The Warrior's Way
A late chapter, but we proceed in our story nonetheless.
Don't blame me, it is not my fault for the late update, it is my laptop's battery's fault. The battery decided to fuck up, and stop working, and my windows was working with it, and got deactivated.
I shifted to my PC, and typing there is slow as hell, also it is not as flexible as my laptop. I had to update millions of drives and softwares. This is what happens when one do not touch his computer in a millennia.
Otherwise, I hope that you enjoy the chapter, I make no claim over Harry Potter, it belongs to JK Rowling. I make no profit from it.
Chapter-14: Moments of Love
'If there ever comes a day when we can't be together keep me in your heart, I'll stay there forever'
Days passed faster than he had expected them to be.
He still had not told anybody about this mess of his life, and he just didn't want to drag Sirius, Remus, or the Tonks family into the mess that he and Voldemort had created.
His holidays were something that he enjoyed a lot, spending time with a 'family' was something that he would thoroughly miss when he would go back to the castle.
His life had changed in a good way, and he didn't regret the decision he had made in the past. They might be brash, ignorant, and unplanned, but they lead to something good, and if he would look in the past, he would not regret each path.
His time was ending, and the sand was falling from an hourglass. He or Voldemort, only one of them would be alive, and the one must kill the other. He never really had brought into this Prophecy stuff, but even he was able to tell that it was vague, and he could not run from his faith.
Looking back at his life, he had realized many things, the path he had trotted had changed him, if he would have never known about his faith, then perhaps, he never would have been the person he was currently.
Yes, he had faced lies, knaves, and the betrayal of the person he trusted the most. It was his destiny, and he should be aware of it, Dumbledore had no right to hide it away from him. He still remembered the Headmaster's explanation.
'I just wanted you to have a normal childhood.'
He snorted. A normal was something he could never afford, perhaps, it was too costly for him, or perhaps, it was never for him. Where his Logical side said this, his emotional side disagreed.
It was like fighting a war with himself, where there were no winners and losers, only pain, sadness, and agony. Perhaps, Dumbledore knew better for him, than he could ever have. The Headmaster of Hogwarts was experienced, he too had faced life, and seen the way it treats a warrior.
The constant challenges overwhelm everyone, and in the end, what remained was sacrifice. For others, not for oneself. All it remained was a memory. A forlorn memory with a new companion, but the hardship of the path.
The fate was a cruel mistress, especially for those who had decided to challenge her, and made her test them. She did not forgive, and forget, just like his brother Death.
Fate tested everyone at a time of life, some were broken, some abandoned the challenge, and a few won. Fate had an unhealthy addiction with him too, and she kept testing him at every moment of his life, whether that is emotionally, physically, or spiritually.
Five years ago, if some had said about the existence of magic, he would have denied it vehemently, but here was he, at the side, where the people were free, and the way of living was completely different.
'People change, Harry. The world runs from lies and deceits. But there are few faithful people who would be with you at every step. Learn to trust them.'
Even if the Slytherin was unaware of it, at that time, he had said something that had changed his view on people.
Snorting, he thought about his latest meeting with Salazar.
After destroying the abomination, he mumbled a few insults on Voldemort. Well, they were not really friendly ones.
Taking out the ball from his pocket which was a quill, he hissed 'Activate' in Parseltongue as it was the password, and with a blink of few seconds, he felt damp air invading his nostrils.
He shook his head in exasperation. No matter how much Dobby cleaned this place, the obnoxious smell never seemed to leave the place. Now he and Dobby both had lost hope regarding it.
With some steps filled with haste and the locket in his head, he ran towards the study. Realizing he could just apparate, he focused his magic, and with soft 'crack,' he found himself in the study that was more adjusted than the first time. He snapped his head towards the nearest wall and found the Slytherin sleeping.
"Salazar, wake up. Wake up. Wakey Wakey." This continued for some time, until, "WAKE UP, DAMN IT!" The founder's eyes snapped open almost comically, they were too small to even reveal his full iris.
"What the hell, boy?" The Slytherin snarled in Parseltongue.
