5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not in any way or form own Harry Potter or any of the characters, except for the Original Characters that I have created, and I also think I'll lay claim to the plot in this story as well

AN: I have actually received quite a few interesting comments after posting Chapter 3 of this story, and I do believe it's necessary for everyone to hear my answers on some of the more important ones. Many seem to confused about the pairing of the story, and the only thing I can say is that I would rather not disclose that particular piece of information as I believe it would detract from the story. I am of the opinion that the best stories (revolving at least partially about pairings) out there are that good because it seems like the main character seems to be dangling between two, perhaps even three possibilities, so the reason why there hasn't been any real confirmation about the pairing is because I would rather keep you caught in suspense. Likewise there are also concerns about the possibility of a harem (etc. and so on), and I will also not deny nor affirm anything as of yet, though I will mention that even though the possibility of a harem might be dangled in front of you it's definitely not a confirmation at all as to whether there will be one at all, and I also understand the troubles inherent in writing harems, as they can really destroy a story.

Likewise I would also like to point out that this will not be a bash-story. Anything revolving around bashing in this story will only be from one persons point of view. In this case Harry was angry with the school for basically turning it's back on him, and combined with his new outlook on life and you get one person that easily lashes out instead of bottling it in and if you add the newly awakened Veela core in Harry, and how it forces him to react much more to his more primal instincts and you get a little human ball of anger. This would conveniently channeled towards the people he is most disappointed in, which in this case are would be the Golden Trio, and other people who are closer to Harry, such as Ginny, and Neville etc. Harry's behavior have of course also effected Hermione and Ron, which also explain their attitudes as they are not used to the 'new' Harry. This ultimately means that I will attempt to keep all characters as much in-character as possible and have explanations for any irregular behavior.

The main point many people have brought up is the matter of sexual content in the story, or rather the lack of. I understand that Veela are very sexual creatures and odds are that a hormonal Harry with a surefire way of getting in someone's pants would grab the chance, especially the reformed Harry, however as much as you want 'obscenely graphic and sexual scenes' in the story I am unsure as to whether or not I should actually add any, and there are several reason for this. Firstly, I am afraid that introducing lemons into this story would start a downward spiral into depravity, because introducing the concept into the story would instill expectations for more and more gratuitous debauchery as the plot advances and he meets new women. Basically I'm afraid that the lemon aspect would end up taking up too much space in the story, and I think it would eventually derail it from it's original route. Secondly, after people began inquiring about lemons I did a little research about what is allowed and what isn't allowed on this site. Though I haven't been able to find anything concrete I do not that there is a very explicit reason why there is no MA rating, which allows the posting of adult content and I am aware of the fact that many authors do indeed post lemons in their stories already, but I'd rather not do anything which could get the story removed from the story. This means that I could, assuming I feel a need to, could eventually post another story on FicWad or AdultFanfiction with another version of the story, however I must warn you that it would go in a complete different direction, though the basic premise would remain the same. As of yet I am still undecided and if any of you know anything specific about the rules regarding lemon content for this site you are more than welcome to forward that information, and furthermore I would like your opinion on the matter.

That is all I have to say right now. Hopefully you will enjoy the chapter.

**Chapter 4:**

"Where is he?"

She was aware she had been asking the same question many times, and the answer hadn't changed at all. She had been extremely anxious since she hadn't been able to spot Harry at all since they had parted three days ago, Friday evening. It was now noon on the Monday after and still she had been unable to find any signs of him, she had even gone as far as to try and find him at the guest rooms, but there had been so many that it had proven to be a futile task.

"I have no idea", a petite red head answered her, and rolled her eyes at her pacing. "Sit down and relax Louise, he's going to be here."

"Of course he is", she replied sourly and ignored the brief look of annoyance rolling over the face of her companion. "But I'm still worried about not seeing him the entire weekend Michelle."

She snorted. "You just want to put your claws in him and do things so indecent that you'd die just thinking about them."

Louise turned an interesting shade of red, but otherwise didn't refute the claim. There was no point denying the truth, and she had said as much to the other French students, though having it thrown back at her like that, made her sound so much like a… tart. But the truth was that she would probably do anything he wanted her to. It was Merlin's honest truth; she simply couldn't stop thinking about him.

She sniffed at Michelle but otherwise said nothing.

"Oh, are we indignant now Louise?", she laughed. "Besides it's not as if I fault you, many girls want to bed Harry Potter, us as well as the native female population. You are just a bit closer to achieving that dream than most others."

"He will do fine, he just needs to get here", Louise said firmly, though mostly to herself.

"I'm sure he will", Michelle agreed. "But I can understand if he doesn't want to spend his time waiting here, with this crowd."

Louise took a look around and she couldn't keep an annoyed look out of her eyes. The sheer amount of people present here today was enormous, or that was the impression she got. Three schools gathered to watch the final contestant finish or fail the First Task. She was well aware that many of them weren't all that interested in the job as such, and many of them came just to boo at Harry. Loud laughter and gossiping were happening all around the stadium, and the students were a loud bunch, however the stadium was, unofficially, split up in three sections, one for the Hogwarts students, one for the Durmstrang students and one for the Beauxbaton students. Though the Hogwarts students outmanned the combined numbers of both of the visiting schools, there were still enough French and Bulgarian students to create an area where noise wasn't as permeating as with the locals.

She fell uneasily down into the chair and surveyed the crowds. "You're right. I am actually ashamed on Harry's behalf. Half his school hates him, or at least most pretend because they don't want to stand against a majority, but still, how can he live with these… these fools?"

"I don't really think he enjoys it that much Louise", Michelle replied, but then shrugged. "But who am I to guess? He must have some reason for being here, I am mean he could have been accepted into any magic school in the world. No one would have been stupid enough to turn him down. But I think it quite possible that he was at least muggle raised, which would also explain why he chose Hogwarts, seeing as he only got a letter from them."

"I don't care about that, actually its good he's here, else I would probably have never met him", she shot back. "Beauxbaton is an all-girls academy and Durmstrang has a bad name, and he would never go for one of the lesser schools. Odds are that he would have ended up in that Italian magic school or something if he'd chosen not to come. What it's called? What's it called? Oh never mind, it's not important anyways."

"Would you stop worrying so much you're giving me a headache", a rather plain girl from Beauxbaton responded from a few seats away. "No use wondering about what if's and why not's. He'll be here, and you can _thank_ your knight in flowing robes afterwards. What I'm interested in is how he's going to beat his dragon."

She frowned for a bit considering the girls words, and she had to grudgingly agree with her that there was no use dwelling on the subject, but it wasn't as if she'd let the girl know. "I'm sure he will surprise us all, he is very ingenious when it comes to on-the-spot plans I'm told."

"Yes it should prove to be interesting", she conceded. "But unfortunately the fact remains that all the other champions have three years of education on him. It will not be easy for him, but somehow I think he'll pull through."

Michelle snorted. "Ha, you're just like any other of the girls here right now. You just want him to fuck you senseless, hell if he asked _me_ to strip down and blow him right here I'd do it."

Louise blushed at the statement, but the plain one seemed to be the one worst hit. She'd gone completely crimson and was sputtering denials, although they were very weak. Louise had always known that Michelle was far from the shy maiden, she was one of the most straightforward persons she had ever met, which was why Louise appreciated her company. She liked that attitude, it was hard to find nowadays. Though much of it was bluster, even she was still occasionally taken aback by the lewd and totally unveiled comments from her friend.

"_Michelle_", she hissed, though she could not deny the flush in her cheeks. She was by no means a prude, but still to make it sound so… crude. "We both know that you're a slut, but that doesn't mean we want the same template on us."

Michelle quirked a brow. "Like you're any better", she countered. "You're acting like you're his pet, defending his every little action. You've been ready to claw out the throat of anyone who even spoke badly about him."

"He's done nothing wrong", she hissed at her friend. "These imbeciles should just keep their mouth shut, or else I will do it for them."

"See there you go again", Michelle replied with a smile. "Jumping to his defense."

Louise huffed.

She wasn't really angry at the girl. How could she be when everything she said so far was true, and besides, their relationship had always been like this, them poking fun at each other, actually it was mostly Michelle poking fun at her, but she had a soft spot for the girl. But, friend or no friend, she would not stand for anyone badmouthing Harry, not even Michelle.

She settled for watching the crowds and allowed herself to remember the astonished and unbelieving look on Fleur's face when news had finally reached her about Louise and Harry's little rendezvous, as innocent as it had been. Louise still grinned at the image of the angry half-veela being so stumped that she had no idea how to react to the situation. Louise knew that Fleur almost always had things her way, and losing a competition such as this was a blow to her pride, both as a woman, a rival and especially as a veela. But that only made the entire deal that much sweeter.

To have finally beaten Fleur at something, it left a sweet taste in her mouth, much more so since this was her turf, she had had home field advantage. Though admittedly the only reason that she won over Fleur was because she had moved fast and struck hard, not that she had ever imagined Harry being anything like he actually was, her dreams of him had always been different. But despite his flirtatious attitude she had easily picked up on all the little tells that shouted that he was as pure as the day he had been born.

