A/N: So, a user left a comment, and this note is in response to that.
Harry and Ginny are going to get more Powerful, that will be in the next Part. Both of your next questions have spoilers, so I'm not going to answer that, but they will be answered by the end of this fic.
As for villains getting a lot of Power, I'm not going to write a fic where the villains are just getting their asses kicked repeatedly. There will be moments where the Heroes lose, and if you find it boring, then this fic won't be for you. Also, Sirius can summon Lightning from the sky, Dumbledore can surround AN ENTIRE ISLAND in a ring of fire, if that ain't Power, I don't know what is.
Obviously they can't use those Spells all the time, there are limitations on those Spells, and those will be explored in this Part.
In response to another review: Ginny is complementing the fact that Harry can figure stuff out with just vague information (his detective work basically).
《••••••••••••••••••••》
A Song of Lightning and Fire
Arc I: Magic
Part V: The Triwizard Tournament
《••••••••••••••••••••》
The very same night, Harry and Ginny made their way into the Forbidden Forest an hour before midnight. Harry had marked the path by casting a Glowing Rune high up on some of the trees. The trees didn't block the Runes completely, but if one didn't know what the Runes were for, he didn't think anyone would bother to come after them.
"Where is this place of yours?" Ginny asked, pushing aside a branch that was in their way.
"Not far," Harry said once he saw the tall tree that looked like it had been struck by lightning. "It's right there," he said, pointing at the top of a hill that led to a cliff.
As they walked forward, Harry could see the ruins of a tall Tower come into view. He'd found the Tower while exploring this morning, and he couldn't be happier about the discovery. Two floors of the ruined Tower looked intact, but the third floor had a big hole going through two walls across each other and the roof. The best part was that the path of the moon was parallel to the giant crack in the Tower.
The hole was, theoretically, capable of allowing ample amounts of moonlight to touch an object if it was to be placed in the centre of the room. Harry suspected that there used to be another floor, or at least a capped roof, that had been obliterated by whatever made that hole.
He took pride in the way Ginny's jaw dropped open. "You're shitting me," she said in awe.
"Nope," Harry said, popping the 'p'.
"This is amazing," she said, increasing her pace to reach the tower quicker.
The inside of the Tower was devoid of furniture, but there was a ladder that led to the upper floors. It looked reinforced already, but Harry had made sure to add his own Runes and Charms on it. "Come," he said, beginning his climb upwards.
Ginny took a moment to look at the ladder and apparently decided that it was good enough to climb. They climbed to the Second Floor, which was also empty and then made their way to the Third Floor.
"Oh, I see what you mean," Ginny said, looking at the destroyed walls and roof. "The moonlight will keep coming in if we put the phials in the centre, right?"
"Exactly," Harry said, drawing out the Phials from his pocket. He handed one to Ginny as she gave him the Mandrake Leaf. They waited till midnight before putting the leaf in their mouths as they placed their phials on the ground at the same time.
The sensation of the leaf in his mouth was odd. It was rather bitter in taste, but it stuck to the roof of his mouth easily. It would take some getting used to, he thought, but oh well.
The Phials, however, were a different story. As soon as the moonlight came into contact with the Lunar Crystal, the Phials themselves started glowing in a silvery color, indicating that they were charging up.
"They look beautiful," Ginny said with a small smile.
Harry couldn't deny that. "They do," he replied, having some difficulty talking due to the leaf.
They stayed there for a moment, watching the crystals grow brighter and brighter for a moment before Ginny yawned and Harry realized that they really needed to leave now.
"We should come here more," Ginny said, looking back at the Tower.
"What?" Harry asked. "Make it our spot or something?"
"Nah, it's a bit too deep," Ginny said, shaking her head. "I was thinking we could use it for something like… I don't know, a meeting spot we could use every once in a while, you know, just because it's so pretty."
