POTTER RESURGENCE

Chapter 22

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J. K Rowling.

-PRPRPRPRPR-

January 2nd 1995

Astronomy Tower

Hogwarts

Harry sighed and pushed his hands deeper into the pockets of his coat. The cold wind was blowing through the tower but it had no effect on him thanks to Tonks' gift. And speaking of Tonks, he hadn't seen his friend since the ball, she wasn't among those that had been assigned on guard duty that week and was running some errands for the entire week. Or so she told him through Sirius.

Harry thought that she was cross with him for ditching her at the ball to go after the horcrux, he would have been too if he was in her position. However, he still wasn't sure if he was ready for a serious relationship right now, especially with Voldemort looming in the background. Was he willing to put Tonks in the cross hairs between him and the Dark Lord? Because there was no way the man wasn't going to go after her if he knew what relationship she had with Harry.

Then again, the fact that she was in Dumbledore's order meant that she was already a target, not to mention she was a half-blood which automatically made her his enemy. Either way, Tonks was going to be fighting, and woe to the man who told her otherwise, Harry was certainly not him.

Looking at the note in his hand which he had received minutes ago during breakfast, Harry sighed and leaned back against the wall. He didn't have time to dwell on his relationship with Tonks, perhaps it was better to just leave things to play out by themselves. For once, he decided that he would let an aspect of his life be controlled by the universe. He never had much control in it anyway.

"Harry Potter." An airy voice said and Harry turned to look at the speaker. "Something ails you."

"Hello Helena." The Ravenclaw ghost looked as beautiful as always. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"I couldn't seek you out with all that's happening with you." The woman replied as she floated over to the edge of the tower. She turned and stared at him. "You have the Ressurection Stone."

It was more of a statement than a question.

"I do." Harry replied and pulled out the ring that had the Stone from one of his pockets. "It was another of his horcruxes."

There was no question on who they were talking about and Helena's features shifted slightly in anger before they returned to normal. "How many did he make?"

"Six."

"Seven." She corrected. "I have felt the stench that was on the diadem on your brother, even faint as it is."

"Yes. He made seven." Harry admitted. "And apart from my brother, I'm left with one."

Lucius had refused to kill the snake. There was a possibility that the Dark Lord would find out who had killed it and the man wasn't willing to risk his family's safety over it. He was however going to keep Harry's secret if only for the fact that he is working towards freeing his family by getting rid of the Dark Lord. It was disappointing but Harry had expected it.

"Your brother_" Hellena was saying. "You realize that he will have die?"

"Perhaps." Harry answered. "Perhaps not."

It was clear he didn't want to talk about it.

"Someone once told me that the three Peverell artifacts together can boost the other's individual capabilities immensely." Helena said making Harry look at her.

"I don't think there's such a thing as 'Master of Death'." Harry said.

"I'm not talking about the legend, I'm talking of the items the legend is based on, the powerful artifacts that were created by your ancestors." Helena told him. "There's always some truth behind every legend, Harry Potter. And I should know the one behind the Deathly Hallows, after all, I started it thanks to you."

Harry chocked on his saliva. "I'm sorry, what?"

There was a fleeting flash of amusement and satisfaction on Helena's face before it returned to its usual aristocratic mask of disinterest.

"You don't believe me." She stated. "Why don't you use the Stone and find out. I'm sure you know exactly who to call."

Harry indeed knew who to call. Focusing on her memory, Harry slipped the ring on his right hand and turned it around three times. He felt the magic within pulse as it reached beyond, in a realm different from their own and when the pulse stopped, he didn't need to sense magic to recognize the person who had appeared.

"Iolanthe Peverell." Harry said by way of greeting. "It has been a while."

The woman before him was different from the young woman he had met when he went back in time but the striking silver eyes were the same. She was old, very much so and while she didn't look solid either, she was certainly more clear than Helena who was standing behind her. She looked almost the same as Tom Riddle's memory had looked in the chamber.

"Harry." Her voice was the same, airy and mysterious like she knew way more than everyone in the whole world combined. "You have grown quite alot since I last saw you."

