Author's Notes:
One of the biggest reason I try and include an A/N in every chapter is because the whole Prev [Chapter 5] Next thing pushes the first line of text to the left, which makes the 'Chapter 5' line off center. It's one of those stupid things that annoys me greatly.
Chapter 5
Mirror, Mirror, Beetle on the Wall
1994, November 12, Great Hall.
Iris smoothed out the letter on top of the mirror and began reading.
Daughter of Prongs
Destroy this letter once you're finished. I can't say much. I shouldn't say much. I've included a mirror with this letter. It's charmed to be able to communicate with my mirror. Simply say "Padfoot" and push a bit of magic into it with your wand (or your finger if you can do that). If the small rune on the bottom of the mirror glows, it's working and it's calling me. I picked these up while I was staying in Britain. The one you're holding was your father's. Don't call now. Call me sometime in the night on November 12th. If you can't make it, the next night. Make sure you're only with people you trust. This will be a much easier way to talk.
Please be careful. I know we've talked about the disappearance of Bertha Jorkins and the Dark Mark at the Quidditch World Cup, but I've been getting whispers of more. More disappearances, more strange tidings, and it's worrying me. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. And don't do anything I would do. You know what I mean. Just be safe. Don't let yourself be alone with either Krum, Karkaroff, or Warrington. I'll explain on the 12th - when this letter should reach you, hopefully. It takes a couple of days for my letters to get to Britain. Again, destroy this letter. I know I'm being paranoid, but I don't care. No one except the people you trust most should know about the mirror.
Stay safe and don't get yourself killed,
Snuffles
Iris set fire to the letter and envelope under the table after she was done reading it. The ashes disappeared after a moment, most likely due to the work of a house-elf. She stared down at her plate and moved the food around with her fork, no longer feeling hungry. Whispers of more? More disappearances, and strange tidings?
For a second, Iris wondered why Sirius's vocabulary was suddenly sent back two centuries — but what strange news did he hear? If there was anything she was truly frightened of, it was the unknown. Sure, basilisks and dementors also scared her, but at least she knew what was happening when she was attacked by them. She knew how to handle them. The ominous tone of Sirius's letter put her on edge. She took a bite of toast, as that was all her stomach seemed to want at the moment.
A drawling voice brought her out of her thoughts.
"Goodness Granger, any more books and your arms might fall off," Malfoy shouted to Hermione, who had just walked into the Great Hall carrying five thick books.
"Reading might do you some good, Malfoy," Hermione replied. "Might kickstart your brain into actually working."
Malfoy snorted. "Please, given how much you read, I'm surprised your brain hasn't exploded. You know… even if it did, I bet your hair would still look the same."
"So would yours, given how miniscule the explosion would be," Hermione said, not bothering to look at Malfoy's quickly reddening face.
Iris choked on her toast with several other people as the majority of the Great Hall began to snicker. Hermione set her books onto the seat and sat down beside them, looking smug.
"Think you're the only witty one?" Hermione asked playfully. "What's that?"
Iris leaned over to Hermione and whispered, "A mirror. Snuffles said we can communicate through it."
Hermione raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth to ask a question but shut it as Iris quickly shook her head and mouthed that she'd explain later. Ron came into the Great Hall a minute later and sat down, and the trio chatted while the rest of the owls delivered their mail.
"Yes!" Cormac McLaggen suddenly shouted as he looked up from the Daily Prophet and directly at Iris. "This is the Potter I've been waiting to see! Not the moody, woe is me 'I'm not a real champion' Iris, but the 'fuck everyone, I'm winning this shit' Iris!" He ignored the scolding from the staff for his language. McLaggen obviously didn't give a shit about the week's worth of detention he had just received, as he kept going. "Not the shy, unforthcoming Iris, but the fuckin' basilisk slaying, dementor repelling, acromantula escaping Iris!"
Iris stared at him open-mouthed as he grinned stupidly back at her. She gave a slow single nod and turned to look for someone nearby who had the Daily Prophet, while also silently cursing Hermione and Ron's name for letting the dementor and acromantula stories get out. She snatched a copy of the newspaper out of the hands of Ginny, who turned to glare at her.
"Iris…" she said slowly.
"Ginny… Didn't know you were the passionate name moaning type," Iris said, still looking through the newspaper and not seeing Ginny's heavy blush.
The Four Champions and What They Have to Say
Written by Rita Skeeter
Many of you are undoubtedly curious about the four champions of the Triwizard Tournament, who they are, what they're like, how they're doing, and what they want you all to know.
Iris Vivienne Potter, Girl Who Lived, fourth champion, daughter of James and Lily Potter, only survivor of the Killing Curse, and… attention seeking glory hound? Perhaps. We'll let you decide.
Your fellow reporter asked Iris Potter a few simple questions about how she felt about being the fourth champion, if she was scared, why she felt the need to put her name into the Goblet of Fire, how she expected to win with so little experience, and the like. Here's what Iris Potter had to say:
"I'm going to win. I'm fine with being the youngest champion, and I definitely don't feel nervous about the oncoming tasks. What's there to be nervous about? Cassius Warrington is a Slytherin," Potter spat the name and continued with: "Fleur Delacour is only eye candy." Potter did not deem Viktor Krum worthy of even a mention, apparently. "As for the Goblet, I didn't put my name into the Goblet of Fire. Somebody is attempting to kill me."
Potter explained all the times his past Defense Against the Dark Arts professors attempted to kill her. I found Remus Lupin (werewolf) the most interesting. Apparently, Iris Potter had a run-in with Remus Lupin last year. The Professor forgot his Wolfsbane Potion and was out and about on the full moon! Young Iris refused to speak on this matter, but your reporter has found out that Remus Lupin had almost killed not only Iris Potter but prodigious muggleborn Hermione Granger. This was the same night the dementors nearly sucked out the soul of young Iris, the reason Minister Fudge pulled the dementors from Hogwarts. Apparently, an incredibly powerful Patronus, a doe, had sent the dementors away. Over a hundred dementors, and all repelled by one single person!
Rumor was that Iris Potter herself cast the Patronus, but the details are suspicious. At the age of thirteen, a full Patronus capable of sending off a hundred dementors? Nonsense, I say. Was the rumor spread by Iris Potter herself, a cry for attention perhaps?
Could Albus Dumbledore (see page 4 for reasons why Dumbledore has gone senile) have even done that at that age? An unnamed source says Iris Potter made the whole thing up, that Severus Snape (whose Patronus is a doe, coincidentally) was really the one to do it. I've asked Professor Snape, a modest and humble man, but he's denied that he had any part in chasing away the dementors of that night. Iris Potter also had this to say:
"I plan on winning this tournament, and I'm going to do it purely out of spite. As for what my parents would say, I think they'd be very proud of me."
Proud? Professor Snape has said that James Potter was an attention seeking bully, and that his daughter is the same way. Does this almost confirm that Iris Potter really did put her name into the Goblet of Fire? If she can produce a corporeal Patronus capable of sending off a hundred dementors, why wouldn't she able to trick the Goblet into selecting her as well? If she did indeed lie about being able to cast a Patronus, one must ask themselves why somebody with so much fame wants even more.
The other three champions were much more...
The article went on to actually talk about the other champions a little bit after that, but Iris didn't bother reading it. There was no doubt in her mind that Rita Skeeter purposely made the first part of the article about her. It would turn the other champions against her.