He blinked owlishly until a sheepish smile crept upon his face, "I was just trying to wake up." He spoke in English.
Salazar raised an eyebrow, "And may I ask why?"
He gave the founder an innocent smile, "No." He replied, when Salazar was about to lash, he raised his hand in faux surrender. "Okay, I wanted to show you this," he took out the locket from his pocket.
Placing it in front of the Salazar, he chuckled as the founder's eyes widened, "This is my locket." He mumbled as he scrutinized the locket closely, ogling his eyes over it.
"Was," he corrected the old portrait, giving him a lopsided grin.
"Was?" Salazar asked, arching an eyebrow and his cold, calculative eyes looking for an answer.
With a sigh, he opened the locket and showed the pierced part of the locket to the Slytherin, "I destroyed it," he stated with innocence.
"Who better have a damn good reason to do this, boy?" The Slytherin snarled, and his voice came out in a hiss.
"I do, I do." He huffed irritatedly before the old man could say anything. "Well, I am sure you would not like the truth."
"Just spit it out already!"
"Riddle made your locket a Horcrux," he said blandly. Well, that was a bad thing to do, because the next moment the old man erupted.
"WHAT!"
"Are you deaf, old man? Can't you hear what I am saying?" He huffed. His sentence never reached the ears because Salazar was already turned into a, what one call, psycho. At that time, he had learned quite a few insults, though.
Another snort escaped as he pulled through himself. With an amused grin tugging his lips, he looked at his reflection in the mirror.
Wearing a leather jacket, blue jeans, and white t-shirt, and boots, he was looking not that bad.
"So, are you ready for your little date?" Looking at his back, he noticed Sirius looking at him with a proud smile.
He shrugged, "Yeah. It's not a date, we are simply going to buy some school supplies. Books and stuff." He replied simply.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say," the Black Lord returned. With another shrug, he trudged his way to the fireplace. Taking out some floo powder, he settled himself on the floo place.
"Last thing, when will you be back?" Sirius gave him a grin, fully knowing that he was late.
His eyes twitched in annoyance, "What are you? My mom?" He returned.
Sirius raised his hand faux surrender, "Just askin'. Kreacher had to make dinner after all. What time is it?" He looked at his magical watch, "5: 30 PM. When will you be back?" He asked him innocently.
"Don't make my dinner," he replied quickly and burst into green flames.
"He could have just apparated," Sirius mumbled, shaking his head with amusement.
{SCENE BREAK}
He appeared in the Leaky Cauldron and noticed it was more crowded than he had anticipated.
The people were smoking, drinking, eating, chatting, and enjoying the current moment rather than exhausting themselves by thinking about the future.
It brought a smile to his face. A rare smile, but a smile nonetheless.
They also - unknowingly to them - taught him not to worry about his future, and to enjoy living the current moment rather than drowning his head in the worries and problems of his life.
He trudged his way to the war, stepping in front of the brick wall. Thanks to his glamour, no one was able to recognize him, and even if they did, he just needed to run away.
Taking out his wand that was nothing less than a beauty, he tapped it on the brick walls. With some intense rustling sound of the bricks, brushing against each other. The alley's entrance opened to reveal the magical alley.
The Diagon Alley had never changed much. The similar faces, the similar shops, the similar bars were comforting to the eyes.
People did not want to change, and he did not want them to.
It was just the same as he entered the alley first for his first year. The smile that time might have faded a little but it was there, and all along the way it would be there.
His destination. The Ollivanders.
A little weird place to meet up, but he went there, waiting for his girlfriend. Damn! It still gave him chills, even thinking that word. He might be amateur and naive in a relationship.
So what?
She was the same. They were learning. Little by little. Step by step. They were slow, yet steady. A relationship with no doubts, and no disputes or arguments.
Mumbling 'sorry' to some people, who he had run into, his eyes solely focused near the gates of Ollivanders, simply searching for her.
He saw her, and he breathed out. She was looking breath-taking. He simply could gawk at her.
The way her eyelashes fluttered when her eyes spotted her, and the way her lips curled upward into the angelic smile, left him speechless.
