Harry Potter
and the Princesses for Magic
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, and all the other things I mentioned in the other disclaimers.
Author's Note: Hey readers! As you know, this is the 8th chapter of this story. In this story, Harry feels that he wants Cho back, and starts going out again, and even Ron starts dating! Basically, it's all about dating. Yeah, I know this story's action/adventure/mystery, but this certain chapter's kinda romance. Oh, and note to flamers: please think of your manners, and try not to give flames. It's very rude and disrespectful, and I believe that if you have nothing good to say, don't say it. Of course, suggestions are always welcome, and so are light comments. It's not that all I want are cute and nice reviews, I just don't want to read a flame completely trashing something that I've worked by bum off for more than a year. So I'd appreciate if you don't give flames. Fire is scary!
Chapter 8
Dating at Hogwarts
Harry couldn't stop thinking of Cho Chang all week. He remembered his 4th year at Hogwarts when he tried to ask Cho Chang to the Yule Ball, and found out that she was going with Cedric Diggory. Cedric was killed at the end of the year by the evil Lord Voldemort who had gained power. It was probably one of the reasons why Cho had wanted to hook up with Harry before, and she was pretty moody about it when they were together. Though it didn't work out the year before, Harry thought it might work out this time. He now knew what it was like to lose a loved one, so he could almost feel Cho's pain. He hadn't heard of any other new boyfriends that she had, so Harry was thinking that it might be his lucky day.
Harry stared across the library at Cho who was reading an issue of Teen Witch and showing her friends the hair style tips in an article. Harry was completely caught up in his love trance, until Ron gave him a nudge on the shoulder.
"Harry, what's wrong?" questioned Ron, staring at Harry as if he was acting very strangely. "You looked like you were petrified. That Basilisk isn't back, is it?"
"No," said Harry, mad that Ron was trying to be funny about something that wasn't. "No, it isn't back."
"Oh, Joy is so lucky!" sighed Hermoine. "She gets to look in the restricted section, although she didn't go there today." Hermione turned around to Joy with a frustrated and envious expression. "Why didn't you go?"
"Actually, I haven't gone at all," said Joy, looking up from a book about potions for hair care (and by the way, her hair was in one long side-ponytail). "There isn't anything there that I like. By the way, Hermione, I found a book about the first reigning Wizard Monarch. It's quite a long book."
Princess Joy bent down to a pile of books under her chair, and once sitting back up, slammed an extremely large (and supposedly heavy) book on the table.
"Did the author write 15 pages for every day of the Wizard Monarch's life?" asked Ron in a shocked look.
"Actually, the author only wrote 2 pages for every year, more if something very important happened."
"So how many pages are there?" asked Harry.
"I think I saw the number of pages when I first looked at it. Let me remember. I think it was... Yes, it was 2894 pages."
"That's almost 3000 pages!" shouted Ron.
The librarian, who was angry that Ron shouted, scolded at them to be quiet. Afterwards, they tried to whisper as much as possible.
"How long do Magic Kings and Queens live?" whispered Ron.
"Don't you remember?" whispered Hermione. "During his beginning speech, Dumbledore said the average life span of a Wizard Monarch is 1000 years old."
"Yikes!" whispered Ron in a high-pitched tone. "You're going to outlive my grandkids, if I have any..."
"I know, I get scared about that once in a while," sighed Joy. "By the time I'm middle-aged, which is 500 years old, all my other friends will be dead."
"How badly are you going to wrinkle?" asked Ron.
"Ron, what a stupid question!" said Harry.
"I'm curious!"
"If you want to know the truth, I won't get wrinkles, and I'll never really age. I just look older, but I never get wrinkles or any other side-affects from aging. Of course, some Monarch Wizards or Witches will. It depends on the blood type. If your blood type is positive, you won't really get aging side-affects. If your blood type is negative, you'll look older. It's something Merlin discovered."
"Wicked!"
"What about your husband?" asked Hermione.
"He'll be able to live only up to 700 years. When I marry, my husband will rule as what they will call a 'Minor King' and will be crowned. He will get to rule by my side, but only a tiny bit because my sister and I are going to be doing most of the work. For the ceremony, they will be able to drink this very special potion, which makes you live longer. It has some mild Elixir of Life in it, which means you will never die for a very long while. The potion can't work unless the crowned Queen or King does a spell to make it work, which can only be done on the coronation. My husband would then be able to live for 700 years. Of course, depending on your health and how you use your magic, you can end up living only 500 years."
"Bloody breathtaking, I must say!" said Ron.
"Wow!" said Hermione.
"It's hard to believe that's true," remarked Harry.
"So, who's the guy this book is written about?" asked Ron.
"It's the first Wizard Monarch; King Mentuhotep IV, though his real name was
Ramsi-tun-kati, which means Son-of-the Strength God, so his nick-name was Strength. He was an Egyptian pharaoh. Muggle archeologists say he wasn't part of the royal family, but he was. He was just one of the minor royals. It was because he was a different king, that he was a Wizard King. Of course, all Egyptian pharaohs were wizards and witches. That's why the peasants thought them as gods. In Muggle research, it says that he might have abdicated early, and that was true; he abdicated so he could pursue his job as king of the wizarding world. They even faked his death so that everyone would think he was a Muggle.
"They put his tomb in a secret pyramid underneath the ground. It has a secret code that is almost impossible to break. Only the wizard banks have it. It's also protected by extremely powerful curses. There's also a maze as well. If a Muggle goes near the entrance, they are automatically transported somewhere far away. If some wizard was trying to get in there for a wrong purpose, the curse would magically detect it and they would be sent off even farther, sometimes in another city!"
"Strange..."
"Who were the other Wizard Monarchs?" asked Hermione.
"The next one was King Solomon. Yes, he was a wizard, though we're not sure if he's a pureblood or that one of his ancestors were Muggle-born. His nickname was 'Wisdom', though if you've heard of King Solomon, you can tell that must be obvious.
"There was also Merlin. He's the most famous one. Actually, his nickname was 'Enchant'."
"As in the nickname, 'Prince of Enchanters'?" asked Hermione.
"Exactly!" said Joy. " Not many people know that. He was probably the greatest Magic Monarch, which is why he's so popular.
"It's strange, but we're the only ones that our official titles are descriptive words. I guess that's because the other Monarchs of Magic lived in the Muggle world, and they had to have Muggle names so no one would get suspicious.
"Since I'm finished explaining that, let's talk about some happy news," brought up Princess Joy. "What about... Hogsmeade! We're going there in a week! I haven't been there in such a long time. I think the last time I was there was when my sister and I were 4 years old and Nono Albus brought us there while we were vacationing in England. "My sister and I added new features to the village a couple of weeks before the war. Now, Hogsmeade has a gigantic library, a styling salon, one of my mother's wardrobe boutiques, a gizmo store, Quidditch store, a museum of witch and wizard cultures around the world, a place where you can use computagrams and a large statue of my sister and I."
"What's a computagram?" asked Hermione.
"What?" gasped Joy. "You don't know what a computagram is?"
All three, Hermione, Ron and Harry, shook their heads in a perplexed manner.
"Oh dear, more explaining!" moaned Joy. "Hermione and Harry know a bit what a computagram is like. It's like a Muggle computer, except quicker, easier, more techno- looking and you can tell it what to do, although half of the time you're typing and clicking things. If your font keeps on changing, you can make it stop. I'm not too great at working them for some reason. A computagram can't get viruses either. There's also a wizard Internet, and it's a lot safer than the Muggle Internet. It's illegal to put bad stuff there, and every day there is someone who checks the Internet and they can find out very quickly who put something bad on the Internet."
"It sounds so interesting," remarked Hermione.
"And you know that Three Broomsticks place where they sell those Butterbeers?" asked Joy.
"Yeah, we love that place!" said Ron.
"Well, now it's a family and lounging restaurant. I've been hearing that because of the change, they've been having fantastic business."
"Really?" asked Harry. "That's great."
Harry and his friends left the library for the Great Hall where lunch was being served. Harry still couldn't get his mind off of Cho Chang. As he ate his meal, he made quick glances at her; he couldn't bear to not look at her.
For lunch, there was chicken and gravy, zucchini croquettes and pizza. Harry didn't eat pizza very often, and the Dursleys barely ate it at all. It was quite delightful; it had a crunchy crust, gooey cheese, delicious toppings and a fantastic sauce. Harry wondered why he didn't eat pizza more often.
No wonder it's so popular, thought Harry. Ron gobbled down 8 slices of pizza. But while Ron was inhaling as much pizza as he could, Harry was watching Cho Chang laughing, chatting and eating with her friends.
"Harry, what are you looking at?" asked Ron.
Harry, who had yet again been in another trance, staring at Cho, quickly put his thoughts together and realized Ron had spoken to him.
"N-nothing," stuttered Harry shyly. "Just, nothing."
Once the student body had finished their meal and were getting up to go back to their week-end leisure, Ron pulled Harry aside. Harry became frustrated at Ron that he was tugging him away from everyone.
"What are you doing?" questioned Harry angrily. "Let me go!"
"No!" responded Ron strictly. "I need to speak to you privately."
Ron had dragged Harry by his arm (with Harry trying to tug away furiously) and pulled Harry into the boys' washrooms. When Ron let go of Harry's arm, Ron leaned seriously onto the washroom wall while Harry stood aside trying to get the blood flowing through his arm again. His arm felt quite sore. Ron looked up at Harry with a concerned look.
"What's happening?" asked Ron. "This week you've been staring into space, not paying attention and just drifting off, and drifting off from all of your friends, including me! What's the deal?"
"There's no deal," answered Harry. "I've got things on my mind, that's all."
"Really? Things on your mind? Why don't you tell me? I think I ought to know when my best friend's spacing out all of a sudden."
"It's nothing serious," stated Harry.
"How am I to know that, Harry?"
"It's nothing!"
"Then tell me!"
"Fine!" said Harry, who thought that it ought to be time that he tell Ron about his feelings for Cho. "Ron?"
"Yes, Harry?"
"I-" Suddenly, Harry had a sudden thought. "Is anyone else in here?"
As the question was called out, Neville Longbottom, who looked quite embarrassed, came out of one of the stalls.
"Sorry," apologized Neville. "I'll leave."
Neville was about to run out of the room when Harry stopped him.
"Neville?" asked Harry. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"What?"
"You forgot to wash your hands, you loof!"
"Oy! Thanks for reminding me! If my Gramms ever found out, I'd be scolded at big time!"
Neville, who ran to the sink embarrassingly, quickly turned on the tap, washed his hands, dried them and flew out the washroom. Harry and Ron turned back to their conversation.
"As I was saying... Ron, if I tell you this, you'll have to swear that you won't ridicule me of anything. Promise?"
"Absolutely!" said Ron. "You know I'd never do anything like that to you, mate!"
"Well....You see....It's just that..... I have new feelings for Cho Chang, I want her back."
Ron's eyes widened and his jaw dropped in disbelief.
"Are you serious?" asked Ron. "After all that moping and-"
"Yeah, I know I broke up with her because of that, but now I know how it feels to lose a loved one. Ron, I feel the same way Cho does, maybe even worse, by losing Sirius. I can relate to her now."
"Hey, if you think you have another chance with her, go for it! It did seem like she was madly in love with you last year."
"It was, wasn't it? Thanks for understanding."
"No problem! Oh, and Harry?"
"Uh huh?"
"I have to tell you something too....." said Ron, looking a bit bashful (his cheeks became rosy). "I...I have a crush on Joy."
"I know."
"WHAT?!?!?"
"Gee Ron, calm yourself down! We don't want everyone in the castle hearing. Do you want Snape to hear you?"
