~Italic~ - Parseltongue
'Italic' - Mind Speech
'Italic' - Citation from book
In this chapter, we continue to see the caring and witty character of Daphne. In addition to that, a few characters are introduced from my imagination and they had no counterpart in the canon. I hope, you will enjoy it!
November 3, 1994
It feels great when you don't have to bear with two-faced people, like Hermione who screams at the top of her voice about the discrimination muggleborn face yet she never raised her eyebrows when Delacour was leered and pointed out as Veela or a half-breed. The estrangement between him and Hermione has been a relief as it allowed him to perceive the magical world and magic from a different viewpoint and build upon his own beliefs and understanding. His friendship with Ron existed because he mindlessly followed Ron without any objection like taking up Divination for an easy OWL, playing chess even if he kept on losing and talking about Quidditch day and night even if they had piles of assignments to complete.
This self-imposed isolation brought him the much required mental peace and saved him from the wrath of Hufflepuffs who were hell-bent on teaching him some lesson as he stole their glory while Slytherins just needed a reason to hex him. On his way back to the Room of requirements, he once heard Malfoy saying, "My father says that Potter won't survive five minutes in the first task. I made a bet with him saying that he won't even survive a minute in the task," which incensed him even though he ignored him and went on with his job.
It was 7:00 p.m. when he was patiently waiting for Daphne and her companions. To ease himself, he started to read a book on wandlore which he had borrowed from the library on the recommendation of the Sorting Hat. By the time he completed the initial few pages, the door cracked open and Daphne walked in followed by a young Ravenclaw while talking to a senior Gryffindor who was beautiful and radiated confidence. The boy seemed familiar as he shared some of the initials with his godfather, with similar physical build, cheekbones and wavy hair. With a flash, that boy drew out his wand and fired a stunner which Harry hastily veered.
Then he rolled to use the chair as a cover that was blasted the next moment leaving himself thoroughly exposed. It caused him to reassess his situation and with a whirl of the wand, he propelled the chips in his opponent's direction and started to fire ~Stupefy~ blindly in the forward direction. The Ravenclaw guy was in his vision furthermore he was continuously firing without missing a beat with high accuracy that Harry avoided due to his insane seeker skills. With a flick of his wand, he summoned a brick wall behind his opponent that hit him and propelled him forward. Before his opponent could gather his bearings, Harry fired a ~Stupefy~ rendering his opponent unconscious.
Out of nowhere, a flock of birds dived at great speed towards him which he avoided by firing an overpowered ~Depulso~ and blast of ~Incendio~ at the animations that incinerated them. Then he came face to face with his next opponent, sixth or seventh year Gryffindor, who seemed to be a professional from her stance. "Are you going to just ogle at me or fire something at me?" she said confidently and fired three stunners without any break while moving methodically around her location. Harry whispered ~Protego~ and a greenish shield appeared in front of him to hold on to the barrage of incoming spells and gave up after getting hit by a fifth one. He again conjured a shield that met the same fate and realised that there was a need for a change of strategy while dealing with a superior opponent. He switched to the offence while dodging the incoming curses by an inch. His hex found his mark which was deflected without any trouble.
He again fired ~Titillando~ which met the same fate as the previous one however Harry had just added a new trick in his hat to cement this skill he needed one more chance to observe this trick and for that he shot, ~Colloshoo~ followed by ~Stupefy~ which were deflected without even breaking a sweat by his opponent. His opponent was completely taken back by the pathetic choice of Harry's spell although his hissing sound was raising the hair on her back. She had enough of his hissing and dismal repertoire of spells and decided to end the duel and brought her A-game into the duel.
Curses and hexes were released effortlessly from her wand which would have scared anyone although Harry remained steady on his ground while deflecting and dodging simultaneously. Suddenly one of her deflected banishing charm hit her back with full force and she hit the ground. It angered her and she rose as a lioness rise after a slumber in search of prey. Harry knew he was going to be punished for his action and readied himself even though he had a deep gash on his right thigh and a cut on his left shoulder. This time his opponent went all out on him and methodically attacked him with Aguamenti drenching him completely followed by Glacius that froze his bits. Even before his wand hand was frozen he fired the hot air charm using ~Calidum aerem~ on himself to melt and evaporate the snow.