Rita Skeeter: 1 — Iris Potter: 0
She set down the paper and gave a heavy sigh. Her actions had come to bite her in the ass, just as she thought they would. She couldn't even bring herself to be that angry with the paper. Sure, Rita Skeeter would have most likely lied about what she said anyway, but Iris seriously doubted it would have been this bad.
'The Four Champions' and the article goes on to talk about her for the majority of it. No doubt the Slytherins would become even worse; no doubt Fleur would hate her even more; no doubt Krum would — well, Krum would just brood silently. Karkaroff would spout more hate. They were all there and heard what she really said to Rita Skeeter, but the article nonetheless mostly focused on her. She was the reason for the other champions not getting any attention.
And what of the rest of the article? How did she find out about her Patronus? She had only produced a full — corporeal? — Patronus three times in her life. Once by the lake with the dementors, once the day after, to make sure she could do it again, and in the antechamber to shut Fleur up. She supposed somebody who was in the antechamber that day talked about it. Maybe Snape said more than just the bit about her being an arrogant brat. He most likely told Rita Skeeter of all her 'rule breaking' — but she had pissed off Rita only yesterday. Surely she didn't get an interview out of Snape and write out the article so quickly that it arrived in the Prophet this morning?
Iris also wondered about Snape's Patronus. She didn't take a doe to be an ugly, bitter, angry, and greasy animal. Then how did...
An image of Snape pining for her mother came up in her mind but Iris quickly squashed it down. That would be ridiculous.
"Are you done yet?" asked Ginny. "And why do you look like you've ate something — oh no, have Fred and George put something in the food again?"
"No, I was just picturing something unpleasant," Iris said.
"Well, picture something pleasant then and give me back the paper, will you?" Ginny said irritably.
"Why picture it when she's sitting right in front of me?" Iris said, grinning.
"Will you stop flirting with me!" she whispered, her neck reddening.
"Will you stop blushing every time you talk to me?" Iris asked.
Ginny blushed again. "I — that's not fair."
"Say it with me, Ginny. The — books — about — me — aren't — real," Iris said.
"I know that! Just shut up, will you?" Ginny said, then turned back to her food, her face as red as the strawberries on her plate.
Iris turned back to the paper, but saw Hermione staring at her from the corner of her eye.
"Shut up, Hermione."
"I didn't say anything," Hermione said, smiling innocently, then she saw the article detailing what Iris had said. "Iris, tell me these are more lies. You complained to me, just last night, about letting your anger get the best of you and telling the others you were going to win, knowing it wasn't likely. Why would you —"
"Because I'm an idiot," Iris said, jamming her food with her fork. "Not all of it is true. Obviously I didn't say those things about the other champions. Think it? Maybe, but not say it. Though, I did imply something about Fleur. The part about me saying I was going to win was true too. Perhaps I should start on that Occlumency thing."
"Or you could just think before you blurt things out."
"Yeah, yeah," Iris grumbled.
"So some of this was the truth? The article, I mean?"
"Well, she omitted some parts too."
"Such as?"
"Like when I called her a dried up old banana."
Ron snorted and Hermione couldn't stop the giggle from coming out of her.
"She was wearing too much damn yellow, it was ridiculous," Iris said.
"You're ridiculous," Hermione said, still smiling. "We can start the meditation today by the way. Maybe somewhere outside of Hogsmeade."
"You know, I'm already regretting this whole Animagus thing," said Ron. "I wouldn't even know where to begin with meditation. And I'd look like a fool doing it."
"That's what the potions are for, and you wouldn't look like a fool. Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm not being ridiculous," Ron said indignantly. "Sitting there with my legs crossed, hands forming weird symbols — no thank you."
"You don't have to do that ridiculous pose, Ron!"
"Hey Ginny, is 'ridiculous' beginning to sound like a made-up word to you too?" Iris whispered. She rolled her eyes as a blush was the only response she got. Iris zoned out the argument Hermione and Ron had gotten into and began skimming the titles of the Daily Prophet articles, reading any of them she found interesting. Unfortunately, she had to fight the impulse to slam her head on the table as she read. She stopped reading most articles a sentence or two in.
Triwizard Tournament History!
Read about the history of the Triwizard Tournament, some of the previous tasks, the deaths, all the good exciting stuff! As you all...
Disorderly dementors?
The dementors at the British wizarding prison, Azkaban, seem to be growing unruly. Several reports have been made of them becoming restless (not that dementors sleep or really rest at all). Minister Fudge claims that all is well and that the dementors are simply upset that they haven't caught Sirius Black yet, and that…
Potion Waste: The Facts!
Don't waste all those potion ingredients! Even the scraps and bits can be useful, says…
Where is Bertha Jorkins?
Bertha Jorkins, where is she? She's disappeared! Left on purpose or kidnapped? If you've seen her, please contact us at…
Muggles Baffled at Murders! Dark Magic?
Police, or muggle Aurors, have found a family of muggles murdered in their homes. Nothing unusual when it comes to muggles, we assure you, but the way they died certainly is. Their blood seems to have boiled from inside them. A Blood-Boiling Curse, perhaps? Obliviators have been dispatched and…
What's Dumbledore Hiding?
"Muggles slaves, I tell you!" claims Demetri Ratoskiv from the Russian Ministry of…
Stylist Wizard of the Month!
Stylist Witch of the Month!
Strange Mist Falls Over Bar Harbor, MACUSA Mystified
Goblins Demand What?!
Sirius Black Still Loose
Sirius Black, mass murderer and complete madman, is…
Wages for House-Elves?
How Will Iris Potter Fare in the Coming Tasks?
Iris Potter, bumbling idiot and Girl Who Lived, will most likely die in the coming tasks of the...
Who Could Have Really Been Behind the Dark Mark?
Failed Break-In Attempt at Gringotts!
Is Muggle Literature Worth Reading?
Strange Behavior From Barty Crouch?
Multiple witnesses have claimed to see strange behavior from Barty Crouch. Has the man finally begun to lose his mind after the death of his family all those years ago? From freeing his house-elf to mysterious disappearances, to growing paranoia (no longer eating or drinking anything anyone else has prepared for him), one must ask themselves if Barty Crouch has finally lost it. Some are saying his behavior is becoming a lot like that of "Mad-Eye" Moody...
"No bloody wonder," Iris muttered under her breath.
"Hmm?" asked Hermione.
"Whoever reads this steaming pile of shit deserves to be lied to. Honestly, I might be a bumbling idiot from time to time, but Dumbledore keeping muggle slaves in his dungeon? Deaths in the tournament being exciting stuff? Snape, a modest and humble man?" Iris said, looking at the newspaper as though it really was a steaming pile of shit.
"That's why I don't bother reading that rubbish," Hermione said sniffily. "Only when it comes to the Daily Prophet will you hear me say that ignorance is bliss."
"It's just no wonder the wizarding world is full of morons if this is their main source of information. Whatever, you two ready for Hogsmeade?"
The Three Broomsticks, Hogsmeade.
Iris, Hermione, and Ron were sitting in a corner at the Three Broomsticks, drinking butterbeer and discussing ways they could improve Salazar Slytherin's private rooms even more. Ron suggested more red, to match up with the Gryffindor tower even more. Hermione only wanted the books back down there, where only she could read them.
Iris was thinking about bringing down most of the walls, so the library and bedroom would be all one large living room, connected to the potions lab. She was also attempting to teach Hermione and Ron how to say 'basilisk Horn' in Parseltongue. So far, they were only able to say the first word.
