Jan. 8th, 1995
The last two days we spent more or less in the library, trying to find under-water survival techniques, but without any success so far. The weather has turned nasty, so we hardly leave the carriage unless we have to.
The Hogwarts students behave somewhat strangely to me after the unicorn episode. Whenever they see me come, they stop talking and back away from me, almost as if they were afraid. Cho and Cedric, much to my relief, have not changed; we can still talk about everything, although we are rather careful not to mention the Task. I have no idea, therefore, if Cedric has already found something to help him.
I've only seen Harry from the distance, he seems nervous and ill tempered; possibly the Task bothers him, too.
Jan. 14th, 1995
I've still not found anything useful concerning the Task, but I've come across a reference about the realitas virtualis spell! It's supposed to be in a book called Magical Equivalents to Modern Muggle Technology by an American witch called Zelda Spellman. It seems to be a very new development, as the book appeared only a couple of years ago. I couldn't find it on the general shelves, though, so I think it's in the Restricted Section. I wonder how I can persuade the librarian to allow me to look at it.
Jan. 16th, 1995
I decided to take the weekend off my research (which hasn't led to anything yet, anyway) and to meet Cho and Cedric at the Three Broomsticks this afternoon. Margaux and Iphigenie are planning to meet some guys from Hogwarts there, and I know better than to join them, after my experience with Charmaine. Even with the obscurata charm on my hair, I don't want to take any risks of annoying them, their friendship simply means too much to me.
***
The pub was packed this afternoon, and we could barely find some seats. We had just taken our butterbeer back to our table when the door opened and the awful reporter woman entered. This time she was in banana-yellow robes that were just horrible with her shocking pink fingernails. I'll never understand how someone can have such bad taste. She was walking towards a table talking to her photographer, when I could hear Harry's voice, clear and loud above the din:
"Trying to ruin someone else's life?"
Only now I saw him sitting at one of the tables with his two friends. The Skeeter woman put that false smile of hers on her face and said something to him that I could not hear. Harry was not impressed, apparently, and answered in an angry voice, but again I could not catch what he was saying. But presently he shouted:
"Who cares if he's half-giant? There's nothing wrong with him!"
"What are they talking about?" I asked Cedric in a whisper that still sounded loud in the suddenly quiet room.
"Hagrid!" he answered. "Of course you'd not know – there was an article in the Daily Prophet the other day – said he's half-giant… That's probably why he's suddenly stopped teaching…"
"Half-giant?" I mused. "Hey, and he's just the same size as Maxime… Could she be half-giant too? Yes, I suppose so…"
In the meantime, Harry and his two friends had stood up from their table and, after a few more words with the Skeeter woman that I didn't catch, left the pub.
"We're going to read more about this soon, mark my words," Cedric said. "It's not a good idea to make an enemy of the press..."
***
Now, it seems amazing I've never thought of it myself, or anyone else, for that matter. It's quite obvious, really. Her size can't be explained any other way. I wonder how she's managed all these years. But I expect she's been using some special magic of her own, so that people don't really think about it... Anyway, I hope my mother won't get the idea into her head; she'd kick up no end of trouble, what with dangerous half-breeds and so on. Ridiculous, really, she's a "half-breed" herself, isn't she? And Veela are anything but harmless, actually.
Jan 17th, 1995
Iphigenie, - always the brainy one, - has finally given me an idea what to look for concerning sub-aquatic survival. Actually, it was a coincidence that caused it.
She and Margaux were in the Three Broomsticks at the same time as me, but, being less interested in Harry Potter than I was, she looked around the place a good deal. I believe her date, a Hogwarts boy called Oliver something or other, wasn't so fascinating as to occupy her wholehearted attention. Anyway, looking around, she saw an oval bowl standing on one of the shelves, containing a number of goldfish.
"It might be worth looking for," she told me this morning. "A charm that forms a bubble of air round your head and keeps it there while you're under water. Just like that bowl keeps the water for the goldfish, only the other way round."
