A/N: Hey everyone! Welcome back to The Guarder Snake!
Thank you all so much for the continuous support for this story, it means the world to me!
For those of you interested in my other works, I've got a wealth of oneshots available as well as two other fics in progress!
A big thanks to my Beta's and Discord Staff - Alec, Alpple, CalamityXx, Champ, DorianGray, NerdDragonVoid, O'Neill, Seventh Son, SinisterFox, Theo and Xevier!
Feel free to join my Discord for updates and information, link on my profile. Without any more rambling from me, I hope you enjoy the story!
(Sorry if you don't like the chapter!)
P.S.
Guarder Snake is released early on Discord and Cora has two pieces of commissioned art viewable by joining!
July 8, 1994
Friday Morning
Harry swung his legs off his bed, sending the sheets flying as he did so, and stretched his arms high into the air. He'd had an early night yesterday, and as a result of his oversleeping, he rose earlier than normal.
How much earlier than normal? When he cast tempus to check the time after looking out his window to see only darkness, the answer was only slightly past five in the morning; Aunt Ashtyn could be up, she'd be the only possibility considering Cora's tendency to sleep in and Lord Avery's dislike of the early morning hours.
Better than his Aunt, Uncle or Cora being awake, he knew the house-elves would be, thus, he could go down right this second and have breakfast.
So he did.
Harry navigated the no longer maze-like halls of Avery Manor with ease, respecting the beauty of the home just like he'd done the first trip only without the risk of getting lost or knocking over the busts of ancient family members — that'd been a near thing two summers back, embarrassingly enough. Before he could daydream back to that almost incident, he heard a chair scratch across the floor coming from the open kitchen door.
It sounded like Aunt Ashtyn was awake... or Cora was getting a drink. He shuddered at the latter, Cora'd gone from tolerable in the morning to very much the opposite in recent times. Harry didn't know why that was, but her snappishness and general scowl in the wee hours of the morning were all it took to send him running if he thought it was her.
His pausing this far away from the entrance did give him the opportunity to head back if he'd like to — passingly he thought of the invisibility cloak before shooting that idea down, because it was a really bad idea to go about sneaking in his own home on the people who'd taken him in without requiring anything from him but the following of their rules. Rather than doing anything magical or flat out retreating, he shrugged and trudged forward.
Hopefully, if it was Cora, she wasn't in a sour mood this morning, and if it was his Aunt, he'd have a great morning from the witch he'd begun to see as his mother. Whenever he thought of that, it made his stomach flop and a sad, angry feeling put pressure on his mind, but her doting affection was what he'd begun to like most in the world! He'd gotten older since he'd initially stayed with them, and while he liked to think he nearly wasn't as childish as he once was, the cuddling with Aunt Ashtyn or the constant hugs made him question that. Truthfully, while he was beginning to understand the magical world for what it was and his thinking had taken on a more realistic tone, the affection from the older woman always made him go back to those first nights in bed when she would visit him to see how he was.
He could still reme-
"Good morning my sweet, what're you doing loitering the halls?"
Harry jumped nearly a foot from the ground as his eyes snapped towards the sound that'd come down the hall and on his right, from the opened kitchen door. He hadn't thought the occupant would exit, stupidly enough, but there stood his aunt leaning against the door with a teacup in her other hand and a warm, teasing smile on her face.
"Good morning, Aunt Ashtyn. I was…" Harry trailed off, debating on what to say but the older woman wouldn't have any of that.
"You were?" Her prompting, heavier leaning onto the door and the way she held up her glass to cover her growing smile made him spit out his initial reason for hesitance.
"I was waiting to see who it was, Cora, uh, she can be a bit... testy, in the morning," He hoped that wasn't a rude answer and flinched when he said it, but continued nonetheless, "So I figured if I waited out here and made my way over without bringing too much attention, I could take a peek to see who it was."
When he finished, Aunt Ashtyn nodded and took a long draw from her cup, making him wait for her reply — she did so agonisingly slowly, letting Harry worry the whole while if he'd messed up saying what he had.
Luckily for him, those feelings were unwarranted for no sooner did she swallow the last of the drink in her hand did the older woman start laughing. It wasn't a small, polite or otherwise unmeant laugh, it was the sort one would let loose after hearing a better than average joke. Such a reaction threw Harry for a loop, making him wonder why his aunt was laughing when he'd, in a way, insulted her daughter for foul manners in the morning.
His answer would come ten seconds later when said aunt finished her laughter by wiping at the singular tear that nearly escaped the corner of her eye.
"Cora's gotten terrible in the morning, you're right, but your nervousness in saying so may very well be one of the cutest things I've seen yet," She finally ceased her leaning on the door and strolled towards him, pinching his cheek rather than kissing the top of his head as she used to on account of their now similar height, "Never change darling, your innocence and the manners you've had since I've known you are most endearing, I'd wager those young witches will be fighting over you from this year on," Aunt Ashtyn snorted and nearly added more, but she withdrew to his side, looping her arm through his, "Escort this old woman back to the kitchen?"
Harry laughed and took the lead, "You're not even forty yet, Aunt Ashtyn."
Aunt Ashtyn used her free hand to pinch at his ribs, "I would've preferred hearing that I still looked twenty-something, but I suppose that'll do. For failing to flatter me enough so early in the morning, you'll be punished with having to wake up Cora this morning — do keep your shield up when you enter her room," she laughed when he gulped, the sound resonating through the walls of Avery Manor without another soul to hear.
July 31, 1994
Sunday Morning
"Happy birthday, Harry," A soft voice whispered directly into his ear, snapping him from his sleep and making him nearly roll off the edge of his bed in a panicked state, "Harry?"
Looking up, he saw the source of the voice, Cora; she had an ever-so-slightly amused expression on her face which was mixed with the usually neutral one she tried — and failed while at home — to maintain so often. She was dressed in a blue gown with an emerald green necklace along with some sort of blue fabric tied around the base of her neck, in other words, her freckled face with blue eyes looked as beautiful as ever.
He flushed when he realised she was probably watching him stare at her and so he stood up quickly. Harry hadn't discussed how he felt about her, and frankly, he doubted he ever would in case it risked ruining the friendship they had. That fear of making her distance herself as she'd done last summer when he'd broken his promise was the main driving factor that kept him away from trying to talk to her… he hoped she didn't catch onto his feelings, but he thought Aunt Ashtyn may've done so earlier in the week when she'd caught him staring at Cora four times while in the dining room.
Would Aunt Ashtyn tell Cora? He hoped not, or else that'd make for a very awkward birthday today, especially considering they'd invited friends over for the first time. Aunt Ashtyn had been reluctant considering her heavy emphasis on family, but Cora and Uncle Celtsean had fought tooth and nail for him to invite five guests over.
Harry hoped the extreme limitations wouldn't stay forever, moreover, he hoped the people he didn't invite wouldn't be put out or start disliking him as a result.