"It would be nice," Harry said with a smile. Indeed it was a pretty area, complete with flowers and green grass, not to mention the view they got from the cliffs was just outstanding. Harry had been more shocked than anyone when he found that not all of the Forbidden Forest was scary looking. The scary parts did make up the majority, mind, but still.
Harry felt a yawn coming up, and he wasn't able to stop it this time. He really was tired, and less sleep didn't mean they could stay up for as long as they liked, so they made their way back to the Castle, talking about everything they could do over there.
They ended up deciding that they'd hide their Potion there once they made it, and the fact that it had two fully covered floors meant that they could brew Potions there too. Separately. It was also a place they could experiment with Runes, Harry had suggested, and Ginny agreed immediately.
Overall, it was a very pleasant and productive day, and Harry was eagerly looking forward to the day when their hard work would- hopefully- pay off.
《••••••••••••••••••••》
Harry was in the corridor outside the Gryffindor Common Room, lurking behind a suit of armor. He watched as the students came out of the Common Room one by one, all of them dressing up and going to extreme lengths to make themselves look good for today.
It wasn't just the Gryffindors either, the rest of the Houses had been doing so as well, Slytherins included, which weirded out Harry a lot more than he would admit.
The reason for all of this was that it was 30th of October today, and the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang would be arriving for the Triwizard Tournament.
Harry wasn't worried on that front any more. They'd talked to Dumbledore ten days ago, and he'd told them that he had forced the Ministry to implement an exit clause, meaning that if any of the Champions wished to withdraw their name, they could do so until 7 days before the First Task.
Harry and Ginny had decided to hold off on telling Dumbledore about their suspicions until after they were able to get the Mandrake Leaf out of their mouths without ruining the Potion, they didn't want him to get suspicious after all.
The result of this was that they had a chance to find out some concrete information about their suspicions. Nothing had come of it, of course, but still, at least they could say they'd tried everything they could.
Harry was very proud of the fact that he and Ginny had not screwed up the Mandrake Leaf process on their first try. It had been tough to deal with the leaf being there all the time, though, especially while sleeping, but with the help of several nights in the Room of Requirement, either alone or together, they'd managed it.
They'd been busy since the initial night where they'd gone to the tower. They had to be. He and Ginny had researched all the different ways to block sunlight, and had come up with an intricate set of Enchantments that would block any light out. Now they just had to figure out when and where to cast it so that they could get the dew as fast as possible.
Currently, both his and Ginny's phials were in the Room of Requirement, specifically in their 'Den'. They'd fit the Mandrake Leaf in there, and added a strand of their hair to it, just like the instructions said. The Lunar Crystal itself would remain charged for a good few months, so he wasn't worried about that. Nor was he worried about the Potion being ruined since they needed the whole mixture for that to happen.
Just then, after an endless amount of waiting, he caught sight of Ginny and Ron coming out of the Portrait Hole, and he jumped out from behind the suit of armor he was using as cover.
The funniest thing was that no one had noticed him hiding there, so the screams and the exclamations when he landed on the ground were, as always, very memorable.
"Hi," Ginny replied, smiling in a way that said she knew he'd done that on purpose. She was too used to him jumping out of random places by now.
"Hey," he replied, grinning unrepentantly.
"Honestly!" Ron burst out, clutching his chest with his hand. "You can't approach us like a normal person?"
Harry laughed. "Where's the fun in that, mate?" He asked.
They made their way down the stairs, and out into the courtyard where Beauxbatons and Durmstrang would arrive. On their way down, all they met was chaos.
Staff members were running around, trying to convince any and all students to help them take care of the last minute preparations, like trying to Disenchant the Suit of Armor that Harry and Ginny had Enchanted to swear at the bullies.
Their attempts weren't going to work though, since the only way to get rid of the Charm on that one was to Transfigure the entire suit, and he didn't think anyone would think of that. What was worse was that it was now insulting anyone who came near it with a Wand in their hand.
