.
On Monday, Harry had used his special time with Minnie to show her the new and improved Prongs. She had never seen Prongs, so she was very impressed. She had almost fallen over in shock when Prongs butted her gently with his horns until Minnie pet him. She had called in almost every professor in the castle, and this time Harry used the pride in his grandmother's eyes to summon the image of his father's second form, who allowed Flitwick, Sprout, and Akira to touch him before he left.
Harry was exhausted and Akira advised him to take the night off, but Harry managed to stumble through his night time exercises. The next morning after his shower to wipe away the sweat from morning training Neville and Dean told Harry he had fallen asleep on the floor and that they had been forced to lift him into bed. Harry knew if he told the truth about his exhaustion he would be asked for a repeat performance, and he while he had told Hermione as soon as he had seen her that morning, he felt almost possessive of Prongs. So he just said he was training hard for the tournament.
It was not a lie. Every few days, Hermione and McGonagall chose a new spell and Harry did not rest until he cast it successfully twice in a row. His list of charms and transfigurations grew comprehensively, and the third week Akira and McGonagall added hexes and jinxes, while also closely supervising a few duels between Cedric and Harry. Much to Harry's frustration, Akira had banned not only hand to hand combat, but also dodging, claiming that Harry's unnatural speed and agility would be unfair. After Cedric's fifth consecutive victory, he actually snapped at Harry, angry that Harry was taking it easy on him.
A long discussion with Akira and a promise of secrecy from Cedric later, Harry knocked the older boy out twice in quick succession, first with a reverse roundhouse to the temple, followed by a lightning fast chain of punches, ending with a left landing in his stomach, and a right hook catching Cedric flush in the chin and knocking the older boy out as he doubled over in pain from the shot to his stomach. The rest of the duels were conducted only with spells, though Cedric stayed to watch Harry and Akira spar. Akira still kept the rule from the summer in place that he could fight hand to hand or cast spells, but never both of them in a single duel.
So it was a tired but excited Harry who left Potions to go to, as Colin Creevey had called it, the wand weighting two days before the first task. He arrived just in time to see Ollivander examine Fleur's wand. There was a reporter trying to talk to Harry, who just wanted to learn about his competition. Harry shot a pointed look at Akira. His brother smiled faintly as the reporter, who had told Harry to call her Rita, lost her footing and crashed to the floor, causing Ollivander to pause.
To his surprise, Harry learned that the French champion was part Veela. He would ask Minnie about that later. Maybe that had something to do with the weird power he felt from her mind when they happened to run across each other. They had not spoken once and Harry could almost feel the cold air gusting across the room as Fleur glared at him, ignoring the other two competitors. Harry didn't bother discussing anything with her. He got enough flak from his own school for supposedly cheating into the tournament. He didn't need an extra student's issues.
Krum's wand was apparently geared towards powerful but dangerous spells, and Cedric got a laugh with a joke about wand polishing. The reporter had tried to sneak up to Harry a few more times, but for some bizarre reason she kept struggling to find her footing whenever she approached Harry. Harry could see Minnie trying to discipline or stop Akira after the second slip, but Akira was clearly having too much fun to stop. Even as Harry stepped forward to greet the wandmaker, the reporter went tumbling to the ground again for the 6th time.
"Ah, Mr. Potter," Ollivander said as he accepted Harry's wand. "Bearer of an unusual wand."
"I had the chance to thank Fawkes when I met him," Harry said, and the wandmaker smiled.
"A remarkable bird. If you have the chance to ask him for another feather, I would be very thankful."
"I think you'll find that phoenix's don't take requests all that well," Dumbledore had interjected. Harry, who did not know anything about phoenix, even Fawkes simply agreed. While his feelings about Dumbledore were mixed up, Harry still trusted the older wizard. The offer to be his support teacher had won back a lot of trust, even if he had decided to go with his grandmother. Ollivander declared Harry's wand fit for battle, and Harry was almost out the door before the reporter and her cameraman demanded the need for photos.
Harry actually felt a little bad for the French champion as the cameraman leered at her and obviously focused the group pictures on her. Then she turned her icy stare on Harry and Harry decided to just ignore her. As the photographer changed out a roll of film for another, the camera burst into flames.
"Too bad," Akira said, stepping forward and drawing his wand, dousing the camera and the cameraman with a torrent of water. "I guess the students better get going." Fleur swept past the other champions behind her giant of a headmistress. Harry and Cedric shared a glance and shrug, and grabbed their bags to head out.
"Cedric, Harry!" Krum called out and both Hogwarts champions stopped in their tracks. "I have heard from some other students that you two both play seeker."
