Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I don't even own Dudley.
Harry's slowly came to, and the only time he could remember being in more pain was during the cruciatus curse. He felt like screaming, but all that emerged from his lips was a small moan. He felt a kiss on his forehead, and Ginny's voice saying sweetly, "It's ok, Harry. Take your time. I'm not going anywhere." As he fell back into sleep, he realized his pain wasn't quite as bad as before.
"Ginny," Harry croaked as he came to again.
"Ginny? Well, close," replied Ron's voice, a tad sarcastically.
"Oh, Harry, you're all right," came Hermione's voice.
Harry moaned, and then asked, "What happened?"
Ron laughed softly, and said, "He's asking us what happened."
Hermione shot Ron a nasty look, and said, "Ginny just left to get Dumbledore as soon as you woke. I'm sure he'll be able to explain what happened." Sure enough, Dumbledore and Ginny walked into the room, followed by Snape. Harry's eyes widened.
"Ron, Hermione, Ginny, maybe it would be best if I could talk to Harry for a moment," Dumbledore spoke. The three reluctantly left the room, and Harry was left alone with Dumbledore and Snape.
Dumbledore softly talked to Harry, and said the thing he least expected, "I am sorry Harry. What happened to you was my fault, but I was not counting on such a severe reaction." Looking at the surprise on Harry's face, Dumbledore explained, "As you surmised, I concocted the Draught of Rest with Professor Snape's help. We used this potion on Tom Riddle Sr.'s remains. This had the effect of ripping away a third of Voldemort's essence. However, it appears it had a bad effect on you as well, and for that I must apologize."
Harry's mind was turning over the implications of this. Voldemort was brought back to life by my blood, Wormtail's flesh, and his father's bones. Now he was left with Wormtail's and my portions. But Wormtail owed his life to me. So that was the look of triumph Dumbledore had on his face last year when I told him about what happened.
Dumbledore seemed to sense his thoughts, and said, "I see you have figured out what is going on. I must leave you now; Professor Snape needs to talk with you." Harry's eyes widened again as Dumbledore left him alone with Snape. Dumbledore said Snape had helped him with the Draught of Rest. But why was Snape also helping Voldemort? Whose side was he really on? Harry thought, looking fearfully at Snape.
Snape looked at a loss for words, finally whispering, "I'm sorry."
Harry stared at him in shock, and said, "What?"
Snape explained, "Not just for the Draught of Rest. For the last 5 years. You see, I held you in an even higher regard than most people, for I knew better than almost anyone what evil Voldemort was capable. And you somehow saved us from him, or at least for 13 years. But I was still working for Dumbledore. He seemed to realize Voldemort was coming back, and insisted I still remain a death eater. If I treated you, the number one enemy of the death eaters, with anything less than full disdain, they would know."
Harry could hardly believe it. He suspected Snape of killing him almost every year, when he was just acting! "Why," Harry asked, "are you telling me this? Aren't you going back to the death eaters?"
"One of the unfortunate effects of giving Voldemort the Draught of Knowledge was that it let him know where my loyalties lie. Nothing awaits me with him but a slow death, now," Snape said, then smiled, "Don't worry, Dumbledore has other ways of getting information besides me. I have something for you." Snape pulled out a piece of parchment and handed it to him.
Harry didn't understand what it was at first. It seemed to be a series of numbers, accompanied by a date and a few random words. Suddenly, it hit Harry – this was a list of all the points Snape had taken away because of him! Sure enough, the list read everything from '1 : 9/6/Y1 : Ask Hermione' to '5 : 11/3/Y5 : Won't sit'
Harry looked up at Snape, who was smiling nicely, the first time Harry had ever seen that expression on his face. Snape finished, "By my count I've taken 329 total points away from you. So I think it'd only be fair – 329 points for Gryffindor." Harry's mouth hung as Professor Snape left the hospital.
Ron, Ginny, and Hermione entered the hospital as soon as they saw Snape had left. "Look at Harry! Snape's cast a lockjaw spell on him, or something," Ron exclaimed, looking at Harry's face.
Potions class was completely changed, and Harry was actually beginning to enjoy it. First, Snape seemed to be releasing some built up frustration at the Slytherins and Death Eaters by taking 10 points away when Crabbe and Goyle walked in late. Snape smiled at Harry, and when Harry finished the formula first, Snape called, "5 points for Gryffindor. Congratulations Potter, for completing the potion first. It's sad that none of my Slytherins could do as well." Everyone else in the class was completely baffled, and Harry had quite a time holding in his laughter. One thing was clear, though - whatever enmity between Harry and Snape seemed to be dying away.
The change in Potions was probably needed, as the teachers started to bear down on them. "Ugh. Why are we getting assigned all this homework?" complained Ron.
Hermione immediately answered, "Ron, we've got O.W.L.'s coming up. They're very important!" At this, Harry and Ron could only groan.
"What's so bad about the O.W.L.s?" Ginny asked.
Hermione insisted, "Nothing. They are a valuable tool to prepare for the N.E.W.T.s!" Ron and Harry groaned again.
Ron, quickly growing tired of talking about exhausting tests, said, "Does anyone know what the second task is?"
Harry thought a minute, and replied, "Well, last year we had to face the dragons; it was supposed to show how well we could face fear. So maybe they have to face a different creature."
Ron said, "But how are they supposed to do that? Last year some of the champions barely succeeded. And you all knew it was going to be a dragon!"
Ginny perked up. "What?" she asked, "You knew beforehand what you would face? Who told you?"
