Chapter 18: Playing Victor Krum
The group of friends and Weasley's gathered somberly back into the dining room and started cleaning up after the interrupted party. The house elves were busy watching over the Creevy brothers and they wanted to do something to keep their minds off of what happened. "We'll take your presents up to your room for you to open when you get a chance," Fred and George told him as they scooped his gifts up. Harry just nodded and they finished cleaning.
"Come on Harry, lets go open your gifts," Hermione said to them. "Maybe it will make us feel better to focus on something happy for a little bit." Everyone knew it was a long shot but headed up to his room anyway. "Here this one is from me," she told him and he opened a box with three new shirts in it. They we club clothes for when they went out, more sophisticated than regular t-shirts but not the really flashy type either.
Ron surprised them all by handing him a photo album he had made. It was of all Harry's new moves from the last Quidditch match of the season and the rest of Xavier at the world cup matches. He even had one of Ginny's 'Pop Goes the Weasley' move. He admitted to having his dad help him with the photos. Harry smiled and hugged his best mate in thanks. Draco gave him some of the tamer books from his father's collection of dark texts to help him study the defensive moves to the hexes. Gabrielle followed Hermione's lead and gave him more clothes since he insisted he had no idea how to pick out clothing for himself. Neville gave him a book on famous duels that looked like an interesting read. Luna gave him a wand servicing kit telling him that every famous auror needed a properly polished wand, which made everyone laugh.
The twins gave him more of their products. Charlie gave him a scale and tail spike from a real Hungarian horntail dragon like he fought in the tri-wizard tournament. It was from a dragon that had been killed while fighting another. Bill and Fleur gave him a very large selection of sweets from Honeydukes. He received every kind of DADA book imaginable from the rest of the members of the order. "It's like they think I'm Hermione or something!" He joked as he opened the 10th DADA book. "This is great though, I'm on my way to having one of the most impressive DADA libraries in the country."
Remus, Tonks and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went in together to get Harry a muggle laptop computer that Arthur had specially charmed to run without electricity. "There is no risk of it exposing magic as I just charmed the battery part to stay forever charged. The other charms are not noticeable as they allow it to run when around magic, unlike most muggle electrical objects." Arthur told him proudly. A major benefit of being Minister of Magic is he could experiment with muggle stuff without having to worry about getting in trouble. "Hermione's parents helped us buy it and are getting one for her when she makes head girl," Remus whispered to him. "Don't tell her just yet." Harry just grinned as he saw the way she was staring enviously at it. He handed it to her and told her to show Ron how it worked as he finished opening his gifts.
Harry was shocked when he opened Dennis, Colin, Hannah and Justin's presents to find muggle computer games and programs. "We told them so they could buy you them since they were in the muggle world." Tonks said with a laugh. Ginny's present was last and she was nervously twisting her hair.
'Don't worry Gin; I'll love it no matter what. It came from you so it could be a lump of coal and I'd still treasure it,' he told her in her head as she walked over to the side of the room and brought back the best present he could imagine. It was a wizarding painting of him playing Quidditch in his Gryffindor house team robes. "This is great! How did you get this done?"
"Dennis painted it using photo's Colin had taken over the years. To make it move there is some special procedure that Dennis knew how to do. It took some of your hair to work and I'm not sure what else. You actually paint with a special potion instead of regular paints." Ginny told him beaming at how pleased he was. "He's been working on it since the beginning of the school year." She told him shyly. Everyone was impressed with the painting and decided it would have to go with them to school so everyone could see how talented Dennis was. "We can hang it on the door to the prefect's room for the year."
Harry thanked everyone and then crawled into bed to try and sleep. He flopped around for an hour and finally sat up reaching for his glasses. As he looked back at his nightstand he noticed a bottle of dreamless sleep with a note from Hermione telling him to get some rest. He smiled at how well his friends knew him and wondered how many of the other Order members needed the potion to sleep that night. Hermione decided to hold off going to bed and went up to the lab to make more dreamless sleep potion.
"They say that great minds think alike," Severus said coming into the room carrying fresh ingredients for the same potion she was making.
Hermione smiled faintly and nodded, "I figured that we would need another batch. I had to give some to Gabrielle, Ginny and Harry as well as the double doses for Dennis and Colin. Minerva also asked for a dose and I figured you might need some as well and that is just one night."