"And you look just as beautiful as I remember." She smiled, showing perfect white teeth.

"Thank you Harry." She said. "But I doubt you disturbed my rest just to flatter me."

"No, and I apologise if this is uncomfortable for you but I had a few questions I wanted to ask." Harry said. "But before that, I think there's someone who wishes to see you."

The woman turned to the ghost and Hellena curtseyed. "Lady Peverell."

"Hello, Helena." Harry's ancestor said. "I see you have yet to forgive yourself. Perhaps my descendant here will be of help to you."

"He did." Helena said, glancing at Harry. "And I would have passed on but I still have responsibilities in this realm."

"You were always a dutiful girl." Iolanthe Peverell said, running a hand through Helena's hair before turning back to Harry. "Any questions you have for me, she can answer. Even if she was a ghost then, I taught her all that I could for just a moment like this. You have no need of me."

Harry nodded and released his ancestor.

"I met Iolanthe Peverell before I came back to Hogwarts." Helena said after a moment of silence. "She summoned me from Albania where I had been haunting my place of death and helped me get over my betrayal of my mother. I could have moved on back then but she left me with a task."

Harry listened silently.

"She told me about a boy who got stranded in time and all that he brought to her family." She continued. "How that boy had once mentioned how the Peverell artifacts were believed to have been made by Death. She asked me to burry the truth about the Peverells, and with Iolanthe being the last to go by that name, it was easy."

"And what truth is that?"

"The 'Deathly Hallows' are way more powerful than what the legend implies. They don't make you 'Master of Death' but if what one can do with their full potential can be given name, then it would be close to something like that." Helena stared at Harry. She had spoken more words in this conversation than all the their past ones combined. "If you had all three artifacts, your brother wouldn't have to die."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked with a frown, not allowing himself to hope.

"The Stone all by itself can summon entities from Death's realm. But with the Cloak and wand, it's abilities are boosted even further. It will give you power over spirit." She explained. "You will be able to send similar entities across. You would also be able to control them, do with them whatever you wish. Entities like ghosts, poltergeists, shades and even free souls."

Free souls like the one clinging on Hardwin's forehead as well as the one in Nagini. It sounded too good to be true, it seemed a bit too easy. Not to mention the fact that Helena decided to impart this knowledge to him all of a sudden yet she could have easily picked another time. It was probably Harry's paranoia speaking but it just seemed too convenient for his liking.

"What would the other hallows be capable of." He asked instead and only a slight delay before answering was the only indication of her surprise at the change of subject.

"Perfect Invisibility." She said. "Like an object under the Fidelius, while under it, you'll not be truly on this plane of existence. Your very soul, your magic will disappear, no kind of scrying or surveillance can find you. And given the right amount of will, even your body could become incorporeal."

Harry was openly staring at the ghost as all the possibilities of what she had just described flew through his mind. How on Earth had wizards, no matter how talented and skilled had they created such artifacts. Before he could ask about the wand, Hardwin arrived looking out of breath.

"Harry_ it's Moony!" He panted. "He's been found."

All thoughts of the Deathly Hallows flew out of his mind. "Where is he?"

"At Potter Manor, he just showed up out of the blue at the edge of the wards." He explained. "Tonks sent a Patronus to tell me."

"Tonks sent you a Patronus?" Harry asked with a frown.

"Er..." Hardwin didn't know what to say. "Can we go now, she said he isn't looking good."

"Right." Harry said and gave Helena one last look. "We are going to talk about this. And I expect answers to all my questions."

And with that, he jumped off the astronomy Tower, Hardwin following right behind. While his brother transformed into Lockjaw and started flying forward, Harry retrieved his broom, mounted it mid-air and shot off after his brother, the soles of his shoes almost touching the snow covered ground.

Once they had cleared the wards, Lockjaw landed on Harry's shoulder and he port-keyed directly into the living room. Hardwin transformed back just as Harry landed. Stowing away his shrunken broom back into his pocket, Harry and Hardwin bounded up the stairs and burst through the door to the room where he was.

