Chapter 50

The Hufflepuffs at Hogwarts were on cloud 9. The most powerful wizard to grace the halls since possibly Dumbledore himself belonged to their house, and he was now Hogwarts Champion in the Triwizard tournament, and they showed their avid support to their champion by throwing a party that probably deserved its own place in Hogwarts History. The chants of Harry's name, and the compliments of his skill which 'guaranteed a Hogwarts victory' was a huge self-esteem booster to a boy who probably didn't need any further assurances of his greatness.

The next morning however led Harry to show his friends the room of requirement which led to amazement, and way more questions than Harry wanted to answer. The room took the shape of a large field that allowed them to train and gave them all the room in the world to spread out comfortably. It also provided them with dueling dummies that allowed them to practice aim and try out more powerful curses without being worried about hurting the other. It was great for experimental purposes Harry figured. This of course led to even more questions and the young man was barely starving them all off by saying they would have a proper discussion after their training session, as it was more imperative than ever that they keep him in optimum shape for the dueling tournament, and the three tasks that were going to be designed to test him.

The training was little sloppier than usual due to the aftereffects of partying the previous evening, and even the lie in they all had did not properly dispel the effects of copious amounts of alcohol and eating like it was their last meals. Darrel however encouraged everyone despite their less than stellar performances that it was half the battle that they came into train today despite not feeling 100%.

When the training session ended the group got to be even more wowed as Harry changed the room with a few waves of his wand and it morphed around them to be a comfortable common room style shape. This allowed the Hufflepuff contingent, plus Jack, and Neville to get comfortable, and Cedric was on Harry the moment they all sat down, "Alright Harry we have all been pretty damn patient, and it's time for some answers. You came back last night from your escapade with Professor Flitwick like you had just been in a fight for your life, and you take us to this amazing room that no one knew existed. What exactly happened last night?"

Harry sighed, "First let me just apologize. It was not intention to deceive any of you. Especially you Susan, Hannah, I don't want you both to think you can't trust me, but this was direly important that Voldemort did not figure out what we were up too, and I can't express the importance that he doesn't find out what Professor Flitwick and I did last night. There is no one in this room I don't trust with my life, and now I can tell you that Voldemort is down a Horcrux. It is in our possession, and Master Flitwick and I have every means and desire to destroy it as soon as possible. This will leave two Horcruxes down."

Silence went up through the group, and then Neville stood running a hand through his hair, "You should've told us. What if something had happened?"

Heidi nodded her head, "I have to agree with Neville. Had disaster struck, and you died we literally wouldn't have known until they pulled your body from this room. Which if you and Professor Flitwick had gone down, we would've only had the lie you fed us to go off."

Harry nodded holding his hands up in surrender, "I understand your concerns, and Master Flitwick and I thought of all of them. The fact is Voldemort is walking these halls, and we could not leave the slightest possibility of it getting out what we were doing. If Voldemort knew we were hunting his Horcruxes there is a good chance he would hide them in a hole so deep it would take us decades to find him. We have no idea how many of these abominations he made and-"

"3 or 7." Darrel said quietly.

Harry looked at the boy curiously, "What?"

Heidi nodded adding, "3 or 7 has to be the number of Horcruxes he made. It all comes down to basic arithmancy. Things are always done in threes or sevens, with seven being the most magically powerful number. In the legends of the Three Brothers there are three deathly hallows, in ancient times and religions were three sons of Kronos, in the Christian world there were the three parts to the trinity. 7 weeks days, 7 deadly sins, 7 continent, 7 seas, the rainbow has 7 colors, even the muggles had the 7 dwarves in Snow White."

Susan rolled her eyes, "Let's all ignore that last part."

This caused a few snickers, but Harry was frozen, "You think he created seven horcruxes?"

Darrel shook his head, "The only reason we think he may have gone with three is because he was still so powerful. I have speculated with a few sources that if you split your soul too many times you would lose some of your base power and sanity. Voldemort is clearly still extremely intelligent and powerful. I believe he plans to use his final Horcrux to give him a full healthy body, and possibly create four more once he's dealt with you too assume full immortality."

Harry felt his knees buckle, and sat down in between Susan and Hannah, "With seven Horcruxes he would be unstoppable."

Jack shrugged, "He was already damn near close to it. I don't think this changes anything especially if we have already accounted for the destruction of two. If there are only three then I would say that puts us a hell of a closer to victory than the last war ever was. They could've had dozens of people throwing killing curses at him, and he would've just come back and started slaughtering people all over again. I think we are lucky that his lack of trust in his followers gave us this much time to fight back. Had he come back right after he threw the killing curse at you Harry, I think there is a real likelihood at the very least Rosalie, and I would never have been born."

