A/N - Hello and welcome to the newest chapter. I'm glad people liked how I handled the first task. Now here's what happens next.
Disclaimer: The X-Men were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and belong to Marvel Comics. Harry Potter was created by and belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no money from this and the only thing that's mine are the original parts of the story.
Quotes taken from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
19) THE GOLDEN EGG
There was a party in the Gryffindor common room that evening after dinner was over. Harry was glad to stay for it. It was good be back here with all of his Hogwarts friends. This was only the second time since transferring out of Hogwarts that he'd been back in the tower and the last time had been the previous April after the X-Men fought Magneto at Hogwarts. On that occasion no one had been in the tower when he had visited it, which was probably just as well when he thought it over because he'd visited the tower as Lightning that time. If anyone had seen him enter the tower and go up to his old dorm room it might have raised questions.
Dinner was a raucous affair at all the tables but particularly at the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables as they both celebrated with their champions. No one in the Great Hall seemed to be in a bad mood though. Harry didn't eat all that much at the meal as he would be heading back to America in a few hours. He knew there would be a sizable Thanksgiving dinner waiting for him back at the X-Mansion and Harry was looking forward to dinner with his teammates. There would be no school the next day and it was the official beginning of the Christmas shopping season in America.
Actually there was one person who didn't look happy and that was Professor Snape who sat up at the high table scowling at the world and looking like anyone who greeted him would be Crucio'd into next month. On the other hand Snape almost always looked like that so who knew what he was really thinking? On this visit Harry had only seen Snape at meals in the Great Hall and only then from a distance. For the moment it seemed that Snape was obeying the order to stay away from Harry even though whenever they did look at each other Snape's expression was just as unpleasant as ever. Harry wondered how long it would be before Snape would be unable to stop himself from antagonizing him again.
Near the end of dinner Harry got a surprise when Draco Malfoy came over to where he was sitting. For once there was no sneer on his face.
"Potter" he said quietly.
"Yes?" asked Harry in surprise.
"That was a really good thing you did today" said Malfoy sounding almost as surprised to be saying the words as Harry was to hear them. It looked like he was trying hard to have his face be in a pleasant expression and sounded like he was doing his best to keep any snideness out of his voice. It was also obvious that this was taking a lot of effort for him to do.
"Um – thanks" said Harry, "why do you say that?"
"My name is Draco" said Malfoy as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "naturally I've always liked dragons – despite what you might think after what happened in first year."
"I guess that makes sense" said Harry, "did you know dragons were so intelligent?"
"I knew they smart" said Malfoy, "for animals at least. I didn't know they were sentient. I hope this makes a difference for them. Well done."
"Thank you Malfoy" said Harry still surprised and he held out his hand. Malfoy looked at it for a few seconds and then, as if it pained him to respond to the gesture, he reached out and shook it. He nodded at Harry and quickly went back to his table without looking back. Harry stared after him.
"Wonders will never cease" he said to his friends. Ron said nothing. It seemed he'd been struck speechless by the interaction.
"That was – very nice of Malfoy" said Hermione, "I never saw that coming. He didn't even insult me."
"You're way too forgiving mate" said Ron, finally finding his tongue, "after the way he's treated us these last three years."
"Maybe" said Harry, "hopefully this wasn't just a one time thing."
"Do you think he was being sincere?" asked Hermione.
"About liking dragons, yes" said Harry, "as for the rest of it? We'll see."
The party in Gryffindor tower was an early one as Hogwarts did have classes the next day. The refreshments were mostly desserts and drinks while everyone chatted about the task and how all of the champions had done. Harry had not seen what the other champions did and only heard about it at dinner afterwards. Cedric had transfigured a stone into a dog to distract his dragon. Fleur had put her dragon to sleep but had her dress set on fire when it snored. Krum had blinded his dragon and in her pain she had smashed her eggs which cost Krum points. Fortunately his dragon was the Chinese Fireball whose real eggs had been switched out for fake ones. All of them had succeeded in the task and afterwards Mr. Bagman had told them that the clue to the next task, which would be on February 24th, was in their eggs and they would have to solve it to find out critical information about the task.
