Chapter 5 – Unusual solution
The school was full of tense anticipation. Everyone was restless, most of all them Harry. Dumbledore canceled all the afternoon classes, not like Harry cared too much as he opted to skip them all for today. Nobody has seen him in any class the whole morning. Still, he wasn't feeling any elation from that. Alienated from most of the school, he had a hard time connecting with the students around him. Especially considering the date. The task was nearly upon him, and he couldn't even look at all these happy, worry-free faces around him. His stomach was making flips.
Despite his morose mood, a few people wished him good luck as he went past them. It made him feel a little better than yesterday, but his current status barely improved. Some fellow Gryffindors, the occasional Ravenclaw and maybe three or four Hufflepuffs followed Cedric's example. They met in the morning, leaving the Great Hall at the same moment.
"Good luck at the task today, Harry," wished Cedric warmly and lightly shook Harry's hand.
"Good luck to you too, Cedric," said back Harry as Cedric smiled, caught Harry's elbow and patted Harry's shoulder, taking him off guard by the genuine gesture. Harry wasn't used to overly fond touching and wasn't prepared for that, yet it felt kind of relaxing, actually. He was natural. Even Harry couldn't find any falsehood in his voice and behavior. Cedric truly wished Harry to do well. They were Potter and Diggory just the other day, but no longer, apparently.
"Good luck, Harry," and "Good luck, Potter," was heard coming from behind Cedric as a few older Hufflepuffs he didn't even know joined in from afar. Cedric smiled at Harry again and directed them toward the dungeons. When they were out of sight, Harry couldn't shake the feeling that the other Hufflepuff were insincere and only did so because Cedric stood right before them. Shaking his head to dissipate such dark thoughts, Harry moved back toward the Common Room. Not before meeting someone else standing in his path.
"Hey Potty! Want me to wish you good luck as well?" asked Malfoy annoyingly and with a smug face, rounding a corner. Must have been his cursed Potter luck to meet him today, the exact moment when Cedric was out of earshot. Coincidence? Surely not. In any case, Malfoy would have to try harder to get the rise from Harry than calling him Potty. That was so old nickname that nearly stopped bothering him at all. Of course, his two dumb bodyguards were with him and snickering all the same. As if it was actually funny.
"Malfoy. I'm not in the mood, go away," answered Harry, trying to move past Crabbe and Goyle as they flashed their pins at him. But try as he might, they moved exactly into his path and barred his way. Both of them showed bold red numbers above them. -17 and -23. It was the first time Harry had seen negative and first time seeing numbers that weren't blue. It surprised him that much that he failed to make it through the idiot duo and they pushed him back toward Malfoy.
"Whoa, whoa. So cold. I simply wanted to wish you well, you know," whined out Malfoy, pretending to speak smoothly and friendly. He was fooling no-one. Harry remained silent, glaring at them.
"I have heard a saying that even muggles use. Want to hear it, Potter?" asked Malfoy, spatting his name with a fake smile and glee almost shining from his eyes. Harry wanted to leave and not spend even a second with this fool. It was easier said than done, as he was at the disadvantage. Three against one with no teacher in sight, Crabbe and Goyle might be dull, but they were strong physically and even a fool could cast a jinx or stun him. They also perfectly blocked his way and Malfoy was on his back. He could get past Malfoy, but that would take him back into the Great Hall, and it wasn't the place he wanted to go right now. It would be very dangerous to take up his wand and defend himself. Especially right before the task.
That meant that Malfoy could hardly do any meddling, too. Interfering with the champion on the day of the task? He would face serious consequences. And even though Draco was a snotty brat, he wasn't that braindead to attempt anything more than insults. All bark and no bite. Emboldened by his analysis, Harry turned around and stared hardly and impatiently at Malfoy. He was waiting for the insult and trying to not raise for it. If the bloody red -53 on top of Malfoy's head surprised him, he didn't let it show on his face. His eyes narrowed a bit, but this time he was prepared for it.
"So what is it, speak," urged Harry and tapped his foot, looking at Malfoy coldly. Hopefully, it would be behind him soon.