Lily was tending to him and she looked up at their entrance. "What are you doing here?"

Neither replied as they approached the bed. Remus was far from well, he was very thin, his face was sunken with pale skin parched on his skull. His lips were dry and cracked and bleeding. The ragged and torn robes he was wearing were stinking, his stick like arms were disfigured, having been broken numerous times.

Harry ignored his mom as he reached down and exposed his chest. There was a long gash that was leaking fluids and smelling like a corpse and a few ribs were sticking out through the thin skin. The rest of his body wasn't any better and it was only by a miracle that he could still breath. One leg was missing and the stump had rotted, the other had only one toe and chunks of flesh had been pulled out.

His pulse was very weak, his eyes had dilated and he didn't even blink when Harry passed a hand over them.

"Where's Tonks and Padfoot?"

"Tonks went to call Poppy and Sirius went to get Albus." Lily replied. "You two should be at school, we'll call you after we've helped him."

"I can help him." Harry said as he reached for his potions kit from his pocket. He gave Hardwin a nod to explain while he returned it to its normal size and picked a vial of the elixir.

While Hardwin explained to a bewildered Lily, Harry reached for his connection of the wards and put them into lockdown. Just in time as well as he felt someone try to get at Potter Manor through the floo. Neither of the other two Potters noticed.

He poured the entire contents of the vial into Remus' mouth, and when he didn't swallow, he caught his nose and after a few seconds, he saw the man's throat bob as he swallowed. He stood back and turned to look at Lily who was just staring at him.

Before she could speak, there was a flash of fire in the middle of the room. The fire dispersed to reveal Albus Dumbledore with Fawkes on his shoulder. "Lily what's goi_"

Fawkes squawked when the old man suddenly disappeared from below and the Phoenix fell down in an undignified heap.

"Uh, what just happened?" Hardwin asked in confusion.

"I put the wards under lockdown and while a phoenix can go through them, it can't keep him here so they expelled him." Harry answered. "My possession of the Stone is a Potter family secret."

"Harry, you stole the Stone!" Lily practically shrieked. "Did you ever consider what would happen if you were caught? Did you consider Flamel? Without the Stone, he will die!"

"If he was willing to use it as bait for the Dark Lord then he clearly didn't mind losing it."

"And that makes it alright to steal it?!" Lily asked and when he got no answer, she glared at him. "And why have you kept this from me all this time?"

"I didn't want to make you an accomplice." Harry replied.

"So you did it for my own good then?" She smiled. "Oh sweetie, I like how considerate you are."

"I think she is being sarcastic." Hardwin whispered to Harry.

"Oh thanks, brother. I hadn't noticed."

"And you're being sarcastic as well." He mumbled, looking from Harry to Lily.

"Mom, I'm sorry I kept this from you but at that time, all that I could think of was keeping it to myself and then after, I just couldn't think of an appropriate time to tell you." Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "But I promise you, mom. I'll not be keeping anything from you anymore."

"When this is all over..." Lily said dangerously, jabbing his chest with her finger. "You and I are going to have words, you hear me?"

"Yes, mom."

"Both of you!" She glared at Hardwin as well who nodded. "Now go back to Hogwarts."

"You can't tell Dumbledore_"

"Go!" She barked, her eyes flashing in anger and the two boys practically ran from the room.

When they reached the living room, Hardwin sighed and sank into the couch. "Well, at least we don't have to carry that around any more."

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "She looked seconds away from hexing us."

"We should probably go before she comes down and does just that." Hardwin said and Harry nodded.

Harry took his brother's hand and just as he dropped the lockdown on the wards, they port-keyed out. They landed in the Shrieking Shack and started walking through the tunnel to the whooping willow.

"Do you think she'll tell Dumbledore?"

"No, I don't think she will." Harry answered.

"Because of the family secret thing?"

"Not really." Harry shook his head. "If anyone can find their way around something like that, it would be her but I don't think she'll even try. Besides, after Remus has been healed, Dumbledore will begin suspecting."

