POTTER RESURGENCE
Chapter 19
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J. K Rowling.
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November 1st 1994
Harry's Lab
"I know who put my name in the Goblet." Hardwin said and across him, Harry prompted with a raised eyebrow. "It was Wormtail!"
"I suspected as much." Harry nodded. "Bug how can you be so sure."
"He admitted it...to Voldemort I mean."
"Wait_" Harry leaned forward. "You had another vision?"
"Yeah." He replied, rubbing his scar. "The bloody thing hasn't stopped itching since I woke up."
Harry drew his wand and waved it over Hardwin's forehead. Like last time, he felt something cold seeping into his scar and the itching stopped immediately. "Better?"
"Yeah, thanks." There had been some lingering pain in his head but it had disappeared too. "Which spell is that? And can you teach it to me?"
"It is a dark variant of the basic healing charm, Episkey, and no you don't want to learn something like this." Harry replied. "Can I take a look?"
"Sure."
Tapping into their bond, Harry easily slipped into his mind. He watched from the Dark Lord's point of view as Pettigrew knelt before him and declared his mission complete.
"Has the boy been entered in the tournament?" Voldemort asked in a hard cold voice.
"They're both in the tournament, my Lord." Wormtail answered, bowing down even further and Harry felt a spike of anger from Voldemort.
"You were supposed to enter the Gryffindor, not both of them, Wormtail!" Voldemort hissed.
"I had nothing to do with the other, my Lord." Pettigrew hurried to answer. He opened his mouth to speak again but swiftly closed it.
"Speak, Wormtail if you have something to say." Voldemort leaned forward. "Or do you wish for me to take it from your mind."
When Wormtail just continued staring with wide eyes, a bone-white wand appeared in Harry's peripheral and the Dark Lord whispered the legilimens spell and the memory ended.
Harry blinked as he came out of Hardwin's mind. "I don't think his mission was only about getting you in the tournament."
"I thought as much." Hardwin nodded. "He has gotten more followers even weakened as he is."
In the memory, Harry had seen six other robed figures standing on the other side of the room behind Pettigrew. They were all wearing their Death Eater masks and so their faces couldn't be seen. Harry had however recognized two of them.
One from his posture and the other from the distinctive ring on his finger. He wondered if Hardwin had noticed them too and so he brought it up.
"Sirius told me that they had been tipped off that something was going to happen yesterday." Harry said. "There had been a whole squadron of Aurors around Hogwarts last night."
"So that's what he and Tonks were doing here." Hardwin mused. "It seems Snape is back to his spying which means Wormtail had been recruiting too."
"So it would seem." Harry sighed. "The Dark Lord is a crafty fellow. Whatever he is planning...we need to find out or something very bad is going to happen to the magical world."
"And how do you propose we go about that?"
"We get a spy of our own within his ranks." Harry said. "And I think I know just the right person."
"Harry, I don't mean to doubt you or anything but how do you plan on getting a spy near him." Hardwin asked. "As you can see he is only surrounding himself with people he only trusts, he is not even recruiting and even if he was, for someone to get close enough to learn his secrets fast enough is impossible."
"Just leave that to me." Harry waved his concerns away. "For you just work on something that will ensure the Dark Lord doesn't use your connection on you."
"Oh." Hardwin paled. "I hadn't even thought of that. He could be listening in even this instant!"
"I don't think he is aware of it yet which is why we need to keep it between us and mom." Harry told him. "Because I assure you, the moment he finds out about it, he will most definitely use it."
"Merlin, what do I do?"
"I don't know, you'll have to figure it out yourself." Harry shrugged. "And just to be safe, I won't be discussing with you anything I deem sensitive. We should probably get the remaining horcruxes as soon as possible before he gets the knowledge that we are aware of them from your head."
"Way to be supportive."
"There may come a time where I'm not around to give you solutions to every one of your problems." Harry ignored his sarcasm. "You've got to learn to deal with things like this."
"But, Harry this is important." Hardwin said. "If that bastard manages to breach my mind then everything we have worked for will be lost! Is this really the time to teach me a lesson?"
"I'm not just trying to teach you brother. I have no idea what to do to help you and I feel it will be easier for you to come up with a solution by yourself." Harry said grimly. "This is all on you brother, it is your mind, there is nothing I could do to help you even if I wanted to."
Harry paused.
