Ok, Ariel, you got your wish. But I had better still get reviews – I posted chapters quickly on the two draughts, and only got about 1 per chapter when I was writing it…
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. That would violate anti-slavery laws.
Ordinarily Christmas break was a joyous time at Hogwarts. There were no classes, which in turn meant there was no studying (unless you were named Hermione). But more importantly, it was a time where you could relax in friendly companionship. However, both seemed greatly diminished. First, Harry still had to perform the Ward spells. After all, the Gryffindor commons had to be guarded. Second, everyone was forced to stay inside the commons, and the Gryffindors were all feeling cooped up. Finally, the three people he wanted to see the most were all at Durmstrang.
But very few people can feel sad when they're opening Christmas presents, and Harry certainly isn't an exception. Harry ripped open Ron's present and came upon a pile of Chocolate Frogs and a small wooden box. Carefully opening the box, Harry found a large pile of photographs. It took Harry awhile to figure out what they were of. The first ten had a student dressed in the Durmstrang dark red uniforms facing what appeared to be countless bludgers. That must have been the first task! A bit odd, though. A field filled with bludgers? Harry thought. However, the second champion seemed to be surrounded by mirrors. Harry laughed as he looked closer – it was Jean DeGalle! Finally he came to Hermione facing what appeared to be a swarm of McGonagalls. Harry finally got it – the first task pitted them against a herd of Bogarts! Harry wheezed with laughter as he made out 'Very Poorly Written!' on one of the papers the fake McGonagall had in her hand.
At the very bottom of the wooden box was a note by Ron
Hey Harry,
Hope you like the Christmas present!
Really wish you could've been here to see Hermione's face when she first
caught glimpse of all those McGonagalls yelling at
her!
The other champions' fears made sense as well. Alex Lysenko, the Durmstrang champion, is a seeker like you, so of course he's afraid of bludgers. And we all saw Jean DeGalle last year in the mirror maze. Haha, poor guy!
Oh, Ginny saw me writing this note, and told me that I had to tell you that she was fine, and trying hard to stay away from all the Durmstrang guys.
Harry saw a new handwriting below which he recognized as Ginny's.
Harry,
Miss you so much! Don't listen to Ron, he's just being a prat. Can't wait to see you again. Oh, and the other side of the coin – you stay away from those Hogwarts women! And don't you dare show any of them my present!
- Ginny and Ron
Harry laughed as he put down the note next to the photographs. He was curious about what Ginny was talking about, so he quickly found her present.
When he opened it, he gasped. Somehow Ginny had managed to get a picture of his effigy last year. Wow, Harry thought, I really did look good in that thing! A small note was written on the back of the photo.
Harry,
I know it's not much. But still, you must admit, that effigy was good looking. Even sexy! And just so you know, I've still got another copy…
- Ginny
Harry realized what she meant about showing that around. Last thing he wanted was to get that image back in anyone's mind, lest he have physically beat back women asking him to the dance. Parvati came to mind.
Hagrid decided to send him some Rock Cakes for Christmas. While it was a nice gesture, Harry thought Hagrid's cooking was better suited to being sent to people you didn't like. Mrs. Weasley's cooking was far better. This year she made him a fudge cake, along with the annual Weasley sweater (this year green like his eyes.)
The next present was from Sirius, but he didn't really expect much. But still expected to get something better than what he unwrapped.
"A diary?" Harry mouthed. Ok, his Godfather was on the run from the law, but, a Diary?! As Harry opened to the first page, he read a small note from Sirius.
Harry,
Don't be disappointed with the present. It's not what you think. Remember Tom Riddle's diary your second year? Well, that gave me an idea for something to get you. You see, this diary is just like Tom Riddle's diary, only it's blank. So when you feel up to it, you can pour a bit of yourself into it, just like Tom did. Except that your personality will be a little more helpful and righteous than Tom's (At least I hope! You haven't been turning evil on me, have you?)
- Sirius
Wow, Harry thought, this is going to take some thinking. It was really tempting to do it now; to fill the diary immediately. If he did that, though, the diary would only possess his knowledge and wisdom as it existed now. Harry eventually decided to wait at least until next year – his last year at Hogwarts.
Harry gave his last present a glance, and decided it had to be from Hermione. I bet it's a book! Harry thought. When he opened it, he saw that the shape was indeed a book, but it didn't open. Oddly, there were several buttons in the front, and a small list at the bottom.
Harry realized what the object was – trust Hermione to find some way to get him muggle music! Scanning the list, he found '17. Hey Jude.' Harry excitedly started up the device, which functioned a lot like a CD Player. He skipped to song 17 and was anxious to hear what song Dudley had wanted him to learn.
Amazing, it was completely different than the song from Jordan and the Crazy Monkeys, which relieved Harry to no end. Instead, it was a relatively calm song, with a rather simple melody. Harry closed his eyes and listened to the whole song. While he didn't like it as much as Big Band, it certainly was pleasant to listen to. I can learn this! Harry thought.
Ginny sat looking around at all the dancing couples at the Yule Ball. Ginny realized she shouldn't have been surprised that Durmstrang held the Yule Ball during the Triwizard Tournament. But this was certainly something she could've done without.
"Excuse me, may I have this dance?"
Ginny was jolted out of her reverie, and looked at the boy who asked her this. "What?" she stammered.
