I do not own Bleach or Harry Potter the both belong respectively to Tite Kubo and J.K. Rowling
The next few weeks were business as usual, Harry would go to class, and deal with any Hollow alerts. Thankfully he hadn't had any more run ins with a Menos Grande, though he couldn't help but wonder about the Soul Reaper that saved him.
"I think you should just let it go, Harry" said Hermione, as they walked to their next DADA class. "The Soul Society probably just thought you could use the help."
"Yeah I guess, but she could've at least given me her name" said Harry. It was bad enough that he wasn't strong enough to defeat the Hollow but to be completely written off like that, just hurt his pride. "So how's S.O.M.E. going?"
Hermione's face lit up as she explained how many of the muggleborn graduates had responded to her letters. While the group was still getting on its feet, the fact that there was interest really seemed to motivate her to work on getting the same kind of response from current Hogwarts students.
"What about the house elves?"
This unfortunately didn't have the same effect as the glimmer in Hermione's eyes dimmed into a look of frustration and righteous furry as she reported that the house elves didn't seem to want fair representation. With the exception of Dobby, they all rejected her offer of wages and the usual employee benefits made standard in the non-magical world.
"But they got it good at Hogwarts" said Ron. "Maybe, they just don't want that stuff."
"They've been brainwashed" said Hermione, disgusted by how even the well treated Hogwarts elves were still in essence slaves. It didn't matter how well they were treated, slavery was still wrong and she wouldn't let it go unchallenged.
Harry was just glad that they reached the DADA classroom before they could get into a real argument.
To their surprise Moody announced that he'd be putting the Imperius Curse on each of the students, to demonstrate its power and to see whether they could resist its effects.
"But-but you said its illegal, Professor" Hermione said uncertainly as Moody cleared away the desks with a sweep of his wand, leaving a large clear space in the middle of the room. "You said to use it against another…."
"Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like" said Moody, his magical eye focusing on Hermione, fixing her with an unnerving, unblinking stare. "If you'd rather learn the hard way, there's the door."
He pointed one gnarled finger towards the door. Hermione now blushing muttered something about not meaning she wanted to leave. Ron and Harry grinned at each other, they knew Hermione would rather eat flubber worms than miss such an important lesson.
Moody then called each student up and put the Imperius Curse on them. Harry watched as his classmates did the most extraordinary things under its influence. Dean Thomas hopped around singing the national anthem. Lavender Brown imitated a squirrel. Neville performed a series of gymnastics he would certainly not have been capable of in his normal state of mind. Not one of them seemed able to fight off the curse, only recovering when Moody removed it.
"Potter" Moody growled. "You're next."
Harry moved into the middle of the classroom, Moody raised his wand, pointed it at him and said "Imperio!"
What followed was the most wonderful feeling, Harry had ever felt. He felt like he was floating as every thought and worry in his head was wiped away, leaving nothing but a vague, untraceable happiness. Harry was only dimly aware of everyone watching him.
And then he heard Moody's voice, echoing in some distant chamber of his mind: Jump onto the desk…jump onto the-
"Harry!" Nakatsukasa cried, breaking through the curse's influence. If Harry had to choose between listening to Moody or his zanpakutō, Nakatsukasa wins every time.
The next thing Harry knew, he felt the fog lifting from his mind. He was standing in the middle of the classroom with the eyes of his classmates still on him.
"Look at that, you lot!" Moody growled, his blue eye still focused on Harry as he addressed the rest of the class. "Potter fought! He fought it and beat it!"
Moody had ended up using Harry as an example of how to beat the Imperius, casting on him another three times; each time breaking it faster than before.
"You know it isn't exactly fair" said Hermione, as they left the classroom. "I mean you have Nakatsukasa, helping you."
"It's not my fault she's protective" said Harry.
It wasn't hard to tell that Hermione didn't like the idea of not being able to do something in class. Though Harry had to admit having a zanpakutō spirit to back him up really did make the difference this time.
"Let it go, Hermione" said Ron, still feeling slightly nauseous from the curse. Though Moody did assure him it'd wear off by lunch.
The rest of the day passed without incident. The only noteworthy thing being the increase in homework as each of the professors needed to prepare the students for their O.W.L.s the following year. Though Harry did notice that they seemed stressed over something; it wasn't until dinner that night that he found out what.