It was as the other two were hissing to themselves, a scene that would no doubt look a bit baffling to the average onlooker, that Iris saw Daphne Greengrass walk in with Tracey Davis. She noticed that neither of the two were wearing the badges Draco Malfoy had made over a week ago. 'Support the REAL Hogwarts Champion', it said, and then it would switch to 'Potter Stinks!'
Iris thought it was an incredibly lackluster insult, but she was nonetheless pleased to see the girl she couldn't stop staring at not wearing one.
"You're staring, Iris," came a voice from her left, and Iris turned her head to see Hermione looking at her with a small smile on her lips. Ron was still hissing to himself, not realizing that it was pointless as Iris wasn't paying attention to tell him if he was correct or not.
"Bugger off, I'll stare all I want."
"It's creepy," Hermione said in a singsong voice.
"Creepy?" said Ron, who had finally stopped hissing as the people closest to him began to look at him weirdly. "What's creepy is the two of us hissing to ourselves like a bunch of lunatics. Can't I just summon a snake and tell it to open the bloody thing for me?"
"Not unless you want to put it under the Imperius Curse," said Iris. "I don't even know if that would work though."
"I reckon it's worth the risk of life in Azkaban, don't you?" said Ron, spreading his arms across the back of the bench.
Before Hermione could say anything, Iris jumped in with, "Yeah, but if you're going to be thrown into Azkaban for life anyway, you might as well break any other laws you can. I'd definitely throw the Cruciatus Curse on Snape… Malfoy too, to be honest."
"What is wrong with you two?" Hermione muttered when she saw Ron nodding vigorously along. "You wouldn't go to Azkaban for casting an Unforgivable on a snake."
"I'd probably break into Gringotts just for the hell of it, maybe to ride those carts the way I want," Iris added.
"You're mad if you'd try to break into Gringotts. You'd get caught out instantly, and then your reign of law-breaking would end prematurely," Ron said.
"I'll tell you what would end prematurely," Iris said, looking pointedly at Ron, whose eyes widened and cheeks turned red.
"And the way you want when it comes to riding those carts would lead to your death anyway," Hermione added, pretending to ignore what Iris had just said.
"You two suck, quit ruining my fun," Iris said, pouting mockingly. "If a friend wants to break into Gringotts, you support them!"
But Hermione and Ron weren't playing along anymore, they were staring past Iris with pale faces.
"Excuse me?" came a steely voice from Iris's right. She turned her head around and saw five goblins glaring at her.
"You're excused," she said, taking another drink of her butterbeer. She heard Hermione suck in a breath and saw Ron staring wide-eyed at her.
"Iris!" he whispered. "What the hell? Goblins, they… well, they don't —"
"Don't appreciate humans talking about breaking into our bank," snarled one of the Goblins.
Iris sighed. She didn't want to be a bigot — she really didn't, but out of the four — now nine — goblins she had actually interacted with, every single one of them was an asshole. "Look," she said, "It was a joke. I wasn't really talking about breaking into your stupid bank."
The goblins bared their teeth and one sneered at her, "We don't want your excuses, human."
"What you don't want is to be responsible for starting another war because you decided to harass Iris Potter," Iris said harshly. She looked back at the goblins, who began to squirm at the mention of who she was. "So do my eyes a favor and fuck off, you bunch of humorless overdeveloped abortions. I just recently fixed them and I'd rather not have to do it again."
The entire inn seemed to be quiet now, and Iris felt dozens of eyes on her. She took another sip of her butterbeer and pretended nothing was wrong, ignoring Ron and Hermione who were staring at Iris in horror. She didn't care; every single time she had talked to a goblin in the past, they had tried to swindle her out of her galleons or simply insult her.
They treated each other unpleasantly, maybe she should do the same.
She let out a sigh of frustration at seeing the goblins still standing there in the corner of her eye. She turned to look at them and saw they were all grinning, their zipper-like teeth showing. Iris raised an eyebrow and flicked her wand out from beneath the table. She grimaced when she once again failed to grab it in time. She heard it hit Ron in one of his legs.
"Impressive," one of them said, still grinning. "It's usually creature, vermin, or beast. Worry not human, we know you could never break into our bank," then the goblins sat down at the table next to a bewildered Iris. She looked back to Ron and Hermione and saw they were just as surprised.
"Sounds awfully like a challenge," Iris said casually, and the goblins all stiffened. Iris smirked at them.
One of the goblins leaned over to Iris. "We like to frighten the ones that look weak. It's most entertaining to watch the small ones cower." The goblin grinned maliciously before turned back to his table.
Iris laughed. "You're like four feet tall, you can't intimidate anyone."
The goblin snarled at her. "And your parents are four feet deep, you orphan cunt."
Iris stared, gobsmacked, at the goblin. She didn't know whether to be upset or impressed. When the goblin saw she couldn't respond, he grinned maliciously and turned back to his group.
"Iris, what the bloody hell is wrong with you?" Hermione said.
Iris turned around to stare open mouthed at Hermione.
"Honestly! You complained just today about how you can't shut up when the time is right and now —"
"Did you just hear what that little shit said to me? This is different, every goblin I've met has been a git."
"I won't disagree with any of that," muttered Ron.
Hermione shot him a glare. "It doesn't matter. Rita Skeeter's most likely not done with you. She'll likely insult you with every task that comes around. If we were alone, I'd say tear into them all day if you want, but we're not. The entire inn heard what you had to say. They likely didn't hear anything before the part where you called them a you-know-what! Honestly, could you be any more offensive? Vulgar? Distasteful? They're all going to assume you started to insult a group of goblins for no reason whatsoever. Not only that, but you threw your fame into the mix as well — now they're going to assume Rita Skeeter was right in you relishing in your fame!" Hermione exclaimed in exasperation, all while attempting to bat away a flying beetle.
Iris grimaced. "Oh."
"Oh? You're an idiot. Shut up, just shut up, Iris. From now on, you're going to learn when to shut up. This isn't an argument you're going to win, so keep quiet. Swallow the witty reply and swallow your pride," Hermione said, and she ignored Iris's mutters about what she, Hermione, could swallow instead. "Where did you even come up with that insult?"
Iris shrugged. "It just comes to me. Vernon was always saying things like that, guess it rubbed off on me."
"How often did he say things like that?" Hermione asked, frowning.
"Pretty much all the time," said Iris. "They were mostly aimed at me though. He got disturbingly creative with them — once told me I should have been swallowed. I was eight. Had no idea what it meant at the time, of course."
Hermione stared in horror at Iris, who smiled sadly.
"And that was honestly mild," Iris continued. "He called me a poster child for abortion just last year. And he's nothing compared to Aunt Marge. I'm still hoping she has a heart attack during one of her games of charades with Dudley." She sighed. "S'ppose I shouldn't stoop to his level of insults, but really, I spent ten years around a man who dropped a curse word in almost every sentence. It's rubbed off on me."
"It's been a lot worse this year — your mouth, that is," Hermione pointed out.
"Because everything else has been a lot worse. Sirius was supposed to become free last year, but Pettigrew escaped at the last second to go and join Voldemort again. And now? That prophecy Trelawny gave about Pettigrew rejoining the Dark Lord? The Dark Mark, the disappearances, my name coming out of the Goblet, and I've told you about Sirius's letter — I'm on edge, Hermione.