She had been with other before, she was far from inexperienced, but she wasn't a whore. But most of it had mainly been a rebellious phase. It wasn't that she was so conceited as to have believed that she would capture Harry's heart, far from it, though she held out hope. But the reason she had even been so aggressive was that she had sought her destiny, a destiny which she had embraced years earlier. The women in her family had always inherited a strange skill; they were riddled with the most peculiars Seers, if they could even be counted as that. It allowed the women to see who they would spend the rest of their life with, at an early age.

She had known since she was fourteen that she was destined to be with Harry. It wasn't that she had just blindly accepted it, she had questioned her mother and her aunt about it, and they both confirmed it, even her grandmother could confirm it. So when the chance presented itself she had just grabbed it with both hands, to at least initiate this on her own terms. Unfortunately, or fortunately some would say, the plan had partially backfired. Sure she was the one to start it all, but it has quickly gotten out of hand. The vision in itself was never anything that the women would really remember, it was just little features like the color and styles of hair, or the nose, or in her case the eyes. Also each woman also instinctively knew who it was; the name was just imprinted in their memory.

Both her mom and aunt had been very inquisitive as to who she had Seen. But she had been tightlipped, and never told a single soul. To this very day she was the only one who knew about this particular and the only one she would possibly reveal it to in the near future would be Harry.

She was startled out of her train of thought by a voice right next to her. She turned her head slightly to see a vaguely familiar boy staring at her, though she could not exactly pinpoint who he was.

"Excuse me Miss Auclair", he said and smiled charmingly at her. "Could I steal a moment of your time?"

She nodded after moment, but otherwise just studied him, and he turned to study the pit.

"Perfect weather for today don't you agree?", he said in a cheery tone.

"Yes, it's wonderful. Though it is not really the weather that makes this day exciting", she responded evenly.

He laughed lightly, ignoring her forced tone. "No I suppose it isn't. Though I am rather curious as to how Harry will handle this task."

"I am sure he will do an outstanding job", she replied.

"Only time will tell", he responded. "But still witnessing something like this makes ones blood run faster. I feel refreshed just being here."

"I wonder if you would feel refreshed if you were the one down there about to face a dragon", she responded curtly.

He smile faltered slightly, but it was soon back in place. "No I don't think I would. But I won't ever know now will I?"

He turned to regard her fully, still smiling that same smile. "My name is Peter Zerbst. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

She regarded him for a moment; the name struck something, then it hit like a ton of bricks. This was the same guy who had asked Fleur to the Yuletide Ball, and had been utterly rejected. She only just held a sneer back from her face. She knew what he was after now.

"Louise Auclair", she responded coolly.

"A beautiful name", he said, trying to flatter her. "Now as to the reason I have been bothering you. I was wondering if you would like to go with me to the Yuletide Ball."

"We've never met before. I don't really think I can just accept an invitation from someone I know nothing about", she said in a forced polite tone. At least this way she gave him a chance to get out of this with some semblance of confidence.

"That could easily be remedied", he said with another teeth-sparkling smile, thinking it an inviting gesture. "There is a Hogsmeade trip coming up in a few weeks, still plenty of time to decide, and if you want to go with me after the trip, then lucky me."

"I'm sorry, but I have someone else in mind", she said, trying to get it through that thick skull of his.

"Ohh", he said, momentarily dejected. "May I ask who it is?"

"I am sure you know of him", she said, with the first real smile since the conversation started. "After all, he's about to overcome a dragon."

Peter seemed momentarily stumped, and then his eyes narrowed briefly. "Why would you be interested in him? Everyone knows that he cheated his way into this tournament. He will be lucky if he even makes it through it alive."

Her rage flared brightly, but she kept her voice low, dangerously so. "How would you know that? And the last time I checked it hadn't been proven that he cheated. But even if he had, he would still be a much better than you will ever be."

He looked as if he had been struck, but he seemed to have gotten the message and made to leave, but left with one last parting remark. "Everyone knows that Potter is a liar and a cheat, but it seems you haven't realized yet."

Her wand was in her hand instantly, but a firm grip on her wrist stopped her from cursing the arrogant, stupid, rotten arse. She turned and looked at Michelle, who kept a firm grip on her wrist, with narrowed eyes.

"Let go of me", she hissed.

"I don't think so, it would be unadvisable right now", she said evenly.

"You heard what he said about him", she responded heatedly. "You think I will just let that go?"

"I don't think Harry would want you to do this."

"You know nothing of Harry", she said in an ice cold voice. "So don't pretend you do."

"If he is the kind of guy that will let a girl get in trouble to defend his own name then I don't want to get to know him", she countered forcefully. "Because that would make him a right bastard."

Louise stiffened, and said in a calm, arctic voice. "Let go."

Michelle did so, but warily moved a step backwards.

Louise was furious. More than furious, as if it wasn't enough that this Hogwarts student went and insulted Harry, one of her own friends did exactly the same right after. But she still pocketed her wand. It would do no one any good if she got caught up in a trouble now.

"Don't let me hear you say that again, because friend or not, Harry means everything to me", she said in a low tone and turned away from Michelle, who seemed subdued by that comment, a sight she had never seen before.

Before her the crowd of Beauxbaton student hadn't noticed a thing, but was actually more focused on the ring where the Hungarian Horntail was tied up. The dragon was by far the biggest and meanest looking of the bunch so far, and was looking around the pit with fearsome eyes. It was only slightly comforting to know that there were dragon handlers nearby to step in if any situation got out of control, though last time they had taken their sweet time.

However her mind was taken off the matter by a voice booming over the gathered students.

"_Welcome back. I know you have been waiting for some time for the final contestant in the first task, and we're happy to tell you that he is up and about again, and we will soon be ready to begin."_

In the wake of the magically amplified voice the entire stadium exploded in noise. Some of it loud cheers, some it loud boos. But everyone was excited to see this event that had been so long in coming. The suspense was heavy in the air, and everyone sat up straighter and immediately fixed their attention on the pit below them, and the loud noise was soon replaced by a silence that was equally loud.

Everyone waited with bated breath for Harry to walk out of the tent flap. The dragon handlers in the pit departed as soon as the amplified voice of Bagman echoed over the crowds, leaving behind only an agitated Horntail. The Horntail was stalking, almost prowling around its nest, and it gave of the air of a superior predator as its eyes searched the pit with intensity.

Louise couldn't help but be glad that this stadium was enchanted for the dragon to not be able see any of the spectators in the stands, as a security precaution. Though the pit itself was set low enough that the crowd would be able to simply duck behind safe, fireproof walls should a stray flame go in their direction.

All around the stadium, students were shushing each other, but still whispered excitedly with their companions. All talk stalled when the amplified voice started again.

"_It is with excitement that each and every one of us today gather here today to witness the final contestant and how he will handle himself against the dragon you all see before you today",_ the cheerful voice of Bagman boomed over the crowds. _"The rules and objective is the same as before. Young Harry will only be allowed to bring his wand and ingenuity and he will have to extract a golden egg from the nest of Horntail. But he must be careful, for Horntails are said to have a nasty temper, especially nesting mothers."_

Louise snorted at the theatrical nature of the man. "They are enjoying this way too much", she said and glared at some nearby people, who were whispering amongst themselves and snickering.

All talking suddenly ceased and Louise had trouble locating the reason for this until one of nearby students poked her and pointed down into the pit, and immediately a radiant smile lit up her face as she saw Harry walk into the pit with his unruly black hair getting caught in the wind. She could see the small smirk on his face as he walked; a calm confidence was evident in his every step.

She sighed dreamily and momentarily disregarded the many similar sighs that erupted around her.

DB -

Harry smiled as he with confident steps, walked through the tent flap and entered the pit he had only seen briefly before. Of course, being chased by a dragon tends to draw one's attention away from noticing small things like the layout of the pit.

He looked around and assessed the terrain in an attempt to figure out what he had to work with.

The terrain itself was rocky, and faintly resembled a mountainous region, and the good thing was that it provided excellent shelter. The downside was that it also made it that much more difficult to get to the great hulking piece of reptilian meat, which was coincidentally staring unblinkingly at him.

The Horntail really did catch his eye.

It was easily bigger than the Chinese dragon that had been on Fleur's tail, though by the way it was flexing its claws, casually ripping the rock beneath it apart as if it was but dirt really should have discouraged him. Just like the occasional huff of smoke escaping its flaring nostrils, seemed equally threatening. The dragon was crouched, if you could call it crouching when it was a dragon doing it. It looked ready to leap at him, the chain around its leg be damned, and personal experience really did force him to reevaluate his thoughts on the usefulness of those.

A normal student might have panicked at this point, and done something reckless. But Harry was no normal student, and besides he also had two contingency plans where as a rookie student might only have one plan in all.

But of course only time would tell if his first plan would pay off or not. Regardless of how much research he had done into the subject he just hadn't been able to find anything concrete. So doing this would be 'trial and error' in the simplest sense.

