(GoF) CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: Testing Your Limits
Shortly after Easter, an announcement was made about the third task: that it was to be a maze and obstacle course, and that Harry and Cedric, who were currently tied for first place, would be the first to enter. Ellie tried to join the others in giving Harry encouraging suggestions about spells to learn and what to practice, but before she could get anything out, Viktor Krum approached Harry and asked for a word out of earshot of the others.
"It's about that ridiculous Witch Weekly article—I'm sure of it," sighed Hermione as the rest of them continued on their path back to the castle. "Viktor's been acting odd ever since it came out."
"Is that really such a bad thing?" grumbled Ron. "You weren't exactly a match made in Heaven anyway, were you?"
"Ron!" Fred and Ellie scolded him together, both smacking him on the back of the head. It was no use, of course; the damage was done. With a final glare in Ron's direction, Hermione stalked fiercely up to the castle alone.
"I don't get it," said Ron once she was out of earshot. "Am I really the only one who thinks it's weird—our sweet, bookworm Hermione, with—with—"
"I don't think it matters what you think, Ron," said Ellie firmly. "She's your friend, and you're supposed to support her, not make her feel bad for who she chooses to spend her time with."
Fred smiled, putting an arm around Ellie and squeezing.
"Oh, come off it," Ron said, glaring at the two of them. "Fred's your friend, and he took issue with loads of the guys you dated."
Fred's ears turned pink at that, but Ellie only laughed. "That's because Fred and I had feelings for each other, Ronald. Are you suggesting—"
Even the hint of the question, of course, only sent him stalking off in the same vein Hermione just had.
"Nice one," George offered Ellie appreciatively when it was just the three of them. "Not to mention, good timing. There's something I've been wanting to show you." He surfaced a letter from his back pocket and handed it to her.
"I, Ludovic Bagman, do hereby consent to giving one-third of my monthly paycheque to Messrs Fred and George Weasley, until such a time that my debt to them is paid in full," she read, eyes bulging. "Wh—but—this is incredible!"
"It's thanks to you, apparently," said Fred, beaming. "Whatever you said to him in front of McGonagall and Dumbledore must have really scared him."
"I reckon Dumbledore himself scared him, afterwards—y'know, made a threat or whatever," said George. "But Fred reckons you were scary enough without their help."
"Not exactly brave, that one," Fred explained to her. "And, knowing what he knows about you…"
Ellie didn't typically like the idea of the general public being afraid of her, but in this situation, it had its perks.
When Harry met them in the common room about an hour later, his face was white and his eyes were wide.
"I saw Crouch," he told them in an urgent, hushed tone as he took his seat next between Ellie and Ron on the couch. "Only, he was… insane. Rambling. Talking like a lunatic. Saying he had to talk to Dumbledore. Krum was there, too—I left him with Crouch while I went to get Dumbledore."
"This certainly lines up with our theory about Crouch being somehow involved," said Hermione with a frown. They had filled her in on their talk with Sirius that evening. "What happened when you brought Dumbledore to him, Harry?"
"Crouch was nowhere to be found, and Krum was unconscious. Had been stunned, either by Crouch or by whoever came and took Crouch."
Ellie wished she could make sense of all this—what all these different signs and clues meant. But Harry's story made no more sense than the story about Winky or even the story about Crouch having turned in his own son for being a Death Eater.
"We should go and see Padfoot again," Harry whispered. "Give him the update."
"Are you sure it's safe, Harry?" asked Hermione. "Not just for you all—for him, too. He's so close to the school—doesn't it make you anxious?"
"We'll write to him," Ellie said firmly.
She had the same concerns that Hermione did.
The next training session included Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Ginny, and even Dean Thomas.
"Who brought him?" Fred muttered under his breath when he saw Ellie's least recent ex-boyfriend enter the Room of Requirement.
"Ginny, by the looks of things," replied Ellie, glancing curiously at Harry, who looked every bit as disgusted as Fred, if not more.
"Remind me why we need all these people to help us practice the Imperius Curse?" asked Fred. "You are heeding your dad's advice and not practicing your shield, right?"
"Don't be ridiculous," said Ginny cheerfully as she strode over to them. She and Dean weren't exactly holding hands, but they did seem a bit closer than usual. "Of course she wants to practice, and of course we're going to help her."
"I think it's brilliant," said Dean to Ellie. "Y'know—how far it's come. Remember back when we first started playing with it?"
She did remember. It was before she and Dean had ever even 'dated,' if it could be called that. She had asked him for help because she had suspected that being with the Weasleys, rather than making music, was the real activation for her shield.
"Touching," said Fred dryly. "Can we just get this over with?"
Trying not to glare at him, Ellie cleared her throat and stepped to the front of the room, turning to face the rest of them.
"Okay," she said, "so… thanks for being here and… let's start with two at a time?"
"Two at a time?" repeated Hermione. "As in… attacking you two at a time?"
Ellie shrugged. "Why not? I've been attacked by more than two at once before."
She tried not to notice Fred's glower as Hermione and Ron stepped forward, lifted their wands, and simultaneously shot two different spells at her. As before, she focused on the feeling she got when she sang without actually singing; as before, her shield activated, and she was safe.
"Okay," she said, nodding in satisfaction. "Now, three."
Ginny and Dean exchanged careful glances before Ginny hesitantly stepped forward, lifting her own wand. This time, she, Hermione, and Ron all shot spells at Ellie at the same time. Again, her shield activated. This time, though, she could feel it.