"You're acting strange today. Is everything alright?" Cora had crawled across his bed until she was close enough to rest a hand on his forehead, her look was slightly concerned now, the prior amusement gone. That change didn't register immediately in his mind, nor did her question, the foremost thought was how much he enjoyed her soft, cold hand on his forehead.
Not until Cora flicked his nose did he respond, rubbing at the slightly reddened piece of him as he did so.
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks," Harry's eyes widened after answering her question and he pointed accusingly at her, "You scared me off my bed! You've barely been in my room the last two summers and then I wake up to you speaking directly in my ear!"
Cora backed up and swung her body around until her legs were dangling off his bed, she tilted her head while chewing on her bottom lip. A few seconds later, she schooled her features but began swinging her legs.
"Think of it as retribution for all the times you've woken me from a sound sleep — doesn't feel great now does it?" Harry blinked in response; since when was Cora this playful? There had to be some sort of ult- he wasn't given the chance to continue his train of thought when another flick of the nose registered. When he looked up to see Cora, she was openly smiling now, "It's not very polite zoning out while a girl's speaking to you, Harry."
Harry's response came in the form of a grumble.
"It's not very nice to flick the nose of a birthday boy."
Cora nodded and looked like she agreed with him, though that didn't stop her from continuing.
"It's not very nice to wake a girl up all summer while she's getting her beauty sleep."
He nearly blurted out 'you don't need it' in response, but the courage he'd felt lasted only a split-second, so his answer was a laugh while conceding with raised hands. Cora's face looked weird at his concession for all of the same amount of time, or so he thought, the quickness in which it flashed across her face made him question if he'd ever seen it at all.
"Cor-"
"Har-"
They both spoke at the same time and interrupted each other, Harry being the gentleman he'd always been, motioned for Cora to continue which she did after a moment's hesitation.
"Will you be joining me to welcome your first guest in five minutes?"
Harry furrowed his brows in response.
Hadn't he specified that his friends should come over in the early evening, not the late morning? He could've sworn when he'd written the letters with minor help from Aunt Ashtyn for the formalities that he'd specified as much. Thinking this, he asked a question, though his tone was still a bit dazed considering his brain had yet to calm from Cora's looks.
"So early?"
"Clara," Was all Cora responded, and in fairness, that was all she needed to.
Clara Carrow did whatever she wanted, holding to no timetable; the girl could be as early as she planned on being today or so late that she'd nearly miss the entirety of an event, but never was she on time. Sometimes he wondered if she was purposefully doing it, but as he'd gotten to know her, he'd realised Clara was just the most spontaneous, scatter-brained, half-crazy and most fun girl he'd ever met.
She still doesn't hold a candle to Cora though.
He huffed at himself and finally stood up off the floor, for some reason he felt like Cora was distracting him, but he didn't mind all that much. Clara would throw whatever plans his friend had through a loop, it'd be fun to see.
Five minutes later and his last thought had been right; the moment Clara jumped from the Floo she'd bolted straight for him to engulf him in one of the largest hugs he'd ever had to date. It wasn't a horrible feeling either, though she could've squeezed a tad bit lighter.
Her squealing and repeated 'happy birthday' was a bit rough to handle too, but he appreciated the energy she brought.
Once he was extracted from Clara's arms by a narrow-eyed Cora, the former girl jumped in the air while kicking and waving her arms all about to scream one last, "Happy birthday!"
He had to hide the smile her doing so brought to his face out of fear that Cora would reprimand them both, but much to his surprise — Clara's too based on her face — Cora snorted and wrapped her arm around Harry, pulling the boy towards a couch a few feet away so they could wait for the rest of their friends to arrive; Clara pouted when she was relegated to sitting beside Cora on the couch with them since Cora tucked him away in the corner, but the hours that passed while they snacked, talked and played a few wizarding board games had been very enjoyable.
Funnily enough, Clara's energy and intelligence when she cared to use it didn't apply in the slightest towards any form of games. It was so bad in the last hour before the next arrival and the ones that followed that whenever she'd lose a game, she'd demand they move to another. Cora and he both humoured her so she wouldn't scratch at the furniture like a cat, but her venomous expression switching to extreme joy whenever she started to win to only for a crushing defeat to be had was incredible to witness, much less be the cause of.
Harry almost felt he was one of the best at the game until Cora would shoot that thought down by winning pretty handily; it wasn't all that surprising when he finally remembered that these had been some of the games she'd been raised playing with her family.
Eventually and with enough time having passed, the Floo activated nearly a dozen times while the original trio sat in conversation.
Among the guests Cora had invited to his birthday were the other three of her group that he'd expected; Aster, Alisa and Reinhard, along with others such as Loma, Nina, Stuart, Katie Bell and Neville Longbottom.
He was pleasantly surprised that she'd chosen Katie and Neville considering his friendship with those two wasn't as strong as the others, but if he had to pick the next two he considered closest — and respectable enough to visit Avery Manor — those would be the two at the top of his list. Hermione for all her politeness could come across as rude with her excessive questioning while the Weasley twins and Ron were a bit… crude. Cora didn't think highly of them, though she never spoke poorly of the family, at least not within earshot of him.
Breaking away from his thoughts on the guests, Harry received a myriad of 'Happy birthdays' with some being sung incredibly offkey (thank you Aster and Clara) while others felt the need to take him into huge hugs and plant kisses all over his cheeks (thank you, Nina and Clara, again) before Cora would pull him from their arms.
As soon as the conversations died down and the evening feast was over, they made it to the gift-giving portion of his birthday.
Aster and Reinhard went first at their insistence, offering up the largest of all the assembled presents with huge smiles on their faces; seeing it come from them made Harry nervous considering the pranks they liked to play and the general goofiness their actions always showed. Cora seemed to share his hesitance, but a nod from Alisa assured Harry that the gift wouldn't be too bad a prank if that's what it turned out to be.
Oddly enough, it wasn't.
After nearly a dozen rips of the messily wrapped box the clear glass case containing something Harry wasn't familiar with finally became visible. It took him nearly a minute before the realisation of its contents struck him, and once they did, he looked towards the two older boys with newfound respect.
"How?" His question sounded more like a demand, though filled with awe.
"Told you mate, we're good at what we do — let that be a lesson to everyone," Aster narrowed his eyes and moved them from person to person while Reinhard nodded menacingly. That posing didn't last very long before Harry started very carefully showing the gifts he'd been given.
"Are these really the originals?" Katie seemed just as awestruck as he was, the girl's love of Quidditch and wanting to break school records playing into it more so than Harry's feeling of closeness the pieces within represented.
"Can't confirm that love, trade secret," Reinhard's reply to Katie and his subsequent conspiratorial wink towards Harry had the latter boy smiling wide enough that the edges of his mouth hurt; he couldn't believe they'd somehow managed to pinch all the trophies, plaques and other belongings his father had played Quidditch with.
Cora said something quietly to one of the girls alongside her and Clara's groaning answer of, "Aw, come on Cora, how are we supposed to follow that up? Look at Harry's smile! I didn't think Aster and Reinhard wouldn't be gits for a change!"