But besides the rocky stadium, and the many outcroppings there wasn't really all that much he could use to his advantage in here.

But that was where it paid off to be a wizard. The arena might not suit him right now, but he could make it suit him, and all the rocks strewn about the place provided excellent material for one of his contingency plans.

He noticed movement at the corner of his eye and immediately turned his head back to the dragon. It had taken a slightly more aggressive stance, and he could see it open its maw, black smoke billowing out.

Suddenly he saw a spark ignite in the back of its throat and in the split-second it took for him to register what was happening he had managed to dive behind an outcropping to shield himself from the flames. He could however not escaped the heat that washed over him as the boulder he was hiding behind was punished by torrents of flame.

Sweat began to run down his face, and he quickly wiped it on his sleeve. He pointed his wand at a nearby rock and transfigured it onto a bird of some sort. It looked strangely deform, but that didn't matter. What did matter was that it could fly, so he sent it flying out from behind the outcropping to get the attention of the beast, and he was pleased to find that the heat was reduced slightly as the Horntail roared. He took the chance and ran behind another outcropping, disregarding the most possible and cruel fate of the transfigured bird.

He dove behind the outcropping and let out a breath when he saw the dragon its assault on the rock he'd hidden behind before.

"That was bloody hot", he said, short of breath. "Literally."

He allowed himself a small break to get his thoughts organized again, and frowned.

To put his main plan into action he needed to get closer to the dragon. But as it was now, he wouldn't have the chance if he couldn't distract the dragon.

Well, that was why he had contingency plans after all, he'd just need to put one into affect to set the stage for his main plan.

He raised his wand again and this time focused on a few rocks before him. He muttered several quiet 'Verto Pennipotenti', and the result was a small flock of birds gathered in front of him. He immediately sent them out, to distract the dragon.

He glanced out behind his cover to see the dragon whirling around with a bellow, spewing flames after the small agile birds. The plan seemed to be working perfectly and he grinned as he quickly, and silently ran from his shelter, closer to the middle of the arena, while still staying hidden as much as possible.

Each step brought him a step closer to his goal, but each step also came with increasingly longer intervals. The smell of burnt feathers and meat permeated the air, and he had to fight to hold back the cough that threatened to escape his mouth, and therefore possibly reveal his location. He'd been forced to cast the spell again due to the eerie aim of the Horntail, which also explained why the stadium was littered with smoking bird corpses. Though they were already slowly turning back to the rocks they had all be transformed from.

A delightful shiver of anticipation ran down his spine as he dove behind the final boulder. He was now within hearing of the dragon, and the agonized twitter of the final bird signaled the end of his spells.

But that mattered little now, for the stage was set. Now it was just time to test Daphne's theory.

He drew a couple of deep breaths to make sure his voice was steady, and focused again.

This skill didn't come easy for him, but odds were that it was because he hadn't practiced it. But that had changed this weekend. Most of his free time, and some of his practical practice, had been spent trying to hone this skill.

~_Stop_~, he shouted in parseltongue. Though it could hardly be called it a shout, it still managed to carry, and the previous restless wandering of the dragon suddenly halted, and the silence that descended was almost tangible.

He received no answer in return, but decided to press the matter. That simple statement did seem to have halted the dragon.

~_Can you understand me?_~, he shouted again. That in and of itself would be a smart thing to establish.

A loud grumble was his answer, though it much different from the previous roaring. ~_Yes, soft-hide, I can understand you._~

He could hear the same underlying hissing that he used to hear when he heard snakes talking. He beamed widely, proud at his own success. He'd have to thank Daphne later for suggesting this to him.

~_I am not here to harm you or your eggs_~, he responded, the same hissing tones leaving his mouth. That might be a good thing to start this conversation with, just to set the facts straight. ~_I simply wish to talk to you_~

~_You soft-hides never want to just talk. You always try to either kill us or steal our young_~, the dragon hissed fiercely.

~_I swear to you that I have no such intentions_~, he said honestly. ~_I actually wish to discuss with you about a deceit played on the both of us._~

~_You can come forth_~, the dragon hissed. ~_I have no intentions of hurting a Speaker, unless you attempt to trick me, then I shall tear you limb from limb._~

Harry mulled it over for naught but a few second, and decided that this conversation was definitely going better than he'd expected.

~_If you assure me that no harm will come to me during our talk, then I shall be more than happy to_~, he responded.

~_It has been countless winters since I last spoke with a Speaker, and I will not hurt one without due reason, this I swear to by the magic in my blood._~, the dragon hissed.

Well that certainly did sound good, so he decided to stall no more, and simply got up and moved out from behind the rock he'd hidden behind and immediately his eyes caught that of the dragon. Those deep black orbs, the glint of intelligence was much more noticeable now that he didn't have to focus on avoiding flames or finding new hiding places.

He took a few steps forth, the confidence in his steps increased by his success. Also to show that he had no ill-intentions he allowed his wand to fall to his side.

~_So you are a Speaker_

~, the dragon stated, though he thought it was mostly to itself. The eyes briefly roamed over him before settling on his eyes again immediately. ~_You spoke of a deception played on both of us soft-skin. Tell me, what do you speak of?_~

He decided that beating around the bush would serve no real purpose here so he laid the cards out on the table. ~_Do you know why you were brought here? Why you have been chained in this pit with me?_~

~_No I do not small one_~

~_The reason why you're here is because the magic school Hogwarts is hosting an event called the Tri-Wizard Tournaments_~, he explained and then shrugged. ~_And I'm one of the contestants in this tournament_~

The loud growl rose from the dragon throat. ~_Are you saying that I'm here is because I'm being used as some sort of entertainment in a contest?_~

Harry eased his stance slightly, in preparation if the dragon decided that being hostile was the way to go.

~_Be at ease Speaker, my anger is not directed at you_~, the dragon said as its eyes again focused on Harry. ~_But tell me, what is it that you have to accomplish?_~

~_Well, they have placed a fake egg amongst your own, that they want us to retrieve_~, he said cautiously.

The dragon immediately turned about and looked at its nest, scrutinizing, and smelling every egg.

_~I see, I can smell it_~, the dragon said after a while. ~_I will allow you retrieve your fake egg~_

Harry laughed openly then, apparently startling the dragon, and most certainly also the few thousand spectators up there. Odds were that they were beginning to think him crazy.

~_It matters not to me whether or not you give your permission or not, I only did it this way to test out a theory of mine and because it seemed like the simplest way. Besides I'd rather not have to fight you, when there is a peaceful way through this annoying task_

A deep growl, deeper than the one from before issued from the dragon's throat and it took a slightly aggressive stance.

Now he wanted to try his own theory. According to rumors, Fleur had been able to somehow affect the dragon, and from what he'd heard from her it had something to do with her Veela powers, and since his Veela powers were more powerful he wanted to put the possibility to a test.

So he did as he'd gotten used to and focused on the feelings emanating off the dragon, and at first he was slightly confused at how foreign they felt when compared to that of humans, but he was soon able to find similarities, and discovered that the feelings of dragons was just more intensified and primal than that of humans.

He unleashed almost half of his Veela power and slammed it into the bundle of feelings, undermining some, building new, reinforcing others, all meant to make the dragon as harmless to him as possible. He did however meet resistance, though he attributed that to a century old, possibly older dragon, fighting against him. He pushed harder and felt the resistance crumble, and with a swift strike of intent he had achieved what he'd hoped to.

During the entire process the dragon had been looking into his eyes, with first incredulity, then shock, followed by fear. Though the feelings in themselves were hard to pick up from just looking into the eyes of the dragon, he had the advantage of being able to feel its feelings firsthand.

All those feelings however soon gave way to the feelings he'd induced.

He breathed heavily and wiped some sweat off his brow. He still wasn't used to using that much of his power so freely, but at least he didn't succumb to exhaustion this time.

He righted himself and walked towards the dragon now sure that it was harmless to him, and stopped right in front of it.

~_Get out of my way_~, he hissed to the dragon, and was delighted to see it follow his order and crawl away from him, leaving the nest with eggs fully exposed to him. He could feel the apprehension in the beast as he approached the nest. It seemed that even now some of its motherly traits shone through. He however had no reason to raise its ire, as he only had to retrieve the golden egg.

The dragon no longer hindered him, and therefore he simply reached down and grabbed the egg with his free hand and turned around to exit the pit again, not sparing one glance to the dragon behind him.

He groaned at the thought of not getting to try out his other plans, but then realized that the task was first officially over when he was out of the pit, and brightened visibly as he looked about the close vicinity of himself.

He quickly focused on a small pile of stones nearby and with a burst of concentrated imagination muttered two spells in quick succession under his breath and was happy to see the many instruments now floating in midair. The second spell set them playing and he exited the stadium to some lovely upbeat music, feeling pretty darned good about himself.

The egg was surprisingly light, and he hardly felt burdened as he walked back into the silent and empty tent.

He took a seat and looked at the golden egg in his lap.

