Chapter 9 – From Afar
The quiet anticipation that surrounded Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for three weeks after the announcement of the Triwizard Tournament came to an abrupt halt the day the other schools were set to arrive. The student body was bubbling with unbridled excitement, barely maintaining enough composure for their classes that day.
For Harry, it was a different story. The calm and relief that he had made it through his first full moon at Hogwarts improved his mood immensely. An unexpected but not unwanted side effect of this was that he began to have a more optimistic outlook on his condition, something Ron and Hermione quickly noticed as his grades began to improve and he began to spend more time with Hermione, trying to decipher the mysteries surrounding his ailment.
"Are you sure that the book didn't have any useful information?"
"No Harry, the only thing I found in The Physiology of Dark Creatures, was that werewolves can learn to shift without the moon if the curse matures for a few years but we already knew that." Hermione let out an exasperated sigh. They had looked through nearly every book in the Hogwarts library but their search brought forth no results. Her frustration threatened to spill out as the sounds of Ron eating loudly across from her began to aggravate her. She opened her mouth to lash out before she felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Turning to her left and meeting the emerald green eyes of her other best friend.
"Hey, we'll figure it out Hermione," the small grin on his face was infectious, a similar smile spreading across her own. "If anyone can it'd be you. Besides, if you give up hope, what do you think I should do then?"
The last part was intended as a joke, but the actual words hit Hermione hard. She chastised herself for not seeing that Harry was he only person with the right to give up. The fact that she was almost ready to throw in the towel and she was enough to make her hate herself.
The hand on her shoulder moved to pat her on the back and another smile from Harry set her right, her self-loathing being temporarily forgotten. She would've thanked him for setting her right but before she could, a voice yelled from somewhere in the hall.
"Look! What's that in the sky?"
Sure enough, a large black shape was descending towards the Hogwarts grounds. The closer it drew, its shape became more defined, becoming that of a large carriage being drawn by equally large horses. The emptied faster than it had in anyone's recent memory as students and faculty alike ran onto the grounds to get a glimpse of the new arrivals.
-HP-
Fleur Delacour was miserable inside of the Beauxbatons carriage. They had begun to make the journey from their school in France for the Scottish countryside and the Quarter-Veela was not enjoying the trip. Being jostled around inside a carriage high up in the school, being cooped up with her fellow schoolmates was not her idea of a perfect trip.
The feeling was mutual as most of her classmates were at least apprehensive of her, if they didn't downright despise her. Being a Veela had the unfortunate side effect of creating jealousy amongst her peers, as well as a sense of distrust. It was their belief that she was out to steal their boyfriends from them and because of her allure, most boys didn't pay any of the other girls any mind, instead focusing on Fleur.
Fleur took all of this in stride. Early on in her life, she was deeply hurt by the discrimination she faced by being part Veela but overtime she outgrew said feelings. She used her heritage and abilities to her advantage, putting on a cold front in order to maintain a form of dominance amongst her fellow students.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the carriage began its descent back towards the earth, signaling that they had almost arrived at their destination. It was after a few minutes that their vessel abruptly hit the ground, causing all of the occupants inside to stumble.
Collecting herself, Fleur approached the door first alongside her headmistress, Madam Maxime, as the door to the carriage was opened on the other side. Across the Threshold, was a large man, that she could've sworn must've been at least eight feet tall and was large enough that he wouldn't fit properly through the door. Maxime cordially accepted his outstretched hand and exited her carriage, her students following in tow.
Shivers began erupting through Fleur's body as she tried to adapt to the much colder Hogwarts climate. Beauxbatons was in the much warmer parts of South France, so their uniforms weren't made to accommodate the cold climate. As this thought crossed her mind, an elderly man who appeared as though he could've been as old as the castle behind him, approached Maxime and began welcoming them to their new home for the year.
Fleur barely paid attention however, as her gaze became fixed on the gathering of Hogwarts students out in front of the castle. Disgust immediately crashed over her as she saw the very familiar look that seemed to be on every man's face as she scanned the crowd. It wasn't until her eyes fixed on a raven-haired boy that her glare paused momentarily. The young man in question didn't seem to be affected by her allure, unlike the red haired boy standing next to him, who seemed to be the worst affected out of the whole group. In fact, he wasn't paying her any mind, his attention on the bushy-haired girl that he was engrossed in conversation with.