"Hagrid himself said it, didn't he? Things always seem to happen to me. Even Dumbledore's worried. No, don't interrupt," Iris said, holding up her hand as she saw Hermione open her mouth. "I know Dumbledore more than you. I know when he's just cheerful and when he's faking it. I talked about this in the common room like two weeks ago. I'll still try to control myself when I should, but don't expect me to suddenly go back to first year Iris. I won't. I spent a decade being the good little silent kid, and I'm not going out of my way to continue doing so."
Hermione sighed. "I'm not asking you to. I don't want you to. I'd much rather take the confident Iris over the insecure one who lets people control her life. I get it, I really do. You've rubbed off on me too."
Iris snickered. "Thought we agreed to never speak of that?"
"Oh, for the love of — that's not what I meant, and we've never done that," Hermione said, looking at Ron, but Ron just looked at her with a confused expression. "Sometimes, you really do go overboard. You should apologize to the goblins."
Iris shot a glare at Hermione. "I'd rather grab a niffler and shove a bunch of gold up my —"
"Overboard!"
"No, then," Iris said. "They started it. And I really don't care. Though, I'll admit even I'm surprised my last detention was on the last week of October. I pretty much called Snape a pedophile, and all I got was an angry Dumbledore. I suppose I shouldn't joke about that, but I'd rather get a detention than see anger or disappointment on Dumbledore's face, but regardless, I should have definitely been given a month's worth of detentions for what I said in there."
"You can't get detentions for the rest of the year, Iris," Hermione said.
"You're right, but the point is — wait, what? Why not?" Iris asked, confused and a bit excited.
"Didn't you pay attention when the tournament was announced?"
"Not really."
"Champions can't get detentions as it'll take away time from training and preparing," Hermione said, regretting saying so immediately as Iris's eyes took on an almost mad glint. "But you can still lose points!" she quickly added.
"You know I don't care about house points anymore — they're pointless." After a moment, Iris added, "Pun totally intended."
"No, it wasn't," Hermione said, "and you really shouldn't take this as an excuse to —"
Iris interrupted, smiling dreamily. "This is great. I might excel in diplomacy," — Hermione and Ron snorted — "but I enjoy calling people terrible things more. On my left, there's the boring life — the civil, polite Iris. On my right, however, is the path of anarchy and destruction. I don't think I need to say anything more."
Hermione sighed. "Are you sure you don't come with an instruction manual or something?"
Iris laughed. "Hey Ron, somebody's polyjuiced themselves to look like Hermione. Our Hermione doesn't make jokes."
"You do realize that's how you're going to die, right, Iris? Not by the tournament, but by pissing someone off?" said Ron. "And as of now, that person is Hermione."
"Please, I intend to live forever. And so far, so good."
"Is that a challenge?" joked Ron.
"That's not funny, Ron," said Hermione.
"Hey, our Hermione is back!" Iris said. Hermione smacked her playfully on the arm.
"Bagman's making his way over here," Ron warned, nodding his head past the two girls. Iris turned her head to see that Bagman was indeed making his way right to her. Iris held back a sigh of frustration. What now?
"Oi, Iris, your wand," Ron said, sliding her wand across the table. "Learn how to catch that bloody thing before you take out someone's eye with it."
In an incredible show of maturity, Iris stuck out her tongue at him.
"Ah, Iris! Good-O! Been looking for you!" Bagman said excitedly, taking a seat to Iris's right. Iris noticed that the goblins had left. Strange… She could have sworn she saw them sitting there right before Bagman showed up. Bagman spoke again, "Say, you're the underdog here, right? A feisty one, but an underdog nonetheless! It wouldn't hurt — would it? — if I were to give you a hint for the first task?"
Iris raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Isn't there something saying you can't do exactly that?"
"Well, yes…" Bagman said, looking uncomfortable, "But no one has to know. And you should be prepared! Like I said before, the tournament isn't being toned down for you. If you think about it, if you want to survive, you need to know."
"Need is a strong word," Iris said, downing the rest of her butterbeer. "I think I'm good, sir, but thank you."
"Are — are you sure?" Bagman asked, looking troubled.
"Yes. My turn for questions. Why would a group of goblins want to hide from you?"
"W-what?" Bagman said, suddenly pale. He whipped around in his chair and began turning his head in all directions so quick that Iris was expecting to hear a crack and for him to drop dead. "G-goblins? Where?" he said in a panicked tone. He jumped out from his chair and began walking quickly towards the door. Suddenly, the group of five goblins appeared out of thin air where they had been sitting before and sprinted after Bagman, one of them carrying an actual battleaxe. Bagman yelped and picked up his pace, pushing through students and even knocking some to the ground.
"How did you know they were there for Bagman?" Hermione asked, still staring at the door Bagman and the goblins had just exited through.
"I didn't. I knew they weren't gone though as I could still smell them. I thought it was odd they turned invisible as soon as Bagman walked in. I made a guess," Iris shrugged.
"Hello you three, all good over here?" asked Rosmerta. She had just walked over. The three nodded. "You seem to attract all kinds of trouble, Iris. I can safely say this is the first time I've had goblins chase out a customer. Now I don't want any repeats of last year, you hear?"
"Have a little more faith in me, Rosie," Iris said, smiling.
"Yeah, sure. You three doing all your homework, I hope?" Rosmerta asked. "Your O.W.L.s are next year, you know."
Before Hermione could answer, and before Iris could stop herself, the words came tumbling out of her mouth —
"You're my homework," she said.
Rosmerta looked at her, confused. "Pardon?"
"I'm not doing you, but I should be," Iris said, blushing madly, but keeping eye contact.
Ron choked on his drink, and Hermione's jaw dropped. Rosmerta stared at Iris for a moment — Iris was afraid she'd be called a freak, but then Rosmerta burst into loud laughter. Half of the inn looked in their direction.
"Where in the world did you get a dirty mind like that?" Rosmerta said, still smiling widely.
"Do you really want me to answer that question?" Iris said.
Rosmerta hummed. "No, I suppose not. You're right, don't tell me. But I think I'm a little too young for you, sweetie — not to mention very feminine."
"Very feminine? Take me to one of your rooms and prove it?" Iris asked as bravely as she could, though her face was nearly all pink.
"My my, if you were older — and a man — I'd flirt back with lines like that. But alas, dear girl, you are not." Rosmerta gave another laugh and shook her head with a smile. "Just call for me if you want something to eat or drink, okay?"
As Rosmerta walked away, Iris turned back to Ron and Hermione, who were blushing so deeply that the three could have been called the Red Trio.
"Shameless, huh?" asked Iris with a smirk.
"Utterly," Hermione murmured.
"Teach me," Ron said suddenly with an absolutely determined face.
Iris laughed, "Didn't you hear her? Male and older. Neither of us would stand a chance."
"One of these days, when I'm older and have a beard, she'll come around. You'll see," Ron said, nodding his head.
Iris wondered if Ron was completely okay with her advances towards another woman, or if he was just completely oblivious. Maybe he just assumed she was joking? Maybe she was wrong and the wizarding world didn't care about things like her sexuality? No, no — she had heard students before. It might be because as a lesbian, she wouldn't be able to continue the Potter line, and not really because of the sexuality itself, but nevertheless, Iris thought she was receiving enough hate. Good for those who figure it out, but she certainly wasn't going to reveal it to anyone.