"Now why did I have to go through such trouble to get my hands on you", he said and stared at the unresponsive egg.

DB -

Fleur was staring down at the pit where the dragon had halted in its track and seemingly lost its desire to see the blood of Harry stain the ground.

But what really had her gripping the back of the seat in front of her, was the fact that Harry just calmly walked out from behind the rock and stared at the dragon with a fervent intensity, but she could see the wariness in his steps.

But what seemed even more startling was the fact that he seemed to be speaking to the dragon, as was evidenced by moving of his lips. However what was even more startling was the fact that the dragon somehow seemed to be responding, if the loud hissing was any indication.

She could hear whispers explode around her as more and more people noticed what she had.

"What is he doing?", a young Beauxbaton girl who was sitting nearby asked.

"I have no idea, but what is the dragon doing?", another nearby girl answered. "Why isn't it attacking?"

"He's talking to it, can't you see his mouth moving", the first girl responded in a confused voice.

"But why? Does he really expect it to understand him or something, or has he gone mad?"

Fleur listened to the conversation with half an ear, and actually paid more attention to the happenings down in the pit. Though the girls were right in one thing, he was definitely speaking to the dragon, but even she doubted the sanity of his current actions. However she had faith in him, and sincerely hoped he had a back up plan.

Her attention were firmly focused on Harry, until picked up a snippet of conversation nearby again.

"… you sure?", a girl asked with a slight tremor in her voice.

"I don't know for sure, but I overheard some of the Hogwarts students say it", a new girl said, and she seemed slightly out of breath as if she'd just been running.

"But even if he is a… a Parselmouth, it doesn't mean anything. I mean they are only supposed to be able to talk to snakes, not dragons."

The newly arrived girl simply snorted, although she tried to keep it to a whisper. "As if you're the expert on Parselmouths. For all we know they might be able to talk to birds as well, though that seems unlikely."

Fleur whirled about, though she attempted to still keep half an eye on Harry down in the pit.

"What did you say?", she demanded of the trio of girls chattering about it, and they quickly sat up straight and stared at her with slightly frightful look. She was after all known to have quite a temper.

When no answer was forthcoming, she snapped at them. "Tell me, what was it you had heard about Harry?"

Though only a couple of years younger than her, all three girls seemed to shrink in on themselves. But unconsciously two of the girls seemed to be hiding behind slightly behind the middle girl, and said girl also took a step forward.

"I heard some of the English students saying that Harry Potter was a Parselmouth, and that he had been speaking to snakes in his second year, and they think he's somehow speaking to the dragon", the middle girl managed to squeak forth.

"So he _is_ talking to the dragon", she mumbled to herself.

"Did you hear anything else", she demanded of the girl.

"Nothing, but they did say he only seen using it briefly in the second year, and something about a Chamber of Secrets."

"What is this Chamber of Secrets?", Fleur asked imploringly, albeit a bit softer. Though she was more than a little intrigued about this news. Firstly, the news of a Parselmouth would have traveled across the British borders, despite their attempt to keep the news from spreading. Everyone had heard of the last known Parselmouth, which was Voldemort.

Though she could understand why he would keep such information to himself, he probably didn't want to deal with the less than popular feelings from the common people that the ability carried with it. It was a stigma, not awful, but enough to make everyday life annoying.

"I don't know", the girl said, more a bit less flustered. "They didn't mention."

"Thanks", Fleur said and was already turning away from the girl, when she felt a lurch. Not of the physical kind, even though the response almost crossed over into those lands. It was more of a pull from inside her, not remotely straining at all, but it still gave her pause, until she discovered what the feeling was.

Her eyes instantly riveted to Harry down in the pit, and focused on the scene played out before her.

What she was feeling was what she had felt every single time Harry had used his power on her, except she could feel that he was not trying to induce the same feelings he was when he had been used them on her. She somehow felt 'what' he was trying to do, but couldn't make heads or tails of it.

It was so alien to her, like a raging ocean where she normally dealt with a calm river.

The actually happenings in the pit displayed nothing of the fight truly raging down there. Harry and the dragon were caught in an unblinking staring match, and it seemed to go on forever. Meanwhile the muttering of the crowd became increasingly louder, and she could hear several people about her quietly whispering about Parselmouths.

Suddenly she felt another lurch within her core as Harry forced his will through, and she could see an immediate physical effect on the dragon. Though not obvious it no longer held a threatening pose, actually it almost shied away from him. A small smile played on Harry's lips as he seemed to catch his breath, but she could see and almost feel his amusement.

Her eyes followed his form intently as he simply walked towards the dragon. The dragon suddenly leapt away from his path, as he walked closer to the nest containing the eggs, where he nonchalantly picked up the golden egg totally disregarding the fierce looking dragon behind him.

"How strong is he really?", Fleur asked herself quietly, as she watched him reenter the tent from which he had emerged.

Suddenly the stadium became abuzz with talk, and the noise was overwhelming as people turned this way and that to talk about this new discovery, and Beauxbaton and Durmstrang were no better than the Hogwarts students, in fact they were actually worse. The Hogwarts students took it rather well, but that was to be considered as most of them probably already knew about this little dirty secret.

She was actually beginning to consider just skipping the announcing of his score in favor of getting away from all this noise when suddenly the magically amplified voice of Bagman appeared again. The crowd instantly quieted, though occasional whispers could be heard.

"_Uhh… Well… Well done to Harry Potter, he managed to get past his dragon with the most ingenious, and unpredictable way of all that we have seen so far, and I think I speak for all of us when I say that we've all been astounded at the happenings during this match"_, the magically amplified voice boomed over the stadium. _"The judges seem ready to let us in on their estimations. So we should not keep you waiting, I say."_

Everyone turned as one to the raised podium with the judges.

Fleur followed the example of the crowd and looked up to the men and women judging the performance.

One by one the numbers went up in the air.

"_How very… surprising",_ the magically amplified voice continued. _"It amounts to an amazing 41 points, a very impressive score. However despite the amazing score, he still ends up as the last in total, though the race is not lost yet. He now holds the clue to the second test, and he will have plenty of time to shine at the next challenge."_

Sparse booing erupted over the stadium, but did however soon die out. Fleur herself was not really surprised at this, but she could still feel the rage boil up inside her, however she kept it tightly leashed. She contented herself with the knowledge that they would someday discover the mistake they had made and wish they would have acted differently.

Soon enough the crowd erupted into action. The main event of the day was over and they seemed to have more urgent matters to attend, though she could hardly think of what activities one could attend in Hogwarts that was more appealing than attempting to follow this contest. However, she might have been a bit subjective, both because of her own position in this tournament as well as Harry's own involvement.

So without raising more attention than she usually did, simply being who she was, she followed the crowd out of the stadium, but she hung back a bit hoping to catch Harry as he went back to the castle, but it wasn't to be as it seemed he had already gone when she poked her head into the tent.

A bit miffed as the missed opportunity she ventured back with the last remnants of the crowd to the castle. What annoyed her even more was that she was beginning to develop a persistent headache, but it was so weak that she was easily able to simply brush it off and continue on her merry way.

A familiar crown of dirty-blonde curly hair caught her attention further ahead as she noticed the same girl she had been searching for Harry with further ahead. Despite knowing that she had an advantage in the form of naturally gifted magical looks, the whole deal with Louise couldn't help but put out some of her ardor, and she felt a slight prick of jealousy begin to rear its head.

However, Harry's performance in the tournament had made her incredibly interested, and she remembered that he had mentioned that this Daphne girl would be the one to coach and help him in this tournament, which meant that she might be able to answer some of her questions.

So she began to quietly make her way closer to the girl, who was surprisingly agile and limber as she partly weaved through the crowd and partly made the other people make way for her just by her mere presence.

So she was almost to the front gates before she finally caught up with her, and fell silently into step with her. Daphne only briefly looked at her, seemingly not taken by surprise at all, before she focused her attention in front of her again.

"Hello", Fleur said, and decided she might as well dive right into it. "That was a fairly eye-opening performance by Harry today, don't you agree?"

Daphne didn't seem in the slightest put out, and actually looked a bit proud.

"It sure was, though I would lean more towards that it was an amazing experience in and of itself", she replied casually. "However, I must admit that I'm not really that overly surprised by the entire deal."

"Oh, that's right", Fleur exclaimed in mock-surprise. "Harry said you were helping him with preparations for the task, so you must have known what he was planning on doing."

"No use denying it", she said calmly.

"Did you know that he was going to going to 'talk' to the dragon?", she asked bluntly.

Daphne observed her through a slightly arched eyebrow. "Yes, I did. He did after all consult me on that particular subject."

"How did he know it would work?", Fleur asked intrigued. "The dragon might as well just have torn him apart."

"True", she conceded. "But where there is no risk there is no true gain. As to how he knew… well you will have to ask him yourself."

Fleur took that comment for what it was an end to the conversation, however a glimmer of movement caught her eyes, and she then noticed that Daphne was carrying an edition of the Newspaper, the Prophet, with a startling picture of a burning house.