"Not as well as you, Krum," Cedric said. "Your wronski feint at the world cup was brilliant. I could never pull something like that off."
"Well, perhaps we could fly together sometimes," Krum suggested. "Perhaps I could teach you?"
"That would be awesome!" Harry exclaimed. "I wish I could return the favor."
"Actually, you might be able to," Krum said. "I always see you in the library with a girl with brown bushy hair. She had been quite helpful to me in finding certain books. I find her fascinating. What is her name? She has never told me." Harry glanced at Cedric, who looked almost apoplectic, and grabbed Cedric's hand which was diving for his wand.
"Well, I hope you just find her interesting as a person. She and Cedric are dating," Harry said.
"Woah, dating? We are just friends," Cedric said.
"Just friends?" Krum asked, his eyes alight. Cedric looked at Harry hopelessly.
"Cedric, that's on you." Harry whispered. Cedric nodded glumly. "Krum, her name is Hermione, but I will let you know she is not a quidditch fan."
"I know," Krum said. "Much better than all the others here, either wanting my autograph or just to giggle at me. She is different."
"She's my best friend," Harry said, walking up to Krum and staring him straight in the eye, even if the Bulgarian was almost 6 inches taller. "So if I hear even the slightest complaint from her about you, I will hex you so hard you will have to withdraw from the tournament. We clear?"
"If she is your best friend, I would have it no other way," Krum said, extending his hand. "Provided you fly with me later this year."
"Glad we could come to an agreement," Harry said, shaking his hand. As he left Cedric followed after him. "Looks like you have competition."
"Yeah," Cedric said nervously and then glanced at Harry. "I know we haven't talked about it, but I do like her. I think she thinks I am just being friendly because I want to be friends with you, and while that is true that's not all of it."
"Cedric, I'll let you in on a secret." Harry stopped and Cedric leaned in. "The reason we had to buy formal robes was that there is going to be a Yule Ball." Cedric nodded while looking totally baffled. "I'm probably going with my girlfriend." Cedric still looked clueless so Harry walked away. He had done all but hit Cedric over the head with it. Krum seemed like a decent enough guy, but he was an unknown quantity.
Obviously, he couldn't go to Hermione with this new information, and he suspected Akira already knew. So he went to his best mate Neville, who found the whole situation hilarious and remarkable. More than once during dinner they would look at Hermione and when she glared back both of them would start laughing. Hermione almost stormed off at one point but Lavender managed to calm her down.
"Well, I knew there was a reason you only sent me three letters, and none since November," Harry heard from a familiar voice as the redhead slid into the seat next to Harry on Sunday, November 21st, almost dislodging Dean. "What's this nonsense I hear about you becoming a champion despite the age restrictions?"
"Charlie!" Harry said, thrilled to see him. He was caught between handshake and pat on the back, but Charlie was having none of that and pulled Harry into a hug.
"Are you really a champion Harry?" Harry nodded, and Charlie's face turned white. The twins noticed their older brother and rushed over to say hi and soon the entire table was focused on the ex-Gryffindor seeker. Charlie just managed to slip a piece of paper into Harry's hands before he was mobbed by his ex-classmates.
"The note says to sneak out to Hagrid's hut tonight?" Akira asked. Akira, Minnie and Hermione were sitting in Akira's office, looking at the note. "Do you trust this Charlie fellow?"
"Absolutely," Harry said. "He is a good guy, and he responded to all my letters even if he didn't have to."
"Charlie was a bit of a troublemaker, but he was quidditch captain and a prefect. He's responsible and was a good student. If he wants Harry to go to Hagrid's hut at night, its worth doing it," Minnie added.
"Ok then." Akira glanced at Hermione. "Hermione, can you cast a disillusionment charm?"
"Not too well," Hermione admitted. "We haven't learned it in class yet, and I haven't had much success with it."
"Hmmm," Akira said, and Harry could see he was mulling over his options.
"There is a fairly simple solution Akira," McGonagall said. She had come up with the idea the moment Akira had asked Hermione if she could accompany Harry. It was a good idea for someone to go with Harry. She trusted Charlie Weasley and thought it was great for Harry to have a role model who had the same sense of adventure but was a little more responsible. "I'll go. There is nothing unusual about me going to discuss something with Hagrid, and if it's important I'll just suss the secret out of him."
"Sounds like a good idea," Akira told her. "Harry, I'd use the invisibility cloak when you meet Charlie. Just better to be safe than sorry"
So 3 hours later, right as curfew ended Harry stepped out of the trees, tapping Charlie on the shoulder. The older Weasley whipped around, his wand snapping into his hand but Harry yanked the cloak off his head. Charlie whistled in appreciation and clapped Harry on the shoulder.