His opponent was impressed by his ingenuity and smiled at him however Harry was not in a forgiving mood and he fired ~Confringo~ which was intercepted by a chair summoned by the older girl. Even before those splinters hit the ground, he twirled his wand and transfigured them into thin needles and then banished them towards her. Then she yelled "IMPEDIMENTA!" to stop the projectiles mid-air along with moving to a new location showing that she is something like Krum in the field of Duelling. By the time she had taken the offensive stance, Harry had transfigured the debris into dwarfs with swords in their hands which he hardened using ~Duro~ and tried to animate them using ~Piertotum Locomotor~. His actions amused her albeit she ended up his misery by firing "Expulso!" at the dwarfs which knocked him back and made him unconscious.
When he started to regain his composure he was hit with a flowery smell mixed with the odour of spring and fresh dew on the grass.
"You had to go all out on him, Samantha. He is not a professional like you," he heard those words while getting aware of his surroundings. Even before he completely opened his eyes Daphne scolded him, "What had gotten into you? You almost exhausted your magical core. You are not infallible."
"I am fine. I am fine," Harry replied while trying to get up.
"Stay back," she pushed him back and said, "Don't move until I say so. And you are not fine." With this, she moved her wand while muttering something and his injuries healed themselves. After ten minutes she said, "Now, you are better but not fine," and got up to occupy an empty chair.
"Umm…Potter, you can get up now," said the older Gryffindor who backed away under the glares of Daphne. After Harry occupied a seat he realised that the Ravenclaw was looking at him with awe and the Gryff with some respect except Daphne had some strain on her face. He held himself from asking her about the reason for her worry in front of all people.
"Not bad for a rookie Potter! If I hadn't known better, I must have mistaken that someone must have trained in the art of duelling," she then turned towards Daphne and said, "I would train him in duelling after 3:00 in the noon daily this week and the next week. After that, it would be on a more alternate basis," this increased the strain on Daphne's face after which the older girl added, "I will go soft on him for this week. Don't worry dear sister." With this, she got up and hugged Daphne, then extended her hand to Harry and said, "Samantha Roberts. See you tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. next to charms class." Harry shook her hand back and said, "I will not disappoint you," at which she nodded and left the place.
"There is more to what is known to common folk about you, Mr. Potter. Riegel O. Clarke at your service," with this he also extended his hand and Harry shook it and said, "My friends call me Harry."
"Then you can call me Riegel, Harry." After this, he turned toward Daphne and said, "Miss Greengrass, I would like to honour the agreement between your family and myself by helping him in the physical training and swordsmanship."
"Swordsmanship!"
"Yes, it would greatly help in animation at which he failed today," he continued enthusiastically, "We all know that magic is about intent, and it finds its application predominantly in transfiguration. If you have a clear intent of what you want to achieve then you could easily attain it." After explaining them, he got up and said to Harry, "Tomorrow morning on the far end of the lake," and left the room even before Harry could raise his voice to say something.
"Samantha is my brother's fiancé and she is from State, both of them met on her first ride to Hogwarts and fell in love in her fourth year. She is an international duelling champion and protégé of Professor Flitwick in duelling. The previous year Clarke was being bullied and beaten by some of the upper years of Hufflepuff and Gryffindor as they mistook him for the son of Sirius Black. Then my brother saved him from their wrath," said Daphne as the frown on his face had increased due to the abrupt departure of Riegel. He pondered about her last few statements and had a feeling that those Gryffindors were not wrong in spite he ignored that.
"Where were the professors when he was bullied?" he asked with slight irritation.
Daphne replied, "Where are they when you are bullied?" that further annoyed him yet he asked her, "Why are they so forthcoming to help me in this endeavour?"
"Samantha is like a sister to me and very soon will be after her marriage. Clarke owed my brother a favour which I cashed. Also, he gained your friendship which is an added perk for him and we will have an extra wand and brain in the time of need," Daphne explained to him as they were simple facts.
"I get it! But why are calling in all your favours for me? What are you going to gain by helping me?" Harry asked impatiently.
"A friend," Daphne said feebly. 'And something more'
"You are delusional, everyone in the school knows that I broke the bond of friendship between Granger, Weasley and me that had stood the test of blood and gore without any remorse then why do you demand friendship from a dishonourable and disloyal person," Harry said with an increased temper.
