CH 7
Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter
The game was fast and furious. Harry and the others were pleased to have had the Omnioculars on hand to record this once in a lifetime opportunity. Everyone had been surprised by the outcome of the game, but no one more so than the twins who double-checked their betting sheet to find out just how much they were going to get from the payout.
"Blimey," Fred said. The winning amount flashed on their betting, contract sheet. The odds had dropped very slightly to three thousand one hundred and eight just before the start of the game, as other people took minor chances on that particular bet with one Galleons safety bets. However they still won an amount well over one hundred and fifteen thousand Galleons.
George looked at it too and said, "Bloody hell, put that away and secure it before we lose it."
Fred nodded and tucked it away into his Omniocular bag with some added security and anti-theft spells to keep the parchment safe.
Harry tagged it with a small hissed spell of his own the ensure that if the twins did happen to accidentally misplace or have it lifted from their possession, that he could instantly retrieve it by magical means. Being taught by the portrait of founder of Slytherin House was good for some things.
"How'd you do Harry," George asked.
"Well enough," Harry replied with a wink, not indicating just how much he'd bet. He knew he did well enough that he'd be able to purchase quite a bit of unrefined ore for processing in order to maintain the Skills he'd learnt this past summer. He'd been told about the owl order system and had picked up many forms from the different shops in Diagon Alley before meeting up with the Weasleys.
"A couple of Knuts won't make you rich Potter," Draco said, as he left them. Everyone was civil in their parting, but the blond brat couldn't leave them alone.
Harry only shook his head, and gave the blond Slytherin boy a pitying look, as he said, "Ignorance continues to follow you around, doesn't it?"
The Slytherin youth frowned, but ignored the comment in order to leave with his parents.
Mr. Weasley guided them back to their tents, where everyone stayed up late to replay the events and the game. "I still cannot believe that the Bulgarian team brought Veelas, as their team mascot," he said. "What were they thinking?"
"To distract the referee," Charlie said. "Rumours are that they'd done it during some of their other games too."
The conversation continued with snacks and hot chocolate until Ginny fell asleep at the table, spilling her drink. (...i...) After which Mr. Weasley sent everyone to bed for the rest of the night and to prepare to leave in the morning.
Later in the night, Harry woke up because his portraits were calling his name. He poked his head out of the tent door and looked around at the commotion and then ducked back into his tent. He got dressed really quickly, strapping on his dual swords, his bow and arrows and made sure that his wand was holstered to his forearm.
"Harry," Bill called to him. "Please come on out."
"What's going on," Harry asked, as he stepped out of his tent, pushing the warding runes to secure it.
"That's quite interesting protection you've got," Bill commented, as he indicated that Harry was to go with the other kids.
"Ah good," Mr. Weasley said. "I think all of you should go to the wooded area just over there."
"What are they doing," Harry asked, as he watched some masked and black robed humans who were levitating the muggle family that was in charge of the camping ground. "They're going to hurt them."
"Right now more are coming together to join them," Mr. Weasley said. "Please go to the woods and wait for us to catch up."
"Fine," Ron said with a pout, as his twin brothers took Ginny's hand to lead her away from the area.
They waited and talked together, when an unwelcome voice intruded. "Daddy had to hide you away," Draco said in a snide tone. "Afraid of the black robes are they?"
"What about you, you little squint," Harry said. "You're here too. Are your parents playing out there trying to seem like they're more than the bullies they are, pathetic much?"
"If they were, I wouldn't tell you," Draco said with a smile and gritted teeth. "You'd better keep your Mudblood friend under covers or they'll be after her too."
"She's a full witch, you idiot," Harry said.
"If you think that they can't tell the difference," Draco drawled. "Then you're a fool."
Harry shook his head and said, "Other than paternity spells or family charting spells, you can't tell the difference and you know it."
"Oh let's just get out of here," Hermione said. She managed to drag the other two boys away.
Another voice in the darkness called out from behind them, "MORSMORDRE!"
A shrieking sound came from the crowd and Harry noticed the image that appeared to be floating in the sky. It was a huge skull with a large snake coming from its mouth, looking like the skull's tongue.
"How trashy," he said and then used his wand, plus some spell mix of Illusion and Destruction to shred the image with a huge blue-white lightning bolt. The spell tore the Dark images in two with licking flames of blue fire and light. He then muttered, "Much better!"
Hermione and Ron turned to look at him, as he put away his wand. They didn't know that he'd used some other spell, but many of the panicking populace stopped to stare at the shredded image of the Dark Lord's emblem. He only shrugged and said, "We shouldn't be supporting the panic induced by the image. So we destroy the image and just watch, it lights up the place real nice too."