"No, but..... how come you know?"
"Ron, isn't it obvious? Your face glows so much that it can block out the sun when Joy winks or speaks to you. No offense, of course."
"I should have known you'd know. It's visible, isn't it? But..... She's a beauty! And is she ever clever! Maybe even smarter than Hermione, and yet she's still not bossy. She always makes me smile. Best of all, she actually likes red-heads!"
"Are you going to ask her out?"
"Me?" spoke Ron in astonishment. "Me? I, Ron Weasley, of the red-headed, cheapo Weasleys, ask out Her Royal Highness Princess Joysinious Mary Anastasia Matilda Cleopatra Dumbledore-Illiermo, future-Queen of the World of Magic?"
"Hey, you memorized that?"
"I sure have!"
"Whatever........"
"But how can I ask her out? Her family probably wants her to marry some rich, pure-blood, brilliant wizard."
"Ron, we're talking about Professor Dumbledore's family here."
"That's another scary part. She's Dumbledore's really-great-granddaughter. That's uncomfortable, you know. He'll probably be watching my every step so I won't break her heart or something, not that I will."
"You have nothing to worry about, Ron! She likes red-heads, remember? Just ask her out. If she says yes, then everything's all right. If she says no, then it wasn't meant to be. You'll find some other girl."
"You're right," sighed Ron. "So, you're going to ask Cho out, again?"
"Sure. Are you going to ask out Joy?"
"I- I guess so. Do you want to ask them right now? If you're asking someone on a date the same time as me, I won't feel so alone."
"Absolutely! Come on, let's go."
The boys, with a new confidence, headed out of the washroom and split up to get dates. Harry went to go find Cho, and after searching, spotted her talking with her friends in the hall. Harry, after taking a deep breath, went up to her.
"Uhmm....Cho?" he asked.
Cho turned around and gave Harry a warm smile.
"Yes, Harry?"
"I.... Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Of course."
Harry brought Cho in an empty classroom to talk to her privately. Cho looked at Harry in a perplexed way.
"Cho? I wanted to ask you something."
"Go ahead and ask. What's your question?"
"I- er..... Would you like to go on a date with me?"
"I was wondering if you'd ask me out again. Sure I'd like to."
"That- that's wonderful!" said Harry happily. "We could have our date when we go to Hogsmeade. I'll meet you at The Three Broomsticks as soon as we get off the train."
"Sure!"
"Okay, see you then!"
"Great, I can't wait!"
Cho skipped out of the classroom and to her friends to tell them what happened. As no one was in the room, Harry did a little jig and whispered 'Yes!' excitedly and hurried out of the room. He tried to find Ron and see what happened to him when he asked Princess Joy out. He found Ron talking to Princess Joy who was smiling ear to ear. Ron was stuttering a lot.
"Uhm... J-j-joy?"
"Yes, Ronnie?" said Joy in a perky fashion.
"I w-w-wanted to ask you, w-would you like to g-go on a d-date with m-me?"
Princess Joy's face lit up as she gasped excitedly and giggled girlishly.
"Oh, Ron!" she exclaimed. "I thought you'd never ask!"
At this moment, she jumped onto Ron and hugged him tightly, and leaped back with an even bigger smile.
"I've been wanting to date you since I met you. I would love to go on a date with you!"
Ron was completely astonished and he had such a smile on his face as if he'd won the lottery (Muggle-term speaking, of course).
"R-really!?!" stuttered Ron amazed. "That's wonderful!"
Harry was proud that his best friend was going on his first date, and that he, Harry, was going on a date as well. Ron and Joy spoke about where their date would be, and once finished, Ron walked away. He quickly found Harry close by and ran up to him.
"Harry!" exclaimed Ron. "Harry, did you see?"
"I did," answered Harry. "Congratulations! So, are you and Joy going to be having your date at Hogsmeade?"
"No," answered Ron. "I suggested it, but she said that she was going to run a check of all the shops and boutiques to see how everything's doing. Plus, she wants to go on a 'shopping spree'. She told me that she adores shopping and she feels like she's going to crack because she hasn't been shopping in so long. It's only been a month!"
"Yeah, I've heard that some girls can't live without shopping."
"Are you and Cho Chang going on a date at Hogsmeade?" asked Ron.
"Yep, we are. First we're going to meet at The Three Broomsticks where we're going to have lunch. After, we're going to explore through the stores and things like that. I'm thinking that after we come back here and have our dinner, we can go outside and go on a paddle boat in the moat under the stars. It would be really romantic."
"It would be! We're going to have dinner as well. Joy volunteered to arrange the dinner. I'm not sure what she has planned for dinner though. After, I'm going to try and see if Joy and I can go on a carriage ride through the grounds. It's kind of like your idea, but on land. I can't stand that moat. It gets me scared, especially that giant squid. Yuck!"
"Well, I guess- Oh hello, Princess Glory!"
Both Harry and Ron turned around to Princess Glory approaching them with her usual honourable and wise grin.
"Hello, Ron and Harry," she greeted. "How are you both doing today?"
"Great! I asked your sister out and Harry's going out with Cho Chang. You know her, don't you?"
"Oh! You're both going on dates. And Harry's going with... Cho?" she said in a confused and disappointed look. It was as if she was shocked or disappointed and wasn't quite sure what to say. She sounded a bit odd to Harry when she said 'Cho'. Harry had a feeling she didn't like Cho Chang that much. She bit her lip slightly and tightened her hand on her large necklace she always wore.
"Yep!" responded Ron delightedly. "And Harry and I were wondering if maybe you could ask Professor Dumbledore if he could use a paddle boat, the moat, a carriage and the grounds for one evening for our dates, if that's not too much. We need them for our dates."
"Er...I guess so. It seems a bit off from the rules, but I guess I could ask."
Harry knew that Princess Glory didn't really want to. She seemed a bit obligated to do this and she was only doing it so they could be pleased. Harry felt that maybe Ron shouldn't have suggested it, but Harry did really want to go on a boat ride with Cho.
"I'll check with the Headmaster. I-I guess I'll be going now," said Princess Glory. "Good bye!"
"Bye!"
"See you!"
********
Harry was extremely excited and even apprehensive for the upcoming date. Harry had given his permission slip to Professor McGonagoll a week before. He wrote to Remus about the date and Remus wrote a letter back congratulating him. He gave him a few pointers in the letter as well. Remus also sent some eau de cologne Harry could use. Harry had put on the eau de cologne, which smelled lovely.
Cho is going to love my cologne, thought Harry. He also took out the present he would give Cho. Lupin delivered a box of chocolates and a stuffed owl holding a heart with his last letter to Harry which he could give to Cho. Harry couldn't wait to give it to her.
Harry skipped downstairs with joy to the Gryffindor table where everyone was being served breakfast. His friends were already sitting there. He sat right next to Princess Joy, who had put her hair in a simple bun (it looked a lot better than Professor McGonagoll's bun, might I add).
"Harry, what took you so long?" asked Joy, as she put some bacon in her plate.
"I was getting ready for my date," replied Harry, as he slapped a fluffy pancake on his platter. "I'm so excited."
"Isn't your date in about 4 hours?" asked Hermione suspiciously (which by the way, Harry and Ron had told about their dates to Hermione happily, though it was obvious that she didn't care as much as they did).
"Well...yeah... But I couldn't help getting ready."
"You're wearing eau de cologne," remarked Joy, taking a gentle sniff. "It smells very nice. I like Ron's cologne too. He put on my favourite."
"Breeze of a Sunny Day for Men!" stated Ron.
"My sister likes this eau to cologne called eau d'intelligence pendant des jours de l'hiver pour les hommes. It's from France, and she just loves that smell."
"It's a very long name," remarked Harry. "What does it mean in English?"
"If you translate it, it means 'water of intelligence during the days of winter for men'. So, what's the cologne you put on?"
"It's called Sprinkled Waterfall, eau de cologne," remembered Harry.
"That's a very expensive brand in London!" gasped Hermione. "I saw a bottle of that for 100 pounds in a mall. You're lucky."
"Remus picked it out for me. Despite that he barely had any money for a long time, he still has great taste."
He finished his breakfast, ran upstairs and got ready all over again (just a bit pathetic, eh?). He brushed his teeth rigorously and even cleansed his mouth with mouth-wash. Afterwards, he combed his hair (not that it did much) and put on more cologne. He checked himself at the end and practiced talking to Cho Chang so many times it would make anyone's head spin.
By lunch, his confidence broke down into angst that he was as nervous as anyone could imagine. He ran down the stairs and into the common room where all the Gryffindors going to Hogmseade were streaming out and on their way to the train. Passed the queue of students and into the grounds he trotted nervously to the train. Harry couldn't find Cho Chang at all, but managed to catch up with Ron, Hermione and Joy.
"Harry, you're here finally!" exclaimed Princess Joy. "I was starting to get worried about you!"
"I got ready all over again," mentioned Harry, "and now I feel nervous."
"Don't worry, Harry!" encouraged Hermione. "You've been out with Cho before. It's not the end of the world. You'll be fine!"
All four of them walked to the steam train blowing and hooting rigorously as the students loaded onto it. Though Harry was walking to the compartments where everyone else was going, Harry's friends were heading to some quite different and extremely decorated cars in the front of the train. Harry didn't know what was going on, nor did he know what those cars were.
"Hey!" called out Harry. "Where are you going?"
"To the royal cars, of course!" said Hermione. "Don't you see the coat of arms?"
Harry, who was excited to go into the royal cars though disappointed not to be able to find Cho, looked up at the cars.
There were two magnificent royal cars at the front. The one at the very front was painted a royal blue with a magnificent gold vine design and a coat of arms with a hippigryph in armour standing like a human with Princess Glory's sword (the one she used in battle), two black unicorns, a flame and a tiara with Princess Glory's name engraved on it. The train closer to them and was behind the first one was a mauve colour with a golden vine design as well but instead had a hippogryph with its wings spread wide across, two white unicorns, gems and jewels, a wave of water and a tiara stating Princess Joy's name.
They boarded the car with its door already opened to welcome the Princess and her friends, and once they were inside they were struck with awe. The whole entire car was beautifully decorated and looked like a gigantic living room filled with stylish Italian furniture, stereos, a TV (which Harry didn't know why it'd be in a wizard train, but didn't say anything), paintings of her and a few stuffed animals. The walls were painted a soft beige and the floor was a darker toned wall-to-wall carpet. Inside was a staff of waiters and waitresses ready to serve the ones inside. Harry gazed at everything marvelously, and glared at the leather and earth-tone coloured seats and the modern-style Italian marble table with squares of different soft colours. Hermione looked absolutely fascinated and Ron looked as if it was the first and best room he had ever seen in his life.
As soon as they regained their senses, they all sat down somewhere. While Harry sat on a fashionable leather couch, Hermione took a seat on a soft green-fabric bench which had covered one side of the room, Ron sat on the light yellow bean-bag chair carefully as if the minute he moved too rougly the chair would burst with beans, and Princess Joy sat in her egg-shaped dome seat with wheels. Harry, Hermione and Ron would all agree it looked very modern and yet very stylish.
"What do you think?" asked Joy with a smile.
"It's amazing!" shouted Ron with a gasp of air (it seemed like the others couldn't say anything they liked it so much).
"I glad you like it," said Joy with a giggle. "I love when my rooms look like this. My sister thinks my style is tacky. She likes that 17th, 18th century luxury kind of style, like a Queen Elizabeth I style or Marie Antoinette kind-of-thing. I don't like it much. It is quite pretty, but we should all move on with the times and not make our rooms look ancient. If that's what she likes, I guess I shouldn't bother her.