"How can you say so? If your friends can't appreciate your ambition, if they hinder your growth, emotionally blackmail and belittle you to gain their ambition via you or badmouth you then it makes them dishonourable and disloyal, not you. For the last two months, you never said a word about Granger's whining or Weasley's jealousy which is pretty much evident to every fourth year. If I were you, I would have left that toxic relationship within a week nonetheless you tried to remain their friend," said Daphne with anger and frustration.
"Very apt deduction Miss Greengrass. You are on a path to become far better than the person I envisioned when I placed you in Slytherin," a voice came from the dark corner that startled her. "Don't be startled, milady. Young lord, if you would be kind to bring me from darkness to light," then Harry flicked his wand and summoned the hat to himself.
"I thought that you had failed in obtaining the sorting hat," she squealed and greeted the sorting hat, "Hello, Mr. Hat."
"You have got some etiquette milady. I hope that you would rub some of it on this uncouth fellow," it replied with the same vigour.
"I will try my best however one can only teach if the student is willing to learn," she said while winking at him.
"Very correct, very correct!" then it turned towards Harry and said, "It is dishonourable of you to keep a young lady after the curfew. I would advise you to escort her to Slytherin dorms safely. If it is convenient to my dear lady, then may I remain in your dorms for this night," it said with slight mischief in his voice.
~HAT!~ Harry growled.
"I have got some balls unlike you milord," it replied defiantly.
~What are you trying to imply imbecile? ~ Harry said with his clenched fist.
"Ahem!" Daphne coughed to catch their attention with raised eyebrows.
"Oh, my lady! I didn't wish to offend you. I was trying to motivate this uncouth fellow to make a move on you at which I desperately failed," Hat replied with fake disappointment in his voice. Harry became red at this comment and started to mumble something under his breath. Even Daphne had a shade of shyness on her face that she hid by drawing a lock of hair behind her ears.
"You are a bit crude Mr. Hat?" Daphne said meekly to hide her shyness and to change the topic she asked, "Do you have a name, Mr. Hat?"
"Ladon, milady. This uncouth and crude sentient was named Ladon by its creator," it said while bowing down his tip.
"You never said about your name," said Harry while drawing it near to his face.
"Just I said, you lack etiquette. I just added to the never-ending list of things you need to learn. Milady, it would be an honour to teach this tramp some mannerism along with you if it is fine with you." Hat replied with a huff at which Daphne nodded while giggling.
"I can handle only a small amount of humiliation for a day, hat. Daphne, you can keep this piece of shit. I would warn you that this plebeian can corrupt the finest of the finest," said Harry with irritation and slight anger.
"Who told you that I am holier than Holy River?" said Daphne with slight mischief glistening in her eyes.
"It has corrupted you," he said with a scowl while getting up from his seat and moving towards the gate. Then he withdrew the map and checked for safe passage while covering all three of them with his cloak and headed towards Slytherin's dorm. After seeing a piece of parchment, Daphne became curious about it yet withheld herself from asking questions that he appreciated mentally. After arriving at their destination, he placed his finger on her soft silky lips and whispered, "See you tomorrow at 7 in the evening. I have my plate full tomorrow so you can keep the plebeian with yourself," then he turned towards hat and said, ~Ladon, Behave! ~ At which Ladon blew raspberries at him.
Even before he could part, Daphne pulled him closer to herself and gave a soft kiss on his lips and then said with a lovely smile, "See you then!" Her smile turned into a peal of full-blown laughter when she saw the shit-eating grin on his face. He then moved forward and pulled her closer while snaking his arm around her waist and started to kiss her with all love and affection he had without holding back that she reciprocated in full by engulfing him in the lock of her hair with her arms around her neck. After two minutes, they parted away and both of them had a shade of shyness, love and warmth on their face. For the next few moments, they just stared at each other in an attempt to drown themselves in the love and warmth of each other.
"I think we should go," Daphne said under her breath with disappointment at which Harry nodded grudgingly and caressed her soft cheeks then said, "See you, Daphne!" Daphne then got out of the cloak and headed inside her dorms while Harry stood there for the next few minutes until Daphne was safe in her room.