"I take offence to that, Harry here is who we'll be bequeathing all our knowledge on. Somebody's got to give those Weasley twins what for once we're gone, right Reinhard?" Aster puffed out his chest and raised his nose, imitating many a lord Harry had seen at the train station.
"Very right," Reinhard agreed, matching his friend's pose and ignoring the deep sigh Clara gave as the girl stood up alongside Alisa.
"Hurry along Clara, we've only twenty minutes before curfew calls us home."
Alisa's words were met with the heaviest groan yet from Clara, though they served the purpose of getting the usually energetic, now lethargic girl moving; the two of them eventually handing him two small boxes that fit neatly in the palm of his hand.
Harry thanked the boys considering he'd been so caught up with the artefacts of his father and then did the same with the girls, knowing he'd like their gifts no matter what they turned out to be. Clara's unnerving smile had him questioning that stance for a few seconds.
"Careful, Harry," Cora's word of caution stopped him from pulling too hard on the paper surrounding his gift and made him go about opening it in a much more gentle manner. Once he'd done so and could clearly see the two gifts, along with their relations, he understood why she'd said that.
Both smaller boxes contained jewellery with the Potter logo on them, looking at them with more detail, he could see the faintest signs of wear and tear that made him realise they weren't freshly made.
Clara, rather than waiting for the incoming question, spoke prematurely.
"Those earrings in your right hand belonged to my Great Grandmother, she was a Potter by birth and brought them over — mum tells me those were her favourite pair."
Alisa glanced at Clara and tilted her head with a disapproving stare, she'd likely been wanting to surprise him but after having Clara spill the beans so to speak, she offered up information about the necklace with a slightly different Potter crest on it.
"That came from a more independent branch of your family, my grandmother gave it to me as a keepsake along with a few other pieces of jewellery from her private collection due to declining health. Clara and I thought with you being back in the spotlight, we should return belongings such as these for your family, to give you portions of history back."
Harry carefully closed the near-identical sized boxes and dipped his head respectfully, thanking both older girls as politely as he could while keeping that same wide smile from earlier.
Alisa returned the smile — though not as widely — while Clara swooned over him, pinching his cheek before kissing it to 'make it better'. That whole series of events had the other boys in the room laughing while a few of the girls, mainly Katie and Nina, laughed.
"Nina, Loma, what'dya say? Think we should offer up our joint gifts together?" Stuart's voice, sounding just as laid back as it always did despite where they were, sounded next. It was met with a joyful confirmation from Nina and a few nods from Loma.
Not more than ten seconds later and Harry was given an only slightly smaller box from the trio that'd become his best friends in Gryffindor.
"No need to be careful sweetie, go wild!" Nina told him that while ruffling his hair until Stuart slowly pulled her back with an apologetic look to Harry's head, the older boy mouthed 'barmy' though his girlfriend somehow caught that rather than missing to perceive it as she did most other things.
Harry did exactly as instructed and ripped the wrapping paper off with haste, showcasing a box, that when opened, revealed a trove of things within; from containers of sweets, notebooks, actual books, miscellaneous Quidditch gear and various other things, they'd gotten him a little bit of everything. When he asked about the notebooks, in particular, he was told they contained notes from Loma as well as a few other friends she studied with — needless to say, they'd prove incredibly helpful with all the information within them.
Katie went next after he'd thanked the oldest three Gryffindors profusely, the athletic brunette having got him a broom keeping kit as well as a charmed toy snitch that'd fly at various speeds to test his reflexes.
After thanking her with a hug and getting a kiss on the cheek in return that made Clara and Nina cheer, his last gift other than those tucked away in his room by Cora's parents was from Neville.
Neville's gift when opened was a series of documents the boy said his nan had helped him draft that would act as a sort of agreement between their houses, one that they'd had previously under their fathers that ran out only a few years back. One look at Cora and a few of the other more politically minded of his friends made him see that even they'd not been expecting that… the sweets that were under it were likely all they'd thought he'd receive.
Harry thanked Neville formally, and, despite knowing the boy only slightly better than a majority of other schoolmates, decided he'd be spending a whole lot more time with the boy this year.
All gifts having been opened and the festivities having come to a near close, Harry ate the remaining snacks alongside those daring enough to stay a few minutes past the time they were given by their parents until all the remaining food was safely disposed of... in their stomachs.
"Had a good birthday, Harry?" Cora asked, the girl had followed him up to his bedroom to witness the trio of gifts he'd been left by her parents; all of which had turned out to be amazing.
From the smallest of the three gifts being a ring they'd found in their vault that once belonged to a distant Potter relative to the largest of the three, a spellbook from Eastern Europe where their family originally hailed from, Harry had been incredibly thankful.
He'd show that to his Aunt and Uncle tomorrow morning too, but right now, he'd spend the remaining bit of time awake with Cora.
"It was absolutely wicked, thank you, Cora," Harry's answer made the older girl smile, his follow up hug which he did without thinking about his crush in relation to her made Cora laugh and rub his back affectionately.
"Hopefully I've not set the bar too high then, I plan on making each one better than the last," Cora's words, while coming from laughter, were filled with a level of seriousness that he wouldn't have expected — such dedication and constant love (platonic as it seemed to be) made him realise not for the first time just how lucky he'd truly become since coming to the wizarding world.
August 9, 1994
Tuesday Evening
Harry had spent almost the entire day alone.
It wasn't due to any self-imposed exile or the Averys leaving him that way, no, it was him focusing on the extra work Cora gave him over the summer so he continued improving his grades; for whatever reason, Cora wanted him to be the best in his year. Apparently, being in the top ten wasn't all that impressive to the girl, though she'd been very pleased when that'd initially been his progress.
He was nearly done with this extra work when the girl herself showed up — as usual, she didn't knock on his door before entering.
"Good evening Harry, dinner will be served in ten minutes, Mother sent me to retrieve you."
Harry delayed his response in favour of finishing the paragraph he was currently reading about advanced ward-charging. Only once he'd finished that and marked his progression did he set down the textbook, looking over at Cora after doing so.
"Usually one of the elves gets me… is there something you wanted to talk about?" Harry looked at Cora inquisitively, though the girl's features rarely gave anything away if it were important enough, which it seemed to be based on the lack of reaction.
"I suppose I just wanted to spend a few moments with you," Cora approached and sat down on the edge of his bed, "You've been studying very often this year, and while I'm far from displeased with that, time should always be put aside for leisure."
"We talked yesterday."
Harry pointed that out more for himself and her, for truthfully, he'd been feeling awkward around Cora ever since he'd realised he fancied her. He'd never dated before, he wasn't all that great with expressing romantic interests or friendships as a whole, and most importantly, he didn't want to risk his best friend turning into a regular friend if he told her she was his current fancy.