"Break a leg," snidely remarked Malfoy while laughing at his face. Others followed his example. What a bunch of shitstains. Harry ground his teeth, but hold off any remark in favor of getting away. Harry knew that saying. He also knew Malfoy wished it literary.
"Or two!" joined in Goyle while Crabbe cracked his knuckles grossly with the sound that was awfully close to bone breaking. Harry finally broke through the duo of followers, pushing Goyle's shoulder away as they let him pass, his anger rising. They offered no resistance and kept snickering.
"And don't forget your arms!" shouted Parkinson, springing up from behind them all. He wasn't even aware she was there. Harry wanted to turn around and shout at them, hex them into the next week, but did nothing instead. He knew he shouldn't retaliate, especially now. Things would only get dicier for him if he did something. So instead of doing what he wanted, he went as fast away as he could without it looking like running away, fuming silently. Their laughter followed him until he dipped into the room with stairs and hopped into the first he saw. He was going to repay this mockery to Malfoy. Soon.
Harry placed one leg before the other, trying to calm himself until he realized he was stepping back into Gryffindor Common Room behind one of the Gryffindor first years, not even registering the password spoken. He didn't intend to go there, but at least he could prepare his broom early. What he met inside was a nearly complete Quidditch team from last year, huddled over something. The only one missing was Oliver Wood, who graduated. He really missed the flying, and he wanted to play it instead of the tournament. Unfortunately, that would not happen.
He was curious. What was in there? Instead of inquiring, Harry however steered away from them and move toward the dormitory. He had preparation to finish.
"Harry!" shouted Fred and George simultaneously when they noticed him going past them. Twins jumped to their feet and placed hands on his shoulders in no time at all. Harry couldn't do anything as they surrounded him from both sides and guided Harry toward the others.
"Harry, great that you come to visit," said one of them. He was not getting away from them.
"We have to show you something," said the other. As he moved closer, he finally saw what it was they worked on.
"Do you do like it, Harry?" asked Angelina, winking at him mischievously. Angelina pointed her wand at the one side and propped the item into the air with one smooth, silent move.
"I think it's great, right?" asked Alicia, a proud smile on her face, while raising the other end in the air, mimicking the other chaser.
"What do you think?" asked Katie as she too stood up and smiled at Harry.
"Eh, it's great. Thank you," answered Harry, taken aback by the gesture. It was a huge scarf-like banner with Harry Potter's name on it, glasses and a lightning bolt. All in Gryffindor's motives, red and yellow colors. As he looked at it, it changed into the slogan Harry Potter, our Gryffindor champion. They even included a golden snitch flying around, leaving traces of gold sparkles behind.
"Ha. We will show it on the tribune. I bet that this is even better than what Diggory has," proudly said Fred or George with the other twin nodding along.
"Totally," "Yeah," and "Hmm," added chasers, all smiling.
"Yeah," uttered Harry, not knowing what more to say.
"Now, let's wrap it up, ladies. Harry is already impatiently glancing toward his dorm. Surely he would have plenty of stuff to do and plans to prepare for. Let's not take on anymore of his time. Anyway, I'm sure you got this task, we believe in you Harry." said maybe George as he hung his arm around Harry in a half hug and moved away.
Fred bumped a fist into his shoulder and Alicia and Angelina both placed their hands on Harry's shoulder gently, smiled and stated. "Good luck," nearly at the same time.
"Good luck," said Katie and offered her fist, shyer than the older Gryffindor girls. Harry smiled at this too and fist-bumped her as they used to before Quidditch matches.
Harry went to his dorm in an elated mood, his encounter with Malfoy nearly forgotten. The only sore spot for Harry was Ron. He hadn't seen him anywhere so far, Ron was likely avoiding him. Even if they meet, he was almost sure that Ron wouldn't support him. Harry took out his broom and went back quickly, trying to calm his jittery nerves going haywire. He was frankly terrified of the upcoming event.