"Blimey, this is heavy," said Lee Jordan, picking up the golden egg, which Harry had left on a table, and weighing it in his hands. "Open it, Harry, go on! Let's just see what's inside it!"
"Yeah, go on, Harry, open it!" several people echoed.
Lee passed Harry the egg, and Harry dug his fingernails into the groove that ran all the way around it and prised it open.
It was hollow and completely empty - but the moment Harry opened it, the most horrible noise, a loud and screechy wailing, filled the room. The nearest thing to it Harry had ever heard was the ghost orchestra at Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party, who had all been playing the musical saw.
"Shut it!" Fred bellowed, his hands over his ears.
"What was that?" said Seamus Finnigan, staring at the egg as Harry slammed it shut again. "Sounded like a banshee ... Maybe you've got to get past one of those next, Harry!"
"It was someone being tortured!" said Neville, who had gone very white and spilled sausage rolls all over the floor. "You're going to have to fight the Cruciatus Curse!"
"Don't be a prat, Neville, that's illegal," said George. "They wouldn't use the Cruciatus Curse on the champions. I thought it sounded a bit like Percy singing . ..maybe you've got to attack him while he's in the shower. Harry."
There was some more discussion on what the sound in the egg meant but nobody had any real ideas about it and people soon moved on to enjoying the rest of the party.
At 10 PM British time Harry took his portkey back to Ilvermorny where it was now 5 PM. Those students who had stayed at Ilvermorny over Thanksgiving weekend, whether they had been to Hogwarts or not, were waiting for him and when he arrived in the diningroom they all gave him a cheer.
"Thanks everyone" Harry said as people got up and came over to shake his hand. Ororo waited until after everyone else had seen Harry before coming up to him and giving him a hug.
"You did really well" she said to Harry.
"Thanks" said Harry, "did you know dragons were sentient?"
"Yes" said Ororo, "at least I knew some of them were sentient."
"Like the Wakandan Dragons?"
"Especially them."
"Hey Harry" called one of the other students, "what's in the egg?" It was a repeat of the scene at Hogwarts as all the Ilvermorny students wanted Harry to open the egg. When he did and they heard the screeching they all yelled at him to shut it again which he did.
Ororo walked out of the school with Harry to see him off.
"Do you have any idea what sound was in the egg?" Harry asked her.
"No" said Ororo, "but it has to mean something."
"I know" said Harry, "but what?" He told Ororo that he would be at the school the next day because Headmaster Pope wanted to talk to him and he would join her for lunch. He really did like Ororo. She was kind, friendly, and obviously had a lot of strength of character which – Harry reflected – was something she needed as the Crown Princess of Kenya. Also she was very pretty and Harry had started to feel something towards her that he couldn't figure out but was something other than just friendship.
When Harry got back to Xavier's School Dobby was just finishing up cooking Thanksgiving Dinner.
"And here's our last member" said Hank as Harry joined them in the diningroom, "coming in at last to give us a full table."
"Oh brother" said Harry rolling his eyes as he sat down at the table. They were having a big meal and Harry was glad he'd left room in his stomach for it. Thanksgiving wasn't celebrated in Britain so last year his teammates had explained to him what it was all about and why such a big meal was eaten for dinner. It was a big meal, but it was needed since there were so many people gathered there. In addition to Harry, Warren, Bobby, Hank, Scott, Jean, Sirius, and Professor Xavier, Jean's parents and older sister had driven down to join them from their home further north in Annandale-On-Hudson while Warren's parents had driven up from Centerport on Long Island. Lastly Bobby's parents drove up from Floral Park, also on Long Island, making for a total of 15 people at the dinner table. Hank's parents did not come as they were visiting some of Hank's mother's family in Illinois.
There was A LOT of food at dinner. Dobby had outdone himself in preparing the meal. Since not everyone present knew about magic and house elves (the parents) the food was brought out by the students themselves with the impression being given that the meal had been prepared by a hired cook who had left just before everyone arrived. Naturally there were lots of leftovers and everyone not staying at the X-Mansion left with some of them.
It was a very pleasant meal and conversation was light for the most part. Since not everyone knew about magic the Triwizard Tournament was not mentioned.