Indeed it did cause a few to stop and stare at the results of the spell that still flared a bit until its duration ability ran out. A couple of the black robed and masked individuals couldn't run and hide away because they hadn't moved from their fixed gazes.
There was a minor confrontation between Crouch and his house-elf Winky, whom he planned to fire by giving the poor thing clothes. The house-elf was found with a wizard's wand which went against the regulation of controlled magical beings. However, her master had no choice in the matter since this man was not kind to his servants.
It was this that fixed Hermione's impression about the creatures and that how she'd been introduced to them. But, once she learned about their working conditions, she became incensed by their treatment and the overall view of them by her magical society. Something formed in the back of her mind that night and stayed there until she learned more before beginning her campaign.
Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter
They all returned to the Burrow in the wee hours of the following morning, after the eventful night. Mrs. Weasley was beside herself with worry and grief because of the harsh words that she'd said to the twins when she'd confiscated their joke merchandise that they'd planned to sell at the World Cup grounds.
"Oh, Harry dear," she said. "Your owl is waiting for you in Ron's room."
"Thanks," Harry said and dashed up the stairs as fast as he could in order to see her. "Hello girl," he said and pulled out a few treats for her to nibble on while he took the letter from her. "Take a nap girl," he petted her and then said, "You can fly to Hogwarts on the morrow, if you like. I'll make sure that your cage is taken care of."
"What's going on Harry," Hermione asked.
"Not much," Harry said and put the letter away to read later when everyone else was asleep or maybe when he had free time at Hogwarts.
"What is it," Ron asked. "Why won't you tell us?"
Harry smiled at their concern and said, "It's just a letter from my godfather, is all. I've been helping him with a private project, you know so he doesn't fall into boredom too much. Don't worry about it. We've been talking to each other through letters and I was hoping the Hedwig had arrived safely. You know without interception."
"Oh well then," Hermione said. "Why don't you read your letter now and you can tell us what he has to say? Maybe we can help with his project, what do you think?"
"The letter's private, but I'll let him know about your interest in helping with his project," Harry said with a frown. She got a stubborn look, crossed her arms and stared at him. "I don't read your personal correspondence, now do I?"
"You're hiding something," she said. "You need to share your burden with us."
"I don't," Harry said, as he crossed his arms. "Do you share all your burdens with us?"
"No, I've got my parents for that," she returned.
"...and I've got my godfather, it doesn't matter if he's in the immediate vicinity, I'll still turn to him first," Harry said. He turned away to organize his school supplies into some semblance of order in his trunk. He pulled out several leather bags to sort his supplies, including an old fashion black doctor looking case for his potions ingredients and equipment. He didn't turn to look at her, knowing that she was waiting him out about the letter. "This conversation is over. You should go and pack your stuff for tomorrow."
"Hmph," she was pissed and left the room.
"Geez, Harry," Ron huffed. "Why didn't you let her just see what Sirius wrote?"
"It wasn't any of her business," Harry told him. "It's like I said, I don't read other peoples posts, why am I expected to let everyone read mine? It makes no bloody sense."
"You've got a point there, mate," Ron said. He called to his mother to complain about a dress with his school things and that's when his mother explained that they were the dress robes for him for school. "What, you've got to be kidding me? This is hideous, I'd rather go naked."
"Go ahead," Mrs. Weasley said. "Harry dear, when my son makes fool of himself running around the school naked, be sure to send me a picture."
Harry collapsed on the bunk, giggling at what the woman had just said.
"Ha, ha, prat," Ron said in a sour tone, as he covered his owl's cage with the awful looking maroon dress robes with old fashioned lace frills at the cuffs and collar. It looked like had once belonged to Lockhart's Great Grandfather or something of that nature.
Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter
The next day Harry gave Mrs. Weasley a weak smile when she explained about her attempts to get a Ministry car to take them to the station. He didn't want special treatment and he knew that arriving in some kind of official car was just another way to be seen. He didn't want that at all and assured her that going the regular way was fine by him. He was grateful that the Ministry of Magic was too pre-occupied by the happenings during the Quidditch World Cup and more recently by, retired Auror, Alistair Moody and something about animated dustbins.
They managed to board the train in time and had found a car that allowed the three fourth year Gryffindors to remain together. Harry was secretly relieved that Ginny found some other place to sit because her moony-eyed stares were making him feel distinctly uncomfortable.
It wasn't all that long into the ride when they predictably heard Draco Malfoy speaking about how his father had considered sending him to the Bulgarian magical school, known as Durmstrang.
"He should have just gone then, the git," Ron said, as Hermione closed the car door.