Leaving the Common room, Harry looked around, trying to find anyone he knew. He was out of luck. Fred and George went away and so did Angelina, Alicia and Katie. Frankly, he should have called out for them to wait for him. It was a stupid oversight. Now he was running out of time.
A short walk through the corridors and Harry thankfully spotted one familiar red hair. It wasn't the Weasley twins. He moved with a purpose and went straight after Ginny. She along with the other Gryffindors were moving away, talking about the short trek toward to forest. Students were all supposed to gather at the edge of Forbidden Forest with the guidance of the teachers within an hour or so. Not so forbidden now, eh? Harry mentally chuckled and could only shake his head about bending the rules yet again. It wasn't even Harry doing it this time. Or Hagrid. It was Headmasters and ministry officials like Crouch. Yeah. Wizards were barmy at times.
Harry was originally planning to ask Hermione, but he couldn't find her anywhere this morning, so he had to improvise. He couldn't afford to waste time looking for her, and he was definitely not going to count on Ron. That left him with very limited options, from which Ginny seemed the most reliable and likely to do what he asked her without complaints. He could ask Neville, but Ginny was right there and he would rather not waste even more time.
"Ginny. Hi," called out Harry, speed-walking toward her position, his voice stopping her from moving away with the other girls. Harry wanted to tap on her shoulder to get her attention, but missed as she turned her arm away at the exact moment he was reaching for her. Harry played it off awkwardly as stretching. Ginny, fortunately, missed that action, which he was glad for. He hoped that nobody else saw that, but she wasn't exactly alone, with other people mulling around.
"Hi, Harry. Good luck at the task," said Ginny, as she smiled shyly. The other girls didn't stay around and went ahead, waving at Ginny, leaving her alone with Harry.
"Thanks. Em, Ginny. Could you do me a favor and take my broom with you?" asked Harry. Better be prepared and have his broom close by and not somewhere in the castle.
Ginny looked puzzled about what he wanted from her as she just stood there rooted on the spot with an opened mouth, staring back at him and blinking a few times. Oh, he still held his broom behind his back as to not bump it up to any student walking around, so she probably didn't see it.
"I need it for the task, but I'm not allowed to bring it myself, so could you?" asked Harry again, this time shoveling his broom nearly at her face. His move was abrupt, and he mentally berated himself for almost smacking his broom over her head, but caught himself at the last moment. Who would have guessed that Ginny would step forward out of nowhere? Certainly not Harry.
Finally, Ginny seemed to comprehend what he wanted and reached for her hand. Their hands touched briefly when she grabbed the broom into her hand, as Harry was still holding it in the same spot.
"Of course Harry. Do you need anything else?" asked Ginny, slightly blushing. Harry quickly let go.
"No, not really. That's all. Thanks for doing that. It means a lot for me," said Harry, thinking about how much easier summoning it would be now if she was close enough. Much better than trying to summon it from the castle. He also saw curiously as Ginny's number went up again and now sitting at 66. He was getting an inkling of what it could mean, but now was really not the time for research. The impending task was the priority now, and he had to concentrate on that.
"No problem, anytime Harry," said Ginny, cleaning her robe for some specs of dust, not as she needed it. It looked clean enough for Harry. She was looking at a spot someway on the wall that looked remarkably boring. Why? Was she bored with him already? Maybe it was another girl thing he didn't get?
"Great. Ah, and by the way, I'm going to cast a summoning spell on it at some point, so don't hold it too tightly, okay?" warned Harry. He did not wish to summon her with the broom itself after all if she gripped it too tightly. Who knew what could happen to her that way? Better not risk her flying straight into the arena or wherever the dragon would be. Ginny paused her cleaning and looked over at Harry with glossed eyes. Her number went up, reaching 68, leaving Harry puzzled. Again? What did he do this time?