"Did you know how much of a fuss she made when we were talking where our cars should go? I wanted to go in the back because it feels wobbly and like a roller coaster. My sister though, said that the back is always 3rd class, that only farmers with pitch-forks and hobos ride in the back of the train where cargo's kept, as if that's realistic, and that the front is always more luxurious. In the end, she won because she also gets queezy in the back. I couldn't go in the back while she was in the front because it shows us as equals, that we'll reign together... blablabla....."
"Appetizers, sir?" asked a waiter to Harry, who was holding a tray of cookies, sweets and tea sandwiches.
"No thank you," responded Harry.
Other waiters and waitresses were handing out appetizers. Ron took a whole handful of sweets as Joy squeaked with laughter at how many he took. Hermione took a few tea sandwiches and a cookie.
"My, these are delicious!" said Hermione, finishing her tea sandwich. "I love these sandwiches. What's in them?"
"Honey mustard, lettuce, sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, cucumbers and Italian bacon all gently toasted until it is crispy yet tender," answered the waitress automatically.
"I'm glad you like them," said Joy. "You can have the recipe. I love these sandwiches as well. I always order them at all my parties."
"Your cookies are good as well," said Ron, after he had swallowed one of his cookies. "Are they from your country?"
"A few of them are, and some of them are just delicately-made cookies for the rich. I don't like it how so many rich people get the best food in the world when most of the others who aren't rich appreciate them even more. If I had a choice, I would wish every single person on this earth could have as great cookies and treats as the ones who can afford it. When I become Queen with PG, I would like to have a banquet in each city for everyone to come to and would have the greatest meal of all. And after, everyone can bring the leftovers home."
"I like the idea of that!" said Ron. "And did you just say, PG?"
"Oh, that's my nickname for my sister. She says she wants to be called Princess, though that's just recently. So in a way, I'm still stating her title and yet it's still a nickname. She whines that she wants to be called Princess at all times, but everyone close to her calls her Glory anyway. She never used to be this fussy, it started at the end of August. I like the nickname 'PG' though!"
"Me too!"
The car jerked a bit. Slowly, the car started moving and so did the other cars on the train. After a while, the whole entire train was gliding along the train tracks as it headed to Hogsmeade. They chatted, nibbled on a few snacks and chatted some more. The ride to Hogmeade seemed very quick to Harry. In about less than an hour, the train had slowed down and immediately Hogwarts students were getting ready to load off the cars. Everyone in Princess Joy's car were escorted out of the train. Harry grabbed his presents and held on tight to them as he came off the train and headed The Three Broomsticks where he would meet Cho Chang.
Once he was at the restaurant, Harry stood in the doorway to peak at everyone in there. The restaurant had been nicely decorated, and he saw a lot of the Hogwarts students snatching tables before someone else had taken them. Even though the clutter in the restaurant was grand, there was one free table in the corner that had a sign that said 'reserved'. Harry had asked Princess Glory as well to reserve a table for him and Cho since she had access to every store in the wizard village. Harry looked around even more. At a large, round table, sat Hermione, Joy and Ron. Ron gestured Harry to come over to their table. Harry did so and sat at one of the empty chairs (there were quite a few other empty chairs at the table).
"Hey guys," said Harry. "Have you got any ideas of what you guys are going to do first?"
"My goodness, I have a whole day planned out!" responded Joy with enthusiasm. "First, we're going to my mother's boutique where I'm going to get Hermione, Ron and myself a whole new wardrobe."
"Joy," murmured Ron uncomfortably, "I never really liked shopping."
"Oh no, Ronnie! You're getting some new clothes and that's final! Anyway, then we're going to the shoe store, then Zonko's Joke Shop, Honeydukes, then to the salon, then we're going to the computagram library where we're going to meet up with my sister-"
"Well don't you three have an extremely busy day!" said Harry.
"I'm going to have to check every store today anyway so I might as well shop everywhere. My sister's inspecting every store to the right and I'm inspecting every store to the left and when we get to the middle (that's the computagram library) we're going to check it together."
"Speaking of which, here comes your sister now!" said Ron.
Princess Glory, who was with her four friends, spotted her sister and marched to the table with her group while staring at Joy with an angry look (though her friends looked a bit shy, not angry).
"Aren't you supposed to be doing something?" demanded Princess Glory.
"You didn't expect me to start inspecting every single shop as soon as I got off my car, did you?" asked Joy.
"Yes!"
"I want to have fun! Give it a rest. It's lunch! Plus, I'm expecting the restaurant so as we speak!"
"Well...if you're eating here," sighed Princess Glory in an I-give-up tone, "I guess I could have a bite as well."
Princess Glory and her friends sat on the empty chairs and opened up some menus just as Madam Rosmerta walked to their table.
"Hello, sweethearts!" said Madam Rosmerta with her writing pad and quill out. She quickly glared at the Princesses in an honoured look. "Princess Joy! Princess Glory! So nice to see you! Can I take your orders?"
"Of course!" said Princess Joy. "Let me see, I'll have the pepperoni personal-pan pizza."
"I'll have.... the roast beef combo," ordered Ron.
"I'll have the chicken breast fillet with a side of hash brown," said Hermione.
"And what will you have to drink?" asked Madam Rosmerta.
"We'll have 3 medium Butterbeers," answered Princess Joy.
"Would you like anything, Harry?"
"No thanks. I'm going to have my lunch once Cho Chang gets here."
"All right. And Her Royal Highness Princess Glory! What would you like?"
"I know! I know!" shouted the blonde, pig-tailed Lucy Landerville.
"No, I know!" argued the freckled, cherry blonde-haired Tiffany Sealious.
"You don't know anything," said the chubby brunette with the puffy ponytail named Vicky Phlumer.
"I know what she wants!" said Ruth Simmore proudly who was a fragile, small girl (actually everyone looked small compared to Princess Glory) who had long black hair.
"Calm down!" shouted Princess Glory. "I'll have a large plate of stir-fried lamb and potatoes with a bacon club sandwich, cherry tart and a bowl of mushroom soup."
"My, my, my... I can see you're hungry!" remarked Madam Rosmerta. "And what would you like to drink?"
"A bottle of Fizzy-up Vinkshin Soda."
"That's a pretty fizzy drink!" commented Madam Rosmerta. "What would you four young ladies like?"
"A bowl of mushroom soup and Butterbeers for all four of us," said Ruth.
"By the way, how's business doing?" brought up Princess Joy.
"It's doing fantastic!" said Madame Rosmerta. "We've never had so many customers. That family restaurant idea and those menus did a great deal of help. I'll be ready for any of your inspections after your meal."
She left their table and went behind the counter. In only a minute she came back with her arms full of plates and her fingers clinging on to drinks.
"Here you go," she said as she laid down all the plates, including the gigantic plate and bowl for Princess Glory.
"Whoa!" gasped Ron. "Are you going to eat all that?"
"Yes!" said Princess Glory in an angry tone.
"What's that Fizz-down Vishin stuff you ordered?" joked Ron.
"It's called Fizzy-up Vinkshin Soda," stated Vicky. "It's a Canadian-Russian soda with an extremely large amount of bubbles and fizz. Princesss Glory really likes Russia and Canada, they're her favourite vacation spots."
"Thank you for stating that, Victoria," thanked Princess Glory. "Now, let me dig in!"
She started what seemed like inhaling the food and drink before you could say 'gobbled up' while her friends sipped their soups slowly. Ron, Joy, Hermione and Harry watched as the soda sizzled down her throat.
"How strong is that soda?" asked Harry.
"Why don't you try it?" suggested Princess Glory. She poured some of the drink into an extra cup, which bubbled and sizzled like a deadly potion, and gave it to Harry. The drink was bubbling mad in the glass. Harry gulped it down and was shocked at the taste. It tasted like gigantic, sizzling bubbles were leaking down his throat, 10 times fizzier than the ginger ale he thought was too bubbly. It had a taste of maple syrup which seemed quite delightful.
"Well, look who it is! The new Gryffindor Quidditch captain! What's wrong Harry? Snitch got your tongue?"
Harry turned around; it was Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. Harry's friends looked at him in disgust while Lucy, Ruth, Vicky and Tiffany looked up at them with a scared look as Princess Glory was still busy stuffing her face with the food.
"I'm captain, you've got a problem with that, Malfoy?" barked Harry.
"No Potter, not at all. In fact, I thought it would be a problem to you. As a matter of fact, I'm the new Slytherin Quidditch captain."
All of their eyes opened wide. Malfoy was the new captain for Slytherin? How could it be? He was the worst player on their team! Harry was furious.
"And the fair Princess Glory, how are you doing today?" asked Malfoy in a polite manner that seemed too scary to be true. Princess Glory looked up as Malfoy kissed her hand. Crabbe and Goyle bowed to her.
"Very well, thank you!" she answered back in a grin.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" asked Malfoy.
"Yes, of course! And you?"
"Never better! And ladies, good afternoon as well," he said as he smiled at her friends. They all giggled.
"Well, I better go. I'm going to the Owl Post to mail my father. I'll see if I can catch up with you later."
"Absolutely, unless you don't mind bumping into me as I check every boutique here."
"Not at all!"
"Well, that settles it I assume..."
"Yes of course. Good bye!"
"Good bye!" said Princess Glory, Lucy, Tiffany, Ruth and Vicky. They all made a tiny giggle.
"Are you flattered by him?!?!" asked Princess Joy disgustedly.
"What's wrong with him?" questioned Princess Glory.
"He's evil, a bully, mean... Do you want me to go on? You just saw how he acted to us before."
"Yes, in fact I did (which was hard to believe considerably that her face was stuffed in her plate). I saw that you were being quite rude to him as well. Maybe if you would be more polite he would respond in that manner as well!"
"Well....er....you.....Eee...Grrrr! You always do this!" shouted Joy.
"Yes, I know!" confessed Princess Glory with a grin.
"Oh look, Harry! Cho's at the entrance!" Princess Joy pointed out.
Harry looked at the entrance. There was Cho Chang, wearing a beautiful crystal-bead necklace and matching ear rings and bracelet. Harry thought she looked lovely. Harry said goodbye to his friends and walked towards her, his presents held tightly in his arm, as his stomach turned in nervousness.
"Hello Cho," said Harry in a shy voice.
"Why hello, Harry!" said Cho cheerfully.
One of the waiters with a name tag spelling out "Chris McField" approached them.
"May I get you two a seat?" he asked politely.
"Yes, we'll have that empty table over in the corner which was reserved for us," replied Harry.
"Ah... You must be...let me see..."
He looked at a big book full of names for reserved tables.
"You two must be Cho Chang and Harry Potter. Harry Potter? No, it can't be! The famous Harry Potter!!!"
Harry rolled his eyes with annoyance as the event proceeded.
"My goodness! My wife and children would love your autograph. Here, can you sign this?" he asked as he pulled out a napkin and pen. Harry signed it quickly and at once they headed to their table behind their waiter.
"Now, if you need anything, just call me. If you need anything all, I would be more than glad to serve you."
"Don't worry, we'll be all right," Harry told the waiter.
Once the waiter had finally left, Cho and Harry made themselves comfortable at the table. Before he forgot, Harry remembered he had to give Cho her presents.
"Oh, Cho! I forgot to give you something. I bought you a present."
From behind his back, he handed Cho the box of chocolates and the stuffed owl. Her face lit up with a glowing happiness has she was handed the gifts.
"Harry....." sighed Cho as she hugged the owl. "I love it. Thank you so much!"
With that phrase, she kissed Harry on the cheek (which made him blush quite brightly). Afterwards, they opened their menus and looked at the delicious plates they served.
