Avian Anarchy
by Teddylonglong
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling or Disney, and I am not earning anything by writing this story. I am merely borrowing the characters to play with them.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
Warnings: Completely AU, partly OOC, magically powerful Harry. Dumbledore/Weasley bashing.
When Harry stood at the edge of the lake together with the other champions, he felt Hedwig cast a warming charm at him, causing him to relax. 'Thanks Mum,' he thought, gratefully.
"Is everything all right?" he whispered to Fleur, who returned a comforting nod along with a smile that did not really reach her eyes.
"I 'ope so," she whispered back. "Zank you, 'Arry."
Together with the other champions, he entered the lake, noticing that the water was extremely cold. 'Thank Merlin for the warming charm,' he thought, gratefully. While he hurriedly ate the Gillyweed that Santa had provided him with, he watched from the corner of his eyes how Fleur suddenly became engulfed by a large bubble.
'I wonder what Tobi is doing to help her,' he thought, wondering how Fleur would be able to swim in a bubble. The thought 'At least she won't get wet by the cold water' crossed his mind, as he swam through the dark water using the flippers, which had replaced his hands and feet.
Soon, he was joined by Amaterasu and Diablo, who escorted him to the village of the merpeople, where he found the four hostages. He quickly freed Luna using wandless magic; however, when he tried to free Brian, his seventh-year house-mate, as well, two of the merpeople began to attack him.
"You may only one hostage," one of them hissed at him.
Apparently, this was enough to make the two basilisks act. While Amaterasu held the merpeople in check, Diablo quickly freed Brian and lifted him onto his back.
Only then, Harry realised the bubble containing Fleur hovering on a spot a few metres away.
'Harry, leave now and return to the surfaccce,' Amaterasu telepathically instructed him, and Harry obeyed, noticing in surprise that Brian somehow joined Fleur in her bubble.
Just an instant later, Cedric and Viktor arrived to free their hostages.
As fast as he could, he swam upwards, carefully holding Luna in his arms. 'She's really light,' he thought in surprise. Nevertheless, it was strenuous to swim with an unconscious person in tow. He let out a sigh of immense relief, when the girl opened her eyes, as soon as their heads met the cold, fresh air.
"You rescued me," she said, smiling. "Thank you, Harry."
"Of course," Harry replied, returning the smile. "Can you swim?"
Luna nodded, and together, they swam back to the shore, closely followed by a bubble with two passengers that floated behind them through the water as if driven by an invisible hand. Just a few minutes later, the basilisks caught up with them.
'We jusssst helped the other championsss free their datessss,' Amaterasu informed him.
When they climbed up onto the shore, Madam Pomfrey was there and immediately cast drying and warming charms at them.
"How did you do that?" he heard Brian ask Fleur, who returned a hesitant smile.
"My secret."
Harry inwardly grinned. 'I'm just glad that the second task is over,' he thought, as he and Luna joined his friends and family. To his surprise, Tobi was openly sitting between Merlin and Remus. He profusely thanked the Yeti, who feigned surprise, stating that he had not done anything.
Seeing that Harry rolled his eyes in exasperation, he simply said, "I'm glad that it worked out so well."
Just then, Fleur arrived with her parents and younger sister in tow and pulled Tobi into a bear's hug.
"Monsieur Tobi, zank you so very much for saving my life and zat of my 'ostage," she said, causing the Yeti to smile.
"Thank you, Professor, for saving my daughter's life," her father added. "She means the world to me."
Santa quickly introduced Mr. Delacour, the French Minister of Magic, and the yeti to each other, only to add, "Tobi is a master of concealment magic."
"Much to my annoyance and that of our students," Merlin quipped. "Whenever someone wants to ask him something, he goes into hiding and no one will be able to find him."
"Excuse me, Professor, what kind of charm was that if I may ask?" Daphne enquired in a soft voice. "We all watched it on the large screen over there, and it was simply amazing."
"Concealment magic," the yeti replied, grinning, before he vanished from the sight without as much as a trace.
"A very interesting man," Fleur said, smiling. "I 'ope I will be able to see 'im again in ze near future."
"Fleur, leave 'im alone. 'E is a yeti and probably not even affected by your Vela allure."
"Mais Mamam," her younger sister protested, however, quietened, when Fleur warningly shook her head.
To Harry's relief, Bagman chose that moment to call the champions together, as the referees were ready to award the points. In the end, Harry received the most points, as he had returned first with his hostage. However, he could not care less.
"In the third task," Bagman told them, "you will enter the maze, which we have planned for the third task, according to your position in the tournament. Mr. Potter is in the first place, Ms. Delacour in the second, Mr. Diggory in the third and Mr. Krum in the fourth place. Now, I will see you on May 18 to give you some information concerning the third and last task of the tournament, which is going to take place on May 25."