The rest of the day went by in a blur. The three spent some more time in the rest of the shops in Hogsmeade, and eventually found a secluded spot on the outskirts of the village to start meditating. The three took the Essence of Nature potion, one for each of them, and had a go at it. After thirty minutes, Ron gave up and took a nap. Less than an hour later, Iris and Hermione had given up for the day — they had gone nowhere.
Gryffindor Common Room.
The three friends were sitting in front of the fireplace in their common room doing homework. Iris flicked her wand out to check the time — the wand flew through her fingers and right into the fireplace.
"You've got to be —" Iris said as she jumped up and threw her hand into the fire. She withdrew it instantly with her wand clutched in her hand. "What's wrong with me?" she asked to no one in particular.
"You've got to practice," said Ron, and he flicked his wand into his hand with ease. He flicked his wrist the other way and the wand flew back into its holster. He repeated the action again, grinning smugly.
"Tempus Et Diem," Iris said, giving her wand a casual flick. Letters and numbers appeared where she had waved her wand.
12:03 AM
Sunday, November 13, 1994
"I'm going to call Padfoot now," Iris said. She pulled out the mirror Sirius had given her. Looking into it, she sent a pulse of magic into it through her fingers, and at the same time said, "Padfoot."
The rune at the bottom of the mirror glowed, and after a few seconds, Sirius Black's face appeared. Sirius shook his head to clear his long hair out of his eyes and smiled at the sight of his goddaughter — or his goddaughter's forehead, as that was all he could see.
"Uh — Iris? Lower the mirror?"
"Whoops," Iris said as she lowered the mirror so Sirius could fully see her. Sirius looked much better than the last time Iris saw him, but quite frankly, he still looked like shit, and Iris pointed it out. "Wow Sirius, you look like shit."
"Twelve years in Azkaban!" he said. "You wouldn't look too well coming out of Azkaban either!"
"My beauty has no boundaries," Iris said, waving her hand dismissively at the mirror.
"Because you can go from beautiful to ugly in an instant? Yeah, I suppose you're —"
"Shut up, Sirius," Iris said, smiling down at her godfather. "I miss you. You know, it's weird. I've met you literally once in person, but I feel like I already know you a lot."
"Well, I did take care of you when you were a baby —"
"Yeah, yeah, you know what I meant."
"— And we did send quite a few letters. Great minds, the both of us — that's all there is to it. Brilliant jokesters, we are. You and Hedwig bonded almost instantly — why couldn't we?"
"Because you're still a bit of a lunatic," Iris said, throwing her feet on the table in front of her. The impact caused Hermione to push her quill across her parchment, right through her essay. She gave Iris a murderous look.
"Azkaban!" Sirius whined.
"So?"
"So?" Sirius asked in disbelief. "You try going to Azkaban and then after, you can tell me that again."
Iris shrugged. "I imagine it builds character. Once we free you, you can have the whole, 'Oh, woe is me, I spent a decade in prison for a crime I didn't commit,' schtick. Want to know what happens next?"
Sirius nodded warily, but his eyes betrayed his eagerness. Iris had to remind herself that Sirius really did spent twelve years in Azkaban. Animagus or not, it was no surprise that Sirius didn't act his age. Not that Iris really wanted him to — she had enough of responsible adults bossing her around.
"Pity sex, Sirius," Iris said.
"You know, I really don't know if my fourteen year old goddaughter should be trying to convince me to use my own suffering to get lucky," Sirius said, looking down and frowning.
"Just be glad she isn't offering the addresses of brothels," Ron called out.
Sirius gave Iris his hardest attempt at a stern look, one that almost made Iris laugh. "Iris, please tell me Ron is making jokes."
"Of course he is, but you can't seriously expect me to be clueless and naive. I have the Marauder's Map. If I opened it right now, I guarantee you I could find a boy and a girl in a cupboard, the boy's name going just slightly back and forth. I'm in a school full of hormonal teenagers," Iris said. "As much as everybody likes to pretend it doesn't happen, it does — honestly, I'm surprised I haven't seen a pregnant girl yet."
"There are easy contraceptive charms you could learn, that's why," said Hermione, not looking up from her essay.
"This is so bloody weird…" Sirius muttered.
"Sorry Padfoot," Iris said. "You didn't want me to call so you could talk to three teens about… you know."
"You just said it," Sirius said. "What's the problem now?"
"Iris has a problem with blurting things out. Now that she's actually using her brain, she's hesitating," Hermione called out.
Sirius smiled. "James was just like that. Couldn't keep his mouth shut when he needed to. You know, he almost caused another goblin rebellion."
"Dad sounds foolish," Iris said. Hermione and Ron shot her a look, one she ignored.
Sirius chuckled, "He was very foolish in his Hogwarts years. As was I. All of us, really. I suppose Moony was mature and all. Lily too… Alright, it was just James and I that were idiots. Speaking of Lily, she helped make these mirrors, you know."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah. She was great at Ancient Runes and enchanting. That rune at the bottom of the mirror? She drew it and made it work."
"Hey, so I've been reading about Ancient Runes a lot in the past two or so weeks. How exactly is it so complicated? I mean, I haven't looked into it that deeply, but how do some runes take over two decades to master?"
Despite not being able to see her, Sirius's eyes darted over to where Hermione was sitting before Hermione even opened her mouth. "It's not just drawing runes with your wand," Hermione said as she got up to take a look at the mirror. "Take a closer look at the rune on the mirror. See how very small some of the symbols are in there? You'd never be able to draw those manually with your wand. For runes like that — and most runes work this way, as there's very few of them that are so simple that you can simply draw them with your wand — but for most runes, you don't just draw the symbols by moving your wand. You have to visualize the rune and every single detail in your mind — that means that every symbol needs to be in your head as you prepare to place the rune, which just involves pointing your wand at a location and turning your wand with your wrist.
"So for a rune that takes two decades to master, you quite possibly have literally hundreds of symbols you have to learn to visualize all at once. And not just the symbols, but exactly where they go, what they do, how they work, etc. It isn't even worth it for most people. Occlumency, I imagine, must reallyhelp with this. For the rune on your mirror, your mother had to visualize a few dozen symbols all at once and place every symbol where it's supposed to be inside that small circle that's the size of your thumb. Honestly, I'm surprised she was able to. There must be two or three dozen symbols inside the runic circle there. What year was she in, Sirius?"
Sirius, who had been nodding along for the most part during Hermione's explanation, said, "Sixth year."
Hermione opened her mouth in surprise. "Sixth year? Lily could do this in her sixth year?" she asked.
Sirius nodded. "She was a prodigy in Ancient Runes. Became the best in the school in her fourth year, I think. For some reason, she easily got it — easily understood it. I mean, she was plenty good at most other subjects. Got nine O.W.L.s, I think. But her skill at Ancient Runes was incredible for her age. She could have really went somewhere with that, while young too, like Krum did with Quidditch."
Iris frowned at that.
"What?" Sirius asked, noticing it. "Don't like him? I checked him out, he should be fine. Definitely not evil."
"Yeah, well, Krum was the one doing the checking out when it came to me," Iris grumbled. Sirius's eyebrows shot up. "He was leering at me when he first saw me."
"Leer? You mean when he first showed up and looked you up and down?" asked Hermione. After Iris nodded, Hermione exclaimed, "Iris! He wasn't leering at you! Didn't you hear what he said to the person next to him literally right after?"
"Um — no?" Iris said weakly.