"You said good morning and ran off to your room," Cora's counter made him wince slightly — she'd been wearing a slightly shorter nightgown than usual that morning and while it wasn't see-through or overly small, it still drew his attention in a way that would make conversing with her awkward.
"I, uh, yeah. Sorry. I've just been wanting to get as much progress before the start of my fourth year as I can, it's goi-"
"Don't worry all that much about academics this year, Father says this one will be very different; he won't go into details before you ask exactly how, believe me, I've already tried," Cora correctly anticipated Harry's words and seeing that he had nothing else to say, she smiled, "Why don't we read together tonight like we used to do those first two summers you were here? It'd be wonderful having my companion back for an evening at the very least, though I'll admit every other day would be very pleasing."
"I don't know…" Harry watched Cora's face drop so minimally he thought his brain made it up as a means to encourage him, but when she started standing up, he realised he'd seen it correctly and responded accordingly, "Tonight?"
Cora sat back down and looked him in the eyes, "You don't need to if you'd not enjoy it. As loath as I am to admit it, your younger years where you'd be attached at my hip are behind us, I'll understand it if you'd rather spend time alone or with others your age instead."
"No!"
Harry's eyes widened with the force he'd put behind that single word; Cora's visual response was the smallest of smirks and a pleased expression.
"No?"
"No. You're still my best friend and spending time with you is just as fun as it's always been. I think I've just been really wanting to make you and Aunt Ashtyn proud by reaching the top of my year. It's just, some subjects are really difficult even with your help, so I've been trying to self-improve to cover the distance…" That wasn't completely a lie, though it wasn't the full truth — his crush being Cora did numbers on his thinking.
Cora stood up from her seat at the edge of his bed until she stood directly in front of him, her doing so made him expect some sort of dressing down or other words as a response, he hadn't expected the hug she'd pulled him into.
"Harry, as much as I'd love to see you continue improving your grades at Hogwarts, you've done far more than enough to make Mother and I proud, Father too, there's no need to push yourself this much."
Harry returned the hug and wrapped his arms tightly around Cora, his heartbeat raised higher than usual from the common contact, making him hope Cora didn't feel the nerves he had while hugging her.
Based on the slight laugh when she pulled back along with her standing up straight to kiss his forehead, she sensed the nervousness within him, maybe if he were lucky she'd misinterpret the root of it.
"Why don't we make a detour on the way to my room, say, ice cream from the kitchen? I'll not tell if you won't… maybe I've already gotten your favourite butterbeer-flavoured type too," Cora's face broke out into a wide smile, and without even giving a response, she pulled him into her side in favour of leading them towards their sweet destination.
Right before their first turn and when he'd finally stopped staring at his amazing, beautiful friend, he asked her when she'd gotten the treat, along with how she'd hidden it from Aunt Ashtyn — it wasn't that his aunt was overly against sweeter things, she had a large sweet tooth, it was the woman's incredible dislike of ice cream or other dairy-related dessert items.
Cora's response was a smug grin and a wink, the latter sending his heart racing just as the earlier hug had done, only worse from the sunlight that'd been on her face as they passed a stained glass window when she'd done it.
Five minutes later and with the two sitting on a couch tucked away in her side room contentedly eating the sweet treat she'd procured, Harry felt himself falling deeper into the crush his brain had decided on; it made him feel altogether conflicted after everything she'd done for him and how she'd seen his weakness, especially in his earlier years.
A darker side of his mind said she'd never stop seeing him as a kid, the one she pulled from a horrible home and had protected earlier on. He knew for a fact most blokes wouldn't like being the one that got rescued and treated as he had, but the affection, the personal attention… it was bliss.
Aunt Ashtyn had told him multiple times, there's no reason to fear affection or hope, he just needed the time to build up enough courage to speak with Cora — before she graduated and left was preferable.
August 20, 1994
Saturday Afternoon
Harry, as he so often had begun to do, was laying in his window seat overlooking the vast gardens the Avery Manor had while reading from one of the muggle books he'd recently been given by Cora. He was halfway through a book about a world not so unfamiliar to the one he currently lived in; it had dragons, magic, giants and various other familiarities, though the ice people with brainless minions were something he didn't think existed. Regardless of that last bit, he was greatly enjoying the book thus far, and right when he moved to flip the page, somethi- somebody dove on top of him.
Immediately his senses were filled with a fruity smell as hair covered his vision and hands tickled at his sides — whoever had surprised him had done so with ease and was now tickling him worse than he'd ever been before. It didn't take long for Harry to overpower the person doing it, though whether that was due to his superior strength from no longer being impoverished in food or if the person had let up, he didn't know.
Well, not until he'd seen who it was.
"Hi Harry! You've gotten really handsome this summer, haven't you?"
Clara was being held in his grip, the older girl only being slightly smaller than him made it a tough thing to keep hold of her, especially when her hands were still trying to reach for his ticklish spots. Her expression when he risked a glance at her face and away from her snake-like slithering arms was joyful and teasing; she hadn't changed throughout all the time he'd known her, in other words.
"Thanks, Clara," Were the first words he said, his grip getting slightly stronger when he felt one of her fingers scrape across his ribs at the same time the girl let out a squeak of annoyance, "You know, you probably could've said 'Hi Harry!' without jumping on me or tickling me to death."
Clara tried one last time to get at his side before going limp in his arms, the sudden weight nearly made them both fall off the thin seat and when Harry strained to keep her up, she took advantage to break the grasp he'd held on her.
Bracing for a recommencement of tickling, Harry was surprised to see she'd fallen backwards on his bed with a loud sigh.
"I could've!" Her voice was as cheerful and energetic as always, but something more was mixed in this time, something he couldn't identify.
"Is everythi-" He wasn't given the chance to finish his question when Cora burst through the door.
"Harry, ha- Clara," Cora sounded like she'd been looking for the girl, and when she took notice of said girl sitting on his bed, her face immediately changed to guarded. Harry didn't know why considering the three had been friends for years now, and taking him out of the equation, the two girls had known each other practically since birth.
"Hi Cora! I thought I'd visit Harry while you were showering, you don't mind, do you?" Harry wasn't sure who Clara's question was directed to, but he shook his head to indicate he didn't mind spending time with her — Clara always managed to brighten up wherever she was.
"As a matter of fact, I do mind, Clara. We were supposed to surprise him together," Cora turned her attention from her friend, now rolling her eyes, over to Harry, "What'd she do with you? Don't bother trying to lie for her either, we both know anytime you do your right eye twitches and your right-hand clenches. Your tells are very cute."
Harry flushed in the face and stammered out that Clara pounced on him, the tickling was mentioned too, though Cora looked more annoyed at the former statement. He didn't know why that'd bother her, but Clara's laughing at Cora's expense told him she likely did.
"Cora, it's fine," Clara dragged the final word out before finally standing up and holding her hands out as if Cora were now a wild animal, "No harm, I tickled Harry for the same reason you noticed his tells; he's grown into a little cutie! As for the surprise, he doesn't know about the main element, I didn't spoil that!"