Her long blonde hair was tied into a loose bun, a few bangs of her hair coming to her gentle cheeks. Her cold blue eyes were a warm ocean today, and she was wearing a white tank top with ideal dark blue jeans, revealing a slight bit of her pale skin.
His breathing was heavy, his heart was pumping fast, and his steps were ridiculously quick, and he was well aware of that, but he did not mind.
He finally reached there, and she smiled pleasantly, "Hi." She greeted him simply.
He nodded in his greeting, "Hi… Well, you look um..." It was like his voice was stuck in his throat, refusing to come.
She giggled, noticing his state, "Thank you," she replied, kissing his cheek, taking him back. "You don't need to say it. I know."
He nodded. Rather dumbly - in his opinion -, but he wanted her to know that he understood what she meant.
Receiving his voice back, he offered her his hand, "Shall we go?" She nodded with an audible 'hm.' He grabbed his hand tightly, yet it felt soft to him, and he realized how frail her hands were.
Shaking his head away from her, and getting a confused look from her that he replied with a smile, he grabbed her hand a little more softly and intertwined their fingers.
She beamed and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek, and he could swear that he blushed at the gesture.
"Where to first?" He questioned when his blush died down.
"We can first do the shopping, then enjoy the date," she replied thoughtfully, putting her finger under her chin. "Or do you want it the other way?" She looked at him expectantly.
He shrugged, "Nah, I want to do the same. We'll be free of responsibilities." He replied. "How's Astoria?" He inquired, generally curious.
"She's fine. Much better since you have cured her, to be exact." She answered.
He nodded and zoned out.
It had been months since he had cured the girl. When he had performed the ritual first, it had drained all of the girl's magic, and so of his, but half only. Since then, he had noticed changes in her. She was trying to live, without the burden of disease on her tiny shoulders.
"Apothecary." He heard her say, and he nodded but grimaced when he processed what she was trying to say.
"I don't want to go there, first, and that too, to buy potion ingredients. You could use the ingredients from Greengrass foundation," he scowled.
"I can, but I want to buy some potions for Astoria," she replied.
"Fine, but do it fast," he nodded curtly.
"Yes, yes."
So they did. They went to Apothecary to purchase the potions for Astoria, and he stayed out of it because, firstly- he and Potions could never get along, he only managed to nick an O in potions because of his mother's general. Secondly- they were too damn smelly!
"Have you done it?" He sighed as he stood from the bench on which he was sitting.
"I have," she replied. "But the potions cost me all the money." She continued, earning a look of perplexment from him.
He arched "I am sure that they wouldn't have cost too much. Hiding something?" He asked suspiciously, as he narrowed, spotting the other bag she was carrying.
She seemed to catch what he saw, and she knew it was better to tell than hiding something from him. "I just bought some cosmetics, some potions for myself, and..."
She continued as he mentally facepalmed. 'Of course, that would be it,' he mused, chastising himself for not knowing it earlier.
"Fine, fine, let us go," he grabbed her and dragged her before she could continue her rambling.
"But, I don't have money," she stated matter-of-factly.
"I'll pay for you," he answered, still dragging her.
"But-"
"End of conversation," he said in a voice of authority as she huffed, mumbling something about 'rude.'
"Where to next?" He stole a glance of her and looked with curious eyes.
"Twilfitt and Tattings," she deflated, out of breath.
He looked at her incredulously, "We are going to go shopping on a date."
"If you don't know, then I must tell you it is one of the ways to date." And throughout the time, they had brought clothes for themselves, the same thought rang in his mind. 'Is it really?'
To say the shop was a little more pleasant and better than Madame Malkin would be an understatement, it was literally better in all ways. Pureblood or not, they only had rich customers, and he spotted a few members of Wizengamot in there.
At that time, he realized something - Dating a girl was extremely tough. The girl he was dating was extremely choosy, and she introduced him to fashion that he did not know existed.
Daphne must have brought clothes for all her summer because of how much it weighs and he was carrying them all and had he left her for a few moments at the shops, he was sure that the weight of the bag would have been doubled.