It was late in the evening after all of the guests had left and Dobby had cleaned up after the meal that Professor Xavier assembled the team in his office to discuss the results of the first task. Naturally the subject of the golden egg was brought up fairly quickly and Harry went to get it from his room. Once he was back in the office he was asked to open it for the third time that day and for the third time the horrible screeching was briefly heard before Harry slammed the egg shut again.
"Wow" said Jean, "what on Earth was that?"
"I don't know" said Harry, "and neither does anyone else who has heard it today."
"And that's supposed to be a clue to the next task?" asked Scott.
"Yes" said Harry.
"Weird" said Bobby. Hank, meanwhile was looking at the egg in a thoughtful manner.
"What exactly were you told about the egg?" he asked Harry.
"Just that the egg opens up" said Harry, "and I have to solve the clue inside it to find out what the second task is."
"Inside the egg" said Hank, "so not the egg itself."
"But there's nothing in the egg" said Bobby, "except that screeching noise."
"Which means the noise is the clue somehow" said Hank.
"That doesn't sound like any clue I've ever heard" said Warren.
"Not as it is now, no" said Hank, "I suspect you have to do something to get the clue to reveal itself. I wonder..." After a couple of moments Hank grabbed some blank pieces of paper off of Professor Xavier's desk.
"Sorry about this professor" Hank said, "I want to try something." He crumpled the pieces of paper up into several wrinkled balls.
"Open the egg" Hank said to Harry who did so. Hank dropped the paper balls into both sides of the egg. There was an immediate change in the timbre of the screeching coming out of the egg. It was a small change but they could all hear it. The screeching took on a lower, slightly less painful tone although it still didn't tell them anything. Hank crumpled up more paper and filled the insides of the egg all the way up. The screeching got lower and a bit softer.
"I thought that might be it" said Hank looking pleased.
"What is it?" asked Sirius.
"If I'm understanding what Hank is saying" said Professor Xavier, "you have to fill the egg with something to change the sound from its current screeching into something recognizable."
"Exactly" said Hank, "sound waves are affected by things placed in their way. Think of how a trumpet sounds when it's played normally as opposed to what it sounds like when a mute is placed inside its bell. The egg is like that."
"What should I fill the egg with?" asked Harry who started to see some hope.
"That is the question" said Hank, "you'll have to figure that out, most likely through trial and error. It's sort of like breaking a code where once you have the key you can read the message."
"With the key being whatever it is that I need to fill up the egg" said Harry, "well, it's a start."
The next morning Harry woke up a little earlier than usual. As he sat up in bed he saw the egg sitting on his desk. He briefly considered opening it again but quickly decided against it. The screeching was loud enough to be heard through the walls. Bobby's room was next to his and he knew that his ice controlling classmate would not appreciate being woken up prematurely.
It was a normal morning at the X-Mansion. Even though it was a holiday weekend the team still had training. Once that was over Harry portkeyed over to Ilvermorny and sought out the headmaster in his office.
"Hello Harry" said Pope, "it's good to see you. Please, sit down. How are you today?"
"A lot calmer than yesterday" said Harry as he took a seat in front of Pope's desk.
"I'm sure of that" said Pope.
"You look better today sir" said Harry.
"That's what comes from having enough sleep" said Pope, "now as to the reason I wanted to speak to you today is to give you information on the Yule Ball at Hogwarts. I believe it was mentioned to you back when we went to Hogwarts for the first time after you were entered into the tournament?"
"Yes" said Harry, "it's on Christmas Day, right?"
"That's right" said Pope, "it's a formal event for which dress robes are required. It will last from 8 PM to midnight British time. I'm sure you can do the time zone conversion."
"Yes" said Harry.
"Now you will need a date to the ball" said Headmaster Pope, "since you're one of the champions you and your date will be opening the ball with the first dance."
"Ah" said Harry, "it's that kind of ball."
"That's usually what a ball is" said Pope, "what did you think it was?"
"I don't know" said Harry, "I've never been to one before. Except for moshing I haven't learned how to dance."
"Don't worry about that" said Pope with a smile, "you're hardly the only one. The school will be having some dance lessons between now and then for anyone who wants to go to the ball and needs to learn how to dance. I'll let you know when they are. If you've found your date before then the two of you can attend together."