They made their way out towards the Courtyard, barely avoiding being coerced into work because poor Neville couldn't cast a Switching Spell properly, causing McGonagall to berate him while helping him cast it properly.
They walked out into the courtyard and stood under a shaded area. Over the course of the next hour, students kept coming out of the castle in various states of frustration. A few moments later, they were joined by Devon, Jessica, and Hermione, all of whom had been accosted by Filch to help take down the Swearing Suit for Armor.
"If I ever find out who enchanted that damn thing, I will fucking murder them" Jessica grumbled as Devon scowled at the mention of the suit.
"That's after I torture them for a few days," Devon added.
He and Ginny shared a glance and looked away to keep from laughing. Harry couldn't help but think that everyone who'd put on makeup had done so for no reason now that they had to work.
"Did you manage to get rid of it?" Ginny asked.
"Kind of," Hermione said. "We weren't able to Disenchant it, but we did move it."
"Where is it?" Harry asked.
"Why do you want to know?" Hermione asked suspiciously.
"I need to help Ginny prank Fred and George," Harry said.
Hermione blinked. "Oh," she said. "Well, there's a trapdoor near the Third Floor corridor that was restricted in my Second Year. Filch kept the suit above it."
Well, Harry made a mental note to get his baby back out from that Godforsaken place tonight. Maybe he could put it outside Filch's door. That would definitely be hilarious.
A few minutes later, they saw a small dot in the air, speeding towards them from far away. Harry had the ridiculous urge to yell 'Is it a bird?' but he stopped himself.
"Are those Abraxans?" Ginny asked, squinting.
"I think so," Harry said as they got a little closer.
Sure enough, as the dot kept getting closer, they could see twelve Giant Winged Horses that were white in color, pulling a massive blue colored carriage.
The students cleared away from the courtyard when it looked like the Horses were about to land there, and soon, with the thudding of hooves, and the crashing of the wheels of the carriage, they landed. The carriage had the symbol of an Eagle on its side, Harry noted.
The horses slowed to stop after a few moments, tossing their heads, and causing bursts of mist to come out of their mouths. Their red eyes roved over the entire courtyard, seemingly assessing everything.
"I want one," Ginny said, looking at the horses.
"No," Harry replied, knowing he'd be roped into taking care of it, and really they seemed like a nightmare to own. "We already have two flying friends, remember?" He asked in a whisper.
"Fine," she pouted.
Harry's attention was diverted when he saw the door to the carriage open, and a boy dressed in a blue uniform jumped out of the carriage and lowered a set of stairs. Soon after, a large shoe, and then a woman as large as Hagrid and Romulus Grayson stepped out of the carriage.
"Blimey," he heard Seamus Finnegan whisper. "That is one big woman," Harry couldn't help but agree.
The woman was followed by almost 20 students both boys and girls, dressed in a blue uniform made of silk, all of whom seemed to be in their late teens. The woman made her way towards Dumbledore, who was waiting in front of the doors to the Castle with a smile on his face.
"Dumbly-dorr," she said, causing Harry and Ginny to chortle in a low volume.
"Madame Maxime," Dumbledore said, seemingly not bothered by this at all. "It is a pleasure to see you again. I do hope that you find Hogwarts up to your standards."
"As do I," Madame Maxime said in an accented voice. "Is Karkaroff 'ere yet?"
"No," Dumbledore said, checking his watch. "He should be here any minute now. Ah, speak of the Devil," he added pointing at the Black Lake where a large pole-like structure could be seen moving towards them.
The structure soon raised, revealing a set of sails, and then, slowly but surely, a large ship came out of the Lake. The sails lowered, and they could see a coat of Arms on the centre. It was a large circle in which a sword and a Wand were crossed. The ship soon stopped and they could see boats being lowered into the water with students in them.
A few minutes later, a good thirty Durmstrang students, dressed in thick coats, evenly split between boys and girls, came up the stairs of the courtyard. There was a man leading them who had a goatee and long hair. Harry recognized him as Igor Karkaroff, the turncoat Death Eater.