"He said, and I quote, 'Oh yes, she does have the build for a good seeker,' you prat!"
Iris opened her mouth in shock and stared at Hermione for a moment, before throwing her face into her hands and groaning. "Oh… my… god… I'm a terrible person…"
Sirius began laughing. "Bit of an ego there, huh?"
"He looked at me and then slowly gazed down my body! I wasn't wearing my robes at the time, so I actually had somewhat of a figure!" Iris exclaimed, her face completely red from shame and embarrassment. "Oh my god, I'm a terrible person," Iris repeated. "He fell down the stairs, and I laughed! He must think I'm evil — I'm going to have to apologize next time I see him…"
"Speaking of Krum though," Sirius said, "I think he's okay. Watch out for Karkaroff though. Dumbledore told me you saw the memory of his trial — just make sure you don't end up alone with him — any of you."
"Wait, you're talking with Dumbledore?" Iris asked.
"Of course. He's trying to do what he can to get me a trial, but without Pettigrew, we can't do much," Sirius said bitterly.
"Why can't they just give you Veritaserum?" asked Iris.
"Veritaserum can —" Sirius and Hermione both said at the same time. Hermione beckoned Sirius to talk instead.
"Veritaserum can be fooled if one is good enough at Occlumency. You can't tell outright lies, exactly. I wouldn't be able to say that — oh, I don't know… let's say that I'm under Veritaserum and I want to tell the Wizengamot that my animagus form is a white horse. I wouldn't be able to do that no matter what. What I could do, however, if I was a master Occlumens, is throw every memory I have of being a black dog into a mental safe of sorts, and lock it tight. If the Occlumency barriers are strong enough, Veritaserum won't get to it — meaning that I would be able to trick my brain into believing that I have no knowledge of being a black dog animagus. Get it?"
"So if I was a master Occlumens, I could technically say my name isn't Iris Potter?"
"Well, that would be extremely difficult as you'd have to block out every memory of you being called that," said Sirius.
"What if I did manage to lock away every memory of being called Iris? Would I be able to say that my name was Vivienne Potter, as my first name would have just been… missing?"
"Hm," Sirius said with a thoughtful look, as did Hermione. "You know, I think so."
"And what if I decided to make up a fake name for myself? Would I be able to throw out Iris Vivienne Potter and let the fake name remain, letting me say a completely made-up one?"
Sirius let out a chuckle, "You know, I really can't tell if you're more your father's daughter or your mother's. That kind of brilliance definitely comes from your mother though — not that your father was dimwitted or anything — no, the exact opposite. It's just that your mother was very intelligent and resourceful. She'd be the type of person to come up with something like that. But yeah, I imagine that would work, if you could hypothetically remove all instances of your real name from your mind. But I doubt even Voldemort would be able to do that. Speaking of names though, how's your Animagus process going? Right now, I've got to say, 'Daughter of Prongs', to call you on your mirror, but I'd like to change that to your Marauder name as soon as we see what your Animagus form is."
"Marauder name?" Iris asked, still smiling from what Sirius had said about her parents.
"Of course, daughter of Prongs," Sirius said, smiling. "I've got to say I almost cried with happiness seeing you sign your first letter with that. But we've got to wait until you actually transform first. Your name has to be based on your form, obviously. Moony for the moon, Wormtail for the worm-like tail that coward had, Prongs for the antlers, and Padfoot for obvious reasons. I hope you're a toad or something — I'd never let you live that down."
"I'm not going to be a toad!" Iris said firmly, pointing a finger at Sirius playfully.
Sirius laughed, "Well, you're sure as shit not going to be a dragon."
"Sirius!" Iris whined. "I told you not to dash my hopes!"
"Relax, you're not going to be a toad. Definitely not a dragon either, don't be silly. If I had to guess… you're not arrogant, but you still prefer to be held in a positive light, so something only somewhat majestic or prideful. That's one of the reasons your father was a stag, you know, his pride. You enjoy flying more than your father, and given your childhood, that's most likely due to the need to experience freedom, which will likely play a role too. If I had to guess, I'd say some large bird. A hawk, eagle, falcon…"
Iris nodded slowly, liking the idea of being a bird, and a little surprised to hear Sirius accurately breaking down her down — specifically the need to be free.
After a moment, Sirius added with a grin, "Or maybe a parrot? Or turkey?"
"If I'm a turkey, I want you to kill me and then roast me."
"I'm not even going to respond to that. I don't know though, we'll see soon enough I imagine."
"Soon enough? Doesn't it take most a year?" Iris asked, bemused.
"For most, yeah. But Remus tells me you learned the Patronus in less than a year when you were thirteen. Casting a Patronus takes a lot of mental focus. A lot. I was able to cast one before Azkaban, but I can't anymore — not yet, at least. Azkaban really messed my head up. The meditation part is what gets people the most. Most just can't get past that early stage. But it takes mental focus, and you have it, and you said you've been doing it for years now. Maybe not with the potions, but still... I wouldn't be surprised if you can do it before school ends — if you actually put time and energy into it. The irresponsible side of me says to tell you to do so. The other side, however, says you need to focus on this tournament."
"Remember Fluffy?" Iris asked.
Sirius looked puzzled at the sudden turn of conversation.
"Fluffy, the three-headed dog in my first year, and the flute?" At Sirius's realization and nod, Iris continued. "Hagrid hinted about Fluffy being in the first task. I've learned the Summoning Charm. Well, mostly. I can easily get my flute, but the heavier objects are a bit harder. I'm slowly getting better though. We can only go in with our wands, but there's no rules saying I can't Summon the flute in — maybe I can Summon Dumbledore?" Iris said, rubbing her chin in thought.
"You can't Summon people. Doing so will just result in you flying towards them," Sirius said.
Iris smiled at Hermione apologetically. "Trust me, I know."
"Though... I don't think a three-headed dog is all they'd have for a task," Sirius said, frowning.
"Oh, definitely not. I think dragons are involved on top of —"
"Dragons?!" Sirius yelped.
Iris nodded. "Charlie Weasley works with dragons, and he said he'd see us soon. Not only that, but I questioned Hagrid on it. He began sweating and then ran out of his hut and refused to talk to me for the rest of the day. And three days ago, Moody said something about how my Patronus is impressive and could possibly distract a big beast. I haven't confirmed it yet, but it seems likely. That's why I've been starting to practice the Dragonfire Shield Charm, y'know, the one with the incantation, Praesidio Incaendium."
Sirius's eyebrows shot up. "I don't know the incantation, but dragonfire shields? Didn't it take you months to learn the Patronus? I'm sure you could learn it, but in this amount of time…"
"Yes, but Professor Lupin only had the time for about one hour a week on the lessons. I'll be practicing it nearly every day for more than an hour if I can for the next ten days. When I first started, the shield was the size of a galleon. After a day of practicing, it was the size of my fist. That was ten days ago. Now, I can produce it to a size to completely cover my body. Of course, I need to have it not only cover my front but above me, below me, my sides, and most of my back. Hermione shot a jet of fire at me two days ago, and the shield held firm — the fire just splashed out to the sides of me.
"We started brewing burn-healing potions, so don't worry. I just have no idea what else to learn, Padfoot." Iris sighed. "I couldn't possibly learn any spells that would be capable of actually taking down the dragon, so I have to rely on defense while I do whatever the bloody hell it is they want me to do. My dragonfire shield didn't have any trouble holding up against Hermione's fire, except the time when… well, don't worry about that. And dragonfire is..."