Cedric looked thoughtful as no one said anything and added, "I like the theory, but I think we should go ahead and prepare for the fact that he could have seven out there. I am sure Dumbledore at least has guesses as to what they could be."

Harry sighed, "If he has that information, he hasn't shared it with me."

Susan grunted out, "Hopefully he shares it with someone, or we will face a similar issue to what Voldemort's followers faced, like them we wouldn't even know where to begin."

"I will speak to him about it. Perhaps he could at least write it down, and in the event, something happens to him he tells me where I could find a list if he doesn't trust me."

This silenced the room again, but Hannah broke the silence, "Do you have a plan for the tasks Harry? What about tryouts for the dueling team?"

Harry nodded, "I will hold tryouts next week. As for the tasks I am not sure. I think the first step I will take is attempting to discover the first tasks. I have already gathered that they are building an arena not too far from here that makes me think we will be engaging in combat with some magical creature."

Neville offered, "We can all keep an eye on the coming and goings of people throughout the school. Jack has the Marauders Map, and we can put that to use. Surely someone showing up who shouldn't be here will give us a hint. We can ask around too to see if anyone knows anything. Odds are we will at least know what you are up against in the first task before it gets here."

"We do have three weeks so there is plenty of time to find out and start to develop a strategy." Hannah offered taking Harry's hand gently in her own.

Rosalie spoke for the first time, "Those poor French and Bulgarian sods never stood a chance against this group with us standing behind Harry helping him every step of the way."

This caused some snorts and Darrel asked, "Have you heard anything from your Aunt Susan about what happened to the Crouch family?"

Susan nodded, "Jr. is facing the kiss, and his father is looking at life in Azkaban for the Imperious curse. I think his long time commendable career with the Ministry will keep him from getting the kiss."

Neville snorted, "Fat lot of good that's going to do him if another raid happens at Azkaban. I am certain many of them would love a chance to rip his crazy moustache off hair by hair."

There were a few dark chuckles, and Cedric asked, "What do we do about Malfoy? He is certainly going to be qualified enough to make the dueling team if he so desires. Will you grant him a spot on the team?"

Shrugging the boy said, "Don't think we have much of a choice. Too many questions I wouldn't want to answer. Cedric just do me a favor and don't let him beat you. I don't really want to have him as my Co-Captain and have meetings with him on a regular basis. That sounds like a recipe for disaster."

This caused a few people to shake a bit in clear anticipation. With everything on the table however Harry felt better as the group agreed it was time to make appearances throughout the castle and enjoy the rest of their weekend down in Hogsmeade. This was of course the usual chipper gathering as Harry had his arm around both of his girls and watched everyone partake in drinking at the three broomsticks. He himself of course couldn't partake due to his meeting with Flitwick that evening, but he promised to take care of the group so they could all have a good time. There were lots of toasts on his behalf, and Mr. Diggory had joined them as he was conducting business and congratulated Harry with a big hug. The man was very close with all three Hufflepuff leaders, and even picked up everyone's tab on the way out wishing Harry luck, and that he would be rooting for him at the first task.

Everyone was on a high and slightly intoxicated spirits when Harry walked them back to the common rooms, and he watched suspiciously as Heidi went off with Darrel to his private quarters, and he heard Cedric murmur, "Lucky Sod."

Hannah was clearly more intoxicated than usual by the amount of times she kept kissing Harry's cheek…and jaw…and neck…to the point that he was really struggling to say goodnight when it was time to pass the girls off to the common room. Finally, she pouted when he convinced her to get to bed, "Fine I am sure Susan can keep me occupied for the rest of the night. Goodnight Harry."

She winked at him and his jaw dropped as she sauntered away in her tight muggle winter clothing. His mind wandered and he stared at the barrels for several moments before shaking his head, "Merlin."

Trying not to think about what his girlfriend and betrothed would get up to in his absence he began making his way up to Ravenclaw tower with Neville and Jack at his side. At the split from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tower the boys said their goodnight and allowed Harry to continue on his own. Everyone knew the walk to Professor Flitwick would be short, and that he would have an eye out for Harry while he made the short trek, but it was clear that it wasn't short enough.

Standing at the top of the stairs that led to Ravenclaw tower young Draco Malfoy was perched up against the wall smirking at Harry whose eyes widened at the site of him, "I have to say you and your friends have approved much more annoyingly resourceful than I gave you credit for. Barty was quite loyal to me, and I am regretting his loss. If I was in my full power, I would bring hellfire and brimstone upon the Ministry to retrieve him, but alas that time has not arrived yet. You cost me a powerful servant Harry Potter."

Harry's wand dropped into his hand, "Are you going to attack me Tom?"

