Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
By: Fred and George Weasley are MY kings
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter.
FIRSTLY REVIEWS:
Blue Mittens: Thanks! I am really happy to hear that; it completely made my day. Enjoy Chapter 21.
Laura Depravi: Thanks for the review. I was a bit slow on this update. Forgive me!
Clara: Thanks for the review! I know… it was painfully obvious. I bet you weren't the only one who overlooked it, so no worries.
!Rise Against! Much thanks. I really think that many people forget that Harry is still just a teenager. The plot always overrides his life, and quite frankly I think that that his teenage life consisting of school and friends is just as important if not more. Thanks again for the review!
Chocolate Frog Cards: Wow, thanks for all seven of the wonderful reviews. They meant a lot to me! I hope you enjoy Chapter 21!
Robbiesmanda: Firstly thanks for the review. I am sorry to hear that you are going to be sitting around with nothing to entertain you for eight hours, and hope that this story possibly lessened the amount of severe boredom that you are most likely enduring. To answer your question, I update mostly every weekend, although sometimes the wait may be longer; this time unfortunately, it was a bit longer then anticipated. I am glad to hear that you are enjoying the story and hope that you continue to do so.
Special thanks goes to: Precious, shywriter, and Freddie for their great feedback on the story. It means so much to me. ANOTHER BIG THANK YOU TO: Vertigo4ever for inspiring this chapter and brainstorming with me. We created quite a great sequence of events for the dueling tournament; although not all of them are included in this chapter, they will appear in the nextand hope you all enjoy them!
A/N: Apologies for the wait, I was very busy with real life. Pesky thing it is, mind you. On a very quick note, this chapter goes out to my younger brother who just turned thirteen. Happy birthday, kiddo:o) On anther note, for this chapter and the next oneI must give credit to another wonderful author for a few excellent ideas on her part. My co-writer and fellow Harry Potter fan... Vertigo4ever (Applause) If in need of a good story to read, be sure to check out Vertigo4ever's own Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Chapter 21: Dreams and Dueling
It was cold, but he didn't mind. In fact, he preferred the coldness… and the darkness. And there he sat, waiting with sour distaste; he was not one to keep waiting in such a manner. He sat, looking into the empty fireplace.
Then she came; His loyal servant.
"You are late," he spoke in a flat, dead tone. His back was to her as he sat unmoving in his armchair.
"Forgive me master," her voice asked pleadingly, "I was in the company of them. I couldn't leave at the destined time, dare I should have aroused suspicion."
"Silence. I do not wish to hear of your excuses," Voldemort replied, his voice still devoid of any emotion. "The time is drawing nearer, a time we have been long been awaiting… I presume you are ready."
"Yes, of course, my Lord."
"Then begin. I want both brought to me. Do not disappoint me,"
"I shall not fail you, master. You shall have them when the solstice erupts, as the prophecy states."
"Go." His voice demanded as he turned to face his servant, his spy.
The sight of him was rather disturbing, even more so then normal. For his monstrous face was twisted into a smile, as his eyes, small red slits, gleamed.
Harry Potter woke with a start in his four-poster bed, a cold sweat trickling down his brow, his body tangled in his bed covers. His scar was throbbing as he struggled to sit up, peeling his sweat-drenched covers from his body. Sighing, he brought a hand to his scar, rubbing over it in hopes of soothing the burning. He had been having the same dream, ever since Krum's death had been discovered, four days ago.
The news of Krum's death had spread quickly, and it still was all anyone could talk about. Hermione had taken it rather hard, which was not very surprising. What was surprising was Ron's outlook and attitude on the issue. He was currently being very supportive of the ordeal, using all his efforts to comfort Hermione, causing all those who doubted him ever actually maturing, to be rather taken aback.
The theories of Krum's death were all more unbelievable then the next. For example, Dean Thomas had become convinced that a deranged quidditch fan had gone too far, whereas Seamus argued that Krum had gotten involved with the muggle 'Mafia'. While the two had been heatedly debating the issue over breakfast Monday morning, Harry noticed that Hermione, judging by the look on her face, appeared to be holding herself back from taking a good swing at them. Harry couldn't really blame her.
Although Krum's death was the only thing on everybody else's mind, Harry was a bit preoccupied with something else… his mysterious and reoccurring dream.
His scar was still burning as he made his way down to the common room to just lie down. He was still terribly tired, but with Ron's unbearably loud snores and Harry's own flaming forehead, it was hard to even think let alone sleep; and those were two things that he needed to do desperately.
He noticed his shaking hands as he settled himself on the couch by the dimly glowing fireplace and let his thoughts claim him.
