I still don't own anything but the plot and anything that I create.
"You're kidding, right?" said Ron later on that evening. Harry had told them of the deal he had made with Draco. "Why would that git agree to change, even for one year?"
"Because I used logic," replied Harry as he played with Ginny's hair while she stroked his tail.
"Hmm, we hadn't thought of doing that before," muttered Hermione as she studied one of her books.
"Hermione, it's our first night back," said Ron as he looked over her shoulder. "Why are you studying?"
"Just because you prefer to be ignorant doesn't mean that I do," Hermione told him before turning back to her book. Ron just shook his head and sat down next to her. She gave him a quick peck on the lips before jotting down some notes.
Harry and Ginny laughed at the stunned look on Ron's face. "I don't think that I'll ever get used to you two being an item," said Harry, still chuckling.
"Hey, don't forget that I gave you two my permission," Ron told Harry as his ears turned red.
"Your permission?" asked Ginny incredulously. "What makes you think that we need your permission?"
"I am your older brother," Ron pointed out.
"And a git," muttered Ginny causing Harry to break out laughing.
"I'm going to turn in, okay?" said Harry as he stood up and gave Ginny a kiss. He then gave a wave to Ron and Hermione before heading up to his dorm.
The next few weeks passed quickly for Harry and his friends, their classes taking up most of their time. However, Harry's night lessons continued and he was right, they had gotten worse. Every time that his body would get used to the training, his grandpa would double the weight, shorten the amount of time to do something, or would increase the amount of times he had to do something. But Harry could feel his body responding by becoming stronger and faster, more resilient against damage. He was now getting stares in the hallways not because of his legend or rumors, but because of his body. He found it quite weird as he was getting attention from girls that had made fun of him before. Of course Harry being Harry, he didn't understand why they had reversed their view on him; then again he didn't care.
"Hey, Ginny," said Harry as his girlfriend sat down next to him at breakfast.
"Harry, how is it that you are always up before anyone else?" Ginny asked as she buttered a piece of toast.
"Rannock," Harry replied simply as he munched on a sausage.
"Oh, that explains it," Ginny said as she remembered him telling her about his great-great-great-grandfather.
"Yup."
"Hey, guys," said Ron as he sat down. "What do we have first today?"
"Defense and then we have a free period," Harry replied. "Then we have Double-Potions with Slytherin."
"Good, we don't have to deal with Snape for a while," Ron said as he loaded up his plate. He then took a look at his timetable. "Ah man, we've got Divination tomorrow."
"I'm thinking of dropping that and taking another course instead," Harry remarked between bites. "I already talked to Dumbledore."
"Really? Which class are you thinking of taking?" exclaimed Hermione while Ron just glared at Harry.
"I don't know, probably Ancient Runes." said Harry as he finished eating. "It sounds cool."
"Really, that's great," Ginny said excitedly. "I'm taking Ancient Runes too."
"It's a great class, Harry," said Hermione. "Though you will probably be given tons of homework just to catch up."
"Yeah, but I think that I can handle it," Harry told her confidently. He then got a wistful look to his face. "I wish they hadn't canceled Quidditch."
"Me too," said Ron, still glowering.
"Cheer up, mate," Harry said, noticing Ron's upset. "We still have Care of Magical Creatures together."
That didn't cheer up Ron much, but he stopped glaring at Harry. Harry smiled and got up to leave. He was stopped by Pansy.
"Potter," she addressed him. "I don't care how much you have changed physically; you are still nothing more than a traitor."
"Then why do you bother talking to me?" asked Harry with a smirk.
"I came over to warn you that some of us aren't as easy to manipulate as Draco," she told him with a sneer. She then noticed his 'belt.' "What an ugly belt. Did Hagrid give it to you? He has such bad taste in things."
"Shut your mouth, Pansy," snapped Harry. "Hagrid is a great man and you have no right to mock him. Anyway, why do you care if I have an ugly belt? You aren't my girlfriend and you never will be."
"How dare you speak to me in such a fashion!" shouted Pansy in outrage. She then stormed off.
"Idiot," said Harry as he turned to leave another way. Pansy stiffened as she heard his comment.
"Accio belt!" she snarled as she turned and whipped out her wand.
"AHHHHH!" screamed Harry in agony as Pansy summoned his tail, pulling it hard with the strength of her magic. He fell to the ground, but Pansy didn't release her spell. Her shock had quickly been overcome by seeing him on the ground in pain. She smiled evilly at his pain.
"Stop it!" cried Ginny as she got out of her seat. "You're hurting him!"