It was rather a pleasant experience in the shop, and his brain finally registered that he could have used a shrinking charm rather than carrying them throughout the way. Nevertheless, they were finally out of the shop and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Can we eat something? I am too damn hungry, also it's seven-thirty," he whined like an old year child.
She nodded, "We should." She giggled, patting his head like a child.
With some slow, lofty steps, they went to the Leaky Cauldron that had his banner shining under the moon. They did not even realize that it was almost evening, and the sun had set.
They entered the bar that was rather less crowded than it had been, having only a handful of the customers where Tom the bartender. Sitting at the corner and listening to the hushed whispers about them was musing in its own way.
Tom came to them after noticing them, and greeted them with the same free grin that he kept, "What would you like to eat?"
She looked a little more thoughtful when he had already decided what to eat, "Bangers and Mash." She replied eventually. Tom nodded, memorizing the order in his mind.
Well, he was already set with his, "Shepherd's Pie." He said simply as his order. Tom tilted his head again, with another smile.
"Anything for a drink?" The bartender continued.
The blonde shook her head in denial whereas he replied again, "Butterbear." And with that, Tom set off to his kitchen. He respected the man, despite his old age, he still served customers whilst also maintaining his cheerful charisma.
They chatted for a bit, before their dinner came, and it was much better than Kreacher had ever made. She too commented that the food was good, and he too liked it. Finally, after paying for the food and his drink whilst giving a tip, he offered, "Ice cream?"
She nodded as they set off to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, "What would you two like?" Florean Fortescue asked. If he was ever being truthful, he would admit that he would have failed History of Magic if the man had not helped him.
Fortescue was a kind-hearted and generous man that had given him ice cream for free for two years straight whilst helping him with his homework.
"Two scoops of Vanilla," she replied politely and when he was about to say this, he stopped.
"You don't need to say what you want… Harry," the man there stated with a grin that made him chuckle in amusement.
"And what would I like?" He questioned, arching an eyebrow.
The grin never left the man's face, "Chocolate chips." He told matter-of-factly, earning another chuckle from him as he mouthed 'Indeed.'
She looked at him with a curious gaze but he gave him a glance that said 'Later.
Florean held out the two cones in his hand, as he offered them to two teenagers, and he offered him the money as they both exited the shop. 'Love birds,' he could hear the old man mumbling dreamily.
As they left the parlor, they noticed how beautiful the Alley was at night as they trudged along with many other couples. After a while of walking, he noticed something.
"Hey," he nudged her.
"Hmm," she said in a reply, still eating her ice cream bit by bit.
"You have ice cream on there," he stated sincerely as she finally looked up to him.
"Where?" She quizzed, rubbing her frail fingers on her cheek.
"Here," he replied before licking her lip, leaving behind the blonde that was having a beautiful blush adorning her cheeks.
.
.
.
.
"I never knew you could apparate," she said as he apparated them both in front of the giant gates of the Manor.
"There are things you don't know about me," he winked at her.
"And what that might be?" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
He shrugged with an amused grin tugging his lips.
"Today, I had fun," she eventually said, not breaking eye contact.
"I had too," he smiled pleasantly and she felt him lean down.
She tip-toed a little as he felt him lean down to her height, she had realized he had grown taller over summer. Her reverie was shaken as he felt his hands coming at her waist, holding her tight and firm. She leaned a little more forward as his eyes lips finally brushed against hers, and settling the contact, he pulled her closer as she kissed her back with her soft lips against his slightly rough ones.
He tasted like the ice cream he had just eaten, and so did she. They kissed for a few moments until he rubbed the back of his head.
"Well, I must be going now," that was his sheepish statement. He had to go, she reminded herself. He took a few steps back before he waved her, and apparated away.
She also turned back, and was about to enter the ground of the Manor, until he heard the soft voice again, "Hey!" The voice addressed her.
She turned back to see him approaching her, slightly out of breath. It happened so fast that within a span of a second he felt his lips brush against her left cheeks, and he heard his voice.
"You are beautiful… Daphne," he said in a husky voice before apparating away from the softs.