"Muggles have something like that, too," Margaux added. "Only it's made of iron or something, of course. I've seen pictures of them: They wear thick suits, and these large round metallic bubbles on their heads. It shouldn't be too difficult to find an appropriate charm for that."
This is actually the first concrete idea so far, and I'm going to see what I can find in the library tomorrow. Also, but I'm not telling this to anyone, I'll have another go at that virtualis charm. It would be so great if I could use it on my own to talk to Gabrielle!
Jan. 18th, 1995
It's not as easy as it sounds; even though I have an idea, it's quite difficult to think of terms and expressions under which to look, and I've not been successful yet. Perhaps it's also a question of my imperfect English; if I could just use the Beauxbatons library...
Hey, this is an idea! Maxime makes us attend regular lessons back at Beauxbatons, so it shouldn't be a problem for her make it possible for me to use the library the same way. I'll ask her first thing tomorrow.
Jan 19th, 1995
At breakfast, I went up to Maxime.
"Excuse-moi, madame," I said in my most polite voice. "It's about that Second Tournament Task..."
"Yes?" She seemed to snap out of some kind of reverie; I have never seen her like that before. "I have an idea how to do it," I continued. "But it's so difficult to look for things in the Hogwarts library, - my English is not good enough, I'm afraid, - " It's always a good idea to look a bit helpless in her eyes, - not too helpless, though, she has no patience with the whining sort of helplessness. It worked again, actually I was to discover it worked much better than I had ever expected.
"An idea, you say?" She actually beamed at me, something she NEVER does. "That's the spirit! Just show them where to get off!" she finished with a surprisingly grim note to her voice. "No, don't tell me your idea," she continued. It's better if I don't know. But what can I do? I can't really help you, you know..."
"Of course not," I said hurriedly. "It's just - so hard to find anything in these English books. Now if I could look for this thing I have in mind in our own library back at Beauxbatons..."
"Clever girl," she smiled to herself while thinking for a short while. "Yes, why not?" she said finally. "Listen, I have not got the time to perform that charm on you whenever you want to go to Beauxbatons, and it would also be too inconvenient for you. But I'll teach you how to do it yourself. It's not an easy spell, I warn you, and it is absolutely outside the normal curriculum, however, even if you should not manage to learn it, nothing can possibly happen, so it is well worth trying. Come see me this afternoon at three, then we'll start the first lesson. And for a beginning, you can already try to visualize the library as exactly as you can. This is the most important part and takes most practice, too."
I'm awfully excited! If I have understood her correctly, she's going to teach me the realitas virtualis charm that I've been so eager to learn all this time! I can't wait!
***
5 p.m. - I'm back from two hours training with Maxime, and I'm exhausted. I'd not expected this would be so hard. No wonder it's not very widely known. It doesn't even need much wand work, but the concentration that you need for the visualising part drains your energy a lot.
Maxime must have a grudge against the Hogwarts people, she kept telling me to stick to it and to "show them". I've no idea what made her so angry, but if it's the reason she's teaching me this spell, it's fine with me.
I had expected to start trying to get to the library right away, but I was disappointed. To begin with, Maxime made me visualise the sitting room in the carriage (we were in her study), then our dormitory, and finally the place in front of the carriage.
"It's hard enough for a start," she told me. "And these are places you have seen every day the last few weeks; while you haven't been to the Beauxbatons library for about ten weeks now."
And really, after I had practised these places for some two hours, I felt I just couldn't go on.
But Maxime was satisfied with the progress I had made, and told me to come again Wednesday.
Jan 20th, 1994
My second lesson with Maxime has already been more successful. I - or rather my image - went to the Great Hall and out through the great doors onto the drive in front of the castle. It's weird to drift through doors as if they didn't exist at all, and Maxime tells me there's nothing to stop me from going through walls, too. However, you can only do all this if you KNOW the place. At least, you must remember the basic structures and objects in it. So I could not, for example, project myself into Harry's dormitory... (I really don't know where this thought came from!) Another drawback is, of course, that you can't touch or move anything.