HP
"I wonder why they took Luna and not Daphne," Ginny spoke up, seemingly pensive, when the friends were sitting at the Slytherin table for dinner later on the same day. "She's his girlfriend after all."
"Apparently, they simply chose the dates from the Yule Ball," Daphne replied, smiling, giving Harry a questioning look.
Harry nodded his agreement, very aware of the fact that he had never had the courage to ask Daphne to become his girlfriend. 'Oh well, it's not only the lack of courage, but there's also Luna,' a voice spoke up from the very back of his mind.
'She's just a friend,' Harry replied in annoyance.
'She's more than just a friend,' the voice had the gall to reply, and Harry was glad, when Dumbledore distracted everyone by addressing the students.
"Dear students, today, our guests from the other schools and I have decided to use the three months before the third task for a Quidditch tournament between our four schools."
Harry stared at the old wizard in disbelief. "Am I supposed to play alone?" he wondered aloud, however, inwardly sighed in relief, when Dumbledore continued.
"We will have one team from each school, while the champions will act as their respective team captain. During the following weekends before the first match at the beginning of May, the Hogwarts team under Cedric Diggory will train on Saturday mornings, the Beauxbatons team under Ms. Delacour on Saturday afternoons, the Durmstrang team on Sunday mornings and the SAMS team on Sunday afternoons."
"Don't worry, Harry. I will choose six of our students and bring them here each Sunday, and Remus will also teach them to play Quidditch beginning tomorrow," Merlin spoke up, causing Harry to nod in relief.
"Thank you, Merlin."
"Merlin?" A female voice could be heard from the Gryffindor table.
"Granger again," Draco moaned, causing Harry to roll his eyes in his friend's direction.
However, Merlin did not reply, and everyone continued eating.
HP
On Saturday morning after breakfast, Harry headed to the founders' quarters as usual, expecting either Merlin or Remus along with Sirius and Santa. However, to his surprise, Merlin had brought five of his students, one yeti, one elf, one goblin and two Asian looking human boys. Luna was also present and engaged in a conversation with the yeti. Santa was engrossed in a conversation with Minerva and Severus.
Merlin quickly introduced his students to Harry and Luna, before he said, "This is your team for the Quidditch tournament between the schools. I have taken the liberty to charm the training room here in the founders' quarters to become a Quidditch pitch, where you can practise as much as you wish. Santa, Severus, Minerva and I will play against you."
"You must not tell anyone about this," Minerva added in a strict voice.
"Otherwise, we cannot support your team against our own Hogwarts team," Severus added, smirking.
To Harry's relief, Remus had already trained the students of the academy, and everyone already knew their positions. While the two Japanese boys were going to play Beater, the yeti would serve as Keeper, the elf, the goblin and Luna wished to play Chasers. 'Thank Merlin I wouldn't want to play anything but Seeker,' Harry thought in relief.
They played three games, of which the students' team won all three.
"It's simply impossible to win, as long as Harry plays Seeker," Severus stated, wearing a look of pure annoyance, of which Harry knew that it was solely feigned. In fact, the professor was glad about it, as Slytherin had not lost as much as one game during the last four years.
HP
During the following three months, Merlin and Remus continued taking turns teaching Harry during the weekends. While Harry appreciated that he was able to learn much more than he would be able to study as a regular student at Hogwarts, he felt it extremely unnerving that he did not have any clue what the third task was going to be about – in contrary to the second task, where he had known what to expect months in advance.
On Sunday afternoons, the five students from the SAMS joined Harry and Luna at Hogwarts, and they used their time practising on the Quidditch pitch.
Needless to say that the stands were full of spectators, who wanted to see the yeti, the goblin and the elf play Quidditch.
"Potter is going to lose so badly," Harry heard Ronald say to Hermione.
"You don't know that, but I wonder why Luna is on the team. She's a Hogwarts student after all," the girl replied.
'That's true,' Harry realised in shock, wondering why he had not found her presence on the team strange before now.
"I am on the team, because Merlin asked me to play for his school," Luna replied, pleasantly, giving Harry a dreamy smile.
"Merlin?" Hermione asked in apparent disbelief. "Who's Merlin?"
"Merlin is the headmaster of the Selective Academy of Magical Sciences," Luna replied, before she transformed into her canine form and began to play with Paws.
Shaking his head in amusement at Hermione's stunned expression, Harry followed the Ravenclaw's example and joined his friend and parents in play. 'This is something we learned from Tobi,' he thought in amusement.
HP
As much as Ronald Weasley and his fellow Gryffindor fourth-years ridiculed Harry and his small school, the SAMS managed to win all the Quidditch matches against Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.
"Thank Merlin you usually play for Slytherin," Brian said, after Bagman had handed the official Quidditch cup from the British Ministry of Magic to Merlin during dinnertime.
Harry grinned. "Me too, although I must say that the team wasn't bad, considering that most of them hadn't even heard of Quidditch until three months ago."
