Harry Potter and the Mind Mage
By James Milamber
A/N: Told you it would be out today! (is proud)
WARNING: This chapter contains some underage drinking. We all know it happens, we all did it. If anyone complains, I'll bite their heads off. Savvy? (Don't go catatonic on me, Merusa…)
As the undisputed champions of the day, the party in the Gryffindor common room was long and loud that night. The second round would not take place until Wednesday, and since there were no classes running Tuesday there were few qualms about staying up very late, especially when James joined the party and, in a rather blatant disregard for his duties as a Professor, started transfiguring innocent Butterbeer into far more potent Muggle drinks.
'I'm not really sure he should be doing that,' Hermione said disapprovingly from where the Trio and Ginny were sitting as Seamus collected a glass of whiskey from the Professor, much to the Irish boy's delight.
'Ahh, shut up Hermy,' Alex said as he joined them, a glass of bourbon and cola held loosely in his hand. 'He knows when to stop, he's not going to let anyone get sloshed. It's just a bit of fun, so stop being such a wet blanket.' He took a sip from his glass. 'Besides, he's only serving to the fifth years and above.'
'Oh, so that makes it alright, does it?' Hermione asked acidly.
'Chill, Hermy,' Cassie slid into a seat beside her brother. She too held a glass of bourbon. 'You know very well that people would be drinking tonight anyway, and wouldn't you rather a responsible adult was present to curb excesses?' She grinned slyly at the other witch. 'Try some,' she said, offering her glass. 'You might even enjoy it.'
'I hardly think so,' Hermione said tartly. 'And will you two stop calling me that?'
'Probably not,' Alex said blandly.
'Too much fun,' Cassie agreed.
'Snowball's chance in hell,' Alex said pleasantly. Hermione huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. Harry glanced sideways at Ginny, who was covering her giggles with a fake cough.
'Harry?' Alex offered his glass. 'Wanna try some?'
'I dunno,' he said, eyeing the glass warily.
'I'll give it a go,' Ron reached out for the glass, but a voice from behind them made him freeze.
'And just what do you think you're doing, little brother?'
'Come on Charlie,' Ron complained, turning to face the second eldest Weasley, who had just climbed through the portrait hole and was now standing with his arms crossed and an amused look on his face. 'You can't stop me, I know what you used to get up to while you were at school.'
Charlie held up his hands in surrender. 'Fair enough, I'll keep your secrets if you'll keep mine. Deal?'
'Deal,' Ron grinned. He grabbed the glass from Alex's hand and took a long drink.
'Steady on,' Alex laughed. 'That's my bourbon you're drinking! If you want more, go get your own.'
'Tastes good,' Ron stated as he handed the glass back.
'Bourbon?' Charlie shook his head. 'You want to try a real drink.' From behind his back he produced a large bottle of Firewhiskey.
'You've got to let me try some,' Ron begged. Harry glanced at Ginny and motioned with his head. The two of them slipped away as Alex and Charlie started an argument over whether bourbon or Firewhiskey was the better drink.
'Alex has no idea what he's getting himself into,' Ginny giggled when they were finally in the corridor outside the common room. 'Charlie's always loved a good argument, he's even worse than Ron is. I bet you ten Galleons it'll turn into a drinking contest.'
'No bet,' Harry grinned. 'I'd imagine there will be some monumental headaches by morning.'
'So where do you want to go?' Ginny asked after a moment.
'Dunno,' Harry shrugged. 'There's still a couple of hours before curfew, we could go for a walk outside, if you want?'
'I'd love to,' Ginny said warmly.
They made their way down through the castle and into the Entrance Hall, and from there outside the massive double doors. They turned towards the lake, walking in silence except for the crunch of snow beneath their feet. Far to their left, almost hidden from view, they could see lights on in the Greenhouses, probably Professor Sprout tending to her plants.
'Full moon,' Ginny broke the silence, her eyes fixed on the clear sky.
'Yeah,' Harry sighed softly. 'Makes me wonder how Professor Lupin is doing.'
'That does take a bit of the shine off,' Ginny agreed. They walked on in silence until they reached the beech tree near the lake – the same tree that the Marauders had been sitting under the day they had tortured Snape. Harry spread his cloak under the branches and they sat side by side. He wrapped his arm around Ginny and pulled her close.