And on that day, Harry Potter had managed to make Daphne Greengrass blush twice, within a span of one hour.
{SCENE BREAK}
The rest of the holidays passed away much faster than he had anticipated. He and Daphne had spent a lot of holidays together, sharing some moments and kisses, going on unofficial dates.
But what surprised him was the Death Eaters' attack at the world cup. One time, he thanked himself for denying the request that Sirius had proposed, and not going there.
Death Eaters were dangerous, and he was in no mood to combat them, moreover, if he had spotted one, the Death Eater would either be dead or in Azkaban. He had not planned to forgive them. Or as Dumbledore says 'redeem' them?
They had once made the mistake, and they were making them again. Making the same mistake over and over again was a mistake, it was their doing with their consciousness.
It raised another question that Voldemort was preparing his return, earlier than he had anticipated. The Death Eater attack was alone proof of it, and he wouldn't be surprised if Voldemort knew that his little trinkets were getting destroyed.
The war would come eventually before he could destroy the three remaining Horcrux that was still a mystery to him.
He had to become stronger if he planned to win the war along with killing the old Dark Lord which he did. He needed to get more allies, more people, more power, more education, he just needed to do this all by himself.
Sirius was still unaware of the fact that he was tangling with the things that he should not. Sirius was completely unknown to the concept of 'Voldemort making Horcrux, and him destroying them.' He knew that if asked the Black Lord, then he would help him in every way possible, so would Remus.
...but… he just couldn't voice out his problem, he just could not understand the fact why he could not solve his problem himself?
Was he too weak? No, he was not. At least, he thought so. He just wanted to do this all alone, without tangling others in the mess of his life, and the mess of his works.
...It was all suffocating for him. He tried to run away from his life. His problems. The prophecy. The wars. The Bloodshed…. He just could not. He did not want to, after all, he was the cause who started it, so he had to end it himself.
His life was a mess, and so was he… Just… Just because of a stupid Prophecy. When he had told about the attacks to his mentor, the Slytherin was somewhat livid and thoughtful. Salazar agreed with him, after all, one who could command the Death Eater forces was Voldemort, and his second in command was Bellatrix LeStrange.
'Bellatrix LeStrange,' he did not understand the fact that he left the serial killer without providing any harm. He should have, but he did not. He got the important information and walked away like the woman had nothing.
He was sure that he did not do it. It was… his… his magic that responded to the actions, and why it would do such a thing was a mystery to him. After all, he had killed Neville's mother and father, and Remus' family.
Remus Lupin. Another thought accompanied the thousand of his kinds. Werewolves were joining Voldemort's rank, and he could not blame them. How the Wizards looked at them was disgusting. At a particular time, he was thinking why Remus did not join the Dark Lord.
… He was human, whilst the others were not. Despite being one of his kind, Remus attended Hogwarts in thirst of education and knowledge, not in thirst of blood. Remus was different. Being a werewolf was one thing, and being a killer werewolf was another.
"Are you all ready?" He felt a light punch at his shoulder as his green eyes looked at Sirius with curiosity. Nodding simply as the answer, he hummed as he finished packing his trunk.
The school year had come, and it was time to go back. Even though Sirius had left him clueless about what was going to happen this year, hinting that the school year would be more enjoyable than the most.
He did not need to know, each year was either something terrible or more terrible. An adventure was assured each year. It was like he was a trouble magnet, but he attracted trouble more profusely than a magnet did to a magnetic substance.
Sirius looked at him, befuddled and worried, "What is going to happen this year?" He asked, generally curious.
Sirius' jaws clenched as he looked at him with a smirk, "Nah. I am not allowed to tell you that. Most everyone in the Wizengamot is not allowed, save a few." Rather than being satisfied with the explanation, his curiosity increased.
… but it would do no good to keep pushing Sirius into telling him about what would happen in the year. "I can tell you one thing, though," his Godfather commented slyly as he raised an eyebrow for him to continue. "This year will be fun for you." He added.
Dang! For the last half an hour he had been saying the same thing when he asked him for it. He was getting infuriated by that fact.