"So, what would you like for appetizers?" asked Harry.
"How about the Caesar salad?" suggested Cho.
"That sounds wonderful! So, what will you have for your meal?"
"I'd like the... rotisserie chicken with stir fried vegetables, mashed potatoes and garlic bread. How about you?"
"I'll have the steak with a siding of french fries, rice and garlic bread as well. I'm thinking of Butterbeer, what do you want to drink?"
"I'd like a drink as well. Why don't we share a large glass of Butterbeer?"
"Er.... Sure!" said Harry while his cheeks were becoming red.
Chris McField, the waiter, came back to their table.
"Hi, can I take your order?"
"Hello, uhm... We'll have 1 Caesar salad for appetizers, Cho will have the rotisserie chicken with stir fried vegetables, mashed potatoes and garlic bread and I'll have the steak with a siding of french fries, rice and garlic bread. And to drink we'll have 1 large Butterbeer."
"Thank you. I'll be back in a moment with your food."
In a few minutes, the waiter was back with plates of scrumptious food. They gobbled up their food, chatted and zipped on their Butterbeer. Once they were done, Harry paid for the meals and they explored through Hogsmeade. They went to Honeydukes, Zonko's Joke Shop and they even walked by the Shrieking Shack. They even had some romantic walks just strolling down the paths while carrying an interesting conversation. Harry wondered how his friends were doing. They stopped for a while at Mitrosh's Computagram Library so Cho could go to the washroom. Harry was waiting outside, sitting on the steps in front of the library, waiting for Cho Chang.
As he waited, he heard someone yelling his name out in the distance. He looked around and spotted a tiny speck holding a camera. Oh no, he thought. It was Colin Creevey.
"Harry! Harry! I am so glad to see you!" said Colin. "What have you checked out so far? Did you go to The Three Broomsticks yet? Have you went inside Mitrosh's Computagram Library yet? Why are you waiting on the step?"
"Colin, enough with the questions!" yelled Harry. "I've went through about half the stores so far. I'm surprised I haven't met any of the Princesses while I was exploring everything."
"Do you like the Princesses?" asked Colin in a hyper tone. "Do you like them, Harry? Are they nice?"
"They're extremely friendly. Princess Glory is extremely wise and serious and she's a great dueler. Princess Joy's were sweet and fun to be with."
"I've met them loads of times! I've got 12 rolls of film of them. I haven't really had a real conversation with Princess Glory though, but I have talked to Princess Joy when she was helping me out with homework in the common room! She seems really cool!"
"Yeah, she is."
"So, have you been into Mitrosh's Computagram yet?"
"No, I'm just waiting for Cho Chang to finish with the washrooms and then we'll go inside."
"You're with the Ravenclaw seeker? Why aren't you with your other friends?"
"We're on...a date."
"Harry Potter's on a date! Harry Potter's on a date! I have to get a picture of this!" he screamed as he started flashing his camera.
"Hey, what's going on?"
Cho had come out of the washrooms and was standing behind Harry.
"Cho, can I take a picture of you and Harry?" asked Colin.
"Sure!"
With Harry frustrated that they couldn't finish up their date, they posed and smiled for about 50 pictures that Colin took.
"Well hello, Harry!"
He looked around and spotted Princess Glory and her friends.
"Princess Glory! You're here!" shouted Colin. "Can you join them in a picture?"
"Well...."
"Why not? Your friends can come in two!" said Cho.
Princess Glory had a jealous, angry look towards Cho. Harry had a feeling that Princess Glory didn't like her. He didn't know why, but by the look on her face it seemed so obvious.
"All right."
She stood by Harry as her friends all followed her, keeping a distance from Cho. After about 5 minutes of photo shots, Colin was done and scurried off.
Thank goodness he's gone! thought Harry. In the distance, Harry spotted three specks, one of which had flaming-red hair. Harry knew he they were: Ron, Hermione and Princess Joy.
"Hi Harry and Cho! Oh, and hey Sis and company!" greeted Joy cheerfully.
"I wish you wouldn't call my friends and I 'Sis and company'," grunted Glory. "It's quite rude!"
"You and your politeness! Give it a rest! Anyway, I bought you something while I was shopping!"
Princess Joy handed her sister a shoe box which contained a pair of high palomino-leather boots. Princess Glory looked at them with confusion.
"Thank you...very much..."
"Well, I thought you needed a change. You are wearing those same black boots all the time! I had to buy them for you. Speaking of buying, look at my new boots!" she pointed out. Her boots were knee-length black, leather boots with an extremely high heel.
"I also bought some other cool clothes at my mother's new boutique. Have you been there, Harry? It's called Très Chique Boutique."
"Yeah, we've been all over the place. You know, a quick here and there. It's
great. Cho bought some new clothes there."
"Well, I've also bought a whole new wardrobe for Hermione and Ron. We also went to the salon. I got some more curls in my hair and they took that frizz out of Hermione's hair and put in big curls. Look!"
Harry looked at Hermione. He had a feeling they looked different before. Hermione had fantastic looking hair and was wearing platform stilettos with diamonds at the toe. The change was shocking, it was as if the real Hermione was going.
"Ron wouldn't get a hair-change, though. Ron, that cut just does so much horror to your head!"
"Hey, I thought you liked me!" snapped Ron.
"Of course, Ron!" said Joy. "I completely adore you! I just hate your hair-cut."
"He would look great with his hair a bit spiked up," said Hermione.
"Shut up! I'd look awful!"
"So, how's your date so far, Harry?" asked Princess Joy.
"It's been great," he said while smiling at Cho.
"Aren't they a cute couple?" said Hermione.
As Hermione said this, Princess Glory became red in her cheeks.
"Let's cut it out with this lovey-dovey crap and just get into the computagram library!" whined Princess Glory.
"My goodness!" scolded Joy. "You don't have to be so hurtful. Fine, let's go inside."
They all stepped inside the roomy space of the computagram library. It was a big room with tons of machines that looked like computers, except that they were smaller and didn't have so many buttons. They looked way more futuristic as well. There were at least 40 of them there with booths around them.
"Come on, let's go sign one out," said Princess Glory.
Princess Glory went to the desk and asked to sign out a computagram, as she asked a few things about how the library was doing in business. The employee at the desk started bowed at her and her sister immediately. Once they signed a computagram instructions manual for the employee and once they signed out a computagram (which was #25, it even had a name: Spunky) they came to a small booth with portable walls (like at the Auror Headquarters), sat on the chairs provided and turned on the computagram.
"Hello, Your Royal Highness!" spoke the computagram. "This is Spunky, your computagram for the day. How may I help you?"
Harry and everyone else were amazed. There was a face coming out of the screen, almost like the screaming book Harry found in his 1st year. The face on the
screen that looked very much like a male fairy, and the desktop background was a photo or some kind of image of a large fairy forest, which seemed marvelous to Harry. There was even a small bar that had a button with the 'start' at the bottom of the desktop, just like a Muggle computer.
"I would like to show them the Wizard Internet," said Glory.
"As you wish..."
The computer suddenly changed to a program with a log- in and everything, which looked very much like the Muggle internet.
"Bloody brilliant!" said Ron. "Do all computagrams have faces like that?"
"Actually, you can get many kinds of faces: wizards, centaurs, unicorns, you name it! Let's see, where do we want to go? How about our official website?"
"You mean Princess Joy and you have an official website?"
"Of course we do!" said Princess Glory. "In fact, I'm the site designer of the site. I made the site and I add on new updates almost everyday."
"Wicked!"
Princess Glory typed the URL at the top of the screen: www.monarchyofmagic.com (just like the Muggle URLs) and it went to a brilliant regal purple home page with many icons at the side, a large context of updates in the middle of the page and in calligraphy letters at the top: Welcome to the Monarchy of Magic's Official Website.
"So, what do you want to check out?" asked Princess Glory.
"How about the picture gallery?" asked Cho.
"Gr... Fine," said Princess Glory as she clicked the icon that said 'PICTURE GALLERY'. "Here it is. Which one do you want to check out? Pictures of me, pictures of Princess Joy or pictures of both of us?"
"Both of you," replied Hermione.
Princess Glory clicked on the icon that said 'PICTURES OF BOTH PRINCESSES'. The screen turned to a page filled with icons.
"What kind of pictures would you like to see? There are ceremonies, birthdays, pictures from when we were born, when we were toddlers, 3 years old, 4 years old, 8 years old..."
"Show them when we were 3 years old!" exclaimed Princess Joy. "We were so cute at that age."
"All right."
Princess Glory clicked on the icon which lead them to tons of pictures when they were younger.
"Oh my goodness! Look at Princess Joy and her pigtails!" pointed out Ron.
"And there's Princess Glory!" said Cho. "My goodness! You're pulling your sister's hair!"
"I had a temper at that age."
"You still do!" murmured Princess Joy.
"I do not!" barked Princess Glory.
"Would you kids there quiet down?!" advised the employee at the counter.
"Let's scroll down," suggested Princess Glory.
They saw many adorable pictures of the twins. The fun stopped once Draco Malfoy and his buddies stopped by at the library and found the gang huddled around the computagram.
"And here's the gang again," snickered Draco Malfoy, though his tone of voice changed as he spotted Princess Glory. "Oh, hello Princess Glory! So nice to see you! And her charming friends, hello again. Why, who's that adorable little tyke?" pointed Draco at a picture with Princess Glory riding a black baby unicorn.
"It's me," she replied shyly.
"Well weren't you the cutest little thing?" he said in a strangely nice tone.
"Thank you..." said Princess Glory blushing
"You know, you still are very adorable, even beautiful!"
Princess Glory's cheeks were completely red with embarrassment. Harry was going to faint at the sight of Malfoy acting this way.
"Goyle, Crabbe, don't you agree Her Royal Highness looks adorable in these pictures?"
The two chunky teenagers nodded, smiling in the strangest way.
"Well, we'd better be going. Maybe you can show me more of this once we get back to the castle?"
"Maybe."
"Well, goodbye!"
"Goodbye!"
Once Malfoy and his cronies left, Princess Joy scowled at her sister.
"I can't believe you! Hanging around a guy like that!"
"Wow, Sis, I've never seen you scowl before."
"I scowl!"
"Sure... Anyway, what do you want to see next?"
The rest of the day they explored the site. They left 10 minutes near the end so that Princess Glory could update the site on their recent inventions and events. Around dinner time, everyone hopped back onto the train. Hermione, Ron and Harry went on Princess Joy's compartment again.
All the students went to the Great Hall for dinner, although Princess Joy and Ron didn't. They were having a moonlight dinner outside one of the balconies of the school, arranged by Joy. After dinner, Harry joined Cho for a moonlit ride on a boat around the lake of the school, where they passed mermaids, the giant squid and many other sea creatures that lurked in its waters. In the meantime, Ron and Joy had a carriage ride through the grounds. They thanked Princess Glory graciously, although it seemed once they thanked her it didn't really mean anything to her, although she tried to looked pleased.
Once his date was over, Harry quickly wrote a detailed letter to Remus about his date and his trip to Hogmeade. He gave the rolled up letter to Hedwig as she flew through the night sky to Remus. Afterwards, Harry jumped on his bed, closed his eyes and thought of the day that passed by. It was a marvelous day. Harry had no idea how this year could be ruined in the slightest bit.
Author's Note: PLEASE REVIEW!!!! And manners, remember manners. Try not to flame. For the next chapter: The Princesses' Ball. It's the Princesses' sweet-sixteen ball, and something shocking will happen that will start the real mystery and adventure of the whole story!!!!! VERY IMPORTANT CHAPTER!!!
and the Princesses for Magic
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, and all the other things I mentioned in the other disclaimers.