"Did you add the shelf life extender to the potion base?" He asked as he approached the caldron she was working at.
"Yes," she said tolling her eyes that he would think she missed something like that. "And I minced the daisy root instead of chopping it for less chance of side effects."
"Very well, I'll let you finish up here. I'm turning in, see you in the morning." He told her walking into his bedroom after she wished him goodnight. He wouldn't admit it to anyone but he liked having her voice be the last thing he heard before falling asleep. She was the first female friend he had made in a while. Although he considered Minerva and Tonks friends it was hard to discuss anything academically with them. He could bounce theories and ideas off of Hermione for hours. They were very intellectually compatible. He was looking forward to being able to continue their research once the school year started. He was actually surprised to find that he was having an enjoyable summer away from Hogwarts. He wondered if he had changed that much too actually enjoy the company of others, and Gryffindors no less.
The morning of the next Quidditch match Ginny was nervous. "What if I mess up and someone figures out who X is?" She was pacing the kitchen and driving the rest of them batty. Harry had left and hour before for warm-ups and with him so far away she was starting to panic.
"Ginny, calm down or I will be forced to feed you a calming potion," Hermione told her friend. "Now eat your breakfast and we will go upstairs and get ready for the game." The room sighed with relief when Ginny did as instructed and then followed Hermione up to her room.
Gabrielle came in as they were doing their hair up into high ponytails so the wind wouldn't be a problem. "Can I use your personal library to cross reference some of the books in the house library today?" She asked Hermione. "I decided to skip the match and just research all day without everyone around to distract me."
"Sure, you're welcome to any of my books whenever you need them. Just leave me a not if you take any so I don't flip out," Hermione said with a smile as she adjusted her outfit.
"Why are you wearing both England and Bulgaria colors?" Gabrielle asked her. "You do know they are playing Bulgaria today right?"
"Yep, and I promised Victor that I would support him as well so I had to do a half and half kind of theme." Hermione said with a laugh as she tied Bulgaria color ribbons around her ponytail and pinned a Bulgaria rosette to her English team robes.
"You know Ron is going to blow a gasket right?" Ginny asked with a giggle.
"Yep, that is the main motivation behind my outfit today. If he thinks I'm going to let him get away with being a prat to Victor he has another thing coming to him," she said with a sweet smile. "Come on; let's go see if all the boys are ready.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley weren't able to make the match so the Creevy brothers went instead. They were doing as well as anyone can expect a week after loosing their family. They were quieter than normal, only spoke when necessary and their eyes were sad but they genuinely wanted to go to the game to see the new star seeker they had heard about. Severus had taken Gabrielle's ticket and was hoping his 'mission' would appear to be a success.
Snape realized he had nothing to worry about when the team was introduced and Ginny and Xavier couldn't help but send each other sappy grins. Ron scowled as Hermione waved at Victor who smiled at his friend and pen pal before taking his place opposite Xavier on the pitch. The crowd was excited for the game. Victor was still considered the best seeker in the league and the match was being called the 'Seeker Showdown' and was going to determine if Xavier could take that title away from Krum.
The game was brutal as both teams were determined to win. It was a high scoring game of 70 to 80 by the end of the first hour. Harry was determined to unveil another one of his special moves to use against Krum and was waiting patiently for the right moment while searching the pitch for the flicker of gold. Krum had obviously done his homework and was watching X like a hawk; his keen eye for the snitch was earning him quite a reputation amongst the other players.
Harry double checked that there was no sign of the snitch and seeing that Krum was watching him he took off in his new move 'Zippidedodah' to try and trick him. He zoomed across the pitch on a frantic rush to the other side zigging in and out of the other players. He noticed Krum take off after him and waited until he cleared the last player and did a quick upwards ascent into a backwards flip to end up behind Krum and then lazily made his way back to a comfortable hovering distance. The announcer was almost giddy as he announced the name of Xavier's move and the crowd had gone wild that their new favorite had tricked up the unbeatable Victor Krum.