Sirius had had him look at the pictures of the old known Death Eaters that were still alive. Both he and Harry hoped it would give him an edge. Karkaroff had sold out quite a few Death Eaters to get his freedom, but the problem was that those Death Eaters were already spies for Dumbledore's group, and Sirius and Dumbledore both suspected that Voldemort and Karkaroff both knew that. That had been the point when Voldemort started winning.
"Dumbledore," Karkaroff greeted him.
"Igor," Dumbledore said with a pleasant smile, though Harry suspected it was just for show. "Come, let us all move inside."
Dumbledore led them all in, and Harry was pleased to see that the House Tables had not been brought out. He and his friends chose their regular table and started eating as the food appeared. It was a mixed cuisine, he realized. There was French and Bulgarian along with their regular British.
"That ain't a normal girl," Devon sighed, looking over at a blonde girl from Beauxbatons. Indeed, she was quite beautiful, with her pale skin, and near perfect blue eyes. Still, Harry felt nothing inside him, and his chest Monster seemed to know that, judging by how quiet it was.
"I know right," Ron said, trying to catch a glimpse of her face before Hermione pulled him down.
"How are you so calm?" Jessica asked Harry.
Harry didn't know the answer to that. "Because unlike these idiots, I can think with my brain rather than my dick," he replied regardless.
"Oi!" Ron exclaimed.
"Name one girl at Hogwarts who is as good looking as her," Devon said.
Harry's eyes briefly flicked to Ginnyl. A smile came onto her face and she bit her lip to keep from smiling more as she blushed.
"Ginny!?" Ron asked incredulously.
Harry shrugged, not at all apologetic. "Yeah, so?" He asked. "There are others too, you know," he added.
"Yeah, but… oh fuck, she's coming here," Devon said in a panicked squeak.
Harry blinked but didn't react otherwise. "'Ello," he heard in a thick accented voice. "Do you need ze bouillabaisse?"
Ron and Devon looked like they might jump up and start worshipping her right then so he turned to the rest and raised an eyebrow, they all shook their heads, so Harry handed it to the girl, who seemed a bit surprised. "Here you go," he said, much to her shock.
She didn't say anything though, just gave him a nod and went back to her table. "That was strange," Harry said.
"She probably isn't used to boys not ogling her," Jessica said, lightly snacking Devon in the back of his head. "She's obviously part-Veela," she explained at their questioning looks
Harry blinked, he hadn't even thought of that. They kept eating though, and soon, when everyone was done, Dumbledore stood up, and spread his arms wide. "To all of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students, welcome," he said. "I hope you enjoy your stay at Hogwarts. As you all know, the Triwizard Tournament is being hosted at the School. I am sure your School Heads have already examined the Rules to you, so now, please give a round of applause for Mr. Ludo Bagman, who will explain what one must do to get selected."
Ludo Bagman was a rather rotund man, and Harry knew that he used to be the Seeker for England before he retired. Now, he worked in the Department of Magical Games and Sports.
"Hello, everyone," he said, walking up to the raised platform. "I am Ludo Bagman, and I am one of the people in charge of the Triwizard Tournament. The other, unfortunately, wasn't able to make it today. Now, the Triwizard Tournament, as you know, traditionally has one champion from each school. Now, you must be wondering how the Champion is selected? Well, for that, we have an impartial judge, the Goblet of Fire!" He cried, holding his arms out wide.
As he spoke, there was a small explosion of smoke behind him. Several people screamed, and Bagman seemed rather amused by this. The smoke cleared soon enough, and there was now a tall stool upon which a Goblet rested.
The Goblet was dark in color, and there were jewels embedded across its rim. "This is the Goblet of Fire!" Bagman continued. "Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet, aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete."
