A/N: thanks for the reviews, again!

The Face of Evil: professor Weasley referred to Hermione – she had married Ron, after all.

Kit Cloudkicker: the pogrebins stole his wand. No, I don't think that Krum knows about Harry's son being a squib – otherwise he wouldn't keep blabbering about squibs all the time – he is more tactful than that.

jennaration: Hungarian lesson: Dennis nem fog meghalni.

Super saya-Jin Gotan: *relieved sigh* - good that Lucas doesn't read HP :)))

zzxm: are you a relative of Trelawney's? :))

X_Tow_Naga: why would they transport penguins to Russia??? Why does Krum go on Herm? Well, he's a man in love – but don't worry he'll realise soon that he's just wasting his time. McGonagall said the yeti thing as a joke, didn't mean it at all. (you're going into technical details very much :) A map of Dursmtrang? Hey, Durmstrang's not a shopping mall where you can get maps on every corner! You're right about the pictures showing sex, but I believe that the people at the pictures are careful not to do it when children happen to walk by (Harry doesn't count, he's an adult). And you know Catherine the Great's reputation: she was famous for having lots of lovers, so I just wanted her to continue acting as the real Catherine the Great. The ghost having pain was just making fun of Ivan Ilyich – because Ivan had pains throughout the whole book of Tolstoy's getting on my nerves, yuck – never read that book! How did Anna know that the Hogwarts Express was a train? Hm, there were no busses in her time, were there? Only trains.

BlueIce: WHAT? Voldemort looking like Santa??? That's the end of the world!!! Vendetta is an Italian word, meaning blood feud. You know people started this on Corse: if someone killed your relative, then you killed that someone – vendetta is taking revenge on someone who killed a family-member of yours. Anyway, it's in any English dictionary as well.

Notebook Girl: so, you're interested in my little Hungary? That's really flattering :) Send me a mail and tell me what exactly you are interested in and I'll reply :)

Ginny house 3: do I have any bad chapters? Bad? Hm, I don't know… there'll be chapters that you won't like – chapters that'll make you angry and desperate, but that doesn't mean that those chapters are bad. I can't really answer this question, sorry.

LisaQT3: yeah, I'm definitely the queen of cliffies! :))

star queen: I took my SW stories off because I realised that they were silly – at least one of them. Oh, please, tell me about Natalie McDonald! I don't know her story, but I'm very curious!

ILOVELINKINPARK222: WHAT? YOU'VE NEVER SEEN STAR WARS!?! GO AND RENT IT IMMEADIATELY, DO YOU HEAR ME? STAR WARS IS WONDERFUL!

blaubaerin: you'll see more of Dennis in the library in this chapter, anyway, there's not much of a choice: there aren't too many plants in Russia in winter, are there? Oh, if you don't know much of Ivan Ilyich, then DO NOT read it! It's absolutely terrible! slurp? Hm, I'm not sure, but I guess it's said that way :) Rowling said that in HP1 McGonagall was about 70 – so NOT 35! She's about 80 now!

xenocide: no, no time-travel, I'd never write about time-travel. Why don't I post the whole thing? Because there are still many things that need to be corrected. Oh, yeah, I meant that Anna burst into TEARS, but I was too 'trained' in the moment, I guess, and I speak German as well, and in German tears are "Träne", and that sounds a bit like train, so I mixed it up. When I read your review and saw what a mistake I made I couldn't stop laughing for minutes!

Crazycutee831: you can hate me because I really know everything in advance :) No, no time-travel. You predicted it well – I posted chap 9 on Monday! About your guesses: some of them are close, but some of them are very far away from the truth – oh, yeah, and you got 3 of them totally right, but I'm not telling you which! *evil grin*

Sean Mulligan: you can like Slytherins, still show them as the evil guys – I simply love evil guys! Anyway, if you cannot write me proper reviews, dear Sean, then please stop reviewing me, because with your attempts of propagating that particular story, you have brought about a boomerang-effect: the more you try to convince me, the less I want to read that story. Sorry, I understand if you want to popularise your friend's fic, but doing it in every review you write me is simply impolite!