Harry didn't hear Ginny yelling at Pansy, he knew only pain. He didn't think that he could hurt this badly, but he was. He held his hand towards Pansy, palm facing her, and a blast of yellow ki shot out and hit her square in the chest. She flew back twenty feet, over the heads of her friends and landed hard on the ground. Harry gasped as he was able to breath freely again.
"If…you ever…do that again," he gasped in-between breaths, "I'll…kill you!"
"You almost did," whispered Colin as he checked on Pansy. There was a smoking burn on her chest and her breath was shallow. A couple of her friends carried her off to the Hospital Wing, but everyone else was still staring at Harry.
Harry couldn't see their stares as he was trying hard to not pass out from the pain. He pulled himself up, using the table bench as a crutch. He felt behind him gingerly, seeing if his tail was still there and hadn't been pulled off. When he was assured that it was still there, he took a look around.
"Aw crap," he muttered as everyone stared at him, at his tail. Ginny walked over to him and sat next to him.
"Are you okay, Harry?" she asked as he caught his breath.
"I think so," he muttered as he struggled to stand up. Ginny threw his arm over her shoulder and helped him stand. When he was standing, he looked around at his fellow students' faces and saw something that he didn't want to see: fear. "Help me back to the common room…please."
As they left, the other students began to gossip about what happened. Professor Dumbledore stood up and left, followed closely by Professor McGonagall and Snape. They arrived at the Gryffindor Common Room before Harry did and sat down to wait. Not long after they got there, Harry and Ginny came through the portrait hole.
"I believe you owe us an explanation, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said softly, his voice carrying across the room. Harry stiffened before nodding his understanding and made his way over to the couch. Ginny sat down next to him and the Professors sat in the empty chairs.
"I don't know where to start," said Harry as he held Ginny's hand.
"Why don't you start with your tail, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall told him.
"I have a tail because of my great-great-great-grandfather," Harry said after thinking about what to say.
"Really?" scoffed Snape. "And how did a dead man give you a tail?"
Harry glared at Snape. "It's because he was not human. He was an alien from another part of the galaxy," Harry told them. "He came to this planet in a self-exile but on the trip here, he was turned into a human…more or less. When my parents found out about the prophesy, they created a potion that would unlock my Saiyajin heritage when I started puberty."
"You know of the prophesy?" exclaimed Dumbledore in shock. "How is that possible?"
Harry then told them a condensed version of what happened on his birthday, and of the training he had received since. When he was done, not even Snape had anything to say. The Professors looked at each other and Dumbledore stood up.
"If you will excuse us, Harry," he said softly before leading the others back out the portrait hole. Harry's ears twitched and he was shocked to find that he could hear their conversation.
"This explains quite a bit," said Dumbledore.
"You don't really believe him, do you?" asked Snape.
"I happen to believe him," McGonagall told Snape firmly.
"As do I," replied Dumbledore.
"Well what are we going to do? He attacked another student, that is grounds for expulsion," sneered Snape.
"She attacked him first, Severus," McGonagall reminded him.
"I agree, Severus. Harry was in the right to defend himself," said Dumbledore softly, almost too soft for Harry to hear. "We should go back in before they start to worry."
"What happened, Harry?" asked Ginny softly. She had noticed his intense concentration and had decided to not disturb him. Harry just shook his head and looked back to the portrait hole just as the Professors came back in. He tried to look worried, but he was fairly sure that it wasn't very convincing. Ginny breathing in his ear was very distracting.
"We have decided that while you will not be expelled, you will be punished," said Dumbledore. Harry was confused, but he figured they had still been talking as they came in. "You will have detention for a week. Miss Parkinson will be punished as well, you need not worry. Report to Mr. Filch tomorrow evening to start your detention."
"Next time you attack a student, Potter, you will not get off so easily," sneered Snape as he stormed out of the room.
"Slimy Git," thought Harry as he glared at Snape's back.
"Slimy git," muttered Ginny. Harry looked at her and smiled. "What?"
"You just said what I was thinking," chuckled Harry.
"Just goes to show that I know you," she said before giving him a soft kiss.
Harry stood up and offered his hand to Ginny. "Come on, we've got to get to class. Headmaster." Harry nodded to Dumbledore as he and Ginny left to go to class.