"You better not have," Cora grumbled, tapping her feet while switching from glaring at Clara to looking at Harry with an unreadable mask on.
Sensing that he'd not get any peace, he very smartly marked where he currently was in his book before setting it down on the space beside him. Once that was done, he stood up from his seat and walked over to Cora, dancing at the midway point to avoid Clara's long reach; his avoidance earned a pout in response, though the teasing look shot over his shoulder was easily noticed too.
Finally standing beside Cora, he looked her in the eyes and then past her towards the door.
"So…"
Cora crossed her arms across her chest and repeated the single word he'd said.
Her reaction made him pause briefly considering the act wasn't very Cora-like, but he continued.
"What's the main element?"
"You think I'll te— not a word, Clara!" Cora interrupted herself mid-sentence to loudly order the other girl silent, he hadn't heard even the starting of a word from Clara, only the lip-smacking that signalled she was wetting them to speak, "I can't set up anything with that… that…" Cora paused, took in a breath, and schooled her features, "Come with me, Harry, I'll be showing you to the surprise that we'd planned for you. Clara can follow if she'd like, but any words from her and I'll be cursing her until she's home."
Clara wisely didn't say anything when she joined the other two for a walk, not when they strolled the various halls of Avery Manor, not when they made their way through the gardens, not even when they strolled through the woods near Avery Manor on a path he knew hadn't existed a few days ago.
Wherever it led, whatever lay at the e- Harry paused in his walking, nearly making Clara fall on the ground after she'd bumped into him.
"Harry! You can't just stop so suddenly!" Clara stumbled the whole time she'd said that only finally righting herself when Harry grabbed hold of one of her flailing arms.
"Sorry Clara, I heard yelling," That'd been the sole reason he stopped; multiple voices had been yelling loudly as soon as they emerged from an especially thick bit of growth in the woods. Harry couldn't make out any of them due to the distance and distortion, but the yelling had jarred him due to how suddenly it had reached his ears.
"Oh, that? No need to worry, Harry, that's just th- I'm kidding Cora! Morgana, you're boring, remember when you were young and fun?" Clara ducked behind Harry when she'd finished, throwing the younger boy between her and her friend as cover.
"You say that, but you're the one who still takes naps throughout the day — now enough playing around, I want Harry to enjoy this for the entirety of the day," Cora didn't say anything else, instead, she gripped Harry's left hand and dragged him along the path until they finally reached a clearing.
When they emerged from said clearing, Harry had to rub at his eyes in case he was sleeping, but when he was sure he wasn't, he threw his arms around Cora for one of the greatest hugs he'd ever given.
She'd gotten him a Quidditch pitch, and it was filled with their friends.
August 24, 1994
Wednesday Evening
"I look li-"
"You look fine, Harry, don't forget who went with you to pick out the outfit you're currently wearing or who tidied it up," Cora said that from behind him; he was seated in a chair in front of the girl's makeup dresser with an incredibly large mirror facing the two of them, the reason for her being behind him was the styling of his hair along with the earlier handling of his eyebrows, facial hair — the few strands that'd grown — and the single pimple on his face. For whatever reason, Cora treated this Pureblood event more seriously than she treated anything else they'd done together, including the times they'd go to Diagon Alley where she'd take nearly thirty minutes preparing.
All that aside, he didn't dislike a majority of the personal attention, only the bits that were painful like his eyebrows had been. Everything else had been incredibly soothing, especially when she was practically massaging his head to set his hair in a style that made him look like he was straight out of a muggle fashion magazine. He wondered if that was another hobby she kept hidden, and if it was, he couldn't complain all that much with how she'd transformed him into the 'most handsome young man' his Aunt Ashtyn had seen in nearly a decade once finished.
That was a compliment he'd gladly take, and based on Cora's smug smile, one that she'd take just as, if not more happily.
It wasn't until they floo'd over to the Carrows who were hosting the get together of the non-radical families — Malfoys and Weasleys obviously excluded — that Harry's nerves hit him.
Sure, Cora and Aunt Ashtyn had said he looked brilliant, but they were practically obligated to say that!
"You're fine, Harry," Cora's words from his left side soothed him, her whisper jarring him from the repetitive smoothing he'd unconsciously begun doing all across the rather futuristic looking dress robes they'd gotten him. Futuristic may not have been exactly what they were considering no Muggle would be caught wearing them, but when he looked at a majority of other boys his age, he was glad Cora had been the one to go with him.
Some outfits looked absolutely dreadful, he felt bad for the blokes having to put them on!
"Thanks, Cora… what exactly is the plan?" Harry couldn't recall it all that well, not that he'd heard more than a general statement of them entering through the floo before heading towards their assigned table for the evening. He knew he'd have to dance, of course, that was something even people unfamiliar with high-society living could safely assume, what he wasn't sure of was what else that'd entail.
"We'll sit at a table with two other families, enjoy a meal and conversation with them, dance once the hostess calls for it, before finally ending the evening with mingling amongst those invited. I can say with absolute certainty you'll not be nearly as bad as you think; just think of the families here as potential friends down the road you'd not say anything overly personal but acting too reserved would be something I'd advise against," Cora linked her arm through his and started them off after her parents who themselves were following an older looking woman, "That's Clara's mother, Celia, she's almost the complete opposite of our friend. I'll point out her father when we see him too, Lord Carrow's where she gets a majority of her personality from; he's entirely separated their branch from the other portion of House Carrow."
"Good thing too! Hestia and Flora weren't very fond of me!" Clara's voice suddenly speaking up from Harry's other side had him nearly trip, and while that wouldn't have done too much to him, Cora's dress likely would've ripped or worse.
Leave it to Clara to make him jump and Cora groan in annoyance.
"Good evening Clara, I was wondering where you'd been. Unfortunate you chose that side, maybe you could've finally gotten me while I was telling Harry about your father and mother," Cora's voice shifting when saying the final word joined with Clara's slight wince told Harry all he needed to — Clara's mother was the finest source of getting the other older girl to cease in her incessant teasing… he'd remember that.
"Awfully rude of you, Heiress Avery. Thankfully Heir Potter could be here to save me from your threats and any insinuations towards my manners this evening, isn't that right cutie?" Clara grinned and pushed right against Harry's other side, swatting his arm out of the way to get closer than Cora had; he knew to leave situations like these well enough alone and didn't respond, opting to look straight ahead at the back of Aunt Ashtyn lest he sees the looks either girl were staring at him with.
"Don't take Harry's silence too rough Clara, he's not the first boy that'll end up ignoring you tonight, nor will he be the last I'd suspect," Cora didn't put any venom behind her words, but Harry could make out in his peripheral vision that Clara was none too happy with those words. There was likely a story between them, one that he wouldn't ever be privy to, not that he was all that bothered by it.
"Oh, that's how you'd like to play tonight?" Clara's voice was the same infliction of teasing with an underlying tone, "Suppose I tol-"
"Clara dear, would you go and retrieve our Rosier guests?" Clara's mother, Cel- Lady Carrow, interrupted her before the girl could finish.