Author's Note: Hey readers! As you know, this is the 8th chapter of this story. In this story, Harry feels that he wants Cho back, and starts going out again, and even Ron starts dating! Basically, it's all about dating. Yeah, I know this story's action/adventure/mystery, but this certain chapter's kinda romance. Oh, and note to flamers: please think of your manners, and try not to give flames. It's very rude and disrespectful, and I believe that if you have nothing good to say, don't say it. Of course, suggestions are always welcome, and so are light comments. It's not that all I want are cute and nice reviews, I just don't want to read a flame completely trashing something that I've worked by bum off for more than a year. So I'd appreciate if you don't give flames. Fire is scary!
Chapter 8
Dating at Hogwarts
Harry couldn't stop thinking of Cho Chang all week. He remembered his 4th year at Hogwarts when he tried to ask Cho Chang to the Yule Ball, and found out that she was going with Cedric Diggory. Cedric was killed at the end of the year by the evil Lord Voldemort who had gained power. It was probably one of the reasons why Cho had wanted to hook up with Harry before, and she was pretty moody about it when they were together. Though it didn't work out the year before, Harry thought it might work out this time. He now knew what it was like to lose a loved one, so he could almost feel Cho's pain. He hadn't heard of any other new boyfriends that she had, so Harry was thinking that it might be his lucky day.
Harry stared across the library at Cho who was reading an issue of Teen Witch and showing her friends the hair style tips in an article. Harry was completely caught up in his love trance, until Ron gave him a nudge on the shoulder.
"Harry, what's wrong?" questioned Ron, staring at Harry as if he was acting very strangely. "You looked like you were petrified. That Basilisk isn't back, is it?"
"No," said Harry, mad that Ron was trying to be funny about something that wasn't. "No, it isn't back."
"Oh, Joy is so lucky!" sighed Hermoine. "She gets to look in the restricted section, although she didn't go there today." Hermione turned around to Joy with a frustrated and envious expression. "Why didn't you go?"
"Actually, I haven't gone at all," said Joy, looking up from a book about potions for hair care (and by the way, her hair was in one long side-ponytail). "There isn't anything there that I like. By the way, Hermione, I found a book about the first reigning Wizard Monarch. It's quite a long book."
Princess Joy bent down to a pile of books under her chair, and once sitting back up, slammed an extremely large (and supposedly heavy) book on the table.
"Did the author write 15 pages for every day of the Wizard Monarch's life?" asked Ron in a shocked look.
"Actually, the author only wrote 2 pages for every year, more if something very important happened."
"So how many pages are there?" asked Harry.
"I think I saw the number of pages when I first looked at it. Let me remember. I think it was... Yes, it was 2894 pages."
"That's almost 3000 pages!" shouted Ron.
The librarian, who was angry that Ron shouted, scolded at them to be quiet. Afterwards, they tried to whisper as much as possible.
"How long do Magic Kings and Queens live?" whispered Ron.
"Don't you remember?" whispered Hermione. "During his beginning speech, Dumbledore said the average life span of a Wizard Monarch is 1000 years old."
"Yikes!" whispered Ron in a high-pitched tone. "You're going to outlive my grandkids, if I have any..."
"I know, I get scared about that once in a while," sighed Joy. "By the time I'm middle-aged, which is 500 years old, all my other friends will be dead."
"How badly are you going to wrinkle?" asked Ron.
"Ron, what a stupid question!" said Harry.
"I'm curious!"
"If you want to know the truth, I won't get wrinkles, and I'll never really age. I just look older, but I never get wrinkles or any other side-affects from aging. Of course, some Monarch Wizards or Witches will. It depends on the blood type. If your blood type is positive, you won't really get aging side-affects. If your blood type is negative, you'll look older. It's something Merlin discovered."
"Wicked!"
"What about your husband?" asked Hermione.
"He'll be able to live only up to 700 years. When I marry, my husband will rule as what they will call a 'Minor King' and will be crowned. He will get to rule by my side, but only a tiny bit because my sister and I are going to be doing most of the work. For the ceremony, they will be able to drink this very special potion, which makes you live longer. It has some mild Elixir of Life in it, which means you will never die for a very long while. The potion can't work unless the crowned Queen or King does a spell to make it work, which can only be done on the coronation. My husband would then be able to live for 700 years. Of course, depending on your health and how you use your magic, you can end up living only 500 years."
"Bloody breathtaking, I must say!" said Ron.
"Wow!" said Hermione.
"It's hard to believe that's true," remarked Harry.
"So, who's the guy this book is written about?" asked Ron.
"It's the first Wizard Monarch; King Mentuhotep IV, though his real name was
Ramsi-tun-kati, which means Son-of-the Strength God, so his nick-name was Strength. He was an Egyptian pharaoh. Muggle archeologists say he wasn't part of the royal family, but he was. He was just one of the minor royals. It was because he was a different king, that he was a Wizard King. Of course, all Egyptian pharaohs were wizards and witches. That's why the peasants thought them as gods. In Muggle research, it says that he might have abdicated early, and that was true; he abdicated so he could pursue his job as king of the wizarding world. They even faked his death so that everyone would think he was a Muggle.
"They put his tomb in a secret pyramid underneath the ground. It has a secret code that is almost impossible to break. Only the wizard banks have it. It's also protected by extremely powerful curses. There's also a maze as well. If a Muggle goes near the entrance, they are automatically transported somewhere far away. If some wizard was trying to get in there for a wrong purpose, the curse would magically detect it and they would be sent off even farther, sometimes in another city!"
"Strange..."
"Who were the other Wizard Monarchs?" asked Hermione.
"The next one was King Solomon. Yes, he was a wizard, though we're not sure if he's a pureblood or that one of his ancestors were Muggle-born. His nickname was 'Wisdom', though if you've heard of King Solomon, you can tell that must be obvious.
"There was also Merlin. He's the most famous one. Actually, his nickname was 'Enchant'."
"As in the nickname, 'Prince of Enchanters'?" asked Hermione.
"Exactly!" said Joy. " Not many people know that. He was probably the greatest Magic Monarch, which is why he's so popular.
"It's strange, but we're the only ones that our official titles are descriptive words. I guess that's because the other Monarchs of Magic lived in the Muggle world, and they had to have Muggle names so no one would get suspicious.
"Since I'm finished explaining that, let's talk about some happy news," brought up Princess Joy. "What about... Hogsmeade! We're going there in a week! I haven't been there in such a long time. I think the last time I was there was when my sister and I were 4 years old and Nono Albus brought us there while we were vacationing in England. "My sister and I added new features to the village a couple of weeks before the war. Now, Hogsmeade has a gigantic library, a styling salon, one of my mother's wardrobe boutiques, a gizmo store, Quidditch store, a museum of witch and wizard cultures around the world, a place where you can use computagrams and a large statue of my sister and I."
"What's a computagram?" asked Hermione.
"What?" gasped Joy. "You don't know what a computagram is?"
All three, Hermione, Ron and Harry, shook their heads in a perplexed manner.
"Oh dear, more explaining!" moaned Joy. "Hermione and Harry know a bit what a computagram is like. It's like a Muggle computer, except quicker, easier, more techno- looking and you can tell it what to do, although half of the time you're typing and clicking things. If your font keeps on changing, you can make it stop. I'm not too great at working them for some reason. A computagram can't get viruses either. There's also a wizard Internet, and it's a lot safer than the Muggle Internet. It's illegal to put bad stuff there, and every day there is someone who checks the Internet and they can find out very quickly who put something bad on the Internet."
"It sounds so interesting," remarked Hermione.
"And you know that Three Broomsticks place where they sell those Butterbeers?" asked Joy.
"Yeah, we love that place!" said Ron.
"Well, now it's a family and lounging restaurant. I've been hearing that because of the change, they've been having fantastic business."
"Really?" asked Harry. "That's great."
Harry and his friends left the library for the Great Hall where lunch was being served. Harry still couldn't get his mind off of Cho Chang. As he ate his meal, he made quick glances at her; he couldn't bear to not look at her.
For lunch, there was chicken and gravy, zucchini croquettes and pizza. Harry didn't eat pizza very often, and the Dursleys barely ate it at all. It was quite delightful; it had a crunchy crust, gooey cheese, delicious toppings and a fantastic sauce. Harry wondered why he didn't eat pizza more often.
No wonder it's so popular, thought Harry. Ron gobbled down 8 slices of pizza. But while Ron was inhaling as much pizza as he could, Harry was watching Cho Chang laughing, chatting and eating with her friends.
"Harry, what are you looking at?" asked Ron.
Harry, who had yet again been in another trance, staring at Cho, quickly put his thoughts together and realized Ron had spoken to him.
"N-nothing," stuttered Harry shyly. "Just, nothing."
Once the student body had finished their meal and were getting up to go back to their week-end leisure, Ron pulled Harry aside. Harry became frustrated at Ron that he was tugging him away from everyone.
"What are you doing?" questioned Harry angrily. "Let me go!"
"No!" responded Ron strictly. "I need to speak to you privately."
Ron had dragged Harry by his arm (with Harry trying to tug away furiously) and pulled Harry into the boys' washrooms. When Ron let go of Harry's arm, Ron leaned seriously onto the washroom wall while Harry stood aside trying to get the blood flowing through his arm again. His arm felt quite sore. Ron looked up at Harry with a concerned look.
"What's happening?" asked Ron. "This week you've been staring into space, not paying attention and just drifting off, and drifting off from all of your friends, including me! What's the deal?"
"There's no deal," answered Harry. "I've got things on my mind, that's all."
"Really? Things on your mind? Why don't you tell me? I think I ought to know when my best friend's spacing out all of a sudden."
"It's nothing serious," stated Harry.
"How am I to know that, Harry?"
"It's nothing!"
"Then tell me!"
"Fine!" said Harry, who thought that it ought to be time that he tell Ron about his feelings for Cho. "Ron?"
"Yes, Harry?"
"I-" Suddenly, Harry had a sudden thought. "Is anyone else in here?"
As the question was called out, Neville Longbottom, who looked quite embarrassed, came out of one of the stalls.
"Sorry," apologized Neville. "I'll leave."
Neville was about to run out of the room when Harry stopped him.
"Neville?" asked Harry. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"What?"
"You forgot to wash your hands, you loof!"
"Oy! Thanks for reminding me! If my Gramms ever found out, I'd be scolded at big time!"
Neville, who ran to the sink embarrassingly, quickly turned on the tap, washed his hands, dried them and flew out the washroom. Harry and Ron turned back to their conversation.
"As I was saying... Ron, if I tell you this, you'll have to swear that you won't ridicule me of anything. Promise?"
"Absolutely!" said Ron. "You know I'd never do anything like that to you, mate!"
"Well....You see....It's just that..... I have new feelings for Cho Chang, I want her back."
Ron's eyes widened and his jaw dropped in disbelief.
"Are you serious?" asked Ron. "After all that moping and-"
"Yeah, I know I broke up with her because of that, but now I know how it feels to lose a loved one. Ron, I feel the same way Cho does, maybe even worse, by losing Sirius. I can relate to her now."
"Hey, if you think you have another chance with her, go for it! It did seem like she was madly in love with you last year."
"It was, wasn't it? Thanks for understanding."
"No problem! Oh, and Harry?"
"Uh huh?"
"I have to tell you something too....." said Ron, looking a bit bashful (his cheeks became rosy). "I...I have a crush on Joy."
"I know."
"WHAT?!?!?"
"Gee Ron, calm yourself down! We don't want everyone in the castle hearing. Do you want Snape to hear you?"