"Dragonfire is much, much fiercer, yeah," Sirius said, finishing Iris's sentence. "Dragonfire can roast you alive in seconds. Hermione's can't. Learn the Conjunctivitis Curse if you want another weapon against a dragon."
"I'll take any weapon," Iris muttered to him.
"As you should. Their weak spots are their eyes, but you still won't be able to learn any spells to pierce them — and I doubt the organizers would be happy if you killed one of their dragons. The incantation for the spell is 'Vexo Oculorum.' Write it down. No wand movement or anything. If you're brewing potions, brew the Oculus Potion. You'll have to practice the Conjunctivitis on someone, and it would be terrible of you to not at least have the Oculus Potion ready for Snape when he needs it," Sirius said, smirking wickedly.
Hermione stopped writing down what Sirius was staying. "Maybe we don't to learn that spell, Iris?" she said, pleading in her eyes.
"Bugger off, Hermione, the school is going to hear my name screamed louder than ever soon," Iris said. "What better way to practice getting past a dragon than going up against the next worst thing? Snape. I turned his robes pink for the tenth time just three days ago. I also clean his hair for him, at least as much is possible with that spell. For some reason, that alone gets him angrier than almost anything else I use on him. He shouldn't be complaining."
Sirius snickered. "Snape takes his potions brewing seriously. I think he purposely puts something on his hair to make it less of a fire hazard. You should ask him."
"Only if you ask Fudge why insists on wearing that ridiculous green bowler hat," Iris said.
"Ooh, fair enough."
Iris changed the subject. "What else did you find out about the other champions?"
"Not much. Cassius Warrington's father was a Death Eater, one of the ones who got off on claims of the Imperius — and maybe he was under the Imperius, we'll never know. Of course, my family turned out to be a bunch of Death Eaters too, so while I wouldn't be alone with Cassius, he might be okay. Already talked to you about Krum and Karkaroff. Madame Maxime is fine, and so is Fleur Delacour."
"She's amazing," sighed Ron, his face dreamy. Hermione started muttering under her breath.
"Ignore him, he starts drooling anytime Fleur comes near him," Iris said. "Listen, what were you talking about in the letter? The disappearances, the strange tidings," Iris said, failing to completely hold back a giggle.
"What's so funny?" Sirius asked.
"Strange tidings, Sirius? You were being so dramatic!" Iris burst out in laughter.
"I was not!" protested Sirius, but he looked to be fighting back a smile. "I sent off that letter when I discovered something disturbing, so I was a bit twitchy and unsettled. And if someone got a hold of that letter, they'd know something was happening and about the mirror. Now listen, are you alone?"
At Iris's reassurance that she was indeed alone, Sirius continued: "Okay, so there was the disappearance of Bertha Jorkins. She disappeared while in Albania, Iris. Dumbledore said his last sources told him that Voldemort was rumored to be roaming the Southeastern European countries. Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia, and Albania. In Northern Albania, specifically the village of Vermosh, muggles have been finding a lot dead animals with no exterior wounds there. Their insides, however, have been either melted or seriously damaged. The brains blackened, as well. Possession. Voldemort's been likely possessing animals to keep himself alive or something.
"Since I couldn't stay in Britain, I went and checked myself — talked to some of the villagers. Vermosh is a small village, Iris. There's a couple hundred people living there, if even that. And on top of the dead animals, there's been a dozen disappearances from there."
"You went to Albania to track down Voldemort?" Iris asked, her eyes wide.
"Yes. I had a portkey with me in case I actually encountered him, don't worry. Even in his wraithlike state, I wouldn't dare try anything. Dead animals, talk of ritualistic drawings made in blood in the forests, dead or missing muggles, all in a place Dumbledore thought Voldemort was residing in. I'll be honest, I was too on edge to actually go into the forests alone to find the ritual sites. But what was made clear to me, however, was that Voldemort had left by the time I got there, if he truly was there. Or so I think.
"Dumbledore also thinks he's back in Britain. He thinks your name coming out of the goblet has something to do with Voldemort. He isn't sure if it's some elaborate plot or if it's just a casual attempt at getting you killed. For all we know, he sneaked one of his men into Hogwarts, had them confound the goblet, and then left. It would be an easy way to have you dead without raising many suspicions. Albus didn't want me telling you this, but I don't care — he lost the right to decide on any non-school related manners when he placed you with the Dursleys. Speaking of that, I don't care if Dumbledore throws a tantrum, you're not going back to the Dursleys this summer."
Iris gave Sirius a weak smile.
"There's more," said Sirius. "The dementors at Azkaban are becoming restless for some reason — "
"I read a little about that in the Daily Prophet today," interrupted Iris.
"Well, they've got one thing right for once. Called Dumbledore a slaver, you a bumbling idiot, and don't even get me started on that Rita Skeeter article. I'm assuming it's completely lies?"
"For the most part, yeah," said Iris. "I did say I was going to win, even if it was purely out of spite. But when she asked how my parents would feel about me entering myself in the tournament, I told her that they'd tell her to go fuck herself. She obviously didn't put that in."
Sirius let out a chuckle and muttered about her father again.
"Right," he said. "Well, the dementors are getting restless and I'm not sure why. There's been a few muggle murders in Britain too — definitely dark magic. Most likely one of Voldemort's servants having some fun."
"What about that strange mist I read about? In a place called Bar Harbor?" Iris asked.
"Oh, Bar Harbor is in the States. That's likely not connected."
"And Barty Crouch's odd behavior?"
"No clue," Sirius said, shrugging his shoulders. "Moody and Crouch really aren't that far off when it comes to paranoia and a fierce need to throw Death Eaters in Azkaban. Bastard didn't even give me a trial."
"Who else even knows you're innocent?" Ron asked.
"You three, Dumbledore, Remus, McGonagall. Though, I don't know if Dumbledore meant he had told McGonagall or if McGonagall had just believed I was innocent this whole time. That's really it though"
"You should work on that," said Iris.
"Ha, ha, very funny," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "You lot should get some sleep. Or don't? I don't really know how to do this whole responsible guardian thing. Either way, I've got to go. I have to get up early tomorrow. I could be back in Britain soon, but Dumbledore is asking me to do a bunch of things along the way, and that'll hold me off for a couple weeks or a few months. We'll have the mirrors though, okay? You be careful. All three of you. Your grandparents talked about how it felt before the first war started. It feels like this. Though, of course, no one at the time thought it would lead to anything. No, they all thought it was nothing. After all, why would a few isolated incidents mean anything? But if you know where to look, if you can see the connection... Just stay safe."
Iris nodded solemnly. "Call me whenever you can, Sirius. I'll pick up if I can."
Hogwarts Grounds.
Iris downed the Essence of Nature potion and closed her eyes. Last time, she got nowhere, but there was the distant chatter of students in Hogsmeade last time, and she hadn't tried all that hard. There were only the sounds of nature now. Keeping her eyes shut, she let the rest of the world bleed away.
There was a cool breath of air. She felt it breeze through her black hair and she inhaled. It felt different, somehow, from the other deep breaths she had taken in her life. This one felt fresher, cleaner, more personal. She felt the tension in her shoulders slowly die away. The groaning of trees and the rustles of leaves, the swaying of the grass and the chirps of birds — Iris began to focus in on all of it. They all became more distinct, and yet at the same time, Iris didn't have trouble keeping track of it all at the same time.