Moony Lover: since ist seit auf Deutsch :) Not many mistakes, don't worry, I'm not that good at German, either :) No, I don't know any spell to block someone's powers, but there are other spells that… oho! Not telling! Let it be a surprise!

Mage: don't think that I'm a D/G fanatic – I'll always remain a H/G fan (and no, definitely no H/K fan! Hr/R forever, or course!)

Lady Cinnibar: I live in Budapest – and where do you live? Great that your dad is also from Budapest :) You mean that your grandpa was from Slovenia, right? Because Slovakia is in northern direction from Hungary, and Slovenia is in southern direction from here. Oh, yeah, the revolution of 1956 was surely terrible – I'm happy that I wasn't born back then, I've heard so many terrible things about it :(

AniMourner: no, Dennis really isn't the champion type, but is Harry??? I don't think so. Of course I didn't want to make Graham Pritchard or Malcolm Baddock become Hogwarts champs.

Arif: the Star Wars line was: 'you stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerfherder', and I re-wrote the nerfherder to become Santa Claus. That's all. No, no Greek kids at Durmstrang, but I also like Greek mythology. It's cool. I didn't say that there'd be no cliffies! On the contrary: I said that I COULDN'T promise that there'd be no more cliffies!

Nefertiri: yes, the pogrebins will some time leave Harry alone. All right, 39 chapters. Read my answer to BlueIce about vendetta.

PadmeSkywalker: yeah, Viktor does like Herm. The poor guy…

LilBit: I cannot tell when you misspell something in French, because I don't speak French.

Finnigan: sorry, I can't include a description about the creatures, because I only have that booklet in Hungarian, and I don't want to translate it all – I hope you understand. No real fight between the Dumbledore brothers, but there'll be something interesting between them, I promise!

cathy: a specific reason to make Dan a squib? Hm… to have a plot, maybe? Or to make my readers yell at me: 'how dare you make a Daniel a squib???' LOL, I'm evil :)

Aurumlupi: I only speak English and German besides my native-language. No more, sorry. (but I'm planning to start Spanish soon).

AlexanderPheonix: welcome back and don't flatten your head on your desk, please!

Mikey: about Joseph Wronksy: in Quidditch through the ages Rowling write about him (and of course already in GoF.) The other Wronsky I mentioned in last chapter comes from Anna Karenina – Anna was in love with a certain Count Wronksy. I thought it'd be funny to include this, given that the two names are the same.

Waldomier: Santa isn't a wizard – Aberforth will talk about it in next chapter. I didn't want to write four champions – it would be too much of copying Rowling. About vendetta read my answer to BlueIce. You have a horse named David? Cute! :)

LilyGinny: maybe :)

Tessa: no, it wasn't my fave chapter either, because it was a bit boring, I know – but unfortunately there need to be a couple of such chapters, in which I'm only building up the story for later events. The building-up will continue for quite a while, but I hope that it won't get too boring. Ivan Ilyich is a character of Leo Tolstoy, and he's not Hungarian, but Russian. The title of the book is The death of Ivan Ilyich, and it's terribly boring, I hated it when I had to read it in the high school :( Read my answer to xenocide about 'trains'.

Cassandra Anthemyst: what or who is Lita?

Pantaliamon: you're either right or wrong or in the middle :)

Pumpkin3223: no, Tatyana won't do anything like that to Dennis. I guess Lily will go on calling her parents 'Harry' and 'Ginny', but Daniel will call them mum and dad. You'll see quite a many H/G chapters, don't worry. A sequel? Ssssh! Just started working on it! :))

Wood's secret lover: oh, who wouldn't like Wood??? *big grin* I understand – I do the same: we also have net on phone and I also download fics to read them. I wrote TGSoHH for three months, last summer. I'll read your fic as soon as possible, and thanks for your nice review. Um, where do you live? In Russia, or in Scotland? (Lupinslover lives in Scotland, doesn't she?)