"No, but..... how come you know?"
"Ron, isn't it obvious? Your face glows so much that it can block out the sun when Joy winks or speaks to you. No offense, of course."
"I should have known you'd know. It's visible, isn't it? But..... She's a beauty! And is she ever clever! Maybe even smarter than Hermione, and yet she's still not bossy. She always makes me smile. Best of all, she actually likes red-heads!"
"Are you going to ask her out?"
"Me?" spoke Ron in astonishment. "Me? I, Ron Weasley, of the red-headed, cheapo Weasleys, ask out Her Royal Highness Princess Joysinious Mary Anastasia Matilda Cleopatra Dumbledore-Illiermo, future-Queen of the World of Magic?"
"Hey, you memorized that?"
"I sure have!"
"Whatever........"
"But how can I ask her out? Her family probably wants her to marry some rich, pure-blood, brilliant wizard."
"Ron, we're talking about Professor Dumbledore's family here."
"That's another scary part. She's Dumbledore's really-great-granddaughter. That's uncomfortable, you know. He'll probably be watching my every step so I won't break her heart or something, not that I will."
"You have nothing to worry about, Ron! She likes red-heads, remember? Just ask her out. If she says yes, then everything's all right. If she says no, then it wasn't meant to be. You'll find some other girl."
"You're right," sighed Ron. "So, you're going to ask Cho out, again?"
"Sure. Are you going to ask out Joy?"
"I- I guess so. Do you want to ask them right now? If you're asking someone on a date the same time as me, I won't feel so alone."
"Absolutely! Come on, let's go."
The boys, with a new confidence, headed out of the washroom and split up to get dates. Harry went to go find Cho, and after searching, spotted her talking with her friends in the hall. Harry, after taking a deep breath, went up to her.
"Uhmm....Cho?" he asked.
Cho turned around and gave Harry a warm smile.
"Yes, Harry?"
"I.... Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Of course."
Harry brought Cho in an empty classroom to talk to her privately. Cho looked at Harry in a perplexed way.
"Cho? I wanted to ask you something."
"Go ahead and ask. What's your question?"
"I- er..... Would you like to go on a date with me?"
"I was wondering if you'd ask me out again. Sure I'd like to."
"That- that's wonderful!" said Harry happily. "We could have our date when we go to Hogsmeade. I'll meet you at The Three Broomsticks as soon as we get off the train."
"Sure!"
"Okay, see you then!"
"Great, I can't wait!"
Cho skipped out of the classroom and to her friends to tell them what happened. As no one was in the room, Harry did a little jig and whispered 'Yes!' excitedly and hurried out of the room. He tried to find Ron and see what happened to him when he asked Princess Joy out. He found Ron talking to Princess Joy who was smiling ear to ear. Ron was stuttering a lot.
"Uhm... J-j-joy?"
"Yes, Ronnie?" said Joy in a perky fashion.
"I w-w-wanted to ask you, w-would you like to g-go on a d-date with m-me?"
Princess Joy's face lit up as she gasped excitedly and giggled girlishly.
"Oh, Ron!" she exclaimed. "I thought you'd never ask!"
At this moment, she jumped onto Ron and hugged him tightly, and leaped back with an even bigger smile.
"I've been wanting to date you since I met you. I would love to go on a date with you!"
Ron was completely astonished and he had such a smile on his face as if he'd won the lottery (Muggle-term speaking, of course).
"R-really!?!" stuttered Ron amazed. "That's wonderful!"
Harry was proud that his best friend was going on his first date, and that he, Harry, was going on a date as well. Ron and Joy spoke about where their date would be, and once finished, Ron walked away. He quickly found Harry close by and ran up to him.
"Harry!" exclaimed Ron. "Harry, did you see?"
"I did," answered Harry. "Congratulations! So, are you and Joy going to be having your date at Hogsmeade?"
"No," answered Ron. "I suggested it, but she said that she was going to run a check of all the shops and boutiques to see how everything's doing. Plus, she wants to go on a 'shopping spree'. She told me that she adores shopping and she feels like she's going to crack because she hasn't been shopping in so long. It's only been a month!"
"Yeah, I've heard that some girls can't live without shopping."
"Are you and Cho Chang going on a date at Hogsmeade?" asked Ron.
"Yep, we are. First we're going to meet at The Three Broomsticks where we're going to have lunch. After, we're going to explore through the stores and things like that. I'm thinking that after we come back here and have our dinner, we can go outside and go on a paddle boat in the moat under the stars. It would be really romantic."
"It would be! We're going to have dinner as well. Joy volunteered to arrange the dinner. I'm not sure what she has planned for dinner though. After, I'm going to try and see if Joy and I can go on a carriage ride through the grounds. It's kind of like your idea, but on land. I can't stand that moat. It gets me scared, especially that giant squid. Yuck!"
"Well, I guess- Oh hello, Princess Glory!"
Both Harry and Ron turned around to Princess Glory approaching them with her usual honourable and wise grin.
"Hello, Ron and Harry," she greeted. "How are you both doing today?"
"Great! I asked your sister out and Harry's going out with Cho Chang. You know her, don't you?"
"Oh! You're both going on dates. And Harry's going with... Cho?" she said in a confused and disappointed look. It was as if she was shocked or disappointed and wasn't quite sure what to say. She sounded a bit odd to Harry when she said 'Cho'. Harry had a feeling she didn't like Cho Chang that much. She bit her lip slightly and tightened her hand on her large necklace she always wore.
"Yep!" responded Ron delightedly. "And Harry and I were wondering if maybe you could ask Professor Dumbledore if he could use a paddle boat, the moat, a carriage and the grounds for one evening for our dates, if that's not too much. We need them for our dates."
"Er...I guess so. It seems a bit off from the rules, but I guess I could ask."
Harry knew that Princess Glory didn't really want to. She seemed a bit obligated to do this and she was only doing it so they could be pleased. Harry felt that maybe Ron shouldn't have suggested it, but Harry did really want to go on a boat ride with Cho.
"I'll check with the Headmaster. I-I guess I'll be going now," said Princess Glory. "Good bye!"
"Bye!"
"See you!"
********
Harry was extremely excited and even apprehensive for the upcoming date. Harry had given his permission slip to Professor McGonagoll a week before. He wrote to Remus about the date and Remus wrote a letter back congratulating him. He gave him a few pointers in the letter as well. Remus also sent some eau de cologne Harry could use. Harry had put on the eau de cologne, which smelled lovely.
Cho is going to love my cologne, thought Harry. He also took out the present he would give Cho. Lupin delivered a box of chocolates and a stuffed owl holding a heart with his last letter to Harry which he could give to Cho. Harry couldn't wait to give it to her.
Harry skipped downstairs with joy to the Gryffindor table where everyone was being served breakfast. His friends were already sitting there. He sat right next to Princess Joy, who had put her hair in a simple bun (it looked a lot better than Professor McGonagoll's bun, might I add).
"Harry, what took you so long?" asked Joy, as she put some bacon in her plate.
"I was getting ready for my date," replied Harry, as he slapped a fluffy pancake on his platter. "I'm so excited."
"Isn't your date in about 4 hours?" asked Hermione suspiciously (which by the way, Harry and Ron had told about their dates to Hermione happily, though it was obvious that she didn't care as much as they did).
"Well...yeah... But I couldn't help getting ready."
"You're wearing eau de cologne," remarked Joy, taking a gentle sniff. "It smells very nice. I like Ron's cologne too. He put on my favourite."
"Breeze of a Sunny Day for Men!" stated Ron.
"My sister likes this eau to cologne called eau d'intelligence pendant des jours de l'hiver pour les hommes. It's from France, and she just loves that smell."
"It's a very long name," remarked Harry. "What does it mean in English?"
"If you translate it, it means 'water of intelligence during the days of winter for men'. So, what's the cologne you put on?"
"It's called Sprinkled Waterfall, eau de cologne," remembered Harry.
"That's a very expensive brand in London!" gasped Hermione. "I saw a bottle of that for 100 pounds in a mall. You're lucky."
"Remus picked it out for me. Despite that he barely had any money for a long time, he still has great taste."
He finished his breakfast, ran upstairs and got ready all over again (just a bit pathetic, eh?). He brushed his teeth rigorously and even cleansed his mouth with mouth-wash. Afterwards, he combed his hair (not that it did much) and put on more cologne. He checked himself at the end and practiced talking to Cho Chang so many times it would make anyone's head spin.
By lunch, his confidence broke down into angst that he was as nervous as anyone could imagine. He ran down the stairs and into the common room where all the Gryffindors going to Hogmseade were streaming out and on their way to the train. Passed the queue of students and into the grounds he trotted nervously to the train. Harry couldn't find Cho Chang at all, but managed to catch up with Ron, Hermione and Joy.
"Harry, you're here finally!" exclaimed Princess Joy. "I was starting to get worried about you!"
"I got ready all over again," mentioned Harry, "and now I feel nervous."
"Don't worry, Harry!" encouraged Hermione. "You've been out with Cho before. It's not the end of the world. You'll be fine!"
All four of them walked to the steam train blowing and hooting rigorously as the students loaded onto it. Though Harry was walking to the compartments where everyone else was going, Harry's friends were heading to some quite different and extremely decorated cars in the front of the train. Harry didn't know what was going on, nor did he know what those cars were.
"Hey!" called out Harry. "Where are you going?"
"To the royal cars, of course!" said Hermione. "Don't you see the coat of arms?"
Harry, who was excited to go into the royal cars though disappointed not to be able to find Cho, looked up at the cars.
There were two magnificent royal cars at the front. The one at the very front was painted a royal blue with a magnificent gold vine design and a coat of arms with a hippigryph in armour standing like a human with Princess Glory's sword (the one she used in battle), two black unicorns, a flame and a tiara with Princess Glory's name engraved on it. The train closer to them and was behind the first one was a mauve colour with a golden vine design as well but instead had a hippogryph with its wings spread wide across, two white unicorns, gems and jewels, a wave of water and a tiara stating Princess Joy's name.
They boarded the car with its door already opened to welcome the Princess and her friends, and once they were inside they were struck with awe. The whole entire car was beautifully decorated and looked like a gigantic living room filled with stylish Italian furniture, stereos, a TV (which Harry didn't know why it'd be in a wizard train, but didn't say anything), paintings of her and a few stuffed animals. The walls were painted a soft beige and the floor was a darker toned wall-to-wall carpet. Inside was a staff of waiters and waitresses ready to serve the ones inside. Harry gazed at everything marvelously, and glared at the leather and earth-tone coloured seats and the modern-style Italian marble table with squares of different soft colours. Hermione looked absolutely fascinated and Ron looked as if it was the first and best room he had ever seen in his life.
As soon as they regained their senses, they all sat down somewhere. While Harry sat on a fashionable leather couch, Hermione took a seat on a soft green-fabric bench which had covered one side of the room, Ron sat on the light yellow bean-bag chair carefully as if the minute he moved too rougly the chair would burst with beans, and Princess Joy sat in her egg-shaped dome seat with wheels. Harry, Hermione and Ron would all agree it looked very modern and yet very stylish.
"What do you think?" asked Joy with a smile.
"It's amazing!" shouted Ron with a gasp of air (it seemed like the others couldn't say anything they liked it so much).
"I glad you like it," said Joy with a giggle. "I love when my rooms look like this. My sister thinks my style is tacky. She likes that 17th, 18th century luxury kind of style, like a Queen Elizabeth I style or Marie Antoinette kind-of-thing. I don't like it much. It is quite pretty, but we should all move on with the times and not make our rooms look ancient. If that's what she likes, I guess I shouldn't bother her.