Shaking his head, and easing up himself, he thought of Daphne. The past days had been better for him and her, they had been taking their relationship a tad bit more seriously. They were not like the people who just did not care, they were better. Better than the most.
They had not talked to Blaise and Tracey since the latter went to Italy with the former for a living. He was sure that both he and Daphne would get a mouthful, because of them not writing the letters
It was not the thing he wanted to do, but he did not get time, or rather he was too lazy to write one. He just did not know when the holidays ended, and when Hogwarts called them all back.
He looked at his two guardians. It was pretty weird for him to call them guardians since he not only was a lord, but emancipated too, but Sirius and Remus being Sirius and Remus had claimed a strict authority over him.
Remus being a werewolf had a strong sense of protectiveness and loyalty towards him, Sirius was a father to him in all but blood.
The fact that was surprising was Remus was looking for a job, and that too in magical Britain. They had offered him to stay with them, but he had refused flatly. It would take quite a time for him to find a job, but he was sure that the werewolf would achieve it, eventually.
Shaking his head with a sigh, he spared a glance of the two adults, "Let's go," he said as the two nodded, and grabbed his hand with a soft 'pop.' they apparated away.
{SCENE BREAK}
It did not baffle them that King Cross was being a fish market, perhaps even them. The same parents kissing their children, the teary goodbyes, and the essence of envious affection that washed over him, but it was worn out when he felt two hands on his shoulder.
With a smile, he waved them goodbye and they did the same. They did not have much to say after, practically lived. They now understood what he wanted, and they did the same.
The smokey, and suffocating smell that he inhaled felt familiar, and filled him with the feeling of comfort. With some soft sounds of his shoes, and followed by the shoes of others, he was in hopes of founding an empty compartment,
Well, he never did. Neville was sitting, so he just opened the gate alone, and gave a lopsided grin, "Yo, Nev! Mind If I sit here."
His voice startled the Longbottom heir, but seeing him, he relaxed. Over two years, Neville's confidence had increased immensely. He was confident, focused, just, and calm. And last, he did not STUTTER all the time.
Neville nodded, "Sure." He replied, patting the seat in front of him. He glanced at the boy who was patting Trevor in his hand and bobbed his head.
"How was your summer?" Neville questioned, trying to make a conversation.
He shrugged, "Eventful." He cracked a smile.
"We went to Athens, My Grandma and I," he said cheerfully. Suddenly, the Longbottom heir's face became dead serious as he started to look around the compartment. He arched an eyebrow at the sudden tension on the face of his friend.
"Where is Mira?" He inquired - more like demanded- him expectantly.
There! No matter how much he tried to get them both acquainted, Neville and Mira were rude to each other. Well it was one-sided, and his familiar snake had taken an unhealthy obsession towards Neville's pet, Trevor/ He could not blame her, after all, this was her nature.
He hissed in Parseltongue for the snake to come out to which she compelled. The beautiful King cobra slithered her way to his shoulder from his shoulder blade, sticking out her tongue.
Before Neville could hide the toad, Trevor had already jumped out and disappeared into the hallway. He hissed in Parseltongue to the snake to go back to her slumber that she complied, albeit reluctantly.
He looked at the Longbottom heir, and Neville looked at him. A deep, pressing sigh escaped the boy's lips, as his eyes bored into the green ones of his. "Well, this is going to be eventful," he heard him mutter, and he bobbed his head, it would.
And so was the train ride.
{SCENE BREAK}
It was several hours later when they reached the Hogsmeade Station.
He was sure that he would get a mouthful from Daphne, for not meeting full on the ride… and a dry comment too.
It was not the fact that he did not want to meet her in the station, it was just because of Trevor. Every time they would summon the toad, the toad would disappear soon after, seeing Mira lurking on his shoulder was terrifying for the Toad. Not that he could blame the tiny creature, he was the daily breakfast for the snake/
Arriving at the station, and then gazing at it, they found the heavy rain was pouring down, and the children were… reluctant to leave the train.
He did not understand the reason, they had magic, conjuring an umbrella. He was damn sure that a quarter if not half of the seventh years knew how to conjure a bloody umbrella, but none did.