TO THOSE WHOSE REVIEWS I HAVEN'T ANSWERED: DON'T BE ANGRY WITH ME, BUT I SIMPLY CANNOT ANSWER ALL REVIEWS, BECAUSE THAT WOULD MAKE THE A/N SECTION LONGER THAN THE ACTUAL CHAPTER. THE OTHER REASON: MANY OF YOU ASK QUESTIONS THAT, IF ANSWERED, WOULD REVEAL TOO MUCH OF THE LATER EVENTS, AND I DON'T WANT TO TELL THINGS IN ADVANCE, BUT I DON'T WANT TO LIE EITHER.

All right, this is again a build-up chapter (there'll be a lot of them, sorry), so not much action. I hope you'll still like it.

Chapter 9

Curiosity

Harry fell onto a small, platform-like thing that set into motion under him: swooped down like an elevator. After about two minutes it stopped and Harry could stand up, the torch still clutched at his hand. "What the…?" he murmured.

He was in a pitch-black corridor – the only source of light was the torch. He held it up so that he could look around. The corridor didn't have anything special in it – in fact it was totally empty. Not a painting, not even an armour was there to be seen. And then… Harry saw a door.

He walked up to it, stretching out his torch-holding hand, examining the door. It was a thick, stone door with funny signs engraved in it.

He was just about to try and open it when a cold voice spoke up behind him: "Lost again, Mr. Potter?"

Harry turned around to see Professor Fiodrovna standing there with crossed arms. "Well, kind of…" he replied.

"You have no business here. Leave." she said.

"I haven't come here deliberately." Harry explained. "I was chased by two pogrebins who wanted to kill me, then I happened to snatch this torch off the wall, then I fell trough the wall!"

"Really?" she raised an eyebrow. "How very interesting story. I suggest you leave the way you came here." she pointed at the elevator-like platform.

"But what if those beasts are still there waiting for me?" he frowned.

"Hm… the great Harry Potter cannot deal with two weenie pogrebins?" she asked in a rather mocking tone.

*Not if they are armed and I am not.* Harry thought bitterly, but decided that he didn't want to seem weak… especially not in front of a woman. "Right." he nodded. "So you reckon this thing will bring me up to that hidden door?"

"Correct." she responded.

"All right." Harry said and stepped onto the platform that immediately started travelling upwards, then – minutes later – it stopped and Harry found himself facing the brick wall again. He touched it: it was solid. He saw a torch-bracket on the wall, and with a sudden thought put the torch he was still holding into it.

The wall rippled at once and Harry managed to step through it, into the corridor.

The first thing he saw was the pair of pogrebins, waiting for him with nasty, huge knives.

"Still here?" Harry groaned. "Really, guys, don't you think it's time to stop following and trying to kill me? I'm really sorry about your uncle and cousin."

The demons didn't understand him and stepped closer.

"Stupefy!" a sharp voice cried and the pogrebins fell, unconscious. Harry turned in the voice's direction, to see Krum's sister still pointing her wand at the demons.

"Thanks." he said.

"You're welcome." she smiled. "I guess this belongs to you." she offered him his lost wand.

"Thanks again…" he took it. Somehow, she managed to touch his hand when handing him his wand. "…Ms. Krum."

"Just call me Mileta, Mr. Potter." she blushed a bit.

"Er… okay, Mileta." he forced a smile. "Just call me Harry."

"Okay, Harry." she replied with a mellifluous voice. "Harry."

"Yes?"

"Nothing."

"Um, gotta go, Mileta. Thanks once more." he said and hurried away, oblivious to the fact that she was following him with her eyes, clutching at her chest.

* * * * *

As he turned left on the corner, Harry met with a rather sullen Krum.

"Hi, Viktor, what's up?"

Krum just shook his head and hurried past him, muttering something in Bulgarian – something that Harry thought was some kind of cursing.

When he finally reached his room, he heard Aberforth yelling: "Hey, hey, Harry!" the old man ran up to him.

"Hi, Aberforth. Can I help you?"

"Yes!" Dumbledore nodded. "Get me a yeti!"

"A what?" Harry blinked. "Yetis live in the Himalayas! Anyway, why do you need one?"

"Let me tell you while fishing!"