X went back to looking for the snitch now that they were almost 4 hours into the grueling game. He was getting tired as he hadn't been sleeping well since the attack on Colin's family. He had just checked to see Krum sulking when he heard Ginny's voice in his head, 'It's hovering by the Bulgaria goal posts' and looked that way to see the speedy winged ball. He took off after the ball and the crowd held its breath trying to see if he had really seen the snitch this time. 'Thanks love,' he thought back to her as he made his way to the snitch. It was too late when Krum realized that X actually had seen the snitch and the match was over with England victorious once again. The crowd was chanting X,X,X as the two team shook hands in the middle of the pitch.
"Good game Krum, I really enjoyed going up against you," Xavier said offering his hand to shake.
"I enjoyed it as well," Victor said shaking his hand. "My I speak with you later?" He asked and Harry agreed and flew up to where his friends were in the box.
X jumped off his broom and made sure to run straight to Ginny before picking her up and spinning her around in his arms. She laughed and hugged him back, "That was a great game X!" She said as he put her back down and pulled her into a tight embrace. He kissed her cheek and then went to hug his 'uncle' Remus. Ginny tried not to smirk at the photographer snapping away at their embrace. She stood by Severus and Hermione who were talking to Charlie. Wood came over to them to talk to Hermione. Ginny rolled her eyes when she saw both Charlie and Snape stiffen and glare at Oliver, they were both overly protective of Hermione and she wondered if it was for the same reasons.
"Hermione, I'm so glad you came to the match," Oliver said with a winning grin, turning on all his charms trying to win her back.
"I told you I was still coming," she told him calmly. "I wouldn't want to miss one of Xavier's games and besides I wanted to see Victor." She said enjoying the wince he gave when he realized she wasn't there for him. He also noticed she was not wearing the Puddlemore robes he had given her and was wearing a slight showing of Bulgarian colors as well.
"Hermyoninny," Victor said landing in their box as well and heading over to give his friend a hug.
"Victor!" She squealed and rushed to hug him, "It's so great to see you again. You played a great game."
"Not as good as him," he said pointing at X. "I heard you were dating Oliver Wood, would you two like to join my girlfriend and me for dinner?"
"Oliver and I are no longer together," Hermione informed him and enjoyed the looks on the other men's' faces. Oliver looked chagrinned and disappointed, Charlie looked jubilant and Snape looked smug. "I'd still love to go to dinner with you and meet your girlfriend."
He leaned in and whispered, "She gets jealous, could you bring a date?"
"Charlie, will you go to dinner with us so his girlfriend doesn't think I'm trying to steel him from her, please?" Hermione said giving him her best puppy dog face.
Charlie couldn't believe his luck. She had turned down Wood, again and was asking him to be her date for the evening. This was turning out to be a great day. "I thought perhaps Lupin could come as well," Victor said looking at X.
"What do you say Ginny, want to go with us so we can bore Hermione to death with Quidditch talk?" X asked loud enough so the press could hear him ask her out. Charlie looked upset but figured it couldn't get out of hand if he was there.
"Sure, I want to get to know Victor as well, Hermione has told me all about you," she said making sure she sounded like a lovesick Quidditch fan.
Oliver was left standing and staring at them as they made their way down to the pitch. He had known it would be hard to get her back but he wasn't expecting a flat out rejection once he saw her at the game. He shook it off and decided to hit the showers and go out with the rest of the team to celebrate.
"This is my girlfriend Annie," Victor said introducing them to a petite platinum blonde witch who was looking at Hermione suspiciously.
"Hi Annie, I'm Hermione Granger, it's great to finally meet you. Victor had told me how happy he is with you in his occasional letters and I have wanted to meet you since." She said trying to convey that she wasn't a threat. "These are my good friends Charlie Weasley, his sister and my best friend Ginny Weasley and England's star seeker Xavier Lupin." Hermione said introducing them all.
"Anastasia Albane," the girl said stiffly but it was obvious she was still protective of Victor as she quickly latched onto his arm as they headed to the carriage that would take them to dinner.
Hermione gave Charlie a look while her back was turned and they realized they would have to play it as more than friends to get the girl to calm down. He slid his arm around her shoulder and then held her hand and helped her into the carriage. "So are you both related to the English Minister of Magic?" Victor asked Charlie and Ginny to try and start conversation. Hermione could already tell that Annie was opening up now that Charlie was acting possessive.
"Yes, he is our father," Ginny told him with a smile.