"So what do we tell him if he asks?"

"We tell him the truth." Hardwin looked at him like he was insane and Harry grinned at him. "That it's a family secret."

"Oh, right." He snorted. "We tell him the truth without telling him any truth, that's brilliant, Harry."

"That doesn't even make sense."

"Of course it does." Hardwin argued. "In my head."

"I imagine it would." Harry laughed. "So, have you figured out the clue in the egg?"

"Yeah, I did!" He exclaimed. "Actually I was on my way to tell you when Tonks' Patronus came."

"How did you know where I was?"

"Our bond." He grinned. "If I concentrate enough, I can get the general idea of where you are but I guess you already knew that, didn't you?"

"Not really." Harry shook his head. "I know that our bond is capable of many things but I had never considered that it could be used that way. This could come in handy in the future."

"That's what I thought." He smiled. "So aren't you going to ask me what the clue was?"

"I knew what all tasks were going to be the moment they were agreed upon."

"Wait, so all that research I've been doing, trying to figure out the language was all for nothing?!"

"I wouldn't say it was all for nothing." Harry replied calmly, not bothered by his outrage. "I'm sure you learned quite a lot about magical languages, not to mention the quality time you spent with Hermione all by yourselves."

"I'm going to kill you!" Hardwin declared and leaped at him but Harry managed to dodge. He jumped at him again but with Meg's reflexes, he easily danced away from him.

And speaking of Meg, when Hardwin attacked him again, he simply transformed, darted between his legs and took off towards the castle.

"You bloody cheat!" Hardwin shouted at him before transforming as well and giving chase.

-PRPRPRPRPR-

It took Remus a whole week to make a full recovery and another before they got a chance to see him. The entire time he had been recovering and the elixir healing him, the twins had been barred from leaving the castle on the explicit orders if Lily.

They could have left if they wished, but they respected her too much to disobey her. Not to mention they didn't want to risk her becoming more mad at them than she already was.

However, Remus had now made a full recovery. At least physically. Mentally, not so much. Whatever had been done to him was going to stay with him for the rest of his life. While his body was back to its peak, old scars and wounds having disappeared as well, the things he had seen couldn't just be erased.

Lily and Sirius had planned to send him a mind healer, more specifically Andromeda Tonks but Harry had offered to help. Not only was he well versed in mind magic, he was more familiar with Remus than Tonks' mom, something he was sure could be useful. Remus, Sirius and Lily had collectively raised the twins after all.

After Remus' miraculous recovery, the twins had been expecting a summons from Dumbledore. They were waiting to be called to the office from the moment Harry dropped the lockdown on the wards but they didn't come untill the first week of February.

And they only came for Harry.

He thought of inviting Hardwin to come along but felt that it would be better if this conversation was between him and the old man.

"Is there something you wish to tell me, Mr. Potter?" The man asked without preamble, not even offering him a lemon drop.

"You'll have to be more specific, headmaster." Harry replied once he was seated. "There's a great deal of things I could tell you but I'm afraid you'll find most of them irrelevant to you. Not to mention we'll be here for a very long time if I were to tell you everything I know."

"Of course you're right." Dumbledore sighed. "Perhaps we can start with Mr. Lupin's miraculous recovery."

"Incase you weren't aware, our mother explicitly told us to stay in the castle and not to leave it without her say so." Harry reply. "If anything, I should be asking you about his recovery given that the last time I saw him, he was on the verge of death and it wasn't until today that I got a single update about him."

"Mr. Potter, I have accorded you a certain amount of respect due to what I know you're capable of_" The Headmaster said sternly. "So I would ask that you do the same for me and not insult my intelligence in my own office."

Harry silently watched the old man for a moment who peered at him over his half-moon spectacles just as silently.

"I'm sorry, headmaster but I can't tell you much." Harry finally said. "As I'm sure mom has already told you, the means we used to heal Remus are a Potter family secret."

"I was very close to James, your grandfather and even his brother Charlus Potter and I'm sure I would have heard of something capable of doing that." Dumbledore said. "Family secret or not."