"Fishing? The lake's frozen!"

"We are going to cut holes in it!" Aberforth replied enthusiastically. "There's nothing as much fun as ice fishing! Very healthy!"

"Oh, sure." Harry rolled his eyes. "All right. I'll dress up and meet you down by the lake."

* * * * *

Harry put on his fur-coat, wrapped a thick, fluffy scarf (knitted by his mother-in-law) around his neck and also put on a cap. As he left his room, he saw a rather upset Hermione coming up to her room that was adjacent to McGonagall's.

"You all right?" he asked.

She burst into her room, slapped a heavy book on her table and said: "Yes!"

"That means a no." he perceived. "Is it to do with Krum?"

"Huh?" she looked up. "Why do you think?"

"Because I saw him five minutes earlier in similar mood. What happened between you?"

"Nothing." she shrugged. "And I'll see to it that nothing will happen, either."

"He's still after you, huh?"

"Seems so." she pursed her lips. "But I don't want him to!"

"I know you don't." he replied. "You know what, Herm? I'm going to defend you from Vicky if you also defend me from his sister."

"His sister?" she gaped.

"Yeah. That Milupa or who. I fear she likes me."

Hermione giggled. "You poor, poor fellow. You seem to be an ugly-girl-magnet. First Millicent Bulstrode, now this chick… really, even their names start with the same three letters! Isn't it funny?"

"I don't think so." he shook his head, laughing. "All right, try and keep Viktor's hands off you and I'll try and not freeze out there while fishing with Aberforth."

* * * * *

Two hours later Harry returned with Aberforth to the castle – frozen to his bones. He had caught seven fish with Dumbledore, who kept blabbering about needing a yeti. Strangely, he wouldn't tell Harry why he needed it, so Harry didn't force him.

With their hands packed with fish, they entered the entrance hall and Harry welcomed the slight warmth of the building. Professor McGonagall had just come down the stairs and looked daggers at them.

After a minute or so Harry realised that the "daggers" were meant for Aberforth only, and not for him. He knew only too well what is was like to make McGonagall angry with himself and didn't desire to do it again.

On the way up their rooms, they walked past the library, and saw Professor Fiodrovna enter it.

"Coming to the kitchen, kid?" Aberforth asked.

"Uh, a bit later, I've just realised I've forgotten something. See you at lunch."

Dumbledore nodded. "Give me that bucket, I'll take it down for the house-elves. I hope they'll roast them for dinner."

Harry handed him his bucket full of fish and waited until Aberforth got out of sight, then he stepped to the library door and peered inside. Tatyana Fiodrovna was sitting at a table, rather absorbed in reading a book.

*Now or never.* he thought and hurried upstairs. He hoped he remembered the way to the mysterious vanishing wall and wouldn't get lost. After a while he arrived at the place he believed to find the secret elevator.

*Yes, this has to be it.* he nodded in thought and pushed the wall. It didn't even budge. *Oh, of course, the torch needs to be pulled out its bracket!* he scolded himself for being so stupid and got hold of the torch. *Now, let's go.* he touched the wall again, but it was still solid brick. *Is this the right place or have I got lost again?* he looked around. No. He was sure he hadn't got lost. *That woman must have shut down the entrance.* he frowned. *She saw me in there and cast a spell on the wall so that I couldn't get into there again… But why? Why does she want people stay away from that place? Is it another chamber of secrets with another basilisk?* he truly hoped it wasn't.

"Okay, let's try another way." he murmured. "Reducio!" he pointed his wand at the bricks. This charm should have blasted the bricks away, but it didn't. The bricks seemed reluctant to leave their place. "Diffindo!" he tried again. "Alohomora!"

Nothing.

Disappointed, and still itching to get to know what was in there, he left for his room.

* * * * *

Dennis had spent the whole morning in the library, looking for the plant they'd have to find. He had dipped into a dozen books but didn't manage to find anything. He found a book about Russian plants, but none of them were evergreen.

"Atropa belladonna… Circaea lutetiana… no, none of these." he sighed and slammed the last book shut. "I've had enough." he stood up and headed for the door when a voice called after him.