"Excuse me", she said again and pointed at the newspaper. "But can I please have a look at that?"

"Keep it", Daphne replied and handed it over. "I'm done with it anyways."

Daphne said nothing more as she simply left Fleur behind with the national newspaper, and soon enough Fleur again found herself alone.

She unfolded the newspaper and took a look at the front page.

**Ministry Employee Died In Tragic Fire**

_Ministry-employed co-director of International Travel in the Ministry of Magic, Arthur McPherson, died in a tragic house fire. The authorities were first informed by a neighbor of the deceased McPherson when she first suspected something was wrong. She had been floo-calling aforementioned co-director and had immediately noticed that the high flames when her head appeared in the deceased's hearth._

"_It was terrible", neighbor, Doreen Biltby said with tears in her eyes. "I had lent Arthur some books, which I needed back. But when I appeared in his hearth I was terrified to see that his entire living room was bathed in flames."_

_Doreen Biltby was fortunate enough to be under the effects of the floo-powder and therefore sustained no injuries from the scorching flames. She immediately called for help from the ministry before gathering what wizards and witches that she could to contain the situation until the proper authorities arrived._

_When the ministry employees arrived on the scene the deceased's house had burned to the ground, and the witnesses reported that the flames had been resistant to magical means of extinguishment. The authorities have found the charred remains of a human and have successfully ascertained the identity as the deceased McPherson._

_As of yet the authorities have nothing to say but that it's a tragic happening and that they are as of yet uncertain of the cause for the fire._

Fleur stared at the paper for a few more seconds before shaking her head and moving on. Despite the entire deal being a regretful matter it didn't really concern her, though she did have a few choice words about the explicitness of the front page, especially the picture. It showed the house still on fire with flames licking at its sides while one could see various witches and wizards trying to extinguish the fire through various means.

She handed the paper to one of the guys walking near her, who was staring intently at her with a dreamy expression. He took it with trembling hands and looked at it as if it was the greatest gift anyone had ever given him.

She didn't spare him another glance as she walked away, chuckling wryly. At least they were good for something.

The crisp late autumn weather halted as soon as she stepped inside the halls of Hogwarts again, turning comfortably warm.

However the discovery that Harry was a parselmouth was pretty shocking and she honestly had no idea how that came to be. She had, along with the other students at Beauxbaton, been studying Harry slightly, which also meant some of his family tree and their accomplishments, and though her memory could be better she was pretty certain that none of them were parselmouths or else they had done a very good job of hiding it.

However that didn't seem very likely, which is what brought on her confusion, and several questions.

Is it possible to develop such powers without having some sort of predisposition to them, or was it just some sort of genetic evolutionary step? But it couldn't be a coincidence when taking into account that Voldemort had been a parselmouth as well and with the connection they shared such a coincidence seemed very unlikely.

However despite the circumstances behind his attaining of such a unique power, it really mattered little to her. The others from her school, and those of Durmstrang, were another matter entirely. They cared greatly for such a development, since the ability to speak to snakes carried an immense stigma.

The entire deal of worrying for Harry had stolen a good piece of her energy and she felt hunger gnawing at her, and unconsciously her feet took her in the direction of the Great Hall, hoping she could something to sate her hunger.

DB -

He had quickly decided that simply staring at the golden egg in his lap would by no means be productive, and besides he felt the pangs of hunger establishing itself. So with the need to feed urging him on he tucked the egg under his arm and left the confines of the tent in a small sprint. If he was lucky he could avoid the majority of the students on his way to the Great Hall.

The chilly afternoon air hit his face and a small shiver ran down his back. Soon enough he strode through the great oaken doors of the castle, and was assaulted by the delightfully warm air of the interior of the castle. Unfortunately for him it seemed he had lingered too long in the tent as a few students were already in the front hall, all heading in the same direction as him, the Great Hall, where dinner would soon enough be served, if it hadn't already.

He saw some of the students looking pointedly at him, and his egg as well, and he couldn't stop the sigh that escaped his mouth and he securing a good grip on his golden luggage, he walked into the Great Hall, to see a good deal of the student population already there. As he looked at the four tables in front of him, a dilemma presented itself.

Where would he sit?

He didn't exactly feel like being social with the brave kittens, and he had already had the pleasure of being seated at the table of the smart and wise eagles. So the choice was either the good-natured and friendly badgers or the sneaky and cunning snakes. However he had no preconceptions about how the badgers felt about him right now, after all, he had stolen the limelight of their precious champion.

So the only real choice was to sit with the glaring and hissing crowd of snakes. Who would probably be incensed that he'd been speaking Parsel.

However, before he had a chance to act on his decision he felt a poke on his shoulders and turned around to see the familiar face of Daphne, who wore a slight smile.

"Hello Daphne", he greeted her and grinned deviously. "I was just deciding which table I should grace with my presence today, and I think your housemates deserve the honor, do you not agree?"

"I see no reason why they wouldn't be overjoyed by the prospect", she responded humorously.

"Then," he returned with a smile. "Shall we?"

"Indeed we shall", she replied and looped her arm through his. "By the way, well done with the dragon. Mind if I ask what you talked about?"

"Nothing much to talk about really. It just seemed to think it was superior to me", he said and distaste could clearly heard in his voice. "And I don't like to be looked down upon."

"I understand. Can I assume that you used _that_ against it?", she queried cautiously, careful not to talk too loud.

He nodded. "I needed to see whether or not I could do it. But enough of that, let's sit and eat, I'm a bit famished after that display."

They took a seat at the Slytherin table and only received small amounts of hissed insults from the small numbers of snakes that were present, though odds were that that would change soon enough.

His stomach rumbled in agreement with his actions when he poured a good deal of food onto his plate, whereas Daphne opted to keep the meal more controlled.

As he chewed the through another potato, he couldn't stop himself from thinking about the golden egg lying on the table beside his plate. The egg itself was by no means simple; all around it was carved small figures and lines ran throughout the entire thing a bit like veins, and now that he looked he could also make out a small hatch, like it could somehow be opened.

That warranted further investigation, though that would have to wait for another day, he simply did not have the mental reserves right now to even attempt to figure out the next challenge. Using that much of his power had been almost as tiring as the last time he'd used it with Fleur. He wondered what the point of having that much power was, if he practically fainted from exhaustion when using only half of it. It hardly seemed good that he'd have to use a Fortitude Potion to simply utilize the full range of his powers.

However his time for self-reflection was abruptly ended when Draco along with the remaining Slytherins arrived at their table.

"What are you doing here, Potter?", Draco demanded, seemingly rebounded from their previous encounter, though he did send a wary glance in Daphne direction.

Said witch was staring unblinkingly at Draco, and even Harry might have been a bit unnerved had that stare been directed at him. However she did nothing more than take a cursory scan over the entire group lingering a bit on a few people before focusing on Draco's face.

"Ahh, there you are Draco", he said in mock-politeness. "I was just waiting for you to grace me with your delightful presence. Please do sit down and dazzle me with stories of your fantastic life."

Draco sneered, but otherwise didn't react to the taunt.

"You do know Potter that people are going to think you're a dark wizard again now, and now you won't have the weasel and mudblood to cry your heart out to", he mocked. "It is really quite sad that even blood traitors and filthy mudbloods don't want to even associate with you."

Harry shrugged. "Meh, what can I say; I'm not for the faint of heart."

The blond boy apparently a bit put off by the apathy of his hated rival visibly collected his thoughts for a moment.

"_Why_ are you here?", he reiterated.

"I don't see any sign saying, 'No Potters Allowed', so I assumed that there would be no trouble with me sitting here, and as I mentioned before. I really could use some of your delightful company. You always manage to make me laugh somehow."

The irate blonde boy growled audibly and pulled his wand out from beneath his robe, but carefully hid it from the view of staff table. He however did point it threateningly at Harry, whose only response was to smile brightly at him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you", Daphne said sweetly from the other side of Harry. "You wouldn't want to get hurt, now would you?"

It was first at this point that everyone, Harry included, realized that Daphne had her own wand pointed at Draco discreetly.

Draco's eyes focused briefly on the wand pointed at his midsection before fastening his eyes to the grey ones of Daphne, more wary than before. Though a sneer still managed to work its way onto his face.

"I thought I had warned you already Daphne. But it seems my warnings went unheeded. Maybe I really should have a talk with Professor Snape?", he said while glaring at Daphne.

"You've been making those threats before and you haven't really followed through on them, so riddle me this", Daphne mocked him. "Why should I believe a boy who can't back up his words?"

"Ahh, but Daphne, we can't all be men of our words, now can we?", Harry quipped, and snickered. "There has to be some unreliable people, else being honest wouldn't be that special."

Both Crabbe and Goyle, who were flanking Draco, seemed at a loss at the repartee of the three people. Though that might have something to do with the limited brain capacity of the two equaled that of dog.