Her mind began to race as she couldn't quite decide if she was impressed that he had that much control over himself, or annoyance that her natural abilities seemed to be failing when it came to this individual. What didn't help was the sense of déjà vu. Where had she seen him before?
-HP-
"Seriously Hermione, you need to calm down. I'm sure that just because there will be more people around the castle, it doesn't mean that I need to be any more worried around the full moon than I already am."
"I know Harry. It's just that with two other schools being present, we have to be careful that they don't figure out what you are."
Harry gave her a look that let her know that he appreciated her concern, but also told her to drop it. To his annoyance, she didn't. "Look, we don't know what they teach at these schools. They might be able to see the telling signs of lycanthropy and then the whole wizarding world will be after you."
"Alright, alright. I'll be more careful Hermione, but with the amount of time you spend talking about my 'condition', all someone would have to do is walk by and they'd figure it out," he concluded, playfully shoving her arm to show that he was only teasing her about her exhaustive efforts to help him. It was after she swatted him on the arm back that he caught a familiar scent.
He looked forward at the growing number of Beauxbaton students, hoping to sniff out where the scent was coming from. It didn't take long before he saw a blonde haired witch, eyeing him inquisitively, before breaking her gaze and walking away, the scent following her away. He tried to remember where he remembered that scent from before but the thought left his mind as a commotion from the Black Lake caught his attention.
Harry looked over the water to see a mast breaking the surface of the lake, moving towards the shoreline.
"Whoa!" was all Harry and Ron could say as the mast began to rise higher out of the water, revealing a ship with it.
"Harry, come on. I can't see anything." Hermione tried all her might to peer over top the crowd between her and the Black Lake, but couldn't see over the sea of bodies in front of her. She tried for a few more seconds before she felt herself being lifted off of the ground and on to somebodies shoulders.
"Harry! Put me down!"
"Aw come one Hermione. At least now you can see." They both watched as the ship had completely breached the surface and the students of Durmstrang began to file out.
"Harry look! It's Krum!" Sure enough at the front of the pack, walking beside a man who Harry presumed was his headmaster, was the star seeker Viktor Krum. After several minutes of ogling from Ron and many of the Hogwarts girls, Harry managed to corral his red haired friend back inside to hear about the champion selection.
One Week Later
Hermione exited the Great Hall after the twins' failed attempt at entering their names into the Goblet of Fire. She had tried to warn them that their attempt was futile, but after realizing that they wouldn't listen to her she resigned herself to watching them fail spectacularly, and fail they did.
It was moments after her exit that she became aware of the absence of Harry. He and the Weasley twins had made the Hogwarts Quidditch team, along with Roger Davies, Alicia Spinnet, Malcolm Preese as Chasers, and Herbert Fleet had made Keeper. The team had had a practice that morning and seeing the twins in the Great Hall meant that practice was over, but Harry was nowhere to be found.
She continued walking until she came Across Ron, who was on his way down to the hall to eat some lunch and watch as potential champions entered their name into the Goblet.
"Hey Ron, have you seen Harry?"
"No I haven't. He's probably still at the Quidditch pitch. Got to practice since he's on the team." Hermione could hear the resentment behind Ron's words. Though he tried his hardest to deny it, she could tell that Ron was jealous that Harry and his brothers had made the team and he had not. She decided that now was probably not the most ideal time to confront Ron about it, so she tried to detour his thoughts elsewhere.
"Going down to see who puts their name in the Goblet?"
"Yeah, I just wish that one of us could do it. Eternal glory..." Hermione could see the longing in his expression and could find the hidden meaning behind his words. He wanted to be able to put his name forth but was simply being diplomatic about it.
"Well I wouldn't enter myself in it, people have died from this tournament. As for Harry…well, we both know how he feels about all the attention."
"Yeah, I guess so," was all Ron could say in response, but they both knew that his heart wasn't really into it.
"Okay well, I'll see you after bit. I'm going to find Harry."
Alright. See ya later."
Hermione made her way down to the Quidditch pitch, and began peering the skies for Harry. Not catching sight of him on his broom, she cupped her mouth and called out "Harry", hoping to get a response.
"I'm right here Hermione."
She nearly jumped out of her skin when his voice came from directly behind her. Turning around she was greeted by a grinning Harry, who was currently hanging upside down from his broom a few feet off the ground.
Swatting him on the shoulder, she began to admonish him. "Prat! You scared me half to death." Slowly she realized the position she found her friend in and wanted to know what he was up to. "Why're you upside down Harry."