The dream disturbed him for many reasons. Firstly, he slightly recognized the
female voice. It brought back all of the warnings about spies in the Order and the trusting issue back into mind. Secondly, Harry was again worried about seeing visions, and whether or not the event that the dream displayed had actually occurred. Although, thankfully, he had not been 'inside' Voldemort's body, just being in the very presence was disturbing. It made Harry wonder if Voldemort could possibly do the same thing, only vise versa, with seeing Harry ready to go through with some sort of plan. Thirdly, Voldemort had been happy, smiling madly. That surely was never a good sign.
He refused to discuss the issue with either Ron or Hermione, since they both currently had quite enough on their plates. Instead, he kept the plaguing dream to himself, and brooded over it as the days passed.
That evening, despite the numerous distractions, the trio all stole down to the Room of Requirement, large volumes tucked under their arms (they had raided the library for other books on the Royal Age, coming back with an impressive number of volumes), ready to begin their search. Harry had been itching to finally start it, but made no comment about its delay. When the three finally sat down and opened their books, they finally became aware of what they were dealing with. Ginny had told Harry that there would be a lot of Royal families… but Harry was not expecting over 400, and was astonished by the workload. Nonetheless, the three still went on, searching through the massive family trees for any mention of March 20th. However, their search went in vain, and even Harry found it hard to return the next night, despite his anxiety to know the identity of the half-blood prince.
Their search continued to progress, though they never found an ounce of useful information. Hermione, however, did come up with an odd observation their third night of searching.
"Krum isn't in here," she said silently, as she looked through the 'K' section in her book titled The Royals, Great and Small, of the Royal Age.
Ron and Harry both looked up from their own books, taking in Hermione's meaning.
"How could they even think it was him? He wasn't even a royal…" she asked softly, her voice cracking slightly as though she may cry at any moment, while Ron went over somewhat awkwardly to console.
Harry sat still thinking Hermione's question over. What had made Karkaroff believe the half-blood prince to be Krum? Harry reasoned that if Karakaroff had gotten the real prophecy, he surely would've ruled Krum out. But had Karkaroff read the real prophecy? He had received the information from a 'cloaked figure'; perhaps they misled him with a false copy. With his curiosity flared, Harry moved on with a new energy as he delved into his book again.
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The anxiety that Harry was feeling from his dream and the never-ending search for the half-blood prince were both soon over-looked, as another happening was sure to demand his immediate attention; the dueling tournament wasto occur.
Thursday morning, Harry and Ron both woke at about the same time (Harry was quite relieved that his sleep had been dreamless) and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. As the two sat down at the Gryffindor table, Seamus and Dean immediately began talking excitedly.
"Look what we found this morning," Dean said as he handed a piece of parchment to Harry.
"It was on the notice board," Seamus added as Harry and Ron both began to read:
Inter-House Unity
Dueling Tournament
Testing begins April 15th in the Great Hall at 4:30 PM
Fourth years and older only
"Testing?" Ron asked incredulously, as he began to direct his attention back to his breakfast.
"I wondered about that too… they must be having separate rounds," Dean reasoned, as he too, began adding more to his already overflowing plate.
"I wonder what sort of test it will be; whether practical or theory," Harry wondered aloud as he poured himself pumpkin juice.
"My bets on it being theory… they'll be time for the practical stuff later." Seamus said, and Harry nodded his agreement.
"So are you guys going to try it?" Ron asked, between mouthfuls.
"Yeah, there's nothing else to do… I hear the whole thing is going to take place during Easter Break, so we don't have to worry about schoolwork," Dean answered while Seamus just nodded his response.
"Are you two going to?" Dean questioned, looking t both of them with keen interest.
"Yeah, I guess. Might be fun," Ron said.
Harry, however, was having second thoughts; the whole process seemed very time consuming, and he already had quite enough to do without adding anything else. Noticing everyone's expectant faces looking at him interestedly, he spoke up.
"I'm not sure, I'll just have to see," Harry replied. He noted the surprised expressions his three housemates gave him, but he didn't let it bother him. Instead, he continued to eat, and a new topic was soon discussed.
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Hermione was not nearly as tempted to join in on the dueling tournament has everyone else seemed to be. In fact, she was almost dead set against it.
"I have no desire to join it. I am busy as it is. Besides, if we ever expect to have any success in our searches we can't just give up." She said defiantly, that night when Ron brought it up in the common room.
"I don't think I really fancy it either. We've just got way too much to do," Harry agreed.
Surprisingly, Hermione looked disappointed at this. "Harry, I think this would be a good opportunity for you… it would help you take your mind off of everything, and all."