Harry hadn't realised it until that point but they'd reached their final destination of a semi-occupied table.
"Yes mother," Clara deferred, smiling cutely and dipping her head softly; her mother smiled back and looked towards Cora's parents shortly after, missing the angry face her daughter sent towards Cora, who herself was looking all too victorious for a conversation that'd ended inconclusively.
"Come on, let's grab our seats and greet Alisa's family — maybe after I'll have you take me out for your first dance that isn't in my room past nine in the evening," Cora winked playfully at him before nudging him in the direction of an open seat right beside Alisa.
Harry took said seat with only the briefest bit of hesitation when he saw the imposing man across from him, likely Alisa's father, narrow his eyes when the man saw Harry's choice. Not a moment after he surprised Cora by pulling hers out for her and went for his own, did that great big burly man speak up in a deep, scratchy voice.
"Harry Potter!" Harry wasn't sure if the man yelled or if his voice commanded that much of a presence, but he felt like any longer sentences would risk deafening him; unfortunately, the man wasn't finished with simply saying his name, "Years I've been hearing about you through the mouth of my daughter and here you sit, right beside her, as if nothing's happened!"
"Daddy, you promised," Alisa spoke up sweetly, her voice slightly more pitched than usual. Harry couldn't tell if that was due to the three empty wine glasses in front of her or something else, though a passing thought was her nervousness towards her father's tone directed at Harry.
"Don't go saying 'daddy' when I've only met the boy now, it's not like I'm your Uncle, fool that he is," Lord Rowle turned his attention back to Harry, the narrowing of his eyes and the rather hefty beard he sported making him look more imposing a figure than any he'd seen before, "Tell me about yourself, Harry Potter, It'll do me well to hear how James' son has lived after all these years," Lord Rowle then leaned in and pointed towards a scar that ran from his left temple down to the base of his neck, "Especially after the man left me with this to remember him by."
Harry's eyes widened when he saw how wide and long the gnarly looking scar tissue appeared to be… he couldn't believe his father had done that after hearing so many positive stories about the man he'd come to worship. Surely Alisa's father had to have earned it though, right? James wouldn't go about maiming and scarring other men for fun, he stopped Cora's father from getting bullied, others too!
"Honestly Teddy, your impatience towards meeting young Harry here shouldn't be making you act all rough, we both know you're a family man through and through," Said a woman sitting directly beside the giant of a man — Alisa's mother, Harry figured — before she turned her attention towards Harry with as kind a smile as Aunt Ashtyn typically wore, though hers betrayed a sense of exhaustion rarely seen, "Andre, my loving husband, didn't mean that your father gave him the scar, more so that it came as a direct result of your father having saved him during the first wizarding war. I'm dreadful at telling stories, but summed up, James banished the wonderful man sitting beside me right in the knick of time."
"That he did Celia, that he did," Teddy (or Andre?) switched his attention back to Harry after fondly looking at his wife, "Your father was a phenomenal man, even if we'd come to blows a few times during Hogwarts. While I'm serious about asking how you've been in the years leading up to your attendance here, you've got nothing to worry about from this branch of the Rowle family… unless you move towards my daughter, then I reckon we'd have words."
Alisa grimaced from her seat, "Daddy, I've said it repeatedly since I first told you about him, Harry and I are strictly friends. You know I've been dating Aster since near our meeting too, as much as you don't like to remember him for calling you Te-"
"Only my wife and daughter can call me that, anybody else will end up getting ripped in half, my sweet," Harry didn't think the man was joking and based on the matching smirks from Cora's parents, he thought he was right about to witness a gruesome sight.
But, rather than either of those two saying something, it was Alisa; she chose to explain to Harry what 'Teddy' meant.
"Daddy was called Teddy by Mother since before I was born on account of his making her other suitors flee when he started courting her. Not too many weeks needed to pass before she saw past his size and realised he was like a teddy bear."
Lord Rowle, Teddy, grunted once his daughter was finished. His look made Harry all too aware of the mistake Aster had made previously and he vowed he'd not make the same one.
Thankfully the conversation ended up being steered towards the late arrival of another family, then the Carrows joined them at the table and finally, the feast began. It was during that half-hour time period of eating where Alisa and Cora shared with him the other various families that attended this fairly exclusive event hosted by the Carrows. All of them were Purebloods, though varying in status from newly so to Noble — he was told none other than the core group of Cora's friends were awarded Ancient status, whatever that meant.
Additionally, he realised all the other blokes in attendance, and the witches too weren't only Slytherins. He'd not been as familiar with some of the others houses as he was Gryffindor or Hufflepuff (of which most of the remainder that weren't Slytherin were made up of), but he'd seen a few familiar faces from Ravenclaw moving around too.
Once the mealtime concluded and they'd sat around for nearly ten minutes, Cora dragged him over to the dance floor, initiating the first of nearly a dozen he'd do that evening; a majority of which were with her.
Said time spent dancing had four mistakes, all of them happening with his crush and only one being embarrassing enough to make him escape from the dance floor with a laughing pair of Cora and Clara giving chase.
First, he'd stepped on Cora's foot due to the quicker tempo of the music; she laughed it off easily enough and resumed their moving around, though taking the lead to avoid further problems.
His second fail was when he tripped on his legs, but it wasn't nearly as painful as the first for Cora considering her quick manoeuvring to keep them both upright. Again, the result was her taking the lead, though her doing so made their dancing rely almost solely on her at this point.
Next up in his errors of the evening was when he stepped incorrectly enough that had them bump into another couple — Alisa and Aster. Being Cora's friends as well as his, they didn't respond too negatively, the latter even laughing before his girlfriend shut him up with a slap on the chest before making him resume their motions.
At that point, he wanted to stop, but Cora had only gotten three of the four dances she'd wanted that evening, so they continued for her fourth, which ended up being the worst moment he could remember throughout recent years.
It happened on another upbeat song with quick-pacing and fancy footwork, the style he'd not practised all that much with Cora or her mother. Because of that, when he twisted Cora and moved to another position to retrieve her, he ended up banging his head directly between two of his friend's body parts. While neither were hurt all that much from it, the redness of his face when he realised where he'd hit had him fumbling for words before he eventually made up some sort of excuse that had him bolting towards the refreshment table. Clara, the girl having been dancing with Reinhard nearby, was laughing harder than he'd ever heard and took off after him, with Cora close behind.
Fast forward a few hours when Harry was back at Avery Manor and still reliving that moment repeatedly with Cora still assuring him it was fine before eventually laughing it off together with a crudely worded joke he never thought he'd hear come from the girl, he came to the conclusion that the stuffy pureblood events were anything but that. In a way, they were pretty fun, far more so than watching a short Quidditch match with rowdy drunks in the audience.
Harry's evening ended in a familiar if not nostalgic way in regards to his earlier years; sitting with Cora, eating snacks and talking with the girl he'd come to fancy as time progressed.