It wasn't a whole lot—nothing like she'd felt when she saved Sirius from those Dementors in her third year, nor when she'd protected Fred, George, and Cedric from the Death Eaters the previous summer. But it was the same feeling—not quite physical pain, yet an undeniable aching, as if she'd had the wind knocked out of her.
"That's enough," said Fred, who had clearly caught on. "Let's just do that a few more times and call it a—"
"Four," she interrupted him, nodding at Dean. "C'mon, Dean."
Dean glanced at Harry, who had rooted his feet firmly into the ground, before stepping carefully up to Ginny's side. "You sure, Ellie?"
She nodded, and he lifted his wand when the other three did.
When the spells hit her this time, she actually fell to her knees.
"Bloody hell," Fred cursed, running over to her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she said quickly, scrambling up to her feet. Her breathing was heavy, though, and he didn't miss the beads of sweat that had collected on her temple. "That was good. The actual spells didn't hit me—it was just the effect of my shield."
"Are we sure this is actually strengthening your shield, Ellie?" asked Harry with a frown. "Or is it more just… testing your limits?"
"Seems to be strengthening to me," said George, earning him a glare from Fred's direction. "Well, I'm just saying. No singing needed, works against four spells at the exact same time? Not exactly bad, is it?"
"Exactly," said Ellie. "Next time, we'll try five."
But that only caused Fred to storm off entirely.
He went back to speaking to her in a matter of hours, of course, and they were more or less back to normal in a matter of days—at least, until Harry came to them with the latest news, which sent Fred spiraling all over again.
"It's my scar," Harry explained to their group late one night by the fire. "It's hurting again—worse than ever. I spoke with Dumbledore—we both agree it suggests Voldemort is near. We think he's going to attack soon."
"Attack?" demanded Ron in a rather high-pitched voice. "But… but… I thought he was just a disembodied mess of… of…"
"Whatever's going on with your scar," said Hermione, fishing something out of her bag, "Rita Skeeter's noticing. She's written an article about your having had an episode in class the other day, Harry—called you 'disturbed and dangerous.'"
"Forget Rita Skeeter," said Fred impatiently. "What else did Dumbledore say, Harry? Did he give you any advice?"
"Only to be careful, and that he's working on it. Like Sirius, he's concerned about the third task, but he says he has his best team on the obstacle course—you know, making sure it's set up properly and all."
"I don't like it," said Hermione, frowning. "Maybe you should forfeit, Harry."
"No way!" shouted Ron. "He's in first place, for crying out loud!"
"Not to mention, Mum's coming to see Harry in action," added George. "Bill, too. Dad can't get the time off from work, or he'd be there, too."
"Really?" asked Ellie, thrilled with the prospect of seeing Molly again. She glanced at Fred, frowning. "Does she know about us?"
"Does she know?" scoffed George, rolling his eyes. "I reckon he might have told her before he told me."
"Unlikely, seeing as the entire school found out when you did," Ellie pointed out, shoving George playfully. She glanced at Fred, frowning slightly. "What did she think about it?"
He looked genuinely confused by her question. "What did she think about it? She was thrilled, obviously. You know she loves you, El."
"But… is she still okay with me coming to stay with you all this summer?" Despite Fred's encouragement for her to make amends with her mother, she hadn't. She would want to spend at least some of the summer with Sirius, of course, but after the events of the previous summer, she wasn't sure it would be wise to commit to that entirely.
Besides, spending the summer with the boy she was madly in love with, who had finally come to terms with his own feelings for her, didn't sound half bad.
"Of course she is," said Fred gently. "You're family."
"Can I ask you a question?" Ellie whispered to Harry a few days later in History of Magic.
"Please do," he whispered back. "Anything to keep me awake during this bore."
She laughed silently, then asked, "Have you been sleeping?"
He glanced at her, frowning. "I reckon not quite as much as I should be, given the searing pain from my scar and the nerves from the Tournament. Is it that obvious?"
"I'm glad you're taking the Tournament seriously," she whispered back. "I'm glad you're training. Only… have you taken even a moment to just sort of… let it all sink in? I mean, you're in first place, Harry."
"Yeah—due to a combination of luck and stupidity," he muttered back. "I'd rather not relish in it until it's over."
"But that's just it," she insisted. "Then it'll be over. What if you don't win? What if now is the peak of your success as a Triwizard Champion?"
He shot her another look. "Encouraging."
"All I'm saying is, enjoy it while it lasts. I know you're not with Cho anymore, but surely there's someone else you'd like to charm while you're in the midst of all this glory? A certain… redhead, perhaps?"
His scowl deepened, and it was joined with a deep blush. "Don't."
"Why not? We all know she likes you, too."
"Used to like me," he corrected. "Now she seems to be all about Dean Thomas. Tell me—is there some sort of similarity between the two of us that I'm not seeing?"
He was referring to Ellie having dated both of them, along with Ginny having crushed on them, of course. She tried not to laugh. "She's probably only spending time with him because she's sick of waiting around for you, Harry. And why shouldn't she be? Ginny's too good of a catch to wait around for someone for years. No matter how great of a guy he might be."
But he still didn't look convinced. "Now just isn't the time. I have way too much going on. I—"
"I hate to break it to you, Harry," she interrupted, "but you'll never not have a lot going on. I won't, either. And you know what makes it all worth it for me?"
His expression softened slightly as he answered for her, "Fred."
As you can see, I'm very determined to give Harry and Ginny a little more time together than JKR did. Will Harry take Ellie's advice? Find out next time - which, by the way, will be called "The Third Task!"