"Yeah, but what about searching for the half-blood prince? This dueling tournament is going to take a lot of time." Harry questioned in a lowered voice, making sure those also present in the room had no way of hearing.
"I can take care of the searching… you two just go off and relax a bit," Hermione said brightly, smiling .It seemed as though it was the first time she had smiled since Krum's death and Harry returned it with a grateful look.
After Ron's display of great enthusiasm at Hermione's idea, Harry finally caved in, truly hoping that it would offer him a time to relax.
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Harry headed to the Library bright and early in good spirits on Friday morning, Luna and Ron on each side of him, both talking excitedly about the Dueling Tournament. Harry couldn't help but share their enthusiasm, as he too enjoyed himself in the animated chat. They reached the library soon, and began quizzing each other on various hexes, in order to prepare for the upcoming test, that would determine who advanced to the next round.
As a whole, the student body immediately received a boost of morale as the first round of testing approached rapidly. It was precisely the thing needed after such a devastating loss like that of Viktor Krum. More then half of the school (even the fifth and seventh years, who saw it as an opportunity to make themselves study Defense against the Dark Arts for their upcoming exams) was planning on at least trying the first round, and Harry noticed that every house was anxiously awaiting a chance for glory. Yet, Harry resisted being one of them; this was supposed to be an inter-house unity dueling tournament, and Harry knew that somewhere there was sure to be a catch.
Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Luna all continued to study over the course of the days together, while Hermione made a lot of progress in searching. She still hadn't found a possible contender for the position of the half-blood prince, but she had gotten through the letter 'M' which was a feat all in itself.
Finally the night of the testing arrived, and they all made their way into the great Hall at 4:30, nerves buzzing with anticipation. The set up was remarkably similar to that of how it had been last year, when the fifth years had had to take their O.W.L. exams. The turnout was even bigger then Harry had suspected; the tables were overflowing with students all cramming last-minute notes into their already packed brains. Harry and Ron found seats with difficulty, and soon after they were seated, Professor Hall administered the test.
"This is, as you know, the first round of the inter-house unity dueling tournament. I encourage you not to cheat, seeing as if you attempt to do so, I will immediately be aware of it, thanks to Professor Flitwick who graced the test with the best anti-cheating charms. The test is to be timed, and I suggest using every minute of it, seeing as it will not be very generous; as soon as the hour glass above," he stopped his rather monotonous speech and gestured to a large hourglass sitting on a table in front of all the others, "empties, your time in which you must complete the test has come to an end. I wish you all the best of luck. You may begin." The hourglass above swiftly flipped onto the other side, and began draining, as test appeared in front of each student. Harry immediately set to work, with great enthusiasm as he read the first question; Name three characteristics of a werewolf that differ from that of a normal wolf.
The test proved to be somewhat difficult even after all the immense studying Harry had went through. However, he felt confident that he did fairly well, and when time had run out, he had been completely satisfied with his answers. Ron was a different story.
"No chance of me getting in, mate. I would've been better off just helping Hermione with the search," Ron shrugged as he and Harry both made their way to the common room.
"Ron, you can't have done that bad," Harry said.
"Oh, no? Believe me, I did that bad," Ron reassured as they got to the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Dionysus," Ron spoke the password somewhat irritably, causing the Fat Lady to shoot a rather reproachful look at both boys before she swung open.
Whatever Ron had been certain that he had done horrible on seemed to be otherwise, as the results for the first round were posted promptly in the morning revealing that both he and Harry had made it, as well as an extensive list of many others. Ron had immediately wanted to share his news with Hermione, but she was still sleeping in the dormitory, which was quite odd for her since she was normally seen strolling about well before every other Gryffindor. "Must've been up late looking through the books searching," Ron remarked, as Harry nodded still looking over the list of the people advancing, noticing that Luna and Ginny both were on it. Harry also noted only with the utmost disgust that Draco Malfoy had also passed onto the second round, almost with just as much points as Harry had.
Regardless, each of the houses celebrated the ones who made it in the Great Hall at breakfast the morning the winners had been announced, and the Gryffindor table was easily the loudest out of the four; Seamus and Dean were heard making bets on Harry's behalf, only betting on how much he would beat the others by in the end. But amidst the celebration, the catch that Harry knew to exist, was about to fully come out in the open.
Professor Hall stood tall in front of the staff table, parchment clutched in his left-hand, and cleared his throat, demanding the attention of all.