So, rather than showing his chivalrous Gryffindor side, he minded his own business and conjured umbrellas for him and Neville/.
They took the carriage, and he was still awed at the beauty of the Thestrals that Neville could not see, but rather than Thestrals, his mind was focused on an eccentric girl that he and Neville confronted.
She had blonde hair with silver, appealing eyes. She was no doubt beautiful, but, perhaps, her eccentric behavior was the thing that gained her attention. She was talking about creatures that should not be here; Nargles.
The girl that introduced herself Luna Lovegood was talking about the creatures that were a myth - that was what people thought - and also her spectacular guess on his Patronus. The way she described her Patronus, in his perspective, she was THIS close to guessing the creature, and she almost had, if they had not reached the castle walls.
She had guessed Nev's Patronus; a panther. He was slightly befuddled how a shy, timid boy like Neville would have a Patronus of one of the deadliest predators known by the muggle world, of course.
Soon, they reached the castle walls as he was expectantly looking at the headmaster for the news that Sirius had been babbling about for weeks, but his gaze was stolen by the blonde beauty that was wet from the rain along with two friends who was equally wet as her.
( Get your minds out of the gutter, Perverts. )
With a wave of his wand, he dried the three as Daphne's gaze fell upon him, he gave her a wink and went back his attention to Dumbledore.
Albus Dumbledore, in his usual purple robes and twinkling eyes, smiled merrily at everyone, "I have many announcements for you all, but first tuck in." As he clapped his hands, an exquisite meal appeared in front of them.
"What do you think he would announce?" Neville whispered from his left. "Gran was talking about some big event. But never really told anything, only left some hints."
He shrugged, "I would have told you, had I known. Sirius also dropped some hints.."
With that, they went to their meal rather than focusing on something which was going to be revealed sooner or later. "Who do you think would be our defense teacher?" Lavender, in front of him, asked everybody/
He gazed upon the staff table where one seat of the defense teacher was empty. "I don't know, maybe Dumbeldore would teach us," Parvati answered with a befuddled look.
"Not him. Somebody else would. That man already has a lot of work, and I don't think that he would like another." He chimed in the conversation.
The food vanished after all of them got their stomachs full. Dumbledore stood up in a hushed voice.
"Now, I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts -" The Headmaster started but he was interrupted with a loud bag that opened the gate to the great hall along with a thud.
A limping man, neither too tall nor too short, rugged clothes, missing one leg and an eye, an artificial eye instead of a real one, a staff in one hand supporting him, and scars all over his visible skin.
"Alastor Moody," Neville said in a low voice. "What the hell is he doing here?" This time in a little louder.
He shrugged but his eyes still not leaving the man, "Hell, if I'd know. Last I heard he was training Tonks, now that lass would be raiding some old warehouses." He snorted.
Now Dumbledore started Alastor Moody who was stealing glances at him which made him guard his mind. The shrieks of 'Constant Vigilance,' seemed to startle all the students, making them uncomfortable. Hell, even Mira was hissing 'I'd kill him' frequently.
A nudge from Neville interrupted his reverie, "Five galleons, and I'll faint under five minutes of the class." Longbottom betted as he snorted. Another shriek of 'Constant Vigilance' passed through the crowd, making Neville whimper slightly.
"Make it ten," he said as Dumbledore clapped his hand again, silencing all of them.
"We are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."
"You are joking," Fred Weasley interrupted, pointing a finger as the hall burst into a fit of laughter.
"Certainly not Mr. Weasley, although I did hear a rather splendid joke about a dwarf, a honeycomb, and a jacka…" McGonagall coughed rather loudly. "Perhaps another time" Dumbledore went on to explain about the tournament before letting the students leave and go to the common room.
Sheesh! This was the chapter in which I realized how many words I write in one chapter, after such slow typing.
The main motive for this chapter was progression in the relationship of Harry and Daphne. And I know that I suck in romance, so bear with me.
I shifted to my computer permanently from now on, so expect some delay in writing the chapters. This was all I had to say.
Despite all this, I hope that you enjoyed the little chapter.
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