However behind the trio seemed to be gathering a number of Slytherins who seemed to be equally surprised at seeing them there. Though none of them made as big a fuss about it as Draco, and they quietly settled down at the table, though they all set with a good amount of space between themselves and the Harry and Daphne, however they all sat suspiciously close enough to be able to overhear whatever conversation the pair would be having.

Harry chuckled softly when he noticed this, and Daphne smirked slightly.

They both turned away from the perturbed Slytherin, as if simply dismissing him and returned to the meal.

"Now be on your way Draco, I do so enjoy eating in peace", Harry said.

Daphne kept a wary eye on the enraged Slytherin, and Harry didn't feel in the slightest foolish for turning his back while Draco was so obviously incensed, for Daphne was leagues ahead of even him, not to mention Draco, and she would be able to deal with any situation that arose before Draco would be able to open his mouth.

Draco seemed to realize this as well because he huffed and sat as far away from them as possible, in contrast to the other Slytherins who seemed to have seated themselves as close to Daphne and him as possible without being seemingly associated with him.

"What do you think of my performance out there?", Harry asked quietly, without looking at Daphne.

"From what I saw, your performance was according to plan, though, no disrespect meant; I think we need to work a little more on your Transfiguration and Charms", she responded equally quietly. "But I honestly think you've startled everyone today."

Harry arched his brow. "Why would that be? I don't think any Hogwarts students would be overly surprised by this. Though I suppose the Beauxbatons and Durmstrangs might be astonished by the fact, or probably just terrified by it as seemed to be the most common reaction in second year."

"You're wrong about that", Daphne responded, with a slight chuckle. "We, in Slytherin, have been trying to make the fact that you were a Parselmouth seem an unfounded rumor. You see, it was kind of embarrassing to have one of the few known Parselmouths in existence be a Gryffindor when that gift originally stemmed from the esteemed Salazar Slytherin."

He looked at her suspiciously before laughing lightly. "That's your attempt at saving face? Make it as if it never happened? Sounds a bit conceited"

Daphne huffed slightly, but had a slight sparkle in her eyes. "Well, it's not as if we had any other option. But I agree that it wasn't a very viable solution. However, though we would never be able to convince third year and up, the two newest years believe it to be nothing more than a rumor or at least most of them did."

Harry briefly looked over the hall, which was slowly filling with students. "I honestly haven't thought much about it since second year. But I didn't think it would be so important."

"You underestimate how conservative the old magical society is nowadays", she said with a smile.

"No wonder Malfoy was so mad", he said with a frown.

"That is very possible, though he did seem to be restraining himself. Perhaps he's finally become more sensible, though I'll see it before I believe it", she snorted.

"As would…", Harry began, but was cut off by an unknown redhead sitting in the seat across from him.

He turned to fully regard their new female companion, and his eyes were first drawn to thick wavy red hair. Her jaw was set firmly, and she was almost glaring at him with her deep brown eyes. Her body was almost completely hidden by the schools robes, except for a small glimpse of curves where one would expect it.

Harry chose to simply be silent until the new arrival made her purpose known, but apparently she was satisfied simply studying him, and so a small contest of wills began with her trying to stare him down and him trying not to sigh at the childishness of this girl.

"Cut it out Tracey, you're annoying Harry", Daphne said sharply.

True to her words Harry had grown considerably more irritated since the girl had taken a seat. But the name triggered his memory.

"Tracey Davis?", he inquired from the redhead.

"Yes, that's me", she confirmed frostily. "However what I'm interested in is knowing why you made Daphne give up her family name for you."

"Tracey", Daphne hissed, looking down the table for eavesdroppers.

Harry's stare however hardened from annoyance to prominent dislike in a matter of seconds. He'd quickly come to dislike that tone, since it was the same every single Hogwarts student spoke to him with. At least everyone that didn't believe him when he said he hadn't entered the tournament himself, did by now.

He briefly turned to look at Daphne, who was looking apprehensively at him.

"I assume you told her", he asked softly.

"I did", she said quietly. "But it seems I misjudged her ability to keep a rational mind."

"It matters not Daph", he said and flashed a small smile to put the girl at ease. "You said that your father would probably already know about this yesterday, so odds are that we'll be seeing him later today or tomorrow."

He turned back to Tracey who just kept on staring stonily at him, but he saw her eyes briefly flickering to Daphne.

"So you know that Daphne and me have come to an arrangement that required her to give up her family name", he stated flatly, but low enough that no eavesdroppers would happen to catch it. "What do you intend to do with this knowledge?"

"Depends…", she said vaguely, with a calculating look.

"On what?", Harry inquired with an arched brow.

"On the answer you give", she returned. "What I want to know is what deal you struck that was enough make her risk the ire of her family."

"You know; I don't care much for your tone", he said dryly.

Tracey's eye narrowed. "I don't care. You will give me an answer or I will make sure the Headmaster catches wind of this."

Daphne was about to retort, but Harry stopped her with a look.

"Resorting to threats now? I'm getting more disappointed by the second", he said with an unreadable stare. "And what makes you think I care if Dumbledore knows?"

She seemed sincerely shocked at his dismissal of her threat. "You do know what uproar and trouble this will bring, don't you?"

"Sure I do, but I could honestly not care less about what they think", he said. "But can't this wait till later? I really am a bit tired, and I just want something to eat."

"Then answer my question", Tracey growled. "Why did you allow Daphne to throw her life away for you?"

"You really think I would be able to make Daphne do something she didn't want to?", Harry responded bemusedly. "Apparently you don't think very highly of her."

"Answer me", Tracey snapped.

"I don't think you even have a clue as to the nature of the connection Daphne and I share", he said. "But I'm sure we can talk about this later. Perhaps this evening? At the Trophy Room?"

Tracey looked at him suspiciously for a few seconds, but her eyes briefly flickered to Daphne who seemed to be staring daggers at her.

She nodded stiffly and went further down the table to sit among the other Slytherins of her year, leaving Harry and Daphne alone again.

"I truly am sorry about this", Daphne said again. "If I had known this would have happened I would not have done so, but I felt I owed her as much."

Harry smiled gently at her and briefly caressed her hand. "Don't worry, I can see from the way she acted that you hadn't told her anything of real importance, besides we knew this day would come eventually."

In the comfortable silence that followed Harry cleaned off the rest of his plate quickly and he felt a considerable amount of his previously lost energy flowing through his limbs, invigorating him again. At least it seemed the aftereffects of using his powers so freely didn't seem to take nearly as great a toll on him as it used to.

The hall was slowly filling with a great deal more students of all three schools; all of them talking excitedly among themselves, and the hall was soon filled with chattering teens.

Harry had attempted to ignore it all until he saw a person sit down next to him and when he turned he was face to face with silvery blond hair and deep electric blue eyes.

He briefly lost himself in those deep eyes that seemed to suck him in, before he slightly shook his head and grinned at the newly-arrived Fleur. He couldn't stop himself from briefly letting his eyes roam over her delicate feminine features, and the alluring curves that were just barely visible under the concealing Beauxbaton uniform.

"I see someone has gotten her power under better control", he commented.

Fleur simply returned the grin with one of her own, though it seemed to serve a different purpose as it did nothing but arouse the male Veela as it only accentuated her rosy lips which he had only briefly felt caress his own.

"The same could be said for you", she responded with an arch of her brow. "What you did today was daring, I would even say it was bordering on stupid."

Despite the words, there were no heat in them; he could only hear worry in her voice, and where he might have flown off the handle at anyone else it did nothing but further endear her to him.

His grin changed into a genuine smile. "I know, but the only way to discover if it would work or not was to simply do it. You could say it was a do or die situation."

"Just don't do something reckless like that again, you hear me Harry?", she huffed, but despite it she still slid a bit closer to Harry till they were touching hip to hip.

Harry grinned slightly at the spectacle of the Veela sitting beside him and it was then that he began to notice that he was not the only one affected by Fleur's allure, as evidenced by the stares of practically every single male in the hall.

He didn't feel any resentment from being affected by her Allure, seeing as he had done the same to her multiple times before, and still was, just at a much lower degree. However, it did annoy him to have so many stares directed at her as he had become used to being the center of attention of all the females that had suddenly surrounded him and apparently it had also cultivated his possessive nature.

His annoyance however was short-lived as it was soon evident that he was the only one Fleur was focusing on, and she seemed to be only just acknowledging the presence of Daphne.

"I can't promise I won't have to do something similar in the next task, or even after", he said with a smile. "But I can promise that I'll at least try out other less dangerous approaches first, but I will only do so if you extend that same gesture to me."

Her deep blue eyes focused on his green ones with an intensity that almost took his breath away, but with it accompanied a wide smile that showed of her pearly white teeth and did wonderful things to her thin rosy lips.

"I accept; I will try to be as careful as I can in my tasks and in exchange I expect you to do so as well", she said brightly.

He smiled at her and made to reply as he heard a furious yell shattering the peace they currently enjoyed.

"DAPHNE!"

Harry immediately whirled about to locate the source of the shout, as did every other student in the hall.

He felt a small tug on his arm and turned about to see Daphne who was looking at him meaningfully. "It's my father", was the only explanation she uttered.