Harry just shrugged. "I don't know what you want me to say."

"I'm giving you a chance to come clean, Mr. Potter." The old man leaned forward. "Because if you're in possession of what I suspect you are, this could be your only chance. Admit it and we shall put this all in the past."

"Like I've already said, the means we used to heal Remus is a Family Secret, one as Lord Potter I'm expected to protect by all means necessary." Harry told him just as serious. "Telling you would not only cost me my magic but my life as well. I'm sorry, headmaster."

Dumbledore stared at him and Harry stared right back. He wasn't sure how long the staring contest lasted but the headmaster finally let out what could only be a regretful sigh.

"Very well, have it your way then." He said sadly. "If that is all, then I thank you for your time, Mr. Potter."

"Actually, I was hoping to talk to you about something if you don't mind." Dumbledore nodded, gesturing for him to go ahead. "How much do you know about the Deathly Hallows?"

"No more than what I'm sure you already know from the legend." Dumbledore replied, not showing any surprise at Harry's question. "May I ask why the sudden interest in the legendary artifacts, or is that a family secret as well?"

Harry was unfazed. "Please, do not insult my intelligence, Headmaster."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Krum tells me the halls of Durmstrang are filled with the symbol of the Deathly Hallows drawn there by an old friend of yours." Harry replied and for the first time, Harry saw a shift in Dumbledore's expression. "Gillert Grindelwald was obsessed with the Hallows, I would imagine as his closest friend, he would have confided in you all that he knew."

Dumbledore was silent for a couple of seconds.

"I would caution you against persuing the hallows if I thought you would listen." Dumbledore said as he pulled off his glasses. "The hallows have a long and bloody history, Mr. Potter and all I can ask you is to be careful while you seek them because you may not like what you find."

He put the glasses back and pinned Harry with a stare. "As it stands however, I'll not help you on your way to madness because that is all you'll find if you keep going on this path."

"Headmaster, I know of a way the hallows could help us defeat the Dark Lord with almost no bloodshed." Harry told him beseechingly but Dumbledore just shook his head.

"Then I suggest you think of another way because all the Hallows will bring you is pain and regrets. Trust me, I'm speaking out of experience." Dumbledore stood up. "Have a good day, Mr. Potter."

"You too, Headmaster." Harry answered as he stood up as well. "And thank you for your time.

Harry left immediately. The conversation had gone exactly as he had expected, at least now he knew for sure that Grindelwald and by extension Dumbledore were probably the most informed men about the Hallows alive.

Then there was Helena.

"Harry, you're late."

He blinked at Hermione's voice. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't realized that he had reached the Room of requirements already. It was Friday and she had already arrived for their meeting.

"I was in a meeting with the Headmaster." Harry replied as he took his seat.

"Oh. Uhm, does it have anything to do with Professor Lupin?" When Harry stared at her, she blushed and looked away. "Sorry, it's none of my business."

"No, it's alright." Harry shook his head. "Besides, Hardwin will tell you anyway. And yes, Dumbledore seemed to think that I had something to do with his miraculous recovery."

"And did you?"

Harry looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What do you think?"

Hermione bit her lip as she considered her answer. She looked at Harry, opened her mouth and closed it again. Perhaps it was better to keep her opinion to herself, even if he had clearly asked for it. She had learned that he could be pretty sensitive when he wishes.

"What are we covering today?" She asked instead. She saw a brief flash of disappointment on Harry's face before it disappeared.

"How much do you know about illusions?"

"Not much actually." Hermione frowned. "They're not often used, infact you could say that it's one of those lost branches of magic."

"Indeed." Harry said. "There isn't just not enough material for people to be interested, not to mention they would be almost useless to a person who can detect magic as he would be able to tell what is real what isn't without trouble."

Hermione nodded. She had figured as much and ever since they resumed their lessons this year, Harry had been focusing on teaching her just that. She was coming along nicely if she did say so herself.

