Beta: None [everyone seems busy]
Original Release Date: 3/6/17
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the canon Harry Potter universe or any other universe. AU.
Chapter Fifty Seven – Questions Raised And Pondered
Sitting down in the Gryffindor Common Room, George steers Harry to an armchair while Fred and Neville sit down in a semi-circle fashion.
"So Harry…when were you going to tell us that Marauders Emporium is helping the Triwizard Tournament?" inquiries George beginning.
"Uh, during the announcement?" answers Harry raising an eyebrow.
"Harry, I think what George is trying to ask is why we weren't informed about this previously" states Fred.
"Because it was something that kind of happened between the ministry, Dumbledore, and the Marauders Emporium, and it just happened earlier today while we were on the train. I'm not certain what you're upset about though" answers Harry.
"That we weren't given the details before the announcement, but as you said it was spur of the moment, so it's all understandable. Anyways, Neville, what happened that made you miss the world cup?" remarks George turning and facing Neville.
"Well, it kind of goes back to me getting a greenhouse, I wanted to get some more…uncommon plants to learn more and the likes, and entire process of getting them and situating them is what held me up from attending the world cup" answers Neville openly.
"So you're essentially saying that taking care of your greenhouse is what prevented you from attending the world cup? I suppose it's better than getting caught up in the madness that occurred afterwards. Speaking of which, Harry, did the ministry ever say who or what group was behind the disturbances?" says Fred.
"I don't think the ministry or The Daily Prophet have released anything, which I suppose is either a good thing with Rita Skeeter, or Amelia is keeping all information about the happenings locked down tightly. Anyways, the answer is I don't know anything more about it" answers Harry.
"Hmm. Didn't the DMLE have a system of cameras in place just for this kind of thing?" asks George curiously.
"They did, but they were being routed through the DMLE's own set of servers, so we can't review any of the content" answers Harry.
"I figure that there is a way to access the content, but the legality of it is…questionable. Anyways, who do you think will be selecting the Triwizard Tournament champions? Do you think it's possible it could be something that Sirius and Remus has designed to be an impartial selector of champions?" inquires Fred curiously.
"Now brother, remember that we've already searched through the blueprints that have been drafted and such a device hasn't been even conceived" answers George slightly crossly.
"Just because it hasn't been drafted into a document doesn't mean it can't be built anyways" argues Fred.
"Why worry about it and just let what happens to happen? Besides, it's not like any of us are going to be able to enter anyways. I figure we'll have lots of time to enjoy the tournament since The Marauders Emporium is providing a live stream of coverage so I figure we'll get loads of time to see what's happening between the champions" remarks Harry as he leans back in his seat.
"I agree with Harry, we should just wait and see what happens instead of trying to guess at what might happen and get frustrated. Some things just aren't worth stressing over" adds Neville before stifling a yawn.
"So Harry, who was the unknown blonde girl accompanying you, Ginny, Hermione, and Luna?" inquiries George turning and looking at Harry.
"Oh, her name is Daphne Greengrass" answers Harry before yawning.
"Why was she with you all?" asks Fred.
"She came out of the forest and started a conversation with us. What has you two intrigued about her and any interactions between her and I?" answers Harry.
"Merely curious my friend" answers Fred before continuing, "So before we head off to bed, are we going back to having just Professor McGonagall escorting us to the Room of Requirement or are we going to sneak around on our own? Honestly, the latter sounds much more enticing…"
"Well, I have an idea that I'd like to try and it's to place an Omni Connect in our exercise room and see if we can use our PRT's to go directly to it, no matter who is using the room at the time. It'll probably end in failure, but I think it would be an interesting thing to try. If that fails, we go with Professor McGonagall or sneak out" answers Harry before stifling a yawn.
"Hmm, that would be interesting to find out. I say we convene in the next few days and plan this experiment out to a 'T'. Anyways, good night" states George before getting up from his seat and making his way up the stairwell to the dormitories.
Sighing, Harry turns to Neville and remarks, "I suppose we should get some sleep too" before heading towards the dormitory. Knowing the following day would be a tiring one day, Neville follows suit being the last one out of the now deserted common room.
The next morning, Harry, Ron, and Neville sit down at the Gryffindor table enjoying food, Ron especially, as the rest of the house filter into the Great Hall, gossiping about the Triwizard Tournament. Striding up behind the trio of fourth year students, a firm voice states, "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, and Mr. Longbottom, here are your schedules", before handing stiffened pieces of parchment with their respective schedules on it.
Looking over the schedule, Harry rolls his eyes before putting the schedule into his bag. "Herbology's up first, followed up by Care of Magical Creatures, lunch followed by Arithmancy and Ancient Runes in the afternoon. How does your morning look, Ron, Harry?" inquiries Neville looking over his schedule before placing it beside his plate.
Shoulders sagging as he looks over his schedule, Ron munches along wordlessly while leaving Harry to answer with, "Same schedule as you up through lunch, then Ron and I've got double Divination in the afternoon. At least we aren't paired with the Slytherins for both of the morning classes, just Care of Magical Creatures."
"True. Although it's relatively easy to tune out Draco's whining about how things are boring, difficult for him, or what have you" remarks Neville.
"I figure if a Slytherin isn't selected to be the Hogwarts champion, Draco will make some disparaging remarks whoever is the champion, no matter how well the champion does in the trials. Speaking of such, did Dumbledore ever say how many…err, challenges or whatever the champions would have to perform/do?" remarks Harry.
Shaking his head, Neville answers, "Not that I am aware of, but I figure when the other schools arrive that more details will be given. I'm not too worried honestly."
"I wonder what's for lunch" remarks Ron.