"Well, unless he tries to possess you then I can use our link to help you fight him but protecting your mind_" he shook his head. "There's nothing I can do for you. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to do a bit of plotting to make sure we're not caught off-guard when the Dark Lord finally outs himself and untill you have handled your mind problem, don't expect me to tell you anything."
And with that, Harry walked out of the lab leaving Hardwin by himself. He slumped in his seat and his head fell on the table with a thud. "Bloody hell."
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"You wanted to see me, Harry?" Daphne asked as she entered the room of requirements. It was in the form of the Lord's study at Potter Manor and Harry was seated behind a huge desk. He gestured for Daphne to seat across him.
"How much does your father know of our... arrangement?" Harry asked without preamble.
"Arrangement...do you mean the lessons? He was pretty thrilled that me and Astoria are close to you in some way." Daphne said. "He would have come to you with a betrothal if my mom let him."
"That's...good to know but it's not what I was talking about." Harry shook his head. "I mean the four favors your house owes me."
"Oh, well he knows how someone helped me and that they punished Lockhart for what he had done to me for four unconditional favors as payment." Daphne explained. It had been some time since they had talked about it that it had even gone out of her mind.
"So he doesn't know that it's me who the favors are owed to?" Daphne nodded. "You should tell him, because I plan on calling some favours soon."
"Okay, if you're sure." Daphne said. "May I ask what brought this on all of a sudden?"
"You'll hear about it soon enough, I'm sure." Harry replied mysteriously before he became serious again. "Could you please arrange a meeting with him, prefferably on the day of the first task?"
"Are you calling in one of the favors?" Daphne asked and Harry raised an eyebrow.
"You tell me." He replied staring at her. "Should I?"
As much as Daphne wanted to get rid of the four favors, she couldn't force Harry to use one for something as simple as this. It would be very stupid on her part as Harry would never just let it go like that. She was a Slytherin for a reason after all.
"I could do it for you as a favor." She offered knowing that if Harry agreed, he would be owing her a favor in return. And from someone with Harry's power who was still growing, both politically and magically, having him arrange a meeting for you was no simple favor.
"Very well." Harry smiled. "I would like to meet him on the day of the first task."
"Alright." She smiled back at him before she started looking nervous. It was not a common look on the Ice Queen of Slytherin. "Hey, Harry, there's usually a yule ball held at the school which hosts the Tri-Wizard tournament, I was wondering if you_"
"You wish to be my escort at the ball." Harry said and she nodded. "I have to admit, I haven't given much thought to the ball but when I do, I'll certainly put you in consideration."
"Thanks, Harry." She smiled. "If that's all, I'll be leaving now."
She turned and headed for the door. Just as she was about to open it, Harry called to her.
"Daphne." She froze. Harry rarely called anyone by their first name. "If someone you wouldn't mind going with asks you, don't refuse. Even if I don't go with you, I'll be sure to save you a dance. Just don't put all your hopes in me, alright?"
She nodded and left.
Harry sighed and rubbed his temples. Here he was trying to think of how to defeat Voldemort and now he had to deal with girls too. As if he didn't have enough on his plate, and speaking of girls, Draco had just entered and he didn't look happy at being summoned.
"You called for me?" He asked with a glare and Harry frowned at him.
"Draco_" he started, voice hard. "As your patron, I can summon you whenever I want, I can make you eat a flobberworm, I can make you kiss my feet in front of the great hall, have you do anything I wish for and you would be in no position to refuse."
He let his aura free.
"Something as simple as calling you for a meeting is a curtsey I'm doing you as I could have fed magic in our bond and you would be summoned right next to me no matter where you were." Draco's eyes had widened and he was barely keeping himself from falling on his knees. "The only reason I don't do any of those things is that I respect you and expect the same from you, but if you wish for our relationship to be that of fear, I can accommodate you as well. Is that what you want?"
With Harry's aura pressing on him, Draco could only manage to shake his head a little. Harry stared at him for a long time, his aura increasing in intensity by the second and Draco fought with the whole of his will to stay standing. His knees were shaking_ no, his whole body was shaking from the effort.
And then as suddenly as it had appeared, the force pressing on him disappeared. He staggered towards the seat opposite Harry and practically collapsed in it. "Sorry, I was just in the middle of something when the small Greengrass asked me to meet you."
"Well, then I'm sorry for the interruption." Harry leaned forward. "But just between me and you, you stand no chance, Draco. You can barely withstand her veela aura and you honestly expect her to be your escort at the ball?"