The boy, who had brown hair and eyes smiled and repeated, "I was wondering if I could dance with you? You aren't here with anyone, are you? My name is Lukas"
Ginny smiled. Somehow news hadn't reached the outside world that she was dating the boy-who-lived. "I'm sorry, but I have a boyfriend."
Lukas clearly didn't give up too easily and said, "If you don't mind me saying, he can't be that special if he wouldn't even come up to Durmstrang with you."
Ginny felt her anger rising, but lightly said, "Well, you know, he's off fighting He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."
Lukas laughed, obviously thinking Ginny was joking. Ginny smiled at him, turned, and walked away. Ginny caught sight of Hermione and Ron dancing carefree, and thought This is going to be a long night…
As soon as 8:00 hit and Harry was free from his Ward duties, he hurried down to a secluded area of the castle to try out Hey Jude. However, it was far more difficult than he expected. Every few seconds, he'd have to restart it, and figure each note out individually. There didn't seem to be a pattern to any of the notes at all, either. After about an hour, he only had the very first few lines down.
Harry put his trumpet into the case, disgusted. He should be at Durmstrang! Right now, they're probably having their equivalent to the Yule Ball. Harry couldn't help but get the image in his mind of Ginny dancing in the arms of someone else.
Shuddering, Harry picked his trumpet back up and started Hey Jude back over again.
For once, Harry was glad for the Christmas break to be over and to get back into classes. It gave him something to do, at the very least.
Care of Magic Creatures was fun, as Hagrid had seemed to give up on his evil creature fetish. Instead of something horrible like Chimeras, they were studying Leprechauns.
Somehow Hagrid had managed to find a group that weren't quite as hermitic as usual and were willing to be studied by the students. Harry turned to his and whispered, "Hey, do you know how to sing?"
The Leprechaun gave him a wink and loudly sang, "Oh, Aye-De-Di-De…" starting an Irish drinking song.
"NO!!!" cried everyone from Gryffindor.
The Leprechaun looked surly and said, "Aye, Yeh laddies don't know what ye missing!" and the class broke out in laughter.
In Charms, the 6th years were finally learning wandless magic. It was quite difficult, and Harry found he could only do very simple spells.
"Don't worry," Flitwick called out, "Wandless magic takes a bit of time to get used to. Remember, you have to keep a clear head to do it."
Despite the fact that Harry was able to pick wandless magic up much faster than anyone else, he still wasn't even able to perform basic summoning spells which they learned two years ago.
Harry had to admit that Fleur's class was his favorite, though. The first class back they had tried one on one dueling. After that, 2 on 2. Then unbalanced groups such as 2x1 and 3x2. Finally, they were practicing large group combat.
"No!" yelled Fleur over the students, "Don't stand behind anyone. The point is to keep everyone in a position to cast spells! If you're behind someone, you can't be casting a curse at someone! If you're side by side, everyone is free to attack. No, Thomas, keep some space between you and the next wizard. If you don't, a single spell could incapacitate both of you."
Harry decided now was a great time to play his trump card. "Nutusus Aegis" he muttered, focusing on his group. Sure enough, every spell from the opposing group simply dissipated. Harry watched in amusement as half the opposing force fell due to Expelliarmus and Stupefy spells from his side.
"Stop!" hollered Fleur over the spells. "Potter, where did you learn about that spell? That's advanced 7th year material!"
Harry answered, "I'm friends with Hermione Granger. She found it and taught it to me last year.
Professor Delacour smiled and said, "Finite Nutus. Continue the battle." Harry smiled and motioned his team to keep their wands down. The opposing team let a barrage of spells at them, but the barrier was still in place.
Fleur gasped. "What?!" she cried.
Harry decided not to push his luck and said, "Professor, may I just observe from now on?"
Fleur seemed to be giving it some thought. She was still amazed that Potter could make a willpower shield she couldn't penetrate. "No," she finally said, "we're going to try something. Ok class, it's everyone against Potter. To make it fair, I'll go against Potter as well."
Harry saw where this was going and urgently said, "Please professor, no!"
Fleur smiled at him and said, "Everyone but Potter, please stand beside me and face Harry." Harry looked fearful of the situation. It didn't matter whether or not he won, the situation wasn't going to be good. It was difficult to hold on to his courage. The situation didn't look like a duel; it looked like an execution. Harry blinked as the class simultaneously fired spells and the first barrage hit his shield. Harry groaned – the shield held! He was really in for it this time.
"Halt!" cried Fleur, and the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws lowered their wands, amazed that Harry was still in one piece.
"Potter," Fleur addressed, "has just demonstrated a special group of spells called the willpower spells. The spell he cast, Nutusus Aegis, creates a shield around him. Unless someone with a greater willpower than him comes along, spells will just dissipate into it."
At her words, everyone in the class began looking at Harry almost fearfully. Harry sighed, and silently waited for the class to end. Stupid! He chided himself, I'm so stupid! I should've just used regular spells. Now everyone's going to think I'm sort of powerful wizard again!
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Kaelli and Seifer, I'm glad you like it! I'm pretty sure Ariel does as well, considering she's trying to push me into insanity… :)
I wonder if Aethis and Aeris are reading this… I wonder what they'd say about me dangling the Irish Drinking song in front of them and then taking it away…
Anyway, please review!!!