However that alone told him more than enough to stress the seriousness of the problem at hand. Not that Daphne's father could in any way contest the Vow that she had taken, but he was honestly a little annoyed.

First Draco had attempted to mock Harry and, though unsuccessful, he had still managed to annoy him slightly, and the appearance of Tracey and the almost literal inquisition she had tried to launch against him had done nothing but get on his nerves, and now this.

His eyes considerably darkened at this third intrusion on his peaceful meal as he turned back to the entrance of the Great Hall.

In it stood a very tall and imposing man, with very dark brown hair with streaks of silver running through it. His was wearing an immaculate robe, which only seemed to underline the vibe of authority that he seemed to be giving off. His face was set in a scowl, causing many of the students to turn away from him and the hard eyes did nothing to reassure the cowering students.

Harry noticed that his eyes immediately went to the Slytherin table and seemed to scan the inhabitants of it. However he didn't have to search long, because his eyes seemed lock on to Harry and he seemed to radiate hostile intent as he took slow steps towards them.

What surprised him however was the way Daphne actually hid behind him, as if to shield herself from her father, and his wonder at actually seeing the girl in this state, which he had thought impossible, soon turned into anger at the thought of someone being capable of scaring her to this degree.

He'd promised he would protect her and care for her, that was his part of the deal they'd struck, and he was going to keep his word no matter what.

He put a hand behind him, lightly gripping the hand of Daphne, to assure her that everything would be alright, and it seemed to work as she was taking deep calming breaths.

His eyes were still focused on the head of the Greengrass family drawing closer with every step. From this distance he could clearly see where Daphne had inherited her grey eyes from. Though the intent and emotion displayed in them was vastly different.

He stopped right in front of Harry and stared down at him with unreadable eyes for a few seconds before focusing on Daphne.

"Daughter", he said coldly, eyes sparkling with almost violent intent. "We have important matters to discuss, preferably in private."

Daphne though remained completely silent and offered no answer.

Harry could feel his blood boiling in rage at the presumptuousness of this man. His blood began pumping and adrenaline was flying through his body, and he quickly stood up putting himself between Daphne and her father.

"I think not Mr. Greengrass. Both you and me know that whatever authority and power you held over Daphne is now non-existent and that means that whatever problem you wish to speak with her about will be addressed to me", he said his voice hot with anger and his eyes narrowed. "And I think you'll find me even less malleable than she is."

Harry could practically see the nostrils flaring on the older man, and he was hard pressed to not immediately cow the man by releasing his Allure. He couldn't afford the risk of someone putting two and two together.

"I think you should be careful with who you antagonize", he said imperiously.

Harry laughed cruelly. "I think that goes doubly so for you Mr. Greengrass, do you really believe that threatening me will lead anywhere fruitful, do you really believe that you can succeed where Voldemort failed?"

Mr. Greengrass smirked maliciously at him. "You aren't as untouchable as you might think Mr. Potter", he spat. "There are many ways to ruin a person, physically by far being the most boring."

Harry grinned again. "You're not even capable of holding together a family, so I must admit that your threats are not as fearsome as they might have otherwise been."

Mr. Greengrass' eyes flashed darkly and his right hand darted towards his left sleeve, and in that instant he also felt Daphne draw her own wand and point it discreetly towards her own father in the gap between his arm and his body and he also felt Fleur shuffle slightly from where she was seated.

"What is this?", came the thundering voice of Dumbledore and Harry saw both Daphne's and Mr. Greengrass' wands fly away from their owner and towards the aged Headmaster who smoothly caught them.

"Might I enquire what this dilemma is about?", Dumbledore asked, though there was no doubt that it was a demand.

Indignation could be seen in the eyes of the tall Head of Greengrass and he drew himself up. "It is regarding a family matter, and I would prefer to keep it so for the time being."

"If it entails the aggressiveness of wands then I must ask you to leave as I will not stand for violence in Hogwarts", Dumbledore warned. "However, if you simply wish to talk about this dilemma, then my office is open to you and your daughter if you prefer a more private setting."

Mr. Greengrass seemed to mull this proposition over for a second. "Sounds reasonable enough", he said with a slight nod at the aged headmaster.

"Very well then, Mr. Greengrass, Miss Greengrass, would you both please…", he began only to be cut off by Harry.

"That won't be happening", he said sternly with a determined look at Dumbledore. "She will not go anywhere with Mr. Greengrass without my presence."

Dumbledore stared at Harry for a good measure of time, and Harry could almost feel the disappointment wafting off of him. Dumbledore then turned his eyes on Daphne whose eyes burned fiercely.

"Is this correct Miss Greengrass?"

"Indeed it is Headmaster. I will not go anywhere without Harry", she responded and upheld her end of a staring contest between her and Dumbledore.

He sighed. "Then let us retreat to a more comfortable setting."

He turned about quickly to nod reassuringly at Daphne, before turning his smile on Fleur.

"Sorry our conversation got cut short, hopefully we can continue this later on", he said. "Though I might be preoccupied the rest of the evening. But what do you say I show you some of the more infamous places in Hogwarts and on the grounds tomorrow?"

She looked at him with worried eyes, but did not question him. "I will be looking forward to it", she said.

"See you tomorrow then", he said and a small smirk slid onto his face. "Don't forget about me."

She rolled her eyes. "I don't think that's a possibility even if I had wanted to", she said warmly.

The trek to the Headmasters Office was uneventful, but he would have enjoyed the way every student moved out of his way, had it not been for the imminent 'discussion' they'd be having in just a few minutes.

He could see Mr. Greengrass occasionally looking disdainfully over his shoulder at him, and the cold look his daughter received was by no means lost on Harry either.

He edged slightly closer to Daphne and patted her reassuringly on the arm, and leaned in close to whisper in her ear.

"Don't worry so much Daph. This is the reason you came to me, remember? He can't do anything, so relax", he said in hopes of calming her down, and it seemed to work as the strained ball worry, dread and a sliver of fear that dominated her emotions seemed to dissolve.

He had been unable to discern any emotions from her before when they'd been surrounded by throngs of people, but he had quickly become painstakingly aware of the effect that Mr. Greengrass had on Daphne when they had put enough distance between them and the crowds.

"I know", she responded but kept her eyes rigidly trained on the back of her father. "But we should still not underestimate him, he is far from stupid."

"I kind of got that impression", he said wryly. "And don't worry, I'll be careful, and if I'm about to make a mistake, tell me okay?"

"I will, though nothing we are prepared to tell them will appease either of them", she said quietly.

"He still doesn't know the full truth; else I imagine this would have gone over differently", he said. "But unfortunately it seems we'll have to let the cat out of the bag. Think you can handle it? The entire school will probably know by morning."

"Their opinion matters nothing to me", she said.

He smiled at her, only to turn serious again immediately as they stopped in front of the stone gargoyle that Harry had become very familiar with in the years of being in Hogwarts, and none of the visits had ever been preceded by any wondrous events.

"Toffee", Dumbledore said cheerily and stepped through the void created by the gargoyle moving out of the way. "Wonderful treats muggles makes these days."

"I'm sure they taste quite well", Mr. Greengrass said. "But that is not why we're here."

"Quite true", Dumbledore responded and the small party lapsed into silence as they ascended the stairs to the office.

They all entered a grand oval room with bookcase after bookcase running all around, every single inch of each one lined with a multitude of books, each one more intriguing than the one that came before.

Above the bookcases was a plethora of magical paintings, all with wizened but imposing witches and wizards. All the chatter that had filled the room had disappeared the moment they stepped into the room, and he knew from previous visits that they were all listening for new juicy rumors.

A few odd tables were located in the room, all abundant with one strange device after the next, all of them radiating some form of magic or another, and Harry couldn't help but be slightly intrigued by it.

"Please, do make yourself comfortable", Dumbledore said and drew his attention to him. The headmaster had already taken a seat behind the wide oaken desk and stared intently at his guests, and they all soon had taken a seat, though both Harry and Daphne chose to sit a few seats away from Mr. Greengrass.

"I assume anything we say here will not leave this room", Mr. Greengrass asked before anything thing of real importance could be said.

"I can assure that whatever we discuss here today will remain between the four of us only", Dumbledore replied.

Mr. Greengrass nodded stiffly to the Headmaster before turning his contempt-filled eyes on his daughter. "Would you explain why when I returned home yesterday, I found your name wiped off the family tree?"

Daphne briefly looked to Harry, asking permission to tell her story, and Harry nodded his consent.

When he acquiesced something significantly changed about her demeanor. She no longer seemed like the previously scared daughter nor the young fourth year girl studying at Hogwarts. Furthermore it seemed like a curtain had been pulled over her, before prominent, bundle of emotions, and shocked him briefly, but he decided to dwell on the matter at a later time.

"As you well know Father, you and I have different opinions on where my future should lie, and since it seemed that nothing I said made any difference I decided to take matters into my own hands. What you see on the family tapestry is the result of the solution I found", Daphne explained in a cool voice while maintaining eye contact with her father.