"Mr. Creevey?"

He turned around to see Durmstrang's Potions teacher, that Professor Fiodrovna beckoning him to herself.

"Yes, Professor? Can I help you?"

"I guess I can help you." she replied with a smile. Dennis found her smile oddly repulsive. Not that she was an ugly woman – no, she was pretty, but somehow… he couldn't explain.

He walked up to her. "What do you mean, Professor?"

"You haven't found anything in connection with the first task, right?"

"Right." he nodded. "But if you intend to help me, I must warn you that I'm not the type… I mean I'm not a cheater."

"I never said you were. Anyway," she pointed at the seat next to her, indicating that she expected him to sit down. He did. "I'm not the cheater type either, and wouldn't help a student… especially not a rival student. I'm rooting for Durmstrang, you know."

"Oh, of course." he nodded. "Understandable."

"Yes. So, I take you haven't looked in this book?" she handed him a very old, thick book with crumpled, yellow pages.

"No." his eyes widened. "You… you've been sitting on this when you knew I was looking for the plant that could only be found in this book?" his voice sounded accusing.

"Sitting on it?" she crossed her arms. "No, actually I haven't realised you were here, until you stood up to leave. I've been looking up a magical plant for a potion I'm going to make."

"Oh, sorry." he blushed.

"Never mind. Now here it is. Use it well."

Dennis opened the book and started turning over the pages. There were lots of plants there, a whole chapter on Russian magical herbs and flowers. His eyes skimmed the pages, then he cried out with glee: "Leontopodium nigrum! Black edelweiss! Lives in high mountains, perennial, evergreen, blooms in winter, it's black blossom can easily be glimpsed in the snow… 5-15 cm high…its white counterpart grows in the mountains of Central and South Europe, though its place of origin was Siberia, thousands of years ago. The Black Edelweiss can only be found in Northern Russia. Its ability of healing wounds caused by evil curses is well-known…" Dennis looked up. "Thank you, professor!", but Tatyana Fiodrovna was no more there. "Professor?" he didn't even realise when she left. *Why has she given me this book? Why is she helping me? She's a Durmstrang teacher! It simply doesn't make sense!* he shook his head and returned to the description of the black edelweiss.

* * * * *

It was already eleven p.m. when Harry decided to go to bed. He had already put on his pyjamas when he heard a tap on the window. It was the owl he had sent Ginny.

He hastily took and unfolded the letter.

Dearest Harry,

I'm glad you arrived at Durmstrang without any difficulty. There's nothing interesting here, expect that Sirius has taught Lily how to fib. Great achievement. She has also learnt lots of new expressions, but – thanks to Sirius – most of them are bad words. You should come back and kick your godfather in the ankle!

Fred and George visited us yesterday, their shop is running better and better every day. Mum is absorbed in decorating the new house (yes, imagine, dad managed to persuade her to move out of the Burrow!)

*Good.* Harry thought. Though the Weasleys had had a nice, big house built next to the old, shabby one, Mrs. Weasley had been reluctant to move in for a year after it was built.

I think I hear wedding bells – last time Percy and Penny visited us, she was wearing a ring that hadn't been there before! (though they didn't tell anyone anything, I immediately noticed it.)

Ron is unhappy without Hermione, so is Hagrid without Olympe.

And so am I without you.

I love you, Harry. No matter what you think, I love you. I know I behaved foolishly last time – I shouldn't have. I was just so scared. I still am, but I'm sure I'll manage to come to terms with it.

I wish I could speed up time to have you back for Christmas.

Love,

your Ginny

P.S. tell me more about this Aberforth, he must be a very interesting person!

*Sure, he is.* Harry smiled and looked out the window. "And how much!" he almost yelled. It was near midnight, and he saw Aberforth climb onto his sled and 'drive' away. *Where could he be going now? At the dead of night?* he shook his head. Aberforth really was an interesting person – maybe even more so than his brother.

As the sound of the sleigh-bells died away, Harry climbed into his bed, and took off his glasses. "I love you too, Ginny." he whispered into his pillow and fell asleep.