"I don't know. Just trying to clear my head."
"Well get down before you hurt yourself."
Instead of floating a few feet closer to the ground before getting off his Firebolt, Harry simply unwrapped his legs from broom, nimbly landing on his feet as said broom landed directly into his waiting arms.
"Harry, how'd you do that?"
"I'm not sure. I've found I can do more physical and acrobatic things when I concentrate."
"You mean like lifting me up onto your shoulders?" A slight blush crossed her face.
Harry had the decency to look bashful and began rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah like that I guess."
Together, they left the Quidditch pitch in a comfortable silence. The pair had gotten a lot more comfortable together, walks like this where neither person said anything, accepting each other's company had become quite common.
"You ready to head to head t Great Hall for tonight's feast Harry?" She saw his eyes darken slightly as he reached into the pocket of his robes, grasping something that she couldn't see before he turned to answer her.
"Not yet. There's something I feel like I need to do." He then turned and made his way towards the Black Lake. Her curiosity piqued, Hermione decided to follow him, wondering what had gotten into him. They approached the shore of the lake and Harry kneeled down at the water's edge and took the item out of his pocket. Hermione saw that he had pulled a flower out of his robes. A lily.
She gasped as she finally realized what had gotten into her best friend. Today was the anniversary of his parent's deaths, the night that changed his life forever. She could tell that the ghosts of that night still haunted him, a reminder of why he resented his treatment as the Boy-Who-Lived. As he set the lily down into the water and the current carried it away, Hermione moved up to his side, and wrapped him in a hug from his side. He didn't move for several moments before laying his head on top of hers, a sign of gratitude for her being there.
"Thank you. It seems to get harder every year that I do this, but having some here to support me helps." They both stood up at the same time and made their way back towards the castle, the selection of the Triwizard Champions about to begin.
-HP-
After all of the people in the Great Hall finished eating, Dumbledore motioned to the Goblet of Fire, which flames had begun to burn brightly once again as the time for the selection.
"Eternal glory," began the Hogwarts Headmaster, his words effectively ensuring that he had everyone's attention before continuing. "That's what awaits any person who is selected as champion. I must warn you, if your name does come out of the goblet, there is no turning back."
Facing the goblet, the flames began to turn from blue to purple as a charred piece of parchment erupted from it. Catching it, Dumbledore turned to the crowd.
"The Beauxbatons champions is…Miss Fleur Delacour."
Small instances of applause came from the Beauxbaton students sitting at the Ravenclaw table as Fleur stood and made her way to the front of the hall, and out the door where she was instructed. Harry's gaze followed her the whole way, still unable to place the familiarity he had with her.
Another purple flame brought another parchment soaring into the air.
"The Durmstrang Champions is….Viktor Krum!"
Thunderous applause came from the Durmstrang students and some Slytherins as Krum triumphantly followed the same path Fleur had taken.
Harry heard Ron mutter from his left, "Knew he'd get picked."
The last bit of parchment was spewed from the goblet, followed by another announcement, 'The Hogwarts Champion is…Cedric Diggory." A final explosion of applause filled the hall as the third champion joined the other two.
Dumbledore had now turned back to the remaining students and said, "Our three champions will compete in three task, designed to test their skills and knowledge. These tasks will be perilous, but whoever comes out on top will win a most coveted prize…the Triwizard Cup!"
Suddenly a large cup appear on the table next to the Goblet of Fire, dazzling all those in attendance with its grandeur. The hall filled with cheers once again, until the flames of the goblet began to glow purple again. Moving forward cautiously, Dumbledore was surprised when another piece of charred parchment erupted from the Goblet. Catching it, he read the name and looked out into the crowd for the person in question.
"Harry Potter?"
Author's Note:
So we finally got up to the champions selection. If all goes according to plan with the story, we should be through the Goblet of Fire by around Chapter 20. I do plan on continuing the story after that, but I may take a break around then.
The pat involving Harry mourning his parents is slightly influenced by the story "Harry Potter and the Other Champion." If you like Harry/Fleur stories, I definitely recommend checking that one out.
Finally, I should inform you that I went back and significantly altered Chapter 6. As I've continued writing this story, I realized that Harry saving Fleur and Gabrielle during the World Cup didn't fit with where I want the story to go. So you should go back and reread that chapter. It also didn't help that I realized that that particular plot devise has been beaten to a pulp by the fanfiction community.
As always, thanks for reading.