Harry sighed in frustration. He had kept his tail a secret because he was afraid of his fellow students' reactions, and now he knew that he had been right. The others now avoided him and whispered behind his back, thinking that he couldn't hear them. Many times he had been barely able to control his temper at the things they said. The only ones who didn't flinch when he looked at them were Ginny, Ron, Hermione, the Professors, and oddly enough Neville. Harry had been shocked when he heard Neville sticking up for him when a couple of Ravenclaw third years had been gossiping about him. Harry had hid behind a corner while Neville chewed them out for calling him a freak and a half-breed. He had been surprised that they normally timid boy had a temper that rivaled his own. After that, Neville joined the group and started to open up more.
Harry sighed as they waited for the other two schools to arrive. There was a small gap between his group and the rest of the students. He faintly heard Collin complain about not being allowed to bring his camera and he smiled faintly. Ginny gave his hand a squeeze, but his thoughts were torn away as he noticed something headed their way from the sky. As the object came closer, he saw that it was a giant carriage being drawn by flying horses. There were lots of gasps as everyone else saw it too. At the same time, a large ship emerged from the Black Lake.
"Whoa," muttered Harry as the carriage landed with a thud and a huge woman came out followed by several boys and girls who were all between 15 and 17 years old. As they passed by, Harry took a look at Ron and was surprised to find his attention on one girl. Harry looked at her, but he couldn't find anything about her to warrant such a reaction.
"Hey, it's Krum!" shouted someone, causing everyone to start looking for the Quidditch star.
Harry was actually very glad for the Tri-Wizard Tournament because it took everyone's minds off him having a tail. He was no longer the center of conversation, and he was happy for it. The students from the other schools had been shocked to see him with a tail, seeing as he no longer hid it, but they had actually been fairly polite about it. They merely ignored him instead of gossiping about him.
Hermione was getting annoyed with Ron because he would get a glazed look to his face when one of the Beauxbatons girls walked by, Fleur Delecore. Harry figured it would be about a week before she got fed up and told him off, but in the mean time, Harry was just enjoying his peace. But he was excited and couldn't wait for that night. That was when the Tri-Wizard champions would be selected. He was actually glad that Dumbledore had made an age requirement. It took a lot of pressure off his mind. He could just sit back and watch for one year, enjoy not being in the center of attention.
The day was quiet, everyone anxious for the day to be over so that the results could be heard. Ron practically inhaled his dinner, hoping that it would make dinner end faster if he did. Harry found it quite amusing, but he kept his thought to himself.
"I hope our champion is someone I know," said Ginny excitedly as she leaned against Harry.
"Me too," agreed Hermione.
"I hope that it isn't a Slytherin who gets chosen," Ron told them as he looked up at Dumbledore anxiously.
Harry took his time eating, grabbing thirds as he was particularly hungry lately. He rolled his eyes when Ron glared at him, as if it was his fault that Dumbledore hadn't ended the feast yet.
Finally the feast was over and Filch came in with a coffin-like box, placing the goblet on top of the box before leaving.
"Ah, thank you, Mr. Filch," said Dumbledore kindly.
Everyone waited as the goblet's fire changed colors and spat out a piece of parchment. Dumbledore caught the paper and unfolded it.
"The first Champion is from Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, his voice magnified. "Congratulations, Fleur Delecore, please stand and exit to the door on my left."
A few seconds later, the goblet spat out another piece of paper, which was deftly caught by Dumbledore.
"The second Champion is from Durmstrang," said Dumbledore. "Congratulations, Victor Krum, if you would please follow Miss Delecore."
The goblet spat out a third piece of paper.
"And the Hogwarts Champion is Cedric Diggory," Dumbledore said proudly. The Hufflepuff table erupted with cheers, the other house tables following with slightly less enthusiasum. Dumbledore smiled softly as he Cedric headed off to where the other Champions were.
Suddenly, the goblet let off a shower of sparks and changed colors again before another piece of paper came shooting out. Dumbledore caught it and unfolded it with trepidation.
"Harry Potter," he said softly, the twinkle in his eyes gone. He looked around for Harry. "Harry Potter!"
Everyone turned and looked at Harry, shocked that his name had come out of the goblet.
"What?" he asked. "I didn't put my name in that thing!"
"Please join the others, Mr. Potter," said Dumbledore, a little of the twinkle back in his eyes.
Harry got up and headed across the hall to the room where the other Champions were, his tail lashing back and forth in agitation.
Okay, got this chapter done and I'm working on the rest. If I don't get a good response to this story, I'll just end it at the end of "Goblet of Fire" and not continue. But if enough people tell me that it deserves to live, I'll continue it into "Order of the Phoenix."
Love it? Hate it? Please review. Flames will be used to light my incense. (Sandalwood, as usual)