It was just after class with Hagrid and the Gryffindors were in a good mood; laughing at the verbal beat down the half giant had given Malfoy for arguing with his instructions to study the behavior of the fast growing Blast-Ended Skrewts.
While none of them had changed their opinion of the dangerous creatures anytime someone put Draco in his place was certainly something to celebrate and the perfect way to start lunch (in Ron's opinion). But to their surprise when they arrived in the entrance hall, there was a large crowd of students blocking the way. Ron as the tallest of the golden trio managed to see above their heads and read aloud to Harry and Hermione:
TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT
The Delegations from Beuaxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at 6 o'clock on Friday the 30th of October. Lessons will end half an hour early-
"Brilliant!" Harry cheered. "Potion's last thing on Friday!"
With the increase of work from the professors, Snape had them working on researching antidotes; hinting that he might just poison them for fun.
Students will return their bags and books to their dormitories and assemble in front of the castle to greet our guests before the Welcoming Feast.
"Only a week away!" said Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff, emerging from the crowd, his eyes gleaming. "Wonder if Cedric knows? Think I'll go and tell him…"
"Cedric?" Ron questioned, as Ernie hurried off.
"Diggory" said Hermione. "He must be entering the tournament."
"That idiot, Hogwarts champion?"
"He's not an idiot. You just don't like him because he's a seeker for another team. I've heard he's a really good student and he's a prefect."
She spoke as though this settled the matter.
"You only like him because he's handsome" Ron said scathingly.
"Excuse me, I don't like people just because they're handsome!" Hermione said indignantly.
Ron gave a loud false cough, sounding oddly like, "Lockhart!"
This got a laugh from Harry, earning him a harsh glare from Hermione.
Over the following week, the tournament was all anyone could talk about. Rumors were flying around from student to student like highly contagious germs: who has going to try for Hogwarts champion, what the tournament would involve, how the visiting students would differ from themselves.
The castle itself also seemed to be undergoing an extra-thorough cleaning. It seemed by the end of the week there wasn't a speck of dust anywhere in the castle.
When they went down to breakfast on the morning of October 30th, the found that the great hall had been decorated overnight. Enormous banners of the four houses hung from the ceiling along with the largest banner baring the Hogwarts coat of arms behind the teachers' table.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione spotted Fred and George at the Gryffindor table. The strange thing was the twins had decided to sit away from the rest of the table. Curious as to what his brothers were plotting, Ron led the way over to them.
"It's a bummer, all right" George said gloomily to Fred. "But if he won't talk to us in person, we'll have to send a letter after all. Or we'll stuff it into his hand. He can't avoid us forever."
"Who's avoiding you?" asked Ron, sitting down next to them.
"Wish you would" said Fred, irritated by the interruption.
"What's a bummer?"
"Having a nosy git like you for a brother" said George.
Clearly something was bothering the twins but none of them had a clue what. Deciding a change of topic might help, Harry decided to ask about their plans for the tournament.
"I asked McGonagall about how the champions are chosen but she wasn't telling" George said bitterly. "Just told me to shut up and get on with transfiguring my raccoon."
"Wonder what the tasks are going to be?" Ron pondered. "You know, I bet we could do them Harry. We've done dangerous stuff before…"
"Not in front of a panel of judges, you haven't" said Fred. "McGonagall says the champions get awarded points according to how well they've done the tasks."
"Who're the judges?" asked Harry.
"Well, the heads of the participating schools are always on the panel" said Hermione, and everyone looked at her, rather surprised. "Because all three of them were injured during the Tournament of 1792 when a cockatrice the champions were supposed to be catching went on a rampage."
"Let me guess. Hogwarts, A History" said Ginny, walking over to join them.
"More like a Highly Biased and Selective History of Hogwarts Which Glosses Over the Nastier Aspects of the School."
"What are you on about?" asked Ron.
"House Elves" said Hermione, her eyes flashing. "Not once, in over a thousand pages are they mentioned. Not to mention anything about the people like Malfoy running around!"
Harry just decided to focus on his eggs. While Hermione's S.O.M.E. project was actually getting some support from the muggleborns, half-bloods, and even a few pure bloods like Neville Longbottom and the Weasleys; they were more in support of standing against blood purity. House Elves really weren't that big a concern to them, it didn't help that Dobby was the species' only representative.
"Listen, you want to fight that blood purity garbage and that's great" said George, leaning in toward Hermione. "But, have you ever been down to the kitchens?"