Her lungs expanded as she let in another breath of fresh air in. The sounds of nature began to slowly fade away until it was all distant. It all sounded as though Iris was really on the Astronomy Tower, far away from the sounds of nature with the exception of the wind. Only the thoughts of how she felt, the distant sounds, and the sensation of floating seemed to float about in her nearly empty mind.
She had no desire to stop. Iris was lost in the feeling of the most pleasant relaxation — it was almost as if she was under a mild Imperius. There was even a faint sound of something in the winds, almost like a —
"Iris?"
Her eyes snapped open. The first thing she noticed was that the sky was not the blue the sky usually was in midday. There was some blue, but mostly orange and pink. It was sunset. The second thing she noticed was Hermione kneeling in front of her, looking concerned.
"Iris, are you okay?" she asked.
"It's sunset," Iris said.
"Yes…" Hermione said slowly, looking a bit more concerned. "Where have you been? I've been looking for you for hours."
"It's sunset?" Iris asked again, feeling a bit concerned herself. She had sat down to meditate at five. She had done homework and practiced the Summoning Charm from noon to four-thirty, and had walked out of the castle to meditate in what only felt like ten minutes ago. Had over three hours really passed?
Iris opened her mouth to speak, realized she didn't know what to say, then closed her mouth.
"Iris? Do you need to go to the infirmary?" Hermione asked.
"What? No, no, I just meditated longer than I realized. Praesidio Incaendium time!" Iris said, getting up.
The two found themselves by the lake, as they didn't think it was necessary to go all the way down to Slytherin's Chambers, as they called it.
Iris stood in front of Hermione and prepared herself to perform the dragonfire shield. She didn't think it was a good sign that she had to spend around ten seconds preparing herself to cast it — she doubted the dragon would give her so long, but she couldn't do it otherwise.
To cast the shield, she had to first make herself believe she really was about to be engulfed by a raging fire. Iris hoped this part would be made easier when she was actually facing the dragon, but she wasn't sure. She visualized an inferno around her and let fear fill her in a similar way she'd let joy fill her when she wanted to cast a Patronus. And then, right before she drew her wand in a wide circle, she squashed that fear with a feeling of warmth, but in a protective warmth.
"Praesidio Incaendium!"
A shield of a watery aqua-green substance formed in front of Iris. It started at the size of a plate, but grew to be large enough to cover a fully grown adult within two seconds. Iris noticed that unlike before, the shield was beginning to cover not only her front, but a small bit of the her sides as well. The goal was to have it cover at least ninety percent of her body, including her back, but it was definitely an improvement.
Despite being semitransparent, Iris could still see through the shield enough to see Hermione preparing to cast fire in her direction. Iris focused on the feeling of warmth and protection, like a thick blanket would give on a cold night.
"Incendio," she heard Hermione say.
A small ball of fire splattered against her shield.
"Incendio!" Hermione shouted, and a larger ball of fire flew into Iris's shield, and was dissolved into the shield as soon as the fire touched it.
"Stronger, Hermione!" Iris called out.
"Ignem Perpetua!"
A jet of fire struck her shield, and Iris was nearly forced to take a step back from the sudden pressure of air her own shield shot out on her side. She felt her shield faltering after a few seconds of Hermione's fire, and she focused even harder.
Her shield strengthened and began to expand, covering nearly half of her sides. After a few more moments, Hermione let up, and Iris dropped her shield.
"That was excellent, Iris!" Hermione beamed with pride. "The last spell didn't get as close as last time on getting through. I felt a lot more resistance in the magic. Want to try the big one?"
Iris nodded tiredly. Like the Patronus, this spell was mentally taxing. She raised her wand, focused on the mental aspect of the spell, and cast it once more. She let it build up as much as she thought she could before giving Hermione a shout to perform the next spell, which a textbook said would send a fire variant of a battering ram. It was more of a mix between the Banishing Charm and a strong Fire-Making Spell. Last time Hermione had tried it, her shield had broken instantly and Iris became a flaming fireball as she was blasted back into the pool of water they had set up. She had to take a trip to the hospital wing that night.
Iris had the Great Lake to her back this time.
Hermione turned sideways, drew her wand back to her chest, and shouted, "Arietes Augue!"
A square of fire, which almost looked like magma, appeared in front of Hermione, who thrust her wand forward. The square of fire instantly lengthened to a rectangular prism the size of Hermione's arm. It flew forward at an incredible speed and slammed into Iris's shield.
The shield shattered and Iris was once again flung back. Only this time, she wasn't engulfed in flames — her shield had managed to absorb most of it.
Iris rose from the water, dripping wet.
"We're casting a Warming Charm on the lake next time," Iris said, shivering.
Hermione giggled. "You can't cast a Warming Charm on the entire lake."
"Then I'll shoot fire at it until this small part warms up. I'll be damned if I jump into the bloody lake when it's cold again."
The two went at it again for another hour before they headed back to the castle. They had class in the morning.
Iris spent the following weekdays going to class, meditating, and practicing spells. She had completely mastered the Summoning Charm. She and Hermione had agreed that Summoning her broom against the dragon could work if all she had to do was get past it. And so, she spent most of her time on shielding against dragonfire. She also took some time to practice a few offensive spells.
By Friday, the eighteenth of November, Iris was able to hold off against six of Hermione's flaming battering rams before her shield broke. She was even able to cast 'Arietes Augue' almost to Hermione's level. Hermione, instead of practicing the dragonfire shield, had practiced that spell instead, so they could give Iris a real test.
Spells weren't the only thing Iris had improved on. Her meditation was coming along much faster than she and Hermione would have thought. Hermione took a guess and said it was because Iris had spent so much time meditating in Surrey. She had also spent several hours a day in her trance, and that might have helped. She didn't even need the Essence of Nature potion to enter her trance anymore. She hadn't used one since Tuesday, but she decided to use it again today, as she wasn't having too much luck in finding her 'beacon'.
Iris was currently sitting by the large oak tree near the Great Lake. She drank the Essence of Nature, and sat down to begin. After taking multiple deep breaths and emptying her mind, she was already in her trance. The distant feeling settled in, and Iris was surprised to notice that this time, with the Essence of Nature no doubt helping her, she was much more aware of her surroundings.
There was that faint sound in the wind again. By now, Iris had been able to focus in on it and had found out it was a whispering of sorts, almost a melody. The moment she heard it this time, she latched onto it. She ignored all other sounds, all other feelings — it seemed like the right thing to do, and she focused in on the very distant whispering melody. As she pulled herself to it, it almost felt as though it was doing the same…
Almost as if it was calling to her.
Two hours later, what felt like five minutes to Iris, she had managed to completely isolate the calling. A part of her was very curious as to — no, she had to focus. There was time for speculation later. She was afraid she'd lose the connection instantly if she had so much as a stray thought. This fear itself made her feel the connection loosen, and she emptied her mind again.
Suddenly, her magic felt like it exploded. She felt it latch onto something, a feeling she had never felt before, something she couldn't even begin to describe. Either the distant melody was all of a sudden right next to her or her magic was singing.
It intensified.
The connection grew stronger, until it felt like it would burst from what Iris could only describe as a magical vibration.
And then, it suddenly settled to a calm.
Iris reached out and felt the connection, and it was no longer a vibration, but a wavy pulsating feeling. She didn't know how she knew, but she did. It was just like her dad's journal said; she would just know.
She was ready for the next step.