"A good Seeker can make up for everything," Luna stated, pleasantly.
"That's true," Ginny agreed, grinning.
"Now, are you ready for the third task, considering that it's next weekend?" Daphne asked, causing Harry to sigh.
"The problem is that I don't have a clue what it's about," he admitted. "Tomorrow, Bagman is supposed to tell us about it though."
HP
On Sunday morning, the four champions gathered on the grounds, where Bagman informed them about the third task.
"Originally, it was planned to have a maze right here on the Quidditch pitch; however, as the area was not available, we have changed our plans, and the maze will be set up on the roof."
'On the roof.' Harry inwardly groaned in annoyance. 'I should have practised more to transform into my second Animagus form.' He had been practising to transform into a phoenix; however, he was still only able to change his complete body except for the head. 'I certainly won't manage to complete the transformation in one week let alone be able to fly and flash,' he thought, grimly. 'Oh well, I can as well summon my broom and fly up there,' he then decided, feeling very relieved at the idea.
HP
The morning of the third task deemed bright and sunny. 'Thank Merlin tonight this whole event will finally be over,' Hedwig thought, as Harry took his seat at the Slytherin table between Draco and Neville. She cuddled with Paws under the table, occasionally accepting pieces of bread and fruit from the students, and absentmindedly listened to the conversation that took place at the house table.
"Are you ready for the task?" Daphne asked, her voice laced with concern.
"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose," Harry replied, letting out a small sigh.
All of a sudden, Santa contacted her through telepathy.
'Hedwig, I believe that someone is trying to manipulate the tournament.'
'What happened?'
'Claire and Remus were checking the screen for the part of the roof, where the third task is going to take place, and they noticed that the blue-pinkish ghost was hovering on the roof. I'm worried that the person, who placed Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire earlier, wants to harm him.'
'I will check the roof,' Hedwig replied and hurriedly whispered something to Paws, before she transformed into her phoenix form and flashed away.
When she arrived on the roof, everything seemed as it was supposed to be. There was no ghost, let alone a blue-pinkish one, neither a human being. She stood in the middle of the maze, only to realise in shock that the ground was completely slippery. She was not even able to balance on her bird's feet. Sitting on a small projection on the outer wall, she pondered what to do. Summoning the magic of the North Pole, she quickly spelled the roof to not be slippery anymore, so as to not endanger the champions.
Jumping down onto the roof once more, she hesitantly transformed into her human form. In fact, she had been able to do so for a few weeks now, however, no one except for Lucy and Regulus, not even Paws, was aware of the matter, and Hedwig wanted to wait at least until Paws would be able to transform as well before revealing her ability to anyone but her younger children.
'No, that was a bad idea. I don't have my wand with me, and I can better summon the magic of the North Pole in my phoenix form,' she realised and quickly changed back. She magically checked the roof for any possible danger; however, apart from the obstacles that were supposed to be part of the third task, she could not find anything.
Finally, she flashed back right into the Great Hall and returned to her family, from where she quickly informed Santa.
HP
As Harry was in the first place of the tournament, he was the first to begin the third task. He quickly summoned his broom and flew onto the top of the roof, knowing that he would arrive in a maze and would have to find his way to the centre of it. He toyed with the thought of simply flying into what had to be the middle of the maze; however, dismissed the idea, as he did not want to be disqualified because of cheating, when he could possibly easily win the whole tournament.
Unfortunately, there were several animals hidden in the maze, which he had to fight. 'Do they want to kill me?' he thought, when he was barely able to escape a couple of what seemed to be bears. Before he could even recover from several injuries on his arms and legs, the next animal attacked. Whenever he had a minute, he turned around and looked back for his fellow champions, knowing that they would support each other whenever possible. However, he could not see any of the others.
'Mum, somehow, this is strange,' he finally thought to Hedwig, as he was consecutively attacked by various types of animals, one more dangerous than the other. Whenever he thought he was about to reach the centre of the maze, he was attacked again.
'I'm up here now, invisibly. Where are you?' Hedwig thought back.
However, Harry did not know. It seemed to take ages, before he finally saw something shiny at the end of the corridor, which he had just entered.
'I think I see the cup,' he thought and sprinted forward, only to find himself stumbling, landing face-down on the ground. Nevertheless, he managed to stumble forward and finally reached the cup.
He stood in front of it and looked back, only to realise that still, none of the others could be seen.
'Well, that's it then,' he thought and reached out for the cup. As soon as he held it in his hand, however, disaster struck. A dragon appeared seemingly out of nothing and attacked with a huge flame that did not only burn him badly but also destroyed the wall in front of him, causing him to fall over the edge.
'The cup was supposed in the centre of the maze,' he thought, as he tumbled downwards in a free fall.
tbc...
Thanks to the kind readers for your feedback for the previous chapter. I appreciate it very much. Please let me know what you think about this chapter, the story, the possible pairing and what you expect.