The Treasure Hunter.

It's ironic, isn't it? The trouble with my life is I can come up with various plans, and yet I can miss something so when it drops into my face, I'm just unprepared for it, Harry thought to himself as he was leaving the Transfiguration classroom, shaken by the talk he'd had just now with McGonagall - that in itself was a rarity given how McGonagall was not really one of the most supportive individuals in the castle, and she had been visibly and publicly shaken by the humiliation the castle had received thanks to Harry.

Indeed while the older witch had been put out speaking to him, McGonagall had at least been professional about it when she had told him about the Yule Ball coming up. And how he, as a Champion, was expected to open it with a stupid dance. While he had been stunned by the announcement, Harry had remembered the dress robes listed on the list for this year, and now he knew why the stupid things had been important.

They were for the Yule Ball.

When he had seen the robes listed on his school list for this year, Harry had been curious and he had just assumed there was some kind of function happening for this year but a dance was not what he had imagined.

He would have to go.

Harry had drawn far too much attention to himself than he would have wished, and if he just avoided it like he would have preferred then it could open up a mass of trouble, and the last thing he wanted right now was getting into more scrapes than he needed. If he was lucky, he had two more years at Hogwarts, including this one, and he wanted to get through them all in one piece. The good thing was his research had yielded some results; he had asked his goblin contacts at Gringotts to find out more about the contract binding him to the Goblet in the hopes of coming up with a contingency plan or two should he need them.

While the thought of faking his own death and getting out of the magical world had some appeal, Harry had opted against it since it would mean he wasn't entirely free of the magical world and many of them would have won if he died or they assumed he was dead. In any case, the thought of starting over again was not something he truly wanted to do. But he had learned that he had been emancipated thanks to the Tournament since the Ministry considered him an adult because of the Goblet of Fire. It didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things given how being thought of as an adult wouldn't affect his long-term plans of getting his OWLs and then his NEWTs, but it was helpful in some ways.

But what he really wished for was he had the means of taking the exams within this year or so to drop this pretence. Harry was already looking to the possibilities, but he wasn't sure. He had a lot on his mind with the Tournament. In a short time from now, he would be leaping headfirst into the lake to retrieve a hostage who apparently meant something to him.

Who in their right mind came up with that?

Harry had little doubt whoever was going to be selected as his hostage was likely going to be the same girl as the one he took as a date. It was the sort of thing Dumbledore and the other judges would think of doing; they were too lazy to come up with a better task, and he guessed they would be choosing the first options they could think of, and they would not give a thought about who it was.

Was it sad he had no faith in the judges whatsoever? What made it worse was the judges were planning on putting them down at the bottom of a lake, with tonnes of water overhead while they were in an enchanted sleep which would keep them unconscious for only a few hours. Bagman had explained it to him when Harry had interrogated him about the details of the tasks, and when he had questioned the irritating and increasingly obese former player of Quidditch about if the hostages would be protected, the former beater had just answered there would be a couple of charms attached to them to warn Dumbledore of any danger to the hostages.

That was it.

There was no other protection for them. If the spells keeping them in the enchanted sleep failed, they drowned quickly. There was no other way they could escape, not if they were at the bottom of the lake with hundreds of feet of water above them. It was typical of the complacency in the magical world, and Harry was worried somebody was going to pay the price. Despite being annoyed with some of the students in the castle, Harry did not want any of them to pay for the hubris of the judges.

And then it occurred to him.

What if he asked Hermione to come with him to the dance? He was uncertain and truthfully, he didn't really give a damn if Hermione even knew what the second task was or even what kind of risks came with being with him on the dance. But while she might be an odd choice, as the old saying went, 'Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.'

It was sad, but he had once seen a time where he and Hermione could have been good friends. They both shared a love for learning and reading, but unfortunately, he had discovered her love of authority figures whom even she defied every day whenever she wrote more for her essays than she should have done made it impossible to really like her. That coupled with her being set up to spy on him and report her findings to Dumbledore had not helped matters, not one little bit.

