This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy.
"Regular conversation."
Printed Word in letters and newspapers.
{Parseltongue conversation}
[Iggy talking with Harry and Neville.]
"The Sorting Hat speaking and pontificating."
****ff*
Albus Dumbledore dreaded entering the Great Hall for any reason as the Christmas/Yule Holidays approached. Most days, nothing happened but then, the moment he relaxed, his robes would spit out Leprechauns, Teddy Bears, Baby Dolls, Toy Soldiers, Mechanical Toy Snakes, or Cherubim (winged baby angels). That surprise during breakfast emptied the entire hall faster than even the flock of Robin Red Breasts that dive bombed the adults and pooped on dessert.
Many students ate quickly and fled the Great Hall as soon as they saw the headmaster step through the door. The muggleborn taught the purebloods how to make a sandwich with bread, meat and cheese so no one went hungry. Flitwick and Sprout arranged with the house elves to make certain snacks were provided in all four dormitories when large numbers of students were deprived of the chance to eat because of some howler manifestation.
Tonight, was the Yule/Christmas Ball Celebrating the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Dumbledore wore colourful robes without any charms creating creatures on the panels of the cloth. In a moment of inspiration, Albus thought of putting the four dragons on his robes but then he was nauseous imaging the four dragons loose within the Great Hall. After negotiating with Lord Longbottom to allow the 'boy-who-vanished' to spend the holiday with this family if he would participate in the ball, Albus smiled convincingly as Lord and Lady Longbottom, Dowager Lady Longbottom, Heir Longbottom, and Heir Potter walked through the doors of the Great Hall to attend the dinner and ball.
Professor Flitwick volunteered to be the member of the faculty who would speak with Harry Potter. He greeted the family warmly with genuine happiness and led Potter back to the entry hall.
"Professor McGonagall failed to mention that you were to have an escort," Flitwick mentioned. "I hate that you will have to walk in alone."
"Don't worry about it professor," Harry replied. He watched as Krum, Fleur, and Diggory entered the entry hall with their dates–no one who registered as anyone known to Harry. His clique of friend were all home with their families for the holiday. As Deputy Headmistress McGonagall appeared to lead the champions into the Great Hall, a beautiful, red-headed woman appeared at Harry's side.
"Lily!" exclaimed Flitwick. "How is this possible?"
McGonagall stepped back when the lovely witch caught the eye of the deputy and her smile turned into a promise of retribution. There were shouts of horror and joy when Harry and his 'date' stepped into the Great Hall.
"Ghost! Demon!" were the most common shouts.
Severus Snape vomited everything he had ever eaten as the 'mother' and son approached him. Lily stepped close and whispered, "Time to die soon Severus! Time to die!"
The potions master ran screaming from the Great Hall to lock himself in his room. Albus Dumbledore was in similar shape but he had seen the dead body of Lily Potter and knew she had not been resurrected. McGonagall ordered an elf to bring her a bottle and she proceeded to sip from it for the rest of the night.
The reporter from the Daily Prophet was just as mesmerized by the vision of Lily and Harry at the table, and then on the dance floor. The photographer had made so many pictures of the Potters, he forgot to photograph Delacour and her date, Diggory and his date, and Krum and his date. Victor had the presence of mind to cut in on Harry and the photographer did capture the look of enjoyment on Lily's face to be dancing with the tall and handsome quidditch player. That would be just about the only picture that didn't feature Harry Potter run in the next day's Daily Prophet.
At one point in the evening, Dumbledore approached the couple and began to chide Harry for somehow arranging this glamour. Grinning from ear-to-ear, Lily Potter suddenly transformed into a youth who spoke German and with just a few sentences, sent Dumbledore hurrying from the room. Then the figure transformed into Sirius Black who began laughing and then disappeared.
Now the Boy-Who-Lived walked over to Madam Maxime and thanked her for a lovely evening before he too vanished.
"That's our clue," Neville said as he, his mum, dad, and grandmother all vanished.
"Did anyone make any photographs of anyone but Potter and his date?" asked Flitwick.
++***++ Breakfast the Next Morning.
"Harry, who was your date?" asked his mum at the breakfast table the next morning as everyone in the family discussed the photographs of Harry and Lily on the dance floor. "She looked like Lily but your mum wouldn't have come back without James. I'm sure they're inseparable even in the afterlife."
Neville grinned and explained, "Mum, that was Lady Hogwarts. Didn't you notice her perfume? She wears No.6 Lady Hogwarts and she's the only person who wears pure No.6."
"And who was the young man, she turned into?" asked Dad.
Augusta replied, "I believe that was Gellert Grindelwald as a young man who spent his summers in Godric's Hollow with his aunt, Bathilda Bagshot."
"Grindelwald? Dumbledore knew Grindelwald?" asked Alice.
To change the subject, Augusta added, "And, I don't think there are any photos of the other champions in the paper."
"The Bulgarian got a spread on page 4 with his turn on the dance floor with Lily," Frank said. "But Diggory and the French bird got nothing."
"Wow!" Harry said as he flipped through the Daily Prophet. "Both my mums are gorgeous!"
++***++ End Scene.
The Second Task
To help their champions, Madam Maxime and Professor Sprout made certain that Fleur and Cedric knew the clues that would have been hidden in the golden eggs that weren't able to retrieve. Cho Chang heard the clue and withdrew from Hogwarts for a time – she had a paralyzing fear of water and drowning. Fleur's date, a boy from Beauxbatons ignored the information. Victor and his date discussed the clue and the girl believed that nothing would happen to her.
The February morning was cold as only a midwinter morning could be. The bitterly cold air blowing off Black Lake cut through warming charms, impervious clothing, and footwear of all kinds. Children from the school trudged to the stands but usually slipped away after only a moment or two. With quickly thrown notice-me-not charms compliments of Professor Flitwick, students from the first three years vanished back to Hogwarts. Harry appeared five minutes before the appointed time to begin and endured the frowns of Diggory and Delacour. Krum kept his sense of humour under control as the other two champions whined about Harry stealing all the publicity.
There were catcalls from the stands for and against each of the champions. The judges kept their wands in constant use, attempting to stay warm. Lugman, the ever-present bureaucrat, attempted to begin contest with a sonorous charm but the cold wind cut through the spell as quickly as it did the warming charms.
Not enjoying the cold and certainly not intending to dive into Black Lake in the middle of winter, Harry cast charms that made the area just off the dock impervious to diving. At the moment the whistle blew, Harry cast a spell that made the lake bubble up and capture everyone's attention. While no one was watching him, and the other three champions began to drop their robes before diving into the lake, the four hostages appeared on the dock.
"I didn't know which was mine…" Harry replied when Dumbledore asked the boy why all four hostages were on the dock before the other champions could get into the water. After Dumbledore fussed for a time, Harry learned that Professor Sprout was Diggory's hostage, a small girl was Delacour's hostage, one of the girls from Durmstrang Institute was Krum's hostage. Harry's hostage was a young woman from Ravenclaw named Marietta Edgecomb, a witch Harry had no classes with or any social contacts.
Dumbledore declared, "Potter! You destroyed this contest! I shall expel you!"
"On any other day, I would welcome an expulsion but you can't expel me while I am a contestant." Harry cheekily replied.
Lugman asked, "How do the others compete, now?"
Harry shrugged and replied, "Well, I guess I could put them back…"
"No!" shouted Sprout. "We are awake now. If you put us back, we'll drown."
No one received any points in the second task and Harry received all the publicity again with his photograph all over the Daily Prophet again.
++***++ End Scene