When he woke up, he was ecstatic about the moment he had shared with Daphne. He relived those moments in his mind for a minute and started to get ready for the training. Within fifteen minutes, he was at the destined location near the lake where Riegel was already exercising. Upon seeing Harry, he smiled and said, "I almost thought that you might not come," at which Harry smirked and said, "I also had the same feeling."
"First, we will make a few rounds of the lake followed by some exercise. I would recommend you to have more healthy food like fruits, vegetables and meat for an overall supply of nutrition and cut out the excess fat." After that, he sped off, shortly followed by Harry. If not for the insane Quidditch training regime he followed, he would have given up in between. Riegel was astonished at first at his performance then he realised that Harry was a quidditch player so he must have a training regime to maintain his performance.
Harry had a long day ahead as after regular class the training session with Samantha was like hell. She made it clear that he ought to master non-verbal casting if he wished to train with her. For an hour and a half, she made him do target practice non-verbally. By the time he arrived at the room of requirement to meet Daphne he was exhausted and fell asleep. When Daphne saw his condition she called for Dobby and left a note in his pocket.
"It's ok, it was your first day.
It would take some time to get used to this routine.
Don't give up. I have faith in you."
-Your Daphne
P.s. I asked Dobby to take you to your bed.
When he woke up in the morning, he was disoriented even though seeing himself in a familiar environment didn't relieve him. He clearly remembered falling asleep in the room of requirement while waiting for Daphne. He then found something in his pocket which he pulled out to read. After reading the note, he was on the moon and with the same vigour, he got on with his day. The next two weeks were like hell to him and it was only because of notes from Daphne he was able to move forward with his routine. He had morning exercise with Riegel combined with evening duelling training with Samantha, weekly classes with Charms and Transfiguration professors and his regular classes left him worn out and short of time.
He realised that his infatuation with Daphne had developed into something meaningful in the last few weeks of his extra lessons and she was on the way to becoming the centre of his life. A slight shiver ran through his spine, what if it was only a fickle of emotions and hormones that might fade away when she matures and gains age. Unknown to him, his counterpart also had similar feelings altogether they were promising to themselves that they shall love and cherish their counterpart and will never clog in their life. They will be the supporting pillar of each other even if they fail to become a better part of each other.
November 13, 1994
On the 13th morning, Harry was on his way to the kitchen to grab some sandwiches. He was suddenly dragged to a nearby empty room by a feminine person who had a flowery smell and the freshness of the morning. Without any lapse of time, they engulfed each other in their arms and started to kiss each other with great vigour and desperation for a minute.
"I missed you," Harry said while placing a lock of hair behind her ears and started to softly caress her face while Daphne massaged his scalp softly which earned her a moan from his beloved that made her chuckle.
"How are you?" said Harry while looking into her eyes. Daphne rubbed his forehead and said, "I am fine. I really missed you. Listen, we are short of time. Do you remember today is the wand weighing ceremony?"
"How can I forget it? You have mentioned it almost three times in your notes," Harry said with a chuckle however was irritated at the shortage of time.
"Harry, focus!" Daphne chastised him with a fake glare and said, "Rita Skeeter is officially covering the Triwizard tournament. It would be better if you don't give her an interview. It would be best if you don't talk to her. If asked any questions, politely refuse to answer them and never be alone with her. Are you understanding me?" she asked with concern at which he nodded with sincerity. Altogether he was lost in her eyes and melodic voice, it was new to see that someone cared so deeply for him.
"That vile woman has slandered your name. Someday I will make her pay for every word she has spat on that piece of rag," she said with a fury that had made many brave ones flinch and run away in fear of being hexed.
"Hey, it is of no concern to me what people think and says about me. The only person who matters is you and you alone," then he slowly kissed her to ease her anger and soon she melted in his arms. After a minute, they separated while Daphne said, "Let me get my ice queen mask back or else people will see that I am getting soft," at which he chuckled and said, "Only you love, only you!"
"Shut up, you prat!" she said with a mock glare and laughed at his foolish attempt of pouting and then she said, "Shall we meet at 4 in the evening in the room of requirement? I will have a word with Sam to skip training."
At first, he hesitated then he gave looking at her pleading face, "I will," then he moved forward, gave a peck on her face and headed for the Wand weighing ceremony.
"Bye Harry!" she said in an attempt to see his smiling face once more at which he turned back, smiled and said, "See you, Daphne!"