The man looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "No I don't believe I will. Not yet at least. I have still yet to test your power to the extent that I am willing to go toe to toe with you in this body. If it were my own, I would crush you like a bug, but as I already stated it is not that time yet."

"Then what do you want?" Harry asked coldly.

"Can we call it a tryout? I think I would very much like to be on your dueling team so I can see how you work up close and personal, and I would like to gauge your strengths, after all know thy enemy and what not."

At this a spell came zooming at him, and Harry deflected it easily, and returned one back shouting, "I thought you weren't going to attack me!"

The man in the boy's body grinned, "I'm not attacking you. I told you I would like to try out for your dueling team in private. What other way will you gauge if I am…Worthy."

With this Draco whirled his wand around causing a surge of blue power to fly at him, and Harry's eyes widened as he dodged flinging spells right back at the boy causing one to slip into his defense causing a slash to fly across Draco's untouched face. The boy grinned sadistically and wiped at his face and then licked his bloodied finger, "Oh I haven't bled from an opponent in quite some time this will actually be more fun than I expected."

At this the spells came so fast that Harry felt like he was back at Abbott Manor dueling for his life. What was he thinking, and where was Master Flitwick he had surely heard the commotion by now? Voldemort is attacking him with a castle full of his friends and family, and no one was coming to help? How was this possible?

Drawing his second wand he flicked out the caudwaller charm creating extremely loud noises to echo through the castle, and the two began slamming spells back towards one another at speeds Harry rarely tested. Only thirty seconds of this speed passed before spells zoomed in from the side disarming Draco and allowing Harry to blast the boy back against the wall hard binding him up carefully and tightly. An older goblin was heaving for breath in front of him, "Harry are you alright?"

"Fine Master." The boy said adrenaline pumping and wanting nothing more to hit the Dark Lord with the killing curse and put a delay on it all right here and now.

"Aren't you going to check on your other student Filius? After all I was the one blasted into the wall." Voldemort asked.

The half goblin stared at the man with a mask of severe indifference, "Why Tom I think you will be fine."

"What would the board of governors think if they knew a teacher disarmed a student allowing another to attack him into a wall." The boy asked innocently.

"They would probably have about as much care of finding out that said student was being possessed by the Dark Lord, and I can't prove our problem, and you can't prove yours." The man said angrily.

Voldemort grinned flexing his magic and causing the rope around him to turn into a snake, and his wand came flying back to his hand, "Very well. Harry you performed admirably. I look forward to a rematch soon."

Voldemort walked away in Draco Malfoy's body, but Flitwick called out, "Oh and Tom, 50 points from Slytherin for attacking another student, and let's make it a month's detentions with Mr. Filch. I believe the company from our resident non-magical person could teach you some tolerance."

This caused Voldemort to laugh, and he said nothing as he walked away.

Once the man was out of ear shot Flitwick turned, "I'm terribly sorry Harry. I was expecting you to be accompanied by your friends. I was looking out for you, but I am afraid I was resting just before our lesson until I heard your caterwauling charm and ran like the devil himself was chasing after me."

The boy shrugged, "It's okay Professor. I think Dumbledore is right. It would be exhausting and possibly even deadly to any around us, but I think I can take him in a one on one fight…for now."

"None the less there is no need to risk it. Now where are all your friends?" The man inquired, leading him back towards the Ravenclaw's head of house quarters.

Harry told his master of their day, and that he had left the Hufflepuff's downstairs, and went up with Neville and Jack. It was only about 100 stairs that passed between Gryffindor Tower and Ravenclaw he guessed that Voldemort likely had them pinned down all day for him to corner him in such a short time, "Do you think it's possible he has his own version of the Marauders Map?"

"Possible, but unlikely. I have looked over the map and as genius as it is it took as many mistakes and pure guessing to make it work then it did actual ingenuity. I sincerely doubt anyone would be able to replicate it and doubt even more that Tom would've spent the years it would have taken to build one even close to your family's maps capabilities." Flitwick speculated.

"Then perhaps he has students spying on me? Or the paintings?" Harry asked.

"Both are possibilities. What did he say to you?" Flitwick asked with clear worry in his voice.

"Well sir we must be getting to him pretty early on. He said that my friends and I are more annoying than what he counted on." Harry said with a grin.

This caused Flitwick to snort, "That is probably as close to a compliment as Voldemort gets. I think we might have really pulled the rug on some of his plans last night. Thank Merlin for our lessons in detecting magical signatures. I knew it would be important, but sometimes you undervalue a lesson until it possibly saves your lives."

Harry nodded at the man's wisdom, "So no word about Horcruxes or the Diadem?"

"No sir. If he knows anything or expects it then he didn't give any indications." Harry said honestly.