Hermione nodded, Dobby had brought her there when she first approached the castle elves about working to gain them benefits.
"Then you've seen how happy they are. They think they've got the best job in the world…"
"That's because they're uneducated and brainwashed!" Hermione snapped. "The elves at Hogwarts may not be beaten but what about all the others. What about people like Crouch or Malfoy that just beat and abandon them?!"
The rest of Hermione's words were drowned out by the sudden whooshing noise from overhead, signaling the arrival of the post owls. Harry looked up and smiled as he saw Hedwig soaring towards him. Hermione stopped talking abruptly; she and the four Weasley siblings watched as Hedwig landed on Harry's shoulder, holding her leg out wearily.
With a smile on his face, Harry removed the letter from Hedwig's leg and offered the faithful owl bits of toast, which she ate gratefully.
Dear Harry,
Told you, you'd be getting a good Defense Teacher this year…no wait that was Mick. Anyway I know Mad-Eye can be a bit…ok completely mental but he knows his stuff. He really helped your dad, Moony, and me out when we first joined up with Dumbledore (You ever going to tell me what's up between you two?) to fight Voldemort in the war.
Sorry for not telling you about the Tournament but we figured you'd appreciate the surprise. Anyway hopefully you'll be able to watch the tasks without trouble. Be sure to pick up a Beuaxbatons girl. I hear good things about French girls. (Sirius!)
Ignore your prat of a godfather Harry, try not to get into any trouble. Oh and before I forget, Prof. Dumbledore stopped by the other night to ask if your scar has been hurting. Has it? and do you know any reason why he'd ask?
Regardless be sure to send us another letter soon.
Love,
Remus and Sirius
"What's that?" asked Ron.
"A letter from Sirius and Remus" said Harry. "I wrote to them about Moody and the tournament."
No said anything about the smile on Harry's face; they knew how much it meant to him to finally have someone to mail home to about these things.
But as happy as he was to finally have family that loved him in the World of the Living anyway, Harry couldn't help but wonder just what Dumbledore was planning asking Remus and Sirius about his scar. He knew it flared up painfully when he was around Voldemort but it hadn't bothered him once since his first year. The only recently odd thing he could think about was the strange nightmare involving Pettigrew he had before the Quidditch Cup.
In truth Harry had forgotten about it until then.
But Pettigrew did escape. Maybe I should…no they'd just go to Dumbledore.
For now, Harry decided to keep the strange dream to himself; he didn't to risk either Remus or Sirius going to Dumbledore about him.
There was an air of anticipation that day. Nobody was very attentive in lessons they were much more interested in the arrival of the two schools; even Potions was more bearable than usual, though that was just because it was an hour shorter.
As instructed the students deposited their books in their houses, pulled on their cloaks, and rushed to the entrance hall, where the Heads of Houses ordered them into lines.
"Weasley, straighten your hat" Prof. McGonagall snapped at Ron. "Ms. Patill, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair."
Parvati scowled and removed a large ornamental butterfly from the end of her plait.
"Follow me, please" McGonagall instructed. "First years in front. No pushing."
They filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, clear evening; dusk falling and a pale transparent moon was already shining over the Forbidden Forest. Harry stood between Ron and Hermione in the fourth row from the front, shivering as a cold wind blew past them. He wasn't the only one as he could see Dennis Creevey shivering from a mix of excitement and the cold along with the other first years.
"Nearly six" said Ron, checking his watch. "How'd you reckon they're coming? Train?"
"I doubt it" said Hermione.
"Broomsticks?" Harry suggested, looking up at the starry sky.
"I don't think so, not from that far away."
"A Portkey?" Ron suggested. "Or they could Apparate-maybe you're allowed to do it under seventeen wherever they come from?"
"You can't Apparate inside Hogwarts grounds, how often do I have to tell you?" Hermione said impatiently.
Getting tired of waiting, Harry decided to extend his senses outward to see if he could pick up on anyone approaching the school.
"There here" he said quietly so that only Ron and Hermione could hear him.
Dumbledore supported this when he suddenly called out from the back row where he stood with the other professors.
"Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beuaxbatons approaches!"
"Where?" many students asked eagerly, all looking in different directions.
Hermione and Ron thought it made more sense just to ask Harry, who accommodated by pointing over the forest. "There!" he cried, loud enough to alert those around him.