But what he found disturbing about her was she lashed out whenever someone did well on a test, and she exiled herself to the library where she read ferociously and neglected her health and hygiene, just to outdo someone on a new test so she'd feel better about herself. He had seen it many, many times over the last few years, and it still disturbed him. Some people commented on how sad she was and how they predicted in the future Hermione would wake up one day, and discover she had wasted her life on academics and had thrown away opportunities to be a living human being.

Harry wasn't one of them.

No, he had seen signs that she was more than aware she was missing something in her life. Hadn't she spent time crying in the girl's bathroom before the troll got to her? Hermione was single-minded, and despite being incredibly thoughtless, was not entirely stupid. She knew she was missing something major from her life, but she lacked the ability to deal with it.

Hermione had burnt her bridges with him, she was just too stupid to see it clearly.

While he would have preferred to attend the ball on his own terms, he could see ways going with Hermione would make things better. There was a chance Dumbledore would look favourably on such a relationship, and get some information about what was going on under his nose.

No. It just led to one problem after another.

Even if he could go out with Hermione to the ball, there was the chance Hermione would just use that as an excuse to further probe into his life. And he was doing a great deal nowadays to risk that. The last thing he wanted was Dumbledore getting wind of him plundering treasures from different spots in and around the United Kingdom. Dumbledore wanted him to be kept out of sight and out of mind, both incredibly literal; the old wizard wanted him to be blind concerning magical tradition and ignorant of a great many things.

But Dumbledore had underestimated his desire for knowledge, just as he had underestimated Lily Potter and her desire to see him survive; her knowledge and experience had gone a long way in ensuring he had some idea of what awaited him in the magical world. And it was thanks to her knowledge, he even had any knowledge at all about his inheritance. Something else Dumbledore was deliberately trying to keep from him. It was infuriating how the old wizard had taken advantage of his parent's deaths.

"Who to go with?" Harry mused to himself. "Who to go with?"

With Hermione out that left some people he could potentially go with to the ball. He had no intention of leaving this to the last minute, he wanted to find someone and fast. But as he put some serious thought into it, Harry wanted to shriek.

He didn't know how to dance. He had never really given any thought to learning how to dance ever in his entire life. But hopefully, with access to the Room of Requirement, it would be relatively straightforward to learn it.

But the moment he left Transfiguration, Harry sighed when he noticed how every girl he encountered were clustered in groups and were giggling their heads off. This was not going to be easy.

Heading for Charms next, Harry decided to wait for an hour or so before he could come up with a decent plan for finding a girl to take to the Yule Ball. As he took a seat far from Ron and Hermione and sat down next to a girl. He spared her a look, and he had had a double-take when he saw it as Parvati, but then he realised something was off about her appearance and then -

"Hi, Padma," Harry smiled at the Ravenclaw Patil. He had never really spoken to her much, but he thought she was a quiet, studious girl, but she seemed aware of her limits, unlike Hermione.

"Hi, Harry," Padma then surprised him with a smirk and a knowing look. "You thought I was Parvati, didn't you?"

"How did you guess?" Harry didn't even bother denying it.

"I saw your expression," Padma explained with a wave of her hand, clearly she had heard this all before. "I saw your double-take and surprise when you realised something was off."

"Sorry."

"Don't be. I've lived with it most of my life."

Harry studied the girl thoughtfully. "I can imagine. You know something, I know only two sets of twins in Hogwarts; you and Parvati and the Weasley twins; the Weasleys-."

Padma grimaced. "Please, don't compare me to them, Harry. I know you like the Weasleys, but to me and the Ravenclaws, and several others, they are nothing more than bullies who think they're funny because they play pranks."

Harry didn't defend the Weasleys because he knew she was right. How many times had he had to counter their stupid nasty little tricks especially when they were aimed at Slytherin first years? How many times had he seen Ravenclaw students complain to Professor Flitwick about their work - projects, homework - being destroyed because of their pranks? How many times had Flitwick taken the law into his own hands because McGonagall was useless in reining in her damn students?