"Speaking of food, that does bring up an interesting set of questions of what will happen with the food when the other schools arrive. Will they dine with us or dine in their own quarters, where they will stay, and how they will get here. I doubt they will arrive via broomstick, too visible of course" Harry wonders aloud.
"I say we not worry about it right now and worry about it when the time is much closer. I figure Dumbledore has already made plans on how everything should run smoothly, even if he hasn't revealed them to us" remarks Neville cleaning his plate of food.
"I wonder where the ladies are" muses Harry.
"I'm sorry that we take a little longer to get ready than you" answers a clearly sarcastic voice from behind Harry, as Ginny takes a seat.
"So what does our schedule look like for this morning?" inquiries Hermione as she seats down beside Neville.
"Herbology with the Hufflepuffs followed by Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins before lunch" answers Harry before taking a long drink from his goblet.
"Hmm" replied Hermione before adding jelly to her toast.
Quarter of an hour or so later as a bell booms across the castle, students rise up from their tables and make their way to the first class of the new term. "I wonder what we're going to learn in Herbology this year. Last year's Mandrakes were pretty interesting, minus all the ruckus and what not" remarks Ron before taking a bite out of a piece of toast.
"I hope we learn about at least a single plant this term that I could get at some point and place into my greenhouse. Hopefully something that my family could help take care of when I'm not around" adds Neville with a smile.
"Maybe over the winter break we can stop by and see this greenhouse of yours" remarks Harry right before the quartet arrive outside of the Herbology greenhouses, surrounded by Hufflepuff and Gryffindor students.
"That would be enjoyable. I'll write to mum and ask. Figure she'd want to know first before everyone starts appearing at the house. I doubt she'll object though" states Neville excitedly.
As the door to the greenhouse swings open, a voice calls out from inside, "Come in and four to a table. Today we will be gathering Bubotuber pus" states Professor Sprout as she closes the greenhouse door.
"You will gently squeeze the pus into the glass bottles, WHILE WEARING DRAGONHIDE GLOVES! Undiluted Bubotuber pus can do terrible things to unprotected skin" instructs Professor Sprout before donning her own pair of gloves, showing how to properly harvest the pus.
An hour or so later as the bell tolls, indicating the changing of classes, students quickly place their filled bottles of pus at the front of the greenhouse before leaving for their next class. Making their way down towards Hagrid's hut next to the Forbidden Forest, Harry remarks as he peers into the distance, "There are several crates scattered about it looks like. I wonder if the crates contain whatever our lesson is on."
Arriving beside the towering entity named Hagrid, Hermione smiles and asks, "Professor, what are we learning about today?"
"Jus' wait fer the Slytherins, then I'll tell ya" answers Hagrid with a smile.
Several minutes later, a drawling voice rings out, "What a disappointing day so far. First McGonagall bores us to death and now we've get to learn about wooden crates."
"What's inside ter boxes are your lesson. Blast-Ended Skrewts, and yer to raise 'em yerselves, learn ter most from that" answers Hagrid ignoring Draco's demeaning tone and words.
"How do we raise them then, professor? I mean, what do you recommend?" inquiries Hermione as her quill hovers over a muggle notebook.
"Dunno. Never had 'em before. Suppose just feed 'em, walk 'em, things like that. Food stuffs in ter barrels o'er there. Now off ya go" answers Hagrid.
Looking over at the several wooden barrels of possible food for the Skrewts, Ron shrugs his shoulders before proceeding over to the barrels and looking inside in a few of them before shuddering and grabbing a handful of frog livers before hurrying over to the closest crate and tipping his hand over a crate of small and pale lobster-like creatures, minus a shell, and dumps the frog livers in. Several minor explosion sounds later and the small pile of frog livers is swarmed by the miniature creatures and seconds later the frog livers are gone.
"I suppose that means that they enjoy it?" remarks Neville uncertainly, peering into the crate.
"Are those stingers?" exclaims a male voice from one of the crates.
Reaching into the crate, Hagrid withdraws his hand shortly after and remarks, "Looks like males got ter stingers and ter females got some form of suckers on ter bottom. Migh' want ter watch out."
An hour or so later, the bell tolls once more, indicating time for the mid-day meal. Quickly students begin cleaning their hands from the fragrant smells of the lesson before heading up the lawn to the castle to eat. Sitting down, Ron fills his plate up with food and a smile before becoming downcast and saying, "Double Divination after this", before beginning to eat slowly.
"It was probably worth trying to drop it as a class last year, but of what I understand, we are unable to drop any classes at this point" remarks Harry just eating normally.
Staying quiet, Ron continues to eat as Neville says, "Things like that happen. But I have an idea, and it's about our notes for the skrewts. I think we should offer some of our notes about them online/through the Marauders Network to see what others have come up with and figure out more about them and have something similar to a guide."
"But wouldn't just reading a book on them be easier?" inquiries Ron.
"Not necessarily, Ron. Even if there are a few books or a few copies of a single book with information regarding the Blast-Ended Skrewts, that doesn't mean that the library would have a copy, or that most stores selling books would have a copy of the book. But building a public based system where we can contribute knowledge and make it more easily accessible than some of the harder to find books, that can help benefit others. In addition to that, we can easily keep track of what methods or foods one has tried to feed the skrewts and document what stage, if there are any stages, the food is most effective at" answers Hermione happily.
"How about we discuss it later after our afternoon classes and include Luna in on the discussion? She seems to know most about exotic creatures and might know how to set up some form of system around it" remarks Harry.
After finishing their meal and talking with the others for a bit more, Harry and Ron make their way up towards the Divination classroom. Multiple stuffy and drowsy hours later, the two exit the room yawning, eager to get back to their dormitory before dinner.
Author note: And that's where I'll leave off until the next chapter. Thanks for reading, reviewing, etc! You all brighten my days. I hope your Valentine's Day was wonderful!