"He wouldn't have been accepted," Harry said, absently, as he was reading ahead in his Defense Against the Darks Arts book. This one seemed much different from the previous books he'd been forced to buy for the class. He just couldn't read another book about Quidditch before school.
His mind still remembered the prophecies that he'd learnt and he knew that he wouldn't share that information with just anyone either. He told his godfather part of what he'd learned, but it was a question of whom the man would tell. However he was brought back to the present when Hermione asked, "What do you mean he wouldn't have been able to go there?"
"Hm," he looked up from his book.
She huffed and asked again, "Why do you think the blond git wouldn't have been able to go to Durmstrang?"
"Oh, it's just the impression that I got from the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, remember when we met him. He was curious as to why I hadn't been invited to Durmstrang, when I clearly knew how to speak their language. I told him I'd just learnt the language." He replied.
Technically he had, since he was still sleep learning the languages that he wanted to learn. It was a simple matter of storing that information in the same place where his Parseltongue ability resided in his mind. Although, with the sentient languages, it was easier to maintain a mental switch so that he'd be able to know which one he was hearing and speaking, quite unlike his issues with the snake language.
Harry looked at their questioning expressions and the he explained further, "When I spoke to the Bulgarian Minister, Malfoy younger and others in the box had a confused looks on their faces like they wanted to follow the conversation, but couldn't. From what we know of his family, they have links and associations with France, so I wouldn't be surprised if he understood French, which would probably have made him an acceptable candidate for Beauxbatons Magical Academy instead of the German one."
Ron snorted and then he chuckled, "My brothers said that most guys going to that school come out as nothing, but Nancy-boys and only because the girls going there outnumber them."
"Ron that's just a rude, sexist remark," Hermione said. "You don't know that as being the truth of the matter."
"I know that," Ron said, as he crossed his arms and glared. He continued his thought by saying, "But what if the reason little Malfoy didn't go there was because his preciously political father didn't want anything like that happening with his son and only heir."
"Too late for that," Harry remarked. "Malfoy's prissy about his looks." His friend chuckled, while the girl frowned.
"That's still a sexist thing to say," Hermione grumped. She glared at the two giggling boys in the train car. 'I wish that they'd just grow up,' she thought. 'It's wrong to believe that any school let alone a magical one like Beauxbatons would teach the emasculation of boys.'
However it was at this moment that Draco Mafloy chose to make his appearance in their car. "Look Hermione," Harry said. "Case in point, too much gunk in his hair and his clothing is draped about him without a fold out of place. Tell me he wouldn't have fit?"
Hermione looked the blond over, much to the youth's offense and she slowly nodded, "I guess you're right."
"Right about what," Malfoy sneered. "Right that Slytherin's are the best in the school or that Weasley's parentage should never be shown off in public?"
"Actually," Hermione said and then looked him over. The blond was offended that someone of impure blood was giving him the once over and finding something offensive about his presence. "They were right that if you'd gone to Beauxbatons Academy you'd probably have turned out to be more effeminate than you already are."
"I am not effeminate, you take that back," Malfoy's tone more offended and shrill, than they'd ever heard coming from him before.
"I can't," she replied. She pointedly looked at the two larger youths behind him and said. "You're walking around with body guards. We can only interpret that as them having being hired by your father to protect your virtue."
Ron howled with laughter, as a strong wind pushed the blond out of the compartment, closed the door and locked it from further intrusion. Harry laughed even more when he stood up and closed the blind on the door to shut out the blond Slytherin's outraged expression and obvious attempts at being threatening without succeeding against the locked compartment.
"Brilliant," Harry said. He sat down with a huge grin on his face, while the girl sheepishly smiled back at the boys.
"Bloody brilliant," Ron nodded in agreement. "Chess Harry?"
"I'm still not that good at it," he said with a frown. "How about a muggle card game?"
"I don't know any," Ron said.
"I picked this up in London," Harry said. "It's called Jok-R-Rummy (...ii...). It looks fun and I'm hoping to find some charms and spells to alter the face cards."
"Let me see the rules," Ron said. He read them and then looked at the cards and re-read the rules. "A couple of open handed dummy games?"
"Sure," Harry agreed. "Hermione?"
"Oh, all right," she said, after she'd read the rules. It looked simple enough, since she already knew how to play Gin Rummy, having learnt to play from her parents. "I'll play for a bit."
Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter
TBC…
(...i...) True scenes from "Goblet of Fire" may be interspersed with new or altered content. This is an AU/AR story remember, any others will not be mentioned.
(...ii...) Real game that had not been production long, it has two player decks and one deck that contains the conditions in which a player can put out their cards, following the basic rummy rules. For more information on this game, you'll just have to google it or else dig one out of your attic, if you'd been lucky enough to buy one when they were produced.