Draco's ears turned red. "How do you even know that?"
"I have my ways." Harry replied mysteriously. Honestly, while Draco had been scared out of his mind, Harry had been filtering through his memory to see what had initially caused Draco's anger. "But never mind that, I need to speak with your father."
"Why?" Draco asked suspiciously.
"Let's just say that it involves our mutual friend and leave it at that, shall we?" Harry replied. "On the 21st is a Hogsmead weekend, so I can get out of the castle without much suspicion."
"You know I can't just tell him that you want a meeting and he will come running, right?"
"Just tell him that it is about the meeting he had yesterday with five of his associates and Wormtail." Harry told him. "I'm sure he will be interested."
"Who is Wormtail?"
"Your father knows him." Harry answered. "And if he agrees, I'll be meeting him at Malfoy Manor. It is supposed to be a private meeting, I doubt any of our respective associates will look upon it favourably."
"I... alright." Draco sighed. "I would really feel better if I knew what it's about, but I guess it's none of my business."
"Actually_" Harry started. "I think your father will be more cooperative with you present. Just don't tell him that you'll be there in the meeting. I want to surprise him."
"My father isn't very fond of surprises."
"What a coincidence, I don't like them either." Harry grinned. "I think we're going to get along swimmingly."
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The days seemed to fly by without anything of particular interest to Harry. Rita Skeeter had written an article describing how a glory-hound Hardwin is for sneaking his way into the tournament. Harry had refused Barnabas from printing it as they were trying to get good will from the people, not hatred.
The next day, she wrote an article about Harry being Lord Potter. He had yet to find out how she got the information but he had refused Barnabas from printing it either as he wanted to keep that a secret untill he took his seat in the Wizengamot.
Many other articles were written over the days, none of which showed Harry or Hardwin in a positive light and Harry had rejected all of them. And now Skeeter had resorted to spreading rumors about them, while threatening to leave the Daily Prophet.
People didn't listen much, after all the papers were singing praises for them and in the Magical world, newspapers were gospel. Harry had been itching for a chance to have a few words with her, turns out she was going to be the one to cover the wand weighing ceremony.
When the article that said Hardwin wasn't going to compete despite being selected came out, Hardwin had another vision that night of the Dark Lord and he hadn't been happy. He had tortured Wormtail with the cruciatus curse for over three minutes as the other five watched on.
While it had been unpleasant to witness, it led Harry to believe that Hardwin was crucial in whatever the Dark Lord was planning especially after the man had told Pettigrew along with the other five that they must come up with a way of getting Hardwin to him when the time comes.
Harry was aware that the Dark Lord's top most plan was getting a fully functional body. The fact that he needed Hardwin to be present could only mean that he would play a part in getting his body back. And so, for the next weeks, Harry spent most of his free time going through the tomes on rituals the Goblins had bought for him.
None of them had anything to do with resurrection rituals. At this point, he was getting desperate enough to seek out Dumbledore's help. Which was why he was standing outside the man's office after breakfast on the very day of the wand weighing ceremony.
"Come in, Mr. Potter." The Headmaster called before Harry could knock. He pushed open the door to find him already seated behind his large desk. "Lemon drop?"
"No, thank you." Harry replied as he took his seat opposite the old man. "Sorry for dropping on you unannounced, headmaster."
"Oh, it's alright. Gives me an excuse not to start on all this paperwork from last night's Wizengamot session." The man said gesturing at a pile of parchment on the table. "Shouldn't you be in class, though?"
"Well, as a champion, I'm exempted from attending lessons if I wish." Harry replied. "And I figured that missing a single lesson of History of Magic won't affect my performance much."
"Very well." The man replied as he leaned on the desk, his hands pushed in the sleeves of his robes. "What then can I help you with, Mr. Potter, or would you prefer Lord Potter?"
"No, just Mr. Potter is fine." Harry waved him off. "As for why I'm here, I believe the Dark Lord is planning to kidnap my brother for a ressurection ritual."
There was a minute twicth in the corners of Dumbledore's eyes and only Harry's sharp eyes were able to catch it. "And how did you come to that conclusion?"
"Do you know of any ritual that needs blood from your archenemy?" Harry asked without answering. "Maybe we can sabotage it somehow."
"I can't say I'm an expert at rituals, especially the dark kind." Dumbledore said. "However be rest assured that Tom will not be getting to your brother, not while he is in this castle. I'm sure you have noticed the Aurors who are always on the school grounds."