"I am not sure why but you look familiar to me," Victor told Charlie obviously trying to place his face.
"I was in charge of the team of dragon handlers at the tri-wizard tournament," Charlie offered and victor nodded as he remembered the large group of red heads that were around Harry during the tournament.
"Your English has gotten much better since the last time we saw each other," Hermione told him with a smile. It wasn't nearly as difficult to understand him.
"I have been tutoring him," Annie told her with a very small smile. "I speak over 9 languages."
"That's really impressive," Hermione told her. "I would love to speak that many languages; it would make my research so much easier. There are just some languages that do not translate well. What is it you do for a living?" She asked the girl.
"I work for the Bulgarian ministry as an ambassador for the minister. With my knowledge of languages I accompany him on any trips to foreign countries to make sure no language barriers arise." Annie told them proudly.
"That sounds like a great job," Ginny said. "My dad could use someone like that as well. You seem very young to have a job so close to the minister."
"I am of a noble family and was raised to have a high place in society. Until the royal family returns I will work for the ministry. My family members have been linguistic experts for the royal family for five generations." Annie told them.
"Well, I for one think the royals will reappear after the war is over," Xavier said casually. He wanted to know why Krum asked him to dinner with them, he had a feeling it was important. He also knew that if Annie was anxious for the royals to return then she most likely was on their side, he hoped Krum was as well.
"Did you two go to school together?" Ginny asked trying not to let the conversation stall. She too could feel that it was an important meeting.
"No, I was home schooled. It is the way of my family to have personal tutors instead of sending the child away to a boarding school," she told them.
"Are you a noble as well Victor?" Charlie asked curious. He figured if the girl was as set in her ways she wouldn't settle for anyone less than her.
"It is unclear," Victor answered carefully. "My father was a baron and married my mother after the royals family went into hiding so their marriage was never approved of. My mother is not a full pureblood, her great great grandmother was a muggle born and therefore I may not qualify as his heir."
"That's awful!" Hermione said outraged, she hated how much emphasis people placed on blood. She had never noticed any pureblood being able to out perform a muggle born for the sole reason of their heritage. "All this emphasis on blood is stupid, there is no data showing the superiority of pure blood!"
"Prove me wrong but I believe that historically the pure and mixed blood students had higher test score in their early years of schooling and are more likely to continue their education than muggle borns," Annie said. She always enjoyed a good debate.
"It comes down to experience. Yes those who had exposure to magic growing up are going to have am easier time in the beginning when the muggle born is just coming to terms with being magical. As for continued education it is because they do not know their options and the prejudice against them makes it difficult even with top marks. I myself have already had three journal articles sent back by publishers because of my heritage." Hermione told her.
"Perhaps your marks were not high enough or your work did not merit publication." Annie said wondering about the opinionated girl that had opened Victor's heart and allowed him to see outside what he was raised to believe.
"Hermione is the smartest witch of the age. She has already received 7 Outstanding NEWTs and will be working as a professor's assistant when school resumes. Her papers she wrote when she was 11 are more advanced and well constructed than most masters' work." Charlie said starting to dislike the girl.
"Don't mind Annie," Victor said with an affectionate smile. "She likes to debate and will riel people up just to see what happens."
"That could prove a dangerous hobby with a war going on," Xavier told her.
"There are lots of dangers with the war going on," Victor said looking around them at the rest of the restaurant patrons. He cast a quick privacy spell. "I asked you here for a reason," he told them. "I know you are good friends with Harry Potter and I wish to speak with him regarding the war efforts."
X noticed that Krum was staring right at him as he made that statement and nodded his head to allow for the other man to continue. "There is not enough actively being done to counter the death eaters. The conflict is spreading to other countries. He is recruiting all over the world and I fear his forces are growing. I think his attack last week only proves that this is elevating and fast."
"Why tell us something we already know?" Xavier questioned. Victor seemed to think about how to answer that question while Annie scowled.
"I told you this wasn't a good idea, we have no idea who he is... just forget this Victor, we'll find another way." Annie said setting her hand on his arm.
"No, Xavier knows Harry Potter better than most of the people at this table and his opinion will be listened to." Victor told her and then turned back to them. "We want to help in the fight we know must be coming against the death eaters and Potter."