With that, Bagman stepped down, and Dumbledore made his way to the front again. "The Triwizard Tournament will take place throughout the year, and our guests will stay here in the Castle for the duration of that time. They will have separate Common Rooms, the locations of which I have not disclosed to anyone but the Head students. Any questions?"
"Is Quidditch cancelled?" Fred asked. Everyone seemed to be on the edge of their seats, waiting for Dumbledore to answer.
Dumbledore looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "Contrary to popular belief, I have not lost my mind," Dumbledore said. "No, Quidditch is not cancelled."
A cheer went up among the students, and Dumbledore shook his head in amusement. "If you are all done," Dumbledore said, bringing the cheers to a halt. "Then I would like to ask the Head Boy and Head Girl to please lead the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students to their respective Common Rooms. Thank you, and I wish you all a Goodnight."
"We're finding their Common Rooms, right?" Ginny asked in a whisper as conversation picked up again.
"Definitely," Harry replied. "I need to get my baby out of that Third Floor Corridor first though."
She snorted. "I'll help," she said, biting her lip to keep from laughing.
《••••••••••••••••••••》
The next day was… interesting. They'd shared classes with the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students. The Seventh Years, specifically, since they were starting Unforgivables now.
Harry was surprised at how far back the international students were in terms of Magical ability. They caught up in their Seventh Year, of course, but before that, Harry would have been able to top their classes if he was in his Third Year.
The international students mostly kept to themselves, though he did notice quite a few staring at him or Ginny curiously, as though they were trying to figure them out.
Harry and Ginny were content to ignore this, though. He reckoned he'd be staring at Viktor Krum too if Harry was a normal kid.
Come Dinner time, ignoring the stares got pretty easy, mostly due to the fact that Harry and Ginny were worried that despite Dumbledore's assurances, Voldemort might have found a way around Dumbledore's Defences.
But nevertheless, they made it through Dinner in one piece, and Harry was glad that the House Tables had not been brought out this time. Dumbledore stood up as the plates Vanished. "Now, the moment all of you have been waiting for," he said, waving his Wand and causing the Goblet and the stool to shimmer into view.
"Yes," Dumbledore said. "It is time now for us to know which of the students have been selected to be their School Champions. Before that, however, I feel the need to add that no matter who is chosen, I hope you show them your support, regardless of whether or not you have entered your name against them. That being said, let us now begin!"
Dumbledore waved his hand in an arc around the Great Hall, and the candles started dimming, leaving the Enchanted Ceiling above as the only source of light. Dumbledore then turned to the Goblet and placed his hands on it, muttering an incantation.
Soon, the Goblet lit up with a White Fire that burned bright and high. The Fire then turned a deep red, and something shot out of the Fire, and towards the ceiling as the Fire turned White again.
As it turned out, it was a piece of Parchment, and it fluttered down towards Dumbledore's outstretched hand. "The champion for Durmstrang," he said after reading it over. "Is Viktor Krum!"
The cheers were deafening, and even Harry and Ginny clapped for the Bulgarian Seeker. "No surprises there!" Ron yelled with a grin on his face. "If he's half as good with a Wand as he is in the air, he's got this in the bag."
Krum stood up and accepted all the congratulations and the backslaps from his fellow Classmates. He walked to the front with a blank face and took the Parchment from Dumbledore, who asked him to stand on the raised platform behind the Goblet, on the left side.
Dumbledore touched the Goblet with his hands again, and muttered the same incantation. The Fire turned Blue this time, and just like last time, a piece of Parchment shot out of the Goblet and towards the ceiling.
It, too, fluttered down into Dumbledore's hands as the Fire turned White again, and he read it over. "The Beauxbatons Champion is… Fleur Delacour!" He exclaimed.
Delacour stood up to even more cheers than Krum, most enthusiastic of those were from the male population of all the three Schools. Unlike Krum, she didn't seem to mind the attention, shaking hands with anyone who asked as she walked down the length of the Great Hall with a huge smile on her face.
Dumbledore asked her to stand in the centre now, right behind the Goblet. He touched it with his hands again, muttering the same incantation.