There were always about five Aurors scouting the school grounds who were changed every week. Mark, Tonks' boyfriend had been among this week's group but for some reason, the guy didn't seem to like Harry too much if the glaring whenever they ran into each other was any indication.
Harry nodded. "Why has Remus not come back? I thought he was supposed to come back two weeks ago."
"Mr. Lupin's assignment was extended but he will be back in time for Christmas." Dumbledore assured him. "And speaking of assignments..."
Dumbledore stood up and walked over to the wall. There was a platform right next to Fawkes' perch and on top of it was a box. Dumbledore carefully lifted it and came back to his seat before he silently pushed the box towards Harry.
Harry drew his wand and waved it over the box, casting a number of detection spells but none of them could tell him what was in the box. Without touching it, he sat back in his seat.
"What is in there?"
"Something I was hoping you can help me with." Dumbledore replied. "The last time you were in my office, you gave me a task and I'm glad to say that I have completed it. However, despite my best efforts, I'm unable to destroy the abomination within that box."
Harry reached over for the box and lifted the lid. He was immediately hit with the foul aura of the horcrux coming from the cup within. It was a shining golden cup with two finely wrought handles on either side and a badger engraved on its surface that glinted from the light streaming through the window.
Helga Hufflepuff's cup, no one knew what abilities the cup was supposed to have given that all the other founders' artifacts are supposed to have some distinct abilities.
"It's unforgivable what Tom did to those artifacts." Dumbledore said with a mouthful look. "Once we destroy this however, we shall be one step closer to defeating him once and for all. If you could do the honors, please."
"Oh, you do not want to destroy that thing from in here." Harry shook his head. "Not if you want your office to still be standing when it is done."
"I'm sure between the the two of us we can contain any damage it could do." Dumbledore said and levitated the cup from the box, placing it on the table. "Please."
Without another word, Harry summoned his dagger. When he destroyed the diadem, all magic and enchantments on it had been broken, which meant that the dagger was now capable of undoing magic, something not even Carnwennan, Arthur's dagger on which Harry's was based had been capable of.
As Dumbledore watched curiously, Harry unsheathed the dagger and placed one edge on top of the cup. With it being at fifteen inches, it easily covered the small cup's diameter and with little effort, Harry pushed down and sliced the cup into two halves from top to bottom.
Rather than the explosion of magic he had been expecting, there was only a little bit of wind, not even enough to lift the parchment on Dumbledore's desk which was accompanied by a brief wail as the horcrux died. It was anticlimactic to say the least and the two wizards were left in silence. Dumbledore was eyeing Harry's dagger and Harry felt that now was good a time as any to excuse himself.
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November 21st 1994
Harry whistled a pleasant tune he had learned in muggle kindergarten before Hogwarts as the carriage picked it's way towards Hogsmead. The temperatures had started dropping around the castle and his companion was glaring at him as he stuck his head through the window.
"Will you stop whistling!" Draco glared. "And will you close the bloody window, it's freezing in here!"
"It isn't that cold." Harry replied, completely uncaring about his glare. "Besides, how will I greet my adoring fans if the window is closed."
Harry waved at a group of third years who waved back enthusiastically. It had been like this ever since he left the castle and with how many fans he seemed to have, his head had been in the window the entire journey. Every carriage they passed, someone would call him and he would wave back at them pleasantly.
"What, getting jealous at all the attention I'm getting?"
Draco didn't take the bait. "Just close the window, Potter."
"We are here!" Harry exclaimed as the carriage came to a stop. He jumped out and patted the thestrals in thanks before moving along with the growing crowd.
As they picked their way through the village, Harry would occasionally stop and have a word with someone, some times a student or even a shopkeeper as they congratulated him for being a champion. It took them about thirty minutes to leave the village but soon they were approaching the Shrieking Shack.
Once they were out of sight, Harry used Bill's watch and port-keyed both of them to Malfoy Manor just at the edge of the wards. He knew where they ended as he had already been here while hunting for horcruxes. They were welcomed by Narcissa who was pleasantly surprised to see her son as well.
After a 'lovely' greeting between the two where Draco tried to look dignified while his mother hugged the life out of him, Narcissa led them into the Manor. She led Harry to Lucius' study while she dragged her protesting son away to Merlin knows where.
"I could offer you a drink, Mr. Potter but I don't have butterbeer or pumpkin juice." Lucius said when they were seated.