So I suppose I'll have to get someone to look things up for me in the Beauxbatons library, as I won't be able to open any book myself. Well, I'll see about that when I'm there.
Jan 24th, 1995
It's Sunday again, and I had another go round the castle grounds on my CdF. I confess I'm getting a little nervous; it's exactly a month until the Second Task, and I'm still no nearer a solution of my problem. So I thought a ride on my broom would do me good; I had no idea I'd return in this depressive mood I'm in now.
It really did me good at first. With no stupid egg to carry, and equipped with my sister's Christmas present and an extra strong warming charm, it was wonderful to be high up in the air again, my hair flowing free in the wind, and my problems looking tiny as the buildings and people down on the ground.
"Hi, there," a cheerful voice suddenly said, and Harry Potter materialised next to me. I had not noticed him coming, and the surprise made me wobble precariously on my broom. Again, he reached out and caught my arm to steady me, grinning at me.
"Hey, I thought you couldn't Apparate at Hogwarts!" I joked. "How DO you do it?"
"Comes from catching the Golden Snitch all these years, and talking of golden - " he grinned at me even more widely.
(I have a weird feeling this was supposed to be a compliment, but I guess I'll never know.)
"Actually, I've wanted to talk to you these last few days," he went on, more serious now. "You know, that business with that git Davies..."
"Oh, just forget it, I suppose he couldn't help himself, after all..."
"No," he insisted. "I'm a bit ashamed of myself, really, because I thought there must at least be something in the stories he was telling all over the place, - there's no need to blush, I'm not going to repeat any of it to you, - couldn't believe he'd been making it ALL up. And then those Ravenclaws came back from their Magical Creatures lesson, all excited, going on what a sight you were with that unicorn; and of course everyone knew what that meant. And the way they all looked at Davies... Well, I suppose I wanted to apologize," he finished somewhat lamely.
"Apologise for something I didn't even know? That's what I call chivalrous! But you needn't have - " for some reason, I felt embarrassed, and to hide it I leaned flat down on my broom to urge it forward and shouted: "Race you to the Quidditch hoops on the far side!"
Even as I said it, I knew I stood no chance, and when I reached the hoops, flushed and breathless, Harry had already circled them once and was grinning at me, completely unruffled (well, except for his hair) and breathing no whit harder than before the race.
"Not bad," he said condescendingly, but his eyes told me he was joking. "With some training in three or four years..." Again he flashed me that grin.
"Oh I know I'll never be a match for you," I gasped. "No need to rub it in."
"No, seriously, not bad," he repeated. "For a hobby you're doing it quite all right-"
"While you're a professional, or what?"
"No, but I'm taking it more seriously than you. Though, you know, I might take up professional Quidditch some day…"
"Come, you want to do it for money? And what about defeating Vous-savez-qui every other year?"
"Defeating who? Oh, I see…" his face clouded over, and there was a strange tone to his voice, anger, frustration, I couldn't really say.
"Did I say anything wrong?" I enquired, worried by this sudden change of mood.
"No, no you didn't," he said in that same harsh voice, shaking himself as if trying to get rid of something clinging to him. "How could you possibly understand…"
"Try me," I insisted. And as he turned away from me, I put my hand on his arm forcing him to look at me. "Tell me what's wrong."
"You have no idea," the words suddenly broke out of him. "I'm so absolutely sick of all this! Everyone expecting me to save the world all the time! Yes, the Boy-Who-Lived, the famous Harry Potter! And when they're not admiring the famous hero, they're printing lies in their papers, lies about me, lies about my friends. And even my best friend – No, how can you understand, if even Ron thinks he must be jealous of me!"
And he tore off on his broom, doing a series of mad dives and loops before finally disappearing out of my sight.
I could kick myself! One joking remark, and with perfect aim I hit the one spot that hurts him most. Great thing indeed. Worse still, I know exactly how he feels about being the famous Boy-Who-Lived, so I ought to have had more sense than that. I do hope I'll get another chance to talk to him and set things right.