"Did you know how much of a fuss she made when we were talking where our cars should go? I wanted to go in the back because it feels wobbly and like a roller coaster. My sister though, said that the back is always 3rd class, that only farmers with pitch-forks and hobos ride in the back of the train where cargo's kept, as if that's realistic, and that the front is always more luxurious. In the end, she won because she also gets queezy in the back. I couldn't go in the back while she was in the front because it shows us as equals, that we'll reign together... blablabla....."
"Appetizers, sir?" asked a waiter to Harry, who was holding a tray of cookies, sweets and tea sandwiches.
"No thank you," responded Harry.
Other waiters and waitresses were handing out appetizers. Ron took a whole handful of sweets as Joy squeaked with laughter at how many he took. Hermione took a few tea sandwiches and a cookie.
"My, these are delicious!" said Hermione, finishing her tea sandwich. "I love these sandwiches. What's in them?"
"Honey mustard, lettuce, sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, cucumbers and Italian bacon all gently toasted until it is crispy yet tender," answered the waitress automatically.
"I'm glad you like them," said Joy. "You can have the recipe. I love these sandwiches as well. I always order them at all my parties."
"Your cookies are good as well," said Ron, after he had swallowed one of his cookies. "Are they from your country?"
"A few of them are, and some of them are just delicately-made cookies for the rich. I don't like it how so many rich people get the best food in the world when most of the others who aren't rich appreciate them even more. If I had a choice, I would wish every single person on this earth could have as great cookies and treats as the ones who can afford it. When I become Queen with PG, I would like to have a banquet in each city for everyone to come to and would have the greatest meal of all. And after, everyone can bring the leftovers home."
"I like the idea of that!" said Ron. "And did you just say, PG?"
"Oh, that's my nickname for my sister. She says she wants to be called Princess, though that's just recently. So in a way, I'm still stating her title and yet it's still a nickname. She whines that she wants to be called Princess at all times, but everyone close to her calls her Glory anyway. She never used to be this fussy, it started at the end of August. I like the nickname 'PG' though!"
"Me too!"
The car jerked a bit. Slowly, the car started moving and so did the other cars on the train. After a while, the whole entire train was gliding along the train tracks as it headed to Hogsmeade. They chatted, nibbled on a few snacks and chatted some more. The ride to Hogmeade seemed very quick to Harry. In about less than an hour, the train had slowed down and immediately Hogwarts students were getting ready to load off the cars. Everyone in Princess Joy's car were escorted out of the train. Harry grabbed his presents and held on tight to them as he came off the train and headed The Three Broomsticks where he would meet Cho Chang.
Once he was at the restaurant, Harry stood in the doorway to peak at everyone in there. The restaurant had been nicely decorated, and he saw a lot of the Hogwarts students snatching tables before someone else had taken them. Even though the clutter in the restaurant was grand, there was one free table in the corner that had a sign that said 'reserved'. Harry had asked Princess Glory as well to reserve a table for him and Cho since she had access to every store in the wizard village. Harry looked around even more. At a large, round table, sat Hermione, Joy and Ron. Ron gestured Harry to come over to their table. Harry did so and sat at one of the empty chairs (there were quite a few other empty chairs at the table).
"Hey guys," said Harry. "Have you got any ideas of what you guys are going to do first?"
"My goodness, I have a whole day planned out!" responded Joy with enthusiasm. "First, we're going to my mother's boutique where I'm going to get Hermione, Ron and myself a whole new wardrobe."
"Joy," murmured Ron uncomfortably, "I never really liked shopping."
"Oh no, Ronnie! You're getting some new clothes and that's final! Anyway, then we're going to the shoe store, then Zonko's Joke Shop, Honeydukes, then to the salon, then we're going to the computagram library where we're going to meet up with my sister-"
"Well don't you three have an extremely busy day!" said Harry.
"I'm going to have to check every store today anyway so I might as well shop everywhere. My sister's inspecting every store to the right and I'm inspecting every store to the left and when we get to the middle (that's the computagram library) we're going to check it together."
"Speaking of which, here comes your sister now!" said Ron.
Princess Glory, who was with her four friends, spotted her sister and marched to the table with her group while staring at Joy with an angry look (though her friends looked a bit shy, not angry).
"Aren't you supposed to be doing something?" demanded Princess Glory.
"You didn't expect me to start inspecting every single shop as soon as I got off my car, did you?" asked Joy.
"Yes!"
"I want to have fun! Give it a rest. It's lunch! Plus, I'm expecting the restaurant so as we speak!"
"Well...if you're eating here," sighed Princess Glory in an I-give-up tone, "I guess I could have a bite as well."
Princess Glory and her friends sat on the empty chairs and opened up some menus just as Madam Rosmerta walked to their table.
"Hello, sweethearts!" said Madam Rosmerta with her writing pad and quill out. She quickly glared at the Princesses in an honoured look. "Princess Joy! Princess Glory! So nice to see you! Can I take your orders?"
"Of course!" said Princess Joy. "Let me see, I'll have the pepperoni personal-pan pizza."
"I'll have.... the roast beef combo," ordered Ron.
"I'll have the chicken breast fillet with a side of hash brown," said Hermione.
"And what will you have to drink?" asked Madam Rosmerta.
"We'll have 3 medium Butterbeers," answered Princess Joy.
"Would you like anything, Harry?"
"No thanks. I'm going to have my lunch once Cho Chang gets here."
"All right. And Her Royal Highness Princess Glory! What would you like?"
"I know! I know!" shouted the blonde, pig-tailed Lucy Landerville.
"No, I know!" argued the freckled, cherry blonde-haired Tiffany Sealious.
"You don't know anything," said the chubby brunette with the puffy ponytail named Vicky Phlumer.
"I know what she wants!" said Ruth Simmore proudly who was a fragile, small girl (actually everyone looked small compared to Princess Glory) who had long black hair.
"Calm down!" shouted Princess Glory. "I'll have a large plate of stir-fried lamb and potatoes with a bacon club sandwich, cherry tart and a bowl of mushroom soup."
"My, my, my... I can see you're hungry!" remarked Madam Rosmerta. "And what would you like to drink?"
"A bottle of Fizzy-up Vinkshin Soda."
"That's a pretty fizzy drink!" commented Madam Rosmerta. "What would you four young ladies like?"
"A bowl of mushroom soup and Butterbeers for all four of us," said Ruth.
"By the way, how's business doing?" brought up Princess Joy.
"It's doing fantastic!" said Madame Rosmerta. "We've never had so many customers. That family restaurant idea and those menus did a great deal of help. I'll be ready for any of your inspections after your meal."
She left their table and went behind the counter. In only a minute she came back with her arms full of plates and her fingers clinging on to drinks.
"Here you go," she said as she laid down all the plates, including the gigantic plate and bowl for Princess Glory.
"Whoa!" gasped Ron. "Are you going to eat all that?"
"Yes!" said Princess Glory in an angry tone.
"What's that Fizz-down Vishin stuff you ordered?" joked Ron.
"It's called Fizzy-up Vinkshin Soda," stated Vicky. "It's a Canadian-Russian soda with an extremely large amount of bubbles and fizz. Princesss Glory really likes Russia and Canada, they're her favourite vacation spots."
"Thank you for stating that, Victoria," thanked Princess Glory. "Now, let me dig in!"
She started what seemed like inhaling the food and drink before you could say 'gobbled up' while her friends sipped their soups slowly. Ron, Joy, Hermione and Harry watched as the soda sizzled down her throat.
"How strong is that soda?" asked Harry.
"Why don't you try it?" suggested Princess Glory. She poured some of the drink into an extra cup, which bubbled and sizzled like a deadly potion, and gave it to Harry. The drink was bubbling mad in the glass. Harry gulped it down and was shocked at the taste. It tasted like gigantic, sizzling bubbles were leaking down his throat, 10 times fizzier than the ginger ale he thought was too bubbly. It had a taste of maple syrup which seemed quite delightful.
"Well, look who it is! The new Gryffindor Quidditch captain! What's wrong Harry? Snitch got your tongue?"
Harry turned around; it was Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. Harry's friends looked at him in disgust while Lucy, Ruth, Vicky and Tiffany looked up at them with a scared look as Princess Glory was still busy stuffing her face with the food.
"I'm captain, you've got a problem with that, Malfoy?" barked Harry.
"No Potter, not at all. In fact, I thought it would be a problem to you. As a matter of fact, I'm the new Slytherin Quidditch captain."
All of their eyes opened wide. Malfoy was the new captain for Slytherin? How could it be? He was the worst player on their team! Harry was furious.
"And the fair Princess Glory, how are you doing today?" asked Malfoy in a polite manner that seemed too scary to be true. Princess Glory looked up as Malfoy kissed her hand. Crabbe and Goyle bowed to her.
"Very well, thank you!" she answered back in a grin.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" asked Malfoy.
"Yes, of course! And you?"
"Never better! And ladies, good afternoon as well," he said as he smiled at her friends. They all giggled.
"Well, I better go. I'm going to the Owl Post to mail my father. I'll see if I can catch up with you later."
"Absolutely, unless you don't mind bumping into me as I check every boutique here."
"Not at all!"
"Well, that settles it I assume..."
"Yes of course. Good bye!"
"Good bye!" said Princess Glory, Lucy, Tiffany, Ruth and Vicky. They all made a tiny giggle.
"Are you flattered by him?!?!" asked Princess Joy disgustedly.
"What's wrong with him?" questioned Princess Glory.
"He's evil, a bully, mean... Do you want me to go on? You just saw how he acted to us before."
"Yes, in fact I did (which was hard to believe considerably that her face was stuffed in her plate). I saw that you were being quite rude to him as well. Maybe if you would be more polite he would respond in that manner as well!"
"Well....er....you.....Eee...Grrrr! You always do this!" shouted Joy.
"Yes, I know!" confessed Princess Glory with a grin.
"Oh look, Harry! Cho's at the entrance!" Princess Joy pointed out.
Harry looked at the entrance. There was Cho Chang, wearing a beautiful crystal-bead necklace and matching ear rings and bracelet. Harry thought she looked lovely. Harry said goodbye to his friends and walked towards her, his presents held tightly in his arm, as his stomach turned in nervousness.
"Hello Cho," said Harry in a shy voice.
"Why hello, Harry!" said Cho cheerfully.
One of the waiters with a name tag spelling out "Chris McField" approached them.
"May I get you two a seat?" he asked politely.
"Yes, we'll have that empty table over in the corner which was reserved for us," replied Harry.
"Ah... You must be...let me see..."
He looked at a big book full of names for reserved tables.
"You two must be Cho Chang and Harry Potter. Harry Potter? No, it can't be! The famous Harry Potter!!!"
Harry rolled his eyes with annoyance as the event proceeded.
"My goodness! My wife and children would love your autograph. Here, can you sign this?" he asked as he pulled out a napkin and pen. Harry signed it quickly and at once they headed to their table behind their waiter.
"Now, if you need anything, just call me. If you need anything all, I would be more than glad to serve you."
"Don't worry, we'll be all right," Harry told the waiter.
Once the waiter had finally left, Cho and Harry made themselves comfortable at the table. Before he forgot, Harry remembered he had to give Cho her presents.
"Oh, Cho! I forgot to give you something. I bought you a present."
From behind his back, he handed Cho the box of chocolates and the stuffed owl. Her face lit up with a glowing happiness has she was handed the gifts.
"Harry....." sighed Cho as she hugged the owl. "I love it. Thank you so much!"
With that phrase, she kissed Harry on the cheek (which made him blush quite brightly). Afterwards, they opened their menus and looked at the delicious plates they served.