Flitwick remained silent for a few moments, "Dumbledore and I had quite the row this morning. I told him about what happened last night."

"He didn't like that we went after a Horcrux alone?" Harry asked.

"He didn't like that I put you in so much danger." The man answered back calmly.

This caused Harry to snort, "Because the Philosopher's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, and the attack on Abbot Manor gave me such safe conditions to operate under."

"I practically said the same, and he said that all those were forced upon him, and that I deliberately put you in danger."

"Well that may be true, but at least I knew what I was getting into, and knew that you and I would have each other's back to the end no matter what." Harry said in defense of his master.

"I am glad you feel that way, because the man made me question whether what I have been doing with you is right."

Harry looked questioningly at the man, but he sighed, "You are still so young Harry. Incredibly powerful, but still so young. I felt for a moment that maybe I was expecting too much of you."

"You still don't expect half as much of me as I expect of myself. Honestly, it's a relief that someone is willing to push me to my limits. When this war really heats up then It will be far too late to take the kid gloves off. You took them off over a year ago, and because of that I have risen to my place of power that I am in now. It is only your teachings that have kept me alive this long." Harry said gently.

This caused the man to smile slightly, "Thank you for your words apprentice. Now I have some good news. After Dumbledore and I argued I presented him with the untainted Diadem of Ravenclaw. He assures me that when this is over we will both be receiving an Order of Merlin second class for our heroic efforts for returning such an ancient and valuable magical artifact, especially one with such significance to a Hogwarts founder. He also gave me the excellent news after viewing my memory of the incident that upon your graduation at Hogwarts he will be delighted to sign off on your charms mastery, and with only a little more testing your dueling one as well."

Harry was dumbfounded, "That's amazing sir."

Flitwick grinned, "Yes I agree. He seems quite hopeful that when I am done with you in a few years that I will pass him to you to possibly partake in Alchemy and Transfiguration."

"Has anyone ever held four masteries? Has anyone ever held one so young?"

Flitwick smiled, "Three is the current record and belongs to Dumbledore. They gave him one for his duel against Grindelwald, and then he earned two very young. His first in Transfiguration at 18, and his second at 25 in alchemy. If he signs off on yours at 18 you will get to put your name next to yet another magical record."

Harry grinned, "You think they will rename me Myrddin?"

"Cheeky bugger aren't you." Flitwick quipped back, "One of the reasons that Dumbledore was so happy about our accomplishment behind the obvious is that he has quite the extensive knowledge of dark entities, has deduced ways to destroy it without tainting the diadem any further, and furthermore to learn how to extract the soul shard of Voldemort from other things without destroying any further invaluable magical artifacts. He suspects it will take some time, but with an unprotected Horcrux that we created he is certain through possible alchemical ways he will be able to destroy it without hurting the diadem."

Harry stared in awe, "That's absolutely brilliant."

"I agree. The headmaster has possession of the Horcrux now, and I believe it is safe in his possession. We can count this as a resounding victory my young apprentice."

The two shared big smiles and Flitwick continued, "Now we must start putting forth your strategy for the tournament. As I told you last night as my apprentice, I expect you to win this thing and uphold my reputation."

Harry nodded, "My friends and I are already trying to discover the task. We have already discovered an arena under construction so are expecting that we will be able to discover the task in shorthand."

Flitwick boomed out his excitement, "Ahead of the curb and excellent as always. Once you figure out the task only then will I be able to assist you."

Harry raised an eyebrow at this and the man laughed, "The goblet of fire and tournament rules forbid me in allowing me to assist you with the task, but since you aren't supposed to know them, and you ask for help on say to slay or combat a certain beast I would be able to help you as your master and teacher in normal circumstances."

"Brilliant!"

"Yes indeed. With that being said it has been a long and tiresome few days so get some rest and let us discuss how you are going to put together this dueling team tomorrow and prepare in earnest for what is to come. I will walk you back to your common room to ensure no more repeat performances of the other hallway skirmish. I also recommend a talk with your parents sometime soon. They have been kicked out of the loop, and I fear it may be your duty to bring them up to speed."

This caused Harry's face to drop and the man to laugh. The Potter's would raise hell when they discovered just what their son had been up too the last few weeks.

(A/N) Wow...well this is long overdue. Welcome to round...well I lost track of how many times I let this story run cold, but WELCOME back. I will be honest this chapter has been written for probably over a year, but the next chapter had me stonewalled until May 3rd 2021. I finally have that chapter written, and will be pushing to finish this story throughout the year. I felt bad starting a new HP Project without finishing my longest running one, so here we are running to the finish line, I will do my best not to rush it, and give it the finish it deserves. Cheers to all those who come back to this story, and thank you for sticking by me!

Cheers,

Orion