When he neared his destination, he applied the Notice me charm and quietly slipped into the room where other participants were already there with a photographer and Bagman who was ogling at a woman with round glasses wrapped in a horrific-looking dark green piece of cloth that reinforced her venomous personality as she was constantly questioning the champions with absurd questions and mocking them for their answers. He thanked Daphne for her heads up or else he would have been caught up and his name further dragged in the mud.
After ten minutes or so, Dumbledore walked into the room followed by Mr. Ollivander and other dignitaries. Upon confirming everyone's appearance Dumbledore said, "As all of us are here, we shall proceed with the event. May I introduce Mr. Ollivander?" In the meantime, he along with other dignitaries took their place at the judge's table and kept on instructing the champions, "He will be inspecting your wands to ensure that they are in perfect condition for the tournament."
"Pardon me Dumbledore, but Harry is not here. We shall have to send someone to fetch him," said Bagman interrupting Dumbledore.
"He is already present here on the second table from the last," said Dumbledore with a chuckle.
"I think he is suffering from far-sightedness and in dire need of the eye check-up, Professor. Or he was very much engrossed in ogling the fairer sex present here that he forgot about the extra baggage," said Harry mischievously while looking at Bagman and Skeeter. His words earned him a cacophony of laughter while Bagman went red out of shame and Skeeter scowled.
"Harry, Harry! You have such a great sense of humour. You owe me an interview," said Rita while prodding forward like a Hyena with a hint of seduction in her voice to cover her embarrassment. It brought a flush of anger on his face that was not missed by anyone present there.
"Rita, I ask or order you not to antagonize my students and let them enjoy their childhood," Dumbledore said a bit harshness in his voice which frightened Rita along with Karkaroff while putting everyone else on their nerve although Harry was not affected by his display of power and thanked him.
"Garrick, please do the honour," said Dumbledore to Mr. Ollivander respectfully.
"Mademoiselle Delacour, could we have you first, please?" said Mr. Ollivander, stepping into the space in the middle of the room. Fleur Delacour swept over to Mr. Ollivander and handed him her wand.
"Hmmm . . ." he said.
He twirled the wand between his long fingers like a baton and it emitted a number of pink and gold sparks. Then he held it close to his eyes and examined it carefully.
"Yes," he said quietly, "nine and a half inches . . . inflexible . . . rosewood . . . and containing . . . dear me . . ."
"An 'air from ze 'ead of a veela," said Fleur. "One of my grandmuzzer's."
"Yes," said Mr. Ollivander, "yes, I've never used veela hair myself, of course. I find it makes for rather temperamental wands . . . however, to each his own, and if this suits you . . ."
Mr. Ollivander ran his fingers along the wand, apparently checking for scratches or bumps; then he muttered, "Orchideous!" and a bunch of flowers burst from the wand tip.
"Very well, very well, it's in fine working order," said Mr. Ollivander, scooping up the flowers and handing them to Fleur with her wand. "Mr. Diggory, you next."
Fleur glided back to her seat, smiling at Cedric as he passed her.
"Ah, now, this is one of mine, isn't it?" said Mr. Ollivander, with much more enthusiasm, as Cedric handed over his wand. "Yes, I remember it well. Containing a single hair from the tail of a particularly fine male unicorn . . . must have been seventeen hands; nearly gored me with his horn after I plucked his tail. Twelve and a quarter inches . . . ash . . . pleasantly springy. It's in fine condition. . . .You treat it regularly?"
"Polished it last night," said Cedric, grinning.
Harry looked down at his wand while thinking about the hidden meaning of the words Cedric said. He could see finger marks all over it. He gathered his magic to wipe away the dust on it using wind. Suddenly, gold and emerald sparks shot out of the end of it. Fleur Delacour gave him a very patronizing look nonetheless he continued with his job until he was satisfied.
Mr. Ollivander sent a stream of silver smoke rings across the room from the tip of Cedric's wand, pronounced himself satisfied, and then said, "Mr. Krum if you please."
Viktor Krum got up and slouched, round-shouldered and duckfooted, toward Mr. Ollivander. He thrust out his wand and stood scowling, with his hands in the pockets of his robes.
"Hmm," said Mr. Ollivander, "this is a Gregorovitch creation unless I'm much mistaken? A fine wand-maker, though the styling is never quite what I . . . however . . ."