Jan 27th, 1995
Noon - My lessons with Maxime have been going well, which has brightened my mood a good deal. This afternoon, I'll try to project myself (my image, of course, but it sounds much better this way) to Gabrielle's room back home. If all goes well, she'll be there for her afternoon leisure time, and I'll be able to talk to her without Maman listening. I'm very excited, I do hope it will work!
5.30 p.m. – It worked!!! I could jump for joy!
I know my sister's habits well enough, so I visualised the spot next to her door, where she would not notice me appearing. As I had expected, she was there, flat on her stomach on the deep fluffy carpet she loves so much, deep in one of her books.
Alas, I could not silently creep up from behind and tickle her, so I just walked (drifted, more accurately) towards her, until I was between her and the window. My shadow fell on her book, and she finally looked up.
It was the funniest sight I've ever seen. Her eyes got larger and larger, her mouth fell open and she took a beep breath. Before she could let out the shout that was lingering in her throat, I put a warning finger to my lips, and, clever little girl that she is, she understood at once.
So, she just jumped to her feet and rushed towards me, her arms spread wide. Of course, she rushed right through my image, and could just check herself before crashing into the desk in front of the window. She turned round and looked at me, bewildered.
"Oh, I forgot," she finally said with a rueful smile. "I'm so happy, you're here, even if I can't… But how…?"
"Yes, it's such a pity I'm only virtually real," I grinned. "But I guess it's better than nothing, isn't it? It's wonderful to be with you, Gabie, I've been missing you so!"
"Me too!"
And she opened her arms again, only to let them drop to her sides at once.
"Tell me, Fleur, how did you manage to come? Isn't this a very difficult spell?"
"Yes, and I still can't believe I mastered it in such a short time. Well, I asked Maxime – "
And I told her how I had got her to teach me.
"How clever of you!" Gabie said admiringly. "And you didn't tell her you really wanted to see me?"
"Of course not; she'd not have thought this a sufficient reason."
"And have you been to the library yet?"
"No," now it was my turn to smile ruefully. "I wanted to see you first!"
"You're so sweet!" Then her voice turned very serious. "But you haven't found that charm yet, have you?"
"Got me," I admitted.
"But this is important," she told me earnestly, and it was absolutely lovely to watch the severe wrinkles on her forehead as she was trying to look as stern as she could manage. It almost hurt physically to be unable to hug and kiss her, she looked so adorable.
"You must work on it," she went on. "The spell may be difficult to learn, and anyway, you must find it first. There's not so much time left, you know."
"I promise to start first thing tomorrow morning," I said solemnly, standing at attention and putting my hand to my heart, at which she dissolved into giggles.
"So, what's new over here?" I asked her when she had stopped.
"Not so much, as you can imagine. Wait, there's one thing, though. Since sixth January, I've been attending the ecole preparatoire in town! Maman thought it would be a good idea to start preparing for Beauxbatons. So I'm going to town Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays each week. It's a nice change to be with the other kids."
So even Maman's oversized ambition can have its good sides. I remember that prep school only dimly, but I do recall the happiness I felt at getting somewhere new. Come to think of it, it was a rather happy time too, no worries about veela charms…
Anyway, I was happy to hear that she liked that school too, and listened to the stories she was telling me about her classmates.
"But what about you, Fleur?" she finally asked, after she had finished a rather funny story about her first flying lesson. "What's happening over in Hogwarts?"
So I plunged into my tale, and it was an incredible relief to be telling her everything – the choosing of the champions, the dragons, the disastrous Yule Ball. Of course I had told her all this in my owls, but I had always kept in mind that my mother would be checking on everything, while now, for the first time in half a year, I could tell her absolutely everything.
She was enthralled with my narrative. Her eyes widened at the choosing of the fourth champion, she caught her breath when she heard about the dragon setting fire to my robes, and she was furious when I told her about Roger Davies and his behaviour at the Ball.