"However, there's a less common kind of illusions that I recently learned of." Harry continued. "I have a running deal with the Goblins where they buy for me ancient tomes from people and I acquired one about illusions recently."

Hermione nodded. Harry seemed to have made deals with almost everyone in the magical world.

"I learned of a type that affects the mind." Harry sated. "It is a complex type and requires the caster to be very skilled in the mind arts which is why not many people even bother with them. However, if cast successfully they can be very deadly."

Hermione bit her lip. "Given their name I take it they only affect a single person and they happen only in their mind?"

"For the latter, yes." Harry nodded. "As for the former, the number of people that can be affected depends on the caster's power. Someone as powerful as Dumbledore or the Dark Lord could cast over everyone in this castle."

"Whoa." Hermione breathed. She knew exactly what difference in power meant in terms of casting but the whole of Hogwarts? That was real scary. She wondered where Harry fell in that bracket, or Hardwin given that Harry believed that his brother was even more powerful than him. "So everyone in the castle will be seeing the same thing?"

"No, they won't." Harry said firmly. "The spell targets the mind. All the caster does is give the mind a little nudge, give it an impression of what they want you to see and the rest will be supplied by your brain."

"Oh like a group being in the presence of a dementor." Hermione realized with a gasp. "All it does is release its aura and everyone's mind summons up their respective fears, neither knowing what the other is seeing."

Harry smiled, this time genuinely and after their conversation at the ball, she could tell when his smile was genuine or not.

"Exactly." Harry said. "For this spell, the brighter the victim is, the more dangerous the spell is. For example for someone like you, your mind is very bright and always active, your imagination even more so."

Hermione blushed slightly. Ever since the ball, Harry was less reserved with his compliments to her.

"So if you were to fall victim to such a spell, your mind would be very creative in supplying for you what to see." Harry continued. "For example if the general idea was for you to think that you were trapped in an apocalypse, what you see will be more...real than what someone like my brother or Ronald Weasley will see."

"Which will consequently make it harder for me to break from it." Hermione nodded in understanding.

"Exactly." Harry was smiling once again, this time his eyes were shining even. "Guess you never thought there was a time when being so smart could be a bad thing."

"No, certainly not like that." She replied with a grin of her own. "You seem to be in a good mood today."

"What can I say, every teacher enjoys teaching a brilliant student." He said and grinned at her blush before leaning back in his seat. "Actually, there's a task I would like you to do for me as a side project of sorts."

"Uh, sure."

"How much do you know about the Deathly Hallows?"

"Not much other than what is in the kids story." She bit her lip. "If they were real, I think your family cloak will fit the description for the Invisibility Cloak given how long it has been in your family."

"Yes, it is one of them and the other two are real as well." Harry nodded. "What I want you to do is trace the path of the Elder Wand through history and find out its current holder."

"Oh." She said. "May I ask why you're interested in what could be a myth?"

"I could tell you, but I would have to kill you." Harry said seriously and given what she knew about him, it came as no surprise that Hermione believed him.

"I, uhm...is there something I'll be getting in return?" Hermione asked. "Not that I require anything to do for you something but I just thought that maybe_"

"It's alright, I understand perfectly." Harry told her. "If you can find this out for me by the end of the school year or even a solid lead that I could follow, then I'll make you practically immune to all forms of mind magic."

Hermione opened and closed her mouth several times, clearly at a loss for words. Harry stood up even as she kept floundering for what to say. "I suggest you get on with it, Ms. Granger. The fate of the magical world may just depend on it."

-PRPRPRPRPR-

24th February 1995

With all that was going on, it was no time at all before it was the day of the second task. Harry had been quite busy for the last weeks with helping Remus and figuring out the seal as well as following up on the Hallows. The Deathly Hallows, if Helena was to be believed would make the seal unnecessary but it didn't hurt to have other plans.

Besides, the Elder Wand was still no where to be found and had been proving elusive. Hermione had been working hard, but all the leads she had found so far have been leading to dead ends. Dumbledore had been right. The Hallows and more specifically the Elder wand had a bloody history, with it changing ownership very fast and almost always leaving the previous owners dead.