Ron, Hermione, and Harry looked at each other, and decided they didn't want to implicate Hagrid. Ginny noticed this, and said, "Charlie didn't tell you, did he?"
"Er, no," said Hermione, "We heard the dragons outside the castle, and investigated."
Ginny looked like she was going to press the issue, but Alicia came down and hollered, "Alright. Everyone needs to go to bed!"
"What!" cried Ron, "It's only 9:30!"
"Ron, I need to get sleep for tomorrow. It's not going to be easy," Alicia explained.
"You know, don't you? You know what the second task is," Harry said. Alicia didn't answer him, but gave him a cryptic smile.
The next day, Harry sat down with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny and waited for the second task to start. They were seated in a stadium remarkably similar to the one he was in last year when he faced the dragon. There was a giant enclosure on one end of the field, looking almost like a small cave. But before Harry could wonder about it any more, Richard Joel's voice cut across the crowd.
"Welcome to the second task of this year's Triwizard Tournament. This task tests each champion's ability to cope with danger and fear. Each champion will have to herd an adolescent manticore into the pen you see before you. Harry gasped. Herd the manticore? I'd be worried about escaping it! I hope Alicia does ok. Ginny and Harry held each other's hand, a little worried, as they watched the manticore run out from the enclosure. It had the body of a lion, but a tail like a scorpion. Worst of all, Harry recalled, manticores were even more resistant to magic than dragons. Harry seriously hoped Alicia knew what she was doing.
"Starting this task will be Petrina Ivanov for Durmstrang," Joel's voice boomed. The Hogwarts students politely clapped, and Petrina stepped onto the field. She narrowed her eyes and pointed her wand at the manticore. The manticore suddenly stopped its random movement, and looked over at her. With a mighty roar, it charged straight at Petrina. Petrina didn't seem to be aware of this, and had her eyes closed. As the manticore rapidly approached Petrina, Harry stood up. She was about to be killed! Dumbledore was alarmed, as well, and was now standing at the staff table.
Before Dumbledore or Harry could do anything, the manticore slowed down, and then stopped a short distance away from Petrina. Petrina slowly opened her eyes, and the manticore blinked. Both of them stood there for quite awhile doing nothing, before the manticore took a hesitant step away from her. Slowly, the manticore began walking towards the enclosure. The crowd started cheering, and Joel's voice boomed out, "Yes, she's charmed the manticore!" The beast slowly made its way back to the cave and entered. Petrina sank down on the ground, exhausted. A mediwizard came by and helped her out of the stadium, but almost everyone was focusing on the judges. Dumbledore stood up and gave an 8. Alexander Kalin rose and gave out a 9. Madame Maxime put out a giant 9, which visibly shocked Kalin. Percy gave an 8 like Dumbledore, and Joel put out a 9 enthusiastically. The crowd burst into cheers.
"Next off is Alicia Spinnet of Hogwarts!" Joel addressed the crown. Everyone cheered, and Alicia entered the field as the manticore was set free. Before the beast could even notice the new intruder, Alicia, fired off a spell at it. It gave a mighty roar, and started thrashing about.
"And she's blinded the creature!" roared Joel. Alicia than cast another spell, but it didn't seem to do anything. Finally, Harry saw the creature inch towards the cave. Apparently, Alicia was casting 'Mobile' on the creature, but the magic resistance was making it slow work. Eventually, little by little, the creature made it into the pen, and the crowd cheered.
However, the judge's scores seemed to reflect that it took Alicia a lot longer than Petrina to pen the animal. While Joel gave her a nine, Dumbledore and Percy decided on 8, while Kalin and Maxime gave out 7's. Alicia seemed disappointed, and walked out of the arena.
"Last," Joel announced, "is Jean DeGalle of Beauxbaton." Jean stepped on the field with a giant smile, looking at the manticore which yet again was prowling around the arena. With a bigger smile, Jean transfigured a rock into what Harry recognized as a bicorn. The manticore immediately looked and stared hungrily at the new beast. Jean quickly made the bicorn run into the enclosure, with the fierce manticore chasing it. The manticore let out a protest roar as it found the cave empty, save a single rock, and the entire stadium erupted into cheers.
"Wow!" screamed Joel, "I've never seen that before! In less than ten seconds, Jean DeGalle has herded the manticore into the pen!" Alicia and Petrina seemed devastated by his performance. Beauxbatons was in last place after the first event, but they knew he couldn't be very far from the lead now.
Sure enough, Dumbledore, Percy, Joel, and Maxime held out giant 10's. Alexander Kalin sat, merely stroking his beard; Madame Maxime glared at him. He deliberately drew out a 1. Everyone gasped, until he drew a 0 behind it, and even an exclamation point. Kalin started laughing, and was soon joined by Madame Maxime and Dumbledore. Everyone else was still getting over Jean's spectacular performance and the almost '1-point'.
"And after the second task, at second place is Durmstrang with 83 points. And tied for first place at 86 points are Hogwarts and Beauxbaton!" Joel announced. The Hogwarts students burst into cheering. Alicia would be entering the final round tied at first place!
The party after the second task had nowhere near the intensity of the first. This was mostly due to Alicia, believing she had ruined her chances. Everyone else was still happy, since she was tied for the lead, but it was hard cheering when the champion herself was looking a little down. Harry tried to console her, but gave up and went to bed.
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Thanks to everyone who reviewed!
Thanks as always to Avide Reader!
Blackletter – Here's part of the explination to the draughts. You won't find out until the end chapter why Dumbledore went through the trouble though…
Katydid – Glad you like my story as much as I like yours. I'm anxiously awaiting chapter 19!
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