'I used to go to the top of the hill near the Burrow when I was little,' Ginny said in a subdued voice. 'During the full moon, there was always enough light for me to see by. Right at the top there's a clearing where I'd stop and lay on the grass and just watch the moon for hours.' She smiled wryly. 'Used to drive Mum mad, although she never really had the heart to scold me.'
Harry rested his head on the top of hers. 'When Aunt Petunia used to lock me in the cupboard under the stairs, there was this little window that would catch the moonlight for a little while, when it was at the right angle. It was the only light I had, so I used to sit up and wait for it if I knew it would be a full moon.'
Ginny said nothing, just tightened her hold on him. They sat in silence for quite a while, watching the moon rise higher into the sky, simply content to be together.
Footsteps crunching in the snow alerted them to another person approaching. Harry's right hand moved to his left wrist, where Zith was curled once again holding his wand, and Ginny drew her own from beneath her robes.
'There you two are!' Cassie rounded the trunk of the tree. 'I've been looking everywhere! McGonagall reckons you need to come inside.'
'Yeah, okay,' Harry nodded, pulling Ginny to her feet and retrieving his cloak.
'So, how's Alex?' Ginny asked innocently as they started to walk back to the castle.
Cassie laughed. 'Completely pissed, as you probably well know,' she said. 'Remind me to never get into a drinking contest with your brother, at least when Firewhiskey is involved.'
'I'll make a note of it,' Ginny replied with a smile.
They met Hermione in the Entrance Hall. She was scowling in the general direction of Gryffindor Tower, and didn't notice their approach until Cassie tapped her on the shoulder.
'Oh, you found them, good,' she said absently.
'You alright, Hermy?'
'Fine, fine,' Hermione waved the older girl away, not even noticing the use of her hated nickname. Cassie shot a pointed look at Harry, who shrugged. How was he supposed to know?
Ginny caught Cassie's eye and mouthed 'Ron'. Cassie nodded in understanding, and rolled her eyes.
'Come on, we'd best get back to Gryffindor Tower, it's not long 'till curfew,' Cassie said, taking hold of Hermione's elbow and leading her up the marble staircase. Harry and Ginny followed, sharing an amused look.
Tuesday went by fairly quietly. Harry staged an impromptu training session for the Gryffindors in the Room of Requirement, which Alex didn't attend owing, in the words of his amused twin, to a 'bloody roaring headache'. Charlie, who had come to oversee the session, seemed vastly amused by this, and spent a good ten minutes laughing with Cassie about Alex's lack of drinking ability.
Finally Wednesday came, and with it the second round of the tournament. It wasn't until the whole school had once again assembled in the Great Hall that Dumbledore announced the terms.
'One on one, Housemate against Housemate,' he said to the suddenly silent room. 'All entries will have a match against one member of their own house.'
'This could be interesting,' Alex remarked as the Hall erupted into noise.
'Well, you didn't expect them to make it easy, did you?' Isabelle asked dryly.
Since the Gryffindors had the most entries left, they went first with Hermione up against Ginny.
'Good luck,' Harry whispered to Ginny as she left to take her place in the ring.
'I heard that,' Hermione said over her shoulder. Harry shrugged apologetically as Ginny grinned at him.
The fight lasted quite a while, Ginny's agility and defensive ability playing off against Hermione's vast knowledge. Finally Hermione managed to get a Stunner past Ginny's hastily erected Shield Charm, and the youngest Weasley fell to the crowd's cheers.
'Nicely done, Hermione,' James praised as the two witches made their way back to Gryffindor corner after Ginny had been revived by Madam Pomphrey.
'Sorry, Ginny,' Hermione apologised as they sat, Harry pulling Ginny close.
Ginny waved the apology away. 'It was a duel, you were supposed to try your best,' she said calmly. 'Congratulations, by the way. You were brilliant.'
Hermione turned slightly pink at the compliment, and Ron grinned at his sister from over her shoulder.
'The next match shall be between Alexander Milton and Isabelle Lestrange,' McGonagall announced.
'Looks like we're up,' Alex murmured into his girlfriend's ear. 'Shall we?' he extended his hand to her.
'We shall,' she said, swatting his hand away and getting to her feet. 'And may the best of us win.'
'Oh hell,' Harry heard Alex mutter as the two of them made their way to the ring.
'Begin!' McGonagall's voice resounded through the Hall, and Alex was almost immediately forced to duck Isabelle's opening spell.