"So, what would you like for appetizers?" asked Harry.
"How about the Caesar salad?" suggested Cho.
"That sounds wonderful! So, what will you have for your meal?"
"I'd like the... rotisserie chicken with stir fried vegetables, mashed potatoes and garlic bread. How about you?"
"I'll have the steak with a siding of french fries, rice and garlic bread as well. I'm thinking of Butterbeer, what do you want to drink?"
"I'd like a drink as well. Why don't we share a large glass of Butterbeer?"
"Er.... Sure!" said Harry while his cheeks were becoming red.
Chris McField, the waiter, came back to their table.
"Hi, can I take your order?"
"Hello, uhm... We'll have 1 Caesar salad for appetizers, Cho will have the rotisserie chicken with stir fried vegetables, mashed potatoes and garlic bread and I'll have the steak with a siding of french fries, rice and garlic bread. And to drink we'll have 1 large Butterbeer."
"Thank you. I'll be back in a moment with your food."
In a few minutes, the waiter was back with plates of scrumptious food. They gobbled up their food, chatted and zipped on their Butterbeer. Once they were done, Harry paid for the meals and they explored through Hogsmeade. They went to Honeydukes, Zonko's Joke Shop and they even walked by the Shrieking Shack. They even had some romantic walks just strolling down the paths while carrying an interesting conversation. Harry wondered how his friends were doing. They stopped for a while at Mitrosh's Computagram Library so Cho could go to the washroom. Harry was waiting outside, sitting on the steps in front of the library, waiting for Cho Chang.
As he waited, he heard someone yelling his name out in the distance. He looked around and spotted a tiny speck holding a camera. Oh no, he thought. It was Colin Creevey.
"Harry! Harry! I am so glad to see you!" said Colin. "What have you checked out so far? Did you go to The Three Broomsticks yet? Have you went inside Mitrosh's Computagram Library yet? Why are you waiting on the step?"
"Colin, enough with the questions!" yelled Harry. "I've went through about half the stores so far. I'm surprised I haven't met any of the Princesses while I was exploring everything."
"Do you like the Princesses?" asked Colin in a hyper tone. "Do you like them, Harry? Are they nice?"
"They're extremely friendly. Princess Glory is extremely wise and serious and she's a great dueler. Princess Joy's were sweet and fun to be with."
"I've met them loads of times! I've got 12 rolls of film of them. I haven't really had a real conversation with Princess Glory though, but I have talked to Princess Joy when she was helping me out with homework in the common room! She seems really cool!"
"Yeah, she is."
"So, have you been into Mitrosh's Computagram yet?"
"No, I'm just waiting for Cho Chang to finish with the washrooms and then we'll go inside."
"You're with the Ravenclaw seeker? Why aren't you with your other friends?"
"We're on...a date."
"Harry Potter's on a date! Harry Potter's on a date! I have to get a picture of this!" he screamed as he started flashing his camera.
"Hey, what's going on?"
Cho had come out of the washrooms and was standing behind Harry.
"Cho, can I take a picture of you and Harry?" asked Colin.
"Sure!"
With Harry frustrated that they couldn't finish up their date, they posed and smiled for about 50 pictures that Colin took.
"Well hello, Harry!"
He looked around and spotted Princess Glory and her friends.
"Princess Glory! You're here!" shouted Colin. "Can you join them in a picture?"
"Well...."
"Why not? Your friends can come in two!" said Cho.
Princess Glory had a jealous, angry look towards Cho. Harry had a feeling that Princess Glory didn't like her. He didn't know why, but by the look on her face it seemed so obvious.
"All right."
She stood by Harry as her friends all followed her, keeping a distance from Cho. After about 5 minutes of photo shots, Colin was done and scurried off.
Thank goodness he's gone! thought Harry. In the distance, Harry spotted three specks, one of which had flaming-red hair. Harry knew he they were: Ron, Hermione and Princess Joy.
"Hi Harry and Cho! Oh, and hey Sis and company!" greeted Joy cheerfully.
"I wish you wouldn't call my friends and I 'Sis and company'," grunted Glory. "It's quite rude!"
"You and your politeness! Give it a rest! Anyway, I bought you something while I was shopping!"
Princess Joy handed her sister a shoe box which contained a pair of high palomino-leather boots. Princess Glory looked at them with confusion.
"Thank you...very much..."
"Well, I thought you needed a change. You are wearing those same black boots all the time! I had to buy them for you. Speaking of buying, look at my new boots!" she pointed out. Her boots were knee-length black, leather boots with an extremely high heel.
"I also bought some other cool clothes at my mother's new boutique. Have you been there, Harry? It's called Très Chique Boutique."
"Yeah, we've been all over the place. You know, a quick here and there. It's
great. Cho bought some new clothes there."
"Well, I've also bought a whole new wardrobe for Hermione and Ron. We also went to the salon. I got some more curls in my hair and they took that frizz out of Hermione's hair and put in big curls. Look!"
Harry looked at Hermione. He had a feeling they looked different before. Hermione had fantastic looking hair and was wearing platform stilettos with diamonds at the toe. The change was shocking, it was as if the real Hermione was going.
"Ron wouldn't get a hair-change, though. Ron, that cut just does so much horror to your head!"
"Hey, I thought you liked me!" snapped Ron.
"Of course, Ron!" said Joy. "I completely adore you! I just hate your hair-cut."
"He would look great with his hair a bit spiked up," said Hermione.
"Shut up! I'd look awful!"
"So, how's your date so far, Harry?" asked Princess Joy.
"It's been great," he said while smiling at Cho.
"Aren't they a cute couple?" said Hermione.
As Hermione said this, Princess Glory became red in her cheeks.
"Let's cut it out with this lovey-dovey crap and just get into the computagram library!" whined Princess Glory.
"My goodness!" scolded Joy. "You don't have to be so hurtful. Fine, let's go inside."
They all stepped inside the roomy space of the computagram library. It was a big room with tons of machines that looked like computers, except that they were smaller and didn't have so many buttons. They looked way more futuristic as well. There were at least 40 of them there with booths around them.
"Come on, let's go sign one out," said Princess Glory.
Princess Glory went to the desk and asked to sign out a computagram, as she asked a few things about how the library was doing in business. The employee at the desk started bowed at her and her sister immediately. Once they signed a computagram instructions manual for the employee and once they signed out a computagram (which was #25, it even had a name: Spunky) they came to a small booth with portable walls (like at the Auror Headquarters), sat on the chairs provided and turned on the computagram.
"Hello, Your Royal Highness!" spoke the computagram. "This is Spunky, your computagram for the day. How may I help you?"
Harry and everyone else were amazed. There was a face coming out of the screen, almost like the screaming book Harry found in his 1st year. The face on the
screen that looked very much like a male fairy, and the desktop background was a photo or some kind of image of a large fairy forest, which seemed marvelous to Harry. There was even a small bar that had a button with the 'start' at the bottom of the desktop, just like a Muggle computer.
"I would like to show them the Wizard Internet," said Glory.
"As you wish..."
The computer suddenly changed to a program with a log- in and everything, which looked very much like the Muggle internet.
"Bloody brilliant!" said Ron. "Do all computagrams have faces like that?"
"Actually, you can get many kinds of faces: wizards, centaurs, unicorns, you name it! Let's see, where do we want to go? How about our official website?"
"You mean Princess Joy and you have an official website?"
"Of course we do!" said Princess Glory. "In fact, I'm the site designer of the site. I made the site and I add on new updates almost everyday."
"Wicked!"
Princess Glory typed the URL at the top of the screen: www.monarchyofmagic.com (just like the Muggle URLs) and it went to a brilliant regal purple home page with many icons at the side, a large context of updates in the middle of the page and in calligraphy letters at the top: Welcome to the Monarchy of Magic's Official Website.
"So, what do you want to check out?" asked Princess Glory.
"How about the picture gallery?" asked Cho.
"Gr... Fine," said Princess Glory as she clicked the icon that said 'PICTURE GALLERY'. "Here it is. Which one do you want to check out? Pictures of me, pictures of Princess Joy or pictures of both of us?"
"Both of you," replied Hermione.
Princess Glory clicked on the icon that said 'PICTURES OF BOTH PRINCESSES'. The screen turned to a page filled with icons.
"What kind of pictures would you like to see? There are ceremonies, birthdays, pictures from when we were born, when we were toddlers, 3 years old, 4 years old, 8 years old..."
"Show them when we were 3 years old!" exclaimed Princess Joy. "We were so cute at that age."
"All right."
Princess Glory clicked on the icon which lead them to tons of pictures when they were younger.
"Oh my goodness! Look at Princess Joy and her pigtails!" pointed out Ron.
"And there's Princess Glory!" said Cho. "My goodness! You're pulling your sister's hair!"
"I had a temper at that age."
"You still do!" murmured Princess Joy.
"I do not!" barked Princess Glory.
"Would you kids there quiet down?!" advised the employee at the counter.
"Let's scroll down," suggested Princess Glory.
They saw many adorable pictures of the twins. The fun stopped once Draco Malfoy and his buddies stopped by at the library and found the gang huddled around the computagram.
"And here's the gang again," snickered Draco Malfoy, though his tone of voice changed as he spotted Princess Glory. "Oh, hello Princess Glory! So nice to see you! And her charming friends, hello again. Why, who's that adorable little tyke?" pointed Draco at a picture with Princess Glory riding a black baby unicorn.
"It's me," she replied shyly.
"Well weren't you the cutest little thing?" he said in a strangely nice tone.
"Thank you..." said Princess Glory blushing
"You know, you still are very adorable, even beautiful!"
Princess Glory's cheeks were completely red with embarrassment. Harry was going to faint at the sight of Malfoy acting this way.
"Goyle, Crabbe, don't you agree Her Royal Highness looks adorable in these pictures?"
The two chunky teenagers nodded, smiling in the strangest way.
"Well, we'd better be going. Maybe you can show me more of this once we get back to the castle?"
"Maybe."
"Well, goodbye!"
"Goodbye!"
Once Malfoy and his cronies left, Princess Joy scowled at her sister.
"I can't believe you! Hanging around a guy like that!"
"Wow, Sis, I've never seen you scowl before."
"I scowl!"
"Sure... Anyway, what do you want to see next?"
The rest of the day they explored the site. They left 10 minutes near the end so that Princess Glory could update the site on their recent inventions and events. Around dinner time, everyone hopped back onto the train. Hermione, Ron and Harry went on Princess Joy's compartment again.
All the students went to the Great Hall for dinner, although Princess Joy and Ron didn't. They were having a moonlight dinner outside one of the balconies of the school, arranged by Joy. After dinner, Harry joined Cho for a moonlit ride on a boat around the lake of the school, where they passed mermaids, the giant squid and many other sea creatures that lurked in its waters. In the meantime, Ron and Joy had a carriage ride through the grounds. They thanked Princess Glory graciously, although it seemed once they thanked her it didn't really mean anything to her, although she tried to looked pleased.
Once his date was over, Harry quickly wrote a detailed letter to Remus about his date and his trip to Hogmeade. He gave the rolled up letter to Hedwig as she flew through the night sky to Remus. Afterwards, Harry jumped on his bed, closed his eyes and thought of the day that passed by. It was a marvelous day. Harry had no idea how this year could be ruined in the slightest bit.
Author's Note: PLEASE REVIEW!!!! And manners, remember manners. Try not to flame. For the next chapter: The Princesses' Ball. It's the Princesses' sweet-sixteen ball, and something shocking will happen that will start the real mystery and adventure of the whole story!!!!! VERY IMPORTANT CHAPTER!!!