He lifted the wand and examined it minutely, turning it over and over before his eyes.
"Yes . . . hornbeam and dragon heartstring?" he shot at Krum, who nodded. "Rather thicker than one usually sees . . . quite rigid . . . ten and a quarter inches . . . Avis!"
The hornbeam wand let off a blast like a gun, and a number of small, twittering birds flew out of the end and through the open window into the watery sunlight.
"Good," said Mr. Ollivander, handing Krum back his wand.
"Which leaves . . . Mr. Potter."
Harry got to his feet and walked past Krum to Mr. Ollivander. He handed over his wand.
"Aaaah, yes," said Mr. Ollivander, his pale eyes suddenly gleaming.
"Yes, yes, yes. How well I remember." Mr. Ollivander started to examine his wand and when he brought it near to his ears he frowned a bit and said, "Curious, curious…" which drew the attention of everyone present in the room.
"Garrick!" asked Dumbledore with slight worry.
"Don't fret Albus! Everything is fine, if not in the best condition then also it might work for the tournament," said Mr. Ollivander relieving the old headmaster of worry.
"I would like an audience with Mr. Potter for minutes. I hope it shall not be an inconvenience for you, Albus," stated Mr. Ollivander as if he was merely informing them. He got hold of Harry and got out of the room even before anyone could stop him.
With a flick of Harry's wand, he raised the privacy ward and said, "We won't like anyone listening to our talks as it is highly confidential. Now, I shall ask you a few questions and answer them truthfully. Mr. Potter, have you started to use Parseltongue while casting spells?"
Harry nodded and it brought a faint smile to Mr. Ollivander's face and he said, "Another question, has any snake bitten you?" Receiving another nod, he beamed with joy and stated, "I am not trying to be a prude here, Mr. Potter although if you share your experience briefly it might help me greatly to modify your wand accordingly."
Upon listening to Mr. Ollivander's explanation he relaxed and started his tale, "In my second year, I encountered a Basilisk and slayed it using a sword, at that time one of its fangs impaled my arm. Fawkes gave its tear to negate the effect of poison."
"Do you know that your wand contains the tail of Fawkes?" asked Mr. Ollivander while mauling over the tale of Harry at which he shook his head. The wandmaker further added, "Can you get that fang and come to my shop after the first task so that your wand is modified to best suit your magic?"
Harry replied positively and then both of them headed inside the room. Upon observing everyone's presence Mr. Ollivander questioned, "What are you waiting for?"
"Photos, Mr. Ollivander. Photos!" cried Bagman excitedly at which Harry made a sour face and Mr. Ollivander bade farewell. For the next half hour, a constant struggle existed between Skeeter and her photographer about the posture and position that annoyed everyone. As soon as this business came to an end, he moved outside, used his cloak to mask his presence and waited patiently for Skeeter. He didn't have to wait longer and saw that she was looking for someone desperately and he suspected that she was looking for him. Failing to locate him, she started to move towards the gate after dismissing her photographer.
Suddenly she changed her route towards the isolated part of the lake which made him curious and he decided to follow her under his cloak. After reaching a secluded part of the lake, she transformed into a beetle. This information was gold that Rita Skeeter was an illegal Animagus. Harry was not going to let this golden opportunity pass away, with the precision he non-verbally cast ~Stupefy~ and the beetle fell on the ground that Harry pocketed and rushed to the castle to meet Daphne.
A lot of thanks to all people who read the story and are willing to read the future instalments of this story. Kindly review the story.
Author's note:
1) Lady Slytherin was powerful and intelligent even though she fell at the hands of muggles displays that like everyone she was mortal and fallible.
2) The story of Salazar Slytherin and his beloved wife asks Harry to reflect on his actions and learn that someone like him will be judged by his actions and their results even after Millenium.
3) In antiquity, House Slytherin was a minor pureblood house. During the marriage of Lady Bellandona Eveningshade with Salazar Slytherin, the father of Lady Bellandona gifted his assets, power and nobility as a dowry to his son-in-law which lead to the merger of House Slytherin with House Eveningshade. So, it is redundant to say that Harry is heir to the House Eveningshade.
All the characters of this story belong to JK Rowling unless stated otherwise.