'Son of a –' Alex swore, diving out of the way. He raised his head just in time to dodge the Reductor Curse Isabelle had followed up with.
He leapt to his feet, pivoting the top half of his body and levelling his wand. 'Commoveo!'
Isabelle easily dodged his curse, returning with a Disarming Hex. Alex blocked it with a Shield Charm, and followed up with a Stunner. This continued for a while, the two of them throwing curses back and forth, until Alex managed slip a Tripping Hex through Isabelle's defences. She swore as she tumbled forwards, loosing her grip on her wand in the process. She half turned in the air, landing on her side, and rolled back to her feet. Before Alex could move she dove for her wand, scooping it up as he sent an Impediment Jinx at her, which she used her momentum to dodge. She rolled to her feet again, and Alex barely had time to flinch before a Body Bind hit him cleanly in the chest. He immediately went rigid and toppled to the ground with a painful thump.
'Well I'll be damned,' he said when Isabelle reversed the curse and helped him to his feet. 'Nice work.'
'Why, thankyou,' she said, grinning impishly as Madam Pomphrey bustled over to inspect the two of them.
After Alex and Isabelle came Harry and Ron. The outcome was fairly predictable, but Ron wasn't really sore about it.
'Hey, it was Harry who taught me most of what I know about Defence anyway,' he shrugged as he took his seat beside Hermione after the match. He was still a bit unsteady after the rather wide range of curses Harry had used against him.
The final Gryffindor match was between the two seventh years, Michael and Elizabeth. Michael was in good form, using a few spells that even Harry was unfamiliar with and making James whistle in an impressed tone several times, but ultimately Elizabeth emerged the victor.
'Ah well, can't win them all,' Michael shrugged philosophically afterwards.
'Not against me, you can't,' Elizabeth said with a toss of her head.
'Of course,' Michael said in a monotone. 'Where ever did I get the idea I could ever hope to defeat you.'
Elizabeth just laughed and patted him on the shoulder.
The day proceeded quickly after that. The match between the sole surviving Hufflepuffs came next, with the victor a seventh year unfamiliar to Harry. The Ravenclaws were next, and finally the Slytherins – Harry was amused to see Malfoy almost lose his match against one of Isabelle's old dorm-mates.
'Much as I used to hate the bitch,' the ex-Slytherin muttered under her breath to Alex, then yelled, 'Go Jeanette!'
Finally it was all over, with only ten entries left – four Gryffindors, one Hufflepuff, two Ravenclaws and three Slytherins.
'The final round will be on Friday, so until then I suggest you brush up on your techniques,' Dumbledore announced before he dismissed everyone.
'What's that supposed to mean?' Alex muttered to Isabelle as the two of them made their way from the Hall.
'No idea,' she shrugged. 'Knowing Dumbledore, though, it means he's got something probably bizarre in store for us.'
'Probably,' Alex agreed. 'Who knows what he might come up with?'
'Alex!' a voice called from behind them. They both turned to see Cassie hurrying after them.
'Come on, you're needed,' she said when she reached them, grabbing hold of her brother's arm and tugging so hard he almost toppled over.
'Fair go,' he said, pulling his arm from her grip. 'What's so urgent?'
'Something private,' she said with a pointed look at Isabelle.
'Go, Alex,' Isabelle said with a sigh. 'I'll see you in the Common Room later, alright?'
'Fair enough,' Alex said a little dubiously, allowing his twin to lead him away.
Isabelle made her way alone up towards Gryffindor Tower, musing idly on what could so urgently require Alex's attention. She barely even noticed the large group of Gryffindors, mostly from the lower year levels, until several of them blocked the corridor.
Isabelle came to a stop, raising one eyebrow as she gazed at the apparent leader, a stocky fourth year boy standing in the very centre of the corridor. 'Do you want to get out of my way?'
'Shut up, Slytherin,' the boy said menacingly – or at least, he obviously thought so. Isabelle didn't find him all that worrying. 'We know what you are, so why don't you just go back to your slimy dungeons and let the real Gryffindors win?'
Although she showed no outward reaction, inwardly she was now seething. How bloody dare he?!?
'I see very little reason to listen to the bleating of an unimportant toerag who thinks to gain a reputation by attacking me,' she said coldly. 'Alex Milton is my boyfriend, you moron. Of course I wanted him to win, but it was a contest, so I tried my best and won. Now get the hell out of my way before I make you.'