Hermione believed that she was on a definite trail, she had been digging through history and even having Harry make inquiries from his sources and they had tracked it to the early eighteenth century. Its last known owner was a warlock known as Loxias but after there, nobody knows who actually took it from him as there were about a dozen people who had claimed to have defeated him. Including his own mother.

Hermione was currently following up on the history of each of them to try to spot any indication of it in their lifetime as the wand had a habit of revealing itself one way or the other. With Voldemort looming over their heads, Harry wished their search would go faster.

Last night, they had been working long into the night following the most likely lead and it was Hermione who suddenly remembered what was going to happen tomorrow that they broke it off.

Which was why Harry was slowly picking his way towards the black lake, five minutes after the task was supposed to start. Blaise hadn't bothered checking on him before leaving their room as Harry never slept in. He was always the first to wake up and the first student to come down to the common room always found him seated in the couch in front of the fireplace.

When he arrived, he took a look around. The seats that had encircled the dragons' enclosure in November were now ranged along the opposite bank, rising in stands that were packed to the bursting point and reflected in the lake below. The excited babble of the crowd echoed strangely across the water and grew even louder when they caught sight of him arriving.

Harry strolled around the other side of the lake toward the judges, who were sitting at another gold-draped table at the water's edge. Bagman was his usual happy self who was explaining something to a scowling Crouch while Dumbledore was listening intently to Madam Maxime. Fleur, and Krum were beside the judges' table, watching Harry as he arrived.

"Where have you been?" Fleur hissed at him in French. "The task was supposed to start five minutes ago!"

Harry managed to look sheepish as he ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry, I overslept."

Krum snorted in amusement while Fleur huffed and crossed her arms under her eye-catching chest. She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Bagman arriving.

"Harry!" The jolly man said, slapping him gently on the back. "For a minute there I feared you wouldn't show up."

Dumbledore smiled at Harry, but Karkaroff and Madame Maxime didn't look entirely pleased to see him...It was obvious from the looks on their faces that they had hoped he wasn't going to turn up as well. Karkaroff wasn't even trying to conceal his hatred, openly glaring at him without any reservations.

"No way, I wouldn't miss this for anything in the world." Harry replied before grinning at Karkaroff. "Not when the cup is within my grasp."

Bagman laughed loudly. "That's the spirit! Well, let's get on with it then."

Ludo Bagman was now moving among the champions, spacing them along the bank at intervals of ten feet. Harry was on the very end of the line, next to Krum, who was wearing swimming trunks and was holding his wand ready. Harry took a deep breath and he prepared himself. Thanks to their bond, he could pinpoint the exact location of Hardwin, getting to him and back in the time limit would be the challenge.

When Bagman shouted at them to start, Harry didn't bother to look at the other champions as he lifted his wand and started twirling it above his head. His eyes were closed in concentration and he smiled as he felt the wind shift to his needs.

He had been practicing this from the day his name came out of the Goblet and he had now perfected it. He opened his eyes and cast a bubblehead charm over his head. Around him was an almost visible swirling dome of wind.

Part one of his plan was done, and now came the dramatics. With his robes still in place, undisturbed by the wind, Harry spread his arms on either side and he slowly started to float. The wind lifted him and he floated over to the lake, right in the middle of it before going up in the air a number of feet.

The audience was cheering and shouting at the top of their voices as to them it looked like Harry was flying yet in actual sense Harry was simply using his affinity for elements to control the wind and air around him.

When he had gone high enough, he shifted the wind around him from a sphere. It was still swirling slightly but it was compacted, and had shifted into a shape more suitable for what he wanted. He suspended into the air, unmoving for a few seconds and then shot down into the water like a bullet.

There was a huge splash when he hit the water and he swiftly moved. With his ironclad control on the compressed wind around him, Harry sped through the water towards his brother. He had calculated Hardwin's position in the lake and when he hit the water, he was approximately above his position.