"Right. I'll do that. Now if you excuse me, I have to go," spit out Ginny quickly and hurried away, nearly running to catch up with her friends. She all but fled the scene for some unknown reason. Harry blinked a few times, looking at the place she disappeared from. Not letting that strange event get to him, Harry was sure that she was going to do what he asked of her, so he was not going to complain about her inexplainable frantic behavior. Oh, speaking of odd, Harry just spotted a familiar girl erratically making her way toward him. Was she skipping? Huh. He knew her, her name was-
"Hello Harry," greeted him a short pale blonde girl. It was a pleasant surprise seeing her actively talk to him. He thought their impromptu nighttime meeting was a one-time deal that would not repeat. He was wrong.
"Hello Luna," said back Harry. He finally used her name in the conversation, so glad he even remembered it just after one encounter. It genuinely surprised him to meet her. He thought she would go with the flow of other people and ignore him when he hadn't seen her all of yesterday. What would her friends say about seeing her with him? He wasn't well-liked in general at the moment, despite some people's support. Others, though? They were keeping their distance, especially his non-Gryffindor classmates.
"I had asked my daddy about the solution and I have it," exclaimed Luna brightly, looking around. True to her caution, there were a few students around, mostly from Gryffindor, gawking, ogling, looking as if they had paid no attention at the first glance. They were quite bad at it. It made sense she didn't want an audience.
"Do you want to hear it? Perhaps somewhere more private, out of the ears of everyone?" asked Luna. Sound advice, he wanted to be somewhere else as well.
"Sure, let's go," answered Harry as he lead her through the near-empty corridors toward the abandoned classroom he used just yesterday with Hermione. He already forgot about what kind of solution it should be, but it couldn't trouble him too much to hear it. It might even help him with the task. It was what he asked her, right? His memory was a bit fuzzy about it. As soon as they arrived, Luna took her wand and cast a spell directly at the door. Something like chirpindo or chirpiardo. Harry never heard of it or what it does. It sure didn't sound like a locking spell.
"Now we could talk clearly, without anyone listening in," answered Luna the unasked question Harry had on his tongue. It was some sort of masking spell or making silence? Harry was still not sure, as she failed to elaborate further.
"Okay," answered Harry instead, as he wanted to move on. He had a task to prepare for soon enough and wasting time on this seemed pointless at the moment.
"Here," all but shoved Luna something into Harry's hands. It was a rather large, slimy thing, like a lump of flesh. It was slightly gross, like some old decomposing Dudley's toys, or worse, dog treats from Marge. Harry shivered just to remember how she forced him to feed them, especially Ripper.
"What is it?" asked Harry pointedly, holding it in one hand as far from his body as he could. What the hell was this thing? He felt like throwing it away as fast as possible, but he wanted to hear what it does first, even though it looked far from something he would ever use.
"The solution," answered Luna in a matter-of-fact voice. As if that would explain anything.
"A solution for what exactly?" asked Harry, dreading the answer.
"To send the dragon away of course," brightly explained Luna with vigor, bouncing on her feet, happiness in her eyes. If only Harry could feel the same. Hmm, he spoke to her about something like that the previous night. But how would this thing help him?
"Hmm. Okay. Just a tiny little problem with that answer. I would appreciate it if you could explain one thing first and in great detail," slowly spoke Harry, nearly getting a headache trying to find what the hell this thing was used for.
"Sure Harry. What is it?" asked Luna curiously, blinking her eyelashes at him.
"How?" all but screamed Harry, barely keeping his voice down in frustration.
"Oh. Do you mean how to use it? You should have said so before," brightly said Luna as she continued her explanation, thankfully. Harry felt a large urge to facepalm, but his hands were feeling icky and gross, so he would rather not do that.
"You activate it by speaking the phrase on this parchment and then throw it at the dragon. Dragon eats it as it's a delicious treat for them and then, bum, it's whisked away. Simple," intoned Luna with the added gesticulation of her hands. There was nothing simple about this plan. And it all depended on this thing working as presented. It was quite a mad solution, really. Worse than outflying the dragon. Harry couldn't help but sigh.
"Have you used portkey before?" asked Luna. Harry thought about it. Wasn't portkey the thing that they used to get into the Cup? Was it an old shoe or a rope? He couldn't remember it clearly. So much happened after the match, after all.
"I did, once," answered Harry. What that had in common with the thing in Harry's hands. Oh, it was a portkey as well.