The Flames in the Goblet turned Golden this time, and another piece of Parchment shot out, and fluttered down into Dumbledore's hand as the Fire turned White again. "The Hogwarts Champion is… Cedric Doggory!" Dumbledore cried.
Harry was sure that to an outsider, it would seem as if an explosion had gone off in the castle. The Hufflepuffs had- metaphorically speaking- turned into animals with the way they were clapping, screaming, cheering, and banging their hands on the table in celebration. Hufflepuffs never got their glory moments, Harry knew, so he was quite happy that they had the chance to represent Hogwarts now.
Cedric made his way to the front, his expression a mixture of awkward shyness and happiness. Dumbledore made him stand to the right side of the raised platform and Harry's heart had started beating a mile a minute. This was it, either he, or Ginny, or both of them would be chosen for this tournament now as additional champions, just like he suspected.
But… nothing else happened. The Fire in the Goblet went out and the Candles lit up again, lighting up the Great Hall as they usually did.
"We have our Three Champions now," Dumbledore said, spreading his arms wide once the cheers had died down. "But only one of them shall win this Tournament, only one of them shall have their names immortalized, only one of them shall take home with them: the Triwizard Cup!"
Dumbledore held his Wand out towards the centre of the room, and a Trophy shimmered into view there. It was triangular in shape, and had black borders that surrounded the translucent blue body of the cup.
"The First Task will be on the 24th of November, and it will be a Task of Courage in the face of the unknown," Dumbledore said, flicking his Wand and making the Cup disappear. "I request the School Heads to meet myself, Mr. Bagman and the Three Champions in the antechamber. As for the rest of the students, I must request you all to go back to your dormitories. Thank you for coming here tonight, and I hope you all have a wonderful night."
Harry couldn't believe his eyes and ears, he turned to Ginny to see that she was staring at him with a similar look of disbelief on her face. "Did that just…" she trailed off as everyone started getting up.
"I think so, yeah," Harry said as they got up too
"Pinch me," she suggested, as they started walking towards the doors of the Great Hall. He complied with her request, causing her to bat his hand away.
"Not that hard," she said, rubbing her arm.
"Sorry," he said. "But, Gin… this is great!" He cried in a whisper, grinning.
She gave him a grin of her own. "I know right," she said. "We can finally live a year without our impending Deaths for once."
Harry nodded and was about to reply when Ron asked, "Who do you guys think will win?"
"I think Diggory," Dean Thomas said.
"Delacour has a good chance too," Hermione said. "Veela are quite Powerful."
"You're forgetting Krum," Jessica said.
"We don't know how good Krum is with a Wand," Hermione objected. "He could be worse than a First Year for all we know."
Harry and Ginny hung back near the entrance to the Great Hall as the rest of them left, arguing all the way. "So… any suggestions for celebrations?" Harry asked.
"The Elves do have a rather large shelf filled with Butterbeer," Ginny said.
Harry's eyes bugged out. "How do you know that?" He asked.
"I may have snuck down there yesterday after we got that suit of armor," she admitted with an impish smile. "So, are you coming or not?"
"Try and stop me, Weasley," he said, setting off on a sprint towards the Kitchens.
"Oi!" He heard her exclaim. "Not fair!"
《••••••••••••••••••••》
A/N 2: And that's Chapter 50 done!
If you're confused, let me help you. Harry and Ginny aren't in the Tournament, and they won't be. As I said in the last Chapter, RMWB helped me come up with this idea so, once again, MASSIVE shout out to him.
I've said this before, but I'll say it again, Regretfully Uncaring is one of the best stories out there. Please go check it out, and please ignore the Werewolf AU part. This one's actually pretty damn good.
Also, if you're worried about action from this point forth, then don't worry, there will still be plenty in the future chapters ;)
Leave a review if you enjoyed this Chapter, and I'll see you in the next one!!
Byee!!