Xavier just blew out the breath he had been holding while the others stared critically at the two foreign wizards in front of them. Annie was fidgety, "See, they don't believe us or they don't care."
"We care, we care too much and that is why we must be overly cautious," Hermione told them. "How do we know this isn't some elaborate death eater trap to confuse and undermine our friendship with Harry?" They needed to be careful but also open to the possibility that this was a real opportunity.
"That's why I came to you Hermyowne," Victor said once again not getting her name right. "You know me, we're friends and I knew you could help us. We don't want to just sit passively by and wait for the winner of this conflict. We want to help, in any way we can. Just tell us what you need from us."
Hermione nodded at Harry and let him know she wanted to believe them. He looked at Victor first and then Annie to read their thoughts. He had to make sure they were honest; it was too big a risk otherwise. He saw that Annie was a fighter, she has a strong hate for death eaters and Voldemort and a desire to help those on the side of light. He could see she was being honest in her desire to help. Victor was harder to read, he had obviously had some training in hiding his emotions. Harry dug further and saw that he did in fact want to help them. He had been a believer in all the pureblood nonsense until her met Hermione and she changed him. Harry pulled out of his mind and smiled at them.
"Alright, I believe you. Now tell me why you came to us or more specifically to me. I understand you trust Hermione but you have no reason to trust me as you've never met me." Xavier said trying to fish out the truth.
Victor put up an even stronger privacy spell which earned a raised eyebrow from Charlie but he continued to stay quiet and see how it played out. "We both know that I have met you before, do you want me to say when, where and why?" Victor asked him.
"Yes, for I don't believe I've ever met you before today," Xavier said getting slightly suspicious about the way Victor was acting. If he knew Harry's secret it was best they learned it now.
"I met you almost 3 years ago when I was in England. I believe I complimented your flying. You see, I never forget the way a person flies. Every person is unique in the way they control a broom and I have see you fly before today. Although we both know it was not at a Quidditch match. Now do you understand or is it safe to talk about?" Victor told him leaving Harry, Ginny and Hermione stunned. Victor had figured it out by only watching him fly once!
"I am guessing that you would tell her anyway so I see no reason to keep it secret from her or from Charlie. Hermione and Ginny obviously already know." Harry told him which made Charlie look even more confused.
"When exactly did you meet Victor and what secret is it?" Charlie asked finally, he didn't like being the only one confused.
"I met Victor when he arrived at Hogwarts for the tri-wizard tournament. We competed against each other. The time he saw me fly was during the second task which you remember was the dragons as you were their handler." Xavier told him making Charlie's eyes bug out as he realized that X was Harry all along.
"Well that explains some things," Charlie said giving Ginny a pointed look as she giggled. "I was curious how you caught her attention when she seemed to be oblivious to all boys but one."
"You're not mad we kept the secret?" Ginny asked her brother making sure she put on her best innocent look which always kept him from getting angry with her.
"No, I understand the reason," Charlie said. "Now, what are we going to do about our new allies?"
"I think we should take them to our leader," Harry said earning a snort from Hermione and a curious look from their two new friends.
"I am looking forward to meet Harry Potter. I was told that our grandmothers were very good friends. He is also a noble who may not get his title due to his ancestry." Annie said sadly looking at Victor with love in her eyes.
"I will be back in a few minutes with a meeting time and location," Xavier said kissing Ginny's hand as he stood and headed for the bathroom. He locked and warded the stall door before transforming into his Phoenix form and popping over to see Albus with the new information. He was back in less than 5 minutes with an invitation to Hogwarts for their friends. He walked back into the restaurant and saw a photographer and reporter on their way to the table. "Let's get going, we promised to show Annie around Hogsmead as well as London."
They headed outside and apparated to Hogsmead. Charlie tandem apparated with Annie and Hermione held on to Victor so they would not get lost. They made the journey up to the castle with Hermione spouting off archaic trivia facts about the castle that she had learned in Hogwarts a History. "Don't mind Hermione, she has the entire Hogwarts history memorized. When she gets stressed she re reads the book to calm down. She actually wore out her first copy." Ginny teased as they passed through the gates and onto the expansive lawn of the school.
They showed Victor and Annie into the Headmaster's office to speak with him and used his private floo to get back to headquarters. Albus promised to talk to them later about his meeting with their two new allies.