"Oh, don't worry about me." Harry waved him off. "I had such a heavy breakfast that if I put anything else in here I'll probably burst."
"Yeah that would be a bother to clean." The man nodded. "Why are you here, Potter?"
"I'm here to help you." Lucius scoffed. Harry went on nonetheless. "You wish to protect your family, and I can help you with that."
"What would a little boy like you know about something like that?" Malfoy sneered and Harry stared at him.
So this is how the man wanted to play.
"I'm not going to try to prove myself to you, Malfoy." Harry said. "You know exactly what I'm capable of, otherwise you wouldn't have agreed to this meeting. So why don't we save each other's time and get to the point?"
"All I know are the praises my son has been singing of you, and the only reason I agreed to invite you was because his mother begged me to, hoping that you would bring him along." Malfoy replied, his sneer still in place.
"No, Malfoy." Harry shook his head. "I have seen the conversation you're talking about, Narcissa was only hoping that I would bring Draco along after you told her of our meeting."
Lucius stilled, his face cold and expressionless as he started letting his aura free. "What do you mean you saw?"
"It was her most prominent thought when we arrived and she saw her son." Harry replied. "You see, wizards like me tend to pick up things like that even when we don't want to."
"You invaded my wife's mind." Malfoy stated, his aura growing in intensity but Harry was unaffected. "Tell me one reason why I shouldn't kill you this instant."
"Everyone in Hogsmead saw me leaving the village with your son, I'm sure it will be all over Witch Weekly so make that the whole wizarding world." Harry leaned in his seat. "I'm sure I don't have to spell out what will happen if I don't make it back to Hogwarts in perfect health."
Lucius just kept staring at him.
"Anyway." Harry continued. "You know who owns the Daily Prophet, ever since I entered you've been occasionally glancing on my ring so you know that I'm Lord Potter. And the fact that I know of that meeting on Halloween and the one two days later where you were tasked to kidnap my brother should prove to you that I'm perfectly serious about this."
"What do you want, Potter?"
"While the Dark Lord is still alive, your family will not be safe. How long untill he wants to live here? Untill he wants to prove your loyalty and asks you to kill your wife?" Harry lowered his voice. "Or kill your son for losing his most prized possession?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You didn't think that was just a cursed diary, did you?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. "That diary was one of the things that kept your master from dieing even when his body was destroyed. And you went and gave it to Weasley and it ended up being destroyed."
Lucius was now staring at Harry with wide eyes as he realized just what kind of trouble he was in. Seeing that his point had been driven home, Harry felt like making it more apparent.
"All the other objects have been destroyed apart from one and it is why I'm here." Harry said. "I'm not sure what will happen if all of them are destroyed when he doesn't have a body but I know that he can't make more even if he wanted."
"The Dark Lord has a body." Harry raised an eyebrow in question and Lucius hesitated before he continued. "Calling it a 'body' may be stretching the word a little but he isn't a shade any more."
"Yeah, I had assumed as much but I wasn't sure." Harry hummed in thought. "And this ritual that he is planning to do, will it require him to leave this body he has now?"
"I don't know the details but I doubt he would want anyone to see him in such a state." Malfoy shook his head. "Even in this form, he only allows his most faithful or those he knows can never betray him."
"December 31st." Harry said. "You should do it on that day."
"What do you want me to do?" Lucius asked. "And why on that day?"
"I want you to kill Nagini." Harry told him. "Without Nagini, once his body is destroyed, he will be gone for good."
"Once his body is destroyed?" Lucius scoffed. "How do you plan to go about that? Another fluke like on Halloween that night?"
"Oh, but it was no fluke." Harry grinned. "Ever wondered why the Dark Lord came to Godric's Hollow that night in the first place, when he could have just sent a whole bunch of Death Eaters after mom and dad?"
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That night, Harry sat on the ground next to Hardwin after their duel in the chamber of secrets. His talk with Malfoy had gone just as he had hoped and if the slippery man succeed, then they would have only the horcrux in Hardwin's head to worry about.
Even with the steps they had taken, there was still a possibility that the man could warn the Dark Lord hoping to be forgiven for losing the diary but Harry knew that the Dark Lord wasn't the forgiving kind. And so did Lucius, the blond knew exactly what would happen if the Dark Lord found out the loss of his leteral lifeline and the only way to keep his family safe would be to ensure the Dark Lord died.