On the following morning, when his spirits were still high and Cora was bursting with more ear to ear smiles than he'd seen in ages, he read about the Death Eaters' attack on the Quidditch World Cup.
He hadn't thought happiness could be snuffed out so easily.
September 4, 1994
Sunday
"Professor Moody taught. You. What?" Cora's voice was angrier than he'd heard it in a long while, her expression matched it, as did all the others in the room, including the almost always goofy Aster.
Such a startling visual and audible reaction to his nonchalant way of bringing up the unforgivables class he'd just attended had him nearly wincing before he squashed the feeling, telling himself that was something he'd only do when he was younger. He didn't understand why his friends seemed so egregious in their reactions either considering he felt prepared in an odd sort of way with finally having seen the spells many saw as too taboo to even speak about.
It was this standpoint mixed with all the learning he'd done with Cora in regards to her familial library that made him repeat his prior words just as carelessly as he'd done before.
"Professor Moody showed us the three unforgivables, none of us cast them ourselves, shouldn't it be good that we've seen them? We could know what to expect! Avoid showing fear to the likes of those gits that used them at the Quidditch match!" Harry had felt odd, uncomfortable even, at witnessing the distress of that creature the Professor had used as a guinea pig. He still felt that way too, but he felt more prepared as if the shock of seeing those spells cast for the first time had been taken away. Maybe whenever he saw them again, he wouldn't freeze up as he had in the classroom, especially when the killing curse was thrown — that'd been the single most shocking moment of his life, for, in a way, he felt like he'd been sent back to the time his parents were killed, despite knowing the fact he'd been far too young to remember such a thing.
Cora's response was far from agreeing with the way he tried rationalising it to himself.
"Absolutely not! Moody's gone completely off his rocker if he's throwing around unforgivables, banned spells in a classroom, Harry. Seeing them performed is very different than having them thrown at you too, ask any witch or wizard who fought in the first wizarding war!" Cora looked like she was ready to continue, but Clara stepped forward and rested a hand on the other girl's shoulder, soothing her with whispers he couldn't hear.
Aster chose that time to step forward while Alisa joined Clara in talking with Cora and Reinhard went off to the side, looking distinctly uncomfortable.
"Harry mate, you know I love playing the advocate of all things stupid and so on, but Moody's notorious for being too…" Aster paused, looking for the right word, "Barmy, yeah, we'll go with that. There's a reason those spells, as well as some others, are illegal. While I think it could be good if some information was taught about them, they shouldn't have been performed for any class of Hogwarts students, least of all people who aren't Seventh Years like me — would love to control a drago-" Alisa coughing sent Aster back on track, "Anyways mate, while I can understand some of what you're saying, don't be surprised if old Moody gets sacked. If you have questions too, you can always ask us, especially me, since the others seem like they've always got sticks shove-" Aster yelped before he could finish and jumped away from Harry.
"Even when you're helpful you're as mature as a first-year," Cora's voice was back to normal, though her wand being out and Aster whining made him wonder just what she'd cast. Harry didn't have the chance to ask when she turned towards him and stared directly into his eyes, "Sorry if I seemed a bit off, Harry, I'm just concerned that a Professor at Hogwarts would teach something like that — we all are. Why don't we go to the Great Hall, eat whatever we'd like and then play whatever you'd like? Perhaps if you're very well behaved, I'll teach you a new spell that you've not gotten out of me yet."
Harry let the subject of Moody's class drop and narrowed his eyes at Cora, moving closer to the girl to lock arms with her, "One of my choosing?"
Cora regarded him for nearly twenty seconds before she gave one swift nod.
"If you're particularly good, and, Clara's lessons with you show more progress than empty wrappers in your robe pockets."
Clara gasped and looked at Harry with the most betrayed expression he'd ever seen her pull.
"Did you tell on me?!"
October 31, 1994
Monday Evening
"Holding up alright Harry?" Reinhard's words were the first that registered after he exited from the champion's chambers, though he'd heard plenty passing sentences as Cora's group, joined by Stuart's, walked him throughout the halls of Hogwarts in a way all too reminiscent of his Second Year, when everyone thought him the Heir of Slytherin.
He wasn't sure why it'd been Reinhard's words either, considering the genericness of them, but he was thankful nonetheless that the shock that'd settled in right after he'd made his departure had finally gone.
"Yeah, as good as I can be. Suppose I was hoping for another year like last, one that only had a bit of craziness mixed in rather than something like my First or Second."
"Unlucky that, mate. Seems like someone's trying to do you in, wond- Alisa! Stop hitting me for Merlin's sake!" Whatever Aster had been trying to say ended abruptly when Alisa started slapping him upside the head.
"Wonderful! Does that work on all the boys?" Nina, who was walking alongside Alisa and slightly ahead of Harry, seemed to be appraising the Slytherin girl's work.
"Most of them, the better-trained ones like Harry or Reinhard don't need it," Alisa's words were met with an 'oh' from Nina who instantly moved forward until she stood beside Stuart, the boy glancing back at Aster with an unhappy expression easily readable on his face.
Harry would always be thankful for moments like this; when the negative feelings most present in his mind were run off by his friend's antics, he knew they wouldn't last but the enjoyment and distraction they provided were something he'd be grateful for so long as they did.
Cora seemed to notice the small smile on his face and squeezed his hand tighter — he didn't remember them holding hands when he'd exited the room but he enjoyed the softness he felt from hers, as well as the grounding the touch provided for him.
"Remember what we discussed in Second Year? When all those fools thought you, the sweetest, most polite boy in all of Hogwarts, were the Heir of Slytherin?" Cora's voice was soft, her touch reaffirming and the contact as calming as the first time he'd met her years ago.
"You told me they weren't truly my friends," Harry remembered very clearly the less than positive review she'd given the students who left him alone when the rumour Malfoy started about his being the Heir of Slytherin began truly circulating. He'd only rarely heard her talk negatively or crudely, and that was one of those few times.
"I did," She pulled him closer against her, their height distance having closed enough that she barely had an inch or two over him, "More than a few seem to remember that you aren't out for glory, that you aren't brash or attention-seeking, but some will follow the stupid circulations put out by Malfoy or the few others who dislike you. I want you to promise me, here and now, that you'll block out those students who speak negatively of you — don't let them get in your head, you have all of us in this hall-"
Aster, Clara, Stuart; all of them spoke up in agreement, confirming to Harry that they'd stand by him just as they'd always seemed to.
His eyes nearly leaked in response, but Cora continued.
"We'll always help you, Harry, especially this year knowing about the past tournaments. No matter what you face, we'll be right beside you with all our knowledge — you'll never face anything alone, not even if all the fools in the world worked against you."
All of his best mates he'd known since First Year agreed again, promising their help in the upcoming trials he'd be facing and telling him regardless of what happened, they'd be alongside him every step of the way.
That was all it took for him to shatter his yearning to be friends with everyone, for all anybody ever needed was a core group of friends willing to go to the ends of anything beside them.