Something large, much larger than a broomstick was rocketing across the night sky toward the castle, growing larger by the second.
"It's a dragon!" a first year shrieked.
"Don't be stupid, it's a flying house!" said Dennis Creevey.
Turns out Dennis' guess wasn't that far off. The object glided over the tree tops of the Forbidden Forest, the lights from the castle illuminating it to reveal a giant, powder-blue, horse drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring towards them, pulled by the strength of a dozen winged horses, each the size of an elephant.
The front three rows of students stepped back as the carriage swooped down, coming to a stop where they once stood. A second later the door to the carriage opened and a boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled with something for a moment on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps, before stepping back and standing at attention.
They then saw a shining, high-heeled black shoe emerge from the carriage, followed by the largest woman, Harry had ever seen in his life. The size of the carriage, and of the horses was suddenly explained.
The only other person in the living world, Harry had ever seen as large as this woman was Hagrid; he wasn't entirely sure if there was even an inch difference in their heights. As she stepped into the light revealing handsome olive-skinned features, huge black eyes, and sleek hair drawn back from her face. She was dressed from head to toe in black satin, with opal jewelry around her neck and on her thick fingers.
Dumbledore started to clap; the students following his lead, broke into applause too, many of them doing their best to get a better look at the woman.
Her face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked forward towards Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. The Hogwarts Headmaster, though tall himself, barely had to bend to kiss it.
"My dear, Madame Maxime, welcome to Hogwarts" he greeted.
"Dumbly-dorr," Madame Maxime said in a deep voice. "I hope I find you well?"
"In excellent form, I thank you."
"My pupils" the Beuaxbatons Headmistress announced, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her.
A dozen boys and girls, all in their late teens emerged from the carriage, moving to stand behind Madame Maxime. They were shivering which wasn't surprising, given that their robes seemed to be made from silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks.
"Has Karakaroff arrived yet?" asked Madame Maxime.
"He should be here any moment" said Dumbledore. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up?"
"Warm up, I think. But the horses…"
"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them, the moment he returns from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some other-err-charges."
"Skrewts" Ron muttered, sharing a grin with Harry and Hermione.
"My steeds require-err-forceful handling" said Maxime, looking as though she doubted any Care of Magical Creatures professor at Hogwarts could be up to the job. "They are very strong."
"I assure you, Hagrid will be well up for the job" said Dumbledore.
"Very well. Will you tell this Hagrid that the horses drink only single malt whiskey?"
"It will be attended to."
The Hogwarts students parted to allow, Madame Maxime and her students to pass. As they passed Harry failed to notice one of the students, a girl with long silvery blonde hair, giving him a strange look as they entered the castle.
"What do you think happened with Hagrid?" Harry questioned.
"Maybe the skrewts escaped" Ron said hopefully.
"Don't say that" Hermione shuddered. "Imagine them loose on the grounds…."
They stood silently waiting for the arrival of the other school. Suddenly, a loud and eerie noise echoed from the darkness: a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as though an immense vacuum cleaner were moving along a riverbed.
"Where's that coming from?" asked Ron, looking to Harry for an answer.
But before he could answer sixth year Lee Jordan yelled out, "The Lake!"
From their positon at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of what appeared to be the mast of the ship slowly emerging from the lake. The ship rose slowly out of the water, shining in the moonlight, looking like a ghost ship out of a horror movie. Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship surfaced completely, bobbing like a rubber duck on the surface of the lake.
A moment later the ship anchored a plank was lowered onto the bank. The students then disembarked, each wearing cloaks of some kind of shaggy, matted fur. But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair.
"Dumbledore!" he called heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"
"Blooming, thank you, Prof. Krakaroff" Dumbledore replied.
Krakaroff stepped into the light of the castle, showing himself to be tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee did not hide his rather weak chin. When he reached Dumbledore, he shook hands with both of his own.
"Dear old Hogwarts" said Krakaroff, looking up at the castle and smiling; his teeth were rather yellow, and Harry noticed his smile didn't extend to his eyes, which remained cold and shrewd. "How good it is to be here, how good. Viktor, come along, into the warmth…you don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold."
Karkaroff called forward one of his students. As the boy passed, Harry caught glimpse of a prominent curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He didn't need the tap on the shoulder by Ron, or the hiss in his ear, to recognize him.
"Harry, its him! It's Krum!"