"Firstly, congratulations to those who have made it past the first round. I am here to announce the teams in which you are to be dueling with." At these words there were looks of confusion. Teams? No one had said anything about teams? Students turned and whispered questioningly amongst themselves, all surprised. Harry and Ron exchanged confused glances, as Harry also noticed Dumbledore, sitting comfortably behind the staff table, looked rather pleased with the reaction; his lips were in a bright smile, his eyes twinkling, almost somewhat mischievously.
Hall demanded silence from the whispering students again, and then made move to read the list, which started from seventh year on down. Harry took note that each year had four teams with four team members per team (one member from each house). When Hall got around to the sixth years, Harry found himself leaning forward expectantly, silently wishing for a decent team. However, Harry had no such luck.
"Sixth Years, Team one – Potter, Bones, Malfoy, and Goldstein. Team two – Weasley, Greengrass, Macmillan, and Hahn. Team three – Abbott, Zabbini, Longbottom, and Netherfield. Team four –"
Harry unconsciously zoned out, blocking out Hall's listing of the fourth and final team for the sixth years, his head buzzing with thoughts as his stomach dropped. He was crestfallen; he had to work together with Draco Malfoy. The situation was bound to be an utter disaster. Ron shot Harry an apologetic look from across the table, but Harry was so deeply immersed in thoughts of dread of having to work with Malfoy, that he hardly took any notice and replied only be giving a half-hearted shrug. He was beginning to second-guess the whole thing. The duel was supposed to help him relax; it seemed impossible to do so if he had to work together with Malfoy.
It was quite obvious to anyone that all of the students were rather enraged at such pairings that had been given and that everyone was as equally distraught as Harry was, though for, of course, other reasons. The chance for house glory no longer was up for grabs, and many began to resent the fact that they had even joined. The scornful whispering continued to drift among housemates all the while Hall was naming off the teams for both the fifth and fourth years. Harry had the urge to perhaps drop out, but that thought was quickly silenced. For if he did merely quit the duel, no one would take greater pleasure from it then that of Malfoy. Malfoy was sure to see it as triumphing over him, scarring him away from such a challenge. Harry, both unafraid and proud, decided not to give Malfoy such satisfaction. His mind set, he went on in all normalcy polishing off some toast, as Hall finished the list.
"And lastly to the winners of each year, twenty-five point will be awarded to each house for the display of extensive knowledge in the art of dueling and for the show of team effort and sportsmanship. Good luck to all of you. The second and final round will begin tomorrow, so we can finish this up before the end of break. Rules and restrictions placed on the dueling ceremony held tomorrow night will be distributed by your head of house tonight to all applicants. With that behind us and all taken care of, please carry on with your breakfast… I am certainly ready to get back to mine." Hall then retreated back to his own plate overflowing with eggs, bacon, and toast, at the staff table a hungry look claiming his good-natured face.
Harry and Ron both ate fast, eager to meet up with Hermione sense she still hadn't appeared at breakfast. Harry had even begun to wonder with some enthusiasm if perhaps she had found something of importance which could help lead the to the prince, thus explaining her absence. Hence, the two set of for Gryffindor Tower in hopes of finding her, all the way complaining heavily on the teams that Hall had presented during breakfast.
"Honestly, they couldn't have done more horrible job at it. I've got that Daphne Greengrass on my team. I've heard her to be quite spacey; surprise that she made it at all. Plus she's a Slytherin, which doesn't help much. Then there's you and Malfoy…"
"Which will result in mass murder," Harry concluded grimly.
"Exactly. I almost snorted when Hall went on about team effort and sportsmanship. I dunno about you mate but I've got a feeling that quite a lot of people aren't too happy with who they were paired with… it's not just us."
"That's the point though I guess. Promote friendships between houses, and all," Harry said as they neared the Portrait of the Fat Lady.
Harry mumbled the password softly, and it swung open wide only to reveal Hermione herself climbing out.
"I was just on my way to find you two," she remarked as she saw them, the portrait swinging shut again behind her as Ron and Harry stepped back. It was then that Harry noted the look on her face; it was one of pure mirth. Something told him he was going to like what she had to say.
A/N: Well I had planned on making this chapter longer, but I am horribly pressed for time, which is also why the update itself was so long in coming – my deepest apologies! This was a rather slow chapter yet some of the information is extremely vital, like the dream, so it is not wasted space... Any theories on the dream are greatly welcome. Next chapter will include Hermione's information, the second round of the dueling tournament, and an eventful week after Easter break, which starts the grand month of May. Comments are welcome and thank you for reading.REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!
Before I stop, I would briefly like to invite you to check out my latest work in progress, titled The Girl who Loved Tom Riddle. I am in need of feedback and would love to hear from you. Thanks!