"Thank you" said Harry.
Harry mulled things over as he left the headmaster's office and headed down to the dining hall where he would meet Ororo for lunch. He worked hard to get his thoughts in order before they met up. When Pope had said he would need a date Harry immediately decided to ask Ororo. That made him more and more nervous as he neared the dining hall. He didn't know how to ask a girl on a date properly. He hoped he wouldn't mess it up.
Ororo was there to meet him and they got food and sat down at a table. After the pleasantries were out of the way Ororo asked Harry if he'd figured anything out about the egg since yesterday and Harry told her about what Hank had done.
"Do you have any idea what you need to put in the egg?" asked Ororo.
"No" said Harry, "it could be anything, but it can't be something rare or difficult to find, not if they want us to actually solve the clue."
"So" said Ororo, "something that's common and that we have easy access to."
"And that we can find at a school" said Harry suddenly, "since Christmas break isn't for a few weeks yet and I doubt the other champions will wait until then to start solving their eggs."
"Does it have to be magical?" asked Ororo, "like a certain substance, or a potion?"
"I don't know" said Harry, "but if it is how will we figure out what substance it could be? If it's a potion there are way too many of those. Without more information on what we have here where do we start looking?"
"You're right" said Ororo, "what's easy to find at a magic school? Specifically Hogwarts since that's where all the champions are supposed to be for this."
"Well" said Harry, "everyone has Herbology and there's plenty of grassland on the front lawn so, dirt? Soil?"
"What about stones?" asked Ororo, "pebbles for instance."
"Maybe" said Harry, "there's a beach at the lake so, sand?"
"Those are all easy to get" said Ororo who suddenly looked up as a thought hit her.
"It doesn't have to be a solid substance, right?" she asked, "what about water? That's the easiest thing of all to get." Harry looked thoughtful.
"It could be" he said before grinning a little, "perhaps I should take a bath with the egg."
"It's as good an idea as any" said Ororo.
"I'll try it either tonight or tomorrow" said Harry, "if it works, great. If it doesn't then we'll know to try something else."
When they were done with lunch Ororo walked with Harry to the front doors of the school. After they stepped outside into the cold air of late November on top of Massachusett's highest mountain Harry looked at Ororo with a serious expression.
"There's something else I want to talk to you about" he said, "have you made any plans for Christmas Break?"
"Tentatively yes" was the reply, "but nothing's decided. I don't know if I'll be going to Kenya for any or all of it or if my parents will come here. It's been a few years since my father was last in this country and he wants to see his family. Why?"
It was now. Harry took a deep breath as he thought about what to say. He knew nothing about dates and relationships. In the end he decided to simply explain things and go for it without drawing things out.
"Well" he began, "the headmaster told me just before we met for lunch that as part of the tournament there's going to be a Yule Ball on Christmas evening at Hogwarts..." He told her what he knew, that the ball would be from 8 PM to midnight British time, that it would be a formal affair, and, as a champion he would need someone to go with because he and his date would have to open the ball on the dance floor.
"Are you asking me?" said Ororo at this point. Harry was suddenly quite grateful she'd said that as it made things easier for him.
"Yes, I am" he said, "would you go to the ball with me?"
"You're not wasting time" said Ororo.
"Why should I?" replied Harry, "there's no one else I'd rather go with than you. You're beautiful, kind, strong, and you're my friend. Also I want to take YOU to the ball, not the Crown Princess of Kenya."
"Just like you want someone to go with YOU, not the Boy-Who-Lived" said Ororo.
"Exactly."
"Yes, I'll be happy to go to the ball with you" said Ororo with a smile.
"Thank you" said Harry smiling back. The two of them spent a few more minutes making preliminary plans and agreeing to attend the school dance lessons together so Harry could learn how to dance. Ororo, being a princess, had learned how to dance as part of her lessons growing up and she would help him during the lessons. After their talk was done the two of them said goodbye and Harry returned to Xavier's school.
(To Be Continued)
A/N - That's all until next week. Yes, as more than one of you predicted Harry is taking Ororo to the ball.
All right everyone, as usual please take a moment to leave me some feedback. Constructive comments are always welcome but no flames or trolls please. As always stay safe and well everyone.