A thought crossed his mind.

"How do the Ravenclaws see us Gryffindors?" Harry asked interestedly, adopting a tone that made it clear to Padma he would not overreact to her reply.

Padma looked at him in surprise. She hadn't expected this. When she had found herself sitting next to Harry for this lesson, she had been surprised but what she hadn't expected was the Boy Who Lived to be interested in the opinions of others. But she was wary as well. She hadn't really spoken much to Harry, but his public persona showed a typical student in Gryffindor. Now Padma didn't have a problem with Gryffindors given how her twin was in that house, but some of the rest of them were obnoxious and judgemental whereas some like the Weasleys showed they genuinely did not give a damn about trying to become decent witches and wizards.

But there was something about Harry, something that made him stand out from all of the others. Ever since the Tournament had begun, Harry had surprised her and the other Ravenclaws. Padma was ashamed to admit it, but a part of her had wondered if he had put in his name, but when he had proven otherwise with a magically binding oath, she had been surprised he had taken such a step since oaths like that were not taken lightly.

Still, it had worked; Padma had been listening to the angry murmurs of her fellow Ravenclaws, who'd muttered angry oaths about the Gryffindors having to just steal everything from the other Houses. Despite her sister being in Gryffindor, Padma could understand their points of view, but she had also taken note of Harry's expression the whole time.

He had been genuinely surprised. But Padma had noted there were a few students who had noticed the expression on his face, unfortunately not many had, and that included her housemates, which was shocking and upsetting.

But Harry's question had taken her by surprise.

"W-why would you like you know that?" Padma asked hesitantly.

"Just curiosity," Harry cast a glance around the classroom. Flitwick was only a few moments away from setting up the class, but they had enough time.

Padma bit her lip thoughtfully. She wondered how she could say her opinions and those of the rest of her house without offending Potter. Harry saw the expression and uncertainty on her face.

"It's okay, you can tell me," he told her.

Padma looked at him with the same uncertainty. She wasn't sure if she believed him, and she didn't want her views aired to the entire school. Harry could tell what she was thinking and held up his hand. "Please, Padma."

Padma sighed. The Indian witch was uncertain if she could trust Harry, still. "Most of my House view you Gryffindors as uncouth, brainless morons who blunder around, claiming you're good and righteous, but all you are are bullies," she said slowly and quietly.

And it was true. The Weasley twins and their friend Lee Jordan had never been afraid of hiding their personal vendetta against the Slytherins. And they were not the only ones. She and her fellow housemates had witnessed many clashes between the Gryffindors and Slytherins, two Houses who were both as bad as each other despite their individual views, both incredibly arrogant, headed over by two equally arrogant and shortsighted teachers.

McGonagall liked to claim she was nothing as bad as Snape, but Padma didn't believe that. You only had to spend an hour in the Transfiguration professor's class to see how she favoured the Gryffindors with more pleasure, answering their questions promptly while only answering those from other Houses as if they were an afterthought.

Some Gryffindors were openly aggressive and nasty to the other Houses, and Padma had witnessed Ron Weasley and his sister Ginny jeer and bully Hufflepuffs while posturing and boasting about being Gryffindors. Even Granger bullied other students, proud of being a so-called Lion. But interestedly enough, Padma had often seen Harry's expression of distaste and how he had tried to stop his housemates, without much success although every Gryffindor knew how powerful the Boy-Who-Lived was.

Harry sighed. "I thought as much," he commented.

"Why are you so interested?"

"Just am. I heard what you said about the Gryffindors before, and it just made me curious," Harry replied.

Padma had to concede he had a point.

When the lesson began, Harry and Padma were partnered together in the class. Padma was surprised as she saw Harry work. On the one hand he seemed good, but as she watched…. She realised he was holding himself back.

An hour later, Harry would ask her if she would like to attend the Yule Ball with him. Padma, blushing, said yes since she had to admit he was good company.

At the same time, she wanted to learn more about him.


Please let me know what you think.