"You have improved." Harry commented. "A lot."
"Well, I figured that if I can't defend my mind, I should at least be able to defend my body." Hardwin replied. "I heard that you went on a date with Draco, is there something I should know about, brother?"
"Well, Draco is certainly pretty but he isn't my kind of pretty." Harry said and Hardwin snorted. "You know very well I prefer my prettty accompanied by protrusions in certain areas and Draco is solely lacking in that department."
"Only you, Harry can make such a topic so...bland." Hardwin shook his head. "So what were you two up to in the Shrieking Shack if not snogging and_"
"Okay, I'm going to stop you right there." Harry interrupted him. "First of all, I did not want that in my head. Secondly, we did not go to the Shrieking Shack, we went to Malfoy Manor."
"Oh, don't tell me." Harry looked at him in question. "If you're going to tell me what I think you are, then don't, not while my mind is still open to being breached."
"No, brother." Harry shook his head. "The Dark Lord will not dictate for us how we live our lives."
"That's all well and good but there's still a risk of him getting in my head."
"Then we'll just have to kill him before he finds out about the connection." Harry replied. "And if Malfoy does as we have agreed, then the next time we come face to face with the Dark Lord, we shall finish this once and for all."
And so Harry told him of everything they had talked about with Lucius. Hardwin was predictably sceptical that Lucius would go through with it and not betray them.
"Oh, but he is unable to, since he doesn't remember."
"What do you mean?"
"You see, the Dark Lord doesn't have any qualms at occasionally reading his servants' minds and we obviously don't want him to find out." Harry explained. "Lucius suggested I modify the events of our meeting. Just tiny modifications that even a master occulmens would have a hard time finding in their own mind."
Hardwin knew that Harry was unmatched when it came to the mind arts. Only equal to Voldemort himself and he hoped it would be enough as this gamble while it was likely what they needed to end this, it also had a high chance of blowing up in their faces.
"So if he doesn't know that he's supposed to blow up Nagini, how will he...know that he is supposed to blow up Nagini?" Hardwin paused. "Yeah that sounded different in my head."
"Clearly." Harry drawled. "Anyway, the memory charm will fail on the morning of 31st. Even if Lucius fails to kill the snake, by that time, I'd have been able to destroy the remaining horcrux. We can always take out the snake when we take out Voldy."
"I don't know, Harry, this plan is depending a little too much on luck." Hardwin sighed. "And she has never been been one of our greatest friends. Not to mention depending on luck? It's just so unlike you, brother."
"I know, Hardwin but...it's the best I could come up with, alright." Harry sighed, rubbing his temples. "Alot is happening right now, the tournament, finding the Dark Lord's prison, cracking and modifying the divine seal, the horcrux in your head, all those favors, now my duties as Lord Potter, getting father back as well as keeping him contained...it's just becoming a bit too much for me that my brain is probably having trouble keeping up."
"Yeah, let's not forget Draco, your inner-circle, Luna, Hermione, your company, the businesses in Diagon Alley_ bloody hell, Harry how are you not insane?"
"Not helping." Harry rolled his eyes and Hardwin just laughed. When he was finished, the two were quiet for a few minutes before Hardwin spoke again.
"Sometimes I try to imagine what life would have been like had I not been with a brother." He said quietly. "And all I come up with is a blank. If you hadn't been in my life, I would have probably drowned in mom's womb."
Harry looked at him incredulously and he just smiled.
"It's stupid I know but I'm only the person I am because of you, Harry." Hardwin said. "I wouldn't survive even a second if I were in your shoes. You're just so...I even don't know how to describe it but you're one of a kind, brother, which is why I have absolute faith in you."
Hardwin looked at Harry seriously.
"If you think this plan will work, then I trust you." He continued. "And even if it doesn't, then we shall come up with something else. Half of the things bothering you will end with Voldemort's death, so just hang in there a little bit longer, alright?"
"You're so bad at this it's not even funny." Harry shook his head as he stood up.
"Hey, I'm trying, okay?" Hardwin followed him. "What do you want me to say, that I'll help you with some of your problems? I wouldn't know where to start even if I wanted, which would need me to want to in the first place."
"You don't want to handle a few of my problems for me?"
"Hell no!" He answered without missing a beat. "Why would I even want to subject myself to that?"
"Some brother you are."