"Mm. nobody explained to you properly? You probably still don't understand, right?" pointed out Luna.
"Yeah," admitted Harry.
"Well. This is a portkey. It was made by my father and it's totally legal thing to own. In some cases, anyway. You have to have the approval of the ministry first and there are exceptions and so on," explained Luna, but most of it went over Harry's head, likely because Luna seemed to skip a lot of details. Legal? Approval? He wasn't going to prison after he used it, right?
"Most are either prepared to be used in a specific time and they usually activate for a larger group, or you could have one that activates on command and is more personal. Like this one," said Luna as she pointed at the undecipherable thing in Harry's hands.
"My father's portkey is special in a way as it has delayed activation of about 7 seconds and doesn't need the caster to hold it to activate. You really don't want to be holding it when it activates," explained Luna.
"Why?" asked Harry. Would that thing transport him away instead of the dragon? Probably. He could already see himself failing the task spectacularly that way.
"Because it will whisk you away, silly. Into a cage fit to hold a dragon, of course. You want to send the dragon there, not yourself, trust me," instructed Luna in a surprisingly deep voice.
"Okay. So let me get this straight. I active it by speaking the words on this parchment, throwing it and somehow let the dragon eat it without it failing, and the portkey in this thing will activate and port the dragon away to a place that is already built to hold it?" asked Harry trying to make sense of it. He hoped that this was how it worked.
"Yes," answered Luna. Good. It would be great if it worked, but he would not count on it.
"Hmm. I'll take it as a plan C for now. Anyway, you know I can't take this with me to the task, right?" asked Harry. Maybe plan D as the last resort when things went sideways.
"Ah," breathed out Luna, flustered. For the first time, it was she that appeared to be lost over how to continue.
"You could hold it for me at the tribune and I can summon it later when the need arises, okay?" asked Harry, eager to get rid of this disgusting thing. He hoped that Accio Luna's portkey would work on it if he needed it. Still, he would rather not, his first or second solution should work better.
"Sure. I will do that," answered Luna with a smile as she took it in her hands and skipped away, leaving Harry alone. Now he had to find a bathroom and fix his hands...
- •o• -
"Good luck, Harry," wished him Hermione as they walked together toward the already waving McGonagall. He finally met with her, briefly before the task. Apparently, she did the last bit of effort at studying at the library but found nothing that would help Harry.
"Thanks," said back Harry.
"I know you could do this. It will work out, I'm sure," said Hermione with a reassuring voice as she patted Harry on the shoulder when they reached their Head of the House.
McGonagall promptly ushered him toward the Champion's tent. Both of them looked as anxious as Harry felt. It was nerve-racking to walk with them. Harry felt like walking to his doom and no words of comfort helped him, even Hermione's. Harry wasn't sure what they asked of him, but to answer their worries, he spoke up.
"Yes, I'm fine," said Harry, but his voice skipped and his feelings were all over the place. He barely focused on walking, not paying attention to their words. Both McGonagall and Hermione look at each other and sighed in unison. Hermione even grumbled something about the signature line. Oh, he would sign nothing, especially anything that Skeeter presented to him if she was here. Hermione didn't need to worry about that. Stopping in front of the tent, Hermione brightly hugged him and went away, leaving Harry standing with an impatient teacher.
"Come inside, Mr. Potter," urged McGonagall, as she guided him with her hands.
Entering the tent, everything calmed down. No one spoke inside. Krum was looking at the tent's side, ignoring Harry and his Professor altogether. Cedric briefly looked up from tapping his foot, sitting on a stool, smiled with a lot of strain, and continued doing whatever it was he was doing with his hands. Fleur was twirling her wand around, looking at the ground. Her head quickly snapped in his direction but went back as quickly, her interest lost.
Soon enough, people like Headmasters and committee members entered. It was mostly Bagman talking, but Harry barely paid attention to them with how nervous he was. Until they picked up their dragons, he was like in a haze. For Harry, it was a small model of Hungarian Horntail. The worst from the bunch. Of course, his bad luck was shining once again.