November 21, 1994
Monday
"Didn't Cora tell you not to listen to Ron when he said something about his brother being in the forbidden forest with dragons?" Reinhard emphasized multiple words in his speaking with Harry, the two boys being joined by Aster on the outskirts of Hogsmeade after a casual day spent with the witches of their six-person group.
"Yeah…" Harry trailed off, not knowing what he could say in response as the cloak he'd brought in his satchel felt weighted down more so than it ever had before.
"And you plan on disregarding what she said to not only break curfew but to sneak into a place where we're not allowed to go as a means of getting a leg up on the competition?" Harry was thankful Aster had pulled them off the path to show them something called the shrieking shack, otherwise, the loudness of Reinhard would've betrayed all of Harry's plans for the evening.
"Yeah… I wo-"
"We're in!" Aster cut him off with his loud exclamation, the older boy elbowing Reinhard before wiping at a mock tear, "Wonderful prodigy he is! I can't wait to see him handle the dragons if they're real, and if they're not, the retribution towards the git who lied will be just as sweet! When're we going, mate?"
Harry was thoroughly confused at the looks he was being sent by Aster and Reinhard both, but not wanting to turn down whatever had just transpired, he gave his response.
"Tonight."
"Wo-"
Aster's exclamation put sound to what Harry was feeling when the trio emerged to the edge of a meadow hidden away within the forest, a meadow filled with wizards and witches running amuck in attempts to keep the caged dragons calm, or some semblance of the word.
Truthfully, Harry hadn't been expecting Ron to tell the truth with how the boy would often make things sound so much more grandiose than they were, but this time, he'd told the truth; there were literal, adult-sized, fire-breathing dragons chained and caged in the forest. Creatures that Harry, along with the other champions, would have to face.
"We confirmed Weasley's words, let's go — quietly, Aster," Reinhard sounded far calmer than Harry felt, the bigger boy had silenced Aster with a meaty hand over his mouth right when he'd started speaking too.
All Aster could do in response was say something into said meaty hand and turn around, the three of them leaving at breakneck pace with Harry's cloak lifted ever so slightly so he wouldn't trip on it.
Once the trio was fully out of the forest and hidden away in an area the roaming staff wouldn't see, they took a break to promise only one thing.
"Don't tell Cora."
Aster paused and scratched his chin after the three had said that in one voice.
"Alisa either, please."
"Alisa either…" Reinhard agreed before turning to look at the youngest of their group, "I'll say I found out what they were to Cora so the girls can be in on it, they'll tell Stuart too, we've got your back, Harry."
Harry certainly hoped they did, he couldn't imagine what crazy plan he'd have to come up with to beat a fully grown dragon!
November 24, 1994
Thursday
"Harry! You did it! You tied for first with Krum!" Aster's voice was the first to greet him once visitors had been allowed, followed very shortly after with others from the Slytherin group and his older Gryffindor friends — Cora wasn't mentioned on account of her sneaking in right after him, there hadn't been a minute where he'd been alone in the tent after those couple of chunks of rock had hit him after he'd made his grand escape from the Horntail.
Truly, he still couldn't understand how such a simple plan had worked against it! Aster and Reinhard had pinched something from the greenhouse's private collection, an ingredient with a name Harry had already forgotten that was used in masking scents; it was usually something that hunters used back when wizards still did that relatively often.
He ate it a few minutes before he was set to enter, and as soon as he did so, he could see why most people didn't use it as he had, the nausea it caused was almost unbearable!
When it finally came time for him to go last in the first task, he entered with a confident walk (or so he hoped) and not a second after he started he shot a Supersensory Charm straight at the dragon which had the added effect of making it roar in anger at his offensive, said roar worked in his advantage, deafening it to remove the second sense it relied on, leaving it only with its vision. Harry's plan, the one he'd crafted alongside Cora, her group, Stuart's group and even Hermione since she'd been one of the ones that believed he hadn't entered in himself along with other equally stupid reasons, had gone swimmingly thus far.
Harry then used the few seconds in which the dragon was stunned to use a spell he never thought he'd cast offensively — Ferula. Large bandages wound themselves around the dragon's eyes, and when joined with the unbreakable charm topped with a sticking charm, they'd been unremovable… or at least for a few minutes, which was all he needed.
All of those factors going for him, essentially leaving him invisible to the dragon, still hadn't been enough to mitigate the danger presented. Dragons were intelligent creatures after all, and it knew he'd be in the arena with it, as such, the enraged Horntail began swinging its tail violently. Thrice it nearly clipped Harry, once so much so that it brushed his hair back with the force, but he managed to grab the egg right as it came up with a clever plan of its own — the Horntail smushed its face again the edge of the arena and began breathing a constant stream of fire to break the enchanted cloths covering its vision, all the while still swinging its tail hoping to catch an insect stealing its 'clutch'.
Be it talent from playing Quidditch or sheer luck, he was only hit with debris, though the force had been enough to lightly embed said debris in the surface of his skin despite the clothing he'd been wearing.
"Quiet," Cora's sharp tone broke him from his recollection of what he'd done while simultaneously shutting down the cacophony of voices that were eagerly congratulating him. Harry looked towards his friend and crush to see a range of emotions threatening to break free from her mask, the forefront one being anxiety that he'd seen twice before when he'd done incredibly reckless things.
"Cora, we did it, we all did," Harry's words were directed towards the entirety of the group as thanks, but he was also hoping to reassure Cora that he was fine, the only wounds he'd suffered had been minor enough that no hospital time would be necessary.
Cora didn't respond verbally, though she did step closer to his bed until her thighs were brushing it, only then did she shoot forward to wrap Harry in the tightest hug she'd ever given him. For their part, all the friends of his that'd been silent erupted into a new round of cheering when the contact was made, Aster especially being loud and drenching the embraced pair in some form of wine that had him kicked out of the medical tent when the nurse managed to push her way past the dozens of cheering teenagers.
Harry may have lost those who were fair-weather friends for having 'entered' his name, for sticking with Slytherin wizards and witches who were 'bad' influences on him, for living with a girl who had no doubt 'corrupted' him alongside her family, but at this moment with all the cheering and happiness coursing through him, he couldn't be happier.
COMMENT REPLIES:
DeadDredd: I hope this upcoming chapter helped answer some of that, but part 8 surely will. Hope you liked this chapter too! Matt99177: Tyvm, hope you liked this one! Magitech: Oh for sure, hopefully this isn't quite as crazy. For sure too, his age and first crush isn't very helpful! She might too, it could take her time as well, who knows! Hope you like this chapter! Nightshade4316: It'll work out eventually, after the next few chapters where some fun stuff gets to happening. EmpressErena: Yup, updates happen fairly often, I have a schedule for them. As for the oneshot, people request them via discord and then I slowly work through them. If somebody requested that, sure, I could try that. K1lluaa: Tyvm, the dialogue is very fun and I hope you like this chapter!