Mr. Greengrass didn't even blink. "Might I ask what this solution was, since it seemed to be good enough trade off your family name in return?"

"We both agreed that there was no reason to hide anything Daph", Harry reassured her.

Daphne nodded but still kept her eyes locked onto her fathers, whose own eyes only briefly flickered from her to him and back again.

"Harry and I have entered into a… contract of sorts", Daphne said vaguely. "One that enabled me to at least to have some measure of control over my own life should turn out. It is fully binding and magically reinforced so any attempt to negate or cancel it would not be successful."

"I see"; Mr. Greengrass replied curtly. "And I assume there is no way I can convince either you or Mister Potter to void the contract on your own?"

"If I were you I wouldn't get my hopes up about that", Harry responded. "Neither of us holds the power to void the contract in any way. We are both bound irrevocably to it."

Dumbledore interrupted for the first time.

"I think both me and Mr. Greengrass are very interested in the details of this contract. Would you mind enlightening us?"

"As I am sure you are aware there are a numbers of ways to leave your family, from disownment to denouncing them yourself", she said as she turned towards the aged Headmaster. "However what made it difficult for me in general was that I realized that I would generally only stand to lose something if I denounced my family name and there was no way that my Father would willingly disown me, and the only measures that could ensure that he would do it would humiliate myself more than anyone."

Dumbledore nodded. "I see. But it does seem that you managed to find some way around that."

"Indeed I did Professor," Daphne responded. "Suffice it to say that I entered a contract similar to that of a Chattel Contract."

She looked at her Father who stared at her disbelievingly. "But as most of us know a Chattel Contract don't eliminate magical ties to one's family, you become a retainer for another family but at the same time still maintain your birthname and some of the functions attached to it."

"What I found was an old oath of servitude; it is a spell of old Roman descent and I only stumbled upon it by happenstance. But it provided exactly what I wanted. I am no longer a Greengrass, I am simple Daphne", Daphne explained coolly.

"You've…", Mr. Greengrass said with rage in his eyes. "You've made yourself a… a slave to this… whelp."

Harry himself felt the stirrings of anger bubble in his chest at the derogatory term, but calmed down with the knowledge that Mr. Greengrass would be infinitely more angry at the moment.

"That is true Father, but I chose to do so myself", she retorted sharply. "Besides, I really haven't lost much by doing this, in fact, it seems that I've only gained by entering into this contract. So you see, my personal freedom was a small price to pay."

Dumbledore turned his weary but sharp eyes on Harry. "Is this true Harry?"

"Every word Professor, and so far we're both content with the arrangement and I don't expect it will end anytime soon, if ever", Harry responded sincerely.

"I hope you understand what you've done Harry," Dumbledore said gravely. "Maybe right now taking control of another person seems fun and exciting, but nothing good lies down that road. Furthermore you will have irreparably changed her life."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I have no intentions of stopping her growth or to keep her from becoming all that she can be."

"She will no longer receive any support from me", Mr. Greengrass hissed with narrowed eyes and turned to look at Daphne. "You hear me, you are on your own regarding schooling and everything. As of this moment you may no longer consider your sister, me or your mother family."

With that the Head of Greengrass rose imperiously and walked briskly out the office, leaving behind the Headmaster and two young students.

Dumbledore sighed and closed his eyes for a few seconds.

"It appears Miss Greengrass that you will cease to attend Hogwarts as of the ending of this year of schooling", Dumbledore said wearily. "It saddens me as few in your year possess as much skill as you do."

"She will still attend Hogwarts Professor", Harry said. "I meant what I said about me having no intentions of stopping her growth. However I will be the one to pay her tuition instead."

Dumbledore stared with unreadable eyes at Harry for some time, before nodding his consent. "Very well, I will be sure to notify the right people of this."

"Thank you, I appreciate that", Harry said, then stifled a yawn with the back of his hand. "If you would excuse us, I am rather tired and would like to rest a bit."

Dumbledore smiled for the first time during the entire encounter. "I would assume so, it was rather impressive how you've managed to control your more Slytherin abilities to such an extent, and I suspect I was not the only one surprised today. I dare say you've given us the answer to almost millennia long speculations. If possible I would like to hear more about how dragons think at a later time."

"I will see if I can find time at some point Professor", Harry responded amiably; though they both knew that they would never meet for such a reason.

Dumbledore inclined his head and Harry and Daphne rose, only to stop again abruptly as a burst of fire appeared out of thin air in front of them. The fire quickly died down to show Fawkes hovering in front of him looking at him with penetrating orange eyes.

Harry returned the stare for a moment before shrugging it off to walk away from the phoenix. He only allowed himself to take a proper deep breath. He had been a bit rattled by the day's happenings, despite knowing what was to happen.

But overall the entire day was one big success, from start to finish.

"That was actually the first time I've ever been to the Headmaster's office", Daphne said lightly, as if just making conversation. "I always thought him having a phoenix was just rumors."

"Fawkes?, Harry responded offhandedly. "From what I understand he's been with Dumbledore for a good many decades."

"That is unusual", Daphne mused. "No one really knows how many phoenixes are left in the world, but speculations have always placed them in the low fifties. They are close to extinct and no one really knows how they procreate."

"I would assume it would be like any other bird. You know; eggs and all", Harry countered, before continuing on a more serious note. "I have trouble believing that such versatile creatures as phoenixes are close to being extinct. Aren't they immortal or something?"

"As I said, not much is known about phoenixes. True; they aren't capable of dying from open hostilities, but they can be killed. Certain potions ingredients can only be obtained through a dead phoenix, but it is illegal in every magical community to even so much as harm a phoenix", Daphne explained. "But I suppose it won't stop people who _really_ want to get their hands on such ingredients."

"Interesting as that may be Daphne", Harry said suddenly, and turning inquisitive eyes on her for a second before facing forward again. "I am more interested in how _you're_ doing right now. It can't have been easy."

Daphne was silent for a bit, and Harry was about to prompt her again when she broke the silence.

"I'm not quite sure yet", she said uncertainly. "It was harder than I thought it would be. No matter how much it galls me to say, I've feared that man for a good part of my life, it's hard to just let it go."

Harry nodded in understanding.

He had felt the same in regards to the Dursley's, and it had taken him some time to come to the realization that they no longer had any real hold over him. It was true that he was bound to them by blood, but the connection ended there.

He would not look twice if he found one them dead on the side of the road; well perhaps only to spit at their corpses and that was only if it didn't take up too much of his time. He suspected he'd have no trouble finding suitable places to live over the summers if that is what was required.

The point was that it had taken him a significant amount of time to shake off the conditioning that he had received from his muggle relatives, and he supposed the same would be true for Daphne and her family. He also doubted that the week that had passed since their contract had been enough to reconcile with that fact.

"For what it's worth it will get easier in time Daph", Harry said comfortingly. "You just have to get adjusted to that way of thinking."

Daphne smiled at him. "Thank you Master."

At that moment he felt the curtain that had been drawn between his extrasensory abilities and her bundle of emotions lift, and he knew that she had been calmed by his words from what he could feel of her emotions.

It had been disconcerting to not be able to feel her emotions as he had grown used to it over the time, and therefore he had been relieved to feel the return of them.

He had also made a point to remember that he could not feel Dumbledore nor Mr. Greengrass' emotions either. He supposed there was the off chance that since the normal Veela Allure only worked on men it stood to reason that his more unique abilities connected to his Allure would only affect women, though it had worked on the crowd in the Gryffindor common room.

He had not really tested the boundaries of his abilities yet, and had only used them for his own hormonal reasons as of now. He supposed he should devote some time to further practice it, and fortunately for him the castle was full of potential test subjects.

He just had to be careful when going about it.

"Master, do you still intend to meet Tracey tonight?", Daphne asked, derailing his train of thought.

"Huh? Tracey?", Harry responded with a puzzled look. "Oh, right. To be completely honest I had no intentions of meeting with her at all. I just said it to get her off my back. Whatever she intended to say was only viable until your father visited anyway."

Daphne nodded. "I suppose that is true, and she didn't really provide the best first impression that she could."

"To say the least," Harry snorted, then looked sideways at Daphne again, briefly scrutinizing her face. "But I understand you have some connection to the girl, and I would not pull you apart if you would like to continue being her friend."

Harry was briefly surprised when Daphne laughed. "Friend is such a strong word. She and I were allies of sorts, though with your permission I would like to keep it that way, as it could still prove useful while in Hogwarts."

Harry nodded. "By all means continue your 'alliance', it's not like we have anything better to do right now, and as you said; who knows when it might come in handy?"

"Very well", Daphne acknowledged. "Then I guess our rooms will be the next stop?"

He nodded in reassurance of the guess.

Not much was said after that and a comfortable silence settled during the long trek from the headmaster's office on the seventh floor to their own rooms on the third floor.

AN: Thank you for taking the time to read through this chapter, and always appreciate the reviews, as well any criticism you feel is appropriate as long as it is relevant to the story.