Cedric paced around the tent, looking sick. Krum sat on the ground, folded his legs under him, and closed his eyes. Was he meditating? Maybe. Fleur looked a bit out of it, playing with a blue feather earring and muttering something under her breath in french. It could be a lullaby or a stream of curses, and Harry wouldn't notice the difference.
Cedric went to prepare as he was going first, leaving Bagman zoning straight at Harry.
"Harry. Could I have a quick word? Outside?" asked Bagman suddenly.
"... Yes," answered Harry, and stepped out of the tent. What did Bagman want?
"Feeling all right, Harry? Anything I can get you?" asked Bagman with a sleazy tone as he patted Harry's shoulder. He was acting as if he was a family friend or something, while he was not. It was rather unpleasant and concerning. Some of Vernon's coworkers behaved like that with Dudley. It was sickening. That fake familiarity. He knew it well from Lockhart."What?" asked Harry, not understanding why this person cared. "No, nothing," said Harry further, confused. What did he want with Harry? Help? Yeah right, waiting for the last moment too. It was kinda suspicious. No matter the solution, he had no time to actually implement it in any way.
"Got a plan?" asked Bagman, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "Because I don't mind sharing a few pointers, if you'd like them, you know. I mean," Bagman continued, lowering his voice further. There it was, a pitch to help him. He expected that already. Still, accepting the help from this man felt like a remarkably bad idea. Question was, why the sudden interest in helping Harry?
"Yes, I'm prepared," answered Harry, not at all pleased with this attention, trying to cut his answer short.
"Excellent. But you know, you are the underdog here, Harry. Anything I can do to help?" pushed Bagman once again. All smiles and grand gestures."No, I'm fine, thanks," said Harry quickly and dismissed the man. He didn't know this man and judging by his behavior so far, he was too fake and friendly toward Harry. It made him more suspicious about Bagman's motives. Harry had no way to know if any of this supposed help would be real and actually helped him or sabotage him, so he would rather not count on it.
"Nobody would know, Harry," said Bagman, winking at him. He was still trying, but Harry wouldn't budge his stance. Harry kept silent, not answering this time. This guy was on board that oversee the Tournament for Merlin's sake. What if that help ruined Harry in some way? It was even more against the rules than what Moody did. Fortunately, he was saved from this unwanted attention by a whistle."Good lord, I've got to run!" shouted Bagman in alarm, and hurried off. Finally. Harry walked back to the tent and saw Cedric moving out toward his task, sickly green in the face. Even Harry felt like that. Two more to go, and it was his time. The joy.
Author Notes:
I'm no longer sick, so I went back to writing. It came out rather well, the longest chapter so far in this fic. Unfortunately, I was lacking time to finish the chapter by Friday. I have done some editing on the cover again, so don't be surprised when two of the girls switched places. They are still the same ones.
I haven't shown numbers much in this chapter, but it was on purpose. It felt disruptive to the flow. I noted them in my sheet so I can plan for them later. The instances where they were important were shown, anyway.
No new revelation so far. Girls are staying hidden. But you can continue guessing. Even people who have written their guess previously. 3 correct guesses (from 3 different readers) to reveal what's behind the solid color. 3 girls per comment at most, but you can comment every time a new chapter is posted. Numbers to pick from are: 3,7,13,21,37,42,69. 127 is obviously Hedwig. Pair them with the girl you think is hidden behind the solid color in the picture to reveal her image. The number is always above it.
I recounted everything, even extra guesses from the second Ao3 chapter as both of the readers haven't put any on the last chapter (4). I hope they came back and put 3 new guesses in this chapter. Here is a spreadsheet with all the guesses so far, so you know what not to guess anymore. (FFN users unfortunately have to go without as I'm unable to share the image.)
These are wrong guesses:
3 – Luna, 13 – Ginny, 13 – Daphne, 7 – Hermione
Try someone else or a different number.
Tip for this round: I can say that at least one girl was guessed right so far and on the correct place too. When 3 people guess her, I'll make a reveal.