'You don't scare me, snake,' the leader sneered, although several of the other students were shooting nervous looks between themselves. 'I'm a real Gryffindor.'
'Oh really?' Isabelle eyed him with contempt. 'I wonder how Harry would view what you're doing now?'
The boy snarled in anger. 'We know how you've lied to Harry Potter, and we're going to put a stop to it, aren't we guys?' There was some fairly unenthusiastic murmuring from the other Gryffindors.
'Something the matter here?' a voice asked mildly from behind Isabelle. She turned her head and spotted Greg Redfield and Aaron Davis coming down the corridor.
'Nothing's wrong, we're just putting a slimy Slytherin in her place,' the leader puffed out his chest importantly.
'Oh?' Aaron asked, looking around exaggeratedly. 'Funny, I don't see any here. Were you just practicing for when you met a real one, then?'
The younger boy scowled at him. 'Her, you moron,' he snarled, pointing at Isabelle.
Greg walked around Isabelle and made some show of inspecting the House Crest on the front of her robes. 'Nope, this looks like the Gryffindor Crest to me,' he said after a while. 'Maybe you need your eyesight checked, Hayden.'
'We know she's really a Slytherin spy,' the boy called Hayden proclaimed, but the rest of the students were beginning to look doubtful. As a member of the Quidditch team, Greg's word carried considerable weight in Gryffindor House.
'Oh really?' Greg raised an eyebrow. 'Maybe it might pay to get a clue before you start trying to discredit people, idiot. She's no more a spy than I am, so get lost and go annoy someone else.'
'Of course, we could always tell Harry you've been annoying his friends,' Aaron said slyly. 'You do remember what happened to the last person who did that, don't you? Or do you need a reminder?'
By now Hayden was looking decidedly nervous.
'Run away, foolish one, before I really do let my Slytherin side out to play,' Isabelle said with a gleam in her eyes. She withdrew her wand from under her robes and fingered it idly, a wicked smile coming to her lips.
'This isn't over, Slytherin,' Hayden spat, then turned tail and ran. The rest of the Gryffindors followed, a few mumbling apologies to Isabelle before they left.
'I'm sure it's not,' she muttered to herself as the last of them rounded a corner at the end of the corridor.
'All right, Isabelle?' Greg asked, concern flitting across his features for the first time.
'I'm fine,' she said dismissively. 'Thanks for the help, though. I was getting very close to hexing that smirk right off his face.'
'We can call him back, if you'd like,' Aaron said brightly.
Isabelle laughed. 'Tempting as it is, we'd better not,' she said with mock regret. 'I'd really rather not see Slytherin win the House Cup this year.'
'Spoken like a true Gryffindor,' Greg grinned, clapping her on the back. 'Come on, we'd better get you back to Gryffindor Tower before something else happens.'
'Might be an idea, yes,' Isabelle agreed, allowing the two boys to lead her away.
A/N: There now, that wasn't so bad, was it? 11 pages, I think that's one of my longest chapter yet! Go me!
Review Responses:
Merusa: Yes, I did read the Remus chapter...of course I did! It was rather good, I thought, andfairly in character. Oh, and yes...you really do need to stop that. James is flattered...but his ego is big enough already without you adding to it. (James: I resent that. Dear lady, you continue to do whatever you please.) Oh shut up, you.
weselan: You were the only person who caught the spelling mistake…cheers!
B-A-HPlova22: You're right, it was deliberate. I typed it wrong, but apparently Word doesn't have any problems with it spelled that way – so I left it to see how many people would pick up on it. Stupid spell-checker…
shotgun: It's tomorrow…told ya.
MsMissProngs: Unfair? Heck, you couldn't get it till you turn 16 here, and you'd be 21 by the time you had your full licence…
JeanieBeanie33: Really? Hmm…I actually got the names from Resident Evil…a combination of Chris Redfield and Rebecca Chambers. Meh.
dress-without-sleeves: You know what the really funny thing is? "Mia" is still reading…although possibly not anymore. Ahh well, I can live with that. You really need to go read her response…check out the reviews for chapter 53, it's in there somewhere. I do like the fact that she just called more than half the greater fanfiction community idiots…and yes, warm and bubbly is good. Some of those pairings are just so, so wrong…Harry/Voldemort is just…warped. Seriously. Although I feel the same about D/G, so who am I to complain?
Evansk: Colleges? I'm not sure what our equivalent is, unfortunately…