Harry sped through the Black lake, all sorts of creatures leaping out of the way before he could run them over. He speared his way through a pack of grindylows and they scattered before trying to give chase after him. He was too fast however and left them behind. About ten minutes after he had entered the water, Harry arrived at the merpeople settlement.

A cluster of crude stone dwellings stained with algae loomed suddenly out of the gloom on all sides. Here and there at the dark windows, Harry saw faces...The merpeople had grayish skin and long, wild, dark green hair. Their eyes were yellow, as were their broken teeth, and they wore thick ropes of pebbles around their necks. They leered at Harry as he swam past; one or two of them emerged from their caves to watch him better, their powerful, silver fish tails beating the water, spears clutched in their hands.

They were screeching something but from his cacoon of air, Harry couldn't hear them. He swam forward as the dwellings grew more numerous. Merpeople were emerging on all sides now, watching him eagerly, pointing at his webbed hands and gills, talking behind their hands to one another.

He moved forward to what seemed to be the center of the little village. A whole crowd of merpeople was floating in front of the houses that lined what looked like a mer-version of a village square. A choir of merpeople seemed to be singing something as they gestured for him to come forward. There was a crude sort of statue; a gigantic merperson hewn from a boulder.

Three people were bound tightly to the tail of the stone merperson. Hardwin was tied between Daphne and Gabrielle Delacour, all three of them appeared to be in a very deep sleep. Their heads were lolling onto their shoulders, and fine streams of bubbles kept issuing from their mouths.

The ropes of weed tying the hostages to the statue were thick, slimy, and very strong but were child's play for Harry who slashed his wand on either side of his brother and the ropes let him free. Hardwin started floating away from the statue and Harry turned around. Fleur and Krum were nowhere to be seen but that wasn't his business.

He turned around and cast a bubblehead charm on Hardwin who let out a loud gasp as he sucked in gulps of air. He looked around with wide eyes when he realized he was under water before he saw Harry and grinned. Harry turned around and shot up back to the surface with Hardwin being pulled after him.

It took him less time than he had used to go and there was displacement of water as the two brothers cleared the water surface, and shot out of the lake. Harry guided the sphere which now included his brother and guided them towards the ground. The moment they were nolonger above water, Harry let the wind out of his control and the two dropped on the ground.

Harry was panting as he took in short breaths. There was a sheen of sweat on his skin from the effort of concentrating and the magic he had used. He could hear the crowd cheering and Bagman praising him but it seemed to be coming from far away, like he was still underwater.

"Harry...Harry! are you okay?" He heard Hardwin and soon his concerned face appeared in front of his blurry vision. "It's magical exhaustion, isn't it?"

Harry nodded weakly, hand shaking as he reached and he searched blindly in his pockets. He retrieved a vial of his elixir and gulped it down. There was a reason why he stopped giving Hardwin the elixir even with its benefit of increasing a magical core but today was good a day as any to make an exception. The shaking stopped immediately and he was back to his normal self. Hardwin breathed a sigh of relief just as Pomfrey arrived and wrapped him in a blanket.

Harry, except for the drops of water that had dropped him from Hardwin was completely dry.

"And once again, Harry Potter shows us what one can do with the right amount of power and imagination!" Bagman boomed. "He retrieved his hostage with twenty minutes to spare and in such an unbelievable fashion too! Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!"

About ten minutes later, Krum showed with Daphne. The two were promptly wrapped up and shepherded towards a tent. Harry wondered why they weren't dried with magic. Five minutes to the end of the hour, a bleeding Fluer showed up with an unharmed Gabrielle.

Harry got forty-five points with all the judges giving him ten apart from Karkaroff. Krum got forty while Fleur, the last to come out got thirty five. With ninety-five points, Harry was in the lead and after what they had seen in the last two tasks, there was not much question of who was likely to win.

That didn't mean they weren't looking forward to it. Quite the opposite actually as everyone was waiting to see what else Harry was capable of. Harry though didn't share the sentiment if the forbidding feeling he got whenever he thought about that day was meant anything.

And if there was anything Harry trusted absolutely, it was his instincts.

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