"If you had wanted to be the cool brother who gets to play Quidditch and joke around while the other is covered in plots and worry, you shouldn't have come out first." Hardwin said trying his best to do a Dumbledore impression. "That is what you get for being the elder brother, Mr. Potter, you made your bed and now you must lay in it, my boy."
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November 24th 1994
Hogwarts grounds
Tonks it turned out was single. She was among the group that were guarding the castle this week and the moment she arrived she had sought the twins out. When Harry brought up Mark, Tonks had told them that they broke up.
Apparently the guy had gotten pissed when Tonks left with Harry to go to Pivot Ise when she had been supposed to go with him. A series of things happened after that which made Tonks realize that their little romance wasn't going anywhere and she broke up with him.
But Tonks was the furthest from his mind right now as he didn't even know where she was. The person in front of him right now was his mother and she had been fretting over him for the last five minutes.
"Are you sure you're ready, Harry?"
"Mom, I've known about the dragons from the moment the plans for the tournament were made." Harry said. "Do you honestly believe that I wouldn't have come up with a plan by now?"
"I know, just...be careful, alright?" She hugged him one more time. "Don't you go and do something stupid, you hear me? Just go and do what you have to and get out of there."
"Yes, mom." Harry nodded and barely kept himself from rolling his eyes when she hugged him again.
"Mr. Potter!" Ludo Bagman called from the champion's tent. "We are waiting for you."
Harry left his worried mom and entered the champions tent. Fleur and Viktor were already there and were holding tiny models of dragons. Fleur was holding a Welsh Green with a number two around its neck while Viktor had scarlet Chinese fireball with a number one.
Harry reached into the bag Bagman was holding for him and pulled out the remaining figure. A Hungarian Horntail with number three. It spread its wings and flashed it's fangs at him.
Bagman left them alone for a few minutes before Viktor was called. He sat down with Fluer and listened silently to the commentary and the shouting from the crowd. About ten minutes later, Viktor got his egg and the whistle was blown calling Fleur.
Harry stood up to wish her success but he was cut off when the girl grabbed him into a tight hug. Without saying anything, she turned around and walked out of the tent. Harry stood there in surprise for a minute before shaking his head and taking his seat once again. "I don't have time for this."
As he listened to Bagman's commentary, Harry could feel his heart beating faster in anticipation. When the whistle blew to call him, he was already pumped and he felt like he could take on the dragon with his bare hands.
He stood up to leave and just as he opened the flap, somebody stumbled into him and he he fell into the tent with the other person on top of him. Pushing back to his feet, he looked at the other person.
"Tonks?" He asked with a smile. "Are you supposed to be here?"
"I'm probably not supposed to do this either." And with that, she pulled him close to her and kissed him. It wasn't deep, nor was it very long but it was definitely pleasant. When she pulled back, her whole face was red, hair included. "For luck."
And with that she left. Harry blinked at the place she had previously occupied for a few seconds before shaking his head. "I really don't have time for this."
Straightening his favorite coat, which had the Hogwarts badge proudly printed at the back, Harry walked out of the tent and thankfully no one stumbled into him this time. He picked his way on the short path untill he used the champions entrance to enter the arena.
The arena shook from the noise when the crowd caught sight of him. Banners were being waved around with the Hogwarts badge and his picture. One large one stood out the most amongst the others. On it was printed in large letters 'POTTER FOR HOGWARTS' and under it was the Hogwarts badge.
What stood out about it was the multitude of colors it flashed every second. He could barely make out Luna's face jumping and shouting at the top of her voice under the banner. Around her were what people had started referring to as his inner-circle and they too were shouting just as much.
Grinning widely, he turned to his opponent and there she was, the Horntail, at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half-furled, her evil, yellow eyes upon him, a monstrous, scaly, black lizard, thrashing her spiked tail, heaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground.
She saw Harry steadily approaching and let out a loud ground shaking roar. When he didn't stop his advance, she stood up and extended her long spiked neck while still standing over her eggs. She let out another roar, this time even louder than the first one, daring him to come any nearer.
Harry grinned wider and drew his wand. He took two steps forward and stopped, his heart pumping and blood racing, full of adrenaline. The dragon clearly didn't appreciate his attitude. It spread its gigantic wings and let out a long stream of fire towards Harry.
It was game on.
-PRPRPRPRPR-
AN: I have thought of hundreds of ways Harry was going to get that egg and there's nothing I'm looking forward to than writing the next chapter.
Hope you all are as well.