"Oh Fleur," she whispered, her eyes shining with tears. "How could he do this to you?" She made to pat my cheek, but realised it wouldn't work. "But you did get him back, didn't you?"
So I told her about the unicorn, and was happy to see her laughing again. "How clever of you! Bet that'll teach him a lesson, the slimy toad!"
I refrained from lecturing her about toads not being slimy. "Actually, it was not my idea," I told her instead, giving credit where credit was due. "It was my friend Cho who suggested it."
Of course, now I had to tell her everything about Cho and Cedric, and she thought that both of them must be wonderful people.
"There's one thing I've never written about," I finally proceeded to tell her. "I thought it was no good idea to have Maman find out about it. It was one of the reasons why I wanted to talk to you so much. Please don't tell her about it…"
"I won't," she said very earnestly. "What is it?"
And I described my meetings with Harry Potter to her. She sat very still, listening to me very intently.
"Poor boy," she said quietly, when I had told her about our last encounter. "He must be so unhappy."
All I could do was nod. There was a pause.
"You like him, don't you?" she said suddenly.
I'd never have admitted it to anyone else but her. "I believe I do," told her. "He's the first boy who takes me for the person I am, who doesn't give in to that awful veela charm… Oh Gabie, you're too young, you can't possibly understand!"
And I felt tears come to my eyes as I thought that she was going to experience exactly the same awful and disgusting incidents in a couple of years.
"See if I can," she said very earnestly, her beautiful blue eyes looking into mine without blinking. "He is the first boy who doesn't go all misty-eyed and addle-brained when he looks at you, right? And he doesn't start bragging all over the place what a super-hero he is, or how rich and influential, right? And he doesn't start doing idiotic gymnastic exercises to show off looks and his fitness, right?"
I looked at her in surprise, and only nodded.
"AND," she continued almost triumphantly, "Everyone thinks he's special for no merit of his own, and expects him to do the most spectacular things all the time, while he wishes nothing more than to be a normal, inconspicuous boy nobody would ever look at twice. In short, he's as much like you as he can possibly be without sprouting a mane of silvery hair. And you are surprised you like him?"
I was dumbfounded at that insight of hers. I know my sister very well, but I'd never have expected so much understanding from a small girl like her.
"Wow!" was all I managed to say, and it was only after some time that I could go on. "I couldn't have explained it better myself; in fact, I'm not sure I even understood myself before you put it to me so cleverly. Gabie, you're the best little sister in the world!"
"I'm your ONLY little sister in the world," she told me, grinning at me mischievously, her seriousness gone abruptly.
Forgetting completely that I was only virtually with her, I tried to hug her, but of course my arms went right through her body, which caused her to laugh merrily.
Outside in the hall, the large grandfather clock was chiming - five strokes.
"You have to go," Gabrielle said softly. "Maman will soon call me down for my music lesson. And we don't want her to find you here, do we?"
"No, sweetheart. You're right, as always; I really have to go now. But I'll come and see you as often as I can, I promise. And I also promise to teach you this charm as soon as you're old enough to handle it. Bye, baby, I'll see you soon."
"I'm not a baby... But I love you. And you should set things right with him, you know."
I didn't have to ask who she was talking about.
***
When I was back in my body in the carriage, the first thing I noticed were Margaux' anxious eyes.
"Where've you been? I was getting worried, you know. You've been lying on your bed for the last hour and a half or so, and did not react to anything. Iphigenie told me not to bother you, you were probably doing that virtualis thing, but I swear if you hadn't come round soon, I'd have called Maxime."
"Lucky you didn't," I said, still trying to get my bearings. "She's not supposed to know. I was back home, talking to my sister, you know."
Of course I had to tell her about it, which I did, but I omitted the talk we had had about Harry. I mean it's all very well to tell your friends everything, but there are things I prefer to keep to myself.
Hope you enjoy it, and I'm not quite sure if I'll manage to have the Second Task in the next chapter already, I rather doubt it. So be patient and review nevertheless!