"Nice cloak there," Charlie said. "I've seen other cloaks, but never anything that leaves no clue whatsoever. Does it muffle sound too?"
"No," Harry told him. "I've just learned to walk quietly."
"Wicked," Charlie commented. "Ok, flip that back on and stay right behind me." Charlie walked over to Hagrid's hut and knocked on the door. The massive groundskeeper emerged from the hut and right behind him was the Beauxbatons headmistress. Harry had to hold back a gasp. If Hagrid didn't know he was here and this was related to the first task as Akira suspected, he couldn't believe that Hagrid was willing to give Fleur an advantage over him because he was attracted to the women as tall as him
"How are they doing, Charlie?" Hagrid asked the dragon handler. Charlie just smiled but then he saw Madame Maxime behind Hagrid and his grin faded.
"Hagrid, you didn't tell me you were bringing a guest."
"Well it wouldn't be fair for the little girl to not know what she is facing."
"Oh, and Harry should be in the dark?" Charlie shot back and without waiting for an answer he strode off. Maxime trailed behind him, Hagrid a few seconds behind. To their left Harry heard a rustling in the bushes and saw Karkaroff moving stealthily through the bushes. It was only because Harry was on high alert that he realized the movement next to him. Harry debated stunning Krum's headmaster but dismissed it almost immediately. The flash of light would alert Maxime, and whatever the task was, Krum deserved to know. He seemed like a decent enough fellow
"Wow," Maxime said as she entered the clearing and Harry heard a sharp intake of breath from Karkaroff, a few feet ahead of him. Then Harry entered the clearing and it took all of his self-control to not run away screaming. 2 dragons towered over the trees, 6 men and 2 women throwing ropes over one with a spiked tail who thrashed around. Harry saw another 2 cages filled with dragons who had already been subdued.
"It was hell getting them here from all over." Charlie said. "We had a few injuries. Barty Crouch said it would be our heads if the dragons were injured. God knows how we are going to get them back to their homes."
"They have to fight them?" Hagrid asked. "That's insane!"
"I don't know the specifics," Charlie told him, "but I doubt it. The man who trained me knows more about dragons than any man or woman alive, and he wouldn't even engage a dragon without at least 4 experienced magic users as backup. We had already been preparing to transport 3, but the fourth champion threw us for a loop."
"Why is that?" Maxime asked.
"You see the one with the spiked tail?" Both the gamekeeper and headmistress nodded. "We have only had it for 2 weeks. The others are still dragons, but not as vicious. Whoever gets that horntail is going to have to watch out for that tail, not to mention dealing with what is essential a wild dragon who will attack anyone or anything that moves." Harry had heard enough and hurried back to the castle. He opened Akira's door and sat heavily on a chair. Akira came in and took one look at Harry, and put a hand in his hair, tousling it a bit.
"That bad?"
"Harry, did you see them?" Minnie asked, bursting into Akira's room.
"What are they facing?"
"Dragons." Harry rubbed his face as if his muscles were locked in place. "I have to deal with a bloody dragon."
"They want you to fight a dragon?" Harry saw the blood drain from Akira's face.
"We don't have to fight it. So that's something," Harry muttered.
"I got some extra information," Minnie said, sitting next to Harry and giving him a half hug with one arm. "They were all nesting mothers."
"So they will be more dangerous and aggressive," Akira murmured. "That's great."
"This is far from ideal," Harry said, "but this might be a blessing in disguise." He straightened as he realized that to his surprise this was not the worst possible scenario and that he was in a position to avoid disaster. "If I had two days to learn about dragons, then I would be best served spending my two days designing a coffin. As it is, I have been corresponding with a dragon handler for almost half a year. I bet that if I go over all the letters, I can come up with a workable plan."
"That may be true," Minnie said. "Charlie Weasley loved dragons even as a student. He is certainly an expert on them."
"Why nesting mothers?" Akira asked himself quietly. He had stopped listening to Harry and McGonagall as they talked, mulling over the extra information Harry's grandmother had given them. There was no real reason to take nesting mothers away from their nests. It would be insane to bring the real eggs with them, but if they didn't the dragons would die fighting rather than be contained. Harry wasn't going to fight the dragon, so he would have a fighters chance, but why nesting mothers. Then a realization hit him and Akira slammed his fist into the wall, cracking the stone in his anger.
"Akira?" Harry asked, rising to his feet.
"There is only one reason to bring nesting mothers, brother," Akira said. "You don't have to fight the dragon. You have to steal an egg."
"I'm sorry?" Harry said, not believing what he had just heard.
"You want my grandson to do what?" Minnie yelled at the top of her voice.